The Heart's Promise

Chapters

Book One — The Siege of Canterlot
The Growing Darkness
The Death of the Tree of Harmony
Brotherly Love
Twilight: Warrior Princess
An Equestrian Griffon
Family Matters
Two Fellowships Form
You are Cordially Invited
Ready to Rumble
Ba'al Shamayim
Tales of the Second Age
Book Two — The Two Trees
Coronation
Three Wishes
Railroaded
The Scourging of Ponyville
Old Friends Return
Tales of the Third Age
The Heroes
The Indwelling

Book One — The Siege of Canterlot

The Third Age, the “Age of Ponies,” is over.

The Fourth Age has begun.

It is the year 1013 CE. It has been five years since an attempt on Princess Celestia’s life damaged her heart. Without the unfathomable power of the alicorn, she is unable to raise the sun or the moon. Soon after, a terrorist attack on Cloudsdale crippled Equestria’s ability to control the weather. Fear grips the nation as a severely-weakened Celestia tries to wrest order from the chaos.

Across the ocean, the griffon kingdom of Felaccia works to unearth an ancient changeling device once used to harness the power of the Celestial Objects. With the help of Queen Chrysalis the Second and her hive, they hope to create a safeguard against the power of the sun and moon being used for destruction. The griffon king, Andean Ursagryph, seeks to reunite with his friend Princess Luna, in order to repair the broken relationship between their countries. Even now, she sails for the Felaccian shore with the Knights of Harmony alongside her.

Princess Twilight Sparkle now struggles with the weight of being the primary bringer of the morning and evening. Between constant attacks from the mysterious Sirens and the growing boldness of the Unseelie Court of Fae, she has found little time to keep up with her own friend group. She worries that without the strong bonds of friendship, the Elements of Harmony might not be enough to save Equestria this time…

Dramatis Personae

The Seekers of Harmony

Spike, assistant to Princess Twilight, librarian (dragon male)

Apple Bloom, farmer, handipony, sister of Applejack (earth pony female)

Scootaloo, local babysitter, part-time farmer, surrogate sister of Rainbow Dash (pegasus female)

Sweetie Belle, seamstress, radio singer, sister of Rarity (unicorn female)

Rumble, pony-at-arms (pegasus male)

Button Mash, cashier, puppeteer, storyteller (earth pony male)

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony

Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian Princess (alicorn female)

Applejack, farmer, former Mayor of Ponyville, sister of Apple Bloom (earth pony female)

Rainbow Dash, athlete, actress, Captain of the Wonderbolts, surrogate sister of Scootaloo (pegasus female)

Fluttershy, wildlife caretaker (pegasus female)

Rarity, seamstress, entrepreneur, philanthropist, sister of Sweetie Belle (unicorn female)

Pinkie Pie, Official Party Pony, former Vice-Mayor of Ponyville (earth pony female)

Of or Related to Canterlot

Celestia, semi-retired Equestrian High Princess, teacher at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, sister of Luna (alicorn female)

Luna, Equestrian High Princess, sister of Celestia (alicorn female)

Natter, Equestrian Royal Scheduling Advisor, Sky Wishes’ boyfriend (unicorn male)

Sky Wishes, Canterlot Castle maid, Natter’s girlfriend (pegasus female)

Flower Wishes, Nurse at Canterlot General (earth pony female)

Chrysalis the Tyrant, deceased, Queen of the Changelings, mother of Chrysalis the Second (changeling female)

Abacus Cinch, headmaster of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, former personal student of Celestia (unicorn female)

Sunburst, professor at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, former tutor of Flurry Heart (unicorn male)

Of or Related to Felaccia

Andean Ursagryph, King of Felaccia, husband of Fayr (griffon male)

Fayr Ursagryph, deceased, Queen of Felaccia, wife of Andean (griffon female)

Corona Ursagryph, Princess of Felaccia, daughter of Andean and Fayr (griffon female)

Stella Ursagryph, Princess of Felaccia, daughter of Andean and Fayr (griffon female)

Chrysalis the Second (aka. Chrysalis the Last), Queen of the Changelings, daughter of Shining (changeling female)

Mangle, President of Beefland (minotaur male)

Seabreeze, High Pariah of Breezy Bastion (breezie male)

Crested Barbary, Captain of the Blitzwings, brother of Morphnus (griffon male)

Morphnus Barbary, Felaccian Lord, brother of Crested (griffon male)

Bubo Tigris, Felaccian Lord (griffon male)

Aquila Gildwing, Felaccian Lord (griffon male)

Mellori Corvus, Felaccian Chamberlain (griffon male)

Of or Related to the Sparkle Family

Mi Amore Cadenza (aka. Cadence), Equestrian Princess, wife of Shining Armor (alicorn female)

Shining Armor, Equestrian Prince, husband of Cadence, brother of Twilight Sparkle (unicorn male)

Flurry Heart, Equestrian Princess, daughter of Cadence and Shining, personal student of Celestia (alicorn female)

Twilight Amore, Equestrian Princess, daughter of Cadence and Shining (pegasus female)

Silver Lance, Equestrian Prince, son of Cadence and Shining (unicorn male)

Twilight Velvet, former police chief, leader of the Knights of Harmony, mother of Twilight and Shining (unicorn female)

Night Light, astronomy instructor, father of Twilight and Shining (unicorn male)

Sunset Shimmer, alternate-universe inhabitant, schoolteacher, Archmage of Canter City (alicorn female)

Of or Related to the Apple Family

Big Macintosh (aka. Big Mac, aka. Mac), farmer, brother of Applejack and Apple Bloom (earth pony male)

Cheerilee, schoolteacher, wife of Big Macintosh (earth pony female)

Cinnamon Apple, daughter of Big Mac and Cheerilee (earth pony female)

Grand Pear, retired farmer, grandfather of Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom (earth pony male)

Granny Smith, deceased, farmer, grandmother of Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom (earth pony female)

Of or Related to the Cake Family

Pound Cake, local baker’s son, twin brother of Pumpkin (pegasus male)

Pumpkin Cake, local miscreant, twin sister of Pound (unicorn female)

Patty Cake, daughter of Carrot and Cup (pegasus female)

Rice Cake, son of Carrot and Cup (unicorn male)

Carrot Cake, local baker, father of Pound, Pumpkin, Patty, and Rice (earth pony male)

Cup Cake, local baker, mother of Pound, Pumpkin, Patty, and Rice (earth pony female)

Discord, former Lord of Chaos, being of thought, friend of Fluttershy and Pumpkin (draconequus male)

Of or Related to the Equestrian Military

Care Carrot, former Captain of Celestia’s Personal Guard, Knight of Harmony—Sentinel (unicorn female)

Martial Paw, former Felaccian soldier, nephew of Andean Ursagryph, Knight of Harmony—History (griffon male)

Blankety Blank (aka. Mandible), former servant of Chrysalis the Tyrant, Knight of Harmony—Secrets (changeling male)

Skyhook, former Captain of Luna’s Personal Guard, Captain of Twilight’s Personal Guard (bat pony male)

Stonewall, Canterlot’s Captain of the Guard, Centurion in the Equestrian Army (pegasus female)

Sturm, personal guard of Celestia (earth pony male)

Drang, personal guard of Celestia (earth pony male)

Coldstone, personal guard of Twilight (crystal pony male)

Snowcap, personal guard of Twilight (unicorn female)

Windblown, personal guard of Twilight (pegasus male)

Time Turner, deceased, Knight of Harmony—Time, husband of Daring Do, mentor of Dinky, (earth pony male)

Daring Do (aka. A.K. Yearling), deceased, Knight of Harmony—History, wife of Time Turner, mentor of Martial Paw, (pegasus female)

Of or Related to Ponyville

Davenport, salesman, entrepreneur, adoptive father of Scootaloo (earth pony male)

Roseluck, gardener, entrepreneur, adoptive mother of Scootaloo (earth pony female)

Pipsqueak (aka. Pip), farmer, Dinky’s fiancé (earth pony male)

Dinky, entrepreneur, clock smith, Pip’s fiancé (unicorn female)

Lickety Split, drifter, Button Mash’s older brother, Scootaloo’s ex-boyfriend (earth pony male)

Peppermint Twist, local candymaker (earth pony female)

Snipsy Snap (aka. Snips), town barber, brother of Lily Longsocks (unicorn male)

Snailsquirm (aka. Snails), construction worker (unicorn male)

Lily Longsocks, local beautician, sister of Snips (earth pony female)

Featherweight, local delivery pony, son of Snowflake (pegasus male)

Bulk Biceps (aka. Snowflake), local weather pony, father of Featherweight (pegasus male)

Thunderlane, local weather pony, brother of Rumble, husband of Cloudkicker (pegasus male)

Cloudkicker, Captain of the Ponyville Weather Brigade, wife of Thunderlane (pegasus female)

Dovetail, daughter of Thunderlane and Cloudkicker, twin sister of Summer Wind (pegasus female)

Summer Wind, daughter of Thunderlane and Cloudkicker, twin sister of Dovetail (pegasus female)

Redheart, nurse at Ponyville General (earth pony female)

Filthy Rich, owner of Barnyard Bargains, father of Diamond Tiara (earth pony male)

Silver Spoon Sr., owner of the Silver Spoon Restaurant, father of Silver Spoon (earth pony male)

Ribbon Wishes, town plumber, Seelie Court Psychopomp (fairy creature disguised as a unicorn female)

Of or Related to the Cauldron

Ember, Dragon Lord (dragon female)

Garble, commander of the dragon army (allegedly), brother of Smolder (dragon male)

Shardscale (aka. Shard), Chronicler of the World, Chronicler of the Dragons (dragon female)

Leviathan (aka. Levi), Librarian of the Cauldron, Keeper of Dragon Knowledge Limited Though it May Be (dragon male)

Of or Related to the Far Side of the World

Smolder, student of friendship, sister of Garble (dragon female)

Sandbar, student of friendship (earth pony male)

Yona, student of friendship (yak female)

Ocellus, student of friendship, former servant of Chrysalis the Tyrant (changeling female)

Silverstream, student of friendship, niece of Novo (hippogriff female)

Gallus, student of friendship, former inhabitant of Griffonstone (griffon male)

Thorax, King of the Changelings, former servant of Chrysalis the Tyrant (changeling male)

Novo, Queen of the Hippogriffs (hippogriff female)

Pharynx, Changeling Captain of the Guard, former servant of Chrysalis the Tyrant (changeling male)

Of or Related to the Founders of Equestria

Starswirl the Bearded, Archmage of Equestria (unicorn male)

Clover the Clever, deceased, Archmage of Equestria, former apprentice of Starswirl, wife of Periwinkle (unicorn female)

Pansy, deceased, Centurian of the Equestrian Army (pegasus male)

Smart Cookie, deceased, Mayor of Ft. Everfree, wife of Gregor, mother of Moshe (earth pony female)

Platinum, deceased, Queen of the Crystal Empire, Princess of Equestria, mother of Periwinkle and Sombra (unicorn female)

Puddinghead, deceased, Mayor of Ft. Everfree, Chancellor of Equestria (earth pony male)

Hurricane, deceased, Commander of the Equestrian Army, assassin, traitor (pegasus female)

Periwinkle (aka. Peri), deceased, Prince of the Crystal Empire, abdicated Prince of Equestria, son of Platinum, husband of Clover (unicorn male)

Gregor, deceased, member of the Leo tribe of Felaccia, founder of Griffonstone, husband of Smart Cookie, father of Moshe (griffon male)

Moshe, deceased, first hippogriff, founder of Mt. Aris, son of Smart Cookie and Gregor (hippogriff male)

Of or Related to the Unseelie Court of Fae

The Master (aka. Lord of the Sky, aka. Ba'al), Lord of the Unseelie Court of Fae (fairy creature)

Jeuk, Princeling of the Unseelie Court of Fae—Equestrian region (fairy creature)

Merimna, apprentice to Jeuk, temporary Princeling of Equestria (fairy creature)

Shadowfright, Princeling of the Unseelie Court of Fae—Unconscious region, leader of the Nightmare Forces (fairy creature)

Bête Noire, Princeling of the Unseelie Court of Fae—Undiscovered West region, temporary leader of the Nightmare Forces (fairy creature)

Bean Sidhe, Princeling of the Unseelie Court of Fae—Frozen North region, leader of the windigoes (fairy creature)

Alazṓn Half-Djinn, Lord of New Babologna (Bæ-bə-LOH-nee), Usurper of Saddle Arabia, (Arabian Horse male)

Of or Related to the Sirens

Merry Mare, Mother of the Sirens, local therapist, once and future Mayor of Ponyville (earth pony female)

Adagio Dazzle, Crone of the Sirens, gemstone carver and enchanter, nuisance (earth pony female)

Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens, owner of the Silver Spoon Restaurant (earth pony female)

Caution Tape, inmate, former Captain of Princess Celestia’s Personal Guard (earth pony male)

Rhombus, inmate, former associate of Dr. Caballeron (pegasus male)

Lacer (aka. Lacer the Displacer), inmate, thug for hire (displacer beast male)

Midnight Sparkle (aka. Dr. Midnight), inmate, alternate-universe Twilight Sparkle, granted Doctorate of Magic at Sombra’s School for Extraordinary Foals (unicorn female)

Scuttlebutt, inmate, cannibal, associate of Merry Mare (wight male)

Aspen, inmate, former advisor to the Lord of Lightning Gale (donkey male)

Sunset Shimmer, former alternate-universe inhabitant, schoolteacher, friend of Adagio Dazzle (unicorn female)

Diamond Tiara, friend of Silver Spoon, daughter of Filthy Rich (earth pony female)

Happy, deceased, son of Merry (earth pony male)

The Growing Darkness

Applejack knew she was winning no popularity contests that day.

She sat before the front desk of city hall on a mission for justice. Or at least the recovery of something precious to her. She tapped her hoof impatiently as she glared daggers at the receptionist. For many years, a coworker. Nowadays, just another nuisance in the red tape-lined machinations of Bureaucratic Equestria.

Applejack had chosen not to run for reelection. Gladly. Her quest to improve Ponyville’s budget to reallocate funds towards repairing the roads had completed successfully. Despite the protestors. Despite the endless hours of arguments. Despite the union negotiations and the equipment failures and the newspapers criticizing her detours despite the fact that she hadn’t planned those routes.

She had approved them, but that was beside the point.

And then there were the messes with Discord. And Hurricane. And Cloudsdale’s destruction causing weather to go wildly out of wing, which required restructuring the Weather Patrol just after Rainbow Dash had resigned from it and… and…

Applejack lowered her hat over her eyes and heaved a sigh.

It hadn’t even been a close race for the new mayor. Filthy Rich lost by a landslide, under reassurance from Merry’s supporters that his term would be “Applejack two-point-oh.” Movements had already been made to restructure the budget back to what it looked like before Applejack’s term, with all the bits going to celebrations rather than infrastructure and maintenance. And fair enough! Applejack’s work was done, and she could finally, finally, finally return to what she was always meant to do: Farm apples.

That said, the speed at which she had been ejected from office was just a little insulting.

Barely a week had gone by before Merry and her crew moved in, making renovations and claiming offices. Though Applejack was still Lord Mayor of Ponyville at the time, she had about as much authority around City Hall as the church mice hiding under the floorboards. She had been scooted out but quick, and had scarcely a moment to pack her bags before being tossed out on her rear.

Things had been left behind.

The door opened at last, and the mare of the hour, Merry Mare, Lord Mayor of Ponyville, entered the waiting area with a practiced smile on her muzzle. “Applejack! What a surprise! I didn’t expect you around here until tax season at least.”

Applejack forced her tired face into a friendly-ish sort of smile. “Sure as shootin’, I was hopin’ the same thing, your lordship. Turns out I left somethin’ behind, and I’m really hoping you ain’t done thrown it out.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Merry tilted her head towards the inner rooms of City Hall. “Follow me. We might have your things in storage.”

Applejack wanted to brush the mare off, to tell her that she knew her way around the offices well enough, but darn it, she didn’t have that authority anymore. “Sure thing, Merry.”

She and Merry walked side by side through the now-familiar hallways and meeting rooms of Ponyville’s lovely, hoof-crafted City Hall. Applejack felt the last four years rush back all at once. It hadn’t all been bad. Ponyville had become a city beneath her watchful gaze. The roads had been improved. Commerce and trade had bloomed, while the population had increased nearly threefold.

She wished she could feel pride for any of that, but all that was left was bitter disappointment. A huge chunk of that population had come from people fleeing the destruction of Cloudsdale, who would soon be moving to their new home. The roads would likely go another four years before any meaningful maintenance could occur. Anybody who championed values even vaguely similar to Applejack’s—hard work, cooperation, and diligence—would be laughed out of office before they could even run.

So what was the point?

Silver Spoon looked up from a scroll as they entered the library, where a good few boxes had been stacked along a bookshelf. She adjusted the silver-rimmed glasses on her nose and gave Applejack a magnanimous smile. “Mayor Applejack, welcome back. Once a mayor, always a mayor, they say.”

“Creator take it, I hope not.” She muttered it under her breath, but still felt like the other two mares heard it loud and clear. She gestured to the boxes, which were all marked “misc.” in a surefire bet to be filed away and never looked at again. “These where you bundled up our stuff?”

“Hopefully, you can find what you’re looking for.” Merry caught Silver Spoon’s eyes and jerked her head towards the main office. “If you’ll excuse me, Silver and I have a meeting to attend. We can’t keep the others waiting.”

Applejack wrinkled her muzzle. Silver Spoon was an odd enough choice for Assistant Mayor, that’s for sure. She never had an inkling that the young mare woulda had an interest in politics. She seemed more the “glamor and glitz” type, what with wearing a pearl necklace in place of a cravat. A little more self-interested than civic-minded, if you asked Applejack. Not that she was judging. Clearly, Silver had enough chutzpa to make it politically, if her new job in City Hall was anything to go on.

When the mayor and assistant mayor had closed the door behind them, Applejhack was left with a few ponies looking through the records of Ponyville. Literature from the first hours of the town to the present day could be found within the shelves. Books bound by hoof, scrolls scribed by unicorn horn, hoofwritten and printed works. It was a little like a museum at times, and more like a mausoleum at others. Applejack grunted as she hefted one of the miscellaneous boxes to a table so she could sort through the contents. She found a lot of her own items within; a well-worn pen, a pendant from her first year in office, a tacky doily she planned to surreptitiously leave behind… but nothing of real value, not to her.

It continued that way, box after box, for a couple of hours. After a while, she’d managed to collect a small pile of keepsakes and baubles she was willing to clutter her home with. Still, her end goal eluded her. She sat back in the wooden chair and rubbed her head just beneath the brim of her hat. She was tired. The library was stuffy. It was possible they had simply thrown out her prize rather than store it. She could just give up. Go home. Eat supper and rest.

But no, she thought as she covered her eyes with her hooves. She was too stupid to give up.

As she lowered her hooves to the table, a pink-coated mare came into view. A second glance told her it was not Pinkie Pie, but a younger pony in her early twenties. Similar to Silver Spoon in that she woulda never guessed she’d see her in City Hall on her lonesome. “Diamond Tiara?”

Diamond was a pretty mare, no mistake. Had been since she was a little thing, when she and Apple Bloom shared a class at Ponyville Schoolhouse. She and Bloom had their rough spells, but age and maturity had evened out the two of them… brought them to an understanding of each other. A respect.

But something odd had happened in the last few years. The luster had left her eyes. Her once quick wit had faded to a shallow knee-jerk belittlement of everything she encountered. She even seemed to lose her pride in herself, content to follow around Silver Spoon like a dog following an abusive owner. Her personal health had taken a dive, too, leaving her gaunt as she failed to take in proper nutrients.

What little Applejack knew of her situation was that she had quit her job at her pa’s business, Barnyard Bargains, and gone to live with Silver Spoon after briefly disappearing for a few days. Applejack’s heart broke a little seeing the young mare look so dour. So defeated. The young mare stared at the wall, dead to the world, her thoughts to herself.

Applejack gently touched the mare’s shoulder, and Diamond jolted out of her lifeless reverie. She glanced over her shoulder and tilted her head back to look Applejack in the eye.

Before things could get awkward, Applejack cleared her throat. “Howdy, Diamond. Been a while since I seen you around. Doin’ well for yourself?”

Diamond’s face shifted, as if she was sick to her stomach. The emotion faded, and was replaced with what appeared to be resignation. “Hard to tell these days, Ma—ahem—Applejack.” Some slight hint of snarky backtalk snuck its way out of the depths of her soul. “I thought you woulda left City Hall far behind after what Merry’s party put you through the last couple years.”

“Some things are important enough that you gotta brave the gates of heck itself.” Applejack gestured limply to the piles of unexamined boxes. “Lost a family photo the day I got ousted. Old one. Probably around… nine-ninety-nine? Or one-thousand? One o’ those years.”

“I guess you Apples do get sentimental about stuff like that.” Diamond snorted and took a moment to adjust the small, glittering tiara she always seemed to wear out on the town. It remained ever-so-slightly lopsided. “Must be nice.”

Applejack knew when she wasn’t wanted. She knew she could just walk away and the both of them would probably be happier for it. But darned if she wasn’t curious. “Sure is. What brings you to City Hall?”

Diamond shrugged. Her pink tail swished softly behind her. “I don’t have much to do while Silver’s at work. Might as well just hang around.”

Applejack pulled back the corner of her lips. “Not much of a day, if’n you ask me.”

“I didn’t.” Diamond scoffed and walked over to the stack of boxes. “Whatever. You wouldn’t get it.”

“Maybe not.” Applejack walked over to the opposite side of the pile, putting as much distance between herself and the mare as politely possible. Diamond’s glum expression frustrated Applejack, despite her sense of pity. As far as Applejack could see, Diamond knew something was wrong, but didn’t want to do anything about it. And she certainly didn’t want Applejack’s help.

After a moment of silence, Diamond stopped moving. Applejack glanced her way and saw her holding a photograph. Diamond’s expression hadn’t changed, but her breath was held, and her eyes were fixed. Applejack opted to ignore her, but a small voice came from her. “I think I found it.”

Applejack squared her shoulders and choked down the metaphorical bile in her mouth. She came alongside Diamond and looked at the tiny picture. It was of herself, with Big Mac and Apple Bloom, all wearing bunny ears as they prepared for the Zap Apple harvest. Off to the side, Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara stood, while in the middle, central to the whole thing, was Granny Smith.

She took the picture gently from Diamond. “Yeah. This is it.”

It had been almost seven long years since Granny had passed away. Gone to join her husband, son, and daughter-in-law among the stars. The matriarch of the Apple Family. Applejack’s role model. Her mother-figure.

Diamond stared at the picture for a different reason. In it, she was hugging her father closely while the two of them smiled. “Simpler times, I guess. The world wasn’t as ugly then.”

“It was just as ugly then as it is now,” Applejack said quietly. “We just didn’t let it bug us.”

Applejack tucked the picture into the box of things she’d collected. With her search done, there didn’t seem to be much need to continue picking through the junk. She paused, looking over her shoulder and Diamond. “Take care of yourself, Diamond Tiara. Ain’t at the end of it, yet. Find your reason to keep moving.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Applejack strode through the familiar halls of the building with the box perched on her back. She walked past the information desk without looking at the stallion running it, whose stupid face tended to incite violence in Applejack’s mind. She said goodbye to nobody, talked to nobody, and was noticed by nobody.

She returned home for hopefully a far more productive day on the farm.

Merry Mare stood in front of a magic mirror she kept in the basement of her home. “Basement” was possibly the wrong word to use, considering the fact that it was just as nicely furnished as her upstairs and had a door to the sunken backyard. In fact, when she had company over, she was more likely to entertain them here than in her upstairs dining room. The mirror was, in essence, hidden I plain sight.

It had no adornments that could be seen unless one knew where to look. No strangeness about it unless one had the knowledge required to understand high-level enchantments. Certain mirrors could show things that were hidden, or far away. Certain mirrors could even carry sound.

This mirror could carry living beings.

Merry pulled on a cloak made from soft green fabric. She touched a hoof to the yellow gemstone necklace she wore, whose stone carried arcane enchantments understood only by one mare in particular. An ancient mare who had lived for three-thousand years. They were about to meet with this mare for the first time in months.

But even she was not the most dangerous or long-lived thing on the far side of the mirror.

Merry Mare licked dry lips. She glanced at Silver Spoon, whose blue gemstone necklace glimmered from beneath her black cloak. “Are you ready?”

“Born ready, ma’am.” Silver Spoon brazenly walked past Merry and put her hoof to the glass. She hummed a short tune, causing her necklace to shimmer with magic. Her image on the mirror’s surface warped and danced until it took on an entirely new form, that of a dark forest. Silver slipped through the glass like a pony walking through a waterfall, and was gone.

Merry steeled herself, pulled her hood over her mane, and entered the mirror. She was transported in an instant across hill and dale, across rivers and canyons, to a cavern far beneath a hidden mountain. Trees surrounded her on every side, their leaves glistening with a faint golden hue. Though sunlight could not reach them this far belowground, their roots clawed up the walls of the cave to the surface, where golden veins brought nutrients to the imprisoned trees.

Everything about them, from their bark, to their leaves, to their fruit, had some essence of gold. It drew the eye and quickened the heart. But the riches of the forest were not monetary, necessarily. These trees were the last in Equestria which could grow the coveted Golden Apples.

“Hurry up, Merry!” Silver Spoon bit into one such apple, its glistening juices lending strength and vigor to her body. “They’re waiting for us.”

Merry Mare walked carefully over the exposed roots and fallen branches of the Grove of Golden Apples. A faint mist filled the air as water drizzled down from a concave pool at the top of the mountain, eroding the stone and creating a bed of mineral-rich soil where the trees could thrive. Shadows dwelt in the mists; fairy creatures whose purposes were unknown to Merry. She saw eyes of many different hues appear for an instant before vanishing just as quickly. The dark powers of the world were carrying news of her arrival to their lord.

She came to a clearing in the center of the mountain. The largest golden apple tree could be found here, whose leaves and branches were few and far between the roots that both dug down and clawed for the heavens. The trunk was made up of many smaller, intertwining pillars of gilded wood that swirled and spun, mated and forked, like a wooden spider web. Facing the clearing, a mirror had been embedded into the trunk, on which could be found not a reflection, but a roiling mass of emptiness.

Stallions surrounded the clearing, their coats darkened to a deep gray and their eyes dulled. They had given up their free will in order to fully serve their masters, dedicating their entire body and mind to the ones known to Equestria as the Sirens.

Merry Mare was, of course, their leader.

The stallions bowed as one and chanted their designated greeting. “All hail Merry Mare, Mother of the Sirens! All hail Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens!”

A third mare stood in the center of the clearing, next to a wooden table carved from the wood of fallen golden apple trees. She turned at the sound of the stallions’ booming voices and gave Merry a smirk. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. I’ve been waiting for hours now! I swear, that new job of yours is taking too much time away from what’s really important.”

Merry Mare glanced down at the gemstone attached to the mare’s choker necklace. It was the red one which completed the set of three. The mare who wore it was ancient, but didn’t look nearly three-thousand. In fact, she had guessed she was only a decade older than Merry herself when they’d first met. Her coat still held a vibrant orange color, and her flowing curls were only tinged with gray. “Adagio Dazzle, Crone of the Sirens. How are you?”

“No need to be so formal, Merry.” Adagio Dazzle took a seat and gestured at the two others situated around the hoof-carved table. “How long’ve we known each other? Ten years? Longer? It tends to run together.”

Silver Spoon glanced at the mirror embedded into the tree. “So? Has he made an appearance yet?”

“Nah.” Adagio Dazzle’s smirk became a touch rueful. “The Master likes to keep his obedient little minions waiting, doesn’t he?”

Merry pressed her teeth together behind closed lips. “He’ll make an appearance when he has something to say. Until then…” She glanced left and right, more to remind herself of the shadows lurking on the edge of the clearing than to avoid being overheard. “You have heard the rumors?”

Adagio’s expression lost its hint of mischief, falling to a grim certainty. “Yeah. And I think they’re more than rumors. I’ve been keeping an eye on the magic flowing around the Everfree Forest. One type is getting weaker by the day.”

Silver Spoon grinned and leaned her chin on crossed forelegs. “So the Tree of Harmony is dying at last.”

With that said, the forest grew quiet. The air chilled. The very breath in their lungs seemed to be stolen. A fierce shiver traced itself down Merry’s spine, and for an instant, she considered fleeing. She considered running as far away from the grove and its inhabitants as equinely possible. She considered belching forth all she knew of the grove and the fairies therein to the Equestrian authorities, or perhaps even throwing herself off the greatest gorge and ending her suffering then and there.

But she swallowed her fear, let it lend her greater clarity of mind and heightened awareness. This grove, this life she’d chosen, the power of the Sirens itself, was the only chance she had to resurrect her son, Happy.

She turned to look at the mirror, from which the chilling, overpowering fear issued. For a moment, greedy green eyes could be seen peering from among the turmoil, but they were soon replaced by a fairy. He took the form of a nondescript pony, gray of coat and black of mane, whose slate-gray eyes never made contact with hers. A black suit and hat covered his body, and the only shock of color was the red tie he wore around his neck.

The dark stallions around the glade bowed once again. “Hail Jeuk, Princeling of the Unseelie Court!”

Adagio rolled her eyes. “Jeuk again? I guess the Master’s too busy to make an appearance? You guys have a lot of parties in the Abyss?”

Jeuk let out his characteristic stuttering laugh. “Amusing, Crone. Most very amusing. The Master has many preparations to make, and has left me in charge of the worldly affairs.” His gray eyes glinted with intelligence and malice. “The rumors are indeed true, Sirens of Equestria. The Tree of Harmony is dying. The Elements within its branches are fading. Our poison and the bitterness of time have battered the poor thing to the point that it is barely holding on.” He shuddered, the cold emptiness of the Abyss causing discomfort even to a being of magic such as himself. He pulled a long coat over his shoulders, but it did not keep out the chill. “And so the time for us to be freed from the Abyss has come at last. Crone Adagio, have you completed the new magic mirror?”

“Yeah. It’s practically a replica of the one we stole from Twilight’s library.” Adagio leaned her cheek on her hoof and sat sideways on her chair, the very picture of bad posture. “With a link directly to the Abyss. It’s ready when you are.”

“Excellent!” Jerk grinned, and Merry’s stomach churned at the sight. “Then we need only a few more things. One: to free the prisoners from the hidden prison of Solitaire.”

Silver Spoon laughed aloud, clutching her blue gemstone tight between her hooves. “I’ve been waiting to take this baby out for a test drive. Leave the prisoners to me!”

“Very well, my lovely Maiden.” Jeuk nodded, rubbing his chin as he looked her up and down. “You have proven to be of… uneven success thus far. See to it you do not repeat the near-disaster of the caves beneath Canterlot.”

Silver Spoon’s neck stiffened, but she cleared her throat and spoke with a sickly-sweet voice. “As you command, Princeling Jeuk.”

“Second,” he said, not responding to Silver’s apology, “we need to ensure the Tree of Harmony’s death, and retrieve the Journal of Clover the Clever from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.”

“I shall take a force of thralls.”

Merry nearly jumped from her seat as a fourth visitor at their table spoke up. It was a fairy creature, who had not announced their presence nor been declared by the enthralled ponies around the clearing. He was a sickening sight, all exposed bones and dangling skin, barely cloaked by a long coat and wide-brimmed hat. His skeletal mouth creaked open as a hissing voice spoke out of the emptiness. “I will ensure that the Tree dies and the book is found, my prince. You can rely on me.”

“See to it, Merimna.” Jeuk’s gray eyes fell upon Merry and seemed to bore into her soul, seeking her thoughts. “With the Crone seeing to the mirror, that leaves you for the third task, Merry.” He tilted his head to the side and looked to the south. “There is a pony you know well by the name of Fluttershy. Some time ago, she received a gift from the Unseelie Court. We require it back.” The fairy seemed to take great delight in the anger he was causing Merry. “Bring her to us… alive, yes, please do not kill her. I wouldn’t dare ask you to slay the childhood friend of your beloved son.”

Before she knew it, Merry had risen to her feet, leaving her chair on the ground behind her. She slammed her hooves on the table and bared her teeth at the fairy. “The gift you tricked her into accepting! If you hadn’t attempted to kill her, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!”

“Beside the point, Mother. Merry. Mayor.” Jeuk retreated into the chaos within the Abyss, fading from the face of the mirror. “Time grows short. The Master’s return is at hand.”

With that, the great sensation of fear vanished from the Grove of Golden Apples.

Merimna hissed a falsified breath. “I shall take my soldiers to the Everfree Forest.” He, too, disappeared into the darkness.

The three sirens, the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, sat around the table in the darkness, alone save for the mindless ponies who awaited their word. They stared at each other, their gemstones glittering in the dark. The magic within their hearts mingled and wrestled with the magic of their gemstones, so foreign to each other, and yet required to dovetail.

As was oft the case, the magic of the Sirens manifested in song. Despite herself, Merry couldn’t stop her own thoughts from modifying the music.

“It’s a knife in the dark
It’s a line upon the sand
We are fueled by hate
And cannot wait
To rule this lovely land

“There are people we’ve lost
There are wounds we cannot heal
But we’ll always fight
As is our right
For impossible things made real

“To restore the loved ones who were taken from us
The fated return of all that we hold dear”

She leaped upon the table and called the Thralls who were stationed in the grove to her. Dozens of ponies, armored and armed, marched to the clearing to watch the performance of the sirens. More numerous than the Thralls were the ponies who had willingly joined the sirens. Their discord and malcontent with the current state of Equestria pooled into the song, lending their magic to the Sirens themselves.

“There’s a war to begin
A battle to win
Gathered in the fairies’ court

“Though the alicorns are mighty
There is nothing that can stand against the righteous

“Gather to me
We’ll finally see
A victorious report

“We’ll level all their cities
’Til there’s nothing to be found but loose detritus”

Adagio let out a small chuckle as Merry returned to her seat, though no mirth could be found in her smile. She glanced back and forth at the audience Merry had summoned and sang her verse.

“So that’s all that there is
The finale, end of line
We will lie to thus
And lie to us
That it’s all perfectly fine

“As we lead this great crew
As we strike the kingdom’s heart
Our foe bleeds out
Without a doubt
Her soul will soon depart

“And we will ignore our souls so filled with evil
Ripe to be stolen away by fairy hands”

Adagio scowled at the other two sirens, waving a hoof at the ponies dancing and parading around them, her curls spilling out of her hood as she sang without igniting the power of her gemstone, the Siren’s Sigil. She looked to Merry most significantly, as Silver seemed happy to ignore her as she observed the celebrating army.

“There’s a war to begin
A battle to win
It’s the battle for your heart

“I know that you are hurting
There’s a deep and painful yearning for your child

“Be honest with me
Can you actually be
So committed to your part

“Wouldn’t Happy be unhappy
If he saw your mighty army running wild?”

Silver Spoon rose at last, putting a hoof on Adagio’s shoulder and forcing her back into her seat. She smiled sweetly, looking over her glasses at Merry as she gently rubbed Adagio’s shoulders.

“Give her a moment
Filled with quiet introspection

“Let her remember
Happy who she will adore
Evermore

“The power at our disposal
Is a sound rejection

“Of that dark fate
Reiterate
He’ll be brought back to life
No sign of strife
Back to liiiiife!”

Silver Spoon spun on the gathered audience as the ponies beneath her spell joined in with her chorus. She left Merry and Adagio to pick up the harmony to her melody. Her voice boomed throughout the cavern as she solidified the Sirens’ hold on their army, with the chatter of the Unseelie Court of Fae never truly dying down.

“There’s a war to begin
A battle to win
It’s a battle for the sun

“Yes, our victory is coming
We will strike ’til they are nothing but a memory

“We begin tonight
Our meaningful fight
To rescue Merry’s son

“To restore what once was broken
That the closed will be reopened, for your family

“The alicorns are soon to fall
We crush their bodies, souls and all
And end the battle
This is our battle
We march to battle!”

The audience departed, each to their assigned positions. Some to Canterlot, some to Ponyville, some even across the eastern seas. Silver Spoon gave Adagio a smirk that put even the elder siren to shame. “That’s how you rile up a crowd. I respect you attempting to harden Merry’s resolve, but…” She glanced at Merry Mare with pursed lips. “You gotta leave your doubts behind. This is the end. The result of all we’ve been working for. We’re going to free Equestria from the alicorns and become its rightful rulers. There is no room for second thoughts.”

Silver Spoon retreated from the clearing, on a beeline towards where Solitaire sat offshore.

Adagio pulled her red hood tighter over her bountiful curls. She gave Merry a firm, unwavering glare. She tilted her head towards Silver and spoke quietly, so that her voice didn’t carry in the Grove. “You buy that?”

“I buy it as much as I’ve bought into any of this.” Merry Mare pulled her glasses from her muzzle and wiped the lenses with the edge of her cloak. “Every attempt to restore my son to me has met with failure and lies, and yet, the Unseelie Court is my last best hope. After the alicorns are dead and fairy control of the sun and moon is restored, at least the world will be set back to its proper order.”

“Oh yeah, sure, good good.” Adagio gritted her teeth and leaned across the table towards Merry. “I much prefer the idea of Jeuk having control of the sun. Doesn’t that just sound like the best idea ever?”

“Sarcasm becomes you, my friend.” Merry laughed lightly. She steepled her hooves in front of her nose. “My goals have always been twofold, Adagio. Rescue my son from the shadow of death, and rescue Equestria from those who have abused the sun.” She lowered her ears and narrowed her eyes. “And you… you, who have been a siren for thousands of years, what is your stake now? Do you seek to restore Aria and Sonata back to life?”

Adagio sighed through her nose. “Would they even want to come back to life? I don’t think it’s possible. Even if it is…” She shook her head and stood from the table. “Sometimes, it becomes hard to break a habit. Sometimes, life grabs onto you and won’t let go until you’re dead. You know?” When Merry couldn’t respond, she grabbed her shoulder and dragged her upright. “Come on, we’ve got our missions. Equestria awaits conquest and all those horseapples.”

With that said, Merry returned to Ponyville. As she stowed away the gemstone—the Siren’s Sigil—she began to plan out how she might bring Fluttershy to the Grove of Golden Apples. She would need to wait for just the right moment…

And, she would need to fight tooth and nail to keep the fairies from killing Fluttershy outright.

The prison known as Solitaire was a nine-story building, submerged in the ocean up to its top few floors. Each floor held convicts convicted of similar crimes, from those soon to be released on the top floor, to the bottom rung on the ladder, which held traitors to their own kingdom.

Caution Tape was one of these individuals. Once Princess Celestia’s most trusted bodyguard, hero of Equestria, now a traitor, an attempted murderer and assassin. The red-coated earth pony stared at his own reflection. He had not grown an ounce weaker while in prison, but remained one of the strongest earth ponies of the modern era. His milky, dead left eye—an injury received from Prince Blueblood himself—served as a reminder that he could not take back what he had done. He could only push forward. He could only reach for the stars.

His love was dead. Aria Blaze had been slain two or three years ago. The mare he’d been fighting for, who he had betrayed Celestia to see once more, had been pushed from her balcony by a vengeful former friend. He hadn’t even gotten the opportunity to say goodbye, nor to visit her grave, which lay in another world. Caution had mourned while Jeuk chuckled in his own crafty, cackling way.

Jeuk… the creature Caution hated most in the world, and yet also the one he needed the most.

Though Jeuk had not delivered Aria to Caution’s side, he had delivered her final letter. It was one written hastily, without much planning or direction. It was a spilling forth of everything the mare had on her heart. Apology, farewell, and regret all in one package. It contained a small, precious piece of news. One that Caution would carry in his heart for the rest of his days.

He was a father.

Caution was a father.

He had a daughter, somewhere in the world. One with Aria’s eyes. A pegasus mare, born twenty-one years ago. His only chance to ever see her, to leave Solitaire behind and restore honor in his own eyes, was to follow Jeuk and his crazy plan to change the landscape of Equestria.

And so, Caution would follow Jeuk.

He looked across the aisle to the cell on the far side, which held a shifting shadow of a creature; a displacer beast, whose coat refracted light to the point of appearing nearly invisible. Caution’s eyes would slide off the creature like water from a bird’s wing. The creature’s name was Lacer. He was imprisoned in this dark hole for the crime of kidnapping Fluttershy, whose position within Equestria most certainly brought the crime from a mere act of violence to one of darkest treachery.

The cell beside him held a stately donkey named Aspen the Aliterative. He had attempted to prevent war between Equestria and Felaccia with the murder of a visiting human from another world, injuring Seabreeze from Breezy Bastion in the process. Though the assassination had failed, war was not forthcoming. So he had spent these many years in Solitaire with the knowledge that his actions came to naught but the loss of his hind leg.

The cell beside Caution’s held Rhombus, a young pegasus stallion just a little older than Caution’s daughter would be. He had once roamed the earth with Dr. Caballeron, but the death of his former employer had left him to be captured by Equestrian authorities. His imprisoning was for kidnapping two mares who were very close to Celestia: Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Apparently, they were associated closely enough with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony that harm to them was harm to the Bearers, and thus was declared high treason.

The floor rumbled beneath Caution’s hooves. He frowned. The building was so sturdy that the constant storm surrounding Solitaire, along with the turbulent waves, could not so much as shake it. Was it an earthquake? A tsunami? Or something else?

“Aha!” Rhombus took to the air and wheeled around his cell. “I hear something in the floor above. Are we finally free?”

“Don’t getcha self too excited.” Caution glared up at the block which made up the ceiling. Dust tumbled as the building was shaken again. “We’ve had close calls afore. Still, make yourselves ready. Oi don’t know what’s up there, but if it’s our way out, we gorra move fast.”

Rhombus gripped the bars of his cell and laughed with pure, boyish delight. “Ah, beautiful Scootaloo, how I’ve longed for the day we’re reunited! Just a wee bit longer, m’dear!”

“Didn’t you listen to a word he said?” Aspen muttered. Rather than look to the ceiling, the donkey was content to play solitaire with the complimentary deck of cards all inmates were given. “One day your libido will burn so brightly that you will be consumed by your own flames of lust.”

“And what would you know of love, you dusty old goat?” Rhombus flapped his wings towards Lacer, who lounged on his cot. “What about you, Lacer? You have somebody waiting for you?”

“Nah, man.” The displacer beast raised his head, and once it reached the full light of the lanterns, it came into full view. He was feline in nature, like a giant panther, with two fanged tentacles on his shoulder blades. “I’m just tryin’ to get money for the family back home. Of course, they probably don’t want nothin’ to do with a traitor like me.”

The rumbling grew louder. The crackle of magic could be heard clearly now, alongside heavy thuds of a large object crashing into the walls. Caution Tape stood at the center of his room, away from any of the walls, lest he be snapped in half by a sudden crushing blow. “I’d advise you lot tah keep clear of the walls. Shockwaves that can rumble these foundations are no joke.”

A scant few moments later, the magic elevator blew open. When the dust settled, Caution saw a lone unicorn mare standing in the midst of their cells. She was covered with a heavy cape, and only her mane was visible to him. It was a mix of purples and lilacs, shaved short as was required of prisoners in Solitaire; nobody wanted the prisoners to strangle themselves on their own manes.

“I am Dr. Midnight,” she said, adjusting the wide glasses on her muzzle. “If you wish to see the sun once more, I suggest you come with me. I’ve been freed by Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens, and tasked with getting you out while she frees Scuttlebutt.”

“Scuttlebutt?” Rhombus tilted his head to the side. “Never heard of him. Friendly chap?”

“Unlikely,” Caution said with a grumble. “He’s a wight. A shapeshifter and cannibal to boot. I’d steer clear of him if you value your skin.”

Aspen placed a king nonchalantly. “I would have guessed he was a gossip.”

He looked at the new arrival, narrowing his eyes at her purple coat and eyes. She looked familiar on a level far beyond mere coincidence. She coulda been Twilight Sparkle’s twin. “Pardon me for sayin’, miss, but are you related to the Sparkle Family?”

“You might say that.” Dr. Midnight lit her horn and tore his cell door out of the wall. She did the same with the other three cells in short order. “Come on, we need to get to the surface.”

With the elevator out of commission, thanks in no small part to the doctor herself, the only path upwards lay with the staircase. Nine flights led them towards the surface. Guards who would have blocked their way were occupied defending the upper floors from the rampaging monster who even now shook the foundations of Solitaire. The few who remained below were quickly dealt with, either by a spell from Dr. Midnight or by a solid right hoof from Caution.

At last, they broke through into the storm above the waves. As Caution stepped into the pouring rain, he saw a sight he would not forget for the rest of his life.

The roof of the prison was flat, allowing an unbroken view of the monster that attacked it. It was a massive sea serpent, with fins flaring as it stalked across the arrival platform. Spells fired from unicorn horns flashed against its scaly body. The magic flew in vain, for the creature’s scales were formed from the very same essence, crystalline in hardness and beautiful to behold. Its head was like a dragon’s, snarling and snapping, while two ribbed, winglike fins protruded from its back. It had only two limbs, two forelegs ending in sharp hooves, while its tail was akin to a whale’s fluke. On its broad chest gleamed a many-faceted blue gemstone, from which magic blazed. It opened its great maw and belted forth a single note, which held the strength to send several strong pegasi crumpling into the sea.

The monster’s eyes flashed as she caught sight of the escaped prisoners. “Get to the ship!”

Aspen gasped aloud, falling to his haunches. “What the blazes is that?”

“Lady Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens.” Dr. Midnight stalked across the slick platform, walking carefully so as not to slip into the churning ocean. “It is to her you owe your freedom.”

Before they could take another step, they were showered with blinding sparks. From the north side of the roof thundered a spell weaved from wild magic. Uncontrolled and unhindered. One such blast struck Caution in the chest and sent him flying onto his back. He scrambled to his feet as Dr. Midnight raised a shield around them. More sparks, like living fireworks, impacted the shield and died out on its surface. Caution looked through the shield and saw the unicorn casting the spell; the warden of the prison. She was a tall mare, maroon in color, who had a broken horn upon her head. Flizzlepop Berrytwist to her friends. Tempest Shadow to her enemies.

Caution had no doubts as to which one he was. “Should oi charge her?”

“Leave her to me.” Dr. Midnight pointed her horn towards the western half of the platform. “You should see what he’s up to.”

Caution wheeled about and caught sight of Aspen making a break for it. Rather than head to the boat that awaited them on the east side, he was making headway for an office on the northwest corner. Caution knew the prison inside and out; it was a communication station, with an antenna connected to a magic siphon that could communicate with any radio with a powerful enough receiver.

Such as the one in Canterlot Castle.

Caution took off after the three-legged donkey, nearly slipping on the slick prison roof as he stepped out of the doctor’s shield. Tempest Shadow attempted to strike him with fireworks again, but an ear-splitting note from Silver Spoon caused her to retreat behind a hastily-built barricade. The remaining guards and soldiers who were stationed on the prison gathered around her, strengthening the barrier with their limbs and whatever spell they could conjure.

Silver Spoon lumbered towards them, murder in her eyes.

Aspen leaped into the comm station and locked the door behind him. Caution could just see him putting on the headset through the rainfall. He practically shouted into the microphone, though his words were obscured by the storm. The donkey’s eyes flashed between the radio itself and the battle outside as he twisted dials for a certain frequency.

Caution grasped the door and tore it from its hinges. Aspen’s voice flew into a frenzy as he walked towards the one-time diplomat. “I repeat! Solitaire is under attack by the Sirens! One of their number is named Silver Spoon! Please, come in! One of the Sirens is named Sil—”

With that said, Caution grabbed Aspen by the neck and jerked him away from the radio. The headphones snapped in half as he threw the donkey to the ground. Aspen raised his hooves to cover his face, but Caution aimed for the chest. He knocked the wind out of Aspen and raised the donkey to a seated position. Unable to scream in pain or terror, Aspen could only wheeze.

“What the hell are you doin’, mate?” Caution growled. “Betrayin’ the Sirens is beggin’ for death!”

“I d—” Aspen coughed, desperately sucking air back into his lungs. “I died the day I betrayed my Lord, Izod. I died the day I was stripped of my title, cast into that hellhole. But even if I’m dead, even if I have been forsaken by everything I love, I cannot sit idly by while the world is destroyed in a flood of avarice and greed!” He choked as Caution lifted him by the throat. “I’ve staved off war as long as I could, until my own folly left me in shackles. Now, war is inevitable, but the forces of justice and light finally have a fighting chance! Silver’s identity is revealed! You lose, Caution! You and your whole blasted uprising! Long live Celestia!”

“Well…” Caution raised an eyebrow, releasing Aspen to stand on his own hooves. “She’ll outlive you, at least.”

He spun around and kicked out with his hind legs. A single punishing blow to the chest sent Aspen crashing into the wall. The one-time noble crumpled in a tangle of limbs, his heart having beat for the last time. Caution brushed himself off as he left the comms station, leaving behind the earthly remains of Aspen the Alliterative.

The guards on the roof of Solitaire surrendered. They gathered in the middle of the platform, their armor stripped, their weapons cast into the sea. Caution was, in a word, shocked that they had been routed so quickly. He had trained with some of these ponies. He knew what they were capable of. One look at the triumph on Silver Spoon’s face said it all though; they could not stand before the might of the Sirens.

Silver Spoon approached the kneeling soldiers. Her body shimmered as she crawled, and soon, the scales vanished one by one as her true form emerged from the monster’s heart. Though, perhaps not her natural body. She retained brilliant blue glowing eyes, fins protruding from her back like sinister wings, and a horrific haze of vile magic that surrounded her body. She pulled a pair of glasses from beneath her cape and set them on her muzzle. “You all have a choice to make. You shall become soldiers of the Sirens, or you shall die where you stand. Which shall it be?”

Tempest Shadow glared at the younger mare, her broken horn sparking. “You’d better just finish us if those are our only choices. There are no soldiers here who would stoop to the level of Caution. You have a better chance to find more minions at the bottom of the sea.”

Silver giggled, covering her mouth with a demure hoof. “Did I say you had a choice? I lied.” She breathed deep, and her gemstone shimmered all the brighter. She sung low, sweet, succulent notes, a set of five. “Ah, ah-ah… Ah aaaah… Ah, ah-ah… ah aaaaaah…”

A spell, designed to pull even the most stalwart of minds under its thrall. The same song that had stolen the wills of many of the Sirens’ minions beneath the mountain. The same song that had menaced Equestria since the Second Age, when the first Sirens emerged. The Siren’s Sigil leaked magic in trails that sailed to the soldiers’ ears. The song burrowed its way into their heads, to their brains, their minds, their wills. Their eyes took on a sickly green hue as they lurched to their hooves, surrounding Silver Spoon and falling prostrate before her.

All save for a handful who remained, aghast at their fellow soldiers’ actions. Tempest Shadow was one of them, grasping one soldier by the tail in an effort to stop them. They shrugged her off and continued to pay homage to the Siren.

Silver Spoon smiled at Dr. Midnight Sparkle, Rhombus, and Lacer. She beckoned them closer. “Return to the prison and free the captives. Each of them will be given the same ‘choice.’” Her smile distorted to a sharklike grimace as her glowing eyes fell on Tempest and her loyal troops. “Those who cannot be swayed will die.”

Caution bowed his head. That was the only way it could end. He’d seen it again and again, where the Sirens and the minions of the Unseelie Fae triumphed over all who opposed them. Best to just ride the tide, even as it took him out to sea.

“Enough!”

Tempest Shadow had the look of a mare who would not be cowed, who would not be stopped by anything but death. She marched into the midst of her enthralled soldiers and planted her four hooves on the damp platform. Rain slicked her mane against her scowling muzzle as she sucked in a deep breath. She was going to go down fighting. Sirens or not, Caution knew, she was going to charge forward until the last drop of blood had spilled from her chest.

Tempest Shadow… Fizzlepop Berrytwist… opened her mouth and sang aloud, fighting the effects of the Siren’s Song the only way she could think to.

“Open up you e-e-eyes!
See the sun on distant shores
The deepest of the shadows
Could always be endured!

“Open up your e-e-eyes
And deny their evil lies!”

Her song stopped in an instant. A blue shimmer of magic encircled her throat and lifted her into the air. Silver Spoon glared at her as she carried the unicorn to the edge of Solitaire, to dangle above the violent waves that surrounded the prison. Contrasted to Tempest’s song, her reply was hushed, barely rising above the roar of the ocean.

“Your innocence, a sacrifice
Come now, little one
Open up your eyes…”

Tempest Shadow fell down, down, down, to be swallowed whole by the churning darkness. A hoof briefly rose above the surface, only to be bashed against the wall of the prison by the current. She faded into the depths, until Caution found no trace of her in sight.

Silver Spoon laughed loud and long. She looked like a maniac, with her partially-transformed body silhouetted against the flash of lightning. Lacer, Rhombus, and even the powerful Midnight Sparkle cowered away from the vision of unfathomable fear and unbendable will. They rushed into the prison, seeking out new recruits to the Sirens’ cause.

Caution bowed his head, knowing that he had made the wrong choice long ago. But there hadn’t really been a choice, had there? Either follow willingly, or unwillingly. At the very least, he had his mind.

At the very least, he had his daughter to find.

“Open up your eyes!”

Author's Note

Merry's, Adagio's, and Silver's song can be coincidentally be sung to the tune of "A Story Told," from The Count of Monte Cristo, a musical.

Ink Potts on Youtube did a pony-flavored animatic a few years ago!

Fizzlepop Berrytwist's song is, of course, based on her song "Open Up Your Eyes" from My Little Pony: The Movie!

The Death of the Tree of Harmony

Princess Luna sat on the deck of the Buttercup’s Folly, staring across the sea towards the far horizon. They were a day or so out from Felaccia’s shore, in the midst of the East Ocean. Theirs was a small fleet of warships, with the Buttercup’s Folly serving as the flagship.

As the sun sank closer towards the horizon, Luna felt a magic tingle from her side. She produced a small folding mirror from her saddlebag and opened it to see Twilight Sparkle’s ever-so-slightly grumpy face on it. The lavender alicorn yawned, smacking her lips as she greeted her friend. “Hi, Luna. How’s it goin’?”

Luna smirked at the tiny image in the magic mirror. “A fair bit better than you, it seems.”

“Mm hmm. Long hours.” Twilight Sparkle stifled another yawn and peered out the window. “What time is it?”

“Midafternoon. Practically the dead of night for some of us.” Luna spied someone else walk onto the deck to stare at the ocean; a young changeling disguised as a white-coated pony named Blankety Blank. She lowered her voice so as not to disturb him. “I recommend taking a few naps throughout the day if you are going to keep up this double-lives thing you seem to delight in.”

“‘Delight?’ Now I know you’re teasing me.”

“Princesses do not tease,” Luna said. “They jest.”

At last, a smile cracked the gloom surrounding Twilight. “I always figured Celestia was full of bologna whenever she said that. All you’ve done is proven my point.”

Luna let out a chortle. She furrowed her brow over a sad smile. “I wanted to let you know that your sunrise was beautiful this morning.”

“Thank you…” Twilight stared at something beyond the mirror, the smile proving to be fleeting. “It still feels strange, you know? Like it isn’t mine.”

Luna felt her chest tighten. The warmth of the sun turned chill as she thought back to watching its full power at work. “To a point, Twilight… it is good that you feel that way. To consider the sun to be yours and yours alone has led many creatures astray and destroyed many lives. At the end of my journey to Felaccia, it is my hope that no creature shall claim the sun as their own ever again.” She pursed her lips, wondering if it was her place to finish the thought as she saw it in her head. She opted to be candid with Twilight. If no one else could understand, she would. “I wish that Celestia had taken such measures before now.”

The air was quiet for a breath. Twilight bobbed her head noncommittally. “Whatever mistakes she’s made in her life, Celestia always did what she thought was right. She held onto her convictions, and that’s pretty impressive for a thousand-year reign.”

Luna sighed. “You have the right of it.” She looked down at the tired pony in the mirror, thought to say something, and decided against it. Pointing out that Twilight would not be dealing with this exhaustion if only Celestia had taken steps to protect the sun without her direct interference… well, Twilight would not appreciate that much candidness. Not right now. “Still, I feel that my visit is a few centuries too late.”

Twilight smirked. “What’s more important? Where we’ve been?”

“Nay.” Luna felt a twinkle in her eyes as she responded to one of Twilight’s favorite sayings regarding her. “’Tis where we are going.”

On the other side of the mirror, back in Equestria, Twilight let out a mumbled grunt. “Welp. Time for Twilight the Princess to clock out so Twilight the Monster Hunter can do her job.”

“Get some rest, oh slayer of fairies.” Luna let out a long breath through her nose. “Do not allow Celestia to overburden you. I love you.”

“Love you too, Luna.”

The mirror’s magic faded until Luna found herself looking back at her own visage. Short and sweet, as it always was with Twilight these days. She closed the clamshell and returned it to its designated pocket. A spray of seawater coated her wings, and she shook the salt from her feathers. “More than I can say.”

She glanced to where she’d seen Blankety head towards. She had been meaning to speak more with the young changeling, especially since the last time they’d worked together, it had been under more demanding circumstances. When she found him on the bow of the ship, she realized she was slightly too late. He was already watching the sea drift by with two of his friends, Martial Paw the griffon and Care Carrot the unicorn. They were in the midst of a quiet conversation discussing what they would find once they reached Felaccia.

Luna decided it was best not to disturb them. The return to Felaccia was a pivotal event in all their lives. Best to let them sort it out together… even as Luna sorted out her own issues.

Twilight Sparkle landed in the Everfree Forest, not too far from the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters. She grimaced; all that was left were the ruins of the palace, having been made decrepit by both the passage of time and the damage done by Discord’s Plunder Vines. And then, and then, the discovery of the ancient changeling city that once lay far belowground had opened a great pit that nearly swallowed up what was left of the castle itself.

She gave a long look at the crumbled castle walls, nearly completely obscured by dead and dying Plunder Vines. Whatever magic the vines had been feeding off of had faded in the wake of Ahuizotl’s cataclysm. This should have been cause for celebration! With the threat of the vines stifled, the Tree of Harmony should have been able to achieve full power.

Unfortunately, the vines were not what was killing the tree.

She turned away from the castle to face the cavern that lay below it. For centuries it had been hidden by vines and the wickedness of the Everfree Forest. Now, it lay open, having been the subject of careful care and consideration. Equestrian soldiers patrolled this part of the forest, skilled rangers and trackers all. The entrance of the cave was a carved archway, with symbols written in an ancient language from before the time of Equestria. Even before this area was one of three changeling cities. Translated, the symbols read: “Where the First Word was spoken.”

Twilight rubbed her throat, feeling where her purple coat was parted with a white scar. Her voice had been stolen from her, the very same year Celestia was attacked by the assassin. She pulled a gemstone necklace from her saddlebags. She had carved it herself based on a modified Siren Gem. When she wore it, it granted her clear speech and a strong voice. Without the gem, she could speak well enough, but always with a crackle and a wheeze, like someone who had smoked for most of their life.

She walked beneath the carved words and trotted past the ponies that guarded them. Not too far into the cave, the Tree of Harmony itself stood tall. The tree was grown from pure magic, its bark was crystal, as were its glistening leaves. Light spilled from within, most brightly wherever fruit hung from its branches. Within each of the six fruits was an Element of Harmony, returned to the tree to keep it alive for as long as possible.

Even the Elements, it seemed, were not enough to save it.

Darkness crept up from the root system. Its luster faded at the edges of the leaves. Many had begun to change to a solid, non-luminous, quartz-like color. Several had already fallen, becoming as brittle as glass and shattering against the ground. They had already tried to remove the Elements, but the relics had become embedded in the tree, becoming one with it. To remove the Elements was to see both them and the tree fade to dust.

“Twilight!”

Twilight’s thoughts lost a great deal of their power over her as someone very close to her heart waddled across the cavern towards her. She offered him a smile and met him halfway, embracing him with her forelegs and wings. “It’s good to see you, Spike.”

“Yeah. Been too long.” Spike smiled at her, his bright green eyes shimmering with contentment. She knew his worries must be as plentiful as hers, but even so, he could find a simple joy in just being near her. She decided to be of like minds. The contentment lessened, however, as he gestured to the tree. “It… it’s about as bad as it looks.”

She shook her head as she sat a few meters from it, her foreleg linked with Spike’s. “No progress.”

“None. Starswirl’s been working on it nonstop since the seasons changed.” Spike raised his eyebrows. “He wanted to speak with you.”

“Me too.” Twilight rose to her hooves and swiveled her neck. “Where is he?”

“Not so much as a how-do-you-do.” Another voice came from behind her, one that she didn’t expect in the slightest. “Am I chopped liver or what?”

Twilight spun on the voice and felt her jaw drop. It was another alicorn, one with a bright orange coat, as warm as sunlight. She gave Twilight a mischievous grin.

“Sunset!” Twilight grabbed her old friend in a quick embrace and pulled away in the space of a single breath. “What the heck are you doing here? I didn’t even know you were visiting Equestria!”

“Not for too long,” Sunset said with a chuckle. “My double wants to take her family on vacation to her home universe, so I’m here to make the transition smooth. We’ll be headed back before the week’s over.” She winked at Spike. “But I couldn’t resist surprising my favorite princess.”

“You’re both sneaks, you know that?” Twilight rubbed Spike’s head, who let out a laugh. “I wish we had more time to catch up. But things are tight in Equestria right now.”

“I know.” Sunset spread her wings and tilted her head imperiously. “Which is why I did not come emptyhanded.”

Before Twilight could reply, another pony approached, his conversation with a soldier ended. He was an elderly unicorn, though one still spritely of step and keen of mind. His gray beard trailed down his chest, coming to a point just above the dust of the floor. Long, blue, shimmering robes covered him from back to fetlock. Bells dangled from the brim of his towering wizard’s hat, each one enchanted with a protective spell. He bowed to both Twilight and Sunset.

“You don’t have to bow, Archmage. Not in this company.” Twilight still felt a little jitter in her heart whenever she was in close proximity to her childhood legendary hero. Here the stallion was, a page out of history come to life. Just as magical, knowledgeable, and wise as the tales made him out to be. And, at times, just as much of a crackpot as Celestia insisted he was. “Thank you for overseeing the health of the tree.”

“The honor is all mine, Princess.” Starswirl’s beard moved as he spoke, but his lips got lost somewhere behind his moustache. He narrowed his eyes and peered from left to right. “There is a darkness that approaches, unseen but felt. The Unseelie are moving more frequently, and no longer merely within the realm of dreams. I fear that the Tree of Harmony’s illness is a direct result of their tampering.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Sunset said, folding her wings against her back. “Back in Canter City, we’ve discovered a new magic technique that might be effective in fighting fairies head-on.”

“Head-on?” Twilight exchanged a perplexed glance with Spike, who could only offer a shrug. “They’re spirits. Beings of pure magic and little else. I heard Pound Cake’s story of punching one in the face, but mild contusions don’t seem like a long-term victory again the Unseelie Court.”

“You said it yourself, they are pure magic.” Sunset Shimmer drew out an equation in the air as she spoke, arranging numbers and symbols to spell out what was hopefully the doom of the Unseelie. “This spell requires you to think about magic as matter.”

“Yeah, okay?” Twilight circled around the illusion and read over Sunset’s work. It didn’t seem like much just yet, but she saw shades of something she was familiar with. Near the edge of the spell’s workings, she saw fragments of something she’d read in the Grimoire Alicorn, King Sombra’s personal spellbook. She shivered at the thought of it, even if it was just the ghost of an idea. There were dangers in that book, the likes of which Equestria was not ready for.

“Something wrong, Twi?”

Twilight glanced at Spike, but soon returned her full attention to the spell. It was already beginning to come together. “It looks a little like something King Sombra crafted.”

“That makes a certain kind of sense,” Sunset said. “This one was made by his human counterpart, Dr. Sombra.”

“The fully on the up-and-up college professor,” Spike said, a half-convinced grin easing across his face. “And not the immortal dark lord?”

“You got it.” Sunset shifted several of the symbols around, creating semicircle around the core of the spell, which remained blank. “Most of the time, when we work with magic, it’s as a form of energy. Produced in our hearts and projected through our hooves, horns, or wings. But this energy form is not the only one that magic can take.”

Starswirl the Bearded appraised the spell with a nod and a sparkle in his eye. “Magic can take on a variety of forms, as can most matter. Liquid, when it is used in potions. Gas, whenever it is used in weather production. The harsher combat spells even utilize a plasma form.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. The spell came into clarity, at least as it was in the Grimoire Alicorn. “The spell you’re suggesting… is one that turns magic into its solid material state. Crystal.”

The spell King Sombra had used to ensnare a nation. It transformed magic into its solid, crystalline state, no matter its source. Trees, animals, ponies, all living things had some form of magic within them, and all could be transformed to crystal. Sombra’s Dark Spikes would feed off the magic of its victim, tearing into their flesh and rending them limb from limb, if left uncured. Its aura was one that instilled fear in all who witnessed it, because the very core of the spell, the emotion that drove it to its desired target, was sheer terror. Twilight had cast the spell herself, on a couple of occasions. Only long enough to open a trapped door in the Crystal Palace, and later when researching Sombra’s work.

But “terror” was not the word Sunset wrote into the core of the spell, nor were the replicating properties of the spell anywhere to be found. Dr. Sombra’s was a much softer version of the crystalizing spell. It was to be used in short spurts, only to craft simple devices such as a blade or a shield. It would not seek out the heart of a pony to stop it cold, it was only a tool.

Instead, Sunset wrote the word “affection” at the center of the spell, and with that done, it was complete.

“Okay…” Spike rubbed his chin from the far side of the illusory instructions. “But how does creating a crystal shield on the fly help against someone who can just walk through it?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” Sunset lowered one of her ears in concentration. Her horn shimmered as she tampered with her illusion spell. “This is Dr. Sombra’s original spell, but this—” Several of the symbols swirled around until the central work “affection” was completely surrounded. “—is my modified version.”

Twilight allowed her grimace to fully mature. “This hews a little too close to King Sombra’s original. Rather than using your own internal magic, you are gripping the magic of somebody else and forcing that into crystal.”

“The magic of somebody else…” Spike shrugged and gave Sunset a halfhearted grin. “Or the magic of some-fairy else?”

“Right.” Sunset Shimmer swallowed hard as she passed her hold on the illusion to Twilight. “My hope is that if they are completely turned to crystal, they would be reduced from a spirit to a physical form. At best, completely immobilized; at worst, highly punchable.”

“It can’t be a pleasant sensation for them, in any case.” Twilight turned the spell over and over in her grip. She studied it from every angle, understanding it at its deepest levels. “Dr. Sombra’s spell can be used by any half-talented unicorn, but your modification… do you realize the amount of power required to transform a fairy into a crystal? Even on a theoretical level?”

Starswirl pulled his jingling hat from his head and rubbed his bald spot. “It would take the same amount of power as is required to raise the sun.”

Twilight sighed through her nose. With the spell etched into her memory, she allowed the illusion to dissolve into sparks. It would take time to perfect the spell, perhaps hours of practice, but it was at least better than no start at all. “That leaves our pool of available Fae Fighters pretty low. Just you, me, Luna, and Cadence.”

“Just you, Luna, and Cadence.” Sunset rested a wing on Twilight’s back as they faced the Tree of Harmony. “Even when I’m on this side of the mirror. I’m still not used to alicorn power, Twilight. I’ve had it for less than a year, and I’ve spent most of that time back home. Princess Celestia says I’m still a year or so away from raising the sun. I think we’re gonna face the Unseelie long before then.”

Twilight resisted the urge to utter a profanity. How was it that every time they found some sort of leg-up on the enemy, it came with ten different caveats and a headache to boot? “I understand. But if things go sour, we’ll need you to keep training your magic. I’ll gladly accept three and a half alicorns, if that’s all you can promise me.”

“I’m sorry.” Sunset scrunched her muzzle, glancing at the dust of the floor to avoid Twilight’s eyes. “It’s all I got.”

“It’s still a chance.” Twilight patted Sunset’s shoulder as she walked past her, to where Starswirl and Spike were standing. “So, Starswirl, you had something you wanted to speak to me about?”

“Naught but glum tidings, I’m afraid.” Starswirl the Bearded sat down before the faintly-glimmering tree in the center of the cavern, his hoof bumping up against a black root. “It is my belief that the Tree of Harmony will die this very night.”

A storm came upon the Everfree Forest, turning the night as dark and dreadful as the mouth of a hungry dragon. The wind wailed as though said dragon were descending upon a hapless village, while lightning flashed akin to the same dragon’s fiery breath.

Spike yawned within the confines of the Tree of Harmony’s cave, a tiny spurt of flame lighting up his surroundings. He sketched the tree on his ever-present notepad, taking care to lovingly swirl his lines around the fruit of the tree. He was an amateur sketch artist at best, but he knew enough to jot down a passable representation of whatever he could see. He stuck his thumb upright and closed one eye, blocking off part of the fruit that held the Element of Loyalty. A faint outline of a red thunderbolt could be seen in its glossy skin.

Twilight lay curled up not too far away, resting on a thin mattress and covered in old blankets. She was finally asleep. She had been going for hours on end, without giving herself even a moment’s rest. She was not healthy, to Spike’s eye. She was worn down, doing the job of eight different ponies at once. They hadn’t even seen each other all week, and they worked together! Spike considered moving back into the castle, just so that they could have a moment to speak every morning.

Then the memory of blood on the castle walls dripped back into his mind, and he banished the thought. He unconsciously rubbed his hands, smearing ink between his scales. He grimaced. It was difficult to get ink out of his hands. Almost as difficult as certain other stains he’d encountered in recent years.

Starswirl wandered around the tree, making his own notes and scribing his own thoughts. He glanced up at Spike and hailed him with a quiet wave. Spike rose and lumbered his way towards the old wizard, putting thoughts of death and pain on the backburner.

“I must say Spike—” Starswirl the Bearded closed his notebook and tucked it into a saddlebag on his side. “—your knowledge of spellwork is quite impressive. Understanding the spell’s use through its inscription says that you have a great working knowledge of spellcraft.”

“I’ve been Twilight’s assistant for my whole life, sir.” Spike shrugged, looking up at the tree and hoping its glow would hide his blush. “It’d be weirder if I didn’t pick up a thing or two.”

“Assistant? Pish posh.” Starswirl walked around the tree and gestured for Spike to follow him. “You call yourself her assistant, while she treats you more like family than anypony else I’ve seen. Would it not be more prudent to call you a brother or some such?”

“Family, sure, but I don’t know if I’d call her my sister…” Spike grinned as his tail swayed back and forth. “She relies on me way too much to call me a little brother. And I rely on her way too much. Friends, coworkers, fellow researchers, family… Family’s good. She’s my family.”

“I suppose you can call it what you like!” Starswirl laughed and slapped Spike on the back. The wizard winced and rubbed his newly-sore hoof. “A mind sharp as iron and a body as tough as stone. You are an interesting fellow, Spike.”

Spike resisted the urge to pull a face. The flattery was pretty to listen to, even if he thought it was basically fluff. Was Starswirl trying to butter him up? “If you say so, sir.”

Starswirl narrowed his eyes, then let out a chuff with what might have been a smile behind that moustache. “Celestia was right. You are far too modest, young drake.”

Spike furrowed his brow. Perhaps he had judged the old stallion too harshly. He was probably just making conversation. “Keeps me humble. Dragon sickness and stuff like that. If I get a big head, it’s actually kinda literal.”

“Yes. From what I hear, you had your bout with dragon sickness some fourteen years ago.” Starswirl the Bearded looked toward the mouth of the cave at the flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder. Sunset Shimmer could be seen just inside the entrance, wearing a heavy poncho and wide-brimmed hat. She looked into the pouring rain with a nearly-entranced expression, having not seen a magic-born storm in quite some time. “And yet, what few dragons I’ve met don’t express much fear for losing control of their own magically-induced greed.”

Spike laughed and scratched a dead scale on his chest, one at the edge of the scar directly in the center. “With all due respect, they don’t live in a library.”

“One of them does, actually.” Starswirl had led Spike to the far side of the tree, out of sight of the cave mouth and the sleeping princess. The fruit containing the Element of Magic dangled before them, still resplendent even while the others had tarnished. “Have you ever met Leviathan?”

“No. But I’ve met his understudy, Shardscale. The Dragon Chronicler. She’s cool.” Spike folded his hands behind his back and gazed up at the Element of Magic, its glistening light nearly matching the color of his own purple scales. “I’ll probably take over her job when she retires… a thousand years from now. Leviathan’s the one who keeps all the News of the World organized, I think.”

“Right you are. He was the world’s first librarian, in a sense.” Starswirl pulled his hat off and let it rest beside him, his constant muted jingle coming to a quiet halt. He looked much smaller without the hat, as if the wizard had faded away to the elderly stallion he truly was. He was thin around the face, if you looked past his beard. What could be seen of his legs was spindly and shaky. But he wore the weakness proudly, as it had been gained through years of seeking and finding both knowledge and wisdom. “I simply mean to say, in my own way, that it wouldn’t hurt to take a compliment, Spike.”

Spike sat beside him, letting his tail curl behind his back. “Then I accept your compliment. Thank you. You’re a pretty mind-blowing guy yourself.”

“I am…” Starswirl looked confused for a moment before he seemed to brush it off with a raised eyebrow. “Having never been referred to as such before now, I can only marvel at such a lovely compliment.”

Spike frowned as he watched the tree. Even as they’d been talking, the tree had grown darker. The Element of Magic, the last to retain its luster, had dimmed ever-so-slightly. “So… when the tree dies, is that it? From listening to Twilight and Celestia, it sounds like the Elements of Harmony will reappear around the world. But how to they know that?”

Starswirl rubbed his beard, wincing as a leaf crackled against the ground and crumbled to dust. “We know it will happen because it has happened at least once before. Long ago, during the start of the Second Age, the Age of Mortals, the changeling queen Cicada was said to have destroyed the tree so that the power of the Elements could not be used against her.” He gave Spike a rueful smile. “Ultimately, her empire fell the normal way; through overreaching, inward decay, and outward invasion. It was quite some time later—nearly eight-hundred years, in fact—that the Founders of Equestria and the young Celestia and Luna traveled the world in search of the artifacts.” He touched the side of his nose with a gray hoof. “When the six were gathered, the tree itself appeared in this very cave, beneath our capital city of Fort Everfree.”

Spike’s frilly ears flared out as he considered things. “Coincidentally, or did you have some say in it?”

“I doubt it is coincidence, but I also know we were not the ones who planted the tree.” Starswirl pointed to the entrance of the cave with his thin horn. “Those words up there, they are older than the stars. An ancient changeling city was built upon these ruins, and the castle was built upon those ruins in turn. It stands to reason that we are simply following a cycle, an ever-turning wheel of finding and losing the Elements. We know very little about the artifacts, frankly, and we will not gain full understanding within my lifetime. Yours, perhaps.”

Spike furrowed his brow, his claw resting on his pen. “What makes you say that?”

“That wonderous mare over there,” Starswirl said reverently. “That blessed Princess Twilight. She has learned more of magic and understood more of friendship than I could have in three of my lifetimes. If only she is given the opportunity, she will be the key to bringing a lasting peace to this world. In a way I or Celestia could only dream of. She will not rule by threat of force, but by understanding and friendship.” Starswirl tapped Spike’s shoulder. “And she shall have you by her side.”

“Now I know you’re buttering me up.” Spike packed his writing equipment back into his bag and leaned back against the cave wall. “It’s nice to think about, but we’ve got a long time before anything like that can happen. Celestia’s not gonna retire anytime soon. The Unseelie Court of Fae needs to be swatted. The Sirens need to be found out… Here and now demands an awful lot of attention.”

“Fair enough. And from a young head as well.” Starswirl joined Spike against the wall, resting his hat back on his head to shade his eyes from the light of the tree. “The future catches up with you soon enough, but the present is all we have any direct control over.”

Spike pressed his lips together. The tree would die, and there was nothing they could do about it but watch. The Elements of Harmony would be scattered, and there was no way to know where. Celestia had lived a thousand years since her journey, and time had clouded her memory. Luna insisted that the only reason they’d found them at all was the help of a scatterbrained draconequus, and his contributions were more jocular than explanatory. Discord, of course, had no memory of the event, his mind having been overwritten by his own chaos magic. Starswirl had not joined the Founders and Princesses on their quest, content as he was to remain in Equestria defending his home.

The only thing that could give them precise locations, accurate latitude and longitude, careful instructions… that was Clover the Clever’s journal. And that was still lost to them.

And then, who among them would even go on the long journey? The six Bearers? With Twilight tied down running half of the country while Celestia rested, the number would be five. Most of them wouldn’t even do well with such a long trek. Spike remembered Rarity’s sanity slip during a simple camping trip. A smile crept over his face; she was a brave soul, but a poor hiker. Fluttershy had recently traveled the wilds for the sake of Discord, and the injuries she had sustained still hadn’t fully healed. Applejack hadn’t gotten much exercise the last four years she’d been mayor. Pinkie, too. It seemed like the only one who could possibly lead the charge was Rainbow Dash, and she had duties of her own in Cloudsdale.

He shook his head at the tree, cupping his mouth in his clawed hands. He knew there was really only one person who could chase after the Elements. Only one person who was familiar enough with the magic, who had fought alongside the Bearers, who had the strength and freedom to see the job through. One who would be missed by a few, but not so much that he couldn’t set out on his own.

He touched the scar on his chest. It was the pitted remains of a misfired griffon volleygun. It was a solemn reminder of the night he had accidently killed the pony who was attacking him and his friends. He hadn’t tried, hadn’t even dreamed it, but a single punch to the head was enough to end the pony’s life instantly. Zephyr, he had been called. Thankfully, he was unrelated to Fluttershy’s brother Zephyr Breeze, but still… Spike didn’t have to kill him.

He touched the scars on his forearms. They were the remnants of Spike’s brief battle with Ahuizotl, who had sliced deep into Spike’s flesh with the mighty Wyrmslayer blades. Spike had been left lying on the ground, bleeding out, going into shock, unable to do anything to help as his friends fought and died against Ahuizotl’s forces.

Twice, Spike’s Noble Dragon Code had been called to action, and twice, he had failed to achieve its lofty goals. A needless loss of life, and a lost chance to help. He would not fail a third time. Spike would retrieve the Elements of Harmony, once they scattered to the four winds. He had made the decision long ago, even if he hadn’t said so aloud. It was his duty, his desire, and his cause.

The tree’s color was different than usual, he realized with a start. It had become a sort of autumnal green, rather than its usual shimmering blue. The Elements of Harmony had gone completely dark, and their fruit shriveled as though they had been left on the vine too long. A deep groan echoed throughout the cavern. It might have been the storm, but Spike thought he felt the earth shake.

“Starswirl?”

Spike rose to his hind legs and fell forward a step. The world seemed to bow inward towards the tree, as though all of reality was drawn to it like light to a black hole. Spike’s stomach lurched. He barely held it in, and could barely stand upright. He heard Sunset shriek, and Starswirl shout. Twilight yelped as she was roused by both the raised voices and the strange arrhythmic magic. It was like strong wind ripping past Spike’s scales, dragging him towards the heart of the Tree of Harmony.

Generosity fell from the tree and shattered against the ground. A pit appeared in Spike’s stomach. He wasn’t sure if it was because he tied the artifact so closely to his friend, or if he was literally feeling a piece of the world die.

Loyalty followed. Then Laughter. Honesty. Kindness.

He reached out to catch Magic as it sped for the ground. He moved as if through water, in slow motion. Light and air bent around him and dragged him to and fro, but always towards the tree. He cupped the Element in his hands and held it close to his chest.

He needn’t have bothered. It crumbled to dust and slid through his fingers as purple sand. He tripped over nothing and braced himself with a palm against the trunk. The crystal cracked at his touch.

“Spike!” Twilight’s voice sounded distant, though she was just a few meters away. “Get away from it! Run!” She tried to cast a spell to drag him away from the tree, but the tumult within the cave soaked up her magic.

Spike’s bones ached as he held onto the tree. He felt strength leave his body, syphoned by a thirst greater than the driest desert. A massive crack ran up the length of the tree’s trunk. The magic that rushed in and out of it was pitch black, the inkiest darkness Spike had ever witnessed. Darker than Sombra’s spells. Darker than the deepest depths of the changeling hive. Laughter filled the cavern, a hundred tiny, rasping voices clawing at his ears as their cheered victory.

It coated Spike from head to tail. He shut his eyes against the oozing shadows. His heart beat erratically as he felt himself descend. Rushing magic became rushing wind as he tumbled through nothing into nothing else. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe, because there was no light or sound or air.

After a moment, his panic lessened. He righted himself, at least as much as he could in a world without gravity. He peered into the dark and sought out some form of substance.

The sight that greeted his eyes was deeply unwelcome.

It was a massive throne, the likes of which would comfortably seat the greatest dragons. It was not a solid block of stone, but a cobbled-together collection of statues. Hydras, krakens, cockatrices, grotesques, and sundry other horrific monsters made up the body, seat, and arms of the throne. But the creature seated there was more terrible than any of them.

It was impossible to say what the creature was, only that it had the features of several familiar beasts. The head of a bull. The clawed talons of an eagle. The black wings of a raven. A torso that utterly dwarfed Spike, with rippling muscles that looked eager to inflict some cruelty or other. The entire body was coated in fire that raged, but did not consume the beast. One talon gripped a spear tight. The weapon seemed to be made from a bronze-colored alloy, like the kind found in the ancient changeling cities: Golemium.

And there, in the center of the face, were two glowing, piercing, greedy green eyes.

All at once, Spike realized that he had seen this monster before, in his most dreadful nightmares. Fear coated him from the tips of his scales to the depths of his heart. He wanted to run, flee to the four corners of the world. This creature had promised pain, loss, devastation upon everything Spike loved.

Spike clenched his fists. That was exactly why Spike couldn’t run. Though he had no breath in his lungs, he found it within himself to shout aloud. “I know who you are, now! You’re the Lord of the Sky! The Master of the Unseelie Court!” He pointed a claw forward, to the wrists and ankles of the beastly fairy. Crystalline chains and shackles, the same color and material as the Tree of Harmony, fastened the monster to the throne. “I know you’re just a prisoner! You’ve been defeated for three-thousand years!”

The Lord of the Sky tilted his head. A smile appeared out of the strange mixture of shadow and flame. “Foolish creature. I was imprisoned, but never defeated.” He raised his left hand, showing the shackles to Spike. “How very amusing that you would think otherwise.”

To Spike’s horror, the shackles shifted from brilliant blue to sickly green, just as the Tree of Harmony had. As he watched, the chains turned brittle and crumbled away. The massive being laughed.

The Master of the Unseelie Court stood and walked towards Spike, who hung useless in mid-void. “Now that the accursed tree had been truly broken, I can return to the world of mortals as its ultimate ruler.” He armed his spear, hefting it over one shoulder, its tip pointed right at Spike’s chest. “You will soon know how fragile and feeble your precious world really is.”

He lunged, and Spike shut his eyes just before the spear met its mark.

The splitting pain never came.

Spike opened his eyes to a near-blinding light. A massive shape stood between him and the fairy. It gripped the Lord of the Sky by both wrists, wrestling him aside. The lord’s wings beat in a frenzy as he tried to shake himself free. Spike’s protector stumbled, but sheer determination served to anchor it in place.

The Lord of the Sky gnashed his teeth in an effort to bite the being attacking him. “You were slain! You no longer belong to the world of mortals! Return to the lands beyond!”

“We are not in the world of mortals! You are still imprisoned within the Abyss!” Spike’s protector extended her wings to their full span, bathing Spike in a warm light that he found familiar, though he could not place the source. “He will have his chance to stand, foul creature! Begone to wherever you will, and leave this child be!”

The Lord of the Sky wrenched himself away from the being of light. He sneered at her and Spike, then disappeared into the darkest reached of the emptiness.

The being turned, and Spike found himself looking at the spectral form of a mature dragon. He couldn’t speak. What words could he say? He already knew what he was looking at. He could almost hear the very same voice every night, during the time when the stars shone brightest. Tears pooled in his eyes. He didn’t dare step forward, or raise his arms.

He didn’t need to. The being embraced him, taking him in her gentle hands. Her warm, rumbling voice spoke softly to his filmy ears. “You have a long and difficult road ahead, child. But it shall not be walked alone.” She touched a claw to his chest, and a wellspring of magic built up within him. “Remember these words: ‘By my blood shall the book be opened.’” She laid a soft kiss on his forehead. “Now go.”

“Spike!” Twilight Sparkle shook Spike’s body, her voice high and panicked. “Spike, wake up! Please!”

Spike opened his eyes with a gasp. He would have said something, had Twilight not hugged his neck with a deathlike grip. He patted her shoulder and wheezed when he could finally take a breath.

“You were coated in that… that… inky black stuff!” Twilight gestured with a wing at the center of the cave. “There were voices, and you were crying, and…”

Sunset tugged Twilight away. “Give him room to breathe, Twi.”

“Say something, young drake,” Starswirl said, his voice warbly. “Are you well? How did you fight off the darkness?”

“I…” Spike sat upright. He gazed to the center of the room, where the Tree of Harmony once stood. Now, it was only a pile of crystal shards. “I… I didn’t. I didn’t fight it off.”

“Then how did you get away?” Twilight’s voice was nearly a screech. She reached out to hug him again, this time with less force, but no less worry. “Did someone help you?”

“Yeah.” Spike rested his hand on Twilight’s hoof, feeling the pressure of tears threated to spill out as sobs once more. “It was my mom.”

Brotherly Love

Flurry Heart couldn’t move. For a moment of terror, darkness swirled in her vision, inky blackness that swallowed all light and sound in its sinister embrace. She opened her mouth to breath, but found herself gagged by the substance. A faint flash of purple scales reached her before all was reduced to void.

She gasped awake, her oversized wings flaring at her sides. A crash of pencils and rustle of paper heralded her bags meeting the floor. She nearly joined them before catching herself on shaking forelegs. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, and brought her wings close to her core to warm her sides. The halls of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns were dark, save for flickering lamplight at even intervals. For most of the students there, classes had ended for the day. A few distant laughs told her that some of the last cliques were headed for their evening rest.

For Flurry Heart, on the other hand, her day was just beginning. A spell from her overly-long horn gathered her school supplies into her bags and fastened them to her back. She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been sleeping. She might be late. She had to hurry.

Before she could take to the air on her wings, she ran face-first into the chest of Abacus Cinch, dean of the school. The old mare yelped in surprise, adjusting her glasses on her nose with a flicker of magic. “Just where do you think you’re going, young Miss Heart?”

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Cinch.” Flurry Heart bowed at the neck, mostly to avoid direct eye contact. “I think I’m late to my class with Princess—”

“Yes, you are.” Miss Cinch raised her head, looking down her nose at the young princess. “And just why do you think you are late?”

Flurry swallowed hard. “I—I fell asleep—”

“You fell asleep because you have not been getting enough rest the last few months.” Abacus’ voice grew just a little bit higher, just a little bit strained. “We’ve spoken about this, Flurry. You can’t let Celestia push you too far. Your lessons are important indeed, but your health is far more important. I’ve seen you studying until morning, just to get your homework done. It has to stop!”

Flurry felt her face flush. She let her wings droop to the floor, getting dust on her pinions. “Nighttime is the only time she can teach me about the moon.”

“Poppycock. Theory is a good enough place to start if—” Abacus Cinch stopped herself dead in her tracks, closing her eyes and turning her head to one side. Her frown softened as her ears drooped. “I know she can be demanding, and I also know how wonderful the lessons are. But still, you are only thirteen. A growing young mare. You shouldn’t have to shoulder such things as sleepless nights and exhausted days.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Two ponies approached from down the hall. One was a gray-coated unicorn, somewhere in her fifties. Her mane had faded to a light gray, save for the healthy, purple stripes that ran through it. A pearl necklace sat ever-present beneath her equally-ubiquitous smile.

“Grandma!” Flurry rushed to the mare’s embrace, burying her face in the mare’s soft coat. “I didn’t know you were coming to visit, Grandma Velvet!”

“I’m here on Abacus’ recommendation, actually.” Twilight Velvet raised an eyebrow at the dean, and was met with a like expression. “I hear you haven’t been getting enough rest.”

“Well…” Flurry’s right ear tilted down before she could command it to remain upright. “Well, I guess I’ve been… a little…”

She registered the other newcomer at that moment, a moment too late. She looked up at the stately, ethereally-beautiful mare. A coat of pure white. A mane of pink interlaced with the most vibrant rainbows. Eyes that had seen a thousand years pass by, and lived to tell of it. A horn and wings that lay perfectly proportioned on her thin, tall body.

Flurry Heart bowed more fully, bending at the knee. “High Princess Celestia. I’m sorry I missed our appointment.”

Celestia’s expression rarely changed, in Flurry’s experience. She remained serene, with a small smile in place at all times, save for those when anger—righteous, sunlit fury—was called for. She would smile, though mostly only with Flurry’s younger siblings. She suspected even the princess’ laughter was carefully manufactured and practiced, meant more to set others at ease than to share true mirth.

But today, for the second time in Flurry’s memory, she saw a deep-seated regret in the ancient alicorn. A level of remorse that only someone who had repeatedly made the same mistake could reach. Celestia sighed, her mask of serenity left off for the moment. “I understand it was not your fault, Flurry. The blame is my own.”

Flurry held her tongue. She wanted to interrupt, to tell the High Princess not to worry, that she could do better next time. But if she had learned one thing from her time at the school, it was not to blurt out every thought that came to mind, not when someone older and wiser was speaking. And there were few older and wiser than Celestia.

“I have… I wanted to…” Celestia shook her head and let out one of those manufactured laughs. “I have much that I wish to teach you, and in my excitement and haste I have left you overburdened. Please, you have earned a break from alicorn studies for the moment. I should have known better.” She looked to Abacus with a weary frown. “I have frustrated far too many of my personal students, over the years.”

Flurry thought back to the stories she’d been told over the course of her childhood. Aunt Twilight Sparkle’s obsession that lead to the Lesson Zero chapter of her book. Sunset Shimmer’s rebellion. Even her mother had nearly worn herself to death trying to keep up with Celestia. She pressed her lips together; she didn’t think her tiredness quite matched the severity of those stories. If anything, she just needed to reschedule her day to better accommodate the lesson plan.

Abacus Cinch lit the tip of her horn. A bright light flashed with an ear-splitting snap that broke Flurry out of her musings. “I see the gears turning, Miss Heart. You don’t think this necessary.” She glanced at Celestia, who nodded approval. “This may all seem a bit much, but we seek to stave off the issues present in all other apprentices Celestia has taken… that is, we wish to care for your mental health.”

“That is why,” Twilight Velvet said, “you are coming home with me tonight. A home-cooked meal, a bed made with a grandmother’s touch, and a relaxing evening with no school worries. Are we clear?”

“I mean…” Flurry Heart leaned against her grandma as she looked back at Abacus and Celestia. “That does sound great…”

Furry Heart felt torn, to put it lightly. The events of the previous year had thrown into stark relief the dangers present in alicorn magic. She needed to learn to control them. She needed these lessons before she grew even more powerful. And yet… she was so tired. She wanted nothing more than to climb onto Grandma Velvet’s back and sleep until supper time.

“It is important, Flurry.” Celestia’s regret found itself buried in a serene, reassuring expression. “I believe this rest will serve you well. A few days, or even weeks. As long as you need.”

Flurry stared into that mask of serenity, and wanted so much to believe it was true. She wanted Celestia to feel real peace, to understand that Flurry’s absence was necessary and brief. But she could still see the urgency in Celestia’s eyes. She could still hear the reluctance in her voice.

Celestia’s hoof rubbed the scar on her chest, absentmindedly. Flurry suspected she understood the urgency.

“Alright. It sounds nice.” Flurry smiled up at Celestia with a smile she hoped looked guileless, lying that she was at peace with the decision. “I’ll be back to my lessons before we know it, refreshed and ready to go.”

Celestia’s smile said that she saw the guile all the same. “Off you go, then. Have a good night, my most heartfelt student.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia.” Flurry Heart turned to walk alongside Twilight Velvet, her ears low. As they left the school, her spirits began to rise. It was only for a short time. It was like a vacation, staying with family and spending time on things besides school work. It was normal.

“Not to spoil the surprise,” Twilight Velvet said as they walked under the roadside lamplight, nearing the Sparkle Family’s house, “but you’re not the only grandkid visiting us this week.”

Flurry’s ears sprung upright. “My sibs?”

Before she could take another step, she was assailed by a pegasus filly and unicorn colt, who surrounded her with hugs and laughter. “Flurry!” “Big Sis!”

The filly, Twilight Amore, hovered over her big sister’s back and pushed her by the backpack. “Come on, sis! Grandpa Light’s waiting! We’re having grilled corn on the cob!”

The colt, Silver Lance, trotted along behind them, his relatively-shorter legs pumping to keep up. “Don’t worry about the stress, Flurry. You’ll feel better after a couple days.”

“How’d you know I was—?” Flurry stopped herself and rolled her eyes. Silver just tended to know things like that. It’s like her heart was an open book to him. “Thanks. I feel better knowing you guys are around. When did you get here?”

“Cousin Blueblood just finished his vacation in the Crystal Empire.” Twilight Amore flew upside down and backwards to keep her eyes on Flurry. “We practically begged him and Cousin Fleur to fly us back. And then begged mom and dad for permission. And then begged Grandma and Grandpa to let us stay. After all that begging, I am well and thoroughly humbled.”

Silver Lance smiled bright. “Jade says ‘Hi Flurry!’”

Flurry giggled as she thought of little Jadeite Jasmine Blueblood. “She’s a cutie. Fleur says she speaks full sentences now.”

“And she’s a sassy little thing, too.” Twilight Velvet opened the door to the house, and the smell of homemade food wafted in the air. Grilled corn on the cob, covered in melted butter and spices only Night Light could name for certain. Fizzy strawberry cordial drinks awaited on the table, which was lit with warm candlelight.

Grandpa Light was just finishing setting the table as the crowd of youngsters rolled up. His high cheekbones gave his face a sharp look, but physical looks could not hide the true self beneath, that of a warmhearted father and grandfather who smiled as readily as he could breathe. “Welcome home, Flurry Heart.”

Though she was exhausted, though the looming threat of the Unseelie Court lay in the shadows all around, though she feared even now of disappointing the wisest pony in the land, Flurry Heart felt herself find some semblance of ease amidst the smiling faces and familiar voices.

Abacus Cinch scoffed at the ancient mare beside her. “Honestly, Celestia. I thought you’d learned your lesson. If Sunset Shimmer was not the last straw, I thought surely Twilight’s lapse in judgement would awaken you to the dangers of your teaching style!”

High Princess Celestia of Equestria felt her age keenly. The assassination attempt had been merely the first blow in a series of humbling strikes that had gradually worn her down. First to go was her immortality, her heart destroyed by a spear hefted by a one-time mentor. Second was her strength, sacrificed to protect Cadence’s young ones from Ahuizotl’s acolytes. Third, her hopes for the future faded when she was forced to slay the only stallion she’d ever loved—at least, as a mare loves a stallion.

Now, she felt a fourth pillar of her life crumbling beneath her. But she could not tell Abacus that. Not fully.

She turned her practiced, serene expression upon her former student. She did not include the usual knowing smile, for such a show would fall flat for as shrewd a mare as Abacus Cinch. She decided to speak the truth, with certain elements omitted. “I have learned, Abby. I’ve learned to heed the advice of those around me.”

“Then perhaps I should be candid more often!” Abacus huffed as she patrolled the school, locking doors and checking rooms as she went about her nightly rounds. She flashed Celestia a piercing glare over her small spectacles. “I worry you’re going to give the poor girl the same complex her mother has.”

“I do, too.” Celestia furrowed her brow, gently rubbing the scar across her chest. “But Cadence only had me. Of course she’d want to emulate me. Flurry has a much bigger family. She has better mares to look to than me for inspiration.”

That threw Abacus off, though she recovered quickly. A moment spent silent gave the both of them time to gather their thoughts.

“Be that as it may…” Abacus’ harsh voice softened. Her expression eased. “You are both ageless alicorns, Celestia. You both have centuries to teach and learn. Couldn’t you take the lessons slower? Give her more time for herself?”

Celestia let out a pained guffaw despite herself. “You really think I have centuries ahead of me?”

“You’ll outlive me, at least.” Abacus Cinch leaned against the door to the potions lab. She stared across the hall out the window, which overlooked part of Canterlot and the mountain it sat upon. The city itself was lit with lights both magical and mundane, its nightlife having bloomed over the years until it was just as eventful as the daytime hours.

Celestia sat beside her, her heart heavy and her mind overloaded. She wanted more than anything to unburden herself on her one-time student, who had become a greater teacher than she could hope to be. But there were things which could not be revealed… an attempt to avoid them could result in a more terrible fate than that which awaited them all.

Perhaps one thought could be released into the air. “The Tree of Harmony has died.”

“Already?” Abacus blinked in keen shock. She rubbed her forehead with a heavy sigh. “From what Professor Sunburst reported, I thought we had weeks. Not hours.” She returned her gaze to Celestia with a tremble in her lips. “What does this mean for us?”

“That the search for the Elements must begin in earnest.” Celestia shook her head slowly, her throat constricted by a barrage of tears that threatened to flow. “Though I do not know how to find them. For that, we must rely on Twilight.”

“If anybody can find the journal, it’s her.” Abacus’ ears perked up at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. She stood and faced the pony, who was a soldier in glistening golden armor. “Hello, Centurion.”

Centurion Stonewall, Shining Armor’s successor as Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, saluted Abacus Cinch without stopping her march. “Ma’am.” She came to Celestia and gave her a swift bow. “My lady, we have news from Solitaire. It isn’t good.”

Celestia felt her mask slip away, and in its absence, a curse slipped out. “Rut.”

Abacus slapped a hoof over her mouth and staggered back. “Celestia, I’ve never heard—!”

“I’m sorry.” Celestia stood and nodded to Abacus. “You deserve better from me than such vulgarities.” She leaned closer to Stonewall and set her jaw. “Please, Centurion, continue.”

Stonewall glanced at Abacus before continuing. “It’s been attacked. They’ve gone radio silent, and we suspect they’ve been completely overrun. All prisoners are considered free, armed, and dangerous.” She pulled a sheet of paper from the side of her armor and passed it to Celestia. “This is a transcript of the last transmission we received from them. It’s from one of the prisoners, Aspen the Alliterative of the Donkey Island of Lightning Gale.”

“Aspen? What did he—?” Celestia scanned the document and found the answers quickly enough. “So. Silver Spoon. We have the name of a Siren.”

Abacus pulled a face. “You trust this ‘Aspen’ fellow?”

“He’s as trustworthy as any I’ve seen. He quite literally couldn’t lie to save his life.” Celestia folded the paper and pressed her lips together. “Have you begun the investigation yet?”

“We’re already looking at several possible Silver Spoons.” Stonewall shook her head and spread her wings to show them to be empty. “It’s a surprisingly popular name among all three tribes. There’s even a young mare in Ponyville who is the fifteenth in her family to have the name.”

“Keep this quiet.”Celestia said with a hiss. “Deathly quiet. The more ponies who know we are searching for a Silver Spoon, the better chance the Sirens have to find out about it.”

Centurion Stonewall jutted out her chin in a small but keen show of defiance. “How are we supposed to hunt down these dastards if we can’t put out the dragnet?”

“They’ve shown their hand, but only part of it.” Celestia approached the window and looked past Canterlot, past the edge of the mountain, to the wider world beyond. If she squinted, she could just seen the ocean on the east side of Equestria. “We don’t know what other cards they have, nor even the game they’re playing. We have several suspected agents under watch, but every time we charge in, they vanish like smoke.” She snapped a hoof against the ground. “Send a scouting force to investigate Solitaire tomorrow morning, but have them keep their distance. Have them enter the prison only if it’s empty. And be wary of traps.”

Centurion Stonewall saluted and flew off, leaving Celestia to look over a night sky with her blood boiling. If her suspicions were right, the Sirens and their Unseelie Court allies had the makings of a full army. Between the remnants of Ahuizotl’s forces and the prisoners of Solitaire, alongside their own zealous converts, the scattered dregs of Equestria were a force to be reckoned with, even for Equestria’s military.

Abacus Cinch quietly joined Celestia at the window, her face downcast, her ears drooping. She looked up at her princess with something between fear and awe in her eyes. “It is a rare sight indeed to see you battle-ready.”

Celestia wished to return her expression to a cool, collected calm, but her face refused. She felt her muscles tense and her wings ache to take flight. “I’m sorry. These are hard times.”

“Yes, and hard times brought us to this moment.” Abacus Cinch tore her eyes away and looked to the brilliantly bright moon overhead. “When I see you like this, I am reminded of the ancient Prophecy of the Alicorns, first spoken by Clover the Clever years before your birth…

“‘I saw a pony with eyes of lightning. Her heart was hard and strong with a yearning for justice. She carried the sun on her right wing, and the moon on her left. Fire rained from heaven and consumed her enemies, and all trembled at the sight of her.

“‘I saw a second pony with eyes of shadow. Her heart was merry, though encased in a prison of stone. She carried the moon on her right wing, and the sun on her left. Darkness was her enemy and constant companion, but she would not surrender.’”

Celestia shut her eyes, hoping to shut out the words that had driven her purpose and existence for the entirety of her young life. “Clover said that the prophesy did not speak of my sister and I. We failed to live up to it, time and time again.”

“Perhaps.” Abacus walked away from Celestia, possibly headed home for a well-deserved rest. “If that is the case, then you are a type and shadow of the two true alicorns. I can’t help but think of fire and justice when I think of you.”

Silence descended like a muffler over the ears.

Celestia remained in the empty corridor, the shadows dancing around her in the flickering lanternlight. She stared into one lantern, watching how the flame burned the fuel in a merry little dance. “Fire and justice… Is that my legacy? Fire and justice, trembling and fear, and death and destruction. Fated to fight until I die. And then fight all the harder.” She breathed a soft sob and finally let a tear trickle down her cheek. “A force of nature, the Creator’s sword. A cold heart that stood alone. Even my peace was forged in flame…”

The corridor was quiet, leaving her unanswered.

High Princess Celestia of Equestria, One-Time Mover of the Moon and Setter of the Sun, walked slowly and haltingly towards her mountaintop castle. She felt as ancient as the stones that lay beneath her hooves. “Is this all that remains of me?”

In Ponyville, a lone figure left the local bar, keeping a low profile. He was a stranger to town, though he’d grown up nearby. He’d just spent the evening learning what he could of the state of the city in recent years. He had barely managed to learn what he had without revealing his identity. The memories of the locals were long and vengeful.

The side-mounted bag he carried was light, but filled with a weight that was not merely physical. It dragged his shoulders towards the ground and swirled agony in his stomach. He was so confused; why was he the one it was left with? He who was left with nothing.

There was only one person who he could go to. Only one person who would not turn him away.

He had to find Button Mash.

Button Mash and Sweetie Belle walked out of Sugarcube Corner, their bellies full and their hearts warmed. At least, that’s the impression Sweetie got when she saw the smile on her dear friend’s face. The weight of before had lightened. The frustration had faded. The light shone from his lovely brown eyes, both clever and kind.

Pound Cake waved at them as he locked up the front door of the snack shop. “Come by anytime, guys! I’m gonna help with one of your shows if it’s the last thing I do!”

“I appreciate that!” Button said with a laugh. “Trust me, there’s plenty to do.”

Button set about fastening his cart to his torso, his voice quiet for the moment. Sweetie helped him with the harder-to-reach straps, her horn glimmering dimly in the moonlight. A faint pressure built up at the base of her horn, but she ignored it for the sake of the moment. “So… what are you going to do with the story, if they won’t let you play it at the café?”

“Find somewhere else, I guess… Or just drop it completely.” Button twisted his muzzle to one side as he looked back at his mobile theater. “What’s the difference between giving up and moving on?”

Sweetie thought about that for a moment, patting her curls just beneath her ear. “How noble the task is, I guess. And how much peace it’ll give you to end it.”

“So that’s a ‘no’ twice over.” He gave her a rueful smile. “River’s story will be told, one of these days. I just gotta wait for the right opportunity.” They exchanged a soft kiss, and he spoke in a hushed voice. “You’re headed home, right?”

“Right. I’ve got an evening planned with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.”

He nodded, but did not pull away. Not just yet. “Be careful. I’ll walk you home if—”

“You live clear on the other side of the city.” She bopped his nose with a hoof. “And you’ve got your own appointments to keep. The boys aren’t gonna stop teasing you if they have to wait for you to unlock your house again.”

“I just…” The warmth of his smile fell ill to a chill both their hearts shared. “Remember…”

“I do, too.” She pulled off her frameless glasses and dabbed at her eye, which stung ever-so-slightly. “I’ll be careful. I promise.” She rested a hoof on his chest. “If you promise, too.”

“Of course.”

A final kiss signaled their parting, going their separate ways with not a few glances behind them, until each of them faded from the other’s sight.

“Yacht!” Scootaloo rolled the dice with her wings vibrating with excitement. “Come on, gimme them sweet, sweet points!”

Three aces, a four, and a deuce greeted her eyes, which fell in dismay.

Yacht Dice was the name of the game for the night, having just beaten out Eats, Shoots, and Leaves for priority. Partially a game of chance, partially a game of light strategy; excitement rose each time the dice were thrown. Apple Bloom had described it as poker with dice, but Sweetie didn’t know the first thing about poker, and was unable to verify.

Apple Bloom reclined on a couch, looking over her scorecard with the air of a ruthless mafia don. “Already marked off your aces, didn’tcha?”

Scootaloo groaned and buried her head in her hooves.

Apple Bloom leaned forward as her grin grew even smarmier. “Already used up your ‘chance,’ didn’tcha?”

Scootaloo hid beneath her purple wings, glaring daggers at the dice that had just betrayed her.

Apple Bloom craned her neck over to Scootaloo’s spot with a mirthful malevolence rarely seen in the young mare. “Already crossed off your ‘Three of a Kind,’ didn’tcha?”

Sweetie Belle watched the battle of wills from a short distance, in a fortress constructed from the billowing, fluffy robe she was swaddled in. She reclined on one of the couches in her living room just beside the crackling fireplace. A couple of lanterns filled the room with enough light to read their scorecards, while an open package of marshmallows and sticks lay beside the warm flames. She sipped a tea and smiled as she unwound from the bustle of the day.

Scootaloo scornfully crossed off her chance for a Yacht and fifty extra points. “Alright, mighty Queen of Chance, let’s see you do better.”

Apple Bloom scooped up the dice and rattled them around in a cup. She stuck her tongue out of one side of her mouth, concentrating with her entire being.

Scootaloo smirked mightily. “Think you’re just gonna will the Yacht into existence, huh?”

“Give it a sec.” Apple Bloom rattled the dice to the tune of a familiar song, often sung by Apple Family members during long trips. She released them into the wild and allowed them to fall where they may. “Three aces, a four, and a six.”

“Oh wow,” Scootaloo said, puckering her lips. “Three points in aces, how very—”

“Thirty-eight points.” Apple Bloom scrawled a three at the top of the card with a mouth-held pencil. “If’n you count the bonus points I just earned for completin’ the top section.”

Scootaloo’s eyes ran over the length of Apple Bloom’s card, doing the math in her head and not quite liking the sum of it all. “Welp, that’s me out of the running.” She narrowed her eyes at the towering earth pony mare across from her. “Et tu, Bloom?”

Without leaving her seat, Apple Bloom was able to scoop Scootaloo in a hug with her long legs. “Aw, it’s all good, Scoots! You’ll get ’em next time… if’n you ain’t so quick to ditch anythin’ that ain’t five of a kind.”

Sweetie Belle gathered the dice with a glint of magic and gave them a firm shake. Her hand wasn’t bad, a full house, but still left her without a hoof to stand on against Apple Bloom’s nearly full card. “I must also concede. Thank you for the game, ladies.”

Scootaloo returned the hug with Bloom, though not without softly chucking her under the chin. “Yeah, great fun all around!” With a snicker she added, “You lucky bum.”

Sweetie glanced at the clock and found it to be a late hour, but not so late that bed was called for. “Are you two spending the night? I hope so, since we need to fit a dress to you both tomorrow.”

“Eh?” Scootaloo hovered in midair, cleaning up the game as she floated. “What’s wrong with the dresses you’ve already made us?”

“Nothing is wrong.” Sweetie glanced over the top of her rimless lenses. “But far be it from me to miss an opportunity to drape my dearest friends in finery when they’ve been invited to a public event the likes of the christening of a new city.”

“There’s business sense to it, too.” Apple Bloom stuck a marshmallow on a stick and held it in front of the fire. “Showin’ off her talents to high society and suchlike.”

Sweetie grumbled at the thought of monetizing her friends’ beauty, but nodded all the same. “It’s true enough. And I couldn’t ask for better models.” She held back a yawn with a hoof and procured herself a marshmallow on a stick. “Speaking of businesses, when are you opening yours, Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom pursed her lips, keeping silent for a long moment. Sweetie was about to speak again—to either apologize or to press the issue, she wasn’t sure—when Apple Bloom let out a forced laugh. “I dunno, guys. I can’t rightly open up a potions shop when Applejack still thinks I’m gonna live on the farm the rest of my life.”

“You still haven’t talked to her?” Scootaloo leaned on Apple Bloom’s broad shoulders, leaning her relatively meager weight on her friend. “Dude, the longer you wait, the harder it’s gonna be! At least give her some breathing room to get used to the idea before you move out.”

“That’s the thing…” Apple Bloom tilted her head and lifted her burning marshmallow out of the fire. “What if I just… tell her I’m leavin’ and go? Rip the bandage off and scoot out before she can get mad about it.”

