Foals Of Liberty

Chapters

Tactical Espionage Operations
Ground Zero
What Makes A Mare

Tactical Espionage Operations

1002 AB, ONE YEAR PRIOR TO FORMATION OF G.S.

A stunning sunset descended onto the magical land of Equestria, bathing its citizens in beatiful rays of blood-red light. The evening streets of Equestria's Shining Diamond were bustling with life, crowds of annoying tourists taking unnecessarily long to get 'a perfect picture' of every building of one of the oldest cities in the country, pairs of lovebird ponies too enthralled with eachother bumping into exhausted nine-to-five workers, the latter too tired to cause a scene, resorting to mumbling obsceneties under their breath in the best case scenarios, or growling at the apologetic pairs in worst cases.

A wooden cart caught the attention of passerby's as it moved through the middle of the street, a giant two-story cake towering over all who saw it. Despite the intimidating size and an equally cumbersome weight of the cargo, the pony towing it seemed commited to the action with an unusually positive attitude, hopping forward, ignoring the yoke attached to her withers.

Her bubbly demeanor seemed contagious, spreading like wildfire to everypony she passed. To any outside observer, the pink-coated mare with an extravagant mane style seemed awfully chipper, unbothered by anything in the whole wide world. Even those who knew Pinkie Pie personally would think nothing was out of the ordinary, the earth pony being her usual hyperactive self.

It's not widely known, but beside her talent for party organizing, Pinkie had another talent.

She was terrific at keeping up appearances.

Under her bubbly demeanor, Pinkie was a veritable bundle of nerves, a coiled spring, ready to come to life at any moment.

Some might say it was business as usual.

"Twilight, remind me again why do we have to hide you?" Pinkie asked, applying pressure to a small crystal attached to her left ear. "Nopony's going to get suspiscious just because you walked into the castle, you know?" A few seconds passed before Pinkie heard an irritated groan form her earpiece.

"First things first, no names over the channel, Muffin." Pinkie giggled at the silly codename, much to Twilight chargin'. "Secondly, I don't want anypony to know I was in Canterlot today, nevermind the castle." Twilight said, turning from one side to the other, trying to get into a somewhat comfortable position. "Celestia's private archive is no joke, heads will roll after today, I guarantee you that."

"If you say so..." Pinkie trailed off as she approached the castle gates, a pair of snow white unicorn guards greeting her with unwavering stoicism. She stood wtill in front of the closed gates, just as the guards crossed their spears, preventing her from entering.

"State your business with the crown." One of the guards said while Pinkie was busy awing at the golden grace of the Castle. She shook her head, turning to look at the guards, suddenly realizing she didn't know which one of them asked the question. A solution popped into her head almost instantly.

"I'm delivering the Princess' monthly order!" She chirped, looking dead ahead, ignoring both of the guards. "I've got all the goodies here in the cart! A XXXL-sized chocolate cake with vanilla whipped cream and frosting, a three months worth of calorie intake for an average pony in strawberry eclairs, enough cupcakes of all shapes and sizes to feed an orphanage for a year-" Her excited explanation was cut abruptly by a guard shoving his hoof into her mouth.

"We got it, you're free to enter." the guard said, retracting his spear and opening the gate. He slowly removed the hoof from her mouth, squinting at her all the while. He sighed with relief when Pinkie remained silent. "In the future, please refrain from telling what you're delivering to ponies outside the guard." Pinkie raised an eyebrow as she moved through the open gate. "Princess' orders. " The guard muttered, sighing inwardly as he heard Pinkie giggle.

After distancing herself from the two guards, and making sure there were no new ones around her, she pressured the crystal in her left ear. "We're past the palace entrance, get ready for infiltration." She waited for a few seconds, growing hesitant when no reply came. "Sunrise, do you copy?"

Contagious giggling carried through the crystal reached Pinkie's ears, prompting her to giggle herself. "Heard you loud and clear, Muffin." Twilight coughed into her hoof stifling a giggle. "Never thought Celestia to be self-conscious, is all."

"Self conscious? What's there to be self conscious about?" Pinkie replied, rubbing her chin. "I eat tons of sweets, and I've got nothing to be self conscious about!"

"That's because you're an enigma, Pinkie. How come all those pastries go into just the right places?" Twilight thought to herself, her cheeks reddening, before shaking her head. "Nevermind, focus on getting into the castle. Over and out."

Pinkie proceeded towards the large castle doors, her hops turned into careful trots. As she approached the castle entrance, the doors opened, inviting her to enter. Just as she entered, a pair of guards approached her one of them pulling a cart, stopping her from going deeper into the castle. Pinkie smiled as a unicorn guard levitated the pastries into his companion's cart, a bead of sweat rolling down his brow as he strained to pick the massive cake up.

The unicorn grunted, releasing his hold on the two-floor pastry, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He nodded towards the exit, before turning away, muttering something about excessive consumption of sweets. The earth pony towing the cart turned too, making his way deeper into the castle with his companion.

Pinkie trotted out the castle, stopping after passing the gates to cast one final glance at Canterlot castle.

"Good luck, Twilight." She whispered.

Twilight suppressed a yelp as everything around her shook, her elaborate hiding place hitting a hard surface with a quiet thud. The unicorn strained her hearing, catching a disgruntled muttering from outside her hiding place, one that grew more distant as time went on. She waited a good ten minutes after the sound of conversation disappeared, nodding to herself when she was sure there was no sounds coming from the outside.

Pushing her hooves against the side of the pitch-black hidden compartment, she exerted herself until she heard a soft click. She opened the sliding door, daylight shining into the crammed confines she currently found herself in, blinding the pony momentarily. Twilight carefully crawled out of the base of the cake, taking extra care not to touch the actual cake, stepping onto the table.

She looked around the lavish room, golden walls and marble floors accompanied by red oak wooden tables filled to the brim with all kinds of pastries leaving her with little to no questions regarding her position. "I'm in the banquet room, that means the archives are on the other side of the castle." Twilight thought to herself, her hooves clopping against the marble floor as she approached the exit door. Still, the sound was muffled to a noticable extent, all thanks to the tight black body-suit she was wearing. "Never thought I'd wear this again..."

The door opened without a squeak, no doubt due to the hard work of maintanance ponies, and Twilight stuck her head out, looking around for any guards. She was fortunate enough to find the way clear of any unwelcome patrols as she stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"Muffin, infiltration successful, I'm just outside the banquet room. I need directions, do you copy?" Twilight said, pressuring the crystal in her ear while on a lookout for any passing guards.

"Good to hear!" Pinkie chirped through the earpiece a little to loudly, making Twilight wince. "Take the right corridor, and at the end of it take a left. Then, move forward until you bump into Canterlot Archives, Princess' private section is somewhere inside." Pinkie reported as Twilight began sneaking down the hall, following her instructions. "Can't say exactly where her section is, since it's not on the map, but looking for any walled off part of the archives is probably a good guess." She continued, just as Twilight rounded the corner.

"Probably should start with the 'history' section, we're after the truth, not some fancy new spell like last time." Twilight responded, peeking around a corner, only to see it suspisciously clear.

"Usually I'd aggree with you, Sunny, but I've been thinking: If you had a private section of the archives, would you bother categorizing them by 'type' of data, and then put them in an alphabetical order? Or would you stash it all in one place, since you know you're the only one who'll ever use them?" Pinkie argued, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Forget that 'you' part, think about somepony else, alright? Knowing you, you'd actually do something like that."

Twilight ignored that last part, approaching another corner. A sign reading CANTERLOT ARCHIVES hung on a nearby wall, pointing in the direction she was going, suggesting she was on a right path. She peeked the corner, finding it once again clear of any guards. She frowned, not liking how empty this part of the castle was.

"Muffin, you got any idea where the guards went? I've seen almost no guards up to this point, excluding those that delivered the cake." Twilight asked, creeping through the hall.

"Princess is on an diplomatic visit in Minos, most of the guard went with her. The rest are probably on a shift change, it's about time for that." Pinkie argued, just as Twilight approached the doors to the Canterlot Archives . "Don't you remember? We chose this day to sneak in because of her absense."

Twilight stood in front of the golden double doors, hesitant to enter. "I know, I know. It's still weird that I encountered no guards whatsoever on this floor."

"So you're telling me you've got a bad feeling about this?" Pinkie asked.

"You can say that again." Twilight said with a snort.

"So you're telling me you've got a bad feeling about this?" Pinkie repeated, causing Twilight to shake her head.

"I'm going in, I'll keep the chatter to a minimum, just in case."

Twilight opened the door, looking in to check for any witnesses, quickly spotting a snoozing librarian slumped over in her chair. Carefully tiphoofing past the pony, staying vigilant to spot any other visitors, she failed to notice a bookshelf in front of her, hitting it with her muzzle with a startled yelp.

Twilight scampered to hide behind said shelf when she heard a gasp from behind her, followed by a yawn. She waited with baited breath for what felt like eternity, allowing her to relax only when the snoring resumed. She slowly reared her head, only to find that the librarian was asleep once again, albeit in a different pose.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight looked around, noticing a sign hanging from the ceiling, a number of arrows pointing in different directions, titled 'spells', 'history', 'fantasy' e.t.c. She followed the arrows, finding arrays of shelves corresponding with the title, all except a single cabinet that stood right next to the wall, noticably missing any sort of lighting, as if trying to stay inconspicuous.

Twilight approached the shelf, carefully examining the books. She squinted, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she noticed a book that had no writing on it's spine. "This has to be it!" Twilight thought, her horn lighting up with a strawberry aura, grabbing the book and tugging at it.

