Harmony fall, is it so bad?

Chapters

1- Your biggest mistake (Edited)
2- First steps (Edited)
3- Discovering and improving (Edited)
4- A friend and welcome to Ponyville
5- Magic for fools
7- Talking to the moon
8- Large debts
9- Alien vs predator
10- New talents
10.5- Points of view
11- Even winning, I lose
12- Warzone
13- Talk with the devil (Edited)
13.5- Dear princess Celestia
14- There is someone who loves you
15- Siege in chaos
16- A lovely boy
17- A glass of wine in the light of the stars
18- For a greater good?
19- My favorite movie
19.5- A truth you must accept
20- Nightmare nights finally arrived
21- Love... a fatal mistake
23- My little ponies… I'm really sorry
25- The buzz of flies
26- An equal?
27- What is love?
28- Battle for Canterlot (Part 1)
29- Battle for Canterlot (Part 2)
30- Battle for Canterlot (Final Part)
6- The one who does not pay does not enter Who says?
22- Pride is the weapon that fools use to cut their own throats.
24- Surprise visit

1- Your biggest mistake (Edited)

Author's Note

I edited it recently, please tell me what you think
Is it readable?

1- Your biggest mistake (Edited)

Six mares walked the rugged path of the Everfree alert for any threat, because in this forest you never know what could happen

"Shh... did you hear that?" The farm mare warned the group, immediately they all stopped, looked carefully until they noticed movement coming from one of the bushes, from which a beast came out

"GRAAA" A timberwolf, legitimate inhabitants of Everfree, immediately assumed an intimidating position trying to dissuade them from leaving their territory, since this was their forest, the domain of their own, the ponies did not have the right to put a hoof in this corrupted earth

SHIING*

However, his threats did not last when a powerful purple lightning made him explode into pieces, causing the mares around him to look astonished at the cause, and she shrank before their eyes. "Sorry, I panicked," he said with a clumsy smile.

"Don't apologize honey, you just surprised us" Said the seamstress mare who was walking beside her

"Also, that was amazing! Why don't you pop them more often?" She added another cyan pony earning a deadpan look from the dressmaker.

"I don't think there's a need to stoop to such barbarism, we're perfectly capable of avoiding unnecessary violence, right girls?" Hearing no answer, she turned to look at her friends, who had a panicked expression on their faces, she slowly followed her friends' gaze to the pack of timberwolfves that had somehow surrounded them.

"Do you still think we should 'Avoid Conflict'?" She said the pegasus making quotes with her hooves

"Hey girls, I don't want anyone to panic, but I don't think I have enough magic for all of them" The unicorn informed that a few moments ago she put an end to the relative of the beasts that now besieged them

"G- girls, I think we should go back" Said a shy pegasus

"But the princess is counting on us, she should be about to arrive" The lavender unicorn said determinedly

"Yeah, she's right, plus we just faced a dragon, what's a bunch of sticks?"

GRAAA*

As if she had heard her, an alpha appeared as she felled the trees that dared to get in her way "Well, maybe those are enough sticks" The pegasus said doubtfully.

Slowly, they approached from all directions ready to make them pay for having faced them, even the one that was torn to pieces reassembled to get their revenge.

SHIIIING*

Sadly, fate is cruel, as soon as he got close to the ponies he was again torn to pieces by a powerful golden lightning that burned all parts of his body, he could not return nor could any of his brothers, all those who were close. from it they were also burned to ashes or fled barely alive

"Princess celestia!" They all shouted in unison as they bowed.

"My faithful student and her friends, I have already told them that it is not necessary to be so respectful, especially since I am the one who is asking them for this favor"

"Not at all, princess, it's an honor to serve you"

The princess couldn't help but give them a smile. "Thank you, Applejack. What we're doing today will change Equestria forever." The lavender pony raised her hoof. "Yes, Twilight? No need to raise your paw, just ask "she was a little embarrassed by her actions, but she answered anyway

"Thank you princess, but you still haven't told us what this favor is for, why do you need us to go to her old castle?"

The princess sighed and her smile disappeared "Please come with me my little ponies, I'll explain it to you on the way" with a look of shared concern, they all followed her "I suppose you've all met Lyra Heartstrings by now" After a little nod she continued "Ago A few days her disappearance was reported." A series of gasps came from the mares.

"That's why she has missed my parties, Lyra never misses and when she does she always tells me in advance" Said the pony with excess sugar

"I see then we are here for a search and rescue mission, dial the address princess and we'll take care of it" The cyan mare was very excited to work as her heroes, the wonderbolts, did, but her princess's dejected expression took her breath away. encouragement “We are here to find her, right?”

"I'm afraid not, his last sighting was about two weeks ago and he was entering the forest, Everfree, the reason why he entered is unknown, I'm ashamed of this, but these are things that happen, sometimes a pony enters this forest and they are simply never seen again, no one knows what happens to them." The ponies had horrified and sad expressions

"But princess, if this is so, we can't let it continue, we have to do something!" Her student said with her conviction, which caused her smile to once again adorn her princess's face.

"I'm glad to hear that we agree because that's exactly why I asked you to come, together we will free Equestria from this evil once and for all." Her words were followed by nods from all the mares.

"Tell us what to do princess and consider it done, we are ready for anything"

"Very good, my student knew that I could count on you, please follow me" And so he led them to their old castle, but he didn't stop at the entrance as they expected, instead he passed by and teleported them to the area of the waterfall, although confused, they did not hesitate to follow it until they reached a very spacious cave and in the center a beautiful tree made of glass could be seen

"They weren't supposed to be here so soon." Twilight heard a barely perceptible whisper.

“Is something wrong sugar cube?” Her farmer friend asked the mare worried, who quickly concentrated on her task

"No, nothing, I just thought I heard something, Princess what is this place?" The curious, analytical mind part of her was already taking over.

"This Twilight is the tree of harmony" all the pony's mouths hung hanging "He Hem" a small cough from her princess brought them back to reality

"I'm sorry princess, but I still don't understand what she wants us to do"

"Patience, my student must first put this on" She said as she pointed her horn at a floating chest and would have it.

"The Elements of Harmony!" She turned to say in unison, which elicited a soft curl from the princess.

"If they continue like this, I'll think they've rehearsed it" That caused a slight blush of shame in the mares, but it didn't last, they quickly obeyed and put on their respective elements

"Now listen carefully, I need you to activate the elements and concentrate the energy in the tree of harmony, I will use my magic and partial control with the elements to connect to the tree and redirect its energy to the heart of Everfree purifying it and freeing us from this corrupted magic that has harmed us for so long.” The lavender mare looked at her in shock.

"Princess, are you sure? Altering an ecosystem as old as Everfree, even if it's to rid it of its evil, can have incalculable long-term consequences."

"I know, Twilight, that's why me and my sister refrained from doing anything when we were the possessors of the elements," her princess explained. "But this has gone on too long, for more than a thousand years I've heard reports of ponies or Entire families that are never seen again and I am no longer willing to let this perverse corruption continue to get away with it, I am going to stop this, will you help me my faithful student? Seeing the determined look of her teacher, all doubt disappeared.

"Always teacher"

On the other side of the Everfree in the depths of the earth from it was the heart of the Everfree, a small putrid sprout, but brimming with power, still no match for his older brother to even qualify as his shadow let alone his underdeveloped intelligence. , however, he was capable of feeling and desiring

He felt that he was in danger and wished to stay alive.

He was afraid, he did not want to die, but he did not know what to do either, his individual knowledge was poor, so he had to look elsewhere.

Slowly, his loyal creations, the timberwolfves, brought him his only hope, the body of a young unicorn, he never wanted to harm her, he just wanted her to leave his territory, but he wasn't smart enough to understand when someone was just passing through or the rugged terrain prevented them from leaving

Slowly, its small roots buried themselves in his body until they reached his brain where he searched desperately until he got what he was looking for intelligence, suddenly he was able to reason almost like a common living being would, but he knew that this would only be temporary, so he thought, he quickly realized that fighting would be useless, he was not weak, but compared to his brother's power he was just a fly, his only option was to run away, so he got to work

The mare's body began to be torn to pieces and reformed with parts of other dead forest creatures to be more compatible, slowly and forcing the parts to compress and assume a symmetrical shape so as not to generate rejection or some deformity that would harm it, its body should to be perfect otherwise he couldn't contain it, however, there was still a problem, he needed a host

His state of wisdom would only be temporary, and he knew it, so he could not use the body, he could only inhabit it, which was more than enough for him, but not for his body, flesh beings needed constant care so that were still alive, so he couldn't just go in there, he needed someone or something to take care of his body

Desperately, he searched the unicorn's mind, but she had already been dead for a long time, her soul was impossible to reach, but her primal instincts did not allow him to give up until he finally found her, it was not what he was looking for but gave him hope

A race like no other in Equus, without magic, but equal to or even more competent than ponies, capable of creating and adapting to anything in order to survive.

He wanted one of those

So he started a ritual to summon a soul, it would cost him most of his power, but if what he saw in the unicorn's head was true, he was sure he would manage or even quit. Would improve

Time passed, the ritual sought and found, the sprout could already feel that his brother's power was looking for him ready to send him to eternal darkness, but the ritual had already been completed, so he did not hesitate to enter while what he was left with consciousness he was fading

A short time later, the new body, one belonging to a species never seen before on Equus, opened its eyes for the first time.

2- First steps (Edited)

"Don't forget to dress warmly" I sighed at the third interruption, followed by my exit "I know mom, I'm ready, I'm going out" I was opening the door practically seeing freedom when "And do you have your phone?" I felt like ignoring the voice and just getting out of there, but my survival instinct held me back.

How the hell could I forget my cell phone? I spend more time than I've ever spent hanging out with people in my life—you know, any teenager—yet I instinctively reached into my pockets, froze for a second as I contained the urge to hit my face against something, and headed to my bed to move the sheets until I found my target. I put it in my pocket and quickly evacuated my cabin before he came up with something else to make me feel like an idiot. I didn't think about saying goodbye.

After my successful escape, I walked the corridor until I reached the elevator and pressed the button for the highest floor. I was already getting impatient, and as soon as the elevator doors opened, I could hear the rain and see the drops hitting the windows, so I put on my hat and went through the last door. The cold hit me immediately, but I held on and walked to the back of the boat. I think it was called the stern, but it didn't matter, the important thing was the spectacle that awaited me.

I was on a cruise with my family, we weren't rich, but we had enough to give us a nice vacation every few years if we saved up, which brings me to where I am today.

Anyone would say that it is idiotic to go out if there is an electrical storm, because I say to those people, 'They don't know what they are missing' Lightning on the high seas does not look like you would on land or near it, it is a true spectacle, something that you have to see at least once in your life. Sadly, today I was the only one who was encouraged, my brothers and my parents did not feel like it

By the time I got to the edge of the railing, I was already drenched. "Damn, it didn't look so bad from the terrace!" I had my doubts, but I was already there, so at least I could enjoy it for a while, even if I was the only one.

SHAANG*

My foolishness was rewarded with a light show and seconds later by its thunderous roars, it was just, as I said, incredible. I was there for a long time, admiring the landscape, until the cold overcame me and I decided to return

SHAAANG*

"HOLY SHIT!" That one almost hit the boat, it only missed by a hundred meters or something, and I think it hurt my eyesight because I could swear it had a greenish tint. That's when, instead of doing what a normal person would do and seeking refuge, I decided to look out and see the electricity run through the water, and let me tell you, it was spectacular! "Ha ha! No one is going to believe me." As amazed as I was, it was impossible for me to prepare myself for what would come next.

SHAAAAANG*

That one did hit him... Now I was scared, so much so that I tripped and fell backwards, watching helplessly as the green lightning released sparks when it hit the access door and generated flames with the same color as "WHAT THE DEVIL?" Before I knew it, I was on my feet and started running to the other side of the boat while the flames followed me. I was seriously afraid. I couldn't understand how the flames could spread like that with all the water that the storm threw at us, much less their unnatural color. I can't explain it, but just looking at it, I felt a chill run through my entire spine. The sensation ordered my whole body to flee in the opposite direction, which I did not hesitate to do

SHAAAAANG*

Another bolt of lightning fell only a dozen meters in front of me. My eyes were only green, and my ears would not stop ringing to the point where I could feel thicker liquid dripping from them. I could only crawl backwards away from the heat of the flames that were getting closer, but my efforts only delayed the inevitable

“AAHHHHHH” I could feel when the fire reached my leg. The pain was like nothing I have ever felt before, and not only in intensity, as soon as the fire touched me, the pain spread through my whole body, and I could feel the flames touching my legs. Legs, however, its burning spread throughout my body as if its intent was to cause pain rather than consume everything.

I did not even have time to think about the abnormality of this fact due to the overwhelming pain that became worse and worse. With time, I could no longer feel my legs, the flames consumed them completely, but when the flames came into contact with my exposed flesh, that was when the real hell began

I could feel them coming in and spreading all over my body, inside and out, until I couldn't take it anymore. I just wanted it to stop. I have no idea how long I was there, but it was torture until I finally stopped feeling 'I'm sorry mom' That was the last thought I had before finally giving in to the agony and dying.

Slowly, the sensations returned, and I no longer felt pain. Even so, I could feel some tears running down my cheeks as a result of the traumatic event. Everything was very quiet and dark when I finally opened my eyes. My vision soon adjusted, and I could see the stone perfectly around me, my mind struggled and failed to understand how I got there.

I tried to stand up only to fall miserably and freeze to the ground, not because of the pain, strangely, I had felt almost nothing when I crashed face-first into the rock. What shocked me was the hoof that landed exactly on the spot. Same place where I felt my arm fall

...

Not know what to do

After spending some time looking at it like an idiot, I just decided to move my arm just a few inches to the left, and in response, the hoof did the same

I stared at my new limb for a while as if it contained the secrets of the universe, until the outside world caught my attention. Just two meters from me there was a pair of green lights, which made me curious or at least until my eyes they focused on the target and somehow my deformity took a backseat

"AHHHHH" A shriek of the feminine type I'm ashamed of came out of my mouth as I crawled, trying to get away from the mindless creature in front of me. "Get away from me!" I don't know if it was out of understanding or because the high-pitched tone of my screams hurt him in some way, but he obeyed and walked away from me until I reached the other side of the cave where more of them were, which only made me feel more panic. Noticing that I was surrounded by something, I just closed my eyes while I covered them with my hooves and positioned myself in a fetal position, trying to calm down

I didn't understand anything, it just didn't make any sense, but I managed to remember one thing that I've always been very clear about, and that is that panic never helps, especially when you're in an unfamiliar environment, so I did what I could to calm down by controlling my breathing and not moving at all until I was able to think more clearly

I was desperately trying to find an answer for my current situation—anything. Maybe if I died and was in hell or was left in a coma and this was a nightmare, they would make more sense than what I was seeing now, but considering how daunting it is that they were left aside

The more time passed, the more my mind became desperate to make sense of this, until I finally had an idea. It was a ridiculous one that I wouldn't normally consider, but oddly enough, it made the most sense, considering that I already ruled out the most likely ones.

I was in some kind of isekai—not ideal, but better than thinking I was in hell

I had spent some time before watching some anime and reading manga about these things, heck, I might have even gotten excited if it wasn't for the traumatic way I was transported here. My thoughts were interrupted when something started appearing in my vision, which was strange if we consider that he still had his eyes closed

It was the same rocky view from the cave, except for one small difference, there was something on the other side lying in a fetal position with what I could recognize as hooves covering its eyes. I quickly opened my eyes, and the vision disappeared. Now once more there were those strange wolves made of wood “Timberwolfves” The word left my mouth before my mind had time to process it along with a lot of information, these guys are native to the Everfree forest, have no intelligence, and are supposed to be aggressive towards anyone that is not of the same species

I stayed for a while thinking about the sudden arrival of information and its uselessness, since from what I could see, I was wrong, these guys have not done anything to me, they just stand there doing nothing

I couldn't go on like this, so steeling myself, I tried to communicate, "Um... Hello?" I didn't get an answer, at least I tried "Could you tell me where I am?" I tried again and once again without an answer, I was already getting desperate, I instinctively tried to stand up with little success, it was more difficult than you would expect from a four-legged creature, I needed help and after a slight flash of greenish light over my head finally moved two of them headed towards me, I didn't dare move until one of them leaned putting his head right next to mine, he may have been overwhelmed by everything that was happening, but I could recognize that he wanted to help me "T- thank you" without further ado, I wrapped one of my front legs around his neck while he stood up, the other positioned himself on the other side of me in case he lost his balance again, after all my hoof was not the best to stay firm, I was already beginning to miss my fingers

Currently, me and about thirty-two timberwolfves were making our way through the cave to the exit, though from time to time we had to pause because of the idiot who couldn't walk, yes, you guessed it was me, although I was already able to move on my own. And I adapted to a surprisingly fast pace, but I was still very slow and often stumbled, and to top it off, the uneven terrain of the cave did not help me

In the time I spent learning to walk in the cave, I learned three things, one, I can see in the dark, the cave had no kind of light source, and yet I could see perfectly, two, I have a kind of connection to these guys, every time I close my eyes for a long time, I can see the same thing as them, obviously only one at a time and finally, number three is that these guys, to put it simply, are hollow, they just stay there until you tell them something, or else they don't do anything, so I plucked up the courage and started giving them orders

Which brings us to our current situation, after being able to move on my own, I ordered them to take me to the surface, not that it was claustrophobic, but being in that place for so long was getting on my nerves.

And so, in a slow and steady march, we made it to the exit, where I was greeted by warm rays of sunshine and cool air.

I wasn't worried, since I had already sent a couple of timberwolves to see how things were up here, and from what I could see, at least this part of the forest is free of dangers.

After a few moments, I had a great idea, and I positioned myself in front of one of my timberwolf while he closed my right eye and concentrated. The image was not long in coming

In half my vision, I could see the exact image of a pony, except it was all wrong.

The body was squatter, I could only imagine the inside, considering that I could turn my front legs almost the same as any human arm.

The head was larger than it should be, with a shortened muzzle and large eyes, all of which added up to make his facial features clearer and more expressive. It was like a strange combination of a human face and a horse face that somehow worked quite well. Well, with red fur except for the area of the neck and belly where it was slightly lighter, a white mane and tail, two slightly curved L-shaped horns, and below I could see hooves divided in two, like those of a wild goat, I think that would help me move better through rugged areas, and finally and in my opinion, the feature that stood out the most was a completely green eye, although I could assume that this was exactly how the other looked

I stayed for a while contemplating my new figure, which could not be anything other than INCREDIBLE. This was the type of face that, if you ran into it in the street, you would run in the opposite direction. I know well that in the future it could play me in, but fuck if it didn't look right, and as for the sex change... I won't lie, it was daunting and frustrating, but as weird as it sounds, I already saw it coming. The only thing I had to use as a reference in my current situation was the mangas that I had read, and I don't know why the gender change seemed to be something common, but in a way, they prepared me for this moment

Taking everything into account, I couldn't complain about it, after all, I came back from the dead to a land of magic and fantasy. What more could I ask for? How many more would be given an equal opportunity? As disconcerting as it was, I couldn't afford to waste time bothering with it, I didn't know what kind of place I was in, and I had to worry about taking care of this new life.

Speaking of which, my stomach rumbled in protest, although I didn't know how long it had been since I arrived, I can assume it was several hours learning to walk, so I proposed a course and followed it with my loyal subjects in formation, with me in the center. , ten of them surrounding me symmetrically and another five serving as scouts, three in front of us and one on each of our sides the rest I sent in groups of five and six in different directions, so we could cover more ground and know what this Everfree was like, assuming that was his real name

Time passed, and now we were all hiding in the bushes and among the branches of the trees. Right in the center of our ambush was a full-grown deer approaching a berry tree that I had carefully placed so as not to be noticed. Slowly, he was approaching the bush, whereas as soon as I touched the first leaf, my horns gave a slight shine imperceptible to anyone but me, and in a moment, five timberwolfves subdued him, with three falling from above and two from the sides. The poor thing could do nothing. In less than a second, her throat was pierced, and she bled to the ground. In the end, my group didn't have to do anything, I could already feel the drool escaping from my meat-hungry snout, the fruits we found just weren't enough.

My henchmen were already bringing our prey to me when

“GRAAAA”

With a blow, my timberwolfves were sent flying, two of them broke because the blow was more focused on them, and my prey was stolen by a giant mutant cat. The idiot swallowed my prey in one bite

Now I was hungry and angry, and this thing was going to be the one to fix both problems. I'd make sure of that. "Kill him" I said in such a cold way that I was surprised those words came out of me.

3- Discovering and improving (Edited)

“Kill him”

A simple and direct order that my wolves did not hesitate to obey, in a second they were already on the manticore, but it was not clumsy, when it saw that it was outnumbered, it did not hesitate to go back so as not to be surrounded

I immediately thought of a way to contrast that, and I sent signals to the wolves that had already been repaired, and they soon climbed the trees, positioning themselves on the target to jump on the manticore and start biting it. Meanwhile, I smiled when I heard her howls of pain and sent another signal to the rest of my wolves to surround her while she was distracted by the sudden assault.

My plan worked perfectly, although two of the five that fell on him had already been torn to pieces by his scorpion tail. Time was of the essence, I had to finish this fast.

Once surrounded, I ordered my wolves to aim at its legs and, if possible, at its tendons. Without its mobility, this would end quickly, but it seemed to realize that it was in danger, so it jumped and fell on its back, crushing not only the only wolf left on his back but three others who had apparently cornered him. Even so, it was not without a cost, his entire back was pierced by large and small sticks that tried to break free to rebuild my subject, further aggravating the injuries

It still wasn't enough, his body was very big, and his skin was very thick. My wolves only managed to cause superficial cuts, he needed more. I racked my brains, thinking about how to hurt him, but I couldn't think of anything. Every second that passed, I could only watch helplessly as I killed my wolves over and over again. I noticed that after each kill they slowed down, two of them didn't even respond anymore!

I had to bite down hard on my lip, almost bloody, to hold back my growing urge to run in there and kick it, bite it, and shoot bloody lightning at it! ...oh

Three seconds after the new information arrived, I jumped out of the bush, hoping my wolves were enough of a distraction.

... It practically noticed me the instant I left the cover of the bush. I had to admit that a red dot running in a straight line at full speed wasn't the best strategy either, I had to jump back to avoid getting decapitated with a claw and then run back where I came from

It already has me fed up! I could even feel myself choking on my anger

Closing one of my eyes, I could see how the manticore was chasing me almost in third person, which allowed me to dodge more easily and have what was necessary for a plan.

At one point, I stopped moving in circles around the area and started running in a straight line. The manticore did not hesitate to take the opportunity to jump and catch me, only I could see it, and I was immediately rammed aside by one of my wolves. I took my place to be torn to pieces in the jaws of that beast

Knowing what would happen, he did not take long to seize the opportunity and run to the beast's exposed neck before it had a chance to understand why it was choking on wood.

"GRAAAA"

A growl followed by a pathetic shriek came from the manticore when I pierced it with my horns, which was disgusting, and I'm not saying it because of the blood that got on me, but because of how it felt, I could feel everything—how I pierced the skin, the meat, and a lot of other things that I did not know or want to know what they were

These things are very sensitive!

"GRIIII"

He narrowly missed me, and if it weren't for my wolves jumping on the other side of his head and applying pressure, I couldn't waste any more time, so I focused my energy and let myself be carried away by the strangely familiar sensation of throwing a grate at Despite knowing that I never experienced something similar

The manticore stopped and began to convulse. Strangely, instead of lightning, what I released were green lightning bolts that reminded me a bit of the Sith from Star Wars. After a few seconds, the convulsions became too intense, so I couldn't keep up. Firm, and I shot off just like my wolves

I was too weak, even with the advantage in numbers, I could see the manticore wiping foam from its mouth, and although it looked hurt and exhausted, I still couldn't think of anything to finish the job.

I looked up, and I could see the smoke coming out of my horns, they needed to rest for a while, but he was already getting up and heading towards me with anger carved on his face. Although he looked doubtful, I was sure it was because of my sure expression. It was more terrifying than his own, his instincts must have warned him to be careful, which ruined any attempt at a surprise attack.

I couldn't take it anymore. I felt my anger rise up my throat, and I finally got over myself "DIE OF A GOOD VIEW-"

My screams of hate and curses were interrupted by a torrent of green flames that came from my mouth, which not only engulfed the beast but also the entire field.

Despite having its guard up, the manticore simply didn't expect an attack like that, perhaps because I didn't even imagine I could do that myself.

She seriously asked, what the hell? Am I part dragon or what?

“GIIIIII”

An even more piercing scream than the previous ones came from the manticore as it writhed desperately on the ground, and I could understand why. I recognized them immediately. Those were the flames that caused me so much pain, those were the ones that had killed me

I felt a slight chill seeing them again and remembering the traumatic event, but realizing that they were now my weapon, I began to feel a little more comfortable with them

Just a little.

But it came at a price, I could feel more tired and weak, to the point where staying on my feet was a challenge. However, there was something that caught my attention, I could see the flames engulfing the field and the trees, and yet, I didn't know. Instead, they concentrated on the remains of my fallen timberwolves and even the branches and rocks that were there before our arrival. Before long, they regrouped, and before my disbelieving gaze, they formed an unusually large alpha with a faint glow of green

The manticore, if it could still be called that, with all its fur missing and flesh exposed, no one would recognize it, was already suffocating from what little was left of my flames when it took a punch, followed by another and another.

The poor man tried to defend himself, but the alpha had no mercy. Even with the few hits he managed to land on the alpha, it didn't seem to affect him, he would only rebuild himself seconds later as if nothing had happened

In one of those exchanges, the alpha caught the manticore's claw and, with his other leg, hit him right in the elbow section, causing him to bend at an unnatural angle.

“giiii”

He didn't even yell anymore, he had no strength at all "Kill him" Once again, I gave the order, and my alpha did not hesitate to obey, grabbing the upper and lower parts of the manticore's head and quickly turning it at an angle of 90°

“CRACK”

A loud crack signaled the end of his life, and my first battle was won.

Four days later

A timberwolf carried in his snout a smooth and thin rock that he used as a tray on which he carried fruit juice and strips of almost raw deer meat to a hammock made of banana leaves and vine, among other things.

As soon as he approached the tray, it was enveloped in a green aura and floated to his mistress. With his mission accomplished, he proudly dedicated himself to fulfilling the next task, which consisted of slightly swinging the hammock for the next four hours.

Meanwhile, his master was having a great time

“BRUUB” I immediately covered my mouth with a helmet after releasing the primitive belch. I think I set a record

I settled back into my place while enjoying the sun and thinking about what I should do next since, since the first day, I had been short on responsibilities

After my big battle with the mutant cat, I decided to go back to the cave because I was too tired and hungry to do anything else. I even had to leave the damn cat's body, if its scorpion sting and slightly blackened blood were any warning. I caught it immediately, realizing that everything I did was out of a simple childish outburst, but to my surprise, my other groups did have more luck and came back with their mouths full of meat from different animals—nothing exaggerated, just some rabbits, deer, birds, and even a couple of fish

The following days I dedicated to reviewing what happened in the battle with the manticore. The first thing I noticed were my new predatory instincts. Before arriving here, the idea of torturing an animal in the way I did disgusted me, but now I almost laugh when I remember it. Apparently this body also caused me a psychological change, I should be careful with that

The next thing that stood out to me was the arrival of information, which made me realize that there was too much I didn't know, so I spent the first day racking my brain until I got some answers, which weren't many, just a few. A little bit of basic magic, it looks like I'll have to wait until the situation is right for more information

Then it was my wolves... They were very weak! Even I, without magic, could beat one to death if I was careful. Although they have been very useful these days, I just ask them for something, and they do it—cook, hunt, build, etc. I have no idea where they get the knowledge to do it, but it works

“Bttt”

A slight vibration in my horns informs me that my wolves have my order ready, so it's time to work. I have to admit that it reminds me a bit of my cell phone on vibrate mode

Ignoring that detail, I get up from the hammock and, along with five other recently created timberwolves who serve as my personal guard, head towards the cave, where I dive to the depths.

This brings me to the last of my discoveries, my influence on my creations. When I discovered that I could create them, I did not hesitate to do all kinds of experiments focusing specifically on ways to improve them, and if so many hours of playing Minecraft taught me anything, it is that after the wood comes stone

"Very good guys, download" At my signal, my new creations, the golems, were made entirely of stone, bipedal, with four arms, two were blades, and the others were shaped like blades or spikes.

They brought me an even larger pile of stones "Positions" At my signal, the wolves took their place on the pile of rocks, and as soon as they were still, I bathed them in my flames, which gave life to the stones, causing them to wrap around their bodies, creating lumpy, amorphous creatures that could barely stand upright

Faced with my mistake, I instinctively brought a helmet to my face, causing my headache to worsen "Next time, if I can do it" I said with a sigh as I approached them and began to manually reshape them, making sure to cover most of their bodies without hindering your mobility

In my experiments, I discovered that the denser and harder a material was, the more strength the final result would obtain, but that was not why it was better, my golems were proof of that, since despite their great strength and hardness, they are extremely slow, therefore I had to be creative

“Ready” In front of me were five modified timberwolves, their four legs, torso, belly, and head covered in a perfectly fitted shell of stone, and at the rear their tail had been replaced by a serpentine version with stone plates every two inches. Inspired by the manticore's usefulness during our fight

I looked at them with pride, and I can say without a doubt that they were the perfect combination that could be achieved with the materials I had available.