“You mean run away and leave her mad without explaining yourself?” Scootaloo lay down on Apple Bloom’s back and kicked her hind legs in the air. She raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a real good way to ruin the relationship forever, if you ask me.”

Sweetie Belle spread her forelegs out while Apple Bloom watched her treat burn. “Who’s to say she even gets mad? She’s one of the most down-to-earth ponies I’ve ever met. Rational and friendly—”

“Except where the farm is concerned.” Appel Bloom blew the fire out and chomped the marshmallow without a second thought. “You know I’m right.”

Scootaloo’s ears drooped. “Yeah. She does tend to freak out whenever… the farm changes…”

“It’s gonna be the same as the day Granny Smith passed away.” Apple Bloom lowered her head and stared at the crackling flames, idly licking marshmallow fluff from her chin. “And I just… I don’t wanna put her through that. I don’t want her to think I’m just leavin’. It’s just…” She looked at her cutie mark, that of an apple blossom in full bloom, with two buds beside it. “There’s somethin’ else I wanna do with my life. ’Cuz the day I discovered my mark, the whole world opened up.”

The front door shook from the force of someone knocking.

Scootaloo’s eyes shot open as she shot into the air. “You expecting late-night visitors?”

Sweetie’s blood ran cold. The last time they’d had someone show up this late at night was when Dr. Caballeron and his assistants, Kiln and Rhombus, had kidnapped her and Scootaloo. Now, rational or not, she felt the same dread and fear as she’d felt that night. Cornered and unable to fight back.

Precautions had been taken. She walked carefully up to a small device on her wall, a miniature periscope, and peered through. A series of mirrors carried the image of the visitor to her eyes. He was an earth pony stallion, with a sandy mane and a caramel-brown coat. An ice-cream sundae could be seen in his cutie mark. He wore a heavy, hooded coat, but Sweetie had grown up with him. He was instantly recognizable.

Especially after what he’d done about six years ago.

Apple Bloom hovered behind Sweetie Belle, hefting a metal baseball bat. “What do you see, Sweetie? Are you in danger?”

Scootaloo hovered beside the window, ready to either pull the curtains closed or open it for a quick escape. “W-who is it?”

Sweetie Belle frowned deeply. Why was he even here? He hadn’t even come back town since he’d become an adult. He’d managed to burn every bridge she could think of. “I don’t think we’re in danger, but… don’t put down the bat.”

Apple Bloom nodded, affirming her grip on the handle and giving it a practice swing.

“It’s…” Sweetie hesitated one last time before turning to Scootaloo with tired eyes. “It’s Lickety Split.”

“What the hell does he want?” Scootaloo’s demeanor turned from shivering to boiling in the blink of an eye. Her voice rose to a level that sent shocks of adrenaline down Sweetie’s spine. “What the actual hell does—?” Without an outlet for her blood pressure, she settled for kicking the mostly-empty bag of marshmallows. “Tell him to go r—”

The knock sounded again.

Sweetie Belle fastened her green gemstone necklace, one meant to stifle her inborn powers of song. She cinched up her robe tighter and gestured for the two of them to follow. Apple Bloom marched with heavy footsteps, while the seething Scootaloo kept her distance both horizontally and vertically. Sweetie put her hoof to the handle and gave it a tug.

Lickety Split was a handsome fellow, she had to admit. She might have been biased, considering her choice in boyfriend, but she imagined that warm eyes must have run in the family. “Lickety Split. What brings you back to Ponyville?”

He glanced at her from beneath a heavy brow, one that appeared to be doing some deep thinking. His eyes turned back down when he caught sight of Apple Bloom with her bat. “Hi, Sweetie. Apple Bloom. Does that mean—” He looked past them and caught sight of the death-rays Scootaloo was shooting at him. “Hi, Scootaloo. Been a while.”

“Not long enough, you rat.”

“Yeah, I hear yah.” He sighed from his nose, kicking his hoof against the welcome mat. “Look, I won’t bother you too long. Is Button home?”

“Probably.” Sweetie narrowed her eyes and inched a little closer to Apple Bloom. “Why are you asking me?”

“Aren’t you two dating?” He tilted his head as if she’d just said he was a diamond dog. “I heard you’d been going steady for the last—what?—seven months?”

“Eight.” She wrinkled her nose, growing more confused by the minute. “What? You think he lives here?”

He rolled his eyes, turning away from the door. “That’s why I’m here. It’s not like I wanna reopen old wounds.”

“Old wounds!” Scootaloo landed right in his face and shoved him in the shoulders. “You callin’ me a scab? You callin’ me a scar? I’m the one whose heart you left bleeding on the side of the road, horseapples-for-brains! But I guess I was just girl number two, wasn’t I? Huh?”

“What do you want me to say?” he snapped. “You’d never accept an apology!”

“Maybe I don’t want you to apologize!” she growled. “Maybe I want you to drop dead!”

Sweetie raised a hoof to clamp Scootaloo’s mouth shut. “Scootaloo! How dare you say such a thing?”

Scootaloo shut her eyes, allowing tears to trickle out. She backed away and lowered her head. A soft breath nearly turned into a sob before she found her voice. “Yeah. That’s too far. You’re right.” She rubbed her nose with a strong right hoof. “I don’t need your apology. My life’s better than ever since you left. You met my boyfriend? Name’s Rumble. Taller than you, cooler than you, handsomer than you? Ring a bell?”

Lickety gritted his teeth and pulled a bag higher up on his back. “Listen… I just want to find Button. It’s important and… and I can’t go home. I can’t face my parents. So if you could just…” He trailed off, not looking at any of them, apparently not even confident enough to speak anymore. His ears lay low against the top of his head. His hooves looked scuffed from long days spent travelling. His eyes were sunken and surrounded with black circles.

Despite herself, despite knowing what kind of person he was, despite the shambles he’d left both Scootaloo and Button in when he’d left six years ago… She felt something stir in her heart. A little mixture of pity and mourning. Pity for what he’d become, mourning for what he could have been. The weight of the hearts he’d broken, the mares he’d cheated on, had dragged him through the dirt. Justice, in many ponies’ eyes.

She pointed down the road towards Town Square, past the fountain and the commercial district. “He has a small house on the other side of town. He just bought it about a year ago after finally saving up enough to move out.” She furrowed her brow. “We’re not moving in together unless we decide to get married.”

“Didn’t know anybody did that anymore. Cute. Old-fashioned.” Lickety Split laughed once, though you couldn’t tell from looking at his face. “Just like my little bro to be a hopeless romantic like that.” He turned to walk away, but paused mid-step. He held himself there a moment longer before looking back at Scootaloo. “For what it’s worth, I know I was a scumbag. You deserved better than me.”

Scootaloo flew back inside with a huff. “Just get out of my life.”

Apple Bloom let the bat clank against her hoof. “Keep your nose clean, Split. Ain’t many more mares you can charm around these parts.”

“I noticed, thanks.” Lickety Split walked off into the night, a great weight dragging his shoulders down, like chains clasped around his fetlocks.

Sweetie watched him go a little longer than she intended. She saw a lot of Button in the young stallion before her. His face had a similar shape. His eyes had a similar intensity and curiosity. Even his ears shared a family resemblance that made Sweetie draw lines between them in her head. It was as if she was watching Button slouch his way through Ponyville, after having been gone for many years. Beaten by the world. Abandoned by his friends. Ashamed to face his family.

Justice, in a sense.

Poetic justice.

Sweetie closed the door on the outside world. It would be a much less merry night going forward, she knew, but maybe, just maybe, some healing could occur. At the very least, Scootaloo needed her friends right now.

Button Mash smiled faintly as his character was pulverized by Snips’. It was a familiar scene for him: Snips would get inside his guard, combo him with a series of hits that Button could anticipate but not react to, and then send him flying off the edge of the screen. The illusion spells that made up the game flashed and pulsed with light as Button’s hopes and dreams were swallowed up in a blaze of fire and a loud voice calling “Game!”

Button dropped his controller next to Pipsqueak and leaned back in his couch. “Yep. I’d expect no less from Ponyville’s resident fighting game champion.”

They were in his home, a humble little three-room ordeal on the edge of the commercial district, not too far from the edge of Ponyville. Just a few meters down the way, the road led north out of the city and towards either Canterlot or Fillidelphia. The front door led directly to his kitchen, which had a table with four chairs around it. The only other two rooms were his bathroom, which was completely and utterly unremarkable, and his bedroom, which was where he and his buddies were spending their evening.

Pipsqueak—Pip to his friends—took up his controller with the air of a knight taking up his sword for a hopeless battle. “A day may come when Snips is not an equine death machine, when his inputs fail him and his controller loses power. But that day is not today.”

Rumble rested on the bed behind the couch, peering over their heads at the screen and awaiting his turn. He gave Snips a smirk. “I’ve faced sergeants in basic training, Centurion Stonewall’s attitude, and Dr. Caballeron himself, and you’re still the scariest thing I’ve ever had to fight.”

“Alright, alright, chill out guys!” Snips waved a hoof dismissively, gleefully soaking up the praise both sincere and feigned. “I’m not even that good. You guys just suck.”

Button Mash stretched his forelegs upward and staggered his way upright. He made his way to the kitchen, scratching his neck along the way. “Anybody want a snack? I have popcorn and chips.”

Pip cycled through characters, giving his opponent a sidelong glance as he compared his chances against Snips’ main. “They’re called ‘crisps,’ first of all, and I’ll take a bowlful.”

Rumble tapped his chin. “Makes sense to me. You can’t chip a potato, but you can fry it up crispy.”

Button set the bowls on the countertop and pulled out the bag of goodies. He glanced over his shoulder at the shelves arranged around his room. Each one was full of marionette puppets, all carved by himself and enchanted to move with Dinky’s knowhow. Each one had held a starring role in his stories and shows. Each one held a special place in his heart.

Including the six changelings who made up the first Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

He lit his stove and set a pot on the burner to warm up his serving of popcorn. He hurried back to give Pip his chips, and to watch the strong, short stallion lose his first match. He glanced up at the bearers again, taking note of how he’d painted the Elements of Harmony on their necklaces. He’d need to touch up Generosity—the purple was peeling.

Rumble caught his attention with a flap of his wing. “Hay, it Spike gonna be here tonight? I haven’t talked with him yet.”

“Not tonight, unfortunately.” Button gestured in the general direction of the Everfree Forest. “He said he had a mission with Princess Twilight that he couldn’t miss. He might be able to join up next time.”

“Dang. Not sure if I’ll be able to make it then.” Rumble rested his chin on crossed forelegs. “Guard work is tough, you know? We get breaks, sure, but they’re rare enough it feels like a holiday every time.” He tilted his eyebrows upward. “And with all the trouble the Sirens and fairies are giving us, leave is becoming harder and harder to come by.”

“Fairies?” Snips chuckled as he figuratively ground Pip’s nose into the dirt. “You mean the tiny sparkly ponies? The cutesy little critters with magic dust in their wings and brains the size of a pinhead?”

“Those are breezies, you uncouth ninny.” Pipsqueak dodged a heavy attack and managed to land a single solid hit on Snips. “And their brains are actually rather large for their size.”

Button’s ear twitched as his corn began to pop like miniature fireworks. “Fairies like the ones in my stories, Snips. Like the Lord of the Sky, or Shadowfright, or… what was the guy’s name, Rumble? The one who kidnapped Fluttershy last year.”

Rumble gritted his teeth in a humorless grin. “Not really sure if I can share anything or if it’s all classified.”

“Oh come on.” Snips looked away from the screen, and was still giving Pipsqueak a hard time. “You gotta be able to tell us something. I get national security, but I’d like some idea about what exactly I’m supposed to be scared stiff of.”

Pip watched his character, a feisty little dragon by the name of Kiryu, breath fire to no avail against Battlefight the Minotaur Lord. He rested his controller in one hoof and scooped up a bite of chips with the other. “Between you and me, I heard Pound Cake talk about it once or twice. It sounded like the fairy’s name was Yolk. Whether that means an egg yolk, a farmer’s yoke, or something else, I cannot say.”

Button Mash’s eyes went from the bearers to the puppets he’d made for the antagonists of his tales. The largest and most intricate puppet was that of the Lord of the Sky, the King of the Unseelie Court of Fae. The first being to attempt to take control of the entire world and wrestle it beneath his iron fist. Few stories existed about this creature, save that he was the one who moved the sun and the moon in the days before his attempted dominion of all sapient creatures. It was he who River and her friends defeated with the Elements of Harmony, bringing about the end of the First Age.

“If the fairies are really coming back,” Button said in a hushed voice, “we need the Elements of Harmony to even stand a chance.”

Pipsqueak winced as his character was punted off the battlefield, courtesy of Snips’ oversized axe. He passed the controller to Rumble in the hopes he would have better success. “From what I’ve heard around town, the fairies have been back for years. They’ve just been hidden, biding their time. We can blame them for Nightmare Moon, Tirek, and any number of other horrors.”

“No horseapples?” Snips blew a breath through his lips. He passed his controller to Pip so he and Rumble could have a match together. “Sign me up for a popcorn, Button. I’m starting to feel those cold shivers you guys’ve been talking about.”

“Oh, good,” Pip said as he selected a breezie warrior from the roster. “Horse sense can be taught.”

Button turned his head at a knock on the front door. He frowned. He hadn’t really been expecting other visitors, and it was far too late for polite company. He shared a glance with Rumble, who passed his controller to Snips. “Unless Spike changed his mind, I don’t know who that could be.”

“Lemme at ’em,” Rumble said, his powerful muscles flexing. “I’m scarier than half the ponies in this town.”

Snips snickered. “And the other half are related to Applejack.”

Pip furrowed his brow as the previously-even match devolved into him watching Snips’ perfect button inputs. “Do be careful. Ponyville isn’t as friendly of late.”

Rumble walked up to the door with held breath. He flashed Button a grin, somewhere between guarded and sincere, and pulled the handle. Neither of them expected the pony on the other side, and neither really knew what to say.

Lickety Split, Button’s older brother, took a step back at the sight of Rumble. He flashed the tall pegasus an uneasy grin and tucked his tail between his legs. “Oh. Sorry, Button. Didn’t know you had company.” He pulled his dark hood from his head and glanced between the imposing stallion and his younger brother. “I—um—I have something to talk to you about.” With a nervous nod to Rumble, he added, “I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t important.”

Button recovered first. He moved forward without thought, pushing Rumble aside and stepping onto his front patio. He and Lickety Split were the same height now; when Split had left, Button was still a head shorter than his older brother. Button looked his sibling over. He was thinner than Button, nearly scrawny, as if he’d never eaten a good meal in his life. His coat was dirty, and his mane was disheveled and overgrown.

Lickety looked away. “I don’t mean to bother y—”

Button Mash lurched forward and wrapped his brother in a tight hug. Tears welled up behind his eyes as his throat grew tight. He had begun to think that he’d never see his brother again. Ever since that night, when his deeds had been exposed to the entire town. When it was revealed that Lickety Split had been dating multiple ponies at once, lying to them all. It was a series of horrible decisions, brought about by a mind that Button couldn’t quite understand. It was as if Lickety had been addicted to the house of cards he’d built his life into, unable to stop even when it spun out of control. Even when he’d realized how much he’d been hurting people, and how alone he’d been left.

He had run away, and most ponies were happy for it.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Button choked out. He gave Lickety some breathing room, but still held on to his older brother’s shoulders. He led him inside, past Rumble, who was torn between confusion and subsurface anger. “I don’t have much, but you’re welcome to it. Popcorn? Maybe a sandwich? You look like you need a sandwich.”

“I ate, thanks.” Lickety looked at the open bedroom door, where Pip and Snips’ game had been forgotten by all present. “Pip… squeak. Snips. Is Snails around?”

“He, uh…” Snips swallowed the lump in his throat with no small amount of effort. “He sorta… drifted away from us. After you left.”

“Oh.” Split sat at the table and let his bag fall to the floor. “I get it. Yeah.”

The chair next to Lickety Split’s scraped against the floor as Rumble lowered his weight into it, sitting close to Split’s side. The big stallion said nothing, content as he was to simply watch the new visitor closely. Too closely.

“You should visit home,” Button said, breaking the uneasy peace with his warbling voice. “Mom and Dad are still worried sick about you. If you just—”

“Nobody can know I’m in town.” Split rested his hooves together, leaning his muzzle against them. “It’s better that way.”

“Look, bro, you’ve been missing for six years.” Button took a seat opposite his older brother and clapped his hooves against the table top. “Some people wanna know you’re doing okay. Some people wanna know that you’re even alive!”

“I’m not back, Button.” Lickety Split sat for a moment, his eye continuously downcast, opening his mouth with a faint stutter as he searched for the words. “I’m not. I can’t face Mom and Dad again. Not after that. I didn’t… I didn’t even want these guys to know, but…” He shook his head and swallowed hard. “Listen to me. I’m only here because I literally don’t know where else to go.”

Rumble slapped a hoof against the table top, causing both Split and Button to flinch. “You just got welcomed back with open arms. Literally. Accept that Button still loves you or get the heck out of here.”

Split’s hooves shook. “It’s not that simple.”

“Then let’s make it simple,” Button said, a deep pit opening up in his chest. He felt his elation sinking further and further into shadow as he watched his brother. This moment so long in coming, the time when Lickety Split could come back and rejoin his family, and it was nothing more than a facade. “Even if nobody else welcomes you back, even if nobody else sees you as worth knowing, you still have me, and Mom, and Dad. You owe it to them to say hi.”

“I owe it to them to stay well enough away.” Before Button could argue, Lickety pulled his pack onto the table. He held it in both forehooves and took a deep, shuddering breath. He looked Button right in the eye and held his gaze. Button saw true fear behind his glare, the type Button himself had felt while staring down Ahuizotl. “Please, just listen. This is important.”

Button leaned back in his chair with a sigh that felt like he was bleeding from the chest. “Alright. Alright, Split. Do what you need to do.”

Lickety Split licked his lips and slowly unzipped the bag. He pulled the lip aside and reached in, his hoof trembling. He sucked in a breath when he contacted the object.

When he pulled it out, Button Mash could only drop his jaw.

It was a hoof-sized gemstone, cut with facets clean and even. If he looked closely, he could see etchings running through the interior, to indicate it was enchanted. But unlike any enchantment Button had seen in his life, the layers of this gemstone’s etchings ran up and down, around in spirals, back and forth in an array that seemed impossible to map out or plan. The gem glowed from within with a light brighter than even the powerful pommel stone Button had seen on King Andean’s sword Euroclydon. It shimmered a soft pink, which warmed his heart even as his blood ran cold.

“An old mare stopped me on the road.” Lickety Split held it out to him, looking as though he were ready to vomit. “She said I would know what to do with it. Then, she just… she vanished. Obviously I had no idea what to do with it. I was hoping you would.”

Button began to reach for it, but snatched his hoof back before he could take it. There was no way. And yet, the evidence was unmistakable. The other guys gathered around the table, looking over Button’s shoulders or looming behind him. Their faces were bathed in its majestic light.

Lickety Split took in a shaking breath. “Is this… what I think it is?”

Button held his head in his forelegs, unable to take his eyes from the gemstone. “Split… this is Kindness.”

Twilight: Warrior Princess

The morning came with the lighting of Twilight’s horn. Sunset departed, both she and Twilight knowing that as much as they could wish for enough time to even have a decent meal together… it couldn’t happen. They both had too many other places to be. They both had too many responsibilities dragging them elsewhere. A quick, bland porridge was all they could share before Sunset flew north with her personal cadre of guardsponies.

Twilight Sparkle trotted around the ruins of the palace courtyard, a cloud of notepads floating in her wake; all scribbling a different note, and all barely legible. After trying to reread them, she settled for focusing on one thought at a time before writing the next. That was difficult enough. The ideas were coming thick and fast, all in a jumble and all wrestling for prominence. The description of Spike’s adventure within the dying tree, the void devoid of life save for a hideous monster, the whispered words of comfort that seemed to form a riddle.

“By my blood shall the book be opened.”

“By Spike’s blood? By his mother’s blood?” She tapped the pen against her lips and left a trace of ink down the middle. “By mine? And what book? Some heretofore unknown tome of magic powers that we can use to fight the fae? And what is the most proper spelling of fae? I should look at standardizing either ‘fae’ or ‘fey’—”

“Twilight,” Spike said, tapping the side of his head “focus.”

“I can’t focus! Not now! Not when there’s so much at stake!” She swirled the notepads around her in a whirlwind of nearly-dried ink and flapping pages. “Everything demands my attention and even the slightest slip of attention will result in a catastrophic upheaval of everything we’ve fought to protect!”

He lowered his eyelids and said nothing, content to stare at Twilight from beneath a furrowed brow.

“Fiiine, I’ll do the stupid breathing exercises.” Twilight sat down hard and folded her wings across her back. She pointed a hoof at Spike as she set the notepads beside her. “But we need to figure this out and we need to figure it out now.”

“And we will.” Spike leaned forward and crossed his legs, resting his elbows on his knees. “Just as soon as you use your brain for something more productive than overheating itself.”

Twilight exhale ended in a sputter, but she decided against arguing his point. Getting frustrated wouldn’t help anything. Getting panicky wasn’t helping anything. It was just a matter of careful consideration, piecing together what the riddle could mean, based on the considerable mountain of knowledge she’d built up over her life. Did the saying sound familiar? She could name off dozens of writings with some mention of blood without breaking a sweat. It seemed almost generic, as unimportant as any daily turn of phrase.

“By my blood shall the book be opened.”

Of course, that was taking the words as is. Perhaps it could be solved like any other problem: By looking at it from a different angle. If the book—whatever book that may be—can be opened with blood, what sealed it in the first place? That same blood? Some other blood? Blood was known to seal off wounds in the form of scabs; it was not known to be a particularly useful key.

Then perhaps she should put the riddle in context. Spike’s mother—or the apparition he claimed to be such—had said his road was a difficult one, but that it would not be walked alone. Perhaps that was part of the riddle, and the rigmarole about the blood and the book was the key. “Spike?”

Spike exhaled softly. He kept his eyes closed as he did their breathing exercises. “Yes, Twilight?”

“The road your mother spoke of…” Twilight watched him flinch at the words. “Do you know which one that is?”

He was quiet for a moment, his breathing becoming shallower. More troubled. He opened his bright green eyes and let a smokey sigh escape his nose. “It’s the Elements. Somebody needs to look for them.”

The words struck a blow at Twilight’s heart. The pieces started to come together in her head, but she refused to get ahead of Spike. “This is true.”

“And you and the girls can’t do it.” Spike’s tail swished in the dust of the ruins. “Not the way things are right now.”

“That is right.” Twilight’s ears lay down atop her head. She turned away so she didn’t have to look at the pain in her friend’s eyes. “We’re all stuck. One way or another.”

She, with her duties to the kingdom. Rainbow, with the rebuilding of Cloudsdale. Fluttershy, with the care of a golden apple tree. Rarity, with her charity work in Canterlot. Applejack was currently trying to reintegrate herself into farm life after four years in office. Pinkie might have been able to go, but to just send her without backup? Even with an army of guards, setting such a task on her shoulders alone… It seemed wrong, after she had already done so much in the last few years.

But to send Spike instead?

“But… I need you here, too.” Twilight thought back to Ponyville, to the Seeds of Friendship Public Library, to his friends, to all he did in service to Equestria with her. The last few years would have gone very differently for her—very badly, in fact—had he not been by her side. Even if she knew it was selfish, she had to voice her thoughts on it. She had to make sure he knew. “I can’t just send you off into the unknown without help. Without me.”

“Then who?” He shrugged, and her eyes went to the scars in his forearms. “The Knights of Harmony are accompanying Luna to Felaccia. The Pillars of Equestria are either scattered or retired.” He turned his eyes toward the forest, where the soldiers and Starswirl were awaiting their return. “Or busy with tree business, in the Archmage’s case. We need somebody who knows how to travel, who understands the Elements, and who has had ties to them.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “The seventh throne in the castle says I’m the next best thing.”

Yeah, Twilight thought. The smaller throne he barely fit into anymore. She clicked her tongue to banish the thought and return her to the present. “Alright, we’ll talk more later. But…” If this was the road Spike’s mother had mentioned, then perhaps “the book” was the key to following it. They’d been looking for Clover the Clever’s personal journal for some time now, to delve into its depths for the locations of the six reborn Elements of Harmony.

Had Clover ever spoken about blood?

“I have an idea.” She reached into her saddlebag and pulled forth Sombra’s dark tome: The Grimoire Alicorn. Many dark and foreboding things were placed between its covers, and a good chunk of it had been written by Clover herself after Sombra’s defeat. Much of her writing was contained in the margins, commenting on Sombra’s awful experiments. But some of it was wholly her, detailing her own methods of untangling the spells and brutal enchantments that—according to Sombra—would lead to the creation of an alicorn.

She had never followed them through to completion. She had never done anything that could not be undone. She had never taken a life, or conducted experiments on living subjects, or attempted to morph the genetics of future generations, like Sombra did. Still, what little she had done was plenty enough to send shivers down Twilight’s spine.

She came to a page that had often caught her eye. It was a diagram of Clover the Clever’s body, detailing its Fairy String network. The strings spread throughout the body, carrying magic from the heart to whatever the pony used to cast spells. For Clover, there was a large cluster at her horn, and a notable deficiency in her eyes. Clover had been born with weak eyesight, and the weakness had progressed to full blindness just a few years away from adulthood. Some theorists surmised that the weak Fairy Strings had contributed.

Several other details about her physiology were written around the page. Her personal care routine, her normal diet, her blood pressure, the effects of age…

“Do you think…” Spike leaned over her shoulder and rubbed his chin. “Do you think ‘her blood’ might mean that somebody descended from Clover could open the book?”

“Highly unlikely.” Twilight scanner her eyes over the DNA strands Clover had mapped out. She was no geneticist, but pattern recognition was a specialty of hers. Nothing stood out just yet. “About a third of Canterlot is related to her, let alone the rest of Equestria. After a thousand years of generations, nobody’s genetics would be similar enough to hers to matter. Unless it was a small thing, like, I dunno, eye color.” Twilight got to her hooves and trotted towards the rear of the dilapidated throne room, on a bee-line to Clover’s old laboratory. “Come on, I wanna see something.”

Spike grimaced as he followed along on all fours. “If we literally need her blood, we’re gonna be outta luck. Feel like becoming a grave robber?”

“Not especially.” Twilight lit her horn to move a false wall on the outer edge of the palace ruins. The inside corridor was dark, dripping with ichor grown from the forest’s more gruesome creatures. A slime shriveled away from the sunlight and sank into its own goo to escape. “I wouldn’t expect anything more than dry, dusty bones out of her at this point.”

Spike grimaced as he followed her in. A spurt of flame caused a particularly devilish, poisonous slime—a Malevolent Mud—to pop in a superheated bubble of phlegm. He gave the morning sky one last forlorn look before sinking his hind legs into the tunnel’s mossy, slippery standing water. “I thought we cleaned out Clover’s old lab years ago. Back when we thought renovating the palace was even possible.”

“We did.” Twilight kept her horn lit to guide them forward. She crafted a spell to filter the water ahead of her, but it kept getting clogged with gunk every time she took a couple of steps. She settled for whisking the aftereffects from her knees every so often. “But if Ahuizotl taught us anything, it’s that we know basically nothing about this place. If an entire changeling city could be hidden beneath the old palace, who knows what else we could have missed? If we can’t find Clover’s old journal, then we might at least find a clue to lead us to it.”

There was another wet snap as Spike obliterated another Malevolent Mud. “And hope that my mother’s riddle has something to do with it?”

“If it doesn’t, then we just have to figure it out another way. Regardless, it’s something to keep in mind.” Twilight pressed her lips together. She reached the door to Clover’s lab and pushed the proper sequence of stone blocks in the wall to activate the locking mechanism. “Even if it’s not your mother… If it can go toe-to-toe with the Lord of the Unseelie Court, it’s possible it’s a high-ranking member of the Seelie Court. They have a halfway-decent track record with giving us assistance recently.”

“It was my mother. My birth mother.” Spike leaned against the door frame to look Twilight dead in the eye. “I didn’t doubt it, not for a second.”

She said “I trust you, Spike,” even if she wasn’t sure she believed it. She led the way into the dark and, ostensibly, empty laboratory. Her magic reached for the four corners of the room and lit hanging lanterns at equal intervals. She produced four keys from her saddlebags and raised them in front of her eyes. “Keep watch on the walls. If they start to buckle, I’ll teleport us out of here.”

“Gotcha.”

Hidden keyholes were arranged around the room. One hidden behind a rotted bookshelf. Another on the floor in the farthest corner from the door. A third on the ceiling in the very center of the room. A fourth right beside the door, easily missed beneath the slime of a thousand years of neglect. Twilight inserted the keys into each lock simultaneously, turning them with a single, smooth motion. A block in the floor collapsed into stairs that led down, down, down into a darkness nearly as deep as that of the Abyss.

Spike offered her a lopsided grin. “What’s the point of a secret laboratory without a few spooky secret chambers to pad it out?”

“I’m still tempted to install one in the castle.” Twilight paused at the top of the staircase and puffed out her cheeks. “Please slap me across the head if I do actually build one. I fulfill too many ‘loopy scientist’ stereotypes as it is.”

“Violence requested as a solution…” He snapped his claws. “Check.”

“Alright, have your laughs.” Twilight glanced back at the doorway, then ducked into the narrow stairwell. “Keep close. It’s been a while since anypony’s been down here.”

Spike turned his shoulders to the side to squeeze through. “Any… pony.”

Twilight nodded, illuminating the small room below with a magic orb that she let drift into the center. It was a bare room, lacking even the dilapidated bookshelves and desks of the room above. All it contained was a single stone pedestal. It was angled just right to let a book rest upon it, facing the foot of the staircase.

“This,” she whispered, “is where Clover kept the Grimoire Alicorn.” She patted her saddlebag with a wing, feeling the familiar heft of the dangerous tome within. “It’s all that was in this room.”

Spike finally squeezed in and rested his back against the cool, clean wall. The room had been sealed nearly airtight, with no room for even a slime to enter the darkest of dark halls. “Ostensibly.”

“Ostensibly.”

“But you think there might be more to it than that?”

Twilight brought out the Grimoire and flipped to the page with Clover’s anatomical diagram. She sent a spell into the page to light up the words, so they shone clearly in the darkness. She rested the book on the podium. It slotted into place neatly, the podium having been carved especially for it. She examined the stone from every side, taking note of the artistic etchings that had been formed on the surface. “There’s more to it than just a book stand. I took rubbings before but could never make heads or tails of it. I was always missing one key component.”

She coated the carvings with a paper-thin sheet of magic, then pulled the spell away from the stone. She flattened the swirling, spiraling, leaf-like shape, bending and shifting it here and there. Straightening it out until it made some sort of sense.

Twilight read Clover’s words from the page, her voice slightly shaky in the chilly room. “‘My body has been weak since the day I came to this world. Magic is my only release from the pains of mortality. It is my only strength, my lifeblood. I have dedicated my life to its pursuit, and it has been both a blessing and a curse. Now, as age slowly drains the strength away, the thought of becoming an alicorn draws all the fiercer, all the brighter. So it is that I must hide this book away from even my own blind eyes. Lest it corrupt me as it did Sombra. As it did my dear friend Hurricane. If you find this book, know that it can only bring suffering, not healing.’”

“Lifeblood.” Spike appraised Twilight’s handiwork, comparing it to the image glowing on the page. “She considered magic as valuable as life itself.”

Twilight backed away from the enchantment floating in midair. She lifted the diagram from the book and held it in front of the podium’s carving. When flattened out, they were one and the same. “By my blood… by my magic… the book shall be opened.”

Spike wrung his claws together, his forehead furrowing. “Some say that magic is the soul of a pony made manifest. That could take it from being just ‘blood’ to being ‘lifeblood’. Maybe.”

“Maybe…” Twilight’s eyes ran along the illusion of Clover’s Fairy Strings until she came to the epicenter; the heart. “Or maybe, it’s the organ that deals in both blood and magic.” She ran her hoof along the side of the podium until she felt where the etchings converged. The heart of the podium, and of Clover the Clever herself. She probed the spot with magic, detecting nothing enchanted. “I already examined the podium last time I was here… so it’s gotta be something I missed.” She pressed her magic against the spot, peering closer at the stone, feeling its curves and compositions. Finding it… hollow? She walked around the book stand and looked closely at where the heart was carved, finding a small seam around the outside that was imperceptible to the eye, and nearly imperceptible to even the strongest magic. She allowed her horn to glow all the brighter, reaching into the podium until she could slide her consciousness around the inner workings of it. Yes, it was hollow, and it held something. Yes, the heart could turn, but it was locked with a series of tumblers not unlike a high-security latch.

She pooled her magic beneath the heart, forming it into a solid mass of shimmering power. She gave the heart a quarter-turn. Something within the podium clicked. Behind her, the wall fell open, revealing a room barely big enough to fit a pony into. She gave Spike a look and allowed her illusion spells and the enchanted key to dissolve into shimmering dust.

On the far wall of the tiny alcove, a simple bound book lay on a small shelf, preserved with some sort of low-level stasis spell Twilight didn’t know. She reached out and took it with a foreleg. She opened to the first page and was immediately confident that it was what they were looking for.

I am Clover, hoofmaiden to Princess Platinum of the Crystal Empire. I have been requested by my mentor, the Bearded One, to keep a log of the happenings of our journey south. We are hopeful we will be able to find livable land, far away from the scourge of the Windigos.

“Of all the things she wanted to hide,” Twilight whispered, “why did she want to hide this the most?”

“Because she knew what we would do with it.”

Twilight and Spike spun around to find themselves face-to-face with an image from their darkest nightmares. It had the shape of a pony, but with no skin, no muscle, just a pile of bones held together by malice. It was clothed in black, with a heavy overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat. A noose hung around its neck, frayed off as if the body had been cut from the tree it was slain on. But it was no body; Twilight could tell that much by the magic surrounding the being. The magic was not of pony origin, but of the world beyond. He held the Grimoire Alicorn in a chipped, gnarled hoof.

Spike hunched his shoulders, lowering his head in preparation to charge, should the event warrant it. “Who are you?”

“I am Merimna of the Unseelie Court, Acting Princeling of Equestria.” The fairy spoke with a toneless hiss from a mouth without lips. “Thank you for finding these books for us. I’m afraid I’m here to take them off your hands.”

Twilight lit her horn to grasp the Grimoire Alicorn, but the book vanished into the folds of his coat. She opened her mouth to snap at him, but saw movement behind him. A dark-clothed pony scrambled up the staircase, the tome tucked beneath one of its forelegs. “Spike! Up there! The book!”

Spike launched himself forward on all fours, crawling around the fairy and taking the stairs three at a time. Twilight and Merimna found themselves facing each other alone in the bowels of the old palace ruins.

“I’m afraid one book will not be enough to please my master.” Merimna tilted his head as his soulless eye sockets bored holes into Twilight. “I’m taking that journal, princess!”

Twilight Sparkle placed Clover’s journal in her saddlebags and cinched them tight. “Well, Sunset, time to see if your hypothesis works…”

Spike ran as hard as he could to catch up to the pony. He could only catch glimpses of him as he vanished behind doorways and into dark corridors. As he went, he noticed that he and the thief were not alone. Dark figures gathered at the edges of his vision. More fairies? Or more ponies?

Both, he realized as they broke through into the courtyard. Dark shadows hid within the heights of the ruined walls, while a semicircle of stallions in black hoods cut off all escape. He was within leaping distance of the thief, but he held back. Tackling the pony with his full strength would kill him outright. He had to outmaneuver him.

He glanced down at the rubble by his feet. Or…

He kicked a rock as lightly as he could, sending it skittering across the cobblestone floor. The stallion continued blindly, until his hoof caught the edge of the spinning stone fragment. It wasn’t enough to topple him, but it was enough to slow him down. Spike grasped the thief’s tail in his claw and held tight. He didn’t pull for fear of hurting the stallion irreparably. Instead, he let the pony’s own momentum yank him off his feet and send his nose into the ground. Spike winced at the sound.

Three arrows zipped through the air and struck Spike in the chest. Two bounced off, but one hit hard enough to stick. Spike brushed it away and scooped up the Grimoire Alicorn, sticking it as deep into his shoulder-slung bag as he could get it. He swiveled on his feet. He had been surrounded. Several bows had been pulled taught. Several spears shimmered, their heads enchanted with various damaging spells.

The stallions were all of like build and size, their coats dyed a deep grey, nearly black. They all wore matching black hoods to conceal any sort of individuality they might have had. Their eyes were dull, as if they were looking right past Spike. The drake shuddered; even Ahizotl’s minions, the Painted Ones, had some sort of personal investment in their service to their god. These ponies, on the other hand, didn’t look aware enough to put on their own horseshoes.

The spears-wielders lurched towards him like puppets on chains, thrusting at him with blazing heat or chilling frost. Spike batted the cold away, but allowed the fire to hit him. The spells fizzled out on lava-proof scales.

The thief spoke with a raspy voice. “Don’t harm the book! No spells!”

As one, the ponies reversed their spears to menace Spike with the blunt end. They battered him relentlessly, bludgeoning him rather than attempting to pierce his thick, scaly hide. Spike covered his eyes and ears, but nothing else on his body was vulnerable to the assault. Still, he was trapped. He could break free easily enough, but it would be far too easy to maim or kill these ponies accidently. All it would take was a single stray punch. Or a misplaced spurt of flame.

A tug at his bag’s strap stole his attention. One of the stallions was trying to steal it! Spike grabbed the strap and rolled, sending the pony head-over-tail. It took out another stallion during its flip through the air. The two crumpled to the ground, either winded or unconscious.

Spike took his chance and burst through the gap they made, barreling towards the camp. He was nowhere near as fast as the stallions, though, and they caught up with him in an instant, riding alongside his headlong charge and attempting to surround him again. He reached out and pushed the lead pony’s spearhead into the cobblestone, where it stuck fast. Unable to halt himself, the hooded stallion tripped over the haft. The two stallions behind him plowed into his body, becoming a tangled mess of pain and limbs.

He looked ahead and saw the rangers gathering just outside the palace courtyard to investigate the commotion. Starswirl the Bearded opened his eyes wide as he caught sight of Spike in a headlong charge away from the group of stallions. He directed the rangers to make a wall with their shields and ready their archers.

The hooded ponies had the same idea. Near the rear, three of them slowed down to draw their bows and aimed them at the rangers. Their arrows sung through the air. Spike let out a yelp as he saw the deadly weapons nearing their targets.

Starswirl cast a shimmering spell that halted the arrows’ flight and dropped them to the ground, broken in half. He waved Spike into the protective circle of shields. “Come, young drake! To safety!”

Spike removed his side bag and tossed it to Starswirl. With the book safe, he turned and faced the charging stallions head-on. He gritted his teeth and awaited the impact of six strong bodies moving at high speed. What he hadn’t expected was for their spears to reignite with chilling, sub-zero spells on their tips. The first spear struck his scarred shoulder and send waves of pain shooting through his boiling bloodstream. Three more spears struck his scales, each one pouring cold magic into him, seeking his heart. He grasped a spear haft and snapped it in two with a twist of his wrist.

It didn’t seem like he had the strength to do it again. Let alone five more times.

He sucked in a breath and let a hot fire well up in his lungs. He released the blaze across his body, melting some of the spearheads and allowing some small bit of life to return to his limbs. Even so, he knew that if the attack continued, his internal fire would go out, and his life along with it. While the hooded stallions beat the fire out of their coats, he used the moment of respite to drag himself towards the rangers.

Starswirl gave the order, and a hail of arrows rained down on the stallions. A few fell instantly, while the others retreated back towards the palace at a full gallop. The rangers pursued their opponents, while a field medic rushed up to Spike.

“I’m fine,” Spike said. “I just need to warm up.”

The medic nodded, and proceeded to hurry after his fellow rangers.

Starswirl clicked his tongue and gave the bag back to Spike. “A foolhardy move, young Spike. You might have been killed. The rangers had things well in hand.”

Spike turned away from the battlefield, burying his head in his claws. He rubbed the frost from his shoulder, shivering as his blood returned to its desired temperature. “I’m sorry. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

Starswirl glanced back at the bodies full of arrows. He said nothing, but simply rubbed Spike’s back.

With nothing to really lose for it, Twilight opened with a concussive blast from her horn. Pure magic being used as a bludgeoning instrument. One of the more brainless spells in her repertoire. As expected, Merimna seemed unfazed by the attack, and simply sidestepped it. The wall behind him shuddered, and the very foundations of the palace shifted.

Merimna shook his head. “You intend to bring the entire palace down on our heads?”

Twilight gritted her teeth. “If I thought it’d stop you.”

“It would not.” Merimna walked backwards up the stairs, and Twilight moved to follow. “I am no mere being of flesh and bone. I am a fairy, created from pure magic, who knows not the rigors of time nor the wear of age. Even the mighty alicorn is subject to my influence and power.”

The two of them entered Clover’s main laboratory. Twilight spread her wings, grateful to be free from the confines of the hidden chambers. She gathered magic to her horn, letting her heart pump strong and fast. She thought back to Sunset’s spell, recalling the details to memory as easily as she took breath. She felt her hackles stand on end. Shivers ran down her spine.

The bones that made up Merimna’s body shone with inner light, revealing the magic that made up his true essence. Swords and sorcery were of no use, Twilight thought, but wizardry might have its place…

She fired the spell with all that was in her, but Merimna faded into the shadows. He became a roiling morass of magic and darkness that filled the entire room, surrounding her with the same inky substance that had entrapped Spike the night before. She felt bones and claws scratch at her back. Whispers forced their way into her ears. Her wings were pulled this way and that by winds that were far from natural.

“I can be everything,” Merimna said, “or I can be nothing.”

The darkness grasped her eyes and forced them open, coating her senses with strange magic. She found herself in Ponyville, beholding a procession of chained ponies being led southwards. The horizon was full of fire, and Ponyville’s buildings were dilapidated or destroyed.

One of the chained ponies turned towards her and spoke with Merimna’s voice. “This is your future, Twilight. Everything you do to prevent it brings us closer towards it.”

Rage flared in Twilight’s heat in an instant. “Shut up!” She fired a spell at Merimna’s head and connected. The fairy fell, and the rest of the prisoners ran away, screaming for their lives. Twilight’s first instinct was to reach for them, to calm them down, to say she wasn’t going to hurt them. Reason took over, and she refused to be led astray by Merimna’s vision.

“Turn around, princess.” Mermna’s cold voice called to her from a great distance. “See the fruits of your labors.”

She knew what she was about to see, but she turned regardless. Five bodies lay among the rubble of the city, each one lifeless and gray. Each one representing her friends’ futures. Their future… according to Merimna.

“There is no path to save them.” The pony Twilight had struck rose up and shambled towards her, its injuries rendered in lifelike façade. “There is no path to avoid failure. You are already failing them. You have already failed your kingdom. Everything you’ve worked for is crumbling. You no longer bear the Elements, nor will they respond to your call.”

“If not me,” Twilight said through gritted teeth, “then someone else will take up the mantle.”

Merimna’s illusory puppet favored her with a most grim and gruesome smile. “What use will it be when your world is reduced to ashes?”

Without warning, Twilight ignited her horn to its strongest point, when her magic became pure white. She shot the spell not at the puppet, but at the world Merimna had crafted to trap her. A screech unlike anything she had ever heard before ripped at her eardrums as pure timeless rage poured out of the fairy. As she blazed forth her magic, Twilight worked on the fly to weave her waves of power into something resembling Sunset’s crystallization spell. Color flared alongside the pure white of her spell to grasp each and every part of Merimna.

His destroyed, burning world vanished. She could see the palace walls one again, crumbling around her with the force of her sun-moving magic. Merimna had spread himself thin to create the illusion. She saw a shadowy, impish form writhing and crawling around the floor, attempting to escape her. The glint of crystal could be seen at the fringe of the shadow. It was working!

It was working, and she’d already drained most of her reserves. She wouldn’t be able to move the sun at this point. Not without a week of rest. She pressed her teeth together and powered through the spell, holding onto Merimna as if her life depended on it. He was too slippery. He was too strong. His centuries of life had given him a mastery over magic that even Twilight could not match. If she could not beat him with finesse, she would have to defeat him with sheer overwhelming strength.

She drew magic up from her heart of hearts, the deepest wells of anger within her. At the edge of her mind, she could see King Sombra’s dark, dangerous crystalline spells. The ones powered by fear, and rage. She nearly reached out to touch them, to give her spell an extra bite. To make sure that Merimna never hurt anyone ever again. But she kept herself in check. She kept her eye on the goal.

Mermina’s bone-white head squealed at her from beneath the buffeting waves of magic. “You shall all suffer for this insult! I’ll see Spike’s blood spilled across the entire continent!”

Something clicked in Twilight, shifting from mere anger to something else. Something deeply rooted within her. The desperation in her mind turned to certainty. Her frenzied drive became the resounding clang of a hammer crushing its target over, and over, and over as she pounded the spell against Merimna’s essence. She watched closely as minute by minute, inch by inch, Merimna’s ethereal body became solid crystal beneath her power.

“M-Master,” Merimna hissed, all confidence having fled from his voice, “Jeuk… help me…”

With a final flash of her horn, and a final flick of her spell, all the magic that had made up Merimna was reduced to a pony-sized pile of purple crystal. She rested her hoof on it; she could feel the life within, trapped, unmoving, unable to so much as speak. She wasn’t sure it could hear her, but she still needed to say something.

“Never. Threaten. Spike.”

A stone fell from the ceiling. The entire palace shook around her, causing her legs to tremble with it. She scooped Merimna’s crystal onto her back and carried him out through the corridor into the light. The stones crumbled and fell, causing Clover the Clever’s empty laboratory to finally become a lifeless pile of rubble beneath the one-time Capitol of Equestria. The rest of the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters followed suit, coming apart until it was like the Ancient Changeling City beneath it.

Twilight gaped at the destruction that had been caused by her spell; by her own incredible power. A building that had stood for a thousand years against both storm and war, now reduced to nothing by a fairy-sealing spell. As a side-effect of the spell. She reached up to touch the necklace that hung around her neck, the one that allowed her to speak clearly despite her throat injury. She found the gemstone had been cracked by the magic and rendered useless.

She checked her saddlebags in a rush of panic and was met with relief. The journal had not been affected by the spell, only the magical artifacts on her body. Thankfully, it seemed that paper could be spared the rage of an alicorn, if given the proper care.

Spike and the rangers ran up to her, their eyes filled with varying degrees of shock, fear, readiness, and caution. Spike himself skidded to a stop not too far from her, looking her over for any injuries. “Twilight? What happened?”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. She kept her voice low, so that the rangers couldn’t hear her strain against her scarred vocal cords. “I performed Sunset’s spell. It worked… after a fashion.” She lowered Merimna to the ground and gestured for a ranger to carry it back to the camp. “What about you? Did you get the tome back?”

Spike patted his bag, brushing off a few snowflakes in the process. Twilight gave the flakes a double-take; it was early summer. Spike grimaced. “I’ll tell you about it later. For now…” He pointed at her saddlebags, his clawtip trembling. “Shall the book be opened?”

Twilight Sparkle pulled Clover’s journal from her bag and held it close to her chest. “Yes. We need to get back to Ponyville Castle.”

Pumpkin Cake walked through the outskirts of Ponyville, soaking in the early morning air. She held a notepad and set of colored pencils in her magic, drawing as she went. She clutched Chewie, her rubber chicken, in her mouth, chewing him and eliciting repetitive squeaks that probably would have gotten her kicked out of any reputable establishment. Thankfully, her destination wasn’t exactly home of the highfalutin.

She caught sight of Fluttershy’s home and quickened her pace, packing away her art supplies and rubber chicken. She had a job to do, and it wouldn’t do to get distracted. She was taking care of one of the most precious plants known to ponykind: A golden apple tree. The last of its kind, as far as anybody knew. A tree whose fruit could grant strength where there was none, clarity beyond the ravages of time, and life to the feeble. An apple that could reverse the more sinister effects of age.

The only way to alleviate Discord’s memory problems.

It was still a sapling, several decades away from maturity, but Pumpkin Cake knew that there was no other way to help the zany draconequus. And she had a strong desire to help her friends in any way she could.

She left her bag by the front door and walked in without knocking; Fluttershy’s home was generally open in the morning to give visiting animals free reign. “Fluttershy! It’s Pumpkin! Helloooo!?” She continued walking through the house, expecting the usual greeting.

No answer came.

Pumpkin furrowed her brow and swiveled her ears. Fluttershy couldn’t have still been sleeping, could she? She got up with the sun most days, and a little earlier sometimes. And yet, the house was quiet, lacking even wildlife chatter.

“Fluttershyyyyy! Where are yoooooou? I’m invading your privacyyyyy!”

True to her word, Pumpkin poked around the house. The bed was made. The bath was dry. The stove was cold. Even Angel’s food bowl was empty and spotless. Wherever Fluttershy was, she had been gone for hours. No notes gave an explanation. There was just no sign of the pegasus.

Pumpkin’s stomach did flips as she came to several conflicting conclusions all at once. Only one thing was sure: she needed to contact somebody who could do something about it. And the only person she had a direct line to who could actually help was Twilight Sparkle.

She rolled her eyes. As long as the guards would let her in the castle.

She filled the water can and gathered the mix of fertilizer as quick as she could without making a mistake. She found the tree on the east side of the house, nestled in its own personal corner of Fluttershy’s garden. It was a lovely specimen, its bark glittering with gold that led down to its roots. The first real leaves could be seen budding on the tip of its singular sprout. Pumpkin sighed as she patted down fertilizer—a recipe specially mixed by Adagio Dazzle—around it. She carefully measured the water, and found the early morning portion of her duty finished.

“Fluttershyyyyy!” She gave her search one last try and got the same result. With her heart firmly in her throat, she packed up and headed straight for Ponyville Castle, with the hopes of somehow, someway getting this to Twilight Sparkle’s attention before the end of the day.

If nothing else, Pumpkin Cake knew that it was a very bad time for one of the heroes of Equestria to go missing.

An Equestrian Griffon

Felaccia’s history seemed to be little more than a list of wars, if Andean Ursagryph was honest with himself. A long series of brutal events, only ascribed glory and honor long after the deeds had faded into shadow. There was triumph to be found, despite that. They had driven Tirek from their lands some thousand years ago. They had kept Discord’s eyes off of them during his manic rampage. They had risen up against the crumbling changeling empire that had sought to enslave them.

Just as often, though, the tale of Felaccia was written upon the gravestones of its people. And the peoples they warred against.

Too often, there had been back-and-forth wars with their eastern neighbor; Saddle Arabia. It varied by the decade whether Saddle Arabia was encroaching on their borders in a land-grab, or Felaccia was descending upon their cities to loot and plunder gold and jewels. To the south, their neighbors the Zebras stood at a wary, constant watch after the expansion wars fought by Berkut and his predecessors. To the west lay the sea, and the distant halls of the alicorn princess who ruled the very dawn and dusk.

Andean paused in his morning walk to admire the artistry of a tapestry hung proudly on the wall. It depicted a significant battle of the Dragon-Griffon wars fought during the Second Age, when the Changeling Empire was in its death throes. Though the dragons were impervious to traditional weapons, the griffon craftsmen had been taught how to enchant swords with powerful gemstones. Two such swords, the twin Wyrmslayer blades, could be seen cutting down enormous dragons in droves. Driving the creatures from griffon shores.

Andean ran his talons through his thick beard of black feathers. This, too, was perhaps far too pretty a depiction of the event. Tales were surfacing, not of dragons encroaching upon griffon lands, but fleeing the threat of the Grotesques; horrific crystalline monsters who devoured dragons as their only natural predators. Pressed between the zealous protection of griffon territory and violent persecution from apex predators, it was little wonder the dragons kept to themselves these days.

The tapestry was art. Exquisite in design, in material, in craftsmanship. The crimson of blood and fire intermingled and glistened in the sunlight. The vibrant colors of scales and feathers drew the eye in a never-ending journey across the battlefield. Even the story it told was ageless. Still, it sat there as a testament to the violent history of Felaccia.

Andean sighed and rested a talon on the hilt of his great sword, Euroclydon. He rubbed the glistening, enchanted red pommel stone with a thumb. Today, there would be no need to draw the sword. There would be no need to fight for his life or the lives of his family. But he knew the day was all-too-quickly approaching. More war was coming. More bloodshed was called for.

There was one room in Castle Roc that had no tapestries, no paintings, no real artistry on display at all. It was a simple room carved into the stone wall many years ago, when griffons had first settled within the ruins of the ancient changeling city. Chairs stood side-by-side in rows, all facing the same direction. A pedestal stood at the far wall, upon which sat an old book. Andean entered the room and gently closed the door behind him, barely making a sound. He took a seat not in a chair, for he was far too large for it, but in the center isle that divided the room. He stared quietly at the book, whose cover held a single word: “Canon.” The book held a collection of tales and songs, an exploration of the sapient species and their particular gifts, and a telling of the creation of the world.

Andean looked over the empty chairs that surrounded him. Very few griffons in the palace ever came to the chapel. Fewer still when he was there. He found it a place of quiet solace, somewhere he could think without fear of interruption. Sometimes he read the book on the pedestal, sometimes he sang softly to himself, sometimes he would speak with the Being who was the primary subject of the Canon.

The ponies called this Being— the deity who had brought their world and their lives into being—“The Creator” or “The King of the Universe.” The griffons, on the other hand, more often referred to the Being as “Sheesha,” an informal griffon word that meant “Papa,” as the book said that all life derived from Him.

Andean found it hard to call the Being something so familiar. He hadn’t even called his own father Sheesha. Not even as a hatchling. He had referred to his father as “Vreen,” something more akin to “Lord,” “Master,” or even “King.” He had always considered that to be a mistake on his father’s part, inspiring fear more than love. Andean had taken great precaution to cultivate a far closer relationship between himself and his two daughters.

“Gawrock melchila
Kroota kree Vakelra
Kretchwaugh Vreen
O Sheesha chakii”

His quiet song was interrupted by the doors opening to admit an elderly griffon, one with an owlish face and milky eyes. The steady thump of a wooden cane echoed above the slam of the doors. The old buzzard was cloaked in warm folds of blue cloth, and his right talon held a glistening, azure-hued ring.

Andean looked the much-smaller griffon up and down. He had known the lord for more than five-hundred years. He had once been Andean’s staunchest supporter; recently, he had come to dread conversations with the old one. “I rarely see you in the chapel, Bubo.”

The griffon, Lord Bubo Tigris, took a seat beside Andean and stared at the plain walls. “I’ve come to have words with you, Your Grace.”

“We are in the chapel, Bubo.” Andean sighed and rubbed a talon across his bald head. “In here, before Sheesha, there is no king nor lord. No male or female. No noble or pauper.”

“Your Creator Being’s influence only extends to these four walls?” Bubo scoffed. “Fine. Then I shall speak with you as in the old days. Andean.” He held tight to his cane, tapping his ring against the wood. “Your folly has grown even more brazen of late.”

“Ah yes…” Andean grimaced at the Canon, feeling a weight descend upon his shoulders. “That folly in particular, again?”

“Inviting ponies to our shores!” Bubo’s wings creaked as he spread them in a weak attempt to intimidate Andean. “When we are so close to unlocking the secrets of raising the sun! Can’t you see they merely want to sabotage our efforts?”

Andean shook his hefty head. “When did you become so apprehensive of good intentions?”

“When those selfsame good intentions left my son bleeding out in the dust. There was a time you, too, were wary of the Equestrians.” Bubo pointed his cane at Andean, glaring at the griffon king with one eye closed. “It was bad enough that your eldest allowed ponies to come to griffon soil to fight Felaccia’s enemies. Now you want them to come back?”

“Those very same ponies could have destroyed the Sunspear the first time they arrived. But they did not.” Andean held empty hands out to Bubo. “They could fight against us, seize the sun for themselves and declare war upon anybody who would dare wrest it from them. But they do not. Luna sees what Celestia was blind to; if the alicorns fall, another must rise to control the Celestial Objects. She is coming to help us, Bubo.” Andean lifted a talon to his chest, where a deep pain ached in the depths of his heart. “And… they bring a gift far too precious for words.”

“Bribery. And calculated muzzling.” Bubo scowled, his skull casting shadows over his sunken eyes. “Which gift do you refer to? Health for your youngest? Or harboring the exile you call nephew?”

Andean shut his eyes softly. After a moment’s hesitation, he whispered something that was as true as it was dangerous to admit. “Either one would leave me in her debt for eternity.”

Bubo’s eyes widened. He sighed and bowed his head, leaning on his cane as if the strength had left his body completely. “Then it is true, what they say. Your heart is no longer fit for kingship. Any who would prioritize family over the kingdom…” The old griffon coughed dust from the back of his throat. “I will keep your words in confidence, in memory for our years serving Felaccia together. But I will also fully support your opponents. The other lords are already speculating over possible successors.”

Andean’s talon found the bandages beneath his beard. “Their victory would be hollow without my body at full strength.”

“The castle ramparts crushed your lungs, Andean!” Bubo snapped. “You shall never again regain your full strength!”

The words echoed around the chapel until they were merely a ringing in Andean’s ears.

Andean took in a soft breath through his beak. “Bubo, I once asked you, when you first approached me with the kingship… ‘What right do I have to think myself king?’” He turned his head to one side to look Bubo in the eye. “What would you have answered?”

Bubo stood up and shuffled for the doorway, breathing heavily. The reply was quick and sharp, lacking any touch of what had once been warmth. “The words of the Canon are three-thousand years old, leaving its relevance back in the First Age. Its followers have doomed you with a prophecy of death that is soon to fulfill. Your own people are abandoning you. In all these years of singing and praying, has there ever been an answer from Sheesha? A voice of comfort?”

Andean bowed his head. “Not audibly.”

Bubo stood with his hand on the door handle, looking over one shoulder. After a moment, saying nothing, he slammed the door, leaving Andean in the cold chapel.

“I’m sorry, Sheesha,” chirped a small voice.

Before Andean could react to Bubo’s departure, he spun his head around to behold a small griffon girl sitting in the front row. She flared the silver-speckled feathers on her neck and looked up at him with kind, worried eyes.

Andean breathed a sigh and scooted closer to the tiny griffon. “Stella, when did you come in here? I didn’t notice your arrival.”

“I was here before you.” She kicked her hind legs in space, folding her wings tight against her back. “I didn’t want to interrupt your… ‘discussion’ with the lord.”

“No lords in the chapel, Stella.” He rested a talon on her chair, touching a finger to her soft feathery head. “Only Sapients, equal in mortality.”

She closed her eyes as her father rubbed her crest. “I still call you Sheesha.”

“Because that’s my name. I became a Sheesha the moment Corona came into the world. And again with you.” He furrowed his brow and spread a wing to shadow his youngest daughter. “These days, I am beginning to feel it is a far more fitting name than ‘King Ursagryph.’”

“I like you as my Sheesha.” She reached out a tiny talon to touch one of his clawtips. “The doctor is coming with Vreev L—I mean, Luna, isn’t he?”

“He is.” Andean covered up his grimace by turning away from the small girl. “It’s been… Two years since your operation. It’s high time for a checkup.”

“I know.” Stella tightened her grip on her father. “He said it could come back at any time. Without warning.”

“We will know. And you shall be well.” Andean touched her head with a wingtip and hefted himself to his paws. “I swear it.”

Stella followed her father out of the chapel, her talons and paws falling softly on the cold stone floor. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I shall keep this one.”

Stella flapped her wings to catch up to her father’s head, which had far outpaced her in the wide hallway. “Some things you can’t control, right? Like Momma’s sickness.”

“Stella, please.” Andean sat beside a shattered stained-glass window, one that had been blown out during the recent battle for Roc. A cloth covered it, letting in faint sunlight but keeping the roaring wind at bay. “For as long as you have lived, I have fought tooth and nail to keep you safe. Ever since—” His beak snapped shut of its own accord. He forced it open even as his throat constricted against his breath. “Ever since we lost your mother, my every waking moment has been in service to making you well. I’ll not spare even a moment doubting.”

“Sheesha…” Stella tilted her head to the side, her ears tilting down. “I’ve been thinking a lot. About my leukemia. About Momma. About how… where she is, she isn’t sick anymore. She isn’t lying in bed, losing her feathers. She’s whole.” She clasped her talons together, as if she was praying even as she spoke to him. “If I pass away, I’ll become a star. Glistening in the night sky. Watching over you by Momma’s side. I think that would be okay, don’t you?”

Andean felt his chest nearly crumble in on itself. He scooped her up in the palm of his talon and held her close. “Stella, what brought you to this kind of thinking? Tell me truly.”

“It’s…” She didn’t meet his eye, instead looking at her clasped talons. “I heard about the prophesy. The one the zebras gave you. The lords were whispering about it.”

He heaved a breath and leaned against the stone wall. He brought her close to his beard of feathers and stroked her wings. Memories came rushing back, fresh as the day he’d first started having the dreams. A dark monster, ripping his daughters away. His kingdom in shambles. His own limbs powerless to fight back. He’d told this dream to the zebras of Giraffrica, and asked if there was an interpretation…

He lives a life of anger and wrath. His death will be swift if he continues that path. His life will be ended, in the dream it was seen, by a frightened child whose heart is clean.

Back in the day, he had not taken kindly to this foretelling.

A black-feathered, gray-coated griffon in luscious red robes trotted down the hallway, his razor-sharp beak pulled down in a frown. “Your Grace! The Equestrians have arrived! Your presence is required at the harbor!”

“Aye, Chamberlain Corvus.” Andean bit back a sharp retort. Torn between his family and his country twice in the span of five minutes. He set his daughter down and pointed a stern talon at her. “Never again think that you need to trade your life for mine, Stella. Never.” He stood to his feet and checked the strap of his scabbard. “Come now. Princess Luna will be looking forward to seeing you again.”

Stella sighed, casting a glance at the dragon war’s tapestry as she fluttered down the hall. “Yes, Sheesha Vreen.”

Martial Paw’s talons gripped the bow of the Buttercup’s Folly. The flagship of the Equestrian Navy jolted beneath him as water sprayed his feathers with every ocean wave that rebounded from the high cliffs that marked the border of Felaccia. He looked up, up, up at his homeland, a sheer drop into a vast ocean. Dangerous even if you could fly, due to the fierce winds that buffeted the shoreline.

The only halfway-safe pathway through the cliffsides took the form of a long, snaking canyon that led to the vast caldera that housed the capitol city of Roc. Any travel aboveground was subject to storm-like winds and the fierce, giant birds that gave the city its name. If one wanted to enter Felaccia, they had to be skilled, careful, and a little bit crazy.

Martial’s heart swelled at the sight of the Two Kings, massive statues carved into the mouth of the canyon. On the left was a lion, seated in a regal posture, its paws resting upon a sword that had been stuck into the earth; Daphnes, King of Red Lions. On the right was a great eagle, its wings folded, a lightning bolt clutched in an upraised talon; Thorondor, Lord of Eagles. It was said that their childrens’ marriage had united their kingdoms, and their offspring had become the first of the griffons.

The canyon, though dangerous, was plenty large enough for Luna’s entire floatilla to pass through unhindered, even flanked by the Felaccian Ironclad warships that guided them. Martial recognized a few faces bobbing around the decks, but decided against calling out to them. His presence in Felaccia was tenuous enough a prospect as it was. There was little need to make himself a nuisance.

The clomp of hooves and the rattle of armor drew his attention to his right side, where an orange-coated, green-maned mare leaned on the railing beside him. Captain Care Carrot wore a specialized version of the Equestrian Royal Guard armor, one that did not change the appearance of her coat to the guards’ classic white or gray. Her helmet was clipped to the side of her backplate, out of the way until decorum and tradition called for it. She looked up at him with a cheeky grin. “Hay, Marty. You’re lookin’ like you’re ready to vibrate right out of your feathers.”

“I’m giddy enough to puke, in all honesty.” He brushed down his crest, though the wind kicked it back up right away. “Last time I was here, it was illegally. The time before that, I was a murderer.” He offered her a shallow smile. “I’m glad to be here under more peaceable circumstances.”

“You and me both.” Care patted his shoulder and turned her attention to the canyon walls that loomed overhead. The distant piercing screech of a full-grown roc sent a visible shiver down her spine. “I’m gonna get to meet your family, right?”

“Yes. You already know King Andean, Corona, and Stella… Which I suppose leaves my father.” His voice grew quiet, distant even to his own ears. “It’s been more than a decade since I’ve seen him.”

Care furrowed her brow. She leaned her side against the railing so she could face him directly. “Anybody else I should know about?”

“Not especially. The Polemaetus Clan practically disowned my father after he lost his title and I went into exile.” He tapped a talon against the hilt of his rapier. Something dark brewed in his chest, just beside his heart, but he summoned the courage to quell it. “It’s why I go by Martial Paw, rather than Martial Polemaetus.”

Care opened her mouth with a pop. “Ah. I figured Martial Paw was your attempt at a pony-esque name.”

“Partially.” Martial turned his head to one side to look her directly in the eye. “Did I succeed, by your measure?”

“Eh. Good effort.” She winked. “I’m pretty partial to ‘Marty’ myself.”

Martial smiled at that. He tapped the pocket watch hung around his neck, feeling the rhythm of the passage of time mingle with the beat of his heart. “Daring was partial, too.”

It seemed to Martial that Care wanted to answer that, but stopped herself. She returned to looking at the passing stone walls and the lapping waves of the sea-bound river. She tapped her forehooves lightly against the bow, letting her head tilt side-to-side with the flow of the Folly. “Do you plan to stay in Felaccia after this mission is over? As like an Equestrian envoy or something?”

Martial shook his head, spreading a wing to shade her from an oncoming spattering wave. “Don’t worry about it. Equestria’s my home now. I wouldn’t abandon the Knights of Harmony, now or ever.” He turned to shake the water from his feathers, which brought a particular changeling into his line-of-sight. “Speaking of the knights! Good morning, Blankety.”

Blankety Blank—‘Mandible’ to his fellow changelings—trotted across the deck towards his friends. He was disguised in his usual body of choice: A white-coated earth pony with a white mane and pink eyes. The only splash of pigment on his body was the color wheel cutie mark he had chosen for himself. Care met him a few steps away with a quick, warm hug. Martial ruffled the changeling’s mane as he took up position on the griffon’s left side.

“S-sorry I’m late,” Blank said quietly. “Had a correspondence with Celestia that couldn’t wait.”

Care leaned over the railing to see around Martial’s chest. “Anything we should know about?”

“A l-little.” Blank flattened his ears against his head, a very pony-esque bit of body language in Martial’s mind. “Solitaire was attacked by the sirens and the Unseelie Court. All the prisoners are free or dead.”

Care’s frown grew fierce. A faint haze of magic surrounded her horn. Martial hoped it was unconscious. “Any word on Caution Tape specifically?”

Blank shrugged. “Not that I kn-know of.”

Martial backed away from the railing and knelt down a little so that his head was in line with the other two. “Caution who, may I ask?”

“My old partner,” Care said, clicking her tongue with a huff. “Back when we were Celestia’s bodyguards. He got thrown in prison after he tried to assassinate her.”

Martial’s eyes shot up. “That would put a damper on the relationship.”

“No horseapples.” Care scowled. She scuffed a hoof against the deck. “He was a real mentor to me, in the guard. Never woulda guessed he was crazy. When he was caught, he kept sputtering on about how he did it for love.” She looked back to Blankety and gestured in a spiraling motion to her head. “What kinda love makes somebody murder a helpless person in their bed?”

Blankety Blank’s tail swished back and forth. “Love is blind. It’s not supposed to be blinding.”

“Right?” Care trotted back and forth in a short line, not getting far before whirling around with a grunt. “We should—I should be there.”

“We are not.” A gentle touch from Martial’s wing guided her back to the railing. “We are here, with a very important mission of our own: Keeping Princess Luna safe.”

“I know. I know.” Care rested her chin on the railing. “Doesn’t make the situation any more wonderful, though.” After a moment, she let out a chuff. “Well, maybe we’ll run into him. Who knows? Maybe he wants another shot at the princesses. Maybe he just wants to go die in a hole.”

Martial clasped his talon around his beak, a griffon expression that meant he probably shouldn’t say what he was about to. “Maybe we can help him along. Shovels, anyone?”

“He can d-dig his own grave.” Blank shielded his eyes from the sun as they exited the canyon. “We’ve got more important things to think about.”

The water-filled caldera spread out before them, its walls carved into steps. Each level held the greenery of farms and the bustle of towns. Even from this great distance, griffons could be seen flying to and fro, either on their own wings or airships. Silvery-colored ironclad warships dotted the lake at the base of the caldera, which parted for the flotilla to pass. The shadow of a massive roc hid the sun from view, before a mighty thunderclap scared it away. The sky was dotted with airships and floating boulders that all held weapon emplacements. The boulders were held aloft by the glowing stones stuck to their undersides, enchanted by griffon artisans to be lighter than air.

In the center of the lake, in the heart of the caldera, rose the majestic Castle Roc.

The towers and ramparts of the castle were carved down rather than built up, having been formed from a single, solid mountain by changelings two millennia ago. After the fall of their empire, the griffons had taken up residence in the caldera and refined Castle Roc according to their ideals and needs. Widening tunnels into hallways. Turning air vents into stained glass windows. Building rooftops and walkways from wood. Most entrances to the castle were high in the air, difficult to access without wings or an airship.

One entrance lay at the base of the castle, in the midst of a heavily-fortified harbor. A wide cavern mouth greeted the Buttercup’s Folly as its mainmast just barely managed to sneak beneath the edge of the stone. The sunlight faded and was replaced by bioluminescent lanternlight beneath the castle.

Martial Paw took in a deep breath. He could see King Andean Ursagryph and his cadre of personal guards; the Blitzwings. Kretchwaugh, in the griffon tongue. They stood to either side of him, holding swords and volleyguns at a tense rest.

Martial might have been one of them, once. He might have even become their captain, were it not for his great mistake. He looked down at the formal uniform he wore. It was a blue suitcoat, bedecked with medals awarded by the Equestrian Military. Because most creatures in service to the Equestrian Crown were ponies, this suit had to be specifically tailored for him by Lady Rarity.

He had returned to Felaccia at last, as the envoy of a foreign army.

The Buttercup’s Folly was docked in short order, its gangplank leading down to Felaccian soil. Martial stood at the top, looking down on the griffon soldiers awaiting his arrival. A shadow at his side stepped forward, revealing itself to be Princess Luna. She nodded to him, so he set off down the ramp. He stopped at the bottom and looked expectantly at his uncle, the king.

Andean Ursagryph drew his broadsword, Euroclydon. The red pommel stone flashed with inner lightning. “Martial Polemaetus, you were exiled for cold-hearted murder. Your home and title can never be regained. Your honor is lost and your family is broken.”

Martial Paw’s wings shook as his one-time king spoke in his booming, resonant voice. He answered with a trembling voice of his own, as loudly as he could. “I now return to these lands as Martial Paw, a griffon in service to Equestria.” He bowed his head at the neck, shutting his eyes tight against oncoming tears. “I swear, so long as I live, if I ever break another law of Felaccia, let my punishment be tenfold.”

When he had regained his composure, he was able to look upon the massive griffon king once again. His eyes immediately met Andean’s gaze and saw something he did not expect. Warmth. Welcome. Relief. Rather than the king of a nation, he saw a thankful uncle welcoming a wayward nephew home. It threatened to spring forth from Martial as tears.

Andean lowered the sword tip to Martial’s shoulder, a blow of justice tempered with mercy. “Though you were fated to never return, we now welcome you as a new creature, repentant and restored. So long as you accompany the Equestrian Princess, you may move to and fro across Felaccia.”

Martial took a deep breath and stepped from the Equestrian ship to the Felaccian harbor. Andean sheathed the blade and moved forward. Before Martial knew it, he was pulled close in a warm embrace by the larger griffon.

The king spoke in a hushed voice that only Martial could hear. “Chakii… Kroota kree koroo.”

“‘You’ve returned… My friend and son.’”

Andean looked aboard the ship and gestured a talon. “Come, Princess Luna. We have much work to do, and little time to do it. It is good to see you again, my friend.”

Princess Luna descended the gangplank with long, graceful strides. Her wide smile seemed at odds with the serious tone of her voice. “Aye, King Andean. We have little time to waste with niceties, though I am loathe to neglect them completely.”

Blankety Blank and Care followed close behind, Care with her helmet firmly attached, and Blank wearing a more formal uniform similar to Martial’s. Luna was, of course, dressed in her usual gilded raiment.

“I wish to give Dr. Fine an area to work in as soon as possible. He needs time to set up.” Luna and Andean matched each other’s stride as the king led them towards the spiraling staircase that led upwards into the castle proper. “Then we need our gemstone artisans to meet with your scientists posthaste. The sooner we open communication, the sooner we can make further progress on the Sunspear.”

Martial Paw fell into step behind them, with both Care and Blank taking up the rear. Before long, one of the Blitzwings came to his side. Captain Crested Barbary, a white-furred griffon with black-speckled wings, leaned close to speak in a low voice. “Welcome back, Martial.”

“It is good to be back, Crested.” Martial swallowed hard. “Though not restored, most certainly returned.”

“You are restored in King Ursagryph’s eyes.” Crested smiled at Martial, flicking an ear towards the king. “Your father’s and your cousins’ as well. I promise that the Blitzwings shall support you when others might not.”

Martial sighed through his nostrils. “I suspect one of those is Chamberlain Corvus?”

“He does not appreciate his father’s murderer being welcomed to the castle, no.” Crested Barbary raised an eyebrow as Care and Blankety drew closer, inserting themselves into the conversation. “Be thankful he merely wishes to have nothing to do with you. There are darker shadows lurking within the halls of Castle Roc. Griffons who would see the king and his entire family removed.”

“Got any descriptions?” Care’s armor murmured with inner magic, lending unnatural strength to her limbs and focusing her magic spells. “Blank and I can keep an eye out. Maybe confront them if they look like they’re outta line.”

“That,” Martial said, “is the exact last thing you should be doing in Felaccia. We’re here to support Princess Luna, not be the griffon lords’ thought police.”

Crested Barbary nodded at Martial’s words. “Keep to yourselves. I say this only so that you watch your backs, lest you find a knife embedded there.” He narrowed his eyes, shifting his gaze between the three of them. “Still… beware of a griffon with a metal beak. His heart is as cold as the wootz that encases his mouth, and his tongue is as sharp as his enchanted sword.”

Martial suppressed the urge to hiss. “Lord Aquilla Gildwing. I know him well enough.”

Blankety Blank furrowed his brow. “Enchanted sword?”

“Aye.” Crested patted the scabbard that ran along his flank. “Just as I was chosen to be the caretaker of one of the legendary Wyrmslayer blades, so he, too, was gifted its twin.”

Corona Ursagryph, crowned Princess of Felaccia, the Lady of the Crimson Wing, practiced quietly in the depths of Castle Roc. Few people were allowed in this particular room, and she was not one of them. Past the tombs of the ancient kings, into the very heart of the mountain, lay a room that had been sealed for over a thousand years. The walls were decorated with murals of the accomplishments of the Changeling Empire.

If murdering five then-current Bearers of the Elements, crafting a dagger to steal hearts, and enslaving ponies could be considered “accomplishments.”

Corona’s spear flipped around in her talons, coming to rest in a horizontal stance, pointed in the direction she was facing. The weapon was as long as her body, with a strong wooden haft and a wootz tip. She stared down the picture of the ancient changeling queen; River Cicada. The artwork, a combination of painting and relief, depicted the queen as determined, yet weighted with a troubled mind.

The real-life changeling queen accompanying her held the same expression, but she didn’t make mention of it. Drawing parallels between the young Queen Chrysalis the Second and her ancestor would have only brought the changeling more grief. The queen did her best to match the princess’ movements, hefting a spear of her own. Corona gently lifted the tip of Chrysalis’ spear to sit more parallel with the ground.

Chrysalis’ cloven hooves shook as she overcorrected her stance. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be, you’re learning.” Corona angled her spear, hopped forward a step, and launched the weapon across the room. It hit a hay bale dead-center and stuck fast.

Chrysalis stumbled during her hop and sent the spear flying tip-over-butt to clatter beside the hay bale.

Corona flew to retrieve her spear, looking over her shoulder to her pupil. “Between you and me, this might not be the best room for us to meet in. If only to save your mental health.”

“I’m not bothered by the pictures.” Chrysalis was a bad liar, if you asked Corona. She could never look you in the eye when she was hiding something. It’s also how Corona knew when she was being sincere, since her beautiful blue eyes radiated with a pure need for companionship. “I just need to get used to the spear’s weight.”

Corona strapped both spears to her back and surveyed the room. They were the only two living beings for several meters in all directions, separated from the world by a tunnel filled with griffon kings long departed. The room itself was dark save for the lamp Corona had brought with them, and the strange light that flooded in from the far side.

There, nearly obscured by overwhelming darkness and blinding light, was the control center for the Sunspear. It was fully enclosed by amber-colored, transparent hexagonal plates, and was covered with positioning knobs, levers, and numerous readouts. The light came from within the mountain that the castle was carved from; at its core was an impossible amount of crystals, all supercharged with magic. The ambient magic was so thick, that if anybody were to stand within it too long, they would be overloaded to the point where their fairy strings combusted. A painful death that Corona hoped to avoid at all costs.

“They’re going to begin work on it, soon.” Chrysalis’ voice was hushed, cowled by past disappointments and bolstered by future success. “It… it looks like we’re actually going to do it.” She looked up at the visage of River Cicada with her eyebrows lowered. “In the very same room where the changelings went wrong, we’re going to change the world for the better.”

Corona smiled, clasping a talon around her beak. “Is that why you wanna practice in here? To win an argument with a dead person?”

“I… well…” Queen Chrysalis II blushed, causing the black chitin on her face to turn a faint green. She brushed the blue mane from her eyes and fluttered her wings. “I think I’ve already won the argument. I’m just rubbing it in her face now.”

Corona snorted as the two of them walked out of the room and snuck through the tombs of the kings. It was a long hallway, with alcoves cut into the walls, each holding the skeleton and weapons of the kings in question. The only one that was empty was the tomb belonging to King Berkut, who had been reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Only a crown marked his ersatz resting place. Corona’s grip on her shoulder strap tightened as they passed. “We’ve both got arguments with the past going on.”

Chrysalis nodded. “I want to avoid the mistakes of my past… and yours. And Equestria’s. I’m not sure how, though.”

“I think we just have to do our best. Be true to ourselves.” Corona patted Chrysalis’ back and peered through the cracked-open door to the tombs. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Looks like the coast is clear, but—”

The door swung wide open, causing her to fall to the ground. She raised her eyes slowly, first seeing a set of four blue hooves, then long, graceful legs, then a smirking smile surrounded by a glistening, ethereal mane.

Stella poked her head above Princess Luna’s crown and smiled down at her older sister. “Hi, Corona! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Princess Luna!” Corona hugged the alicorn without hesitation. The embrace was met with equal enthusiasm from the ageless pony. “I didn’t know you were here!”

“We had a strong backwind.” Luna laughed and held Corona at viewing distance. “You have grown even since I have seen the two of you. You are a lady, now.”

“My birthday’s not until this autumn, actually.” Corona realized with a start that she’d just been caught sneaking out of the tombs. She shared a hasty glance with Chrysalis. “Um, we can explain…”

“I am afraid your secret hangout spot is about to become much more crowded.” Princess Luna’s smile turned toward the changeling. “We have a lot of preparations to make before the Sunspear is fully operational.”

Chrysalis bowed until her nose nearly reached the floor. “It is a great honor to meet you once again, Princess Luna of Equestria. I look forward to working alongside you in restoring the Sunspear.”

Luna mirrored her bow. “The honor is mine. I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming days.” She rose, and touched Chrysalis’ chin to bring their eyes together. “It is my belief that if the Third Age was the Age of Ponies, this Fourth Age will be the Age of Unity. Look at this room and tell me I am wrong.”

Corona and Chrysalis looked around with a fire growing in their hearts. Changelings, ponies, griffons, all working together for a common purpose: To protect the sun and the people it supported. The mistakes of the past literally lay behind them, they themselves having provided the means to rise above them.

“’Kay,” Stella said. “What are we waiting for?”

Family Matters

Adagio Dazzle watched in bemusement as two Sunset Shimmers struggled to corral their families. One, a pony who had fled her world after throwing away everything. The other, a human who had fled her world after having everything taken from her. Somehow, losing everything seemed to be the best thing to happen to either of them.

Sunset Shimmer, the alicorn currently living on the far side of the mirror portal, scooped her young son onto her back. “Come on, Sunny. Sunny. Sunlight Shields, sit your butt down!”

Sunset Shimmer, the other Sunset who had taken up residence in Fillydelphia, pushed her forehead against a small luggage case as they hauled their tails up a mountain path. Her daughter, Stardust, and her son, Dribble Drabble, ineffectually attempted to help by dragging the rolling suitcase in opposite directions. “Dribble, no, don’t push your sister—Stardust! We are on the edge of a cliff young lady!”

The rest of the luggage was being supervised by Adagio herself, as well as Princess Sunset’s husband, the mirror-world Shining Armor, and the other Sunset’s husband, Hoops. Adagio was carrying just about as much as the two strapping stallions without breaking a sweat. She wasn’t quite sure anybody noticed. “Come on, kids! Why don’t you walk with Aunt Dagi and give your mommas a break?”

On cue, all three children broke away from their mothers and clambered to Adagio’s side, scrambling beneath their fathers’ hooves briefly. Hoops rubbed his daughter’s mane as she passed, eliciting a brief complaint from the filly. The children crowded around Adagio, their eyes wide and their ears perked.

“How come you’re not going with us, Aunt Dagi?” Stardust said.

“’Cuz I frickin’ hate the human world, that’s why.” Adagio booped her snoot and watched as Hoops and Shining tried to haphazardly cover their young sons’ ears. “Chin up. There’s nothing really worse about it than this world. And I’m sure your mommas are gonna help all of your guys to have fun, but I have too many issues over there.”

Stardust narrowed her eyes. “Issues or problems?”

“Issues. Problems have solutions.” She looped a foreleg over Stardust’s shoulders and thrust her other hoof forward, never breaking stride despite the weight on her back. “Now listen, and you listen good. There is one thing I miss about it. I want you to promise me to beg your mom until she gives you one.”

That piqued Sunny’s attention. He peered out from between his father’s legs and blinked his humongous eyes. “Wazzat, Aunt Doggie?”

“‘Dagi,’ you lil’ knee-nibbler.” Adagio peered ahead to see the non-princess Sunset’s ears lay down flat against her scalp. “I want you to tell your moms to buy you a big, juicy, yummy cheeseburger.”

Dribble Drabble smiled in his own, special, three-year-old coltish way. “Cheeburger!”

Stardust, on the other hoof, seemed a bit more cautious. “What’s a cheese burger?”

“Heaven on a bun.” Adagio snickered at the gormless, unknowing smile of Hoops, and the half-confused, half-trepidatious expressions on the Sunsets. “Trust me, kid. Several-thousand years of culinary progress have led to this exact moment.”

The mountain path led them to a cave gaping out of the side, on the edge of an outcropping that acted as a shelf to hold a small group of guardsponies. The closest guard bowed at their approach. “Princess Sunset. Welcome back.”

“Glad to be back, Sir.” Princess Sunset Shimmer bobbed her head as the guards parted to allow her family to pass. “Glad to be going home.”

The other Sunset glanced back at Adagio and grinned. “From one home to another.”

“You two really are a pair, you know that?” Adagio winked at the guard, who backed off exactly two hundred centimeters. Her preliminary advance spurned, she resolved to test the waters again at a later date. “Come on. Let’s get you guys home before the sun comes out. Gets hot as Hades on this mountain…”

More guards were waiting inside the cave, all standing at the ready with spears in hoof. There was a lot of tension in the air any time somebody moved from one world to the other. The magic was still not fully understood. The two worlds did not fully trust each other. The concept of dual citizenship was in its infancy. Still, Sunset would not be denied. She had heritage in both worlds, and a keen desire to share that life with her family. All of her family.

For Adagio, the timing could not have been better.

In the innermost parts of the cave lay a pool of water. It was surrounded with crystals which only glowed in pure darkness. Any other light source would either overpower it, or cause it to extinguish; no one really knew which. The surface of the water was reflective and still. The water was warm to the touch, heated with whatever magic power caused it to function as a bridge between worlds.

Those who were not already clothed spent the next few minutes getting dressed. Unlike Starswirl’s mirror, this portal did not clothe the traveler, though it did transform their bodies. It seemed the change came directly from the portal. Built into the crystals that formed the entirety of the room they found themselves in.

Adagio Dazzle took a step back as the family lined up beside the pool. They went in one by one, Princess Sunset going first to help the children cross.

The other Sunset, the one she had known the longest, paused before entering. She gave Adagio a hug. “I wish you were coming,” Sunset said.

“I got too much baggage.” Adagio frowned, subtly pushing Sunset towards the mirror pool. “You’re better off just going together. Trust me.”

“Your choice.” Sunset waved goodbye, then stepped into the portal and vanished from sight.

The soft blue glow of the gemstones surrounded Adagio Dazzle as she stood alone in the room. She waited for a good, long moment to make sure they’d all gotten through safely and were not coming back. She even poked her head through the portal to make sure they had left the cave on the other side. Finding them well and truly gone, she sat at the edge of the pool and looked at her own morose expression.

She was old. She looked old. She felt old. She’d been around since the First Age, when the fairies still controlled the heavens and the Draconequi mastered the changing of the seasons. When ponies were still in their infancy, unburdened by such lofty ideals as civilization and justice. Just a bunch of creatures trying to survive and get along, finding their own way through life. Before kingdoms and empires and war and poverty.

She had seen so many governments rise and fall. So many great ideas become foul realities. So many children born and lives destroyed.

And none of it had really mattered.

“So what was she doing there?” came the question from the scowling reflection. Rather than answer, Adagio pulled a gemstone from her otherwise empty saddlebags. It was a green, multifaceted gem that fit in the center of her hoof. She had etched it herself, from the polished exterior, to the carefully-chiseled interior. A spell had been written into the jewel, activated by a particular song.

She let out a low note. She had to hit it perfectly or the spell wouldn’t trigger. Her tone resonated with the gem and pushed magic through the carved pathways. The gemstone vibrated, carrying her tune long after her voice had grown silent. She held it for a minute, until it was painful to the touch. She hefted the gem and tossed it into the center of the pool. The reflective surface at once became broken by ripples, then waves.

She had tested before what would happen if the pool were destroyed; she had chipped one of the many stones away. On the other side, the same stone had cracked on the opposite-hand side of the pool. The pool was in fact, as far as could be seen, two instances of the same object in two different realities, intrinsically linked in a far more concrete way than even the dual personages were. Whereas, say, the two Sunset Shimmers could live and die separately from each other, one side of the pool could not exist without the other.

The vibration became a hum, deepening by the moment. She felt it in her bones, her blood, as the entire mountain began to hum along with the stone. At first it just felt like she was unsteady on her feet, but as the note bellowed, the ground shook. The light of the mirror portal flickered.

She watched until she couldn’t stand the pressure, then turned and bolted for the exit. Dust fell from the ceiling, then rocks, then boulders. The floor split, and the pool drained itself into the depths of the mountain. A jolt threw her against the wall, but she pushed off and pressed forward.

The ceiling collapsed, and the mirror pool went dark, drained of its power by Adagio’s powerful spell.

The rest of the mountain seemed ready to follow suit. She galloped her way through the rocky tunnels. She was enveloped in darkness, only able to find her way forward by listening to the shouts of panic from the guardsponies at the entrance. Either instinct or happenstance caused her to duck beneath a crumbling stalactite. The dust of ancient stones grinding against each other threatened to choke her.

There! Light! A guardspony pointed a lantern in her direction, silhouetted by the blazing sun behind him. He urged her forward with a hoof, until a chunk of the cave mouth came down on his back and knocked him to the ground.

Adagio skidded to a halt at his side. The rest of the cave was ready to vanish into the mountain like the maw of a dragon snapping shut. She had only seconds. She glanced at the cave mouth and saw the other guards scrambling for purchase on the rapidly-shrinking ledge.

She gritted her teeth. “Cuss my wrinkly dock.”

She pressed her shoulder against the boulder pinning the guard down, straining with all her might. She imagined it had to be comical to the outside observer, a elderly mare attempting to literally move heaven and earth for one of Celestia’s hoof-picked guards. She wasn’t laughing, though. She was staring in growing hackle-rising fear at the structurally-unstable tunnel looking to devour them whole. The boulder shifted ever-so-slightly.

She shut her eyes tight and punched the boulder with both forehooves. “For the love of God, move your butt!”

The mountain shook just enough that her blow caused the boulder to roll aside. She sucked in a breath, hoisted the pony onto her back, and hightailed it out of there.

It wasn’t a moment after she cleared the cave entrance that there was no longer a cave. A quick glance upward showed the shaking, tremoring rock slide that filled the mountain’s core completely. The quake subsided after a few minutes, allowing her to collapse in an exhausted lump atop a pile of rubble. She raised a weak hoof and beckoned the other guardsponies to her. “Yo! Get over here! He got clobbered on the way out! He needs a doctor!”

The guards surrounded her, one immediately checking the unconscious pony for obvious injuries. The head of the outpost, a stern-looking pegasus, knelt in front of her, assessing her for potential trauma as well. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, chief. I’m good.”

“Did you see what happened to the princess and her family?”

“They’re safe. They were long gone before the earthquake happened.”

Either the guard was extremely trusting, or he figured he had more immediate problems to take care of. “Ha’pence Dance needs to get to the infirmary, pronto. With his injuries, we’ll need as much room in the chariot as we can get. Can you hold out here until we can fly it back?”

“No problem.” Adagio rose on shaky hooves and stalked towards the quake-battered, wooded trail down the mountain. “I know this forest like the back of my hoof.”

The captain nodded and set about helping the others strap Ha’pence Dance down. The vast majority of the guards went with the temporary ambulance, while a few remained to try to dig their equipment out of the rubble. Adagio continued down the mountain, step by careful step, until she was out of earshot of the soldiers. And, just as importantly, out of sight. It was a small circle of trees, evergreen in nature, that hid her from view and surrounded her with a sweet piney scent.

She sat down quietly and let out a slow breath. It was hot in her chest, fired by the bellows of terror and effort, but as it left her lips it came out as a faint, chill mist. Goosepimples rose on the skin of her legs and back. She rubbed her foreleg to return warmth to it, but even that faint friction’s heat was stolen in the next instant.

All was silent around her, save for the faint crinkling of frost along the ground.

The thin, spiked hexagons of ice grew like the branches of a dead tree across the ground, covering rocks and killing the smaller plants that could flourish on the mountainside. It climbed up the trees and coated the pine needles in a deathly white. The frost encircled her in a claw that threatened to bite her should she attempt to escape its grasp. Fog rolled all around, unfettered by the sunlight that was beating down on her just a second ago. She saw shapes in the fog. Faces. Ethereal pony-like creatures with glaring eyes and nickering teeth. They whispered to her in words she could almost make out.

Adagio swallowed hard in an effort to hide her trembling voice. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Princeling Bean Sidhe and her Witless Warren of Windigoes. I’m touched you would come personally to make sure I’m playing nice.”

A mist-like creature materialized before her. It was almost a pony, though one made from the wispy dusting of a winter storm. It did not move smoothly with muscles or sinew, instead as a cloud billowing from an unseen smokestack, attempting and failing to keep up with its own source, buffeted by bone-chilling wind. Its gaping mouth was frozen in a silent scream, from which words hissed as a mournful ballad. “Adagio Dazzle. Adagio the Siren. Adagio Gem-Carver… Adagio Weapon-Maker. You have had many names over the years. You would do well not to add ‘Adagio the Traitor’ to the list.”

“Traitor?” Adagio might have been literally shivering in her horseshoes, but she still had her pride. “Who’s a traitor? I did exactly like the Master said. Both portals to the human world are destroyed. Here and in the Northern Wastes.” She stood up and moved as far away from the princeling of the windigoes as she could without becoming a popsicle. She gestured vaguely at where the cave mouth used to be. “And look! I even got rid of one of the alicorn princesses! You’re welcome!”

Bean Sidhe’s voice rose to a trembling wail. “Sunset Shimmer yet lives!”

“She’s long gone, far and away!” Adagio Dazzle growled the words, hoping that her frail-looking form retained at least some of the menace of a Siren. “As long as the Sirens have Starswirl the Bearded’s magic mirror, there’s no way she can ever come back to this world. Ever. So she’s out of our hair, and you didn’t even have to do anything. I’ll say it again: You! Are! Welcome!”

“For one who seeks to please so dearly, you have a dearly displeasurable way of going about it.” Bean Sidhe’s black, recessed eyes sank even deeper as she drew closer. “If you seek to rule Equestria at last, you will need the Unseelie. The Master will not tolerate backtalk or half-measures.”

“Half-measures?” Adagio smirked. “He’s kept you around, hasn’t he?”

The windigo princeling shrieked in Adagio’s face, dusting her coat with deadly frost. “I could slay you where you stand!”

Adagio brushed herself off with a trembling hoof. “Yeah. But that’s the thing; without mortal allies, you guys can’t change a dang thing in the physical world. You’ll have to trapse back to Dreamland with your tails tucked between your legs. And how would that work out for you?” Adagio bared her teeth to keep them from chattering. “So I get a little leeway. I do what the Master wants, how I want it done.” She turned away from the Fae and was dismayed to find that the circle of windigos remained, all looking to devour her at the slightest sign it was allowed. “So cheer up sweetheart, your revenge is at hand. Heck, it's inevitable at this point. Just sit tight and everybody you hate will be nothing but ash in the wind.”

Bean Sidhe chuckled, a foul sound that seemed like the cracking of dying trees in the midst of winter’s night. “Not nearly everybody.”

The wind whipped at Adagio’s mane as the Unseelie Fae flew away at the speed of a stampede, biting into her cheek with an errant sickle of ice. Blood ran down her face and dripped onto the ground, melting the frost that had killed a lovely flower growing in the shade of a tree. Adagio leaned over and slumped against that tree, allowing it to bear her weight in a way few other things could. Warm returned to her bit by bit as the fog parted and the sun shone on her again.

She heaved a sigh and spoke to whoever cared to hear it. “If it’s gotta be this way… then it’s gotta be this way. ’Til the end of all things.”

Apple Bloom wiped sweat from her forehead and surveyed her work. The wagon’s wheel spun freely at last, thanks to a hefty application of grease and even more hefty application of Apple Family grit. She tapped the spokes with a wrench and stuffed the tool into her pocketed vest.

Today was the day, she had decided. She was going to tell her family she wanted to move out.

Big Mac, she knew, would be fine with it. Might even welcome it, if he wasn’t too bothered about having one fewer set of hooves around the farm. Cheerilee would repeat the same thing she’d said for years; “Live your best life.” Apple Bloom wouldn’t be nearly far enough away for her niece Cinnamon to know the difference.

But Applejack…

Oooooh, Applejack.

Maybe she should take her aside and speak with her alone. Spike seemed to think so.

Apple Bloom shuffled her way towards the farmhouse, where Applejack was preparing the evening meal. The inviting smell of baking bread and fried vegetables gave her steps a little pep, fighting off some of the anxiety she’d been wallowing in. There was the former mayor herself, sweating over a pot of boiling potatoes. Applejack glanced up as her little sister ducked into the doorway. “Howdy, AB. Finished your chores already?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Apple Bloom loomed behind Applejack and perused the massive meal she was orchestrating. “Looks like you got us a feast a-brewin’.”

Applejack’s expression didn’t much change from its air of concentration, but her voice was light. “No mistake. Mac and Cheerilee are bringin’ Grandpère for a visit. Wanted him to feel welcome.”

“I’ll help yah out.” Apple Bloom removed her headband and headed to the washroom to clean up. On her way, she caught a familiar sight in the living room: A picture of the family (and the Riches) that had been sitting in the mayor’s office for quite some time. “Hey, you found it! The Zap Apple harvest!”

“Darn tootin’. Those morons at City Hall near threw it out.”

Apple Bloom took a moment to admire the picture, especially the smiling face of Granny Smith. She chuckled to herself; she was starting to see some of Granny’s laugh lines form on Applejack’s face, at least when Applejack was feeling particularly smug.

What would Granny Smith have said about Apple Bloom moving out? A little tingle of warmth touched her heart at Granny Smith’s last words to her. “Apple Bloom, you three were what made life worth livin’. Now live yours.” With those words of encouragement bolstering her, she went to clean her coat of sweat and her hooves of mud.

She came back just as Applejack began to slice the potatoes. It looked like they were having a nice, cheesy au gratin. Apple Bloom sat across from her sister and helped her slice. “So, I got somethin’ I wanted to talk with you about.”

Applejack didn’t miss a beat, but still shot Apple Bloom a smile between cuts. “Shoot, Sugarcube. Anytime. What’s eatin’ yah?”

Apple Bloom scooped the first potato onto Applejack’s growing pile. “Y’know how I completed my apprenticeship with Zecora?”

“Right. A couple months back.” Applejack let out a little laugh. “Y’ thinkin’ of sellin’ potions at market? I’m thinkin’ we could set up some space for you at the stall.”

“Not exactly…” Apple Bloom stared at a half-cut potato in front of her, her knife hesitating to make the last few cuts. “I wanna… I was thinkin’…” She pressed her lips together, her normally mile-a-minute mouth bracing for impact. “I’d like to open… my own potion shop.”

“Oh!” Applejack’s movements increased in speed as her mind processed the information and turned it towards bit-making. “Well, sure, you’d be sellin’ all kinds of potions and whatnot. You’d need your own stall. We could probably help you out and getcha the stall space next door. Apple Family Apples and Apple-Related Potions. Not sayin’ you’d need to only sell apple potions, but it makes for good branding. We could pay for your table-space until the potion sellin’ takes off—”

“See, that’s the thing…” Apple Bloom rubbed the back of her head. “I can’t really transport that many potions safely every day to bring them to market… and the barn ain’t exactly a full kitted-out laboratory. Ain’t even got space for my imported Giraffican cauldron.”

“Yeah, true ’nough.” Applejack deftly flicked a potato slice onto the pile with the tip of her knife. “We’re overdue to build you some sorta outbuildin’ that you can customize to suit your needs and such. An’ we can always rent some storage in town to put your potions in when you ain’t at market. Once Big Mac gets back, the three of us can talk floorplan and materials.”

“An’ I’d appreciate that a lot, but…” Apple Bloom couldn’t bring herself to look at her sister. “Y’see, I already got a place I’ve been lookin’ at.”

Applejack didn’t seem to catch on. Or else, Apple Bloom feared, she was being purposefully obtuse. “Like a prefab buildin’? If’n that’s what you want, AB, but it’ll be cheaper and more fulfillin’ to build your own laboratory on site. Lets you decide the hows and the whatfors instead of whatever Mr. Rich can budget for.”

Apple Bloom turned her eyes down. She carefully placed the knife and separated the potato from itself. “I mean there’s a place in town I’d like to buy. It’s got space for a cauldron, lab, and shop on the first floor, and a garage for workin’ on carts and such. An’ the second floor has plenty of livin’ space. Real central to town, near the market. I could just move my stuff in, build some shelves, and be good to go.”

Applejack sighed. She did that a lot lately, Apple Bloom noticed. It seemed to be her go-to onomatopoeia when she had decided she wasn’t going to move out of the way of an oncoming impact. “Apple Bloom… Y’ ain’t gonna be able to work on the farm if’n you’re livin’ in town like that.”

Apple Bloom’s mouth dried out, to the point where licking her lips would probably chap them. “Yeah. It’d become a full-time job to keep the shop in order.”

Applejack furrowed her brow and leaned on her forelegs. She looked right at Apple Bloom, giving her full attention. Bloom saw no acceptance in those eyes of hers. No give at all. Just resolute, bullheaded, Apple-Family grit. “Apple Bloom, there ain’t no way you could work two jobs full time at once. Part time potion-makin’ and handipony work is fine, but it ain’t something you can focus on all the time. Not when the farm needs you.”

“You were mayor for four years, Applejack.” Apple Bloom felt her nerves fraying. The conversation was going exactly the way she was worried it would go. Applejack was gonna take the exact route she knew she would take. And yet, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but go with the speech she’d already prepared. “You were working at City Hall full time. The farm did good, AJ. It did great! We even hired on other ponies.” She pressed her forehooves together, her stomach falling as Applejack’s expression remained firm. “So I figured that when your term ended, that meant you’d return to the farm and I’d be able to… to…” She looked away, to the floor, unable to maintain eye contact any longer. “To live my dream.”

“The farm and the family are one and the same, Apple Bloom.” Applejack’s voice was as firm as her glare, as certain as a mountain. “I regretted every moment I spent in office, but I knew at least I was gonna be able to return to the farm and my family. I knew that there was nobody else who could take my place. And there’s nobody else who can do what you do besides you. The farm needs you just as much as it needs any Apple, Bloom.”

“You did good in office, Applejack.” Apple Bloom felt very alone in the kitchen beside her sister. “You needed to take office, or you wouldn’t have been able to forgive yourself. I feel the same way about—”

“We’ll work somethin’ out, Apple Bloom.” Applejack got up from her seat and tended to the rising dough. “We’ll get you that outbuildin’. You’ll be able to live your dream and be part of the family.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes shot over to her sister. Her hackles rose as that darned Apple Family grit got itself stuck someplace sensitive. “I ain’t gonna leave the family just by workin’ somewhere else, Applejack!”

Applejack’s frown could be seen deepening as she moved the dough from its place to the oven. “Darned right you’re not.”

“Do yah even remember the day I got my Cutie Mark?” Apple Bloom said, gesturing to the image of an apple blossom and two buds on her side. “It weren’t ’cause of applebuckin’, it was ’cause of my potions! It was ’cause of my friends helpin’ me to see what I really wanted to do in life! I don’t wanna do farm work, Applejack, I wanna be a potion brewer.”

“We just got this family back together,” Applejack snapped. “So I ain’t gonna let you tear it apart!”

Apple Bloom stood up and tromped over to Applejack. She didn’t believe what she was hearing. It was like Applejack was in an entire different conversation. “Applejack, what is wrong with you? Did workin’ in politics all those years really make you this paranoid?” She shut her eyes and forced herself to breathe easier. It was difficult. The urge to bite back was ever rising, ever-sweetening. No, it would do no good to get mad at Applejack for thinking irrationally. She was obviously already upset about something else. Something that she was projecting onto this conversation, making connections where there were none. “I… I ain’t leavin’ the family. Town’s only twenty minutes away.”

“But the farm is right here.” Applejack tapped a firm hoof on the countertop. “And we’re finally all together right here. Everything can go back to the way it’s supposed to be. Just like it always was.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes went to the living room, where the picture from a years-old Zap Apple season sat. The one Applejack had recovered that day. Of course. The way it was supposed to be. “Applejack…” After a moment, she rested her hoof on her older sister’s shoulder. “It can’t all be the same as it was. We all had to move on and grow.”

“If we leave behind what works, we’ll lose our way.”

Apple Bloom reached out to hug her sister. “If we don’t move forward, we move backward, and never become what we might be—”

Applejack pressed her hoof against Apple Bloom’s chest. She raised her head to look her younger sister in the eye. “We’ll talk about the outbuilding later.”

Apple Bloom stood still with her foreleg outstretched for a moment longer. Right, they’d talk later, about what Applejack wanted. She let the moment build, her heartrate rising, until she finally stomped on the wooden floorboards. She turned away from Applejack and marched back out the door, making a bee-line to town. She had to talk to Spike. To see him. To hear him say it’d all be okay—

Spike was on a mission with Twilight. He might not even be in Ponyville.

Apple Bloom shut her eyes tight and let loose with a mighty shout. She kicked her hind legs out and connected with the wagon she’d been working on. The kick ripped the wheel right off of its spokes and sent it rolling into the orchard.

She continued towards town regardless, because right that second, anything was better than hanging around with Applejack.

Applejack wasn’t really sure what to think. She wasn’t even sure she had been thinking. She looked out towards Ponyville, which lay beyond the borders of Sweet Apple Acres. Outside of anything she could protect. Outside of anything she really understood.

She knew apples. She knew family. She knew hard work and dedication. She knew honesty.

She didn’t quite know what to do when Apple Bloom said she wanted to leave.

So of course the Apple Family stubbornness had risen. Of course she had wanted Apple Bloom to stay. Within the farm, within her hedge of protection. So of course she had said just exactly the wrong thing and hurt Apple Bloom.

The rest of the family was still at the table, eating thankfully, if a little uneasily. The absence of Apple Bloom weighed heavily on all. Especially Grandpère Pear. The old stallion chewed slowly, a smile always ready whenever his great-granddaughter Cinnamon looked his way, but otherwise, he was serious. He had immediately wanted to head into Ponyville to look for Apple Bloom. Apparently, he and Big Mac had found her at the Seeds of Friendship Public Library, but they hadn’t been able to convince her to come home.

Apple Family grit, Applejack thought to herself, was a two-way street.

The bunch of them worked together to clean the table, store the leftovers, and send little Cinnamon to bed. Grand Pear wanted to sleep in a chair in the living room, so blankets were brought out for him. Mac and Cheerilee wished them goodnight and headed for their little farmhouse on the edge of the orchard.

Applejack stood alone in the kitchen, leaning against the open window. It was a warm night, the type where you invited the breeze to freely come and go in and out. The stars sparkled overhead through the slightly-wild cloud cover of the Everfree Forest. The moon glowed bright, casting its silver shine across Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack’s ear twitched at the sound of unsteady hooves. “You need somethin’, Grandpère?”

The old stallion sighed as he joined Applejack by the window. The two of them looked across the fields, to the faint glow of Ponyville beyond.

“You know Apple Bloom’s already made up her mind,” he said at last.
Applejack rested her head on the windowsill. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t know what to do. Never thought… I don’t understand why she’d wanna leave.” She tossed her hat across the kitchen, where it spiraled neatly onto the back of a chair. Her eyes spotted the picture of the family hung on the wall, the very one she’d recovered the previous day. She looked down at the aged stallion by her side, who looked toward Ponyville with a palpable yearning. She figured if anybody could sort out her thoughts, it’d be him. “Grandpère… Ever since Granny died, I knew I was the new matriarch of the family. That means I got a responsibility to them. To see them happy. To see them safe. See them well-fed. See them comfortable. I can’t do my job if’n she’s not part of all that. I can’t live up to Granny Smith if Bloom ain’t here.”

Grand Pear furrowed his brow, chosing his words carefully. “You can still help her. Just because she left the farm doesn’t mean she left the family.”

“But it’s like…” Applejack rolled her eyes and sat down. She cast a glance at her Cutie Mark of three apples. “After Ma and Pa died, I thought I needed to leave, too. As soon as I got out into the world, I felt more lost than ever. It took a literal miracle to bring me back home. I don’t want Apple Bloom to go through that same kinda pain.”

“But she might have to experience that pain. We all live different lives, Applejack.” Grandpère had to force his next words through a constricting throat. “Or… Or she’ll be like your Ma, and find out she belonged out there all along.”

Applejack turned away from her grandfather, towards the orchard. “It ain’t the same thing at all.”

“Applejack,” Grandpère Pear said, “listen to me. You say it’s Apple Family grit, and that may be true enough, but there’s something else in you and Bloom. Something worse. It ain’t grit. It ain’t gonna help you get through tough times, just create them.”

“What’re you talkin’ about, Grandpère?”

When Grand Pear spoke again, it was with tears in his eyes, and a wheeze in his chest. “The last time I saw your mother, it was when I disowned her for taking a new path in life. Don’t be like me. Don’t let the Pear in your blood poison your heart.”

“Don’t think like that!” Applejack hugged him tight without a second thought. “Everythin’ good about Ma came from you, you know.”

“Please, just accept her.” His voice was quiet, but firm. Nearly desperate. “Tell her you accept her decision, even if you have to pretend.”

Applejack pressed her lips tight together. “I can’t lie to her, Grandpère.”

“Would you rather lie, or lose your sister, Applejack?”

Applejack shook her head softly. She let a breath out through her nose. “Guess… guess I need an attitude adjustment.”

Grand Pear pulled back just enough to look up at her. “Please talk to her.”

“I will. Promise.” Applejack released him and returned to the window. The anger she had felt remained, but muted. She felt ashamed. Ashamed that her first reaction was to shut Apple Bloom down.

No, not shut down. To redirect her.

To coddle her? Nah, that’s not quite right. To protect her.

Was she really so wrong?

She listened to Grandpère Pear return to his seat to spend the rest of the night in a restless slumber. He had wisdom, gained through years of experience and no small amount of mistakes. She would do well to heed his advice. She needed to heed it. She would speak with Apple Bloom first thing tomorrow. She would retract her statements and allow Apple Bloom to make her own mistakes in life.

“Decisions,” she hissed to herself. “Don’t call it a mistake.”

Just like when she was a politician, she would have to censor her real feelings in order to avoid upsetting somebody she considered in the wrong.

She slapped her forehead. That thought was harsh. Borderline unreasonable. Apple Bloom wasn’t wrong. She just wanted to stretch her legs in a way she couldn’t on the farm. That was all. That was a worthwhile thing. Admirable, even. Why was she even angry?

Because Apple Bloom refused to see things her way!

Applejack dunked her head in a trough of cold water. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t her. These weren’t the thoughts of a caring older sister who wanted to see their younger sibling succeed in life. These were the thoughts of a grumpy old mare who’d lost faith in family and trust. And that was most certainly not Applejack, no sir!

What would Granny Smith have said to Apple Bloom?