The book jutted forward with a soft click, before sliding back into place as soon as Twilight's grip on it faded. With a quiet grinding noise, the bookshelf slid to the side, revealing an upward staircase, leading deeper into the archives. "Jackpot!" Twilight grinned, walking up the stairs and into a giant open room.

Rows upon rows of bookshelves, divided seemingly by centuries, stretched deeper into the room, and seemingly into infinity. Twilight's heart ran a mile a minute as she looked over the signs bolted onto the shelves. "'700 A.B., 800 A.B., 900 A.B.' ... Faust almighty, how far back do these go?" She salivated as her gaze fell upon a sign reading '100 B.B.'"No! Focus on the mission, Twilight!" She shook her head, forcing her gaze away from the sign, and walking towards the shelf that said '900 A.B.'.

Even restricted to a single century, the sheer size of knowledge in front of her made Twilight gulp in both fear and awe. As she walked, passing rows of bookshelves full of biege folders, all the while searching for a sign with a letter 'M', she couldn't help but wonder why would Celestia hide all this. She stopped when she arrived at the coveted 'M' sign, scanning the nearby shelves for her target, proceeding to slowly move forward when she found none.

"Mak, Mal, Mam... Aha! Man!" Twilight though triumphantly, levitating the corresponding folder closer to herself. Opening the folder, she flipped through the documents, stopping on a familiar headline.

MANEHATTAN INCIDENT, 18.08.972

"This has to be it." Twilight thought, pressuring the crytstal in her ear. "Muffin, found what we've been looking for. Let's see what all this is about." She said, preparing to read what she's found aloud.

"18/08/972

6:40 A series of explosions rocked the Manehattan power plant, leaving the city in the dark, inducing a mass-panic among the populace.

6:45 Emergency generators shut down in Manehattan branch of 'Sun's Right Hoof' R&D department, leaving it unable to communicate with the Head Office or request for backup.

6:50 A distress signal, originating from without the R&D department is sent on a frequency reserved for emergencies.

6:51 The signal reaches HQ, but is cut off before its exact location could be pinpointed.

7:00 SRH strike squad arrived on the scene, tasked with investigating the incident.

7:40 Colonel Steelhooves, reports extensive damage to the facility's equipment, as well as zero survivors among personnel. No research regarding 'Manehattan Project' was found.

7:45 Contact is lost with SRH strike squad as an explosion originating from inside the SRH R&D building destroys its upper levels.

8:00 Colonel Steelhooves exits the SRH R&D building, reporting his squadmates KIA.

8:05 Emergency services arrive on the scene.

AFTERMATH

Any and all data regarding the 'Manehattan Project' is considered lost, likely stolen by a rival SOF. Power plant explosions were blamed on an unexpected power surge. The destruction of the upper floors of 'Manehattan National Institute', a front to the SRH R&D department in the city, was blamed on pony factor, citing incorrect handling of equipment as cause.

Further investigation, coupled with Colonel Steelhooves' report, suggested the attack was premeditated and executed with the help of a sleeper agent. A number of bodies were left undiscovered, suggesting successful exfiltration of enemy agent/agents.

Following the incident, a wave of resignations washed over the unit, including Colonel Steelhooves leaving his position as the head of the regular army, citing personal reasons for the action. His loss was negligible in the public eye, considering 'Pax Equestria' project required his resignation regardless of his choice.

His resignation from SRH was unexpected, and although he has not yet leaked any sensitive information, further attempts at recruitment were met with considerable animosity, suggesting trauma caused by the incident.

Current living address is 497, North Parker Drive, further recruitment attempts are ill-advised."

Twilight stared at the document in her hooves wide-eyed, her mouth dry as a desert. How? How could this be true? An incident of this scale, and she's never heard of it? That's impossible, at least it should've been. And what on Equus is a SOF? She's pretty sure she never heard the word, yet whoever wrote this report definently knew what they were talking about. Just as she was about to search for a 'S' sign, a buzz in her earpiece caught her attention.

"Twilight! I don't know what you did, but the whole city is bustling with activity!" Pinkie frantically explained, the tone of her voice harsh enough for Twilight to ignore her name slip-up. "Guards from all over Canterlot are converging around the castle, you have to get out of there ASAP!" Twilight hesitated, debating for a moment whether or not to take the folder with her.

As if sensing her hesitation, Pinkie spoke once again."I wrote down all that you said, leave what you found there and scram!" Pinkie's unusually authoratative voice commanded, just as Twilight heard the clopping of a myriad of hooves coming from the entrance, forcing her to hide behind a nearby array of bookshelves.

"Whoever is here, come out and you won't be harmed!" A gruff male voice commanded, prompting Twilight to hold her breath. "There's no use hiding, we've sealed off the only exit, you can't escape!" He finished, pausing for a few moments to wait for a responce. "As you wish." He said with a sigh, before clearing his throat. "The perpetrator refuses to cooperate, issuing a kill on sight order." He waited for a moment, before continuing in an aggrivated voice. "What are you waiting for, Celestia's orders? Start searching, idiots!"

"Sir. yes. sir!" A dozen of voices said in unison, followed by a cavalcade of hooves clopping against hard marble floor. Twilight's breaths quickened, as her mind raced to find a way to escape the situation. She pressured the earpiece, a thought coming to the forefront of her mind.

"Muffin, where are you right now?" She asked, her voice slightly wavering.

"I'm at the train station, the last train for Ponyville's about to depart!" Pinkie said, worry clear in her voice.

"Reserve a seat for me, I'm coming with you." Twilight replied, focusing energy through her horn.

"So fast?! You can't make it here from all the way from the castle in time! Unless..." Pinkie trailed off, considering Twilight's options.

"Unless I teleport." Twilight finished, beads of sweat rolling down her face as she concentrated on her spell.

"But you can't! The Princess will be alerted if anypony teleports within the castle!" Pinkie protested, hesitant to let her friend take such a risk.

"Would that matter? She's on the other side of the world, and I'll be out of Canterlot before she knows what happened." Twilight argued, magic circulating into her horn. "I'll be exhausted, but it beats being dead." She held her breath just as the guard was rounding the corner.

A violent flash of purple light blinded the guard as Twilight disappeared from her hiding place, leaving the Canterlot Archives behind. Twilight shut her eyes as scenery flashed around her, from castle hallways to busy streets, and, finally, a train wagon.

She collapsed to her knees as soon as her hooves hit the wooden floor, gasping for air as Pinkie rushed to her side, laying a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight!" She squealed, both in happiness and worry. "Are you alright?" She continued in a lower tone of voice, as Twilight winced at the high-pitched sound.

"I'm alive, Pinkie." Twilight replied, trying to rub her headache away. "I almost wish I wasn't, though." She finished, the Canterlot train station growing smaller and smaller behind her as the train barreled towards Ponyville.

Ground Zero

The increasingly urban scenery passed through Twilight's vision as she stared blankly at the setting sun. Five story buildings soon changed into towering skyscrapers, which did little to soothe the unicorn's worries, neither looking even the slightest bit familiar. Her head still ached, despite the 24 hour grace period she allowed herself before departing once more, much to Pinkie's chargin.

She rubbed her forehead, trying to get the party mare's pleas out of her head. "You can't go, Twilight, you're spreading yourself too thin!" She scoffed at the memory. "I know it's important, but you have to rest, wait a few days at least!" She sighed deeply, closing her eyes. "No, Pinkie, you don't know how important this is." She argued against the memory. "Those guards were ready to kill me, just so the knowledge doesen't get out." Twilight shivered, both at the harsh word and at the memory. "I have to get to the bottom of this now."

She put her head against the glass, hoping the cold would soothe her aching mind. To her dismay, and shameful surprise, the constant rattling of the wagon only worsened the pain, prompting the mare to growl in responce and settle with reclining into her seat. This was too important to wait on, nothing she and the girls faced before could compare. Both Nightmare Moon and Discord were overt in their methods, while whoever's behind this is anything but.

To hide an incident of such magnitude one has to have ties to the government, perhaps to Celestia herself. And that name, 'Sun's Right Hoof'... Twilight didn't need to have a 'Pinkie Sense' to consider Celestia as a prime suspect. But that opened another can of worms, one named 'motives'. Why? Why would the Princess, she who rules the most prosperous nation in the world, she who could solve problems with a clop of her hoof, hide something like this? To hide the fact that Equestria still had a regular army? If the world was not ready for peace, why propagate it?

Twilight lurched forward as the train stopped, barely managing to stop herself from flying headfirst into the wagon wall. She winced as a mare's voice rang out through the loudspeaker, announcing their stop. "Grand Central... It's quite a walk from here, just what I need to wake up." Twilight stepped out of the relatively warm cofmort of her train cart, and into the downright suffocating atmosphere of Grand Central Terminal. Pushing through a sea of hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands of ponies, Twilight realised why she preferred Ponyvile to more populated towns.

Finally reaching the exit, she practically flew out of the station, and into the streets beyond. The smell of ozone and wet asphalt filled her nostrils as she took a deep breath, a nostalgic feeling seeping into her mind. It wasn't her first visit to the Big Apple, but it was her first conscious one. From what Shining told her, they went on a family vacation to Manehattan during a particularly nasty monsoon when she was but a foal, and despite not remembering much from the trip, petrichor never failed to induce nostalgia in the mare.