“Bttt”

With my work done, I returned to the surface to see what new things my wolves had brought me. I could see the usual things, some prey, fruits, more wood, and some new materials, which I did not hesitate to investigate. Although I had not yet found a use for them and was unlikely to do so, it didn't hurt to keep them

Who knows? They could be useful later

I had already made a small cellar for myself in the cave, where I kept almost everything I found.

"Uh? Hello, beautiful, I had not seen you before" My eyes immediately fell on the beautiful blue flower, which immediately stood out from all that garbage

'Maybe it's time to make a garden for myself' I thought as I went back into the cave, ready to spend the whole day with a flower on a minor task that I would surely delegate to my wolves later "I hope something interesting happens soon. I even started talking to myself"

4- A friend and welcome to Ponyville

I slowly opened my eyes as I released a slow breath and a great chill attacked me, it was cold, very cold! Which was strange if we consider that I stopped feeling things like that since I came to this world, sometimes I could feel a little cold, but the heat had practically become non-existent for me, maybe something to do with my flames? "F-fuck" It was really cold!

I brought my front hooves closer to give them a shower of my flames, but frost came out instead. "What the fuck?" only then did i wake up long enough to realize there was something wrong, my hooves were blue "WHAT THE FUCK?" I immediately sent a signal to one of my wolves to come, as soon as it arrived I concentrated on our connection to see me well, it was blue... all my fur was blue, although otherwise it was normal or as normal as a pony can be magical “ Achu ” a sneeze snapped me out of shock and reminded me that I was freezing “A-up” I said shivering

It took us a while to get to the surface and for the first time it wasn't my fault… well yes, but they couldn't blame me for this I had no idea what had happened to me to change this way, when we finally got out I immediately threw myself to the rays of the sun with the hope that it would help me at least a little to raise my body temperature

Minutes passed, but it felt like hours, I even asked my wolves to start a fire, but it was no use, I couldn't stop shivering, I was very cold! Never in my life had I had so much “V- vamon -nos” I tried to get moving, but I immediately lost my strength and fell to the ground

I must have gotten sick or something, some kind of magical illness was all I could think of, which meant I needed help, I had no idea what to do in this situation I could barely float some objects I could never find a cure for my account

With a thought I sent a signal to all my wolves to stop what they were doing and start exploring except the ones in front of me, I ordered one of them to charge me and the rest to protect me and wait for something anything happened, my vision was getting blurry, at this point the only thing I had left was to pray that it wouldn't take long, but I couldn't even do that anymore, the incessant bite of the cold that ran through my body I no longer felt it, but not because it had gone but because it reached the point where my body could no longer feel anything I could only watch helplessly as my vision darkened and I used the last of my consciousness to give my wolves one last order 'Take me to the first one you find '

It was so warm, I didn't care where I was the important thing was that finally the torture had stopped and that was enough, I slowly opened my eyes and to my surprise I couldn't see anything everything was dark and I couldn't feel anything under my hooves, that was strange, but the problems started when I tried to take a breath and a liquid too sour for my liking entered my nose and mouth "BRUU" I tried to expel it, but only bubbles came out, I was drowning! I started kicking desperately, but I wasn't used to this body, I was lucky if I went a day without kissing the ground... at least once

But to my luck my efforts paid off when I felt one of my front hooves hit something hard, I quickly got my rear hooves into position and kicked out hoping the momentum would be enough to bring me to the surface “BRAA- CAF CAF ” As soon as I surfaced and tried to get some air when I was attacked by a violent cough, I slowly expelled the liquid from my lungs and the much needed air made its way

I stayed for a while to catch my breath before taking a look around me, it was a house or at least it looked like one, I could see some roots passing through the walls, there were also quite a few ceremonial masks, jars with all kinds of shapes on the shelves already in the distance you could see a bed made with furs, curious one would bet that this is the home of an African tribe or something

I looked down and I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that my fur had returned to its normal color, although the feeling of relief disappeared as quickly as I realized that the place where I was was not a bathtub or something, but rather it was a cauldron lit, suddenly the theory of the wild tribe began to take hold

"It's nice to see that you have been able to return to the waking world flaming spirit" I froze for a second when I realized that I was not alone and in the entrance of the house there was a zebra, although what disconcerted me was not her but the fact that I had barely realized that I had been thinking and speaking in an unknown language since who knows when, maybe since I arrived… if most likely “Flaming Spirit seems shocked, or does he not know the speech of the living? ” Now if I was confused "Hey, I understand you perfectly" I said something doubtful "Very good yours are not beings that should wander around these parts there is much that is not known" He said as he raised a jar with a very familiar flower "I know her, I wanted to put it in my garden” The zebra shook her head “Well, you have had a terrible judgment, with this plant you do not play, even if it does not cause discomfort, you always want to make fun of it” Before that I could not help protesting “That thing almost killed me and barely I touched her, it's more than just a tease!" She just nodded. "Certainly, that's why you can never be too careful in the Everfree. "

I couldn't say anything against that since I've seen a fair amount of pretty big predators since I got here, plus she just confirmed that this forest is the Everfree so maybe I can get more information “Can I ask what this is in what am I getting into? How did I get here? and who are you?" I gave him a somewhat distrustful look after all it still seemed like I planned to cook myself "Oh your doubts are understood spirit, but not your fears , this plant is called a poisonous joke and you have already witnessed its effects as far as your place is a natural remedy that the cancels” While explaining, he showed me a green book in which I could see a few recipes and procedures in plant refinement “As for how you got here, your guardians left you at the entrance of my dwelling although I have to admit fear for my life and as your servant I introduce myself, I am Zecora and you are welcome Flaming Spirit "

I didn't know why she was calling me that, but I decided it would be best not to correct her since I don't know if my name would stand out too much or if it would be wise to say "Hey, thanks?" She just gave me a slight nod "You're welcome and please make sure you stay until you feel that the potion has fulfilled its function" Without further ado she sat down at a desk and did I don't know what with some herbs, meanwhile I decided to check the status of my wolves 'WHAT THE HELL?' I almost screamed when I realized what was outside

Outside a literal tree house there were more than three hundred timberwolves . Where did they come from?! In these four days he had managed to obtain 96 timberwolves , including the modified ones, the alpha and the golems .

Of course I had met some stray wolves so to speak, but never such a quantity only in groups of two or three which when approaching me or my wolves immediately became mine, although now that I think about it this is good, having more warriors never hurts i guess

They must have found them when I ordered them to search the entire forest, I wonder how many of them are out there should I put more effort into my exploration tasks and not just relax, I couldn't help but internally scold myself as I remembered that the reason I almost died … again, it is that I decided to make myself a garden just because I had nothing else to do and the worst of all was that when I finished it it was of no use since I forgot that caves are not the best place to plant to work” It was almost a whisper, but it seemed that the zebra had a good ear “If you have the courage, help is always appreciated” was not what I wanted to say, but it was a start

Zecora and I spent time organizing things and grinding herbs, I didn't like the smell of some of them, but helping her after saving me was the least I could do, I also took advantage of the moment to obtain information on how to use some plants and information about the world, Apparently he was in a country called Equestria , a land of ponies and their subspecies, and Zecora was from another country called Zebrica, mainly a country of zebras, among others.

That disappointed me, in the manga I had read it was constantly mentioned that countries were defined mainly by the race that inhabited it, but I was hoping to have left that shit of racism in my previous world, it seems that I was not going to have that luck

Secondly, I also asked him about technology and immediately noticed something strange, from how Zecora described it these ponies seemed to live in the middle ages, but they had a steam train and machines in their hospitals, when I asked about the oddities of this she just shrugged

" Baaag " Zecora let out a big yawn while rubbing her eyes, I couldn't help but feel a little guilty since apparently my wolves had brought me quite late and she had to spend much of the night taking care of me and making the bathtub-sized potion " Is there anything else I can do?" She shook her head "You've already done enough, my help was never out of desire but out of courtesy" I couldn't help but show a smile "I still took a lot of your time and materials, isn't there something you had to do today or something? I will gladly do it”

She paused for a moment to think, she seemed doubtful, but in the end she relented "Indeed your skills could be appreciated" She said as she stood up and took out a bag, paper and a pen?, she wrote down some things and then handed me the paper "This it is a list of materials that the forest lacks and only in ponyville will I find” “Pony what?” That name was somewhat disconcerting "It's a town that can be found at the exit of Everfree , you just have to stick to the path there is no loss" Basically I wanted him to go shopping, I can handle that, but there was something important that I had to ask "Do you think have a library? I'd like to learn about magic." The smile on his face gave me hope that I wouldn't have to spend days experimenting to figure out how the damn thing worked. "If you've seen a home like mine filled with knowledge, you'll know it when you see it."

I had to fight the urge to jump on her and hug her, this was going to be exciting!

Me and all my modified timberwolves were marching completely filling the Everfree trail the rest had been sent back to their duties and the new timberwolves I gave them scouting duties and some gathering for Zecora , maybe I was exaggerating bringing almost a hundred , but after almost losing my life at the hands... at the roots of a simple flower I preferred not to take any more risks " Bttt " My wolves informed me that we had already reached the edge of the forest and I ordered them to stop, I didn't want to cause a commotion by entering with an army so it would only take one which, more than an escort, would serve as a pack mule carrying the materials and the bag with bits? I think that's how Zecora called them , the rest would wait for me hidden at the Everfree entrance

At a slow but firm pace, my partner and I approached the colorful town, it was very different from what I was used to, the houses were scattered without any order, just respecting the paths and although most had a similar design, each one was different. both in size and shape

We kept going until we reached a different building from the others, it seemed to belong to the witch from the story of Hansel and Gretel, I was spellbound looking at the alien architecture for a while until I noticed something strange, of course besides a house made of sweets

Everything was empty it almost looked like a ghost town, I looked around and I can swear I saw a tumbleweed where did everyone go? When I looked with my wolves at the entrance of the forest I could see the ponies in the distance doing their things in the town and now nothing “ Bttt ” or so I thought

My wolf gave me a warning of something moving behind me, more precisely in an alley, although I did not feel alarmed by the warning, so what I saw there was probably not dangerous

I turned around looking carefully at the alley where there were only some trembling bushes, it didn't take much thought when I used my magic to move the branches and let me see what was hiding there " Owww " Immediately I was hypnotized by the most tender thing that seen in my life, the thing was a cream-colored filly with red mane and a bow that only made her look cuter, something I didn't think possible "Ah" a scary screech came out of her muzzle while she gave me a look of panic, that it confused me until something in my head clicked and i immediately covered my mouth which almost made me spit because of the crap i just put in

Even I admit that I look terrifying and that is my own face, imagine what I would look like to a girl and now add a smile full of sharp fangs and you have a nightmarish being, I gave him some time and once I saw that he calmed down I smiled at her again, but this time it was a more controlled and reassuring smile making sure not to show any of my teeth, I slowly approached her and when I noticed that there was no rejection I extended one of my front hooves in her direction to give her a light caress , I didn't mind not having fingers anymore I had to give him affection, it was part of human nature to caress everything that looks tender

BOOM or would have if she hadn't been shot down by a fucking multicolored rocket! For a second it was all pain, but it quickly faded and as she tried to make sense of what had just happened a helmet wrapped around her. my neck while someone climbed on top of me "What th-" I tried to curse, but the asshole only increased the strength of his grip "RUN APPLE BLOOM" I heard a voice say in the distance also the filly's confusion, but I couldn't seeing neither of them instead I tried to use my magic to attack the thing above me since I couldn't reach it with my hooves, but I must have seen them shine because I felt myself hit them which not only made me lose focus but also It sent a pulse of pain from my horns to the rest of my body "AHH" In response to my need for help my escort ran towards me to help me until he was stopped by a noose that wrapped around his neck in a similar way to me , he resisted pulling hard and almost knocking over the orange pony and would have if it wasn't for others who came and helped her pull the lasso

We were both stuck, I was desperately fighting to get this damn thing off me while my partner nearly got knocked down, he hated it, first the flower and now this, once again I could feel my anger turn material inside of me and was fighting to get out, but I couldn't do it every second that passed her grip on me got stronger it got to the point where everything became a blur, I did what I could, but I couldn't shake her off, once again my wolves were useless and I couldn't let go of my flames

Of all I think that was the worst not being able to launch my flames was much more suffocating than being strangled, I could feel that they were accumulating inside me like a balloon that inflates beyond its limits to the point where any thing can bust it "Come on give it up, you'll never scare ponies again!" Frighten? FRIGHTEN? I DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING, I just wanted to buy something "Apple Jack hold it still it's almost ready!" I could barely distinguish it among all the stains, but the lavender glow of its horn gave it away, I could see it pointing at my timberwolf , its intentions were clear, it wanted to destroy it! They may not be sentient beings, but they were mine they were my creations and I was proud of them, I couldn't leave her, I WASN'T GOING TO ALLOW IT

"BOOOM" The balloon finally exploded or rather I did, my whole body was bathed in green flames just like the ground around me, I don't know what happened to the damn thing that was on top of me I think it went flying from the explosion , she was not very busy catching her breath "RAINBOW" the lavender unicorn lost her focus and her spell was lost, I recorded error, seeing that she was no longer in immediate danger the timberwolf was no longer so desperate so instead of continuing Playing the strength struggles, he let himself be pulled, causing the mares to lose their balance enough for some to fall, and immediately he returned to pull with all his might, managing to send the orange pony that still had the rope between its teeth into the air, the which when she was close enough she was received with a powerful punch from the wolf which seemed to knock her out, I wasn't surprised the truth hurt me just seeing it

"APPLEJACK" My attention was returned to the lavender unicorn, as I hated her, I was already charging the energy in my horns to attack, but she was faster, her lightning took practically no time to charge "BANG" To my luck, my wolf reacted just as fast and he lunged to intercept the attack, a large part of him was blown off one of his front legs and part of his torso, but he was still standing and was already repairing himself and I was ready "SHING" My scratches similar to the electricity went in the direction of the pony which again was faster and managed to create a shield before they hit

"AHHHH" It looked painful the way it shuddered and cracks appeared on the shield, but still the shield didn't fall "GRAA" A scream that sounded more like a roar came from me and the intensity and number of scratches increased to the point where some didn't even touch his shield, but fell into the ground around him causing slight explosions and burn marks

managed to last about three seconds “ CRACK ” until finally it broke, I didn't even have time to scream again, my scratches sent it flying until it crashed into a house to which I didn't pay much attention since I had found something much more interesting, a literal tree house 'you'll know it when you see it' Zecora was right and it was funny that he only saw it because it sent the pony flying

Just like with the manticore I was going to take what was mine "E- hey you stop!" I turned around to see that more ponies had gathered, the one speaking was pon- a white pegasus , full of muscles and a weight on his butt, the others gathered seemed to be helping the fallen ponies, although I could see you doubtful and they did not stop of giving me terrified looks "What?" I did my best to control myself and act rationally "L-get out of our town!" I stood for a while looking at him and the few brave ponies that were grouped "What you heard we don't want monsters!" This time the one who spoke was an orange filly, which curiously seemed to be the least fearful of those present "Well, excuse me, but as far as looking good is not a crime, besides they were the ones who started!"

My words were of little use when they began to throw stones at me, my horns were still releasing smoke from the previous effort, so the wolf became my shield again "Out monster!" "We're going to kick you out for what you did!" "Freak!"

I stopped listening as I concentrated on containing my anger, I was sick of these guys, who do they think they are to attack someone on the street and then say it's okay? “Go and take that striped witch with you!” Zecora ?! _

"GRAAAA" That's what she did, I may not have known her for a long time, but Zecora was my friend and I wasn't going to allow them to insult her too "ATTACK" I couldn't contain it anymore, I wanted revenge "GRAAAA" My order was answered for almost a hundred of my creations who did not hesitate to march at full speed against the town

The faces of the ponies when they realized what was coming… I tried, I really tried, but it was impossible for me to contain my laughter when I saw how those who had come to help and supposedly 'kick me out' were the first to run away , even abandoning several of her own, the lavender pony was still nailed to that wall

Luckily it was enough to lighten my mood and not cause a massacre, my only objective here was the library, so I didn't hesitate to order my wolves to raid it and take what was important, while I collected the materials that Zecora sent me . ordered and left the bag of bits on the counter

When everything was finished and we were at the entrance of the forest ready to go when I took one last look at Ponyville "what a horrible place, I hope I never have to go back"

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

I apologize for what I did to Zecora , but as some of you may already know, I'm bad with English , so any rhyming phrase I make won't be noticed once the story is translated, so I'd better choose to give it a more tone. mystical to his way of speaking, I hope that at least partially compensates

I think I can say it now without giving spoilers and it is that I am mainly inspired by the game “ Overlord ”, but only in skills and they will not be like in the game, I am only inspired by it, I am not going to copy it.

5- Magic for fools

Author's Note

There is not much action here, it is more than anything an explanation of magic

5- Magic for fools

Two shadows moved between the branches of the trees, both in perfect synchronicity and without making the slightest noise, their march continued without rest until they detected movement, only a glance was needed and both shadows moved into a large bush, where they waited to pass his possible target

Minutes passed and on the cleared ground in front of them a large…rabbit appeared.

"Shit!" The sudden cry scared away the poor animal that was only looking for a good place for its burrow " Shh , we are supposed to be tracking, if you continue with your complaints you will let everyone know where we are" His companion just rolled his eyes without looking away from him “Tracking what exactly? Are you seriously going to tell me that the timberwolves are worth wasting my time on ? They're just a bunch of brainless sticks."

His partner just gave a tired sigh "That 'bunch of sticks' defeated the princess's student and in case you haven't noticed this is the first recorded timberwolf attack in Equestrian history. "

“Great thing, we both know that the unicorns of Canterlot , despite how much they presume their great magic, hopefully they know the simplest of combat spells and as for the wolves, what does it matter? Except for a few injured ponies the wolves immediately went back to the forest and even if they had stayed we would have torn them to pieces just like in training.

As much as it bothered him that his fledgling partner was showing some seriousness about his current task, he had to admit that some of his views had validity, ponies weren't like thestrals , they rarely fought even in self-defense, let alone the thestrals. timberwolf , they were so easy to destroy that they were used regularly to train novices or at least they did it on the night watch... that last thought made him realize something strange "Hey novice, how long did it take you on your first hunt?"

Although he was surprised by the sudden question when he saw the seriousness in his superior's eyes, it didn't take him long to answer "I think it was about... thirty minutes if I remember correctly and it was raining" his partner continued with a thoughtful look until he decided to share his discoveries “It's been almost a week and we haven't found a trace of timberwolves ”

"What are you implying?" The rookie began to understand where his partner's thoughts were heading, his group had not been the only one sent to the Everfree , there were a few dozen, but as far as he knew none had been lucky the timberwolves had simply disappeared

"Before they were the most common species in the Everfree and now they only leave overnight, don't you think it's suspicious?" The rookie was beginning to despair "That's good I know you're thinking about something tell me"

His partner gave him a smug smile "Rumors have started to spread of a dark magic user who can control timberwolves. " The newbie's eyes widened as his ears stuck to his neck. things were eradicated by the princesses even before Princess Luna's banishment and if there were any they would have sent more than just a few groups of guards, an entire battalion would have come to clean up the forest!”

His partner nodded. “If they had, but to do so would be to admit that the stories were wrong and there might still be some out there, so they won't do anything that drastic, or at least they won't until they're sure it's true. TRUE"

"Y-you're not saying what I s - I think you're saying, Princess Luna would never use us as bait!" The rookie was trembling and looking around as if he was suddenly surrounded by a herd of chimeras, so scared that he didn't notice the confusion on his partner's face “Didn't you hear? We are not here on the orders of Princess Luna, you know very well that if she found out about the possible existence of a being like that, she would be the first in line to confront him."

"WHAT? Who ordered us to do this then?” Although the main commander of the night watch was Princess Luna they were technically no different from the sun guard so anypony of a high enough rank could command them even though it rarely happened, no noble would want to bother asking the hideous thestrals for help when they had a respectable and brilliant sun guard to fulfill their every whim

"Prince Blueblood " Of all the names he could have heard that was without a doubt the worst "AAHHHH" The poor rookie took off at maximum speed to the nearest exit of the forest without noticing his partner who was chasing him barely containing his laughter and the strange bird made of twigs and leaves which camouflaged itself so well with the environment that no one realized that it was already the third time that night that they ran into one of those.

In the deepest area of a cave and so dark because no ray of the sun asked to go so deep was a figure that was constantly banging his head against the wall constantly repeating 'idiot' to himself

"Idiot- ouch!" I stopped after what I think was the sixth hit against the wall, at this point the headache was starting to affect me, how could I be so dumb? Obviously, if the most common predatory species disappears in an ecosystem, it would be noticeable. I stopped for a second to take a deep breath and calm down, then I started to look through some books, something that thestral said caught my attention

After the disaster in the town, name I refuse to mention, I went back to Zecora and explained what had happened, at first I was a little confused that the ponies could do something like that, then she told me how the ponies of that town were, she told me how kind they were what they seemed like and that I had never seen them act evil until I asked her why they attacked me and she did not know what to answer, it was there that I found out that she had never really met the inhabitants of the town she only went shopping, but always As she went there didn't seem to be anyone to attend to her, the face she made when I made her realize that the ponies were actually avoiding her, and the things I had heard the ponies say while they were throwing stones at me... I didn't feel bad about it anymore. had done in the village even if my body has something to do with it I don't care

The next day I decided to go back to the caves and get to work. I was a little worried about Zecora , but she told me that she would be fine since no one knows this forest like she does and that no one knew the whereabouts of her house, even so, I left a few fifty modified Timberwolf under the guise of helping her as her servants so I ordered them to follow any order given by her and distort the dirt road that passed too close to her house for me to feel comfortable

After that as soon as I got to the caves I got to work, I realized how lazy I had been since I came to this world, but now I had no excuse, I had almost a hundred books waiting to give me their knowledge so that he should make the most of it

I dedicated this week to doing my best and not only me but also my timberwolves . I created a new type called drone which is shaped like a bird and is mostly made of leaves which makes it very weak and slower than normal birds, but that's not what matters since I discovered that timberwolves they can communicate with each other as a kind of hive mind, that is why they have not been seen while collecting materials from the forest, my drones have much of the forest mapped in real time so my wolves know immediately what areas to avoid and in which there are more resources, as for my golems , I modified them a bit so that they could mine better, I made them bipedal, their arms were changed by sharp stakes similar to those of pickaxes, in addition to giving them an extra pair that served as shovels and I made more of them which resulted in his mining speed increasing to the point where he had to create more just for them to support

For my part I have been studying... I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is really important and I must add that for the first time in my life I have had fun studying, magic is fascinating and so far I have discovered that it is divided into three types : racial magic, common magic and spells

Racial is how the body naturally processes and releases magic like pegasus flight magic , dragon flames or mine, basically it depends on your race

The common is something that anyone can do, things like alchemy, transmutation, forging, etc, an example of this would be Zecora

And finally the spells the rarest ability and that only a handful of races possess thanks to a unique organ, the horn, thanks to this which is directly connected to the brain it is possible to release the magic within us with a specific command using runes which when mixed with environmental magic result in spells

I have been studying many spells as well as doing exercises that increase my amount of magic available, luckily my wolves prioritized magic and history books which only makes me wonder if they are as clumsy as they seem since I didn't give them that order, but now I had something else in mind

"Dark magic" I read the title of the book I was looking for and immediately started reading ' Dark magic one of the prohibited branches and therefore one of the least information is known, of the little that is known is that this magic it is mainly driven by negative emotions and its abilities are mainly focused on offensive magic and torture, its biggest flaw is that it has a habit of corrupting its user's mind driving them insane. Luckily the princess has confirmed the elimination of all schools and studies of this branch of sorcery more than a thousand years ago so you don't have to worry that...' The rest was just historical information that basically just repeated the 'dark magic is bad'

“Negative emotions, offense and torture… yes it definitely fits” I wasn't stupid, I had realized what this body was doing to my mind on the first day, what I didn't realize was that this seemed to aggravate over time I think I'll talk to Zecora about this, maybe she can do something to help me

Anyway that was only part of what interested me now 'offensive magic' these books had many useful spells, but there was nothing about combat magic only a few mentions, even so thanks to your explanations I understood that I would need them, the combat spells were specialized so they took advantage of all the energy to the maximum even in things that I thought were simple like the launch of the lightning bolts, in short I could do much more with much less, like the difference between throwing a stone with my hands and using a wave

But I didn't want to waste my time rediscovering the wheel to create something that would undoubtedly be inferior to any modern spell, instead looking for a target one that had all the spells I needed and could learn the best way to create my own.

Canterlot Royal Library , I needed to go to Canterlot , I needed to steal from the princesses

7- Talking to the moon

“Oh hey” I was trying to talk to this crazy mare, but my words were just ignored “We'll talk later, we have to hurry up” and to top it off, I couldn't move! When I said that I had used the most basic camouflage spell, I meant it.

This simple push he was giving me was enough to give me a headache due to the concentration needed to maintain the spell on top of the constant expenditure of magic, if I did something as simple as free myself from his grip or even speak my illusion would vanish with him. wind

"It's her?" I let out an internal scream when I saw a guard in front of me, I didn't even notice when he appeared, the damn spell had me distracted and it was already starting to hurt! But for my luck finally the crazy one stopped dragging me

"Yes, Free Spirit, right?" Flaming Spirit idiots, that's what happens to them for having such simple names and surnames "Yes" but that was what came out of my lips when I saw the stallion's look of suspicion, if I said that I wasn't sure that I would start asking questions to those who I didn't want to answer

"Excellent, you had us crazy looking for you, hurry up, they're waiting for you on stage" She told me as she pointed her helmet at some stairs that she was sure would not take me to a good place "Yoo... no... I'm sure that- " " Well of course! You don't have your instrument, come quickly."

I really wanted to leave, but seeing the penetrating gaze of the guard who did not stop looking at me, I decided to follow her to an area full of blankets and boxes which, after a shine of her horn, moved revealing all kinds of instruments, I was amazed to be able to recognize so many despite the fact that I am now in the home of a race that has no fingers, except for that one that looks like some kind of mutant bagpipe…strange

"What are you waiting for? We are against the clock” he was already beginning to lose his patience “I heard you let me think” At my tone he fell silent and shrank a little similar to the filly he had met in that town

I looked in front of me and I had no idea what to do, I never learned to play an instrument beyond happy birthday and that was with a flute as I am supposed to… oh… you must be kidding

I slowly approached a section that looked like the one for classical instruments and right next to the harp was a small lyre, an instrument that I had only seen in photos, but now I was sure that I could even play it with my mouth, why I received information on this specific one, it's a mystery to me, but if it helps me, I'm not going to complain

“Are you sure you want that one? It is not the best option to accompany a song these days” as I approached him with the lyre he looked at me with doubt “It is the instrument that I know how to play best” After that he just nodded and we went back to the guard who did not stop staring at me! This guy knows something, I don't know what, but he knows!

“Are you ready ? The guests are starting to get impatient” That only made me more nervous, I slowly approached the stairs and when I was in front of them I turned around hoping to get a single second of distraction, but I had no luck the damn guard kept looking at me as if I knew that I wanted to escape

With a signal of my horn I ordered my timberwolves to get ready for the fight

"She's cute" Said the guard once he was out of sight "Is that why you kept looking at her?" asked the secretary blankly

"Of course, why else would I?" The stallion answered without taking the hint to which she only snorted "Didn't you think I was acting a little suspicious?" The stallion just shook his head "Surely it's just nerves, I would have them too if I had to give a concert in front of the princesses"

"mmh maybe" For some reason she wasn't completely convinced of that "Besides, we are in Canterlot castle, the safest place in Equestria, nothing dangerous is ever going to happen here"

“Btt”

A warning from my timberwolves let me know that they were already positioned and ready for battle or slaughter if need be, I was sure that if they acted fast enough they could take down the guards around the stage and some of these nobles giving me the perfect distraction to get away

Wow, when did I become so sinic?... And since when do I refer to myself with feminine pronouns?! I think I'm starting to feel sick

Ignoring my wishes, I simply concentrated on climbing the stairs to the edge of the stage, I stayed there for a while without knowing what to do until another pony , the same one that dragged me here, quickly passed by my side and began to introduce me.

He started to list my hit songs or the ones he thinks were mine, I had to bear the embarrassment "And with you the always only the indomitable Free Spirit"

Silence invaded the palace, only the breathing of the ponies could be heard, all waiting for the artist they had waited all night to appear and appeared seconds later being pushed by a guard with a penetrating gaze, once he left her in the center of the stage both the presenter and the guard left

"Good luck" The clerk mare told me when she passed me, good luck? is that the best thing you came up with? I'm in front of all the nobility of one of the most powerful pises and that's what you think of telling me?!

I don't even know what to sing, of course I knew hundreds of songs, some I managed to memorize from listening to them so much and even if this body helps me learn to sing by some miracle my nerves don't let any song come to mind

Of course there is always the massacre plan, but I don't want to use it not only because of the killing and that, but because it would make my disguise spell useless, I would have to do it again and from another race since if two kirins appear almost at the same time it would obviously be suspicious

I searched desperately among the public for something that would catch my attention, anything, something that would give me an idea until I found what I was looking for, but not in the way that I wanted, on the other side of the square was a pony much taller than all the others . others, the alicorn Celestia

Once again the fear took over me, she just smiled at me, it seemed that she was trying to encourage me, but for me it was almost a murderous psychopath smile 'I'm coming for you' I could almost hear her say that to me

I was about to send my wolves to a butcher shop as I prepared to jump the castle gates when something else caught my attention, right next to Celestia there was a shadow half her size, even so, it was still bigger than any another pony, I almost didn't see her

The sight somehow calmed me down, despite their similarities it wasn't like Celestia didn't terrify me looking at her, but rather she almost gave off a certain familiarity, like some kind of distant relative or something.