The thought came as unbidden to her mind as the negative tirade. Unlike the anger, this seemed to speak much clearer, much more persuasively. This came from Applejack’s heart, the innermost portion of her being. She thought back to when she’d left the farm, before she’d even chosen a Cutie Mark. It was so soon after Ma and Pa died. She hadn’t even had time to mourn, to let it sink in. She just wanted to leave, to go as far away from the memory of her parents as possible. To try to outrun the pain before it set in and consumed her.

Weighty thoughts for a young mare, too weighty for her to really understand what she had been going through. She felt numb and wanted to feel nothing. Had Granny Smith stood in her way? Had she blocked her path and refused her help in the most horseapple-encrusted time of her life?

No. Granny had let her go. Even set up a home in Manehattan with her Aunt and Uncle Orange. Even packed her lunch and hugged her goodbye.

And just before she had left, Granny took her aside and whispered “Y’all are always welcome on the farm, Applejack. No matter where you call home.”

Now, as Applejack sat at the trough with a dripping face, she wondered how she’d ever developed the need to keep Apple Bloom cloistered. It ran counter to everything her family had drilled into her since day one. In order for it to exist, love requires the ability to either chose it or reject it. Without choice, it’s nothing more than possession.

Applejack loved Apple Bloom. So she had to set her free.

She took stock of where she’d ended up. The war in her mine had taken her in a wandering bee-like path around the yard beside the farmhouse. She had strayed to the barn, where Apple Bloom’s instruments of potion-making were stored. She rested a hoof on the red-painted wood. “I’m sorry.”

A rustle of wings caught her ear. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed when she realized the noisy pony wasn’t exactly sneaking around. They wanted to be noticed. Even so, it was a surprise to have a visitor at this hour, let alone the one who stepped into the moonlight before Applejack.

Applejack tilted her head back to look up, up, up at the alicorn who had shown up unannounced to her farm. “Princess Celestia? What brings you to the Acres?”

Princess Celestia, High Princess of Equestria, was cloaked from head-to-toe in a dark gray robe. Applejack could just see the scar on her chest whenever the wind blew the fabric a certain way. When she looked at Celestia’s mane, she could see that the once-vibrant living color had faded to a pale pink across most of it, with only small stripes of rainbow showing through. Celestia had changed, since their adventure in Beefland some five-ish years before.

Celestia’s response was to frown. She lowered her head to Applejack’s level, glancing around as though she feared discovery. “Please don’t tell anybody I was here.”

“Sure.” Applejack brushed her own blonde mane back and walked towards the farmhouse. “Uh, want somethin’ to drink? I got some fruit punch in the ice box.”

“No, thank you.” Celestia’s long legs brought her in front of Applejack. She spread a wing in a polite halting gesture. “Could we… perhaps… walk together in the orchard?”

“Whatever you say.” Applejack knew the Acres like she knew her own hooves, and she spotted Celestia’s guardsponies immediately, hiding in the branches of a nearby apple tree. Sturm and Drang, some of the princess’ most stalwart companions, nodded in acknowledgement. She decided to steer her walk with Celestia in an arc around their makeshift headquarters. “So, what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres at… somethin’ like three at night?”

“In truthfulness, I need a friend.” Celestia’s face was hidden by both the cloak and the different heights the two mares had. “I have… run out of people to talk to. At least, how I need to talk right now.” She glanced down at the farmer and lowered her voice. “Would you be that for me, just for a moment? A friend?”

Applejack wrinkled her forehead. “Why me, though? You’ve known Twilight longer, and you got more in common. Your sister’s probably reachable through a magic mirror. You got more than your fair share of opinionated mayors to choose from.”

“You’re right about all of that.” Celestia closed her eyes and breathed a long sigh. “But I can’t tell any of them what’s really dragging me down. I need someone closer to earth. Someone with less of an agenda than Twilight or Luna… and especially the mayors. Do you understand?”

“Not really.” Applejack rubbed the top of her head and wished she had brought her hat outside. “It’s been a long time since we returned the Elements of Harmony to the tree. And I’d never touch politics again if’n my life depended on it. So I’m not sure exactly how talkin’ with me is gonna help somebody with the world on their shoulders like you.”

A small laugh, barely a chuckle, came from the princess. “You are more than you give yourself credit for. It is not your ability to wield limitless power, but your honesty that I appreciate. It is not your political acumen, but your steadfast heart I seek the council of. Will you just walk a spell and listen?”

Applejack nodded. Seemed like a pretty Celestia thing to say, all things considered. She knew Celestia valued such things, even if she wouldn’t always heed their words. “So what’s on your mind?”

“Too many things to list in one night, I’m afraid.” The two of them came to a pond in the midst of the orchard. The soft-blowing breeze sent ripples across the surface of the water and left the swing gently creaking back and forth. “Unfortunately, we are at war with Saddle Arabia.”

“War?” Applejack choked on the word in her surprise. “But why? Last I knew, Amira and her buddy were on friendly terms with us. She seemed nice when I met her, at least.”

“The sands are not the only thing that shift in the Dry Ocean.” Celestia touched her hoof to her chest. “After it was revealed that I had lost my power over the sun, my political rivals swarmed out of the woodwork. Even across the sea. That’s why the Saddle Arabian-Felaccian border has been in conflict. In Equestria, we have the sirens; in Felaccia, Andean fears a coup; and in Saddle Arabia, Amira has been deposed. Her replacement is an Arabian Horse by the name of Alazṓn the Half-Djinn.”

“Half-Djinn.” Applejack skewed her muzzle to one side. “Didn’t think djinni could interbreed with mortals.”

“They cannot, according to my knowledge of them. They are like draconequui, creatures of thought with only a tenuous connection to this world.” Celestia let her wings droop until the feathers could be seen peeking out of the bottom of her cloak. “He is clearly puffing himself up in the eyes of his subjects. Something I’m fairly familiar with.” She glanced at Applejack, then focused her gaze on the moon’s reflection. “He claims that in assisting Felaccia in the defense of their border, we are seeking to build an empire like the changelings of old. But Applejack, I have spent the last five-hundred years attempting to keep the borders exactly where they are. Stopping wars before they turned to bloodshed.” She stomped a hoof, but there was no strength behind it. Only weariness. “This will be the first openly-declared war in all the world since Queen Chrysalis was slain.”

Applejack stared into the middle-distance, unsure of how to answer. This was exactly why she’d told Celestia she wasn’t interested in politics. She had no great wisdom, no knowledge of how to maneuver the landscape of policies and proclivities of the dozens of nations Equestria had a relationship with.

Before she could voice her thoughts, she heard a faint whisper from Celestia. “And I won’t live to see any of it.”

Applejack blinked. She shook her head. She stuck a hoof to her ear and wiggled, hoping against hope that she’d misheard. “Come again?”

Celestia sat down at the water’s edge. She dangled a hoof in the water. “You know of my dreams, do you not? You know that there are times when I receive premonitions. Pictures. Messages. Little glimpses of what is to come.”

“I mean, I didn’t think they were usually helpful, but… okay.” Applejack let her ears droop. “Are you sayin’… you saw somethin’?”

Celestia nodded. “I see myself. I see blood. I feel fear and anger. A monster rises out of shadow and flame. A spear strikes my chest. I am thrown through a window onto the side of Canter Mountain. I lay there, until my vision fades to nothingness. I am to die very soon, Applejack. Violently and alone.”

“No!” Applejack jumped up and laid her hooves on Celestia’s shoulder. “This is why you gotta talk with Twilight! She could do somethin’ about it! We can’t just wait around and watch you die!”

“Applejack, listen!” Celestia threw aside her cloak, bearing her heavily-scarred and burned body for the world to see. “Look at me!”

Applejack did. The once strong body of the princess, endlessly graceful and beautiful, had turned thin and sickly. Her muscles had deteriorated. Her coat, once white with the lightest hint of rose, was now gray and patched. Her wings had lost many feathers, leading Applejack to wonder if she could even fly. The scar in her chest drew the eye like a bonfire on a hill.

Celestia spoke softly, calmly, now that she had her friend’s attention. “I have lived for over a thousand years. I have been the Princess of Equestria for centuries, seeing pony after pony fade and pass away. I have fought bloody battle after bloody battle, but it only led to more pain. Now, after having my own mother attempt to kill me, after having my great power diminished, I see that I have lived too long. My body no longer has the strength to continue. I long for peace.”

Applejack felt tears well up in her eyes. Faintly, her thoughts turned to Granny Smith on her death bed, looking haggard and worn. Unlike Celestia, Granny’s life had been fulfilling. Celestia just wanted to leave. “But… we need you, don’t we?” She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. She was being selfish, asking Celestia to continue on it agony until the end of time. If only she could restore the princess, give her back her strength and sense of well-being.

“My friend,” the princess sighed. She touched Applejack’s cheek and guided her to sit down at the edge of the water. “These thoughts weigh heavily on my mind. I just want you to listen. You needn’t burden yourself with finding a solution. I don’t believe there is one. All things come to an end. I am comforted with the knowledge you want me to stay. Not everybody feels the same; some say I should have passed long ago.”

Applejack rubbed her nose. She felt small, insignificant in the face something she couldn’t hope to affect, let alone control. There had been a lot of death in her life. Enough so that she had been forced to consider it an inevitability, rather than something that caused any real amount of surprise. If she didn’t accept it, she might become as angry and despondent as she was when her Ma and Pa had died.

“I tell this to you and only you, Applejack,” Celestia said, “because as much as I welcome it, I am terrified. I am so, so scared. Of what awaits me beyond the veil. Of what will happen to my little ponies once I am gone. Of the dangers you and your friends will have to face.”

“I’m… I’m scared, too.” Applejack shook her head for lack of anything else she could do. “There’s no stoppin’ what’s comin’?”

“It is out of our hooves now.” Celestia wrapped the cloak back around her shoulders. “If it ever was otherwise.”

Applejack rested a hoof on Celestia’s foreleg, feeling dim and tired. “Is there anythin’ you want me to do?”

The princess thought for a moment. “Watch over my little ponies, the same way you always have. Keep being yourself, Applejack, for you are a wonderful person who I greatly respect. Your wisdom outshines mine, on occasion. Don’t forget that.”

Applejack shut her eyes in the dark orchard. Just a few hours before, she had nearly chained her little sister down out of a twisted sense of family togetherness. She had spent the last four years chained to a desk herself, attempting to fix a town that didn’t want to be fixed. She had been constantly mocked and ridiculed for trying to instill her sense of responsibility in others. Which part of that was wisdom?

But this wasn’t about her, this was about comforting Celestia in her time of need. “Sure, princess. You know I will.” She wondered why it was easier to lie to Celestia than to Apple Bloom when between the two of them, Apple Bloom’s desire was far easier to accept.

Two Fellowships Form

A lone airship prowled its way across the sky, traveling to the uninhabited land between the country of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. It was registered to the Rich family, and currently in the possession of its youngest member, Diamond Tiara. That said, Diamond Tiara was currently in the possession of Silver Spoon.

Its engines chuffed as it was propelled over hill and dale, unhindered by the uneven landscape. Most of the prisoners freed from Solitaire had to trudge across miles and miles of dangerous wilderness, but a select few found themselves spirited away by the Maiden of the Sirens. These few had a particular role to play. Time was of the essence. The Maiden sat on a reclining couch in the airship’s gondola, pawing at her gemstone, glaring over her silver-rimmed glasses at the miscreants she had freed from prison just the night before.

Silver Spoon didn’t much like the company she kept, if she were really honest with herself. She wouldn’t dare be honest with anyone else. Honesty was for equals. And the only one equal to Silver Spoon was… well…

It had taken only a moment with Rhombus to know what he was all about. He was all about the female form, and how he had many, many ways of enjoying said form. She had quickly made sure he knew that the only way he was enjoying her form was from a distance of no less that two meters. He then wandered around the gondola, peering out the windows and occasionally waxing eloquent about Scootaloo, of all ponies. Plain, short, thin Scootaloo. She almost reconsidered his “invitation” just to spite the pegasus mare in some small way. But then she remembered herself; there was plenty of opportunity for spite over the next few weeks, and it would be much sweeter than a moment’s time spent with Rhombus. She was Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens, and he was nothing more than an above-average handsome colt. Night and day. Mountain and molehill.

If Rhombus was a one-track mind, Lacer the Displacer’s train of thought was stuck at the station. He peppered her with questions about payment. When it was coming, what currency it was going to be, who he reported to, and please could she have it mailed to a seedy little tavern called The Bucking Bronco. His vaguely-noble goal of taking care of his sister Catrina and the rest of their kin soured Silver’s mood more than his pestering. He really thought he could hide the greed in his eyes? From her? She, who knew lies inside and out. She, who had been learning the art of cunning since she was a toddler? She, who wore the Siren’s Sigil around her neck? No, his motivation was gold, and his motivation would remain the same whether his clan existed or not. He would have gold, and he would only have gold until the end of his days.

She glowered after those brief conversations. The sheer lack of ambition churned her stomach. Here they were, in the presence of a goddess, and only seeking after things that might please for a moment, or delight the eye in passing, with no thought as to the real power at her disposal. Nor did they spare a thought as to the consequences of their actions, and where their disparate, dreary roads would eventually end for them. A diseased, passionless emptiness for Rhombus. A cold, dreary, lonely miser’s death for Lacer.

On the other half of the gondola lay two people with slightly more personality, but no less focus. Caution Tape, the former guard who had thrown it all away for the sake of love, only to have his hopes dashed to the ground. Perhaps more accurately “splattered across the pavement,” if the coroner’s report for his girlfriend was to be believed.

This intrigued Silver Spoon to no end, a rarity in and of itself. This stallion had been in a relationship with one of the Sirens. A mare by the name of Aria Blaze.

Her history was a complicated one. Adagio the Mother, Aria the Crone, and Sonata the Maiden had been banished to another world near the start of the Third Age by Starswirl the Bearded, to be stuck there for over a thousand years. Aria had found another way back—the mirror pools that Adagio was currently destroying—and kept it hidden from the others. That was a the same year Silver had been born, twenty-one years ago. Aria had tried to start a new life, tossing aside the ways of the Sirens. When she met Caution, they fell in love.

Unfortunately, that was when the story took a turn. She had become pregnant. She had become frightened. In her panic, she decided to leave Equestria permanently. She abandoned her child in Ponyville and vanished into the portal without a single word to Caution. He hadn’t even known about her pregnancy. Without a relationship with a known criminal to generate a scandal, he was able to rise to the position of Captain of Celestia’s personal guard. But still he had sought Aria out.

That was until nearly three years ago, when Sonata had discovered Aria’s deception regarding the mirror pools. She killed Aria in revenge for keeping her locked up in a magicless world for so long. Eventually, the Sirens of Aria’s time were broken utterly, with only Adagio remaining alive.

As Silver Spoon talked with Caution, certain lines connected between events, at least in her mind. How strange that Aria would find the mirror portal only after centuries of searching. How strange that Caution and Aria would both find each other practically the moment she stepped back into Equestria. How strange that their brief, fiery relationship should result in a child when neither were trying for it. How strange that Aria would flee and abandon her lover and their child, rather than putting it up for adoption if she were really against raising one. There was a missing link to the drama, and Silver Spoon decided that it could be none other than the Unseelie Court.

“Why do you suppose Aria left?” she asked, more to see how he answered than what he answered.

Caution looked at his rough hooves. If he were not already as red as a barn, she might have seen a blush appear on his face. “Oi never really understood. Oi read all her letters and that. She sounded like she wanted to be by me, but never so much… never even sent the letters. Let alone told me aught. All oi could see was that she was afraid. Afraid of bein’ a mother, I guess. Afraid of bein’ really serious. Oi like to think oi woulda been a good father.”

Silver Spoon considered her unasked question answered. He had never once considered the Unseelie Court as being the author of his personal life-story, except in the capacity that they had promised to bring the presumed “star-crossed lovers” back together. Aria’s sudden flight reeked of Jeuk and his brethren. Whatever lies or truths they had told her were sufficient to get her to voluntarily continue her banishment. To keep any word of it from Caution.

In turn, the mystery of it all had driven Caution to seek help from the Unseelie, to pledge allegiance to the very ones who had separated him from his love in the first place. First, Aria had been the dangling carrot, and now… Now, his daughter served to keep him marching in step with the Fair Folk.

“Did Aria leave any clues about your daughter? Coat color? Mane?” Silver Spoon softly chewed her lower lip as an ear swiveled. “What tribe of pony was Aria?”

“Earth Pony, like meself.” Caution tapped his chest. “But the Tape Family’s got some pegasus on me mum’s side. She started to write that the little filly had her eyes. Real deep an’ purple-like. She wrote it was like lookin’ in a mirror.”

Thousands of ponies had purple eyes, and dozens of those lived in Ponyville. But only one of those had no known parentage. Silver Spoon’s eyes narrowed and shot towards Rhombus, whose latest poem delighted in a certain pegasus mare’s hindquarters. Coincidence? Or more Unseelie shenanigans?

As intriguing as his story was—the true part of it—it still resulted in him being fairly straightforward, as far as his direction in life lay. He had a single goal at this point, maybe two. He sought to reunite a family that had never been. He wanted to find this abandoned daughter, and perhaps he wished to bring Aria back to life in some respect. As long as either seemed possible, he didn’t care much for his own safety, or the lives of those around him.

Much like Rhombus and Lacer, a tool. Perhaps more interesting to talk to, but a tool nonetheless. A hammer, seeking a nail.

Three tools down, two to go. Silver Spoon wandered over to a small unicorn mare with a familiar lavender coat and mane. She huddled in her cloak, with large glasses reflecting the light of her horn. She performed spells, warming up after long months locked up in Soltaire. Silver Spoon could tell she had a great mastery of the Wizarding Arts, just from watching the symbols and equations floating around her head. She had pad of paper in front of her, on which she scribbled fiercely. A diagram was taking shape, with the picture of a golden apple taking center stage.

She wasn’t keen to interrupt the mare’s work at first, nor did she really need to. She was versed enough in this mare’s story from her talks with the others. She was an immigrant from another world, one similar to Equestria, but wholly different. One where familiar heroes were the worst of villains. One where the land had been turned to dust and gravel beneath a tyrant’s hooves. One where the good King Sombra had fallen victim to a mind-altering magic entity.

Dr. Midnight had once been that world’s Twilight Sparkle, Silver knew. And the resemblance was uncanny. She looked just like the tiny, thin, bookish unicorn mare that had come to Ponyville some thirteen years ago. Unlike the Twilight she knew, this mare was angry. But not in a loud way. In a dark, silent, patient way. She was focused on one thing. Silver decided to ask what that was.

“Hello there, Doctor.” Silver Spoon pushed her glasses closer to her eyes. She decided to affect a small smile, not showing any teeth. Amicability without mirth. “I would like to ask what you’re working on.”

Dr. Midnight did not acknowledge her at first. She continued to work on her notes, only stopping to respond to Silver when it became obvious she would not go away. “The only thing that matters, of course. Surely your friends at the Court would have told you of my circumstances.”

“They did.” Silver sat beside her. She seemed too close for Midnight’s comfort, judging by the way the doctor shifted about an inch to the right. “But I’d like to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. I’m not the most scientific mind, but I do understand more about being a mortal than the average Fae.” She shook a hoof to wave off the sparkling text hovering around the area. “Not so much the ‘how’—only you know how this works for sure—but the ‘why.’ So long as we’re working together, I’d like to know what it is each of us is fighting for.”

Dr. Midnight pushed her glasses onto her forehead and rubbed her face. When her hooves came away, a spell covered her eyes, causing them to glow a soft lavender. A vision-correcting spell, Silver deduced. Midnight flipped through her notes until she came to the front page, which had a picture of an alicorn with her wings spread. “I seek to ascend to alicornhood in order to eliminate death from this world. And every world. Magic has been long used to relieve pain, balance out deformities, compensate for disabilities. I seek the spell to bring it full circle. To destroy the suffering that characterizes life as we know it.”

Silver Spoon’s smile didn’t so much as twitch. “At any cost? There’s no such thing as free lunch.”

“Right now, the process is rough.” Dr. Midnight switched to a page that held a diagram of three ponies, one of each of the tribes, with arrows pointing from them to a fourth pony. “It requires the fairy strings of three living ponies be transferred to a fourth. It is my hope that eventually, this crude and barbaric method will no longer be the only path towards ascension.”

“Depending on who you ask, it isn’t.” Silver Spoon nonchalantly glanced out the window. “Unless you think Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Twilight have basements full of bodies.”

“They clearly do not. But there is no credible scientific research around their ascensions. They were freak accidents. As was Sunset’s.” The doctor allowed a little venom in her voice when mentioning that last pony. She stowed away her glasses and allowed her glowing eyes to bore holes in Silver’s skull. “Unless you could derive something from the princess’ drivel that I could not.”

Silver meaningfully pawed at the blue gemstone hanging from her neck. “Nah. My path to immortality lies somewhere else. It’s much less bloody, though no more ethical.”

“Ethics and progress are always at odds. Only by understanding that every step forward uncovers a newer, better morality, can we finally overcome our own weak flesh and blood.” Dr. Midnight lowered her head to her notes and began to sew the pages together, binding them into book form. “If you’ll excuse me, I have much to get done before we arrive.”

The attitude might have shocked Silver Spoon even a few years before. Thankfully, through frequent conversations with the Master, she had become accustomed to such talk. A few hundred lives, or a few thousand, or even ten times that, were nothing but a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of history, the rest of existence. Cosmically, nothing. The goal was plenty admirable and, more importantly, attainable. The ability to end suffering on such a scale was well worth the price of admission. But Silver felt it could be taken another step further…

She left Dr. Midnight to her own devices and proceeded to the rear of the gondola. There was one more member of their little band, one last piece to the puzzle. Perhaps the most important piece of all; the reason they’d assaulted Solitaire in the first place. Any of these tools could be broken and replaced, but one in particular had a higher purpose.

Wights on their own were not hostile creatures. No more-so than any close-knit family community when faced with the strangeness of the outside world. Their principal habitat was the deep swamp, where light only shone directly at high noon and houseboats were more prevalent than dry land. They existed on a diet of fish, amphibians, and fruits native to the damp areas of the world.

Their appearance was strange and otherworldly to people unfamiliar with them: Clammy, hairless skin; dark, black eyes; clawed, webbed feet; sharp, fish-like teeth. But they were indeed as rational as any other Sapient, and perhaps shared some ancestry with the changelings, judging by their ability to transform their bodies to blend in with their environment. Whenever they were forced to interact with people outside their community, they would routinely shift their appearance to that of a pony or griffon, or even a minotaur when intimidation was called for.

But every community has their bad seed. Some Wights shunned their families and lived completely solitary lives in the dark places of the world, preying on unsuspecting travelers and robbing them. The most evil of Wights even became cannibalistic, eating other Sapients as they prowled grave yards and watery caves. These “Barrow Wights” would disguise themselves as corpses and drag the unfortunate victims screaming into their horrific homes, never to be seen again.

One Barrow Wight in particular was named Scuttlebutt.

Silver found him disguised as an unremarkable, if unseemly, little pony. A gaunt, narrow-faced Earth Pony, with a greasy mane and thin tail, whose coat was a shade of brown that hewed a little too close to a certain type of dross. He peered at her from beneath a sweat-strewn brow, a cheese-eating smile appearing on his nearly-pointed muzzle. “As always, I am happy to serve whichever Siren is willing to allow me another day to live. What can I do for you, Maiden?”

“First I want to make sure you’re keeping your claws to yourself.” Silver Spoon pursed her lips, looking him up and down and finding the sight disagreeable. “Keep your mealtime etiquette somewhere around that of the average dog and we shouldn’t have any problems.”

“Well, just so long as someday I’m allowed… a taste.” The cheese-eating grin turned sour. “It’s been several years since Merry allowed me to indulge. It’s becoming unbearable.”

“Just remember that the last time you tried to ‘indulge’ it landed you in prison.” Silver touched the side of her glasses out of habit, as if to focus them on the grimy creature. To be honest, she wasn’t nearly so peeved as she acted. It was little concern of hers whether he ate a bird or a griffon. So long as he didn’t eat anybody she knew. Even so, she needed to keep up appearances and put the minion in his place. He was getting far to comfortable with his current circumstances. “Toe the line, Scuttlebutt. If you don’t, we’ll force you to comply. Unless you think you have the mental fortitude to overcome the sheer willpower of three Sirens?”

“I know better. Maiden.” He bowed at the neck as the last of his smile died a gruesome death. His body shifted paler, colder, damper, until he had reverted to his true form of a particularly-hideous wight. “I stand on the backs of giants, so as to not be crushed underfoot.”

“See that you don’t.”

She left him behind, without really having said anything of importance, and not learning anything of note. Such was the way the Sirens dealt with the slimy creature. Vague threats and vague promises of obedience, with an underlying knowledge that neither was heeded. She smiled to herself once her back was turned; it would not be long before such posturing was unnecessary. Once the Master’s plan was underway, nothing could halt their momentum.

She made her way past the five Sapients to a private cabin near the front of the airship. Diamond Tiara or her father would use it as a sleeping quarters during long cruises, while a hired pony piloted the ship. When the ship was under Silver’s care, it made for a good place to recover from the inanity of lesser minds…

And a good place to commune with a greater one.

She locked the door behind her and smiled at the room’s sole occupant. “Hello, Diamond. How are you?”

Diamond Tiara sat in a chair, looking out a window with a sullen look to her face. Downturned ears, slack mouth, vacant eyes devoid of thought. She was barely breathing; like an engine on idle. She glanced up at Silver’s appearance, but soon returned to her unfocused state.

Silver tapped the side of her glasses to adjust them a little higher on the muzzle. “Tell me I’m beautiful.”

At once, Diamond Tiara came alive, focusing her sparkling eyes on Silver Spoon and smiling as if she’d just come to the most wonderful realization in the world. “Hi Silver Spoon! You’ve got the most wonderful style, as usual. Are those new glasses? Girl, that’s totally you. Not a hair out of place on that fantastic braid.”

Silver Spoon laughed as Diamond’s words flowed like honey into her ears. “Tell me I’m a genius.”

“Nobody could hope to outthink you!” Diamond waved a hoof dismissively. “The other Sirens have no idea who they’re dealing with. It’s hilarious that Merry thinks she’s in charge when you’ve been pulling the strings from the start!”

“Alright, now shut up.” Silver Spoon nodded in satisfaction as Diamond Tiara’s luster faded. Even her coat seemed to dim a few shades from its usual vibrant pink.

While Diamond stared gormlessly out the window, Silver reclined on the bed. She uncovered a small silver mirror and placed it on the bedside table. She waited—for a moment or for hours, she could not tell, and did not care—until a vague shape appeared in the center of the reflective surface. Her visage vanished, replaced with a gray-coated stallion’s face. He adjusted the black hat between his ears and straightened his red tie.

“My Lord Jeuk,” she said with a genuine smile, “I am happy to report that we have collected the soldiers you requested. We’re on our way to the Grove of Golden Apples as we speak.”

“Excellent work, Silver Spoon, Maiden of the Sirens.” Jeuk chuckled in his halting, rhythmic way. His gray eyes flashed with a faint green as he leaned closer to the polished surface of the mirror. “Tonight is the night. All shall be unveiled and all shall be made ready. I presume you have sent the other prisoners—the less important ones—to complete their own tasks?”

“Yes, Master. They’ve begun the march to Canterlot. They’ll wait in the caves below the palace until you give the word.” Silver Spoon lowered her voice even further, to an intimate whisper as if sharing sweet nothings. “Have the other two Sirens done as they were commanded?”

“Bean Sidhe reports that Adagio has completed her good work, if under duress.” Jeuk’s mouth turned downward for a brief, deadly instant. “She has spirited the Sunset Shimmers away to another world. Outside of our influence, if only for the moment. Merry, on the other hand, has already delivered Fluttershy to the Grove unconscious. She refuses to allow the pegasus mare to leave her sight.”

“As expected of that sentimental old dotard.” Silver Spoon lay back, splaying her forelegs and staring at the ceiling. Merry, the head of their order, the one making all the decisions. Always held back by something. Always teetering on the edge of true enlightenment but refusing to take the plunge. “Well, she can do what she likes with Fluttershy once we have the Rainbow of Darkness back. Even if it’d just be safer to have her killed.” She scowled, flaring her nostrils as an uneasy thought floated through her mind. “We can’t even Dominate her, can we? Since she’s a Bearer.”

“Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have been notoriously immune to the Sirens’ Song thus far.” Jeuk tapped the side of his nose. “But I wouldn’t give in just yet. There are other forms of corruption and control that have proven far more effective in the past. Just look at River Cicada, or Nightmare Moon, or any of the other Bearers who have shown their true colors when pressed to the wall.” He laughed at the back of his throat, a guttural approximation of mirth that seemed just a little off when compared to what lesser minds called happiness. “It is always most amusing. Most very amusing.”

Silver Spoon grinned, and her teeth were white enough that their reflection could be seen slightly overlapping Jeuk’s face. She rolled onto her stomach and leaned close to the mirror. “Just what are you planning for Fluttershy, Master?”

“The coup de grâce for their miserable little friendship, where even those six can no longer consider themselves equals amongst sisters.” Silver Spoon marveled at the cold intelligence sparkling in his gray eyes; ageless yet impossibly ancient, calculating yet wild as fire, flighty yet laser-focused. He had been manufacturing their situation for more than three-thousand years, and here she was able to witness the culmination of it all. To take part in it. To take part in him. “I shall deal with them myself, while you lead the Sirens to victory over Equestria.”

Silver Spoon barked a single laugh, Merry’s irritating voice once again echoing in her ears. “As far as Merry Mare is concerned, she’s the one in charge. The Mother knows best, after all.”

“All Mothers become Crones, given enough time. You will surpass her, as she surpassed Adagio.” Jeuk tilted his black hat back. He glanced around his surroundings in the Abyss, ears swiveling to catch words Silver couldn’t hear. “Continue as you were, Maiden of the Sirens. Your devotion to the Unseelie Court shall reach fruition in due course. Tonight is the end of the beginning.”

He vanished from the face of the silver mirror. Silver Spoon took it to her chest, embracing it as her mind raced with the possibilities of ruling. Of banishing sickness and weakness from her species—alongside the weak and the sick. And then, when all was said and done, to be the mind which all other minds thought through. To be the source of wisdom and knowledge for the entire kingdom, with the power of the Sirens’ Song. All of Equestria guided by a single perfect will.

Under her spell.

Button Mash ended up being the one to carry the bag containing Kindness. Not so much because he had any great desire to, but because none of the other guys seemed willing to even touch it. It was too grand to them. Too much of a pipe dream to see an Element of Harmony in real life, let alone hold one in the pad of their hoof. Lickety Split looked nauseous whenever he glanced at it. Pipsqueak and Snips kept their distance like middle-schoolers at a dance party. Rumble hadn’t said anything specific about how he felt, but he generally insisted Button take it whenever the subject presented itself.

That’s not to say they’d abandoned Button. They all marched in tandem up Mane Street, the glistening, glittering crystalline castle looming overhead. Lickety seemed to be at war with himself, both trying to hide in Rumble’s shadow while trying to stay as far away from him as possible. He did his best to not draw any eyes, which was easy enough in the early morning when few ponies were up and about.

Button Mash climbed the stairs one at a time, smiling unevenly at the two imposing soldiers standing at the gate. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but all that happened was a faint squeak.

Rumble took initiative and patted Button on the back. “Hay Snowcap, Coldstone. My buddies and have something to show the princess. It’s real urgent. Like, world-saving urgent.”

Coldstone, an imposing Crystal Pony stallion from the Empire, peered down at Button, his eyes immediately picking out the bag. “How urgent we talking? Like, ‘the sun will fall in three days’ urgent, or ‘Nightmare Moon is literally eating my tail’ urgent?”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’d be allowed to know about it if it hadn’t fallen right into my lap.” Rumble looked upward for a moment, then nodded his head. “Probably closer to the ‘sun falls in three days’ one. Urgent, but like, not quite perilous yet.”

“Cool beans.” Coldstone exchanged a glance with Snowcap, who nodded. “Princess Twilight just got back from the Everfree expedition. She and Spike are probably in the lab, going over their findings.”

Snowcap eyed the other assembled stallions with a look partially inspired by a hawk hunting rabbits. “You boys are lucky Spike put you on the shortlist for admittance.” She pointed to Lickety Split with a metal-shod hoof. “You guys vouch for him?”

Button nodded. “I can vouch.”

“Good. Otherwise he’d need to make an appointment. The wait list is about three years out, if you listened to the princess speak.

Snips twisted his muzzle. “An appointment to save the world?”

“Some heroes fight red tape,” Snowcap said with a shrug.

Rumble spread his wings and gently shoved his friends through the opening gates. “With that said, later!”

Rumble led the way through the main hall of Ponyville Castle, with its high-vaulted ceiling and its stained-glass windows grown from a seed around a decade ago. Planters led the way as arboreal sentinels, lending a touch of the natural to the otherwise crystalline architecture. The main hall had one road to take, to the very center of the trunk of the castle. In there was a large crystalline table with a three-dimensional map of Equestria rendered with illusion spells. Around this table, in an open circle, sat the seven thrones. Each one held the image of an Element of Harmony upon its back, save for the seventh, smaller throne. Button knew that Spike had most certainly earned that throne during the many adventures and trials he had encountered alongside the modern Bearers.

He tried not to be jealous, but it was hard. To have such a place in history, to have seen the Elements at work up close… He wanted it. He wanted it more than anything. Especially after learning of the original Bearers, the ones who had first used their power to banish the Lord of the Unseelie Court. The ones who had subsequently fallen and become even worse tyrants than the Fae. In his heart of hearts, Button wanted to make sure that the Elements were never misused again.

Overhead, he could see the root network of the old Ponyville Library. It had been hung from the ceiling as a mobile, a decoration to welcome Twilight and Spike to their new home. Enchanted crystals hung from the roots, each one holding a precious memory. If Button focused, he could see the faintest reflection of several of those memories, playing out like a living photo album.

“If I recall correctly,” Pip said into the sudden awed silence, “the laboratory is to the left. West wing.”

“Word.” Snips marched off at double-time, his face inscrutable. Rumble and Button followed suit, with the latter casting one last glance towards the throne where the Bearer of Kindness sat. He wondered if the gemstone he now held was pulled from the Tree of Harmony, or if it was from a new sprout of the same line. Hopefully Twilight would know.

Another hall, less decorated than the last, led to a wide-open room full of strange machinery and technology Button couldn’t hope to describe. Buttons and levers, blinking lights and chittering readouts, endless lines of bookshelves and bubbling vats of chemicals. Despite all the wonders available to her, Princess Twilight Sparkle was seated in a rocking chair, her nose buried in one book in particular. Spike was seated at a nearby table, turning a purple gemstone over in his hand.

The dragon raised his head at their approach. “Rumble? Button? Pip, Snips! What are you guys—” Button could note the exact moment he noticed Lickety Split among their company. His face grew more serious, his eyebrows downturned. “—What are you guys doing here?”

Button Mash sucked in a breath through his teeth. “It’s hard to put into words.”

Rumble gently took the bag from Button’s back and placed it on the table. “Lickety Split found the Element of Kindness.”

“Or you could just say that,” Button muttered.

Spike and Twilight exchanged a sharp glance, each a narrow-mouthed mirror of the other. The princess literally flew from her rocking chair and came to a rest beside the table, opening the bag with her magic. Kindness shone from the shadows, illuminating them in a glow both otherworldly and right at home in the palace. Warm pink tinted their faces as their expressions changed to something a little softer, a little more at peace.

Button leaned closer to the precious gemstone to better drink in the feeling of it all. “It’s like a song. Soft and inviting.”

“And dangerous,” Twilight said, her voice uncharacteristically harsh. Maybe it was because she wasn’t wearing her voice-changing gemstone, and thus had to make due with scarred vocal chords. Maybe it was just the stress getting to her. Maybe Button wasn’t as aware of the situation as he thought he was. She continued to speak as though she was leading a march of soldiers, line by line, step by mighty step. “I need to know exactly how you came by this gemstone, Lickety Split. No detail unremembered. No stone unturned.”

Lickety Split took a step back from the princess’ onslaught. He stuttered at first, but soon found his footing. “I—I was just minding my own business, about a week ago, in Fillidelphia. I was walking home from work at the local Rich Mart. This lady wearing a dark cloak approached me, her face hidden by a big hood. She bumped into me, pressed the gem against my chest, and said ‘You’ll know what to do with it.’ Then she vanished. Like, into thin air.” Split stared at the gemstone, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “I swear, I had no idea what to do with it. I knew it was powerful, and the only person who I could go to with this kinda thing was my little brother. I heard he’d started dating Sweetie Belle, so I went straight to her house to look for him.”

“Oh Creator bless him.” Rumble turned his eyes to the high ceiling. “You got there last night, didn’t you?”

Lickety Split could do no more than nod.

“You ran into Scootaloo, then.” Rumble furrowed his brow and set his glare directly upon the relatively-shorter stallion. “Didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to see her.” Split looked at his hooves to avoid the heat. “Please, make her happy. Just make her forget about me.”

Rumble clicked his tongue. “Hard to forget about you when you show up unannounced.”

“This is not the time!” Twilight snapped. “Take your domestic affairs home with you.”

The assembled stallions leaped exactly one meter away from her at her outburst. She glanced around with an air of confusion, then rolled her eyes at them. She touched a hoof to Kindness and held her breath. The expression that came over her face was a step beyond serene, into real, unbothered relief.

“It seems real. It feels just like Fluttershy’s gem, before we put it back into the tree.” She looked up at Spike and beckoned him forward with a waved wing. “Come here, you’ll need to know how the Elements feel. More keenly than ever. They all have their assorted eccentricities, but the feeling of power is unmatched.”

Spike offered her a halfhearted smirk. “I’ve handled the Elements more than a few times.” Even so, he reached out and cupped Kindness in his hands. He swallowed hard. “It feels like… I’m unworthy to even look at it. It’s beauty beyond compare. Beauty that can’t be captured or owned, or even approached.”

Lickety Split peered over Spike’s shoulder, his face a queasy green. “It’s terrifying, is what it is.”

Pipsqueak attempted to suppress a laugh and ended up sputtering in Snips’ face. “Terrifying? Really, Split, it’s Kindness. Literal goodwill! What could be terrifying about it?”

Snips deliberately wiped his cheek while glaring at his diminutive friend. “Aside from it literally being able to turn people to stone?”

“There’s that… But there’s more danger than even petrification.” Twilight Sparkle took the book she was reading and tucked it beneath her wing. She eased herself over to a whiteboard she had on rollers in the middle of the room. She took a marker in her magic and rapidly drew six hexagons in a circle. Outside the circle, with arrows connecting them, she drew crude outlines of several monstrous shapes. “Each of the Elements represent one aspect of Harmony. A concept which ranges from simply getting along to grand feats of international cooperation. It requires each and every aspect to work in tandem, and if even one of these Elements are missing…”

She had drawn the image of a demonic, bat-winged female, of a species Button didn’t recognize. She had the coloration of a mare he knew to be Sunset Shimmer, and wore a crown that looked a little too similar to Twilight’s own Element of Magic to be coincidence.

“If even one of those Elements are missing,” Twilight said quietly, “it turns Harmony into something ugly.”

Spike nodded, tucking Kindness back into the bag. “When Sunset Shimmer stole the Element of Magic, she used its power to hold an army’s worth of young people in her thrall. Literal mind-control. Magic is the Spark that makes friendship possible. It draws people together, turns acquaintances into lifelong companions. If that kind of raw charisma lacks loyalty, or kindness, or honesty, it becomes manipulation. Or worse.”

Pipsqueak placed a hoof over his muscular chest, frowning in thought. “I suppose I can understand that. I even suspect I know what might come of blind loyalty or brutal honesty. But Kindness? How could that be in any way terrible on its own?”

“At best, without any accompanying Elements…” Twilight bit her lower lip and chewed. “It’s wishing a stranger to ‘have a nice day,’ even if you never intend to do anything to actually improve their day. Soulless and meaningless, but mostly harmless. At worst, it’s the tyrant’s perspective of kindness; forcing others to do things for their own good without allowing them autonomy. Love cannot exist without free will and its choice to act, and kindness is heavily intertwined with love.”

“All of the Elements are.” Button Mash lowered his ears to his scalp. “But love turned away from its true purpose is power run amuck.” He turned to Spike, raising an eyebrow at his friend. “Why do you need to know the Elements, like Princess Twilight said?”

Spike crossed his arms over his chest, looking not at Button but into a future he couldn’t see clearly. He heaved a breathy sigh and spared Twilight a glance. He didn’t wait for her to answer his unspoken question, but spoke his mind at once. “The Tree of Harmony was destroyed last night. It’s time to begin the search for the Elements of Harmony all over again, like Princess Celestia and Luna did a thousand years ago. Twilight and her friends can’t do it, so I’ve volunteered.”

Silence descended over the room like a smothering blanket. The only movement was Twilight Sparkle softly nodding. Those present either looked at Spike or the bag now newly in his care.

Rumble stirred first, spreading his wings as he approached the dragon. “You’re not going alone, are you?”

“Well, I hope not.” Spike chuffed a nervous laugh. “I’d like, you know, a navigator and maybe a few bodyguards or something.”

“I’m coming with you,” Button said.

Lickety Split grabbed his little brother’s shoulder. “Button, what are you talking about?”

“I’m going with Spike.” Button Mash shrugged Split’s hoof aside. He looked around at the stallions in attendance, looking them right in the eye in a slow half-circle. “You all know me, I’m the Stories guy. I’ve been telling people about the Element Bearers since I was old enough to know the stories. From River, to Celestia, to Twilight… They mean so much to me. I’ve seen how they’ve helped everybody. I’ve seen how many they’ve hurt when misused.” He turned around to face Twilight Sparkle and Spike. He bowed his head. “With your permission, I want to be part of the expedition. I want to do everything I can to make sure the Elements don’t end up in the wrong hands. I want the story of the Elements of Harmony to have another good ending.”

Spike covered his mouth, shaking his head. “Man… how can I say no to that?”

Rumble rested his wingtip across both Button’s shoulders. He bumped his hoof against hi own chest. “And you know what? We come as a matched set. Screw the fairies and whatever they wanna do to Equestria. Screw the Sirens and their master plan. We’re gonna show them what it means to mess with Harmony.” After a heartbeat, he coughed into his hoof and nodded at Twilight. “Assuming I can get some sort of reassignment to Spike’s crew.”

Twilight Sparkle snorted. “I don’t think I could stop you if I ordered you to be chained up in the dungeon.”

Spike put his hands on his hips, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on his lips. “I remember the last time you guys asked to join me on an adventure. It didn’t end up how we wanted it to.”

“No,” Button said, “but we all made it out the other side.”

“And we made it out because we were all together.” Rumble sucked his lips in. “Briefly. Before we all got horrifically injured.”

“It’s also not a walk in the park.” Spike took the book Twilight was holding and patted the cover. “This is an arduous, world-spanning expedition. It could take months, or years!”

“I’ll be there the whole way,” Button said.

“Say no more, bud,” Rumble said.

“I’m comin’, too!”

All heads turned to the entrance of the laboratory to see a talk, plain mare with a red mane trotting her way into the castle. A young filly with a curly mane followed on her heels.

“Apple Bloom!” Spike ran up to her at once and hugged her. He looked up at her face, and his smile became a frown. “What’s wrong?”

Apple Bloom wiped dampness from the corner of her eyes and laughed haplessly. “I had that scheduled argument with Applejack. I decided I wanted to be around you for a while.”

“Sure. As long as you want.” He touched her cheek, and even from several paces away, Button could see the relief radiating in waves of heat off of the drake. “But… how much did you hear? Do you know what you just volunteered for?”

“I heard everythin’ since Button’s speech. I know what I’m getting’ into. I welcome it.” She turned a serious eye to Button and Rumble. “An’ I suspect you’ll be wantin’ my help to explain to Sweetie and Scoots just why their boyfriends are all vanishin’ on them?”

Button felt his face heat up to a temperature slightly below volcanic. Oh yeah. That little matter of being in a relationship. He’d volunteered without thinking… mostly because the Elements were all he’d been thinking about for a long time. What would Sweetie think? Especially since the last adventure he’d been on had taken such a toll on both of them. Would she be mortified? Encouraging? Would she dump him then and there for fear of experiencing the pain of seeing him come back in a casket?

Rumble, on the other hoof, seemed to be mostly unconcerned. He put on a brave face and smiled with his eyes closed. “Aw, she’ll understand. Heck, she might even want to join the party once she hears you’ll be coming.”

Pipsqueak pulled a face. “As someone who’s played the dating game for a few years longer than you… You have the air of somebody gleefully looking down the barrel of a loaded volleygun. Might want to tread more gingerly into such untrodden territory, my friend.”

“And guys…” Snips took a step back from Button and Rumble to get the entire scene in his view. He shook his head, scoffing at something in his mind’s eye. “Oh, never mind. I’ve seen this before. I’ve seen you guys charge after Sweetie Belle’s and Scootaloo’s kidnappers without even a mote of hesitation. And then I didn’t understand it. I was too horrified by Button almost dying. But I think I get it. You all wanted this, didn’t you? You’ve all wanted this for a long time.”

Button bobbed his head, frowning faintly at the unicorn stallion. “I’m pretty sure it’s been brewing within me for a long time. A… a promise I made to myself. As sure as my Cutie Mark is my heart’s promise. This is just my opportunity to do something about it.”

“I get it.” Snips nodded, taking a seat on the cold crystal floor. “Because I’ve felt the same way, but about something else. I always knew you were going to run off on another crazy adventure eventually… and I promised myself that I’d stay home, even if I wanted to come.”

Spike crawled over to him, smiling unevenly as he approached. “I don’t want you to feel obligated, Snips. You don’t have to come if—”

Snips raised a hoof. “Yeah, stop right there. It ain’t because I’m a coward. It ain’t because I’m afraid. This time.” He rested the hoof on his chest and leaned forward. “I wanna come, I really do, but I know I have to stay behind. There’s something keeping me here that’s just as important as what you’re doing. I’m not sure what it is just yet, but…” He glanced at Pipsqueak. “You feel the same way, don’t you?”

Pipsqueak blew a breath through his nostrils. He turned to Spike with a stiff upper lip and a thrust-out chest. “Indeed I do. We shall guard the home front, Spike, even as you brave the unknown.”

Lickety Split looked between Snips and his brother. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. You’re acting like you’re crazy.”

“It’s alright, Split.” Button Mash walked back to the table and rested a hoof on the bag containing Kindness. “Just know that we wanna do this.”

Princess Twilight Sparkle raised her head high. She was nearly as tall as Princess Luna, and thus met Apple Bloom eye to eye. She perhaps not-too-subtly grabbed the bag from beneath Button’s hoof and looped the strap over her own shoulder. “Then I guess I’ll hold onto this until you’re all ready to begin the journey. Any thought about when that might be, Spike?”

“Some time after the Cloudsdale’s reopening party, I guess.” Spike stood hoof-in-claw with Apple Bloom, shoulder-to-significantly-lower-shoulder. “It’ll take more than a week to get everything ready. We still need to figure out what the journal says about the Elements. And we’ll need transportation and supplies.”

Twilight slapped the metal table with a sharp hoof, causing all present to jump at the violent sound. “I want to emphasize that none of what we’ve spoken about today leaves this room. If it does, we’ll all be in danger. Do I make myself clear?”

The chorus of “Yeah” and “Yes, ma’am” was nearly unanimous, save for the filly who had followed Apple Bloom in. She finally took her moment to step forward, and Button saw that she was not a stranger, but Pumpkin Cake. She cleared her throat and looked up at Twilight Sparkle with an expression more often seen on a fierce warrior than a baker’s daughter. “Can I speak now, or are you adults gonna keep droning on for a few hours?”

Twilight Sparkle pulled a face while her back was turned, but managed to appear magnanimous when she addressed Pumpkin. “Miss Pumpkin Cake, I would appreciate it if you were a little more respectful—”

“I’ve got nothing but respect,” Pumpkin said with a growl, “what I don’t have is time. Fluttershy is missing.”

Button Mash paced back and forth in the laboratory, having been forbidden to leave by the princess. He was in much the same position as the others, all awaiting Twilight Sparkle’s return with news of Fluttershy’s absence. He was confused. The last time Fluttershy had gone missing, it was met with a city-wide scramble to find her, Discord, and the Cake twins. But now, in an evidently darker hour, Twilight had forbidden them to speak of it, or to help with the search.

It was an hour later when Princess Twilight came back, accompanied by the Captain of the Ponyville Guard, Commander Skyhook. They were chatting in low tones, so Button couldn’t hear a word of it.

Thankfully for Button, what Snips lacked in decorum he made up for with brashness. “So? What’s the story?”

Twilight nearly looked like she would dismiss the stallion outright. Instead, when she saw that all present were waiting with bated breath, she relented and drew them all closer. “She is missing, and we have a suspect, but if any of you breathe a word of this, I cannot guarantee your safety. We’ve seen a lot of strange things happen surrounding Mayor Merry Mare. We think she might be in league with the Sirens.”

Apple Bloom jerked her head back. “Then why hasn’t anypony arrested her?”

Skyhook, crowned with a furrowed brow and an iron helmet, glanced around the room before replying. “We’re trying to uncover the entire conspiracy, not just one part of it. Any time we’ve made a move on one of their allies, they’ve vanished like smoke.”

“We’re too late again!” Twilight Sparkle threw a foreleg to the sky and slumped into her rocking chair. “There’s no trace of either Fluttershy or Merry.” She snapped her eyes to Lickety Split and dragged him closer to her with a glimmering spell. “When did you say the mare gave you Kindness?”

“J-just a week ago!” Lickety Split dug his hooves into the smooth crystal floor to no avail. “First of the week!”

“I’ve been taking care of the golden apple tree every day,” Pumpkin said, “so him getting Kindness doesn’t have anything to do with Fluttershy disappearing. She was home yesterday.”

Twilight eyed Split with a keen-edged stare. She dropped him with a roll of her eyes. “Alright. I just thought there might be something there. I haven’t spoken with Fluttershy since…” She left the thought unfinished. “There’s no way this is a coincidence, though. Fluttershy vanishing and the Element of Kindness being brought here, all on the same night that the Tree of Harmony dies… Things are speeding up. If we want to keep Fluttershy alive, we’re going to have to work carefully.” She stood up in a rush and laid her hoof on Spike’s scarred arm. “But that’s my job. You guys have to focus on the journey ahead of you. It’s going to take all of us working together, all at the same time.”

Spike touched a clawtip to her foreleg. “We’ll find the Elements, and you’ll find Fluttershy, and we’ll bring the gems back here so you girls can use them to blast the fairies back to the moon. Count on it.”

Snips began to rise to his hooves, but paused halfway. “Soooo, are we free to go?”

“Do what you want.” Twilight picked up the journal and began to read near the back of the book. “I have a lot of studying to do.”

Spike dropped to all fours and made way for the exit. “Time to start planning. Apple Bloom? Rumble? Button Mash?”

Skyhook stopped Rumble with a hoof. “I heard you just requested to be reassigned. A week after you were reassigned to Ponyville by request. A week after requesting leave, at that.”

Rumble’s eyes widened as he shifted his glance from the uninterested Twilight to his imposing C.O. “Uuuuhm. Yes, sir.”

“Alright.” Skyhook smiled and patted Rumble’s shoulder as he passed. “So long as you realize you’ve got it pretty cushy for a pony-at-arms.”

Pumpkin Cake shook her head and followed Apple Bloom and the stallions out. The group of them stood at the front gate of the castle, just outside of Coldstone and Snow Cap’s hearing. Pumpkin swiveled to the front of the group and pouted out her lower lip. “So that’s it? That’s all we’re going to do for Fluttershy?”

Spike knelt down in front of her, to put his head more in line with hers. “We’re doing all we can. Who knows? You might have already saved her just by letting Twilight know.”

“Well, I’m not done with it yet.” Pumpkin Cake turned away from him and sped for the exit. “Discord needs Fluttershy.”

When the filly had vanished from sight, Pipsqueak and Snips half-seriously, half-snickering bowed to Button and Rumble. “We’ll help with the search as well,” Pip said. “There’ll be no stone left unturned. No villain unbothered.”

“Yeah, and we’ll be rooting for you.” Snips bopped Split on the shoulder. “If you’re gonna be sticking around, you oughta help the search, too.”

“I guess.” Lickety Split swallowed hard and backed away from his brother. “See yah around.”

The three of them left in a different direction than Pumpkin, walking downtown muttering to each other.

Spike flicked his tail towards the town. “Why don’t we go to the library? I’ve already had it closed for today because of Twilight’s mission, so we won’t be bothered there. We can talk.”

Apple Bloom nodded, speaking for all of them. “Sounds good. I’ll get Scoots and Sweetie and bring them in.” Before Button could voice a question, she turned to him with a swish of her tail. “Not just for your guys’ benefit, either. Trust me on this.”

With Bloom parted, two stallions and one dragon walked though the middle of Ponyville on their way to the library. The market was fairly empty this time of year, with harvest still some months away and the planting season for most fruits and vegetables well in the past. This close to noontime was also light on hoof traffic, since people would most likely be indoors for lunch or doing light cleanup at their shops. Even Lyra, who could frequently be found playing her chosen instrument at Town Square’s fountain, was sitting quietly, caring for her lyre’s strings.

This otherwise-lazy day brought them uneventfully to the Seeds of Friendship Public Library. It was a wide-trunked tree, with its inner rooms grown by earth pony artisans rather than carved. It was a bit bigger than its predecessor, which had been destroyed by Tirek a decade prior. Judging by the roots Button had seen earlier that day, the new library was about twice as tall and twice as girthy.

Within lay the expected shelves upon shelves of books. Ancient tomes, monthly periodicals, scientific textbooks, and fantastical fiction shared equal space among the branches of the library. A seating area sat against one wall, with two chairs and a couch seated before a dark fireplace. A hoot greeted them as they entered, and Owloysius flew from his perch to sit atop Spike’s head.

“Hiyah, you old feather-duster.” Spike gently moved the owl from his forehead to the nearest bookshelf. “Keeping the place cozy?”

“Hoot. Whoo whoo?”

“Yeah, more company’s on their way.”

“Whoo hoot hoo.”

“Yes, you’re right, it’s the girls.”

“Hoot!”

After the fireplace was lit, Button Mash and Rumble rested in front of it, while Spike and Owloysius prepared tea for six ponies. It was only a few minutes later that Apple Bloom arrived with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in tow, and only a few minutes later that the shouting started.

“You really thought I wouldn’t mind, huh?” Scootaloo fluttered around the library in a flurry of feathers, glaring at Rumble the whole while. “You really thought you were gonna pop off to who-knows-where without talking to me about it!”

Rumble sat on the floor, his eyes as wide as dinner plates, looking for all the world like a stallion slowly being cooked in a pot of hot water.

Sweetie Belle gave Button Mash the side-eye, her turn to speak having not quite come. Even so, Button Mash felt as though she was speaking volumes.

“I don’t think that’s quite fair, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said. “He’s just doin’ what he thinks is right, after all.”

“I know that.” Scootaloo broke off her attack pattern just long enough to roll her eyes at Apple Bloom. She crossed her forelegs over her chest. “It’s just that we’ve been separated for years at this point! We finally thought we were going to be able to date again. Get closer again! Get to know each other finally! And now I hear he’s decided to go on a world-spanning trek without speaking to me about it at all!”

“Scoot…” Rumble’s wings shook against his sides as he let his voice rise above her tirade. “This is our chance to talk.”

“We were supposed to talk before you made your decision, you big muscle brain!”

Rumble frowned at her, his eyebrows raised to their peaks. “Do you wanna change my mind?”

Scootaloo stopped. She hovered in midair, the magic in her wings holding her perfectly still. She slumped to the floor in a heap of feathers and hair. “No… No, I don’t.”

He reached out to touch her hoof. She didn’t pull away. “It’s not like I made this choice at random. This is important to everybody. It’s like when you were kidnapped… There was only one option in my head, not two. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t jump on this chance.”

When she raised her head, Button could see what was hidden in her frenzied movement: She had been crying since she arrived at the library. Her face was flush with sorrow and anger intermingled, and it seemed that raising her voice was the only outlet that came to mind.

Button’s ears perked up when Sweetie’s voice filled the air. Her green gemstone sparkled with every word that left her delicate mouth. “I feel the same as Rumble. I think you do, too, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo turned to her oldest friend. She rushed to hug Sweetie with the large, purple wings that contrasted with her orange coat.

Button’s mouth fell open at Sweetie’s declaration. He stood up and practically hovered over the two embracing friends, his mouth working wordlessly until he could parse rational thought. “You mean it, Sweetie? Are you sure? This is… this is a long journey, with no real promise that we’ll make it back, and—and your shop—”

“I mean it, Button.” Sweetie Belle rubbed Scootaloo’s back softly, humming whenever she wasn’t speaking. “If we don’t find the Elements of Harmony, there won’t be a shop. Or an Equestria. Or you. Any of you.”

With a quiet moment finally achieved, Spike walked around with a tray, passing teacups out to each person attending. Scootaloo’s crying turned to hiccups as she sipped, sitting close beside Sweetie.

Scootaloo snorted after a particularly loud slurp. “I thought things were gonna return to normal around here, but I guess it’s more than we deserve.”

“It isn’t really about what we deserve.” Spike eased himself into the couch beside Apple Bloom. “We’re all dealt a bad hand from time to time. Some moreso than others.”

When a knock clattered against the front door, Apple Bloom glanced out the window. “Oop. Figured this would happen. It’s just Big Mac; be right back.”

Despite himself, Button Mash couldn’t help but eavesdrop. There was just something about the Apple Family’s drawl that drew the ear and made one stand up and take notice. Big Mac and his grandfather, Grand Pear, had both arrived to ask Apple Bloom to head back home. When she politely declined, they shuffled off back to the farmhouse, and she shuffled back to the couch.

“As much as I agree with your decision,” Sweetie said to Button after a spell, “I feel the same as Scootaloo. I think you might have timed it better, Mr. Button Mash.”

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. I almost couldn’t help myself.” Button Mash lowered his head, shutting his eyes. “It means that much to me.”

“I know it does.” She reached out and touched his hoof. “It means that much to me, too. You mean that much to me.” She looked to everybody present and said in a sure voice, “I’m joining the expedition. I’ll help in any way I can, whenever I can.”

Scootaloo stood, balancing the last few drops of tea on the edge of her hoof. She juggled the tea in a ring of steam. “Yeah. I’m coming, too. I gotta look out for my big sis while she’s busy with Cloudsdale.” She shrugged. “And, you know, probably help you guys out. Maybe save the world again. Weekend stuff.”

Rumble grinned wide, despite the sour glance she gave him. “This ‘weekend stuff’ could take a lot of weekends.”

“If I’m with you guys, it’ll seem like no time at all.” She gulped down three floating blobs of tea and wiped her mouth with a wing.

Spike slumped his shoulders as he leaned back in the couch. “You know, earlier today, I was going it alone. Now I’ve got more allies than I know what to do with. Thank you guys so much.”

“This is just the kinda people who you made friends with.” Apple Bloom leaned against him, shutting her eyes and letting the warmth of the fireplace seep into her skin. “We’re not exactly a crack team of royal guards—”

“Speak for yourself,” Rumble said.

“—but we got it where it counts.” Apple Bloom stuck her tongue out at the pegasus stallion.

Sweetie Belle touched a hoof to her mouth. “Six seekers, six Elements. I don’t think you could have planned it better.”

Button Mash shuffled to her side, leaning back against the side of one of the chairs. “Unless it was planned well in advance.”

Sweetie smiled at her beau with a gleam in her eye. “Wasn’t there a song you were working on for the new show? The one about River Cicada finding the Elements of Harmony for the first time? I think this might be an excellent time to debut it.”

Button laughed as all eyes turned to him expectantly. “Well, that’s the thing, like you said, it’s unfinished. I’ve only got, like, four lines finalized.”

Sweetie Belle gave him a peck on his blushing cheek. “What better time to sing them than when you yourself are about to set out on the same journey River took?”

Rumble stirred the pot with a smirk. “She’s got a point, Mr. Mash.”

With a chorus of encouragement coming his way, Button could do nothing but relent. He took a sip of the warm tea, took a deep breath, and took the new song for a whirl.

“The softest voice, the sweetest song
The kindest touch that rights all wrong
The cleansing fire, the pure desire
The peaceful home where you belong”

Author's Note

Button's song is to the same tune as "Misty Mountains" from The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

You are Cordially Invited

The Cloudsdale Reconstruction Ball, celebrating the reopening of the city-state five long years after Hurricane’s attack, was to take place in a newly-commissioned airship. It was paid for by Prince Blueblood and was designed by the greatest airship builders money could buy. The main body was practically a building in and of itself, an opulent ballroom with crystal chandeliers and gold pillars to put Canterlot Castle to shame. A fully-featured kitchen—stocked with every sort of food imaginable and a few the chefs had cooked up themselves—waited to serve the guests a feast worthy of Cloudsdale’s resurrection. From the outside, the grand structure took on a more chaotic appearance, as the various critical components of a cargo airship seemed to have been bolted onto the otherwise-conventional building. Several envelopes, each the size of one of Felaccia’s flagships, hovered over the ballroom, colored to resemble clouds. Multiple engines with rumbling propellers waited to push the aircraft along a tour of Cloudsdale. An observation deck bulged at one end, and its wide windows extended along the perimeter of the ballroom to both offer a view of the city-state, yet also fully enclose the party in a temperate seal. The cockpit took some looking to pick out, but if one squinted, one could just spy the ship’s wheel at the front of the craft, just visible through an elevated window near a few of the larger propellers.

Applejack mused that she had never seen such a vessel in all her life; a castle meant to live among the clouds. Even the largest seaborne vessels paled in comparison to this sheer defiance of gravity. She got the sense from the pegasi working around and aboard the vessel that defiance was the main theme for the whole operation. They fought against the very idea that Cloudsdale could be crushed.

If she was honest with herself, that level of confidence chilled her bones after her conversation with Celestia. The old princess was certain she was about to die, and her death would herald hard times for all. Evil times, in Applejack’s opinion. Times where both parties and defiance would be met with equally derisive laughter.

All the more reason to speak with a few friends while she could.

It was with a heavy heart she boarded the Laputa and trotted towards where she heard familiar voices chatting back and forth. There, ahead, was the recently-reelected Mayor of Cloudsdale, Gaston the Griffon. A strong-built athlete from Griffonstone, he had immigrated to Equestria and entered the political stage in a whirlwind of popularity. In Applejack’s mind, he was one of the more level-headed in the council of mayors, even if he had a habit of voting with the crowd. There at his side, perusing the décor and making adjustments, were Prince Blueblood and his wife Fleur de Lis. Their daughter, Jadeite Jasmine Blueblood, was making a nuisance of herself adjusting that which did not need adjusting, and prettifying the previously-orderly.

Jade peeled away from her current crusade and made a bee-line for Applejack. “Auntie Applejack’s here!”

“Hiyah, Beansprout!” Applejack accepted the hug gladly. There was too little pure happiness in the world these days. “Bein’ good for your folks?”

“Yep!” Jade said, as though she had not just been shaving years off of her mother’s life a moment before. “We’re decorating for the ball!”

“Mm, yes,” Blueblood said, his eyelids low. “We’ve hired florists for just such an occasion, but you know my wife. Always adding the personal touch.”

Fleur kissed Applejack on both cheeks and gave her a warm hug. The farmpony gave the princess a wink in return. “Grandpère says hiyah.”

“Please give him my love,” Fleur said with a soft smile. Come to think of it, she did just about everything softly. “And let him know that once my husband gets this silly little project out of his head, we’re going home to visit my fellow Pears properly.”

“‘Silly little project?’” Blueblood harumphed and blustered about the ballroom, his hoof waving indiscriminately, to indicate absolutely everything the eye could see and quite a bit that it couldn’t. “This vessel shall be the pride of Cloudsdale! A haven for happiness and bastion of strength! A proof to Cloudsdale’s ability to adapt to hard times!”

“A showroom to part the rich from their bits,” Applejack muttered to Fleur.

Blueblood’s ears were not so dull that he couldn’t sense sarcasm from across the room. He jutted out his chin and bowed to her. “Charity should always be one of the strengths of the nobility, in my humble opinion.”

“Charity ain’t always looked upon favorable-like, ’specially when it comes from those who never needed it in their life.” Applejack shrugged and looked at Gaston, who had been fiddling with his wings since before she arrived. “Anythin’ I can do to help?”

Gaston’s large lower beak made for a striking visage, as though he was equal parts politician and pelican. His puffy sleeves barely out-stuffed his broad chest. As an average-sized griffon male, he towered over all but the most statuesque stallions. Most were intimidated at first blush, despite his congenial (often too congenial) attitude. Applejack was so far past first blush that she couldn’t see him as anything other than a slightly-scatterbrained, big-hearted galoot.

“I’m afraid there’s not much any of us can do aside from busywork, Mayor Applejack.” He adjusted the cravat of his station, despite the fact that it was placed with absolute perfection a moment before. “There are a few minutes until we get this bird in the air, and then a few hours before guests arrive. All we can do is pray.”

“First of all, I ain’t a mayor no more. That’s Merry’s wheelhouse and she’s welcome to it.” Applejack eased out of the way of a passing servant setting up the buffet table. She patted what she could reach of Gaston’s shoulder. “Second of all, you did good, Gaston. Don’t need to worry so much. Cloudsdale’s all fixed up. People are all ready to move back in. Your next term’s gonna be remembered as the first time Cloudsdale felt like home in ages.”

“I wish it was that simple.” Gaston rubbed his ample chin. “The amount of money that’s gone into Cloudsdale is more than has ever been spent on a single city at a time. It’s more money than I think even Celestia’s personally spent in her lifetime. We’ve had to raffle off vacant lots just to keep the costs reasonable for the average pegasus. It’s a unique enough city that people can’t just saunter in, claim a plot of land, and build log cabins like Ponyville. We’ve had to replan everything from the skyscrapers to the cloud cover and I’ve just about lost my marbles.” His eyes took on a glazed, hopeless sheen. “I’m stuck between those who think everybody should be given a home for free, and those who think everything should go only to those who can pay through the nose, and I find myself unable to satisfy either.”

“You’ll never be able to satisfy an extreme.” Fleur deftly plucked a green rose from Jade’s mouth with a twinkle of her horn. “We do what we can, where we can, right Applejack? Blueblood?”

Applejack could only softly nod. She was darned glad she was no longer one of the decision-makers in Equestria, not with decisions like these. People’s lives were a commodity she had no desire to trade in, in any sense of it. It was bad enough having employees on the farm.

“And yet, dare I say,” Blueblood dared to say, “that is not what tonight is about. Tonight is a celebration for a job well done. For the hard work of a thousand-thousand ponies of all walks of life. For the kingliest of griffons who leads them!”

He waved over a quartet of musicians hired for the night’s ballroom music and muttered a quick set of instructions to the mare on the double-bass. They started up a jaunty tune, as much to warm up for the evening as to appease Blueblood’s wishes. The prince himself danced aboard the stage and took a shallow bow.

“My it excites me to greet you, Gaston
Championing your great cause
Everyone’s come here to meet you, Gaston
Lifting up thunderous applause

“From Griffonstone down to Dodge Junction I’ve heard
The praises of all of your fans
Ears that are keen to your every word
The honor that your presence commands!”

Fleur de Lis lifted a bevy of flowers and placed them at regular intervals along the pillars framing the room. Their petals glistened with silvery light, their stems a deep blue. She smiled at her daughter as the young filly sought to place a flower of her own. With a touch of guiding magic from Fleur, Jade yelped with delight as it found its place at the center of the room. Fleur bobbed her mane and sang along.

“No one’s just like Gaston
Upper crust like Gaston
No one’s word is a thing you can trust like Gaston’s

“For there’s no griffon nearly as noble
The creature to depend upon
As they give up their gems, bits, and rubles
To again set their Cloudsdale to shine like the sun!”

Applejack dragged Gaston over to the buffet and held up a steamed cauliflower to his nose. He smiled as he took a bite, his chest feathers frilling out. Applejack continued down the line, her voice as clear as the crystal glasses used for the punch.

“No one’s smart like Gaston
Has a heart like Gaston
No one’s ready to do his own part like Gaston”

Gaston grasped the far end of a laurel and helped a pegasus servant hang it above the entrance. “I’ll admit that the challenge invigorates me!”

“We’re aware there’s no mayor like Gaston!”

Blueblood cupped a hoof to his mouth. “Give him a hand!”

Fleur pressed her cheek against Jade’s. “And launch the ships!”

Applejack leaned close to the pegasus servant to whisper in her ear. “He’s also the type to give five-percent tips.”

The mare rolled her eyes with a grin and continued finishing up the last-minute decorations.

Blueblood lifted a makeshift conductor’s baton to direct the quartet, who needed his help like they needed a hole in the head.

“No one’s right like Gaston
Filled with light like Gaston”

Applejack nudged Fleur’s shoulder, who responded with a ladylike snort. “No one’s penny-bag’s nearly as tight as Gaston’s.”

Gaston fluttered up to adjust the magilights illuminating the dance floor, multicolored with ever-shifting hues. He twitched the angle of one to mix blue and yellow, shining a soft green on the stage.

“The political life of the party
When I vote it’s with style and aplomb
I can sign all my bills rather smartly—no joke!
Though my budget’s dwindling with each passing loan”

Fleur swirled with Jade across the dance floor, causing their dresses to sparkle in the low light.

“No one flies like Gaston
A swell guy like Gaston
No one gubernates towns in the sky like Gaston!”

Gaston placed a talon across his chest. “All my grandiose speeches are understated!”

Applejack let out a snort before she could control herself. “Hooey. That’s par for Gaston.”

He hovered above the quartet and smiled with his beak parted. He performed an allerion roll, never missing a wingbeat.

“A medalist in the Equestria Games
That is where I got most of my fans
But now that I run in a different race
My political leanings are bland!”

Blueblood tapped his baton. “Might want to keep that one to yourself, chum.”

Gaston chuckled, rubbing his neck.

Applejack joined Fleur and Jade in a jig, the various lights shifting the colors of their dresses in a marvelous magical pattern.

“No one votes like Gaston
Hits those notes like Gaston
No one cherishes dreams, joys, and hopes like Gaston”

Gaston lifted a punch glass high. “To the restoration we’ll be celebrating!”

Blueblood matched the pose, his glass caught up beside his baton in a blue shimmer of magic.

“Friend to the end
We say once and again
By all ponies adored
Now and forever more
From his triumphant crest
To his muscular chest
He’s a symbol of victory’s lure
He’s the very best griffon we know, to be sure!

“No compare, what a mayor
Gastoooon!”

Gaston breathed a sigh of relief, resting a talon on the sheathed, ceremonial sword slung around his waist. “Well, perhaps tonight can just be about the victory of it all. The calm after the storm.”

“I’ll second that!”

Applejack looked over her shoulder to spot the new arrival. She was a gray-coated unicorn mare, about as old as her own mother would have been this year. That haircut and easy smile were nearly mirror versions of her favorite purple-coated friend. “Twilight Velvet, ma’am, pleased to see yah!”

Gaston, Blueblood, and Fleur all bowed at the neck at the knight’s approach, but Velvet waved them off. “Now, now, no need to stand on ceremony. I’m not so much here on official business as personal.” She pulled a face and tilted her head to one side. “Hmm… Officially personal business. Can I speak with you, Applejack?”

“Sure thing.” Applejack waved goodbye to the others as she joined Velvet in a secluded corner of the ballroom. “What’s up?”

“I lied,” Twilight Velvet said quietly. “The business is very official and very hush-hush. Celestia’s asked me to go to all the former Bearers and gather them for a secret meeting in her throne room before the ball.”

Applejack grimaced, casting a quick glance at Gaston and Blueblood as they second-guessed and third-guessed the guest list and how many would arrive on time. “I’m afraid of what it might be about… I’ll be there, for sure.”

Twilight Velvet nodded; Applejack’s attendance wasn’t in question, and she moved to the next thought almost before Applejack had officially agreed. “Any idea where the others are? Fluttershy’s spoken for, and I know Twilight intends to meet with Starswirl before the day’s through.”

“Yeah, the others are all meetin’ up at Rarity’s Homely House beforehand.” Applejack took notice of the way Velvet’s eyes shifted back and forth, watching everything except for her conversation partner. It wasn’t like Velvet to be so on-edge without something really, really big going down. She had even looked more in control back when Twilight Sparkle was in the hospital with a slashed throat. “If you want, I can get ahold of them for you while you speak with Twilight. Might take some of the load offa your back.”

“Would you?” Twilight Velvet’s voice didn’t sound relieved, but some of the tension around her eyes vanished. “That would be very helpful, Applejack. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Applejack cast a final reluctant glance at Fleur and Jade playing with the flowers, before finally walking out of the ballroom with Velvet by her side. “No problem a’tall.”

By the time she had walked from the Laputa to downtown Canterlot, the massive airship had already taken off and could be seen dominating the northern skies of the mountainside city-state. It was headed in a bee-line for the newly-rebuilt Cloudsdale, and would orbit the outskirts for the duration of the celebration.

Slightly humbler buildings surrounded her as she walked through the center of Canterlot. This place had also been the target of Hurricane’s attack, during a battle that had left it worn and weary. Buildings had crumpled beneath gale-force winds, hailstones had shattered windows, villains had attacked pedestrians. Some rebuilding had gone on in the past five years, but not to the extent that Cloudsdale had seen. Still, one building stood tall and peaceful, beautiful both within and without. Freshly-painted in warm yellows that drew the eye and reminded one of the refreshing scent of lemon. Spotted with windows all around to let in natural light and warm breezes. A low murmur of excitement reached Applejack even from this far away, growing more distinctly boisterous with each step forward.

The Homely House was Rarity’s personal project, realized in full in the months following the Battle of Cloudsdale. It had come none too soon, as the displaced people who had watched their city turn into nothingness under the cruel wing of Hurricane were literally scattered to the four winds. Many had taken solace in temporary homes in Ponyville, Fillydelphia, and even as far as Manehattan and the Crystal Empire. Only a few could stay in the already-packed city of Canterlot, and most of those had stumbled onto Rarity’s doorstep. Made from the ruins of her store, the Homely House had beds, a full-service kitchen, warm baths, and everything else Rarity could think to give people who were simply looking for a place to lay their heads.

Volunteers from all over Equestria had come to assist her. Employees, friends, complete strangers who were drawn to her story, all came with the heartfelt desire to help. Applejack stepped through the front door and was immediately greeted with hellos from familiar faces. She spied Rainbow Dash’s mom and dad shouting a greeting while carrying a hefty trunk between them; assisting a family with packing a wagon. Soarin shouted “Hiyah!” from over by the kitchens, trying to wrangle the youngsters and let the cooks work in peace. Coco Pommel could be seen hauling dirty laundry with Sassy Saddles, talking animatedly about the return of home for so many people.

Pinkie Pie’s curly pink mane flashed in Applejack’s vision as she danced around the kitchen, making sure everything was ship-shape for the feast Rarity was preparing for the denizens of the Homely House. Applejack smiled softly and trotted into the hot, humid room. She made herself small as she walked past the cooks as they prepared the evening meal. She thanked a few if they stopped to greet her, admiring the smell of skillful work being done. They spoke with glad voices, most of them calling her some variation of “Lady Applejack” or “Lord Mayor,” though she kept insisting on just Applejack.

She snagged Pinkie Pie as she zipped from one side of the room to the next. “Hay! Got somethin’ to talk to you about!”

“Can it wait?” Pinkie said, practically dragging Applejack behind her. Applejack grimaced as she realized that even after months back on the farm, she’d only recovered a third of the sheer strength Pinkie had. “If I don’t move it, the pies are gonna become biscuits.”

“Sure, but—” Applejack released Pinkie and flattened herself against a shelf to let a cook carry boiling water past her. Pinkie seemed to wriggle like a serpent around the pony. “Still important enough to say before the ball. You know where Rarity and Rainbow Dash are?”

“Rare Bear’s in her Inspiration Room.” Pinkie Pie flung open the oven and began stacking finished pies onto a hot pad, one after the other, without missing a beat. “Dashie’s somewhere around here. Check for the sound of stuff breaking followed by the cheers of children.”

Applejack shrugged. Sounded enough like Rainbow Dash for her. “Meet us in the Inspiration Room when you’re done?”

“Gotcha.” Pinkie grinned with all her sparkling teeth in view. “By the way, hi! Nice to see you!”

“Well, ‘hi’ yourself!” Applejack smiled to herself as she left out the back door of the kitchen. It had been too long since everybody had gotten together. Even if it was for official business, it would be refreshing. Even if…

She found Rainbow Dash in the back yard, regaling a few of the older kids with tales of daring exploits, performing stunts in midair whenever it suited the story or her own vigorous speaking style. The kids watched entranced, as they always did, as she related the time the Wonderbolts had performed their routines in Felaccia, only to be chased down by a hungry Roc who’d gotten a little too close to the capital city.

When Rainbow imitated the screeching call of an adult Roc, Applejack couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore. Rainbow’s cool, confident demeanor slipped for a brief moment as embarrassment at being caught doing something silly flooded her cheeks with blood. Applejack covered her mouth to stifle the guffaws, and Rainbow Dash’s embarrassment faded in a flash.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Lord Mayor of Apples herself.” Rainbow Dash brushed a hoof against her chest nonchalantly. As she walked closer, Applejack realized that the pegasus had somehow grown even taller in the last few years; among their circle, she was second only to Twilight. “Does the peanut gallery have something to add, or can I keep going?”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Applejack said, half to herself. She gestured back to the Homely House, pointing at a room on the second story. “Can yah meet with us in the Inspiration Room? Oughta be quick.”

A hint of grimness touched Rainbow Dash’s face, but she nodded as though she hadn’t a care. “No prob. Official Bearer Business I’m guessin’. Always happy to do my part, yeah?” She cast an apologetic glance at the kids surrounding her. “Gonna hafta finish later, peeps. Looks like another adventure’s about to start.”

“Hope not,” Applejack muttered, low enough that no one could hear her. Out loud, she grinned and slapped Rainbow’s back. “Nothin’ so amazin’ as all that. Just something for the ball.”

The two of them went back inside, making their way up the staircase. A couple of pegasi passed them, and Applejack heard their conversation die down the instant they came into view. Once they had reached the top of the stairs, the pegasi could be heard muttering to each other.

“You read their book?”

“Of course not. You?”

“Why should I let a bunch of rich ponies tell me how to live m…”

The voices faded, but Applejack didn’t have to guess what they were saying after that. Rainbow Dash glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t let it get to you.”

“Just frustrating, is all.” Applejack returned the sidelong glance. “Only you an’ Rares are rich anyhow.”

“And Twilight.”

“Eh, she does have the biggest house…”

“Besides…” Rainbow Dash glanced around at the dorms to make sure nobody was in earshot. “Compared to the people who’ve lost everything, we’re all rolling in it. Even if Fluttershy barely makes her payments every month.”

“I barely make my payments…” Applejack’s hissed voice took on a sharper edge. “You’d think the bank wanted to eat the farm whole.”

“You just made my point.” Rainbow Dash lowered her voice until she was practically murmuring in Applejack’s ear. “Just keep the money talk to a zero, capisce? People are happier when they’re not talking about money. Particularly you.”

Applejack had no time to formulate a reply, since they reached the door to the Inspiration Room in that exact moment. She hesitated as Rainbow slipped in; she wasn’t sure if she could answer even if she wanted to argue. It felt like all her struggles and the things she learned in her life had been dismissed simply because she was able to eat most days of the week. Why was it even a bad thing that she was giving advice based on her life experience? Why was it a bad thing to want to improve others’ lives by sharing her own hardships?

“What’s important ain’t about how you intended it,” she thought to herself, “it’s how they see it that’s important. And you look mighty haughty on that there book cover.”

She wondered just how she was going to move forward in life if even her own thoughts weren’t on her side.

The Inspiration Room was a carbon copy of all the other such rooms Rarity had kept over the years: A mess of cloth and ponnequins, thread everywhere, needles arrayed on tables, and patterns laid all over. The chaos that only made sense to one mind, which even Discord had marveled at a time or two. Every dress in the room was months away from being finished. Even the ones which needed to be done within the week. And so, Rarity would do the work of ten days in one night, and she would work just as hard in the morning when it came time for her duties around the Homely House. It was the life she’d been living these five years, since Cloudsdale fell.

She looked it, too. She was beautiful, gorgeous even, and Applejack was convinced nothing and nobody could ever change that. But her skin stretched and darkened around the eyes. Her once-plump, smiling cheeks had a concave, sullen air to them. Her mane was frayed at the edges—but only enough that her very close friends would notice. The curls were dangerously close to straight, and the luster of the purple had faded ever-so-insignificantly-slightly; but for Rarity, it was a massive change.

“Howdy, Rarity.” Applejack took a seat in a chair that had only three cloths draped over it. She was careful not to touch the fabric itself. “Been a minute.”

“Applejack, I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you.” A genuine smile shone her way, and was shared with the pegasus circling overhead. “So many of us in one place at one time. It’s a red-letter day! I thought you were going to meet Gaston on the Laputa before takeoff.”

“Things got shuffled around.” Applejack turned to see Pinkie Pie close the door behind her. “We’re all here, so I’ll go ahead. Celestia called a meetin’ for all of us Bearers before the ball. Somethin’ real important and secret-like. Only we can know about it. It’s gonna take place as soon as all six of us reach her throne room at the castle.”

“Hmm. I had hoped to clean up a little.” Rarity’s glance at a mirror said she was referring to herself rather than her messy room. “Duty calls no mater the hour, it seems.”

“Time and tide wait for no mare,” Pinkie said, sounding uncharacteristically ominous, which was immediately neutered by her plenty-characteristic grin. The smile didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes, but it was the thought that counted. “We all knew we were in for some horseapples when we chased Twilight into the Everfree…”

Rainbow snorted at Pinkie’s cuss. “So what are we waiting for? We’re all dressed up and we’ve got plenty of places to go.”

Applejack cast a sympathetic gaze on Rarity. “How long you need for your makeup, sugarcube?”

“I shant be more than five minutes.” Rarity lit her horn with a glistening blue and carried a box of powders and creams to her mirror. “I wouldn’t want to keep the princess waiting.”

Applejack’s frown grew deeper. She wondered if Celestia was gonna tell them all about her premonitions. If so, then it was definitely too late for anything to stop it from happening. If not… why tell Applejack alone in the first place?

Idle speculation tended to leave everybody unsatisfied, so she decided to spend the rest of the evening focused on the moment, spent with three of her closest friends.

Twilight Sparkle flew into the Dream’s Keep, one of the towers on the northern side of the castle. It was a room most closely associated with Luna, but seeing as she was overseas at the moment, another pony had taken up residence. A pony who hopefully had input she couldn’t get anywhere else.

On a secluded balcony, the Keep itself held an enchanted telescope which had the power to show a bird’s eye view of any city in Equestria. It was more of a clever bauble than a true investigative tool, but it served to show whether a city was truly asleep, or if it stirred even in the late hours. Beyond that balcony was a doorway that led into the single room at the top of the tower. The interior walls were lined with mirrors, each polished to a nearly molecular level. A single bell hung from the center of the ceiling, whose ringing would bring a garrison of soldiers to assist whoever sounded it.

In the middle of the room, surrounded by tables overflowing with scrolls and spellbooks, was Archmage Starswirl the Bearded. The dark circles around his eyes said that he had barely slept since their adventure in the Everfree and the destruction of the palace. He sipped at a straw that piped liquid from a can of some energy drink popular with the kids these days. The bells on his hat jingled as he turned to regard the recently-arrived alicorn. “Ah, Princess Twilight. Have you deciphered anything from Clover’s writings?”

“That’s what I wanted to speak with you about.” Twilight sat on the opposite side of the table and perused his scrollwork. Mostly diagrams of his magic mirrors, judging by a brief overview. “It… it looks like she was strangely brief whenever the Elements were concerned.”

“That suits Clover well. She always considered the Elements too dangerous to allow into the wrong hands…” Starswirl took a seat in a chair that had his cloak thrown over the back. He took a slow sip from the can, as though savoring a rare wine, or gently stoking a pipe. “To the point of paranoia, and I say that with the utmost respect for my younger and better.” He spent a moment gazing at his own reflection in one of the many mirrors along the walls, seeing the past rather than his own image. “Have you checked for invisible ink?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s invisible ink covering every other page.” Twilight shared a rueful smile with him. “Several types, to the point where making them all visible at the same time might just cause the journal to burst into flames.”

“Or summon some otherworldly beast.” Starswirl tapped a pen against a half-finished scroll. He leaned his head back with a “Pah!” of exasperation. “Well, best to start from the beginning. What does she say about the Elements?”

Twilight’s lips twisted as she searched for the proper page. There, in the later third of the book, was a simple single-line description of the location of each Element of Harmony. But it was barely useful. All writing Clover had done in regards to the journey she, Celestia, Luna, and the other founders had made seemed to go out of its way to avoid describing the exact locations and happenings thereof. It was like reading a story with all the plot-relevant events removed, leaving only the day-to-day trudge of walking or sailing. The single-line descriptions were something, but… not a whole lot more than they had.

Kindness was found among the ponies
Loyalty was forged among the dragons
Honesty was accepted among the flatlands
Generosity was gathered among the griffons
Laughter was rescued among the changelings
Magic was unleashed within the mountain

“How very artistic,” Starswirl muttered. He ran a few spells over the surface of the page, detecting no fewer than six different methods of invisible writing. Numbers flashed in the air all a-jumble. Words and phrases in various languages alive and dead jittered across the paper. A smokescreen. “Clover was a mad genius after all.”

“Yeah, well, I’m gonna be an angry genius if we don’t figure something out.” Twilight leaned back in a chair and waved a hoof idly. She caught movement in the corner of her eye and tensed up before she realized it was just her own hoof reflected against a dozen mirrors back and forth ad nauseum. “Anything you can tell me? Anything at all?”

“Nothing that you haven’t figured out already. Maybe if I had a few days with it—” Starswirl glanced out the window, his ear twitching.

Twilight felt the shift in magic, too. Cadence was lowering the sun and raising the moon. The sky darkened minute by minute as stars appeared. Soon, it would be time for Starswirl to begin guarding dreams and hunting nightmares.

“Why don’t I leave this with you?” Twilight said, pushing the book closer to him. “Give me a shout if something clicks. I’ve been bashing my head against it for an entire week, but she was your student.”

“She surpassed me in nearly every way…” Starswirl took the journal close to his chest. A faint smile touched his lips. He tilted his head towards the balcony, beckoning her to follow him. “Nearly every way.”

The moon rose into view, a glistening pale orb, free of the scar that it held for a thousand years. The light of it reflected in Starswirl’s eyes as he and the princess stood side-by-side next to the telescope. “There was but one way I surpassed her, and then only later in life. Even so, she still found more practical use for it than I ever did.”

“What was that?” Twilight’s ears perked. She still needed to prepare for the Cloudsdale ball, but darned if she wasn’t having a conversation with her longtime idol.

“The magic mirrors, of course!” Starswirl bowed with a flourish that reminded Twilight a little too much of Trixie Lulamoon. “The ability to travel between the worlds, across both distance and dimension! At first the connection was far too unstable, but eventually two worlds were joined with no fear of destruction.” He deflated a little, his shoulders slumping beneath his cape. “Too late to mend what I had destroyed between Celestia and the Good King Sombra; too late to mend my relationship with the dear princess. Too late to prevent Hurricane from becoming lost in the Abyss. Too late to save the Pillars of Harmony from the Pony of Shadows. Too late to defend Luna from the Nightmares.”

Twilight nibbled her lower lip. Many of those lost to time had been recovered. Good King Sombra had died, but as himself, on his own terms. The Pillars had all been able to resume a similar life to what they had before, or even improved their circumstances. Luna had been rescued by Twilight and her friends…

Hurricane, though…

“That is where Clover took my creation and made it better.” He gestured to the Dream’s Keep, particularly at the mirrors on the wall. “The mirrors are enchanted to make it more difficult to forget yourself while dreamhopping. They make the lies of the Unseelie Fae easier to see through. Even while outside one’s self, the Nightmares must fight much harder when Clover’s inventions are operating.” He shook his head and let his beard hang to the floor. “Alas, she was only able to see the danger after Luna became Nightmare Moon. She was only able to see the solution after the worst had already come.”

Twilight lowered her ears. She didn’t want to let the mood sink any lower, not when he had a whole night of dreamhopping to go through. “What gave you the idea for the magic mirrors? The mirror pools in the mountains?”

“You might think so, but they and the mirror in Beefland are still a mystery to me.” Starswirl tapped the side of his nose. “I suspect they are connected, in a way, and through them I learned of the existence of other worlds… But their methods of connection are unrelated to the construction of the mirrors. You see, my original inspiration, the first alternate world I found, was the world of dreams. Dreamland. The very world that the stars and the good fairies populate. A world outside our own, but intrinsically linked. And our connection to it?” He pointed upward, towards the jewellike object shining down on the both of them. “What is the moon, but the largest mirror in the cosmos?”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw the moon in a new light. “The lesser light reflects the greater one. It’s still sunlight, at the end of the day.”

“Yes, yes, very humorous.” Starswirl’s eyes regained a little of their twinkle. “It is our connection with dreamland, but also the shield that separates the hereafter from the here and now. It is the keeper of knowledge, while the sun is the giver of life. In my hubris, I thought to mimic the moon, and unlocked knowledge that nearly led to our and the Reflection’s complete destruction. Knowledge without wisdom is folly; do not forget, Princess Twilight.”

“I won’t.” She looked down at the old stallion, her brow furrowed. “I would love to keep talking, but we both have duties—”

“Twilight! Thank goodness!”

Twilight looked at the other end of the Dream’s Keep, to the spiral staircase that led down the tower. Her mother rushed up the stairs, looking worn out but plenty strong for having just climbed one of the tallest parapets in Canterlot. She leaned against a mirror with heaving breaths. “Thank… goodness… you’re still here…”

Twilight galloped over to her mom and offered a supportive foreleg. “Mom? What’s up? Were you looking for me?”

“Yes… It can’t wait…” Twilight Velvet hugged her daughter and leaned her head on her shoulder. “Celes… Princess Celestia wants to meet with you and the other bearers in her throne room. Before the ball. As soon as possible.” Velvet looked up and pressed her lips tightly together. “It must be secret. Only the six of you can know.”

“I see.” Twilight glanced over to Starswirl, who was just coming in from the balcony. He had tucked the journal beneath his cloak, hidden out of sight. She hoped that he would be able to unlock the knowledge that Clover had deemed too dangerous to know. “I’ll head right down… Will I see you at the ball?”

“For sure, but you might get there before me.” Velvet winked as she and her daughter made their way down the stairs. “I’ve got something else to do at the castle first.”

Celestia spread her wings as Sky Wishes, a pegasus maid, dressed her in a lovely white dress made especially for the occasion. The skirt was flowing and ruffled to hide her thinning limbs. The fabric was brilliantly sparkled to offset the grayness that had taken hold in the old princess’ coat. The flowers in her mane and tail would make a natural contrast to her plain, pale, pink hair.

“Thank you, Miss Wishes.” Celestia eased herself into a chair facing a full-length mirror. “You may go now. I’ll take care of the rest of it.”

“If you say so, Your Majesty.” Sky Wishes paused at the door, as if she wanted to say something.

Celestia leaned a foreleg on the chair’s armrest and smiled coyly at the servant. “I’m sure Natter’s waiting with bells on for you to join the feast in the dining room.”

“Well, yeah…” Sky Wishes pursed her lips, gave the princess one last glance, then departed with wings aflutter.

A spell from Celestia’s horn awakened the mirror. Her reflection vanished, and was soon replaced with that of Luna, far away in Roc, the capital of Felaccia. The younger princess smiled brightly at Celestia, though she could sense Luna’s eyes trailing up and down her weakened body.

“We have good news, Sister!” Luna said with a puffed-out chest. “The gemstone design Adagio Dazzle came up with fits perfectly into the Sunspear. All our tests have proven successful. The Spear activates, the targeting systems function, and we have a solid connection with the core of Roc. All we need now is to schedule a proper, full-function test. With Cadence and Twilight on hand to guard against any problems, of course.”

“Wonderful to hear.” Celestia felt sorrow well up in her damaged heart. She wanted to reach out to Luna, to seek comfort from her younger sister, to hear her say it would be alright, that nothing would hurt her. She lowered her eyes to the ground to hide the fear she felt, but kept her smile on display. “It’s strange. Only a few years ago, I would have been wholeheartedly against this operation.”

“Alas, times have changed us both.” Luna glanced away from the mirror for a moment, as if to someone else in the room. “Times have changed us all.”

Celestia nodded in understanding. “Andean is with you, is he not?”

“Aye.”

“May… may I speak with him?”

Luna tilted her head to the side. She exchanged a silent conversation with the griffon king, after which she moved out of view. Soon, the entire mirror was dominated by the feathered, furred body of Andean Ursagryph. One golden eye looked straight at Celestia, rimmed by pinkish skin and a beard of black feathers.

“Celestia.” Andean’s low voice rumbled out of a throat that was as big around as Celestia’s malnourished torso. “It has been quite some time since we spoke last.”

“It always is,” she replied quietly. “I believe I am to blame for that.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps I deserve it, considering my ill-fated alliance with Ahuizotl.” He pulled two smooth stones, magnetic in nature, and rolled them around in a talon. “To what do I owe the breaking of your silence this time?”

Celestia met the golden eye with her own faded lavender. She sat up straight, and ignored the twinge in her chest as her bones rubbed against each other, the cartilage absent. “I have been doing a great deal of reminiscing. I have realized something I must say aloud. I was wrong.”

Andean’s eyebrow shot up as his beak frowned. He twitched, as though suppressing a gut-response. After a moment, he went with the diplomatic response. “Wrong about what?”

“I have said it many times, but never to you.” Celestia closed her eyes and bowed her head. “I was wrong to strike down Berkut in the manner I chose. I left your kingdom in turmoil. If you had not been there, there would be no Felaccia today. It is only because of you that even more innocent blood has not been added to my hooves. For that I am truly grateful. And of that, I am undeserving.”

Andean exhaled through his nose. His eye took on a harsher glint, even if his voice grew softer. “What am I to say to that? I cannot accept a mere apology—”

“I do not offer an apology. I have no right to ask forgiveness.” Celestia nodded to the mirror, her ears low. “I mean only to say that I was wrong, and you are right. I have stifled the people, prevented them from growing on their own. And so, I have spelt my own personal doom. The enemies of Equestria and Felaccia will rise up to throw off my cloak of suppression. They have grown from the children you labeled them as, and have become rebellious adults who hate my overbearing protection.”

Andean looked to Luna, who was just out of Celestia’s sight. He sighed deep in his chest. “I, too, have made grave mistakes which even now threaten to plant a knife in my back. Ahuizotl was just… the most egregious.” He scoffed, his curved beak snapping. “I fear we are both too late in growing, Celestia. Too late to prevent the coming price of arrogance, which is paid in blood.”

“I wish we could have learned to understand each other.” Celestia bowed at the neck. After a moment, she spoke at just above a whisper. “My only request that I could ever make of you is this: Take care of my sister. Please.”

At this, the last of the anger faded from the griffon king’s face. Celestia thought she might see understanding in that gilded eye, a tender warmth, a fatherly air that she had never felt in her entire life. For a brief moment, speaking with Andean Ursagryph, she imagined that even if life had fallen out of her grasp, it had been caught by the skilled, strong hands of another.

“I will protect Princess Luna with my life,” he said at last. “I swear it to you for as long as my lungs draw breath and blood flows through my veins.”

Celestia’s ears perked up at a knock on her door. Had so much time already passed? “I’m afraid I’m needed elsewhere. I love you, Luna.”

“I love you, too, Sister!” Luna said, just before the mirror returned to a reflection of Celestia’s tear-stained face.

She wiped her cheeks as she walked to the door and opened it. To her surprise, she found not the Royal Guard waiting to escort her to the Cloudsdale Ball, but Twilight Velvet, Knight of Counsel. “Velvet, what a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect to see you until the ball.”

“I’m sorry for the interruption, Your Majesty.” Twilight Velvet stood tall, her years having been the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard having filled her with pride and purpose in equal measure. “Twilight asked me to come to you personally. There’s going to be a secret meeting in your throne room, just you and the six Bearers of the Elements. No one can know about it.”

Celestia gave Velvet a longsuffering smile. “Two ponies can keep a secret if one of them is dead. Very well, thank you for informing me. I suppose I’ll end up being very fashionably late to the ball this evening.”

“I think we all will,” Velvet said with a chuckle. “But I’m sure the party will carry on long after us old fogies have gone to bed.”

Celestia walked down the long hallways from her personal chambers to her shared throne room. She suspected Twilight had discovered something about the Elements and couldn’t wait to share. She hoped so. With all the wrong in the world, with all the darkness gathering, it would be a breath of fresh air to finally hear some good news.

Fluttershy had been left in a secluded corner of the Grove of Golden Apples, nearby the main cave mouth. Sunlight coursed in through the opening as it set in the west, nearly directly facing the grove. A series of wooden buildings had been constructed just inside the cavern, which served as housing for the Sirens and whatever minions they brought with them.

“The ghosts don’t come up to the entrance,” Adagio had told her several days ago. “The sunlight reminds them of life, and that terrifies them more than death. The other side is always scarier.”

She rested on a bed as she looked upon the open air that seemed so close, yet so far away. It would be a small thing to simply fly south towards Manehattan or Fillydelphia… but the hooded ponies waited in their forts, their arrows ever notched and ready to bring her down in a precise hail of iron.

They were called the Enthralled, she had learned; “thralls” individually. Each one had given up their free will in service to the Sirens. Each one had been trained to be as strong as a pony could possibly get, forgoing magic for muscle. A fair few of them had been Painted Ones; Ahuizotl’s personal band of religious followers. They had been brainwashed by the Sirens’ power to believe that the Master of the Unseelie Court was the reborn Ahuisotl, and thus, their god. Then, after having believed that, they had surrendered what was left of their free will in order to serve him with every fiber of their being.

There were not many of the Enthralled, around a hundred, but it was plenty to leave Fluttershy a perfectly-kept prisoner.

She was honestly glad the Sirens and their minions had left a few days ago. Even if she was to be kept in such a place, at least it was quiet. Empty. Vacant of the screams of fairies and the proud songs of the Siren’s soldiers.

As she looked out over the forests of the Northern Equestrian Wastes, a light tremor ran through the wooden building. As the sunlight faded from the green leaves of healthy trees, the tremor came again, and again. Fluttershy backed away from the rattling window and looked to her captors. The thralls were quiet as the grave, staring out into the wilderness without a care as to the rumbling within the mountain. As the quake grew more and more violent, chattering Fluttershy’s teeth, a few of the thralls stumbled, but did not fall.

She bolted from her room. The thralls would not attack her if she didn’t take flight. She leaned on the railing surrounding the lookout tower and saw the forests around the mountain shaking and swaying, as though a hurricane-force wind was pulling them back and forth. But no wind could shake a mountain. As she watched, the trees at the foot of the mountain seemed to become smaller. Was the mountain growing? No. No, as she looked closer at the base she could see dirt and stones being flung into the air as dust rose all around the hidden grove.

Piercing bright light flashed from among the murk and dirt. She gasped as she saw open air divide the mountain from the valley it sat upon. It seemed to be the same life-giving light as that which flowed through the golden apple trees. The mountain swayed beneath Fluttershy as it rose higher, higher into the sky. A floating island. A monolithic airship that dwarfed even the Smokey Mountains. Carried aloft not by lighter-than-air gasses, but by the power of immortality.

Behind her, in the midst of the grove, the largest golden apple tree pulsed painfully as its lifeforce was syphoned into the bottom of the mountain, propelling it upward and forward. She gazed at the scarred, battered tree and felt a sorrow deep in her soul that her mind couldn’t quite comprehend, not yet. It was as if a parent were weeping over the mistreatment of its children. As if something older and wiser than Fluttershy were feeling its pain through her senses.

The Mountain of the Grove of Golden Apples lurched forward, guided by its Unseelie masters, towards its final destination: The heart of Equestria, Canter Mountain.

Author's Note

Gaston's song is, naturally enough, to the tune of Gaston's Song from Beauty and the Beast. I originally wrote it for Rhythm and Rhyme, but I didn't feel like it fit the scene. I feel like it fits the scene here even less, but I'm proud of the silly little ditty and want to showcase it come heck or soggy socks.

Ready to Rumble

Rumble’s rental tux did not sit well on his broad shoulders. The bowtie was too tight. The cuffs constantly bunched up with every step he took. He was sure the cummerbund would either roll its way upward to throttle him, or else slide down to bind his feet, sending his nose careening into the floor. He was wearing pants for the first time in his life, and the trauma would doubtless haunt him for years to come.

Did he look handsome? He didn’t feel handsome. He didn’t feel like he was capable of dancing with the richest of the rich and the noblest of the nobs up in Cloudsdale. He felt like he was wearing full guard armor, but all the more naked and vulnerable for it. He was sure anybody could tell at a glance that he was some small-town country boy from Hicksville, Equestria.

The worst part of it was that he was going to be measured against the very mare he was accompanying that evening. Sure, five minutes of talking with her would reveal that she was even more of a hayseed than he was, but she had a way of overcoming that with her sheer, overwhelming grace. She moved like she was constantly dancing, each hoofstep secure and certain, each glance investigative and intelligent, each laugh uplifting and inviting. Not that she had book-smarts—stick a textbook in front of her and she’d use it as a coaster—but she was a genius in other ways. Important ways. Ways that made Rumble feel totally out of his league.

So it was that he found himself standing in front of the door to her house, hoof poised to knock. He found it difficult to knock, however, due to the recent kerfuffles he’d committed since being reassigned to Ponyville. The very first day, his plans to surprise her were foiled because she’d dropped everything to come see him asap. Because she wasn’t caught up in plans or itineraries, she was just ready to reunite at the first opportunity. She wasn’t bothered with the how so much as the what.

And it came again the very next day, when he had decided to jump into Spike’s expedition without a thought for the consequences. Without a thought to her. No, it was even worse, he had thought of her and dismissed her input. The heck was that about? He was the one who proposed to her five years ago, and here he was acting like a Single Pringle about life-or-death situations.

Would her input have changed his decision? No. Would her input be extremely valuable and potentially include her backing up his decision? Ohoho yes. Would talking it over with Scootaloo have been a really good way to bring them closer together and prep them for a long journey fraught with danger where they would have to rely on each other?

He knocked, sure enough, but it was with his forehead.

Davenport answered the door almost immediately, and Rumble suspected he had been waiting for the very moment the knock came. The brown-coated earth pony smiled at Rumble and clapped a hoof on his shoulder. “Come on in, Bud! Long time no see!”

“Thanks, Mr. Dav.” Rumble stepped into the ground floor of Quills and Sofas, Davenport’s strangely-thriving business. It was said that a good ninety percent of his business came from the palace, and from Twilight Sparkle specifically. “I’m, uh, here to pick up Scootaloo.”

“I figured you weren’t here to inspect the upholstery,” Davenport said with a self-indulgent chuckle. “She’s still upstairs with Rose, getting done-up like a dang princess.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Rumble said with a chuckle of his own, leaning more towards “nervous” than “humorous.” “There’s nobody prettier.”

“They oughta be a bit yet.” Davenport motioned to a comfortable-looking loveseat, then sat on the couch across the aisle from it. “How’s life been for Rumble? You look like you could build a brick house before breakfast then eat the bricks! I don’t think I’ve seen a stallion as strong-limbed as you since Big Mac was in his prime, and that boy could move houses! They treating you guys right down at the barracks?”

“As well as can be expected, budgets being what they are,” Rumble said, glancing (hopefully) surreptitiously at the stairs to the second floor, where Scootaloo and her mom Roseluck were still getting ready. He hadn’t talked with Scootaloo since the meeting at the library. He hadn’t smoothed everything over. How could he? He’d been making one bone-headed move after another, and that was when he was trying to be conscientious toward her. What right did he even have to be here?

“She’s a pretty special mare, huh?”

Rumble snapped back to the here-and-now and found Scootaloo’s father smiling softly at him. Davenport’s boisterousness had faded slightly once he noticed how preoccupied Rumble was. Only slightly, though. A knowing glimmer in the stallion’s eye lent some weight to his otherwise-jovial tone. “Like a living ray of sunshine, graceful as floating clouds, colorful as a rainbow. But the sunshine only becomes a rainbow after it rains, you know.”

Rumble didn’t quite know what to say to that. He scratched his cheeks and tried to keep his ears from drooping.

“If this is your first fight,” Davenport said, “it for sure isn’t your last. Be kind. Be thoughtful. Be attentive. Give her time to respond to that. Show her you love her with words and deeds. Accept her as she is. It’s not the time to clam up, it’s the time to show up and be what she needs.”

Rumble couldn’t help making a face. “It’s that easy, huh?”

“Easy, no. Simple, yes.” Davenport shook his head, then pointed towards the staircase. “Doing right by people is often simpler than ponies make it out to be, Bud.”

Rumble heard the telltale ratta-tat-tat of Scootaloo dancing her way down the stairs. When she reached the bottom and their eyes met, he saw that sunlight shining from her eyes. Her mouth hung open as she looked at him, as if he was the most exciting thing she’d ever seen, and he felt like he might die from the thought of it. The look only lasted a moment, though. Before he knew it, she was already wearing a dark expression; equal parts aloof and dissatisfied. The reality of the last few days crashed into the both of them like a train jumping from its tracks.

Before he could sink back into himself, a none-too-gentle jab in his rump from Davenport sent him stumbling forward. He looked back to see the older stallion looking at him with a tight-lipped, wide-eyed, “are-you-freaking-kidding-me” expression. “Well?” he hissed.

Rumble mentally kicked himself and walked up to Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle had spared no expense when designing the dress. The cloth was backless, allowing her wings freedom of movement. The color of it was a light shade of purple, to compliment her mane and wings, while contrasting her predominantly orange coat. It hugged her gently, never getting in the way, never constricting movement. A masterwork of skill and grace that could only be fully appreciated when worn by the mare it was made for.

“That dress looks good on you,” said the idiot formerly known as Rumble.

“Thank you,” she replied, terse as a hearse. “You cleaned up nicely, yourself.”

An older mare followed Scootaloo down the stairs, her mother Roseluck. The mare cast a nervous glance between her daughter and Rumble, but seemed comforted when Davenport stood by her side. Still, her forehead wrinkled when she spoke. “Behave, you two. Try not to be all night.”

Davenport wrapped a foreleg around Roseluck’s shoulders. “We’ll be asleep long before they get back from the party. You know how these high-society shindigs go.”

Rumble sent a nervous grin Scootaloo’s way. “I promise not to keep you too long.”

“If you say so, Romero.” Scootaloo rested her foreleg on his as they headed for the door. “The others are probably already waiting for us, right?”

“Spike said we’d meet at the train station.” Rumble glanced back one more time to see Davenport and Roseluck watching their daughter and her beau leave. He gave them a nod before the door closed.

It was a quiet, quick walk across the town. They passed by Ponyville Castle, glistening in the sunlight, and stepped lightly through the marketplace, which was far from peak hours. A few ponies greeted them from afar, but they went mostly uninterrupted. The train station beckoned, and a distant train whistle told them they were none too soon. Spike and Apple Bloom sat on a bench awaiting the train, her hoof in his claw. Her dress was a brilliant display of reds and yellows, like a blazing sunset. Her mane was worn up, each barrette decorated with a pink flower. His purple tuxedo was crisply cut and bedazzled with gems; clearly a Rarity original.

Button Mash’s suit coat was a light blue; otherwise, the brown-coated stallion’s appearance was understated to an almost ridiculous degree. Although he had shaved and spiked his hair. The simple white hue of Sweetie Belle’s dress belied the intricacy of the design work that had gone into it, each layer of fabric hanging just so to get the desired shape. It almost seemed like an ancient Pegasopolis robe having been updated for modern sensibilities, at once timeless and brand new. The only remnant of her older sister on her design had been a single blue gemstone attached to the shoulder clasp.

A short distance away, two other ponies stood waiting the train. The couple was practically being smuggled into the party, each having taken advantage of being Spike and Apple Bloom’s “Plus Ones.” Pipsqueak had rented a tuxedo for the occasion, which wasn’t quite fitted to his strong farmer’s physique. Dinky Do had been given a dress by Sweetie Belle, a dazzling blue number that appeared to be glittering waterfalls flowing off her gray coat. The two of them seemed pleased as punch, though nervously avoiding a topic they had both been planning for years at this point.

Rumble wasn’t sure if either of them was aware the other was planning to propose that very night.

Spike waved his free hand and gestured for Rumble and Scootaloo to join the group. They chatted in the warm atmosphere, not speaking of anything really important, enjoying the company. The train arrived within fifteen minutes, followed by an hours-long trip up Canter Mountain. Conversation continued, even as they reached the capital and entered a hired carriage. They were taken to the air harbor, where ferries awaited party guests to steal away to the Laputa.

Rumble stared out the window of the ferry, tapping a hoof nervously. Button Mash leaned against the wall next to him, checking and double-checking that he didn’t have any wrinkles in his suit. Button glanced at him as he polished a button. “Something on your mind?”

“No,” Rumble said too quickly. “Not a thing. Not a single, solitary thing.”

Button Mash gave him a cheeky grin. “Did you know that when you lie, your eyes cross?”

“They what?” Rumble glanced in a nearby mirror to verify Button’s statement, only to be met with the shorter stallion’s snorting laughter. He slapped a hoof over his face and grimaced at his friend.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. If you wanna talk, I’ll listen.” Button pointed out the window, indicating the massive airship that lay in their path. “Maybe later, though. Looks like we’ve reached our destination.”