She felt her headache recede, allowing the mare a moment of respite, one she spent by reaching for an umbrella. Her magic flared, sending a jolt of pain through Twilight's cranium as her saddlebags were opened by a purple aura, fishing out a dark-blue umbrella with a constellation pattern printed on top of it. Deciding not to tempt fate, she grabbed the umbrella with her right hoof, expending a bit of magic to open it, before moving forward on at a slower pace.

Uncomfortably crowded streets passed Twilight at a lesiurly pace, halting now and then to either ask for directions or check the street signs to make sure she was moving in the right direction. As she passed the increasingly dressed ponies of Manehattan she once again reminded herself why she tended to avoid larger cities, her shut-in nature aside.

Almost every pony she passed looked glum or tired, every third one reeking of cigarette smoke. From mares to stallions, businessponies to nine-to-five workers, each and every looked like they were in constant hurry, frienzidly chasing some distant traget that never seemed any closer, no matter how hard they strived.

"Alright, that last part was a bit of a stretch." Twilight argued, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a passing stallion, who proceeded to damn her and her grandchildren to Tartarus. "But ponies here seem less... approachable, than those in Ponyville." She mused, dodging a splash of water from a nearby carriage passing through a puddle of water. A number of ponies were less lucky than her, looking ready to kill and thoroughly soaked. "I wonder why."

She stopped before an alleway, checking the streetsign and pleasantly noting that she arrived at her destination. Stepping into the dark alley, all the while carefully avoiding the muddy puddles accumilating around the imperfections in the pavement, she found herself acutely aware of every clop of her hooves. Silently cursing herself for praying to Celestia of all ponies, she nevertheless prayed that nopony followed her into the alley, deciding to abandon her grudges with the alicorn for but a moment.

Twilight emerged from the darkness of an alley into the dimly-lit, below-average five-story apartment complex. Plaster was crumbling in more than a couple of parts of the building's facade, revealing red bricks that made the building underneath. The yellow plastic windowframes mingled with dark-brown wooden ones, green moss accompanying the slowly decaying foundations of the building.

Twilight approached the open entrance to the building, finding its doors stacked against the wall, a few meters away from where they were supposed to be. Stepping into an area one could call a foyer, if they squinted enough, that is, she found herself struggling to find the words to discribe the place.

Empty bottles litterred the floors, with piles of assorted garbage stashed in the corners of the foyer. Twilight's muzzle scrunched up in responce to the foul smell that assaulted her senses, it reminded her of that one time Fluttershy was out of town for a week, and Rainbow, who agreed to look after her cottage for the time being, forgot that it needed to be cleaned on an almost daily basis due to all the animals that live there. To top it all off, the foyer was lit by a single, periodically blinking lightbulb, which was barely capable of lighting the area.

A memory of a certain white-coated fashionista surfaced in Twilight's mind, and she suddenly knew what to call the foyer. 'Decrepid' was the first adjective that came to mind, followed closely by 'ugly as sin' and 'utterly unsanitary'. Pushing through her growing desire to add her breakfast to the pile of garbage in the corner, she made her way up the rickety staircase and onto the fourth floor.

Slowly trotting down the hall she once again noted the overall run-down state of building. She stopped at the end of the hallway, and right before the brown wooden door with a 497 sign drilled into it.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Twilight took a deep breath and knocked. Seconds passed as she recieved no responce, deciding to repeat the action. "Mr. Steelhooves?" She asked, knocking a tad more insistently on the door. "I'd like to talk, if you have a minute." She waited some more, a frown growing on her face when she recieved no answer. She repeated her rapping a little firmer this time, raising her voice just a smidge. "Mr. Steelhooves, I won't take much of your time, can you please answer the door?"

A creak signified the door opening, just not the one she wanted. A door next to her opened, and a very deshiveled-looking mare poked her head out, her bloodshot eyes zeroing in on Twilight with a less than pleased look. "Quit yah yammerin', some of us are tryina sleep hea'!" The mare said with a miffed expression.

"Sleeping? At 3PM?" Twilight retorted, incredulous.

"Ain't none of your business when I sleep!" The mare harrumped, irritated. "You're not going to find Steelhooves here anyway." She muttered to herself, but loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"Why? Does he not live here anymore?" Twilight said in worry. "This is my only lead, I can't lose it!"

"You might as well say so." The mare said in an indignant tone. "I've barely seen him since I moved in here." She grumbled, scratching her nose. "Last time I did, he was getting back from that little cafe down the street..." She trailed off, suppressing a yawn. The mare began closing the door, but her attempt was rendered useless by a purple aura holding the door open.

"Can you tell me where it is?" Twilight asked, trying not to wince from the combination of the pain flaring in her head, and a withering look the mare was giving her. "Please? I'll get out of your mane, I promise!"

"Out of the alley and to the left, 'Les Patriotes', you can't miss it." She said curtly, slamming the door in Twilight's face as soon as the latter's magic aura faded.

"Thanks." Twilight mumbled with as much arcasm as she could muster, turning away and moving to trot down the stairs. "Here's hoping he's actually there, otherwise I'll have to wait for him in these apartments." The though made a shiver go down her spine as she stepped into the dark alley. Her ear swiveled as she heard something disturb a puddle of water, and she suddenly felt uneasy. She gulped as she heard hoofsteps approach from behind her, a hoof resting on her withers.

"What's a pretty mare like you doing in this part of town?" A sultry voice of a young stallion whispered in her ear, prompting her to jump forward, away from him, with an audible 'eep'. She turned, and saw a golden short-maned stallion with a fiery red coat. His yellow, half-lidded eyes bore into her with a hungry intent. "How about we ditch this alley, and go to my place?" He said, slowly walking closer, causing Twilight to backpedal. "I'll show you a good time~" He whispered, a bead of sweat running down Twilight's face.

"I-I think I'll pass." Twilight said, her voice wavering despite her best attempts to sound confident. "I've got places to be." Twilight felt a sense of dread wash over her as she bumped her croup into something, and then felt a hoof rest upon it. She turned her head and saw another stallion, with a green coat and light-green mane giving her a viscious glare and a smirk.

"Oh, my friend and I insist." The first stallion said, approaching her slowly, a predatory grin on his face. "I'm afraid you have no say in this~" He said, just as Twilight felt the green stallion's hoof grip her croup. Her heart raced a mile a minute, as she concentrated the magic on her horn, discharging a burst of concentrated magic into the pony in front of her.

Before the stallion could react, a purple blast of concentrated magic hit him in the chest, sending hif flying into the wall behind him. The stallion impacted the wall with a meaty thud, a piece of plaster crumbling from the wall, showering him in small pieces of it. Twilight turned 180 degrees, ready to unleash a second bolt, only to see a peculear scene.

The green stallion was currently held in a sort of chokehold, a front leg bent at the knee, held the stallion's neck in a viscious grip, disallowing any movement. A second leg was currently pressuring the back of the green stallion's neck, effectively disabling him. His front legs made desperate attempts to reach his attacker, each attempt growing more feeble than the last, until they gave out, and the stallion dropped to the pavement, head-first into a muddy puddle.

"Be careful, this part of town's full of scum." Her savior said in a gruff voice, stepping into the light. A ashen-coated stallion leisurely trotted past Twilight, his chestnut brown mane combed into a small ponytail, white streaks of hair being a little over half of his mane, a rather sizable pair of khaki saddlebags strapped to his barrel. Twilight squinted, watching the stallion closely as he stopped to inspect the golden-maned predator. He held his grey hoof against the red coat of his neck, before nodding and turning towards the mare.

"You got him good, he'll be out for some time." He gave her a commendable nod, before turning towards the building's entrance. "Enough for you to get far away from here, anyway." He finished, moving towards the building, Twilight following in tow. Just as Twilight entered the foyer, the stallion crained his head, raising an eyebrow at her. "You wanted something? I need no thanks, if that's your intention." He said in a flat voice.

Twilight chewed on her lower lip, nervous under his expecting gaze. She sighed inwardly, before speaking up. "I wanted to thank you, Mr. Steelhooves," The stallion's ear twitched a little, the gesture discrete enough to be written off as reaction to a gust of wind. "but that's not why I'm here." She said, carefully picking her words.

"Well, I may not know why you're here, but I know that you're mistaken." He said, trotting towards the stairs. "I'm afraid I'm not who you're looking for." He said, preparing to take the first step up the staircase.

"I don't think so, Colonel." He froze in place, his hoof hovering just over the first step, causing a wave of exhilaration run through Twilight. "I think I've found just the pony I was looking for." His head hung low as he adressed Twilight.

"Only one group still calls me that," He cast an evaluating gaze at the mare, and judging by his expression, Twilight was found wanting. "and you're not one of them." He raised his head, taking a deep breath. "Follow me, we'll talk in a more... secure location." She followed him up the stairs and down the corridor, the pair finally stopping in front of a familiar door.

Steelhooves opened a small zipper on his saddlebags, retrieving a key and opening the door. He entered the apartment, hitting a switch on his way in, a lightbulb springing to life, illuminating the humble abode.

A decent-looking sofa was the centerpiece of the room, a glass table accompanying it. Kitchen was merged with the room, taking up the entire northern wall, biege wallpaper abruptly ending at one point, replaced by similarly colored tiles. Steelhooves dropped his saddlebags on the kitchen counter, picked something from inside the saddlebags and moved towards the middle of the room, sitting on the sofa.

Twilight followed in his stead, sitting besides him on a sofa, noting the surprisingly clean state of the room. "Could've been a lot worse." Her wandering gaze fell upon the stallion, and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable under his piercing look.