Princess Luna almost looked like a reflection of her sister with her dark blue fur and her strange mane that in my opinion was much more beautiful than her sister's, I could swear I saw shooting stars in there

I wasted a few seconds hypnotized by the sight until she tilted her head I don't know if she seemed impatient or bored, but it gave me the inspiration I needed, thank you princess Luna

"Em... this song is dedicated to the best princess!"

'Best princess' I no longer need to know more, in her time she thought she had heard all the possible rhymes and combinations dedicated to her sister and her sun, but the modern era showed her how wrong she was, it seems that even a thousand years are not enough to that the ponies let a single day go by without worshiping their sister as if she were a goddess

I wasn't mad at her, but it just got annoying hearing these things all the time.

He looked at his sister for a second and seeing that she was distracted by this new singer who in his opinion does not seem qualified to be on stage

He slowly backed away, he shouldn't even be here he never liked these social events full of nobles too narcissistic for his liking, the only reason he had come was because his sister made him promise to go out more often it wasn't that she didn't want to go out, but he couldn't help noticing the looks of disapproval and revulsion that some nobles gave him, they made old memories resurface, ones that he would prefer to forget

He kept going back until a slight mention of his stars caught his attention, only then did he pay real attention to the song that until now had passed like a breeze that moved his mane, non-existent.

I feel alone

to talk to the moon

That song wasn't like anything I'd heard before, most pony songs were happy in nature, but this one...

trying to get to you

Hoping you're on the other side

talking to me too

or am i a fool

let him feel alone

to talk to the moon?

She didn't know how to describe it exactly, it sounded sad, but the song wasn't sad in itself, but what had surprised her the most was that this song was being dedicated to her, you don't have to be a genius to know where most of the popularity votes of the ponies regarding what they would call the best princess

To openly declare who was the best like this would result in isolation from high society at best. What kind of fool would do something like that just for a song?

Even so, as the song progressed, she couldn't help but let a smile spread across her face, one that her sister inadvertently noticed.

somewhere far away

I finished I don't know how, but I did, of course it sounded a bit weird because my voice was now female and the lyre doesn't sound exactly like a guitar, but damn I did it!

Or at least that's what I thought the public seemed to think differently, I heard some applause, but most remained silent, some even looked at me with some hatred

Did I do something wrong? I know it wasn't the best song, not even close to my top 10, but I would never say it was a bad song.

My gaze was diverted again to the alicorns , I ignored Celestia's gaze like the plague and to my surprise I couldn't find her sister... I guess I screwed up

I slowly backed away until I left the stage where luckily neither the mare nor the guard said anything to me, it seemed that I really hit them, I didn't care if I had to get out of there, I drew too much attention, as for my bugs they were already in the gardens they could position themselves with some time

I drew a few glances but none lingered as I retreated to the garden, it would take a while for my wolves to get past the guards to get here even with so many roofs and bushes it was hard to make sure no one was looking at you with so many ponies around

I decided to wait just looking at the flowers until I felt a flutter behind me so I turned around but I never would have been prepared for what was there

For the third time that night Princess Celestia appeared in front of me, man my luck has to be really bad

"Hello and good night dear Spirit ." His voice was soft, sweet and seemed to give off nothing but kindness.

I really fought against the fear that ate at my soul "G-good night pr -princess COF I'm sorry" Even so, I couldn't help but choke mid-sentence

"There is no need to be nervous my little pony , in fact I am the one who should be, your show was truly memorable I haven't heard anything like it in a long time, maybe never in fact." She had a thoughtful look as if struggling to organize her thoughts. memories and I can't blame her for what I read even if it's not all true she definitely had a very long life

“It was really daring what you did there anyway, you know?” They know! I bet you already knew the real Free Spirit "Thank you"

It took me a few seconds to process that word "What?" It was the only thing that managed to come out of my mouth

"Thank you, I think Luna really needed this, lately she hasn't had the chance to properly socialize with the ponies." She paused for a second as if wondering whether to continue speaking "Since I've been back not only the nobility, but even the castle staff tend to avoid it”

Really? Why? Wait I think I read something about that something about an exile, I didn't put much effort into the history books since it was very boring and unnecessary compared to magic plus it was difficult to read and not because it was complicated but the opposite a thousand years of peace in those years only some magical advances are mentioned, foundations of companies, some very slight mentions of technological achievements and news about his princess, it was quite detailed in that last one

But what really made me want to read was the part where she says that she moves the sun, that went beyond simple adoration, it was fanaticism, I can accept that she has a kind of bond with him, but to control it now it's ridiculous

“I… understand, but why are you telling me this?” The doubt was already eating me. Did he know about me or not?

"I wanted to ask if you would be willing to do some private concerts for my sister. I think that might cheer her up and maybe make her a little more open with our subjects." infiltrate?

Seeing that she was still somewhat shocked, she decided to sweeten the deal even more "Of course I won't ask you to do it for free, you will be paid for each concert" And it worked quite well

"I think that- "

CRANK "Stop there stop!"

Before I could give a decent answer I was interrupted by some guards, I jumped thinking they were telling me, but to my surprise

"Move, I'm going to kick that impostor's skinny scale!" With the guards was a dark blue earth pony mare with a mane that varied from purple to yellow, hooves of a different color each and a dress with the colors of the rainbow, if I think I know who she is

I slowly turned my head to meet Celestia's piercing gaze, there's mom, help! "I guess that's why you were so nervous talking to me."

I desperately tried to find a clever answer, but I couldn't think of anything, my nerves were controlling "Pr- princess I just wanted to... I was trying to-"

"Twelve days" Her interruption made my nervousness turn into confusion and I waited for her to clarify her words.

"In twelve days my sister and I will be back from delivering these donations and introducing my sister to the chiefs of the Zebrica tribes, and that very night you will be here to give her a private concert, one she will never forget." She wasn't asking this. it was an order

" Gug " Suddenly my throat felt dry and I had a great need to run to the bathroom "Got it princess I'll be here I promise"

As soon as I said it the intensity of his gaze disappeared and that reassuring and compassionate smile returned to the point where I came to doubt if what I saw was real or me hallucinating from nerves.

"I'm glad you agreed, see you then" I was ready to leave or fly if necessary, but he put his helmet on my shoulder and leaned close to my ear "I wouldn't want to have to go looking for you myself, would I?" I thought I was scared before, I was wrong, I could barely control myself enough to nod

She just nodded in the same way keeping that perfect smile on her face at all times and walked away with her guards apparently also to talk to the real Free Spirit , but I didn't pay much attention to her I just walked this time through the main entrance

Passing a few blocks I managed to meet my wolves, together we walked through the alleys and left the city in the same way we entered, I think this time the guard did fall, but I didn't stop to check

Once outside we accelerated full speed, without distractions or attempts to go unnoticed I didn't even care if someone saw us now we didn't stop until we reached the entrance of the forest where I finally felt safe

I practically collapsed, I fell from the back of the beta to the hard ground, I undid my illusion and I was positioned on my back while I caught my breath despite not having run anything I could feel my heart about to burst and my sweaty body

Lots of unexpected things happened today and although there were a few hiccups my bugs are already scattering outside the castle so the mission could be said to be a success

But I will have a lot of work in the next few days, I have to see the deer and find a way to compensate them, I feel a little guilty for what I said to them, although the guilt is much less than how I thought I would feel when killing someone innocent I guess that's another point that I have to take into account.

I'll need to find something to control my emotions I can't put it off any longer, my massacre plan showed me that I'm feeling less and less, it's only a matter of time before I become a bloodthirsty beast

Also this Celestia as soon as I see her my instincts explode screaming DANGER, why? And what did he do in the everfree ?, another reason to relate to the deer I guess

And lastly I have to go see Princess Luna, thinking about her I realized something else that I had not noticed since my first day here, the stars, since I arrived I spent the nights in the cave studying or never sleeping It occurred to me to see what this world was like at night

The moon was huge, the stars were perfectly visible, without the light pollution that was very present in my previous world, I was able to see new constellations and I was even able to identify planets by using a trick I learned with the lighting they produce, the night was in everything its splendor was views that are only expected to be seen in internet photos

“The princess of the night…maybe seeing her again won't be so bad” Come to think of it, I've always wanted to be an astronomer.

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

8- Large debts

A little to the left, yes, and now a little higher... I think that's it

I took a few steps back to contemplate my work and make sure that there were no faults which there were not, so it could be considered a success, but I felt that something was missing, I know that it is not like the normal ones of its type, but it should be fine and yet I still did not feel satisfied with my creation

"Btt"

huh? It's weird that she's the one who comes to visit me. Open finished what I asked? That was very fast

I put those thoughts out of my mind to concentrate on welcoming my friend "Hello Zecora you arrived just in time I was about to leave"

She stopped for a second to catch her breath, apparently she had come at full speed from her house to here "I will not let my friend start her trip without her concoction" she said while raising some canteens

"Did you really make it that fast?" I had a hard time believing it I never thought that solving this problem was so easy, it is supposed that the mental corruption by dark magic was the most serious problem for the users of it, that there a potion that can cure its effects so easily seemed too good to be true

“Sorry to say you were disappointed, the task at hand was too complicated and strenuous for a quick fix” I guessed so “This is a concoction called 'needed rest' that soothes body and soul”

"Eh thank you very much" Does that mean it's some kind of painkiller? It's still better than nothing "I feel like it will be very useful to me from now on and by the way, what do you think?" I said as I pointed out my latest creation

She gave my creation an up and down look, apparently just realizing it was there despite how big it is "Your creation is worthy of a standing ovation, however... it lacks beauty, I'm afraid it looks... simple." ”

I could only nod at that, the design was quite simple and as far as one could see one would bet that it was made of 80% rock "Can you think of something?"

She thought for a while looking at him and then she looked around with a smile "Your creation is dead let's give it life" She said as she brought some flowers and branches from the bushes and put them on top

“I think I understand what you want to do” I released a small flame on the branches that he put on top of it and they joined him positioning themselves in the right place , we kept adding different plants for a while until we decided that it was enough “Now this is a good work"

I couldn't help but put on a satisfied smile when seeing my finished project "A job well done, but what do you need it for?" I just noticed that Zecora seems to be the type to notice things after they're done.

"I plan to pay the deer a visit and I want to make a good impression" I didn't see any reason to lie to her it's not like she had anyone else to talk to...maybe I should visit her more often

She looked at me in surprise for a while “How did you find the forest masters? I have searched for them since my arrival, but I never heard their call and do you think you should take so many protectors? could be misunderstood”

"I just left one of my drones on top of one of them's carriage" I said as one of them stood on my back so she could get a good look at it "And as for the other one maybe you're right" I looked around and again I wondered if I had exaggerated with the size of the escort, but I would need them in case the deer got violent

"But truthfully I have... a debt with them one that I intend to pay, but in case they think of asking me for interest or something similar, I must show that I am not someone who can be easily intimidated" obviously I was not going to tell him the truth How do you tell someone that you've been eating people by accident?

"I can understand, I was told that they are as compassionate as they are possessive, they have great love for their home and will pay anyone who dares to harm it" I don't know if they want to calm me down or worry me "They also know these forests better than their peers so that they could have objects of great value or know where these existed”

That could be useful “Very well I will ask them about that, I will also try to convince them to let you visit them” That earned me a hug that took the air out of my lungs

"You have my gratitude" It's good not to be alone in this world I guess

"You're welcome, besides I owed you for the tea" I stopped for a second to look at the sun I don't know much about measuring time this way, but I think it's time to go

Aspen had had a hard day or rather a month and with how things were going everything seemed to indicate that it would become a difficult season, first the princess goes crazy and desecrates the forest and now some stupid ponies get into the parts of the forest that normally no one would be stupid enough to go and they end up waking up one of the worst creatures that the forest can summon, at least no more attacks or disappearances had been reported for about six days since he returned from the gala

At least it seemed that today was going to be a quiet day "Sir we have problems!" or not

"Calm down soldier and tell me what's going on" I didn't know I had him so upset, but it was no excuse to torment him so early

"There is an army of strange timberwolves at the gates of the town" He felt his heart stop for a second, this should not be possible, but the training his father gave him before becoming king saved him from freezing and immediately I enter general mode

"How many?" Without stopping talking, he went to the doors on the side of his office to get his armor that he always keeps close.

"A few hundred it seems, we have a hard time distinguishing them among all the brush" That should not be possible, we have many ways to ward off predators, traps, spore bombs, path manipulation, even charms that we bought from the nobles of Canterlot

"I don't hear noises. What are you doing?" Although his house was not near the walls, if there was any kind of invasion it would certainly be heard throughout the village.

"Nothing for now, they are in formation and in its center is what appears to be a... carriage"

He had to stop at that "Carriage?" His messenger just nodded impatiently. "And no damage?"

"It doesn't look like it sir, in fact, they seem to be in defensive formation"

After meditating for a few seconds what his messenger said, he made his decision “I want all the gates to close, enlist all the guards we have, whether they are on duty or not, today there are no days off! Take them to the walls and no matter what happens, nobody does anything until I get there!”

"Understood sir." As soon as he received his order, the messenger prepared to leave.

"Wait" He stopped for a second wondering if he was so desperate and it turned out that he was "And tell my brother to meet me there"

It had been a productive day, her sister had gotten along surprisingly well with her our neighbors even though before her departure they weren't on the best of terms and she had also loved what Zebrica had become in this era of peace, but for some reason when he wanted to talk about more serious topics like trade deals they have assets with Equestria they avoided or diverted all conversations

Something wasn't right and I really hope it's not because they also fell into superstitions regarding Nightmare Moon, she's had enough of that from the noble ponies

"Knock knock" His ears perked up at the unexpected knock, it was already very late and normally he wouldn't expect visitors at this hour.

“Come in.” Still, it only took her a second and a few cleansing and illusion spells to appear perfectly groomed and hopefully look like she was looking forward to this reunion.

"Princess Celestia, I'm sorry to bother you so late" Once again she noticed something strange, so many years in politics had made her develop a kind of sixth sense for these things

"It's not a problem boss Shaka it's always a pleasure to receive you" Without guards, he knocked on the door himself and... he doesn't have his strange accent, this was bad, the only times a boss had spoken to him without his accent were so few that the I could count on his hooves and those conversations were never pleasant

"I'll go bluntly as you're told, the rest of the bosses and I have decided to cease all movement between Equestria and Zebrica regardless of their nature." That...was certainly not pleasant.

"Do you realize the seriousness of what you just said?" I expected to see regret, nervousness, or any kind of doubt to lean on.

"Yes and nobody thinks about changing their mind" But he didn't see anything, only conviction

"Can I ask why? If I am allowed?”

“Of course yes your majesty, you see we may not be as connected to the earth as your earth ponies are, but that never stopped us from trying to understand or learn from her and that is why we do it”

"I'm afraid I don't understand"

"I think that yes princess, we could all hear it, we did it about a month ago" He paused for a while thoughtful as if he was struggling to find the right words "It was not so much a sound but rather a sensation, an emotion that pointed to you as the cause"

Suddenly realization hit her. "Is this for the Everfree?"

The chief only widened his eyes in surprise “Did you mess with the forest of eternal gloom? This is worse than we imagined, that place is older than the tribal primarchs”

Armony knew she was a patient mare, but she could already feel the vein throbbing in her hundred and surely scaring the boss if it wasn't for the illusion that covered her. "Did you come to deny yourself to Equestria because of a simple magical disturbance?"

The boss just gave her a disapproving look as he shook his head as if he were some kind of lost pot. "There are more forces in this world than just the ones you like Celestia the fact that you choose to ignore them won't make them cease to exist and now you messed with one of those, that's why we chose to walk away."

Seeing that he wasn't going to change his mind, he just sighed. "Are you sure about this?" He decided to try it anyway, it might be incredibly weird, but he could be wrong.

"Yes we are and as for your collection you can take it back"

"The collection is a sign of good will and friendship between our countries can stay-"

“It is not necessary, we may be going through a difficult time, but working together the tribes will endure”

"I am happy to see that you have learned the value and importance of friendship, I wish you good night, Chief Shaka" He said with a small bow

"Likewise princess, I'm sorry that our meeting must end like this" Once he made his own bow, he simply backed away and went to his chambers.

A little later he tried to fall asleep, but it was impossible his mind could not help but think of all the problems that all this would cause to Equestria, even the simple act of returning the collection money would be a nightmare, all for a simple superstition!

It is true that this magical disturbance was not natural and unusually powerful, but it was far from being a problem of the magnitudes that they were referring to, mainly because the effects of these are always seen in the short term whatever the disturbance is. could cause already happened

In fact, she is one of the best informed as she and her teacher together studied the worst case scenario of a magical disturbance, a hole between dimensions and that definitely couldn't happen again.

TRUE?

His troops were ready, at his signal they would use their potions and transform the entire Everfree into the Eternalfree.

"Brother! I came as soon as I could." Even though his presence was usually accompanied by almost as many problems as he solved, he couldn't help but feel comfortable knowing that his brother was with him.

"That's good, I'm not sure what's going on here." Once again I look at the strange, somewhat rustic, but well decorated carriage.

"When you say I'll jump to beat them up" And there it was, he was surprised that he lasted so long

"Not yet, they haven't attacked us and I prefer to have a reason before going to war"

His brother just snorted "Fine as didas, but if they do something suspicious I turn them into twigs"

"Okay whatever you say" he had to avoid rolling his eyes since he didn't want to start an argument with his brother

"Anyway, what are you waiting for?" All the wolves were perfectly still, one could think that they were statues and honestly that was beginning to bother him

"I suppose they want us to welcome them" With a firm step I advance along the wall to the edge where I rest my front paws on the battlement "I AM KING ASPEN AND HE IS INVADING MY KINGDOM, I ASK YOU TO IDENTIFY OR LEAVE PEACEFULLY"

As soon as he finished his message the wolves moved in perfect synchronicity leaving room for the carriage to move forward and to his surprise it moved on its own, no one was driving the carriage as it slowly inched towards the village walls.

"Until there, I AND ONE OF MY SOLDIERS WILL RECEIVE YOU AS AN ESCORT" As soon as he finished his shout, the car stopped showing that he accepted his conditions "Brother, come with me, it seems that they have decided to talk"

His brother just nodded and followed him as they jumped down from the wall, so they wouldn't risk having to open the doors, the two continued until what would be about fifteen meters from the car until the door opened

The two tensed immediately, although for different reasons, for Hawthorn it was its rarity he had never seen such a creature, a pony, but calling it that would be like calling a manticore a cat, this was obviously a predator, with its fangs, horns , bright eyes and although it sounds strange his skinny emptiness made him feel restless as if it was abnormal which obviously it was, but he never believed that it could affect him at this point

As for his older brother, it was worse, all deer feel a certain sensation at some point in their lives, similar to ponies and their cutie marks, only for them they all experienced the same thing, their first connection with the forest.

But for him it was different, maybe it was because he was a direct descendant of the royal family or a simple coincidence of being born with the talent, but his connection was always greater to the point where he could re-activate his connection directly to the heart of the forest just by wishing or that was how it had been until Celestia messed with him without consulting him, she simply sent him a warning and acted before he could do anything

Honestly, a part of him wanted to go and demand not only an apology for desecrating one of his most sacred places but also compensation of all kinds until fixing all the chaos he caused, but they had lost not only their best weapon but also what defined them and them. it gave his greatest advantage in the forest to risk war now would be the height of stupidity

And yet here was that sensation again, one that he thought he would never feel again since their connection was closed, once again he was before the heart of the forest.

This was awkward, they just wouldn't stop looking at me and the same was true for those on the wall, some even with their mouths open

Keep calm, keep calm! Don't say anything stupid please and do as you rehearsed

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

I'm confused, I read about the deer and I saw the comic, so far so good until I got to the story of Hawthorn (Aspen's brother) and I got an altered copy of Killer Bee (Naruto)

That's what came out for me, I don't know if someone else, but I decided to take a piece of his abilities (only the ones that make sense) and mix them with the comic, which for me is the one that makes the most sense.

Next Episode Will Be Called “Alien vs Predator” Bloody Battle Guaranteed

9- Alien vs predator

That was weird, they just stared at me for a full minute until they decided to invite me in which was weird since I noticed the trick they did jumping over the wall and now they open me up like nothing happened

"Follow me here please and I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave your... escort outside" It seemed difficult for him to find a way to refer to my wolves, obviously he distrusted them, although it didn't matter, I prepared my plan B for that

"Of course, no problem, although don't you think it would be better to accompany me in my carriage to our meeting place?" I tried to sound as elegant and respectful as I could, hoping they wouldn't notice the trap.

Aspen seemed to think about it for a second and then nodded "It will be a pleasure to accompany you" Then she turned to her escort "Brother we will see you at the mansion" Her apparent brother just nodded while giving me a wary look

I moved with a slight bow to let Aspen into the carriage moments when neither her brother nor I broke eye contact I'm not sure what's wrong with her, but I know you're not allowed to show weakness right now, we continue like this until I finally got in and was able to close the car door

The trip was awkward, obviously we both had things to talk about, but nobody knew how to start so I decided to take a chance "I apologize it seems that I forgot to introduce myself I am -"

"It's okay, I know who you are" Although it was rude to interrupt me, I didn't feel aggression, in fact, he always showed me respect for what I didn't think was related to the deaths he caused "It's a pleasure to finally meet you after so long Forest Heart"

I don't understand… Is it custom here or just my luck? first Zecora gives me a name for reasons that when I asked I didn't understand him and now he does the same and I had an incredible one prepared "Of course, I say the same king Aspen" Somehow I didn't let it show

"But I must ask, why did you decide to visit us now?" Suddenly he seemed to tense he didn't even blink

Well here it goes “I… I have come more than anything to apologize” That seemed to take him by surprise, I decided to give him a few seconds to compose himself and continued “I recently came to this earth and when I did I was so disoriented and lost that I did many things. things without really knowing what I was doing, that's why I came to apologize and if it's possible to compensate you for the losses I've caused you"

He froze again, opened and closed his mouth once and kept a thoughtful expression until he composed himself again and adopted a serious pose "I understand" I feel like I came to a conclusion one that was undoubtedly wrong, but for the sake of coexistence I decided to keep silent “There is also something you could help us with”

"For me it will be a pleasure to help in whatever you need" I don't think it's something that difficult, after all how many things can't be solved when you have your own personal army

Hawthorn expected to see many things when the carriage door opened many of them involved him seconds later jumping in ready to impale the demon pony, but in none did he expect to see his brother being the one looking confident and satisfied while the other seemed that he was gasping for breath after choking while trying to swallow the entire contents of a canteen in one gulp

"Good news brother" Not knowing what to say he just stared at his brother "We have gotten the reinforcements we needed for the battle"

"Wait you're not referring to!" He was incredulous, he knew what he was talking about and that's why he had a hard time believing it, he had never in his life dealt with creatures of this class without Equestrian help

"Exactly, the three of us are going to hunt a hydra" Once again he looks at the mare and she returned his look of panic, at that moment he knew that they both thought the same thing 'THIS IS SHIT'

“Tac tac tac ” Apply magic, repeat “Tac tac tac ” Apply magic, repeat, I had already established a rhythm making everything more efficient at the cost of increasing my mental stress

"We finished the preparations, and you?" This stupid deer, I swear if he asks me again, to hell with our deal!

“I don't know, how much would I have left if I told you it would be over in another hour? Oh! how difficult it is to know someone help me! And I said it sarcastically because your brain can't process that either."

"Do you want to fight strawberry ?" The asshole bumped his antlers against my horns and started applying pressure

"Oh color jokes the deer just fell low where I come from we'd gladly kick assholes like you" Don't let me be intimidated and also apply pressure by making him back up a bit

“ Hawthorn enough, you act like a child” Aspen as always voice of reason

"But she started" I couldn't help but roll my eyes, this is my life now, without further ado I decided to go back to work

"How are things with you?" Oh that's all! I'm going to take out the antlers and stick them in- "Oh Aspen, all good this is the last group of timberwolfves , with them ready we can't be more prepared" I told him while I didn't stop carving the new runes as the wolves kept coming

"It's wrong" I had to stop at that

"What do you mean?" Unlike his brother, his tone was never burlesque, so I don't get irritated.

“You're missing the Gebo rune here or else the runes won't be able to work together and the magic in it will block each other” I'm surprised how observant he is for someone who can't use magic

"Wait, are you saying he'll have to do it all over again? I'd rather jump into the Hydra's mouth than keep waiting." This guy... Is it weird that he wants to bite him?

"No one stops you asshole" I ignored the angry look he gave me and continued "Actually that's how it works since I don't have any explosive spells the best I can do is combine the worst set of runes possible" His eyes seemed to shine with delight. comprehension

"You did a doomed spell to fail to get the desired effect." He seemed to hold back a laugh for a second. "If those Canterlot unicorns knew what you've done they'd go crazy."

"Would it bother you?"

"You have no idea for them all magic must be perfectly balanced and in perfect harmony with everything around it" And what I just did is basically a slap in the face, not bad

"Very well" Now I was the one who contained the laugh "And by the way your brother told me that they already finished their part"

He nodded "Yes it is."

"Then we'll do it tonight." We all nodded.

The truth was I was a little terrified, when I offered him my help as compensation I expected him to ask me for favors such as construction, gathering, protection, you know anything that I could order my wolves not to sign up for a freaking Monster Hunter Word type quest, but no there was a way back, besides killing something so great in fact I was very excited

"Have you already decided which one of you will be the one to do it?"

Aspen did not hesitate to step forward, although her brother seemed to have his doubts I am surprised that he remains silent

"I thought your brother would offer himself in your place" In fact, he wanted it that way, he is the king and this is the most dangerous task he should not do and besides, no one would miss the idiot if my wolves were a few seconds late

"You can't, he's not that fast, most likely the hydra will catch him, I'm the only one who can do this"

"Overconfidence kills be careful with that" Obviously protests came

"My brother is not that stupid, everyone here knows that he is the fastest being in the entire forest, no one can compete with the power of his 'flash'"

“Your what?” I don't remember anything like that being mentioned.

"'Flash' is the name of my gift, it is a strange form of racial magic that from time to time only some deer develop their own product of talent and training, mine allows me to infuse myself with the magic of light to become faster"

That was strange, a racial magic that only some of their race possess and each one is different, nothing like that was mentioned in the book, I will investigate it later "And then what is yours?"

"Ha, you'll see it on the battlefield you'll see the difference between us" Once again his idiotic smile adorned his face, I just turned to see his brother who just sighed exhausted

"It's linked with electricity and it's very useful at short distances, you'll see." That sounds very useful indeed. Why am I just learning about this?

“Spoiler brother” That did make me laugh

Hours passed and now we were all in position, me at the ambush point observing everything with my drones, Hawthorn unfortunately by my side and Aspen right in front of the Hydra

“Tac tac ” I had my drone give the 'All Ready' signal and he just nodded but didn't move right away and I couldn't blame him.

I read the bestiary and this thing was more intimidating in person, ten to fifty meters tall, the same almost in any direction thanks to its four long necks, natural armor almost as hard as rock, fangs like swords that would easily disembowel us and finally two legs and a stocky body that would give us our only advantage, speed

That's why it was Aspen of all he was the fastest, he would be the bait

"I don't like this" Hawthorn as usual doesn't help

"If it's any use to me neither, but there's little we can do about it, he's by far the one with the best chance of surviving" He gave us a little demonstration before he left and let me say I'm glad I didn't antagonize him

"I'm only doing this because I trusted him, if this is his plan, everything will surely work out" At that, he can't help but have a little jump of surprise which earned me a doubtful look "Because he designed it, right?"

I didn't say anything, I preferred not to risk screwing up as usual, but as always it wasn't necessary, he just put his paw on my shoulder and forced me to look at him "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"It wasn't your idea, was it?" He had to think of something fast if he does something on his own it could ruin the whole plan

" Ehh " And that was all that came out of my great master mind managed to get

"Shit!" Without further ado, he just jumped and went full speed in the direction of the hydra.

"Where do you think you are going? You're going to ruin the plan!" He didn't answer me, he just continued in the direction of his brother while he was fleeing from a hydra against which he could do little more than serve as an appetizer, he knew he was impulsive, but this is the height of stupidity!

Well, lucky I brought plan B

This thing was terrifying. Why did we have the misfortune that it chose one of our orchards as its new nest? Why did we have to pay for acts committed by others? That and other questions went through my mind, everything to delay what I am about to do, but it would be useless, better to do it now

I slowly approached his blind spot into the headwind as Des bottled my vial and scooped some seeds out of my saddlebag, once I was close enough I activated 'flash'

In a moment I was facing the face of the hydra or one of its faces rather and taking advantage of the initial surprise I quickly bathed the seeds in a few drops of the potion contained in the vial and threw them at them while they grew at an alarming speed and disappeared again with 'flash'

“GRAAA”

I didn't even stop to see how effective my seeds were, I just kept using 'flash' in short bursts I didn't have to look at her to know she was still behind me I could feel the ground shake as she got closer

“ CRACK ”

I spilled a few drops from my vial while running in hopes of slowing him down, but it seems the trees were just in his way.