In the light of the setting sun, the Laputa was dazzling, like a palace in the sky. Spotlights blazed in a variety of colors. The flare of crystal chandeliers invited in every window. The ponies who attended were all dressed in finery that would leave a dragon’s hoard embarrassed. All of the government officials were there… and a good deal of rich and powerful ponies, but only if they knew the princesses personally. Like the former Cutie Mark Crusaders, for instance.

Each pair of mare and stallion entered the ballroom together, announced by the herald at the entrance, save for Pipsqueak, Spike’s Plus One, and Dinky, Apple Bloom’s Plus One. The dragon and the apple farmers’ relationship was no secret, so when they did not arrive together, the juiciest rumor mill in the last decade erupted like a volcano. It was quashed in exactly the next moment as Dinky and Pipsqueak immediately took to the dance floor together.

Rumble glanced at the pegasus mare beside him. She looked at the dance floor with a keen longing that was obvious even to his thick skull. He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh. Whatever problems they’d face in the next while, they would face them together. It was time to treat Scootaloo how she deserved to be treated.

“May I have this dance?”

Scootaloo gave him a cautious side-eye. She took his hoof in hers and allowed herself to be led into the air just above the dance floor, where pegasi couples were encouraged to dance in a world without gravity.

He felt his heart quicken. His mind went back to the first time they’d danced, like really danced, before Scootaloo got her new wings. Back then, she hadn’t been able to fly, so she remained on the surface of the lake, her magic keeping the surface tension strong enough to hold her weight. He’d been led around like a balloon, flapping his wings gently so as not to disturb the water. Now they both carried the wind beneath them. Each wing flap pushed their partner higher. Each spin of the body brought them closer together. Pegasi dancing was an almost group-effort, with everyone contributing to the updrafts and turbulence. Rumble and Scootaloo found themselves in the middle of it all, at the eye of the storm.

They touched down gently as the quartet finished their piece. Genteel applause surrounded them. They found it difficult to look each other in the eye, but couldn’t bear to look away entirely.

“W-wanna get snacks?” asked the idiot formerly known as Rumble.

“S-sure, whatever. Sounds good,” said the nearly-dumfounded Scootaloo.

The walkway around the outside of the Laputa made for a passable balcony, albeit a fully-enclosed one. It allowed the starlight to twinkle in the background as Pipsqueak and Dinky leaned against the safety rail, chatting quietly back and forth, both holding a small box behind their backs.

Apple Bloom gripped Spike’s arm tighter. “Gosh’s sake, they’re just so cute.”

Spike sighed as the familiar weight at his side warmed him to the core. “Takes one to know one.”

“Hush up, you.” Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up as both ponies swung their boxes around, only to have them collide in midair. “Dang. Still ain’t over the klutziness.”

Pipsqueak scrambled to catch Dinky’s box before it could tumble, only to lose his own in the process. Dinky lit her horn to grasp his box, but sent the small present skidding across the floor, out of reach. The two exchanged blushing grins, before turning as one to chase after the clattering box.

Spike stopped it with an outstretched foot, careful not to damage the package. He leaned down, scooped up the box, and held it out to Pip. “Wanna give that another go?”

“I am in your debt, as ever.” Pipsqueak rose to his full unimpressive height and spun on his hind hooves.

“Wait,” Dinky said in a rush, “you should open my present first.”

“I do believe I asked you first, dear.”

“Yeah, but I bought mine first.”

“I hardly think that would be a qualifier—”

“Oh it qualifies. Mine is chronologically qualified.”

“Then I dare say my qualifiers qualify at a decent enough quality to have qualified, based on… on…”

Pipsqueak and Dinky stared at each other for a long moment, both holding out their gifts. Their eyes were wide, as though a sudden revelation had struck the both of them. They turned to their boxes and cleared their throat in a stereo of phlegm.

“Perhaps… mightn’t we…” Pipsqueak bit his lower lip.

“Open them…” Dinky tilted her head. “Together?”

They exchanged boxes in a swift movement, then hesitated on the brink of opening them. With a slow, steady tilt of the hoof, a glint of precious metal and gemstones could be seen in the shadows.

“Pip, it’s so…”

“Dinky, this is…”

“Wonderful.”

Spike watched as his two friends embraced each other, the presents practically forgotten in the rush to accept them. His smile grew as the two laughed aloud, drawing the attention of a few passerby’s. He nudged Apple Bloom in the shoulder. “Think they’ll say ‘yes?’”

Pipsqueak glanced up from the hug and gave them a tear-filled smile. “I don’t suppose you’ll act as witnesses?”

“Of course we will!” Apple Bloom gave Dinky a firm hug and Pip a slug on the shoulder. “Ain’t no way we wouldn’t.”

Pipsqueak looped his new tail-ring onto his short bob, while Dinky set her horn-ring upon her forehead. Both were simple, humble things, but both were all the more precious for it. Both tripped over themselves asking for the other to join them on the dance floor, and then both talked over each other in their haste to accept the invitation.

Before long, Apple Bloom and Spike were alone on the walkway, looking over the fields and hills of Equestria, lit only by starlight. They leaned on the railing side-by-side, both basking in the memory of the beautiful union they’d just witnessed. If Spike squinted at the sky, he thought that two stars in particular shone especially bright.

Daring and Time? Perhaps… perhaps.

“They’re the first friends of mine who’ve gotten engaged,” Apple Bloom said, after a moment.

“Seems that way, yeah.” Spike glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Second for me, after Sunset Shimmer. Third if you count Daring Do as a friend and not an ‘aunt.’ I guess they’re not mutually excusive.”

“Then maybe Big Mac counts for me… Wonder who’s next?” Apple Bloom leaned on her forelegs and let her eyes droop. “Probably Scootaloo, if she and Rumble can stop walkin’ on eggshells for two seconds. Maybe Sweetie, but I think they’re takin’ courtship gentle-like. Don’t think Twist likes anybody in particular. Don’t think Babs has time for a relationship.”

Spike felt a tiny jab in his heart for each name she mentioned. He couldn’t help but be keenly aware of a particular absence. He reached over and rested his scaly claw on her soft foreleg.

Apple Bloom didn’t meet his eye. “Spike, what if I told ya I was workin’ on gettin’ it so we could be together-together?”

Spike furrowed his brow. “I’d say ‘so what else is new?’ It’s been a couple years now, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, but—” She clicked her tongue with a huff of breath. “I mean workin’ on somethin’ different. We’ve been workin’ on strengthenin’ or protectin’ my body, but it ain’t done anythin’ for us. So I thought… what if we made yours a little weaker?”

Spike lightly ground his teeth against each other. He’d thought of it, sure enough. Almost immediately. It made as much sense as anything else. And it was infinitely easier to weaken something than to strengthen it. But… “Apple Bloom, it would be poison.”

“Not like that.” She reached her other foreleg around to rest it on his claw. “I mean, I’ve been workin’ with another form of magic. A tougher one that what we’ve been tryin’. Like, it wouldn’t hurt you, just… just change you.”

“Change me?” He blinked at her, unable to hide the worry in his frown. He saw in her face that she was gearing up to fight against the resistance he was attempting to muster. “Into what?”

“What if I told you,” Apple Bloom said, full of fire, “that I’ve brewed a potion that can transmogrify you into a pony?”

Spike shut his eyes. He sat down heavily on the metal floor, and allowed his claw to slip out of her hold. “‘Transmogrify.’”

“Yeah, s’what I said.”

“In all my life, I’ve never, ever seen a transmogrify spell work as intentioned.” Spike rested his head in his hands. “Unless you think Twilight’s little hoard of Fruitfrogs was a deliberate affront to nature.”

“But that’s no reason to ignore an entire scientific discipline, Spike!” Apple Bloom turned him around by the shoulder, sitting beside him so that they were face-to-face. “Sure, the tests ain’t promisin’ just yet, but together we can make a breakthrough. I’m sure of it!”

Spike sighed a small puff of smoke. This wasn’t the time or the place to argue about this. He had to just hold off until they could be alone. Where they could talk on equal footing. Hear each other out. “We shouldn’t talk about it now—”

“What better time than now? When we’re travelin’ the world outrunnin’ the Unseelie? When we’re fightin’ for our lives tryin’ to find the Elements?” Apple Bloom gestured to the airship around them, her ears perked to catch the music in the background. “It’s just like when we were in the orchard, Spike! We’re in the single most romantic place in Equestria right now, and we’re in reach of our whole gosh darn shared dream. And you’re scared I’m gonna turn ya into a goo monster!”

“Apple Bloom.” He raised his hands and gently placed them against Apple Bloom’s cheeks. “The hippogriffs used some powerful gemstone to change into sea ponies, but I don’t even think that was the same kinda magic. Twilight could shrink somebody to the size and shape of a breezy, but they still had their original magic. Doing the same kinda thing with me, I’d still have the strength, fire, and durability of a dragon. The only way transmogrifying me would work is if we drained me of that strength.”

His heart sank when Apple Bloom pulled away from him and returned to staring out into the dark night skies. “Well, would that be so bad? Bein’ as weak as a pony? I manage just fine with that. Could be worse than that. Could not be together in the first place.”

Spike rested with his back against the railing. He stared into the brightly lit ballroom, where countless colorful couples danced the night away. He scratched a dead scale off of his scarred arm absentmindedly. “I spent my whole childhood trying to reconcile my dragon and pony halves; born as one, raised as the other. Now that I’m an adult, I don’t think I could commit to either one alone.”

Apple Bloom touched his shoulder. “You wouldn’t be alone.”

He huffed a cloud of steam. He opened his mouth without any real plan as to what to say.

“Attention!” Lord Mayor Gaston’s booming voice called out across the party as the quartet ended their current piece. “Attention, everyone! If I could have everybody’s attention, please! We’re coming up on the outskirts of New Cloudsdale as we speak!”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. She turned away from both Spike and the party, trotting along the walkway towards the front of the craft. Spike watched her go, tapping his claws, and considered following her. He considered too keenly, and she rounded the bend and went out of sight.

Rather than join the party-goers to witness the arrival of New Cloudsdale, he turned back towards the distant, sparkling Canterlot. He rested on the walkway railing, his face inches away from the enclosing glass window. He let his eyes unfocus and turned his thoughts empty.

He tried not to think about how much he wanted to concede to Apple Bloom’s proposal. He also tried not to think about how much it twisted his stomach. It seemed too easy and too hard, deceptively simple and frankly complex. Of course. How many times had his strength hurt those around him? How many times had it saved them?

A glimmer of purple entered the corner of his eye; the reflection of a pony against the glass window. He looked at it and felt a sigh of relief course through his entire body. He recognized that walk. Whenever Twilight was meant to attend a party, the same old nervousness came out. She soon acclimated to the atmosphere, of course, but old habits died hard. He turned around with a smile to greet his friend with an apologetic smile. “Hay, Twilight. I didn’t hear them announce your arrival.”

Weird, why did Twilight look so short?

Wait, why was she wearing glasses?

Whoa, why were her wings missing?

Spike’s hands closed so hard around the railing that the metal crumpled beneath his grip. A small hint of a smile touched Twilight’s lips as she gently removed her glasses and tucked them into a pocket hidden within the ruffles of her light-purple dress. She lidded her eyes as the irises began to glow a bright, red-tinged lavender. “So you do understand. Then you’re just as intelligent as my Spike.”

Spike swallowed hard. “Nobody has to get hurt.”

“Ah.” A miasma of black smoke began to collect around Dr. Midnight’s horn as she drew power to it. “You’re also just as weak.”

Rumble and Scootaloo touched down just as Gaston made his announcement. They moved off the dance floor, side-by-side with Button and Sweetie. The mayor gestured to the starboard side of the airship, where a large curtain was being pulled back to reveal the sky beyond.

Scootaloo let go of his hoof the instant they landed. She sidled over to Sweetie Belle and spoke animatedly, each complimenting each others’ grace.

Button glance at Rumble out of the corner of his eye. A rueful smile and a pat on the shoulder confused Rumble at first, until he realized that he had been frowning. He quickly wiped the dour look from his face and gave Button the cheesiest grin he could muster. Button held back a snort, but only just so.

“So I was thinking,” he said, putting a hoof on Sweetie’s shoulder and gently moving her towards the opening curtain and the gesticulating mayor, “what if Rumble and I get us all drinks while you two start watching the show? We’ll only be a sec.”

Sweetie gave Rumble a knowing glance, one which left Rumble blushing from his neck to his ears, while Scootaloo quietly ignored him. “Sounds like a plan,” Sweetie said, and it seemed a little rehearsed. “We’ll be by the quartet.”

“After five years of construction,” Gaston continued, “Cloudsdale has been restored to the shining rainbow that it once was!”

Rumble walked alongside Button Mash towards the buffet table, brushing against other ponies as they moved towards the speech. It was like wading through a sea of shoulder-high watercolors, with Button only barely managing to keep up by following closely in Rumble’s wake. Once they reached the table, the crowd was mostly relocated.

He continued to put hoof in front of hoof, his eyes unfocused, his ears lowered. He faintly heard both Gaston’s deep rumblings and Button’s slightly-nasally cadence. He turned to apologize for ignoring his friend and to ask him to repeat himself.

One pony wasn’t facing Gaston.

One pony had a wing extended with glints of metal laced throughout the feathers.

One pony was gazing at Rumble and Button with a grin like death itself.

Rumble recognized this pony at once: Rhombus. In one swift motion, he pushed Button’s head down and kicked a metal platter of hors d'oeuvres into the air. The second motion kicked the plate towards the stallion. Rumble’s aim was true; it smacked the stallion right between the eyes, knocking him down and scattering a few of his wingblades.

Rumble grasped Button’s head and shouted in his face. “Get the girls!” He shoved his friend away and launched himself at his already-recovering foe. Rhombus looked up with reddened eyes and snapped a wing towards Rumble. Several microscopically-sharp blades zinged through the air, but Rumble was ready. He grasped another tray from the buffet to shield himself. The blades ripped through the metal platter, but stopped short of reaching Rumble’s face. He tucked the tray beneath his foreleg and launched it like a frisbee. Rhombus easily leaped over it, taking to the air to try and win with air superiority.

Rumble gritted his teeth, grinding them with the ferocity of a millstone in a windstorm. He knew there was only one way to win a knife-fight. Get in close and end it fast.

He also knew there was no way to avoid injury in a knife-fight. He could only mitigate it. He picked up the first thrown platter and sprang into the air.

Scootaloo listened to the speech with a good enough humor, she guessed. She tried not to think about Rumble too much. Her feelings were too complicated right that moment. She would only grow upset, while wondering if she had a right to be upset. Her feelings were her own, she knew. They were real and valid, she believed. But what of that? What good did it do to say her feelings were real when she didn’t even understand them fully?

“Now behold, ladies and gentlecolts,” Gaston concluded, “as our New Cloudsdale reveals itself in all its glory!”

Sweetie Belle reared up on her hind legs in an attempt to see over the crowd. She turned to Scootaloo with a gentle smile, her green gemstone necklace glimmering with every spoken word. “You could probably see better if you flew a little—”

Sweetie’s eyes widened as she looked at something over Scootaloo’s shoulder. She covered her mouth to contain her scream. “Look out!”

Every hair on Scootaloo’s neck rose as she spun into action. She’d seen enough movies to know that if somebody said “duck,” “look out,” or “run,” then one did not take the time to think. One acted. She sprinted forward, tucking her tail and wings close to her body, while keeping her head down. Only when she heard the tremendous thud of a hoof crushing the floor tiles did she take a moment to look behind her.

Shoot, that guy’s big.

Geeze, he crushed the flooring like it was made of bread crust.

Rut, he almost did that to her head.

Scootaloo wasn’t sure who panicked first, her or the crowd. She shot into the air, but the big stallion was fast. His bright-red hoof snagged the end of her tail and threw her to the ground. The wind was knocked out of her. She couldn’t move her legs. She couldn’t breathe. She felt herself being dragged away from the stallion by Sweetie Belle, but they couldn’t get far as the crowd surged around them.

“Guards! Guards!” Gaston’s shouts went unheeded. “Somebody stop that stallion!”

Prince Blueblood muttered a particularly heinous curse as he pushed his wife and daughter out of the path of a burgeoning stampede. “It’s Caution! Everybody stay back! He’s bloody insane!”

Scootaloo looked around the ballroom as the chaos grew out of control, many ponies nearly trampled by their fellow equine. Within a few moment, the stampede would grow deadly.

Caution pushed aside a few large stallions with the ease of tossing a basket of flowers. He tramped closer and closer to Sweetie and Scootaloo, his face all but made from stone.

Sweetie Belle shut her eyes and whispered a pained “I’m sorry.” She lowered Scootaloo to the ground and stood tall in front of the attacker.

Scootaloo pushed herself upright and reached for her friend. “No, Sweetie! You’ll be killed!”

Sweetie ignored her. She reached for her throat and ripped the necklace away. The gemstone landed on the floor with a clatter, the light flickering out. Sweetie took a deep breath and sang as loud as she could.

“Together
We stand, we stand, we stand and face
Our doom, our doom

“Together
We die, we die, we die and that’s fine
Just so long as I’m here with you

Scootaloo watched with a slack jaw as the stallion stopped in his tracks. So did the stampeding ponies. So did the mayor and the prince running towards Caution, spears gripped tight. Tears streamed down Sweetie Belle’s face as she continued her song. Her natural-born siren’s song.

“Together
We cry, we cry, we cry it’s not fair
That our despair holds true

“Together
We lie, we lie, we lie and we say
It’s fine
You and I, believing the lie”

While the others appeared to be dumbstruck, Scootaloo herself felt all the stronger at Sweetie’s song. Her breath returned, the aches dissipating into memory. She stood beside her friend, resting a hoof on her shoulder, giving her support. She looked right into Caution’s single good eye and shivered. She decided to avoid the eye that was clouded over and surrounded by a scar.

What the heck was she supposed to do now?

Apple Bloom hustled her way down the walkway, passing few ponies as she went. She hated how she’d just blurted out her entire plan to Spike at just the wrong time. She also hated how he wasn’t immediately receptive to it, despite the fact that she knew he wouldn’t agree.

She let her head thump against the cool inner wall of the observation deck, sighing deeply. What good had any of it done? What good will any of it do? She’d been trying for years to find a solution. They both had. This was the best chance they had. This, which left Spike turning away in disgust.

Maybe they didn’t actually have a chance, after all was said and done.

A clatter drew her attention. She was near the front of the Laputa, just outside where the bridge was located. She saw two royal guards standing at the door, barring the civilians on board from interfering with the pilot and captain. Apple Bloom tilted her head and pursed her lips; one had fallen over. The other didn’t seem interested in helping his fellow soldier up. He wobbled back and forth, as though the deck rocked beneath his feet.

“You guys okay?” Apple Bloom asked, walking cautiously over. She tested her own balance and found the airship to be solid enough even for a solid-ground-loving earth pony like her. “Need me to get a doctor or somethi—”

The soldier lost his footing and came down face-first right in front of Apple Bloom. She bent down and picked him up, looking into his glazed eyes and finding him unresponsive. The stallion was passed out completely, with no means of waking him. Drugged? Maybe. Hopefully not poisoned, she thought with a grimace. With any luck, these two stallions would wake up in a few hours with splitting headaches. If not—

Her stomach swam and her hackles rose at the same time. “Help! Somebody help! These stallions need a doctor!”

Nobody came. The walkway was empty for the entire forward hemisphere of the Laputa. Thinking fast, she turned toward the door to the bridge. Surely the captain would know some first-aid, or at least have tools available and a radio for communication. She grasped the door handle and opened as fast as she could, stepping inside with no hesitation, calling for help with no preamble.

She saw two stallions lying unconscious on the floor beside the ship’s wheel. They looked like they’d also been drugged. Just beyond them, grasping the wheel itself, was a black-coated, catlike creature from her worst nightmares. It had six clawed legs and razor-sharp teeth. Two fanged tentacles writhed from their place on its shoulder-blades.

The monster turned with a growl and looked right at her.

The monster took a step back from the ship’s wheel.

The monster vanished the instant it left a direct source of light.

Apple Bloom was too scared to scream. In one instant, the door behind her had shut, its latch clicking into place. She bolted forward as something unseen clawed at her hind legs. How could something so horrible even exist?

“Dang, Apple Bloom,” a smooth voice hummed from the shadows, “you can’t be much older than twenty. This job’s vile. S’what I get for signin’ up to be a hitman.”

Hitman? Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. His claws raked a three-stripe gash across her hind leg. She kicked out and met thin air. She could only manage to get a glimpse of him when he dashed beneath an overhead light, and even then, her eyes seemed to slide off his black hide like butter off a pan.

“So believe me, it ain’t at all personal.” Teeth flashed and jabbed her foreleg, searching for a vital vein or tendon. “Ain’t all bad, neither. I hear tell you ponies believe you become stars after you die. So when you look down from your lofty perch, give the likes of me a twinkle, won’t ya?”

Spike jumped as far as he could, hitting the deck with a roll. The world exploded with magical ferocity behind him. The viewing glass shattered outward, and the metal railing melted before Dr. Midnight Sparkle’s assault. Shards of crystal showered him as they sprouted from the wreckage. She was using a modified version of King Sombra’s crystallization spell, he noticed. It started small, but grew rapidly as it devoured magic, digging in like a barb and turning flesh to a fillet.

He brushed the shards from his arm, but even as they hit the floor, he could see their points creeping towards him, drawn by his powerful dragon magic. He didn’t have much time to think about it, he could already hear Dr. Midnight casting another spell. This one zipped past him and impacted the side of the Laputa. It exploded with a violent roar, the crystal erupting from the wall as it fed on the magic powering the airship.

The walkway tremored beneath him. He had time to register that the platform was separating from the main airship before it swung outward, carrying him with it. He held on tight, his claws digging into the metal. One glance over the edge saw hundreds and hundreds of meters below. He wished more than ever before that he had grown wings, but wishes wouldn’t save his life. He crawled along the staggering walkway on all fours, nearly losing his balance as it bobbed on air currents. He felt the crackle of magic on the back of his neck. A glance over his shoulder revealed that the doctor’s spell was blazing on the end of her horn, ready to smack him out of the sky.

He jumped. The walkway evaporated into caustic smoke above him.

He hit the side of the Laputa several meters below the mangled deck. He dug his claws into the metal side and held fast, his heart thundering in his chest. Smoke hissed through his clenched teeth. He was shaking. He wouldn’t make it out of this alive if he couldn’t stop shaking. He pulled one clenched hand out of the aluminum siding and dug it back in a bit to the side. If he could crawl along the perimeter of the airship, keeping just out of the doctor’s sight…

The metal siding just above his head frosted over. The temperature, already lowered by the high altitude and the howling wind, dropped like a rock into the ocean. Cold—something even a grown dragon feared. For a young adult like himself, deadly. Just beyond that, purple spikes blackened by malice cracked through the wall of the airship. Dr. Midnight Sparkle used them like stairs as she descended towards him. He quickened his pace, but he was only moving an arm-length at a time. He looked along his path and saw it blocked not far down by one of the Laputa’s massive propellers. He had a rock, a hard place, and a long way down.

Dr. Midnight Sparkle’s silhouette, backed by the light of the ballroom, was broken only by the glowing irises glaring down at him. A flare on the tip of her horn illuminated her dismissive scowl. Electricity crackled between hovering shards of crystal, all aimed at his heart, ready to sink deep past his scales and into his vital organs.

In a fit of panic, he opened his mouth wide and belched green fire at the doctor. She shrieked as her coat and dress caught fire, its color shifting from the magic-infused emerald to natural yellow-red. He wanted to shut his ears against the doctor’s screams—exactly the same as Twilight’s—but his tenuous hold on life left him bare to the heart-wrenching sound. Her spell continued to build until she fired it blindly.

She struck the propeller head-on.

The connections between the blade and the engine were severed in an instant as Sombra’s spell soaked in the ambient magic which powered the machine. The blades bit into the side of the Laputa and carried the propeller upward with a jolt, sending it careening through the air. A thunderous crash heralded fire and smoke as the engine failed spectacularly.

The siding came away beneath Spike. It shook in the wind, held on only by a few dozen bolts to his left. His stomach lurched as he reached for a sturdier hold, but the metal sheet bent beneath his weight. The entire airship listed to port, towards Canterlot and away from the relative safe landing available in New Cloudsdale. It lost altitude rapidly, judging by the way the ground rushed up to greet Spike, meters at a time. He could still hear Dr. Midnight screeching as she beat the roaring flames out of her dress.

He coiled his legs against the metal sheet and launched himself upward. He just barely caught the edge of one of the doctor’s spikes and hauled himself onto relatively safe ground. Meaning, he supposed, that he could still die when the airship struck paydirt, so to speak.

Sweetie’s song was cut short as the Laputa jolted beneath them. Most people were sent to the floor, but Caution kept himself upright. Serenity was replaced by the same cold-hearted determination he had moments ago. He tromped towards Sweetie and Scootaloo, ignoring the shouts of Blueblood and Gaston. The mayor drew a ceremonial saber from his belt as the prince grabbed a spear, but the two of them would never make it before he snuffed out either one of the girls.

Scootaloo scrambled upright to a crouch. If she leaped away, it would just leave Sweetie lying prone, ready to be crushed beneath the massive stallion’s hooves. She would not, not, not let that happen. She braced herself, ready to launch herself at Caution just to give Sweetie time to escape.

Just before Caution reached them, a shout of effort grabbed Caution’s attention just before a spear-head struck true in his side. Scootaloo almost teared up when she saw Button Mash at the end of the spear, struggling to hold on, doing everything in his power to force it deeper into Caution’s flesh. The big earth pony bucked, and sent the shorter earth pony flying into the air. Scootaloo flew up to catch him, found him too heavy to carry, and settled for slowing his descent to the ground.

Caution cursed and, rather than remove the spear, settled for breaking the haft off. By now, both Gaston and Blueblood had reached him and were swinging their blades his way. Gaston’s sword was pretty, but not the sharpest weapon. It barely made a dent in Caution’s hardy hide. Blueblood found little success either, as Caution was especially skilled in dealing with spears when he could see them coming. The both of them circled the large stallion and attempted to keep within the blind spot created by his deadened left eye.

“Yes, I remember giving you that one,” Blueblood spat. “Perhaps it’s time you had a matched pair!”

“Oi don’t have time for you—” Caution’s hoof brushed Sweetie Belle’s discarded necklace. He threw it with a speed and ferocity that none of them could have expected. The gemstone struck Blueblood in the middle of the forehead, bringing him down into the realm of unconsciousness.

Caution ignored the powerless jabs behind Gaston’s dull blade and ran towards Scootaloo and the dazed Button Mash. Scootaloo had nowhere to run, with two friends laid out ready to be trampled. There was no way she could even slow the stallion, not even with a spear of her own. Her ears perked up when her hind leg touched somebody’s discarded cup.

Just about every drink in the entire airship had been spilled by the jolt.

With her heart beating like rain on a metal roof, she reached deep within herself for every last drop of power in her body. She reached out with her inborn weather-controlling magic and grabbed every drop of liquid in the room. Some she couldn’t touch, since the water was so full of other ingredients, like some of the thicker fruit desserts, but most were well within her power to seize. She threw a few droplets right into Caution’s face, and the fruity fizz got in his eye. He flinched, just enough to miss what she was really planning.

A tide of water, infused with fruit, alcohol, and various other ingredients, flowed right beneath the big stallion’s tramping hooves. He slipped, his four legs going in four different directions. He slammed face-first into the ground right in front of a trembling Scootaloo. She hopped back, drawing the water around her in a knee-high shield. She couldn’t fight with it, not really. There wasn’t enough pressure behind the water to do any sort of real damage to the stallion.

Wait. Not quite true. If she built up enough momentum, with this much water volume, she might actually be able to fight the freak. She swirled the water around herself, guiding it with her hooves and wings, pouring magic into it to keep it aloft. She tightened her grip as well, heightening the surface tension until it was like a giant balloon being swung by a string. The amount of non-water objects in the mix made things difficult. Each stray olive and fruit slice added its weight to the super-cocktail and put its strain on her heart. She gritted her teeth—she focused on the stallion. Focused on how he was trying to hurt her friends, on how he was trying to wreck everything she cared about. Her eyes blazed flaming daggers at Caution, whose own eyes opened wide as he lifted his head to see her.

That determination left him completely, replaced wholesale. But it was not replaced by fear, as Scootaloo had hoped. Instead, strangely enough, the stallion seemed overjoyed.

“Your eyes,” he said, his voice low, “oi’ve seen ’em before…”

The water cudgel collided with his jaw. It sounded as if he’d been struck by ice, but liquid splashed everywhere the instant Scootaloo released her grip on it. To her horror, he stood up. He reached out and easily grasped her neck, jerking her face closer to his. He was bleeding from the mouth, and she thought his jawline sat askew, but the smile still fought to shine through.

“Who was your mother?” he said through swollen lips. “Please, tell me!”

She struck his foreleg with her hooves, but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Let me go!”

“Not yer adoptive parents, Roseluck and Davenport.” His teeth were broken on the left side of his face from the force of her blow. “Yer birth mother. Do you know who she is? You’ve got her eyes, Scootaloo.”

“Why the hell should I care!” Scootaloo tried to shake herself free, but the stallion didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch when Gaston stabbed him in the hide leg with his dull sword. “She abandoned me in an alley! She didn’t give a flip about me, and I don’t give a flying feather about her!” She snapped her teeth in an attempt to bite him, but her neck couldn’t crane around to reach. “What’s it to you, freak?”

He smiled. If not for the broken bones and dipping blood, it would have been the single most peaceful expression she’d ever seen on a pony. “Ah, Scootaloo. So many things are gonna make so much more sense now.” He blinked tears away and sighed deeply as he idly kicked Gaston across the room. “Oi think… Oi think oi’m yer dad.”

Rumble pressed against Rhombus as the two spiraled between the chandeliers. Rhombus flapped his wings in an effort to beat Rumble back, but the muscular pegasus took it like a champ. That said, he wasn’t going to be able to take it much longer. He jerked their center of balance off-side and allowed them to careen into one of the chandeliers. Candles and wingblades scattered as he bashed Rhombus’ head against the golden frame.

Rhombus retaliated with three strikes to Rumble’s gut and one to his jaw. Rumble pushed the metal tray upward and caught his foe’s chin with the edge. Rhombus swung a wing to slice at Rumble’s foreleg with a wingblade, but Rumble pulled back just in time.

Rhombus used the free space to shoot back like an arrow from a bow. He swung his wing and pelted Rumble with a dozen more wingblades, each one bouncing off the tray or sticking fast in it. From what Rumble could see, the assailant only had two blades left; one in each wing. Since one was enough to end Rumble’s life, the fact wasn’t exactly a comfort.

Rhombus’ coltishly handsome face grinned from the far side of a chandelier. He jolted left and right, keeping Rumble guessing which way he’d come from. With a blur of his blue-coated body, he shot downward, opening his wings to spring back up right in front of Rumble’s face. A kick from his hind legs sent the battered tray flying to clatter on the dance floor far below. The wingblades flashed, and Rumble saw a streak of red appear down the length of his left foreleg.

He sucked in a breath of hot air and swung with his right, but Rhombus ducked down and came back up behind him. Another hot sting of pain appeared between Rumble’s wings. It wasn’t deep, but it was way too close. A few more cuts like that and he’d be too slow to retaliate. Another few, and he’d be bleeding out on his way to the deck. He spread his forelegs wide and embraced Rhombus tight, then closed his wings close to his body, becoming dead weight.

Rhombus yelped as he was jerked upside-down. His wingbeats faltered as he tumbled to and fro, while Rumble’s grip grew ever tighter. Just as it seemed like Rhombus would recover, Rumble bit down on his ear. Hard. Rhombus’ screams grew in pitch, and their tumble took them away from the crowd of ponies just recovering from the airship’s jolt. Another chandelier halted their progress for a moment, before Rumble jerked his head the other way and pulled them towards the hardwood floor. They spun in midair, but a flap of Rumble’s wing put Rhombus directly beneath them. They struck the ground, both gasping, Rumble shaking as he rolled away.

He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling as the airship shivered and shook around him. He glanced over at Rhombus to see the stallion lying still, his tongue lolling out, his breath coming in spurts. Rumble tried to laugh in relief, but the movement caused a shock of pain to run throughout his body. He looked down and saw a wingblade buried point-first in his chest, surrounded by bright-red blood.

“Oh crap,” was the last thought he had before he fell unconscious.

Apple Bloom tumbled through the bridge as the airship jolted from the force of its engine’s eruption. A yowl came from the shadows as Lacer the Displacer joined her in freefall. His face came into view, just within the glow of an overhead lantern. With a start, Apple Bloom realized it was within reach of her long hind leg.

A single, powerful kick knocked the hideous creature out.

She hoisted herself to all fours. Peering out the front viewport, she could see the ground. She gasped as she realized it was headed right for them—or at least the opposite was true. At the speed they were going, the airship would collapse in on itself, crushing all who were inside. She noted, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that she had just clobbered the last person available to fly the Laputa.

Welp, she thought with a groan, there was no way she could make things worse.

She stumbled her way to the ship’s wheel and surveyed the information presented by the dials. That was the horizontal leveler… whatever that was called. The altimeter she recognized easily enough based on the markings and numbers. The first was spinning and the second was plummeting. So far so good. The rest of the dials seemed to be flashing red and yellow… she figured she couldn’t do anything to help that.

“Arrest the momentum somehow.” She muttered to herself as she glanced at the available levers and buttons. Her pulse quickened as alarm bells rang in her ears. “Put on the breaks, but an airship don’t have breaks like a cart or train…”

“Pull the nose up…”

Apple Bloom jolted at a voice from her side. The displacer beast blinked blearily at her, most of his body still limp. “Pull the nose of the airship up, kid. That blue lever there. Pull it back as far as you can and don’t let up.”

She hesitated at first, not really willing to trust the being that had been trying to kill her just a second ago. But, like she said, it wouldn’t make things worse. She grabbed the lever in both forelegs and yanked it down. It pulled against her, threatening to pull her over the council, but she held fast. Her muscles bulged and her legs shook as the airship’s rumbling grew worse.

There! The altimeter was slowing down. They were still dropping like a rock, but like a lighter rock. They might be able to slow down to something less than terminal velocity! Or at least a velocity that didn’t leave them terminal.

“Keep it level!” Lacer yelped. He pointed to the leveling dial with his tentacle. “Make sure that attitude indicator don’t tip over, or we’ll capsize!”

Though her instincts screamed to hold onto the first lever with all her strength, she moved her left foreleg to the ship’s wheel. She tilted the Laputa left, then right to avoid overcorrection. Breakfast and lunch rose up in her stomach, but she didn’t have time to be sick. Not just yet. The wheel jerked back and forth, and the Laputa jolted again. The blaring klaxon told her that one of the ship’s stabilizers had been torn off by the wind. She responded by spinning the wheel to port as hard as she could.

Lacer the Displacer covered his eyes with his forelegs. “Hold on to something!”

The next few moments were brutally violent. Spike held onto the crystal with all four claws and wrapped his tail around the barbed tip. The airship shivered and shook as it skidded across the rocky ground. He felt the flare of magic above him as protective spells went off over and over again around the ballroom, doing everything in their power to cushion the blow for the people attending the party. Without those spells, everyone would have been crushed by tumbling tables, crashing chandeliers, and the press of the tremendous g-forces they were facing. As it was, he still heard screaming as they were sent to the ground, any chance of keeping their balance stolen by the ferocity at which the Laputa struck the earth.

After several minutes, the airship slowed, then ground to a halt. The magical lights sputtered and went out. The remains of the ballroom were lit by the soft glow of emergency lanterns. Spike glanced around and saw no sign of Dr. Midnight Sparkle, so he slowly pried his claws free of the crystal. His limbs shook as he climbed the makeshift steps up to the main deck of the airship. He heard voices crying out in the darkness of the ballroom, some for help, others looking for someone in particular. He moved in, grasping his tail to keep it and his other limbs from jittering. He looked for someone he might be able to help.

Pipsqueak was in the midst of the crowd, waving people down and shouting at the top of his lungs. “Everyone! Gather the injured in the middle of the room! We have first aid on standby and we’re looking for a doctor!” Button Mash had a box of bandages and ointment and was caring for a few older ponies who had been left worse for the wear. Anybody else who knew anything about first aid were helping him, from the groggy-looking guardsponies to nobles who had taken the training.

Fleur de Lis trotted after Blueblood, attempting to care for his bandaged head even as the prince went about seeing to everyone’s needs. Jade lay curled up on her father’s back, her face damp with tears after her frightening ordeal. Mayor Gaston joined Pipsqueak in gathering the wounded as soon as his own body was bandaged. He seemed to have a broken foreleg.

Off to the side, Spike saw a sight that sent his blood running cold. Scootaloo lay with her chin lying on Rumble’s shoulder, staring at nothing with wide, way-too-dry eyes. Rumble’s chest had been bandaged, but the bandages ran bright red. He still had something sticking out of his right breast, something that Spike imagined was too dangerous to remove. He felt a sudden urge to search for the ship’s doctor. They had to be somewhere.

A shock of relief touched his heart when he heard Sweetie Belle shout loud and clear “We found the doctor! Everypony clear a path!”

She and Apple Bloom trotted into the ballroom with a sick-looking unicorn holding onto them for balance. He looked just as out-of-it as the soldiers. Had they been drugged or something? Spike wouldn’t put it past Dr. Midnight to plan something like that… He rushed over and took the ship’s doctor from the young mares. His ridiculous strength made walking much easier than trying to lean on two different ponies with such mismatched heights. As Spike led the doctor forward, he glanced at Apple Bloom. “What happened? I was outside.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “‘Outside’ outside?”

“We were attacked,” Sweetie said, her voice trembling. She kept touching the gemstone necklace she had always worn since her adventure in Felaccia. “It was Caution Tape and Rhombus. They were working together.”

“Lacer the Displacer, too,” Apple Bloom added. “The displacer beast who tried to kill Fluttershy and the Cake twins.”

“Horseapples,” Spike swore. The word felt bitter in his mouth, but he couldn’t think of another way to put it. “I was attacked by the Reflection’s Twilight Sparkle. If they’re all working together…” He released the doctor as they reached Rumble and Scootaloo. His ears flared with a jolt of adrenaline. “Where’d they go?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “As soon as the Laputa crashed, Caution stopped attacking Scootaloo. He just… just picked up Rhombus and walked out of the ballroom. We haven’t seen them since.”

Scootaloo’s voice cracked as she turned to the doctor. “Is he gonna be okay, doc?”

The doctor pulled aside the bandages. They were already ruined to the point where they weren’t helping anymore. He nibbled his lower lip and set down his black saddlebags. Scissors were the first thing he pulled out. “Give me some space.”

Spike’s stomach turned as he got a good look at the wound. If the wingblade had missed his lung, he’d probably be fine. If not, then he was going to need all the luck in the world. “You heard him. Let’s give Rumble room to breathe.”

He led the mares away from the doctor, though neither he nor they actually wanted to leave. A brief survey of the ballroom told him that everyone’s injuries were being treated as well as they could. Now, it was just time to wait for the emergency rescue teams. The four of them went to where Midnight Sparkle had blown a hole in the airship’s side, where they could see Canter Mountain and the city on its side. Spike blinked in the light of the sunrise as it crested the horizon just to the left of the mountain. He focused on the city of Ponyville as it appeared near the mountain’s base, seeking a simple sight of normalcy.

He glanced at Apple Bloom when the mare made a strangled noise at the back of her throat. “What’s wrong, Bloom?”

She pointed at the glowing horizon, her hoof following the arc of the sun through the sky. “Spike, it’s only Eleven-o’-clock PM.”

The four of them watched silently as the sun rose high into the air. He could feel its warmth on his skin as though it were noontide, after a full morning of sunlight. It stopped at the highest point in the sky, directly overhead the city of Canterlot. Spike held his breath, a million thoughts running through his head, none of them good.

A pillar of fire shot down from the sun and struck Canterlot Castle.

Spike rose to his feat even as his jaw dropped. He rushed as far forward as he could before running out of deck. His arms hung limp at his sides as the castle burned, its spires crumbling and its halls turning to ash.

“Creator,” came his hoarse whisper, “what—what happened?”

Ba'al Shamayim

Andean strained against the unnaturally large talon closing around his torso. He heard the screams of Corona and Stella as they were dragged into darkness by the foul being’s other talon. The Lord of the Unseelie Court literally tore Andean’s family apart. Andean was able to get a single arm free and swing his sword at the scaly skin on the monster fairy’s claw. The strike was worthless, the damage negligible.

The King of Felaccia had the same dream night after night after night.

He knew it was a dream, too, and perhaps that was the worst part. He had once thought it was prophetic, until Queen Cicada of the Changelings had revealed that it was she seeding his dreams every night. Until she had revealed that his nightly torture was part of her plan to ready the mortal realm for the Unseelie Court’s return. Now, rather than prophecy, he knew it to be inevitability.

So he had prepared his kingdom for war, but when war came, it was all too clear that the battle with the Unseelie could not be won by martial might. So it was, each night, he came into contact with the vilest being he had ever known. Each night, he fought valiantly and failed utterly. Each night, he watched his children and his kingdom dragged away to the Abyss.

Tonight was no different. He looked up and saw the face of the Lord of the Unseelie Court. He called himself the Lord of the Sky. Celestia had called him the Lord of the Flies. A bull’s head, armed with fierce horns and wreathed with fire, smiled grimly at Andean.

“All your armies, all your weapons,” the Lord of the Sky chuckled, “and you cannot so much as scratch my hide.”

Euroclydon dropped from Andean’s limp talon. Sweat dripped from his wrinkled, featherless head. His beard was scorched and frazzled. He wasn’t sure he had it in him to fight anymore. Not in the face of such strength. Not with his kingdom and family already destroyed. He could fight for vengeance, he supposed, but the thought tasted like white ash. He bowed his head; all the better for the dream to end now than for him to exhaust himself fighting shadows.

A soft touch rested on his free talon. He looked down and saw a smaller talon, its skin a rich golden. The foreleg grew feathered as it drew nearer its torso, brown with the hint of fiery red hidden among each feather. She was a beautiful young griffon, just as she had been when Andean first met her nearly thirty years ago. The silver circlet on her brow glistened as if with inner light, and the fire radiating from the Lord of the Sky seemed dim and cold by comparison.

“Andean, wake up!” Fayr Ursagryph shouted. “The enemy is upon you!”

Andean shrugged off the Lord of the Sky as easily as he shrugged the blankets off of his bed. He found himself not on a battlefield, but in the midst of his private bedchambers. The moon still shone overhead, and his room glowed with its silver light. He looked at the wall beside his bed and saw Euroclydon hung from an iron hook, encased safely in its scabbard. He sighed; though the Unseelie Master was not breathing down his neck, he knew that the danger had not passed. Fayr was never part of his dreams before. No, something had changed in Castle Roc.

He opened his door and grasped the shoulder of one of the two Blitzwings standing guard. Shooting the other one a glare that demanded silence, he dragged the first one into the darkness. He shut the door and spoke in a harsh whisper. “It’s time. I cannot say how I know, but it’s time.”

“Yes, your grace,” the Blitzwing said. “We have Blitzwings standing by to gather the faithful. We can have everybody evacuated within the hour.”

“It’s going to take a bit longer than that. I’ll not leave Luna and her troops to suffer at the hands of Aquilla Gildwing. He may already be on the move.” He tapped his beak for a moment, then nodded to the Blitzwing. “Have Martial report to my chamber as soon as physically possible.”

“Very well.” The Blitzwing bowed and left through the door, moving quickly and silently through the night.

If he knew his nephew, Andean wouldn’t have much time before the young griffon reached him. He grasped a small mirror by the side of his bed and tapped the crystals along its side. A spell activated. Tense moments passed as Andean awaited a response.

The mirror’s surface warped and flickered. A diminutive face appeared, and a garbled voice echoed from behind the smooth glass. “Eeyes, vhat ees eet? Vhat could not vhait until mooorning?”

Andean smiled despite his predicament. “High Pariah Seabreeze, I would like to call in a favor.”

Aquilla Gildwing perched on the edge of Castle Roc’s air harbor: A large platform built on the side of the mountain that made up the castle’s base. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the soldier who had been bought and paid for. “And the castle staff has no idea we’ve gathered tonight?”

The gray griffon, named Fledge, grinned and flashed him a sloppy salute that Aquilla would normally have met with a blood-spilling backhand. “Aye, my Lord. Fish in a barrel to a griffon. The soldiers outnumber Andean’s Blitzwings three to one.”

Aquilla slid his sword out of its scabbard and held it up to the moonlight. The curved blade, shaped akin to a dragon’s wing, ignited with deadly fire. He turned to his soldiers standing at the base of the airship they’d arrived in. “Move quickly, then. If someone raises the alarm, it’ll be your head. I’ll slay Luna first before she can lend her power to the one-time King of Felaccia—”

“My lord!” A griffon near the back of the column pointed a sword towards the west. “The Equestrian ships!”

Aquilla’s beak snapped shut as he flew to the edge of the platform. Indeed, there in the distance, the Equestrian flotilla sailed at full speed towards the open ocean. Aquilla could think of only one reason they would leave in the dead of night so soon after arriving. “We’ve been found out!” He swung his blade and seared flesh and feather, leaving the traitorous Fledge half the creature he used to be. “Get down to the sea harbor and commandeer the ironclad warships! We’ll chase those vessels down and send them to the ocean floor!” He pointed his sword at the leftmost griffons. “Two squads stay and clear out the castle! Some of Andean’s kin might still be within!”

The perceptive soldier followed the largest group towards the sea harbor, breaking off just as they left Aquilla’s sight. He slid his sword into its sheath and clicked his beak, whispering to an unseen ear in the shadows. “Th-they bought it, and we’ve b-bought a few minutes.”

“Well done, Blankety,” Martial Paw whispered. “Let’s get to the rendezvous and hold the line.” With a brutal grin, he added “If we’re lucky, we’ll give Aquilla a farewell he won’t soon forget.”

The moon was already high in the sky when Applejack and company made it to the castle gates. None of the four of them talked much aside from little asides here and there. The air felt heavy. Not even Pinkie Pie tried to land a joke. They were there for serious business. It was always serious business when they met, these days.

She tipped her hat to the guardsponies on duty as she was ushered in and led to the throne room. She felt a smile touch her lips as she saw Twilight Sparkle pacing back and forth in her familiar little way. If nothing else, even if the whole world around her changed, her friends were still themselves.

She glanced up at the beautiful stained-glass windows that decorated the south wall of the throne room. The Hearthswarming Tale, the Ascension of the Sisters, the Return of Nightmare Moon, the Royal Wedding, so many tales from Equestria’s history were represented on the wall, and Applejack was always surprised when she thought about how many she herself had taken part in. A small part, maybe, but a part. As she closed in on Twilight’s position, she studied the most recent addition to the wall: “DayBreak,” the window depicting Commander Hurricane’s attack on Celestia.

“Already been five years,” she muttered in faint disbelief. “Can’t hardly tell what all’s happened.”

“Hello, girls,” Twilight said offhandedly, her face buried in a scroll she was still in the process of writing. “How’ve you been?”

“Never better, dear,” Rarity piped up. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it shall be to finally attend a party celebrating a triumph rather than mourning a loss. Have you seen Cloudsdale since it’s recreation?”

“I haven’t had time.” Twilight rolled up the scroll and tucked it into the saddlebags she had strapped to her torso. “Looks like we’re just waiting on Celestia, now.”

“Huh?” Rainbow Dash’s head spun around from where she’d been absently staring at Nightmare Moon’s window. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

All eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle, whose own eyes widened. She took half a step back and turned her gaze downward. “Everyone, this may seem a bit late to say, but…”

The door behind the thrones—the one leading to the princess’ treasure vault—opened. Celestia walked slowly in, with Twilight Velvet following at her heels. The High Princess of Equestria smiled at the assembled friends. “Hello, my little ponies. It’s so good to see you all.”

Twilight Velvet rounded the thrones, her face emotionless. Applejack smirked mirthlessly; even Twilight’s mom, usually so lively and self-assured, was under the same doldrum-infested spell as the rest of them. The commander of the Knights of Harmony took a seat on the stairs leading up to the dais and looked at Celestia, waiting patiently.

Twilight Sparkle bowed at the neck—briefly—then straightened up and pressed her lips together. “Hello, Princess Celestia. I believe you have some news for us?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth “What about Fl—?” but was silenced with a wave of Twilight’s wing.

Celestia blinked at Twilight, glancing at each pony in turn. “I suppose? Do I? I thought you called this meeting, Twilight?” When Twilight Sparkle shook her head, Celestia turned to Velvet. She received no response to her unspoken question.

Twilight clicked her tongue. “So we’re all just wasting valuable time?” She rolled her shoulders and addressed her four friends standing perplexed behind her. “I’m sorry, guys. Listen, there’s a lot I need to tell you but now might not be the best—”

Twilight was interrupted once again by a door opening. This time it was the front door of the throne room. “Apologies,” Applejack heard another voice boom, this one both familiar and unwelcome in equal measure. “We were the ones who called the meeting.”

Applejack shared a glance with Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, and finally Pinkie, getting the same confusion she felt mirrored in each. She turned around with the others and saw three hooded figures enter the throne room just before the door closed behind them. The guards stayed on the far side of the door, leaving the three figures to walk alone towards Applejack and company.

Though she knew the answer, Applejack still felt compelled to ask “That you, Mayor Merry?”

The first hood fell, and Applejack was greeted with the mare’s face… Though changed. She must have found a new coat-care routine, because she looked at least twenty years younger. She met Applejack’s gaze with a glint of iron in her bearing. A necklace dangled in front of her chest, centered with a shining yellow gemstone.

To her right, Silver Spoon walked steadily. Confidently. A blue gemstone necklace replaced the pearls she had worn since her childhood. She smirked at the others, her gaze jumping from one pony to the next.

To Merry’s left, a curly orange mane burst from beneath the third pony’s hood. A sullen glower crossed her face as she kept in step with the other two. The red gemstone she wore shone the same as the other two, humming with inner magic that chilled Applejack with sheer proximity. Like Merry, she seemed to have regained a hefty helping of youth. Though she was more than three-thousand years old, she didn’t seem to be a day over eighteen. She seemed to be the youngest in the room.

Twilight’s voice was small. “Adagio… I hoped you’d changed.”

Adagio Dazzle didn’t meet the princess’ eye.

Twilight’s sigh hissed with a lacing of venom. “But I suspected you hadn’t.”

Applejack turned to Twilight and saw a mare who looked ready to kill. It nearly stopped Applejack’s heart to see her friend like that, even moreso knowing that she was a full-fledged Alicorn with the power to do just that. The fear spurned her to act before she saw blood spilled. “Now… now hold up! Just what in the name of fried rutabagas is goin’ on here? Merry?” She looked to the Lord Mayor of Ponyville with a slight, desperate hope that peace could be achieved. “Merry what’s gotten into everypony?”

Silver Spoon snorted. She called across the throne room. “Twilight Velvet, if anybody takes a step, slit your own throat.”

Applejack gasped almost as loudly as Twilight Sparkle. She looked at Twilight Velvet to see the older mare holding a long, jagged knife against her neck, already drawing blood with how sharp it was. She decided to remain rooted where she was, come what may, but she still wracked her brain for some way to get the knife from Twi’s mom. Looking closer, Applejack realized that the fog in Velvet’s eyes was not mere malaise, but something far more sinister.

With the ponies in the room stilled, Merry Mare produced a scroll from among the folds of her cloak. She unrolled it and began to read in a cool, calm, commanding voice. “This is the warrant for the arrest of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “Did I eat spoiled oats this morning? Am I having a moment?”

Merry ignored her. “For centuries, Celestia has held claim to the throne of Equestria due to divine appointment. It has been said that she and her sister fulfill the prophesies made a thousand years ago by Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever. However, it has come to light that such a claim is not only false, but predicated in heresy. Documentation has been found within King Sombra’s archives detailing not only the birth of the two sisters, but the impetus as to their creation. They were created using inequine methods including but not limited to: Alteration of a fetus, murder, harvesting of fairy strings from said victims’ corpses, and forceful manipulation of genetics. These crimes should not be held against the Royal Sisters… save that they knew about their origins and yet still claimed divine right to rule! They could not be the alicorns from Starswirl and Clovers prophecies; merely science experiments created by a mad unicorn king and Commander Hurricane.”

There was a silence throughout the throne room as the thought sank in. Applejack knew a little of that from her talks with Twilight, brief and rare though they were. “Y—y’ can’t ignore all the good—”

“Do you deny it, Celestia?” Merry snapped at the old, tired alicorn. “Can you deny even a word of what I’ve just said?”

Applejack looked up and back at the princess. There was no fire in her eyes. No strength in her stance. No life in her voice. “I… of course I cannot, Lord Mayor Merry Mare. Though I wonder how—”

“And you used your divine right to rule as an excuse to tyrannize the entire world!” Merry Mare slapped the scroll with the back of her hoof. “Have you or have you not slain foreign sovereigns?”

Celestia flinched away. “Berkut was a monster. My foolish methods for dealing with him ended in tragedy for Felaccia, it is true. Yet I do not mourn the person himself. No one does.”

“And you, Princess Twilight,” Merry continued unabated, “did you or did you not use mind-altering magic that nearly got all of Ponyville to destroy itself over a doll? Have you not also participated with Celestia and Luna to continue to set them up as divinely appointed while knowing full well they are not? What do you have to say in your defense?”

Twilight Sparkle sent a nervous glance to her mother before replying. “I—I yes, I did use mind-altering magic, but I was pardoned because I was a minor at the time and was stopped before I could hurt—” Twilight’s eyes darkened as her face reclaimed some of the anger she’d felt earlier. “You’re using mind-altering magic on my mom as we speak! You’re the subject of a nationwide marehunt! I wouldn’t be surprised if you were behind Fluttershy’s disappearance!”

“Fluttershy is safe, and you have me to thank for it!” Merry took a step forward and shoved the scroll into Adagio’s hooves. “This is about you, Twilight Sparkle. And you, Celestia. And the lies you’ve built your kingdom on!” She raised a hoof and shook it, her necklace glimmering with every word. “You are both under arrest, as well as your associates and any who would harbor you! We shall be assuming control of your kingdom until a good, and just, and proper ruler can be found!”

Rarity found it within herself to scoff. “Good, just, and proper? Someone like you, I suppose?”

Twilight raised her voice, her legs stiffening each time her mother twitched. “How would you even enforce something like this? How many people would actually believe you?”

“Many will not believe,” Merry said with a raspy voice, “but everybody will debate it. So long as there exists doubt, there shall be two sides to the discussion. There shall be those who believe anything that speaks ill of the crown, and those who believe anything that speaks well of it. Two different schools of thought that cannot, by their very nature, exist alongside each other. They will destroy each other unless we step in and give them relief. Isn’t that right, sisters?”

Silver Spoon laughed once in the back of her throat. “It’s your own fault, Celestia. If you had just come out immediately with the truth, we wouldn’t be sitting on a powder keg today. But now, you have so many allies and so many enemies, all living under the same flag. Luckily, the sirens are here to set things to right.”

Adagio Dazzle tucked the scroll away. She shared a lidded look with Celestia. “You always knew it was going to end this way, Celestia. We both did. Without us, the whole thing’s gonna crumble into chaos and death.”

Celestia turned her eyes downward. “But why now? Twilight had always planned to bring this information to the general public, just at the proper time. Why now, when so much is at stake?”

Merry’s eyebrows shot up. “Why now? When your power is at its weakest? When our allies abandon us and our enemies gather at our borders? When the sun itself lies on the edge of becoming a superweapon for anybody who can build a sunspear? How can we not act now? How can we not arrest you for your crimes? How can we wait, as you did, to do the right thing?”

Rainbow Dash, her face turning purple with anger, pointed a wing at Twilight Velvet. “Yeah, the right thing, like getting Twilight’s mom to kill herself. You’re so heroic, Merry.”

Merry Mare grimaced. “Nobody will get hurt if you come quietly, Captain Dash.”

Applejack saw Twilight Sparkle’s wings twitch, as if she was getting ready to fly right through Merry. “Y’know, Merry, runnin’ a country is kinda tough. You’ll have to get the support of a whole lot of people for this here coup to run smoothly…”

“The majority of the Mayors, except for Gaston and Fancy Pants, have agreed with our way of thinking and have signed the warrant.” Merry waved a hoof at Silver Spoon. “As such, Silver Spoon will take my place as Lord Mayor of Ponyville, while I take over Mayor Pants’ duties here in Canterlot.”

Applejack squared her shoulders and lowered her head. “So now you’re arrestin’ ponies just for disagreein’ with you?”

“In order for Equestria to survive the next few tumultuous months, we must maintain harmony.” Merry Mare touched a hoof to her gemstone and addressed Celestia directly. “As we speak, in every city-state in Equestria, the Mayors are reading the same exact arrest warrant in their respective town squares. You and your associates will be known far and wide as dangerous traitors and dissidents. Unless your want your families and friends to fall victim to your own wicked lies, I suggest you do them a favor and relinquish authority peacefully.”

Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth and all but growled at Merry. “Your arguments would be a lot more persuasive if you hadn’t allied yourself with the Unseelie Court.”

Applejack felt an itch scramble its way down her back, like ants crawling across her skin. She resisted the urge to scratch for the sake of Velvet, but the intensity and suddenness of it was downright painful. It was as if it was a direct attack on her person.

She soon realized that it was no mere coincidence.

The applause of a single set of hooves echoed throughout the throne room, though neither Applejack, nor her friends, nor the Sirens were the source. She looked over her shoulder to see a lone stallion had arrived unannounced. He was dressed in a sharp, white dress uniform, like a high-ranking Royal Guardspony, perfectly tailored to his thin, muscularly-lean frame. A boater hat, white as his uniform, sat between gray, aggressively-lowered ears. Sunglasses with ruby-red lenses perched on his muzzle, just above a catlike grin.

“Oh, congratulations, Princess Twilight!” he said with a hiccupping laugh. “All you need to do is but invoke my name and all her arguments crumble to dust! They will speak of your legendary debate skills for centuries! Yes, all of the foolishness of Equestria justified with a simple phrase. Unseelie Court indeed.”

Applejack’s itch intensified until she was nearly ready to writhe on the ground. Only Velvet’s knife held her still. “Y—you’re a fairy?”

“So to speak, in a sense, mostly correct.” He took a seat in Celestia’s throne and leaned against a long spear. The weapon seemed to be made from a single piece of bronze-colored metal. “I am Jeuk, Master of the Unseelie Court.” He tipped his hat to the high princess. “Long time no see, Daughter of Light.”

Celestia ground her teeth at him. “I have been called that once before, Ba’al Zebub.”

“Lord of the Flies.” Jeuk nodded, touching the haft of his spear to his temple. “Yes, I recall your tender little nickname. You would do well to remember that I am Ba’al Shamayim, Lord of the Sky!”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Wait. So you’re the whole reason this is happening?”

“Not at all, my dear Daughter of the Sky.” Jeuk chuckled to himself. “I’m merely here so that when the princesses are removed from their ill-gotten positions, there will still be someone left to raise the sun and moon. We wouldn’t want the world to end over a little squabble between mortals.”

Rainbow Dash’s snout scrunched. “I ain’t no daughter of yours.”

“Indeed. Far from it, Captain.”

Applejack felt a small sense of relief warm her heart as she saw a touch of fire reenter Celestia’s eyes. The alicorn princess squared her shoulders and pointed her horn ever-so-slightly at Jeuk. “You have made such claims before and failed to act upon them. Tradition says that the power to move the Celestial Objects was taken from the fairies and given to the mortals. If you could move them, you would have seized them by now.”

“Exactly.” He glanced at Twilight Velvet, his greedy green eyes watching the red stream dripping down her neck. “For this very reason, I took on a body of flesh and bone. Blood runs through my veins. I have become alive as you understand life.” He tilted the spear back and forth. “So the sun and moon belong to me once again.”

Twilight Sparkle snorted. “Like Hell.”

The outburst made the fairy giggle. “I’m surprised at you all. How very near-sighted you were. Twilight, you didn’t even notice your mother wasn’t herself. Celestia, you didn’t realize that your kingdom was collapsing beneath you due to your sheer incompetence.” He glanced from Rarity, to Pinkie Pie, and finally settled on staring directly into Applejack’s eyes. “Daughter of the Sun and Moon, Daughters of the Earth, you never realized how far you’d strayed from your own Elements.”

The maddening itch on Applejack’s back came out in the form of a shout. “The heck you talkin’ about, Ballsy Bub? From what all I understand of it, you’ve been schemin’ behind the scenes for years! Y’all think Hurricane, and Tirek, and the Rainbow of Darkness weren’t your fault?”

“Mortals being mortals, I’m afraid.” Jeuk peered at Applejack over his glasses. “I’ve been imprisoned for millennia by the Tree of Harmony. I was only able to be freed once it died. Why, oh why, oh why do you suppose it was sick?”

Applejack squinted. “Don’t know what the heck you mean by—”

“You, Applejack, who have been so surrounded by deceit and backbiting that you balk at the thought of Ponyville, when it was once second only to your family in importance.” Jeuk sneered at them, each in turn. “You, Pinkie Pie… How long has it been since you laughed without restraint? Since you were happy for more than a moment at a time? Since you loved without anxiety? Rainbow Dash, your loyalty is legendary! To Cloudsdale, to the Wonderbolts, to you movie fans, yet you can’t be bothered to find time to visit your own adoptive sister. Standing beneath so many banners, yet champion of none.”

“I’ve had enough of your slanderous accusations!” Rarity flicked her tail. “Each of these mares would die for each other, and I would do the same. Claim what you will, but each of them is noble, and strong, and so far above you they have to stoop to speak with your wretched hide!”

Jeuk pressed his lips together. “Rarity. Generous to a fault. Gives of herself to her own detriment. Shares until it hurts. A provider no matter how they despise you. And yet, you refuse to give up one thing… One thing that was never yours to begin with.”

Rarity lifted her snout. “I beg your par—”

“Unless you can tell me truthfully,” Jeuk hissed, “that you are not venomously jealous of Apple Bloom?”

Rarity froze. She blinked and shook her head. “F-fond though I may be of Spike—”

“You loath the very sight of Apple Bloom. You hate her for being there for Spike when you had long given up hope.” Jeuk tapped the side of his glasses and glanced at Applejack, smiling. “Eroding your soul from within. Most very amusing.”

“You lie!” Rarity’s voice trembled. “You could never hope to see within my own thoughts.”

“No. I can only watch your actions. How you glare at her when you think no one is looking.” He lowered his spear point until it was aimed at Twilight Sparkle’s throat. “And you, Princess; how long has it been since you spent time with your friends? Since you even considered inviting them together under one roof? Months, I’ll bet.”

“We’ll fight you, Jeuk!” Twilight said, her wings vibrating. Was she as itchy as Applejack? “And we’ll fight the Sirens! And any other minions and copycats you dredge out of the gutter! You won’t hurt anybody ever again!”

Jeuk laughed, throwing his head back. He pushed his glasses up his nose and locked eyes with Merry. “You have your duty, Mother of the Sirens. Let’s get on with it.” He smiled at Celestia and gestured for her to turn towards Applejack and her friends. “Come now, Celestia. You wouldn’t want to be accused of resisting arrest, would you? Say farewell to your little ponies.”

With a pained glance at Velvet, Celestia turned around slowly. She held her head high and took in a deep breath. “My little ponies… No. No, my friends…”

Jeuk plunged the spear into her back.

Applejack stood frozen in place, unable to comprehend what was right in front of her. The bloody spear tip was mere inches from her face, just below the gasping, choking mouth of the High Princess. Jeuk lifted Celestia up and threw her through “DayBreak” with enough force to yank the iron skeleton of the window from the frame. Colored glass shattered outward as Celestia’s body rolled across the courtyard and out of sight.

A scream at her side shocked her into movement. Twilight Sparkle had teleported to her mother and was straining to hold the knife away from her throat. Rainbow Dash sprinted towards the Sirens with a roar, while Rarity and Pinkie glanced both ways, unsure where to go.

Applejack looked away from Jeuk just long enough to see the three Sirens encase themselves with a glow brighter than a sunrise. What emerged were three monstrous forms, covered in scales and brimming with draconically-sharp teeth. Each one was as large as a house. Silver Spoon’s silver-scaled, fishlike tail swung around and batted Rainbow Dash aside. Dash careened into the wall, but got up immediately and resumed her ill-fated charge.

Twilight Sparkle touched her horn against her mother’s forehead; Velvet fell fast asleep. Twilight pressed her saddlebags to Applejack’s chest and snapped “Help Celestia!” then launched herself at Jeuk. Travelling faster than an arrow, she tackled him full in the chest. The force of the crash took them two of them flying backward, first through the thrones, then through the back wall.

Silver glanced to either side at her sisters. “Mother, Crone, you have your tasks.” She lowered her head at the onrushing, enraged Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity. “I’ll continue with the arrest!”

A threefold voice, in perfect harmony, echoed throughout the throne room. Stained glass shattered and eardrums popped. Merry Mare and Adagio flew on trails of magic into the night.

Rarity grabbed Applejack’s shoulder and whispered forcefully into her ear. “We’ll only be able to buy you a moment. Find Celestia!”

Applejack held back a curse and watched them run for a moment. She tossed Twilight’s bags through the hole in the window Celestia’s body had made, then scrambled through herself. As she stumbled across the grass, she could hear the roars of Silver Spoon and the battle cries from her three wildly-outmatched friends.

She only hoped she could reach Celestia in time.

Aquilla peered through the narrow slits in the plating of the ironclad warship. The boat rattled as the cannons fired, blasting through the deck of a smaller Equestrian ship. It was insufferably hot within the bowels of the ironclad, but the armored plating made each vessel borderline invincible. The ironclads swarmed around the Equestrian flotilla in the night, blasting the wooden ships apart without even giving the ponies the chance to fight back. The flagship loomed just ahead, dead center in Aquilla Gildwing’s sights. “Fetack!”

A volley of cannonballs ripped the hull apart. Water poured into the lower decks of the Buttercup’s Folly as the sea consumed the vessel whole.

Aquilla narrowed his eyes, scanning the blackened waters, faintly illuminated by the burning ships. It had been far too easy. Even a fool like Luna should have been able to mount an offensive. Even the weakest of armies should have some stragglers drowning in the waves. He snapped his talons and pointed to the overhead hatch; a soldier unsealed it and let him fly out. He soared directly for the Buttercup’s Folly and sought out the ship’s wheel. He didn’t see a single pony.

When he reached the wheel, he stood silently as it spun on its own. A faint glow of magic drove the device, and the ship itself, towards the canyon and open ocean. A come-to-life spell. He sliced clean through the wheel and flew back to the ironclad.

His soldiers flinched when he landed hard against the metal hull. His artificial beak ground together until sparks appeared. “Order the ironclads to return to the castle! Run the boilers at a double burn!”

At Castle Roc, Andean’s defenders were just barely holding Aquilla’s griffons back. Blocked off corridors, loaded rows of volleyguns, and the expert swordsmen of the Blitzwings stymied the attackers at every turn. Even so, Andean knew that it was only a matter of time before they were overrun by sheer numbers. He peered out a window and saw the Equestrian fleet burning. More to the point, he spotted the ironclad warships speeding their way back to deliver reinforcements.

Princess Luna looked over his shoulder with a frown. “That bought us minutes at most.”

“But minutes are what we have the least of.” He looked down and saw a parade of changelings carrying disassembled pieces of the Sunspear away from the tallest tower, where it had been installed. In Castle Roc, they would have enough power to control the sun indefinitely, but where they were going, they’d barely have enough magic to sustain it for a week. Still, that was better than giving the Sunspear to a murderous lord like Aquilla Gildwing.

A clatter came from down the corridor. The last changelings in line were at a dead run, despite their burdens. Aquilla’s soldiers had broken through Andean’s Blitzwings. They chased the changelings with swords and talons bared.

Captain Care Carrot let loose with a blaze of fire from her horn, taking the first two invaders by surprise. Martial Paw joined by her side, jabbing and cutting anywhere he could find flesh among the smoke. Blankety Blank stuck to the shadows, clawing and biting the attackers that tried to retreat away from the onslaught.

All three of them were growing exhausted.

Luna watched with a glowing horn, ready to assist at the first sign of things going against the Knights of Harmony. She stayed close to the changelings, shielding them with her wings. “Seabreeze had better come through for us, or everything will be for naught.”

“He and Mangle will come through.” Andean gave the oncoming ironclads one last glance before joining Luna and the changelings in their scurry down the hallway. “I trust them with not only my life, but the life of everything I hold dear.”

Starswirl the Bearded leaned a knee against the table, rubbing his forehead. He needed to start the evening’s dream guarding, but the lure of his one-time-student’s travel journal was too strong. She had grown even more brilliant after leaving his tutelage, and plenty more cryptic. This part of her life had been a complete mystery to him; he had long since vanished with the Pony of Shadows.

He was yanked unceremoniously from his reverie when two hooves slammed the other side of the table, jolting him nearly out of his seat. He looked up to see Adagio Dazzle, looking younger than ever, glaring at him with the fury of a thousand suns. He swallowed hard and spoke quietly. “Miss Dazzle, perhaps now is a perfect time for me to apologize for how I handled things some thousand-odd years ago—”

“Shut up and listen for a second.” Adagio started scooping up his books and papers and stuffing them into his saddlebags. “The Sirens and Unseelie Court are attacking the castle. Unless you want a lotta people to die, you’re going downstairs and organizing the evacuation. We clear?”

“Clear?” Starswirl scrambled to his hooves as she shoved the bags into his forelegs. He balanced precariously, teetering back and forth. “The attack already began?”

“Yep, you got it!” Adagio shoved him towards the staircase and galloped toward the balcony. “Get a move on and get as many people out as you can!”

Starswirl blinked at the mare as she straddled the railing. “What are you doing?”

“I’m headed for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” She furrowed her brow. “Jeuk hates children. He’ll attack there next.” A blinding light surrounded her. Magic flashed and revealed the overwhelming form of a Siren. She snapped her teeth at him. “Move! Get to the base of the mountain! Get as far away as you can!”

She flew into the night and left Starswirl alone in the Dream’s Keep. He took her words to heart and descended the stairs two at a time. The feast in the dining hall would end early regardless, but perhaps he could prevent a disaster.

Merry Mare landed just outside Canterlot’s Town Square and transformed back into an earth pony. A crowd had gathered to listen to the proclamation. Merry had specifically selected the Captain of the Guard, the head of Celestia’s personal security, as the pony to deliver the news that their princess had been arrested.

Not arrested; executed, Merry thought with an aching chest. She had been killed right in front of her, without ceremony. Without speaking her final words. And Twilight would be the next to fall. Jeuk wouldn’t stop with them, she knew. He might not stop until all of Equestria was destroyed. He was completely—

She shook off the thought. She knew Jeuk would have to be opposed, eventually, but only after his usefulness was at an end. In the meantime, the entire kingdom could collapse unless she was able to unite the people. She shot a glance at Commander Stonewall as the mare read off the list of charges. The soldier’s eyes were glazed and unfocused, but her voice was loud and clear.

Merry began to sing softly, only letting her voice reach the edge of the crowd. There was no telling if the entire city had turned out or not, but if she could just sway the majority…

“Ah, ah-ah, aaah aaaah…”

One by one, the ponies fell in line, nodding their heads and speaking agreement with Stonewall’s words. Dissenters popped up here and there, but they were first stared down and then shouted down, bullied into silence. Soon enough, as Merry’s voice increased in volume, the dissenters’ voices vanished altogether.

All across Equestria, the scene was repeated. Unlike here, the other city-states had no Siren present to sooth the crowds. Soon, riots would erupt. Friends would face friends. It was harsh, but necessary to prevent the pro-Celestia opposition from getting a foothold and merely replacing the princess with another one.

The country would teeter, until Merry Mare stepped up to take the reigns and restore order. It would be a hard-won victory, but once the pain had subsided, all of Celestia’s tyranny would finally be repaired. Equestria would be as it was meant to be. No one would misuse the sun. No one would hold all the power in the world. No princess would force others to live as the princess wished them to.

Then, once Equestria was united, they would do the same to the Crystal Empire. Then Felaccia. And beyond.

It would be worth it, Merry thought to herself. It would be worth everything. It would be worth everything once she was reunited with her son.

If she was wrong, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

Twilight Sparkle slammed her hooves into Jeuk’s face. Again and again she struck, pulverizing his glasses and turning his hat to tatters. Wooden chairs and stone walls were nothing to her as she launched the two of them at the vault door. The hefty metal door shivered as they crashed into it. Jeuk’s body sunk into the surface of the door, panic and pain writ large across his face. Blood trickled from his nose. One of his eyes couldn’t focus on Twilight’s face, but the other was wide with dread.

She jumped back from him and grabbed the vault door in her magic. She pulled with all her might, ripping the two-ton hulk from the wall. She let the door drop, then picked it up to slam it against the ground. Once, twice, thrice she felt the weight of the door rock the floor beneath her. Cracks appeared as she ground the door against Jeuk’s body, twisting it back and forth.

Silence loomed. Dust settled. Twilight stood breathing heavily, her hoof to her chest. She spoke to the door and the blood-smeared body beneath it, “That’s the problem with being mortal, Jeuk. You bleed.”

She backed away slowly, awaiting some trick, or for Jeuk’s fairy form to resurface now that his mortal body was broken. More than anything, she wanted to see if Celestia could be saved. As it was, she needed to trust Applejack.

The metal hummed. Shades of bright red appeared in the middle, directly above Jeuk. They grew in intensity by the second, turning orange, then yellow, then white. Twilight sparkle steeled herself and encased her body with a shield.

The door popped like a bubble, flinging molten slag and spattering the room with fire. Jeuk rose from the hole in the door, none the worse for wear, glaring at Twilight with shimmering green eyes. He opened his mouth and belched fire. The pressure forced her back a step. His spear flew from the throne room directly towards her, but she noticed it soon enough to move her leg away. Jeuk grabbed it while it was still within her shield’s limits and swung, striking her across the cheek. The bladed tip cut deep into her cheek.

He grappled her shoulder-first and pressed her against the wall. The shield winked out and allowed the metallic shrapnel to jingle against the floor. As she strained to stay upright, Twilight came to an unfortunate conclusion: Jeuk was physically stronger than her. He stepped into her guard, looped his foreleg around hers, and threw her through the wall.

On the other side, she found herself within the castle’s central garden, just outside the ballroom. Stone walkways separated flower beds, and the entire thing was dominated by a single massive tree.

She hit a flower bed and slipped as she tried to stand. She looked up with wide eyes; it was raining, but there were no storms scheduled for the day. She looked behind her to see Jeuk, his uniform hanging by a tattered thread, stride confidently out of the vault room. He swung his spear jauntily, but the grin on his face was anything but sporting. “I’ve been waiting years for this, Daughter of Light.”

She gathered magic to her horn, recreating her shield and putting extra physical strength into the ethereal surface of the spell. Calling upon her pegasus magic, she spread her hooves and felt the water soaking into the soil. She felt deeper and deeper, until she could sense the very electrons that made up the water molecules. If she removed the energy from them…

The water around Jeuk’s body froze as the molecules aligned and locked together. The rain intensified and the ice coating grew thicker around him. Still, he continued forward. He laughed even as his mouth was frozen shut. He raised a hoof to the sky, one cracking jolt at a time, and pointed at the clouds overhead.

Twilight’s shield whined as it strained against an onslaught of hail. Lightning struck the old tree in the courtyard, burning leaves and sending its branches tumbling. The wind roared right in her face, blinding her, pushing her back towards the natural, wooden lighting-rod in the center of the courtyard.

“I told you a thousand times!” Jeuk roared to the heavens. “I am the Lord of the Sky!”

The hail was no longer round. It came down as spikes that drove into Twilight’s shield a few inches before cracking from their own momentum. The hair on her back stood up straight each time lightning struck the tree. She opened her eyes just in time to dodge aside from Jeuk’s spear thrust. Just as before, at the end of the thrust, he swung it aside, catching her off-guard. A line of red appeared on her shoulder.

Twilight worked her mind until it became a blur to her own perception. Water. Lighting. Conductor. Distraction. She commanded the water soaking the courtyard to flow thick around both Jeuk and the roots of the tree. She grabbed the tip of his spear and forced it into the ground. He jerked it back from her with a growl. Before he could realign his weapon, she bucked him with the force of a carriage crash and launched him into the side of the lone tree.

Lightning struck, and Jeuk’s screams became something unequine, something otherworldly. The tree collapsed at last and buried the Master of the Unseelie Court in a cocoon of wood and fire.

The hail subsided. Twilight let her shield dim, just for a moment, just to catch her breath and stop coughing. If the vault door hadn’t killed Jeuk, she knew that the lightning wouldn’t have either. She had to figure it out. She had to stop him here and now.

Wood crackled above the roar of flames. A talon as large as a pony burst from the corpse of the tree. Another followed suit and together they ripped the trunk apart. A face appeared, and vast black wings unfurled. Two horns thrust out atop a massive bull’s head. The greedy green eyes glared at her. The taloned, winged abomination leaped from the wreckage and charged for her.

Twilight Sparkle spun on her hind legs and flew towards the ballroom. She was overtaken by the bull-creature and propelled through the glass doors. The monster fairy took out the wall in his wrath. She ran as fast as her wings could carry her, sped along by flapping wings, ignoring the cuts and scrapes in her skin. She leaped and stayed just ahead of Jeuk’s goring horns. A flap of his enormous black wings kicked up a whirlwind and caused her to tailspin into the hallway. She continued onward, bounding from wall to wall as his horns and talons scoured deep gashes into the stone.

The chase funneled Twilight to the dining room, where a feast fit for a ball had been laid out and subsequently abandoned. She glanced around, perplexed. There should have been a mad stampede for the exit as the castle staff fled for their lives. She had expected to keep the Lord of the Sky at bay while they escaped. Finding her burden that much lighter, she faced the Master with a renewed vigor. She gathered magic to her horn, slowly crafting a spell of world-rending proportion.

Jeuk, too, seemed confused at the lack of partygoers. “I don’t know what sort of tricks you’re playing at—” He snarled at her, pointing to her horn. “I saw what you did to my nephew, Merimna! The crystallization spell won’t work on a mortal. You know this, yet you waste your strength!”

“I don’t know what it’ll do to you, sure,” Twilight said, “but I’m willing to bet it won’t be pleasant!”

The spell broke over him in waves, pressing him back, clawing at his skin with faint glimmers of solidified magic shards. He howled deep in his chest, stalking towards her, hit sharp talons digging into the marbled floor. His eyes watered at he drew closer, closer, closer.

Twilight reduced the power in her spell. It wouldn’t do to wipe herself out when it was clearly not having an effect. She grimaced to herself as she contemplated calling upon the power of the sun to blot him from the face of the earth. That was the last thing she wanted to do. To use the power of the sun to kill somebody, even someone as evil as Jeuk, she knew it could scar her very heart.

Before she knew it, Jeuk was upon her. He swung his head, catching her in the chest with a horn. The blow knocked the breath from her and sent her flying. Her horn ached from the spell being interrupted. While she was still in midair, he caught her in a talon. The nails dug into her legs as he balled his talon into a fist. He slashed at her face, her chest, her wings. In a burst of panic she teleported away from him. She stood near the entrance to the dining hall, heaving. Jeuk charged at her, overturning tables with every frenzied step.

She sent a blast of magic into the ground, then used a weaker version of the crystalizing spell to turn it into a large, jagged spike. Jeuk impaled himself chest-first.

Twilight sucked in a breath when she saw blood leak from his wound. It came back out in a gasp when he grasped it and yanked it from his body. He stumbled, his eyes unfocused, and leaned against the wall with a shudder of pain. He let out a weak, coughing laugh. “Well played. Most very amusing. I underestimated you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” His eyes blazed bright green, giving her a headache with their sheer brightness. “I’ll not be guilty of that a third time.”

He sucked in a deep breath, clenched his talons, and let loose with a feral scream as his entire body burst into flames. The blast of heat drove Twilight back; she felt the ends of her mane singe. The room caught fire around Jeuk, burning the tables, the food, the tapestries. When the volcanic whirlwind had fully enveloped him, he lunged for her. A slash of his claws, bathed in fire, cut deep into her chest and launched her back into the hallway. He did not chase her; rather, he walked steadily towards her, each thundering step melting the floor beneath him. A clenched fist tossed a ball of flames at her, which burst into a shower of sparks on impact.

The fire gave Twilight a moment of doubt. Would even the power of the sun stop somebody who drew power from fire itself? Her thoughts derailed as a maddening itch crawled up her legs. She looked down to see thousands upon thousands of fire ants climbing all over her. She shrieked and took flight. She tried with all her might to kick the ants off, but they held fast, biting down with a grip that even death couldn’t break.

The ants ignited.

The screaming ball of fire known as Princess Twilight Sparkle burst through the first window she could find and dove for the soggy ground. She hit the muddy ground with a squelch and a hiss as the fire winked out. Rain poured and thunder rolled as she washed herself free of the ants with the damp soil. Her heart thundered in her chest, growing faster with each lightning strike the illuminated the decimated garden. She turned back towards the castle and flared her wings to take flight, to find some other way to fight against the unstoppable Master of the Unseelie Court.

His bronze-colored spear flew from directly overhead and caught her right wing at the joint. It continued until it had buried half of its length in the wet ground. She lay on her stomach, blood mingling with the mud, screeching as pain wracked her every nerve. She tried to move, but the spear had her pinned, and attempting to yank away from it would rip her cartilage apart. She turned her head and lit her horn, intent to pull it upwards with a telekinetic spell, but a hoof against her forehead caused the magic to fizzle to a stop.

Jeuk, in the guise of a pony, stood over her, his softly-grinning visage illuminated by sporadic lightning strikes. He rubbed the top of her head as if she were a bratty child he was lightly scolding. “I’m afraid this little game of ours, while amusing, has come to its end. You are spent, Daughter of Light. You have nothing to bring against me. Just like Celestia. Just like River Cicada. I’ve outlasted everyone who has stood against me, and I shall plenty outlast you.”

She tried to jerk away from his touch, but every movement put strain on her wing. “If I can’t stop you, someone else will. Someone will find the Elements of Harmony. And you’ve never been able to stand against them.”

“Those little trinkets?” Jeuk guffawed. “I have learned. I have studied. The power of Knowledge kept me imprisoned for centuries, until you mortals corrupted Knowledge and twisted it to your wicked devices. Weakening it until Knowledge became ignorance!” He slapped her with his hoof, bloodying her cheek. “You mortals take such beautiful things and turn them to evil and ruin. You mortals, who think yourself the center of the universe, when you’re nothing more than parasitic accidents on an everlasting mistake floating in an uncaring emptiness!”

He throttled her, hoisting her by the neck and glaring at her eye-to-eye. Twilight couldn’t formulate a response. She didn’t even understand what he was raving about. She was too tired and hurt to figure it out. She furrowed her brow and gasped out what little she could manage. “Power… Knowledge…”

“You pathetic mortals have such short, violent lives!” He shook her and cut off any reply. “You couldn’t hope to learn what every fairy knows by default! You couldn’t hope to see beyond your own pathetic, meaningless existence! I’ve seen eternity! I’ve seen how you die! Growing old and senile, losing whatever strength you spent your entire life accumulating. Only to see it rendered into dust!”

She brought her hooves to her neck and pressed her forelegs between Jeuk’s. She pried him away from her, little by little, seeking even the slightest breath of air.

“You think you’re so wise and mighty!” Jeuk opened his mouth and allowed a black, thick miasma to seep out. “You’re wretched, mud-chewing animals!”

Twilight had exactly one second to realize what the substance was. The Rainbow of Darkness! That’s why he kidnapped Fluttershy first! He meant to steal—She howled with pain as she felt the Rainbow of Darkness burrow its way into her heart. She felt her already-battered body weaken like a deflating balloon. Her limbs sagged beneath the dead weight of her body. Her wings became little more than a warm blanket on her back. Her horn was dead and cold. Her eyes lost their luster and her cutie mark vanished.

Jeuk wiped his mouth, having absorbed all but the faintest hint of her magic. He chuckled, then laughed aloud. Still giggling, he seized his spear and tore it from her wing. She didn’t dare to examine the damage. She didn’t have the willpower to look at it.

“You, who has such Knowledge, should know what this spear is made from.” He swung it back and forth. Twilight was faintly aware of a hole in the clouds overhead, through which she could see the smooth surface of the moon. “It is made from Golemium, the same substance that the Changeling Empire used to create their Strutters. As well as their sun devices. Their… Sunspears.”

The spear began to glow with power akin to that of Twilight’s horn. Jeuk held the spear point-first towards the horizon, and slowly raised the tip upward. At first, the storm obscured the result of his spell, but soon, all too soon, Twilight saw the effects of a stormy sunrise.

The horizon became a deep purple. The precious twinkle of the stars around the moon vanished one by one, and the moon itself seemed diminished in the present of the Greater Light. Fiery red bled into the clouds, and the cold chill of the rainfall warmed with each second the sun climbed higher.

“You put me in charge of the sun,” Jeuk hissed to no one that Twilight could see. “You said the sky was my realm. My domain. My very purpose! And you gave it away to these animals!” His voice shook as he carefully lifted his spear higher and higher. “I’ll show you what the sun can do in the hands of one who understands it!”

Though the storm continued to rage, the clouds parted just above the castle. The sun stood as high as if it were noontide. It bore down on Twilight as if it was the hottest day of summer. She attempted to reach out and touch it, but was left utterly powerless by the Rainbow of Darkness.

Jeuk threw his head back and crowed at the sun. “Come down and destroy all of creation! Destroy all that once was, all that is, and all that will be! Leave nothing alive on this molten, barren wasteland!”

A pillar of fire came down and struck the castle’s tallest tower. The force of the blast pulverized it, and the heat of the sun transformed the rubble into molten stone and ash. The other towers tumbled. The buildings that made up the castle crumbled either from the draft of superheated air or under their own weight. Just when Twilight thought the attack might be over, the heat intensified. It bored into the earth, churning up dirt before blasting it into glass and then melting it into volcanic sludge. The earth trembled beneath Twilight as fire danced over her skin. It surged around her and Jeuk, but did not consume either of them. The sunspear seemed to keep the light at bay as much as it commanded it.

The mountainside cracked. Vast chasms opened up, leading into the depths of the old crystal mines. The mountain’s heart glowed as sunfire intermingled with gemstones made from old, solidified magic. The pillar of fire widened, threatening to consume the entire city of Canterlot.

Twilight could only lay still and watch.

In the deepest depths of Castle Roc, Andean stood before a stone wall. It was carved with the image of griffons mingling with creatures of all types, particularly a diminutive, pony-like creature: The Breezies. It was a tale from ages long lost. It was a tale that would be told again. The entire scene was encircled by a round indentation, almost as though it was a doorway that could be slid aside. No such door existed.

It was a portal of another kind.

The indentation glowed, and the stone scene dissolved into a swirling, shimmering pool of magic. Andean waited with breath held for several moments.

A tiny form materialized from the magic, blue of coat and frizzy of mane. The breezie waved at the waiting griffons, ponies, and changelings. “Vheelll? Vhat are yew waiting fooor?”

Andean drew his sword and put a talon to Luna’s back. “Lead them in. I’ll act as rearguard.”

Luna frowned at him. “You are not thinking of staying behind—”

“Not unless I need to.” Andean moved to the rear of the bustling room, which had long been sealed off from the public eye. It was useless to most, since the griffons were unable to open the portal to the Highways and Byways. That was the Breezies’ task alone.

There was a room like it in every capital city across the world, used in ancient times to transport breezies and their lifegiving Ambrosia to and fro. In years since, the Highways and Byways had been sealed off to protect the diminutive creatures. Thankfully for Andean, Seabreeze had been working to reverse the isolation. It was just a few years ago that the breezies had used the portals to secret the hippogriffs and Thorax’s changelings away to parts unknown. Andean sought a slightly closer destination.

Mangle, a massively muscular minotaur, came through the portal next, waving the crowd of refugees inside. “Step right up for your one-way ticket to Beefland! Let’s go people, time’s wasting!”

The ponies soldiers and remaining Blitzwings created a perimeter as the changelings carried the pieces of the Sunspear through the portal. Luna went through first, hurrying Corona, Stella, and Chrysalis II through. The rest took it two at a time, moving when Mangle of Beefland told them it was safe to enter. Andean looked to the long hallway behind them, ending in a staircase that led upwards to the lowest level of the castle. He held Euroclydon at the ready in a low guard, feeling the power of the storm held within the blade. The red pommel stone gleamed against his feathery beard.

Crested Barbary, Captain of the Blitzwings, drew his Wyrmslayer, the sister sword of Aquilla’s own. “I stand by your side, my king.”

Andean’s ears twitched at the sound of hundreds of griffon soldiers thundering through the castle. “Thank you, Captain.”

There they were! The first of the attackers had gotten past the rubble-thick barricades. Andean released a barrage of lightning at them, cutting down five before they could even see him. More came in, and were peppered with volleygun rounds.

The changelings had all made it through the portal. The soldiers were the next to file out a few at a time.

Aquilla Gildwing appeared at the foot of the staircase, his Wyrmslayer blazing with fire. He roared at Andean, his metallic beak shrieking as he snapped it at the castle’s defenders.

Andean smiled. “You’ve already failed, Aquilla! Take the castle, take my life, but you shall never have the spirit of Felaccia!”

Mangle reached his hand out to Andean. “Get back here, Ursagyph! The portal’s closing whether you’re in it or not!”

Crested Barbary crossed blades with a griffon who got too close. His Wyrmslayer melted right through his opponent’s sword and then through their neck. He flinched back as Andean’s lightning flashed and another dozen griffons fell. “Your Grace? The portal?”

Andean noted with great satisfaction that he, Crested, Seabreeze, and Mangle were the last defenders remaining. He pointed the tip of his sword at Aquilla and released his strongest attack yet. The griffon lord blocked with his Wyrmslayer and stumbled back.

Andean leaped through the portal just as it closed. He felt a tug at his small, bearlike tail, but pulled away before it could be severed. He laughed aloud, falling to the ground and letting his sword tumble from his talon. Mangle helped him to his feet, then gave him a firm handshake. “King Andean Ursagryph, welcome back to Beefland.”

He was in a small, rock-walled room in the basement of the Egg, Beefland’s capitol building. Mangle, with Seabreeze perched on his shoulder, led Andean to the upper levels, where windows were open to the warm summer air and the peaceful, starlit night. The escapees all milled around, exhausted from the fight and flight. Some were being cared for by the minotaurs and cows Mangle had gathered to help.

Andean frowned, noting Princess Luna standing at an open window, looking upward. He joined her and returned his sword to its scabbard. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

“Andean,” she said, pointing at the sky, “is it not some hours till sunrise?”

He followed her gaze, and his eyes widened. The sea was just visible past the short buildings that made up Beefland’s capital. Where he should have seen the reflection of moonlight against the waves, he instead saw the glimmering light of the dawn. “Do you know… can you tell who is raising the sun?”

Luna shook her head. “I thought it was Twilight at first, but the magic is wrong. Twisted. Intermingled with something I am not familiar with.”

“The Unseelie Court. It must be.” He sucked in a breath. “Of course. Aquilla’s coup was meant to coincide with the Master’s attack.” He snapped his head to the side to look her in the eye. “Can you stop it?”

“The source of the spell is far more powerful than I.” Luna’s horn glimmered as she reached upward. She huffed a sigh as the sun continued unabated. “There is but one chance, lest the Master of the Unseelie Court cause untold damage: The Sunspear. When I faced against Cicada, she baited me into grasping the sun while the Sunspear activated. The magic feedback was enough to send me into unconsciousness. Without Corona’s help, I would have died.” She gave a sidelong glance at the changelings laying around the room. “Our only chance is that the Sunspear hurts the Master of the Court enough that he cannot control the sun. That it is strong enough to keep it out of his grasp.”

“The spear is currently in pieces,” Andean hissed, “with barely enough magic to last a week under normal circumstances.”

Luna turned her eyes upward. “And yet, the sun rises.”

“Good point.” Andean turned to Queen Chrysalis II and lowered his head to her level. “Your Majesty, do you know how quickly the Sunspear can be reassembled?”

Chrysalis glanced at her second, Commander Bugly, who shrugged. “An hour or two. Why?”

“We do not have that long. We’re normally six hours ahead of Equestria, but at the rate the sun is moving, they shall see high noon in twenty minutes!” Andean snapped his talons to get Mangle’s attention. “Mangle, we need to set up the Sunspear as fast as possible. Have you finished the support structure?”

Mangle shrugged his massive shoulders. “It’s built, but we don’t know if it’s beefy enough to hold up to the force of actually raising the sun. This is something we were gonna workshop, you know?”

“Then we’re all relying on a miracle tonight.” Andean raised a talon and balled it into a fist. “Everyone! The Sunspear must be restored or our entire world will be destroyed this very night! Every able-bodied creature must help! Listen to the changeling builders! We have to do this right the first time!” He grasped the largest piece of the Sunspear and turned to Mangle. “Lead us to the support structure!”

Merry Mare stared, mouth agape, as Canterlot Castle was consumed by flame. The crowd had fled. The soldiers stood ready, but had no idea what to do. Merry wasn’t sure what to do, herself. She had never suspected Jeuk would be so callous, so brazen… She had lied to herself so perfectly.

Her first instinct was to rush to the Master of the Unseelie Court and slay him. Her second instinct was to flee. To get as far away from the damage as possible. To get everyone she loved to leave Equestria behind.

He had already demolished the castle. He was doing irreparable damage not only to Castle Town, but to the mountain itself. She could see fissures appear that lead into the ancient crystal mines which had gone inert hundreds of years ago. Now, with the heat of the sun, they were coming back to life, bleeding magic and igniting the mountainside with uncontrollable chaos that made the Everfree Forest seem tame. Nothing would be able to live on Canter Mountain. Nothing natural. Nothing equine.

She would have to spin a story from this. It was not Jeuk, but Celestia who attacked her castle with the sun. It was her resisting arrest that led to this tragedy, and her subsequent death was just desserts. The people of Equestria would be unable to argue the evidence of their eyes as Canter Mountain became a wasteland. Fiery wreckage rained down on Castle Town, destroying homes and businesses. Before long, if Jeuk continued his attack, there would be nothing left.

Merry caught a voice down the road, screeching above the roar of the flames. She saw Adagio Dazzle leading a crowd towards the air harbor. The trains were inoperable by now, so it stood to reason the safest escape route would be through the barges and passenger ships.

Merry shook herself. She activated her necklace again, singing louder than ever, calling the crowds back to her. She sang as she had never sung before, until even those on the outskirts of the city heeded her call. She directed them as one to join Adagio at the air harbor, to board whatever ships were left, to flee the city-state before all was lost. Even the stoic soldiers by her side joined the citizens, directing traffic and keeping people safe from stampedes.

Her strength spent, she slumped to the ground. The earth shook beneath her. Fire blazed around her. She shut her eyes and prayed; what, she did not know.

Twilight peered through the roiling flames and saw the faintest hint of the moon overhead. It shone on her, though she could barely feel it beside the power of the sun. With her own magic drained, she was acutely aware of the ambient magic all around her. She could touch it, direct it a little, but without her heart at its fullest, she could not grasp it.

The ground cracked open, swallowing the last of the castle. Crystals lay below her like rows upon rows of teeth leading to a hungry maw. Jeuk stood at the precipice, his spear raised, his greedy green eyes blazing. Twilight grasped a stone in her hoof and threw it at Jeuk’s head. It was swallowed by the fire the instant it left her touch.

There was but one hope she had left. She gritted her teeth and, with all of her strength, hoisted herself to her feet. She tottered, her balance failing her. Still, she braced herself and, with a desperate yell, threw herself at Jeuk. She hoped that the suddenness of the attack might send them both falling into the mountain’s gaping jaws, to be impaled by the crystal teeth.

Jeuk easily reached out and caught her by the neck. He smiled almost playfully.

A beam of light shot up from beyond the horizon and struck the sun with the force of a volleygun ball.

Twilight was thrown back by the force of the thunderous strike. She lay on the ground, her wounded wing hanging in the chasm. She looked up with held breath as Jeuk began to scream, his voice warbling and changing, his body shuddering with agony.

High in the sky, she saw the sun encased in a solid shield of magic, dimming the light and pushing back Jeuk’s magic. It was dragged, slowly, inch by inch, back towards the horizon. Jeuk renewed his grasp and poured magic into his spear, tugging the sun upward while the beam of light pulled it towards sunset.

“Curse you, Aquilla!” Jeuk roared. “Curse you to your son’s son! You were supposed to destroy them all!”

Cracks appeared along the length of the Golemium spear. Blisters broke across Jeuk’s skin. His eyes blazed bright enough to blind a pony. His voice was like a hurricane.

The spear shattered into thousands of fragments.

Jeuk wept aloud, clutching his ragged, filleted foreleg. He crouched at the edge of the precipice, watching as the sun was gently tucked beneath the horizon. The rain resumed all around the mountain. The fire died as Jeuk’s own storm reduced the flames to charcoal and ashes.

Twilight lay still, her entire body too weak to move. She stared upwards at a part in the clouds, through which the pale, smooth face of the moon gleamed down. She smiled and laughed, just a little. Equestria was saved. If only for the moment, her kingdom was saved.

“You think,” Jeuk growled, “that this is funny?”

With his unbloodied foreleg, he grabbed her damaged wing and held her over the gaping hole. She gasped; his skin had boiled away in some places, leaving bare muscle and white bone. His mouth in particular was missing half of his lips. Yet he still held her with the ease of a body-builder, as though she were light as a feather.

“I’ll have that sun, Princess.” He licked his teeth and heaved a breath through scarred lungs. “If not now, then soon. I would tell you to wait and see… but Equestria loses two of its princesses today.” He released her.

She fell into the chasm with both wings fluttering uselessly around her. She fell back-first, her legs reaching up as if she would be grasped by some helping hand at just the last moment. Feathers fluttered away, some swirling in the wake of her fall, framing the gleaming moon overhead.

The moon, the largest mirror in the cosmos.

Mirror.

She could feel the ambient magic of the moon surround her. Without the interference of the sun, the moon was able to fully envelop Canter Mountain in silver light. Without the sun’s unbearable flame, Twilight could allow the moon’s cooling magic to fully flow in and around her.

Just like the magic mirror that led to Sunset’s world, Twilight could feel the moon tugging on her. Drawing her in, yet awaiting her permission. It touched her horn and she reached out.

The world faded to white.

Applejack lay curled up behind a large stone fragment that had nearly crushed her when the castle burned. She clutched Twilight’s saddlebags to her chest, shivering with adrenaline and fear. Rain soaked her to the bone. Every flash of lightning felt like a stab to the heart.

The firestorm was over. She had work to do.

She shook rainwater from the brim of her hat and rose to her hooves. She glanced around as she strapped the saddlebags to her sides. Nobody was in sight. The castle had completely vanished except for a few scattered pieces of rubble. In its place was a gaping hole in the side of the mountain. Most of the castle’s wall still stood, except in a few places where it had collapsed. The ground was damp and muddy, the grass lawn of the courtyard having been devoured by the sunlight.

Her eyes fell on a rumpled form a few meters away. It had rolled almost to the outer wall after it had been thrown through the window. It was covered in mud and blood and fragments of glass. Applejack ran to it as fast as she could. She knelt beside the body and shook it gently. “Celestia? Celestia! Can you hear me?”

One eye blinked open. Applejack tried to catch her gaze, but Celestia wasn’t looking at anything. “C’mon, Princess… I gotta—I gotta getcha to the hospital. You’re gonna be okay.”

Celestia’s chest barely moved when she breathed out a soft voice. “Applejack…”

“You don’t gotta try an’ talk, Princess.” Applejack looked over her shoulder, hoping to see Royal Guards who might help her, but fearing Jeuk and his minions. “It’ll just exhaust you. I’ll get you to safety.”

“No… Applejack…” Celestia’s eye closed. Her pink mane lay matted against her face. “You… already… helped…”

“Celestia, you gotta hang on!” Applejack rested her hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “Think of all the ponies relyin’ on you. Think of Twilight and Luna. They’ll be lost without yah.”

“But not… you…” Celestia smiled. “I’m so glad it was you, Applejack. I’m so glad… it was you…”

“Just save your energy.” Applejack turned away, but Celestia moved her hoof to stop her. “Princess, please.”

“I broke the world,” Celestia sighed. “But you’ll… you’ll…”

Her hoof dropped as her body fell limp.

Applejack knew it the moment it happened. She knew what it looked like for a pony to leave the world behind. She wanted to shake Celestia again, to try to rouse her, to tell her it would be alright. But she was too honest with herself. She turned her head aside and shut her eyes, pulling the brim of her hat over her face.

She heard voices talking. Hoofsteps approaching. She scurried to the wall and hid herself in an alcove, out of sight. It was a small gate that led to the outside, normally locked, but the door had been destroyed by the sunfire.

“What a miserable way to die.”

Applejack peered around the stone wall and saw Silver Spoon and Jeuk standing beside Celestia’s body. The Master of the Unseelie Court looked like he had been chewed up and spit out, but even as she watched, his wounds came back together. His skin mended itself like a cloth tearing in reverse. He turned to Silver and gave her a glowering look. “Report, Maiden.”

“Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are all in custody. Twilight Velvet’s wounds are being taken care of…” Silver Spoon glanced around. She fidgeted with her silver-rimmed glasses. “I haven’t seen Applejack. It’s like she vanished into thin air after you killed Celestia. I have the guardsponies combing the mountain for her, but the magic from the mines is making travel dangerous.”

“She needs to be found, Silver.” Jeuk kicked Celestia’s leg and watched it shake stiffly. “She and all the castle staff. You have troops following the exiles from Castle Town?”

“They’ve split up, each barge going to a different city.” Silver Spoon looked up at the rain clouds overhead. “They’ll spread the word about the city. About the sun. Everything.”

“Excellent.” Jeuk rubbed his chin. “The more people know about ‘Celestia’s’ attack on Canterlot, the easier it will be for you three to consolidate power.”

Applejack eased herself back into the shadows. The mountainside behind her was filled with dangerous, uncontrolled magic, but it still seemed safer than confronting Jeuk and the sirens. She was about to run off, when she heard a third voice.

“How dare you! How dare you, Jeuk!”

Merry Mare descended upon the scene, transforming from a siren back to an earth pony. She thundered her way across the scorched courtyard to the mortal fairy prince. She reached out to grab him, but he danced away. “We had them! They were going to come peacefully! But no, you’re so bloodthirsty that you’ll destroy an entire city-state to get your way!”

“You would have done the same, Siren Mother.” The last of his wounds mended themselves. He drew himself up proudly, allowing Silver Spoon to lean on his foreleg. “Or you should have. We spent too long allowing Celestia the chance to come back time and time again. I finished things. Only by burning away the old ways can the new ways flourish to their full potential.”

“That’s completely separate,” Merry screamed, “to burning down a city full of people!”

“And you’re smart enough to spin things correctly.” Jeuk prodded her in the chest. “You’ve already thought up the story, haven’t you? It was Celestia herself who destroyed the city, while the heroic Sirens led the people to safety and defeated the Mad Alicorn Princess.” He raised his head to meet her eye-to-eye. “Be smart enough to take the golden opportunity I’ve given you. Be smart enough to rejoice that two—yes two—of your immortal enemies are dead. Be smart enough to continue to lead Equestria to its new golden age.” He stepped on Celestia’s wing and shouted at the top of his lungs. “And somebody clean up this garbage!”

His words were like an arrow to the heart. Two of the immortals were dead? But that would mean… He hadn’t mentioned Twilight at all. Neither had Silver Spoon. She couldn’t be dead, too. She couldn’t! Applejack wouldn’t believe it until she saw her with her own two eyes! She clutched Twilight’s saddlebags close to her chest, her forelegs shaking. She felt her friend’s writing utensils, her notebooks, and a larger book besides. Peering in, she saw the Grimoire Alicorn in all its hideous glory. She resisted the urge to find the nearest chasm and throw the book into oblivion.

Beside the book, in a small pocket, she felt something round and hard. She reached in and touched it. It glowed with a warmth that she’d only ever seen in Granny Smith’s eyes. Kindness. Ah, Fluttershy’s eyes had that feel to them as well. Now, more than ever, she knew she needed to run as far away from Jeuk and the Sirens as possible. She couldn’t risk losing their only hope to fight back.

As she looked at Kindness within the bag, Celestia’s body began to glow as well. Applejack pressed her hat against her head and her eyebrows jumped up. Before her eyes, before the eyes of the Sirens and Jeuk, Celestia’s body became a solid piece of crystal from head to tail. After a moment, it slowly, piece by piece, crumbled to dust and blew away on the wind.

The ponies stared dumbfounded at the spectacle. But more than anybody else, it was Jeuk who seemed absolutely perplexed. Silver nudged the mortal fairy. “King Jeuk… what just happened?”

“Never mind that,” he said after a moment. He touched the empty patch of mud where Celestia had lain. Anger fell over his features and he flicked the mud at nopony in particular. “Where is Adagio?”

Merry Mare shrugged, her eyes never leaving the empty, pony-shaped imprint. “She should have been back by now. She was supposed to take her revenge on Starswirl to prevent him from interfering.”

Jeuk cursed, the ferocity of which caused even Silver Spoon to flinch. “Find her. Gather everybody. The Grove of Golden Apples will arrive within the week. That shall be your new seat of government now that Canter Mountain is corrupted.” He flashed them a venomous glare and jerked his head towards the west. “Go on, then. We need to gather the troops and prepare for our march on Ponyville. Move!”

While the three of them went one way, Applejack descended along the south face of Canter Mountain, on the side closest to Ponyville. She wasn’t ready to cry yet, though she desperately wanted to. The adrenaline that kept her alive prevented her from reacting just yet. And maybe she never would be able to react. Maybe her mind wouldn’t be able to fathom what she’d just seen. Everything had gone to Hell. Everything.

It was hours before she reached the ground. By then, Cadence had started sunrise. Applejack shivered, wet and tired after an entire night fighting and fleeing. The miasma of magic around the mountain was enough to make her vomit. The rain had finally departed an hour into the descent, but left the ground muddy and slick. She sat exhausted at the border of the Everfree Forest, and found it a much more hospitable environment. And then, just through the trees, Ponyville. Home.

Jeuk’s next target.

Applejack leaned her head back and sought the last few sparkles of stars. She sought some semblance of comfort. Some thought that maybe Ma, Pa, and Granny were all up there, watching over her. What she saw made her blood run cold.

The moon was no longer a clear, clean circle of light. A shadow fell across its surface. A silhouette of a pony’s head. Her heart caught in her throat as she recognized the precise mane-cut, the impeccably-even bangs, the taper of the horn, the curve of the nose…

The Mare in the Moon was Twilight Sparkle.

End of Book One – The Siege of Canterlot

Tales of the Second Age

Whitetail Woods
Western Territory of Pre-Pony Equestria
The First Spring in the Reign of Her Majesty, River Cicada, Year 1000 BCE (Before Celestial Era)

Adagio Dazzle poked her head out of the cave and beheld a blue sky, the first in months. She sniffed the air and detected flowers instead of sulfur. A quietness fell over Whitetail Woods that was, at last, peaceful rather than ominous. The young earth pony mare took slight, hesitant steps out from the shadows and eased into the light.

The Unseelie Court had failed! River Cicada and her friends were triumphant!

Another step into the light, however, brought a new realization to her. The world felt… different. Strange. The sun had once felt like a warm blanket over the world. Now, it felt like she was standing too close to a campfire. The leaves which once shone with a vibrant, jewellike gleam had paled to something resembling paper. The wind that had once smelled of sweetness now tasted like dirt upon her tongue.

That was the price of survival, she supposed. A lessening. A diminishing.

Before she could voice her thoughts, a blur of brown fur and mismatched limbs bounded out of the cave above her. “They did it! I told you they could! Didn’t I tell you they could? Here you are moping around in the darkness, dreading your inevitable doom, and all you had to do was believe your dear friend when he said it was going to be all right.”

Adagio sat down hard as Discord perched atop her curly mane, resting lightly despite being five times her size. So it was with Creatures of Thought like the Draconequus; only as physically real as they wished to be. She crossed her eyes as she looked up at his smug face and gave him an equally smug smile. “I don’t usually trust what I can’t control, you know. And believe you me, things got wildly out of control.”

“Have you forgotten, Adagio?” He tapped her shoulder to get her to look left, then settled down on her right. “Control is an illusion, a silly name you mortals made up for when the winds of fate blow your way.”

“You’re really gonna sit there and pretend we had nothing to do with—?” She threw her forelegs out to gesture at their surroundings. When he continued to smile, she shook her head with a sigh. “Never mind. Of course you will.” She patted his side with a hoof and stared out into the woods. “Just know that I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“The winds of fate blow where they may,” he said with a chuckle.

She trotted to a nearby apple tree and took a blossom that had fallen from the branches. They had once smelled like the richest of candies. Now, it smelled… fresh? Clean? She nestled it in her mane as she returned to the cave to retrieve her bag. “You gonna stick around long enough to rebuild?”

He cracked his back in three different places, which broke open three walnuts. He tossed one to Adagio and chomped on the rest himself. “With Ba’al Shamayim and his goons shunted off to the Abyss, and River Cicada taking the reins of a new world… Honestly, I don’t know what to do with myself.” He glanced over his shoulder, his expression a rare example of unease in the Draconequus. “Rebuild the garden? I think it was destroyed for a reason. And I don’t think I’d be able to stay there without thinking of the others… How the Unseelie Court… killed the Draconequi.”