"You're not here to kill me, we wouldn't be having this conversaiton otherwise," He began, his tone conveying no emotion. "yet you're among the few that know my rank. Her Highness is nothing but diligent, which is why your knowledge surprises me." A sound resembling a snort eminated from his throat. "Leave it to Her Highness' prized student to know what she isn't supposed to." Twilight's eyes went wide as dinnerplates, and it was a small miracle her jaw didn't hit the floor right there and then. A satisfied smile graced the stallion's lips as he stuck opened a file folder. "Twilight Sparkle, born 12.02.982 to a family of three. Accepted into 'Celestia's School of Gifted Unicorns' in 989, went on to become her most prized student..." He read off the file in an academical manner. "...And the most promising candidate for Project Harmony."

"H-how do you..." Twilight began, but was cut off by the sound Steelhooves' voice.

"Fulfilled the initial requirements for the project in year 1000, allowed to proceed further. Your friends too, have played their part excellently." He continued matter of factly, ignoring Twilight's confused mumblings. "You've had a bright future ahead of you, Ms.Sparkle." He said, squinting at her. "So I wonder:" He leaned into her just a bit, making the mare back off. "Why forfeit it?" He asked, genuine interest in his voice.

Twilight focused her attention on the stallion, who had an almost pleading look in his eyes. "This is the reason." She said, pointing at the file. "The fact that my entire life, the lifes of my friends were curated, monitored..." She shook her head. "It's not right, and I can't live with myself if I don't do something about it." Her voice was full of determination as she spoke into his eyes.

"Do something?" He said haughtly, putting the file on a coffee table. "You think you can actually do something? Do you even know who you're up against?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's another reason why I'm here." She confessed with a sigh. "I need information to act, and after Canterlot - you are my only lead."

"Canterlot?" Steelhooves parroted, a surprised expression on his face. "You're the one who broke into Celestia's Archives?" He said incredulously, recieving a nod in reply. "Faust above, no wonder they kept it hush-hush..." He said, rubbing his forehead.

"Hush hush?" Twilighed asked, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"

"I may be in retirement, but I've got a few friend in the guard. Point is, the Capital's on lockdown since yesterday, nopony's allowed in our out. Furthermore, they've silenced the local newspapers from talking about the incident, so there's no chance of the public ever knowing about what happened. My assumption was that the intruder got caught, but now..." He gave Twilight an appraising smile. "You're not bad, for somepony with no military training." Before Twilight could reply, the smile disappeared from his face. "Still, you need something more than beginner's luck to turn the odds in your favor." He flipped through the papers in his file. "You wanted information, is that right?"

"Yes. What happened during the Manehattan Incident? What's an SOF? Who are SHR? Was Equestria involved in what happened in Saddle Arabia?" She said, looking intently at the stallion.

"Coup d'état..." Steelhooves muttered, shaking his head. "Sun's Right Hoof was a Special Operations Force, the most capable military unit in all of Equestria." He said, his features darkening. "Emphasis on was."

6:58, 18.08.972 MANEHATTAN ISLAND, MANEHATTAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE

Wind rushed all around the sky-colored chariot as it soared through the sky, flanked by two others. The dark blue hues of the sky melded well with a wall of black smoke that billowed from some far-off point past the city. Despite the worrying amount of bituminous smog that was about to stain the soon-to-be sunset, the citizens of Manehattan usually wouldn't bat an eye about such trivial things.

But today was far from usual.

"A city that never sleeps, eh?" A gruff voice barked in a stallion's ear, elbowing his armored side. "Let's see how they like some mandatory nap-time!" The voice chuckled at his own joke, looking over the pitch-black city.

"Don't think they will, Mac." Steelhooves replied, squinting as he noticed groups of ponies running blindly through the streets, tiny lights peppered through the crowds. Steelhooves frowned when he noticed one group standing around a large pile of assorted debris in the middle of the street. A blink of light was all it took for the pile to erupt into flames, sending those that stood too close running aflame. "Don't think they will..." He said, turning to his comrade.

A tall and bulky bipedal figure met Steelhooves' gaze, sharp, blue eyes looking into his own. Black and blue custom-made armor with a nig red cross on its chestplate fit snugly around his body, leaving only his black furred wolf-like muzzle exposed. "Boss?" Mac said, securing a helmet strap under his chin. "Something's wrong?"

"Pre-Op jitters, nothing serious." Steelhooves replied, once again looking down at the city. A five-story explosion rocked the streets below as the chariots flew over the building, prompting the stallion to clutch the chariot's railing.

"Holy shit!" A feminine voice exclaimed over the radio, making the stallion wince at the sudden noise. "Did you see that, Boss? Haven't seen that big of an explosion since the Siege of Griffonstone... What could've caused that?" The chariots passed the brightly burning streets, getting closer to their target.

"Nothing magical, that's for sure." A stallion's voice replied, full of concern. "There's no magical residue, nor any leftover spell matrix... Whatever it was, it wasn't magic."

"Emma, Nova, keep the chatter to a minimum, both of you, communications are being recorded, as per SOP." Steelhooves said sternly. "On another note, this looked worse than anything I've remember from Griffonstone." He twisted the crystal in his right ear before speaking. "Central, any advice?"

"Negative. No intel regarding the situation is availible as of now, you will be notified as new information is discovered." An even feminine voice replied, making Steelhooves groan inwardly. "As per usual, it seems." He thought somewhat bitterly.

"Easyglider arriving at LZ, prepare for dropoff." Steelhooves heard from over the radio, as well as from the pegasus driving his chariot. The chariot lowered itself just enough for the soldier to jump down onto the roof of a tall building, before turning around and flying off. "Good luck out there, Boss."

"Firefly reports dropoff complete, happy hunting." The voice cut through the static as another chariot deployed a pair of soldiers.

"Delivery complete, Fairweather out. " The third and final chariot flew by the building's roof, before turning away.

"Boss!" An armor-clad white unicorn stallion approached Steelhooves with a snow-white griffon by his side, the two saluting. "Chimera Squad's assembled and ready to follow your orders!" Her reported, standing by his commander's side with a nod.

"We are to investigate the top three floors, check for any survivors and evacuate them if possible. However, your priority is with finding documentation pertaning to the 'Manehattane Project'. Tartarus knows what it is, but you better grab any documentation that seems important. " Steelhooves said as the squad stood in front of a roof entrance door. "Emma, Nova, you take the western wing, Mac and I will take the eastern one." He said to his squad members. "Keep your eyes peeled, we're probably not alone here."

The squad walked through the door and down the stairs, moving slowly and carefully. They stopped in front of an ajar door, a large 5 painted in white over the nearby wall. Steelhooves motioned his squadmates to gather around it, Mac standing to the left of the entrance, Nova standing just behind him. The earth pony stood right to the entrance, Emma standing just behind him, ready to bust through the door on command.

Steelhooves readied a wrist-mounted crossbow, nodding towards the door while looking at Mac. The diamond dog nodded, taking a couple of tentative sniffs, closing his eyes. "There's definently casualties and fire damage... but no hostiles yet." He replied after a couple of seconds.

"Damn it." Steelhooves said, before pressuring the crystal in his ear. "Central, get some medical over here, likely burn wounds." He set his right hoof on the ground, slowly walking through the door, his squad following close behind.

"Copy that, dispatching medical detail." The impasionate voice reported over the radio as the squad entered a long corridor. Emma an Nova took to the left, while Mac and Steelhooves took to the right, both duos walking slowly through the empty floor. As they went further, a strong metallic smell, accompanied by the smell of burning meat, which made the stallion scrunch her muzzle.

The smell became stronger as they approached a corner, pausing a little and listening intently before rounding it. Red blinking lights illuminated the dim space of the corridor, grey walls singed to black or stained with crimson providing a rather eerie atmosphere to the place. It paled in comparison, however, to the black quadruped corpses strewn along the length of the corridor, some of them still burning, trailing black smoke to the ceiling.

"Faust Almighty..." Steelhooves muttered, kneeling down beside one of the corpses, prodding it with his hoof. A chunk black matter fell off, revealing more charred flesh on the inside. He rose to his hooves, motioning Mac to follow him. "Central, ten bodies on the top floor, all with severe burns on them, send the cleanup team on an empty stomach." He walked around the corpses, coming closer to the closed double doors.

"Roger. Attempt to identify the bodies, we need a comprehensive list of casualties." The voice replied evenly over the radio.

"Negative. The bodies are too damaged, all I can say is that they were ponies." He said, stepping into a breaching position with Mac beside the door.

"Affirmative, continue with your mission."

Steelhooves nodded towards the door while looking at Mac, the diamond dog taking a few tantative sniffs. "More burnt meat, more burning in general." He said after a few seconds. "Be careful, the fire might still be burning."

Steelhooves nudged at the door, finding it closed shut. "Locked... We'll need to breach." He said, unlatching a magical explosives from one of his straps, priming it. He attached it to the door, taking a few steps back. "Clear the way!" He yelled, Mac stepping away too, covering his ears. A loud explosion reverberated through the corridor as the door exploded into splinters.

"Boss, you heard that?!" Emma questioned along the radio. "There was an explosion coming from your wing, are you alright?"

"We had to breach a door, nothing to worry about." Steelhooves replied, peeking into the room, squinting in an attempt to see through the dust. "What's your status?"

"No corpses yet, thank Faust, but we've reached a barricaded door, we'll have to breach." She reported, the sounds of commotion and strain apparent in the background.