I had to admit I didn't know if I was going to make it, 'flash' should not be used to travel long distances it exhausts me a lot

“BOOM”

By tartarus ! That was close, a huge trunk passed centimeters from my head preventing me from passing, forget that these things are not as silly as they seem

I quickly turned around only to find one of the heads about to close on me.

“SHANG”

That narrowly dodged! I barely managed to activate 'flash' and I think I lost a few tail hairs anyway, think think! His attack had diverted me from the path and surrounding him was not an option I was already beginning to gasp for air

Deciding to take a chance on a half-hearted plan, I squirted my vial into a nearby tree and half a second later I 'flash' it.

Exactly what I expected happened, the tree grew uncontrollably, enveloping and trying to nail itself to the body of the hydra almost without success, I could only climb it hoping that it would be enough so that it would not bite me.

"SHIII"

Suddenly a shriek so high-pitched that it almost burst my eardrums came from all four heads, ignoring the pain I jumped from the growing trunk to the body of the hydra now static from the pain and slid to the ground, but what tartarus just happened? The wolves shouldn't interfere unless he really had no other options.

"Brother!" Oh no please no "How dare you jump on a hydra like that!" Wait for it "It's my turn!" this idiot

"What are you doing here? We had a plan.” I barely managed to catch my breath to say that.

“'We had' a plan now just changed, we're going to kick this deformed lizard right here”

“GRAAA”

Yes, I certainly hear that

“ CRACK ”

The poor tree was being ripped right out of the ground, in fact I was surprised that it held out that long, maybe standing still in pain allowed the tree to better wrap itself around the hydra

“ CRACK ”

Maybe it was only delaying the inevitable, the tree wouldn't take much longer, but apparently it had already lost patience and decided to attack with its only free limb that could serve it in combat, its tail only moved it in our direction with a speed and mass that could easily they would leave us unrecognizable if it hit us, but I didn't move it didn't have to

"SHING"

In less than a blink my brother reacted and his antlers were wrapped with electricity giving them an incomparable sharpness and increasing their temperature several hundred degrees, all that was enough to tear the hydra meat thanks to the shape of his antlers

From where I was I could see perfectly how the blood spurted out, the scales were torn to pieces and the meat would simply have passed the antlers to the point where I could see the bone, now it was just a hanging piece of meat barely supported by small strips meat and skin

“GRAAA”

The hydra only allowed herself a second of crying until she managed to control herself and jump with uncontrollable rage, breaking her bonds and falling in the direction of the cause of her pain, that's when she activated 'flash' to grab my brother and get him out of there

“BAANG”

By the time the heads made contact they only managed to eat dirt and injure themselves, neither my brother nor I wasted any time watching their stupidity and he immediately jumped onto one of the hydra's legs to cut it where the tendon should be.

"SHING"

But he did not succeed, although the cut did not hurt him deep enough and he only managed to make him angry

The exchange continued like this for a few minutes, my brother slashing and me moving him out of the way while taking him to places where he could easily attack.

"Are you OK?" I asked with the little air I managed to gather in my lungs

“Of course… yes, this… is easy!” He was lying it was obvious even his antlers had trouble staying lit and I wasn't any better, I was sure if I fell down now I wouldn't be able to get up until much later, our attacks weren't enough of course the hydra also looked tired and haggard from all those cuts, but I was far from defeated unlike my brother and I

“GRAAA”

Once again it was about to jump on us, but before my brother and I could move, something got ahead of us and jumped out from between the branches of a large tree and fell on one of the faces of the hydra.

It was a rare timberwolf , it's about time! What took him so long? Ignoring my own questions, I returned to focus on the battle just to see the wolf nail his now stone claw right into the hydra's eye.

It shook like crazy trying to get the wolf off its face without success, it seemed to be holding on from the inside not to fall, I could only imagine how painful this was, but that just seemed to be part of the plan since while the other heads growled due to shared pain the wolves approached them from everywhere, the ground, the tops of the trees, only the sky was free of them as they jumped on her and attacked her as they could focusing mainly on aggravating the wounds caused by my brother, the rest could only scratch its scales

It seemed like he had lost interest in us so my brother and I concentrated on getting our strength back or at least until I noticed a faint greenish glow coming from the wolves.

I turned to see my brother and he looked back at me apparently he had also noticed "H-hey, is it my idea or does it seem that those wolves were going to ex -"

BOOOOM

A wave of green flames consumed the wolves and the hydra completely, but it was not enough there were several hundred wolves there serving as fuel and the more it consumed the more it spread until it reached us, I no longer had the energy to grab my brother and run in the opposite direction, the last thing I saw was a red blur passing by and a rock formation falling on me

THAT WAS CLOSE

This guy is crazy and he ruined everything and I spend so much time pushing rocks into the cliff top only for this asshole to ruin everything... well it wasn't me it was my wolves

“ Hmmmh ”

"What did you say? I don't speak taka taka ” One sentence less to the list

"I said Get off me!" The very imbecile without any care stood up and threw me into the air only for me to fall on my face

I had to wait to get the dirt out of my mouth to be able to speak "Ungrateful, if it wasn't for me now you would be just ashes" Being immune to my own fire is the biggest trap, I could explode anything anywhere and it would be the sole survivor unless of course like now someone uses me as a shield

He just let out a disdainful snort "Yes of course, my brother and I had it under control" After a second of silence his smile disappeared, his ears stuck to his neck and his pupils shrank "WHERE IS MY BROTHER?"

The power of the scream left me static long enough for it to put its hooves on my shoulders and start waving desperately "Y-ya pp-stop"

"Then tell me where it is!" From the little that I managed to see, I only caught his crazy eyes

"Here I am." The faint sound of salvation reached our ears only to kiss the ground a second later as Hawthorn released me.

Slowly my beta got up releasing the deer king, he was also a good shield

"Oh brother, it's good that you are well" I quickly take him without any care and hug him almost taking his eyes out of their sockets

"Yes I am, now someone wants to explain to me what the hell happened?" His face turned serious even Hawthorn looked scared and slowly walked away from his brother.

"I- I well..." He tried to find a justification, but obviously his limited brain capacity prevented him

"He acted on his own and screwed it up" I said it bluntly

"Hey that's not true!" He said so, but his word seemed to be as believable as a three dollar bill.

"There is brother" Aspen said almost desperately, it seems that this situation had been repeated too many times "I apologize for that, but it does not justify that you were so late, any of those attacks could have been the last one"

"The original plan was to use the timberwolves to keep the Hydra on the road or as a distraction not for a direct battle, they were too scattered I had to gather them first or else I would have just finished them off one by one" I also had my doubts about to allow them to approach them once she saw that they could explode, she was smarter than she seemed she had to take advantage of the element of surprise and if for that she had to use the two of them as bait then I can only say sorry, but I don't have to say yes they do not know

"Well, well, do you realize how much of the forest you destroyed?" His look did not lose its severity at any time, I remember well how sacred the forest is to them and I could not help but give him a look, what was once a fertile land full of life was now a blackened wasteland with only inhabitant the trees. carbon

"You were fully aware of the risks of our plan when you accepted it, and must I remind you whose fault it was?" Hawthorn kept giving me hateful looks, but didn't say anything, just hung his head.

"Sorry" Hey! What did you just say?

He just shook his head in disappointment "We'll discuss it when we get home, now we must -"

“GRAAAA”

Great what we needed How is she still alive?! "Ah me and my bocotá" The poor man from Aspen seemed on the verge of depression

Through the dust and large chunks of land blown away, the hydra made itself present once more clearly if it could still be called that, the poor thing had almost no scales, black patches covered all her now exposed flesh, she was breathing with difficulty from three of his heads since one was hanging limply, surely the one that the first wolf had hung on him, parts of him must have exploded inside

"Do you think the original plan still works?" Neither took their eyes off her as we debated our options.

"Lucky if you get him to follow you, I don't understand how he's still standing" I could see his legs tremble, he must have tons of adrenaline not to fall to the pain

“Couldn't we just leave her? I think he already learned his lesson " Hawthorn how innocent

"With that look I doubt it, if they leave her the next time they see her it will be at the door of her village"

Slowly he approached us, I could see the anger, hatred and madness in his eyes he would not stop until one is dead, it makes sense in fact even if he is a distant relative he is still a dragon

“Any plans then?!”

“Only one, plan B!” While I was facing the hydra my beta took Aspen and put him on his back

"But what?"

"You're too tired to help me, you'll just get in the way" He seemed to be in conflict for a second, but unlike his brother he accepted it and pulled the beta's ears and made it march in the opposite direction of the hydra

Did he just tame my beta? I didn't order him to do that "Hey and what about that plan B you brag about so much?" I'll put that off for now focus on the present

"It's on its way. Do you think you can last that long?" I shouldn't have left it in the village

“Ha ha , just ask my ex” This son of a-

“SHANG”

That was close! As soon as I reacted there was no growl or tremor as the head approached, it just jumped on us, if it wasn't for its size I wouldn't have felt it in time

“ btt ”

“SHANG”

And another one! The first one was just distraction, if it wasn't for my drones I wouldn't have seen it "Hey, are you still alive?!" I lost sight of it when the first head fell off and I couldn't focus using my drones

"Of course you thought it would be so easy?!" Demons! I mean, well, the more targets the better.

What followed was a tail flick, I just jumped back, after Hawthorn cut off much of his tail dodging it became easy, but not that easy for him, now that I have his ass in front of me Hawthorn has to deal with all heads, he obviously considered him the more dangerous of the two, I'll show him he's wrong

I focused on my horns and felt them heat up as more energy gathered in them and then I released it.

"SHIII"

The hydra shrieked in pain when my beams hit it, after all even with the inaccuracy of my beams it was impossible to miss hitting such a large target from such close range practically everyone hit the target and add to that the lack of scales and you have devastating damage

Hawthorn did not miss the opportunity and immediately jumped to stab the hydra's torso, the blood came out in seas, without the scales he could only depend on the hardness of his flesh to repel the cuts obviously it did not work, but it was still very big and Hawthorn too small, we could damage it, but not kill it

“GRAA”

As soon as I ran out of magic on my horns the heads of the hydra took notice of me, I think after my last attack it realized that I was the one who skinned it "Shit"

He jumped at me in blind rage, not caring about aggravating the injuries Hawthorn was giving him or smashing the dead head's neck, he just wanted me dead.

Hold your breath and jump to the side managing to dodge the first, the second was already in front of her and exhaled a ball of green fire right into her throat which distracted her enough to dodge by centimeters, how I love that ability

Not a second later the third one from above appeared, I was ready to launch more lightning, but to my surprise this one was the easiest to dodge I would even say it was slow. Was it getting better or was it getting tired?

That was the head closest to me so I didn't lose sight of it, surely it would try a second attack, but it didn't move, it didn't do anything, it just stood there with a lost look and its tongue hanging out... "Huh?"

“ Btttttt ”

By the time I understood what was happening it was already too late, it was only thanks to my drones that I managed to see the real third attack, the damn thing had thrown the dead head at me to confuse me and it worked, now I could only see how the big jaw was serrated about me

The first thing that brought me back to reality was a puncture in my side, second the way the ground moved away without me doing anything "AAHHHHH AHHH" The pain was immense, the only thing I could do was use my hooves to prevent it from closing completely and although I had subconsciously activated my telekinesis to help me keep it open, even though I was already halfway there

I began to feel a thick liquid fill my mouth, I heard my bones creaking, the tears blurring my vision, I was not going to last much longer, I was going to die

NO NO NO NO NO MADITASEA, DO SOMETHING!

I didn't say it with anything in mind, just with pure desperation, but luckily my request was answered.

A massive rock chariot crashed into the hydra as one side shattered and reformed into a claw that caught the hydra's head, jamming its claws into the edge of its jaws preventing it from closing.

The rest of the hydra attacked the car as best it could, but the car didn't seem to notice it since every part of itself that reformed was used to prevent its mouth from closing, in fact, it had accidentally helped it transform faster

The pieces of the car that were torn off and discarded quickly began to float and join together, returning him to his true form, a modified alpha .

“GRAA”

As soon as he finished forming he gave a yell of challenge to the hydra while using both claws to force it to open its mouth and finally free me.

I fell uncontrollably, I was in no condition to do anything but prepare myself for the crash... but it wasn't like that, instead I felt something soft, soft compared to the floor because as soon as I fell I had to spit out a stream of blood with which I almost drowned

"I can't believe you're alive!" Hearing that annoying voice was never so nice

I didn't know what was happening just that we were moving, everything was blurry, from time to time I heard the blows of the battle of giants, but I had no idea who was winning

"By the heart- I mean for you- I mean, you know forget it and let me see that wound!" That was Aspen's voice, I didn't even bother to make sense of what she was trying to say, I just wanted the pain to stop.

“Did they poison her?” What? With the little strength I had left I turned to see what he meant until I saw it, my entire wound was covered by a black liquid, but I didn't panic, I had already seen it in one place and to check my theory I passed my helmet over my mouth and this one was also male of black liquid or better said manticore blood, my blood... I would be fascinated if I wasn't bleeding, now that I think about it in my time here I never got to suffer a wound that made me bleed I guess it's normal that he didn't notice

While I was rambling Aspen was tending to my wound and saying things something about going into shock, I don't know, my attention was on the fight I didn't know what to say it seemed pretty even, normally it would be an easy win for the hydra, but the way I was now

The hydra attacked with all three heads at the same time, the alpha instead of dodging hit one of them, letting the rest hit him, one buried its claws disfiguring his face and the other that bit him on the shoulder returned the bite, He immediately let go and tried to go back, but the alpha grabbed the inert head taking advantage of the fact that it was the only part that could not move and forced it to stay still while he turned on himself and hit it with his tail that I had turned into a ball of demolition

"He brought that thing into our village?!" He didn't even know whose voice it was anymore, he just knew that, although the alpha seemed to have the upper hand, that was mostly because of his aggressive approach, various parts of his armor no longer rebuilt and without it he would just be a bunch of twigs, something. that the hydra already demonstrated that it was an expert in destroying

Although now that I think about it… I took a look at the vial on Aspen's chest and then at the beta that was a few steps away from us… it's still a plant right?

"Hears!" Again I didn't pay attention to what they were saying and I made the vial levitate to the beta's mouth as soon as it entered he ran towards the hydra, as if he had given instructions to the alpha he knew immediately what he had to do and he left attack by the hydra so he could hug her and keep her as still as he could, the beta didn't waste the opportunity and jumped into one of the bigger wounds caused by Hawthorn and got in as far as he could, it was a horrible sight to see, but I didn't take it away the eyes above

“ GRAAARRRaaaaarr ”

The hydra began to move like crazy trying to free itself, but it was useless soon its movements became slower and its growls watery while liters and liters of blood came out of their mouths, I honestly expected something more -

“SHIIIIG”

A disgusting sound like cloth when it is torn sounded when huge raises came out from inside his body forming a bloody tree that did not stop growing I did not have time to see it end when I felt myself being lifted and we began to move and only then the pain stopped and I was able to sleep in peace.

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

10- New talents

“SHANG”

The incessant sound of two forces colliding, trying to overcome each other, one, two

"TINK"

And three times, finally one had to give in and of course it was me

"Ouch" I had to stop and rub my horns for a second, the brute hit them hard

"Ha, what's up? That is all? Lots of talk and little action” Oh this jerk, if I could use my magic… I would probably lose anyway, there was no point in denying reality so I reluctantly got back into fighting stance.

“SHING”

And the forces collided again

After our encounter with the hydra I spent about two days recovering, healed extremely quickly, even Aspen was surprised to see me on my feet on the second day.

Doubts of who I am are growing, but I didn't let them distract me for too long. I had more important things to do, like presenting the deer to Zecora... He disappeared shortly after meeting the first alchemy teacher.

Do not neglect my wolves, I lost almost half of the ones I had, luckily the alpha was saved, but it would still take time to replace my losses and last but not least, but if the most annoying, train

As much as it pains me to admit it, Hawthorn did have a great ability as well as being an expert using it, I still remember their fight, he not only shook his head like a madman, but waited for the right moment to attack as well as calculating how much of his antlers he should bury in the meat so they wouldn't get stuck

I spent the next day trying to create a replica of his ability using the rays from my horns, but the best I could do was use those rays to wrap around my horns, which only greatly increased their hardness and although it wasn't the desired effect, it was enough. useful, too bad I had to kill my dream of having my own lightsaber

The last and most unpleasant thing was to ask Hawthorn for help to train me, he laughed then looked at me and then laughed louder, I had to hold my breath until I turned blue so as not to bathe him in flames, but luckily Aspen arrived before I could. it will explode… again

And that brings me to my current situation, voluntarily taking beatings from whoever I hate the most.

“SHANG”

This time when we collided he tangled his antlers in my horns and I twisted them so I couldn't apply much force and almost made me hit the ground.

"What are you doing? Increase the distance between your hooves, if you keep them so close together you will only be easier to knock down" Following his advice I separated them and although I felt that the load increased in one of them, it was easier for me to move enough to get out of that awkward position and force him back

I was stronger than him, but that didn't mean I had to win, the five marks on the ground with my form could testify to that, his lack of strength he made up for with technique and experience which proved to be more than enough to give me a beating

“btt”

“Ok, enough for today” Bless those drones, they almost make me not miss my cell phone

Almost

"What? Are you tired yet?" Although he sounded smug, you could see that he was as tired as me, maybe he was a better fighter, but it didn't mean he had it easy.

"No, but I have to do things today, we'll continue when I get back" She had spent the last two days training with him which meant that he had the rope up to his neck and if there was something he would not do at this moment it was to check that it was worse, the wrath of the hydra or that of an alicorn

For my luck, our deal only said that she had to give her sister a concert, she never mentioned that she also had to be present, so I decided to wait one more day since apparently she had to be present for some kind of flying competition, I don't know I don't even care, it only matters that she won't be there

"Would you mind telling me where you plan to go?" Shit Aspen, since we came back he's been a little... overprotective and not just him almost all the deer seem to look at me mesmerized and even bow to me when I talk to them

I asked him about this and he told me that it was for the feat of killing the hydra which, although true, I couldn't help feeling that he was hiding something from me, but since it didn't seem to be anything bad, I let it go.

"I'm going to Canterlot, I made a deal with...someone and I have to settle it." He looked at me suspiciously, but it was obvious that he wouldn't tell him what he was going to do.

"What a coincidence, just today we were going to revive our trade with Equestria, you don't mind going with them right?"

"Of course, no problem." I had to force a smile onto my face.

Living back in civilization has its drawbacks, like not being able to say no to your host, or at least not explicitly.

"That was today? You didn't say it would be like in five days or something like that” As expected the idiot is not able to read between the lines

Aspen just gave him a reproachful look combined with disappointment, which was enough for him to understand that he had screwed up and had to leave, something tells me that for him to understand that he must have seen that look several times

“Rekindle? Something happened?" I decided to play dumb about that topic

“We just…we had some conflicts recently, but nothing serious”

"I wouldn't say that if you cut yourself off from Equestria financially, that seems very serious." I'm probably pushing my luck too much there, but stopping the conversation now would be suspicious.

"Not so much actually" I couldn't help but give a look of confusion to that. How could it not be serious if it forces you to close your business? I was not an expert in politics or economics, but I knew that this was something that a country avoided at all costs, or so I think at least.

Luckily Aspen noticed my confusion and adopted his teacher mode, I could almost imagine him with a suit and a blackboard

“Equestria is rich in wild and agricultural resources which are the same ones that we collect and sell to them since we share much of our land or in other words they do not need them, most of their wealth comes from trading with griffins, minotaurs and to a lesser extent from the diamond dogs so the trade they have with us is more of a courtesy or as they would say, a token of friendship, although… I think they also have a similar relationship with Zebrica, but I'm not sure”

I could feel my brain overheating trying to process the information, literally my head was smoking

"Okay, thanks for the mental overload, I'm going to gather some things, I guess I'll meet yours in"

"In three hours at the main entrance" Some time to sleep, okay

"Ok" After a little bow I left there before he started talking again, I really don't know why he treats me like I'm a girl who doesn't know anything, although technically it's true... it still doesn't give him the right to treat me So

“BOOOOOM”

The sudden explosion made me put my guard up, for a second I came to believe that it was a shot, but I quickly ruled it out, after all, where I lived you quickly learn to differentiate them, whoever knows, knows

I searched everywhere for the source of the noise as well as everyone who wasn't in cover until I noticed some of them were looking at the sky… this was new, it looked like some kind of rainbow cloud, only it acted more like an explosion than an explosion. a cloud

I stared at it for a while, even tried to take a closer look with my drones or trace its origin, but it resulted in a colossal waste of time and by the time I realized it was time to go, stupid

Canterlot, it feels good to be back here during the day, although it's a shame I still have to wear the costume, it was good that the deer didn't question me when I put it on, I think not wanting to attract attention seemed more than enough reason

Taking advantage of the fact that we were in the market, I decided to buy some things. Do you have any idea how many accessories ponies need?

I'm serious, as a human I just needed a toothbrush and maybe a change of clothes, it depends on how much I fit, but here you need a horn filer, a mane brush and a fur brush, another file and some weird scissors for hooves and that was if we ignore the ones that humans also use

I practically lost everything I made selling the materials I collected in the forest to the deer

After that it was getting late so after leaving my things in the car along with a letter to Aspen, I ran away from the deer who were obviously on escort.

It's not my fault the princess only accepts overnight guests, but anyway, a deal's a deal.

As I got closer to the palace I felt like a ball was forming in my stomach, yes it may not technically be my first concert, but that was at the time and because I had no choice, but now my nerves were killing me.

I hope you like Lewis Capaldi, of the songs I managed to memorize these stood out quite a bit and it wasn't like I had a lot of options, rap, they wouldn't understand, rock, I'm sure they'll put me in jail and reggaeton, I don't think the ponies were ready for it. it's

"Good night" I blinked a few times when a bat pony took me out of my thoughts, it seems that I kept walking without realizing it "May I know the reason for your visit?"

"Of course, I came to see Princess Luna" The guard looked at me a little surprised for a second after leaving his serious look and nodding with a smile.

"Understood, please wait, I'll go report immediately" He disappeared in a blink, leaving me a little confused. Were you expecting me or something?

"Okay, please come in." The guard looked beaming to the point where you'd think he'd just gotten a raise or even won the lottery.

As I approached the main hall, if my bugs had informed me correctly, I thought about using some discreet spell to analyze the protective charms until I noticed that some of the guards were also wearing smiles or at least a surprised expression. What's going on? here? Don't tell me there was another mix up

"Uh, by the way, I'm Spirit Flame." When he said it, he seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

"Of course, you're right I forgot to say it" As soon as he said it he shot out into the main hall almost flying

Okay? Is someone going to tell me something? Like god heard me I got my answer

“I now bring in the petitioner Spirit Flame!” Immediately I saw him lean out of the entrance of the huge door and wave me in, which I did.

The place wasn't bad at all, whoever designed this even if I completely ignore all aspects of defense clearly did a great job, with the white walls edged in gold adorned with Equestria flags and the windows looking out from. I could see the whole city and beyond

No doubt a majestic sight and yet it was wrong, the image was in sharp contrast to its ruler, the princess with her dark blue fur, adorned with black metals which only blackened more when compared to her mane that seemed to absorb the light to give it to her. the stars that dwelt within, was so out of place

I was getting ready to speak when I noticed that the princess was going to do it, if I had known what was coming I would not have hesitated to speak first.

"GREETINGS SPIRIT FLAME, WELCOME TO MY NIGHT COURT, NOW TELL US WHAT PROBLEM AFFECTS YOU"

My fucking ears! How can he speak with such a volume while maintaining such a natural expression?! That could consider a sonic attack

"Um... I came to-"

"SPEAK LOUDER, YOUR PRINCESS CAN'T HEAR YOU"

They are killing me! I turned to see the guards or whoever for help, but they looked worse than me, the strongest tried to simulate their obvious expression of pain while the others struggled to cover their ears with their helmets, obviously it didn't work

Bat pony, I bet their sense of hearing is much better than mine, I can only imagine what they're feeling

I need to tell her to shut up without sounding disrespectful for what my trusty old lady applies, blame others

"Excuse me my princess, but I think you should turn the volume down a bit, it doesn't seem like your guards can tolerate such high frequencies" I tried to smooth it out as best I could while pointing at you guys, excuse me guys

She looked at me a bit surprised as she turned to see her stunned guards.

"BUT THIS IS THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL VOICE OF CANTERLOT, THE TRADITION IS TO SPEAK LIKE ROYALTY AND USE THIS VOLUME TO ADDRESS OUR PEOPLE"

FUCK, my brain is going to liquefy if he continues like this, shut up for once!

"YES, BUT I AM NOT ONE OF HIS PEOPLE" ... Silence took over the room, both the guards and the princess looked at me with varying degrees of surprise, oops

"I-I come from a distant land and I was visiting and I didn't want to insult, but-" I stopped when the princess raised one of her hooves to demand silence and fence that I achieved it.

"Okay I understand. Is this a more suitable volume?" Surprisingly, instead of sending me to the guillotine, he decided to take things easy.

"Eh... yes, princess, thank you very much for your consideration." Now I did bow to her somewhat belatedly.

"It's funny, I've been researching the world in this new era, but I don't remember hearing of a country of kirins or do your people now live with some other race?"

Shit... I already screwed up, right? At least he seems to ask out of genuine interest and not with sarcasm or mockery

"I... I come- in fact, my people live in another continent called America, I arrived recently" +10 points for ingenuity and -50 for reaching this situation

"Oh is that so? I thought that everything there is to see in Equus had already been discovered, to be able to remain unnoticed all this time your home must be quite small compared to us ”

"Yeah, something like that" I had to hold back the urge to laugh in his face, so I investigated. The whole of Equestria wouldn't even be a sixth of what the United States is, and that Equestria made up the majority of the continent.

"Now" The princess, apparently just realizing the familiarity with which she spoke, returned to her authoritative tone, although this time without that 'royal voice' thanks to the compassion of some benevolent god "What business do you bring to my court? ”

Well here it goes "I came to... play you a song" I said with some doubt as I took out the lyre that I had accidentally stolen the night of the concert

… Silence for the third time in this conversation, the guards were looking at me, some with fury and others with their wings in attack position ready to shoot me down at the command of their princess, while she looked at me with genuine interest with narrowed eyes! it will take out the soul!

"By any chance, wouldn't you have been the one to play that song on my behalf right before I left?" Now it was me who had to be surprised

"Yes princess, in fact it was me, I'm surprised you remember" Suddenly the atmosphere in the room took a 180° turn, the guards removed their bitter face and looked at me with surprise and approval while the princess, although she still kept the same expression I could see a slight flutter in its wings, I am not an expert, but I will risk saying that it is a good thing

"How could I forget you? I have been looking forward to being able to hear your ballads again, although every time I asked for you the name Spirit Free came up, is it some kind of stage name? Oh hell, I can't tell her that I broke into her house, I'm lucky Celestia didn't dig any further, but I couldn't take that risk again.

"Not just... I get confused with her often" Believe it, believe it

"I see, in that case it would be a real pleasure to hear what you have prepared for tonight"

"With pleasure your majesty, but is it alright here?" I only asked because starting to sing in the middle of the throne room seemed a bit out of place, but the princess seemed to realize something.

"Yes... you're right, it's not time yet, although your efforts are appreciated I can't give time from my night court for mere entertainment" That... made sense, I don't know about the court, but I could imagine the trouble it would cause if they found out that its ruler spends his time loafing when he should be working

"If you like, you could come back another night." Despite this, both the princess and the guards looked a little disappointed.

"If I'm honest, I don't mind waiting" I could see a glimmer of hope in her big eyes that now that I think about it are quite expressive

"Are you sure? There are still several hours left until the end of the court”

"I really don't care, I have nothing else to do and as long as I don't have to spend all that time standing around waiting I don't see why not." That seemed to cheer her up enough, enough for a smile to grace her face.

"Waning Shadow, please take my guest to the waiting room."

"At your command, Your Majesty." After a slight bow, he approached me asking me to follow him when I had one of the best or perhaps stupidest ideas I've ever had.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I was wondering if it was possible to spend this time in the castle's library. I've heard that they have quite an interesting collection." I tried my best to hide my growing nervousness.

"Of course, I hope you enjoy it" Apparently I have talent as an actor, someone give me an Oscar, because I am about to enter the hall of fame

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

10.5- Points of view

Author's Note

I have no idea how I'm staying this time, criticism is appreciated. (Good or bad I don't care)

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

10.5- Points of view

Today was a good day and as always I already had everything planned down to the smallest detail, of course unless another problem came out of nowhere as it usually happens lately.

But that didn't matter since it was just as Spike said, it seemed that Rainbow had woken up with enough energy today.

"I bet all of Ponyville will come out to enjoy the sun." But to his surprise there was no one, not even a trace.

"Where are the ponies?" When they finally found one, it was immediately pulled into his house by who could be assumed to be his mother.

Spike started offering some suggestions and as always he jumped from the logical to the ridiculous and impossible in a matter of a few sentences.

"PSS" Until their ravings were cut off by a whisper, they both looked for the source of the sound until it proved to be Pinkie.

"Come here! Quick, before I catch you." Without the need for further explanations, the mare jumped into her friend's store/house

As soon as they entered they were mowed down by light

"Who the zombie pony?" That all he managed to do was infect Pinkie with his fear.

"P-pony zombie" And she gave it back for two

“Spike! There's no such thing as zombie ponies, Pinkie, what are you doing here alone in the dark?"

"I'm not alone in the dark" To her surprise she was right, in an apparition worthy of a horror play her friends appeared behind her

"So what are you all doing here?" Since they were just her friends, she was not so scared, so the curious part of her brain did not take long to take over.