“The Court’s been banished, Discord,” Adagio said with a firm voice, one that she didn’t fully believe in. “And the Rainbow of Darkness went with them. I don’t think there’s any power, fairy or mortal, who can hope to harm you now.”

“It’s not about me.” He wiped the worry from his mug and grinned, displaying his snaggletooth as if it were a glamourous ivory horn. “It’s about letting bygones be gone by. It’s about moving forward, reaching for the future, kicking the dust from my proverbial sandals.”

Adagio plopped her bag beside him and opened it, revealing the three golden apples they’d secreted away from the Unseelie Court. Three apples that contained the elixir of life, the power to return youth to the old, to keep the young strong. Even just looking at them, Adagio was filled with vigor. A vim that left her unable to sit still. She looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “Maybe the Tree of Life was destroyed for a reason. But maybe that reason was that Ba’al Shamayim is an evil, sick dastard. Maybe it’s more important that we saved these fruits.”

Discord chuckled, rubbing her head with his talon. “Well, if that’s how you feel about it, I’m not going to try and stop you.”

“Besides…” She rubbed the skin of one of the apples until she could see her face staring back at her. “While I was with the Tree of Harmony, I got this… this feeling. Like this is what I was supposed to do with my life. Like it would be important some day. More than even I know.”

Discord snorted. “More important than what you did for River?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Maybe taking care of both—Life and Harmony—is what I’m meant for.”

Discord tapped a paw against his chin. “You know, long ago, the Tree of Harmony had another name.”

Adagio’s eyes widened. “What was it?”

“It was once the Tree of Knowledge. Then, through perfect Knowledge, we achieved Harmony.” He picked up a golden apple and dangled it by its stem in front of her eyes. “Life and Knowledge. Dare I say, in order to fully comprehend the one, you must eat much of the other.”

She took the apple from him and placed it alongside its siblings. She sealed the bag and slung it over her back. “Then I shall travel to the Tree of Harmony to glean its knowledge. Shall you accompany me, Discord Draconequus?”

“I shall, until forces more powerful than I thrust us apart.” He tittered at his little comment, though Adagio noted a hint of wariness in his voice. “At least… at least until the new golden apple tree sprouts. I wasn’t kidding when I said the thought of it… haunts me.”

Adagio frowned, walking at a gentle pace through the forest. She spoke softly, her voice only just carrying to his ears. “Don’t think of it as all that remains of your people. Think of it as a final ‘rut you’ to Ba’al Shamayim. A final failure of his kingdom to endure. A symbol of everything he’s ever done being undone and becoming new again.”

Discord’s soft smile was a far cry from his usual belly-deep guffaw, but it seemed all the more real for it. “You sound like my uncle, Antipathy. The guy wouldn’t admit the sky was blue if he wasn’t the one who said it first. But you’d find no one you’d rather have on your side.”

“Sounds like a fun guy. Also like a guy whose lights I’d like to punch out.” Adagio Dazzle adjusted the young blossom in her mane to prevent it from blowing away in the bitter-smelling wind. “What’d he look like? Was he as crazy a jumble of limbs as you?”

“I hesitate to say he even resembled an animal at all.” Discord twirled his goatee with a bird-like talon. “Except for his head, which looked quite a bit like… like a… Hmm. That’s odd.”

“Draconequi often are.”

“No, it’s just—” Discord scratched the top of his head, peering into the middle-distance. “I… I had it just a moment ago, but… I swear, I can’t recall how he looked.”

Adagio pursed her lips. “You? Your brain isn’t even real—er—physical. Is it? How does a Creature of Thought forget something?”

“I mean—” Discord hunched his back, pacing back and forth while still keeping pace with Adagio. “I didn’t think it possible. But now that I think back… some of the Draconequi are fuzzy. Indistinct. I remember the day to day drudgery of caring for the Tree of Life. I remember meeting you. I remember—hmm—I remember finding everyone… dead.” He drooped in midair, no longer pantomiming a walk as he floated alongside her. “Is it because they were Creatures of Thought as well? Never truly existing physically in this world? Is that why they’ve faded from my memory? Because they weren’t real as you mortals understand reality?”

“If they weren’t real, how could they have cared for the Tree of Life?” Adagio got behind him and pushed him along. Gently, if firmly. “You are as real as anything else in my life, so I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

He sighed, more forcefully than before, and lowered an eyebrow. “Then what do I have to worry about, pray tell?”

Adagio gritted her teeth and spoke out of the side of her mouth. “You’re the one saying control is an illusion. Why worry about what you can’t change?”

He crossed his arms and became too heavy for Adagio to move. “Because you don’t believe a word of what you just said, Little Miss Songstress.”

“Yeah, well—” She stopped. Her head fell forward to lean against his back. “Yeah. You’re right. We’ll figure it out together. I promise.”

Discord decreased his mass and was practically launched forward by Adagio’s forehead. He waved as he sailed away on the wind. “I’ll hold you to that promise, my friend!”

“Get your Draconebutt back here, you dummy!” Adagio charged after her friend, feeling a little lighter on her feet at his improved mood. She clicked her tongue, clicked her heels, and galloped east, towards the cavern that held the Tree of Harmony.

All the while, Discord’s strange memory loss hung heavily on her mind.

Central City
Everfree Territory of The Changeling Empire
The Two-Hundred-Fifty-First Autumn in the Reign of Her Majesty, River Cicada, Year 749 BCE

Adagio Dazzle stared down at the corpse of the changeling she’d just killed. There were dozens like it littering the valley, alongside an equal number of pony corpses. This creature in particular looked young, perhaps just old enough to join the army.

Perhaps just old enough to fake being old enough.

The changeling city loomed in the distance. A massive multi-level ziggurat, beneath which ran the great halls and cavernous tunnels of the Changeling Empire’s Central City. Changelings swarmed around it like a black cloud, like a swarm of fruit flies over rotten apples. Unicorn magic clashed with changeling fire as the pony slaves revolted against their keepers. Pegasi launched flight after flight of arrows and spears. Earth ponies caused the earth to shake beneath their hooves as they stampeded through the changeling horde.

“Maiden Adagio!”

Adagio tore her eyes away from the battle and caught sight of a mud-covered earth pony running towards her. He was bleeding from several wounds, but she suspected his opponents had fared much worse. “What is it, Haberdasher?”

“It’s the strutters, Ma’am!” Haberdasher heaved in great gobs of air as he skidded to a stop in front of her. “Our troops are barely holding them inside the ziggurat! We are going to be overwhelmed within an hour.”

Adagio winced. Strutters; mechanical monsters designed by changeling scientists to be brutal, unstoppable war machines. They were powered by harvested pony hearts, guided by changeling soldiers. Killing one of them was as good as killing a fellow pony, and a thousand times more difficult. “Have the earth ponies collapse the entrances. Changeling stone crumbled the same as any other.”

“We tried,” Haberdasher said, still breathing heavily. His voice was growing more ragged by the second. “They dug themselves out. They clear the debris away as fast as we can create it. The front line is collapsing.”

Adagio closed her eyes. He needed to rest. They all needed to rest. They’d been at this fight, collapsing changeling camps and outposts one at a time, for nearly a year now. The ponies had finally risen up after decades of slavery… only to be faced with an overwhelming army. Now, rather than liberate the ponies, Adagio found herself leading them to their deaths.

“Have you heard anything from the Mother?” Adagio touched the red gemstone she wore around her neck and felt for its power humming within. When the stallion didn’t reply, she looked to him, only to see that he had collapsed in a lifeless heap, his strength spent forever. Adagio cursed and charged towards Central City, leaving his corpse among his fellow warriors.

As she approached the city, she heard a voice singing a song louder than the cacophony of battle. It could only be Partita, Mother of the Sirens. She quickened her pace. Perhaps she could add her song to Partita’s, giving their troops even greater strength and unbalancing their enemies. Her Siren’s Sigil glimmered from its place around her neck, drawing power from the violence, lending its strength to Adagio’s body. It could turn the hearts and direct the minds of any who heard it. The varied and interconnected pathways she had carved into the gemstone directed the magic in intricate, ingenious ways that no one before her—and no one after her—had ever devised. Some would call the Sirens’ Sigils her magnum opus.

When she drew near the ziggurat, Partita’s voice boomed louder and louder. Adagio realized with a start that it was not merely from proximity. Partita was singing ever louder, reaching notes once thought impossible for a pony to sing. Her song had reached a pitch and speed that made it so that Adagio could no longer understand the words. Her hackles rose, sending a prickling sensation running up and down her entire body. This was wrong. A spell of this magnitude shouldn’t be attempted alone, not even by Crone Toccata. Adagio bowed her head forward and ran until her chest burned and her legs cramped. Then she ran faster. She ran past a pegasus who had fallen from the sky, clutching her ears and screaming like a madmare, though there was no way to hear her over the tremendous siren’s song.

Just before Adagio reached the ziggurat, just before she could get close enough to add her voice to the song, just before she had a hope of helping Partita, the Mother reached the Crescendo of the spell. The air pressure bodily picked her up and flung her backwards. If she had not been wearing her own Sigil, she would have gone deaf for hours, if not days. As it was, she still felt a pressure in her skull and a ringing in her ears. All the changelings dropped from their flight paths, collapsing on the walls of the pyramidal building, or dropping face-first into the mud of the battlefield. The ponies fared no better, though most of them lay some distance from the changeling city.

When the note ended, there was silence.

A resounding crack, like a hundred thunderbolts flashing at once, pulled Adagio’s eyes to the ziggurat. Cracks appeared on the surface of the stone walls. Tremors shook the very ground beneath her. She watched in awe as the building seemed to melt before her eyes, sinking in on itself as it fell down, down, down into the depths of the earth, becoming debris and dust long before it hit bedrock. The screams of pain as changelings were kneaded into the carnage were drowned out by the death rattle of Central City.

Adagio staggered to her feet. Where once stood Central City was only a pile of rubble atop a vast network of caved-in catacombs. Strutters and bodies alike lay entombed. She trotted towards the ruin, moving slowly; every step could lead to a newly created sinkhole. Her gemstone necklace glimmered weakly as she used its magic to seek out any sign of life in the debris.

It took hours of digging before she stumbled upon the shattered remains of Partita’s green gemstone. Beside it lay shattered remains that no longer resembled Adagio’s friend. Adagio stared in mind-numbed stupor. How was she supposed to react? The pony soldiers around her had begun to regain their hearing, and had thus realized the battle had ended in their favor. All around, she could hear weary cheers, some of victory, some of merely being alive. She had little sympathy for either.

A few hours later, night had fallen over the Everfree. The pony army had rounded up the changeling survivors and locked them away. Two hundred of the creatures remained at most. Two hundred out of an entire city-state. Adagio glanced at the tent that held the iron-barred pen. Huge guards, the only ponies holding non-makeshift weapons, stood guard at the tent flaps.

Adagio herself sat at a fire with a few other pony leaders who had survived the battle. Each one was tired, verging on death by exhaustion. None of them had said much since the city collapsed. Adagio didn’t intend to draw their thoughts out of them. Small camps formed all around, their fires dim in the oppressive, starless night. The army couldn’t celebrate their victory. They were too hungry. Too injured.

“Maiden Adagio!” A pony trotted up to her fire and threw her a salute. “The scouts report a squad of ponies is approaching our perimeter. It seems they’re from Crone Toccata’s army up north.”

“They might be bringing news,” Adagio said as she stood up. Her generals followed close behind while she made her way towards the approaching scouts. A small, spry yellow-coated fellow, his skin mottled with bruising and mistreated wounds, waited for her alongside a burly green brute and a lithe, blue-coated mare.

The yellow stallion saluted, but remained seated. “Maiden Adagio… the northern changeling city has fallen. Queen River Cicada’s body was found in the forest—she had cut out her own heart. The changelings either died in battle or scattered.”

Adagio sucked in a deep breath. “Then the war is over? We won?”

“They were…” The yellow pony glanced at his companions and found no comfort nor closure. “There’s a lot…”

The scouts were given a meal—bread and water—and a fire to warm themselves beside. The scout—Bumble was his name—spoke quietly with Adagio and her commanders. “When the battle ended, and the changeling army surrendered, Tungsten named himself king. His first act was to declare ‘Dark Magic’ outlawed.”

Adagio frowned. “Dark Magic?”

“Necromancy.” Bumble swallowed hard. “Spells which spread diseases. Communication with evil spirits.” He gave her a pointed look. “Mind-altering spells.”

Adagio touched a hoof to her necklace. “He can’t possibly be conflating the Sirens with necromancers!”

“Maiden of the Sirens, his first act was to burn Crone Toccata at the stake.” Bumble wiped dirt from his forehead; it only served to smear it deeper into his coat. “He lit the pyre himself.”

The green mountain of a pony passed Adagio a small sack. She opened it with trembling hooves and poured its contents on the ground. It was shards of a purple gemstone, one that she had carved for the grouchy old mare she had called her dear friend. “How… how could you leave me, too?”

The blue mare shook her head. “It was clear he’d been planning this for a long time. The moment the battle was over, he was giving a speech while his troops captured Crone Toccata. Nobody had time to react.”

One of Adagio’s advisors, an older pony who had been a slave his entire life, grasped her foreleg. “Adagio, we can fight back! Declare yourself queen and all these ponies will follow you to their death. They have no power like a Siren at their side; with you, we can outmatch their army and bring peace to the ponies at last!”

Adagio looked to each of her advisors in turn, then glanced over her shoulder at Bumble’s trio. A solid lump of lead formed in her stomach. Her ears drooped atop her curly mane. “But… They’re ponies.”

“They made the first move, My Lady,” a tough-as-nails mare said. “They’ll execute you unless we act fast.”

Adagio turned away from both groups and stared at the remains of Central City. The mound loomed like the corpse of a giant. “I need some time alone. To process this.”

She started walking before any could object. As she trotted, she could hear snippets of her advisor’s conversation drifting across the ratty mud field.

“We should gather the troops.”

“Are we sure they’ll be willing to fight a war again so soon?”

“If we emphasize King Tungsten’s betrayal, they’ll be willing to defend Maiden Adagio.”

“Drat, what about the prisoners? We can’t travel with them.”

“If we let them go, we risk them rising up like we ponies did. It’s best to end everything now. It’s mercy.”

She shut her eyes. Of course. Of course she knew this would happen. It happened with River. It was inevitable it would happen with Tungsten. And it would happen to whoever eventually overthrew the ponies as well. The corruption of power. The denial of equinity to other species. How had she been so naïve, so stupid?

She hummed a soft tune, not enough to rouse the camp, but just enough that the two guards at the changelings’ pen were unaware of her. They wouldn’t remember her visit. She ducked into the tent and instantly had an audience of two-hundred. They cowered away, all having seen her transform into a terrifying monster on the battlefield.

“They’re going to kill you in the morning,” Adagio said. When the changelings moaned in sheer hopelessness, she continued, “When I open this cage, run. Do not go near any pony towns. Do not approach any ponies at all. Keep running until you can’t run any more, then keep running. Get as far away as you possibly can. Remember, if you bring harm to anybody, I will know about it.”

One changeling, taller than the rest, pointed her horn threateningly at the Siren. “How do we know you won’t simply slay us with arrows the moment we leave this cage?”

“Can you take that chance?” Adagio gripped the iron lock on the bars of the pen and ripped it in half. The way lay open. She glared at them, her gemstone illuminating her face with a fierce, red light. “Get out.”

After a moment’s hesitation, the changelings filed out, swiftly and silently. They escaped into the darkness with nary a hint of movement. Adagio watched from the front of the tent, staring intently into the shadows until she no longer felt the presence of the runaways.

She broke into a gallop, running until she had left behind even the meager light of the campfires. She stumbled over something she didn’t want to see. She kept going, until she had reached not the changeling city, but the canyon beside it. It was a deadly drop, but she knew the path to take downward. Stones jutting out at just the right angle, vines with enough strength to support her, roots that couldn’t be moved even by an earthquake. She reached the bottom and scampered through the darkness with only her own Siren’s magic to guide her.

After a hike that would kill most ponies, she came to an unnatural cave carved into the canyon wall. Words were carved over the entrance, written in language ancient even to her: “Where the First Word was spoken.” She all but ignored the words as she hurried into the cavern, to a wide open room that glowed with a familiar light. She shut her eyes and moved by memory, coming to a stop only when she was nestled in the roots of a magical tree.

The Tree of Harmony warmed her with friendship’s light. The sweet smell of its fruit tickled her nose. She almost heard the laughter of friends long dead, a glimpse of warmth in her heart. The blue, crystalline bark tingled at the touch, bustling with magic that resonated with her heartbeat. The tears came at last. She took the shards of Partita and Toccata’s gemstones and laid them at the foot of the tree. She wept, the two mares’ beautiful singing voices echoing in her mind. The two ponies she had come to rely on. The two she had though she would never have to say goodbye to.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the memento Discord had left with her: a broken branch and single leaf from the golden apple tree she’d grown. He, too, was gone. Never again to remember her. She’d tried to grow a new tree, but it had come to maturity too late. It hadn’t flowered until long after he had been taken by his own madness. Forgotten memories couldn’t return. A destroyed mind couldn’t be rebuilt.

Once again, she was alone.

“Now that is a truly pitiable sight.”

Adagio shrieked and jumped back from the tree. A creature lay in the branches, looking much like a pony with a clear sense of wrongness to it. His face was remarkably unremarkable, the type to slip right out of memory the instant you weren’t looking at it. His irises were gray as rocks; his eyes lacked life of their own, only reflecting the intelligence in hers. He wore long black robes over his gray body, to match his midnight-black mane. His limbs hung from the branches loosely, as though his tendons had no tension. His face contorted into the rough approximation of a smile. His skin seemed not to fit over his bones.

“Who are you?” Adagio snarled. “What are you doing in this sacred place?”

“Sacred?” The unpony tilted its head towards her, barely moving its lips as it spoke in a half-whisper. “Sacred, coming from you? Was Tungsten wrong to slay your sister? Your Siren magic steals the hearts and minds of creatures, robbing them of their free will. Removing their ability to love.”

An itch crawled its way along her skin, just beneath her orange coat. “What are you talking about?”

“Is he wrong?” The creature tilted his head to the side and turned his eyes to the ceiling. “Is he wrong to wish for freedom for his little ponies? They slaved for years beneath the scourge of the changelings. Now you would enslave them to a different master. You would enslave them to yourself.” He chuckled, a twittering little sound. “You didn’t trust them to follow you of their own free will.”

“The necklaces are about unity,” Adagio said, rubbing the irritation on her back. “We gathered an army in a matter of months. It was the only way to fight back against the changelings.”

“You didn’t trust them, and that lack of faith robbed them of the choice to trust you.” He lowered his face and glared at her from beneath his eyebrows. “You, yourself, robbed them of the chance to trust you. They would all die for you now, and they never had the chance to say otherwise. You are worse than the changelings, Adagio Gemcarver. Adagio Heartthief. Adagio Loverobber. Adagio Weaponmaker.”

“Enough!”

She had not noticed him climb out of the tree, but she backed away when she saw him stalking towards her. He hissed through clenched teeth. “You who had no faith in your followers denied their own faith. Do you not know that it is written that anything done without faith is sin?”

“Go away whatever you are!”

“Is not Tungsten,” he said with a smiling growl, “their hero? Adagio Lieschemer. Adagio Hatebringer. Adagio Mindrotter.”

She ran from the cave and into the pitch-black night. The shadows seemed to crawl around her like insects chittering against the itch in her skin. It was not a welcoming night, but it seemed preferable to spending more time with the pony who was not a pony. She knew what sort of being he was. He was a fairy. Of the Unseelie Court most likely. The ones thought defeated by Queen River Cicada.

Some of their number had returned?

A red glow appeared over the crest of the canyon wall. Adagio frowned at it; sunrise should not have come for quite some time yet. Had Tungsten grown impatient? Did he wish to flaunt his power before his new subjects? It seemed like a waste to exhaust so many unicorns in a showboating maneuver.

As she stared, the itch intensified and her eyes widened with understanding. “That’s not the sun.”

The unpony whispered into her ear. “Careful what fences you tear down, lest you unleash what they kept out.” She swung at his face, but he was no longer there. Still the voice trembled. “You’ve been gone a few hours, haven’t you?”

She climbed the canyon wall with her heartbeat heavy in her ears. Her hooves trembled. All she could hear was the crackle of flames. All she could see was smoke moving like a mountainous shadow in front of a bonfire. She had more than a few scrapes and bruises before she reached the top. But no pain could compare.

The camp was gone, consumed by fire. The bodies were well on their way to becoming ash. She could see Bumble lying alongside her advisors, could imagine their voices screaming for help, but no help had come.

A beast clawed its way through the smoke and flames. Its body was hewn from pure crystal. Its wings were veined with magic channels that spider-webbed across the webbed curves. Its short hind legs were of little use for running, but its lengthy forelegs ended in grasping claws sharp enough to tear into iron. A whiplike tail flicked a pony into its beaklike mouth, where it was devoured by razor-sharp teeth. Purple flames, the same color as its glowing chest, billowed from its gullet with a roar.

There were dozens of them.

Flying, crawling, scraping, burning, screeching. The monsters swarmed the fields of the Everfree, tearing up trees by the roots and incinerating the rest. Whatever forest animals hadn’t fled the battle between the changelings and the ponies were destroyed.

“It’s wonderful that you freed the prisoners,” the unpony whispered above the cacophony. “otherwise, they too would have been caught up in the slaughter.”

Adagio scooped up a rock and hurled it at the unpony’s face. He stepped deftly out of the way. He brushed dust from the front of his robes and eyed her with a questioning smile.

“You know,” he added, as if an afterthought, “my grotesques would never have been able to stand against the changeling strutters. Now, though, it shall be centuries before the Everfree Valley is inhabitable again.”

Adagio knelt in the soil and watched the grotesques rampage. Part of her wanted to charge in, to fight, to be killed alongside her fellow ponies. But the other part of her, the part that had carved the gemstone she wore around her neck, that kept her where she was. That kept her holding on to life. That kept her enduring the pain.

The unpony looked down at her and offered a limp hoof. “Adagio the Abandoned. Adagio the Abandoner. You can no longer name yourself among the mortal. You have ascended over the last two-hundred-fifty years. You have become part of this world, a part that shall never grow old nor fade. The Sirens could become queens. Overthrow King Tungsten and his newborn Crystal Empire, Adagio the Revenged. Claim your place as Adagio the Everlasting. Adagio the Exalted. Adagio the Beloved. What need have immortals for the petty dealings of mortal creatures? Stop pretending. Embrace what you have become.”

She touched her hoof to the warm, shining gem. She looked north, where Tungsten waited with his army of ponies, where the changeling capital lay in ruins, where he would slowly move further and further north to escape the grotesques. She looked east, towards the ocean and the griffon kingdom, which had already overthrown the third changeling city. Perhaps she might find sanctuary there among the gilded creatures. She would find none with Tungsten. She would find none to the west, where the garden of Elysium lay in ruins. She would find none here, where she was little more than food for the grotesque infestation.

Adagio turned south, to the unknown lands and the lifeless deserts.

The unpony watched her as she walked, step by step, into the shadows. “I doubt the changelings would accept you either, Adagio the Conqueror.”

She lay her ears against her head and kept moving.

The unpony smiled, a hideous, unnatural, bare-toothed expression. “One day, when your memory fades and your life grows wearisome, you will return to me. And you will bow before me. And it shall be… Most… Very… Amusing.” He pulled a black hat from Nowhere and placed it atop his head, balanced perfectly between his bent ears. “And you shall call me Princeling Jeuk, and you shall do my bidding, Adagio the Slave!”

It was some time before the laughter of Jeuk faded into the night. It was still longer before the violence of the grotesques dimmed in the distance.

It was decades before Adagio spoke to another pony again.

A Family Cave
North of the Cauldron, the Dragon Kingdom’s Capital
Early Spring, Year 500 BCE

Behemoth held her egg close to the warmth of her chest. The egg shown from within, the fire of her yet-to-be-born child fiercer than any forge formed by ponies or griffons. She breathed softly on the child to lend him her heat. As fierce as an egg’s heart was, they could not survive long without their parent’s magical flame.

Her green scales glittered in the light of the hearth of her cave, which far outshone the light of her modest collection of gems and baubles. Mere trinkets they were, compared with the joy of her child’s imminent hatchday. Just a few more months. She smiled as she thought of it, touching her clawtips to the rock-hard, smooth shell. The egg itself seemed almost gemlike, sparkling and polka-dotted with both her purple scales and her husband’s green.

“More precious than silver
More gilded than gold
A magical, mythical
Memory unfolds

“Hush now dear baby
The night’s not so dark
When I hear the whispering love
Of your heart”

Her frilled ears opened to catch the sound of a dragon clawing its way into the cave, unsteady on his legs. The familiar, bespectacled face of her husband appeared, carrying countless pounds of meat fresh from the hunt on his back. “If I am to feed three mouths I fear I shall never stop hunting.”

“Levi!” She greeted him with a kiss on his cheek and gently took the mound of meat from his back. “Perhaps not, but more gemstones would alleviate the need for protein.”

Levi sighed, scratching behind his webbed head frills. “Yes. That is… something we need to discuss.”

She carried the meat quickly to the pile of rock salt she kept in the kitchen. Though cooling the meat could keep it fresh, such was impossible in a dragon household. Instead, preservation was accomplished via salting or pickling the food. She set about salting as she spoke. “Levi… Hmm. The others talked about leaving the Cauldron again, didn’t they?”

“It is no longer talk, Beth.” Levi took his turn on the bed, surrounding the egg with his warm body, wrapping his wide, fluke-ended tail in a protective wall. “Dragonlord Thorntooth has decreed that we are to travel across the sea to a new land. It is the only way to escape the grotesques. They cannot travel over the ocean, as our fliers can.”

“The dragons always migrate north and south, never east or west,” Beth said, rubbing salt into the meat. She narrowed her eyes to study it; it appeared to be pork. Non-sapient meat was difficult to come by nowadays, and the dragons recognized inter-sapient cannibalism for the evil it was. Levi must have traveled far to find a herd of pigs. Dangerously far. “At least, so it was in the days before the grotesques came.”

“But the grotesques indeed came.” Levi idly blew superheated breath across the shell of the egg, tapping his claws in a rattle against the floor. “And we can no longer go north to the gem mines, so long as they rule the Everfree. The west no longer has good hunting grounds, none that diamond dog bandits haven’t pillaged. So we must go east. We must cross the sea.”

Behemoth hissed, her tongue slithering like a snake swallowing dirt. “Do you agree with that, or are you being forced to go along with popular opinion?”

“Agree or disagree,” Levi muttered, “one must obey an order from the Dragonlord.”

“No!” She abandoned her kitchen to look Levi in the eye. He stared back sorrowfully. “I’ve only just laid our egg! You can’t be called on an adventure when your duties draw you home. The child needs their parents both.”

“I know…” Levi’s frills lay flat against his neck. “But, fool that I am, I consumed too much knowledge. I am one of the few dragons who can speak griffish.” He shut his eyes with a gentle shake of his head. “In order to find safe land across the ocean, we will need to speak with our neighbors. Would you have Rockbiter or Hammerstone attempt to reason with the griffon king?”

“Thundercrust speaks zebra,” she said with a growl.

“We dragons could never live in the Lowlands.” He gestured to the pile of treasure she’d laid up. “We need caves. We need mines. We need gems.”

“We need you.” She turned with a huff and resumed her duty of preserving the saltpork. “Does Dragonlord Thorn-in-the-Rump intend to take your place on the hunting pack? Does he plan to give heat to our egg while I do the hunting?”

“You’ll be taken care of—”

“And you?” She slammed a hunk of rock salt against the top of the barrel she was filling. “When your baby hatches while you’re thousands of miles away?”

He wrapped his forelegs around her, careful to slide beneath her wings without bending them. He had the egg in his claws and held it against her warm chest. “This is so that our child can grow up free to play in the sunlight. Free to hunt and mine as he sees fit. Free of the constant threat of the grotesques.” A sizzling, steaming tear fell from his eye and ran down her back. “Another cave was attacked. Near the border. Nobody got out alive. The monsters are coming closer every day, Beth. We can’t just sit and wait for them to come for us.”

Beth ground her fangs together. “So you have rationalized Thorn’s commands.”

“Either I rationalize them or I chafe beneath them.” He rounded his long neck around hers to look her in the eye. “Which would you ask of me?”

“To chafe. At least then we would be of like mind.” She tossed a hunk of rock salt to herself like a ball. “Now get out of my kitchen before I add you to the meal.”

With a shut-eyed nod, Levi slipped from one cavernous room to the next, their egg tucked in the crook of his arm. He set about studying his own little treasure hoard; a series of books he was in the process of enlarging to dragon size. The original texts lay in a small huddle on a stone desk, beneath a massive (to pony standards) magnifying glass. He sat at the desk and gazed at one tome in particular, “The Tree of Harmony.” “I shan’t have time to work on these while we’re away.”

Beth glanced away from him when he turned to her. “I’ll keep your books safe, don’t worry. I might even dabble with a few of the shorter stories myself. I’d like our child to be able to read most languages.”

“I, as well.” He took the egg in both foreclaws and smiled at its incandescence. “Perhaps one day the stories will be about him.”

She laughed. “About him?”

“Why not?” Levi raised an eyebrow at his wife. “Have you known any dragons to have a boring life?”

Behemoth shook her head, putting the last of the saltpork into the barrel. “Not just yet.”

The cavern was dark. Behemoth huddled in the inky blackness, scared to breathe, lest the light of her fire give away her position. The egg sat silently against her chest, its light flickering like an ember in the early autumn chill.

It had been months since Thorntooth’s expedition left for the eastern continent. They had not returned. They might never return. All she had heard was rumors that the griffons and dragons had come to blows, in a war that had left both sides devastated. No word from Levi. No sign nor scale.

The grotesques’ boldness was understated, Beth had come to realize. They swarmed like flies, buzzing closer and closer to the Cauldron. The dragon soldiers, the few who had remained behind, had their numbers struck down in droves.

The monsters were vicious, tearing their prey apart, ripping into impenetrable dragon hide like it was cloth. The bodies had the appearance of gems but tasted like the worst sort of carrion. The fire that burned in their chests, visible for miles around, was a strange purple that burned things which should not be able to burn, and left unscathed only the grotesques themselves. Their teeth devoured dragon flesh until nothing but bones remained. Their cry was a shriek unlike anything Beth had ever heard before.

She heard it that very night.

They never slept, nor slowed, nor even rested. It was as if there was something of the undead about them. As if simple things like air, water, and food meant little to them in comparison with destruction.

Beth covered herself and her egg with her vast wings. She pressed her child against her chest scales. The egg needed its mother’s breath. It needed its father’s breath. It flickered faintly, begging for warmth and sustenance.

The dragons standing guard at the cavern entrance screeched as grotesques descended upon them.

“Creator, please protect my baby.” Her voice was hoarse with fear and cold. “Whatever happens to me, please protect my baby.”

The grotesques howled as the dragons fell silent. Clawing and scraping echoed in the cavern, and the purple light of their unnatural fire caught her eyes with its glow. In that moment, fear seized her as it had never before. They were coming for her baby. They were coming for her family.

The fire in her chest blazed until it could be seen through her scales. Her wings opened until they filled the whole of the cavern. Her tail thrashed as she bared her teeth. The first grotesque to appear in the room found itself grasped by the neck and dashed to pieced against the wall. The next two fell beneath a blaze of fire such that a volcano would fall woefully short. Claws flashed and green blood dripped from a hole in her side. She ignored it. Another wound appeared in her neck. She never noticed it.

Behemoth fell upon the invaders with a ferocity only a mother dragon could wreak. Her cedar-like limbs crushed the monsters even as they clawed through her wings. Her jaws carved through their numbers and pushed them out of the cavern and into the stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, drowning out the carnage of the grotesques and their uncooperative quarry. She roared, but the cry of rage only attracted more of the monsters. As many that died, tens more descended. She threw them down the mountainside. Her tail whipped and buried many beneath an avalanche of rocks.

Another gemlike claw found its mark buried deep in her heart. Tears hissing with steam fell down her face. With one final roar of anguish, she struck the walls of her cavernous home and collapsed the entrance. The weight of the mountain pressed down, locking her home tight from the grasping claws of the beastly grotesques.

Within the lightless cavern, the glow of the egg dwindled, bit by bit, until it, too, became cold as stone.

Dragonbone Mountain
Southern Equestria
Midsummer, Year 60 BCE

The mountain loomed overhead like a tooth that had been sawed in half, jagged-edged and uninviting. Celestia took that as a challenge. She climbed up the boulders, only occasionally using her wings to balance. The sun glinted off her nearly-pure-white coat and warmed her, particularly the cutie mark that had come from her first time raising it. When she had used its power to save her sister and slay a bandit king.

She put such thoughts far from her mind, instead focusing on the climb. She had seen a cave on the side of the mountain when their procession was still a long ways off, and she wished to explore whatever might have been hidden there. Secret treasure? Lost civilizations? A hint as to the location of the Elements of Harmony? Unlikely, but her imagination ran wild regardless.

A small, serpentine creature rested against the nape of her neck, resting his hands behind his head. His limbs were mismatched, one reptilian, one avian, one feline, and one bovine. Two wings, one feathered and the other webbed, fluttered against her back as he stretched lazily. He grinned at her, his snaggletooth wiggling with soon-to-be-spoken sass. “Prithee, to what end doth thou weary thyself?

“I know it not.” She leapt from boulder top to boulder top, nearly stumbling on loose shale. “Though I appreciate the peace here among the rocks. The quiet.”

“You seek quietness and yet invite mine goodself along.” He curled himself up like a cat and rested in the middle of her wings as she flapped her way up a particularly-tall ledge. “Truth, my name doth be Discord, but thou art thyself the addle-brained fool.”

“Thou’rt a different sort of noise.” Celestia crested a final ledge and found the cave mouth yawning before her. “White noise, present but peaceful. Lacking pressure. Lacking anxiety.”

“Lacking sense, hopefully.”

“Aye.” Celestia smiled. “Lacking a great deal of sense. Thou wouldst never be mistaken for one of the wise.”

“I have made too many mistakes to be one of the wise. I have too many knowledge gaps. I’ll not accept the responsibility of wisdom.” Discord slithered from her back and grew several times over, until he was at more-or-less his usual height. He towered over Celestia, who was already tall for her age, though she was not quite as tall as the average stallion yet. He approached the cavern with hesitant footsteps, tasting the air with a forked tongue. “’Tis… ’tis not a pleasant place.”

“Verily?” she asked, lighting her horn and sensing through the magic in the air. “I sense some faint hint of love magic. Just a touch.”

“Love was here, aye, sure enough.” He licked his finger and stuck it in his ear. “But violence also. Death lies among these rocks, Princess.”

“Do not call me ‘Princess.’” She strutted past him into the cave mouth. “I am no princess, merely a warrior.”

“So thou sayest.” He ducked to enter, making a face as he did so. “Thy countenance resembles the prophecy more each day.”

Signs of a recent earthquake lay everywhere. Once-covered rocks lay exposed to the sunlight for the first time in centuries, or even millennia. Cracks allowed water and sunlight to trickle down into the depths of the hollow mountain. Moss grew on the walls, while the floor crawled with critters too pale to enjoy bare sunlight, but too lively to survive in the sunless depths. Celestia carefully picked her way through them, while Discord hovered overhead on his mismatched wings.

Not far into the cave, they came upon a massive skull that could have easily fit both her and Discord within it. The bones were cracked in places, worn smooth in others. The full skeleton lay beyond it, its ribs caved in and its legs splayed. It had been buried here for hundreds of years, the silent guardian of its demolished home.

“She’s female,” Celestia said, her voice echoing, “judging by her bone structure. A female dragon lying inside this collapsed cavern. Perhaps she lived here.”

“She was attacked,” Discord muttered. “Look at the claw marks on her vertebrae. It cannot be said whether she died during the assault or the avalanche.”

“They might have been one and the same.” Celestia crawled past the skull and through what remained of the ribs. The wing bones lay haphazardly around the empty torso, torn from their place. “Mayhap she fought to keep something safe.”

“Dragons do so love their hoarded gold.”

Celestia didn’t think that was it, but she kept it to herself. Discord’s voice was so flat she almost expected him to serve it with syrup and fruit. Instead of argue the point, she led the two of them deeper into the cavern, until she had to light the way with the shine of her horn. She found three rooms deep in the mountain. One seemed to be a sitting room, with a bookshelf holding larger-than-life tomes which would have fit perfectly in the female dragon’s claws. Some smaller volumes were so decayed only the covers remained, and the rest disintegrated at the touch. A humble kitchen drew her eye next, where no sign of food remained aside from a mound of rock salt in the corner. Time had conquered the rest.

The third room was the bedroom, with a round, blanketed bed built for two full-sized dragons. From the looks of it, they would sleep in a ring made up of their two bodies encircling each other, guarding something precious in the center. That precious thing tugged at her heart, calling out to her as though she could hear a voice from long ago, speaking love and protection with words she couldn’t understand. She ignored the small pile of gold in the back of the room and made for the exact center of the bed, which held a round, stonelike egg, about as big around as Captain Pansy’s head. It seemed to be coated with glitter over the smooth, gray surface.

“Ah.” Discord’s voice was low as he took in the scene. “I do believe I understand the whole of it, now. She died to protect her child. The child died without its mother.” He shrugged. “Life and death, love and loss, contained in a single mountain cave.”

Celestia lifted the egg in her telekinetic grip, weighing it with a heft. “Dost thou truly believe it dead? I feel something within the egg. Perhaps ’tis sleeping.”

“Thou feel only what thou wish to feel.” Discord shrunk to the size of a cat and perched on her back. “Dragons die without their inner fire, and the stone lies colder than ice.”

“Yet still…” She handed the egg to Discord, who bent beneath the weight for comedic effect. “Hold this. I wish to speak with Mage Clover.”

Before Discord could say anything, she galloped from the cave and into the sunlight. Hopping down the mountain would be quicker work than climbing it, and her wings would allow her to glide most of the way. About halfway down the mountain, she caught a flash of light in the corner of her eye and paused to look.

A wingblade flew through the air, nearly hitting her face. It bounced off of a boulder beside her. A lock of her mane fell to the ground, having been severed by the keen edge of the knife. Celestia let out a shriek and fell to her rump, dumping Discord from her back.

“Hell’s Teeth, what wert thou thinking!” A pegasus mare, tall and strong, with a wispy white mane and scars all over her blue coat, landed before Celestia and grabbed the alicorn’s ears. The mare shook Celestia’s head to punctuate every word. “Entering an area where I am training? Dost thou know what thou hast done? I might have killed thee!”

The nearness of the knife, the adrenaline from the climb, the loudness of the screams, the pain in her ears, all combined to force tears from Celestia’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Commander! I didst not know! I didst not know!”

Commander Hurricane stopped shaking Celestia’s head and let her ears go. The scar on the mare’s cheek, an old wound that would not heal, throbbed briefly before the older mare turned away, staring into the middle-distance. “Thou... Thou art… Thou speakest true. I hath not cordoned of my training area. I… Thou couldst not know.” Hurricane glanced back at her, moving her mouth as though she wished to say something more. She did not. She opened her wings and flew away, higher up the mountain.

Discord appeared from behind the rock he was hiding behind. “What an incalculably ill-tempered mare.” He strutted up to Celestia’s side, carrying the egg easily in one tiny hand. “Tred lightly around such, I suppose. Mayhap then I shall be among the wise.”

Celestia paid him no attention. She was too focused on stalling her tears. Stilling her trembling wings. Her ears throbbed, and she could barely hear the sweet sounds of nature that surrounded her. She felt embarrassment heat her cheeks, blubbering as she was in broad daylight.

Discord touched a soft paw to her side. He rubbed her shoulder gently. “Come. We do not have as much day as one might think. Thou hast spoken time and again on wasteful lazing.”

Celestia nodded, scooping Discord onto her back. She could feel the redness of her eyes keenly as she glided down the rest of the mountain. Yes, Discord was right. She just needed to focus. Keep her mind off the encounter. Keep her thoughts away from the vast task before her. Keep the pressure building up behind her eyes to a minimum.

At the base of the mountain lay a camp, hastily set up at the edge of Dragon Territory. Pony soldiers, lightly armored for the sake of the long march, trotted to and fro, going about their duties. One of them saluted to Celestia as she entered the campground, past the wooden spikes set up around the perimeter. Tents decorated with the symbol of Equestria—two alicorns encircling the sun and moon—stood in straight rows. A banner with the same image flew overhead, fastened near the largest tent in the company. This tent had only three walls, and was filled with tables and scrolls. Mages and wise ponies from the Crystal Empire mulled over the literature, drawing on maps and arguing amongst each themselves. It was to this tent Celestia walked.

Clover the Clever sat with Luna, teaching the younger alicorn a lesson on magic. Luna had been focused on learning magic for her entire life, and her thirst for knowledge had only grown more intense after Wulf the Diamond Dog’s attack. She didn’t even look up from her book when Celestia entered the tent, egg gripped with telekinesis.

The disinterest was a front, Celestia realized; Luna parted her cloak to allow the diminutive form of Discord to slip inside, hiding himself from Clover and the rest of the ponies who would ask too many questions about who and what he was. Celestia kept her eyes locked on Clover, suppressing a smile when he blew raspberries at the wizard unseen.

Clover covered her head with her hood and nodded when she saw that it was Celestia who had come up to her. Magic twinkled around her otherwise-blind eyes, causing her irises to glow. “Celestia. I had thought thou meant to climb—” She tilted her head and reached for Celestia’s ears. “Wert thou injured?”

Celestia jerked away from the hoof. “It’s nothing. I wanted to show you something I found.” She took special care to use the more formal “you” over the more familiar “thou.” Wizard Clover was the leader of the company, after all. She held the egg against the frog of Clover’s hoof. “I was wondering what you could tell me about this.”

“It appears to be a dragon’s egg.” Clover’s eyes widened as she took the hefty thing away from Celestia. She tilted it this way and that, performing countless spells in her examination. “At least four-hundred years old. Cold for nearly that long. Thou found this in the mountain?”

“Aye.”

“Alas, the stories that gave the mountain its name, Dragonbone, were sad tales with no joy in them. For the grotesques swarmed and cut down countless dragons in their lust for violence and death. With no one to care for it, this egg had little chance of survival.”

“Thank providence we killed the last grotesque, Clover,” a bouncy voice said from behind Celestia. She turned to see a smiling, lovely young earth pony mare, Smart Cookie, walk in with a tray full of lunch for her, Luna, and Clover. She gave Celestia a wink and passed her a bread roll. “’Tis how I met my husband, Gregor. The two of us had a rollicking adventure in the Everfree Forest escaping one of those foul beasts.”

“Hello, Smart Cookie.” Clover the Clever accepted the tray from Cookie and placed it beside the book she had been reading. “Indeed, the last of the grotesques was eliminated shortly before we discovered the two of thee, Celestia, Luna.” She spun the egg around, shining a light against its shell. Celestia could see a faint shadow within, but could not make it out. “Far too late to save this little one’s soul, alas. If thou wish, we might both learn a thing or two about dragons by dissecting this egg. Dragons are predominantly made of magic, in the scales and in the blood, so this egg will appear to be a geode if—”

“No!” Celestia blushed, ducking her head, but even so, she spoke again. “No, please, don’t hurt it. I’d… I’d like to keep it. As a memento.”

Clover leveled her gaze at Celestia, thinking for a moment. “Perhaps I was too eager to break something so rare. So pure. Take it if thou wish, though it might be a heavy burden on this long trip.”

Smart Cookie furrowed her brow and touched the egg gently. “Strange memento, to find a sad reminder of days gone by.”

Celestia hugged the egg close to her chest. She shrugged, unable to think of anything to say.

Clover nodded softly and picked up the book, her meal forgotten for the moment. “Still, thou shalt hide the egg away whilst we are in dragon territory. They have become reclusive and isolationist, true, but they are also fiercely protective of anything they regard as theirs. If they see thee with an egg, a dead egg no less, they shalt not look upon our cause with kindness.” She opened the book to a page near the middle, which she had scribed herself only a few weeks prior. “And it is of utmost importance that we succeed.”

Celestia craned her neck to see the page. It was one she’d read many times before, one detailing their only clue as to the location of the six Elements of Harmony.

“What more can we do but go to each of these places and search until we find the gemstones?” Clover the Clever glanced at the egg and shut the book with a snap. “We cannot afford to be turned away. Not until we find Loyalty.” She tapped the book against Luna’s head. “We leave early in the morning, so no late-night study sessions, apprentice!”

“Yes, Lady Clover,” Luna muttered.

Smart Cookie clicked her tongue and bit into her food while it was still warm. “Would that we could find more clues about the Elements. Would that the others could be handed to us like Kindness was.”

“These are the only surviving words of River the Hero.” Clover the Clever slotted the book neatly into a small shelf of similar tomes. “Everything else was burned either by King Tungsten or the grotesques. We shall make due with what we have.” She nodded to the other three and picked her plate up in a spell. “I must do some reading before tomorrow. Good day.”

As she left for her tent, Smart Cookie frowned at her friend. She glanced at Luna and Celestia with narrow eyes. “Don’t worry overly much about Clover. She worries about Starswirl. I imagine it’s hard on both master and apprentice to be separated on different quests.”

Celestia was about to excuse herself to get lunch, when Smart Cookie grabbed her by the wings and set her down beside her. She examined the young alicorn, spending a long time tending to her ears. “Thou met Hurricane on the way down the mountain, didst thou not?”

“No, I—”

“Child, t’will do not thee nor I any good to keep it to thyself.” Cookie sighed and gave each of Celestia’s ears a kiss. “She is too hard on thee and thy sister. What didst thou do to raise her ire?” Celestia told her, in as few words as possible. Smart Cookie tried to hide her exasperation, to no avail. Even so, she rubbed Celestia’s head and spoke in a quiet voice, so that none could overhear. “Tred softly with Hurricane as well. Today is the anniversary of her husband’s death. Frozen by windigos, he was. Just before we crafted the Hearth’s Warming Spell, at that.”

Luna raised her head from her book. “What was his name?”

“Crosswind, or so Pansy told me.” Cookie patted Celestia’s side and allowed her to stand, but Celestia tarried a moment longer. “A noble and upright stallion, though I think a bit too serious to my liking.”

“He would have loved to have met thee,” Hurricane said.

Celestia shrunk back from the arrival of the commander. Hurricane’s eyes were a pale, cold gray, and they looked upon the three of them with an expression Celestia couldn’t quite figure out. Was it angry, or sad, or nothing at all?

“He would have loved to have met all of thee.” Hurricane continued to walk deeper into the tent, seemingly to study the maps of the surrounding area. All present gave her a wide berth.

Smart Cookie spoke in the faintest voice, which Celestia could barely make out. The words were clearly not for her to hear. “Oh my friend, if only I could do something for thee.”

Luna looked at Celestia until she made eye contact. She gestured with her horn towards the outside. Celestia nodded, then turned to Smart Cookie. “Lady Cookie, might I be excused?”

“For the moment.” Cookie tapped the alicorn’s nose. “I shall speak with Hurricane about what she did, and she shall not do it again. Keep not your worries bottled up inside, lest they burst forth.” She pointed at Luna with a firm frown. “And that goeth double for thee, Miss Luna.”

Luna ignored her, and the two sisters trotted to their shared tent, near the middle of the camp. Inside, Celestia stowed the egg away in her bed, while Luna put her study book on the small shelf she kept for herself. Discord appeared from beneath her cloak and reclined in midair.

“’Tis stuffy beneath that coat. Nearly as stuffy as the Ladies Clover and Hurricane.” Discord pulled a purloined bread roll from Nowhere and bit into it. “I don’t relish the thought of milling about on the edge of dragon territory for months on end.”

“’Tis of the utmost necessity, Discord.” Celestia rested on the edge of her bed, rubbing the shell of the egg gently. “How else will Equestria fight against Tirek the Demon King without the Elements of Harmony?”

“How indeed?” Luna tapped her spiral horn against Discord’s mismatched horns. “Mayhap thou might be able to cow him with thy vast power, or art thou talk alone?”

“Powerful I do be indeed,” Discord said. “Powerful in thought and deed, and more powerful than most. The power I have to raise sun and moon, to shape hide and hair, to cast mountains to the sky and bring down the clouds to be tasted by those who crawl in mud. Yet worse than worthless it would all be against the Demon King, for he carries with him the Rainbow of Darkness, and therein lies my great weakness. For magic of the mind, chaos magic, lasts only so long as the mind bends the magic. And I cannot fight Tirek without meeting face-to-face, which would only render me within the grasp of his fell Rainbow. He would devour my chaos, and in doing so, become the greatest power this world has ever known. Then would he devour thy magic, and become so great as to unmake the whole of the face of the earth.”

Celestia looked at Luna and received the same wide-eyed expression back. To think that even Discord, who made things appear out of thin air, to whom size and shape were mere matters of whimsy, could not stand against Tirek the Demon King. What luck had two young fillies, even if they had all the prophesies of fate at their backs?

“Then what hope,” Celestia said, “do we have even with the Elements of Harmony?”

“Ah, that’s the thing!” Discord descended, growing in size so that his head never moved until his legs touched ground. “My chaos magic is not of this world, but of the realm of thought. The Elements of Harmony are much greater in this level of reality. They are tied to the very world you stand upon, tethered by the Tree of Harmony, and derive power from truths set in place at its very founding. My magic is quite alright for matters of the imagination, but for matters of what is… What Always Is… That is what the Elements of Harmony are, and what they feed from, and what they suffuse into. For some things were but have passed, as did the ancient kingdoms. Some things are but will fade, as will anything created with Chaos. Some things will be but are not yet, such as the prophecies Starswirl and Clover spout ad nauseum. But the Elements derive their power from things that Always Were, Always Are, and Always Will Be. Though Tirek feasts, he will be overwhelmed, since their power is not their own. The Elements have no power but that which they pull from What Always Is.”

“A lot of good they did in the past,” Luna said with a sneer. “The kingdoms that once welded them crumbled, turned to dust in the wake of the grotesque attacks. How great a power can they derive from if they can be corrupted so easily? Destroyed so thoroughly?”

“All things become lesser if they are misused.” Discord brushed the air with his talon, as though he could bat away the very idea. “Wouldst thou use a book to plow a field? An arrow to scribe a letter? If the Elements are misused, they become something vile.”

Celestia’s ears lowered. “If I did not know better, I would say thou knowest the Elements even better than Clover the Clever.”

Discord nodded, his brow furrowing. He tapped a talon against his snaggletooth. “I remember much of the Elements of Harmony… though I do not remember why. I was friends with someone who worked with them, but I have forgotten that friend entirely. It was such a time ago I believe that they would be most assuredly dead, and dead for a thousand years at that. Softly. Softly there and Softly gone.”

Celestia paused with her hoof at the very top of the egg. She tilted her ears this way and that, chewing her lip in thought. “Couldst thou… Wouldst thou… Restore life to this egg?”

“Am I a god that I hold the power of life in my hand?” Discord spoke with a snappiness that vanished when he saw Celestia flinch back. He lowered his voice and his head, producing a flower from nowhere to give to each of the alicorn sisters. “Alas no. The child is gone home to Dreamland ahead of us. I can no more bring life to this egg than I can undo the suffering of all mortals everywhere. Thou seekest a miracle, and I am no miracle worker. Not truly. I am but a fanciful fancier of fantasy.”

Celestia bowed her head. She slid the flower stem behind her ear, displaying the colorful decoration in her mane. “Then I shall stop wishing for a miracle. I shall keep this egg as a reminder of the pain all people feel. A reminder to stop evil wherever it may lurk. Someday, perhaps I shall pass it on to others who would learn much from it, as Clover said. But not yet. Not for a long time.”

Luna bobbed her head, clutching the flower to her chest. “We do not live in a world of miracles, but of hard work and sacrifice. Though I begin to believe that the Elements of Harmony may be the closest thing we’ll ever get.”

“Now, now,” Discord said with a sigh, “I didst not say miracles never happen. But one can never demand them. Nor does it do any good to expect them. Not in this age…”

Celestia frowned at that. Some said the fact that two alicorns were born in accordance with the prophecies was a miracle in and of itself. Some said the Elements had been created by a miracle, and it was miraculous that River the Hero could find them. Something told her that if she held onto the egg, no matter how long it took, she just might see a miracle once again.

“I saw a pony with eyes of lightning. Her heart was hard and strong with a yearning for justice. She carried the sun on her right wing, and the moon on her left. Fire rained from heaven and consumed her enemies, and all trembled at the sight of her.

“I saw a second pony with eyes of shadow. Her heart was merry, though encased in a prison of stone. She carried the moon on her right wing, and the sun on her left. Darkness was her enemy and constant companion, but she would not surrender.

“Two ponies united in word and deed. Two born to squalor, and to squalor one returned. To the heavens both went, and from the heavens one returned. Two thrones, then one, then many, then none.”

Inasmuch
Northeastern Equestrian Shoreline
Spring, Year 58 BCE

Adagio Dazzle, Mother of the Sirens, reclined beneath the shade of a large fan, dressed in a white silk robe only held to her body with a golden clasp. She hummed a few scintillating notes, and the absolute beefcake of a stallion standing beside her dropped a grape in her mouth. She smiled and chuckled to herself, signaling the other stallion beside her to switch from shading her to fanning her. “So, either of you fellas doing anything later?”

Inasmuch was a small, poor fishing village to the east of Griffonstone, and did most of their trade with the griffon colony. The air itself tasted of salt, and the houses seemed perennially soaked with rank fish smell. Still, they tended to make do financially, enough to keep themselves fed, enough for the town to exist. It was also difficult to reach if one could not fly, being on the rockiest part of the coast, amid mountainous canyons. Even the nautical approach seemed designed to ward off visitors, with vicious coral reefs lying just beneath the surface, dangerous even at high tide.

But any distance Adagio could put between herself and Equestria was good distance. And hey, a handsome stallion was handsome no matter how much seaweed got stuck in his mane. Or how much he smelled like last week’s mackerel. Or how indecipherable his grammar was.

The stallions didn’t respond to her question. They continued their tasks in their brainless way, their eyes glazed with Siren magic. Adagio Dazzle pawed absently at her Siren’s Sigil, the very same that she had carved years before to fight the Changeling Empire. How times changed, especially times a few hundred years removed. Once, she couldn’t imagine using the power so casually. Now, she was fairly sure there was no other use for it.

The sound of a gallop on wood planks drew her eyes to the pier, where a purple-coated earth pony mare had just finished speaking with a grizzled, one-eyed sailor. The mare thundered her way to Adagio, her sour expression contrasting completely with Adagio’s more relaxed expression. “Adagio! Hay, Adagio!”

“Well, well, if it isn’t the Crone come to visit.” Adagio smirked and allowed one of her servants to drop another grape into her mouth. “What news from the outside—slightly-less-fishy—world?”

Crone Aria Blaze of the Sirens skidded to a halt, nearly bowling the fan-bearer over. She sneered at Adagio. “How can you relax at a time like this?”

“Easy.” Rather than elaborate, Adagio gestured impatiently at the younger, crosser mare.

Aria rolled her eyes. “It’s certain this time. The Archmage is on our tail. Even now, he is making his way through the treacherous footpaths of the Griffonstone Heights. I wager he’ll be here within a day.”

Adagio’s mouth became a thin line, even as her brow became a network of hills and valleys. “For this you interrupt my snack?”

“This is serious, Adagio.” Aria had never called her by her title, much to Adagio’s chagrin. She seemed to find the whole thing silly, unnecessary. And maybe it was. “Wizards can counter mind-controlling magic, and he is the wizard. It may take the power of all three of us, at full strength, to defeat Starswirl.”

“Star-swill the Stingy can eat a toad.” Adagio climbed to her hooves, leaving the couch and her servants where they stood. “There are three of us Sirens, Aria. Even if ten Starswirls came for us, what can they do to us at the height of our power? Have you forgotten how to transform? Have you forgotten how to stop his heart with a single held note, or smash his brains out with a shout? If so, then simply bite his neck and throw him into the sea, or break his back with a flick of your fluke!”

“Oh I remember!” Aria moved her face closer to Adagio’s, until their snouts were almost touching. “I remember the power you promised us! The awe that our captive audiences would have for us. And yet, I’ve been hiding away in this dung heap, eating chum, for five months!”

“Ladies, ladies, please.” Sonata Dusk, Maiden of the Sirens, stepped out from behind a nearby house, where she had been eavesdropping. She waved a hoof in a peace-seeking gesture, even if her smiling face held nothing but barely-concealed malice and derision. “Are we gonna do Starswirl’s work for him? Isn’t this an opportunity to finally cut off everybody chasing after us?”

Aria sneered. “You know better, Sonata. Adagio the Lazy is just going to order the townspeople to dogpile him until we have time to swim away. Just like in Manehattan.”

Sonata sniggered. “Is that how it is, Adagio? Will we be cowards once again?”

“Is it cowardice to survive another day?” Adagio snapped. “I would not lightly face both Starswirl and his apprentice together… But separately, on the other hoof…”

Sonata’s eyebrows shot up. “Did the old codger say the wizard was alone?”

Aria’s scowl deepened, but she nodded. “He only saw Starswirl, lugging only enough equipment for himself.” She narrowed her fierce purple-hued gaze at Adagio. “Sonata’s right. This is our opportunity. But only if we take it seriously. Only if we commit to it.”

Adagio pressed her lips together. “When have I ever done anything halfway?”

They met the wizard on the last leg of his journey into town. It was a narrow, natural stone bridge, spanning a perilous drop to the crashing waves below, rowed with dozens of spikes gnawing the air as assuredly as they would gnaw any hapless victim to pieces. The three Sirens stood at one side, blocking the way, while Starswirl stepped up to the far end.

Starswirl the Bearded rubbed his gray beard; the bells on his hat jingled with the movement. “Well, I cannot say I expected to be greeted on my way. Perhaps the Sirens do have knowledge of basic etiquette.”

Adagio’s voice was a snarl as she called across the span. “Are you sure this is how you want to die, Starswirl? Alone and helpless against three of the most powerful mares in the world? You could be back in the Crystal Empire, helping heal the king of his illnesses. You could be in Equestria, assisting your precious apprentice with seeking out the Elements of Harmony. Yet you throw all of that away, for the sake of three mares who you just… can’t… give… up.”

“They have their tasks, and I have mine.” Starswirl removed the pack on his back and set it down in front of himself. He scrounged around within and pulled forth a mirror, polished smoothly enough that it seemed to be a doorway into another world. Not silver, then, but glass? “I cannot sit by and ignore the villages you have terrorized, the lives you have stolen, the thoughts you have replaced with your own. These are people you are hurting, Adagio the Mother. They have the right to live their lives as they would wish, seeking happiness and contentment. Your brand of tyranny stands against everything I live to uphold.”

Adagio snorted, ending in a guffaw. She tilted her nose up to look down on the stallion, who looked so small across the bridge, bowing his head as he was. “Really, Starswirl, haven’t you grown up by now? After all these years chasing me. Chasing dreams of justice and virtue. You should know by now that you should never stand for anything. Because nothing will ever stand beside you.”

“It would seem so, as alone as I am.” Starswirl glanced to either side, at both Sonata and Aria. He set the mirror gently on the ground, face up, so that it reflected the sky. It was a full-length mirror, with an intricately-carved frame with gemstones embedded in it. Perhaps it was some sort of magic weapon, Adagio thought. “You two young ones. You have no need to be part and parcel with this witch. Leave now, cast away the Siren’s Sigils, and you shall go free.”

Aria said nothing, and did not meet his eye. Sonata growled with the ferocity of a lion pouncing on a wounded antelope. “And give up this? All this power?”

With a roar, the blue-coated earth pony ignited the red gemstone hanging from her neck. She was concealed within an unbelievably bright burst of magic, which soon faded to reveal a giant, scaled monster, gnashing its teeth. Adagio fumed, her big moment having been taken by her underling. Even so, she joined in the transformation, and Aria followed close behind. The three of them towered over Starswirl, who took a step back with eyes wide.

Adagio smiled as she saw fear writ large on his face, gleaming in his eyes. The old fool would die shaking in his horseshoes. She opened her mouth wide and sang a song of destruction, devastation, unmaking. The bridge crumbled beneath her, leaving her and her sisters hovering in midair. The ground beneath Starswirl remained, but that was all, as everything else fell into the frothing morass below, leaving him standing on a pillar of stone dozens of meters in the air. His horn shone with magic, covering him and his small patch of solid ground in a shimmering shield.

Adagio roared and dove for the shield, sinking her teeth into his magic. She was repelled, but only just so. She joined her sisters in a three-part harmony, sending ripples through Starswirl’s spell. They rammed with their shoulders, struck with their fluked tails, and thrummed with their two hooves, until the old wizard was bleeding from his nose. Her song became laughter, and she almost pitied the elderly stallion who had come so far, only to die a worthless death in the most foul-smelling village this side of the ocean. He sank to his knees, heaving. The three Sirens drew close around him, each hovering around his zigzagging pillar.

Starswirl coughed into his hoof. “May the Creator forgive me.”

“Forgive you?” Adagio barked laughter in his face until his ears lay flat against his head. “Forgiveness is a sham! Justice is a lie! You can’t find the Elements of Harmony because they no longer exist! Go off to Dreamland with the rest of your hope, your laws, and your piety!”

Starswirl removed his hat and let it thump flat to the ground. He looked Adagio in the eye, his face set like stone, and his eyes sharp as a wingblade. “Adagio, I banish you and your fellow Sirens from this world.”

“Come again?” Aria Blaze asked.

“I banish you from this realm.” His horn glowed, and the mirror beside him matched him for radiance. Rainbows shimmered within its frame, revealing it to be just as Adagio mused: A doorway. “I banish you to a world without magic, where if the Creator wills, you shall never harm another living being ever again!”

Chains crafted from polished crystal, pure solidified magic, appeared around her fetlocks and her neck. Any attempt to sing was cut off by his spell as it wove its way around her sisters’ bodies as well. She tried to pull away, but was held fast. The chain did not end until it traveled far, far into the swirling portal of the mirror.

Sonata thrashed and bit at the chains, then her legs as she attempted to chew them off. Anything to get free. Anything. She failed on both accounts and was dragged screaming into the mirror. She didn’t seem to change size, the portal merely was the correct size to engulf her all along. Aria fell next, shifting herself back into a pony to try and slip her smaller limbs through the chains, only to find that the chains now grasped all four hooves. She stared up at Adagio with wide, wild eyes until she vanished from sight.

Adagio snarled at Starswirl, any words cut off by his binding spell. He narrowed his eyes at her, never flinching. “You might have been the best of us, Adagio Dazzle. Brilliant of mind and beautiful of heart. I’m sorry it must end this way.”

With a heave of her jaws, the chain came loose enough for her to scream in his face. “I’ll see you dead, you cocky little freak! You and the Hellscape you call Equestria will burn!” Her pupils shrank in the throws of her enraged frenzy. “Even if your little alicorns do find the Elements, they’ll just corrupt them like every other wretch who calls himself hero!”

“Perhaps,” he said quietly as she was pulled neck-first into the mirror, “you are right.”

She fell for what felt like hours, her skin crawling with strange magic. She felt her bones shift, not painfully, but oddly, as though her body were elastic snapping back into its natural shape. Her breath caught in her throat as her necklace fell away and vanished into the light. She felt cold, and warm, and could not tell which way was up. She was swimming through air, then twisting out-of-control through water. She reached a hoof out and saw that it was not a hoof, but a hand. Five fingers wriggled in front of her face. She screamed, and her lungs nearly filled with liquid. Another hand grasped her and pulled her in a direction that might have been up or it might have been down. She broke from the surface of the water with a splash. Her mane matted itself against her face and clung to her back. She couldn’t feel her tail anymore.

Aria’s violet eyes were the first thing that came into focus, but the mare’s angry words were drowned out by the painful rumble of water in her ears. Adagio rested on her hands and retched. Aria scrambled back, her face the very image of disgust. After a moment, Adagio was able to gulp great mouthfuls of air into lungs that tickled until she coughed again. She felt dirt cake itself beneath her fingernails as she clenched her hands. Her forelegs weakened and sent her toppling to the side to cover her in mud.

A strange creature, hairless except for her head, leaned out from behind a tree. She had Sonata’s face and voice, but there was little else familiar about her. “What the hell was that? What happened to us? Where’s my beautiful blue coat?”

Adagio turned to Aria and saw the same phenomenon repeated with her as well. A hand to her stomach told Adagio that they were three of a piece, hairless and uncovered except for the head. Like a Yahoo or Morlock with an overzealous barber. She scrambled on all fours to the waterside and tried to see her reflection on the rippling surface.

“Didn’t you hear Starswirl?” Aria spoke with a low voice. She brought her hind legs to her chest and hugged her knees tight. “He sent us to a world without magic. We’re as good as dead.”

Adagio stared at her new face with her mouth agape. Her shoulders shook and she nearly fell face-first into the river. Her snout was gone, replaced with a tiny nose and a flat mouth. Her ears couldn’t move anymore, fixed as they were to the sides of her head. She could already feel her skin breaking out in goosepimples, cold as she was without a coat. Looking down at her body caused her mind to do summersaults just to reconcile reality.

“There’s gotta be a way back!” Sonata fell onto her belly and squirmed towards the river, grasping at the mud. “There’s gotta! I can’t stay here!”

“There’s no way back,” Adagio said, her expression reflecting glumly back at her. “Starswirl will have destroyed that mirror. We’re on our own.”

As Sonata yowled in despair, and Aria curled further in on herself, Adagio caught a glimmer of light behind her reflection. She refused to hope, even as she dipped her hand into the river and clawed the muddy bottom. She felt something in the palm of her hand; something that tingled with power. She pulled it to her chest and rubbed the grime from its polished surface.

Her Siren’s Sigil glimmered with magic power. She could feel it reach out to her, filling her body with life, drawing her to use it. It drew her to find the nearest people, to sing for them, to encourage them to help her. She climbed to her hind legs. It seemed a more natural stance for this body than crawling on all fours. She looped the chain around her neck and allowed her gemstone to hang in its rightful place. “He sent us to a world without magic…”

Aria lifted her eyes to her. There was a tremor in her voice. “What did you say?”

“Don’t you see?” Adagio’s mouth quirked to one side. “He sent us to a world with no magic… besides our magic. In saving his precious kingdom, he’s just doomed the next hapless saps to whatever we want. And no one… no one will be able to stop us.” She thrust a hand towards the river. “You two get looking for your Sigils! As soon as you’re reunited, we travel for the nearest town!”

As Sonata passed her, she jabbed her forefinger into the small of Adagio’s back. “Just so you know, I haven’t forgiven you.” Before Adagio could protest, she slipped into the river and began scouring the bottom for any sign of her Sigil.

Adagio crossed her forelegs—arms, she supposed—and pouted after the retreating Maiden. The Crone Aria slowly rose to her feet and staggered her way towards the water.

Aria gave Adagio a growling side-eye. “Just so you know, whatever happens to us is your responsibility… Mother Adagio.”

Adagio winced at the title. It seemed not to be a gesture of respect but an accusation of guilt, one that stung even more than Sonata’s finger. “Just keep close. We have to rely on each other now.”

“Of course,” Aria said. “What could ever pull us apart?”

Whitetail Woods
West of Ft. Everfree, Equestrian Capital
Autumn, Year 56 BCE

Celestia took a step back as the border crept closer and closer. From a distance, one could mistake it as a bubble gradually expanding, but up close, it was really just a distinguishable line that separated reality from some new state of existence. On this side of the line—the border—the sun shone overhead, the wind blew with a gentle breeze, grass grew and trees produced fruit. On that side…

The world had gone wrong.

Gravity swung this way and that with no warning. Soil was replaced by every sort of sweet food imaginable. Plants walked like creatures, while forest animals lay embedded in the rock as though they were living cave paintings. A river flowed in midair where there should have been wind. Ponies rolled around blowing raspberries, their eyes void of thought, their senses completely lost to them. One of them laughed, then cried, then barked like a dog, while his wife flopped like a fish on dry land. Cold and hot intermingled until tornados appeared more frequently than birds, while the birds themselves swam through the ground, scooping the dirt with their wings.

Luna grimaced at the sight, testing the border with a spell from her horn. It did nothing to slow the growth of the affected area. “I would laugh if I weren’t so horrified.”

Queen Platinum sucked on her lower lip as she stared towards where Fort Everfree lay. “Have you seen any sign of Clover? Or Hurricane?”

“Not hide nor hair,” Commander Pansy replied, easing his spear back and forth. His helmet glinted in the light of the sun, blinding to the eye. “Smart Cookie and Gregor disappeared near the start of the calamity, as well. The whole of the capital resides in that misshapen… kingdom.”

Chancellor Puddinghead stomped a hoof, then winced and shook it. He looked up to Celestia, who stood a good two heads taller than him. “Young Miss, we-we-we must have hope. Do-do you—do you believe the Elements will help here as they d-did with Tirek?”

Celestia furrowed her brow as she watched the kingdom be torn apart by the absolute carnage before her. “The battle with Tirek ended almost before it began. He could do nothing but scream as his stolen magic was torn from him, returned to the poor souls he victimized. Those who had survived, at any rate. This… this is an entirely different beast. He’s shifting the world around him, rewriting the laws of physics. I’m not sure…”

Luna scoffed, firing a useless bolt of magic across the border. Within its confines, it shifted to a butterfly, then a pat of butter, then a butter stick with dove wings. “Nothing we can do will produce any results. It must be the Elements of Harmony. Even Clover the Clever lost herself within minutes. If Starswirl were here, I suspect we’d see the same from him.”

Pansy shook his head, a grim smile on his face. “If Starswirl were here, the Crystal Empire would have fallen victim to a horde of vampiric rabbits by now. He has his mission, and we have this.”

Luna waved a hoof dismissively. “Even so… Celestia, didn’t he once say his magic pales in comparison with the Elements? That his chaos magic, his Magic of Thought, only persists so long as he thinks it to be so? We must simply still Discord, and the world shall return to as it was.”

Celestia shut her eyes at the mention of her friend’s name. It had started with little things. A forgotten birthday here, a misplaced bauble there. But over the last four years, those problems kept multiplying, and increasing in multiplication, to an exponential degree. Discord had grown more erratic, at times violent, at times unresponsive. He had become impossible to hide from the Founders of Equestria. They had accepted him as a friend to the alicorn sisters at first…

Now, his malady was impossible to ignore.

The border crackled with chaos magic, tugging Celestia’s mane, pulling her in, promising her things she couldn’t understand in words no one could utter naturally. “It’s true. He himself said that the Elements were more firmly tied to this world, pulling power from things established at the very dawn of creation. Things that even the draconequi recognized as ancient and irrevocable. Even Discord.”

Luna nodded. “Then it is settled. Bring us the Elements of Harmony, and we shall deal with this threat.”

“The Elements are held within the castle itself.” Pansy gestured his second-in-command over to them. The pegasus soldier saluted. “Flash Magnus, with our speed, you and I have the best chance of reaching Fort Everfree’s treasure room before the chaos rewrites our brains.” He pointed a hoof at Celestia. “If Luna shields your minds, you shall remain aware even longer. If you distract Discord, Flash and I can retrieve the Elements without him knowing.”

“Th-that—that puts you at great risk! All of you!” Chancellor Puddinghead removed his pointed hat to rub sweat from his balding head. His worry lines deepened to worry canyons. “If you fall today, there shall be no Equestria tomorrow. Just… just that!” He pointed to the ever-approaching border, the ever-changing no-pony’s-land that remained of Ft. Everfree. “We should retreat, think of a new strategy, come at this from a different angle.”

“What more can deliberation do, my dear Puddinghead?” Though Platinum nearly matched Puddinghead for years, she had a youthful exuberance that mares half her age envied. She bounded up to the very edge of Discord’s Sphere of Influence and placed a hoof to her heart. “I challenge thee, let us all march together. This may be our last best shot, and we shall meet it with heads held high and banners aloft!” She smiled warmly at the earth pony stallion. “Think of thy grandchildren. As I think of my newborn Periwinkle. Either we fight today for their world, or they have no world to inherit.”

Celestia pressed her wings tight against her sides. Nothing in her nineteen years had prepared her for this. Not training with Hurricane. Not study with Clover. Not traversing the whole of the world. Not facing the Demon King. She didn’t want to take another step. She didn’t even want to look at the chaos. She turned away and put several steps between her and the border.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the few ponies who had managed to flee Ft. Everfree. Families from the outskirts, farmers mostly, and the ferrypony. They huddled together with their own, tears streaking their faces, wide eyes watching the approaching chaos closely, terrified that what was happening within would soon happen to them.

“You two should stay behind,” Pansy said to Platinum and Puddinghead. “If we do fail, then you must survive to lead the people. Find Starswirl. Together, you shall think of something.”

Celestia sighed. She looked at Luna, who raised an eyebrow her way. “It never mattered, did it? It never mattered what we were willing to do. It never mattered what we were prepared to do. The only thing that will ever matter is what we must do.”

Luna turned her eyes to her hooves. “Yes. Yes, more and more, I see this to be true.”

“We know what we must do.” Celestia turned towards the chaos and spread her wings. “Let us do it.”

They dove in together. Celestia did not remember much of what happened next, and what she did remember made little sense. She flew at the head of a v-shaped flock of turtles. She ran across a flat plane, each step meeting one of Luna’s, balancing atop each other as they ran, Celestia above the plane and Luna reflected below. Hurricane boxed her ears until a childlike Smart Cookie hopped on her back and rode her, tugging her this way and that with reins made of taffy. Wulf rose from the grave to swing his jagged sword, only to be eaten from below by a shark-headed giraffe. The Crystal Empire melted like ice cream, while a desert erupted from the center of the fertile Everfree Forest.

Celestia flopped to her stomach, her legs and her wings aching from the strain. She had traveled less than a mile, but felt as though she had run a hundred. She hoisted herself upright, only to be pushed back down by an enormous lion’s paw. The paw’s shoulder was attached to a giraffe’s neck, which held a goat’s head, which wiggled its snaggletooth at her. “Well, well, well, what have we here? A horn and wings? You just aren’t playing fair.”

“Discord!” Celestia pushed her hooves against the ground, but they sank into the hard stone with little resistance. “Please, you have to wake up.”

“Who’s dreaming?” Discord shattered into a thousand-thousand pieces, each remaking themselves into a tiny Discord. They marched around Celestia in rings, each layer alternating direction. “I’m awake, I’m aware, I’m having the time of my life! Why don’t you join me? You seem stressed… whoever you are.”

“I’m your friend, Discord.” Celestia thumped her hooves against her chest, trying and failing to get any of the tiny replicas to pay her attention. “It’s me, Celestia! We’ve known each other for years! We searched for the Elements of Harmony together!”

“Harmony?” With a violent snap of his talons, the Discords coalesced into a single, rage-blighted monstrosity, all limbs and vicious eyes. “You dare use the ‘H’ word in my abode?” He popped himself back into his usual mish-mashed shape and removed a top hat with a flourish. “I am Discord, Antithesis of Harmony, Confidant of Chaos. At my own service.” He took a gigantic bite of the hat and munched noisily. “Celestia, was it? Are you here to rain on my parade? To poop my party? You should know what happened to the last group who acted… persnickety.”

He pulled aside a curtain that Celestia could have sworn was not there before, revealing three ponies and a griffon. Smart Cookie was being kneaded into a pastry by living gingerbread ponies. Hurricane was spinning endlessly in a tornado made from pollen, sneezing all the while. Clover the Clever was drawing with crayons on the cloak she used to allow herself to see, drool dribbling down her chin. Gregor the Griffon now had the back half of an eagle and the front half of a lion, and seemed to have lost any sense of self, growling at his wife as she was harried by the gingerbread ponies.

Celestia’s chest ached as she watched Discord chuckle. She shook her head to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. “I suppose it’s for the best you don’t remember anything, Discord. I might never have forgiven you if you had done all this in your right mind.”

“Right mind, left mind—” Discord did a twirl, swirling the curtain around himself like a flowing, red cape. “—I don’t really give a care, pa-pa-pa, who let the losers in? Left mind, right mind, give it up you stupid square, pa-pa-pa, you can’t win!”

“He’s gone, sister!” Luna pulled herself out of the mouth of an oversized frog. She kicked the amphibian aside and shook herself free of mucus. She came to stand beside Celestia, looking over the scene of Discord and the Founders with a frown as deep and dark as the night sky. “There’s only one thing we can do for him now.”

“@%$#&,” Discord said. “Por favor, kudasai, s'il vous plait.”

Celestia’s head snapped around to focus on the draconequus. He sat in a throne, the back of which resembled a deer’s skull, antlers spread wide. He looked at them from under a heavy brow, no longer playful, but deathly serious. He scowled at them, and for the first time in her life, the goofy, strange magical being seemed truly dangerous. He clutched a goblet in his talon, which bubbled with some unknowable liquid. When a bubble floated out of the cup, it popped with a sound like a scream.

“Perhaps we should cut to the chase.” Discord waved his free paw and Celestia was swept off her feet. She hung upside down before him, her legs and wings bound with liquorice. “You came into my kingdom, to disrupt my rule, for what? To save a few people from—” He cracked a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “—becoming far more entertaining than they have any right to be?”

Gregor’s lion-esque face tweeted like a songbird.

“You reek of seriousness. Of purpose.” Discord tickled the top of Celestia’s nose with a sharp talon. A wet trickle of blood dripped from where he’d touched. “You seem so convinced that what you’re doing has meaning, when it is quite the opposite. Who shall remember this day a thousand years hence? Two-thousand? Who shall care who triumphed, Discord or ponies, when the heat-death of the universe consumes all? Chaos is the natural state of things, princess, despite how fervently you deem it otherwise. Everything falls apart. Even me, especially you.”

Luna’s horn glowed, and the liquorice crumbled, freeing Celestia. “The world may be a dark, terrible place to be sure. But to become the dark and terrible thing yourself, that is no better than the tantrum of a child.”

“Being dark and terrible gives me POWER.” His voice became a shout as he clenched his fists. For a moment, Celestia’s entire body became white liquid, melting away and turning to a puddle of living matter. She returned to her solid form a moment later, and was not sure if it was the work of Luna’s shielding, or if Discord had simply decided not to kill her just yet. “You cannot turn the whole world to sunshine and rainbows, no matter how you work at it. Yet all I must do to cast my shadow is to EXIST, to bend the world to my will. The ‘right’ will fail, the ‘wrong’ prevail, because the ‘wrong’ is natural and therefore correct and THEREFORE RIGHT.”

Celestia growled, spitting to the side. Blood now matted the coat of her muzzle, dried to a stinging crust. “You seek power to exercise your will, but is that not just another form of order, thou so-called Spirit of Chaos?”

“Paradoxes come standard-issue with every helping of chaos magic.” He waved a paw as he gazed away, disinterested. “Now be gone or I shall show you how very natural it is for you to become charred craters pockmarking my beautiful creation.”

“You know better than we,” Luna said, “that this is no creation, merely a corruption. We shall not leave. We shall stand and fight, and you will see that your ways are not—they are not—the natural order of things.”

Discord scoffed. “How do you intend to fight me? With those trinkets your little friends are smuggling out of the castle?” He snapped his talons and ripped open the sky. Two pegasi appeared, Commander Pansy and Flash Magnus, the first tied up with octopus arms, the other tangled by a spider’s web. Discord threw six gemstones from his lion’s paw, which scattered across the ground before his throne.

The glimmering pink of Kindness. The blazing red of Loyalty. The noble purple of Generosity. The steadfast orange of Honesty. The passionate blue of Laughter. The vibrant shine of the sixth and most fragile among them.

“If the Elements be so powerful,” Discord said with a growl, “then by all means, smite me. Destroy me utterly. You can’t. You won’t. If by some miracle you seal me away, know that I shall return, even if not as myself, because eventually all things creep towards the end of all things. You try to stall chaos, and in doing so, you wear yourself to the bone.” He smiled, then chuckled, kicking Loyalty with his cloven hoof. “We’ll see how well you handle power of your own, Princesses. We’ll see what sort of dark paths you take, once you realize I was right all along.”

Celestia reached out to touch Magic, afraid that it was a trick, afraid that it would crumble to dust or vanish before her eyes. Power flowed through it; power as ancient as the world, and as strong as the day it was forged. She glanced at Discord, but he was no longer watching. His head was thrown back with laughter, his talon clutching at his heart while his lion’s paw waved in the air.

“I know this is not you, Discord.”

She picked up the Elements of Harmony with a gleam of her horn. She felt the same touch from Luna’s magic. Each of them held the Six, and each of them poured their will into the Six. The Elements glowed to match, then quickly overpowered the alicorn magic as they weaved their own purpose.

Luna’s spell-powered whisper slid right into Celestia’s ear, even from several meters away. “We can not merely steal his magic from him. Unlike Tirek, the chaos magic would have nowhere to go, and would cause even more damage that this.” She narrowed her eyes at the laughing draconequus. “If we can seal the magic away, reality shall reassert itself. Perhaps petrification?”

Celestia shut her eyes so that she couldn’t see her one-time friend gone mad. She listened to the way the Elements twisted and tumbled, their spell becoming more clear to her as the seconds passed. “If I am not mistaken, the Elements are already prepared for just such a spell. Your doing?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps I got the idea from them.” Luna shut her eyes as well, biting the inside of her cheek. “We must do it now.”

“Yes.” The intensity of Celestia’s horn hit a piercing bright white. “Now.”

The Rainbow of Light struck forth with a power that seemed capable of remaking the world. It flowed through Celestia, as though using her as a conduit. She guided the magic, and it guided her, in a symbiotic spell casting where neither could be as powerful alone as they were together. For a moment, it seemed as if there was but one Element, or that all six Elements were the same, and then the magic faded.

The throne was gone. They were surrounded by a softly-curving field, with low hills and plentiful grass. Birds sang in distant trees as the Everfree Forest hissed softly in the cool wind. Celestia almost collapsed in the tall grass there and then, every fiber of her being crying out in exhaustion and sorrow. Above the hills, above the beetles floating lazily along their paths and the bees collecting nectar, was a tall stone statue. It had the form of a draconequus, laughing uproariously, frozen stiff in an act of defiance.

Commander Pansy trotted across the field, pausing only to make sure Smart Cookie was unharmed before he beelined it to the statue. “Someone bring me a hammer! Now!”

Celestia stared at him, not comprehending what he said for a solid minute. Her eyes widened and she charged towards Pansy, her mouth moving faster even than her hooves. “No, please, we can’t! Not now!”

“If we destroy the statue, we can kill him!” Pansy spread his wings, indicating the whole of the field with them. “Then this never happens again! Then he never threatens us again! Did you see what he did to us? To Cookie? To Hurricane? Clover wasn’t even herself!”

Smart Cookie was leaning against her husband Gregor. He hadn’t said anything since he was freed from Discord’s grasp. It didn’t look like he could speak just yet. He shivered, staring at nothing, until Cookie put a blanket around his shoulders.

“P-Pansy is right, girls.” Smart Cookie took a shuddering breath. She looked nearly ready to vomit. “He’s too dangerous. Even Tirek didn’t… couldn’t…”

“Tirek was a monster and we keep him alive, chained as he is!” Celestia threw herself between Pansy and the statue. “Discord is a friend!”

“A friend with the power to twist the universe into a mockery of life!” Pansy raised his head imperiously, his eyes flashing on the cusp of anger at her. “Move aside, Celestia!”

“Hold a moment, Pansy.” Commander Hurricane rested a hoof on his shoulder. Her cold, gray eyes stared up at Celestia’s weeping face for a long, painful moment. Celestia couldn’t meet her gaze. Hurricane’s scarred cheek throbbed, causing the commander to wince. She sighed and walked around Celestia to look up at Discord. “He is a friend, of Celestia and Luna, and also to Equestria. Without him, we would never have found all six Elements of Harmony. Without him, Tirek would have devoured us all.”

Celestia’s mouth dried out as she watched the commander circle the statue. Hurricane’s expression was as unreadable as ever. She turned back to Pansy and lowered her head.

“Life is full of both good and evil, and all people produce both.” Hurricane rested a hoof on the statue’s leg. “None of us are different from the other. This is why we must stick together and help one another. That is what Hearth’s Warming taught me. That is what I’ve learned, time and time again, on this journey with all of thee.” She extended a wing to Celestia, until she touched her shoulder. “Celestia should keep Discord close, under watch, ready to act should he ever break free. A memento, kept in secret, until a miracle decides to show itself once again.”

Celestia looked down at the gemstones she had used to imprison her friend. “I do not think I believe in miracles.”

“Then thou shall miss them when they do occur.” Hurricane hopped into the air, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. “Those able-bodied among us should gather the people. We all need some time to recover.”

Pansy gave Discord one last glance before nodding in agreement. “Flash, are you able to stand?”

Flash Magnus saluted, and the two of them flew with Hurricane. Luna was by Clover’s side, helping her put on her enchanted cloak. Both Smart Cookie and Gregor needed a good meal, for starters, and a warm bed soon after.

Celestia gathered up the Elements of Harmony and placed them within a sack, which she hung from her side. She stared up at Discord with a deepening frown. “Perhaps the garden. Thou always loved the garden.”

Luna called her name, waving her towards Ft. Everfree. Celestia set out at a fast walk, working out in her mind what she would say, and to whom, when they asked where the statue came from. As she grew closer to the city, she could hear cheers, shouts of acclamation, the beginnings of a celebration brewing. She heard her name, shouted again and again, calling her home. Calling her prophesied.

In time, they would demand that she take the throne and rule as High Princess.

In time, she would accept.

Book Two — The Two Trees

Canterlot is no more!

Jeuk, Master of the Unseelie Court, has slain Celestia and left her kingdom rocking on the precipice of the unknown. Merry and her Sirens scramble to unite the dissolved Equestria, but not everybody is willing to follow them. Their first move to solidify their power is to march on Ponyville, but the Crystal Empire looms in the north, and may prove to be their most stalwart foe.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have been captured, with only Applejack running free. Her mission: to warn the families of her friends of the oppression of the Sirens, and their plans to capture anyone connected with the Bearers. She holds in her bag the Element of Kindness, the last hope they have to combat the power of the Unseelie Court.

But it is only one of the six.

Spike, Apple Bloom, Button Mash, Sweetie Belle, Rumble, and Scootaloo have taken on the task of scouring the world for the remaining Elements of Harmony. Their information is sparce, their equipment negligible, their plans uneasy. These six young people are the last best hope for Equestria to survive the Unseelie Court’s schemes, but hope grows faint in such trying times…

Samples from the Griffon-English Lexicon

Notes on pronunciation: “CH” always indicates a “TCH” sound, such as in “Church.” Never as a hard “K” as in Character, or a soft “SH” as in Machine.

Double vowels indicate the long vowel sound, and also that the sound be held for a 1/8th beat. Much of the griffon language has the feel of birdsong to it, to the point where listening to a native is akin to hearing a song being invented in real time. Political speeches are often transliterated with both text and musical notes to indicate specific dramatic pauses and flourishes.

The “M,” “V,” and “W” sounds are produced by special muscles vibrating in the throat. Species with lips lack these vital muscles, resulting in a clear accent whenever they speak Griffish. The humming of a griffon often sounds unnerving to those who are not used to hearing it.

Griffon sentence structure can be difficult to interpret as written, as their language is mainly made up of nouns and verbs with little connective tissue. It is often up to the listener to use context clues and tone to compile the meaning of the sentence. In addition, many words and phrases have deeper meaning than what would be indicated with a literal translation. Our English translation team has worked hard to make sure to localize the original Griffish to be as close as possible to the intended meaning.

Akelra – n. Neck. Can be used to describe anything within the neck ie. throat, vocal cords, esophagus (see Vakelra)

Chakaa – vb. To leave, especially on a long journey.

Chakii – vb. To return, especially after a long journey.

Fetack – vb. A command used to incite the object to action, often performing a predetermined course of action; ie. a performance or series of battle maneuvers. In the event of a surprise encounter with an enemy, the word is most times interpreted as “fight until we’re dead or they are.”

Gawrock – adj. Awesome. In slang, an exclamation that something is excellent, surprising, or perplexing.

Ka – exclamation. “No,” a denial, a refusal, indicates the following sentence has a reversed meaning.

Keekee – n. Mother (informal), came about due to the “kee” sound being the easiest for young hatchlings to speak.

Kree – conjunction, usually equivalent to “and.” Often implies symbiosis or mutual belonging in literature.

Kretch – n. Lightning (see Kretchwaugh).

Kretchwaugh – n./adj. Blitzwing, the Griffon King’s personal guard. Compound word from Kretch + Waugh. Literally “Lightning Wings” or “The one with lightning in their wings.” Often used in poetry to describe one of great power.

Krevatch – n. Griffon curse, no real equivalent in English, vulgarity is in direct proportion to the vehemence with which it is spoken.

Kroota – n. Friend.

Melchila – adj. Beautiful in every sense of the word, praiseworthy, good.

Sheesha – n. Father (informal), also a name for the Creator Being, who is regarded by the griffon orthodoxy as the father of all life.

Twee – Affirmative, yes, an indication that the object will performed the assigned task.

Vreen – n. Literally “King.” Masculine version of “Vreev.” A high-ranking individual, one whose political station is greater than your own. Used before the name of the individual as a title, or used by itself to refer to the individual.

Vreev – n. Literally “Queen.” Feminine version of “Vreen.” A high-ranking individual, one whose political station is greater than your own. Used before the name of the individual as a title, or used by itself to refer to the individual.

Vak – vb. To stab, to thrust, to plunge. To forcefully reveal something (see Vakelra).

Vakelra – n. Protector. Compound word from Vak + Akelra. Literally “One who thrusts out his neck” ie. “sticking your neck out for someone,” implying sacrificial protection.

Vakr – n. Sword (slang), especially one with a long, narrow blade for thrusting, ie. Martial’s rapiers.

Vakvikr – n. Sword. Can refer to any sword, but most often refers to one with a double-edged blade, able to slash and thrust with equal efficiency, ie. Euroclydon, Andean’s broadsword.

Vik – vb. To slash, to cut, to swing an object violently. Occasionally: to throw.

Vikr – n. Sword (slang), especially one with only one sharp edge for cutting, ie. a saber such as the twin Wyrmslayer blades.

Waugh – n. Wing (see Kretchwaugh).

Coronation

Applejack opened her eyes to find her aches and pains had vanished. She sat up in a warm bed, surrounded by blankets and laying on a down-filled cushion. The smell that surrounded her was strange, but not unpleasant. It was herbal, and fresh, and a little bit spicy. She reached beside the round bed and touched her hat, which had been left on top of a simple stool carved from a stump.

Masks covered the walls, either carved from wood or molded from clay. They were painted to resemble species from the Lowlands: Zebras, Giraffes, Lions, and so on. Applejack saw a black cauldron bubbling in the middle of the room, being stirred by one such Lowlands inhabitant. “Zecora?”

Zecora the Zebra smiled as Applejack got to her hooves. “It’s good to see you up and about. For a moment there I was filled with doubt.” She gestured to an empty mug beside the bed. “A healing elixir mended your pain…” Her eyebrows came together as she glanced out the window. “But worse things have arrived once again.”

Applejack could see Canter Mountain through the window from where she stood. It was covered in rifts and ulcerous chasms, all glowing with purple magic, leaking acrid smoke. Near the peak it looked like a veritable volcano of dark, twisted magic.

“You were drained every step that you took. When first I found you, I could not bear to look.” Zecora’s voice warbled. She doused the fire beneath the cauldron and left whatever was inside to cool. “It devours life. It breeds strife. You looked dead, from toe to head, your spirit balanced on a knife.”

“I need—” Applejack swiveled her head back and forth until she found Twilight’s bag. It was hanging on a coatrack beside the entrance. “We need to get to Ponyville pronto. Evil fairies attacked and everypony’s in danger.”

“The Dark Fae? So you say.” Zecora scurried to the coatrack and enveloped herself in a gray cloak. “Our enemies in every way. The Lowlands are no stranger to their fable. We leave as soon as you are able.”

“I’m able.” Applejack grabbed Twilight’s bag, double-checking that the Element of Kindness was safe, and pushed the door open almost before Zecora had her hood on. The devious Everfree Forest loomed ahead of her, strange magic and stranger creatures lurking in every corner. “I think you oughta lead, though.”

“I’ve lived here for years, learning each leaf and root.” Zecora closed the door behind her and barred it with an iron lock Applejack had never seen her use before. Even Zecora, whose doors were never closed despite her dangerous habitat, was on edge in the wake of last night’s terror. “Now off to Ponyville we’ll scoot.”

Their path was slow and steady through the forest. Zecora lived close to Ponyville, but not so close that one would find her hut by accident. Applejack kept glancing back at Canter Mountain, at least until she stepped on a thorny plant or had a bug fly into her face. The Everfree was oddly welcoming compared with the mountain; though it was also home to strange magic, it at least resembled the world as she knew it.

When they came to Ponyville’s town square, they found it crowded with ponies. Most had found their way to the market in front of Ponyville Castle, but they were not there to shop. They crowded on the steps to the castle and were only held back by guardsponies stationed at the front gates. Some had given up on the castle and had done the same to City Hall, but were met with similar results. Most paid Applejack no mind, and those that did see her ignored her as soon as they noticed. They were after answers, and the farm girl from the edge of town wasn’t going to know any more than they did. Especially since she wasn’t the mayor anymore. Especially since the Elements of Harmony were either lost or destroyed. Applejack kept her head low and pushed gently through the crowd, gradually getting closer to the castle.

Zecora kept her hood over her eyes. She appeared as a pony to the milling crowd. Even more of a nobody than the former hero.

So unnoticed they were that Applejack nearly leaped out of her skin when a hoof clamped onto both of their shoulders. She glanced behind her in a mixture of horror and confusion and became no less confused when she saw Ribbon Wishes, the town plumber, guiding them both to the front gate of the castle. “Easy does it. Don’t spook the crowd, Your Mayorship.”

“I ain’t—” Applejack clapped her jaw shut. Denial would draw more attention than anything.

“Very few of these ponies are friends,” Ribbon Wishes said, her mouth barely moving. “And those that are wouldn’t remain such once they knew what was going on.”

Applejack glanced at the ponies around them with a newfound unease. Considering what she knew of Merry Mare, and the ease with which the Mother of the Sirens had won her mayorship over her only opponent, it was an easy guess as to how she had persuaded the crowd.

The guards parted and allowed them to slip inside. Applejack recognized them as two of Twilight’s personal guards: Coldstone and Snowcap. A brief uproar echoed through those closest to the gate, a few questions spattered against the guards, but no answers came.

Applejack and Zecora were led down the long foyer hall to the central room of the Ponyville Castle. Six thrones sat equidistant from each other in a circle, and a seventh sat near the northmost seat. In the middle of the open circle was a large flat-topped table made from a single piece of crystal. Illusions appeared on the surface, representing a map of Equestria and the surrounding territories. Overhead, a mobile made from an ancient root system raised aloft dozens of crystalized memories, pulled from Applejack and her friends, able to be viewed by anyone so long as they focused on one in particular.

She could see families from all over Ponyville sitting in clusters around the throne room. The Cakes were huddled not too far from Rarity’s parents. Button Mash’s parents were talking back and forth with Davenport and Roseluck. Bulk Biceps was with his son, Featherweight, who was seated with his buddies Snips, Pipsqueak, and third pony Applejack didn’t know at first glance. Their families were all there as well, and so was Derpy Doo and her daughter Dinky. Applejack saw Sweetie near Button Mash, who was entertaining the children with a stripped-down version of one of his puppet plays.

There. She felt immense relief when she saw Big Mac, Cheerilee, Cinnamon, and Grand Pear sitting with Fleur de Lis and Jadeite, with both small fillies on Grand Pear’s knees. She was about to walk up to them, to hug Mac tighter than he’d ever been hugged before, when she heard her name coming from the circle of thrones.

Starswirl the Bearded was doing his best to take charge, though it seemed to be a too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen situation. Commander Skyhook and Dean Abacus Cinch were in a heated discussion, while Prince Blueblood sat in the Thone of Magic, shaking his head and staring at nothing in particular. Mayor Gaston paced around the perimeter. Spike leaned against the table, his head in his hands, his eyes glaring daggers at Canter Mountain, while Apple Bloom rubbed his back.

The one who had spoken, Night Light, father of Twilight, ran towards Applejack, waving a hoof. “Applejack, thank the Creator! Have you seen Velvet? Can you tell us what happened to Twilight?”

Applejack averted her eyes from him. “Last I saw Miss Velvet, the Sirens had her captured. As for Twi… you know as much as I do.”

Spike rapped his claws on the table, as though he could physically snatch Jeuk from his hiding place. “All I know for sure is that the Elements can rescue her.” He nodded, a motion intended to reassure others as much as himself, Applejack figured. “They can rescue her. If they could trap Luna on the moon, they can free Twilight.”

“I hope you’re right, kid.”

The mare who had spoken was not someone Applejack was expecting to see, and so she did not immediately recognize her. She watched the mare come, her eyes taking a moment to focus, to understand what she was seeing. Earth pony. Curly orange mane. Yellow coat. Glistening red gemstone around the neck.

Applejack’s eyes sharpened in an instant. She reeled back a hoof and let it fly, driving it into the side of Adagio Dazzle’s head.

“That’s fer Celestia!” Applejack threw Twilight’s bag to Zecora before the Siren could react. She leaped upon the stunned Adagio and laid into her with heavy hoofstrikes. “And fer Twilight! And fer Fluttershy! And fer—”

One kick to her stomach knocked Applejack back. She stumbled and fell, but was caught by Zecora before she could hit the ground. She glared at Adagio, reaching for her, fighting against Zecora’s grip to do more harm. “Lemme go! She’s been workin’ with them this whole time! She’s with the Unsilly! Stop her afore she hurts anybody else!”

“Applejack!” Adagio raised her voice so that the entire throne room could hear her. “Sit a moment and think.”

“I am thinkin’!” Applejack snapped. “I’m thinkin’ how nice it’ll be to put yer grave next’r the orchard so’s every mornin’ I can wake up and spit on it.”

“Stop it!” Sweetie Belle galloped towards them and put her hooves on Applejack’s chest. “If she’s working with the Unseelie, why did she help all of us to escape?”

“Escape?” Applejack snapped her teeth. “Last I saw of you, y’all were lookin’ on an’ applaudin’ while Jeuk stabbed Celestia in the back!”

“She knew she was going to die, Applejack.” Adagio wiped blood from her lips. “And you did, too.”

“The heck are you talkin’ about?”

“The orchard, Applejack,” Ribbon Wishes said, “or have you already forgotten?”

“The… the heck?” Applejack sneered at Ribbon as Zecora released her. She decided to sit, looking back and forth, until somepony said something that made sense. “How would you even know that I talked to her?”

“Applejack, listen.” Adagio stole the farmer’s attention again, keeping herself out of arm’s reach. “Celestia died so that you’d have a chance. You know that, right? She died so that we would all have a chance.” She pointed at the bag that Applejack had so readily discarded. “Or do you think it was random happenstance that you escaped with all of that?”

Sweetie Belle nodded quickly. “I—I can vouch for Adagio. She led most of Canterlot’s people to the air harbor… including the castle staff. She rescued everybody who was onboard the Laputa and brought us here. She’s not working for the Unseelie. She was on our side the whole time.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow at that last one. “You’re a nice kid, Sweetie Belle, but way too trusting. I was working for the Unseelie. For years.” She raised a hoof before Applejack could shout. “I doubt they’d let me back after this, don’t you? Trust me or don’t, but do yourself a favor and hold off on the fisticuffs for a sec.”

Applejack wasn’t planning on pummeling Adagio anymore—not yet—so she turned to Ribbon Wishes with a scowl. “An’ just how did you know about me an’ Celestia’s private conversation? I ain’t lettin’ that go.”

Pumpkin Cake trotted into the middle of the conversation with her head held high. “Cuz she’s a fairy and doesn’t care how physics work, so she was invisible.” At her parents’ mortified expressions, she shrugged. “What? It’s true and I’m tired of keeping it to myself.”

Adagio pressed her teeth together in a deathlike grin. “Pumpkin, that brain of yours’ll make you rich one day, but only if your mouth doesn’t get you killed first.”

Applejack looked over at Ribbon Wishes, wearing overalls and a baseball cap, her plumber’s tools hanging from every beltloop and pocket.

The accused fairy eyed Pumpkin with a faint hint of resignation. “Will you believe me that I’m on your side?”

“She is,” Pumpkin said. “She got her plot kicked when she fought Jeuk in a one-on-one magic duel. I don’t think I could fake that kinda embarrassment.”

Pound Cake hovered over his sister and bashfully wrung his hooves together. “She, um, also saved my life, so… um, she’s good. She’s a good fairy.”

Ribbon Wishes lowered her eyelids at the Cake twins. “Yes. I fought Jeuk… and survived, might I add.” She clicked her tongue and turned to the stunned faces of the Equestrian leaders seated around the map. “The Seelie Fae on this world may be few in number, but still we pledge our support to your efforts in fighting the Unseelie Court.”

Applejack got to her hooves and gave Ribbon a wide berth. “I guess today’s the day I take the word of Sirens and fairies at face value.” She approached the table, glancing back and forth between the ponies there. She gave Apple Bloom a quick hug before taking a seat on her throne. “So let’s get down to business. What do we got?”

Starswirl looked to Blueblood, who looked to Cinch, who looked to Adagio. Adagio just clapped a hoof against Starswirl’s back and nearly knocked him over. “You first, big guy.”

Starswirl coughed and righted himself with a hoof against the tabletop. “Canterlot is gone. The whole of the city. Celestia is dead, and Luna is half a world away. Twilight is…” He glanced at Spike and Night Light. “She is the Mare in the Moon, outside our reality. Canter Mountain itself has become inhospitable. The guard is dead, missing, or turned to Merry’s side.”

A cough from Skyhook interrupted the old wizard. “Not all the guard. All of Twilight’s personal guard remain loyal, and most of the Ponyville guard is made of good, solid soldiers. We have about five-hundred ponies we can trust on that end.”

“Yes,” came Starswirl’s dry reply. “Five-hundred against the five-thousand Canterlot Regulars, and the seven-thousand Manehattan Harbor Guard. Perhaps we yet stand a chance.”

“Hold your horseshoes, now,” Applejack said. “You ain’t suggestin’ we’re gonna fight with loyal Equestrian soldiers, are yah? They’re all volunteers! They’re all normal folks who wanted to defend Equestria from monsters an’ invaders an’ tyrants.”

“Unfortunately, Lady Applejack, they’re loyal to whomever is in charge of Equestria.” Blueblood leaned his elbow against the armrest of Twilight’s throne. “Which, as of last night, is the Circle of Mayors—” Mayor Gaston winced. “—which has named Merry Mare as its head. Even Stonewall, Captain of the Guard, was seen in her company. They will see no problem hunting us all down for the sake of the security of Equestria and its citizens because that’s… Their… Job…”

“It isn’t just the normal soldiers anymore, either.” Adagio moved a marker, made from a used soda can, to a spot in the ocean just off the coast, east of Canter Mountain. “It hasn’t been that long since Silver Spoon freed the prisoners at Solitaire with a choice: join or die. Jeuk’ll be using them to replace any soldiers who oppose the Sirens.”

Applejack pulled the brim of her hat over her eyes. “How many prisoners escaped?”

“I’m not sure, at least compared to how many were just plain killed.” Adagio shrugged. “I think the prison held ten thousand total.”

“Almost every single creature who was held there,” Starswirl said quietly, “was guilty of violent crimes. Many murderers found their way into Solitaire before the Unseelie Court attacked.”

“And those who did not follow willingly…” Adagio Dazzle held up the red gemstone dangling from her neck. “Sirens have ways of making you behave.”

Applejack peered out from beneath her hat. She blew a hot breath from her snout. “So how can we fight people if we know their hearts ain’t in it?”

“Intentions pave the way to hell, Applejack,” Adagio said. “Even the wisest creature can’t judge based on intention. Only action. All you know for sure is that your family is in danger. All you know for sure is that the Sirens’ army is coming for you. All you know for sure is that if you don’t fight, Jeuk and Merry win.”

Spike shut his eyes and rubbed his head, bumping his claws against his head spikes. “A lotta good people are gonna die, either way.”

Skyhook cleared his throat a bit more loudly than was strictly necessary. “My scouts have spotted the Sirens and the Canterlot Regulars moving their equipment to New Cloudsdale. It seems that’s their intended base of operations. I suspect the slim stallion in their company was Jeuk?”

“Sounds like him,” Applejack said with a growl.

Starswirl plucked a scroll from the table and rolled it up in a spell. “In addition, we have reports from local radio stations that news of the attack on Canterlot has spread to every city-state in Equestria. The report they received lays the blame squarely on Princess Celestia going mad. Much like the Nightmare Moon of yore. After the past few years, the story seems strangely palatable to the general populace. Much more palatable than wild rumors of the Unseelie Court returning, or being real in the first place. After all, are Windigoes and Skinthieves not the stuff of fairy tales?” He looked at Ribbon Wishes with a heavy brow.

“‘Skinthief’ is hardly an accurate name.” Ribbon pinched her cheek and tugged. It stretched abnormally far. “This skin is my own, grown specially for me, though I do not inhabit it the way your mortal souls do. It has a very simple brain—”

Pumpkin Cake snorted.

Ribbon’s cheeks heated up. “—solely used for locomotive purposes, you little brat.”

Starswirl frowned and placed his jingling hat upon his head. “Our fate is the same whether that skin is stolen or homegrown. Equestria is against us. Perhaps so thoroughly that they would imprison us to a pony the instant we step outside.” He turned to Applejack on her throne. “And your friends and family, every single one of them, is to share the same fate simply through dint of knowing you.”

Applejack locked eyes with Apple Bloom. “That’s what Merry’s warrant said.”

Apple Bloom stood up, and her head was higher than anypony who was not sitting on a throne. “What are we gonna do? We can’t just sit tight an’ let them take Mac and Grand Pear! An’—an’ Cinnamon, and Jadeite…”

“In fact,” Starswirl said, “everypony in this room.”

Applejack leaned hard on the armrest. The families who were scattered around the throne room and a few besides. No wonder they had been gathered. Adagio really had saved them all. That or made them that much easier to capture… but that wouldn’t make sense. Not when Starswirl and the castle staff should have suffered a fiery death at Jeuk’s hands.

Dean Abacus Cinch tapped a ruler against the edge of the table, and the ponies present sat up in rapt attention. She gestured to the northern part of the illusory map of Equestria. “The only hope we have right now, the only place we can go and be certain that Merry and the Unseelie’s influence has no sway, is the Crystal Empire. The Unseelie are kept out via the Crystal Heart’s Hearths Warming Spell, and the Merry supporters will be kept out by virtue of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza refusing to remove her crown. She will not kneel to Merry Mare.” She pursed her already-thin lips. “War is inevitable, but still a ways off, thanks to the Crystal Empire’s distance from Equestria’s heartland.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes jumped from the dean to the map and back again. “The same heartland that stands between us an’ the empire?”

“Astute, Miss Apple.” Abacus rounded the map table, tapping her ruler against each city as she named them off. “New Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Fillidelphia, and Trottingham. Each one specifically targeted by the Sirens to spread the word of Merry’s completely legitimate rule. Each one armed with full garrison of Royal Guardsponies soon to be bolstered by Equestria’s most wanted and a level of corruption unheard of since the Changeling Empire.” She laid the ruler out in a straight line between Ponyville and the Crystal Empire. “For so many ponies to make such a long journey through hostile territory, even with allies along the way, it would be suicide.” She looked over her rectangular glasses at Ribbon Wishes. “Which is why we need to make use of the Ways. Do you know how to use them, Lady Fairy?”

Ribbon Wishes shook her head. “I know of what you speak, though I know not how to activate them. Only the rulers of nations and the breezies themselves know how to cross the Ways.”

“Breezies?” Applejack stood on the seat of her throne and removed her hat to get a clear look at the map. If she recalled correctly, the magic pathway to the breezie home was just south of Ponyville. “You talkin’ about those portals the breezies use to get hither and thither?”

“Indeed.” Abacus Cinch exchanged a glance with Starswirl, and a wordless communication passed between them. “In the time before Equestria, when the world was still young, the breezies used the Ways to travel between countries in an instant, bringing healing Ambrosia wherever they went. Since the formation of Equestria, since the tragedies of Sombra and Discord and Nightmare Moon, these Ways were shut off, sealed, deactivated forevermore. Only a select few people were permitted to use them, Celestia included. There were similar pathways into Tartarus, but these have been destroyed alongside Canterlot. As has the main Canterlot portal.”

“The second closest portal,” Starswirl said, “was destroyed when Princess Twilight collapsed the ruins of Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters.”

“There is a portal to the Ways in every capital city.” Abacus’ horn flickered, and the map zoomed out, covering more territory. Applejack could see across the ocean, to where Felaccia and the Lowlands lay. And even to the Sandidry Desert beyond. “Felaccia, the Lowlands, Beefland, the Cauldron, and the Crystal Empire all keep a close eye on their magic portals, and only open them under the most dire of circumstances.”

Applejack’s eyes moved from Ponyville southward. Past the southernmost towns of Equestria, Dodge Junction and Appleoosa, beside the inhospitable Badlands, lay the dragon kingdom of the Cauldron. It was a long journey, but the lower population density would make it so that the greatest danger was to the rear, rather than all around. “A portal from the Cauldron to the Crystal Empire. Go south to go north.”

Abacus Cinch nodded, and a small smile appeared on her face.