"Roger that, report if you find anything." Steelhooves said, before stepping through the precipice, entering the room. Hot air washed over him as he stepped through some kind of laboratory, the same burning smell entering his nostrils, albeit stronger this time. His gaze went over the half-burnt paper thrown haphazardly onto the floor, and straight towards a large pile of charred bodies in the corner of the room.

"Fuckin' hell..." Mac murmured, standing beside the stallion. "Haven't seen something this bad since the civil war..." The diamond dog said, staring blankly at the burning pile.

"Central," Steelhooves said in a steely voice, tearing his gaze away from the pile, rummaging through the documents on the floor. "there's a pile of corpses in the eastern wing laboratory, can't ID any of them." He cast a glance at the burning pile, noticing Mac was sniffing around the room at the moment. "Don't think there are any survivors, though."

"Copy that. Forget about survivors, focus on recovering the documents."

"Central!" Steelhooves said, anger in his voice. "There's still a chance of surviving personell deeper in the building, we can't just leave them-"

"Your priority is recovering the documents, any attempts at rescue should be made only if it does not interfere with with your mission." The voice replied sternly yet evenly.

"Roger that." Steelhooves practically growled into the radio. A four-fingered paw lowered onto his shoulder, grabbing his attention as he turned to look at Mac, a worried look on his face.

"Boss, something's wrong." He said, guiding the stallion to hide behind a desk able. "There are familiar smells here, but that's impossible, since we're the only squad that's been sent to investigate." He said, looking around the room, searching for any movement.

"You're saying there are other SRH members here?" Steelhooves asked, confused.

"Can't say for certain, the smell's muddied by all the burning..." He replied, squnting at a particularly dark corner of the room.

"BOSS, WE HAVE CONTACT!" Emma's erratic voice cut through the silence of the room, followed by shouts and explosions. "THEY'RE TRYING TO BURN US TO A CRISP!" She yelled, the crackle of fire apparent in the background.

Mac's eyes went wide as dinnerplates and he ducked just in time to avoid a stream of fire that singed the top of his helmet. The duo ran from their hideout as it caught on fire, hiding behind another desk. Mac peeked from behind the table, quickly ducking after another stream of fire hit the desk, the two still feeling the heat from behind their cover.

"Three of them, two aiming at us, one guarding the exit." Steelhooves peeked the room for a seconf, confirming his buddy's assesment. "They look heavily armored, aim for the head. You take the left one, I'll take the right." Mac said, grabbing his crossbow from his belt. "Go on three. One, two, three!"

The two of them peeked from the cover, each aiming for the only open part of their enemy's body, the face. Two sharp whips sent the bolts flying towards their targets, penetrating theirs skulls with meaty cracks. The two ponies fell to the floor like puppets with their strings cut, and before the third pony could react, Steelhooves rushed her.

The armor-clad mare was just able to rise the barrel of the device strapped to her side, when it was batted away by Steelhooves' hoof, the stallion delivering prescise strikes to her forelegs, causing her to stumble to the floor, giving the stallion a chance to grab her in a chokehold.

"Central, we're attacked, send reinforcements!" He yelled into the radio, getting no responce. "Central?" Nothing. "Central!" He growled as the line remained silent, switching his attention to the mare in his hold. "You, speak up, what's your unit!" He said, putting the sharp point of his crossbow bolt towards the mare's throat, who squirmed in an attempt to get away. "ANSWER ME!" He yelled at her, causing her to wince.

Mac squatted near the mare, sniffing her intently. He frowned, looking morosely at Steelhooves. "Now I know what that smell was. It's the same one we've at out unit's barracks..." He trailed off, Steelhooves's eyes going wide as dinner plates as he processed the information. "It's likely she's from SRH."

"Speak up now, or I swear I'll-" He was cut off by a whimper as he pressured her neck with the sharp bolt.

"P-please don't kill me!" The mare begged, desperation clear in her voice. "I-I am with the SRH... We were sent here to neutralize the excess staff..." She trailed off as she realised what she said. "But we didn't get the orders to kill you, Boss, only the others-urk" The mare was left breathless for a moment, as Steelhooves cut her air supply with his leg.

"You've lost the right to call me that the second you aimed at your comrades." He said, mocing his leg a little, allowing her to breathe again. "What else do you know?"

"Your... Your comms are wired, we heard everything..." The mare said, taking deep breaths between words. "I'm a part of the scouting team, the rest will come looking for me when they find we've gone missing." She finished, trembling in his hold.

"Shit." Steelhooves muttered, weighing all the pro's and con's, cursing before pressuring the crystal in his ear. "Emma, Nova, communication compromised, initiate radio silence, I repeat, initiate radio silence!" He ordered, hoping against hope his squadmates are alive.

"T-too late for that..." A familiar masculine voice croaked over the radion, dahing Steelhooves' hopes. "They've got us good, Boss, real good..." The voice trailed off, taking multiple shallow breaths.

"Nova, stay still we're coming to get you and Emma out!" Steelhooves said, preparing to dispatch the foe in his grasp, but was stopped by a pained groan.

"D-don't bother, Emma's across the room in chunks, and I... can't feel the lower part of my body... Besides, you said the radio's compromised..." The voice coughed, his breathing fast and shallow. "They've got explosives... Fire spewing machines... All without a speck of magic..." A coughing fit overtook the speaker, his breathing becoming laboured. "Took us by surprise... I'm not going to make it... I'll... I'll take as many as I can with me..." He took a deep breath, gathering his strength. "It's been an honor, Boss..."

"Nova, no!" Steelhooves exclaimed as a lound explosion rocked the building, shaking the walls around them. "What was he talking about!?" He yelled at the mare in his hold, who wilted from his tone.

"F-flamethrowers! We were told to burn all the evidence, we'd be evac'd by chariots after we're done!" She said, tears streaming down her face. "P-please, don't kill- hurk"

A crossbow bolt impaled her throat, Steelhooves throwing her body to the floor. The mare clutched her bleeding throat, rolling on the floor for a few moments, before growing still.

"We were set up." Steelhooves said coldly, turning to his squadmate. "You need to escape, they'll be looking for you, not me." He grabbed the few grenades from the mare's body, giving half of them to Mac.

"Boss, I won't leave you!" The diamond dog protested, shaking his head. "We're in this together, I'm not going anywhere."

"That's an order, and you will follow it." The stallion said sternly. "Escape now so we can meet later, your death today won't do us any good." He said, looking at the cracked floor. "Dig underneath the building, get as far away from Manehattan as possible. Stay away from big cities." He turned to his friend, determination written in his features. "I'll know where to find you when the time comes." The diamond dog hesitated for a few moments, before nodding.

"I'll see you around... Stay save, Boss." He said, ripping chunks of floor away.

"You too, Mac..." Steelhooves said, moving towards the staircase, hearing hoofsteps coming from it. "You too."

A heavy silence settled over the room as the stallion finished his speech, a haunted expression on his features. Tears streamed down Twilight's face as she did her best to stay silent. She wasn't sure how much time has passed, but eventually Steelhooves sighed, continuing.

"I reported my team was KIA, hoping it'd save Mac's life. It worked, thankfully, so after a few days of 'rest' I was approached by my superior..." He breathed a heavy sigh. "They said they've traced the unit's origins to Saddle Arabia, claiming it was the same one that attacked my squad." He chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "Of course, by then I knew it was a lie... So I resigned, taking as many honest mares and stallions with me as I could. You know the rest from the newspapers..."

Twilight wiped the tears away, caming herself down enough to speak up. "W-what happened to your unit?" She asked, her eyes red and puffy.

"For all intents and purposes, the SRH as I knew it is dead. A few days after Pax Equestria, the unit went through reorganisation, ending up under new management." He frowned, looking past Twilight rather than at her. "Where once we swore to serve Equestria, we were forced to pledge allegiance to Celestia herself. Of course, many of us knew where things were heading, so we left." He growled, the cold contempt in his eyes making Twilight squeeze into the sofa. "SRH is little more than Celestia's private army now, a pack of rabid dogs she lets loose willy-nilly." She shook his head, his shoulders sagging.

"They're stronger than before, I'll give Celestia that... But they're no honest soldiers, not at all." He looked at Twilight, the sheer exhaustion in his eyes worrying the mare. "Are you sure you want to oppose something like this?" The look in his eyes pleading the mare to turn away.

"I can't." The mare said adamantly, despite feeling queasy on the inside. "Now more than ever, I have to put a stop to this. I don't know how... but I will." She said, surprised when she saw an honest smile on the stallion's muzzle.

"You've got some guts, I'll give you that." He said with a chuckle. "For the past thirty years we've been accumilating resources, looking for any trump cards against Celestia... A you might be just that." He said with a smile.

"Me? How am I your 'trump card'?" Twilight said, confused and a tad offended.

"Celestia has big things planned for you, and if we can put a wrench in her plans, this'll give us the advantage we've been waiting for." He explained, pulling out another file. "We've found a lead on a research facility in Saddle Arabia that was reportedly housing something that was necessary for 'Manehattan Project', something that might lead us to the project itself... Point is, the exact coordinates are encoded, and we've had no luck in cracking it. You've a bright mind, and if you'd like to help, this is your first assignment."

"I'll get on it asap, show me the coordinates and I'll get back to you from Ponyville!" She said excitedly, raising an eyebrow when she noticed the frown on Steelhooves' face. "What's wrong?"

"That information is confidential, you'll have get to base to begin your work." He said, gathering the documents into the folder. "You'll have to disappear from the face of Equestria, otherwise your travels will be tracked down, sooner or later."