"We hide from her" Applejack sounded scared, that was not common, she barely realized that all her friends had similar expressions when she noticed what Applejack was pointing at.

What's that? It was the first thing that crossed his mind, it was a pony of that there was no doubt, but it's... wrong

Her body was normal, just a little bigger than common ponies, but her face... it wasn't common, she didn't understand how it was possible for it to have two horns, she had read enough biology and magic books to know what the complex nervous system was like. connected from the brain to those things, it was not believed possible that something like this existed naturally and yet here it was, his curiosity and desire for knowledge immediately shot up

Who was? Where did it come from? There is more? It's dangerous? These and endless other questions were already forming in her mind when she noticed something else, something that made her remember her time in Canterlot.

Her teacher had just given her an introduction to dark magic, why it was forbidden, and even how to identify it.

Celestia told him about a unicorn that used her and with which she fought a long time ago, not only was she strong enough to face an alicorn but she was also capable of carrying out heinous acts such as slavery, she never spoke to them again. her on that topic

But if he told you that one of the easiest ways to identify its use was by the color of its eyes, apparently dark magic was so unstable that part of it seeped in and out through the eyes giving them certain peculiarities such as color change to green among others

"AHH" As soon as I turned to see them they all moved away from the window

"Did you see her Twilight?" Said Applebloom who had honestly gone unnoticed until now

"Applebloom, get away from the window." Applejack soon arrived to push her sister away.

"Who is she? Where he came from?"

"We don't know Twilight, as soon as my sister saw her riding towards the town she began to tremble in her little hooves" She began to shake her sister as an example while she denied it "So I carried her and brought her here" Once again I treat you deny

"Applejack I'm not a baby I can take care of myself"

"Not from that scary pony." While they were talking, Twilight realized how close that pony was now, it seemed to be heading in her direction.

"Girls, I think it's coming here." They all shuddered.

"What do you think I want?" Fluttershy seemed ready to run or faint at the slightest provocation.

“I don't know, but you saw her leave the Everfree, right? I bet Zecora has something to do with this.” Before Twilight could ask who Rainbow was talking about, Applebloom beat her to it.

"Do you know what I think?"

"Applebloom lets the elders speak" Mercilessly the stubborn mare didn't even give her a chance to give her opinion so she could only leave while muttering things to herself

"Who is Zecora?" While the girls explained to her and Pinkie began to sing a song, Applebloom couldn't take the frustration any longer, so she decided to investigate the mysterious and above all terrifying mare.

He had to go out the back door since she was right in the front so he decided to approach through the alleys, being small had its advantages, he could move confidently from shadow to shadow

Finally he got close enough to get a good look at her, he was very surprised to see that she had no Cute Mark despite being an adult.

She seemed too focused on looking at the candy store so it was not difficult for her to get closer, she decided to stay a little longer in the bush, and not because she was afraid! She was just being cautious, or she would have been if she hadn't met eyes with a rock wolf.

"...Ih" It took her mind a second to react to the sight of the creature to return to her hiding place. How come she hadn't seen it before?!

In her defense, in addition to being too focused on the mare, the color of the stone that covered almost the entire body of the creature gave her a good camouflage.

She had hoped to have gone unnoticed, but her hopes were quickly dashed when the bush that covered her glowed green and parted, leaving her face to face with the terrifying mare.

He had her right in front of him showing his fangs, he expected that at any second he would jump on him, he thought about running and screaming for his sister, but the words did not come out

But to her surprise instead she put the helmet in her mouth which caused her to immediately start coughing because she forgot to wash it first, the image was somewhat unreal, such a scary creature making a scene like that.

When she cleared her throat, she looked at her again, but she no longer saw her gaze as that of a predator, but rather like the one her relatives gave her when they came to visit, they all looked at her as if she were the cutest thing ever.

He slowly raised his hoof and moved it in her direction, she didn't move, she didn't feel the need, ironically for the filly, the sight also gave her tenderness, seeing how the scary pony tried hard not to scare her was almost comical

He was about to touch her when he heard a familiar hiss and her eyes widened as her mind finally remembered where she had heard it.

"BOOM"

Rainbow came out of nowhere and crashed into the unsuspecting mare.

"Rainbow wai-" She didn't have time to do or say anything when a blue aura lifted her off the ground and quickly pushed her away.

The others were here as well, as Rarity led her back to the shop the last thing she could see was her sister yelling at her to run as she threw her lasso at the rock wolf and Pinkie came out of nowhere to help her.

Twilight wasn't sure what she should do, as soon as they noticed Applebloom was missing and saw her next to that pony Rainbow and Applejack immediately jumped on her.

Rainbow already had her subdued so there was no problem or so she thought until out of nowhere a type of timberwolf came out which luckily Applejack was quick enough to react and catch with her lasso which allowed her to see it better

It looked like a timberwolf, but it was encased in rock covering essential parts, like armor, but that wasn't all, its fangs, claws and tail were enhanced or modified and if the new edge and mobility were any clues it was obvious that they did. thinking about combat

It was dangerous! She couldn't let her get close to her friends so she immediately began charging her horn with a spell specialized in disarming magical constructions.

and almost made it

"BOOOM"

A sudden explosion claimed her full attention making her turn around just in time to see her friend shoot up with trails of smoke onto the roof of Sugarcube Corner.

PUNCH

She turned around again only to see how another of her friends was sent flying by a powerful punch from the improved Timberwolf.

"APPLEJACK" I scream in panic

"GRRR" The growl of a beast came from the pony making her look even more sinister which she didn't think was possible now that she was bathed from tail to horns in green flames.

It was pure luck that his horns were the part she was seeing at the time because the faint glow around her almost imperceptible brought her back to reality.

More out of instinct and fear as soon as she noticed she was charging up a spell she did the same, the list of stun spells she had learned coming almost as fast as it took her panicked mind to choose one.

“SHING”

But it failed or rather they interrupted it, the improved Timberwolf got in the way of their attack causing a large part of it to explode and to their surprise it immediately began to repair itself, it was much faster than the normal ones!

His distraction cost him dearly when he noticed that the Timberwolf moved to the side to give space to his master's already ready spell, only because of the repeated classes he received from his brother was he able to conjure a shield fast enough

“SHING” “SHING” “SHING”

As soon as he felt the lightning strike his shield he realized his mistake, this was not a spell, it was raw magic!

In school, no, in the magical garden he had been taught that this was the stupidest and quickest way to run out of magic and it was not only dangerous and unstable but also deadly, raw magic had no control he had no safety sets in place. In case the spell got out of control it was lethal

He felt terrified knowing that any of those scratches could end his life if it fell in the right place, that added to the constant waves of pain that his spell sent him when being attacked with this corrupt magic was enough to break his concentration and by extension his shield

As soon as her shield gave way she felt it hit her, luckily she managed to put one of her hooves right in front of her to receive the impact, but it did nothing with the pain.

As soon as the grate made contact he could feel its energy go through his body sending waves of pain.

She didn't even notice when the impact sent her flying, nor could she feel when she found her place on the wall of a house

His body was numb, but by some miracle he was still conscious, although barely, it was very difficult for him to distinguish his surroundings, he could make out the screams of some ponies in the distance.

"ATTACK"

“GRAAAA”

Barely conscious, she could make out the war cry followed by scores of Timberwolfs running through town, she could see their house being raided as she prayed Spike hadn't hidden there.

"Haha" Another sound caught her attention "HAHAHA" A curl, but not the ones Pinkie had used to, this one was more uncontrolled, crazier.

For a second her gaze met the pony's- not the thing's, maybe she didn't even notice it, but Twilight would never forget the look of satisfaction on the thing's face as it terrorized the whole town.

11- Even winning, I lose

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake
I have no idea how Luna is supposed to speak, the only thing I have noticed is that translated into Spanish she tends to speak in the plural when referring to herself
I don't know if it's ok to put it like this or just make it more confusing, please tell me what you think
I have been told that the characters tend to mix the masculine terms with the feminine ones so from now on every time a character that does not appear in the series comes out (Since these were not altered) I will put a part of their data in the author's notes

Bramble: Deer prince (Deer/Male)
Aspen: Deer king (Deer/Male)
Hawthorn: Aspen Brother, Deer General (Deer/Male)
Waning Shadow: Captain of the night watch (Male/Thestral)

11- Even winning, I lose

I would walk from aisle to aisle reading the titles of the books until I noticed something that caught my attention, then I would levitate it and flip through a few pages until I found what I was looking for before putting it down and moving on to the next one.

To any outside observer, including my guard who was watching me from afar, it looked like I was just taking a walk looking for something interesting to read, but actually I was transcribing the books.

Much of the magical Equestrian achievements, guarded and preserved in this millennial library, were being copied by almost two dozen modified Timberwolves while a librarian doe glared at them, probably because she ordered them to take all the paper from the place.

Another point in favor of my creations

I had found a lot of interesting things in my time here, like how large creatures like dragons or whatever a big dipper is, evolved to eat different foods and not be as dependent on meat.

I was surprised to see that dragons were not only omnivorous, but even had a special taste for eating gems.

I guess that explains why the hydra moved into one of the deer breeding grounds, but it makes some sense, if creatures that size only needed meat to survive we would all be in big trouble.

"What is that place?" I had already taken a wide tour of the aisles and had collected everything that seemed relevant, obviously I should have missed one or another important book, but for now I had everything I wanted.

Now my attention was on a black gate that just by looking at it you could tell that it was VERY haunted and just behind it a sea of scrolls and tomes, they looked old

"That's one of the forbidden sections, there are others, but this one holds very dangerous spells, only some members of the guard besides the princesses are allowed to enter there." I took a closer look at one of the shelves and you could actually see it. see a sword

"Are those... offensive spells?" I asked with some doubt, I did not want to raise suspicions

"Maybe in part, I think that's where sunguard instructors go when they look for spells to teach, but I'm not in it so I'm not sure," he said without hesitation or hesitation, hadn't he just said that those places were off-limits?

He didn't even seem to care why I was asking him about them, I mean it's not like I'm complaining, but if someone walks into a bank and asks how much money they have and where they keep it then, keep an eye on them!

"Wow, what do we have here? He must have made a mistake, the kitchen is on another floor, I think they had a pest problem" A voice as pompous as it was annoying to hear came to the library "I think your skills will be more than ideal to solve the task"

I could see how the guard forced a smile on his face and did what he could not to bite him on the spot... I know that expression.

"Prince Blueblood as nice as always, you know that our duty goes beyond chasing simple rodents"

"Oh, but of course, even though they're so similar I don't see the point and please hide those fangs you want, we don't want them to think we let wild animals in."

I didn't need more than that to get out my canteen and take a big sip of Zecora's herbal mix, now three times more concentrated.

And just in time since as soon as I finished drinking I noticed that his gaze turned to me along with his smug smile, just remember he's a prince bear it

"I was wrong if we let them in apparently" First Strike asshole

"HAHA How funny" Although he did not seem to like my sarcastic recitation

“Mh Isn't she trained that she can't even greet her superiors properly” …Hold on, have you already forgotten how many brats you had to take care of at home? This is nothing

"Prince, she is Princess Luna's guest, please have respect for her." The guard didn't seem to think that would be enough to make him back off because he didn't look surprised when the idiot just kept talking as if he hadn't said anything.

“Or is it that he wasn't taught how to act in a civilized way? what a tragedy”

"Sure I can, I just didn't see why waste my time on it when he obviously doesn't even care."

"Wow, they're not as stupid as they seem, I'll bring you a prize next time" This son of-... breathe, don't get mad

"My apologies, but I think I've made the princess wait long enough, have a good night, Your Majesty" I knew there couldn't be a really good royalty, history classes made that very clear to me

"Same to you and guard please tell the princess to remember to keep her pets on a leash"

Luckily for us, that was his last comment before we were finally able to leave and get lost in the corridors where I could finally let out a sigh.

Just wait imbecile I'll get revenge

"You are well?" The guard looked… strange, he almost looked scared.

"Sure, I just have a few anger management issues." I tried to give him my best smile.

"Yes I can see it" That confused me until the guard pointed to one of the windows where you could see the reflection of a Kirin with its mane on fire

"There are!" I quickly turn them off, even if I have good control over them they are so natural that it's hard to notice when they come out and they almost always do, thank goodness they don't affect the illusion "Thanks for that, but since when have I been like this?"

"Not long, just since we turned the first corner out of the library." That was about ten minutes ago, that explains the guards who suddenly decided to turn around and patrol other areas. "So, do you want to see the princess?"

I thought about it for a second and definitely I didn't want to go back to the library with that idiot there, plus I already had what I wanted and knowing me if I went to the waiting room I would surely fall asleep

"Of course" With that he turned around and opened the doors... I must be more careful where I am going or one day I will pay dearly

Notice that this time we entered through the back of the throne room, how many doors does this place have? When they took me to the library we also used another door

" Waning Shadow , has there been any problem?"

“Blueblood” Simple and short and somehow enough for the princess to understand, damn that guy must be a real jerk

"My most sincere apologies, I did not expect you to have the misfortune of running into him, it is not usual for him to be awake at this time"

"I think I heard it had something to do with the deer trade."

"How strange, they informed me that it had stopped" Well, it was comforting to know that the only discomfort I have had on this trip is the result of my own fault

"It's not necessary princess, in fact it was already finished" I took a quick look at the throne room and noticed that everything was exactly the same as it was before I left, if so, maybe you don't care "Princess wanted to ask, why not is there anyone here?"

I immediately regretted asking that, it was enough to see the downcast face that he tries to hide

"Our night court has not been the most popular, neither before nor now" He said with reluctance and resignation, two things that should not be mixed

"I… I know you said it wasn't the time for a song, but don't you think this place could use something to liven up the atmosphere?" I suggested while taking out my lyre again "I mean only if you want to"

She seemed to think about it for a second, but apparently temptation overcame her.

"Okay, but as soon as the approach of a pony is even reported, you must stop immediately"

"Of course, princess." As I told Celestia, I would make sure that this night would never be forgotten.

I don't know why I was surprised, it was obvious that something like this would happen, I thought as I put the letter in one of the drawers.

"Thank you very much for giving it to me, you can go now" And so he left in a hurry, perhaps fearing some kind of punishment for having lost it, but it would be hypocritical of me when I don't even know where he goes most of the time, he has a talent for disappear when he feels like it

Without further ado, I got up from my seat and headed towards my next objective, that Zebra

During her time here she hasn't done anything other than pester some people with questions, but other than that she's been an ideal guest, even helping make potions.

“TOC, TOC, TOC” I had the idea of offering her a room in my house to stay, both to be able to contact her easily, and to keep an eye on her

"I'll open the room in a moment!" And true to his word, he didn't take long to open and give him a little bow when he saw who it was.

"You don't have to do that every time we meet, you've been a more than accommodating guest." She nodded.

"I give you my gratitude for this virtue" After that she moved to the side, apparently noticing that he did not come just to wish her good night.

As soon as I walk in I notice the mess, papers everywhere full of scribbles, some stuck to the walls while others were simply discarded on the floor.

Without much thought I pick one up

"Is this what you're working on?" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the content of the sheet, I had come here to find out what this Zebra hoped to achieve and in this sheet was exactly what I expected to be in it, a formula and various ingredients for a potion

But what puzzled me was the purpose of the potion “A sleep potion?”

Potion making was something we deer were very culturally attached to, practically every family had at least one alchemist and as a king I was obviously quite well versed in this art as well.

"My friend is cursed, she needs to control her fatigue"

"You, do you want to make a painkiller for her?" The nature of the magic that the heart works with was never a mystery to us just that unlike ponies we are not that fearful, however I have not been blind to the mood swings or the occasional little fires that happen to their hearts. around

"Wanted." She shook her head in obvious frustration. "Unicorn magic, dragonfire, manticore blood, the list goes on." Each creature can react differently to the same potion depending on the species, size, and magic it uses.

And the heart of the forest was… hard to classify.

"Yes, I also think you should include a physique like that of earth ponies, even with magic there aren't many that can prevent a hydra's mouth from closing" I said to the frustration of the Zebra who was already taking some papers off the wall and throwing them to the ground "If you really want to help her you're going to need more than some creativity and some old books"

"Yes... I lack the knowledge, but I can't leave her in her need to end up in the dark." I could see both the frustration and the determination in her eyes.

It took me a few seconds to consider what I was about to do.

"If you're serious, maybe I can let you access our village's recipe codex" I could see his eyes sparkle and fill with new energy "But under my supervision" I said before he could get too excited

"That would be an honor my lord"

"Very well, now sleep, it looks like you need it and tomorrow will be a busy day."

Finally, now I can rest

“BANG”

Or not, while I suppressed the strange feeling of let bu I went to the source of the noise

"Shit, dad is going to kill us"

"Bramble, what have I told you about imitating your uncle's speech?" It was kind of satisfying to see him shudder and slowly turn around, at least someone in the family still respects me.

"Yes... hello, dad." Next to him was a ball and a broken vase, if I remember it as one of his mother's favorites.

"Hello son, now do you want to explain to me what you're doing up at this hour?"

"I was outside and I was on my way home, but then Uncle Hawthorn came up and challenged me and some friends to hit the ball at-"

"Enough, I can imagine how this story ends, where is he?" Raising his helmet, he pointed to a window whose edges were smashed, probably from being pried open with great brute force instead of simply unlatching, that idiot.

I could only sigh with resignation

"We'll discuss this tomorrow, clean up and go to bed" He nodded obediently, although I could feel him mocking me behind my back, until I heard something that caught my attention.

“Okay, you heard, help me with this.” Was there anyone else there? I turned around and to my surprise there was, just not as I expected.

It was one of those rare Timberwolves, I had gotten used to having them around since the heart moved here so seeing them no longer surprised me, but what did get my attention was the fact that I was really helping my son pick up the pieces of the vase

"What are they doing?" My son looked at me confused.

"What did you tell me to do?" I look just as confused

"I'm talking about the Timberwolf, why is he listening to you?" He looked at me in surprise as if he had just realized that he was a Timberwolf.

"I... I don't know, everyone else did it, so I didn't think it was wrong." It took me a second to process that.

"Everybody?"

“Yes, everyone, I saw how Mirvi's mother used them to clean her house and cook, even the school teachers use them to bring us after break if we are late, they even do my homework, no matter how late it is! Y!"

He suddenly stopped realizing that he said more than he should.

"Ok, you and I will have that conversation right now and as for the Timberwolf" I could see how he had just put all the pieces together and left to return with a broom and shovel "I'm having some ideas"

Was there something I could've said

To make it all stop hurting?

It kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless

So, before you go

I breathed heavily as silence fell over the throne room, dammit! I never imagined that singing could be so exhausting.

"CLAP, CLAP, CLAP"

The applause was not long in coming to my relief, even with the help of the body and having rehearsed a bit, I just wasn't up to it.

"Amazing!"

"Marvelous!"

"I think I fell in love"

But it seems they didn't know it when they started pelting me with compliments and roses? Where did they get them from?

"Uh, AHEM, princess, how was it?" She blinked a few times coming back to reality, it seems she got distracted at some point, too bad I thought I made a good choice

"That was beautiful, the singers from your land seem to be very well versed in this art" Before I started I told them that these were not my songs, but from the place I come from, obviously lying too much is a recipe for disaster

"Thank you very much Princess" I was getting ready to start again, but my attention was caught by one of the guards tapping my shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but I wanted to ask you a question." He looked doubtful.

"Sure, don't worry" What will it be?

His tone was slow and nervous "You see... I was wondering if you eat... meat" One of his classmates gave him a sape

"Good question, how long does it take to run away"

"Hears! You know you wanted to ask that too."

"But not so direct!"

What about the meat? Regardless of that, I did not want the discussion to intensify.

"In fact, I do eat meat"

…

There were a few seconds of silence as the guards stopped arguing and looked at me incredulously.

"Seriously?" I ask one, I don't know which one

"Sure" I showed my fangs "I know how to cook, nothing exotic, but enough to survive" The guards looked at each other, as if they were suddenly surrounded by enemies

"Do you know? I know a place in the lower Canterlot area where they serve the best steaks, wouldn't you like to go and try them?" That... actually healed tempting, if meat simply heated with fire tasted so good now, what would real cooking taste like?

“The low area? Are you kidding? I have a friend who works in the festive dragon and he is happy to find us a place” Said a Thestral mare

"I don't know wh-"

“I also know how to cook, what do you think if we make a dish together? I have everything at home” This one I don't even know where it came from

"Thanks but-"

"House, don't you mean cave?" There was a few chuckles as other guards gave me more and more invitations.

Where did so many come from?! I didn't even notice them and I'm already surrounded

"ENOUGH" That took us all by surprise causing some to jump or fall "Spirit I apologize for that, but I think it was necessary seeing how my guards have lost the art of subtlety"

"Eh, it's okay princess" I said as I got up, yes... I was one of those who fell silent in fear

"RING, RING, RING" An alarm caught everyone's attention making us look at a specific bat pony, I think it was the same one that was my escort, now he was holding a watch

"Princess, the night court is over."

The princess nodded "Very well, everyone go back to your posts" Some groans and protests were heard "Maybe I should give them overtime to make up for the time lost in entertainment?"

As all the guards returned to their previous positions, without complaint and twice as fast, I struggled to contain the ruffle.

"Now join me Spirit Flame, we'll continue with the entertainment in private" Without waiting for an answer she just moved forward while I struggled to keep up with her through the endless stairs, damn legs, who needs that many?

Of course I learned to climb them, but it didn't mean it was easy or comfortable, I still got tangled up from time to time, but I hid it pretty well

"Sorry, but I wanted to ask what happened back there?" She just giggled and looked at me as if I were a naive child wondering , why is the sky blue?

" Thestrals have an excellent sense of hearing, I suppose they found your singing appealing and I dare say almost hypnotic" It seems I didn't do as badly as I thought "That and you miss her with which you can find a pony that doesn't panic for eating meat I suppose they made you a great game”

"...There is" I couldn't help but put on a disgusted expression, I knew he was a bit of a donkey when it comes to hints, but this was too much.

"Something happens?"

"No, no, just... let's just say that I'm not interested in their type at the moment" It's not that I consider them ugly or anything, I even dare to say that they had some good parts

I looked for a second at Luna's perfectly rounded flank from my vantage point just behind her, but quickly turned away when I remembered who it belonged to, though I kept the mental image.

I knew that sooner or later I would end up falling, especially because I never gave importance to the physical, even in my previous world I went out with a boy once... maybe that's why I care so little about the changes in this body

Anyway, I wasn't ready for this new one yet… let's call it 'pony style' so I'll just ignore them for now.

Luckily I managed to put my thoughts in order before starting a fire and so we arrived at what seemed to be Luna's room without her realizing how close she had come to literally starting a fire.

His room was... dark, with a few gothic touches, not at all what I imagined a royal room would be like, but I guess everyone has their tastes

She only invited me to go immediately to the balcony where she offered me a place to sit and a delicious tea.

"Thank you" I didn't know what else to say

"There's no reason, it's the least we can do after you went to so much trouble just to give us a good time, we're grateful" he said with a genuine smile on his face

I decided not to risk ruining the moment so I just kept quiet enjoying the view.

It was amazing, it almost made me forgive the idiot who designed this, from where we were we could see all of Canterlot perfectly, in addition to the landscape, in the distance you could even see my forest and some nearby towns

But it didn't stop there, that was only half of it, the fun part was just above, even though the city was just below and they had streetlights somehow they didn't seem to affect this specific place so I had a privileged view of the night sky that seemed impossible to find on earth

I looked at the stars intently, strangely every night that I looked at them I could swear that they changed places, but that must be because I was still comparing it with the one at home, just that

As I continued admiring the view I came across a strange sight, the sky seemed to… move, almost like hellos

"Something happens?"

"Ah, nothing" This time I could feel small flames form from shame, damn divine hair, how long have I been looking at her?

I suppressed my embarrassment and took another look, she was perfectly camouflaged, maybe because of her the sky was so clear?

While I was looking at her, another question arose in my head, a stupid one, I tried to suppress it, but it insisted on leaving so, surrendered to my stupidity, I checked that my camouflaged Alpha was still parked near the castle and asked

"Princess, I wanted to ask you something" She turned, nodding at me, my last chance to retire... oh to hell he, I who was thinking of the consequences, was consumed in the fire the day I got here "Can I touch his mane?"

She looked at me in surprise and then warily.

"Why?"

"I just find it intriguing" He didn't say anything as he looked at me suspiciously and grabbed some strands of hair and moved them on his helmet, was he really thinking about it?

"If this is some kind of joke, I advise you to stop immediately." His tone and look made me think twice.

"If you don't want it, that's fine, it just made me curious, I've never seen anything like it" He continued to look at me cautiously, almost as if waiting for me to say something else "She also looks cute and I have a weakness for those things"

“In all my years no one has been so… direct”

I just shrugged at that showing how little I cared "That's how I am honestly" I said that and on the outside I looked smiling and confident, but on the inside I was considering which of these roofs I could survive on if he throws me from here

But to my surprise she just seemed, happy? And he thought that the weird one was me, he dropped the piece he was holding and admired the view again, I was already sitting down again when "You can touch it"

"Seriously?" I looked at her incredulous

"Is it that you don't want to anymore?"

"No, not only... I didn't expect you to accept" Without further ado, wanting to get there before she regrets it, I approached, although I could see how she always kept her watchful eye on me.

And then I touched it...

It wasn't what I expected, the problem I think was that I got too excited because it felt INCREDIBLE, I mean it felt incredible, but I expected something better... I didn't fully understand myself

It was like water only more dense, but somehow just as flexible, it was soft and cold to the touch, I don't think there is a word that can describe it.

It was… nice, it had been a long time since I felt something cold, even ice, after so long feeling this was very relaxing

"Whoa" A small yawn escaped me, true I couldn't rest well after training because of that damn rainbow

I'm not usually up that late, but I wanted to feel a little more of that freshness so I decided to move a little closer, where either by luck or because I hadn't mastered walking as well as I thought.

probably the last

I ended up falling face down on top of the incredibly fluffy pony.

Yes... I'm dead

12- Warzone

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

This chapter was very smoked, I had not even technically planned it, it was written on its own, do not judge me

12- Warzone

I was dreaming, I have no idea how I knew as although I have heard of lucid dreaming I have never experienced it, but I was sure this was one.

And of course, the fact that Deadpool himself was giving us a speech helped to support that theory... well, that or I'm dying of an overdose and taking into account that I don't consume harmful substances, I'll lean towards the first option.

I really hope it's the right one

Paying more attention to my surroundings it seemed like we were in a booth while I was wearing some kind of tactical pony suit that covered me completely including my horns somehow, it looked cool… I think

I wasn't paying attention to Deadpool since his speech was the same one he gave to X force and…Wait! Booth, speech, suit, equipment… oh oh I think I know where this is going

“BIB, BIB, BIB”

As if waiting for my signal the alarms began to sound as the rear of the now confirmed transport plane would have cleared the way for a free fall.

"Um, excuse me?" One of our classmates spoke, how strange it was also a pony dressed the same as me, only taller, it seems that this is not the movie

"Yes, tell me tenderness" Deadpool spoke to him as if he were a baby

"I'm afraid I didn't understand that I'm supposed to -"

"WELL NOOO" A sudden scream startled us all "YOU ARE NOT HERE TO THINK, NEITHER YOU NOR ME, ESPECIALLY ME, SO PUT YOUR SWEET WORDS WHERE THEY FIT AND JUMP"

"AHHH"

Without further warning he picked up some momentum and kicked the poor pony out of the plane with a power that reminded me of a football.

How strange, her voice seemed strangely familiar.

"And as for you" Returning to his tender voice, completely changing his personality to a more pleasant one, he addressed us "See you downstairs dear, bye, I love you" He gave us a kiss and let gravity carry us

Already resigning myself to the madness that was coming, I turned to see my last partner in what would possibly be the most ridiculous adventure I've ever had.

"What do you think is waiting for us below?" The banana agent just shrugged, put on some sunglasses and jumped up while giving me the middle finger "This thing is going to be very weird"

Dreams were a strange thing, it all depended on the mind that was manifesting them.

If the mind of its creator was sharp and insightful enough, in the dream there would be details that others would overlook, such as a building, in some cases it would be made of brick or some material strong enough to support the weight of the structure, in addition of a reasonable structure in terms of stability

Then there were those who simply wished would create a mega structure made entirely of balloons and all kinds of candy with just a thought, like a certain pink pony .

Or, in other words, they didn't make sense.

But this? He had no idea what kind of life a pony would have to have to have dreams like that.

In the distance you could hear and see explosions of all sizes, at the same time you could see all kinds of transport as I never imagined, it traveled both the roads and the skies

And as if that were not enough, in the distance (luckily) there was a fierce battle between what looked like a gorilla of colossal proportions and an even larger fire-breathing lizard.

All while he was shaking trying to free himself from these malevolent cables from his parachute which had become entangled with other cables being raised by many posts whose purpose was unknown to him, why would someone hang so many metallic cables throughout the city? What a waste of material!

"I-will-release-and-PUNISH-her" "POP" After considerable effort he finally managed to remove the suffocating helmet bringing his horn and power back once more "AH VICTORY" Although his wings were still deprived of that freedom for the moment

His horn glowed ready to exert his will and undo this dream that had insulted her so much.

“Zip” Or not, a little spark was all that came out

"That... is not good" Despite the apparent nonsense of this dream, apparently it was a kind of midpoint between the two types, so it had its own logic or, so to speak, its own rules.