Applejack rubbed her chin. It was a good plan, at least better than the alternative. But it wasn’t foolproof. With as many people as they’d need to move, it would be slow going. She hadn’t seen a caravan yet that could move faster than a crawl. Jeuk’s forces would overtake them inside a week. “But it ain’t enough, is it? Someone needs to make sure the Sirens and Unsilly can’t get their claws into our backs.” She turned back to Canter Mountain and the voluminous New Cloudsdale beside it. “Someone needs to stay behind and fight.”

Adagio Dazzle smirked and crossed her forelegs on the table. “An’ just who’s gonna volunteer to do that?”

Applejack plopped her hat between her ears and cinched Twilight’s bag tight around her torso. “I will. Somepony needs to stay behind an’ rescue the ponies Merry an’ Jeuk captured. Somepony need to make sure the Apples who live in Manhattan an’ Trottingham have someone on their side. Somepony need to stick it to Jeuk an’ his whole dang operation any way we can. An’ I guess that’s me.”

Spike stood up and placed his fist against his chest. “We need the Elements of Harmony now more than ever. Jeuk’s already shown an interest in me. If I head out on my journey now, his attention will be split between the refugees, the defenders, and the seekers. If we’re lucky, Princess Luna and King Andean will have survived last night and will also be ready to attack the Unseelie. With all of that coming up against him, he won’t even have time to fight the Crystal Empire.” He rested a claw on the back of his diminutive throne. “So, I guess we just have to decide who’s going where.”

Blueblood stood first. “I shall lead the people south. The Crystal Empire is my ancestral home, and these ponies are my people. It’s as though things were decided centuries ago, before I was even born.”

“I shall go with you,” Abacus Cinch said. “We have several students with us, and if all the alicorns fall, we shall need trained unicorns to keep the sun and moon from the Unseelie.”

“I shall also accompany you.” Mayor Gaston unsheathed his glittering sword and dropped it to the ground. “You shall need trained warriors to protect the people on their long journey. It is time to exchange my ceremonial sword for a real one.”

Starswirl gazed forlornly at the illusory Canter Mountain. “I shall remain and fight alongside Applejack. Too many times have I been elsewhere when I was needed here.”

Skyhook saluted Applejack. “Twilight’s personal guard will stand by you. I’ll send most of the Ponyville Guard south to protect the caravan, but we’ve got more than enough mettle to be a thorn in Merry’s side.”

Night Light touched a hoof to Spike’s shoulder. “I’d stay if I could, but I can’t abandon my grandkids.” He bowed his head to Applejack. “Help Velvet. Please. And… and my daughter…”

“I will.”

Spike hugged Night Light gently. “The Elements will bring Twilight back, I promise.”

“I know it,” Night Light sighed. “I know it, Spike.”

“We’ll stand by you, Applejack!”

Pipsqueak marched up, with Snips, Featherweight, and that third pony, who had an odd resemblance with Button Mash. Applejack’s ears stood up straight when she realized it was Button’s older brother, Lickety Split, who had vanished for several years.

Pipsqueak saluted sharply. “We are ready and willing to lay our lives down in service to this here community, sirrah!”

Applejack lowered her eyebrows. “With all due respect, y’all are the Fire Brigade, not the Long Patrol.”

Snips coughed. “Former Fire Brigade for some of us.”

“Even so, Marm!” Pipsqueak stood at even more rapt attention, if that was at all possible. “Ponyville is our heart and soul! And we are Ponyville’s heart and soul! I cannot sit by and watch her be overrun by those who would do her harm, wot! I mean… Sirrah.”

Dinky Do trotted up to her fiancé, wearing a tan overcoat and armed with some sort of bracelet on her foreleg. “You’d better not leave me out, Pip. Time Turner taught me a thing to two, you know.”

Pipsqueak looked up at his far-taller better half. “I’d think nothing less, Dinky.”

“I’ll help, too.” Snails appeared as if out of the shadows and came to stand between Snips and Lickety. He smiled in his trademark unworried fashion, speaking in a relaxed drawl.

Snips’ eyes about bugged out of his head. “Snails! Where in the heck did you disappear to?”

Snails shrugged. “Long story.”

“What’s the short version?”

“I was waitin’ for Lickety Split to come back.” His smile widened. “Ain’t a full crew without him.”

Snips rubbed his mane as his eyes took on a distant look. “Ain’t a full crew without you either, buddy.”

“I shall travel south with you,” Zecora said to Prince Blueblood. “For such a long journey, medicine is due. I’ll not concoct it in my pot, but herb and poultice help a lot.”

Big Mac trotted up to Applejack with his eyes turned down. “Feels wrong leavin’ yah here.”

“Somepony’s gotta watch over the family, Mac.” Applejack placed a hoof on his chest. “I don’t trust nopony more than you.”

Button Mash and Sweetie Belle joined Apple Bloom at Spike’s side. Button gave his brother a half-smile. “Guess it’s time for us to split again.”

“At least it’s under…” Lickety Split bit his tongue. “Not ‘better’ circumstances. Just better between us.” He tousled Button’s spiky mane. “See the world, Button. Then save it. I’ll try to be here when you get back.”

Button winced under the rough hoof. “I’ll hold you to that. We need to catch up for real.”

Applejack was about to speak to Apple Bloom, then thought better of it. She addressed Spike instead. “Are you ready to leave anytime soon?”

Spike gestured to his three traveling companions. “As soon as Rumble can walk, we’re outta here.”

Applejack jolted in place. She hadn’t even noticed that Rumble and Scootaloo were both missing. “He hurt or somethin’?”

“One of Caballeron’s goon squad escaped Solitaire,” Button said. “Carries a grudge and fifty wingblades.”

“He oughta be waking up soon.” Adagio Dazzle flicked an ear in the direction of Twilight’s laboratory. “Doc says the muscle damage will heal with a steady dose of Ambrosia.” She sent a smarmy smile Sweetie’s way. “We made sure to pack enough Ambrosia for both of you to last a year. After that, you’re on your own.”

Sweetie Belle furrowed her brow, and her shoulder muscles tensed, but she said nothing.

Applejack bared her teeth in a faint mockery of a smile. “And what about the resident Fairy and Siren? How’re you two gonna fall when the chips are down?”

Ribbon Wishes raised an eyebrow. “I’m here to fight for Equestria’s existence. I stay by your side.”

“And somebody’s gotta keep an eye on me,” Adagio chuckled. “The only person I trust to do that is you, Applejack.”

“Lucky me, then.” Applejack sat up straight in her throne, casting her eyes across every other pony around the circle. “Anything else we need to cover before we get down to business?”

Silence fell over the makeshift council. Glances jumped between ponies. Blueblood turned left and right before letting out a groan. “Oh for pony’s sake, somebody had better tell her.”

Starswirl the Bearded spoke at last, slowly, hesitantly. “For those suckling at the teat of Merry’s propaganda machine, it will mean little. But for those who still believe in the princess… We have a bit of propaganda of our own.”

Applejack scowled. “I don’t intend to lie to people. Not even if it makes them feel better.”

“It is true enough.” Starswirl unraveled the scroll he kept by his side. “Something does not have to be false to be propaganda. Not when we wish to sway minds and turn hearts.” He held the scroll up for all to see. “Here, in Celestia’s own scrawl, is written her chosen successor.”

Applejack’s ears stood up. “I s’pect that’d be either Twilight or Luna.”

“And you would be right,” Starswirl said, “if either of them were present. But neither one can be reached. So we must go down the line.”

Applejack tried and failed to suppress her frown. “I guess it’s Blueblood, then? Since Cadence is holed up in the north?”

“As I have said before.” Blueblood adjusted his bowtie so that it sat straighter on his neck. He pointed his horn to the northmost portion of the map. “My path leads me to the Crystal Empire, and as such I won’t be around to lead Equestria. Celestia knew this, which is why she did not name me.”

“Then I guess I’m out of ideas.” Applejack leaned back in her throne, wishing that the memories that glittered overhead were real in the here-and-now. “Starswirl? Spike? Some bureaucrat I never met before?”

“Think about it, Applejack.” Adagio swung her gemstone on the end of its chain with a jaunty twirl. “With Twilight gone, who’s the next best leader among the six of you?”

“The six of—” Applejack’s eyes widened. She stood up and tossed her hat aside. “No.”

“Applejack?” Spike scratched the scarred scales on his chest. “I guess that’s… well, actually, you know, that does make a certain kinda sense…”

“You’re jokin’.” Applejack leaped down from her throne and trotted away from the map table. “You gotta be jokin’. There ain’t no way Princess Celestia chose me to be her—”

“Perhaps you might read the scroll, Lady Applejack.” Starswirl hovered the literature across the room to her side. “Perhaps seeing the reality of the situation might ease your worries.”

“Ease my worries?” Applejack snatched the scroll out of the air and shook it at him. “Equestria’s in the hands of an evil fairy and his mind-controllin’ minions. My family is homeless thanks to him havin’ a chip on his shoulder about me in particular. My little sister is goin’ on a journey that might not even have an end. All my friends are captured or dead. Which worry in particular is this gonna ease? What’ll it ease to know that I’m responsible for all of it?”

“Like I said, it is propaganda.” Starswirl’s hat jingled as he tilted his head. “To reassure the people on our side that all is not lost, that the successor of Princess Celestia is actively fighting to make the world right. That the peace Celestia brought to Equestria is not so easily destroyed.” He spread his forelegs out and spoke to everyone in the room. “Is there anyone here who would refuse Applejack as their High Princess?”

Applejack did not look to see their response. She looked down at the letter and saw Celestia’s hornwriting, clear as day. Her sister was to succeed her. In her absence, it was Cadence, then Twilight. Even Flurry Heart was named, once she came of age. And there, in black and white, clear as day, was her name. Celestia specifically chose her to lead Equestria in its hour of greatest need, when nopony else was available to take charge. When all other hopes failed, Applejack remained.

“I’m so glad it was you,” Celestia had said.

Applejack clicked her tongue and rolled the scroll up. She tossed it to Starswirl and returned to her throne. Now, it seemed, it had more weight behind it than merely the chair of a Bearer of an Element. “Seems my mind’s been made up for me.”

Adagio Dazzle smirked, and Applejack once again wanted to punch her in the face. The Siren walked sideways around the map until she stood alongside the Throne of Honesty. “Anything we need to do to make it official, Starscream the Weirdo?”

Starswirl scoffed at her. “I’m afraid we have little in the way of anointing oil or crowns.”

“Don’t need ’em.” Applejack tapped the brim of her hat and leaned back against the throne. “We all know what we gotta do anyhow, so there ain’t no decisions I gotta make, ‘cept where we’re gonna hole up once the army comes to occupy Ponyville.”

Adagio laughed to herself, though Applejack found no humor in it. “I recommend anywhere but Sweet Apple Acres.”

Applejack stood up and snapped her hoof against the crystal seat. “Then let’s get everypony ready to roll. Merry won’t wait long!”

Scootaloo rested her chin on Rumble’s bed. They just had to wait now. The big stallion would wake up and they’d be ready to set out.

His family sat nearby, tending to their twin daughters. Dr. Fine’s words had reassured them, though they still didn’t stray far from Twilight’s lab. Adagio Dazzle had insisted Rumble not be treated at the hospital. She said it was too dangerous.

Scootaloo felt her chest tighten. It was her fault Rumble was hurt. Rhombus wanted her, and he was willing to cut down anybody who got in his way. Whether that be her friends, her boyfriend, or her family. He wouldn’t stop until he got his way, or he was dead. She didn’t deserve Rumble. Or more to the point, they didn’t deserve to have her problems causing them pain.

She shut her eyes against the destructive thoughts in her head. No! Rumble loved her. They all loved her and supported her! They would stand by her side through thick and thin, and they would all be stronger together. They would beat Rhombus and the Sirens and the Dark Fairies and…

Dad.

Rumble stirred at last, his eyes blinking open. He opened his mouth and croaked. “Where am I?”

“At Twilight’s castle.” Scootaloo touched his hoof, and the pain in her chest lessened. “A lot’s happened.”

“I doubt I’d understand half of it.” Rumble moved to sit up, but she pushed him back down.

“You have a stab wound.” Scootaloo hesitated before continuing, her eyes unable to tear themselves away from his bandages. “You’re not supposed to fly until you’re healed. The doctor says about a month. He prescribed two milliliters of Ambrosia a day.”

Rumble huffed, but he lay back when she pressed against his shoulders. “That’s gonna make our trip a little harder.”

“Yeah. Probably.” She blinked the tears out of her eyes while he wasn’t looking. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“You too.” He reached out his hoof for her cheek. “Listen, I wanna apologize—”

“Save it.” She gave his hoof a pat and backed away. “You’ve only got a few hours to say goodbye.” She moved aside and let Thunderlane and Cloudkicker through. As they began talking, she trotted out of the lab and into the throne room. Most people were clustered together in various small groups, and she spotted Spike, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Button forming their own quartet near the front entrance of the room. She headed over but stopped when she saw Adagio Dazzle sitting by herself, munching on some sort of granola bar.

She approached the Siren slowly, as if she were hunting a large predator. She lowered her head and spread her wings for a quick flight. She sucked in a breath, let it out slowly, and tapped her on the shoulder. “Yo.”

Adagio flicked her eyes upward. “I was wondering if you’d come to talk to me.”

“Caution Tape.” Scootaloo sat in front of the Siren. “What do you know?”

“What did he tell you?”

“That…” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her mane. “You know…”

Adagio smirked in patient understanding. “That your mother was a Siren?”

Scootaloo’s blood ran cold. She felt her stomach in freefall, as though she’d soared a thousand feet in the air only to have her wings cut off. The world swirled around her and she almost vomited on the Siren’s horseshoes.

Adagio’s eyes widened. “Okay, not that, then.”

A Siren? One of the most dangerous enemies Equestria had faced in the last thousand years of its existence? And she was born from the union of one of them and a murderous traitor? Scootaloo couldn’t take it. She couldn’t. She hunched over and let tears flow from her eyes. “This can’t be real.”

Adagio hesitated, then touched her wingtip. Scootaloo flinched away.

“So he’s really my dad,” she choked out. “Isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Adagio Dazzle glanced around, as though attempting to ward off Scootaloo’s defenders. “He and Aria met about… twenty-two years ago. You were born pretty quick, from what Aria told me.”

Scootaloo’s tearful words dripped with venom. “She abandoned me pretty quick.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know the whole story.” Adagio shrugged, looking anywhere but at Scootaloo. “Nobody does. All I know is what Aria told me, and she told me she made sure you had a good home.”

Scootaloo shouted at the top of her lungs. “She left me in an ALLEY!”

Adagio flinched, grimacing as though she were choking down cold medicine. “Like I said, I don’t know the whole story…”

“And now my murder-dad is hunting me and my friends down.” Scootaloo bumped her hoof against Adagio’s forehead. “Thanks for the heads-up, glad to have you on our side.”

“Scoot—” Adagio reached for her, but didn’t follow as Scootaloo stalked away. She shut her eyes and raised her voice so that she could hear her. “You’re the only thing he cares about, Scootaloo! That might be the only thing that can save you! He loves you!”

Scootaloo snapped her teeth together. She kept her head down, even as Sweetie Belle wrapped comforting forelegs around her neck. “That makes one of us.”

Sweetie Belle touched the green gemstone necklace she wore at all times. She once again averted her eyes from the other Siren, the one whose power was not natural-born, but artificial. Unlike Adagio’s gem, which tuned her voice to sway the minds of others, Sweetie Belle’s gem explicitly prevented her voice from controlling people.

She stood on the train platform alongside the other five members of their expedition. Only six total. Their mission was perhaps the one which required the most swiftness, in order to stay ahead of the Nightmares which pursued them in both their waking and dreaming hours. So Spike had refused additional guardsponies. Protecting the southward caravan was too important. Fighting the Unseelie in Equestria was too important. Gathering the Elements was too important.

Few ponies had braved the crowds to see them off. Only Applejack, Adagio, and Starswirl. Everyone else had been left with clipped, unfinished goodbyes. Everyone else was left to wonder how they would make their way across the entire world alone.

“I say get off the Friendship Express before you reach Dodge Junction.” Applejack… High Princess Applejack checked the straps on Apple Bloom’s bag once again. The elder sister didn’t look the younger in the eye. It seemed to be a theme for the entire goodbye. Nobody willing to look reality in the face. Everyone hiding from the danger they were all about to face. Just for a few hours more. “Appleoosa might be friendly, or it might be ground zero for one of Merry’s more aggressive campaigns.”

“The Cauldron is your first destination,” Starswirl said. “It is the closest of the clues I can deduce from Clover’s writings. If you can’t find Loyalty among the dragons…” He cleared his throat and passed Clover the Clever’s journal to Spike. “Well, cross that bridge when we bally well come to it, I say.”

Spike put the book in his bag, alongside the only Element they’d received thus far: Kindness. There had been talk of leaving it with Applejack, or of the caravan taking it to the Crystal Empire, but a soft reminder about the Elements, that if used alone, they turned into something ugly, left the only possible Bearers to be the Seekers. For now.

Though Sweetie tried to ignore her, she still found herself under the attention of Adagio. The Siren leaned close to her, to the point where hearing her whisper was unavoidable. “Don’t forget, your power is one of the strongest weapons the six of you have. Don’t hesitate to use it if you need it.”

“I’m not like you,” Sweetie said in a harsh whisper. “I’m not going to use evil magic, even for a good cause.”

“You did on the airship, from what I understand.” Adagio scowled when Sweetie took in a sharp breath. “Don’t be a hypocrite, kid. It doesn’t become you. Looks bad on the resume. You’re a natural Siren. Something we thought died out centuries ago. Be proud of who you are.”

“I couldn’t possibly be proud of that.”

“Then do yourself a favor and be rational about it.” Adagio gave the others a side-eye when they began to board the train. “If it’s you, kid, I bet you can find a way to use the Siren’s power without becoming like we did. Without becoming a tyrant like Merry and Silver. In fact, I’m counting on it.” She backed away and plastered her usual smarmy smile across her muzzle. “And teach me all about it when you get back. It’s hard to turn over a new leaf when everybody thinks you’re evil incarnate.”

The train doors closed, and Sweetie Belle was left looking at the landscape as it swept by.

“Nothing but fun days ahead, huh?” Scootaloo wrapped a wing around Sweetie’s shoulders. “I’m glad we have each other, at least.”

“I can’t tell you how right you are.” Sweetie Belle leaned against her oldest friend, who had stood by her side even before the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been formed. “What say we forget about our personal problems for a while and worry about finding the Elements of Harmony?”

“With pleasure.” Scootaloo gently turned Sweetie towards the dining cabin, where the others were already setting up shop. “At least until our ‘personal problems’ knock our door down.”

Three Wishes

Merry Mare sat at a picnic table that had been set up at the base of Canter Mountain. A few seats down sat Jeuk, in the thin guise of a pony, nose-deep in a salad bowl that almost reached across the table. He was laughing to himself as he ate, adding occasional strange squeaks of delight whenever he came across a strawberry slice. He raised his eyes to the pony across from him, Silver Spoon, and said, “I would have become mortal much sooner if I had known eating was such an absolute delight.”

Silver smiled surreptitiously, or it would have been if she had not followed the smile up with “There are plenty of mortal pleasures one can take part in. I suppose for most it’s a fair trade-off for the stunted lifespans most of us experience; but then, people like us won’t have to worry about that, will we?”

Jeuk raised a wine glass to his lips and sniffed the bouquet. “I trust you’ll be there to guide me along the way, dear Silver.”

Merry turned away from the two of them, the immortal Siren and the mortal Fairy. She sunk into her own thoughts to escape their inane, shameless blabber. She had won, but the victory had ended up even more bittersweet than she had feared. Reports were coming in of arrests, mostly members of the Apple family, but far more numerous were reports of soldiers refusing to take part in the arrests. This led to them being arrested and awaiting court martial, at best. At worst, they had deserted, vanishing into the wilderness that surrounded every City-State in Equestria, ready to be gathered into a rebellious coalition. Merry’s plan had been to strike so decisively, to achieve victory so firmly, that any thought of civil war would be lost in the confusion. Yet here they were, their numbers falling, the City-States becoming distant even as they took a firm hold of New Cloudsdale and the Canter Mountain region.

That, and Applejack had escaped.

Merry Mare had done her best to make Applejack’s mayorship miserable to an unbearable degree. But Applejack was stubborn. Even complete demotivation was not enough to douse her fighting spirit. She would stand against Merry out of spite, the Siren could see that now. Even if all of Equestria had been against the Apples, there would still have been Applejack throwing rotten fruit at the Sirens… And far more than Applejack was ready to resist the change in leadership.

Even the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, who could be seen directing troops to set up the encampment around Canter Mountain, had a grim glower ready whenever she thought Merry wasn’t looking. She was following orders, standing firm with the rightful leader of Equestria as her job description stated, but her heart wasn’t in it. The arrest of the Bearers of the Elements hadn’t sat right with her, or the rest of the Canterlot Guard.

Merry pointedly ignored the fact that she also felt uneasy about it. She forgot the betrayal on Fluttershy’s face. She denied the injustice of Celestia’s execution…

A small group of four creatures approached. Three ponies and a displacer beast. Merry stood and made her way towards them. Maybe Caution’s report would take her mind off of her troubles. Unlikely. If she was unsettled by the capture of Fluttershy, the death of six young people from Ponyville was not likely to sit easier—

“Failures!” Jeuk screamed. He leapt up from the table and stalked his way across the field towards them. “Worse than traitors! You let them escape!”

Caution Tape stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide and his mouth small. Dr. Midnight shrunk into her cloak and hid behind the bulky stallion, vanishing from sight easily with her slight frame. There was too much direct sunlight for Lacer to disappear completely, but he still did his best to remain motionless. Rhombus was the outlier, rolling his eyes and pinwheeling gently in midair.

The large earth pony stallion shuffled hooves that looked large enough to crush Jeuk in a single blow. “Beggin’ your pardon, Master, but oi have news. News that just about turns the whole world upside down. See, one o’ those ponies you had us attackin’, she were none other than me an’ me love’s daughter.”

Jeuk’s face contorted to levels of rage Merry had only seen on pissed-off toddlers and blood-spattered berserkers. “You think that changes a horseapple-chewing thing?”

The pupil of Caution’s good eye widened, while a tear fell from his blind one. “Master, you promised we’d be reunited.”

“You could still have killed even one of them!” The very snap of Jeuk’s voice pressed Caution back until he fell to his haunches. Dr. Midnight scrambled to get out of his way and only barely avoided being squashed. Merry saw the hood fall from the unicorn’s head; her glasses sat eschew, bent during the battle, leaving the fear in her eyes plainly visible. It was an expression Merry hadn’t seen on Twilight Sparkle’s face for many a year—not since Tirek stole her magic. It was a visible manifestation of being outclassed, of truly knowing that there was nothing you could do. The alternate Twilight shrunk back when Jeuk laid his glare upon her. “You might have killed him. You came this close to slaying the dragon. You but needed to pierce his heart, quiet his fire, cast him from the heights to dash against the rocks, but no! You failed here as assuredly as you failed in your own world, doctor!”

He swiveled on Lacer with eyes aglow with magic. The displacer beast rose in the air on wine-red currents of energy, his hair standing on end and his tentacles wriggling. The fairy’s breath came out hot against Lacer’s nose. “You allowed the Apple giant to live, and not only that, guided her to the ground. Your life is not worth the six of them surviving, Lacer the Displacer. Not even close.”

Rhombus nudged Caution’s shoulder with his own. “I wouldn’t worry, big fella. We were always going to bring Scootaloo in warm.”

Lacer plopped unceremoniously to the ground. Jeuk turned slowly, ever so painfully slowly, and regarded Rhombus with a lidded stare. “I don’t even feel like berating you. You are truly unfixable. How could you, who has been a killer since you were a whelp, lose against one of the lowest-ranked soldiers in Equestria?”

“Come now, I didn’t lose…” Rhombus shrugged, his eyes anywhere but on his liege. “It was… a stalemate. I still came out of it better than him, judging by my missing wingblade.”

“Enough!” Jeuk’s face twitched as he glanced one last time at Caution, then turned back towards the picnic table and his meal. “You are to pursue the six of them and slay them. Capture one or two if you must take them alive, but kill the majority. I’ll have the Captain of the Guard outfit you with a fast airship.”

The four of them, browbeaten as they were, could only mutely stare at the mortal fairy as he trudged away. His brief conversation with Stonewall sounded like ice crackling on the ocean. The Captain of the Guard waved her hoof for them to follow, though she kept her eyes locked on Merry Mare, who was supposed to be the one giving orders.

That was the plan, Merry thought. That had always been the plan. She raised her head as Jeuk neared; he was just a touch taller than she was, and she did not like having to look up at such an individual. She liked it even less when he bent his neck to whisper in her ear, “And where do you suppose Adagio went to?”

Merry took a meaningful step to the left, away from his rank breath. “I assume she will turn up when her mission is complete. Barring that, we’ll send out a search party after a few days. She knows how to stay hidden when she doesn’t want to be found, but I’m sure you have ways of tracking the intractable.”

“Indeed I do, Mayor Merry Mare,” he said with a faint giggle in his voice. “I imagine you’ll want to find her sooner rather than later, considering her intimate knowledge of mirror portals. Happy is out there, somewhere, waiting for you.”

She scowled as he returned to his lunch. The air rumbled with the hum of an engine when a small airship, barely a sloop, shot by overhead on its way to hunt down Scootaloo and her friends. Merry watched it until it vanished over the horizon. The ponies they were targeting were younger than her son would have been.

She lowered her gaze to Ponyville. She could just see the glinting crystal castle. She could imagine the crowds filling town square, crowds she had been priming for just such a time as this. Ponyville would not put up much of a fight. That was the plan. That had always been the plan.

Applejack had not been part of that plan.

“Stonewall,” Merry called out, “how long until we can march on Ponyville?”

The Captain of the Guard’s stare bordered on being a white-hot glare, but cooled just enough to allay Merry’s suspicions that she, too, would abandon her oath to serve Equestria. “Three hours before we have a sizable enough force to occupy the city. Four if you plan on any sort of fighting. A lot of our armor was damaged by the sun’s radiation.”

“I want to know as soon as the troops are ready.” She glanced upward at the sun despite herself. Ever since they’d made their move, and Jeuk’s control was broken, she’d felt as if the sun was watching them. Waiting to strike. She imagined she’d feel more comfortable indoors, even if it was a lie that she’d be any safer. She had to trust that Cadence wasn’t as quick to violence as they were trying to convince the populace she was. She had to trust that the Crystal Empress wouldn’t attack before Jeuk regained the power necessary to set the sun on her kingdom forever. She had to trust the hostages they’d taken would be enough of a deterrent.

Magic filled the air. The wind caught her mane and tugged at her robes. A shadow approached from the north. It appeared from beneath the looming cloudcover of New Cloudsdale, taking up the entirety of the sky, scouring the land beneath it in a shadow barely abated by the low honey-hued glow of magic stones.

The Grove of Golden Apples had arrived.

Before Merry could process the mountain’s appearance, Silver Spoon was among the troops, shouting orders to move out of the way. Airships were hastily transported up and out. Soldiers broke ranks and ran, flew, or teleported away. Jeuk watched the proceedings with a patent smile, with just a twist of cruelty between his teeth. He giggled like a pony possessed while the mountain grew closer, closer, closer.

The glow beneath the mountain faded, and the Grove dropped softly to the ground. The weight of the Grove caused the ground beneath to crack and crumble, opening up until the magic-imbued stones sat flush with newly-unearthed bedrock.

Jeuk raised a hoof, and New Cloudsdale descended upon the mountains, both the home of the Grove and what remained of Canter Mountain. The entire city-state swallowed the summits and climbed down the slopes like a rolling fogbank. All around the concrete cloudstuff churned like a hurricane, and Merry was afraid she might see the Commander herself orchestrating the storm. Thunder crackled from the suburbs. Hail scoured the industrial section. Raindrops trickled from convenience stores yet to be opened. Merry’s world was enveloped in white, cold wind and chilling moisture all around.

She couldn’t see the sun, and felt no safer for it. She thought she could see the ghastly shape of ponies in the fog, but every image dissipated the moment she spied it. An eerie moan reminded her of the old tales of windigos tearing apart the Pony kingdoms of old. Her body prompted flight, her mind cried out to fight, but neither option was prudent; just equally suicidal.

A clammy hoof, one belonging to the mortal fairy himself, clapped against her shoulder. It was a stark reminder that he was not a pony, just a spirit inhabiting the body of a wight. He smiled at her and jerked his head towards the newly-arrived Grove. “So, shall we return to home base and consider our options?”

Caution Tape locked eyes on the train that had just left Ponyville. He swallowed back the bile that had been building since his one-sided talk with Jeuk. Didn’t the fairy know that the only reason he worked with the Unseelie was to reunite his family? It seemed to be all the Lord of the Court had talked about while Caution had been in prison. It seemed to come up every time Caution’s faith wavered, every time another pony needed killing, every time Jeuk appeared in some forsaken mirror.

Dr. Midnight glanced up from the hoof-bound book she had been writing in. Her glowing irises dimmed as she slipped her round glasses back onto her nose. “You know she’ll never love you, right?”

“Oi beg your pardon?” he said, only half-listening. He had seen Scootaloo get on that train. He could recognize her coat from a mile away, and that wasn’t even an exaggeration.

“Your daughter.” Dr. Midnight closed the book and glanced at Rhombus and Lacer. The two of them were at the prow, pointing at the crowd of ponies gathering around Ponyville Castle. Neither of them would interrupt the conversation. “You know there’s no way she ever comes with you willingly, right? After all you’ve done? She sees you as a monster. A murderer. A traitor. You can’t possibly have any hope that you’ll be a family after all this.”

Caution ground his teeth together for a moment. “You don’t know—”

“I do know that.” She spoke calmly. Matter-of-factly. As if giving a lecture on the water cycle. “My best friend abandoned me when he found out what I had done. Later, he even came to an entirely new world just to track me down and stop me. Family ties don’t hold up in the face of murder, Caution. Even people who once loved you will find their emotions completely reversed. They will abandon you. And Scootaloo has nothing but contempt for you in the first place.”

“Oi never turned my back on Aria,” he growled. “Even after oi found out she was a Siren…” He shrugged with a grunt that was almost laughter. “Oi s’pose the thousand-year age gap was more of a shock tah me.”

“You’re deluded, Caution Tape.” Dr. Midnight returned to her book, but not before also casting an eye towards the train they were now following. “And your delusions will get more people killed. More people hurt. That’s what Jeuk is counting on, in any case.”

“Deluded, eh? All me life’s work summed up in a single word. Rich comin’ from the pony who wants tah make herself an alicorn.”

“That’s the difference between gathering actual facts and data, as opposed to wishing upon a dying comet.” Dr. Midnight allowed herself a small, satisfied, dark smile. “My plan for immortality is a near inevitability and your hope for a family is a shambling corpse coming apart at the seams.”

Caution turned his eyes upward, leaning against the ship’s wheel. “Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, did you always enjoy hurtin’ people, or did it come as a side-effect to workin’ with the Unseelie Court?” Before she could reply, he cracked a mirthless grin. “’Cuz our Twilight got everythin’ you ever wanted without ever doin’ what you’ve done. Seems to me you’re just the sort to never be happy unless you’re standing on somebody’s tail.”

She matched his grin with a tight-lipped grimace. “Mock me if you wish. It’ll help you ignore the emotional stampede you’re flinging yourself headlong into.”

“Yeah, you’re right. She’ll never see me as a father.” Caution shook his head as Dr. Midnight returned to her book. “But if oi can orchestrate, even if just for one moment, the three of us bein’ together as a family, it’ll be worth all the pain so far. Just that one moment.”

“If the Unseelie Court could raise the dead,” Dr. Midnight spat, “they wouldn’t need the four of us.”

Caution gazed at the train just ahead of them. He longed to be aboard it, helping his daughter out on her long journey. Instead, he was a ready and willing roadblock on it. “Hate to say it, but oi think you’re right.”

Sky Wishes wiped down the stretcher where Rumble had been lying. Her frilly apron was smudged with ash from the night before. Her coat was ragged and unwashed. Her maid’s uniform was beyond saving. They’d nearly not gotten out alive… Alive by mortal standards. She glanced over at the nurse who had been attending to Rumble, a survivor of the destruction of Canterlot General, Flower Wishes. “You holdin’ up, Sis?”

Flower Wishes removed the small hat from her purple mane and ruffled the hair loose. She frowned at the red plus-shape on the hat. “I almost feel like I abandoned them. My patients, that is. I feel like I should have went with them. To Manehattan Healthcare, or Fillidelphia U, or even Dodge Junction Emergency. I felt like… Like I was making a difference, these past few years.”

Sky Wishes bowed her head and wheeled the stretcher over to a wall, to await the next injury that necessitated its use. “Back before… before all this… I used to think mortal lives were a waste. Like they couldn’t do anything in the time given to them. Like they were trapped in a rat race with no way upward. Just eat and breed and die.”

Flower Wishes blinked back a tear. “I guess you really don’t know how precious life is until you try to save one.”

Sky Wishes lay her chin on the stretcher and rested her forelegs against her cheeks. “Or until you want to share one.”

Flower Wishes’ eyes widened. She trotted over to her sister and rested a hoof on her shoulder. “Sky, don’t be foolish. He’s a mortal. You’re a fairy.”

Sky Wishes cracked the corner of her mouth open. “Fairies don’t rest a hoof on each others’ shoulders to comfort them in the face of inevitable parting.”

Flower snatched her hoof away and sucked on it, like she’d stubbed it on a chair. She took a seat and stared at nothing in particular. Princess Twilight’s laboratory beeped and hummed around them as they waited quietly, neither really sure of what to say.

Their inactivity was interrupted with the sound of two sets of hoofsteps tramping down the hall. They both raised their heads to greet the new arrivals, Applejack and Ribbon Wishes.

Applejack could see the family resemblance immediately. All three shared coat and mane colors: Pink and purple respectively. However, while Ribbon had a curly mane and the guise of a unicorn, Sky had a short mane and the wings of a pegasus, and Flower had a fluffy mane and neither horn nor wing. Three ponies from three tribes in one family.

Ostensibly, anyhow. Applejack felt a chill run up and down her spine at the sight of the three together. Now that she knew what she very well knew… She’d spoken with Ribbon in the past—treated her like any other pony. Sky had been a maid in Canterlot Castle for years. Flower had helped heal King Andean Ursagryph, for cryin’ out loud! These three fairies had been hidden in plain sight for longer than Applejack cared to find out.

“Any other… ‘Wishes’ I oughta know about?” she asked.

“Afraid not, Your Majesty.” Ribbon Wishes looked at the former mayor out of the corner of her eye. “In all the stories, you only get three.”

“First of all, drop the ‘Majesty’ hogwarsh.” Applejack tilted the brim of her hat back to rub her forehead. “The title’s just for looks. And just for now, ’till we save Twilight.” She looked at the other two fairies in disguise and pursed her lips. “What do the two of yah got to say for yourselves?”

“That we’re here to serve the people of Equestria,” Flower Wishes said with a stiff back. “As ever.”

“Ditto,” muttered Sky.

“What sorta powers do y’all got?” Applejack rolled a hoof and turned her eyes up in thought. “Telekinesis? Psychokinesis? Good ol’-fashioned laser-vision?”

Ribbon quirked the corner of her mouth upward; a scowl in miniature. “What ponies would call our ‘powers’ are more realistically the basic abilities all fairies share. The ability to move about unperceived by mortals, the ability to traverse between your reality and our Dreamland, the perception of dreams as they happen around us.”

“We do have lasers,” Sky Wishes said, then winced when Ribbon shifted her frown onto her. “Kinda. Really only work against other Fae Creatures. Not real effective either, ’cuz we don’t die. More of a sock-to-the-jaw than a finishing move, you ask me.”

“And yet, it’s plenty enough to put some of us out of commission.” Flower took a step between her sisters, leveling her glittering eyes at Ribbon. “As some of us found out rather painfully.”

“I lasted five whole minutes and could have—” Ribbon Wishes shook her head and reset her expression to one of serenity. “Regardless, I’m afraid we’re more valuable to you in our fleshly guises at the moment. Fairies make for poor brawlers, and you seem intent to go to war.”

Sky Wishes gasped and leapt into the air with her wings spread. “War! No!”

“I ain’t agreed to no war!” Applejack kicked a hoof out to release some steam. “I just know that if we don’t fight back, a lot more ponies are gonna fall victim to the whole Unsilly’s scheme. Soon as we beat Merry and her cronies, the fightin’s done, right? So that’s all. That’s the only thing I agreed to.”

Sky Wishes settled to the ground, her brow furrowed and her wings shivering. Flower patted her back as Ribbon turned away, towards Applejack.

Applejack rubbed her chin. “What I do know is that we ain’t gonna be able to run with alla that mean outside. Anything you guys can do to calm the crowd down, send them back to their homes? Then we could at least let everybody pack for the trip south, and my—” She pulled a face. “—‘Freedom Fighters’ can skedaddle off to our new hideout.”

Ribbon Wishes sighed through her nose. “There is one thing we can do with our connection to dreams, but it’ll grab the Unseelie’s attention like a bonfire on a hill. You won’t have much time at all before Jeuk sends some sort of attack, even if his main force is still regrouping from the capital disaster. Maybe an hour.”

“It’s more time than we have right now.” Applejack gave each of them a furrow-browed frown, hesitating before speaking. “Just don’t hurt anybody, okay?”

Flower Wishes put a hoof on her chest. “I myself have made a vow never to harm a mortal.”

“That makes one of us,” Sky muttered, “but I’ll go along with it for now.”

“Then it’s settled.” Ribbon trotted towards the main hallway, leaving the laboratory to continue operations on its own. The others joined her, with Applejack hanging back a few steps. The ponies gathered around the throne room watched the three fairies pass by, sitting still until Applejack motioned for them to rise and follow.

“We’re gettin’ ourselves outta here before the Sirens attack and occupy Ponyville.” Applejack tipped her hat to Blueblood. “Y’all know where you’re goin’?”

“Indubitably.”

That’d better mean ‘yes’ or we’re all in trouble.” Applejack gave the throne room one last once-over. She tapped the map table, and the illusion winked out. The fires of friendship that always kept the room warm and aglow seemed dimmed, as heavy as the atmosphere around them. “We got maybe an hour until the Sirens retaliate, so move your hindquarters. Essential goods only. Books and such’ll just slow you down at this rate. Remember, you’re all movin’ at the speed of the slowest pony. Anybody who has a cart they can pull, offer rides to the needy.”

The eyes that looked back at her were full of sorrow, fear, and confusion. Applejack wondered if her eyes were just big ol’ mirrors reflecting that same worry back. She shook her head, sucked in a breath, and smiled. “Remember, if we work together, if we stand by each other, if we care for one another, we can make it through this. We’ve been in tight spots before and always made it through. That what Ponyville does. It rebuilds together. It takes care of its own. It doesn’t have to be the mess that the Unsilly Court wants to make of it. It doesn’t have to be the darkness that the Sirens believe it is. We know better. We’ll do what we all know is right. And we’ll do right by each other.”

Pumpkin Cake piped up before her parents could stop her. “And if Jeuk shows his creepy little face around here, my brother’ll just uppercut him like he did last time. POW!”

Sky smirked at Ribbon. “Sounds like someone made a better match than you did.”

“He ought to,” Ribbon said with a pout.

As Sky passed the gathered castle servants, the vast majority failed to meet her eye. Applejack honestly felt like she couldn’t blame them. There was no way you could hide being a fairy for so long and still keep your friendships. That said, she was surprised when one snappy-dressed, slightly overweight fellow reached out and caught Sky’s shoulder.

“Sky,” Royal Scheduling Advisor Natter said quietly, just loud enough that Applejack was able to overhear. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“You only say that ’cause you already knew.” Sky Wishes’ ears lay back against her scalp. She almost reached a hoof out to touch him, but in the end decided to leave her four feet down to earth. “So I guess you’re right, in a way. It doesn’t change anything.” She pulled away and followed her sisters to the front door of the castle.

Snow Cap and Coldstone stood their ground, even in the face of the rapidly-souring mood of the gathered crowd. A rotten tomato bounced off of their enchanted armor and splattered against the ground. Laughter rang out from a few spots, and a couple of the younger protesters ran for the abandoned market stalls for more produce to huck. Applejack let out a sharp whistle, and the two guards retreated into the opening doors of the castle. The crowd surged forward, some of the frontrunners demanding to her face to be let into the castle. She didn’t answer them. She looked out over the crowd and saw family storefronts being ravaged. Market stalls overturned. City Hall and the police station filled with broken windows. It had gotten worse and worse since she had returned to Ponyville, and would grow worse as the Sirens’ influence sank deeper and deeper into their psyche. She knew the same scene was being repeated in every city-state in Equestria. She was beginning to think she might be the only pony who wanted to stop it.

No, she thought to herself. No, there were people who hadn’t gone crazy, and it was her job to make sure they got out safe.

“I’m glad Celestia’s finally dead!” a protester shouted. “Long live Queen Merry! Long live the Sirens!”

“Let it be known!” Starswirl’s voice boomed out from the open castle gate. “Let it be known throughout all the land that Princess Celestia has chosen an heir! One who can lead us through the dark times and into the light!” He appeared before the crowd, his cape billowing and the bells on his hat jingling like a Hearth-Warming Eve decoration. Smoke backed his silhouette and made him appear much larger than life. “All hail Princess Applejack of Ponyville! All hail Princess Applejack of Equestria!”

The crowd booed as one, their response immediate. “She was a terrible mayor! Why the hell would we want her as a princess?”

A shiver rolled its way up and down Applejack’s back. If she wasn’t mistaken, several of the ponies in the crowd had said those exact words in unison. They were backed by cheers spoken in clumps, as if there were only ten or so unique ponies photocopied several times over. These people were caged, tied up in strings wound so tightly it was thought to be part of their mane.

“Your whole wicked family’s gonna be imprisoned, Applejack! Every single Apple! Everybody who supported Celestia is going to find out what true justice looks like!”

She pushed the sickened feeling down and held her head high. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the three Wishes sneaking out through Starswirl’s smoke cloud, circling around the outskirts of Town Square, taking up positions equidistant around the crowd. They met each others’ eyes, then Applejacks, and all three nodded as one.

Rotten fruit had proven insufficient for the young troublemakers. One of them hefted a rock in his hoof, and he was taking careful aim at Starswirl’s head. He chucked it with a speed and accuracy that shocked Applejack; the colt was halfway across square, but the stone was zipping fast enough to crack open the old wizard’s skull. Before Applejack knew what she was doing, she was reaching out for the stone, to bat it away or intercept it. The stone shifted its trajectory midflight, and she soon found herself staring down the projectile as it sped right for the spot between her eyes.

The stone broke apart in midair when it struck Starswirl’s hastily-erected shield. He gave her a small smile. “I am not quite that helpless, Your Majesty.”

More stones flew in and peppered the shield. Starswirl winced with the ferocity of the assault. Applejack wanted to close the front gate, to hole up in the castle until Apple Bloom found the Elements, but there was no hope in that line of thought. She had to trust the fairies, and she hated it.

Three beams of light shot into the sky where the Wishes had once been standing. The ponies around them scattered like ants fleeing a hoof. Wings unfurled, three pairs for each fairy. Their skin held the appearance of marble, and their eyes the sheen of pearls reflecting midsummer waves. The eyes covered their bodies from head to hoof, lacking pupils but having the sense that they were staring at everything. They walked forward, one step at a time, pushing the crowd back further and further. A panicked young pony tossed a rock at them, but the stone vanished, vaporized in an instant.

Ribbon Wishes, or at least Applejack thought it was her, rose into the air and spoke in a booming voice. “Ponies of Ponyville, you have been harassed by the Unseelie Court for far too long. Their undoing begins today!”

Flower Wishes and Sky Wishes joined her with a cheer. It was not the artificial unity of the protestors, but a three-part harmony, each voice clear and distinct, each lending a new dimension to the musical whole. “All hail the Creator, who blessed his servant Applejack to rescue Equestria from her enemies!”

Applejack scoffed. “This is why I hate propaganda! How’m I supposed to live up to somethin’ like that?”

“Because if you don’t,” Starswirl said quietly, “we’ll all be dead before the year is up.”

The three Wishes flashed with light, colors on every point of the spectrum radiating across the faces of the crowd. The ponies’ screams grew with every crackle of thunder that came out of the mouths of the Seelie Fae. Soon, the rumbling of the Fae and the flashing of the magic drowned out all else. Town Square was awash in a display that boggled the mind and left one dumbstruck. No one who had seen it could describe it afterwards. No one who had seen it could remember it without being silent for several moments afterward.

When the light faded, and the thunder stilled, Ribbon, Sky, and Flower trotted up to Applejack in their pony guises and bowed at the neck. “It is done, but the Unseelie Court has already begun to stir.”

Applejack surveyed the crowd and found them, every one, asleep where they stood. Her mouth gaped as she trotted down the steps and poked the nearest protestor. He tottered, but did not fall over. “Holy… They’re just asleep, right?”

“And will be for at least an hour.” Flower Wishes sucked in a breath and glanced northward. “It will be the most refreshing sleep of their lives, at least until the Nightmare Forces arrive. They will pursue us, but will no doubt have their fun with their subjects long before they find us.”

“Then let’s hurry.” Applejack raised a hoof to her mouth and shouted to the ponies inside the castle. “Get to your homes and pack! Come on! Time’s wastin’!”

Ribbon and Sky joined their sister in looking north. Applejack peered in that direction, towards Canter Mountain, and gasped. Another mountain stood alongside the one-time capital, and the valley between them was coated in the thickest fog Applejack had seen in her life. It was unnatural, is what it was. Deeply unnatural. The closer she looked, the more the fog seemed alive, swirling with some unknown monster she could only guess at. A cold wind, sharp and sudden, struck her chest and kept blowing. A faint howl touched the tip of her ears.

“He has already summoned the windigos.” Ribbon Wishes turned to Applejack with an expression that was as unnaturally blank as the fog-covered landscape. “The Wild Hunt is about to begin, and you are the fox they chase.”

“Don’t worry.” Adagio Dazzle slapped a hoof against Applejack’s back, and nearly got kicked in the teeth in response. She held her forelegs up in a disarmed gesture. “Easy, Your Majesty. The windigos can’t freeze you so long as you have friendship in your heart. Or somethin’ like that. Just don’t let them catch you alone. Or scared. Or hungry.”

Applejack glared at the Siren. “How’s about that hideaway, Dazzle?”

“Leave that to me.” Adagio picked her teeth with a small shoot she plucked from a stomped-out garden plot. “There’s a nice little cave west of the old Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters that Jeuk would never think of searching.”

An hour later, Applejack stood at the south side of Ponyville watching the wagons retreat into the distance. She watched Big Mac’s cart until she could no longer distinguish the red of his coat.

And so they went:

Blueblood and his family of Fleur and Jadeite

Big Mac along with Cheerilee, Cinnamon, and Grand Pear

Night Light, guiding his grandkids Flurry Heart, Twilight Amore, and Silver Lance

Rumble’s brother Thunderlane and his family of Cloudkicker, Dovetail, and Summerwind

Carrot, Cup, Pound, Pumpkin, Patty, and Rice Cake

Button’s and Sweetie’s parents

Bulk Biceps alongside Filthy Rich, the two single fathers

Scootaloo’s parents, Davenport and Roseluck, along with her friends Lilly and Daisy

Dinky’s mom Derpy Doo, traveling with Lyra and Bonbon

The servants of Canterlot Castle, led by Natter

A smattering of students from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, overseen by Abacus Cinch

Several royal guards, led by Coldstone, Snow Cap, and Gaston the Griffon

And Zecora acting as doctor and guide.

Applejack shut her eyes to hold back the tears that sprung to her face. She didn’t cry on the outside. She didn’t have the time. She hadn’t for a good, long time. Not since her ma and pa had passed. Or so she liked to tell herself. Every once in a while, a droplet or two liked to slip past the dam.

“Your Majesty,” Skyhook said, glancing over his shoulder, “we need to move.”

What was left of the beautiful New Cloudsdale roiled like a stormy sea, rippling with the power of windigos and frost. More immediately, the protestors gathered in Town Square stirred, the first of Jeuk’s nightmares taking root in their dreams.

She surveyed her loyal followers. The fire brigaders all stood tall with packs bursting with food, each one having been assigned a spear. They looked small and untested beside the Royal Guardsponies who surrounded the party, but they had spark. Starswirl and Adagio Dazzle stood on opposite sides of Applejack, the wizard with his forehead wrinkled with worry and the Siren with her insincere smirk on full display. Skyhook cleared his throat and gave Applejack a meaningful twitch of his eyebrows.

Applejack gritted her teeth and slung her pack onto her back. “Everypony, into the Everfree.”

Railroaded

The sun rose on a new day in Felaccia. Lord Aquila Gildwing was crowned before the noon hour. The audience was his entire retinue of soldiers, as well as the lords who had sided with him. Word had already been sent to his family that they were moving into Castle Roc, and the Felaccian Solders under Andean were being sworn to Gildwing or executed.

A holiday was declared, but there was not much celebration going on, not with Gildwing’s squadrons patrolling the air and warships being loaded in the harbor. The new king squawked as he directed his army to prepare for the arrival of a second army: That of the Sandidry Desert’s legions.

Lord Tigris growled as he tried to keep up with the younger lord. “We don’t need Alazṓn’s equines!” He forced the word painfully through his owlish beak. “The Felaccian forces are plenty to conquer Equestria, especially with the death of Celestia. Then our vengeance will be fulfilled. We have no need of fairies and Arabian Stallions!”

“None of this would have been possible without the support of the Sirens.” Aquila kept peering east, from where Alazṓn Half-Djinn’s army would march. The lake separating the castle from the mainland would soon be all that separated their armies. He touched his thumb to the pommel stone of his Wyrmslayer to sense the comforting heat. “For the time being, we cooperate, until we attain a favorable position.” He sneered at the small, elderly griffon lord. “If you regret your decision to back me, then I’m sure Andean would be in a forgiving mood.”

“I doubt that much.” Bubo Tigris hung back when a shadowy smokey outline made itself visible before Aquila. He stared past the magical being, as though refusing to acknowledge its existence. He thumbed the blue ring on his right hand, twisting it around and flinching at a staticky shock.

Aquila held his head high as he addressed the formless shape. “Shadowfright, I presume.”

“You presume correctly.”

“It seems you failed in your primary duty, Fae Creature.” Aquila Gildwing sniffed in a manner that he attempted to make both dismissive and imperious. “Luna lived, and escaped our grasp. I doubt Jeuk will take kindly to yet another failure on your docket.”

“My mission is yet incomplete.” Shadowfright’s birdlike face appeared in the shadows of the hall. “As is yours, unless you wish to say you, too, have allowed Andean to live.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Aquila snapped, his voice rising just a touch. “It was a mere temporary setback. The old bird has no power in Felaccia, not anymore. Not while I wear the crown.”

“Yes, yes; you’re quite wise and powerful. Most impressive.” Shadowfright’s narrow, glowing eye glinted as it peered past whatever facades Aquila attempted to raise, scrying his very thoughts. “Now be a good little king and let me into the heart of the castle. If I am to slay Luna once and for all, there is something I require.”

“And that would be?”

“Magic, little king.” Shadowfright’s cruel beak curved into a crueler smile. “Oodles of it.”

King Gildwing gripped the hilt of his Wyrmslayer as he and Lord Tigris led the fairy down the long staircase to the heart of the castle. Past the graves of departed griffon kings, wise and wicked, down through the tunnels once excavated by changeling magic, into the wide chamber that held the control room for the Sunspear. The gemstones that made up the core of the mountain—the same mountain from which the castle was carved—glowed in a brilliant array of colors. Aquila Gildwing held back from the chamber, sealed with hexagonal plates of changeling-crafted resin. Even a moment exposed to that much pure magic could kill someone, overload their fairy strings until their very body erupted and tore itself apart. Only a changeling or someone very weak with magic could last long enough to operate it as it was constructed.

That, or someone without a body.

“Let me in,” Shadowfright rumbled.

Aquila cleared his throat. “You heard the fairy, Lord Tigris. Let him into the chamber.”

Bubo shot the king a look that could have rusted stainless wootz. He wobbled past the Fae Creature and approached the chamber in his own plodding, unsteady way. He slapped his gnarled cane against a resin window; perhaps to test its integrity, perhaps to voice his opinions in a non-verbal way.

Aquila turned away to survey the walls. More to distract himself from the fairy than for any sort of worthwhile exploration of history. The relief of River Cicada glared down at him imperiously, as though she considered him a usurper to a crown that rightfully belonged to him. “This is my kingdom, you old witch.”

“Heard of projection, little king?”

Aquila snarled at Shadowfright. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Shadowfright slithered his way across the room to the control chamber. He slipped through the door before Bubo had fully opened it. He hovered in a small safety room that prevented excess magic from leaking out of the heart of the mountain until Bubo pulled a lever that closed the outer doors and unlocked the inner ones. The fairy lost his already indistinct shape, taking on the semblance of smoke as he trickled into the pit dug into the middle of the chamber, vanishing from sight in the depths of the crystalline magical cacophony.

Bubo Tigris shuddered as he returned to his chosen king’s side. He glared at the chamber as one might regard a barrel of worm-riddled apples. “The one good thing I can imagine is that he and the alicorn might destroy each other.”

“Your prejudice betrays you,” Aquila muttered. “An immortal cannot be destroyed, and Luna is merely long-lived.”

No sign of life appeared in the midst of the whorling magic.

He swore beneath his breath. His blood-red cape billowed out behind him as he turned for the stairs. “Come! Alazṓn approaches.”

He was almost right. By the time he returned to the castles tallest parapet, the eastern shore of Lake Roc was peppered by legions of Arabian Stallions, kitted out in green, scale-like armor, wielding an array polearms with long, curved blades.

Each stallion was at least as tall as the average adult griffon. Though none of them had wings or horns, the greatest among their warriors was swifter than a pegasus, stronger than an earth pony, and had a closer connection to the stars than any unicorn. They thrived among the harsh conditions of the desert, loved the unforgiving depths of the ocean, and bowed to none but the lord who had conquered them.

Alazṓn Half-Djinn was a head taller than any stallion around him. So grand was his headdress and armor that Aquila could see him clearly from across the lake. His scaled armor was molded in the shape of feathered fins, like those of a flying fish. His helm was studded with enchanted jewels, incalculable protection spells laced among the gold leaf. He raised a hoof in salute.

Aquila raised his own talon in a fist.

“King Gildwing!” Alazṓn’s musical voice echoed across the lake, amplified by a spell. He spoke in perfect Griffish. “We seek safe passage through your land to Equestria, that we may partake in the spoils of war! What say you?”

Aquila Gildwing looked down at the lake, which was blockaded by griffon warships. Each warrior was outfitted with the latest model of volleygun. Each warship had their weapons trained on the sweeping, spiral-prow longships the New Babologna army had arrived in. The griffon king smiled at the Horselord. “Of course! We shall grant you both safe passage and brotherhood in the coming battles.”

Deep within the heart of the castle, Shadowfright waited. He needed only abide until the moment Lord Jeuk gave the signal, then his assault would begin.

He flexed his newborn claw and found it to be sharp enough to gouge solid steel.

There were only the six of them on the train. No tickets had been sold, no conductors had been allowed onboard, and the drivers and firepony’s jobs had both been replaced almost entirely by Spike himself. He’d been on enough cockamamie adventures with Twilight to know a thing to two about trains, so he could keep the engine running well enough. He was also the most suited among them to work with the coal cart, so long as he didn’t breath fire on it. The meager heat from the steam engine was plenty to deep-fry any pony who had an accident, but it merely left him nice and toasty.

That said, he wasn’t exactly eternal. He had to sleep sometime. So it was that he slumped off to bed, leaving Scootaloo and Button their turn at tending the boiler after a quick tutorial. Scootaloo hung out the window of the Friendship Express, watching the path ahead and occasionally glancing behind at the two mountains that dominated the northeastern sky. She leaned against the wood paneling and stared down at the tracks as they shot by in a blur.

Her anxiety wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t even settle enough to reduce her fidgeting. Her parents headed south in a caravan, Applejack and her crew standing against the Sirens, the thought of meeting her biological father again… It was a whorl of emotions, a tempest within her brain, and she didn’t want to think about any of it. She glanced over her shoulder at the soot-covered Button Mash, who was shoveling coal into the oven. “Why the heck did we let Rumble join us? He could barely walk to the station.”

Button wiped his forehead and smudged the soot all the deeper into his coat. “Scootaloo, I kid you not, he told me to my face that if we left him behind, he would follow us. I figured that him maybe dying with us was better than him dying for sure all on his own.”

Scootaloo rested her chin on the windowsill. “I coulda made him see reason.”

“I doubt it.” Button sat back and took a breath. He watched the needle on the pressure sensor wiggle, nibbling his lower lip as it rose up, then resumed its intended level. “He’s more stubborn than some Apples.”

“So am I.” Scootaloo turned around; the cold air rushing past and the hot air inside the steam engine had left her uncomfortable no matter what position she sat in. She spread her wings to cool the undersides, flaring the feathers and wincing when ash snuck its way between them.

She looked Button over as he nervously glanced over the various dials attached to the train’s controls, predominantly the speedometer. She hadn’t hung out with him much when they were kids; she wasn’t much interested in video games. Not her medium. She’d had more fun hanging out with his more outdoorsy, cavalier older brother. That had certainly ended in disaster.

She didn’t blame him for Lickety Split’s actions. She just saw Split’s face every time she looked at Button’s. She forced her blood pressure down. Kept it from boiling over. It wouldn’t help anybody to get mad at Button for something he had nothing to do with. In fact, she explicitly wasn’t mad at Button. Just at someone with a very close family resemblance.

Usually she didn’t have any trouble separating the two of them, but ever since Lickety returned…

“If you need a break, Apple Bloom said she’d take over at any time.” Button lowered his right ear, peering at her out of the corner of his eye. “I know you’ve been sitting there since we left Ponyville…”

“I’m in here because I don’t want to be back there. Right now. Currently.” Scootaloo gave her wings a flap of finality, which only served to stir up coal dust Button had spilled on the floor. She and Button hacked up a lung before she could muster a mumbled apology.

Button walked to the opposite window to get a breath of cool, fresh air. When he returned, it was with a morose frown. “I’m just saying… you’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe talking it over with Sweetie will help.” He gave her a shrug and raised an eyebrow. “Maybe talking it over with Rumble will help.”

She cracked a grin and let out a strangled laugh. “Next you’ll say talking it over with your brother might help.”

He let out a rush of air that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t hurt coming out. He fumbled for an expression before settling for a small, partially-sincere grin. “I’m not that crazy.” The grin faltered a bit. “So you are thinking about Split.”

She shook her head with a groan. She peered back out the window, less to check for obstacles than to avoid one. Spike had said the rails would run pretty straight until they got over Ghastly Gorge, at which point they should wake him up. No need to worry about adjusting the train’s speed for curves or elevation. Still, the wind blowing past had the side effect of cooling her head.

When she came back inside, she figured she was chill enough to answer without regretting it. “How can I not? He just drops back in after seven years… I hate him, Button. I hate him so much.”

Button blinked rapidly before turning his face away from her. “Yeah, I know.”

“And I don’t know what to do about it.” Scootaloo wrapped herself up in purple-feathered wings and tucked herself into the corner of the room. “I know I’ve been acting irritable ever since he came back, but I… I can’t help it. I feel like I’m hurting you guys. I know you don’t deserve my… my bad attitude. I’m sorry.”

“Scootaloo…” Button shrugged. He opened up the oven and scooped a shovelful of coal into it. “I don’t think a single one of us blames you for being upset. With everything that’s happened lately, we’re all hurt and confused. It’s just that your issues hit closer to home, I guess. I wish…” He leaned his chin on the shovel’s handle and stared at the dancing flames.

Scootaloo lowered her ears, pointing the nearest towards him. “Wish what?”

“Wish I could take it back, I guess.” Button Mash glanced out the far window, to see the sky darken as sunset approached. “Wish I could undo what he did. Wish I could, I dunno, take all the bad deeds he did and put them onto me.”

“That’s crazy, Button.” Scootaloo took a swig from a canteen and grimaced when she found it lukewarm. “Then I’d just hate you instead of him.”

“Exactly.”

She tightened the canteen’s cap well past a watertight seal. “No, see, ’cuz it wouldn’t help anybody. You’d just be the problem instead of him.”

“But then he wouldn’t be a problem.” Button sealed the oven and shivered as the boiler hissed. “Then he might have a chance at a normal life.”

“Then what about you? Cuss it…” Scootaloo hissed out a breath. “I guess only a sibling would go out of his way for someone like that. There is no way you being hated would be better than him. We tend to like having you around, Button. All of us. Sweetie especially. Rumble especially.”

“I know it’s worthless to wish it.” Button glanced her way, then let his gaze fall to the floorboards. “I know.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes and pointed at him with a wing. “He hurt you, too. He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness if it’s just going to lead you to self-loathing.”

He let out a sharp, short laugh. “People who deserve forgiveness don’t need it. They’re already innocent.”

“Then don’t worry about it.” She hugged herself tight with both wings, facing the rear of the cab. “I’ll chill out after a while. Just like I did last time.”

“Just like last time.” Button Mash lowered his head. “Yeah. I just wish… I could do more.”

“It’s not your job to do anything. Don’t put that on yourself.” Scootaloo tapped the canteen against the wall, and could almost hear it over the chuff of the engine. “You have your own problems to worry about without also worrying about mine. Or his.” The sound of the wheels against the train tracks changed pitch. New terrain. They were approaching Ghastly Gorge. “Time to get Spike. Sit tight, I’ll be right back.”

Button watched her go with a frown. “I’ll be right here.”

The Friendship Express was a small train, usually only used to ferry passengers from Ponyville to Canterlot. It had been built for old Ponyville, from before Ponyville became a full-fledged city-state with a population to match. It had only three passenger cars in addition to its engine, tender, and caboose. It didn’t even have a kitchen car. This made food preparation… haphazard at best.

Sweetie Belle balanced a tray precariously on the bench as she put together a simple supper of sandwiches and water. Spike slept in the next car back so that his snoring didn’t disturb the others. That left Applebloom and Rumble to accompany Sweetie, the former staring out a window and the other attempting to get comfortable despite his bandages.

She passed a plate with a dandelion sandwich to Rumble, who accepted it with a nod. “Thanks, Sweetie.” He winced when he grabbed it with the wrong foreleg. When Sweetie lowered her eyebrows, he waved her off with a shaking hoof. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re crazy.” Sweetie Belle touched her frameless glasses before turning away with a huff. “We’re all crazy.”

“What else can we do?” Rumble bit into his sandwich and leaned back against the window. He gave her a devil-may-care smile that never reached his eyes. “If somebody wants to carry me, I’m open to the idea.”

“I might end up carrying all of you.” Apple Bloom was the next to receive her supper. She looked at it with a blank expression, sizing it up but coming to no conclusion about it. That same malaise accompanied each bite that followed. She picked a pencil from behind her ear, scratched a note in her notepad, then scribbled out that very same note. “Did you take your Ambrosia for today?”

“Yes,” came the answer from both Rumble and Sweetie.

“Good.” Apple Bloom sighed, and for a moment Sweetie thought she saw a tear in her eye. The tall earth pony slapped the notepad shut and kicked it across the cushion, letting the pencil clatter down beside it.

“What are you working on?” Sweetie said, taking a seat opposite Apple Bloom.

“Nothin’ that matters.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “If we’d had time to go back to my lab I might be able to make somethin’, but… Nothin’ worthwhile. Nothin’ I’ll ever use.”

Sweetie sucked on her lips, hesitant to speak what she’d already figured out. She figured if Apple Bloom really didn’t want to talk about it, she’d say so, so… “Is it about you and Spike? The potion?”

Apple Bloom’s frown said that was exactly the case. “It doesn’t. Matter.”

“Sorry.” Sweetie rubbed the back of her head, trying to smooth down a mane that hadn’t been treated since the party. Come to think of it, neither she nor Apple Bloom had even slept since before the party. “Maybe you should get some rest instead of wracking your brain over something you can’t… work on.”

“Tried to sleep. Can’t. Maybe if I’d gotten to visit my lab I’d have been able to work on somethin’ real, but all I can do is think.” Apple Bloom rubbed her forehead, partially to hide the fact that she was also wiping her eyes. “If I ain’t thinkin’ about formulas, I’m thinkin’ about how we’re supposed to ‘Forge Loyalty among the dragons.’ If I ain’t thinkin’ about that, I’m thinkin’ about…” She waved her hooves in the air. “Everythin’ else.”

Sweetie slipped her glasses off and stared at the smudged lenses. “I still can’t believe… Celestia…”

Rumble shifted into a seated position. He raised his voice a little to carry across the aisle. “I almost feel like we shoulda stayed with Applejack. Maybe fought to free everybody the Sirens captured. But… But what could we do? Somebody has to gather the Elements. At least we’re doing something.”

All three of them found their eyes drifting towards the bag that held the Element of Kindness. It rested on a bench near the rear door, sealed with a heavy metal clasp. Even so many meters away, they could still feel its presence, radiating like a miniature sun.

Sweetie wanted to hold it. The thought of it frightened her like nothing else. She wanted to reach out and cuddle it close to her chest, maybe even replace her enchanted necklace with the Element. She had no idea why the thought came unbidden to her mind. She had no idea why she was dwelling on it, even considering it. She had already made up in her mind to volunteer to carry the bag, even though Spike was the primary carrier. He made the most sense; his strength and durability was unquestionably the greatest among them. But she couldn’t shake the feeling. It made her twitchy just being near it.

Were all the Elements so alluring? Would her desire to hold them grow with every Element they collected? Could the Elements of Harmony, long since considered powerful artifacts of good, have a dark, seductive side? She knew that any one Element used by itself could become something ugly…

Sweetie was vaguely aware of Rumble talking, on the edge of her perception. “Maybe we’ll find some sort of alchemical lab you can get ingredients from. I know one of the Elements is supposed to be in the Zebra Lowlands—”

“Maybe I should go to the engine!” Sweetie knew the outburst had come from nowhere. She didn’t even know if the other two were feeling the same way about Kindness. She stood up and turned away from the surprised expression Apple Bloom gave her. “I’m probably not strong enough to shovel coal, but I could be the lookout…”

“I’m sure it has nothing to do with being around Button.” Rumble’s eyebrows danced, but his grin faded when he saw her furrowed brow. “You good?”

Sweetie cleared her throat and rubbed the surface of her green gemstone necklace. “Yeah, that sounds right. We haven’t really had any time since the attack… It’s been hard on all of us, and—”

“Everybody hit the deck!”

The scream came from behind Sweetie, preceded by the front door slamming open. The voice was Scootaloo’s, shaky and strained as if she’d just flown with all her strength. Sweetie was smart enough to know that if Scootaloo sounded like that, she was deadly serious. She dropped to her belly and covered her head.

The windows exploded inward. Sweetie was showered with glass. Some of it bounced off her coat, some of it left small cuts behind. The car shook as something heavy landed on the roof. Sweetie crawled forward, scuffing and stabbing herself with more shattered glass, until she could grab the bag from its bench. She tied the strap tight against her torso, then finally lifted her head enough to look.

A small, thin airship kept pace with the train. She could see a purple unicorn manning the ship’s wheel, her eyes glowing like some sort of storybook monster. Sweetie ducked away just before the mare released another wave of magic at the train, causing the near wall to buckle. The wheels nearly left the tracks.

“Dr. Midnight! Hold your fire!” The large earth pony stallion who had attacked them before, Caution Tape, swung into the car. His coat radiated with a magic shield powered by light riot armor.

Rumble lay near him, his muscular body jammed between two benches. He struggled to free himself, but his injuries were making it hard to move his limbs. He certainly couldn’t move his wings, not without risking tearing the stitches in his chest. His eyes widened as Caution raised a hoof, aiming for his head.

Scootaloo wasn’t in much better shape. She was being held foreleg and hind by Rhombus, who had swooped in the moment the windows were gone. She was screaming and swearing unintelligibly, while her attacker seemed deaf to her hatred. He relished every jab and shake, grinning as he held her tight.

Apple Bloom had been hit the worst. She had been right next to a window when the first blast had hit. She found herself nursing a bleeding head while Lacer the Displacer wrapped her in his two toothed tentacles. Sweetie could barely see him, as his body blended in with the shadows as if they were one.

The rear door of the car ripped off of its hinges. A very angry dragon hefted the door and hurled it like a javelin. It sailed over Sweetie’s head and struck Caution in his blind eye, knocking him off his feet before he could hurt Rumble. Spike shot forward on all fours, impervious to the scattered glass and intent to take Caution out of the fight immediately.

Lacer gritted his teeth and tightened his tentacles around Apple Bloom’s throat. She gasped for air, unable to reach him with her hooves. He extended the claws on his right paw. “I was gonna take you in alive, kid, ’cuz of the solid you did me on the airship. But I guess that ain’t happening.”

“No!” Sweetie Belle screamed. She grasped a shard of glass and plunged it into what she hoped was his shoulder. He cursed and flinched back, enough so that Apple Bloom was able to move her hind legs. She kicked him in the chest and sent him flying head-over-tail into the next car.

“Nobody move! Or I’ll cut her throat open!” Rhombus had a wing wrapped around Scootaloo, with a wingblade held at the ready among his feathers. He pressed the blade against her skin, and she stopped squirming.

Spike also stopped charging. He held his breath, only moving when the car rocked back and forth on unstable wheels. “What do you want?”

Caution got to his hooves. He rubbed his bruised and battered face and backed away from the smoking breath of the young dragon. “Honestly, Spike, we don’t want bloodshed. Not with what we know about Scootaloo.”

Spike’s claws flexed. “I’ll believe that when you stop chasing us. Or maybe when you stop pressing a knife against her throat.”

Rumble held perfectly still. He was still stuck between benches, but he also stilled his breathing to the point where it looked like he might pass out. His eyes flicked between Spike and Scootaloo, panic writ large across his face.

Sweetie clutched the bag tight. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lacer once again tie Apple Bloom up with his tentacles. His claws were extended and at the ready.

It didn’t make sense. There was no way Rhombus and Caution would be willing to kill Scootaloo. It had to be a trick. A trap. A diversion from— “Spike, duck!”

Spike lowered his head just before the dark magic from Dr. Midnight sailed through the broken windows. It would have blown his brains out of the side of his head if it had hit. The air crackled with the aftereffects of Sombra’s crystalline spell, swirling with fear and anger.

The train lurched forward. Sweetie felt the g-forces press her against the crumpled bench as the train took a turn too sharp. Her stomach swirled as she imagined the wheels lifting from one side of the tracks. Button was still at the driver’s seat, with no idea how to handle the train. The hum of the train over the tracks changed pitch as they reached a bridge, one that spanned the depths of Ghastly Gorge. One wrong move could send them leaping from the rails, and a wrong move here would leave them careening into the aether.

When the wheels came back down, Scootaloo used the momentum to throw Rhombus off of her back. His head hit a bench with a satisfying thud, and his wingblades scattered amongst the broken glass. He grappled with her half-blind, snagging her neck with his foreleg and puling her down with him.

Caution launched a kick at Spike’s head and connected. The dragon jolted, but his armored scales absorbed the impact smoothly. Spike grabbed Caution’s forelegs and held tight, and the massive earth pony jolted him left and right. Sweetie saw his forearms flex, but not his claws. Most of Spike’s struggle seemed to be with preventing himself from crushing Caution’s hooves to a pulp.

Apple Bloom rolled, scraping both her and Lacer’s skin with razor-sharp shards. He reached for her vulnerable underside with his claws, but she was too big around for him to reach. Something painful crunched in his hind leg, and he switched to biting at her neck. Sweetie batted at his face with her sandwich plate. She struck so hard the wooden plate snapped in half against his skull.

Scootaloo leaned her hooves against Rhombus’ throat, pressing her entire weight against him. The train left the bridge and hit another curve in the rails. She found herself lifted into the air by both momentum and Rhombus’ superior strength. A bolt of magic from Dr. Midnight shot past Spike’s head and nearly struck Scootaloo through the heart. Rhombus was able to jerk her out of the way just in time.

“Enough with the magic, you old hag!” he screeched at Dr. Midnight. There was no way she could have heard him over the rushing wind. He yelped in surprise when Scootaloo bit his fetlock.

Rumble stood up, having extracted himself from his prison. He held a hoof tight to his chest. Sweetie saw blood leaking into the bandages. He extended his right wing, scooped up one of Rhombus’ scattered wingblades, and shot it out the window. The airship jolted in its flight path as the doctor avoided the blade. He cursed under his breath and scooped up a second knife. “Come on… Hit something, idiot.”

He picked it up wrong. The blade bit into his wing muscles. He cursed louder, fervently enough to make Sweetie blush. He ducked out of the way as Dr. Midnight retaliated with a blast of fear and crystal.

Spike found himself pressed against the open windows on the left side, away from the airship. He leaned out over blurringly fast rocks, such that even a dragon would be battered to a pulp, even if his scales didn’t break open. He could have won the game of wrestling, Sweetie knew. Could have won it easily. Simply crush Caution’s legs and fling him out into the rocks. But he wouldn’t, she knew. He probably couldn’t even fathom it. But she didn’t know how else to get out of this. She didn’t know how else to escape these hunters besides killing them.

If they didn’t kill the hunters, the hunters would most certainly kill the seekers.

Unless…

She pulled her necklace off and sung as loud as she could. It wasn’t enough. The wind from the open windows and the rattle of the train, combined with the sounds of scuffles, meant that her mind-controlling music was completely neutered. Stupid! She grasped Lacer’s ear with a jolt and shouted directly into his brain. “Let her go, you moron!”

To her surprise, he did exactly that, his eyes unfocused and his limbs limp. Her jaw dropped and she turned to the other two assailants in the car. Maybe… just maybe. She tugged on Apple Bloom to help her to her feet and together they raced towards Spike and Caution. Apple Bloom’s shoulder threw Caution off of Spike, and Sweetie’s screamed command left the stallion dazed and confused. They all ducked from another blast from the airship, and Rumble launched the bloodied wingblade the doctor’s way. He missed, but he bought them another moment’s respite. Spike and Apple Bloom together lifted Rhombus bodily and chucked him down the length of the car, letting Scootaloo at last breath free.

“Come on!” Spike tugged Apple Bloom’s foreleg towards the door. “We’ll detach the car! Hurry!”

They climbed onto the tender, gripping the guardrail as if their lives depended on it. Spike and Apple Bloom both lent their forelegs for Rumble to lean on when he climbed over. Sweetie’s hoof slipped as she went over the gap. Scootaloo caught her; when she turned to thank her, she caught sight of the airship adjusting its position. Dr. Midnight was preparing to launch another spell, this time when they were exposed to the elements. There was no wall to hide behind.

And there, to the rear, she could see Lacer the Displacer recovering. He shook his head and tucked his wounded leg against his torso. He still had five working limbs, plenty to propel him forward at blinding speed. He locked eyes with her and scrambled forward, over the fallen Rhombus and Caution.

Spike snapped the chains and started to unhook the coupling, before outright tearing the metal apart. He cupped his mouth in his claws and shouted to the engine. “Button! Open her up all the way! Open the throttle all the way!”

Sweetie kept her eyes on the oncoming Displacer Beast. He had tripped on a wingblade but was once again bearing down on them. Her ears burned as she felt the pressure of the airship dropping alongside them, the cold eyes of the doctor boring a hole in her head.

Behind her, Button Mash grasped the large, red lever and pulled it until it stopped moving. Fire roared and water boiled; the chimney belched white clouds and the wheels spun wildly. They doubled, then tripled their speed. Scootaloo’s open wings almost pulled her from the tender, but Spike snatched her out of the air and held her close. They pulled away from the detached cars, and the airship was completely unable to match their pace.

As if out of spite, the doctor fired the largest blast of Sombra’s magic yet. It struck the tender in the rear, hot with anger. The railing Sweetie was leaning on fell away into the passing rocks. Only the swift hooves of Rumble stopped her from joining them. She hung over the tracks, unable to pull herself up, and with Rumble too weak to do so himself. The bag slipped down her shoulder. She shifted to keep a hold of it, and nearly pulled Rumble off the train with her. They hung suspended, as Spike and Apple Bloom struggled to squeeze along the narrow walkway and help them.

Lacer stood in the door frame of the detached car, growling with teeth bared. He looked down at the speeding rails, then at the fleeing tender. He backed far enough away to give himself a running start, then leaped, four claws ready to sink themselves into Sweetie’s skin. She met him eye for eye, the wind whipping at her and causing tears to flow. His grin widened as his arc carried him over the gap, to end with her and Rumble’s deaths.

A chunk of coal flew through the air and smacked him across the eyes. When he could open them again, he was staring not at Sweetie Belle, but at the wood and steel of an unyielding railroad. As Sweetie watched him fall, she saw a blank expression overtake his muzzle, tinged to the core with deeply bitter regret.

If the impact didn’t kill him, getting run over by three passenger cars and a caboose did.

Spike reached them at last, hefting Rumble onto his shoulders and allowing Sweetie to once again set her feet on firm-ish ground. They watched together as the detached train and the airship grew smaller and smaller, before finally vanishing out of sight roughly an hour later.

“This train gets up to a hundred-sixty kilometers per hour,” Spike said with a weak hiss in his voice. “There’s no way that little sloop catches up.”

“There’s no way we keep this speed up.” Button waved him into the engine and pointed at the interior of the tender. “We’re almost out of water.”

“We’ll go until the train runs out of fuel. Then we go on foot.” Spike looked at the others, leaning heavily on the wall of the cab. “Then we rest for the night.”

A chorus of nods answered him. They crowded the small cabin, squirming to the sides whenever Spike needed to feed the fire.

Sweetie kept the bag close. She kept Kindness close. She hadn’t been able to look away when Lacer met the end of the road. She hadn’t been able to unsee the sorrow on his face. The realization that he’d made the wrong choices. The fear of what he was about to experience. She wanted to throw up, or weep, or just scream. But she held it in. For the sake of everybody else’s wellbeing, she held back.

She wasn’t the only one who looked haunted. Button huddled against the far wall, rubbing arms that wouldn’t stop twitching after his ordeal driving the train over uneven terrain. Rumble sat beside him, with Scootaloo gingerly touching up his bandages. None of the stitches had broken, by some miracle. But it had been close. He wasn’t going to be able to walk far, if at all. Scootaloo had ended up with her face buried in his feathers, meager bandages covering her own wounds.

Apple Bloom was the only one who didn’t look tired. She didn’t look like much of anything, by Sweetie’s judgement. She just stared into space, barely acknowledging what was going on around her. Spike spoke to her directly a couple of times, but never got more than a hummed agreement.

Sweetie Belle looked up at her tall friend. She raised a hoof to touch her shoulder, in some faint hope of helping. But she paused. Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Black dust on a yellow hoof.

Apple Bloom hadn’t done any of the coal shoveling, but her hoof was stained black from gripping a piece of it with all her considerable strength.

So it had been Apple Bloom who saved her and Rumble!

Oh.

Oh.

Lacer’s last moments flashed before her eyes. She imagined the same scene was on repeat before Apple Bloom’s.

She rested her hoof on Apple Bloom’s shoulder, then leaned her head against her. Apple Bloom didn’t protest. They sat there, the six of them, until long into the dark hours of the night, when the train finally ran out of steam.

Author's Note

I've updated the Dramatis Personae to include both Snails and Alazṓn in an effort to include literally every character in it. I don't think you'll find two more vastly different individuals.

The Scourging of Ponyville

A carriage rolled into Ponyville. It was carved from black wood, covered with relief images of monstrous creatures from around Equestria. Hydras, chimeras, gargoyles, fiery serpents, bugbears; all carnivorous, notorious pony-eaters. Four grey stallions tramped along, black hoods pulled over their heads, leaving even their eyes shrouded in shadows. The windows were tinted black, only able to be seen through from the inside. The wheels rattled as they scoured the uneven road, which was pocked with debris from the destruction from Canterlot. Smokey beings flitted through the air, followed by a chill that was all too unnatural in the midst of summer.

The carriage halted in front of the Ponyville Castle, and Merry Mare stepped out. She hesitated at the last step, gazing at the ponies gathered in Town Square. They were asleep. To a pony. A few stirred fitfully as the Unseelie Fae grinned and cackled around them.

Silver Spoon disembarked next. She looked over her glasses with pursed lips. “What sort of creature could do this? Not an alicorn.”

“Certainly not an earth pony.” Merry tucked her glasses into her green cloak and removed the hood. She nudged a large stallion and watched him totter. He righted himself and went right on snoozing. “This sort of magic sound suspiciously like what one might read about in old fairy tales. Of Fae Creatures putting people into a deep sleep that lasts for decades… or centuries.”

Silver scoffed. “Did someone forget to invite Jeuk to a birthday party?”

“This would not be the work of Jeuk.” Merry climbed the stairs to the front door of Ponyville Castle and turned to face the crowd. “You’ve seen what sort of magic he tends to lean on. Insects and fire. Malice and pestilence. This is altogether too gentle a sleep, especially for Nightmares.” There, past the city limits, Merry could see the Equestrian Army approaching. “Come on, we have work to do.”

Silver Spoon joined Merry on the temporary pedestal. They sang together, softly at first but with a growing reach and volume, until all of Ponyville echoed with their magic. They gently, carefully coaxed the citizens out of their enchanted slumber. To do otherwise might break the spells they had already put over the people of Ponyville. It might give them too much to think about if their worldview was suddenly brought to wakefulness, if they started to question the events of the past day and a half.

“Wake the sleepers
Rise from death
Join the sunlit lands of breath

“Wake from dreaming
Seelie lies
Close your ears and guard your eyes”

The ponies came to; scattered individuals, then clumps coming to full wakefulness. An outcry arose as they realized how long they’d been asleep. Several hours at least. They surged towards the castle, crowding around Merry and Silver, prodding them with questions that the Sirens were all to happy to ignore. They waved their citizens back and explained that the city had been deserted by Applejack and all those allied with her. Before they were even finished talking, before the had even announced the orders to arrest Applejack and her family, the citizens of Ponyville were rampaging through the shops of the guilty, looting them of treasures and searching for what evidence they could find as to where they had fled.

Merry pressed the side of her hoof against her mouth as she thought. If it had indeed been Fae that got Applejack and company out of the city, there would be no trace. If anything, they would only find misdirection. She felt a tension situate itself between her shoulder blades. She had never encountered a Fae Creature not aligned with Jeuk. Having seen the Unseelie Court running wild, she couldn’t begin to imagine the horror that untethered fairies might wreak on the unsuspecting. Even the kindest fairy could turn spiteful and vindictive at the drop of a hat.

It was especially concerning if they could dupe someone as bullheaded as Applejack.

Soldiers marched into Ponyville as if on parade, with citizens lining both sides of the streets, cheering them on. Silver Spoon waved to the crowd in a genteel, soft way. Merry stood stoically, noting in her head which of the soldiers were loyal Equestrians and which had been “liberated” from Solitaire. It was fairly easy to pick the new “recruits” out, judging from the armor that didn’t quite fit and the feral grins that didn’t quite match their job title. They paraded around like poodles in a dog show, at least most of the time. Some of the former prisoners seemed to see death every time a Siren looked their way. Perhaps they were correct.

The more traditional soldiers, the ones who had volunteered for the line of duty, strutted in a manner slightly more alert than a stupor, their motivation drained over the course of the previous night’s events. Mostly; a few of the volunteer soldiers seemed more than willing to get along with their new brothers-in-arms, and jumped at a Siren’s command as readily as a princess’. A rift was growing between those who embraced the new order and those who chafed beneath it.

Polish, it seemed, only went so far. Discipline only meant so much. As she watched, she began to think that there would be more arrests at the end of the day, and they wouldn’t be of the unruly, antagonistic new recruits. It would be the soldiers with a sense of professionalism and pride who would be more likely to step out of line beneath the Sirens.

Thralls surrounded the two Sirens, keeping both soldiers and citizens away from their leaders. They’d been able to make more thralls from Solitaire escapees. The former inmates had no discernable differences between them and the ones made from Ahuizotl’s former cultists. They had all been stripped of their individuality as thoroughly as they had been stripped of their coloration. Nothing but black hoods and grey coats.

“Have you heard anything from the Crone?” Silver Spoon said. “She’s been missing since last night. Even the spies haven’t seen anything.”

“Nothing.” Merry furrowed her brow when she caught a soldier staring at her. He resumed his march as if he hadn’t been ogling her from afar. There were a few downsides to no longer looking middle aged… Not that she couldn’t overpower every single one of their soldiers if need be. “We need her. She’s the only one who can operate the mirror.”

“You need her, Mother.” Silver Spoon toyed with the blue gemstone hanging from her neck. A small hummed tune caused the nearest citizens to prick their ears up, turning their attention to her. Before long, they had brought food to the thralls, who had in turn passed the goods to her. “I’m fairly content at the moment.”

“We won’t be able to do certain things without her, Silver. We need that three-part harmony.”

“To bring down Twilight’s castle?” Silver snorted as she gestured at Ponyville Castle with a slice of cake. “Jeuk has powerful magic. We’ll be able to remove that eyesore without even lifting a finger. Breaking into the Crystal Empire? We won’t need the three-part harmony for that. We just need to get people on the inside to stir up confusion. The Crystal Heart can’t keep up its power without unity. What else? The griffons and Babalognians are both allied with Jeuk, to be discarded as he wishes. Andean and Luna have fled for the hills with nothing but a powerless Sunspear in hand. You think we’ll need the three-part harmony to kill the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their hoof-lickers?”

Merry turned away. A troop of soldiers entered the smashed-in storefront of Sugarcube Corner and began to loot anything that was still usable after the riot. Roselucks’ flower shop across the street was far less lucky, having been utterly despoiled. Another group was headed towards Sweet Apple Acres, with strict orders not to touch the orchard. An army needed food, after all, and it would do no good to destroy perfectly good fruit trees, even if they were planted by an enemy of the state.

Merry eased away from her companion and made her way towards the castle gates. “I have things to take care of. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle our adoring fans?”

“With pleasure.” Silver Spoon waited a calculated moment before speaking again, causing Merry to halt in her tracks. “And Mother…”

Merry lidded her eyes and turned back to the younger Siren.

“Adagio was always going to leave us, you must know that.” Silver smiled as she looked over her silver-rimmed glasses, cold grey eyes attempting to pierce areas of Merry’s mind she wanted no one to see. “She was always trying to get you to question yourself. She gave up on me long ago, but you… she seemed determined to bring you to deviation. As if she believed that you could never bring your son back. As if she believed that the Sirens had no business ruling Equestria.” She tapped her temple with a laugh. “Take care that you don’t take after her, Merry.”

Merry forced the lump in her throat downward. “Take care of yourself, Maiden. Lest your ambitions devour you.”

Backed by two sinister-looking thralls, Merry made a swift trip into Ponyville Castle and down the main hall. Every step moved with a spring that she hadn’t felt for twenty years at least. She was almost tempted to eat another golden apple, just to get that much stronger. She didn’t need it, probably hadn’t even needed the one she already ate, but the temptation was there. It was always there.

Behind her, before the doors shut, she could hear the beginning of Silver Spoon’s grand speech to the citizens and soldiers. “For centuries, Celestia has held claim to the throne of Equestria due to divine appointment. It has been said that she and her sister fulfill the prophesies made a thousand years ago by Starswirl the Bearded and Clover the Clever. However, it has come to light…”

The well-rehearsed speech faded into the background as Merry reached the throne room. Six crystal thrones sat equidistant from each other, with a smaller throne placed beside one. The magic map sat at the center, dark and quiet with no one to light it with the Fires of Friendship. Overhead hung the mobile, constructed from the roots of the old library, with crystals containing solidified memories from the Bearers’ time together.

Siting in the Throne of Magic was Jeuk.

Merry skidded to a halt, though she tried to hide it by clapping her hooves together as she stood at attention. “Master. What are you doing here?”

Jeuk shrugged, kicking his hind legs over one armrest while his head dangled from the other. “One cannot claim ownership of a city one has not visited. I wanted to see how the occupation was going.”

“It is not an occupation.”

“It is not?” Jeuk covered his mouth with a hoof. “It is not an occupation as you march another city’s army through the streets, hunting down its citizens while watching as your loyal sycophants loot and desecrate their abandoned homes?”

Merry peeled the edge of her lips away from her teeth. “Is there a point, Master?”

“Usually.”

When she had waited a sufficient amount of time for him to speak, and was met with silence, Merry trotted towards the elevator installed on the far side of the room. She nearly tripped over a lump of purple crystal placed in the center of the floor. It had a vaguely pony-esque shape, though one horrifically bare of skin or muscle. Its mouth was open in a frozen scream, and its body was cowering away, as though it feared it would be devoured. The crystal came to several points, like icicles on a rooftop, all pointed to the left, like it was being dragged along by thousands of tiny hooks.

“I see you’ve met what’s left of my nephew.” Jeuk frowned at the lump of solidified magic. “Merimna never quite met my standards, but we princelings of the Fae can’t be too picky. It seems that Twilight found a spell which can imprison even a being without a physical form.” He scratched his chin as he looked the sealed fairy up and down. “I am attempting to break the spell, but it’s odd. It seems as though the crystal is made from his own magic essence. Compressed him like carbon into diamond. The amount of strength it would take to manipulate such power; only an alicorn could even come close.”

Merry reached a shaky hoof out to touch the smooth right-side surface of the formation. It was warm. About as warm as a living pony. The light within the crystal pulsed regularly. “Can he hear us?”

“Who knows?” Jeuk waved a limp hoof in her direction, his eyes trained on the ceiling. “What sort of awareness does a fairy have in the first place? We do not experience, we observe. Formless unless we manufacture a façade, and only then for the benefit of mortals. A mortal’s senses lie to them, but a fairy’s are all but a fable.” He smirked, just enough for Merry to see it from the side. “I wonder, if Twilight was able to capture Merimna in such a manner, how might the Seelie Court hold a young colt’s soul for ransom?”

Merry clenched her jaw tight. “If you know something—”

“Then I would have told you already.” Another shrug, a murmur. “It’s all speculative at this point. Until we can launch an assault on the Seelie stronghold.”

Merry shut her eyes slowly, taking in a long, slow, hissing breath. “Then I suggest you make that a priority over wooing the Maiden and feasting on strawberries.”

“Even now, my people search the changeling catacombs in the Northern Wastes for more Golemium, to replace the spear which that warmongering Andean destroyed.”

He spoke the griffon king’s name with a disdain Merry usually saw displayed in ponies fighting against deadly, degenerative diseases. She could almost see Jeuk wearing a pink shirt with “Rut Ursagryph” printed on it. The image nearly made her smile, but it was neither the time nor the place. “Very well, then—”

“While I wait, I’m cleaning up a few old failures.” Jeuk took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, then blew a jet of flame upward. It struck the mobile, igniting the dry wood instantly. The room shone with the light of the flames, roots crumbling and breaking one by one, dropping the fragile memory crystals to shatter against the floor.

With each broken memory, a flash of its passing flickered in Merry’s mind’s eye. Fluttershy’s face laughed in delight as she spent days unending alongside her friends. Creatures of all shapes, sizes, colors, and species found friendship alongside these six mares from Ponyville. Lives were improved. Hearts were ignited. Hope was rediscovered.

And then it was gone, the last crystal reduced to nothing but grains of razor-sharp dust. The root system itself gave a great groan and a snap before it, too, fell. It hit the map with a resounding crunch, its weight great enough to put a crack right down the center. The table collapsed. Smoke billowed. The acrid scent of undone magic forced its way into her nose. Through the black haze, she could see Jeuk staring at her with utmost seriousness, his gaze level, watching for her reaction.

Merry tried and failed to keep the toxic fumes out of her lungs. She hacked and coughed around her words. “Please… refrain from… burning the library… until we’ve cleaned it out.”

Jeuk cocked an eyebrow. “Now what’s in there that’s got you so interested?”

“The last source of ancient texts after you turned Canterlot—”

“Celestia.” He tapped his nose. “After Celestia.”

“—into a crater!” Merry snorted steam. “What’s it to you? I thought your knowledge of magic was far deeper and more intricate than anything us poor, temporal mortals was capable of conjuring.”

“I’m mortal too, now. Don’t forget.” He sat up in Twilight’s throne and rolled his shoulders. His muscles twitched the wrong way, bending elastically over a half-hardened skeleton. “I just know that it’s been a while since you attempted to resurrect your son. With it being your main goal for so long, I was beginning to worry you’d given up.” He tilted his head. His green eyes glinted red in the light of the crackling flames. “Do you think Twilight’s meager library holds the key to resurrection? Surely she would have attempted something herself.”

“She is not so bold or wise as you may surmise. Else she may have been able to kill you outright.”

Jeuk laughed in the back of his throat and his eyebrows jumped up. “Last time I underestimated the unlikely, it got my wrinkly bum deported to the Abyss.” His smiled turned down at the corners. “Which reminds me; let me know when the Cake family has been apprehended. I’d like a word with the twins.”

Something lurched in Merry’s stomach, but she held it down. She bit back the outburst of anger that immediately jumped up her throat to her mouth. She knew exactly what he wanted to do with Pound and Pumpkin and she would have no part in it. Her forelegs trembled with the urge to wring his neck and choke the last notes of laughter out of his smug face. How dare he threaten children?

Children.

The children she had ordered a national marehunt against.

She stared at Jeuk and no longer felt anger towards him. She didn’t feel much of anything, actually. It was as if her mind had reached a cliff and simply rolled off, ungrounded. She didn’t have a word for it, or a reason, or a solution. It was simply… void. She sought back, trying to imagine Happy’s face, so that she could reclaim her rage at the unfairness of the world. So that she could reignite the passion driving her to overturn the unfairness of the system they all lived by. The system she was reinventing for the sake of justice.

It's a just cause. It’s a just cause. It’s a just cause. I’m fighting for a just cause. Brief pain turning to lasting healing. It’s a just cause.

It was her mantra. It was what kept her going when she saw lives destroyed. When she saw friends become enemies. When she saw Fluttershy look on her with the same expression she had once used to look on Sombra.

“You’ll be the first to hear about it, Master,” she said with a whoosh of breath.

“Good.” Jeuk kicked a shard of the table away from his hoof. “Don’t let me keep you.”

Twilight Sparkle’s personal library loomed before Merry. Tome upon tome of unending knowledge. First editions, personal accounts, private musings from the Princess of Magic herself. Jeuk wanted to burn it all, she knew. Down to the last page. She had to move quickly if she wanted to hoard the knowledge before that happened.

She opened the large southward-facing window and admitted a score of pegasi. They were all previously-enlisted soldiers, having been part of Canterlot’s barracks. Merry had hoof-picked each one herself, hypnotized to never speak a word of what they were doing. Without a word, they set out to collect their prizes, filling bags and packing carts.

Merry commenced her own search separately, picking her way through the shelves and volumes until she reached the rear of the library. Near the back wall, where natural light gave way to dim lanterns and the faint glow of magical crystal, sat the empty podium where Starswirl’s magic mirror once stood. The mirror itself had been stolen some five years ago, just before the destruction of Cloudsdale. The desk beside the device held a bundle of hornwritten notes. Observations from Starswirl, Clover, Celestia, and Twilight had all been compiled.

She pressed her lips together and reached beneath her cloak to a hidden pocket. Though Adagio was nowhere to be found, her knowledge had managed to stick around in the form of her own notes. Diagrams and hypotheses intermingled as five years of intense study found their way from the pocket to Merry’s hoof. Layer by layer, Adagio had studied the intricate carvings in the glass of the mirror, the gold-wire network hidden behind the reflection, and the strange crystals embedded in the frame. She had determined how the mirror worked, in every way. But without the podium, the mirror could only activate automatically, based on the phases of the moon.

Merry thought back to the tiny grave in Ponyville cemetery. If she had learned one thing from her time with the Unseelie, it was that Happy’s original body would be useless. It was nothing more than dirt by now, six feet down. Even if she could recover his soul, it would have no home to return to.

There was a solution, though. Jeuk himself had unwittingly revealed it to her when he had ripped Scuttlebutt’s soul from his body and inhabited it himself.

Once the Unseelie were strong enough to assault Dreamland, once they could free Happy from the clutches of his captors, she would have his soul safe and sound at last. He would be tender and afraid, a ghost unable to touch the world. He would look to her for solace.

She would give it in the form of a donated body, one already well equipped to hold his soul.

“Captain!” she shouted at last. “Have the men bring this podium to the Grove. I want it set up in my personal quarters.”

Applejack peered up through the canopy, past translucent green leaves and the countless insects who called the Everfree their home. The sun shone overhead, hotter than usual for this time of year. With this much humidity, she had a hard time keeping up with the spritely Adagio Dazzle. Years spent wasting her time in City Hall, forced to make her brother and sister pick up her slack, had left her feeling flabby and worn out…

Granted, she was still stronger than the average mare by a whole bunch. She could haul an apple cart all day long and only stop every few hours for a short rest. But reaching her thirties hadn’t exactly left her the beacon of health she had once been. Things took longer to heal, for one thing. She found herself going to bed earlier and waking up a few minutes later. She had headaches, though those usually had to do with Merry’s most recent policies. Fat tended to stick around along her flanks and stomach…

Now she was on the run, with no farm and no family, with her friends hauled off to who-knew-where, and she was the one everybody was turning to? It was comical, but she wasn’t laughing.

She leaned against a tree after scuffing her knee on a rock, growling under her breath. “Quitcher whinin’, Applejack. Put up or shut up. Head down and shoulders square.”

“Starting to wish I’d brought golden apples for everybody,” Adagio said, looking between the hissing Applejack and the gasping Starswirl. “They get kinda addicting, though. Get one taste of life and all of a sudden you wanna guzzle it as much as possible. Same goes for knowledge.”

Applejack swatted a mosquito from her shoulder. “That why you’re still around after a thousand years?”

“Three-thousand, Applejack.” Adagio smirked, but her voice was a grumble. “Like any addiction, it can get out of hand pretty quick if you don’t watch yourself. That’s why the Draconequii guarded Elysium, to keep people from hoarding life like they hoard money.”

Applejack waved a squadron of no-see-ums away from her mouth. “And how’d that work out for them?”

“They’re all dead, ain’t they?” Adagio raised her head to see their little band of outlaws catching up. “Come on, folks! Not much farther! Hustle, people, hustle!”

Snips lifted his head from the depths of the bush he was crawling through. Leaves and branches tangled themselves in his mane. He snorted and sent spiders scurrying. “Where in the heck are we going anyhow? The Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters is south of here.”

“You don’t think they’d look for us there?” His sister, Lily Longsocks, lifted him with one hoof and set him down on a mossy stone. “There’s only a couple landmarks in the Everfree, and you wanna go to the biggest one?”

“The palace is rubble, young ones. Princess Sparkle saw to that.” Starswirl the Bearded wiped his head with a cloth that was already soaked through with his sweat. “I share their sentiment, Miss Dazzle. There’s nothing here in the north of the Everfree. Just a range of mountains that separates the forest from the Canterlot Region. We’re altogether too close to Canter Mountain for my tastes.”

Commander Skyhook’s face appeared from the branches overhead. Just a moment before, Applejack had thought she was looking at empty trees, but they were full of batponies in full camouflage. “Agreed. We’ll be well within their perimeter sweeps if we set up camp anywhere around here.”

“Fellas, fellas.” Adagio ground her teeth behind pursed lips. She flicked an ear at them. “You’ve followed me this far, just to get cold hooves now? What’s with the wet spaghetti you use for nerves? At least Her Royal Majesty knows to keep her mouth shut and follow.”

“I only just caught my breath,” Applejack said, pressing her hat against her head. “But outta alla us, you seem to know where you’re goin’.”

“Don’t you forget it.” Adagio sent Skyhook a stink-eyed glance. “Doesn’t matter how close we get, so long as we aren’t where they’re looking. You dig?”

Skyhook’s face said he did not “dig,” but he kept his thoughts to himself, vanishing among the branches as easily as Rarity putting on a coat. Applejack lowered her gaze to the rear, where the rest of the volunteers could be seen climbing over boulders and squeezing through the undergrowth. Pipsqueak and Dinky were trying to untangle Twist’s mane from a coarse bush. Lickety and Snails were being harassed for straying too close to a bird’s nest. Featherweight wafted on the breeze like a loose piece of cotton, his eyes unfocused, his ears low against his scalp. Soldiers from the Ponyville Barracks surrounded them on all sides, carrying bags that would have made Big Mac struggle, their spears at the ready. The Everfree was unfriendly; ironically, it was that very unfriendliness that was their only hope of escaping the Sirens.

Applejack shuddered when she thought about what might happen to the young folk if they were unwary. “Featherweight, keep your hooves on the ground. Dinky, borrow some clippers from Coldstone. Yeah, them big ones. Snails, for the love of love itself, watch where you’re stompin’ those clodhoppers of yours.”

And there, at the rear of the pack, were the three Wishes, all in their mortal disguises, all seeming to struggle as much as the ponies around them. Applejack figured it was an act. A puppet show the fairies were performing with their special-grown flesh suits. Every time she closed her eyes, she struggled not to see the strange creatures as they truly were…

Or at least, see them as her puny mortal mind comprehended them. She had a feeling that beings with no real physical form didn’t exactly show up on the visible spectrum.

Little by little, they made their way through the wild forest, until the sun began to sink low. Adagio brought them to the mountain range itself, leading them over ledges and through crags that teemed with life, both flora and fauna. The Everfree didn’t so much stop at the mountains as become the mountains, lending its own brand of chaotic neutral to the stone beneath their feet, to the wind tugging at their fur and feathers. Rock slides had to be pushed aside with Starswirl’s magic. Gaps had to be closed with ropes and careful footing. The journey taxed them, step by step, until at last Adagio halted at a sheer, vertical wall.

The approximately five-hundred ponies of their company surrounded the wall, forming a semicircle around Adagio and Applejack. Snips eyed the flat stone with a scowl. “Say psych.”

“It’s all good, Snips,” Snails drawled out. “This is usually the part of the adventure when the mysterious helper opens a hidden door in the wall.”

“Reality is weirder than fiction, Snails,” Adagio said.

She tapped the floor three times. After a moment, a trap door opened up beneath her, and a Diamond Dog popped his head out. His yellow eyes darted from the Siren to Applejack, then quickly took in the party around them. His loose jowls took a moment to catch up with the rest of his face when he moved. “No soliciting.”

Adagio stuck her hoof beneath the door to keep him from retreating. “We’re here to see the reverend.”

“Reverend Fabio not here.” The droopy Diamond Dog strained against the trap door, which the siren held in place easily. “Him on… uh… mission trip.”

“Funny,” Applejack said. “I coulda sworn he was on vacation to visit relatives.”

“Yes. Vacation mission. Elsewhere.” He kicked Adagio’s hoof with a stubby hind leg. “Very holy. Please leave surface dweller problem on surface.”

Adagio’s forehead furrowed. “They aren’t surface dweller problems anymore, pup, if they ever were just that. Now come on, I have an appointment with the reverend.”

“Rowph.” The Diamond Dog growled in the back of his throat. “No visitors.”

“Rex!” A scratchy voice echoed from the depths of the hole. “Who there? Ponies?”

Applejack removed her hat and smirked at the Diamond Dog. “Well, now, I bet I can sus out the owner of that voice. Heard it pert near every Sunday morning for the last ten years or so.”

Rex shook spittle from his jowls and eyed Applejack with a knife-edged glare. “Diamond Dogs will regret helping whiny ponies. Rex knows.”

A golden-furred Diamond Dog wearing a black coat clawed his way to the surface. He had a face that looked as though it were constantly smiling, and glittering eyes that seemed to view each early morning as presenting a new lease on life. His screechy voice grated on the nerves, but his upbeat, pleasant demeanor softened the blow. Even now, in these dire circumstances, Applejack felt just a little better in his presence.

Years before, as a young pup, Fabio had been exiled from his pack due to accidently causing a cave-in. Nobody had been hurt, but their tunnel system had been practically turned inside-out. He had found himself wandering into Ponyville, where he became yet another strange face among the colorful populace. While living there, he had taken a shine to the legends and myths of Equestria’s history. Father Waddles had taken him under his wing, teaching him all he knew of the old stories until the day he retired and Fabio could take up his mantle.

“Mayor Applejack.” Father Fabio spread his front paws out. “Everypony. Welcome to G’Boy. Diamond Dogs welcome ponies…” He stuck a thumb out towards Rex. “Bear with grumpy pants.”

Rex folded his forelegs over his chest. “Nothing but trouble. Nothing but.”

“Maybe true.” Fabio sighed through his nose, but returned to his usual peppy self when he took Adagio’s hoof. “Crone Dazzle. Fabio set up shelter. Unseelie and Sirens not find you there.”

“Thanks, Rev.” Adagio’s shoulders stiffened when Fabio bowed down and gave her a formal kiss on the hoof. “Can we get underground? I feel the hair on the back of my neck prickling.”

Applejack stared in perplexity; the Diamond Dog preacher had never acted that way with anybody, as far as she knew, not even the princesses. He saved his reverence for the legends he taught and the words he read from the Canon. The way he led her by the hoof down into the tunnel, careful of her every step, looked like he was the caretaker of some divine treasure or some such nonsense.

Applejack waved her hat at the hole, calling out to the ponies gathered around the trap door. “Alright, you heard him. One at a time! No crowdin’! No pushin’! Let’s get to those shelters!”

By and large, the Diamond Dogs remained isolated from ponies, having a love for dark spaces and the crust of the earth between them and the sun. Certainly trade was essential—gemstones for magical devices, stone for construction, the best-fertilized dirt in Equestria—but other than business dealings, encounters between Ponies and Dogs were accidental. Or malicious, in the case of Rarity’s run-in with a pack of bandits. That was not to say that the Diamond Dog population was small, or that their territory wasn’t sufficiently sized for an entire nation. Their tunnel system spanned the width and length of Equestria, with large chambers acting as hubs or cities. It could be said that to really understand Equestria, one needed two maps, and one of them looked more-or-less like an ant farm.

The Diamond Dogs and ponies—as explained by Fabio as he led them through the dark caverns—had both come upon Equestria at roughly the same time, following the destruction of the Grotesques and the rebirth of the Everfree area. There was bloody conflict, as often seems to occur between two people groups the first time they meet, when both ponies and Diamond Dogs sought to claim the same territory for their own. It hadn’t helped that the militaristic leaders of the time, Commander Hurricane and the Diamond Dog tyrant Wulf, were both overflowing with ambition and stubbornness. After Wulf’s death and Hurricane’s disappearance, Princess Celestia had worked tirelessly to unite the ponies and Diamond Dogs in a peaceful relationship.

“Sometimes peace,” Fabio mused, “means going separate ways.”

Applejack blinked into the darkness. She was just starting to make out the shape of the walls as her eyes adjusted to the underground. Not that there was much to see. Bare stone both ways, judging by the dim glow of magic and lanterns. “Doesn’t sound a whole lot like friendship to me.”

“No, not friendship. Never friendship is separate.” The reverend swung his lantern towards her and just about blinded her before he caught himself. “Sorry. Friendship always goal. Always best. Not always possible.”

Adagio snickered. “Sometimes the only thing keeping you from killing each other is about ten-thousand miles distance.”

Starswirl stroked his beard. A tiny light glimmered at the tip of his horn, warm and gentle. “I wonder what metric we could use to calculate the distance between worlds?”

“Keep bringin’ it up and I’ll punt you to Pedestria myself.” Adagio Dazzle blew a breath through pursed lips. “Distance between worlds is metaphorical anyhow. And now, practically infinite.”

Fabio shook his head at her, speaking low. “No, Crone Dazzle. Roads between worlds exist before Sapients can even speak. More than able to number. You try to break them all, but you never could. Not in million lifetimes.”

Applejack’s hackles prickled at those words. Her mind went back to her last encounter with another world, when she stepped through the gate in Beefland’s barrows. “The heck you talkin’ about? I figured all mirror portals were made by creatures. Like Starswirl, or the old Minotaur Lords. I figured we knew where all of them were because of how hard they are to make.”

Father Fabio’s smile was lopsided. “Assume what not known at own peril.”

Applejack eased herself closer to Adagio and lowered her voice. “So’s that what you were gettin’ yourself up to while you were with the Unseelie? Breaking mirror portals? That why you took Twilight’s?”

“Breaking and studying.” Adagio grimaced and nudged Applejack a foreleg’s length away. “No I didn’t get to that one. It was always under close Unseelie observation.” She stretched her mouth from side to side as she mulled over her next words. A hefty sigh preceded them. “Just know that as long as that portal’s still in Merry’s and Jeuk’s oh-so-capable hands, both Sunsets and their families are in danger. As is everybody that portal could conceivably reach. Got it?”

“We reach city!” Father Fabio broke between the two of them with his lantern swinging and his tail wagging. He cleared his throat and addressed the crowd. “Please keep low profile. You first ponies to enter G’Boy since Celestia visit three-hundred years past. Most Diamond Dog never see pony before. If word get out, you no longer sheltered. And word spread fast on Twilight Bark.”

Rex grumbled under his breath in the Diamond Dog’s language.

Fabio shut his eyes and rubbed his ears. “Better shelter than they have on surface, Rex.”

The tunnel ended in an arched construction, built from bricks and carved with a script that Applejack found oddly familiar. It wasn’t that she could read it, but she coulda sworn she’d seen it recently. Maybe Twilight had Diamond Dog books lying around the library? But no, it didn’t look like the claw marks and paw prints that made up written Doggo. It was symbols. Pictograms. Hieroglyphics. “Father? Any idea what that all says?”