"But I can't!" She exclaimed, a myriad of thoughts running through her head. "My friends in Ponyville, the Elements of Harmony... I can't leave them behind!" She said, the mere thought of doing so horrifying her.

"Don't worry, you won't." The stallion said with a smirk, giving her another file.

"Phantom Initiative... What's that?" Twilight read aloud from the file.

"One of the many side projects Her Highness has worked on once in a while. Basically, it details the steps required to turn a pony into one's 'phantom'." He said matter of factly as Twilight read the file. "With a combination of cosmetic surgery, implants to simulate wing/horn functions, and advanced hypnosis and memory spells, anypony can be turned into your exact copy." He said, coughing into his hoof. "Of course, the project was never finished..."

"'Elements of Harmony failed to bind with the subject." She read, her eyes going wide. "Just what was Celestia trying to do?" She asked aloud, hearing Steelhooves sigh.

"We don't know, but this document dates back five hundred years, at the least. Point is, we can make your exact copy, it'll remember everything you did, act like you did, and look like you do. But there's a catch..."

"The Elements won't recognise the phantom..." Twilight finished, looking through the document once again. "I'm not going to make any promises, but I've seen some potential causes for the failure..." Twilght said in an academic manner, before halting as she realised what she just said. "Do we have to use a pony for this? Can't we build a golem, or something?"

"To make an exact copy it'll have to perform all the functions a normal pony does, that includes metabolism." He said, shaking his head. "And before you ask, no, a changeling won't do. The phantom has to believe they're the real you. Besides, they've retreated to their hives ever since the wedding, there's no chance to find one nowadays." Twilight's expression grew unreadable as she though about subjecting a pony to everything she read about.

"You'll have to find somepony who wouldn't be missed, a small town like Ponyville would be the best place to look for a target, since prior knowledge of the 'original' proved to raise the chances of success. I know it's hard, but it's the only way." Steelhooves said, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs."

"If I aggree," Twilight began, insire of herself. "what will you do next?" She asked carefully.

"I'll give you a week to find a suitable target, I'll take care of the preparations meanwhile." He said, rubbing his chin. "I'll met you in Ponyville, and transport both you and your target to the base, where we'll begin the necessary procedures." He looked at Twilight expectedly. "What do you say?"

Twilight closed her eyes, thinking of all she's learned recently. She had a choice, leave this place and come back to Ponyville, live out the rest of her life in peace. Or she could side with Steelhooves, go through this crazy plan, put herself in danger, hurt other ponies... And for what? "For the future of Equestria. For the future of my friends. For my future."

"I'll wait for you, Steelhooves." She said with a sigh, recieving a nod from the stallion.

"Come on, you can still catch the last train for Ponyville." He said, getting up from the sofa and grabbing his saddlebags, before moving towards the door. "I'll walk you to the station." He said, motioning for her to follow. "Oh, and by the way..." He turned, giving her a small smile.

"You can call me Boss."

What Makes A Mare

An exasperated sigh escaped Twilights mouth as she re-read the paper in front of her for what felt like a hundreth time. "Which isn't too far off from the truth." She thought, her gaze lazily crawling through the anciet hoof-written letters, the cursive practically burned into her mind. She squinted, a strikingly familiar curved line once again catching her attention."It's like a word at the tip of my tongue... " She shook her head, concentrating on the writings. "No, it's not important. Focus on the problem, everything hinges on me solving this, I can't fail."

TOP SECRET

PHANTOM INITIATIVE REPORT ██/██/███

For authorised personnel only, public disclosure of any information below is considered high treason and will be punished accordingly.

NOTICE TO ALL PERSONNEL. AS OF ██/██/███ THE PHANTOM INITIATIVE IS CONSIDERED A LOW PRIORITY PROJECT. ALL RESEARCH REGARDING IT SHOULD BE MOVED TO HER HIGHNESS' PRIVATE ARCHIVES WITHIN A WEEK, AND ALL STAFF RELOCATED TO OTHER PROJECTS.

Your highness, I regret to inform you that as of this thursday, I consider the project a failure. Despite the fact that the last subject reacted positively to hypnogogic suggestion and managed to survive the operation, The Elements of Harmony failed to bind with the subject, limiting it's usefulness. Without continuous and excessive hypnotic therapy, the subject will soon enter into shock, followed by brain haemorrhage. Our theory suggests that Elements of Harmony 'recognise' their owners by looking into their soul and comparing it to an 'imprint' that it 'remembers' from the time of activation.

As it stands, the project has hit a dead end. There's not much we can do with second-hoof memories and experiences. We need the Original's memories to suppress the subject's ego. Even then, to trick the Elements we require to manipulate the subject's soul, which is dangerous, and would require additional research to be put into the area of soul magic, something you've previously stated you're very much against.

I once again implore you to grant me access to Castle's Library, the amount of research regarding soul manipulation stored there would undoubtedly be benificial to the project.

Otherwise all I can recommend is to let it go, and let the Elements choose the Bearers on their own. Some things need to remain in the past, Tia, it's time to accept it.

-Doctor Time Turner, Head of Phantom Pain research team.

"If a 'right soul' is imperative to fool the Elements, does that mean I'll have to give up my own? Swap souls with whatever pony will be my... phantom." Twilight shuddered, trying no to think about she was going to do too hard. "Technically, you'll be an accomplice, not the purpetrator." She argued with herself, deaf to the world around her. "You've broken into Princess' Private Archives, you're a criminal already." She shook her head, trying to set her mind on the right track. "No, this kind of thinking won't get you anywhere." She heard a creak of a door, but chose to ignore it. "I need to find more infomation on souls, my library's too small to have anything useful on the subject... If only I could get into the archives again."

A soft object impacted Twilight in the chest, strewing all of her work on the library floor, alongside the librarian herself, who emmitted a surprised eep as she fell. She shook her head, trying to focus of the blob of pink that currently had its libs wrapped around Twilight's upper body.

"Pinkie?" Twilight asked quizzally, her eyes turning wide as dinner plates as realized what was coming next. "Pinkie, wait-"

"Oh Twilight, I missed you so much!" The pink party pony proclaimed, pointedly ignoring the desperate gasps for air from the librarian. "I'm so sorry I didn't come to see you sooner! The Cakes got a mountain of big orders, and I was too busy to even take a break! I came as soon as I was free to go!" She chirped, he brightest of smiles on her face.

"A-air..." Twilight croaked, her face taking on a worrying blue tint.

"Whoopsie!" Pinkie apologetically chirped, releasing her vice-like grip on the librarian, much to the latter's relief. "I guess I'm a little too excited to see you!" She said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck, before stretching out a hoof towards Twilight.

"It's alright." Twilight replied, taking a deep breath and hoisting herself up with the help of Pinkie's hoof. "Just keep in mind that I haven't figured out how to breathe through my skin." She said, rubbing her chest in an attempt to make the ache go away.

"Awww, don't worry Twi, you're a brilliant mare, I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later!" Pinkie chirped, the compliment forcing Twilight's cheeks to take on a red tinge. "Anywho, truth is, I'm not here to just check up on you..." She trailed off, squinting and looking around conspiratorily before whispering. "How's your super-sneaky-extra-important mission went?"

Twilight's breath hitched as the mare tensed up, her pink friend noticing the sudden change. "Twilight?" She asked, carefully putting a hoof on her friends shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"I... let's get some fresh air." Twilight declared, trotting towards the library exit. The wooden door shot open as her magic flared, and the mare stepped out of the library, holding the door open for her friend.

"Oh, Twilight," Pinkie's smile died down as she followed her friends' hoofsteps. "what happened?"

Warm rays of golden sunlight showered the content populace of the small rural town known as Ponyville in its soothing grace. Each hay-covered roof and wooden wall, each green bush and radiant flower, all took on a warm and calming hue under the influence of Celestia's puppet.

On a small hill outside of town, one accessible through a dusty half-overgrown path and a small detour through the Everfree, lay on their backs two figures, both of them staring at the blue sky, and the occasional white cloud that flew by, accompanied by a weather team member.

To any outsider, the scene would look plenty normal, serene even, but the two ponies present knew eachother well enough to feel the uncomfortable tention that hung in the air. Pinkie did her best to act as her cheery and bubbly self, but with each occasional glance at the purple librarian beside her, she felt her mane deflate just a bit.

The blank look in Twilight's eyes as they stared unblinkingly at the sky above her, the nervous swishing of her tail against the green grass, and the way her ears would flinch at the smallest brush against a blade of grass, all of that told Pinkie that something was wrong.

As if reading her thoughts, Twilight sighed, speaking aloud. "So... No doubt you wonder what happened in Manehattan? What I found out during my visit there?" She sounded tired, much more tired than Pinkie remembered her being.

"That'd be nice to know." Pinkie said, giving her friend a supportive smile.

"I've located Steelhooves with little to no problems, and after a small..." Twilight paused, a shiver running down her spine. "run-in with the local thugs, he's agreed to answer some of my questions." Twilight heard Pinkie gasp, turning to see a worry-filled expression on the party mare's face.

"You weren't hurt, were you Twilight?" She said, her expression shifting into a determined one. "Cause if you were, I'll make those meanies bake you a 'we're sorry' cake! No, scratch that, a thousand cakes! Each!" She said with fiery passion, her attempt at humor getting a small chuckle from her friend.

"No, Pinkie, Steelhooves ensured that no harm came my way." Her tone turned serious once more at the tail end of the sentence, her eyes once again locked to the blue sky. "So we made our way to his apartment, and after a little back and forth, he told me what happened in Manehattan National Institute some thirty years ago." She sighed heavily, getting a lungful of air.