But he was not worried, it was not the first time that the logic of a dream interfered with his power, so he already had a spell prepared that would show him exactly how the dream worked in order to find the flaws and take advantage of them to gain partial control of this, after all there was always a margin of error in dreams

Warning administrator permissions are required to access

…

Or almost always, the message floated in front of her intermittently as if mocking

"OH TO TARTARUS" Accumulating what little magic she could, she released a bolt of lightning that cut the offensive cables that tied her

“AHHH” “BUF” After a graceless fall, he managed to get up and dust himself off “How is it possible to have protection for dreams? I was supposed to be the only one who can access them and what was I supposed to be an administrator?!”

Having already gotten even, she began to think of an action plan, that spell had never failed her, she had gotten used to being the one in control in this kingdom, so she was in unexplored territory

It didn't take me long to notice that that administrator notice wasn't the only thing that occupied his vision, there was a ¿Period?, it seemed to be green and it wasn't the only one there was another red one at a considerable distance, both seemed to be moving

He tried to look for a clue as to what those points could be and luckily he found it just at the edge of his vision to the left.

Player 1

Player 2

player 3

Player 4

Next to this 'player 1' was a green dot, two a red one, three a yellow one and four a blue one, under each one there were some white bars whose meaning escaped him since the one was to the left. half, the number two kept going up and down, the number three was empty and the number four was full

“ CRACK ”

Sadly, he did not have time to think about it when small explosions began to resound nearby.

Cautiously she moved through the streets until she came across a being similar to the one who had so rudely kicked her out of that flying carriage, only this one was dressed in some kind of green coat emblazoned with the number ten and apparently had a opponent was a… Banana?

The sight was as disconcerting as it was intriguing and since he had nothing to cover his face he was able to observe his features more carefully, he had never seen anything like this, without fur, short hair, without a snout and with small eyes, nose and mouth, I would almost say that is… cute, like a little monkey

On the other hand, seeing a banana with a mouth, eyes and limbs and using them in a fight was even rarer, even for a dream traveler.

For a few moments he internally debated whether he should help someone, this dream was so chaotic, but at the same time so defined that it would not surprise him if each individual created has its own personality

“BING”

“THANKS”

Too bad it wasn't necessary

Its mouth opened almost becoming a flytrap and its mind partially clouded in incomprehension as it watched as the previously almost cute creature slapped a green bracelet of sorts and transformed into some sort of gorilla with additional spidery limbs.

The poor banana didn't stand a chance, she was eaten in the blink of an eye, she thought that was it until she saw how the gorilla sniffed the air looking for something, it used its unpleasantly large spidery legs to rise up and reach an imposing five meters in height and then turn in your direction

"Oh Buck" After that he started running

"A sponge lives at the bottom of the sea"

“BANG”

+1090 XP

KILL CONFIRMED!

"Not anymore" The messages kept popping up, but I didn't pay attention to them "I can't believe I actually blew SpongeBob's head off HAHAHA…ha…god I'm in trouble"

There was a perfect building, great field of vision, few ways to enter and decent coverage, it even had a store right on the top.

And in that building, I wasn't there, I was right in front of that one, in a smaller one with just enough visual to the street in front of me, but that didn't matter to me, in fact, it was more than ideal since it had a line of clear vision to the main entrance to that perfect building

Which made it the perfect bait, I knew as soon as I saw it and now I'm lying in front of the window waiting for someone to bite it

I know what it looks like and I'm going to make it clear right now that I'M NOT A CAMPER, a camper just sits in a corner and waits for someone to pass.

On the other hand, I looked for a bait, I chose the right place to shoot, I placed traps and even an escape route, like a real soldier would do.

From what I can safely say I am definitely NOT a camper

"New client" I looked through the telescopic sight of my rifle what seemed to be a policeman? I do not get it

Until now all the ones I had seen were some character that I could identify, but this one for some reason didn't sound like anything to me "Nee, what now?"

“BANG”

“Headshot hehe… Huh?” At first everything was normal until I realized that I did not receive stitches, I looked at the corpse lying on the street until suddenly it sat up and what was left of its head scattered on the street lost its color, it became liquid and by itself he only returned to the original body where his head began to be reformed immediately

"Oh crap, it's the fucking terminator!"

“BANG”

I knew that the bullets were useless, but I was confident that blowing off one of his legs would give me a few extra seconds of advantage.

As soon as I stood up I felt the pull in my side, it turned out, yes it was like in the movie, when I was in the parachute three feet above the ground a bus came out of nowhere and hit me, it hurt a lot, but it didn't I'm complaining I'm content not to end up like the banana agent now better known as fruit puree

Ignoring the pain I swapped the HDR rifle for my P90 and started running down the route I had planned.

As I went up the stairs I saw him moving in my direction like a three-legged insect, this would probably seem funny to me if it wasn't because if he reaches me I'm dead

"BOOM"

That was my claymore, I hope it buys me a few seconds at least

Without thinking much I ran to the edge of the building and jumped, maybe this building was not very tall, but again I did not choose it because it was the best but because it was close to the building that was.

“ CRACK ”

With a jump I broke the window of what I think was the fourth floor, luckily this suit was quite resistant so no glass hit me, without wanting to take any longer I ignored my growing pain and started to run back to the roof

It took me about three more stories and a cramp in my hind legs, but I made it and as fast as I could I went to the store, from the beginning I suspected that the store had changed it was obvious if you think about everything I had seen and balla that I was right

There were all kinds of weapons from series or games that I have ever seen, chainsword, brain blender, portal gun, BFG 9000!

It took me a second to calm my euphoria and look at the prices where again I was close to suffering another heart attack, but this time it was because of pain and not happiness, $15000 the cheapest of those that I already mentioned, what the hell? And not to mention the BFG or I'll have a stroke

The game has just started. How am I supposed to get… Player 4?

Removing the display from the store and fixing on the point that was desperately moving in my direction

I took out my rifle to see it better, but it was too far away so I couldn't see much, although by default I would bet that it is the pony that Deadpool made from the plane and it seems that he was being chased by a… I pray that it is only the alien and not the fucking kid or we're all dead

I spent a few seconds thinking about what I should do, we are both being chased by an enemy that surpasses us so the best thing would be to run on our own like a headless chicken, but... on the other hand, there is also the golden rule and that is that you never abandon the squad

…

"Oh how I hate myself" I returned to focus on the store

Do you want to buy precision airstrike for $3500?

Yeah

I think maybe I should chat to him to get ready, just in case.

She was going to kill her, she didn't know how, but she also had no doubts, without a doubt the moment of his revenge would come.

She had suffered from ridicule in the past, but it had NEVER happened to her in her own kingdom, she had always shown herself to be the absolute master of this place that was sacred to her

And then this one shows up and here she is running from a shifter monster in the most chaotic and ridiculous battlefield she's ever seen in her life.

“THANKS”

And finally he found out the purpose of the white line and these ' players' , he had to learn it the hard way when he couldn't completely dodge the beast's attacks, but he finally discovered that they showed the vitality of certain individuals so using That and the information he already had, it was not difficult for him to deduce that it was quite likely that one of the players was the one who manifested this profane dream.

So, taking a risk, he decided to go in the direction of player 1 for the simple fact that his intuition told him that this was the one and if in the end his instinct failed him, he had a good idea of who he could meet in which case he would not bother him. use it to distract this hideous monkey

The anger he felt gave him a slight boost in his march.

Too bad it didn't last

Player 1: HEY, look forward to it, it catches you, I already sent a deluge to your position RUN!

Where did that come from? Could they communicate at a distance? And what did he mean by deluge?

He doubted that he was referring to a simple drizzle, but for some reason he felt that he would not like the answer to that last question.

And as if some god with a twisted sense of humor immediately began to hear a whistle which made her turn at just the right moment to see how a metallic cylinder with fins crashed just a few meters from her and only two meters from her. the creature

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM"

The first blast sent her flying, but she didn't have time to rest as a second and third took her place.

"COF, COF" Well... at least he got rid of the annoying gorilla

"GAAAAAHH"

Honestly... he was already getting used to this, somehow it seemed that the predominant norm in this dream is that everything goes wrong

He was getting ready to continue running when he realized that it wasn't the creature's growls but crying, he was crying and he said he could see why.

It appeared that at least one of the cylinders had taken a direct hit on the creature as it was missing an entire arm in addition to the spidery limbs on its damaged side which was covered in blood and burns.

Maybe he shouldn't be hesitating, he should be running for his revenge, but... but he wouldn't stop crying, even if it was a figment of a crazy pony's imagination, even if he had persecuted her with nefarious intentions, he doubted that he deserved to be subjugated. to this kind of torture

Maybe I could help him, he still had access to enough magic to use a healing spell he just had to-

“BANG”

In a second his head exploded like a watermelon once again denying him his plans

"Right... this dream sucks." Wiping the blood from her face, she didn't even mind using such vulgar language for a princess, she only renewed her vows to make sure this pony knew exactly how much pain she caused her.

"That shot!" Good thing I got myself the HDR, I doubt any other rifle would have the power to go through that beast's skull

Although I must admit that the fact that he started crying was not something I expected, now that I think about it, in the series he never suffered any real damage, I suppose that because it is a children's series, since as far as I remember, blood never appeared

"Ha... I guess that's as far as my heroes go without the power of the script" I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for that after all they were my heroes... "Nee" But I got over it quickly

I better meet up quick with Player 4 or-

"BOOM"

The door that leads to the roof flew off its hinges, revealing the person who didn't want to see and who wasn't alone, with him were the other generations, T-800, what's-his-name from 'Hidden Fate' and… An octopus? Wait… Matrix?! What the hell are these guys doing in the same squad ?

I have a really twisted mind

“TATATATA”

My mind finally grasped the situation I was in when the T-800 fired its mini gun .

"SHIT" I immediately desperately looked for cover and when I couldn't find it, I only had the option of jumping

The T-1000 followed me and I didn't hesitate to jump off the edge too, the difference was that I wasn't suicidal so I made sure I didn't have momentum which allowed me to grab the window downstairs which luckily was already open

As for the T-1000… I leave a nice puddle, one that slides down the walls in my direction… Run bitch!

I decided to follow the advice of my subconscious and stop being distracted, as best I could I managed to climb through the window where I was ready to-

“ZAP”

Would you mind stopping interrupting me for five minutes?!

"ENOUGH" A voice full of power and authority resounded.

She would recognize that loud voice anywhere “Princess Luna?” Was TP done? And I'm not surprised to dream about ponies considering what I've been through lately, but why her? I just met her, I would expect someone like Zecora or Hawthorn

"That's right and we are no longer willing to tolerate this hellish deal!"

…

"What are you talking about?" I stared at her for a few seconds, her face full of barely contained anger made me seriously doubt my safety

Or at least until the anger left his face and his ears stuck to his neck while his pupils shrank to two points.

Ohh , no matter what face they have they are still so cute

But having the area glow red erased all those distractions from my head.

In a quick thought I managed to grab her and throw her to the ground together with me at the right moment to dodge the mechanical whips that tried to make us mush.

"But what is that thing?!" I understand your confusion, I bet that in Equestria they have not even come to imagine something like this

"I think it was a sentinel, but I'm not sure it's been a long time since I saw them, follow me!" I spoke calmly as I crawled along the wall as if I were playing on the beach and we hadn't just passed a hair's breadth from death.

I could hear Luna cast rather colorful curses, but she followed me anyway.

At a certain point, a wall prevented us from continuing and I was beginning to worry about where the other two could be.

"Close your eyes and cover your ears!" Without further warning I grabbed a grenade from my backpack and threw it in the direction of the tentacles, I don't know how effective it would be on a robot, but I was hoping it would at least buy us a few seconds.

"FLASH"

As expected, the brute grabbed her and blew her up in the face, which was also pretty close to us, but nothing happened as we were prepared to-

"My eyes!" Luna screamed collapsed on the floor, obviously not paying attention to me

…Forget it, I had to go back the few steps I managed to take and grab her by the helmet to basically drag her to the nearest door.

We were almost there when I saw how a claw was centimeters from his butt

With a strong yank I threw it out the door, but I underestimated the length of that thing "Oh shit, shit!"

I could feel how it was lifted from the ground, it had caught on to my backpack, I tried to grab where I could, but nothing was within my reach, luckily it was not necessary

"Where do you think you are going?! We will be the one who sentences you, this is not… thing!” He said as I pulled my hind legs and somehow managed to compete in strength with him, damn he's strong.

Seeing that we were at an impasse I unzipped my backpack and let it slide off which resulted in a pretty hard fall for Luna and a pretty fluffy fall for me, not that I'm complaining.

"You will definitely pay for this" I put my helmet in his mouth to his growing dismay, but I was getting tired of hearing the same thing, besides... something was coming.

"Do you hear that?" It seems that she also noticed it, every second you could hear two blows that strongly shook the ground.

And to answer my questions there was the one from 'Dark Fate' with its pirate half on one side

What am I going to do without my weapons?!

“SHINING”

A powerful, albeit thin, blue streak struck the shapeshifter half and flung it with enough force to go through three walls and surely incinerating much of it in the process.

"Honestly... I forgot we could do that" I decided not to waste any more time as I saw the skeleton running in our direction, surely wanting to take advantage of my companion's need for rest.

I ran in his direction and at the last moment I slid across the floor while concentrating my flames on my right helmet giving a perfect blow to his leg causing him to fall, taking advantage of the moment I moved as fast as I could and jumped on his back where I came from. I immediately pressed both burning hooves into his metal skull as soon as I came within reach.

The metal did not take long to turn red hot, it only needed a few more seconds and it would be just a puddle, a pity that it did not have them

PUNCH

A powerful blow from an angle impossible for any human came with such power that it sent me to the ceiling

The blow took the air out of my lungs, but curiously it didn't hurt, it was more like pressure, being in a dream is the best

My mind was called back into action when I saw how he got up without losing sight of me and I was stuck, the damn rose up over two meters almost touching me and... Was he blue?

“ CRACK ”

A second later he was sent flying out the window

Of course levitation "Thank you dear you saved my ass" If Sara Connor saw this she would die of envy or knowing her she would kill us with envy

"Don't call me that and it's time to put an end to this dream" I look at myself the same or with more intensity than the killer robot, I admit that the red eyes, surely because of the mower or in other words my fault, gave it a nice touch

"I don't understand and... wait, how do you know what this is?" I thought I was angry before, I was wrong now if I was

"I AM THE ALICORN OF THE NIGHT!" He said it with the same frustration that he would have if he were trying to explain to someone why the water was wet.

"Yelling it isn't going to make me understand you, now calm down woman!" I could see the smoke coming out of his head and I honestly found it quite amusing, but after what seemed like a full minute of silence he seemed to calm down.

"Okay we'll talk, but not here." His horn flashed and I felt myself being pulled from the ceiling. "How did you get so deep?"

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that from a lady, what can I say? I'm still immature after all

"You dare mock us in our presence?"

"Come on princess relax, just look at what he did to her or those terminators, it was amazing!"

"I grant you it was, but your flattery won't get you anywhere" She looked at me with the same intensity, but I'm not fooled I saw a smile appear, however brief it was.

I was having fun, too bad the room turned red, at that moment I stopped playing and also pushed hard to get out

“POP”

"Ouch" I fell like a sack of potatoes

“ CRACK ”

A bunch of tentacles burst through the wall next to us, but luckily they were blocked by a blue barrier that quickly began to break from repeated impacts.

Look at Luna, the effort was visible on her face, I can't let her keep taking care of everything, it makes me feel bad

I started to remove my helmet when I noticed my red fur peeking out as a result of setting parts of my suit on fire.

Shit! I almost forget it

Looking back at Luna who was now drenched in sweat, thankfully too focused on her task, I started to remove my helmet and as soon as my horns were free I used my shapeshifter spell.

Now that I think about it, that helmet doesn't have holes for the horns… programming error I guess

"You can drop it now!" She looked at me briefly, unsure whether to listen to me, but she had no choice, so shortly after she dropped it.

And I took advantage of launching my breath of fire, the machine was quickly overwhelmed by flames, but I couldn't take the opportunity when I heard the unmistakable sound of metal tubes rotating at high speed.

"Down!" Fortunately, this time he did listen to me

Now if I didn't know what to do, we were surrounded, we couldn't even stand up without being turned into Swiss cheese.

"Stop this torment now!"

"Is seriously?! What do you expect me to do?!” We are right in the middle of a hail of bullets, plus my flames were going out, it will be a matter of seconds before the sentinel jumps on us

"It's your dream, you make the rules!" That was… that sounded… not that crazy actually, but what can I do then?

I tried to think about the bullets turning into bubbles, but nothing happened.

Warning administrator permissions are required

“ Ehh , it says something about the administrator, any other ideas?!”

"What does he say what?!" He seemed really on the edge, he just had to start hitting his head, I felt sorry, but what could I do? As much as I want to I can't change the way the game works, that's how it's done… game… It's still a game, that means you must have one of those somewhere!

“SHINING”

While I was searching I could see how he was desperately attacking the sentinel who apparently had already gotten rid of my flames and was on his way.

I saw how several of its tentacles fell to the ground, but it kept working, once it was close enough it launched its last three in a desperate attack to finish off the mare and it was barely magic and trapped in the middle of a killer robot and a rain of bullets could only curl hoping it wouldn't hurt too much

"I found it!" I approached Luna noticing that she was still trembling, it seems that she still doesn't notice it or she just can't hear me, I decided to give her a few caresses to calm her down and not because her fur was as soft as an angel's butt

"W-what?" I look around in confusion and then in terror when I notice the tentacles just inches from his head.

"Don't worry" To prove my point I gave them a little push and as expected they did not respond then I returned to my caresses

“B-but how? You said you couldn't change it."

"Yes, but all the games have a pause button" I pointed to the board that was floating next to me.

"Game?" I push my helmet away with a loud slap? I don't know how they will tell you here "What kind of sick mind can call this a game?"

"Well… I admit that this is not how it should be, but who would have thought that a dream could… wait you never told me how you are here" I just noticed that her not pausing shows that it is not actually part of the dream or at less so i think

"After your... attack we made the decision to obtain information to find out the nature of your intentions."

"Stroke?!" What are you talking about? I know I'm half an idiot, but not enough to fight one of the most powerful beings I've ever seen in his own home.

"That's right! You pounced on us so we decided to carry out our interrogation in the dreamscape" She said with total confidence while I racked my brain trying to understand what she meant.

Let's see, I remember asking her to let me touch her hair and... "I fell."

"We don't know what you're talking about." The princess suddenly broke eye contact and began to sweat, not as much as before, but nervousness was noticeable.

I just stared at her with blank eyes for a few seconds. "So…I fell and you decided to give me a concussion."

“O-Of course not! My sleep spells are perfectly safe."

"Yes of course" I said sarcastically.

“You can't blame us! We are rarely approached by strangers with such unusual requests, the need for precautions was obvious."

I didn't know whether to believe it or not, on the one hand it's true that being a princess should be careful, but on the other I felt cheated, as if she had given me something to drink and it turned out that she had put something strange in the drink

“So you knocked me out , you got into my dream and then what? Couldn't you get out?" It was noted from the beginning that she was not in control of anything

“Your dream is ruled by chaos! I barely have access to my magic”

"Really? Since when do dreams make sense? Once I dreamed that the grim reaper was chasing me and I defended myself with an ice pop and don't ask me how, but I won."

He stared at me for a while, apparently trying to process what I had just told him, while an idea came to my mind, a wonderful idea.

“So…you said you didn't like this game, but how about I show you the real way to play it?” I could barely contain myself with excitement.

"No" Quick and concise I kill my hope

"Ok, but at least let me show you others, come on you'll have fun" She didn't look so convinced "Or are you afraid?"

His doubt dissipated and his gaze became so intense that he expected him to launch a laser beam. "We accept the challenge" Well... it's a victory, isn't it?

"Excellent! I'll be right back, wait for me in" I looked around and to my luck it seemed that this building belonged to a company or something since it was full of offices so there were plenty of screens, I chose a fairly large room, maybe a meeting room. meetings "In that room, I'll be right back"

Not being able to wait any longer I quickly went to the roof, if this worked officially I would call this world paradise

The room was eerily familiar, but it was very different at the same time, it reminded her of the meeting rooms of the castle, but the chairs were wrong, they looked uncomfortable and of a size that only her sister would use.

The structure of the room was also wrong, it was difficult for him to recognize several of the materials that made it up, in addition to the fact that a large black box with a glass front seemed to be attached to one of the walls. A mirror? what bad taste

All of this added to the growing confusion of how she ended up in this situation frustrated her quite a lot, but she had no choice, she couldn't let even a foreigner doubt the bravery of one of the princesses of Equestria .

"This game had better be different because I haven't determined your punishment yet." She repeated herself constantly, even if her anger had subsided, it didn't mean that she had forgiven her.

"I'm here!" He came out of nowhere and from his unkempt appearance and shortness of breath you could tell that he had run all the way without a care

"Are you OK?"

"YEAH!" She looked quite excited as she held some kind of box over her head, what did Nintendo mean? "I can't believe the store sold one of these!" I was jumping with excitement "Although maybe it's because I want to, I don't know, then you have to show me how this place works"

Although she didn't like being talked to that way, she was a little touched by the fact that she wanted to learn about the dreamscape, almost all of the ponies she encountered in this place once her mission was complete showed little or no interest in it . the world of dreams

"So... This is the board?" I ask with confusion while the Kirin would open the box and put together what was inside.

"Board? HAHAHAHA, get ready princess because this is going to mark the before and after of your life" He was quite doubtful of that statement, but he had to admit that he was a little interested when he saw how he began to connect some kind of cables to the board and the other end to the back of the mirror on the wall

"Very good... I think that's it, take it" I hand him an oval object with a lever and many buttons

She could see how she had another one just like it, only red in color and then she pressed one of the buttons and THE MIRROR CAME TO LIFE, she had never seen anything like it, of course she herself was one of the best practitioners in the use of illusions, but so that an object could project such sharp images…

When he recovered from his shock, he noticed that his opponent was laughing silently behind his back.

"He hem , I don't know what this game of yours is about, but I hope it at least fulfills the function of entertainment"

"Haha, just wait princess, something tells me that he will love it" Then he pressed some buttons and the image changed again

That remained to be seen, the way he described this 'Super Smash Bros' sounded too good to be true.

13- Talk with the devil (Edited)

Author's Note

I'm sorry for the delay, I've had some problems, also my previous editor, but I want to say that I am determined to finish this story, no matter how long it takes
-Editing by dhruv george@gmail.com

13- Talk with the devil (Edited)

I slowly opened my eyes, God my head, awesome that a nap can cause this kind of pain, but at least my eyes didn't feel dry like they usually do.

I looked around trying to orient myself, I was no longer on the balcony, I was in a much more comfortable place, Luna's bed, but where was she?

"SNORE, SNORE"

Some snoring with the force to make the bed vibrate caught my attention… yes, there it was, face up, legs extended except for one lazily scratching its chest.

The great princess of the night

Although I'm not one to speak of, I'm in a similar position, only instead of letting my head hang over the edge and drooling, like some royalty, I'm comfortably lying on his barrel.

"Five more minutes" From what could be seen through one of the windows the sun had not yet risen, so they couldn't blame me for wanting a little more of this nirvana, it also turned out that Luna really, REALLY liked the games, Gamer's blood ran through his veins

What was going to be about 30 minutes turned into an hour, then two, then three and so on until I reached what I think was a marathon of at least fourteen hours, not even on my best days did I play that much

Too bad it also took a toll on her, maybe time was relative in dreams as she explained it to me, but keeping a spell even if she seemed to be sleeping like me ended up exhausting her a lot

Even so, we do not hesitate to take advantage of all the time possible to try and try to finish some games like 'The Legend of Zelda' (The last one)

I made sure that all the games I showed him did not have modern weapons and show more races than just humans, otherwise it would surely raise questions that I don't want to answer.

I managed to get around her questions about some of the things she saw in my dream and I answered others with half-truths, it was lucky she had taken such an interest in games or else she would still be under suspicion.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

"GRR" I growled a little at that, who plays so loud in the morning?

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

I caught a glimpse of the princess who was still fast asleep with a goofy, drooling smile as she muttered about making Bowser her pet.

"I heard, I'm coming!" As I could, I got up, although somewhat reluctant to leave my comfortable cushion, that frustrated me a lot

Slowly, I got back up giving a few stretches until a satisfying crack of my bones resounded, sleeping on my back like a pony is definitely a bad idea I don't understand how others prefer it

Pushing those thoughts aside I made sure my disguise was active and opened the door where instead of coming face to face with a pony instead stood two slim ivory towers with gold trim, I followed them with my gaze to check their presence. Height until I was interrupted by a voice

"It seems that you and my sister have had an interesting night..." The voice froze me, that perfect and elegant voice, by the time I recovered and could look into her eyes, she was already looking at me with that ever-present smile on her face. "It is a relief to see you again, I came to think that you were not going to come"

“CLACK”

I closed the door in his face… I fell asleep!

I ran to Luna, I turned her

“POF”

… I picked her up, put her on her bed with a blanket, a cushion and covered her mouth, look around the room if there was anything out of place and when I didn't notice anything I grabbed some cushions and grouped them together on the floor and after a while Small jump on them to give them shape I run to open the door for Celestia after triple checking that the disguise is activated

"G-good morning, princess." I awkwardly bowed as I struggled to find a way out of this and if possible without making a fool of myself.

"Good morning Spirit" Luckily he must have thought it was funny and not insulting about the door, he dodged a bullet there, he peeked through the entrance and saw his sister sleeping peacefully "Although it's weird, he doesn't usually go to sleep until after going downstairs Moon"

That stupidity?

"That's probably my fault, we went crazy all night with all kinds of games." Celestia raised an eyebrow, the mouths of the guards in front of the door dropped open in shock, and the hall maid blushed violently before leaving. In a hurry

…

Oh! Shit

"I'm talking about dreams, she showed me the world of dreams!" Those were just the kind of incidents she wanted to avoid.

"Oh, I see, it's just as rare for her to invite someone to the dream world though, you know?" The way she said it made it clear that she was hinting at something. "Raven dear."

I looked at the same place as the princess only to realize that there was another pony there, boy does she go unnoticed

"Yes, princess?" I speak with a completely expressionless face, he seems the embodiment of professionalism

"If I remember correctly, we have a time limit of about thirty minutes to move the sun and the moon, right?"

This... Raven took out a pocket watch "Yes, that's right, but he's rarely used more than five, besides he only has eighteen left and I would recommend using that time to-"

“Oh good and careless it will hardly take us more than about ten minutes, Spirit, what do you say? Would you like to join me in a game too?"

Of course not! "Of course, princess"

And so we marched, I felt like a prisoner being taken to the electric chair

Even so, I followed her through the corridors to what seemed to be a tearoom, but she did not stop, with a golden glow the two glass doors opened giving way to one of the many terraces that this castle has.

There was a table with some chairs, some plants and as always a good view, whoever made this place was really obsessed with it

"Tell me Spirit, which one do you prefer?" As intent as I was on the sight that I didn't notice her sit down, I quickly followed her lead to the other side of the table where I saw…chess?

"I choose... the black ones" There are times when the parallels between this world and mine never stop surprising me, a clear example would not only be the game, but the king and queen have exchanged places

"Okay, then I'll start" And so turning an hourglass to the side of the board, she moved her griffon (Knight)... and the game began

We were moving pieces around for what seemed like a minute or two, Celestia used her magic for anything, I seem to like using my hooves, it never ceases to amaze me how flexible these things are, nothing as advanced as hands, but close

"I heard from the guards that you are a foreigner, is that true?" She finally broke the silence, I was beginning to wonder when she would

"Yes princess" I replied.

"I see, tell me, why have the Kirins decided to immigrate to other lands?" Fuck! Questions from my façade don't cuss

"I... I don't know, but my... race has lived for generations in my country or countries, rather, we tend to mix a lot." His gaze never wavered, he always maintained the same expression and attitude as he continued the game, "I don't think I'm from the same guy you're familiar with."

"I thought so, you certainly are something... different from the ones I knew" Suddenly for the first time his expression changed, and he gave a slight start "Oh, too bad of me, you haven't had breakfast yet, would you like something to eat?"

I was going to say no, but if he was hungry and seeing that everything was going well I think the best thing would be to relax a bit, if I keep acting like this he will notice that I am hiding something

"Um, okay, if it's not too much trouble"

"Very good, Raven. Could you ask the staff to bring us something light, please?"

"Sure, princess." That's what she said, but she swears I saw her make the 'this is not my job' expression.

"So, while they bring that to us, could you tell me, what did you think of Equestria?" Finally, something I'm not afraid to answer

"Quite... colorful, the place is beautiful, at home it doesn't usually look so green" The smile on her face changed, it was very slight, but she seemed a bit... conceited to me

“I appreciate your kind words”

"Yes, but there is one thing that bothers me" I don't know if I imagined it, but I felt her gaze become more intense while I was hesitating whether to say what I thought or not "The ponies" I said it

Her expression did not change in the slightest as the doors opened and a cart with three floors of food entered, hey, she said 'light breakfast', even so, she remained unchanged

"Let me explain, a few days ago I was walking through the stores and... I don't remember what I was buying, but I do remember that at some point the word 'shit' escaped me and the manager covered his ears and began to sing a children's song about bad words, can you believe…eve…”

My words died in my mouth when I looked at the others in the room, the guards always in the shadow of their princess, had lowered their ears and shrunk as if Luna herself had spoken using the royal voice, the servant fell silent a little. Plate with bread and I swear I heard him sing the same nursery rhyme, even the princess couldn't help but show her displeasure

"Um, is something wrong, princess?" My words seemed to bring them out of her stupor, the guards returned to their serious countenance, the servant returned to her work and the princess returned to the game.