Fabio glanced up, shining his light on the script. “Old Changeling. Diamond Dogs make home from abandoned changeling cities. Expanding, reinforcing tunnels.”

“It’s a mile-marker, essentially,” Adagio said, walking through the archway with barely a glance. “It gives the distance between here and the original Changeling Capital City.”

“In the Northern Equestrian Wastes?” Starswirl the Bearded moved his illumination spell closer to the message to read it. “I see. For the glory of Queen Cicada indeed.”

Applejack’s eyes widened as she passed beneath the archway. It was tall enough to allow a full-grown dragon to pass through. She scrambled to catch up with Adagio. “You were there, weren’t you? At the height of the Changeling Empire. When they were enslaving ponies.”

Adagio wrinkled her nose. “Skilled workers tended to have slightly better prospects… And I was the most skilled gem carver in the world. River woulda never put me somewhere dangerous. Lucky me, lucky me.”

Fabio coughed, echoing in the awkward silence around the tunnel, and gestured to the cavern before them. “Ladies and Gentleponies, welcome to G’Boy.”

The cavern was at least large enough to swallow Downtown Ponyville, maybe with room to include Sweet Apple Acres. Pillars of stone blocked the view sporadically, but around them she could see houses and businesses hewn into the stone. Brick-built buildings were sparse, and always of that signature changeling style; with honeycombed windows and large metal doors. The two architectural styles were different as could be, and yet seemed at home together, both having been fully possessed and partially transformed by the Diamond Dog inhabitants. Rather than the yellow glow normally associated with changeling cities, the light was a soft blue. Brick roads led to dirt offshoots. Carts of both ancient machinery and simple wood passed each other on the road. A few were laden with fresh-cut ore, having been brought in from the mining tunnels to the north.

Keeping them out of sight, Fabio led them to one of the great stone pillars. A spiral staircase had been carved into it, which led to a door somewhere near the top. He said that only the leaders were to ascend, and that the others should follow Rex to the shelters.

Applejack’s knees were aching by the time they reached that door, dozens of meters in the air. She took a moment to look over the city of G’Boy, where Diamond Dogs scurried back and forth as their day neared its end. Or perhaps its beginning? With no sunlight belowground, the Diamond Dogs themselves would decide the length of their days. Did the leaders dim the bulbs during sleep time? Was there a curfew?

Whatever questions she had were swallowed up in the next moment when she looked east. Her coat stood on end as she saw what appeared to be the results of a cave-in. Diamond Dogs worked furiously to clear the debris. They all wore reinforced metal suits, their faces covered with gas masks. Large fans were placed around the site, pulling dust away from the workers and venting it upward to somewhere safe within the mountains.

Purple crystal formations jutted out from the stone rubble. They pulsed with inner light. A magic that looked alive.

“That tunnel under Canter Mountain,” Fabio said, his gravely voice hushed. “When Unseelie destroy Canterlot, it transform crystal mines into that. Not just surface problem. Never just surface problem.”

They joined Adagio, Skyhook, Starswirl, and Ribbon in the room at the center of the pillar, where three Diamond Dogs waited for them. The tallest was a black-furred, pointy-eared, sharp-nosed fellow, who looked as through someone had taken a whetstone to a wolf’s face. The others were smaller, cuter balls of white fur, identical save for the blue collar on one and the pink collar on the other.

Applejack nodded to each of them; having no idea who they were or how to greet them. “Howdy.”

“How. Dee.” The large Diamond Dog glanced at Fabio. “This new princess?”

Fabio nodded rapidly. “Yes, Doberlord.”

“Shorter than last one.” The Doberlord barked a single laugh, but his face returned to metaphorical stone in an instant. “Diamond Dogs hope to stay out of mess, but you see mess come already. Unseelie Court attack hurt both surface and world beneath. Diamond Dogs not safe from sun, even this far down.”

Adagio smirked. “‘Duck and cover’ at its finest.”

The Doberlord gave Adagio a vacant look, and his ears flopped forward. After a second, he seemed to decide that questioning her words wasn’t worth the trouble. “We give ponies shelter out of respect for Princess Celestia and Crone Adagio. But that all. We not fight Unseelie because we not have weapons to beat Fae. We not fight Sirens because they rule Equestria, and Equestria is distant ally. No war for Diamond Dogs. Only refuge in secret. Understand?”

Applejack nodded slowly. “Well, you’ve already helped out more than I woulda guessed possible, so thanks for that. Last thing I want is for more innocent people to get hurt.”

“Good.” He held out a clenched paw and Applejack met it with a hoof bump. “We understanding.”

He snapped his claws and the two puff balls bounced into action, rushing across the room to grab a long canister off the shelf. They carried it to the Doberlord and he unscrewed the cap, revealing the rolled-up paper inside. He spread it out on a stone table; it was a map of the Diamond Dog city, marking tunnels and landmarks with written Doggo. A faint outline encircled various cave systems—denoting the topography of what lay aboveground. “Here you can see where is safe for ponies to sneak around. Do not go outside marked areas. You be found there.”

The poofy Diamond Dogs—who Applejack later learned were named Fluffy and Fuzzy—barked cheerfully and bounded over to the doorway to take up guard positions.

“Huh.” Adagio Dazzle leaned close to the map and tapped a hoof over the center. “Looks like they managed to land the Grove of Golden Apples directly overhead.”

“Grove of Whatnow?” Applejack felt her stomach sink as she remembered the newly-sprouted mountain just west of Canter Mountain. “Is that their new headquarters? Are those the apples you were growin’?”

“Yep on both accounts. Got enough golden apples to keep an army immortal for centuries.”

Starswirl brushed his beard as he narrowed his eyes at the phantom-outlined Grove. “They’ve landed it right atop the highway northward. It’ll halt trade completely unless the merchants comply exactly with their orders.”

Applejack’s eyes wandered the map. Each pathway aboveground was denoted with an Equestrian-text “EXIT,” standing out to both Diamond Dogs and ponies as what essentially represented a gate between worlds. No exits lay over the city of G’Boy; instead, they were found in obscure, out-of-the-way tunnel offshoots, which someone would only find if someone was looking for them. Six exits lay kind-sorta equidistant in an ellipse around G’Boy, haphazardly surrounding The Grove of Golden Apples.

All the exits were within the stealth-friendly realm, freely accessible to Applejack’s crew. All were quite a trek from either the Grove or Canter Mountain. All were hidden away, either in woods, or among mountainous crags, or beside rivers…

Commander Skyhook met Applejack’s eyes. She and he, to her reckonin’, shared the same thoughts. A plan was forming. Or at least the initial spark of a plan. They had a twofold goal: Distract the Sirens from pursuing the Ponyville refugees, and rescue the imprisoned Bearers of the Elements. They were five-hundred against tens of thousands. What better method to manage a superior force than to divide it?

The Doberlord dismissed them with a gruff bark and allowed Fabio to take them to their hovels. They were one-room structures, and barely that, lacking a fourth wall in many cases. No need to plan around weather belowground, and all the better to vent fires lit on the cold stone. The others were already picking out where they’d be staying, laying aside space for the equipment, and counting out their rations. Applejack took in a deep breath; they were fighting a hopeless battle, in a war she didn’t want to escalate. Even if they survived the next few days, there was precious little they could do but wait for Apple Bloom and her friends to find the Elements.

If they failed, those five little ponies and one young dragon, everything would be for nothing. The Sirens would reign, controlling the hearts and minds of the people, and the Fae would destroy whatever was left.

“Whatever you’re planning,” Adagio said from Applejack’s left, “it had better happen soon. Jeuk’s already tasted blood.”

Applejack nodded and cast her sharp green eyes towards the youth-faced Crone. “Sure ’nough. I hope you remember a thing or two about the Grove, cuz you’re gonna be our guide.”

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the long, loooong wait between chapters. It has been a year. Yes, what a year it has been.

Old Friends Return

Scootaloo realized pretty quickly that she was their only hope for survival.

The train slid to a stop at the edge of the green southern plains, where the climate finally became too hot, too arid, to support things like trees, or rivers, or even mud. While the Sandidry Desert in the east was best described as a barren sea of sand, with dunes serving as waves, the Badlands south of Equestria were stone and dust, where the only plants were barbed cacti and coarse bushes too stubborn to be cut down by the blazing-hot wind. Lizards peered at them from beneath the shadows of rocks, either mute or unwilling to expend the effort to share their thoughts.

Buffalo would use these lands as sacred grounds, burying their dead and swiftly returning to more hospitable locales. To the east lay the Central Ocean, the coast of which now lay empty after the departure of the hippogriffs. To the west lay nigh impassable rock formations, where the changeling remnant had once lay beneath Chrysalis’ iron hoof.

The six Seekers of Harmony were a good few miles from the shore, leaving them with hours of walking through scorching heat. Once they got to the sea, they would be able to convert the water from salt to fresh, and find food in the form of seaweed. Until then, the only thing keeping them going was Scootaloo’s mastery of magic.

She rubbed her hooves together, illuminating her face with the glittering Magic of the Pegasi. She had already constructed a small cloud that could shield her friends from the sun. She plucked off pieces here and there, passing them around so that everyone could suck refreshing rainwater from the cloudstuff. Her heart pumped as she poured her magic into the desert air, peeling every ounce of water she could from seemingly nothing. It was exhausting work, but they would have all died of exposure and heat stroke without her.

She pressed a cloud puff against Apple Bloom’s mouth, and the earth pony sipped. Bloom still had that same blank expression she’d had since the attack. Still hadn’t said anything. Still wouldn’t look at anything. It was almost like she didn’t even notice that Rumble was on her back, strapped down so that he couldn’t reopen his wounds accidently.

Rumble was next to receive a drink. He tried to keep his voice chipper, but Scootaloo could see his cheeks redden. “Thanks, Scoots. Wish I could help out.”

“Dummy.” Scootaloo rubbed his head with her free hoof. She hovered above the ground on her donated lavender wings to stay at eye-level with the two huge ponies. “We’d probably all be dead without you anyhow, so just focus on resting. Lemme be the hero of the hour.” She felt a smirk overtake her weariness. “And try not to think about how a girl has to carry the big strong stallion.”

“I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit…” He glanced down at Apple Bloom’s back, and his cheeks grew even rosier. “That I see the appeal of being princess-carried.”

Button Mash peered up at them from Apple Bloom’s shadow. “I think that’s his way of saying he wants you to begin weight training.”

“Har har.” Scootaloo tugged the cloud along overhead. It floated forward a few meters at a time before she needed to reapply momentum. “If I could get that big, I’d already be there”

Sweetie Belle dabbed her tuft of cloud against her glasses to clean them of dust. “Scootloo with the physique of Bulk Biceps would be a sight to sting the eye.”

Scootaloo grimaced, electing to ignore that. She looked to the front of the procession, where Spike led the way, retracing his steps from his time on the dragon migration more than a decade ago. He squinted ahead at the jagged shoreline, where Scootaloo just then could see the peak of the Hippogriff hometown: Mount Aris. Long abandoned by the hippogriffs and seaponies, who had fled across the sea with Thorax’s changelings, little but ruins awaited them there.

She poked her head out of the top of the cloud to look behind them. Every time she checked, she feared that she would see the shadow of an airship sprinting its way towards them, full of death and fury, but no such apparition appeared. Either they had truly escaped their pursuers, or Scootaloo’s dad was waiting for them at their destination.

She slapped her own cheek to correct her thoughts. He was not her dad, just like Aria was not her mom. Those titles belonged to Davenport and Roseluck alone, no matter what sort of DNA was shared among them.

She returned to the shade and pressed a cloud against Apple Bloom’s mouth again. “Come on, drink up. You’re gonna pass out and I’m gonna have to carry both of you.”

“I’m sorry,” came the hoarse whisper.

Scootaloo frowned at her friend. “Don’t worry about it. We can rest soon.” She glanced up at the distant mountain. “Relatively.”

Button Mash looked back over his shoulder, southwestward, to the even-more-distant spires of the Badlands. “So, are we gonna check the old Changeling hives? The clues say ‘Laughter was Rescued among the changelings,’ and we might find something in the old ruins.”

“I dunno.” Spike spared the hives a glance. “Twilight combed the place pretty thoroughly after Chrysalis the Second made peace with Equestria last year. She didn’t find any magic artifacts, Elements or otherwise.” A spiny lizard made a grab for one of Spike’s toes and was quickly shaken off. “I’m operating under the assumption that we’ll find Laughter with the changelings themselves. Either Thorax’s or Chrysalis’.”

Sweetie pulled tighter at the strap on her shoulder, securing a bag that was nowhere near in danger of falling off. “If we knew more about the mare who gave us Kindness, maybe we’d know what to expect.”

“Split didn’t even see her face.” Button Mash swallowed hard, which did no favors to his parched throat. “Maybe she was a fairy, too.”

Scootaloo plopped down between them and handed them fresh cloud puffs. “It is the real article. Twilight herself said so. So I don’t think we need to worry to much about where it came from. It’s good that we have it, and that’s a fact.”

Spike gave her a lopsided grin. “And even if she was a fairy, that just means we have more on our side than we thought.”
Button bobbed his head noncommittally. “I guess so.”

“Pick your battles, dude.” Rumble pointed ahead to their next stop. “Right now, the battle is ‘survive the desert for a couple more hours.’”

Time passed slowly, with every inch a burden. With the exception of Spike, everybody collapsed at the foot of Mount Aris from heat and exhaustion. The ruined, empty houses loomed like decayed skeletons silhouetted in the gloom of a setting sun. No one had rushed to ransack the town after the hippogriffs left, and neither had anybody sought to preserve the abandoned buildings. Time and tide had done all that was necessary to return Aris to as it was before Princess Twilight visited; when the hippogriffs had all hidden beneath the waves as seaponies.

But even Seaquestria, Scootaloo knew, would be rotting like the bones of a drowned whale.

“Dang it, I’m feeling gloomy just looking at this place.” She nudged Spike’s shoulder and shoved him towards the nearest crumbling house. “We gotta make camp in a hurry before we all start blubbering.”

“Aye, aye,” Spike said with a tilted grin. He pointed to the shore. “Button, you and Sweetie find us some seaweed. Scootaloo and I’ll go looking for any sort of supplies we can find in these homes. Like, at least some shelter from the wind. Or firewood. Apple Bloom, you and Rumble bunk down somewhere and keep out of sight.” He gave them a meaningful, wary glance. “And keep watch.”

Rumble saluted when Apple Bloom said nothing. “You can count on your resident invalid to scream for mommy the instant an evil monster appears.”

The search was mostly fruitless. A few broken down pieces of furniture to burn, a couple of decayed curtains to clean wounds once they were properly washed, and a pot to cook the seaweed into something relatively edible. Everything was too far gone, too grody to be considered salvage.

While Spike carried their ill-fated gains down the mountain, Scootaloo stood at the front door of Queen Nova’s house. Less than a palace, more than a mansion, beautiful even when devastated. The walls were chipped pearl trimmed with stained gold, with spiraling pillars and shattered wooden doors. She pushed the front door and found that it swung freely on its hinges. The creak echoed in the growing darkness.

She swallowed hard. “Die by starvation, or die by being eaten. The ironic choice is yours to make.”

She glanced to and fro and stilled her breath before stepping inside. She thought she could hear something else breathing, but rationalized it as being wind blowing through gaping windows. Really, no biggie. The rumble she heard was merely the foundation of the house settling. The scratching was mice running across the floor. The faint glow just around the corner was just the last vestiges of light from the sunset. The cackled laughter was… was…

She decided to stop rationalizing and start panicking.

She heard voices, at least two, talking in hushed tones somewhere deep in the house, until the murmur was pierced by a guttural guffaw. The laugh was quickly followed by a slap and a hoarse “Can you keep quiet, idiot?”

She flapped her wings to bring herself to ceiling height. No windows from outside could see into the room, so she decided to take the slightest of peeks from around the corner, from an angle the strangers would be unlikely to notice. Magic kept her aloft, her wings held steady so that she made no noise. She inched forward, pushing against the ceiling with a hoof, until she glided close enough to poke an eye at the source of the voices.

Three dragons sat around a small fire. They were young dragons, maybe a little older than Spike. Each one was larger than a stallion, even hunched over as they were. Two looked like girls, with softer eyes but sharp-edged faces. The big brute in the back of the room was red-scaled, with a jaw built like a hammer and teeth that wouldn’t fit inside his closed mouth. The fear left Scootaloo as she realized that she knew this dragon. Sadly, the anxiety didn’t go away.

Keeping out of sight, she knocked her hoof against the wall and called out “Hello? Garble? This is Spike and his—!”

A torrent of flame struck the wall opposite her. The jet of superheated air was cut off as Garble grabbed the tail of the dragon who had attacked her. “Keep a lid on it, Gruntilda! You wanna get somebody killed?”

The dragon maiden, a green-coated, wiry-built lizard, snapped her jaws at Garble. “Uh, yeah, that’s kinda the point of the whole incineration thing!”

Scootaloo let out a shaky breath, thanking her lucky stars that she hadn’t just stepped into view. “S-Spike and h-his friends… are out here… You know, Spike and the ponies…”

Garble blew a raspberry and pushed Gruntilda’s head down. “Yeah, yeah, step into the room. We ain’t gonna hurt yah.” He gave the trigger-happy dragon a disrespectful shove against the floor. “Got it, Grunt?”

“I hear you, I hear you! No barbeques!” Grunt propped herself on her elbow and looked at her other cohort. “Can’t I get some kinda backup, Bellow?”

Bellowski, a rounded, blue-coated dragon, remained hunched over the fire, frying the remains of some kinda bird on a stick. “You’re on your own there, Grunt.”

“With friends like these…”

Scootaloo rounded the corner, wings poised to dodge another fireball should the situation call for it. She gave the three dragons a gentle wave. “Hi, I’m Scootaloo. We’ve met before, Garble.”

“Can’t recall,” Garble said. “But I believe you when you say you’re a friend of Spike. Seems like the guy’s friends with everybody.”

“Eh, more or less.” Scootaloo looked around the room and found it to be some kinda sitting room. The faint remains of portraits and banners decorated the walls, while the crumbled debris of reclining couches lay shoved in the corner. A grey stone block, two ponies tall, lay against the wall. A circle crisscrossed with lines was carved into the block; some lines were straight, some were arced. Pages and pages of writing and images were set in front of the block. They were both colorful and crude, and all seemed to be representations of the carving compared with differing maps and trinkets. “So what brings you to Mount Aris?”

“Could ask you the same thing.” Garble crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Judging by the light show in the sky the past couple days, you ponies have other things to worry about besides random ghost towns.”

Scootaloo felt her neck hairs stand on end as she thought back to the gala and the airship crash. “You could say that. We’re on a quest. Far from home.”

“Same.” When Garble noticed she was looking at the paper scraps strewn around, he rushed over to scoop them up in his arms and store them haphazardly in a brown backpack. “Now scram. We don’t need any ponies sticking their noses in our business.”

Getting a closer look at the carved circle brought it clearer into Scootaloo’s memory. She’d seen it, about the same time as she’d met Garble. He had presented it to Spike, saying that it was the key to finding someone. “But you did ask Spike for help.”

“And Spike wasn’t available.” Garble none-too-gently scooped her up by the rear and dumped her at the door to the room. “So unless the scrawny little gemsucker somehow has the stupid puzzle figured out, we don’t need help.”

“I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Spike lumbered on his hind legs into the room. He was shorter than every dragon except Bellowski, and skinner than every dragon except for Gruntilda. He still managed to loom large when he and Garble came face-to-face, due to the way the red drake leaned back at his approach.

Garble faked a smile. “Long time no see, hatchling. Still running errands for that purple pony princess?”

“Garble.” Spike crossed his own arms. “Still running errands for Dragonlord Ember?”

Scootaloo took to the wing to hover over Spike’s leftmost shoulder. She kept a wary eye on Grunt and Bellow, only to find that the two dames had their eyes locked on Spike as though they were examining the finest of gemstones. Bellowski was even drooling a little. Scootaloo raised her eyebrows. “Honest, ain’t they?”

Spike didn’t seem to hear her, and that was fine by her. “Have you found anything new about Smolder?” he asked.

Garble sneered at Grunt and Bellow before shoving past them, hoisting the backpack with a flick of his tail. “Same old, same old. Same old empty town, same old weird-as-hell map carving, same old numbskull tagalongs.”

Grunt grinned a sniveling little snicker at Scootaloo. “He means you, featherbrain.”

Garble rolled his eyes. He slapped his palm against the stone circle. “So we’re just about to pack up and head back to the Cauldron with nothing but shattered hopes and dreams. By tomorrow morning, you’ll have the whole town to yourself.”

“Actually,” Spike said, “we’re headed for the Cauldron, too.”

“Huh?” Garble scraped to a stop, leaving clawmarks in the floor. “Why?”

Spike gave Scootaloo a look, which she returned with a shrug. If Spike thought it was okay to trust these guys, she supposed she trusted Spike.

“We’re on a quest to find the Elements of Harmony.” Spike favored Garble with one of his most charming smiles. “And we think Loyalty is in the Cauldron.”

The smile rolled off of Garble like lava off a dragon’s back. It seemed like trying to tickle a mountain with a feather. “Loyalty? Among the dragons? What kinda sick joke is that?”

“Well…” Spike opened his hands palm-up. “It makes enough sense to me. With how long-lived dragons are, you wouldn’t find someone more likely to stick with you for a long time—”

“The dragons, who hide away in caves greedily grasping their gold trinkets.” Garble’s frown deepened until it looked like cracked stone. “Dragons, who have to be forced to rally to their Lord by a magic scepter. Dragons, who leave their own dang kids to fend for themselves. Those dragons?”

Spike’s hands closed into fists. “When you put it like that…”

“Trust me, Spike, if there’s any loyalty among the dragons—” Garble fastened the backpack over his shoulders and spread his wings. “—let me know when you find it. Only you won’t, because you’d rather help your pony friends instead of your dragon friends when they need you.”

Spike reached out and caught Garble’s arm. “I promised I’d help you find Smolder, and that’s the truth.”

“The truth is she’s still missing, and the whole world is dying.” Garble bared his teeth at the smaller dragon. “You don’t have time for all that loyalty, Spike. You gotta pick a goal and stick to it, or all your loyalties will fail.”

“Hey!” Scootaloo flew in front of Garble’s face, blocking his path out of the house. “The clues say we’ll find an Element with the changelings. The changelings and the hippogriffs are together, aren’t they? Smolder and her friends disappeared with them, didn’t they? That means we’ll have to find them eventually, won’t we?”

Garble growled in the back of his throat. “That’s a lot of ifs, pony.”

“Yeah, but for now, both you guys and us guys have the same goal.” She and Spike exchanged an uncertain glance. “Mostly. At least parallel.”

Bellow whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “Isn’t that a fancy word for an umbrella?”

“No, dumb-dumb!” Grunt hissed. “It’s a kind of chocolate candy.”

“Shut up, both of you,” Garble snapped. “I’m trying to think.”

When Garble lurched forward on all fours, Spike moved backwards to keep in his sight. “She’s right, you know. This is a chance—”

“Didn’t I say to shut up?”

Spike stopped, and Garble bumped nose-first into his chest. Spike looked down at the larger, redder, angrier dragon and held his hands out to the sides. “I made a promise to you and this is my chance to keep it. I’ll help you find your sister. And I’ll show you I can be loyal to all my friends. Dragons, and ponies, and everybody.”

Garble sat down hard enough to rattle the meager wall decorations. “Why try so hard to convince me? You could just go straight to Dragonlord Ember and she’d give you anything you asked for!”

“Because…” Spike placed his hands on his hips and straightened his back. “You’re my friend, too. I made a promise.”

Garble narrowed his eyes and sat quiet for a long moment. He shook his head. “You are by far the stupidest dragon I’ve ever met.”

Spike crossed his arms. “So what if I am?”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” Garble pointed at the two dames. “Change of plans. We’re staying here tonight.”

Bellow scratched her forehead. “That’s just the old plan.”

“Well, I changed it, so it’s the new plan.” Garble jerked his thumb towards the fire. “Better bring your buddies into the palace. This is the only building left with all four walls.”

“I’ll let them know!” Scootaloo took this opportunity to zip out of the conversation. She gave the western sky a last scan to verify that there were indeed no looming enemy airships, then headed for the foot of Mount Aris. The moon peaked out from beyond the horizon and showered the world in cool silver. The dark shadow of Twilight Sparkle, hewn into the moon as it was, almost felt like a protective vigil rather than a testament to their harsh reality.

Even when a cold breeze touched her shoulders with an icy finger, Scootaloo barely considered it. It was always cold at night in the desert.

Wasn’t it?

Canter Mountain lay cold and empty in the chill air of early evening. Castletown’s ashes lay abandoned, empty even of bandits or looters. Nothing usable had survived the firestorm. The gaping maw where the castle used to be lay open to the sky, and the moon’s lesser light glittered off rows upon rows of purple crystals. The peak of the mountain had crumbled in on itself, while the slopes had ulcerated with miasmic magic and crystalline formations. The small procession of creatures that marched up the mountain slowed as they passed through the battered castle walls, into what had once been the outer courtyard.

Jeuk led the procession, wearing his ruby-tinged glasses and a wide-brimmed black hat. He smiled over his shoulder to the ponies following along behind him. “Getting tired yet? Need a rest? A moment of recuperation?”

Fluttershy said nothing. She kept her head down, not looking at the mortal fairy. Her wings were bound to her sides by shackles. A heavy rope hung around her neck, the other end of which was held by a strong-bodied thrall. Even if she could fly, he would drag her painfully back to earth.

Silver Spoon slapped her across the face. “You will show proper respect when meeting with the Lord of the Sky. Speak when you are spoken to.”

Fluttershy looked around and saw that Merry, her one so-called “ally” among the Unseelie, was nowhere to be seen. All the better for it. If Merry had allowed this to go on, the last of Fluttershy’s love for her might have dried up. As it was, Fluttershy could pretend that Merry would not approve of any of it.

“You can eat my rotten horseapple-stained—!” Rainbow Dash was promptly gagged by a cloth over the mouth. The thrall that held her rope tightened the knot until it was unbearable, then tightened it more. She might have had more ability to fight back had her wings not been pinned to her sides by the same heavy shackles that held Fluttershy.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie were likewise being harried up the mountain by massive thralls. Rarity glanced over her guard; Fluttershy could tell that she was noting several sensitive pressure points where a kick could send even that mighty stallion staggering. Unfortunately, her chains made freedom of movement a distant dream. The ring around the base of her horn would send her straight into unconsciousness if she attempted a spell.

Fluttershy’s hoof slipped on a patch of frost. The thrall jerked her upright before she could fall. The chill in their air was unnatural for a summer evening, especially after the firestorm that had eaten Canter Mountain. A faint whinny that echoed through the air reminded her of the dead of winter, when food was scarce and her animal friends’ lives were not guaranteed. Dark shadows had followed them up the slopes. Dark shadows with grasping claws and beady eyes. Her only comfort was knowing that no spirits of the dead could be found here, wailing over a life misspent.

At the top of the mountain, where there was no city, what awaited them were scores of fairies. Most of them were shadows, but the air was filled with ghastly translucent horses dusting the ground with snow and ice. A vast cloud in the shape of a snake ringed the chasm of crystal, hissing as though it had specific enmity with her. “Kindness has no place here,” it rumbled. “Let her be cast into the depths like her forebearers to feed our kindred.”

Jeuk tipped his hat back. “We have already confirmed that they can no longer wield the Elements, so their life or death have no use to us… save specifically my amusement. Do not forget this, Bête Noire.”

The grand shadow winced, a sorry sight indeed for a beast so tremendous. “My Lord, I meant no insult.”

“Of course not.” Jeuk whirled a black cape, as though revealing the chasm with a flourish. “Behold Once-Bearers! The doom of Equestria! The blight of a thousand lands! The plague you yourselves can forestall, if only you reveal to me your secrets.”

Rarity scoffed. “Never in a thousand-thousand years would we reveal anything to you, Lord of Mold and Lice! The crown of Equestria ill befits you and your ilk, and so it shall be taken from you before you can fasten it to your scraggly heads!”

“I could remove your tongue myself, and gleefully, but regrettably I have use for you unmarred.” Jeuk strode up to Rarity and cupped her face in his hooves. She spat at him, but he paid it no mind. “Please, remain blissfully silent while I explain to you just why you will beg to share everything with me. Please, just a moment of your time.”

Pinkie Pie tried to kick dirt at him, but could barely shuffle her hooves a couple inches at a time. “I wouldn’t even share the secret to Granny Pie’s Magical Rhubarb and Rutabaga Pie with you if my life depended on it.”

Jeuk shoved Rarity back and poked Pinkie in the eye. “That’s just it. Your hides are secure. Your deaths are unnecessary. I have more worth for you as bargaining chips or bait. It isn’t… your lives on the line.” He glared at her over his glasses. “It’s everyone else’s.” He raised a hoof and called at the top of his lungs. “Bean Sidhe!”

One windigo, larger than the others, as beautiful as morning frost and as deadly as an avalanche, alighted the ground beside him and bowed her head. “Master.”

“Prepare your harbingers of death!” He whirled, his cape falling to the side off of his haunches. He nearly tripped over himself before he tore the cape aside with a violent flick. “Bête Noire! Have you chosen your nightmares?”

The snakelike Fae hissed deep in the recesses of his darkness. “Aye, my Lord.”

Jeuk strode up to the very edge of the chasm, with Bête Noire’s coils fading around him, and raised a foreleg to the four prisoners. “This is your last chance, Former Bearers! Save everyone in Equestria and beyond from calamity! From true, inescapable horror! Reveal to me the location of Applejack, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Spike, Rumble, and Button Mash, and your precious world shall be spared!”

Rainbow Dash roared from behind her gag.

Rarity’s mouth fell open. “You dare think we would betray our own?”

“Do not the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?” The wind kicked up, blowing Jeuk’s hat into the gored mountainside. He gave it no notice. “Seven lives, over seven-thousand? Ten times that? Every drop of blood spilt would be on your hooves.”

“No, Jeuk.” Fluttershy blinked back tears; brought about by the wind or cry of her heart, she knew not. “They would be on your hooves. We don’t know anything. But even if we did, we could never tell you. We couldn’t break confidence even in a lie. You will kill, and kill, and kill, and it will be for nothing. But it will come back to you. It will always come back.”

Jeuk bared his teeth at her. “You stupid, selfish mortals. Disgusting! Always thinking about yourself and what you want. Always so very controlled by your frail little bodies. Your base instincts!”

“Last I heard,” Fluttershy said, “weren’t you mortal too, now?”

The bared teeth clenched. He huffed out a hot breath, tinged with steam. “Indeed. Though with the capability to rise above the preprogrammed chemical soup in my brain. Unbound by family ties, or hunger, or want.” His eyes flicked to Silver Spoon for a brief moment. “What I do indulge in is for mere scientific curiosity.”

Silver grinned. “Curiosity indeed.”

Pinkie Pie lidded her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth dragging downward with the weight of a boulder. “That’s a little too much information there, oh Lord of Darkness.”

Rarity barked a laugh. “They do say every ‘great’ stallion has a ‘great’ mare behind him.”

Silver Spoon raised her hoof to strike again, but was halted by Jeuk’s. “Easy now, Maiden. It will do us no good if they can neither speak no stand. We have to await their answer, of course.”

Rainbow Dash finally got her tongue around the gag and was able to spit it out. “I think Fluttershy gave you the best answer we could come up with. A heck of a lot nicer than most of us, too.”

Jeuk nodded slowly, letting his giggling little laugh echo around the courtyard bereft of a castle. “I hoped you would say that.”

The wind became like a typhoon, striking Fluttershy’s face with rain cold enough to be hail, flying sideways to slip beneath her torso and soak every inch of her. She shivered, bending her knees to shield herself what little she could, but the thrall yanked her upright. Windigoes howled and stampeded in midair, wailing their song of death as ghastly whinnies and harrowing wickers. Nightmares laughed and danced, flailing claws and gnashing teeth at her.

One by one they leapt into the pit, first the windigoes and then the other Fae, shrieking with a sound wholly unlike either happiness or horror. The chasm ignited with a flash of power brighter than the moonlight. The ambient magic stung like acrid smoke in Fluttershy’s eyes, but shielding herself was impossible with her bonds. Crystals formed on her coat in tiny clumps, some even collecting on her eyelashes like ice formations. Waves of plasmatic magic pressed against her, threatening to send her to the ground. A crackle and crash sounded from the center of the din, from which emerged a massive, clawed, crystalline hand.

“Rise, my Grotesques!” Jeuk crowed. “Rise and make for the southlands! Destroy all who stand in my way! Pillage and plunder and despoil! Kill the dragons! Every last drake and dame! Revenge me against the foul upstarts! Revenge yourself against those who would be immortal!”

The beast that emerged from the yawning gap was wholly unlike any one being Fluttersy had seen, but plenty alike several of them. Webbed wings of a bat or dragon. Clawed hands like a lizard’s. A beaklike muzzle arrayed with sharp, sharklike teeth. A hunched bipedal body that moved like an ape. A long, whiplike tail barbed akin to a manta ray. But all made from transparent, purple crystal.

It leaped into the sky on its glistening wings and shot southward like an arrow.

More followed behind it, climbing out of the cavern, scrambling over each other in their haste to obey Jeuk. It was an eruption of bladed limbs and snapping tails driving Fluttershy and her friends back with the cacophony. Blazing purple flame bellowed up from the Grotesque’ bellies and out the mouths.

Hundreds of them rose into the air in a whirlwind of violence. Each one was plenty large enough to carry away a loaded carriage. Not quite adult-dragon-sized, but large enough to pose a threat to anything under the sun.

Jeuk laughed in his stuttering, jittery way. He smiled at Fluttershy. “And if they just so happen to meet a pony caravan on their path… well, we know what sort of things a Grotesque gets up to.”

Black feathers sprouted from his back as his jaw warped and his body contorted. His hooves became claws which scraped the stone. His hat burned away as his entire body was enveloped in fire. Smoke billowed from his mouth and obscured all but his glowing green eyes.

Silver Spoon jerked her head to look between the southern skies and Jeuk. “You’re going with them? What about the riots in Manehattan? What about besieging the Crystal Empire?”

“Do you really want the Grotesques to deal with Manehattan?” he said with a jagged smile.

Silver Spoon took half a step back. “Well… Well, I suppose not.”

“Then let me handle things with the dragons.” He rested a clawed hand on her head, and looked ready to either caress her or squash her. “If you really want to deal with the Crystal Empire, have our people infiltrate their citizenry. Spread unhappiness and discontent until they no longer remember how to work the Hearth’s Warming Spell in the Crystal Heart. Make it impossible for Cadenza to do any good without her authority being challenged and her motives dissected. Before long, even she herself will chafe beneath her responsibilities. I’ve destroyed many kingdoms this way. I trust you can do it, too.”

His wings flapped, overwhelming Fluttershy’s senses with hot wind and dust and magic discharge. His Grotesques rallied to him and fell into formation as they soared south, towards the Cauldron and the dragons.

When the mad mob had vanished over the horizon, Fluttershy and her friends were thrown into cells in the depths of the Grove of Golden Apples. No longer was Fluttershy permitted to walk freely around the trees. With Merry busy elsewhere, Jeuk and Silver Spoon had little reason for niceties. They were all muddy and tired from the climb. They were all borderline poisoned by the caustic ambient magic, and covered with shards of flash-grown solidified magic. A quick scrub could clean them off, but such was of little comfort to those without a tub.

Fluttershy tried the lock and found it immobile. The door didn’t even jiggle on its hinges.

She didn’t want to admit it to Jeuk, nor to her best friends, nor even to herself… Fluttershy wasn’t sure she had any hope left. She could summon a bit of bluffed bravado when the situation called for it, but she was tired, worn out, directionless. All she had seen the past few days was pain and death and Jeuk at the center of it all. And now…

“Is it really true?” she whispered to the others in the cages around her. “Have we lost the ability to use the Elements?”

Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie all glanced at each other. None of them wanted to be the first to speak.

“It’s…” Pinkie shrugged, started again, trailed off again. “It’s probably bull…”

“When Jeuk killed Celestia…” Rarity turned her eyes to her hooves. “He had a grand speech prepared. He claimed that our varied faults, major and minor, all contributed to the death of the Tree of Harmony. Which, in turn, caused the loss of our ability to interact with the Elements.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, lying down and leaning her side against the close-knit bars of her cage. “My split loyalties. Between the Wonderbolts, Ponyville, my friends versus my fans… Scootaloo… and because I was spread so thin, it was all shallow.”

Pinkie Pie glanced around at the golden apples that were so close, but so very far out of reach. “My souring attitude with people in general. How nobody seems to appreciate what I do… and that was never important before. I just did things because I thought it was the right thing to do. Maybe that comes with growing older. Wanting to be appreciated.”

“We all want to be appreciated.” What Fluttershy really wanted was to give her friends a big hug. “And I’ve never seen you as shallow, Rainbow Dash. You both have some of the biggest hearts of anypony I’ve ever met.”

“And yet the tree is dead,” Rarity said. “Perhaps in part due to my… my jealousy of Apple Bloom. How for all my purported generosity, the one thing I cannot give up is something that was never mine to begin with.”

“And if it’s true,” Pinkie said, “that means that all of this happened because of us.”

Fluttershy’s heart sank to depths she hadn’t previously thought possible. The sting behind her eyes overwhelmed the previous sting of ambient magic. What had she done to make the Tree sick? Had she been unkind? Perhaps she had. Her growing anger with Merry. Her frustration with Discord’s illness. How she’d lashed out against Pumpkin and Pound Cake.

Would that be enough to kill the Tree of Harmony? Would all of their foibles together, over the course of more than a decade, be enough to slay something that had stood for so long? It had happened once before, when River Cicada of the Changelings had destroyed it in order to keep the power of the Elements under her own control…

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a load of balderdash and bunkum. Hooey and hogwash. Wack, colloquially.”

Fluttershy’s ears shot up at the sound of a quiet, familiar voice. She glanced around, and found nothing out of the ordinary. None of the dead could be found in this part of the grove, though their wails echoed among the branches. The Fae had all gathered on Canter Mountain to see Jeuk and his compatriots off. The thralls had left them to rot in their cells. They were truly alone in the Grove, and yet…

She looked down and there, between her front legs, was a teeny-tiny draconequus, barely as tall as a daisy.

“Wh—” Before she could say “what are you doing here?” he leaped up and covered her mouth with his tiny hands.

“Shhhhhh!” Discord glanced to and fro, his eyes wide. “If I’m found, Jeuk will rush over to eat my magic and kill me dead” He sighed and lowered his hands from Fluttershy. “It’s also why I’m not here to rescue you. If I use even an ounce of my magic… They’ll know I’m here. They’ll be on me before you can say ‘hot crossed buns’ and I’ll be none the wiser before Jeuk makes me a Draconequus Souffle.”

Fluttershy sat down hard. Without a moment to lose, she scooped Discord up in her forelegs and nuzzled him close. “It’s so good to see you!”

Discord chuckled and patted her nose. “It’s good to see you, too. I’m so glad you’re all… Well, not safe, but alive.”

“Heavens, you beastly thing,” Rarity said, hiding a small smile, “but whyever would you plunge into the very belly of the proverbial beast if you’re in such danger?”

“Because my home on the Far Side of the World is crawling with Fae.” He slithered out of Fluttershy’s grip and hid within her mane. “Bête Noire and his cronies have turned it into a literal nightmare landscape. I could fight them there, but as soon as I heard Jeuk had the Rainbow of Darkness back, I skipped town.” He tapped his claws against his talons. “I had to see that Fluttershy was alive. I figured hiding under Jeuk’s nose was no less dangerous than hiding anywhere else on this pitiful little mudball. At least he wouldn’t think to look for me here.”

“But that’s not quite right, either,” Fluttershy said with a hushed voice. “We’re being used as bait, Dis—my friend. They’ll be lying in wait for you.”

“I haven’t seen a single Fae in the area.” He tapped the side of his nose. “They have a certain kind of sense to them, which I’ve become quite familiar with thanks to our escapades with Jeuk last year.” He crossed his forearms over his chest and glared daggers at the Golden Apple trees around them. “It seems we’ve come full circle with that.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Enough Golden Apples to keep your memory for… forever.”

“At least, for a substantial portion of eternity.” He climbed to the top of her head to address the whole group. “But that’s about me, and we’re not here for my benefit. You happy little ponies are so full of dejection and dismay you’re about to spread it to me!”

Pinkie Pie gave him a rueful expression that was more grimace than grin. “Can you blame us?”

“Pinkie Pie, have you forgotten?” He gestured strangely, as though he were about to cast one of his silly little spells, but thought against it. Instead, he tromped around on Fluttershy’s head as though he were on parade. “Do you recall what happened to you when you faced down your greatest foe?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Tirek ate our magic?”

“Sombra entrapped Twilight in crystal?” Rarity offered.

“I’m talking about myself, of course!” He crossed his arms and turned his head upward. “Against whom you had no chance, save for my own fatal flaw of pride! Essentially, I let you win. Because I was a moron. Shining endorsement, I know.”

“I had a neighbor named Shining Endorsement once,” Pinkie Pie said. “Kinda a contrarian, but he played a mean clarinet.”

“But think back to that day!” He snapped his talons to interrupt her. “I had you all under my special brand of chaos magic. I utterly reversed your personalities. There was no, zip, zilch, zero, nada chance you could have used the Elements of Harmony in such a state.”

Fluttershy blew a soft breath through pursed lips. “I wish I could say it was completely unlike me, but…”

“But that’s just it, I rewired your brains, but I did not overwrite them.” He pointed at each pony as he went down the line. “Rainbow Dash has always been lazy! Rarity has always been vain! Pinkie Pie has always been cynical! And you…” He bowed in what would have been a respectful manner had he not been in the middle of what was, for all intents and purposes, a roast. “Have untold amounts of anger stored up inside you.”

Fluttershy turned her face away and closed her eyes, though she couldn’t hide away from it. Discord’s tiny hand caught her chin and turned her to face him. He had leapt from her head to stand in front of her, and now looked at her with wide eyes, full of warmth. “And it never, ever stopped you from using the Elements. Not even against me.”

When he saw that all four ponies had their eyes on him, he nodded to each in turn. “It’s not your worst parts that lead you to overcome overwhelming odds. It’s your best parts. Those parts have always been with you, too. Even when they were hidden. Your kindness, loyalty, generosity, and laughter are undeniable, unkillable, and altogether far too unrestrained for your own good. Jeuk may say he never lies, but he may very well believe a lie.”

Fluttershy let out a small, weak laugh. “You know Twilight was able to break your spell so that we could use the Elements, don’t you?”

“And the spell broke because it was always you, at the heart of it.” He gave her a wide smile. “And naturally, it would have still failed had I not overlooked the broken spell and allowed you that free punch.”

“Nah, we clobbered you.” Rainbow Dash let out a small, forced chuckle. “Well, if we aren’t the reason the Tree of Harmony died, what was?”

“Who can really say? But I blame the Unseelie Court.” Discord stuck his head between the bars of Fluttershy’s cage and glanced to and fro. Content that they were still alone, he eased his way back to her and curled up like a snake at her feet. “Who else could poison a tree that powerful? Who else would desire such an unthinkable thing? And moreover… who was it who killed its sister tree?”

Fluttershy furrowed her brow and thought back to the stories about a draconequus and a golden apple tree. “The Tree of Life. The Fae destroyed the draconequus who were guarding the Tree of Life, which allowed them to then destroy the tree itself.”

“I can only imagine that Jeuk taking possession of this here Grove of Golden Apples is his way of saying he’s still the all-conquering Lord of the Sky,” Discord said, “but I know he’s just a blowhard who doesn’t realize that the whole reason the grove is here is because he’s totally failed to destroy the Tree of Life’s descendants.”

Pinkie Pie’s ears perked up. “Sooo… if he sucks so much at destroying the Tree of Life… The Tree of Harmony’s descendants are…”

“One can assume, or perhaps infer…” Discord tapped the side of his nose. “And what’s more, he wouldn’t even know what the Tree of Harmony’s descendants are.”

Rainbow Dash popped her lips as she thought. “Do we even know what the Tree of Harmony’s descendants are?”

“The one in Ponyville is fairly obvious, if you think about it.” Rarity peered carefully at the tiny draconequus as he grinned impishly. “But you say there are others?”

“Plenty.” Discord crossed his arms and rested them on his coils. “After all, the new Elements of Harmony had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere wasn’t an ailing tree under heavy assault by the Unseelie Court.”

Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open. “New Elements?”

Rarity tittered, her voice somewhere between hope and confusion. “And just how do you know all of this good news, dear Dis—er, friend?”

“The same way I learned Jeuk was abusing the power of the Rainbow of Darkness.” The mischievousness left Discord all in a rush as he stared wistfully into the middle distance between the four cages. He took on an echoey, whispery voice, barely any strength behind it, but all the weight in the world to make up for it. “And old friend named Softly… The one they call Adagio.”

Spike wandered around the ghost town, his hands full of the notes that Garble had gathered. He read by the light of the silver moon, which shone full and round overhead from a clear sky. The shadow of Twilight Sparkle’s head over its face did nothing to diminish its light.

“The Far Side of the World… could correlate to this section of the symbol…” The top of the circular etching held another, smaller circle within it. He tilted the etching onto its side, shifting the crisscrossed interior lines ninety degrees. “Which would give more weight to the theory that this is a map. But then the sections should line up more with tectonic plates than political borders, and there’s no fault line this close to Equestria.”

He overlaid the segmented circle with a map of Equestria and peered at where four lines converged. “So what is here? South of Equestria, but not far enough to be Dodge Junction. Closer to Ponyville than anything.” He followed the leftmost line a short distance and found it curved down towards the shoreline, nearby but not touching Mount Aris. He gazed southward down the beach and could just spot the place where Princess Celestia had scorched the sand with a pillar of fire, allowing the Changelings and Hippogriffs to escape the evil Tyrant Chrysalis. The patch of glass reflected the moonlight clearly, sending a beam shooting across the ocean.

He traced the moonbeam with his finger and found it matched the line on the map. Odd coincidence if there was one.

Perhaps it was less a geographical map and more of a… train route map? The changelings and hippogriffs had reportedly teleported away, but how? Was there a portal in that location?

The rumble of a distant engine touched his filmy ears. He folded the notes and stuffed them into his shoulder bag, then hid behind a half-fallen wall. There, finally, he saw the enemy airship puttering along across the desert, prowling back and forth, shining its lights down on the stone ground in search of pony-tracks that were not there. No evidence had been left by their flight across the unchanging, nigh-impassable landscape. He glanced up the hill to the Queen’s House, where his friends slept fitfully. No light could be seen from the outside, as all windows had been boarded up. The dark forces of Rhombus, Caution, and Midnight would have the entire desert to search, and nothing to find but empty fields.

Hopefully. One wrong move by Spike and co would leave them open to an attack that they might not escape from. Midnight especially could probably kill them all in an instant if she had a clean shot. He clenched his fist tighter as he thought of the small, angry unicorn mare. Midnight Sparkle, Twilight’s shattered reflection from a reality gone wrong, who wouldn’t rest until she acquired the power of an alicorn.

She had lost everything, and still thought there was no price too high to pay.

He watched the airship closely for a few minutes, then saw it glide westward towards the empty changeling hives. It would only be a matter of time before their search reached Mount Aris, but hopefully by then, Spike and his friends would be long gone.

He heaved a sigh and backed away from the wall. He’d have to let the next person on watch know how close the enemy was. He started towards the top of the mountain, but halted after just a few steps. He saw someone else looking out over the beach, silhouetted against the silver light reflecting off of the waves. The bow in her hair and the gentle shapes of her body told him exactly who it was before he even got close.

“Is it alright if I sit here?”

“Sure,” Apple Bloom muttered. Her forelegs hung over the edge of the precipice she was lying beside. “Help yourself.”

Making doubly-sure that the airship was far, far away, and that nobody was trekking on foot across the nightly cold of the desert sands, Spike sat beside Apple Bloom and put his hand close to her hoof. She didn’t close the distance. He looked over at her and saw tears staining her cheeks.

“If you wanna talk, I’ll listen.” Spike shrugged. “If you don’t wanna talk, I’ll be here anyways.”

Apple Bloom glanced towards him, then turned her eyes back to the sparkling sea. “I don’t know what to do.”

Spike reached for her hoof, and she moved it away. He let his claws rest limply by his side.

Her voice was flat, flavorless. “I’ve felt lost ever since that night. And nothin’s gone right since.”

“Since the Cloudsdale ball?”

“Since I told Applejack I wanted to move out.” Apple Bloom kicked a small stone over the edge of the cliff. “She likened it tah leavin’ the family.” Her voice hissed that last word, and the sound mingled with the waves crashing against the rocks far, far below. “The Cloudsdale ball didn’t go much better. I don’t know what to say. If we don’t turn you into a pony, I don’t know what the hell our relationship ’ll become. I know I can’t become a dragon any more than Tank the Turtle could become an alicorn. Ain’t got the magic for it.” Her breath caught in her throat, and she had to force the next words out. “Spike, I killed somebody.”

Spike clenched his fist. “You saved Rumble and Sweetie’s life. Probably Scootaloo and Button’s, too. If it hadn’t been for you—”

“Spike I killed someone” She sat up and turned to him, leaving half her face shadowed from the moonlight. If her expression changed even once, he couldn’t see it. “I don’t know of anything more evil than killin’ somebody. It ain’t somethin’ you can repay or undo. It’s forever. He’s gone forever because of me.”

Spike sat up as well, but softened his voice so that it was barely above a whisper. “He would have killed our friends, Apple Bloom, if it hadn’t been for you. Do you really think you did something evil by protecting them?”

“Even if it was to save them,” Apple Bloom said through a hoarse throat, “isn’t the act of killin’ still evil? It’s not what we mean to do, it’s what we do that’s right or wrong.”

“And what you did was protect.”

“What I did was kill.” She held his gaze as firmly as iron bars could hold a prisoner. “I keep hurtin’ the people around me.”

Spike reached out and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You could never hurt me more than I love you.”

“Don’t you dare say that,” Apple Bloom breathed. “You don’t know what you’re wishin’ for.”

Spike felt himself frown, but he wiped the expression from his face. “You know I mean it.”

“An’ that’s just the problem, ain’t it?” Apple Bloom pulled away from him and paced along the edge of the cliff. “No matter how bad we are for each other… No matter how bad I am for you… You won’t give up on us. Well, maybe that’s wrong to put you through.”

“It’s my choice to go through with it.” Spike crossed his arms, looking up at the moon wishing he could have the wisdom of Twilight help him out. “And it’s your choice whether to accept my advances or reject them. But I’ll be your friend no matter what. That part can’t change.”

She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. Her brow was furrowed, her mouth downturned. “Then you’ll be friends with a murderer.” She carried on down the hill a ways, then sat by another section of the cliff, several meters from him. An edge entered her voice that wasn’t there before. “How could I ever live with myself? With that kinda evil?”

Staring up at the moon, at the ghostly shadow of Twilight Sparkle’s head, Spike supposed he did have a bit of her wisdom in his heart. He rubbed the scars on his chest scales, remembering the sound of the volleygun shot and the sting of red against his knuckles. “Apple Bloom… There’s something I should have told you a long time ago.”

The glint of light against Apple Bloom’s eye was all that he could see of her face, but it told him she was listening.

He held up his hands, palm forward. “It’s not going to take the pain away. It’s not gonna lessen what happened. Just… I just want you to know you’re not alone.”

She slowly turned her body around so that she was facing him. She kept her ears lowered, as though she feared a weight was about to descend on her. Maybe she was right.

Spike forced himself to lift his head and look her in the eye. He owed them both that much. “The castle was invaded by Hurricane and her ponies, just after Twilight had gotten hurt. There was a big Pegasus named Zephyr with her. He was fighting Care. He was gonna kill her, Apple Bloom. I charged in, angry at Hurricane for hurting Twilight. Angry at myself for being unable to help. Angry at Zephyr for breaking into my home and threatening my friends.” He pointed at the scars on his chest. “He shot me. I hit him.”

She flinched away, as though she had just seen his fist strike the pegasus’ head. As if she could hear the snap of bone against scale.

“I hit him with all of my anger. All of my strength.” Spike’s voice failed. He coughed a time or two, but it remained weak. Quiet. “He was dead instantly. It was why I was so afraid to be near anybody. I was afraid of hurting you. Of hurting all my friends. I saw myself as a monster, Apple Bloom. A horrible, out-of-control beast.”

She turned away, back to the ocean. She sat rooted to the spot, unmoving for several moments.

“I only told the princesses, never anyone else…” Spike rubbed his eyes until they turned bloodshot-red. “Because I was so afraid of you knowing what a monster I’d become.”

She stood up and walked a few steps closer to him, not saying a word.

Without looking up, he stretched his right hand towards her. “Please, Apple Bloom, don’t believe the lies I believed. You’re not a monster. You’re not evil. You protected your friends in a way nobody else could. You carry a burden no one should ever bear. You are loved. You are loved. You. Are. Loved.”

She hovered near his hand, just beyond his touch. She exhaled as though it were her last breath, slow and weighty, and her words were weary. “You held onto that. For five years.”

She sat down, keeping that same distance.

Spike slowly lowered his hand to his lap. He clasped his hands for lack of anything better to do with them.

“Maybe you should have told me a long time ago.” She shook her head, and her bleary eyes gazed at the nothingness of a night on the Central Ocean. “I wonder where we’d be today if you had.”

“We are… where we are.” He flopped to his stomach and stared straight down to the sharp rocks of the coast. “It took a lot for me to heal even a little bit. But you were always with me, even if you didn’t realize it. Rumble and Button. Scootaloo and Sweetie. Twilight. Care. Big Spike never even realized how much he helped me, before he passed.”

Apple Bloom’s shoulders slumped. “I miss Big Spike.”

“Yeah. Me, too.”

She lowered her head until she, too, lay along the cliffside. “I don’t know… what to do. I don’t wanna feel the way I feel. I don’t wanna feel nothin’.”

He held out his hand, palm up, placing it midway between the two of them. “It can get better. It will. I promise.”

She nodded slowly. She placed her hoof limply in his palm. “I s’pose I need to believe you.”

“Sometimes you need to choose first,” he said, closing his fingers around her soft coat. “Belief can come later.”

Tales of the Third Age

Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters
Ft. Everfree, Equestrian Capital
Summer Solstice, Year 0 CE (Celestial Era)

Even a blind mare could tell when the world was ending.

Clover the Clever awoke to the thunderous crash of magic rending stone. Thunderclaps shook the air, but the sky itself was clear of clouds. This was worse than any storm. This was more devastating than a famine and more deadly than a plague.

After seventy years of resentment, Celestia and Luna were finally at war.

Clover had been blind most of her life, but there was no question who was fighting. The echoes of the Royal Voice screaming insults and injuries mingled with enough magical power to blow Canter Mountain into the ocean. Her horn itched as the forces of nature raged between the two alicorns.

She reached out with her own—comparatively feeble—magic and called a cloak to her. Its fibers were enchanted to channel magic to her eyes, allowing her a form of sight. She could see the magic within others, each as unique as a face or cutie mark. She could see the ties between people as they went about their day together. She could see friendship and harmony at work.

So she had also seen the lack between the sisters. But…

“Clover!”

Clover the Clever’s eyes illuminated as she pulled the hood over her head. She saw a vision of color gallop into her room that gradually came into focus as the hood’s enchantment took hold. It was a dear friend. A lifelong companion. One of the few she had left.

Smart Cookie helped Clover get to her hooves. Now that the hood had been fully activated, her friend’s face came into a soft focus. Not quite as the eye would have seen it, but distinct nonetheless, as if she were a painting come to life. She was a strong, lovely earth pony, with laugh lines around her mouth and eyes. Her mane had faded over the years, but still held a hint of healthy color, like molasses topped with frosting.

As beautiful as the aged mare was, it could not hide how distraught she was. “Luna has gone mad! She attacked the Day Court. We don’t know how many are wounded. None of the soldiers could stand against her. Only Celestia—” Smart Cookie winced as a tower crumbled away from the town’s defensive wall. “And those two could bring the entire kingdom to ruin.”

“They will bring the kingdom to ruin.” Clover wrapped her body in her cloak and trotted to the door to her room. She pushed it open and felt a wave of heat wash over her. The castle itself was aflame. “Their control over the heavenlies will see to that. It means that it is up to us to see that… whomever remains when the dust settles can rebuild.”

Smart Cookie furrowed her brow. A touch of anger built up in her breast. “You prepared for this? You knew it would happen?”

“I knew it could happen, but I foolishly believed that those two would reconcile.” Clover spun, her cloak dancing around her hooves. She felt her muzzle twist into a worried frown of its own accord, though she wished to favor her friend with something a little more confident. “Now that the sisters are no longer friends, now that they are unable to wield the power of the Elements of Harmony, we must safeguard the relics for the day when someone else can.”

Smart Cookie sucked in a sharp breath, but held on to her anger. She, too, knew that there was no time to argue. “What is it you seek to do?”

“Quickly. My laboratory.” With that said, Clover the Clever rushed through what was left of the castle, towards the lower levels. She could hear screams of panic rise above the thunder of magic and the crackle of flames. Ponies rushed to and fro, running nowhere and everywhere at once. There wasn’t enough consensus to form a stampede, because the alicorn duel had shattered any sense of reason, even what was ingrained into their genetic material.

A chill in the air caused her neck hair to stand on end. “Cookie… what time is it? I just stepped in for my nap.”

“It’s still noon, Clover,” Smart Cookie whispered. “Luna has refused to lower the moon.”

As if to answer even more clearly, a shout of laughter echoed across the entire town of Fort Everfree. Clover gaped out a window and saw Luna flying through what seemed to be a night sky. The full moon fell behind her, revealing that she wore a full suit of armor. And yet, she was changed. Her glistening blue coat was now swallowed up in darkness. Her gently-swaying mane was whipped by the powers she opposed her sister with. Fangs flashed as spittle flew from her mouth.

“Equestria bows before the Noontide Moon!” she screeched. “We have come to claim the heavens for Our own! The night shall last forever!”

Celestia responded with a wordless scream as she barreled into her sister’s chest. The resultant shockwave fanned the flames and rustled Clover’s cloak.

Clover the Clever gritted her teeth. “We must work quickly.”

A winged, soot-covered form soared through the window from the smoke-filled sky. He had the look of a griffon to him, save for the hooves that made up his hind legs and the blue color that filled his feathers. He rushed up to Smart Cookie and wrapped her in a winged hug. “Mother! You’re safe!”

“Moshe!” Smart Cookie nuzzled the hippogriff’s neck. “Where’s your father?”

“He’s helping Prince Periwinkle gather the able-bodied.” Moshe looked to Clover for only a moment before returning his attention to Cookie. “You need to join them, Mother. The castle’s falling apart. It won’t be long before Luna sets her sights on you. Both of you.”

“You are right, of course.” Clover the Clever peered into the billowing smoke for any sign of her and Smart Cookie’s husbands. She saw nothing but devastation. “See to it that wagons and carts are procured to transport the wounded. Gather all the hay you can for cushions—everything that hasn’t been burned by the fire.”

“Yes, Lady Clover.” Moshe bowed his head dutifully, if a little frustratedly. “Preparations are already underway.” He reached out a talon to take his mother’s foreleg. “But we need to get you two to safety. The future of Equestria rides on you as well.”

Clover touched a hoof to his talon and gently lowered it to the floor. “You have your duty, just as we have ours. We’ll rendezvous at the city gates. Assuming they still stand.”

Moshe looked to his mother, who gave him a soft nod. He clicked his beak and turned back to the window. “By your leave, Archmage.”

The rest of the walk to the laboratory was swift and harrowing. Once Clover and Smart Cookie entered, she went to work gathering her research material. Drawers were locked, their contents sealed away. Active tests were sterilized, rendered inert, and stowed where they would harm no one. Her library vanished behind a trick wall, along with the years of knowledge stored within.

“Smart Cookie, I need to entrust you with this.” Clover pulled a particularly thick book from the library just before the rest vanished. She handed it to her friend with a tremor in her hooves. The cover of the book read Grimoire Alicorn. “This book was King Sombra’s life’s work. And… and also mine. It is extremely dangerous. If something happens to me, see to it that it does not fall into the wrong hands.”

She walked to the center of her laboratory, to a wooden pedestal. On it she had placed a book that had taken her years to write. Not merely because of the amount of research that filled it, but because she had lived it day by day.

“But even the Grimoire,” she said quietly, “is not as dangerous as this.”

“Your diary?”

“Journal, Cookie.”

Smart Cookie stood beside her friend and looked down at the simple hoof-bound book. “What then? What secrets does this hold?”

Clover opened to the middle of the book, looking over the detailed maps and notes she had taken. Every few pages lay a color sketch of a particular gemstone containing endless power. “I detailed where Celestia and Luna found the six Elements of Harmony. Together, these relics are the only thing that can stop a rampaging alicorn. Luna knows this.”

Cookie held the Grimoire close to her chest. “You think she will destroy the Elements?”

“It would be wise for her to do so. I do not believe Celestia can win this fight. With both threats removed, nothing will stand between Luna and sole control of the kingdom.” Clover the Clever held the journal in her forelegs. She shook her head softly as her ears drooped at the sides of her head. “If they are destroyed, they will no doubt return to their points of origin, as they did in ancient times. We must preserve this information for the next generation of heroes. If the forces of darkness were to learn where they would materialize—”

A jittery voice spoke out of the shadows. “The Elements would never be found again.”

Clover and Cookie both spun towards the entrance to the laboratory to face the intruder. Soft hoofsteps clattered down the stairwell into the lab’s main room. A small figure became visible in the light of Clover’s candles.

He had the appearance of a small earth pony, grey of coat and black of mane. His face was bland and unremarkable, the sort you would forget the instant you looked away. He wore long robes, which ended just above his horseshoes. A black hat sat between his ears, with a brim that reached to the end of his nose. A red scarf lay wrapped around his neck, and served as the only shock of color on his entire body.

The strangest part to Clover was that he appeared in her eyes without assistance from the cloak. He was in sharp contrast, lacking the feathering and brushstrokes that represented her view of the rest of the world. It was as if, out of everything in the room, he alone was real.

To her, that meant that he was not of this world. “Who are you? What do you want?”

His eyebrows rose as a smile split his face. “Ah. How rude of me.” He bowed deeply, his muzzle nearly reaching the floor. “A visiting prince should greet the Archmage of Equestria with more care.” He removed his hat with a flourish and looked up at the two of them. “Please, you may call me Jeuk.”

Clover took a step back as several more stallions—appearing murky and undefined in her enchanted sight—joined Jeuk at the bottom of the spiral staircase. These stallions were all strong, with well-toned muscles and legs, familiar with cruelty and violence.

She gestured for Smart Cookie to stand behind her. “You are Yolk… A prince of eggs, perhaps?”

“No, no, no. You misunderstand.” Jeuk took a step forward to match the distance between them. “I am Jeuk, Princeling of the Unseelie Court of Fae. I am the ruler of the land you call… Equestria.”

Fae. A fairy creature. Something she had only heard of in legends. Something she was not sure actually existed. In fact, she had personally discarded the possibility that they were real, finding it unproductive to investigate such beings. At first, she thought it a plain, bald-faced lie. But as she considered how he could appear to her despite her disability… “Jeuk, then. Of the Unseelie Court, you said? It is said that the Unseelie Court has not been kind to the mortals who encounter them. In fact, legend has it that you are our bitter enemies.”

She gripped the book all the tighter, attempting to hide it beneath her cloak. She noted with a growing tension in her back that the other stallions had spread out around her laboratory. Thankfully, most of the dangerous relics and equipment she had were hidden away.

“Ah, yes. So you have heard of us.” Jeuk rubbed his chin as he regarded the unicorn mare and her earth pony friend. “Allow me to dispel any worries you might have. We are very bitter enemies, dear Clover. I want a great many things, you see, and one of them is to leave your Equestria broken and bleeding at my feet. The second is that book you hold in your hooves.” He gestured to Smart Cookie dismissively. “The both of them.”

The castle trembled as arcane magicks, the power of the sun and moon, clashed in a battle that would destroy all that Clover had worked to build. Jeuk smiled upwards towards the surface. “And most of all, I would like to see your Royal Pony Sisters, the precious heroes, the hopes of Equestria, the mighty saviors themselves, destroy each other in a fit of rage.”

He looked to the brutish stallions and jerked his head towards the mares. The stallions charged as one.

Clover sent a spell into the ground to heat the rocks until they’d nearly ignited. The stallions didn’t stop. They didn’t even feel their horseshoes melting. The magic that existed inside all living things was weak in them, as if they’d been drained of their vitality. As if their minds and souls had been dimmed in order to make their bodies all the stronger. Their expressions were blank. Their gait was rigid and mechanical. As they grew closer, she saw the haze around their heads—these stallions had been willfully subjected to mind-altering magic until there was nothing left but focus.

She raised a bubble of magic as a shield and brushed the six stallions aside. “Cookie! The exit!”

Smart Cookie knew better than to argue. The book she had was too dangerous. She bolted past Jeuk and tromped up the stairs two at a time. Impressive for a mare pushing ninety.

Clover’s next spell surrounded the closest stallion with a cord made from pure magic. When his skin contacted it, it burned. The stallion didn’t seem to care. His mind was gone in a way that could only result from a purposeful release of free will; to have been so dedicated to a cause that he lost his very sense of self. There was no individuality to the six stallions surrounding her, only a mindless murk of oozing shadowy magic.

She whipped the cord around and around, striking each stallion several times. Before a minute had passed, they were all lying dead on the floor around her.

“Amusing,” Jeuk said as he walked towards her. He let out a giggling little laugh as he stepped over a fallen stallion. “Most very, very amusing.”

Clover slashed at the fairy creature with the magic cord. It burned a hole clear through his clothes, but the fairy himself seemed unharmed. He reached out and touched her cheek, and she found herself unable to pull away. He matched each hoofstep with one of his own.

“You have ultimately always been blind, dear Clover,” he said with a stuttering laugh. “No, I don’t mean physically, that’s such a minor thing which only lasts so long as you take breath. No, I mean blind to what’s happening around you. Blind to the pain that Luna experienced every day living in her sister’s shadow. Blind to how Hurricane poisoned her with anger which only festered all the deeper under your magic tutelage. And my how it festered, drawing the Unseelie Court closer and closer until today. Today!”

Clover pushed past him, her legs aching as her age caught up with the frenzied movement of the day. She climbed the stairs with shaking knees as Jeuk followed, his laughter ricocheting up the stairwell like an arrow rebounding off a shield. When she reached the surface, the castle proper, she looked up the see Fort Everfree in ruins. Luna had made certain to overturn nearly every stone and cart in the town. Though the wounded had not been attacked directly, the alicorns’ power was so great that mere proximity to the great duel had left their subjects beaten nearly lifeless.

There would be friends to bury, at the end of the day.

And there, in the throne room of the castle, lay a battered and bleeding Princess Celestia. Blood leaked from the alicorn’s nose as labored breathing wracked her bruised ribs. Her wings were missing feathers. Her coat was matted and patchwork. Her mane had lost its luster by several orders of magnitude.

Soaring high in the sky, laughing with the sort of cackle that only deep-seated hatred can bring, was the Princess of the Night.

Jeuk spoke from just beside Clover’s ear. Close enough to tickle her with his breath, if fairies had any. “I wish I could take credit for Luna—that is, Nightmare Moon—but alas, I cannot. All of the truths we told her, all of Shadowfright’s nightmares and dreams of the future, all of the daily grind that led her to this point, that was you. That was you, and Hurricane, and Celestia. So thank you. Thank you ever so much for this marvelous gift you’ve given the Unseelie Court.”

Clover bowed her head, her twin braids sliding across her chest. She had to face facts. Equestria was dead. The dream was over. There was only sorrow and fear as a maddened alicorn took control.

Celestia stirred.

Clover watched with held breath as the Princess of the Day rose on shaking hooves. She took painful steps forward, her wings limp at her sides. She glared forward, not looking up, not looking to the side. She touched a particular stone on the floor in front of the throne. A pedestal rose, on which sat the six glistening emblems known as the Elements of Harmony.

Clover stepped forward, one hoof raised. “Celestia, stop! The Elements are too powerful! Only a group of ponies in unity can hope to activate them!”

Celestia turned to her, and Clover saw her full in the face. Her eyes screamed with unshed tears, as if her heart had already perished from weariness. But something held the tears back. Something pushed her onward and upward, when all hope seemed lost.

The princess winced as a breath brushed against damaged ribs. She shut her eyes tight as she spread her wings. “Then stand by me!”

She launched herself upward to meet her sister.

Clover could only watch in silence as Celestia flew higher and higher, her wings dropping feathers with each flap. The alicorn princess poured magic into the Elements of Harmony as she drew near Luna, who looked down on her with a disdain bordering on disgust. The mare calling herself Nightmare Moon launched spell after spell, drawing power from the moon, but Celestia sidestepped them all.

The Princess of the Day flew eye-to-eye with her sister. “Please, Luna. Please listen to me. You have to stand down.”

“Never!” The words spoken came at her like a shower of knives. “Never in a thousand years, Celestia! I will have what is mine! I will have the Eternal Night, the Noontide Moon!”

“Luna, please!” Celestia lifted the Elements between her and her sister. She poured more and more magic into them as blood poured freely from a gash in her side. “Do not make me do this. Not to you!”

“You foal!” Nightmare Moon spat. “You cannot use the Elements alone! One person cannot achieve harmony!”

“I’m not alone, Luna.” Celestia looked her sister right in her wild, draconic eyes. “I am here. I am right beside my best friend in the whole world.”

For one moment, Luna’s expression weakened. The solid iron became soft and regretful. A touch of light returned to a heart shrouded in darkness. Then, she refocused, hardening her face and her heart, gnashing her teeth and lighting her horn with a spell that would have burned a hole through a mountain.

The Elements of Harmony blazed with unknowable power. The spell shot forward, speeding unimpeded towards the moon. The light was blinding to the naked eye. The magic was indecipherable to even the most learned of minds. The shriek of Nightmare Moon faded moment by moment as she was dragged away, left powerless and imprisoned in the depths of the night sky.

The sixth Element of Harmony crumbled to dust. The other five lost their color and luster, fading to a dull gray in Celestia’s grip. The Princess of the Day released her hold and allowed the relics to sink to the floor, reduced to powerless stones. Then, Celestia lit her horn and commanded the moon to sink below the horizon, its surface now scarred with the visage of the horrific Nightmare Moon.

At long last, Celestia collapsed, weeping and shaking as the reality of what she’d just done came crashing down on her shoulders.

Clover looked on in awe. Absolute dumbstruck awe. What she had just witnessed was beyond unprecedented; it was impossible. No person, in the history of the world, had ever used the six Elements of Harmony single-handedly. Even when other Bearers had attempted to seize the power for themselves, the Elements had simply refused to function.

Smart Cookie ran up to the collapsed Celestia and threw her arms around her neck. “Celestia! Can you hear me? Please, say something.”

Celestia said nothing. Her throat was constricting with sobs and cries that cut Clover to the core.

Clover the Clever walked up to the Elements of Harmony and their podium. She set the five remaining stones in their assigned places and peered closely at them. She sensed no magic in the Elements any more. They still retained the etched pathways and complex workings within their crystalline bodies, but the power, the soul, had been drained away.

She looked to the horizon. Perhaps the magic was sealing Luna in the moon? She shook her head; it was not time to consider the usability of the Elements, it was time to decide what to do in the wake of the battle. The town of Fort Everfree lay in ruins. More than that, the Everfree Forest that surrounded the ruined walls had soaked up the residual energy of the fight. The already-dangerous forest was growing, morphing, changing into something unfamiliar.

They needed to flee.

“Celestia,” she whispered to herself, sending the powerless Elements back into their hiding place in the floor, “Equestria needs you now more than ever.” She held her head high and tucked her journal into the dark folds of her robe. She spoke in a louder voice to be heard over the aftershocks of Celestia’s weeping. “We need to get our little ponies to safety. There is a small mining village on Canter Mountain called Canterlot. They will have food and shelter if we ask for it.”

Smart Cookie looked up from rubbing Celestia’s back. Her face looked like death itself. “What happened to the Elements? Were they destroyed?”

“No. They are sleeping. Until the day when Equestria needs them once again.” Clover bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth, but Cookie didn’t need to know that. “Until the day friendship conquers all.” She lowered her head and rested a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder. “Princess… you are our guiding light. The ponies will look to a strong leader to show them the way forward.”

Smart Cookie lowered her eyebrows, squinting in that shrewd, calculating way of hers. Clover’s deception was noticed. Still, she must have decided to let it slide, by the way she returned her attention to Celestia. “Come, Princess. We shall get you to a doctor.”

Celestia slowly, achingly got to her hooves. “There is no time. Help me lead the people to the mountain.” She clasped a wing tight against the wound in her side. “Please. Hurry.”

Clover the Clever took a moment to survey the castle while Cookie and Celestia headed for the town square. Fire consumed wood and cloth as the town itself fell to ruin before her eyes. Equestria would be forever changed after this day. It would survive, but it would never again be the peaceful kingdom guided by two princesses and their loyal advisors. The ties between them had been tested, and shown to be frayed.

Moshe the Hippogriff landed in a bundle of feathers and excitement. He bowed before Celestia as a touch of hope entered his voice. “The people saw what you did, Princess! They saw you save us all!”

Clover the Clever held her tongue. It would be argued, many times in the future, that Celestia had caused much of the damage just by fighting back. And yet, how much destruction would Luna have wrecked across the entire world? Simply by preventing the sunrise? Perhaps it was more fruitful to focus on that one success than the failure they all shared.

She lingered in the throne room as the other three ran to their next task. She held her Journal of the Elements close to her body, hidden in the folds of her cloak. There would be no need for a search; the Elements of Harmony would reside at the castle until the next generation of heroes was called.

Despite everything, Celestia had saved Equestria. Their kingdom had held on to that last thread of existence, that last chance at life. The Tree of Harmony had not been destroyed, and the Elements had been sealed away. There would be no tyrannical reign of Nightmare Moon. There would be no mad scramble for a small remnant to retrieve the reborn Elements. There would only be… life.

Clover’s ear twitched as she saw the Unseelie Prince Jeuk out of the corner of her eye. He gazed up at the sky, his expression somewhat forlorn.

“It seems, Jeuk,” Clover said slowly, “that despite everything, you lose. Celestia yet lives. Equestria yet lives. And your champion has been banished by the very Elements you sought to grasp.”

The vague wistfulness in his face melted to a chilling, seething frown. “So it would seem, to the blind mare’s eye.” He offered her a falsified smile and favored her with a mocking salute. “See you in Hell, dear Clover.”

With that, he vanished into smoke.

Bloodrock Canyon
Borderland between Felaccia (Griffon Kingdom) and the Lowlands (Zebra Territory)
Beginning of Summer, Year 500 CE

Andean Ursagryph sat in his tent sharpening his sword. He was a young griffon, just having reached his twenties. Even so, he was a powerful warrior, strong of limb and mighty with a blade.

His family line—that of the Ursagryphs—resembled a combination of a condor and a grizzly bear, with the relative size to match. This resulted in increased strength and stamina over other griffon families. Long life was another gift. Some of their elders lived upwards of a thousand years without losing their vitality. The head of Andean’s family had recently celebrated his six-hundredth birthday.

To any other people, in any other world, at any other time, these gifts would be a boon. To Andean Ursagryph, it only put a target on his back.

He peered out the front flap of his tent. His dwelling was one of hundreds. His sword was one of thousands. The Felaccian army was gearing up for a war. One that would be bloody, long-fought, and wretched to the core.

He turned his gaze to the top of the canyon, where the largest tent of all sat. It was made from royal purple cloth, trimmed with gold. Inside, Andean knew, was the King of the Griffons: Berkut, head of the Paw Family. He and his closest advisors met within to discuss the upcoming campaign. No doubt, he was filling their minds with the riches their conquest would bring, as well as the fertile land they would soon divvy up.

Andean grunted as the whetstone struck his blade wrong. He examined the sword for damage and was satisfied to see that it was minimal, able to be corrected with a few swift strokes. He lowered the blade and found he was no longer alone in his tent. The newcomer was a griffon of the Tigris family, his rear end a bright, striped orange. His face resembled that of an owl, with large eyes capable of seeing things others might overlook.

Andean bowed to the griffon. “Lord Bubo. It is an honor.”

“Save the pleasantries, Andean.” Bubo Tigris unlashed the tent flap and let it hang loose to conceal their meeting ever-so-slightly, just enough that a passing griffon wouldn’t take notice. “I did not come to see you bow and scrape. I came because…” The old bird swiveled his head around several times, examining their surroundings. He turned back to Andean with a sharp look of certain doom. “I need your help.”

Andean frowned. Lord Bubo was one of the most prominent members of griffon society; a leading member of the Council of Lords and head of the Tigris family. Andean was comparatively low in the pecking order; barely worthy of notice. “I don’t understand, my lord. How could I possibly help you?”

“Andean, I am going to ask you something very dangerous…” Bubo Tigris sat down across from Andean and leaned close. “What are your honest thoughts on Berkut’s campaign? His plans to march against the zebras? Can you look me in the eye and tell me you see nothing wrong with this?”

Andean lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “Of course it’s madness. The Zebras have made no aggressive movements in all the years we’ve been neighbors. But what can I do? The Ursagryph family is already drawing Berkut’s ire just because of our natural genetic strength. If one of us were to step out of line, he would have the excuse he needs to see us all put to the sword. I’ll not be the reason my entire family is slaughtered.”

Bubo Tigris steepled his talons, peering into what he could see of Andean’s soul. “I know you are no coward, Andean. You are perhaps the noblest among us. So I see that you do not comprehend the full extent of Berkut’s evil.” He reached into a pouch on his side and pulled a small glass ball from the shadows. He held it out to Andean, who took it gingerly in his massive claw. “Peer into the Cats Eye, as far as you can see. Its enchantment will reveal something only Berkut’s inner circle knows.”

For all appearances, the trinket was a simple glass marble. But a sharper eye noticed that the colors within the bauble shifted. Closer examination revealed that the colors had shape, form, meaning. Familiar faces appeared out of the murk. Griffons arrayed around a table. Fine clothing and legendary weapons. A golden crown.

The Cats Eye revealed Berkut himself, meeting with his inner circle of yes-men and lackies.

“If you focus,” Bubo said quietly. “You shall hear their voices.”

It was fuzzy at first, muffled by magic and distance. Eventually, distinct words took form from the depths of the orb. Berkut’s deep voice commanded respect and attention. It was intoxicating with the sheer depth of charisma it possessed.

“Is this… current?” Andean asked.

“What you see is happening as we speak.”

“And so we will move forward continuously, never stopping as we grind the enemy to dust.” Berkut pointed to a map on the table, which depicted Felaccia and the surrounding territories. “We have the resources to march in three alternating groups, falling over them like ocean waves. As one group overtakes a territory, the others shall move to their next target.”

“But is it sustainable, my lord king?” one of the lords asked. “Even a flock of Ursagryphs would tire after such an endless battle.”

“Which is why we have them separated.” Berkut clenched a talon, resting it against the part of the map labeled “Giraffrica.” “Once a territory is taken, the army will take the opportunity to rest, resupply, and regroup. After which, they can move on to their next assignment.”

“Is there to be no occupying force, my lord king?”

Berkut turned to the questioning griffon with narrowed, hunting eyes. “What would be left to occupy? We are on a mission to remove our enemies from the face of the earth.”

Andean jerked his head back. Remove them? Completely? Annihilation down to the soil? That wasn’t war. It didn’t even seem political in nature. It was extermination of a peaceful neighbor.

What depths had Berkut sunk to?

“Your eyes cry out. You have seen it.” Bubo looked at the faraway tent through a gap in the entrance. Though it seemed nigh impossible, his gaze grew all the more intense as he glared at his king. “He is not here for glory or honor or riches. His motivation is hatred of another kind, down to the last zebra. But there is more. Take a glance at the map on the table. Note what has been marked.”

Andean did so with a quickening pulse. Yes, he understood immediately. The Zebra lands of Giraffrica were marked, but so too were the neighboring Sapient lands. The Giraffes, Saddle Arabia, the minotaur kingdom, even some places across the sea where the mysterious ponies lived. If Berkut’s campaign extended to such far-reaching lands, either the griffon army would be wiped out, or they would destroy all other life.

“I… understand…” Andean’s stomach churned as he lowered the Cats Eye and held it loose in the palm of his talon. “The lives at stake are… they are far too great for us to comprehend. Even the Ursagryph Family would be a noble sacrifice if it meant all others could live.”

“You have spoken truly, though I am loath to say it.” Bubo lowered his voice to a harsh whisper and leaned close to the hulking Andean. “That is why I ask you, please, challenge King Berkut for the crown.”

Andean Ursagryph’s expression faded to a blank, numbed stupor. Had he heard Bubo right? Challenge the king in single combat? For the kingship itself? No, he couldn’t be serious. “Who am I? Who am I to challenge Berkut for such a thing? He would never accept a duel with one of the lower classes.”

“That is not his decision.” Bubo Tigris held up a clenched talon with its back to Andean. He used a claw to point to the blue ring he wore. Etched writing ran around the perimeter of the ring; ancient griffon script. “The laws of our kingdom are clear. Any griffon may challenge any other griffon to single combat. The winner has the right to claim the loser’s title. This extends to the king. According to our most ancient laws, he must obey.”

“There is a reason griffons aren’t lining up to compete for the crown.” Andean jabbed a talon towards Bubo’s heart. “The king is the greatest warrior among us. He has never been defeated. Especially not since he had that sword forged.”

Berkut’s personal blade, the broadsword Euroclydon, was a masterwork of griffon craftsmanship. A blade that resized itself to suit the wielder. A pommel stone storing the energy of an entire storm. The ability to strike from a distance with powerful lightning.

“He will use it in the duel,” Andean said. “It is his right. I, the least among the Ursagryphs, have nothing that can hold him back. Why me, Bubo? What right have I to be challenged with such a task?” He shook his head, holding empty talons outward. “What right do I have to think myself king?”

Bubo sighed deep within his chest. He reached out a talon to lay on Andean’s shoulder. “Andean, I—”

Magic filled the air with an ear-splitting shriek of power. The sky lit up like a noon sun over a desert wasteland. As embers drifted to the ground and the dazzle left his eyes, Andean saw a white-coated pony fly through the air. To his astonishment, she had both a set of wings and a unicorn’s horn. He brushed past Bubo and stared up at the sky as the pony flew towards the tent. “Lord Tigris… is that—?”

“Princess Celestia of Equestria,” Bubo said, his forehead furrowing. “Yes, I had heard rumblings that she would be visiting to negotiate peace.” He grimaced as she entered the king’s tent. “Knowing Berkut, she would have more luck attempting to lift a mountain.”

Andean hefted the Cats Eye in his talon. He hummed to himself and returned to the cushion he’d been seated on before. He stared intently at the bauble until he could see the interior of Berkut’s inner circle once more. There was the princess herself; an alicorn, if Andean recalled the categorization correctly. She was astonishingly beautiful even by griffon standards, with both a multicolored ethereal mane and a coat that shimmered like the most precious of metals.

He expected Berkut to be annoyed, but the king was in good spirits. He raised a wing to the princess and spoke with a strange, braying language. “Hyuoo hwmph, Heeeheee Brrr!”

“I will speak in the griffon tongue,” Princess Celestia replied. “I am quite comfortable with it. I was taught by your ancestors.”

“Not my ancestors, Princess Celestia.” King Berkut folded his wings against his back and took a seat in his ornate chair. He gestured to the far side of the table, where a seat waited for her. “Rather, you were taught by Gregor and his cowardly Griffonstone refugees, who fled their homeland rather than face the Demon King Tirek head-on.” He turned his head to one side so that one wide-set eye could look at her straight-on. “But even so, your grasp of the language is adequate.”

“I appreciate the compliment.” Celestia’s voice darkened a few shades. Andean felt a chill run down his spine at her commanding presence. It seemed she was not intimidated by the griffon king; not out of foolhardiness, but out of a confidence that she was in no danger. “Regardless, I think you underestimate the struggles Gregor and his people underwent to merely survive.”

Berkut smiled. “Not at all, Princess.” He leaned his forelegs across the table and drummed his clawtips. “Now then, to what do we owe the honor of a visit from the esteemed country of Equestria?”

“I should think that was obvious.” Princess Celestia pointed her horn at the map. Andean’s angle couldn’t quite see where she was focused, but it didn’t take a tactical genius to guess. “Equestria is allied with the Zebras. Since you have neglected to meet with their envoys…” Her jaw hardened. “Since you have slain the ambassadors sent to you, I have come to intervene as best I can.”

“Alone, no less!” Berkut laughed once in the back of his throat. “What can you possibly tell me that I have not already heard, Princess? We griffons have hidden ourselves away in the canyons of Felaccia for far too long. It is our time to step into the sun and become a viable world-power. You see my army. Have you seen any like it in all the lands you’ve traveled?”

Celestia’s voice radiated pure dismissiveness. “It is quite impressive.”

“We have the greatest tacticians, the most advanced weaponry, the most eager warriors.” He cracked his knuckles and laid a talon on the hilt of his sword. “You must realize my end goal is world domination, and nothing less shall satisfy me. Your armies, on the other hand, are meager. Your troops underprepared. You hope to stop me at Giraffrica, but even if all of you united against me, you would do nothing but hasten your demise.”

Celestia’s ears lay flat against her head. She spoke slowly. Carefully. “There is nothing that can dissuade you from taking this action? There is no hope of turning aside your wrath against the other species of this world?”

“My lady, the other species are the reason I’ve begun my campaign. You can thank you beloved Gregor for that.” Berkut drew Euroclydon from his belt and hefted it. He did not menace Celestia directly, but the blade wavered closer and closer to her neck. “In truth, most peoples will serve effectively as slaves, but your Gregor of Griffonstone committed the unspeakable act…” He growled, his sword pointed at the center of her chest. “He mated with a pony, and created the abominable race of the Hippogryphs. I believe the cursed offspring was named Moshe?”

Andean Ursagryph was shaken out of his focus. The hippogryphs and griffons had, ironically enough, never been close politically or geographically… but still, they were, at the core, brother species. The common link between ponies and griffons. The biological proof that the two peoples were not so different. Many griffons considered them abominations, but that was just a symptom of ignorance. To think that the Felaccian king, the lord of their nation, was so given to such thinking…

That settled it. Whatever misgivings Andean had about facing him head-on, at least now he had no moral objections. Perhaps righteousness would win the day.

He turned to Bubo to tell him as much, but the griffon lord’s focus was not on Andean, but the sky itself. “My lord?”

Andean followed his eyes. The sun was high in the sky, much higher than the time of day would suggest. The air burned exceedingly hot. The glare of light caused Andean to cover his eyes with his foreleg. He looked back down at the Cats Eye and returned his sights to the king’s tent. Berkut was still rambling about hippogryphs and other hybrids, cleansing the bloodline, and other such drivel. Celestia was focused directly on the king, her horn sparkling with an energy similar to the flash she had arrived in. Andean began to wonder if a direct fight would spark between the two of them. For Celestia to have come alone, she must have had a burning fire in her heart. The sort that would not lessen until justice had been meted out. She must also be a cunning warrior.

That, or she was a fool who would soon be pointlessly slain by an evil king.

“Oh Great Creator, the one with Lightning in His Wings…” Bubo Tigris’ voice was hushed. Awed. Terrified. “The stories are true.”

Andean clenched the Cats Eye tight in one hand and gripped his sword in the other. “Would that we were in the tent now. Would that we could assist her in fighting Berkut!”

“Andean, you thoughtless child,” Bubo whispered. “An alicorn needs no help against a mortal.”

Andean snapped towards Bubo with a slacked jaw. The insult had seemingly come from nowhere, but it still struck deep. “My lord, please forgive me. I know not what you—”

With that, no more words could be heard. All sound was swallowed up in a thunderous roar of flame as a pillar of fire descended from the sun and struck the king’s tent. The explosion of hot air that rushed across the camp knocked over tents and cooking pots. Extinguished campfires while igniting cloth. Bowled over every standing griffon and brought every resting soldier to readiness.

They all watched in horror as the canyon wall melted like candlewax beneath the torrent of sunlight.

The molten rock cooled. The wind died down. The smoke cleared. Princess Celestia of Equestria flew down from the epicenter of the blast and landed in the center of the camp. All eyes watched her, unsure of what to do. A few gutsy griffons gripped their weapons, but none dared approach her.

After a long, long moment, she spoke in a magically-amplified voice. “People of Felaccia, this war is over before it begins. Your king, Berkut, planned to raze the world to the ground to fulfil a selfish desire for control. He planned to extinguish entire species in the name of the new Griffon Empire. I want you to know that this is not acceptable!”

She turned as she talked, her eyes roaming around the campsite. When her gaze hovered around Andean, he felt her eyes alight on him and cause the feathers on his neck to bristle. His heart thundered at the sheer magnitude of what he had seen, and the knowledge that it could happen again in an instant.

“There will be no war while I raise the sun and moon. I will not stand aside and watch Felaccia or any other kingdom wage an unjust, murderous rampage against anyone! If we are to survive, we must work together. We must accept each other. We must respect each other.” She lifted a sword in her telekinetic grip. A closer inspection revealed it to be Berkut’s sword; Euroclydon. “I promise you, if the next King of Felaccia follows in the footsteps of Berkut, then he shall meet the same fate as Berkut! By my horn!”

She stabbed Euroclydon into the earth and embedded it halfway up its blade. Its ruby-red pommel stone glinted in the light of the sun.

“I understand that your kings are chosen by rite of combat.” Celestia folded her wings across her back and gave the crowd of griffons one last piercing stare. “I pray your strongest is also the wisest.”

She vanished in a cloud of sparks.

A hush fell over the assembly. All griffons stared at the sword; a symbol of the status of king. All griffons felt their hearts race as it slowly, surely dawned on them that it was ripe for the taking. A low rumble spread through the ranks as they stood, spreading their wings and gripping their weapons.

Andean saw it as if in slow motion. He saw the bloodlust in the eyes of the griffons around him; predators prepared to pounce. His eyes shot to the sword and widened at the realization of what he was about to witness.

The griffon army surged forward as one, clawing and tearing itself to pieces. The violence was worse than any battle Andean had ever experienced. There were no sides to take. There were no rules of engagement. No honor was sought. There was only a singular goal and the individual’s drive to see it through. The mass of warriors swarmed like a hurricane around the focal point of Euroclydon, the bodies piling up around the eye of the storm.

The sight cut deep into Andean’s heart. He supposed it was poetic justice in a way, that the griffons would experience the same terror that they would have visited on their victims. But poetic justice was not true justice, not to him. The griffons responsible for the campaign were already dead, atomized and left in a crater. These griffons had no say in the war. They had no idea what Berkut was planning. They didn’t even know how to chose the next king. They were in a frenzy that would only end with their deaths…

Unless Andean did something.

He spread his massive wings and took off at a dead run towards the sword, knocking aside smaller griffons but not turning his weapon to them. Once he had gotten enough speed, the wind beneath his wings lifted him from the ground. With a mighty flap, he soared above the army. He had to be precise, or he would be caught up in the melee and swiftly killed. There, among the blood and feathers, was a direct pathway to the sword itself.

He had no idea what he would do once he got the sword. He just knew that this could not continue. He folded his wings against his body and shot through the sky like an arrow. He released his sword and let it fall harmlessly on the outskirts of the camp. He stretched his forelegs towards the sword.

He felt a glimmer of magic in that moment. It was as if the sword called out to him. As if it welcomed its new wielder. As if he and the sword were connected at the heart.

He pushed through the bodies and grasped the hilt with both talons. He pulled with all his might, and the movement of the blade against the stone sent lightning and fire bursting from the ground. He let loose with a mighty roar as he hoisted Euroclydon above his head.

The other griffons ceased fighting each other and instead set their sights on him. Each one was still eager to claim ownership of the sword. Each one thought himself the next king. Each one would die before allowing any other to grasp it.

Andean Ursagryph would not allow that to happen.

He released a burst of magic from the sword that surrounded him in a whirlwind. The winds carried the griffon army back, tearing the weapons from their talons. He struck the canyon walls with lightning and sent fragments of stone and slate raining upon the stragglers. The thundering storm drowned out the fervor of battle until all present were quieted. Until all eyes turned to the massive griffon with the powerful sword.

“Enough!” Andean shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice boomed off the canyon walls, reaching every ear. “Look at yourselves! Look at your brothers that lie dead by your hand! The griffons felled by their own blood! My people, this thing should not be in Felaccia!”

He looked down at the bodies that had fought for kingship and lost. Too many faces belonged to friends and comrades. He glared at the living with a fire like the light of the sun. “Is the mighty griffon army to be reduced to squabbling bandits? Are the fathers and sons of Felaccia to be slain for fool’s gold while our families mourn? We were already complicit in an unjust war, must we also be complicit in self-assured destruction? Enough is enough!”

Bubo knelt down to cradle a fallen griffon in his talons, his ears lowered and his eyes brimming with tears he could not shed in public. Andean recognized him as Bubo’s eldest son.

Andean turned slowly, taking in the griffons who wavered between listening intently and preparing their weapons to strike. “Perhaps Princess Celestia intended for us to destroy ourselves, like a starving dog eating its own entrails! But we are no dogs! We are griffons! We fight for what we know to be right! We stand up against the weakness that threatens to tear us apart! We stood against Tirek and drove him off! We survived the Changeling invasion! We lived free from the tyranny of Discord! And again, today, we tear away from the evil reign of Berkut!”

The murmur from the crowd rumbled, and Andean retorted by lighting the sky with a strike from the sword. “Each victory has come from the griffons alone! Alone! Will we allow Celestia to turn the tides of our history? Never! We are capable of so much more than conquest, my people! We are capable of changing the world for the better!”

He spread his broad wings to their full span, shadowing the griffons who stood directly in front of him. “So what shall it be? Will you live as Berkut did and become consumed by your ambitions? Will you live as Celestia wishes and devour each other? Or will you join me in restoring strength to the griffon kingdom? To changing Felaccia for the better! To create a nation that others look to as a shining example, that we can be proud of! Who’s with me?”

Many voices joined in the resulting cheer. Enough so that others soon added their support. Before long, the entire canyon showed their support, both true and feigned.

Many of the people would fight him, Andean knew. Many of Berkut’s supporters would make a nuisance of themselves in the following years, threatening their way of life with the former king’s mad dreams of destruction. But if just enough people supported Andean, if just enough griffons thought as he did and sought true justice… Felaccia could recover. It would recover.

As Andean swayed the griffons with words and feats of strength, Princeling Jeuk looked on. He patted the pile of ashes that had once been Berkut’s body and chuckled softly to himself. As the wind carried the wicked king’s remains away, so too did Jeuk vanish into dust.

Edge of the Everfree Forest
Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria
Early Spring, Year 992 CE

Princeling Jeuk of the Unseelie Court hovered above a lush portion of the Everfree Forest. He lightly touched down on a tree branch hanging over a river which was flooded with melted snow. The normally-clear rushing water was roiling with fallen branches and rocks. This time of year was when the river was at its most dangerous. He looked a few meters upstream and saw a natural bridge made from a single fallen tree. It was embedded into the banks and dry; seemingly safe as could be.

The branch beside his shivered as a ghastly presence descended upon it. It was another fairy; one of his underlings. It took the appearance of a decayed pony, wearing a long, ratty black coat over a shriveled ribcage. His wide-brimmed hat hung low over empty eye sockets. A tattered noose hung around his neck to hint at his preferred method of extinguishing a victim’s consciousness. “Princeling Jeuk… or, should I call you ‘Master’?”

“‘Jeuk’ should suffice for now, Merimna.” Jeuk adjusted his blood-red tie and tucked it neatly behind his black suit jacket. He adjusted his boater hat to sit neatly between his ears. He did not intend to show himself to a mortal any time soon, but one could never be too careful. He had to keep up appearances… and throw off the scent of any who might discern his true purposes. “Your affectionate Uncle Jeuk. We are, after all, closer than most fairies. A fact for which you are most grateful.”

Seeing a fairy with such a grotesque appearance shuffle his hooves nervously was a special treat for Jeuk. Merimna often lived up to his name. “Yes, Jeuk. Most grateful.”

“And so today I have prepared a lesson. One that will both further our ambitions and educate you in the ways of mortals.” Jeuk’s ear perked up as undergrowth crackled. His victims were nearing the glade. “Observe.”

The mortals in question were both young ponies; a filly and a colt, eight years of age. The colt was a tan earth pony who had yet to discover his cutie mark. The filly was a yellow-coated pegasus with three pink butterflies on her flank. The colt trailed after his friend, who charged forward with open wings. “Fluttershy! Fluttershy, wait up!”

“Come on, Happy!” Fluttershy paused at the log bridge over the river. She looked over her shoulder with an enormous grin. “The manticore cubs should be just over the ridge! I know it!”

“Okay, but we need to stick together.” Happy put a strong hoof on the bridge to check if it could hold their weight. Satisfied that it didn’t budge, he trotted across without a care in the world. “We need to be back before dark, or Miss Amber will worry.”

“We’ll only be an hour.” Fluttershy’s head swiveled this way and that, taking in the wonderful sights and smells that nature offered her. “I just can’t wait to see the little manticores. They’re rather docile creatures, you know, even if they are big.”

The voices of the two friends tailed off as they made their way through the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Jeuk turned to Merimna and raised an eyebrow. “Now then, do you know who these two are?”

Merimna tapped his exposed teeth together. A hiss like a final breath exhaled from the paper-thin skin of his throat. “That girl… she is one of the Six…”

“Very good, Merimna.” Jeuk lifted his hoof to observe the fire ant crawling through his grey coat. The small creature stared directly at him, bound to his will by a single thought. “Fluttershy has just moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale, having discovered that her cutie mark is related to caring for wildlife. She currently lives with the family of a particular therapist named Merry Mare.” Jeuk tilted his ear in the direction the two children went. “The mother of the colt you just saw.”

Merimna looked in the indicated direction, though there was nothing to see. “So what do you intend for these mortals?”

Jeuk’s smile lacked mirth entirely. “Why, I intend to murder Fluttershy, of course.”

Merimna tilted his head slightly to the side. A flake of skin drifted down from beneath his hat, but vanished before it touched the ground. It was not corporeal, after all. “I admit, Jeuk, I am confused. It was my understanding that if one of the bearers fell, another would take their place. Especially due to the fact that it is still eight years until the return of Nightmare Moon. That is plenty of time for a new Bearer of Kindness to rise up.”

“That is correct, in its own way.” Jeuk shut his eyes and tilted his head towards Merimna. He decided to see how far his underling—his protégé—could devise a strategy. “Is there anything else amiss?”

Merimna thought for a moment, his eye sockets gazing at the roaring river beneath them. “Fluttershy is truly innocent. A light to those around her. She is, above all else, protected by the Seelie Court. If she should perish today, they would no doubt whisk her spirit away to their courts, leaving us no soul to harvest. So long as she remains protected by the Seelie, her death would not benefit us in any way.”

“Normally, I would agree with you, dearest Merimna.” Jeuk set his hoof down and allowed the fire ant to rejoin its comrades on their infinite search for food in the forest. “You are, no doubt, thinking back to the deaths of Bright Mac and Buttercup?”

“More to the point… Jeuk.” Merimna touched the noose around his neck, finding some small comfort in fiddling with it. “I recall the punishment leveled against the two Fae who killed them.”

Jeuk falsified an expression of surprise on his face, hoping to give Merimna the impression that he wanted the lesser fairy to feel more secure… while offering no real relief. “Ah, yes, I remember now. Eternal banishment in the Abyss. The featureless void for which all are destined. We wouldn’t want to end up there, would we?”

“No, Mast—Jeuk.”

“Their foolish venture was to bring misery and pain to Applejack’s life. And yet, in the end, all they’ve done is strengthened Applejack’s convictions.” Jeuk pointed a hoof at Merimna’s chest. “Mark my words, her honest streak will grow and grow, until the very thought of a falsehood is a dire grievance to her. Moreover, Buttercup’s death has already greatly affected Grand Pear, one of our greatest success stories.” Jeuk couldn’t stop the very real, very painful growl from escaping his throat. Had he any blood, it would have boiled at the thought. “Now, his heart grows softer. In a matter of years—years, Merimna!—he will seek to make amends for his wrongdoing. And the Apples will accept him! The bonds of family we had so carefully broken will be mended.”

A chill wind blew through the Everfree Forest, rustling Jeuk and Merimna’s clothing. Jeuk shuddered and pulled his suit jacket tighter. He was not a mortal; the temperature should not have affected him. And yet, not all cold was strictly physical. There was something magical at work in the forest. Something deeply spiritual, that only a spirit such as he would take note of.

He decided it must have been his own doing. Talk of the future tended to shift the flow of magic around him. “Now then, how might we apply this lesson to Fluttershy?”

Merimna’s gaping eye sockets perused the future crime scene. “It seems to me that if you feel confident despite all that… you must have a goal that outweighs the downside of losing Fluttershy’s soul to the Seelie Court.”

“Very good, Merimna.” Jeuk’s eyebrows raised as the two children returned. The sun had begun to set, and hours had passed for the two children. An immortal’s perception of time was vastly different from a mortal’s. For Jeuk and his apprentice, it felt as though it had been but a moment. “Perhaps you recall that I mentioned Happy’s mother in Ponyville?”

“Merry Mare?” Merimna would have frowned, had he any lips. “Yes, I recall.”

“She is a future political figure, should I play my cards right.” Jeuk chuckled in a gigglesome manner. “And I have all the cards. You see, she has been dealing with anger issues her whole life. She tends to spark in an instant, and smolder long. It would take but a single tragedy to shift her life down a path from which there is no return.” He jutted his chin towards the children as they crossed the natural bridge. “She has placed Fluttershy in the care of Amber Waves, who even now is combing Ponyville for any sign of the brats. Should Fluttershy perish, it will no doubt lead Merry to resent—or even hate—Amber.”

A fire ant crawled its way up Fluttershy’s leg. The poor filly was too excited to notice, chatting back and forth with Happy about the manticore cubs they’d just spent the day with. Jeuk directed the insect higher, towards a critical joint in the pegasus’ leg.

“Her hatred would build,” Jeuk said, “until she finally finds reason to use the gift I’ve left in her care… You recall the gemstone?”

“The one made by Adagio, I remember.” Merimna jerked his head to Jeuk. “You are sowing the seeds of a future Siren?”

“Precisely.” Jeuk raised a hoof towards the fire ant. He jerked it to the side. “Watch!”

The ant bit down and burst into flames. Fluttershy cried out as her leg failed her. She flapped her weak wings ineffectually—she hadn’t flown since moving to Ponyville. With her balance lost, the child fell into the rushing rapids, immediately sinking below the surface.

Jeuk turned to Merimna with a satisfied smile of a job well done. “So now we wait for Merry to show her true face and slay Amber. Then, oho, then we have her forever!”

“Master…”

Jeuk followed Merimna’s pointed leg. An unbelievable sight greeted his eyes. Happy had thrown himself off the bridge. However, rather than sink like a rock as Fluttershy had, he was actually keeping his head above the roiling water. As Jeuk looked closer, he saw that the fool colt had Fluttershy gripped in a strong foreleg.

“What!?” Jeuk snapped as fire blazed in his eyes. “He’s just a child! This is impossible!”

Happy struggled against the undertow. He dragged himself and Fluttershy closer, closer, ever closer to the bank. He fought with all the breath in his lungs, and quite a bit more than that. Determination burned in his chest as his legs struggled to move.

Jeuk sneered. His body morphed, taking on a form closer to his true self. His grey coat seared itself into wrinkled, charred black folds. His eyes lost all luster, becoming black pits with an ember burning in the center. His tie writhed and wriggled until it revealed itself to be a long, snaking tongue coming from a razor-toothed mouth. Two black-feathered wings spread over the river and carried him after the children, whose fate had already been sealed.

Then he saw it. The enemy. Another fairy who had remained cloaked until that moment. She was a sparkling example of her species, her six wings flapping fervently to keep the two children aloft. Her entire body was covered in glistening gold eye spots, able to see hidden things that no mere mortal could understand. Jeuk’s eyes narrowed as he descended upon the Seelie Court’s warrior. He clawed at her with cloven hooves and bit her ears, pulling her away from the children.

She was a powerful creature, but he was far stronger. Years of experience and an inborn strength, combined with his unfathomable rage, gave him the power needed to cast her away from her wards. He turned his long neck around to spot the children once more. To his dismay, even without the Seelie fae’s help, Happy was well able to carry Fluttershy towards the river bank. He cast his gaze around the forest, seeking another avenue of attack. He could not touch the children directly, but perhaps…

There! A rotted branch hanging over the water. Filled with fire ants. He commanded the insects to chew all the faster. He commanded the wood to rot all the more deeply. The corruption spread in an instant. The connection grew weaker.

Happy reached the bank. He shoved Fluttershy onto it, who was already coughing and vomiting as she struggled to pull air into her lungs. His hooves slipped, and he fell back into the river. He grasped the bank tightly, looking up at his friend.

The rotted branch hit him in the side of the head with the force of a carriage crash. The colt vanished beneath the rapids.

Fluttershy lay on the bank, dazed and confused and scared. She swiveled her head around, her eyes growing wider. “Happy? Happy! Happy, where are you? Happy!”

Jeuk looked downriver. The Seelie Court’s fairy flew gently over the water, watching a particular spot closely. After a moment’s time, she reached one of her hooves down. When she came back up, she held a shimmering orb of life gently in her grip. She looked back at Jeuk, all of her thousands of eyes blazing with anger.

Jeuk didn’t bother to examine the fae creature. She was nothing special. Perhaps she was not even a warrior but a mere psychopomp, sent to carry souls to the Seelie Court’s clutches. No, he focused on the bright, burning, blazing light in her forelegs. The soul of the young child, Happy. Even from a distance, he could see the joy and triumph that he felt having saved Fluttershy. He could see the sickly pink hue of love that emanated from the colt.

How he hated that light. The same light that burned in all mortals. The same light that he would like nothing more than to extinguish. The wretched, loathsome, gormless joy of friendship and peace. The satisfaction that mortals felt from such drivel as spending time together, or speaking with each other, or working alongside each other. Simple minds deriving simple pleasure from simple things.

“Fie!” He shouted at the Seelie Psychopomp. “Take your prize to Dreamland! I have what I came for! You can’t save Merry Mare! If she would be enraged at Fluttershy’s passing, how much more will she hate the one who neglected her son!”

The fairy said nothing, instead vanishing into another world, where Happy would live out the rest of eternity as a brilliant star in the night sky.

Jeuk hovered over Fluttershy, enshrouding her with his wings. He watched the eight-year-old filly slowly come to the realization of what happened, her tears flowing with utter agony. She ran from the forest towards home, carrying dreadful news with her. As he watched her go, Jeuk felt the future come into greater clarity. She would go through life with careful caution, fearful of hurting herself or others. Her kindness would be kept intact, but hampered by her own hang-ups. Panic attacks, anti-social tendencies, isolation—all could be cultivated if he pursued them. If he could just keep her away from anything that could heal the scar he’d torn in her heart.

If he could just keep her and her friends apart.

The Unseelie fairy alighted the branch beside Merimna, who wisely held his tongue. Jeuk returned to his equine form and tugged on his red tie. “Despite the Seelie Court’s intrusion, we can proceed with the greater part of our plan. The seeds are planted; we merely need to wait here for Merry Mare’s response.”

Days passed as they waited patiently. The search party passed by below them, dredging the river for any sign of the young colt. It was the boy’s father who ended up finding him. His heart couldn’t take it. He would be left wandering the earth for many years until his life came to its tragic end. News spread throughout Ponyville that the Everfree Forest was cursed. That it was unsafe for any to enter. The funeral was held. The tears dried. The forest lay hushed.

Jeuk felt a certain magic tingle on the tips of his ears. It was a magic he had not seen in many a year. Not since Starswirl the Bearded had banished the three Sirens—Adagio, Sonata, and Aria—to another world. It was mind-altering magic, generated by a sinister song and powered with an arcane gemstone cut by Adagio herself. It was a gemstone that had been left in Merry’s care a fairly recently, always tempting her, always waiting for her, always drawing her closer to it.

At last, the time had come for her to use it.

Jeuk peered into the trees as two mares approached: Merry Mare and Amber Waves. “Look closely Merimna. You are about to meet the future Mayor of Ponyville.”

Merry was a tan-coated mare in her mid-forties. Her gray mane was in shambles as she led the other pony deeper into the forest, seeking the point where her son had fallen into the river. She continuously adjusted the glasses on her snout, even as she sang the enchanted, mind-altering song.

Amber was the younger pony by a few years. She was a new mother. Her infant daughter had been left at home, and would be an orphan from this day onward. Her golden hair was darkened by leaves and branches, and her blue coat was smudged with dirt and bruises.

Jeuk scowled as he saw the two approach the river. “I had hoped for Merry to become merely bitter. Her rage might just be out of control now. It will take some time to hone her into a blade, rather than a bludgeon.”

Merry shoved Amber into the clearing. The entranced mare stumbled, unfocused and unaware. Amber’s ears perked up awaiting further instruction. Merry walked around her, the gemstone necklace glowing a brilliant yellow with every word she said.

“We left him in your care!” Merry shouted. “You couldn’t watch him for an hour?”

Amber’s muttered reply was hazy, distorted. “Baby crying… safe with Fluttershy…”

“Don’t you dare say another word.” Merry looked down at the river, which had calmed down now that the melting snow was finally cleared away. She scanned the rest of the area, grinding her teeth as she sought a way to make her vengeance complete.