"Steelhooves'... The Boss' squad, part of the 'Sun's Right Hoof' special operating unit, a group of well-trained soldiers basically, was sent to investigate the source of a distress signal, coming from Manehattan National Institute." She went silent for a few moments, trying to find the right words.

"To make a long story short: they were set up by SRH in an attempt to get rid of unwanted personell, as well as give The Boss a reason to listen to them." Pinkie watched Twilight speak with worry, her look becoming more distant with each word.

"But why would they do something like that? Shouldn't he listen to them anyway? They're his superiours, after all." Pinkie said, dumbfounded.

"SRH was loyal to Equestria, first and foremost, but shortly before 'Pax Equestria' went live, that changed." Twilight said in a pained voice. "Princess Celestia took direct control over the unit, purging all who'd refuse to swear their loyalty directly to her." A sinking feeling appeared in the pit of Pinkie's stomach as the meaning of Twilight's words got to her.

"T-Twilight? What do you mean by 'purge'?" Pinkie said in a shaky voice, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Only one out of three of Boss' squad members survived the mission, and even that was thanks to Boss' ingenuenty." Twilight said, her voice quieter than usual. "After all was said and done, SRH told him they had a lead on the group supposedly behind the attack, but he knew the truth by then." Pinkie could've sworn she saw color drain from Twilight's coat with each uttered word.

"He resigned shortly after, and has been doing his best to expose truth to the world ever since." She finished, closing her eyes, trying to collect her thoughts. "But I haven't told you all that to get your pity, not at all." She opened her eyes, a determined expression on her face.

"The Boss gave me something. A way I could help his cause, a way I could put a dent in Celestia's plans." She took a deep sigh, her mouth feeling dry all of a sudden. "He has a cipher that only I could crack, but to do so I have to his base."

"But you can't do that because ponies would notice your absense?" Pinkie finished, earning a nod in reply. "Don't worry, Twilight. I'm sure the two of us can come up with a suitable excuse! You've got any distant relatives?" Pinkie said with a smile, although her attempt to lift Twilight's mood did the exact opposite.

"No, Pinkie, you don't get it. I need to go 'off the radar' so to speak, I need to disappear off the face of Equestria." She said bitterly, a lump in her throat making it hard to breathe. "And he gave me the means to do so." She finished hauntedly.

"The means to do so? What do you mean?" Pinkie parroted, not liking the tone of Twilight's voice.

"He proposed to make my 'phantom'. Take a pony, and turn them into a duplicate of me, memories, appearance, all of that." She said, looking blankly at the sky. "And before you ask, yes, we have to use a real pony, anything else wouldn't suffice." She turned to look at Pinkie, a haunted look in her eyes that was far scarier than anything the party mare has ever seen.

"Pinkie? Is that a right thing to do?" She asked, desperation clear in her voice. "Am I a good pony for agreeing to do this?"

Pinkie desperately wanted to say yes, to assure her friend that everything was alright, that Twilight was the most bestest, goodiest, prettiest pony that ever walked Equestria, but for once in her life, she thought before opening her mouth. What would Applejack think of lying to her friends? Would that make her a good pony, a good friend? Would she support Twilight regardless of the answer? Yes, yes she would. Perhaps that was the only question that mattered.

"You're asking the wrong questions, Twilight." Pinkie said, carefully choosing her words.

"What are the right questions then?" Twilight all but begged, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What would happen if you didn't agree to Steelhooves' proposition? Would you be content with letting Celestia get away with all she did scot-free?" Pinkie hugged Twilight, unable to look at the tears streaming down the latter's cheeks. "And most importantly 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'." She said, rubbing the small of Twilight's back as the latter sobbed into her shoulder. "Or the one, in this occasion. Sometimes, you have to make a hard choice for the benefit of everypony."

Minutes passed as the two embraced on the lonely hill under the warm rays of the golden sun, Twilight's sobbing ceasing somewhere along the way. Soon enough, although a little too soon in Pinkie's opinion, Twilight pulled away, wiping the last of her tears from her face.

"Thank you, Pinkie." She said, giving the mare a small smile. "Who could've thought you were such a great listener?"

"I'll always be here for you, don't you forget that!" Pinkie said, giving Twilight's midsection a tight squeeze. Once she was finished, she frowned at the thoughtful expression on Twilight's face. "If something's bothering you, you should tell me, Twilight." She said, laying a hoof on her shoulder.

"Well... Truth be told, there's another thing that's making me worry." Twilight admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "There's a bit of information I still need for The Boss' plan to work. Problem is, the topic is very... taboo in modern science, and the only place I could possibly find information on it is in the restricted section of Canterlot Archives."

"And Canterlot is a big no-no for you..." Pinkie concluded, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. Suddenly, she beamed, grabbing Twilight by the hoof and dragging her in an unknown direction. "I think I know just where we need to go!"

"Pinkie? Why have you brought me here?" Twilight asked, standing before a large crevasse in the ground, a pathetic rope bridge connecting the two sides. Tall trees with wide canopies that blocked out sunlight surrounded her from left and right, and she could distinctly hear the sound of running water coming from down below. A crumbling castle stood on the other side of the bridge, overgrown with moss and covered in dust, yet still managing to convey a sense of grandeur it once embodied.

"Well," Pinkie began, fearlessly trotting through the wonky bridge and over the gap. "You said you needed some kind of information, and that got me thinking. If there are 'Canterlot Archives', there must be some kind of library in the Castle of The Two Sisters too!" She said, hitting the dirt on the other side of the bridge as she hopped off the bridge, taking a few more hops to make room for Twilight, who followed Pinkie's example a few seconds later.

"That's... actually pretty smart." Twilight noted as the two moved along the dirt pathway towards the castle. "Honestly can't believe I've forgotten about this castle." She added as the they ascended the entrance staircase.

"You're not the only one who did..." Pinkie grumbled, before shooting out her hoof in front of Twilight. "Keep in mind, Twilight, this is an old castle." She used her hoof to force Twilight to take a few steps back. "And like any self-respecting old castle-" She pressured the part of the floor Twilight was about to step on, before quickly yanking her hoof back. The floor crumbled to ashes, revealing a steep drop into a pitch black hole underneath. "-it has its fair share of traps."

"I...uh... I'll keep that in mind." The stunned Twilight replied, making sure to walk behind her pink friend from now on. They walked through the crumbling halls in silence, and soon enough found themselves in a more preserved part of the building, the darkness that descended upon them due to the more structurally-sound roof over their heads forcing Twilight to produce a light at the tip of her horn, bathing the halls in lavender light.

"Say, Twilight," Pinkie began, slowly walking through the now dimly lit corridors. "did this... 'Boss' ever tell you why he wants to go against the Princess'?"

"Did he need to? His squadmates were killed on Celestia's orders, I'm pretty sure his motives are clear." Twilight replied, a grim expression on her face.

"Revenge is as good a motive as any other, I suppose..." She murmured, rounding a corner, carefully avoiding a multitude of retractable spikes by not stepping on a pressure plate. "Still, it's not something that can keep you going for thirty years, sooner or later you have to find something else to fight for, right?" Pinkie asked more to herself than Twilight.

Which was a good thing, seeing as the unicorn ignored her question, instead asking a more prudent question.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Twilight asked, squeamishly jumping over what looked like a skeleton of a small animal. "Or are we just stumbling blindly through the castle?"

"A bit of both really." Pinkie said, not pausing long enough for Twilight to interfere. "This place has a weird vibe to it, the only reason why we're still here and not back at the entrance is due to my Pinkie Sense."

"Weird vibe? What do you mean?" Twilight asked, trying to convince herself that the squishy thing she stepped on just now was moss.

"It doesn't want anypony to be inside, something here doesn't want to be found, not until the right moment, at least." Pinkie answered, scratching her forehead for a few seconds. "That's the best way I can put it, anyhow."

Twilight frowned as she channeled more magic into her horn, casting a relatively low-level scanning spell on her surroundings. "Your vibe officialy has a name: Wallflower's Ward. It's a straightforward evolution of Clover's 'Perceptial Procrastination' spell, and belongs to a 'Perception Filter' family of spells." She finished in an academic tone groaning inwardly when she heard Pinkie's clueless 'huh?'.

"It basically works by distracting you from what needs to be hidden. Your gaze 'slides off' the concealed object, so to speak. Coupled with Burning Memory's priority scramble spell, anypony who approaches the castle would have trouble finding an entrance, all the while suddenly remembering something they were supposed to do, say, turning off the oven, and rush back home to do it." She explained as the pair went past a tall wooden arc. "It's quite ingenious, when you think about-" Twilight failed to finish her sentence as she bumped into the soft pink flank of her friend.

"We're here!" Pinkie chirped, yelping as something bumped into her flank. "I'm not sure what you're looking for, but you're bound to find it here!" She said, pointing to the ceiling tall bookshelves, Twilight's jaw all but hitting the floor as she noticed the amount of knowledge stored in the room.

"This is... amazing!" Twilight said excitedly, rushing to the closest shelf, picking up a random book with her magic aura. "These books must be from pre-banishment era! So much to learn, so much to read! I... I..." She frowned, squinting at the letters that seemed to move on their own. "I can't read any of this." She noted glumly.