"No, it's just that here in Equestria we're not used to that kind of vocabulary, and I'd be very grateful if you didn't repeat it while your visit continues." She said it as if it were a request, but it felt like an order.

“I understand, but don't you think they are a bit delicate? To the point where it can be troublesome.” Certain moments in that damned town began to come to my mind.

"I don't see how wanting a more welcoming environment for everyone could be problematic" It is clear that you have never had to be a minority

"Only when you trade that 'everyone' for ponies, if you do, they might end up stoning anyone who isn't." I know I was on thin ice, but I got to the point where my anger was starting to get the better of me.

Something that hasn't changed much since my arrival was my sense of taste, my taste for meat only improved, apart from that everything remains the same

And even so

Very carefully I wrapped the piece of muffin between a couple of salty cookies using my telekinesis, if someone saw me now they would surely think that I was a weirdo for such a disgusting combination, but the truth is that it was the ponies that were crazy

I was pretty sure these guys had a second or even a third liver dedicated solely to digesting sugar, no kidding, the first time I ate a pony dessert I nearly had a fit and that's from someone who's eaten junk all their life. Life, by the way, it was a damn cookie!

Even so, I couldn't help but wallow in the memories, first, sleeping late, then eating, then studying magic all afternoon, then eating again, going to the castle in the afternoon and stealing… reading some books for my research and once nightfall play video games with Luna

It's the closest I've been to paradise, but like all good things it had to end

"Look who's back" And in the worst possible way, the idiot opened the door of my carriage without knocking or asking

“You know Hawthorn, I was so happy just a few seconds ago that I almost thought a simple hello wouldn't hurt, but now that I see you…”

“Can't you resist this? Do you feel you must pounce on this perfect Alpha male and unleash your wildest instincts? He started to strike a pose flexing his legs, showing off his muscles that as much as I hate to admit it did look good.

"Did you know? Yeah, that's just what I'm going to do.” For a second he seemed to pause, as if his brain had reset, then he thawed and spread his paws.

"Then come!" I wasted no time engulfing my figure in flames before jumping on him, and as expected he dodged.

Then I attack, not with his antlers, but with a double back kick that he delivered square to my face.

"The flames are cheating!" He said he as he rubbed his hind legs

“What happened to the alpha male thing? Don't you see how you turn me on?!" This time I was more careful, instead of going straight I threw a small breath of fire at him as a distraction while he attacked from one of his sides.

"Not so bad" With a movement of its horns imbued with electric magic, I reject my flames, magic is magic, apparently, it follows its own rules

Taking advantage of the fact that his antlers were occupied, I jumped on him, only for him to roll on his back and quadruple kick me.

"COF, COF, oh come on!" I still hadn't recovered from the strong impact on my ribs or from the fall I suffered later when I saw a couple of antlers on the way without magic for me, not so good luck

PUNCH

"I give up! Brutus” The idiot was good, he had to give him that, as much as he hated it

"You've been gone for more than three days, and that's it?"

"Yes, yes, I have important things to do, and I won't be staying long" I went over to where I left my saddlebags and emptied its contents while looking for one of my canteens, I think it should still have a couple of sips left.

“Ugh, a book? How can it matter more than your training” One of the things I brought from Canterlot, this was not from the royal library, it was a simple Equestrian history book.

I had a hunch I wanted to check later

"Just like I said, you wouldn't understand." As I sipped my drink, I felt the flames slowly go out, I took a deep breath and prepared to continue the conversation.

“Where is Aspen? Imagine that he would be eager to give me one of his sermons."

“He is focused on his new project”

"Is that so?" I hadn't been paying close attention to what was going on in the dear village, after all that's what I had my drones for, if they don't see something noteworthy they just won't call me.

"Yes, for years he wanted to remodel his old palace and now that he finally got low-cost workers, he became obsessed with remodeling not only the palace, but the entire village." For some reason, he kept looking at me with a smile on his face, What the hell is Aspen doing?

I decided to hurry up, whatever Aspen was doing had me on my nerves, and he deserved it, as soon as I saw what he was doing, I froze in my place

But what the fuck?

Why are my Timberwolves building the pirated copy of Rivendell?

13.5- Dear princess Celestia

Author's Note

This episode shouldn't exist, it was only made to test a new editing method that I discovered, please don't hesitate to leave your reviews whether it's good or bad, I want to know if it makes it better or worse

13.5- Dear princess Celestia

"Thank you very much for your assistance today Raven" The melodious voice of the princess comforted the sore ears of her assistant after the disaster that was each of the meetings with the noble councilors "I still don't understand how you made so many nobles decline their requests”

"I simply made evident an indisputable fact that we know well" Both her speech and her posture were worthy of the royal lineage

Too bad, she was just an ordinary unicorn

"And what could it be?" the princess asked curiously

"Nobody likes nobles, not even among themselves, put them in a room with little space and sooner or later they will all fight to get out of there" She said with such matter-of-factness, as if it were a scientifically proven fact.

"Is that why I was delayed for two hours to the assembly?" asked accusingly his princess

The pony didn't say anything, she just gave him a knowing smile.

The princess was about to return one of the same, but she was interrupted by a small yawn. "Whoa, I think that ends today, doesn't it?"

Raven looked at her pocket watch and nodded. "There are still three minutes to go, but I doubt they find any complaints, then we can focus on the problem regarding the misunderstanding of the yaks, regarding where our borders are."

"Ahem" The princess knocked on her helmet interrupting her talk "I think we both know that would be out of my turn"

It took Raven a second to grasp what she meant, and despite her professionalism, she couldn't help but make a face. "If that's what her majesty commands," she said with obvious discontent.

To which Celestia couldn't help but lament, "Is she so frustrating to work with?"

Raven immediately realized her mistake and tried to justify herself "Of course not princess, I would never say-"

Her princess interrupted her, "Please, Raven, I know you would never do it, but she needed an answer."

Raven tried to think of an excuse, anything to avoid giving an answer, but seeing Celestia's look she just couldn't "It's something..." She tried to find some subtle word to describe her "Inadequate" At least I tried "Excuse my bluntness princess, but don't you think that it will be a little soon for Luna to return to the throne? I think that at least she should receive the necessary training on etiquette and current politics before…"

She stopped when she saw the princess's look on her, one she rarely showed, disappointment.

"I know that many have not liked her return, but she is still one of the rulers of Equestria and I must add that she has been in politics longer than you have been alive, you will see that she will catch up with me soon just... give her time"

Unable to bear her gaze, she just nodded, "Good night, princess, please rest."

The princess did not like that her arguments ended like this, but she knew that anything she said now would only insult the mare "For you too Raven, rest"

The princess of the sun entered her room, closing the doors behind her to conclude the daytime ritual.

Raven, for her part, headed to the other princess's bedroom to continue with the accumulated paperwork, in her mind she was already reviewing the best way to explain the most important laws regarding the violation of border territories until her mind strayed to a memory of a similar situation from just two days ago

‘Is the death penalty really no longer allowed?’

That was what Princess Luna said when she was showing her the modifications of the penal and rehabilitation system, the princess laughed at the last one, thinking it was a joke, she wasn't.

It was quite disturbing for Raven to learn how bloody Equestria had been in the past, especially when the princess began to list crimes that were once considered fit for such punishment, things she hadn't even thought ponies were capable of or could do. They had been done in the first place, and she was just using them as examples of something she herself had seen and if she saw again, she wouldn't flinch

Doubt overwhelmed Raven with every step she took until she reached the gates of the Lunar Princess's tower, guarded by two thestrals whose gaze made her tremble despite the fact that she did not have any kind of malice.

It was not as if she disliked them or had any prejudice against them, she even helped Luna during the integration of the Thestrals to Canterlot, also in the interviews to form the new night watch and its internal structure, among many other things.

But the dark form of her accompanied by the grim armor of hers and the gothic design of the entrance to the tower made a fearsome combination.

She didn't want to go in, but she needed to deliver these papers and make sure they were done right...

It didn't feel right to do this, but again he went through the stack of paperwork he had been bringing and put aside the border debate parchment, he looked at the next one and realizing that it dealt with arrears regarding the griffon empire's debt, I also put it away

And so it went on until the great pile of papers was reduced to four, one of which was a request to get a mop out of storage.

"I'm sorry, princess," she whispered apologetically, not quite sure which princess she was dedicating to her.

Then he handed over the papers to one of the guards, ordering her to take her princess while she returned to her room, ending her day.

Princess Celestia had already set the sun down, she was done, she was still not used to the feeling of having the whole night free, she briefly debated whether she should read a good book, but remembering the homework that awaited her tomorrow, surely accompanied by some questions de Luna, decided that it would be best to rest as much as possible

She calmly refreshed herself in the bathroom and once she finished with her needs, she lay down quietly on her bed.

Her mind had already put a hoof in unconsciousness, when as a last act of rebellion in her waking world her body forced her to yawn, she did not bother to contain it, this time there was no one there to judge her

Little did she know that this act would cost her dearly.

“FAZZ”

With a flaming green flash, a scroll materialized just inches from her face and from her gaping muzzle as well.

"COF, COF." A wild cough broke out of her as she tried to expel the cursed piece of paper, which she finally succeeded in after a little more effort.

"Geez Twilight! We really need to calibrate that spell," she stated as she rubbed her sore throat and released a restoration spell on the paper to start reading.

Dear Princess Celestia

It's an emergency!

A creature, similar to a pony, came out of the Everfree and attacked the village with some timberwolves, she also seemed to present the characteristics of a dark magic user, she left shortly after with the timberwolves, I don't know why, but I'll find out, Its eyes were green and from what I managed to deduce from Pinkie Pie's confusing and quick explanation, including a catchy song, is that the creature's name is Zecora, and it's not the first time it's come to Ponyville.

Please send all the information you have related to dark magic to carry out countermeasures.

Her faithful student Twilight Sparkle

…

The first thing Celestia did after reading the letter was to blink, then feel a touch of disdain for Twilight due to her hypocrite, she criticizes Pinkie for giving confusing information, since 'confusing' would be the exact word that would define this letter.

It was noticeable from afar that important information was omitted in order to be able to send the report as quickly as possible, there were also abrupt changes in topic that were taken up again later or simply left unfinished

Why didn't he just hand it over to Spike? That boy, although young, had shown to be quite capable, Raven herself frequently praised him when she saw his way of working despite his young age, she could only assume that his student she had been overcome with panic and decided to make the letter herself

Then there was the content of this… What happened, she couldn't help but wonder.

The research regarding dark magic was a big NO, it wasn't that she didn't trust her student, it just didn't exist anymore, all the tomes related to that branch of magic were burned, she herself was the one who burned that area of the library as soon as it was completed, the most knowledgeable regarding that magic was most likely her or her sister, most likely

And it was not a good idea to talk about it with such a short time since his return.

There was also a mention of a well-known "Zecora" she recited when remembering, and she couldn't help but be a little disappointed in Twilight to see how she must have fallen into the prejudices that the other inhabitants of the town had just because the poor zebra looks different and Celestia she knew about this because she knew Zecora, in fact, when she met her she invited her to have tea together, a pretty good one I must add

She was one of the few inhabitants of Equestria who treated her normally and personally found her quite pleasant, it's a pity that the inhabitants of Ponyville didn't think so, they sent letters daily that spoke of a witch who spread curses to everyone she met. Will cross

At some point these letters reached her and in a matter of an afternoon she denied their claims, Zecora was just a zebra with an obsession with creating potions of all kinds, similar to Twilight and her search for knowledge, but that was not unusual for her. In his race, in fact, it could be said that the strange thing would have been not to have that trait, since it was something deeply rooted in his culture

Strangely, this made them look terrifying.

Continuous exposure to various magical components affected them physically in some cases, the more daring or foolish among them experiencing fur loss in certain areas, mild gas poisoning and in some cases, if the component was rare enough, green or other eyes. Color, among other things, it should be noted that most of these effects were only temporary

It must have confused her, however, that still doesn't explain the timberwolf part… that was unusual not to say unheard of, behavior like that has never been seen or heard of, they have never obeyed anyone and above all they never leave the forest at all. Unless they are forcibly removed, and if this is achieved they will try by all means to return there

The attack on a town was unprecedented, that was the only reason why ponyville was able to prosper despite being literally at the entrance to Everfree, otherwise they would suffer daily attacks due to their proximity to the forest

She had been keeping an eye on the behavior of the timberwolves since the purification of the forest, she had sent researchers to keep an eye on these beasts specifically, since they shared a special bond with the forest and from what the reports had reported, it had worked or so. It seemed, the timberwolfves had become extremely docile or as they had been described in the report 'lost' as strange as it sounded that seemed to be the word that best described them now

They continuously moved through the forest, but without disturbing it in the slightest, they no longer reacted to the presence of ponies or any other creature, even in self-defense they didn't react, they just walked... and that's all

almost as if they were looking for something

The alicorn debated internally what would be the correct way to approach this problem until an idea came to her.

"Blueblood has had a lot of free time lately, and I've already put Twilight to the test." If anypony in the castle had heard that comment, or even worse, known what she was thinking, the princess at that moment would have asked her, no, they would have begged not to try

But there was no one there

And so the princess decided to delegate this task to her nephew...

That I do not hesitate to delegate her to the night watch

As expected, Blueblood failed his test almost as soon as it started, with no idea what this failure would later cost him, or his people.

14- There is someone who loves you

Author's Note

Any criticism is appreciated

14- There is someone who loves you

Slowly, I turned the pages, and for each one, I got more irritated. It was a newspaper, that useless means of communication was barely remembered, and if it was mostly remembered as a perfect example of the massive waste of materials without thinking about the pollution, or if it was

In this place, it seems to be the most reliable thing there is. I had never read one in my life, or at least not with real interest, but when I saw the cover of this one, I had to read it

There he was on the front page, the fucking cyan pony with the gayest hair I've ever seen. He broke the sound barrier!

…

What the fuck?!

They called it the sonic rainplosion, apparently that explosion was the day I left for Canterlot and from what is read here, it is said that it could be seen all over Equestria, and apparently it caused a great stir among the nobility, since many wonder if racial magic has been underestimated and if indeed spells are the strongest type of magic as they have always claimed

Anyway, it doesn't mean it's annoying, this girl attacked me just for walking down the street and seeing me differently. I know that not all of my country is like that, but at least where I lived, people wouldn't hesitate to kick you if someone did something like that, instead of encouraging it and starting to throw rocks at the victim if the victim fights back

I could see that the ponies were looking at me with fear and almost running away. I looked at the bench where she was sitting, and soon I noticed the charred boards, Shit!

Luckily, I have the habit of leaving things aside and not just leaving them in the pit, or I would have problems. I had to use my magic to get my canteen out of my saddlebags, where I quickly took a good sip. I felt its effect, but the flames did not they would cave in, so it took a little longer until they finally gave in

Once more quiet, I noticed that it was already getting dark, so I got up, threw the piece of burned paper in the trash, and started to continue on my way to the castle.

“btt”

And now that? I focused on my connection and could see Aspen rubbing the head of one of my wolves.

I hope this isn't a Hawthorn joke.

"It's not" I answered through the wolf. It was a trick I discovered recently, and it turns out that our connection was much stronger than I thought

"Was that really your heart?" He looked iffy, and I can't blame him. For some reason, my voice was distorted through the wolf, almost sounding masculine

“Yes, I am, did you want to talk about something? I'm a little busy"

"I'll be brief, you worried me in the village, you saw what he was building and immediately left, I didn't think you'd care so much that he'd use them like that." I felt a little guilty seeing his concern.

It doesn't bother me that he used them for construction, I had used them for much simpler or stupider things, like the time I wanted to make a skylight despite seeing perfectly in the dark or the time I sent them to steal Hawthorn's mattress and throw it away. To the river... with him inside, but what the wolves showed me that day surprised me a lot

My connection to the wolves was not only stronger than I thought, it was not a simple relationship of master and creation, they were literally a part of me.

Therefore, our connection went both ways, and apparently I wasn't the only one who could send signals through the hive mind, they too could, the only difference being that I had a conscience and they didn't

An example of what happens would be when I ask them to bring me an... apple. How the hell did they know what an apple was? Aren't they supposed to be hollow? The answer to that was simple, they took it out of me

These guys could get inside my head and pull out information just as easily or even more easily than I could, the mere thought of it was disturbing.

So when Aspen asked them to remodel a village without giving them any specifications, the wolves searched my head for what best suited the preferences of a species that lives in the forest and worships nature almost like a cult.

Of course, it had to be the elves

"-hat's why I won't use your creations for such banal acts again"

Damn, I missed it

"Don't worry, Aspen, I don't mind that you used them, I was just surprised, it seems that these guys have more abilities than I thought" I owed him an explanation, simple as it was. "And feel free to use them as you see fit," he trusted. That you will put them to good use" It seemed that I was going to say something else, but I was already reaching my destination "I'm sorry, Aspen, but I have to hang up, a bat fell on me bye"

"That? Bat? Hang? What do you want to sa-“ Cut

and the bat fell

"Hello, Spirit, the boys were starting to worry." I rolled my eyes at that.

"It was only two days." Waning Shadow, from whom I later learned that he was the captain of the night watch, became a casual sight.

"You know how they are" In each of my visits, those fools have tried quite viciously to ask me out, needless to say, most of the time they ended up

"Luna, I would love it" Her smile began to widen to a worrying point "But no" Wow, I never thought I would see someone deflate like that outside of Looney Tunes

"We've been doing the same thing for days, wouldn't you like to try something new?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, biting her lip, surely fighting against her desire to continue with the games.

"Excuse me, princess, but could I give you some advice?" After thinking about it for a second, she nodded and said “Why don't you take her to the gardens? They are always a good place to hang out”

"Certainly" Luna nodded "You're right, they're not far away, and this isn't the best place to have a conversation" Honestly I don't even care, what does worry me is the evil smile on Wining Shadow's face

"I don't care" I shrugged, and we continued on our way, I decided to ignore it for now and focus on Luna so as not to get lost in the corridors

And now that I think about it, she seems to give me funny looks from time to time, and I started to feel like the first time she came here, doubtful and wary of every shadow until we reached our destination.

Don't tell me that a wild Celestia is going to appear, right?

"Why are you looking at me like that? Something happens?" Finally, I can't take it anymore

She looked at me puzzled, did she think she hadn't noticed her? "No, not at all. I apologize if it bothers you, it was not my intention"

"Well... you did a bit, is something wrong?"

She seemed a little hesitant to reply. "It's just that it's not common for us to be spoken to so… freely."

Maybe she's right, I think I loosened up a lot with her, but it was quite reasonable to have done it.

Not only was she cute and easy on the eyes, but thanks to her, I can play video games again, so I basically owe her my life.

That, added to the fact that I found out that royalty in this world is not allowed to send you to the guillotine for looking at them badly, she made me lose all fear of them

“Do you want me to be more formal?” I asked for

"No! Ahem, it's refreshing to be able to hear what one really thinks"

"That's good because I doubted I could do something like that, to be honest, I no longer have a filter between my brain and my mouth" The truth was that I didn't even notice when I started talking to him like that the first time, but my attention diverted to the garden, more precisely an object that stood out for contrasting strongly with the entire design of the garden

"Speaking of being direct, I'll take the opportunity to tell you that I don't understand abstract art. I mean, what is this thing supposed to symbolize?" In front of my helmet was a statue of a being that seemed to be the lost brother of Frankenstein furry version "The... union of all races, or what?"

"This is Discord, the lord of chaos who once ruled all of Equestria with his tyranny, and... and... it's a valid thought, I've never stopped to see him as anything other than a defeated enemy" Wait, is he really taking Seriously, what did I say about art? I was joking, obviously I know who he is

I said I was bored with history, not that I wouldn't study it.

“Btt”

Great, now what?

“About earlier, he was serious, you know? I really like that, you're not afraid to speak your mind” I tried to listen to Luna as best I could, but my attention was on the drone and some of my bugs who saw something interesting in it, Garden? “It is not a common trait, and I appreciate it”

"Thank you" Where was this? It doesn't seem very far

"We like your company, we wouldn't mind if you decided to make your stay a little more... permanent" A blue firefly? "Closest"

My thoughts stopped when I felt a hoof caress my mane, which normally I wouldn't even care if it weren't for the fact that he kept walking up my back until he reached my flank.

"Luna, are you feeling alright?" I started to walk away from her in the direction of the bushes, something was not right. One look was enough, her pupils easy to see thanks to her big eyes were quite dilated and her breathing was heavy almost as if she had run a marathon

“I feel fine, but I think we could do something to make us feel even better.” The way she said it… okay, this is getting heated and it was only partly my fault.

“Btt”

The firefly shimmered again and seemed to point towards, MY? In the next second, I started to feel… strange, a kind of dizziness which increased together with a pressure in my chest, everything started to blur, with Luna getting closer to her and me cornered between her and the bushes

"Come closer, don't be afraid" I could feel his breath on my face, see his face a few centimeters from mine, which at this point no longer seemed strange in the least, so tempting... just let go, and I have to admit that if it were any other way I would not have doubted it

But I hate that they play with me

PUNCH

"AHHH" A loud cry of pain came from behind me, right at the place where I kicked, and the firefly was supposed to be.

Bonuses! I didn't think it would work, I read about invisibility spells, but seeing it is another thing

And the strange sensations left, suddenly, and I wasn't the only one, Luna seemed puzzled, then confused, then turned red as a tomato doing everything possible to avoid my gaze

Oh, how am I going to make her suffer with this later

Or so I thought until I saw her put on an expression of pure anger, oh no here it comes, I covered my ears as best I could “CADANCE”

The ground shook, and my ears started ringing, you really have to control that

“H-hello aunt.” It seemed that the corpse-to-be was a pink unicorn with… wings… Did I just kick royalty in the face?

Holy crap!

Luckily, one was wracked with rage and the other seemed too desperate looking for a method of survival to have realized that.

"I want an explanation" she thought her real voice was intimidating, but it seems she doesn't need it "And it must be good"

"I... well... wanted to help you"

“Humiliating myself in front of my guest? Is that considered help in these times?” I should have brought popcorn, this is going to be good

"Princess, wait!" A familiar voice caught our attention, it was Captain Wining shadow "This is also my fault!"

"Explain, both of you" Luna demanded

Cadance began "Well... you see, for a few days there has been a rumor that you've got a lover." Luna seemed to tense up and look at me with a certain embarrassment.

I stared back at him incredulously “Wait, you really didn't see this coming? I mean, I know we're nothing like that, but we've spent several nights together, we even slept in the same bed." Luna seemed desperate to find the right words as Cadance looked at us with a smile and Wining just gave me a wink.

"Th-that's irrelevant, go on!" It seems that Luna chose to change the subject

"I decided to verify these rumors with some members of the night watch"

"And that's how you got involved, correct?" I asked and the poor guy just nodded.

"And thanks to him, I found out that these were fake" Cadance admitted.

"Of course" Luna agreed with satisfaction.

"For now, at least" I could see a tic in Luna's eye, could it be a sister thing?

“We are trying to change that” Full Wining

“We just wanted to give them a little push”

"I don't see how the use of your love magic could be considered a simple push" Rebutted Luna

"Uh, what thing?" She had read about many weird types of magic, but this one takes the prize.

Noticing my confusion, she forced herself to calm down to explain things better. "Spirit, I present to you Cadance, the princess of love."

Noticing that they were talking about her, she immediately stood up to try a more dignified presentation.

I can't make it

It sounded ridiculous, but it made sense if you take into account that magic is driven by the emotions of its user.

What am I supposed to say to the royals that hits and that I'm technically trying to brainwash myself?

“Hello…” It was awkward “So… are you like cupid or what?” I tried to lighten the mood, but the three of them looked at me blankly.

I screwed up again, starting protocol of half-truths

"It's the spirit of love where I come from, their job basically consists of uniting couples" I explained

"Are there other beings capable of using love magic?!" The alicorn rosa seemed ecstatic as a child at Christmas

“Um, I think? I don't know, I never saw it, I only heard stories."

"I had never heard of anything like that" I look at the others for confirmation and Wining looked as confused as her, luckily Luna had no problem speaking for me

"Spirit is not from Equestria, she comes from a very distant and different land to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if the stories about this 'cupid' turned out to be true" He said with a smug smile as if he was talking about his home and not his. Someone else

Come to think of it I never showed her the bad stuff where I come from and almost everything else was fantasy, I'll have a chat with her later

"Okay, now that we're done with the introductions, let's get back to what's important." If Luna keeps bringing up the subject of my home, sooner or later someone will notice that something is wrong, I have to divert her attention with something irresistible

"Revenge!" I said firmly, and the ponies looked at me in horror, then they looked at Luna for salvation, but she seemed so in line with my idea that anyone would say that she had been waiting for it for a long time.

"Wait, wait, you already hit me, isn't that enough?!" she said as she nuzzled her puppy dog eyes and lowered her ears

Curse! Damn and cute ponies

"Yes, you're right" Luna said to my dismay "But you still owe me" And the growing fear of these two

Wining seemed resigned, ready to accept whatever punishment was bestowed upon him with honor.

Cadance, on the other hand

"Wait a bit, I was just trying to help you!"

"You already said that"

"Yes, but I think you forgot the conditions for this spell to work." She had no idea what these conditions were, but she looked quite confident.

As for Luna, it seemed that something had 'clicked' in her head.

"Excuse us for a second!" She cried out in alarm, almost using her real voice, as she grabbed Cadance by the mane and dragged her off her despite her complaints.

After a few seconds, I turned to talk to Wining "...so, don't you have any idea what these conditions might be?"

Wining just shrugged his shoulders "The magic of love is exclusive to Princess Cadance, so there are no books by her and even if there were, she would have no reason to read them"

He was right

"So... are you going to tell me what happened?" Asked

“We already told you that”

"Yes you did, but I wasn't talking about that" He looked at me confused until he finally seemed to understand what I meant, and he looked at me alarmed, and he must have been "Don't you think it's impolite to give a lady hopes?" I did my best acting trying to look hurt

Out of all the guards who had asked me out on a date, Wining was the only one who didn't decline… right away.

Sure, I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no either, which is a lot more than the others got.

"I thought you would at least give me one more day to make up my mind" Honestly I didn't even care, in fact, I didn't even know what to think, shouldn't he be the annoying one? It was me who almost made out with another pony

"I-I can explain it, but..." He seemed to get complicated, as if he didn't know what words to say.

"But?"

"I don't know how to say it without sounding bad"

“Just say it, I won't get mad” he looked skeptical, and I can't blame him, most of the time a woman says something like that it's usually a trap

“The truth is… we made a bet”

Okay, now I understand why women don't keep their word to him, I got mad

And enough

"Before you say anything, let me explain"

"Okay, I'm listening" I think he didn't believe me, maybe it was the flames

"You see, we are not well liked in this place." She swung her hoof in circles to point at the entire area.

"Thestrals normally live in nomadic tribes, preferably as far away from ponies as possible." I think I can imagine why. "Or at least mine did until the return of our princess."

"Luna?"

"Yes, she was always adored by our people, all the ancient histories of our race mention her leading our species from the beginning"

"Ok, I understand you admire her, skip it" He seemed a little offended, but a snort of my flames made him focus again

“When we came to her, it was a dream come true, she was everything the stories told and more- AUCH” I removed my burning helmet only to bring it ever so slowly right into her face.

"Okay, okay!" He rubbed the cheek that he had touched and continued with the explanation "The only problem was as always the ponies, especially the noble ones, in the city they saw us as savages, ready to attack at the first opportunity" I know that, I was always the lonely type, so it didn't bother me to be alone, but here people avoid you as if you were a leper, and although I want to deny it I must admit that I have felt quite bad about it

"How ugly did she get?" I couldn't help but ask, even though I knew we were getting off-topic again.

“Many of us were unfairly accused, they didn't even have to point at us, it was enough for a pony to scream for the guards to arrest us without caring if we had anything to do with what was happening, if it wasn't for our princess we would have had to fight our way through. To freedom through blood and then run away from Equestria” Shit, they really have it ugly, reminds me a bit of how people of African-American descent were treated in the past… and in some places today

"I understand you" I never experienced that level of discrimination until I got here, and I could see that it seemed to be the same with him, the pain in his eyes, I really don't know what his people had to go through, but I'm sure he experienced it first hand “Where I come from a lot of people went through something similar last century, and we are still dealing with it in some places, but we are learning, and it will be the same here just…give them time”

"Thank you, tartarus I got carried away without realizing it"

"Don't worry, but I would appreciate it if you would stop adding so much suspense to the story"

“Yeah, ahem, sorry” Haha, ponies are cute when they blush “After our… welcome, the princess offered us to stay in the castle”

"To all?"

“Something like that, he reinstated the night guard and formed it exclusively by thestral, as royal guards we obtained some authority, but no respect, even so, that's enough to live in relative tranquility as long as we stay in our assigned area and only go out at night we can live and serve our princess”

With his explanation, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them for what they had to go through, since I don't doubt that this was only a part, also a greater respect for Luna for taking care of her loyal servants and... hate, A LOT towards these imbeciles ponies

"The only problem is that our culture is more combative than that of normal ponies, so we are all proficient in combat, both mares and stallions." I stopped him there.