Jeuk rustled the trees on one side of the clearing, drawing Merry’s eye. A small patch of blue flowers lay nestled beneath the tree. Poison Joke was a rarity across Equestria, but it grew in abundance in the magically-chaotic Everfree Forest. The soon-to-be Siren drew closer, her expression morphing into one of grim satisfaction. She opened her mouth, and magic flowed to Amber’s ears.

“Forest dark and deep
Realm of eternal sleep
Pony that I hate
Come down and meet your fate”

Amber struggled to move in a straight line, drawn as she was by the Siren’s song. She lowered her head to the Poison Joke and bit into the dangerous flowers.

“I think we’ve seen enough,” Jeuk said as he saw the Seelie Court’s psychopomp approach the scene. He flew through the air, unfettered by the physics that ruled the mortal realm. “Unfortunately, the interference by the Seelie Court has once again pushed back our timetable, but we are beings of eternity. I can wait.”

Merimna watched for a moment longer, until Amber began to choke on the flowers that Merry fed her. He followed Jeuk upwards to their next destination. “Perhaps it is better this way, Master. With Fluttershy still alive and intended for the Element of Kindness, we can be sure to make her life one of misery. Then, perhaps her effectiveness with the Element will be reduced.”

“I had thought the same thing, my dear nephew.” Jeuk looked to the distance and saw a particular mountain awaiting their arrival. “It is something to keep in mind for the other Bearers as well. Applejack in particular… her aversion to deceit could prove fruitful later in life.” With the speed of a lightning strike, he grasped Merimna around the neck and growled in his face. “If you call me ‘Master’ around the other fairies, I will personally chuck your unenviable corpse through the gates to the Abyss, are we clear?”

Merimna shuddered beneath the gaze of the elder fairy. “As crystal, my lord… Jeuk…”

“Yes, can’t have too many of them pick up on my little intricacies, can we?” Jeuk released him and adjusted the large hat on Merimna’s head. “Be a good little minion and report to the other Princelings, would you? We have a plan three millennia in the making, and we must keep up appearances.”

“As you command.” Merimna bowed at the neck and flitted away like a scrap of paper on the wind.

Jeuk chuckled as he watched the belabored fairy flee for his existence. He glanced up at the sky, where stars could be seen peeking out through the clouds. “Alright then, Lord of the Seelie Court of Fae… let’s see you wriggle your precious mortals out of this one.”

Chrysalis the Tyrant’s Catacombs
The Badlands, South of Equestria
Autumn, Year 1005 CE

Ocellus cowered down in the little cage made for her by the other changelings. Many of her people—members of Thorax’s kingdom—also lay in cages around the catacombs. However, she had been singled out as especially heinous to Queen Chrysalis. She had been placed on the same level as King Thorax or Pharynx, a high traitor to changeling kind. She had committed the crime of befriending her prey.

Chrysalis had come like a tidal wave. She had spent the last several years gathering the scattered changelings around the world and training them to be an army able to rival Thorax’s kingdom. The peace-minded changelings had been caught off-guard, but Pharynx had an escape route planned.

Unfortunately for Ocellus, she had been caught while helping younger changelings escape. So it was that she found herself imprisoned in the very caverns she once called home. The echoes of struggle reverberated throughout the tunnels as the Changeling Civil War continued, as it had for several weeks by that point. She longed to break free from her cage, to help who needed help, but didn’t have the strength or magical acumen to do either.

“Public execution. Yes, I think that shall do nicely.” Chrysalis the Tyrant, Queen of the Rogue Changelings, tapped Ocellus’ cage like a child with a fish bowl. “Perhaps I’ll see you starved of love until you revert to your true form. That of a black, hole-studded carapace baking in the sun. Th other changelings can throw rocks as well. Wretched little creature. ”

Ocellus buried her head in her forelegs. Her translucent wings shivered at her sides as the oppressive queen laughed over her former subject. Even so, she found she had the spirit to bite back at the queen. “This is my true form, Chrysalis! You are starving your subjects! Thorax taught us—”

“Silence your hideously-neon tongue.” Chrysalis waved a dismissive, hole-studded hoof. “I have a war to wage. Come, Commander Bugly.” The queen was followed by a battle-hardened changeling warrior, who was missing an eye and most of his ears. “And you, Mandible! Keep up or I’ll feast on your entrails.”

Mandible was a small changeling, around Ocellus’ age. He barely came up to Bugly’s knee when standing tall, and he spent most of his time hunched down. He shuffled after his queen and commander, his legs barely moving apart, as if he was afraid of making noise. Most changelings with his demeanor had been slain by Chrysalis in the pursuit of a strong army with no weak links. Mandible had survived for one purpose: The caretaking of a small child.

Ocellus had been surprised to see the child at all. In recent years, the species had edged towards sterility. The only changelings capable of rearing young had been queens, and Chrysalis was the last. She didn’t seem the motherly type. And yet, here was a five-year-old, having been born soon after the failed Siege of Canterlot. The little changeling filly was sickly, holes having already appeared on the ends of her legs. Her mane and wings, though, showed themselves to be a lovely blue hue, a vast departure from Chrysalis’ pale green. Moreover, the sad child’s blue eyes glistened with fearful tears. She had known nothing but sadness and violence her entire life.

Ocellus’ heart went out to the girl. No child deserved a mother as wicked and callous as Chrysalis. While she looked at the child, she caught Mandible looking at her. She saw a similarity between the child and her nurse. Sad eyes. Weary souls. If she tasted the air, beyond Chrysalis’ self-aggrandizing rage, she could sense a deep-rooted sadness as the changeling species slowly realized they had backed the wrong horse.

“Mandible!”

The young stallion trotted after his queen, carrying the princess on his back. His horn glinted ever-so-slightly. A spark of magic drifted back unseen by the queen or her servants. It hovered before Ocellus’ face for a moment, begging for her permission.

She touched it, and a thought flooded into her head. ‘Can you save us?’

She let her head droop, not daring to look at the beleaguered changeling who sent the message. She could not, of course. Maybe Thorax and his friends could. Or Princess Celestia and the Bearers of the Elements. But she was no hero. She had been no warrior when she followed Chrysalis, and she had grown no stronger beneath the guiding hoof of Thorax. She was well and truly a load on all around her. There was nothing to do but await her fate in the quiet, dark catacomb.

Hours passed like that. Ocellus felt herself growing weaker, her reserves of love having long been tapped. Whatever emotions she could feast on within the dungeon were sour with resentment and bitter with anger. It was a taste she had left behind. It was a flavor she had rejected since joining Thorax’s kingdom. She took some solace in the fact that she would rather starve than return to the ways she had once known. At least she could be assured of the fact that she—and all the changelings—could indeed change. For the better.

“Ocellus…” came the whispered voice. “Ocellus, are you there?”

She opened her eyes. The voice was familiar, but she had never heard it with her ears before. Only with her heart. “Are you Mandible?”

The short, nervous changeling in question stepped out of the shadows. He was sporting a new dent in his carapace, courtesy of his queen. “Please… d-don’t be alarmed. I… I wanted t-to see you. Not… not hurt you.”

She didn’t even have to taste his emotions to know he was sincere. Her lessons interacting with species outside the changelings had taught her a thing or two about body language. She approached the bars of her cell and rested her forelegs against them. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It—it is?” Mandible’s face twisted into a confused frown. “W-why? I—I’m not very nice to know.”

“It’s always nice meeting new people.” Ocellus glanced up at the cold, damp ceiling. “Even if the circumstances could be better.”

Mandible’s multifaceted eyes looked her up and down, as if he had never seen another living being before. “Y—you’re different from the changelings in… in here. I’ve n-never seen a changeling with s-so vibrant a carapace. Is…” He shuddered and shut his eyes tight. “The rumors are t-true, aren’t they? Thorax’s t-tribe found a way to make it so we don’t have to st-teal love anymore.”

“That’s right.” Ocellus smiled at Mandible with as reassuring an expression as she could manage. “Chrysalis is a either a liar or she doesn’t understand. We never needed to steal love. We can share it.”

“B-but how?” Mandible shook his head, his ears twitching as he listened for any sign of the guards. “I d-d-don’t understand.”

Ocellus sighed and sat down. “If we can ever get out of here, I’d teach you all about it. But I don’t think Chrysalis will let us have friendship lessons down here.”

As if her words had summoned them, a trio of guards marched into the room. They surrounded Mandible and her cage, all glaring daggers at the two young changelings. The biggest one slapped Mandible on the side of his horn. “The queen doesn’t like anybody fraternizing with her prisoners, Mandible. You know that. Puts weird ideas in your head.”

Mandible nursed his battered horn with a whimper. “Sorry, Kickback.”

The second of the three, Shrapnel, chuckled as he tugged the young changeling away from the bars. “Aw, you’re sweet on her, ain’tcha? You have holes in your brains! Changelings don’t love. They take!”

“I’ve never known love,” Bombshell, the third of them, said, “that wasn’t just lust personified.”

Ocellus glared at him with a look that she knew was nothing more than posturing. “If you think that’s all love is, you’ve never known love at all!”

“Pretty words from a pretty face.” Kickback smiled at his fellow changeling thugs. “Maybe we oughta tell Chrysalis she tried to escape.”

Mandible struggled in Shrapnel’s grip. “D-d-don’t you—d-don’t t-t-touch her!”

“Oh, n-n-n-no!” Bombshell said with a mocking stutter. “Are you gonna t-t-t-tell the queen? You gonna fight all of us for your little girlfriend?”

“Nah,” Silverstream said out of the blue. “But all of us are gonna fight you, sure!”

The three changelings snapped their heads around just in time to see a pink-coated hippogriff soar through the air to tackle them with a screech like an eagle. Silverstream’s talons dug deep into Shrapnel’s carapace as she wrestled him to the ground.

Bombshell got to his feet first. He snarled as he charged his horn, readying a mind-altering spell on its tip. Before he could move, a sword-tip speared him through the shoulder. He turned in a panic to see a blue-feathered griffon pull the narrow sword back to pierce again.

“Yeah, that’s right! Scream, featherbrain!” Gallus laughed as he twirled the blade of his rapier. “I’m gonna have to teach you some manners!” He paused for a moment, his sword hovering between him and the changeling. “Which I’m just realizing is really ironic!”

Bombshell charged for the griffon horn-first, but Gallus easily parried him. “I mean, griffons are pretty well-known for not taking horseapples from anybody, much less their enemies. So me teaching you manners is kinda an oxymoron, you know? Kinda like getting your roof fixed by a plumber or something.”

The walls of the catacombs shuddered. Rocks fell like rain as an unimaginably powerful force barreled its way down the halls. A dust cloud rose to hail the source of the earthquake: A very ticked-off yak. “Yonaaaaaa! Saaaaaave! Ocelluuuuuuuuus!”

Kickback had time to utter “Guh?” before being trampled underhoof by a one-yak stampede.

A young pony stallion followed close behind the formidable creature. Sandbar ran up to Ocellus’ cage and immediately began to cut through the bars with a magical knife of some sort. “Don’t worry, Ocellus. We totally got this.”

“I don’t believe this!” Ocellus covered her mouth with her hooves, bewildered at the sight of her friends battling her captors. “Why are you all here? How did you even find me?”

“A pony named Time Turner, like, snuck into the hive and figured stuff out,” Sandbar said. “So now all of Equestria is coming to fight Chrysalis! We wanted to get you so that Princess Celestia can bring out the big, awesome magic spells to fight her.”

Gallus thrust his blade, and Bombshell fell for the final time. “Yoho! Griffonstone represent!”

Yona stepped over what was left of Kickback and began to help Sandbar free Ocellus. A casual tug was all it took for the yak to crack the bars in half. “Ocellus okay? Yona and friends looked everywhere for you!”

Silverstream slipped through the gap and wrapped Ocellus in the tightest hug she had ever experienced. “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygooooosh! I’m so happy to see you again!”

Sandbar pressed himself against the outside of the cage as Shrapnel stalked towards them, his eyes filled with murderous rage. “Uh, Silverstream? Are you forgetting something?”

Silverstream glanced up long enough to give the changeling guard a dismissive wave. “Nah, I figured Smolder would handle it.”

Shrapnel stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened. He looked up to see an orange-scaled dragon hovering overhead. She opened her mouth to spew fire. He opened his mouth to scream.

Smolder landed beside the cage and helped Sandbar open it the rest of the way. She hesitated a moment, then gave Ocellus a soft pat on the head. “Good to see you, bud. Been a sec.”

Gallus sheathed his rapier and leaned against a rocky outcropping. He jerked a thumb towards Mandible, who cowered in the shadows. “What about him? Is he coming or what?”

Ocellus was overwhelmed. She embraced her friends with a sob, then quickly dried her eyes to smile at Mandible. “Yes! Yes, you can come with us! We can teach you all about friendship, about freeing yourself from Chrysalis’ evil ways! Will you come?”

“Y-yes!” Mandible nodded, doing his best to not stare in awe at the six friends standing around him. “Yes, I will! B—” He frowned, his growing excitement dulled by a painful realization. “But Chrysalis… I can’t just leave her.”

Gallus snorted while Smolder pulled a face. Sandbar took a step towards Mandible and rested a hoof on his shoulder. “Dude, Chrysalis is bad news. She doesn’t care about you or anybody else—”

“No, no, you d-don’t understand.” Mandible shook his head and pointed upwards, towards the living quarters. “Chrysalis is also the name of her daughter. Chrysalis the Second. I can’t leave her to be raised by people who don’t care about her.”

The ground shook once more, but this time it wasn’t Yona. Gallus held back a curse as he drew his sword again. “Sounds like Equestria already began the attack.”

Ocellus hid behind Silverstream’s feathers as the shouts of changelings at war mingled with the thrum of magic in the air. “I thought you said you were getting us out before the attack.”

Yona shrugged. “Best laid plans.”

“That’s beside the point!” Silverstream grasped Ocellus’ hooves in her talons. “The Hippogriffs have agreed to save the changelings. Thorax, you, everybody! All we have to do is meet Queen Novo at the east beach before everybody leaves.” Her smile frayed at the edges. “We gotta be quick, because when they’re gone, they’re gone.”

Ocellus glanced at Mandible, whose ears had begun to droop. “How long do we have?”

“At this point,” Sandbar said, “about an hour.”

Ocellus frowned as she rested her head on Silverstream’s chest. “They were gonna leave without me, weren’t they?”

“Not by choice!” Smolder pointed her thumb at her chest. “That’s why we’re here! We aren’t gonna let some snooty daddy longlegs-lookin’ son of a—”

Sandbar raised a hoof. “Smolder.”

“—gun…” She gave him a smarmy grin. “Not gonna let that son of a gun have our friend.”

“But Yona’s friends not have a lotta time!” Yona glanced down the corridor as the shadows wriggled with gathering changeling soldiers. “It take Yona an hour just to get to the beach.”

Sandbar glanced back and forth between the seven of them. “But we’re here to help as many innocent people as we can. We can’t just leave a little kid behind!”

Mandible spread his wings, shuffling a hesitant step backward. “But that’s the thing. You g-guys can’t come with me to g-get Chrysalis the Second, because you’d be b-bogged down with fighting. None of you would m-make it out. I can sneak in, g-grab her, and hit the road.” He smiled at Ocellus, and she felt as though it was his first time tasting a hint of hope. “I’ll meet you g-guys at the b-beach. If you’ll wait for us?”

Silverstream nodded fervently, as she always nodded. “We’ll hold the portal open for as long as we can!”

Ocellus frowned as Silverstream dragged her down the corridor. “Hurry!”

“I will.” Mandible waved as the six of them sped for the exit. “See you soon.”

Mandible snuck through the corridors and tunnels towards the tallest spire in the hive. He saw Time Turner himself fighting his way through the soldiers, moving faster than the eye could see thanks to his gadgets. He figured the earth pony stallion didn’t need his help anymore. He could just keep moving.

He’d betrayed Chrysalis twice that week. Once when he’d freed Time Turner, and once when he’d spoken to Ocellus. Either one warranted death under Chrysalis the Tyrant’s rule. A small part of him had decided long ago that if he did have to die, it would be worth it. Just so people could live without her brand of fear.

He reached a small servant’s entrance to the throne room; a tiny hole behind the seat of power itself. He could see Queen Chrysalis seated upon the rocky outcropping she had carved for herself. She laughed as she looked out the large glassless window overlooking the badlands. She could see her changelings and those belonging in Thorax’s care warring beneath her. The Equestrian army was some distance away, pelting her hive with long-range spells while the foot soldiers marched closer.

Mandible poked his head into the room, looking desperately for where he’d left the young Princess Chrysalis. He spotted the Tyrant’s bodyguards flanking either side of the room, under the watchful singular good eye of Commander Bugly. Each one could kill mandible with a single blow from their massive cloven hooves. Together, there was no chance of survival. If anybody caught on to what he was doing…

“Mandible!” Queen Chrysalis snapped. “Stop lollygagging in dark corners and get in here. The child is crying and you need to fix it before I blow a fuse!”

Mandible skittered into the room. The princess sat on the far side of the throne, in full view of the queen herself. The five-year-old filly instantly perked up at the sight of Mandible, though her face was still soaked with tears. He sat beside the filly and rubbed her back. “Are you okay, Chryssy? Are you hungry?”

“Not so loud,” Queen Chrysalis said. “I’m trying to enjoy the slaughter.”

Mandible found himself surrounded by Bugly and one of the other guards. The guard aimed a spear tip at Mandible’s chest and waved him towards the wall of the room… quite a ways away from the exit. “Give the queen some space, twig-legs.”

“Don’t hurt him!” The princess’ plea was quiet, but forceful. She followed Mandible on his path away from safety. She wiped the tears from her eyes, but more came as she looked down at the battle below. “Why are they fighting, Manny?”

Mandible bit his tongue. It took all his willpower to keep from looking at the queen sitting on her throne. The one who’d fed the changelings’ paranoia, who’d preyed upon the creatures around them, who had sought the power of the old changeling empire without understanding the responsibilities associated with it. The feelings of dissatisfaction had built over the millennia, but Chrysalis the Tyrant was the one who spoke them into life.
“It’s a long story,” he said, always mindful of the guards surrounding him. “But I think we’re about to see the end today.”

“And just why would it end, little wretch?” Queen Chrysalis stood up from her throne and stalked her way over to him. “Are not my changelings powerful? Have we not become a force that threatens even Equestria? It shall end today, yes, but with us as the lords of the world!”

A clatter came from the large main entrance to the room. Several soldiers carried a pony between them. It was none other than Time Turner himself, beaten and worn out, most of his devices broken. Time made a strong effort to avoid looking at Mandible, so as not to incriminate him.

Mandible had no such strength of will. “Oh no.”

It was a small slip, but it was all that Chrysalis needed to put two-and-two together. She smiled as she looked down at her daughter’s young caretaker. “Mandible? Do you know this stallion?”

Time Turner looked at the changeling, affecting a confused expression. “Madam, I’ve never seen this creature before in my life.”

“Your lies taste like salt, Mr. Turner.” She slapped the earth pony with the tip of her tail. Her horn glowed and the resultant spell gripped Time Turner by the neck. She swung her head around and chucked him into the open air just outside the window. He tumbled, falling head over tail, until he seemed to vanish in midair. She frowned and tilted her head. She looked down, down, down to the ground below. “Well, he’s a more resilient pony than most. Venin, Ransack, won’t you be dears and slay him for me?”

The two soldiers in question flew through the window in pursuit of the pony.

Chrysalis followed her order by pressing her hoof on the back of Mandible’s neck. “Now, then. What shall we do with you, you little traitor?”

Princess Chrysalis grasped her mother’s hoof and shook it. “Don’t hurt him! He’s my friend!”

“He’s a slave! Nothing more!” Chrysalis kicked her daughter aside and kicked Mandible towards the window. She hovered over him with her fangs bared. “I should drain you dry of all magic, just to watch you shrivel up into a corpse!”

The world turned white around them. A searing heat blazed down from the sky. The air was filled with a horrific roar of flames like a thousand bonfires. The smell of smoke reached Mandible’s nose.

When the brightness faded, and the spots had left his eyes, Mandible looked out over the battlefield. Thorax’s changelings were fleeing with all the speed they could muster. Chrysalis’ changelings were scattering. A large section of the field was glassed over, having been struck by one of the most powerful magicks known to Sapience. In the sky, flying towards the hive with her wings aflame, was none other than Princess Celestia of Equestria, Raiser of the Sun.

“Now we’ll see a real battle!” Chrysalis guffawed. She lifted Mandible in her magic and brought the green tendril tight around his neck. “But more to the point, you’ll get to see the fruits of your labors first-hoof. Let’s see how well a traitor dies, just as his help arrives too late!”

Mandible shut his eyes as the pressure in his neck built. His lungs screamed for air. His chitin cracked and squealed as it crumbled beneath her assault. He couldn’t so much as light his horn, not that his magic could stand against the Queen of the Changelings. He opened his eyes to see Princess Chrysalis one last time. He wanted to reassure her it would be alright. He wanted for nothing more than for her know peace…

Queen Chrysalis gasped. She stood on unsteady hooves. She looked at Mandible with a face full of confusion and anger. Her magic grip loosened.

At last he saw what had caused the discomfort. A spear point stared him right in the face. The shaft was nestled in the middle of her chest, having lanced her through her midsection from behind. The spear itself was still gripped by a magic spell. He traced the spell back through the room, until he found himself once again looking the princess dead in the eye. She looked back with shock, anger, and despair; the room was filled with the stench of it.

Chrysalis the Tyrant gasped out her last gargled words. “Kill the dastard.”

As life faded from her, so too did the magic release him. He tumbled through the air, attempting to catch himself with wildly flapping wings. He could sense Bugly and his cohorts racing after him, hastened onward by Chrysalis’ last command. There was no going back. Any hesitation and he was dead. Any attempt to go around them would end in failure. He was panicking. He was rushing headlong for his very life.

As he thought of Princess Chrysalis sitting alone in that throne room with her dying mother, he realized that of all the changelings, he was the worst coward of them all.

Ocellus gaped at the people gathered on the beach. Hippogriffs and changelings were everywhere. Young and old, warriors and civilians, royalty and commoners. Queen Novo and Thorax were in deep discussion as the Equestrian army waged battle with Chrysalis’ changelings just over the hill.

If the Tyrant’s hive broke through the Equestrians, Ocellus knew, all of the people on the beach were dead.

King Thorax stood tall, getting the attention of his changelings with a sharp whistle. “Everybody! Queen Novo has something to say. We have to hurry, so gather around!”

Novo nodded gratefully to Thorax. She spread her wings and tucked a glistening gemstone in the crook of her elbow. “Everyone! The changelings and the hippogriffs have a shared history. Both our kinds have been endlessly persecuted by those who should have been our closest allies! The griffons from Griffonstone and Felaccia both thought us to be abominations since the days of our forefather Moshe! The changelings have been hunted down and destroyed at every turn, regardless of if they have decided to live peacefully. I say the world does not want us!”

Ocellus felt the words stab her heart like a knife. It wasn’t that the world didn’t want them, she thought. Her friends were proof of that. Even if… even if Princess Twilight’s school had been forcibly shut down by the Powers That Be.

“Well, then if they don’t want us, let’s give them what they want and leave!” Queen Novo gestured to her daughter, who held aloft a sheet of paper. It seemed to be a sort of map, drawn in the shape of a circle, with several points denoted in different colors. “There is a place where we can all live in peace, without threat from outside forces. It is the Far Side of the World, a land with plentiful food and space. It is a place that cannot be accessed by normal methods, but only by the purest of magic!”

Behind her, the water churned. A wave rose sideways, against the wind. It curved upwards and around, forming an archway. Water spun and whirled within the arch as magic shifted and shunted. Before long, the whirlpool had become a magic opening in the fabric of reality.

“Join me, hippogriffs and changelings,” Queen Novo said, “let’s escape the hatred while we still have our lives!”

With that said, the people on the beach began to pour in. It was a painstaking process, with great care to make sure families passed through together.

Ocellus stayed at the edge of the crowd. She kept glancing back towards the battle. She could see the hive in the distance, smoking and smoldering beneath Princess Celestia’s sun-powered attacks. She could hear the Tyrant’s changeling army coming closer with every moment. She knew changelings; when stealth failed, they had a predilection to fight until death took their opponents or themselves.

“No, wait!” Sandbar hopped up, but he was too short to see the queen over the crowd. “Does that mean you guys are all leaving forever?”

Silverstream was uncharacteristically quiet as she shuffled towards the portal. Her head frills drooped as she bobbed her head.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait.” Gallus reached out and snagged her wingtip. “You didn’t mention this at all.”

“Yeah!” Yona’s lips trembled. She took a seat that caused the ground to shake. “Yona… Yona’s friends didn’t say… Yona would have wanted to say goodbye!”

“I—I’m sorry.” Silverstream gently yanked her feathers away from Gallus’ talons. “They wanted me to keep quiet. B—but I couldn’t just leave without…” She blinked dampness from her eyes as she looked at Ocellus. “I couldn’t leave you to be killed or worse…”

“Or worse?” Sandbar’s eyes jumped between the changeling and the hippogriff. “How’s that even possible?”

“Trust me, dude,” Smolder said, walking towards the portal. “There are a lot of things worse than death.”

Yona tilted her head. “Where Smolder going?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Smolder shrugged, resting her claws on Ocellus and Silverstream’s shoulders. “I’m going with. There ain’t nothing for me here, ’cept maybe Spike. Or ’cept maybe my brother. They can take care of themselves.” Her voice cracked when she mentioned Garble. Steam leaked out of the corners of her eyes. “And you know what? Yeah, there are worse things than death. Things like never seeing the people who are important to you ever again. Things like saying goodbye without thinking maybe you’ll say hello later on. I just…” She lightly squeezed her friends, which to Ocellus was maybe a little too tight. “You get it, right? Yeah, you get it.”

Gallus lowered his eyebrows and thought for a moment. “Screw it. I didn’t wanna go back to Griffonstone anyhow. Buncha idiots. Don’t know when they’re missing a good thing.”

“Y-Yona come too!” Yona stomped a hoof. “Yona not gonna leave her friends in their hour of need!”

Sandbar looked up at her with wide eyes. “But… but your family!”

“Yaks send Yona to be ambassador.” Yona looked her five friends in the eye, one after the other. “Yaks want to prove yaks can be best friends with other peoples. Yona is proof.” She cleared her throat, her mane bobbing around her head. “Friends not leave friends behind.”

Ocellus walked towards Yona to give her a hug. She felt it was the only appropriate thing to do. Before she could reach, Yona spun around to face Sandbar, nearly knocking Ocellus on her back.

“B-but that not mean Sandbar not friend if he not come!” Yona said in a rush to the small stallion. “Sandbar has responsibilities, too! You have whole family here! Whole life! Sandbar not obligated to come if—”

“Yona,” he said in a small voice, “I’m coming.”

Smolder sighed and pushed Silverstream aside so she could walk towards Sandbar. “You hit your head again, didn’t you? You ponies are so fragile.”

“No, I’m serious, dudes.” Sandbar reached up to attempt to put his hoof on Yona’s shoulder. She had to bend down to accommodate. “What we have is… something special. Something that’s never been done in the history of the world. People tend to stick with their own kind, their own culture, never mixing or thinking of others. But us… I dunno if you could find six more different weirdos.”

Gallus snorted. “That’s the nicest thing anybody’s ever called me.”

“Yeah, but still…” Sandbar rubbed his forehooves together, his tail swishing behind him. “If we don’t stick together and make this work… All the people who say it’s wrong… we prove them right.” He lowered his ears and shrugged. “You wanna give Neighsay the satisfaction? Or Chrysalis?”

“Heck to the no.” Smolder crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to Silverstream and Ocellus. “It’s settled. We’re coming whether Novo and Thorax like it or not.”

Silverstream broke like a dam. She launched an embrace at Smolder and attempted to pull Gallus and Yona into it. “I love you guys! I love you guys soooo much!”

Ocellus loved them too. She joined in the hugs and tears with everybody with her whole being. And yet, something unrelated bothered her: Mandible. He should have been there by now. But the burning hive and the late hour told her a story she didn’t want to hear. Had he failed? Was he just running a little late? Could he even make his way through the Equestrian blockade? There was no way to know.

As far as Ocellus knew, he and little Chrysalis were lost forever.

But something kept her from entering the portal. Something kept her hopeful and watching the horizon. She whispered silently to herself. “Creator, if you’re really listening, please keep them safe.”

The sight that appeared at the top of the hill was not the one she had wanted. The Tyrant’s army crested the stones with a roar of bloodlust. They surged towards the beach with open mouths and blazing horns. Ocellus opened her mouth to scream. “They’re coming!”

Novo and Thorax stood between their people and the oncoming army. They steeled themselves for the assault, teeth gritted and hooves squared.

A blinding light flashed from the sky. A pillar of fire struck the sand between the fleeing people and the army. Princess Celestia landed in front of Thorax and Novo, her many-colored mane waving in the wind created by the superheated air. “Run! Flee to the Far Side of the World! I’ll hold them off until the portal closes! Go!”

At the princess’ word, the rest of the people filed into the portal to safety. Ocellus’ friends reached it far faster than she realized was possible, and soon it was just her standing on the Badlands side of the world. Silverstream urged her to come across, her talon outstretched. “Ocellus! The portal is closing!”

The wall of water that surrounded the magic pathway warbled and waivered as it shrunk. Ocellus looked back at the pillar of fire and the changelings attempting to cross it. Princess Celestia’s body visibly strained as she sought to keep the sun’s magic under control. Even as she watched, changelings were being burned to a crisp.

Silverstream reached her foreleg through the portal and grabbed Ocellus’ leg. The hippogriff screamed as the portal grew ever weaker. “You have to come through now, Ocellus! Now!”

If Ocellus waited any longer, not only would she be separated from her friends, but Silverstream’s foreleg would be severed completely. There was no more time to wait. She shut her eyes and jumped into the portal, just before the last of the magic faded to ocean waves.

Mandible shuffled his way onto the quiet beach. Blood leaked from a wound in his side. He nearly slipped on the glass plate that had once been sand. The moon shone overhead. He was late. By several hours. He had never had a chance.

He crumbled at the edge of the water and wept. He couldn’t find Time Turner, or Princess Chrysalis. All he’d found at the hive was a burn out throne room and legions of Equestrian soldiers. He’d fled. There was no way to explain what had happened. There was no way to convince anybody that he wasn’t one of the Tyrant’s hive; he couldn’t even assume the true form of the changelings that Thorax’s hive had rediscovered. He only had a few stuttered words and a heart full of ashes.

He had no identity, no country, and no friends.

After a time had passed, and the sobs had subsided, he just listened to the shushing sound of the waves. He didn’t even have the gumption to move his legs.

A presence at his side spoke softly. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”

Mandible couldn’t even drum up the energy to be surprised. Nor did he bother to look at the source of the voice. “I think I w-wish I were dead.”

“I’m sorry.” The voice lowered. He could taste the emotions clearly. A bitter regret hung in the air, one that both of them fed into. “You had friends waiting for you, didn’t you?”

“They’re gone, now.” Mandible sighed. A wave lapped at his cheek. “All of them. Forever.”

The presence at his side shuffled around. He heard the flap of a wing as a charred feather fell onto the water in front of him. “They are not gone. They’re only… away. I believe it when I say that you can comfort yourself with the fact that you will see them again. Someday.”

“You’re so c-c-confident.”

“Perhaps it is a fool’s confidence.” A short laugh. “But confidence nonetheless. What do I call you?”

Mandible gazed at the feather as the ocean dragged it out to sea. “Blank. I’m just… Blank.”

“Very well, ‘Blank.’” There was a soft touch on his side. It felt warm. He felt magic sink into his body as a small amount of affection reached its way to his stomach. “You have a good heart, Blank. Even if you don’t know it yet.”

He had no response for that. It seemed disrespectful to disagree with someone who’d only shown him kindness.

“The hippogriffs and Thorax’s kingdom are safe, and Chrysalis the Tyrant’s changelings are driven back.” The voice seemed to waver slightly, as if it was holding something back. “I have… made many mistakes in my long life, but I think… I think we can save even them. It is my hope that you would help me, Mr. Blank.”

Mandible sighed deep in his chest. He looked up at the creature beside him and saw a pure-white alicorn, whose mane illuminated the world around her with sheer magical power. The Princess of Equestria looked down at him with a sorrowful frown. “Life is full of both good and evil, and all people produce both. None of us are different from the other. This is why we must stick together and help one another. This is why I must save Chrysalis’ hive from the total destruction she was headed for. Because ponies and changelings are the same. Because I’ve seen what happens when we go our separate ways.”

Mandible rested his head back in the sand. He gazed at the moon’s reflection as it sat in the midst of the water, broken by the gentle waves.

“You don’t have to answer me just yet.” Celestia sighed and patted him on the back. “I’ll see that you get mended and fed. We’ll talk more later.”

Mandible… No, his name was Blank now. Blank shook his head as he thought on her words. All people produced good and evil? It seemed impossible. Both salt water and fresh water couldn’t flow from the same stream. Still, he stood and brushed the sand from his chitin. Even if Ocellus and her changelings were a world away, there was still a chance Princess Chrysalis was out there. Though, he couldn’t believe he could actually make a difference.

At the very least, Celestia believed in him.

He followed the alicorn princess back to the Equestrian army’s campsite, where many ponies watched him with guarded eyes. He met an earth pony named Caution, one of Celestia’s personal guards, who dressed his wounds and fed him some pony food. It didn’t quite give him the nutrients he needed, but there was something to be said for comfort food. Caution gave him a cloak to keep out the night chill of the Badlands.

All people produced good and evil? Maybe Celestia was speaking broadly. Some people were pure evil, Blank knew. And some were unflinchingly good. Right? And then there was him, a coward and craven, who did nothing but hurt those around him. Where did he fit in?

In the end, he supposed there was only one thing he knew for certain… There was no way any good could come from all this.

The Heroes

The sun shone over a warm spring day in Ponyville. White clouds parted as a pegasus mare looped her way through the atmosphere. She smiled as the sun warmed her back, tickling the orange coat that covered her from nose to hooftip. Her purple wings—mismatched from her coat yet completely fitting with her tail and mane—flared and caught an updraft that carried her higher. Below she could see the marketplace, where numerous ponies were going about the business of buying, selling, and trading.

She unfolded the scooter from her back and set in in place just in time to catch herself on a rooftop. The shingles rattled her, but she continued to pick up speed until she could launch herself to the next house. Her stomach did flip-flops that tickled her tailtip as gravity played with her mane. She crested City Hall, rolling across the striped roof with a laugh of exhilaration. She left the skies and skidded to a halt on the ground just in front of the stairs.

Just a few months ago, the steps had been filled with protestors decrying the Applejack administration. Now, though, after the elections had concluded, it was bereft of anybody save for the office workers who called City Hall their workplace. One in particular caught the pegasus’ eye; a tan-coated earth pony mare. “Yo! Miss Mayor Merry Mare the Mayor! Can I ask you somethin’?”

Merry was just about to enter the front door. She waved her companion onward and walked towards the pegasus with a nod of the head. “Scootaloo. Pleasure to see you, my dear. Do you have business with City Hall or with me?”

Scootaloo leaned on her scooter’s handlebars and shrugged. “Kinda both, kinda neither. You know if the Ponyville barracks is accepting visitors?”

Merry’s eyes lit up as the dots connected in her head. She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Well, I can’t really say so for sure, unfortunately. Military installations tend to be fairly exclusive in who they let in or out.”

Scootaloo sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“Still…” Merry offered Scootaloo a small smile. “You are a friend to the crown. You may just be offered special consideration.” She winked at the younger mare. “Say hi to Rumble for me, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” With that tiny bit of hope running through her veins, Scootaloo scooted with renewed vigor towards the edge of town. The Ponyville Army Barracks was a new installation, but one that most of Ponyville considered too long in coming. With the presence of the Everfree Forest being so close, and a princess of Equestria calling the city her home, an increased protective force was all but required at this point. Soldiers from all over Equestria had been reassigned to the city, some in hopes of becoming Princess Twilight’s personal guards, some with the hopes of seeing the legendary weirdness of Ponyville up close and personal.

A massive wall surrounded a series of buildings. The barracks sat between the Everfree Forest and the town square, while being just a few blocks away from Ponyville Castle. Three-hundred troops called the base their home, with more on the way. Scootaloo rolled up to the front gates and smiled at the gatekeeper. She didn’t recognize him, and he seemed to return the favor with full measure, sporting a face made from chiseled stone.

“Hi!” She said after a moment. “I was wondering if I could get in to see someone who just arrived. One of the new pony-at-arms. Ponies-at-arm? Gonna have to ask him the proper term, I guess.”

The gatekeeper glanced down at her skinny-yet-toned body, which was far, far below army regulation. “Official Royal Guard business only. If you have a problem, there are people on duty you can contact.”

“Yeah, but, like—” She jerked her head to the side in an attempt to see around him. It wasn’t quite working. The stallion was as wide as a carriage. “My boyfriend just got back home and I was hoping—”

“If he wants to hear from you, ma’am—” Scootaloo grimaced at that; she sure didn’t feel like a “ma’am.” “—he can send you his mailing address. Please move along.”

She tried to smile again, but she felt it fraying at the edges. “Would it change your mind if I said my name was Scootaloo?”

“No.”

“Scootaloo, one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

“Is that a Filly Scout thing?”

“Friend of, not to namedrop, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Look, lady, just get lost.”

Scootaloo briefly considered flying over the wall, but one glance at the crossbows situated at regular intervals brought that little pipe-dream to a halt. She backed away from the gatekeeper with a growing pressure in her neck muscles. “Yeah, okay, Buddy. You’ve been all kinds of help.”

“Scootaloo!” Another voice, a bit deeper and smoother than the gatekeeper’s grating gruffness, halted her in her tracks and relieved the pressure in her spine. “What brings you to the barracks?”

The gatekeeper snapped a smart salute as an armored bat-winged pony trotted up to the gate with a few other soldiers—folks Scootaloo recognized as some of Twilight’s Personal Guards. She threw a casual salute to the bat pony, albeit a loose one with the wrong hoof, and stood at a kinda-sorta attention. “Commander Skyhook, pleasure to see you, sirrah!”

“Mm, hmm.” Skyhook’s piercing yellow eyes glanced at the gatekeeper. He returned the soldier’s salute, then did the same to Scootaloo. “For future reference, she’s allowed on base. At least until lights-out.”

The gatekeeper cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”

“And I expect good behavior,” Skyhook continued with a smile. “Don’t bother Rumble while he’s on duty.”

Scootaloo nodded maybe a bit more than was necessary. “Don’t worry about me, sir. I know better than to make myself a nuisance. Most of the time.” She sucked her lips in and tilted an ear down. “Is he on duty right now?”

“Actually, you just missed him.” Skyhook pointed behind her, towards town square. “He just went on leave for the next few days. He said he was going to visit family in town.” The commander chuckled briefly and shared a glance with one of the guards. “I think he was planning to surprise a certain someone.”

“Trying to pull a fast one on me, eh?” Scootaloo rubbed her chin and climbed back onto her scooter. “Two can play at that game. Thanks for the info, Commander. See you around.”

“Take care of yourself.” Skyhook waved as she sped away. “And Rumble.”

She rode swiftly through the highways and byways of Ponyville, paved to a smooth, high-quality surface by Applejack’s years of work as mayor. The very budget adjustments she had championed had resulted in a Ponyville that was a good ninety-percent less likely to break your ankles just walking down the street. Tax-payer money well-spent, if one was to ask Scootaloo. Not many people asked her in the first place, but the opinion was there to be offered.

The house she rode towards was a hybrid pegasus-earth pony style, having much of the structure constructed from cloudcrete, but located on the ground to accommodate the two young toddlers who lived there. Thunderlane and Cloudkicker had made quite a life for themselves in Ponyville, and even from here, Scootaloo could see that they were doing everything in their power to give their young twins a fighting chance. Scootaloo parked her scooter beside a hibiscus bush and walked towards the front door. She could already hear familiar voices laughing and talking back and forth.

She paused there for a second, her hoof hovering over the knocker, just listening to the sound of happiness. Sometimes it seemed so foreign to her, if she really let herself think about it. Sometimes the world really seemed to laser-target her with its suckyness. There was no way to know who her biological parents were. There was no way for her to fly with her original wings, thanks to a birth defect. The last colt she thought she loved had cheated on her.

She banished the thoughts with a shake of her head. Her adoptive parents were the best anybody could ask for. Her new wings, the result of Discord’s meddling with his friends, had enough strength for her to fly freely. Her boyfriend was just beyond the door, having a wonderful time with his brother’s family. She had everything she needed.

Everything she needed.

She gave the door a soft knock and waited. The voices died down, but only for a moment. The pitter-patter of tiny hooves clambered for the entrance, accompanied by the heavier footsteps of an adult. The door opened, and before she knew it, she was practically bowled over by two little fillies who were just learning to walk.

“Scoodoo!” Dovetail said.

“Scooloo!” Summer Wind said.

“Ach, get yer hindquarters in the door, ye barmy filly!” The adult, a strong pegasus mare by the name of Cloudkicker, grabbed Scootaloo in a rough half-hug and all but dragged her inside. “I told that fool colt he should’ve invited ye straight away, but he got such a head full o’ fool ideas he can’t but cause a ruckus at every turn.”

The twin fillies clung to Scootaloo as she was led into the house. It was warm and inviting, as all cloudhouses tended to be. The architecture was all billows and swirls, moved by wind and gently eased into place. The furniture was a mixture of cloud structures for softness, and a few enchanted wood-workings for aesthetics. The stallion of the house sat in one such particular rocking chair, turning down the music volume on the radio as she approached.

“Scootaloo!” Thunderlane said with a mischievous smile. “Cloudkicker and I were taking bets on whether you would show up before Rumble was ready for you.” He rolled his eyes and helped one of his daughters climb onto his lap. “She wins the pot of course…”

Scootaloo laughed as she entered the living room; the first person she looked for was the last one she found. Rumble sat opposite his older brother, dressed in a pretty silly-looking black bowtie. Still, that was the guy’s style, and Scootaloo wouldn’t change it for anything. He was twice as tall as her, twice as wide as her, all muscle and no confidence. He looked at her with wide eyes, swallowing hard, and trying to speak without making a dolt of himself.

“H-hay, Scootaloo, just—” His smile was lopsided as his wings shivered behind him. “I was totally planning on surprising you, but I guess Cloudkicker told you I was coming h—”

She jumped forward with wings spread and wrapped him in an embrace. As his warmth met hers, she felt like, for this precious moment, all was right with the world. “’Bout time they let you come back home.”

“Yeah.” He returned the embrace with a small laugh, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing in front of him either. “I’m sorry it’s been a year.”

“Almost a year.” Scootaloo grinned up at him. “I haven’t been kidnapped in a while, so I guess you’re off the hook.” She looked over her shoulder to see four pairs of eyes watching them with various types of smiles on their faces. “You guys enjoying the show?”

“Actually, I was just about to put corn on the grill.” Thunderlane stood up from the rocking chair and set his daughter on Cloudkicker’s back. “You’re staying for supper, right?”

“Sure!” Scootaloo pulled a letter from the bag slung over her shoulder and presented it to Rumble. “Hay, how long is your leave?”

“A couple weeks.”

“Because check this out.” Scootaloo opened the letter and sat beside Rumble, holding the letter over her head as she read. “Dear Scootaloo, Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the christening of New Cloudsdale on the last of the month. There is to be a royal banquet and dancing to follow on Prince Blueblood’s airship, the Sky’s Limit. You may bring a ‘plus one’ with your ticket.” She leaned against his chest and grinned his way. “Dancing, feasting, and Cloudsdale finally being rebuilt after all these years? Sound like a party?”

Rumble nodded, his swept-back mane bouncing like cloudstuff. “If it’s with you, Scootaloo, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Sweetie Belle danced alone in the Ideas Room of Ponyville’s Carousel Boutique, singing to herself with a song that may or may not one day grace the airwaves. She marked off a stray chord in her notebook with a glimmer of her horn, even as she pulled a roll of fabric from one of the many cupboards around the room. The ponnequin in the center of the room was bedecked in a haphazard array of cloths and colors, but she had confidence that before the due date, it would come together into a lovely party dress.

All messes, if given the proper care and attention, tended to come together in the end.

She pulled a cracker from a box with her teeth as she tromped her way through the shop. She had switched the sign out front to say “closed” today. It was a special kind of day, she had decided; one where Button Mash would be debuting his newest show. Aside from that, intriguing though it was, was that she had received a special notification in the mail that would no doubt be of particular interest to the young stallion. She set a small pair of frameless glasses onto her nose and left the dress unfinished, but not forgotten.

She trotted down the street with a spring to her step. She had a letter tucked in a small bag at her side, bearing good news. It was no doubt a sign that the hardships of the last few years were finally passed. The restoration of Cloudsdale. A reason for everyone in Equestria to celebrate.

Town Square was just ahead. She saw Scootaloo performing tricks as she rolled across the rooftops. Sweetie waved, but went unnoticed. That was fine; they would have plenty of time to spend together later.

At one end of the square, down the street from the fountain and two doors away from Sugarcube Corner, was a little café that saw regular customers during lunch hours. Button and the owner had worked together for many years now; Button would hold puppet shows to draw crowds closer to the café, and the café would give the young stallion free meals.

She frowned as the café and the small puppet stage came into view. It was the only payment Button ever received for doing his shows, and even then it hardly counted. She had asked once or twice whether he would consider charging admission, and his reply was that he didn’t think it was that kind of show. It was just for fun, he said, something for the local kids to enjoy without emptying their pockets.

Even at her distance, she could see Button and his helpers for the day—Pound and Pumpkin Cake—setting up and arranging the puppets backstage. Some shows would have more people helping out: Spike playing the piano, Dinky making sure the puppets were functioning properly, Pipsqueak providing additional vocals… but today seemed to be a smaller show. None but the stallion himself was available to perform.

She saw the café’s owner in a heated discussion with Button Mash. That was strange in and of itself. Button rarely raised his voice to anybody (who wasn’t some sort of dark god or ancient evil). As she neared, the topic came clear. They were arguing over the subject matter of Button’s most recent show, one based on what they had learned during a harrowing adventure just last year.

“I don’t see the problem!” Button said, gesturing to the puppets set up around the stage. “We’ve done dozens of shows about the changelings.”

“Button, Button! Please, listen to me!” The café owner rested his hoof on Button’s shoulder and gave it a soft shake. “Those were socially acceptable portrayals of changelings, my friend. The kids loved your recounting of the Invasion of Canterlot. With the nice special effects with the love spell and—”

Button huffed and just barely held back from gritting his teeth. “What’s your point?”

“My point is your show is about the changelings secretly being the first Bearers of the Elements of Harmony!” The owner pointed at the café and tossed his mane. “Monsieur Mash, I’d be thrown out of town for letting that show play in front of my café. And for the children? You can’t be serious.”

Sweetie decided it was finally time to intervene. “With all due respect, sir, with all the artifacts being collected in the Everfree and Felaccia recently, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this is true.”

“Yeah.” Pound finally put in his two bits, setting down a hydra marionette. He hovered on magic-powered wings, keeping himself at eye level with the adults. “I mean, if the story’s true, then you gotta tell it like it is, right?”

The café owner rubbed his eyes. “Try to understand, Pound. There are still so many people who remember the Changeling Civil War. And the Invasion of Canterlot before that. Those both happened within your lifetime.” He turned pleading eyes to Button. “It’s only been a year since the changeling attack on the Canterlot Castle—”

Button spoke quickly, his patience visibly fraying in the way his ears drooped. “The changelings weren’t attacking, they were being attacked.”

Sweetie Belle walked towards the stage, where the marionettes and set dressing were laid out. Pumpkin Cake was poking and prodding at the stars of the show: six changeling marionettes, each one distinct and detailed, hoof-carved by Button Mash himself. Sweetie paid special attention to the leader of the six; the first Bearer of the Element of Magic, River Cicada. The first queen of the Ancient Changeling Empire. The poster-child for a hero becoming a villain.

“If you want to do a show about the Elements,” the café owner said, “just make it about River again. The kids love the story about the First Bearers.”

“That’s exactly the story—!” Button threw his forelegs out and stalked away from the café owner. “Whatever! I don’t have a backup show prepared. Most of my puppets are under maintenance.” He sat down on the stage and threw his forelegs out. “I haven’t had a problem with content before today, so…”

“I’m sorry, Monsieur Mash.” The café owner bowed his head to Sweetie belatedly, then walked back towards his restaurant to prepare for the lunch rush.

“Just goes to show you, Pound,” Pumpkin said as she started stowing puppets away in a case. “Don’t get involved in arguments with adults. They don’t listen. They don’t reason. They just ‘know what they know.’”

Pound shrugged and went about the business of tearing down the stage.

“Yeah. Thanks for all your help, guys.” Button Mash rubbed the back of his neck and offered Sweetie a rueful smile. “And thank you for sticking up for me.”

“What else could I do?” she asked before giving him a peck on the cheek. “He’s being completely unfair.”

“Is he? It’s his store.” Button cast a longsuffering glance at the café. He picked up the River Cicada marionette with one hoof and turned it over in his hooves. “And I have to admit… he’s having the same reaction I did when I found out about the bearers.”

He set the marionette down on the stage and strapped a plus-shaped object to his hoof. He tilted the device, and the puppet moved to match. A faint hint of magic glowed within River’s joints as she took a few trembling steps towards the case she and her fellow bearers would be traveling in.

Sweetie Belle lowered her eyebrows as she watched the young stallion drag his dream back into the shadows. He had been far more melancholic of late, ever since their adventure in Felaccia. For all the fun they had together, for all the smiles she’d seen on his face since they’d started dating, there was still a deep-seated sadness that sank down to his bones. A touch of innocence lost, she thought, having watched his own personal hero commit atrocities the likes of which few had ever seen.

But they had overcome River Cicada together. Ahuizotl, as well. That knowledge helped her move on day by day.

“This was going to be your pallet cleanser, wasn’t it?” She watched River’s marionette climb into the suitcase, helped along by Pumpkins hoof. “Telling the thrilling tale of the heroism River had accomplished before she lost her way.”

“It’s a story that needs telling.” Button removed the puppet controller and set it in the foam lining of the case. He closed the case, clasped the latches, and set the whole thing on a cart that made up the base of his stage. “It’s a story that I need to tell, if only to remind myself that there’s more to it than the ending.”

“It’s a pretty awesome one, too!” Pound held a hoof over his chest and grinned wide. “I was gonna play the part of the Lord of the Sky, Master of the Unseelie Court.”

Pumpkin rolled her eyes at her brother. “Bro, there ain’t a voice changer deep enough in the whole country to make you sound like an ancient fairy edgelord.”

“And he still does it better than me,” Button said with a laugh.

Pumpkin covered her mouth with a hoof, but her smirk was still clearly visible. “If you wanna out yourself like that, be my guest.”

Button Mash locked the cases and the stage dressing in place on the cart. He leaned his back against one of the wheels and rubbed the back of his neck. “This is the only spot I have a permit for, sooo… I guess we all have a free afternoon.”

Pumpkin poked Pound in the side—a little more roughly than was strictly necessary. “If it’s all the same to you guys, I think we all deserve some ice cream back home, whadda ya say?”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Pound leaped into the air and spread his wings. “Sugarcube Corner ice cream, on the house.”

“Thanks, Pound. Pumpkin.” Button Mash hitched himself to his cart and gave Sweetie a small, sincere smile. “Would you care to accompany me to Sugarcube Corner for refreshments?”

“Of course I would.” Sweetie walked alongside him as they made the short trip to Sugarcube Corner. She nudged him with her shoulder and pulled the letter from her saddlebag. “Here’s something on the other side of the good news, bad news spectrum. I’ve been formally invited to the christening of New Cloudsdale, and they said to bring a plus one.”

“New Cloudsdale?” Button’s ears perked up. “They finally finished construction? The refugees are going to have a home again?”

“Exactly!” Sweetie Belle held the letter in her magical grip, holding it in front of his face so he could read it. “Princess Celestia and Twilight will be there, and they’re be food, music, dancing… And a view worth dying for. What do you think?”

He laughed as they reached the Cake Family’s bakery and sweet shop. They linked forelegs as they walked in, hoof over hoof. “I think it’s time for me to rent another tux.”

Apple Bloom shut herself away in the Apple Family Farm’s barn, huddled over a series of beakers and vials, all containing various chemicals and potions. She checked the temperature of one that she was heating over a burner, found it satisfactory, and turned down the flame. She tapped a hoof against her heavy-duty goggles, looking around for the next chemical to add to the compound.

This was perhaps the most important potion she had ever brewed. It was also therefore the most dangerous. Stories of horrific accidents and miscalculations rampaged through her head, but she quieted them with a focus only the Apple Family could truly call its own. Others would say she was bullheaded, but she knew it was just a matter of single-mindedness.

That same singlemindedness also tended to blind her to things around her. Such as the arrival of another person to the barn. She eased the next chemical into the vial and watched the reaction change its colors over and over, one after the other. It settled on an unsettling green, just a few shades off from Spike’s scales.

“Gotta say, that might be the scariest-looking potion you’ve ever brewed.”

She let out a yelp as she jumped in place. She spun around with a growl, pushing her goggles up onto her forehead. “Spike! I was like to spill somethin’ with you sneakin’ around like some kinda ninja dragon!”

The dragon in question was a handsome specimen of about twenty-two years old, just like Apple Bloom. Hard-earned and harder-won battle scars bedecked his chest and arms, but otherwise his scales glinted a brilliant purple and green in the lantern light. He crossed his arms over his chest, and the muscles beneath the scales flexed ever-so-slightly. “I waited until you put the test tube down. I’m not crazy.”

Apple Bloom grimaced. “I might just be,” she muttered to herself. She gestured to the potion and spoke in a voice Spike could actually hear. “I think it’s stable, anyhow. Your timin’ is as spot-on as ever.”

Spike narrowed his eyes at the strange brew. He scratched at his scarred forearm with a sharp claw, knocking loose a single dead, flaking scale. “Looks like that one brew I saw you making.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “The secret one, right? This numero-dos?”

Transmogrification potion. Those were the words she had buried in her notebook when no one was looking. The ability to change a creature’s form, not just in appearance, but down to its very cellular structure. To wholly unmake and remake a thing. Magic on a level even Twilight Sparkle didn’t have much knowledge in. Spike might’ve been able to help, if he wasn’t the subject of the experiment.

Apple Bloom just… wasn’t ready to explain it to him. “That’s the one. I’m not sure what’ll come of it… the last one wasn’t promisin’.”

Spike nodded and took a step closer to the workbench she used as a potion brewery. “You want me to take a look at it? I have a theoretical knowledge of potions, at least.”

She closed the notebook before he could get any closer. She shoved it away and sealed the newborn potion with a cork. “I’m done for the day. And, you know, secret.”

He nodded and walked back to the other side of the barn, where he took a seat on the cart Apple Bloom had specifically made for the Cutie Mark Crusaders: The Crusadermobile. He lifted a lunch box he had set down and jiggled it at her. “So? How’s about it? Feeling a little peckish?”

“Starvin’.” Apple Bloom shed her white lab coat and goggles, hanging them on a stall door. She made sure to wash her hooves of any trace of the strange chemicals she was using to craft her specific brand of magic. She walked over to Spike, rubbing muscles in her shoulders that had gotten sore while she hunched over her work.

She couldn’t help but smirk as she towered over the dragon, her Apple Family genes putting her height on par with Big Mac or her father, Bright Mac. “When’re you gonna get that dragon growth spurt? Ain’t proper goin’ out with a shrimp for a boyfriend.”

“Ho, ho, hee, haw, ho.” Spike managed to keep his face straight-laced, but only just so. “Don’t worry, I’m counting the days until I can carry you off in the palm of my hand.”

“Off to your hoard of gemstones.” She sat beside him with a sigh and stared into the middle-distance. “And we’ll live happily ever after.”

“Or near enough.” He opened the lunchbox and handed her a juice box. “At least, as happy as possible until we get the whole ‘interspecies’ thing worked out.”

She glanced at the potion, then tore her eyes away. It wasn’t time to bring it up. It wasn’t ready. It probably didn’t even work. She took the juice box and took a sip, steering the conversation as far away from their shared problem and its potential solutions as possible. “I’m surprised Applejack let you bring outside food onto the farm. It’s a bloomin’ miracle you weren’t swarmed with a cartload of apple pie the instant you set foot on Apple soil.”

He set a dandelion sandwich beside her and gave himself a dandelion-topaz sandwich on wheat bread. He chuckled at her perplexed expression. “Young dragons cannot live on apples alone. I suspect ponies are the same way.”

“Still didn’t answer my question.” She took a bite of her sandwich and let the wonderful flavor wash over her tongue. Spike had layered in a few apple bloom petals, just how she liked it. “She’s become an apple zealot after the elections ended last week. I half-expected her to hop down from the rafters the instant you opened the box.”

“Told her it came from City Hall,” Spike chuckled. “After that, she wanted nothin’ to do with it.”

Apple Bloom laughed at first, but it faded after a moment. She took another bite with a deep frown, one that felt at home on her face more and more recently. “That brings up another topic. With her back to work on the farm… I’m ready to leave.”

Spike bobbed his head. They’d talked about it before, but now it actually seemed real. Like something she could actually plan for and work towards. “Starting up your potion brewery and repair shop. Like you’ve wanted for a while.”

“I even got this place picked out downtown.” She hefted herself from the cart to grab a map of the City of Ponyville. She carried it back to him and pointed out a vacant storefront a block-or-so away from Town Square. It was just right for a single young pony starting out as an entrepreneur. “Saved up enough bits to buy it outright, so no debt to pay off. Just gotta move my stuff in there and let ’er rip.”

“It’s perfect, Apple Bloom!” Spike’s smile turned mischievous, bearing several razor-sharp teeth. “I can’t help but notice it’s pretty close to the library.”

“Close proximity to your abode was, in fact, a factor.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. Rather than pull away, she decided to stay right beside him. “For what it’s worth.”

The mischief fled, but his smile remained. “I told you once, and I’ll tell you again; you’re worth waiting for.”

“So are you.”

She finished her sandwich and glanced into the lunch box to see if he’d snuck in any sort of dessert. Rather than that, she saw an envelope with a royal seal. “Huh. That looks important.”

Seeing that she was done, he rapidly snarfed down the rest of his lunch. He cleared his throat and picked the letter out of the box. “Apple Bloom, it is my personal delight to invite you to—”

“—the christening of New Cloudsdale?” She laughed and leaned her cheek on a hoof. “With a royal banquet and dancing to follow on Prince Blueblood’s personal airship?”

Apple Bloom received the rare treat of seeing Spike completely speechless. It was almost as rare as her not having a million different things to say. She trotted over to where she’d hung her lab coat and pulled a letter from a bag sitting beneath it. She waved it at him, taking care to let him see the royal seal on the back. “Yeah, just got this last night. Applejack got one too, ’cept she doesn’t have a ‘plus one’ she wants to bring. Figured you might wanna try to spring this on me last minute, so good for you stayin’ ahead of the curve.”

Spike tilted his head and tucked his letter back in the box. “My days of plying you with nearly-expired tickets are behind me. I’m taking no chances these days.”

“In any case.” She placed a soft kiss on the tip of his nose and sat down beside him. “I accept your invitation.”

He looked at her letter with one lowered eyebrow. He set his gaze on Apple Bloom and she found herself unable to look away. “Kinda feels like a waste for both of us to have a plus one that doesn’t come.”

Her ears perked up. She tapped the letter against her lips. “I guess we could invite friends… probably folks who wouldn’t have the occasion normally.”

“Maybe a couple, so we’re not just entertaining our plus ones without spending time together?” Spike’s tail waved behind him as the gears in his head turned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

She patted his shoulder and bobbed her head. “I think so… Pipsqueak and Dinky?”

“Exactly!” He leaned close and whispered behind one of his claws. “Between you and me, Pip’s been looking for a chance to propose. Where better than a royal banquet?”

She snorted and lowered her muzzle to his filmy green ear. “B’tween you, me, an’ the hay bales, Dinky’s been lookin’ for a chance to propose, too.”

“Of course she has.” Spike snapped his claws and let out a chuckle. “Those two are always tripping over each other. I don’t think they’d have it any other way.”

“It’s settled, then!” Apple Bloom trotted back to the bag and secreted away her invitation. “I’ll invite Dinky, you invite Pip, an’ we watch the fireworks go off!”

Spike stood up and brushed himself off. “I take it Sweetie and Scoots are inviting their beaus, too?”

“I know Scoots is,” Apple Bloom said. “Ain’t talked with Sweetie in a bit, but we’re havin’ dinner together tonight. Thought about invitin’ the boys, but—”

“Girls night out’s important, too.” He gathered up his things and headed towards the barn’s door. “I guess I’ll see you later, then. Don’t work too hard.”

“Same to you, Spike.” She leaned her forelegs on the desk and smiled his way. “Love you.”

“I love you, too.” Spike paused with one claw on the door handle. He turned back to Apple Bloom with a small frown. “And Apple Bloom… you should talk with Applejack. About moving out. If you give her some time, she’ll come to terms with it. It won’t be as rough as you imagine.”

“I’ll take your words into consideration.” She waved him off and watched until the door had completely shut behind him. She waited a few minutes more, just in case he had forgotten something, or had something else to say.

When nothing else came, she went back to work.

She threw on her lab coat and tightened the protective goggles over her eyes. She had taken careful measure of just where Spike’s loose scale had landed on the ground. She scooped it up and cleaned it of dirt, sweat, and any other impurities. She set it on the desk, in a shallow tray. It was purple for the most part, but faded to a shade closer to gray. Still, it was unmistakably Spike’s.

Interspecies relationships had never gone smoothly, she knew. Biologically, their relationship didn’t make much sense. He was warm-blooded, but far closer to reptilian than her own mammalian. Dragons laid eggs, ponies gave birth. He ate gemstones, she was an herbivore. He could bench-press a full-sized carriage, while the most she could do was buck apples from trees. He would crush her with anything more intimate than a gentle embrace.

They couldn’t be together like they wanted to. It just wasn’t possible.

Yet.

She took the vial of green liquid and popped the cork. She held it over the dead scale, trying and failing to ignore the tremble in her hoof. She sucked in a breath, let it out halfway, and poured the concoction onto the scale. It fizzled and sparked as the magic within the scale reacted to the potion. Bubbles filled the tray, obscuring the scale from view. Apple Bloom held her breath for what seemed like hours, though mere seconds passed while the transmogrification took place.

When the reaction stopped, and the mixture became stable, all that was left of the scale was a pool of thick, green sludge. Primordial Ooze, she had decided to call it. The result of a failed transmogrification. Lifeless and worthless paste. The exact opposite of what she hoped to accomplish with her experiment.

“Rut!” She slammed a hoof on the desk. “Rut everythin’!”

She flipped through the pages of her notebook until she reached the formula for today’s failure. She marked the equation as the bunkum that it was and proceeded to flip to the next blank page. She scribbled the title of the page as fast as her lips could write.

Experiment for the Transmogrification of a Young Adult Dragon into a Pony, Attempt #32

“One of these days, Spike,” she whispered to herself. “One of these days we’ll figure it all out. I promise.”

The Indwelling

Fluttershy ached all over. She could feel loamy soil beneath her body, with dirt caking into her coat and mane. She spat earth from her mouth and attempted to blink her eyes open. Despite the darkness, a faint light gleamed from overhead and illuminated the trees that surrounded her. Stars? Was it still nighttime? It had been evening when she went to visit Merry. What happened after that?

She sat up and rubbed her face with a grimy hoof. A bruise on her fetlock made itself known. As did several other bruises across her body. She had fought. With what? Or whom? Perhaps she had merely been battered unconscious. She reached up to her ear and felt the familiar sting of a chip that had been carved into it on a particularly-rough adventure. The adventure she had taken with Discord—and the Cake Twins—to find a golden apple to keep Discord’s memory preserved. Alas, the Garden of Elysium had been destroyed by time and disuse, and the great Tree of Life had been demolished by the Unseelie Court.

So it came as a great surprise to her when she looked up into the tree and beheld a new, young, fresh, ripe golden apple.

Her neck hairs stood on end as she leaped to her hooves and trotted the short distance to the gleaming fruit. Many more could be found in the branches of the tree, as well as the trees that surrounded it. Everywhere she looked, the promise of eternal youth resounded like the rat-a-tat-tat of a marching drum. Unignorable, undeniable. She only needed one of these apples to restore Discord’s health to full, to allow him to inhabit Equestria once again, free of the fear of harming his friends or losing himself.

Her hoof paused centimeters from the apple. A shiver went up and down her spine as her stomach churned. The elation that had flared up so readily turned to apprehension in an instant. It was too easy. What had brought her to this place that held such precious treasures? Why was the life-giving fruit so abundant? When she had sought for it, fought for it, it had seemed so far away. Yet here it seemed endless.

The apple gleamed with a light of its own, inviting her to pluck it. She stared at her reflection on the golden surface. The Fluttershy who stared back looked like she had been run over by a carriage, nothing but black and blue and cuts and scrapes. Whenever she tried to remember anything after arriving at Merry’s house, her head ached with a splitting shock of fear. She decided not to touch the apple until she figured out where she was and what brought her there.

“The golden apples are the secret.”

She turned her head. The voice was deep, rumbling. Vaguely familiar, though she could not place it. She had heard it at least once in her life, and it was a very important voice. Any more than that, she could not say. She decided to go towards the voice, keeping her head low.

“They’re the secret. The key, the key, the key. All this time, they were here all along.”

Fluttershy frowned. As she grew closer, the voice became more clear. At the same time, it didn’t seem to grow any louder in her ears. In fact, if she really concentrated, swiveling her ears towards the voice, it seemed to fade. It was only when she emptied her mind of thoughts that the voice formed real words.

“It was hidden from me, yes. Hidden all this time. Golden apples, yes, golden apples from the Tree of Life…”

The churning in Fluttershy’s stomach grew more intense. She wanted to turn tail and run as far away from the voice as possible. And yet, she could not. Her legs marched as curiosity overpowered her survival instincts. A face appeared in her mind’s eye, one that the voice matched perfectly. It was a handsome stallion, black of mane and gray of coat, who wore armor of iron and whose horn was as sharp as a sword. A master of dark magic. The Slaver King Sombra.

He had been dead for nearly a decade.

She clung to a tree and eased her way around its gold-lined trunk. She hoped to stay out of sight. One eye peered into the gloom. The eye that stared back was milky white.

He was gaunt, mere skin clinging to bone. His mane was matted and thin, matching his tail. His hooves were chipped. His mouth hung open limply; when he spoke, it with jerking movements not unlike a marionette. He stared at nothing, and his rat-eaten ears did not flick at any sound. His rib cage gaped open, revealing the maw of an empty abyss.

Worst of all, Fluttershy could see through his transparent body.

“The golden apples are the secret,” he said, “the secret to alicorns. The key, the key. I will live. I will live. I will live. Golden apples are the secret.”

Fluttershy clamped a hoof over her mouth to hold back the scream and the bile. She backpedaled away as fast as she dared, keeping silent. She dared not attract his… its attention. She didn’t see the root that stood in her way, couldn’t stop herself from tumbling head-over-tail backwards.

“Twilight…” Another voice, this one younger than Sombra’s, came from just above her head. “Twilight, don’t go… Don’t leave me.”

She didn’t want to open her eyes. She wanted to shut them tight and wake from this nightmare, but she knew she couldn’t avoid it. She had to run, and running blind would lead to her death. She parted her eyelids with a start and stared upward at the pony who was speaking.

He had been a handsome young stallion, the same age as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Purple of mane, pink of coat, with a smartly-trimmed goatee and a ponytail just the right length. He had been a rising star in the political arena, a viscount to the Blueblood estate. He had also been conducting horrific experiments beneath Canterlot, attempting to become an alicorn through harvesting the fairy strings of other ponies. He had attempted to court Twilight Sparkle…

Now, all Fluttershy could see of the proud Viscount Hammer Dulcimer was a gaunt face, its teeth kicked in and a spike of crystal jutting from the side of its head. Skin hung from the stallion’s jaw as he limped through the forest on mishappen hooves, while a single malformed, skeletal wing dragged along the ground beside him.

“Twilight, I’m sorry. Twilight I love you. We can be together. Twilight stay with me. I had to do it. Please don’t leave me.”

Fluttershy rolled to her hooves and bolted through the forest, not daring to look back at the two specters she was sure were following her. Her legs felt weak and shaky, and she was sure she would vomit if she spent even a moment longer in the forest. If she so much as heard the wailing voices again. If she even thought about the wraithlike appearance of two of the most evil beings who had ever walked the earth.

She dug her hooves into the dirt to keep herself from running into a third figure. This one once had a blue coat and mane, whose air of frivolity hid a menacing, manipulative mind. Six bleeding wounds were in the mare’s chest, and her elderly features clashed with her youthful voice. Unlike the others, who walked without destination, paying her no mind, this one turned to her with a grin frozen in place for eternity.

“I watched them cut into my body on the examiner’s table,” Sonata Dusk said. “They pulled the bullets from my lungs and cast aside my shattered heart. I watched my skin turn to charcoal as they burned my body and shoveled me into an urn. And everybody was glad. Everybody was so, so glad I was finally dead!”

Fluttershy backpedaled. She wanted more than anything to launch herself skyward and flee into the night, but her wings clamped against her sides and left her shaking. She turned from the deceased Siren and scanned the woods for other escape routes. There were none.

More ghastly shadows wandered the trees, their mournful wails as varied and diverse as their species and shapes. Ponies, griffons, changelings, minotaurs…

A griffon approached her, its empty eye sockets drawing her in to a chilling, quiet emptiness. “Fire, fire, so much fire. Burning, blazing, breaking, blistering fire.”

“L—” She wanted to shout at them, to scare them away as if they were mere forest animals with out-of-control appetites. Her throat constricted as if the griffon’s talons were grasping her neck with a death grip.

“Please,” Dulcimer’s voice said behind her. “It’s so cold.”

She spun and found herself eye-to-milky-eye with the viscount. He reached a chipped hoof towards her and groaned.

“All I want… is to touch warmth again… Just one more time…” Her eyes kept drifting to the crystal spike wedged in his temporal lobe. “Just the faintest hint of life… Just once… Please help me…”

With that, something in Fluttershy’s heart twinged. That was right; whatever they were now, they were still people. What’s more, they were people who were obviously suffering. Physical damage, psychological trauma, an empty grove, no one to help… Of course they just wanted the suffering to stop. Just a touch?

If it was all she could do to ease his pain, she was willing. No matter what the consequences would be. She could fulfil this poor pony’s last request. She rooted her feet to the loamy soil and reached a hoof out to the shambling viscount.

His hoof passed right through hers, never making contact. He raised his foot to try again and received failure doubly-so. Had he breath, he would have gasped in despair. As it was, his wail echoed throughout the forest. He was soon joined in by a chorus of other voices, wordlessly calling to whomever could hear it.

Fluttershy nearly leapt out of her skin when a physical, tangible hoof grasped her shoulder and pulled her away from the growing mob of ghastly creatures. “Fluttershy! Move!”

The owner of the hoof was covered from head-to-tail in a dark green robe. She dragged Fluttershy along beside her, making a beeline through the thinnest portion of wailing faces. They both tripped over branches and roots, ignoring the glimmer of golden apples on the branches as they headed toward a new light source. She could see stallions waiting for them beyond the tree line.

Her heart sank. Memories poured into her mind. She had seen these stallions before. She had seen them when Merry had first brought her to this forest. She had tried to escape, and the stallions had pursued her. They had then proceeded to beat her unconscious and left her in the middle of the apple trees. Now, the hooded figure was leading her right back to them.

Maybe she should have taken her chances with the ghosts.

“Stand aside!” the hooded pony said, and Fluttershy’s stomach churned when she realized it was Merry. “No one is to touch her!”

She was led into a clearing in the midst of the forest. A large bonfire burned in the center, and the wood appeared to come from the golden apple trees. The fire was brilliant gold, as if it was made from liquid metal. It would be a sight to warm the heart with the light of life itself, if not for the other surroundings. The stallions stood at attention at the edge of the tree line. Their coats were pale and faded, and each one had a black hood covering their head. Each one was physically strong, but barely reacted to anything around them unless they were directly addressed.

Merry Mare removed the green hood from her head. She scowled at Fluttershy and dragged her towards a fallen log that served as a chair. “This is why you shouldn’t run off alone! These woods are full of the dead and worse.”

“I…” She wasn’t sure if she really believed what she was saying, but still felt the need to say it. “They wouldn’t have hurt me. They are frightening, but they’re scared, too.”

“It’s that very part of them that is harmful.” Merry paced in front of the bonfire, out of breath and shaking. “They speak truths mortal creatures are not prepared to hear.”

“What are you saying?” Fluttershy moved to rise, but Merry pushed her back onto the seat. “Truths? They barely remember their own name! They’re suffering, Merry.”

“That’s what death is, Fluttershy!” Merry’s cloak swirled as she turned towards the forest and its inhabitants. “That’s what separation from the body and mind does to the spirit! They can never experience, only exist. They can never eat, only hunger. They can never feel, aside from lack. They will suffer until the end of time, and then only if time has an end.”

Fluttershy gaped at Merry, tears pouring from the corners of her eyes. She stood up, and this time Merry allowed it. “No, Merry! Happy told me death was the same as birth: just a transition into the next stage of life. He and many others are safe in Dreamland, living and dancing and singing. Free and alive, the same as you or me—”

“That was a hallucination!” Merry pointed an accusatory hoof at Fluttershy’s chest. “You were in the throes of Discord’s chaos magic! Your mind was gone! You can’t trust anything you saw, because you only saw what you wanted to see! See now, see here, see what the evidence of your eyes and ears tells you! Death is loss! Death is destruction! Death is pain!” She lowered her hoof to the dirt and let her shoulders slump. Her face lost its fierceness as she drew closer to Fluttershy. She spoke softly, in her most motherly voice. “This is what Happy is going through at this very moment. This is what I want to save him from. I want to return him to life, to the happiness that is his namesake.”

She waved a hoof at the woods that surrounded them, the skin around her eyes growing tight. “Here, in the Grove of Golden Apples, we have secured as many lost souls as we could gather, to keep them out of the hands of the Seelie Court and its heartless Lord. We keep them safe and sound, until the day when death is finally defeated, and life is no longer measured in hours.”

Fluttershy lowered her ears as she took a seat on the log. She stared at the massive mindless stallions that boxed her in. She looked beyond to the forest full of wailing ghosts. Merry’s words had brought something horrible to mind; a thought so hideous that she at first rejected any hint of it. Only a few hours ago, she would never have thought Merry capable of it, but now… “You said you’re against the Seelie Court. Does that mean you’re working with the Unseelie Fae?”

Merry tilted her head down. “Fluttershy…”

“Does that mean, all this time…” Fluttershy shook her head and stared into the gilded flames. “You’ve been helping them destroy everything you say you care about?”

“Fluttershy, listen to me.” Merry sat in front of Fluttershy and pulled her cloak aside, revealing the yellow gemstone around her neck. She touched it gently, as if it were an egg that could crack at any moment. “I joined a group of individuals called the Sirens, a group of mares that has worked tirelessly throughout the ages in the pursuit of eternal life.”

“They were evil, Merry!” Fluttershy looked back at the forest and could almost pick out the callous grimace of Sonata Dusk. “Don’t you remember what they tried to do to Sunset? Even just a couple years ago! And before that, at the high school! I’ve only heard stories, but I know enough—”

“I’m not just talking about the Dazzlings. There is more to the Sirens than their mistakes.” Merry Mare cupped Fluttershy’s cheek with the side of her hoof. “You only know what you’ve been told, by Celestia and her cronies. I promise, once you see what we are building, you’ll understand that it’s all been worth it.” Merry smiled, and it was a cold, unwelcoming thing. “When Happy returns to us, you’ll finally understand.”

Fluttershy jerked her face away from Merry’s touch. Her eyes caught something beyond the fire. There was a tree on the far side of the clearing. It was titanic in proportions, as big around as a house and taller than Fluttershy could see. If she squinted, it almost seemed to scrape against the sky. Near the ground, where a pony could easily see into it, a plain mirror was embedded into the trunk. The bark around the mirror was blackened and rotted, as if the mirror was a bitter poison to the tree. Rather than reflect the firelight, the mirror swirled with gray clouds and uncertain shapes.

Out of the mirk, for a brief moment, she saw a face that was plain and unmemorable. Yet the expression scoured her very nightmares. It looked like a gray stallion, but the appearance no longer fooled Fluttershy. He smiled at her with eyes that looked ready to devour her whole.

“Jeuk…”

Merry glanced back for a moment. “Ignore him. His power here is minimal.”

“But he is welcome here.” Fluttershy set her jaw and looked Merry right in the eye. “If he is welcome, then I want nothing to do with you ever again.”

Merry shook her head, and all Fluttershy heard her say was a muted “You’ll understand.”

Pumpkin Cake sprinted underfoot as activity in the marketplace picked up. She hoped she could catch up to her target before she started working… if only because the smell was unbearable. She caught a glimpse of a distinct set of denim overalls overloaded with tools of the trade. The trade in question being “plumber.” She lit her horn and turned herself intangible, walking through a wooden cart as it rolled down the busy street.

The plumber was named Ribbon Wishes, a unicorn mare with a pink coat and curly purple mane. She trotted to work with a whistle on her lips and a spring in her step. Pumpkin matched pace with her and tapped her on the shoulder. “What’s up, Fairy, Fairy Quite Contrary?”

Pumpkin didn’t know it was possible for a mood to sour as quickly as Ribbon’s did. It was as if she had become a completely different person, the way her smile faded to a snarl and her ears laid flat against her curls. She spoke through gritted teeth. “Pumpkin. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Had a little bit of old business come up.” Pumpkin made no move to quiet her voice, speaking loud enough for people to hear, if they bothered to listen. Most didn’t. “Thought you might be in on it.”

Ribbon Wishes took a sharp right down an alleyway. She knelt beside a dumpster and bowed her head to Pumpkin’s level. She took a moment to make sure they were out of earshot. “What are you talking about?”

“Fluttershy.” Pumpkin narrowed her eyes and hunched her shoulders. “Last time something bad happened to her, you seemed to have a vested interest in it.”

“Using the ten-bit words today, are we?” Ribbon Wishes shut her eyes with a sigh. She leaned against the wall and stared at the cloudless sky. “Honestly, I figured you’d show up sooner or later.”

Pumpkin’s heart skipped a beat, but she refused to show it on her face. “So you do know what’s going on.”

“More than most, unfortunately.” Ribbon nibbled her lower lip, eyeing Pumpkin with a wary, weary look. “I’m not sure how much to tell you.”

“Everything! Or tell Princess Twilight!” Pumpkin Cake prodded the plumber in the chest. “It’s the Unseelie Court again, isn’t it? They want their revenge against Fluttershy, don’t they?”

“Yes and no…” Ribbon Wishes brushed the hoof away. She did so gently, to Pumpkin’s surprise. “I lost sight of her after Mayor Mare pushed her through the mirror portal. The princess knows this much already.”

Pumpkin rolled her eye. “So? What’s stopping you from charging right into the enemy camp, volleyguns blazing? You scared?”

“Scared?” Ribbon’s eyes flashed, and for the briefest of moments, Pumpkin could see the titanic power held beneath the facade of a plumber. Even so, her next words stood at odds with what seemed to be limitless strength. “Last time I fought against the Unseelie, just one of them, I got my tail kicked up and down the length of the Undiscovered West. The Sirens and their allies have access to an entire fortress’ worth of Dark Fae. Everyone who rebelled during the destruction of Elysium and everyone who defected afterwards. Most of the Seelie Court is holed up in Dreamland, Pumpkin Cake; defending the souls of your people. Here on terra firma, you only get three.” She lowered her head, the fire gone from her eyes and her voice. Her words crackled like dying coals. “Yes, I’m scared. And you should be, too. There is no natural way that any of us get through this unscathed.”

The expression sent a chill down Pumpkin’s spine. She stumbled a step back as if she’d been hit. The contrast between the steadfast declarations made by Button and his friends and the mournful proclamation of Ribbon Wishes tore her in two different directions. Which was right? The optimistic, or the pessimistic? Her stomach swam as she realized that they were not mutually exclusive. Some would see adventure in the comings days, while others would see disaster.

Or maybe all would see both.

Pumpkin frowned up at Ponyville’s plumber. “So what do we do?”

“Nothing.” Ribbon Wishes clicked her tongue at Pumpkin’s nasty look. “Alright, not nothing, but there’s nothing we can do for Fluttershy right this second. Keep the people around you safe. Keep yourself wary. Don’t go into the darkness alone. Just… trust me that Fluttershy is alive.”

“Do you know that for sure?” Pumpkin narrowed her eyes and flicked her tail imperiously. Or as imperiously as a blank-flanked little filly could. “Do you really know she’s still alive?”

“I do.” Ribbon Wishes stood up and looked to the sky. The sun was still rising, but even so, it seemed like the plumber could see through the blinding light to the twinkling stars beyond. Seeing things as they were, not as they appeared. “I am the Seelie Court’s psychopomp. Some of your kind might call me a death god, or a grim reaper… I know everyone who dies; I feel it in my very core. My job is to carry those departed souls to safety in Dreamland.” She furrowed her brow as her ears lowered. “But only if the souls allow me to. Only if they are willing to go.”

Pumpkin jerked her head back. “Why wouldn’t they be willing? What’s the alternative?”

“If they do not trust a Seelie fairy, why would they go? But if Fluttershy did not trust me, she would have trusted Happy.” For the first time since the conversation started, Ribbon’s voice was clear and certain, unfettered by doubt. “If she had died, I would have guided her soul to Dreamland myself. And none of the Unseelie Fae would have been able to stop me.”

Still, the doubt returned, stronger than ever. Ribbon hunched over and prowled her way down the alley, leaving Pumpkin behind before the questions could continue. She vanished as if into thin air, though Pumpkin suspected she had merely ducked into a doorway once she reached the house where she was going to be working. Pumpkin stared after her for a good long while, unsure of how she should process the odd interaction with the disguised fairy.

“Only three,” she had said, which to Pumpkin’s mind said there were two other Seelie fairies in hiding around town. Or, she thought with a shudder, only three in the whole of Equestria. That meant in order to combat the Unseelie Fae, other methods besides divine intervention were going to be required. Divinity would be in play, for sure, but no small amount of blood, sweat, and tears would be spilt along the road.

Still, she remembered the last time she’d encountered an Unseelie fairy; Jeuk, one of the most devious. While Ribbon’s encounter with him had ended with her being beaten to a pulp, Pumpkin’s encounter had ended with the evil fairy defeated, his teeth knocked out by Pound Cake, and his sinister self suspended in the empty Abyss by Discord’s magic. The Unseelie Fae could be defeated. With or without good fairies.

At least, they could be harassed. Jeuk was just one of an entire army of the freaks…

Pumpkin decided she had too much to think about and not a whole lot she could do about any of it. She decided to do some research into the Wishes family. If Ribbon Wishes had parents, or siblings, or even cousins, they were most likely not of this world. She headed for the mayor’s office, intent on getting as deep into paperwork as she could before she was either kicked out or arrested.

Fluttershy had grown to realize that night in the Grove of Golden Apples was no different from day. They were deep underground, in a hollowed-out mountain, where the only light came from the glistening bark of the trees themselves. The golden apple trees were granted nutrition from a vast network of tunnels burrowed into the mountaintop, which collected rainwater and seeded the soil with minerals. Since no sunlight could be found down below, the roots of the trees clawed upwards through the stone until they reached the surface. Then, as if the trees were built upside down, the roots feasted on the sunlight and pulled it into the vast cavern. That was what lent the cavern roof its glittering, almost starlit quality. Various tunnels in the mountain also sucked air from outside to allow the leaves to feast on the life-giving wind.

The entire mountain had been carved and chiseled in order to create the perfect environment for the golden apple trees to thrive. It was not unlike a gemstone being carved to channel magic, if the thought about it.

She sat on the same felled log, in front of the same bonfire, several hours after Merry had simultaneously rescued and kidnapped her. It was the dead of night now, when even the nocturnal animals were loath to make their way through the moonless darkness. She might have needed sleep, but the constant shrieks and moans of the ghosts kept her from lying down. And yet, more chilling than that were the flitting shadows that lurked in the woods, which even the phantoms shied away from. Whenever one of them stopped long enough for Fluttershy to get a glimpse, she could only see glowing eyes that gleamed with hate. Glimmering teeth that gnashed with glee. Gnarled claws that grasped to be bathed in crimson.

The Grove of Golden Apples teemed with Unseelie Fae. Perhaps, Fluttershy thought, this was the very seat of its court.

A clatter of hooves and armor heralded the arrival of several dozen ponies. Many were the black-hooded servants of the Sirens, but most seemed to be normal ponies. Ponies with personalities and lives and laughter on their lips. There was a tremor of excitement in the air, and talks of a coming battle with a certain victory. Fluttershy winced when she heard one of them talk about Princess Celestia as “the heartless wench” who would “get what was coming to her.”

At the lead of the procession was Silver Spoon, who wore a green cloak, silver-rimmed glasses, and a blue gemstone necklace. She gestured to one side, and a small group of three ponies, a displacer beast and a—oh, was it a fourth pony? It had looked strange for a moment—took a seat close to the largest apple tree, within throwing distance of the diseased mirror.

The displacer beast she recognized as one of those arrested following Jeuk’s attack on Las Pegasus. The fourth pony was one of Merry’s friends, who had been arrested when he’d been discovered to be a cannibalistic wight in disguise. She didn’t really recognize either of the two other stallion, one young and the other older than Fluttershy. The single mare among them, however, looked familiar in a way Fluttershy couldn’t place.

At the rear of the procession of chattering ponies, an old mare with a graying orange mane hunched her way through the orchard, sending glances at the woods and frowning deeper with every ghost she spied. She moved through the clearing to stand in front of the mirror, and was quickly joined by both Merry Mare and Silver Spoon. The three of them faced the crowd, who quieted down after a moment’s murmur.

Two full-length mirrors were also brought into the clearing. These appeared to be two-way enchanted mirrors, projecting a picture across the world so that both parties could see each other. In one, Fluttershy could see a griffon male with a beak made of metal. Rivers of darker color flowed through the silvery material, which Fluttershy knew the griffons called Wootz. The griffon narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the clearing, and cawed out in the griffon tongue. Fluttershy couldn’t understand more than a few words Rainbow Dash had taught her.

“Krevatch! Vreen chakii karaw shreet!”

Fluttershy blushed. The first word was a very vulgar cuss, not one to make in polite society. “Chakii” meant “return,” so maybe the Sirens had taken too long for his taste to begin the meeting.

The second mirror had a handsome-looking stallion. He was not a pony, but a pale-blue Arabian Horse, whose stature would make him seem like a giant even compared to Celestia herself. A glistening gold crown sat on his head, and his short, squared-off beard was clasped with gem-studded bands. “We must be polite, Lord Gildwing. We are in the house of our Equestrian allies, and so we should speak Equestrian, no?”

Lord Gildwing glared across the grove, as well as several miles from Felaccia to Saddle Arabia, and growled at the Arabian Stallion. “Pony… word thick. Beak make sound not! Silence Alazṓn!”

“Gentle creatures,” Merry Mare said with a low, even voice, “must we squabble on the eve of our triumph?” With a pointed look at the griffon, she added, “Perhaps Lord Aquilla Gildwing would prefer the use of a translator?”

“He understands Equestrian well enough,” the old Siren said with a sneer. “He’s just being butthurt. Ain’t that right buddy?”

Aquila’s answering expression reminded Fluttershy of a pot boiling over. Silver Spoon snickered.

Before anyone else could speak, either to smooth things over or rile them up, the mirror behind the Sirens groaned. The swirling clouds parted, revealing their depths to be filled with countless glowing eyes, of every color of the rainbow and more besides. At the forefront was the very fairy who Fluttershy most feared; Princeling Jeuk. He removed his black boater hat with a flourish. “Friends of the Unseelie Court, how please I am to see you all gathered here. And making such good company.” He sent a pointed look at Aquilla, who ruffled his feathers and looked away. “Amusing. Most very amusing.” He gestured to the old Siren and gave her an expectant smile. “You have the device ready, Adagio.” It was a question phrased as a command.

Fluttershy’s eye widened. Adagio Dazzle? Who Twilight had been working tirelessly with in order to combat the Sirens? Twilight at the least had through she left her villainous ways behind, but all the while she was merely a spy?

Adagio’s sour expression hadn’t changed. She reached into the folds of her cloak, past the red gemstone hung about her neck. She produced another gemstone, one that had been polished to an impossible degree. Even at her distance, Fluttershy could still see everyone’s faces reflected on its many surfaces.

“I’ve spent the last few years studying the mirror portals found around the world.” She hefted the large stone aloft and made sure everybody got a good look at it. “From the ancient portals in the Beefland Barrows, to the natural mirror pools in Equestria, to Starswirl’s own magical devices. This gem is the secret to visiting other worlds, other realities, other planes of existence. Just as one could step through a mirror to the Grove of Golden Apples, soon we shall be able to step into other phases of life. The realm of dreams—” at this, the Grove chorused with boos and jeers. “—and the depths of the forsaken Abyss!”

The cheer rose, but it did not seem cheerful to Fluttershy’s ears. It was the shout of fairies and rabble rousers, intent to bring harm to those around them. The triumph of darkness over light. The glee of violence made manifest.

Adagio turned towards the diseased mirror and frowned at Jeuk’s smiling face. “Though free travel has not been achieved, tonight, we have the power to break down the barrier just long enough to set these prisoners free, for the first time since River Cicada banished them two-thousand years ago!”

She sang out a low note. Merry Mare added a midrange to the chord. Silver Spoon lent her high-pitched voice. The three of them continued on this single note, growing in volume, until the very grove seemed to tremble with power. The gem in Adagio’s hoof glowed with power, sucking in ambient magic from around it, sparking with electric energy.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the diseased mirror. Jeuk took a step back and became one of the faceless army that awaited freedom. Magic poured from the cracks, and the giant apple tree groaned in pain. The faint light above flickered as the sunlight was stolen from the trees and pressed into the depths of the Abyss. The laughter of the Unseelie Court and the cries of fear among the ghosts rose in intensity alongside the Sirens’ unbroken chord. A hideous tearing sound rent across the clearing as the glass surface of the mirror collapsed in on itself, leaving a gaping hole in reality.

Wind rushed into the emptiness. The bonfire crackled as its flames were pulled towards the Abyss, nearly burning Merry before she was able to leap out of the way. The Sirens’ chord stopped, but the gemstone itself hummed louder and louder as the spell neared completion. Shadows burst from the gap in the air, pouring themselves from the metaphysical to the tangible. Ghastly shades, some like Jeuk, some like Windigos, some like the nightmares that haunted her dreams, all free from their confines and ready to wreak havoc across Equestria and beyond.

The flames parted, and Jeuk stood in their midst, his gray, colorless eyes focused entirely on Fluttershy.

The hum faded. The portal vanished. The mirror had shattered, and its fragments were strewn across the clearing. All that remained of it was the dark patch in the core of the great golden apple tree’s trunk, which looked even more like an uncured wound.

Merry looked around at the army of fairies, her evident confusion growing by the moment. She looked to Jeuk with an accusing glare. “Jeuk! You said the Master would be freed! Where is he? What lies have you spun this time?”

“I… don’t… lie.” Jeuk smiled at her, though it was not a friendly smile. It was the smile of a large animal about to slaughter a smaller one. “Silence, Merry, and you may learn something.”

“Our patience wears thin, Princeling…” A cloud of smoke surrounded the clearing, and a hideous snakelike fairy formed from the mist. He hissed at Jeuk with a trail of smoke approximating a tongue. “If the Master was not freed, our plans shall lie unfulfilled.”

A windigo descended from above the trees, snowflakes trailing in her wake. “The Master was the only one who could move the sun and moon. You would make a poor replacement, Major Domo Jeuk.”

Jeuk smiled at the cloud. “Princeling Bête Noire.” He turned to the windigo. “Princeling Bean Sidhe.” He grinned at Fluttetrshy. “Honored guest, Lady Fluttershy… listen to my tale.”

Fluttershy found herself surrounded by shadows, clawing and scraping at her. She pulled her wings close to her sides and huddled down, hoping against hope that the pain might be over soon.

Jeuk spread his forelegs and spoke loudly, so that all in the Grove could hear. “Two-thousand years ago, the fairies of the Unseelie Court were imprisoned in the Abyss with the power of the Elements of Harmony! Six individuals, six vile changelings, joined together to liberate the Sapients who had escaped the slaughter of Elysium. They lead the people to the creation of a vast empire, where power was great and corruption festered. Soon their queen, River Cicada, turned to slavery and brutality to keep her subjects in line. She used the power of the Elements of Harmony to craft wicked instruments, tools designed to harvest hearts and power her cities. She grew jealous of any who stood apart from her, and feared an uprising. She destroyed the Elements of Harmony to keep them out of the hands of her enemies… and killed the Tree of Harmony!”

Merry Mare sat beside Fluttershy and put a hoof on her shoulder. Fluttershy’s stomach lurched, and she tried to pull away. Realizing there was nowhere to go, she settled for turning her head away from her former friend and the fairy both. She caught Adagio Dazzle hunched over on the other side of the clearing, her ears lowered, not reacting to anything Jeuk was saying. She looked as though she was in mourning—but why? She had accomplished all this for her cause…

Fluttershy winced; Adagio was an ancient mare, perhaps she had lived through Jeuk’s story personally.

“The destruction of the hated Tree allowed some of our number to escape!” Jeuk pointed at those who had been outside the mirror when the meeting started. “You princelings and you peons! You who have shaped the course of history! And you were not alone.” Jeuk patted his chest, spinning to look each individual in the eye. “A sampling of the Master’s power also escaped. A small portion, no stronger than Princeling Shadowfright, or Bean Sidhe. Just enough… Just so close to enough…” He gestured dismissively at Bête Noire with a limp hoof. “If the princelings knew their Master was in such a weakened state, they might try to usurp him, but he didn’t need to rule them. Not when they were so willing to do as their nature deigned.”

Bête Noire’s mouth fell open, and his eyes darted around the clearing. He had the look of someone who had grasped at great treasure, only to find it nothing more than a mirage. He hissed at Jeuk and lowered his head, skulking away into the darkness, until he blended in with the shadows inhabited by ghosts.

Jeuk turned to look over his shoulder, his gray eyes finding Fluttershy. “And thanks to you Fluttershy… thanks to Pumpkin and Pound and Discord… I was reunited with the core of my power. And thanks to Merry and Adagio and Silver, I am released into the world that scorned… my… wisdom.”

His eyes shifted from colorless gray to glistening, greedy green. His snout grew longer, fangs sprouting from the gums. Feathery wings unfurled from his back as his hooves split into razor-sharp talons. A shadow fell over the clearing even deeper than the Unseelie themselves, as though the fire itself was afraid to outshine the Master of the Unseelie Court. He grasped the fire with his talons, and the fur across his body soaked it in, blazing with a light that brought no warmth. The horns that sprouted from his head curled cruelly towards Fluttershy.

The Lord of the Sky, the Master of the Unseelie Court of Fae, the King of Fairies, Ba’al Zebub, Jeuk himself, stood tall before the assembly, a fiery bull with vast, black-feathered wings and greedy green eyes. “Rejoice! Rejoice now that your Master has returned!”

Strange words pulled from a different time and place echoed across the Grove of Golden Apples as the Unseelie Court cheered. The princelings all offered perfunctory cheers, but the rank and file just seemed glad that their victory was nigh. The ponies who had followed the Sirens looked confused, but joined in with stomping hooves as they looked to their leaders for clarification. Merry had no answer for them, and ignored them wholesale as she stared at Jeuk with wide, uncertain eyes. Adagio herself didn’t move, either to cheer or to deride. Silver Spoon, though, joined wholeheartedly, her cheers overpowering even the most gleeful fairy.

Fluttershy snuck a peak at the communication mirrors, and saw Alazṓn and Aquila Gildwing exchange a glance, neither letting their true feelings show.

“Fluttershy!”

The noise vanished. All eyes fell upon the yellow pegasus from Ponyville. She rose from the stump and backpedaled until she bumped against the chest of a hooded pony. Jeuk pointed to her with a curled talon and beckoned her forward.

“You have a gift from the Unseelie Court.”

Fluttershy shut her eyes tight. She wanted to deny him. To say he tricked her. To say she never wanted it in the first place. But those were lies. She had accepted, and gratefully. She had taken the Unseelie Court’s gift and used it on one of her closest friends. She had stolen Discord’s chaos magic. She had tried to help him, but the cost was a far greater one than Discord was willing to pay.

“The Rainbow of Darkness,” Jeuk said softly through his clenched fangs. “The power to eat the magic of others. With which draconequui were slaughtered. With which Tirek nearly devoured the world. With which you tried and failed to save your friend.” He knelt down and looked her in the eye. “How most very amusing that adventure was, hm?”

Fluttershy huddled against the ground. “What do you want from me?”

“Be at peace, Daughter of the Sky.” Jeuk spoke gently and soothingly, though both sentiments were blistering lies. “I see now that you are unfit to wield this power. I merely wish to pass it to someone more… willing.” He raised a talon and pointed to the fourth pony who had come in with Silver. “Scuttlebutt, come here.”

Scuttlebutt, the wight that had once been Merry’s friend, and who now seemed to Fluttershy to have always been a minion of the Unseelie, strode forward with pride beaming from his face. He shapeshifted into his natural form, that of a white-skinned, black-eyed creature more comfortable in a swamp than a city. He grinned with his fish-like teeth at Fluttershy as his clammy head bobbed close. “Wights have elastic bodies, you see. I might even be able to hold more power than Tirek, if I have the Rainbow of Darkness.” He laughed at Merry, who looked at him with an expression like stone. “To think! You thought me garbage, when I am clearly key to King Jeuk’s whole plan!” He looked up with reverence at the massive fairy, clasping his clawed paws together in a prayer-like stance. “Isn’t that right, Master? It’s finally time for me to take my place at your side!”

Jeuk smiled at the wight. “You see, the power I possess is great, but the power I seek can only be used by mortals. The ability to raise the sun and moon comes at the cost of flesh and bone.” He laughed in the back of his throat. “Go on, take the Rainbow of Darkness!”

Scuttlebutt cackled as he opened his mouth wide. Jeuk gestured, and suddenly the squirming in Fluttershy’s stomach became a turbulent maelstrom. She clamped her jaw tight, but she was not strong enough to fight the will of the Master. The Rainbow of Darkness, with its colors of purple and black, and glimmering flecks of blue and green, poured from her mouth in great waves. She vomited the dark magic up, every last bit of it, until her body was spent and exhausted. Just as it leaped from her body, it pushed its way violently into Scuttlebutt’s mouth, until the wight was knocked off his own feet. He squirmed and writhed on the ground, tears pouring from his eyes as slime leaked from his ear holes.

When it was done, though Fluttershy was overwhelmed with fear and pain, her heart felt lighter. The Rainbow of Darkness was no longer within her, agonizing her with its sheer existence. No longer darkening her every hour with questions of how to get rid of it, or whether she could possibly use it for good. It was just gone, far away as she could possibly get it. She covered her eyes as tears spilled, she felt selfish for being relieved in these circumstances.

Scuttlebutt scrambled to his feet, sucking in greedy gulps of air. He tottered, his balance failing him a dozen times in a row. He giggled to himself, rubbing his belly as though preparing himself for a feast. “Yes, yes I can feel it! I can feel it waiting, yearning for magic! My power lies ready to be increased, Master!”

Jeuk shrunk before their eyes, his body reforming into the unassuming pony Fluttershy once knew him as. Still, his eyes shone a piercing green that left her sick to her stomach and caused an itching sensation to spread across her wings. “Then the task before you is simple, Scuttlebutt… devour me.”

Scuttlebutt’s face immediately turned downward. “Master? I don’t understand.”

“I told you. The power to move the sun and moon was stolen from the fairies. It is the task of flesh and bone now. Of mortals.” He leaned close, and goosebumps appeared on Scuttlebutt’s pasty skin. “I have the power, but not the ability. You have the ability, but not the power. Understand now?”

Scuttlebutt shivered from the top of his head to the tip of his short tail. “I… I am not sure I can contain your power without destroying myself, Master Jeuk.”

“If you cannot,” Jeuk said matter-of-factly, “you are useless to me.”

Scuttlebutt nodded quickly, and in the next moment opened his mouth wide. The Rainbow of Darkness seeped out, trailing along the floor towards the Unseelie Lord. It touched his hoof, and a spark flashed, bright enough to blind all who had physical eyes. A good number of the fairies flinched as well, as such light was unfamiliar to those made of shadow.

Fluttershy’s ears rang, and after a moment, she realized it was because Scuttlebutt’s screams were just that loud.

The magic of the Unseelie fairy was so unlike Discord’s. When she had eaten Chaos Magic, she had been overwhelmed with intimate knowledge of the world around her. Sights, smells, sensations; she could feel the very molecules of the air scraping against her skin. When Scuttlebutt soaked up Jeuk, on the other hand, she saw nothing in his eyes but pain. Itching, gnawing, biting, searing, shrieking pain. It was as if the wight was being pulled apart from the inside, growing and snapping as his elastic limbs struggled to reform themselves.

And then, when it seemed he was about to burst, Jeuk ripped Scuttlebutt out of his own body. The ghost scrambled in Jeuk’s grip, writhing and weeping. His translucent limbs grasped for his body, but slipped through unhindered. Jeuk’s fairy form was well equipped to grasp the ghastly spirit and fling it across the clearing, into the depths of the army of Unseelie. The fairies cheered and jeered as they grasped at the ghost, clawing at it, laughing at it, pulling it apart and sticking it back together.

Despite the weariness in her body, Fluttershy leaped after Scuttlebutt’s spirit. She dove into the morass of fairies and drove them away with beating wings, screeching at them. “Leave him alone! Go away! Leave him be!”

Merry grasped Fluttershy’s tail and dragged her out of the melee. “Leave it, Fluttershy! He deserves worse than that!”

“He’s in pain!” Fluttershy wept aloud as she dug her hooves into the loam. “Don’t hurt him anymore! Don’t hurt any of them!”

She was thrown to the ground at the feet of Scuttlebutt’s physical form. The skin was no longer clammy, but had been reshaped to resemble a pony’s coat. His naked body had a gray coloring, and his mane and tail were a stark black. His green eyes peered at her with something resembling sheer childlike mischief, like a colt crushing an anthill, or a little filly dunking her doll’s head in paint.

“The only way to grasp the sun and moon is to take on flesh and bone,” Jeuk said, and for the first time that night, she could hear his voice with her ears rather than her heart. “To gain ultimate power, I needed to become mortal. Amusing. Most very, very amusing.”

His face was handsome, though she hated herself for thinking it. His voice was bold and charismatic. The shaky laughter and his terrible facial expressions were the only things that connected the newborn Sapient to either his plain, unassuming fairy form, or the hulking winged bull she had seen a moment before. Jeuk turned to his Court and thrust a hoof into the air. “I am the first fairy given breath! This is no mere cloak of the skinthief, nor illusion of the nightmares. I hunger! I feel! I age! I am mortal in truth and fairy in truth!” Wide, wild eyes, drunk with power, bored into the souls of his minions. “Unseelie Court, bow before your king!”

The Unseelie fairies paid homage to their Master, while Scuttlebutt’s ghost fled into the darkness of the Grove of Golden Apples.

“And now, my people!” While still addressing his fairies, Jeuk turned to the Sirens. “We will come to the aid of the Sapients who facilitated this very evening! Their hour of darkest struggle approaches, and the new dawn will change their world for the better!”

Merry set her jaw and strode forward. Fluttershy made a grasp for her ankle, but she hadn’t the strength to halt her former friend. Adagio slunked towards the mortal fairy, while Silver Spoon was already by his side. He looped his forelegs over Adagio’s and Silver’s shoulders and held them close. Adagio looked as if she were ready to vomit at his touch, while Silver Spoon flushed bright red.

“These mares,” Jeuk declared, “are the new Queens of Equestria! Mayor Merry Mare shall step into the gap left by Princess Celestia, leading your nation onward to freedom and prosperity free from the alicorns’ stifling, smothering rule!”

The ponies who had arrived with Adagio and Silver let loose an uproarious victory yell, clapping each other on the back for a job well done, even if it was slightly premature. Silver Spoon blew kisses to the crowd, while Merry waved a gentle hoof. Adagio ducked beneath Jeuk’s foreleg and sank into the shadows.

Jeuk moved beside the magic mirror connected to Felaccia. “Behold, the new King of Felaccia, Lord of all Griffons! Aquila Gildwing! He who will reunite Griffonstone with the motherland! He who will conquer the flatlands of Girraffrica! He who will finally heal the sour relations between Felaccia and its neighbor Equestria!”

If Aquila’s beak had not been forged from Wootz, his smile would have been more defined. As it was, to Fluttershy’s eye, it seemed as if a sword had been given breath and speech, yet still only knew how to hew limbs. Andean was scary, but Aquila… Aquila had none of the Griffon King’s gentler side.

Jeuk then moved to the other mirror, the one displaying the Arabian Stallion. “Behold, the Sultan of the Sandidry Desert! Conqueror of the lands of Saddle Arabia. King of the new Babologna Empire! Alazṓn Half-Djinn!”

The proud stallion bowed at the neck to the mortal fairy. “Lord Jeuk, Amira’s peace of weakness has been completely cleansed from the lands. My army of one-hundred-thousand stallions await your beck and call. We need only King Aquila’s word of safe passage through Felaccia.”

“Safe passage you have,” Aquila Gildwing growled, “when Felaccia I rule!”

Jeuk patted Silver Spoon’s back as he walked past her. He gave the gathered fairies a sharp look and shouted into the darkness. “Shadowfright, come before me!”

A fairy descended from the branches of the trees, appearing as a large bird, raven-like in appearance. He folded his wings and bowed before his Master.

Jeuk smiled at the fairy. He reached out and mimed as if to cup Shadowfright’s chin. “Ah. Shadowfright. Once my second-in-command. How are you?”

Shadowfright chanced a single peek upward. “Humbled by the beauty of your return, Lord of the Sky.”

“Well enough said.” Jeuk lowered his hoof and his voice. “You were the one who failed to destroy Princess Luna, were you not?”

Shadowfright shivered, pulling his wings around himself. “My Lord Jeuk, I and many others sought to corrupt her, pitting her in battle against her sister. Their war was brief, but most legendary—”

“Celestia won, but did not destroy Luna.” Jeuk smirked at the visibly-bigger, yet seemingly-smaller fairy. “You failed once.”

Shadowfright swallowed, but said no more.

“When Nightmare Moon returned, you plotted the destruction of all Equestria.” Jeuk chuckled, a stuttering facsimile of real laughter. “You facilitated Twilight Sparkle and her friends reactivating the Elements of Harmony. You failed a second time.”

Shadowfright began to look for an escape route, but Fluttershy knew he was as much a prisoner as she was.

“You tried to corrupt the new bearers, starting with Nightmare Rarity.” Jeuk guffawed and glanced around at the other fairies. “What happened, my people? Do you know?”

Shadowfright opened his beak wide to caw out. “I’ll not fail you again, Master!”

“Of course you won’t.” Jeuk pointed his hoof to Aquila’s mirror. “You are to go to Felaccia to aid Lord Aquila in whatever he desires. While he slays the royal family, your job is to kill Luna.” He snapped his teeth, and Shadowfright flinched. “If not, you shall join Scuttlebutt among the ghosts of the grove. Understood?”

“Yes, my Lord…” came the weak response.

“Succeed, and you shall once again reign as a Princeling of the Unseelie Court.” Jeuk chuckled and walked away from the shivering nightmare. “I am a fair king, after all.”

He nestled himself in the scarred pit on the greatest golden apple tree, treating it like a throne. He gazed at Merry expectantly, until she hopped into action.

“You all have your assigned duties!” she shouted to the ponies gathered around her. “The night of the ball draws close. The night of our victory draws close.” She raised a hoof. “To life everlasting!”

“To life everlasting!” the crowd replied.

Silver Spoon thrust a hoof into the air, her blue gemstone glimmering with the magic she poured into it. “Youth for the wise!”

“Youth for the wise!”

Silver continued, sowing the mind-altering magic of the Sirens into their army. “Strength for the young!”

“Strength for the young!”

Fluttershy covered her ears as the cheer continued, stabbing her already weary brain to even greater migraines. Her prayers that it would all be over soon went unanswered. Her prayers of rescue never even left her lips.

Silver Spoon led a procession through the grove of golden apples, joined by both the entranced crowd and the hooded stallions. “Freedom for Equestria!”

“Freedom for Equestria!”

A hoof touched Fluttershy’s shoulder, and she flinched away. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see not Merry Mare, but Adagio Dazzle. “Hi. I’m Adagio. You probably know me as that one monster who fought Twilight on the other side of the mirror. Sorry.”

Fluttershy shuffled away. “What do you want from me?”

“For now, to keep you alive.” Adagio Dazzle sent a shifty glance towards Jeuk, who had sunken into conversation with his Princelings and Merry. “After that, I don’t think either of us knows for sure.” She reached a wrinkled hoof to Fluttershy and hoisted her up, deceptively strong for her age. “Come on, we can at least get you cleaned up and fed. Nobody sleeps much in the Grove these days.”

“‘These days?’” Fluttershy watched as the ghosts faded into the shadows, leaving the horrific festivities for their endless days of sorrow. “When was this place ever restful?”

“A little over two-thousand years ago,” Adagio whispered, half to herself. “When I planted it.”