"Well, duh!" Pinkie said, dragging a dusty sofa towards Twilight. "You don't have a Pinkie Sense, I do." She continued, plopping down on the sofa and yanking the book out of Twilight's hold. "Oooh! This one's chock-full of all kinds of recepies!" She said excitedly, flipping hurriedly through the pages, before throwing it behind the couch. "Gimmie another one!" She beamed at Twilight, the latter's mood being the polar opposite.

"This is going to be a long day." The unicorn said, levitating another book into her friends's hold.

Several painfully slow hours and an alarmingly large pile of books later, Twilight was getting just a tiny bit annoyed. Her eye twitched as she heard Pinkie 'ooh' for what felt like a thousandth time today, and she realised that the previous statement was an understatement. She was bloody livid.

"Could you please keep quiet, Pinkie? My head's hurting from just being here..." She said, rubbing her forehead, a throbbing pain spreading though it from the base of her horn.

"Twilight? I think you need to hear this." Pinkie said, flipping through a couple of pages and clearing her throat. "A Soul, Deconstructed. A comprehensive study on the nature of souls, written by L..." She squinted, trying to read the faded letters, giving up soon enough. "Can't say who wrote this, but it doesen't matter. I think we found what you've been looking for!" She said triumphantly, her smile wilting as she noticed the angry-looking mare approach her.

"That's great." Twilight grumbled, grabbing the book with her magic, wincing as the action sent waves of pain through her skull. "Now let's get out of here before I get an aneurysm." She finished, heading towards the exit.

"Twilight, wait!" Pinkie said worriedly, jumping from the sofa and onto the floor, hurrying after Twilight. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" She asked, standing in front of the mare, blocking the exit.

"My head's hurting like Tartarus... Probably from the influence of your Pinkie-sense conflicting with the ward." She rubbed her temple, shutting her eyes for a few seconds. "Can we get moving now, or do I need to go through a pop-quiz?"

"I... I'll lead the way." Pinkie replied, a little taken aback by the rudeness in Twilight's tone. The latter grunted in agreement falling in step behind the Pink party pony. The two walked in relative silence for a good half an hour, before Pinkie heard a loud yelp of surprise, followed by the rush of displaced air and a scream of pain. She whirled around, her eyes glued to Twilight, who was currently lying on the floor next to a pitch black hole. Pinkie's eyes went wide as dinnerplates as she saw the unicorn's left foreleg, which was currently bent at an odd angle, one that was definently not natural.

"Twilght!" Pinkie yelled, rushing to her friends side. "What happened? Your foreleg doesn't look too good..." She asked with worry, trying not to stare at the injured hoof.

"A trap... Fell down the hole... Teleported, but not fast enough." Twilight said through gritted teeth, her face contorted into a grimace of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll carry you to the hospital!" Pinkie replied, bending down to lay Twilight on her back.

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed, magic flowing into her horn. "This'll get us there faster."

Before Pinkie could say something in reply, the pair disappeared in a flash of bright light.

A stylish melody resonated through the break room of Ponyville lone hospital, entertaining the only pony currently residing inside. The snow-white pony with a red cross with small hearts on the angles cutiemark was currently slumped in a less-than comfortable chair, her light-pink tail swishing from side to side as she enjoyed the black coffee she was drinking.

"Oh no! Not me! I never lost control!" She murmured to the tune, happy to have a moment of calm in the rather hectic day that was today. "Who had the bright idea to gift a rose without cutting off the thorns first? That's a surefire way to ruin a date." She sipped the coffee, the bitter taste agitating her brain as the warmth leaked into her stomach.

"Still miles better than forgetting to file down your horn at the worst time. Glad we could stop the internal bleeding, but I'm pretty sure their intimate life is ruined." She sighed, bobbing her head to the rythm of the song. "Let's hope we don't get any more cases until supper." A sinking feeling appeared in her stomach as she finished her coffee, the cup descending onto the table with a quiet clink. "I probably shouldn't have thought that. Let's hope I haven't-"

The door slammed open, startling the mare enough to upset her balance, sending her sprawling on the cold tile floor. An earth-colored stallion barged in, a distressed look on his face. His gaze scanned the room, finally noticing the fallen mare as he pointed a hoof at her.

"You! We have a patient and all the other staff is busy, haul your flank to room 101!" He hollered, the mare getting to her hooves in a timely manner.

"...jinxed it." She thought, glaring at the unicorn stallion as she passed him. "I've got a name, you know." She said accusingly, rubbing a sore spot on her flank as she exited the break room.

"If I don't remember it, then you don't." The stallion said, walking past her and taking her seat on the chair, stopping only to get himself a cup of coffee from the coffee machine.

"Redheart's the name, by the way." She said with a sigh, trotting out of the break room.

Twilight looked intently at the white wooden door, desperately trying to hypnotise it to open and let in a medical professional. "Screw that, even a medical student would do. Just bring somepony who knows how to fix a dislocated foreleg!" She thought bitterly, the throbbing pain in her left foreleg reminding her of what she'd rather be doing. "Too bad Pinkie insisted on getting treatment first, I would've probably solved the issue by now...

Her prayers were finally answered when the door opened, letting in a tired white mare, who, if not for being the only pony in the room, barring Twilight of course, would be practically unnoticable. A dull ache not unlike the one she experienced in the castle made itself present, and despite being far less pronounced, it got Twilight's attention.

"A low level Perceptial Procrastination spell?" Twilight's horn flashed for a moment, and her interest piqued. "Something naturally occuring, then? Very odd."

The nurse approached Twilight, looking over her injured limb with a compassionate expression on her face.

"How much time has passed since you injured your leg?" The mare asked, gently taking her appendage with her own hooves.

"It's been about an hour- AAAHH!" Twilight yelled in pain as the mare yanked her hoof harshly while the unicorn was distracted, the dislocated limb locking into its proper place with an audible pop.

"There you go." The nurse said in a calm tone, offering Twilight a small smile. "Refrain from putting too much weight on the leg for a few weeks. I'll come to check up on you in an hour, please wait here."

"Thank you, nurse..." Twilight hissed through her gritted teeth, rubbing her sore leg.

"Redheart. Nurse Redheart." The mare said, before disappearing in the hallway, leaving Twilight by her lonesome.

"Redheart... I've got to ask Pinkie what she knows about her..." Twilight thought, grabbing the coveted book from under the pillow with her magic, the headache thankfully leaving with the white mare. "Of course, that will have to wait." Twilight thought, sifting through the book until she found a bookmark left by her pink friend. "There are more pressing issues at hoof."

A Soul, Deconstructed. A comprehensive study on the nature of souls, written by L...

Chapter One

What Defines Us

It is no secret that one of the most puzzling question in the history of equinity was on a matter of souls. Court scholars have amassed an impressive amount of research regarding most thing under Celestia's Sun, from physiology and anatomy, to cultural and historical knowledge from across Equus.

Yet among these vast stockpiles of research, one topic has been conveniently left out, remaining shrouded in darkness for the last millenia. I will not make any claims as to why it is so, merely because that is not a topic of my research. It has to be said that the topic of souls was a controvertial one at the bes of times, with many debating the need of research such an integral part of every living being, citing 'blasphemy' and 'disregard for the Maker's' plan' as reasons enough to halt any further inquiry into the nature of souls.

Yet these neighsayer always fail to answer the simplest of questions. Must we not utilise the mind given to us to its full capacity? Must we not brave the unkowns of the world due to a fear of divine retribution? Must we huddle in fear of the dark of the night, thankful that we do not offend the dogmatic principles of our society?

Perhaps I am getting sidetracked. Perhaps these questions are out of my field of expertise. Perhaps I should let others, more knowledgable ponies provide answers. Yet, I hope that by reading this study, you might find some answers to yourself.

To begin with, we must answer a simple yet complex question.

What is a soul?

In ancient times, when control over research was much lax due to the decentralised nature of civilization, and the tense relationships between tribes, scholars considered a soul to be something very physical. They believed a creature's soul to be akin to blood, a substnace that was spread evenly throughout one's body, a substance which left it upon death, and was ephemeral enough to be impossible to collect.

Although modern research proves them wrong, they had guessed one thing right: A soul cannot be 'gathered'. A soul cannot be cut, it cannot be touched or tasted. Physically speaking, it does not exist.

That leads us to the very beginning, what is a soul?

Simply put, a soul is the culmination of one's being, every memory, thought, feeling or experience, combined and molded into a theoretical concept which we now call a 'soul'. Furthermore, one's belief in onese;f plays a major role in the formation of a soul.

Essentially, you are who you believe yourself to be.

That belief, in turn, is constructed by the amalgamation of one's memories and experiences, and it has to be absolute to affect one's soul. That is why changelings, for example, would never be able to fool magical artifacts specifically attuned to 'soul reading', they know what they are, thus their soul remains unchanged, if they have one, that is.

Another important aspect of one's soul, is that it has no effect on one's physical appearance. An earth pony that 'believes; themself to be a pegasus will never fly, no matter how hard they wish to, same thing about all other attributes of one's appearance.

Still, it is theorised that if, or rather when, surgical technology would reach a certain level, it wouldn't be too outrageous to say that with enough conditioning, which would require to erase the original's ego, which is the very basis of a soul, a pony could be tricked in such a way.

Why somepony would do such a thing is another question entirely.

Twilight fell onto the bedsheets with a weary sigh, her suddenly heavy head hitting the soft pillow of the bed. A sense of excitement and fear spread through her as she finally found the solution to the problem at hoof.

She didn't feel nearly as pleased with herself as she used to.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and as always, comment if you have anything critical to say, or just feel like commenting!

Stay save, people, and have a nice day!