"Let me guess, relationships between co-workers are prohibited"

"Exact!" He jumped and almost yelled, he seemed desperate to talk about this. Well, he's captain of the guard, he wouldn't like it if he went against the orders of his superiors, so maybe if it was his first time

"I think I understand now why everyone was all over me"

"Yeah! I mean, no, don't think so low of yourself, you practically have a fan club among the guard members."

"Yes of course" I said in a neutral tone, not believing a word "And that's how this bet started?"

He started rubbing one of his front paws, looking embarrassed “We were playing and…” He looked around making sure no one heard us “A…reliable merchant brings us some contraband from time to time”

"So they were drunk, is that the summary?"

"Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound silly." That's because it was silly.

"You only held it out, so it would feel pity and not burn your tail, right?"

"Oh! Come on, it was 500 bits." I stopped short.

"How much?" I had to be sure

"Uh, 550? Perhaps the figure has gone up a lot since it started…everything” His face turned wary when he saw the way she was looking at him.

"My pretty, pretty purse, I mean, my friend." I started to move closer to him.

"Please stop looking at me like that"

"As well as?"

"High!" The pink alicorn desperately tried to free herself from the grip of her older "Not from the mane!" But she seemed impossible to free herself from her powerful grip, she seemed determined to pull out all his hair, but luckily she stopped before that, although she noted that her anger had not diminished in the least.

“Have you not had enough fun already? Are you not satisfied with manipulating us for your indecent games?” asked the lunar princess accusingly

"That? No! I just wanted to help them, you reacted to the spell and although it seemed to affect her less, she was also affected" For the young princess, no further explanations were needed, if two ponies felt something for the other they should be together, no matter what.

"That wasn't love, Cadance, even a foal would know the difference!" To older princess's bewilderment, Cadance only looked confused.

"What do you mean? I only used my love magic, it can't work if it's not that" She said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but only then did she realize that no one had told her that, it was just something she and everyone assumed "TRUE?" I ask this doubtful time

"My sister really has neglected your teachings" Luna rubbed her hoof on her forehead in frustration, trying futilely to calm her growing frustration "No Cadance, alicorn magic is never that simple, our magic can have hidden characteristics or a broader concept of what do you think"

Seeing that she was still trying to understand what he meant, he decided to give her an example "About when I was a similar age to yours I began to investigate dreams for the first time, at that time I believed that I only had access to dreams by being in contact with direct with the pony that was manifesting them, I never thought it would work over long distances, much less that something like the world of dreams existed”

"You mean that I could have control over feelings other than love?" Cadance said incredulously, thinking of how many mistakes she could have made.

"Without a doubt, but how much I don't have the slightest idea" The eldest answered honestly

"But then, why did it affect you before?" Luna refused to answer that, she had already told her enough when that should be her sister's duty "Please, Aunt Luna, I need to know this, I don't want to end up affecting others wrongly"

Luna looked at her new family pleadingly, and unfortunately every second only made it harder for her to refuse, especially since she knew better than anyone how volatile alicorn magic can become when not handled carefully.

So, although with disgust, she agreed.

"Since my banishment I have been somewhat... alone, no, my loneliness began long before my banishment, for many years I had to endure isolation and loneliness only to end up in a much worse situation later." Cadance did not need her magic to know What feelings was your aunt experiencing now?

"So long, so many years that turned into centuries make you want a certain contact that, although not necessarily romantic, is quite... intimate"

Cadance didn't understand and tilted her head in confusion, Luna rolled her eyes and, with some embarrassment, slightly waved her skinny hair and her tail, hoping she would take the hint.

…

“Oh… ohhhh, I got it” Her fur brushing against hers changed to a deep red “But what are you thinking?! You are a princess, and you barely know her!”

"But if I can fall in love with her?" I ask with obvious sarcasm

“Yeah, I mean, no… it's, this is different!”

"It's not Cadance, it's simple, I've been very lonely, and I just wanted someone I could feel loved with, is that bad?"

"No, but aren't these things only supposed to be done with the pony you love?" Despite being the princess of love, she had very little experience in that area, she had barely had a single relationship in her entire life, and they hadn't gotten that far yet!

"Cadance you are still very young, so I understand that you think so, but everyone has the right to live as they please, especially with lives as long as ours, sooner or later, you will see that it is not a big deal, even Celestia has had one or the other companion from time to time”

"Don't joke Luna! I have never seen Celestia react to any pony, much less come to that" Yes, of course she would believe that, unfortunately with youth comes naivety in many cases, even so, Luna could not help but wonder how she would react if she knew that in her time Celestia she was the more promiscuous of the two, they were all young at some point after all

The minor decided to change the subject "Why her? I'm pretty sure you had other options” If that's what everyone would think, right? Not really, even a millennium later she couldn't help feeling that she had returned to where it all began, the ponies that she had to protect looked at her with fear, the guards that had to protect her looked at her with mistrust and the nobility that had to support her looked at her as if she were an intruder despite being in her own home

Her thestrals were the only exception to her, but they only saw her as a model, an image of the past that did not exist in the now, it was like going back to the past.

Everyone trying their best to evade and isolate her, whether they wanted to or not, looking at her as if she was a completely alien being, everyone

Except one

"It's complicated" she couldn't help but scratch a certain tickle on her chest while the memory of her invaded her again

"Roll, I command you, ROLL!" The mare kept pressing the button repeatedly with both her magic and her hoof, hoping that the damned device would work as ordered.

Her character finally rolled, perfectly dodging the spear bathed in golden streaks, a pity that it was not the case for the great club wielded by a giant

With a simple BAM, his life bar reached zero

"AFDUFCAN" Her stress level had surpassed the limited profanities of her language, leading her to the point of resorting to some of the most abhorrent dead languages that only she and her sister currently knew.

"BAM"

The remote went through the flat screen sticking right in the middle and turning the screen black

Curiously, this had not been the first time this had happened, in fact, it had been common behavior for the last few hours, since she was introduced to that hellish game 'Dark souls'

A full-blown abomination!

So difficult and unfair, with no indication of the way to begin with, unfair enemies, monsters so horrible and disgusting that they would make Grogar himself feel humiliated by his creations and beg to be the apprentice of the spawn that designed them.

So different, frustrating and unfair compared to the others he had been presented with so far, and for some reason beyond his comprehension it was the most addictive.

Because?! No idea

Slowly, she lay back with her eyes closed on this comfortable 'puff' as she told him it was called, she wasn't going to give up her game, but she needed to rest.

The dream world tended to mimic the real world as much as she could, and that included drawbacks to her like headaches or eye strain from this screen.

After a few minutes, she finally opened them, and it was not what she expected, she clearly remembered daylight and being in a castle in the mushroom kingdom

it wasn't like that anymore

He was outdoors in a meadow and the starry sky adorned his vision "it's not mine" was the first thing he thought, although it was impossible for him to memorize them perfectly, even so he slightly remembered all the constellations he had made and these were not even close none of his works

He spends a few more minutes admiring this landscape before addressing the person who caused it, sitting on a piece of log with a telescope observing and altering this fictional sky, his fur looked... well, the combination of his rust-colored orange mane and of course blue blended in so well with her night after all blue is the best color (Self Proclaimed)

"It's not usual for ponies to dream of my heaven, much less try to imitate it" his companion was agitated by the sudden call, she seemed to be concentrating

“I see you faced the dynamic duo, how are you doing?” The alicorn didn't see the funny thing, and it showed on her face "Haha, as expected, don't worry, it happens to all of us the first time"

"Just wait, my victory is inevitable" He said raising his helmet in defiance "But I admit that I could use a break" he had lost count of how many hours he had been there

"Yes, I understand you, my first time was almost the same." It didn't cost him anything to believe that.

Once again he contemplated the night sky, he felt strange not being the one who had control over the "That one there"

"That?" I ask his partner without understanding

She stepped closer to Spirit almost bumping her head against his and pointed again "That one over there, it would be better if you moved it right there, see?"

“Do you want to connect those two?” The rare kirin looked through the telescope and noticed the accidental constellation

It looked like a duck! A rather deformed and disproportionate one, but thanks to Luna now at least it could be understood

He had just made a 'copy and paste' with the sky that he remembered from home and altered it from there, he had plenty of time and in this place you could literally do whatever you wanted, why not revive old hobbies?

"I look great on you" admitted his partner

"As expected, this is my domain, after all" Spirit couldn't help but show some annoyance at bringing up that topic again, but she concealed it well.

Besides, he had to admit it if she looked like a goddess of the night.

"Tell me, since when do you observe my stars?" That was a difficult question, not because I didn't have the answer, but because it was weird.

"I... I don't know, sometimes in the afternoon I would stay for a minute or two looking at the landscape, I never gave it much importance, it's... strange to just stare without doing anything." her happiness, whether it was a minute or two that was all she asked, that they look at her work and see her beauty "But now that I think about it, maybe that's how my taste for the night began" The alicorn's ears perked up

"Is that so?"

"Yes" his partner let out a deep sigh, she looked down "A pity she wasn't fit for that"

"What do you mean?" I ask, this time quite puzzled

"That I wasn't enough, the number of requirements they asked for to be an astronomer were exaggerated, I'm not stupid, but it was obvious that they were above me," he admitted pessimistically.

“CRACK”

The kirin's attention on her task was forced to shift drastically when a hoof smashed into the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

“Who dares to forbid my night's study?! I will personally take you to the deepest chambers of Tartarus!" Almost using the real voice of Canterlot he proclaimed in anger

"What are you talking about?! Nobody forbade me anything!” The alicorn now was confused this time

"But you said..."

“I said it was complicated, the things they teach are too complicated for me”

"Like what?" Now it was Spirit's turn to look at her in confusion, she did not expect such a question from someone who claims to be the incarnation of night itself

“Something like… stellar astrophysics, quantum mechanics, astrostatistics… there were more, but I forgot them”

"I... I had never heard any of those terms" her partner was perplexed, Equestria she was so far behind mathematically? She had seen a lot of mathematics in the books she had read—books on… magic, oh

She read a considerable amount of magical books in the short time she was in this place, all of them had mathematical formulas, either for calculating magical expenditure, area of effect, duration time, among others.

She realized that the ponies were tragically focused on the study of magic, which is why they ended up ignoring important information.

"But what idiots" I don't hesitate to affirm despite having one of the most important members of their society right in front of them "So what are the requirements to be astronomers here?"

"Astronomy was not a widely practiced art in my time, and much less so now, I'm afraid." That was weird, not what she said, but how she said it.

"You almost make it sound like nothing more than a hobby"

The alicorn tried to find the right words, but she couldn't, Spirit was the first pony in a long time that she seemed to truly appreciate her night.

"Wait, are you serious? Is that what astronomy means to you?" She couldn't believe it, this was like a mockery of one of the things she wanted the most.

"I'm glad my night is more appreciated where you come from, but I'm afraid it's not like that here... not anymore" In the princess's voice, despite not changing her tone much, she easily expressed her pain.

"But you're not going to tell me that they treat it as a minor matter, are you?"

"No, not always. Once upon a time, ponies adored my sister and me equally, those were the good times... they didn't last" she fell silent, lost in thought

Spirit gave her a few minutes to think until she felt it was enough.

“It's still not an excuse, everyone should look at the stars and think about the possibilities, not just say 'wow that's cute'” she said with obvious mockery.

"Sounds like something wonderful" Luna sounded genuinely enthusiastic about the idea "But there's no use trying to convince them otherwise, it... won't end well, it's better to just accept things as they are" Her resigned tone only annoyed the mare more at her side

"Enough of this stupidity!" She liked Luna, a lot, but she had a terrible habit of putting herself down saying bad things about herself from time to time, she just couldn't understand how such a stubborn and proud person could think so low of herself "Why do you care?" so what do you think?

Although she was surprised by the brusque tone of her question, she just let it slide.

“Is it wrong to want to be appreciated? That your work be recognized?

"No, but..." He didn't know what to say, they were both right. On the one hand, he shouldn't care about the thoughts of others, but on the other, he had every right to want it "Oh to hell, follow me and see if that's how it turns out." it takes away the idiot!”

Luna really wasn't used to being addressed in such a way, of course, it was refreshing to speak with complete freedom, but she was still a princess, and she had to remind her or that had been her intention when she saw the big building.

For a second she mistook it for a fortress, but it wasn't hard, it wasn't as tall, and it lacked the natural intimidation that constructions of that type issued, but still the structure was easily discernible.

It was not a design she was familiar with, so she immediately realized that it must be from her companion's homeland.

It was T-shaped and had a dome at each end, the farthest being the largest.

"Are you going to stay there? Hurry up!" In the distance, right at the entrance of that building, she could see Spirit for a second before going into the depths of it, she decided to follow her, not that she had many options, Spirit had proven to be a layered apprentice in what As far as the world of dreams is concerned, and although he couldn't do anything to her directly, taking her from one place to another was child's play, letting him follow her was nothing more than mere courtesy.

With each step he took, the images became clearer, and the corridors were exquisitely decorated with a pleasant design

There were many corridors, enough to lose track of her guide, so possessed by curiosity, she decided to peek through one of the many doors.

Then I notice, not just the purpose of the room, but the whole building.

It was destined for the sky, more specifically the night sky, it was full of images of stars, planets she didn't recognize, nebulae and things she didn't even have a name for.

As fast as she could, possessed by curiosity, she rushed to the showcases and models hoping to see and learn everything.

Too bad it couldn't be that easy

Each sign or mark was in another language that she had never seen, not even seemed

This was as disappointing as it was strange, from what I had seen so far Spirit was one of those that unconsciously changed certain characteristics of the dream for its convenience and among these was the written language

But not here, was it involuntary? A coincidence? Or was there something he didn't want her to see? And if so, then why?

"I'm falling asleep... and that's weird if you think I already am!" The princess decided to cast off those thoughts to concentrate on her current task.

For now

"What is this place?" The room she entered was dark, devoid of any source of light.

Of course, as a princess of the night this was not a problem... normally, but again, this was a dream.

"What do you want to show me?"

As if she was expecting that, a loud sound invaded the room, it was not enough to worry her, but it was enough to make her alert.

Then she revealed herself, the roof opened and the starry night shone brightly on the figure of Spirit mounted on a cylindrical object... telescope, it was a telescope, the biggest she had ever seen

I had seen works similar in size in the past, but these were merely for show, well positioned crystals, a few spells to aid the eye, and they would all show the same, they were nothing more than simple attempts by the nobles to take their grace and that they just did the opposite

But this one, this one was different, without a striking shape, without pompous colors, it was a telescope purely made to fulfill her task without further ado.

But for her, that was exactly what gave her the most value, it was a real and dedicated effort to get as close as possible to her stars.

“Welcome to the Griffith Observatory, one of the best known observatories where I come from”

Many, MANY questions came to the mind of the alicorn in that instant, but one was first.

"One of them?" Her partner agreed.

"Yes, one of many, there are dozens of buildings similar to this one, fully equipped and dedicated solely to the investigation of the night sky"

She didn't know what to say, what was she supposed to say? Not even in her best moment did her subjects show such a degree of devotion or admiration for her night

"Because?" She finally said after a full minute

"Because we like it!" I affirm without hesitation

"That?"

“The ponies may be happy with how they live now, but we are not, where I come from, we like to know the reason why things happen, we like to solve those mysteries, we consider it a duty and, what is more mysterious than your night princess?

"But such a thing..." she had no words

"What happened? Don't you want admiration? Here you have it "If she took a moment to enjoy the sight of the princess's gawking face, she seemed amused" Now stop being so bitter, okay? Perhaps the ponies did not give you the devotion or respect you deserved, but don't worry because I assure you that there are countless beings, entire species, obsessed with this masterpiece that is your night, so please stop suffering without reason"

For a few moments the princess said nothing, she couldn't, she couldn't remember the last time someone other than her sister comforted her, but she did know something.

She was no longer sad, the knot she felt constantly pressing on her chest, ruining her happy moments and reminding her through her pain and bitterness of all her sorrows and mistakes.

She was gone

She knew that he would return sooner or later, the pains of the soul do not heal so easily, but at least for now, for this short moment, she no longer cared about her, and she would do what she could to enjoy it.

“Spirit”

"Yeah?" I ask, curious to know what his next question would be

"Will you be my friend?" Spirit's face changed showing some bewilderment... the pain returned, she regretted it, she should have been more subtle, she shouldn't have done it, she shouldn't have allowed herself to feel so much happine-

"Weren't we already?"

As her breathing returned to normal she looked back at her partner-no, her friend, she was her friend now, her first friend in a long time.

As the memory faded and the princess snapped back to reality, she became aware of Cadance touch on her shoulder.

"Auntie, is everything alright?"

"Yes, it's nothing, I just got lost in my thoughts for a second" she was ready to continue her conversation, but they were interrupted

"Girls! Are they around here?!” she was her friend

"Just here!" Cadance replied

A second later, Spirit appeared from the bushes.

"Oh, here, Luna, I just had an idea," she said with a sinister smile that gave Cadance the chills.

"And what could it be?" asked the older alicorn already knowing that expression quite well

"Why don't we invite them for a walk in my dreamscape and I give them the same welcome as you?"

A smile terribly similar to that of her friend's appeared on her face. "That time there was only one, there are two of them, let's increase the difficulty a bit to make sure they don't get bored, okay?"

"Hahaha, because of her position, only the best for the princess of love"

Both seemed to match perfectly worrying Cadance, but she was already resigning herself to her future, she decided to look at her cellmate and was surprised by what she saw.

Waning was the same pony as before, the same gait, the same neutral expression that every guard should have, but his eyes were empty and dull, as if she had surrendered to an inevitable sentence.

But what happened to her? She couldn't help but ask herself that question, but she didn't dare ask it out loud, she just resigned herself to whatever she had planned for them.

"Ok let's go!"

The four ponies set off except for one.

"Was that always there?" Luna wondered as she looked back out into the garden at the same statue that welcomed them when they arrived.

This one stood out quite a lot, not only because of its design, but also because of its material, it was obviously made of stone, while all the others were made of pure white marble, but none of that caught his attention, but the growing crack that ran along the torso of the statue

…

"Well, I'll report this to the gardening staff." Obviously, not for a second did she think that the one in front of her was the true lord of chaos. "However, what would my sister have done with the original?"

After all, no one in Equus would be foolish enough to leave the most powerful being ever seen simply lying around in the courtyard as a mere ornament, his sister obviously taking it away long ago and kept it in an area specially designated for it. Contain it and would also be off the hooves of anyone with nefarious intentions

"Luna, we are waiting for you!"

"I'm coming!" Well, later she would talk about it with her sister, after all Celestia was not stupid.

…

True?

15- Siege in chaos

I was in my lair, if there was someone else, for sure they would look at me weird for staying so long doing nothing but looking at the rock wall, especially the way I was looking at it, but I couldn't help it, especially now

Some time ago, I realized that I had basically found a replacement for every electronic device I used at home, the video game consoles with Luna, the cell phone with my timberwolves both in communication and in search of information

The only thing that I have not found a replacement for has been television, so I decided to use what I had left, namely, my drones, although they were more like security cameras than true entertainment.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, at first, I expected to see things more... Ugly? Did I phrase it right? I don't know, but if these ponies taught me anything, it's that they're boring

There is no action!

I know I shouldn't expect anything like a cop show, but I'm watching three cities at once, and nothing is happening!

Or so I thought ten minutes ago when I saw a pony coming out of what I think was a school, it started to sing and dance. Normally something like that wouldn't get my attention, if it weren't for the fact that those around it started doing the same with a perfect synchronicity and as I went down the street more and more ponies were added, it didn't matter who they were or what they were doing absolutely EVERYONE joined the song in the purest style of 'High school musical'

When it was over, they all dispersed as if nothing had happened... as if pirouetting and singing in such perfect sync, as only a veteran band with dozens of rehearsals could hope to match, were an everyday thing.

…

"I've seen weird things since I got here, but this... what am I supposed to say?" I stopped when I realized I started talking to myself... again "Okay, I'll go bang my head against the wall for the next half hour" This has been one of my favorite activities for a while now

I'm close to turning it into a sport

“btt”

But as always, this world had to find a way to fuck me

I mentally evaluated if it was worth establishing the connection. My creations know not to call me unless it is something that captures my interest, and seeing that even after what I just saw, they called me, they left me with two potions

Either it was something extremely valuable, or it was even more crazy than what he had just seen

With some fear and a slight hint of hope, I let myself be carried away by the signal, noticing immediately that it originated from Canterlot and as soon as it showed me what I was seeing

"I SHIT IN!" Of course, my hopes were cruelly crushed as soon as the image appeared.

Is it so hard not to destroy my mind every ten minutes?! The world seemed particularly crazy today.

“btt”

More ads started ringing in my head, showing me that what I was seeing was spreading rapidly.

Too fast

The clouds—yes, cotton candy clouds that drop chocolate milk... someone shoot me

Seeing that nobody had ended my suffering, I decided to keep looking

It was chaos, the animals became mutants, completely immune to the laws of physics, the ponies went crazy or mutated in the same way, the buildings turned sweet or floated away, all that and more that I won't mention for the sake of good my sanity

I decided to close the connection and go to sleep. Whatever is happening is not my problem, let the ponies solve it, it is their problem, their city, there...Canterlot…

Library! My eyes widened as I realized what this could entail.

"No, no, no, no!" Without thinking much about the risks, I sent a drone to the vicinity of the castle and tried to get it to enter through one of the windows, but they were closed, and no matter how much I crashed against them, I couldn't break them.

I had to look for a drone near an open door in one of the many towers to get in, and it was just what I feared, no interference.

I didn't need to be present to know that it shouldn't be like this, I analyzed those defenses hundreds of times during my visits, and I know well that even if it doesn't interfere with my connection with my creations, it certainly tries, and it can be felt, similar to the static in the radio signals, but I feel nothing now

defenses had fallen

Whatever is causing this seems to have paid special attention to the castle, maybe that's where it started

It doesn't matter! I have to make a decision, but now

Some would believe that this situation was good, if they took into account that my objective was to infiltrate, the loss of their barriers and their guards could only be seen as a good thing.

Poor gullible

He had a plan, he had the palace plans drawn by hand, hoof... Never mind! She had the route of the guards after countless hours of observation, and the spells she needed were barely a day or two away from completion. I only needed a date when Celestia would leave the castle, and I would have everything ready.

But she wasn't going to be able to anymore, why did it have to happen right now?

"Come here already!" I gathered my timberwolves. I was about to do something crazy, and I knew it, but I had no choice. When whatever is happening is resolved and the ponies repair the magic defenses, the configuration of the matrices will have completely changed, and I will have to do everything again

And that was in the best of cases, which obviously would not happen. Without a doubt, they would learn from their mistakes and add new matrices, spells, and endless other things

After all, what idiot would leave everything the same after being invaded? They will learn, change their defenses, and become much more powerful.

I couldn't do anything, it's now or never

While my wolves lined up, I went to one of the rooms and took out a pair of scissors, the kind used in the medieval era.

I was supposed to have another camouflage spell ready in case anyone saw me, just a common unicorn.

It was no longer an option

I would wear anything to not be associated with Spirit Flame, even if I didn't like it, so with some disgust, I started cutting

On one of the many terraces of Canterlot Castle, one of which was being invaded by an army of carnivorous fruits trying to catch up with the running ponies desperate to find a way out of the castle

It wasn't until they ran out of nowhere to run that they were visited by a bird made of twigs and leaves that perched on the head of a seven-foot pear with seed fangs.

Such a thing shouldn't draw much attention, after all, compared to the creature he was riding, what was an ugly hat in comparison? Or so it should have been if it weren't for the fact that it decided to spontaneously combust, taking the aberration with it.

The same green flames that consumed it soon devoured the ferocious fruit and any remaining traces of the garden, but it didn't end there, the most interesting thing was about to happen.

Before the incredulous looks of the ponies, who were struggling to understand what was happening, they saw how a pony came out of the flames. It was not an ordinary pony, the mere sight of this being gave them chills, and its look made their instincts scream to flee

But they had nowhere left to run, they could only observe how more and more beings came out of the flames. Each time one came out, it seemed that they were consumed, and by the time number 31 came out, they were finally extinguished

They looked like beasts, but it was obvious that they were not alive, they were created beings. Even they, who were just mere servants or visitors, could tell what the purpose of these things was.

War

"Shit! They should have been more than double, damn time!”

As soon as the sight of the first creature, which seemed to be the leader, turned away from them in frustration as it caught on fire, seeing that they were not of interest to them, they did not hesitate to seize the opportunity and immediately fled.

Only the slowest and most attentive among them could notice how the flames generated by his body began to circulate around him with his horns shining brightly, only for him to start running in the direction of one of the castle walls.

"Well, that's all, although I must admit that I liked spending time with you, just like old times!" The draconequus with a face full of glee, looked at her and her sister through the bars of his golden cage "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must pay your student a visit" That almost made her explode, but she managed to control herself, she didn't want to give him that pleasure

“CLAP”

In a snap, she disappeared

“CLAP”

And with another, she came back a second later “Oh! But how clumsy of me, I almost forgot"

“CLAP”

He snapped a third time and not only disappeared, but his surroundings changed once more.

Now under his cage were pieces of newspaper recounting how Discord conquered Equestria with pictures of him being crowned, a bowl of water the size of a small pool to match the size of the cage, and his sister sitting on a bird swing that appeared. Out of nowhere, like everything else

Well… I can't say that this result was a surprise, but I still didn't expect it to be that bad, it only lasted two minutes! And I suspected that it was just for his amusement.

He knew better than anyone how powerful Discord was. In his time, he could carry out all imaginable and unimaginable follies, his domain encompassed the entire world, and with just a click, he changed it at will

But that was no longer the case, and it was noticeable

Her chaos spread slowly from Canterlot to the nearest towns and still didn't reach any big city in Equestria as far as she knew.

This was no doubt because of how harmonious the ponies were compared to ancient times. As one of the most magical races in their being and one of the largest populations in the world, they had an immense influence on Discord and his magic in comparison. With the other species

It was because of this that the main 'Arcade' of hers was Equestria.

When her sister finally managed to organize the royal guard troops to only help civilians and not try to fight, he joined her after she gave her mission to Twilight and her friends.

After a slight discussion about garden statues, oversights, and incompetent guards, they finally agreed to try to slow Discord as much as possible to give the element wielders as much time as possible.

They thought they had a chance... they didn't

“Your guard, come NOW! -POF ” Luna jumped from the swing, or rather tried to, since it broke and let her fall face down on the floor, but she quickly recovered

The guard, on the other hand, was still hiding behind the throne, too scared to get out, and of course, the shouting wasn't helping.

"Moon enough, I doubt he can help us if you scare him like that"

"Frighten?" Luna looked at her indignantly "They're our guards, they shouldn't be afraid!"

"And you think they'll just be able to defeat the lord of chaos, when even we couldn't?" I recriminate against him severely

"You know not, but at least they should be able to answer our call. Come here!"

Celestia could only sigh, her sister still hadn't gotten used to the new era. Thanks to her care, her ponies rarely had to face danger, even among her guards, there were few who had any experience outside. From simple patrolling

Normally, this would be considered a matter of pride, but now... her sister was right, they couldn't waste time when her student was risking her life out there.

"My little pony, I know you are afraid, but I need you to be strong. I assure you that if we all work together, we can overcome this. Please all who hear me come" Her voice was soft and melodious, full of kindness, love, and how the whisper of an angel

impossible to resist

The guards slowly gained confidence and came out of hiding, gathering around his cage.

"What do you need, princess?" There were four of them, two unicorns and two earth ponies.

"Unicorns gather, we are going to gather all the magic we can to destroy these bars" Celestia proclaimed.

"At the command of her majesty!" they said in unison

The annoyance on her sister's face was still evident, but she didn't hesitate to join her horn with hers to aim it at a specific point, along with the guards from the outside.

Time was of the essence, she trusted her student with her life, but she knew Twilight would be tested to the limit, and if there was a way she could help her complete this task, she would make sure. Find her

She would break free, and then-

"BOOOM"

The wall exploded, the same one that until recently was so overloaded by different sets of defensive spells that it could contain an explosion up to three times this, but not anymore.

His and her sister's concentration slipped, and the guards jumped in her place, but they managed not to flinch, ready to deal with whatever madness Discord had summoned.

But this was not her doing, both she and her sister realized this with a single glance.

From the wreckage loomed a pony unlike any other subspecies they had ever seen, slightly larger than average, with fur in various shades of red that almost made her look made up, a white mane, and shaved sloppily on one side. However, all this was lost mainly due to three factors, lack of a cutie mark, a pair of horns, and the green eyes that almost seemed to glow

From afar, you could notice their kind nature as a kind of relaxing aura, this one did not have it, or rather, this aura was not relaxing in the least, this one exuded savagery, fury, and... dark magic

A sight is not so common for her sister, but not rare either, however, for he, it was something inconceivable, everyone had left, but dead then banished, she had seen to that.

“S-stop on behalf of the princesses!” Said one of the unicorn guards

She would have to congratulate that pony later for managing to speak almost without fail, but that thought was immediately dashed the moment it spoke.

"Attack." A simple word that frozen her in place, but not her sister.

"Prepare for battle, she is not alone!" Just at that moment, she saw how four figures ran after the dark magician, straight to her guards.

They, summoning as much courage as they could, did the same in order not to fail her princess in her moment of need.

The ponies ran in a straight line against each shadow to face them one on one.

Too bad the things they were fighting didn't think so, they ran back and forth on their way to the guards, going so far as to jump on top of each other, often changing the pony they were going to face.

This confused the guards to the point where two of them tried to attack the same target by mistake, allowing the single one to attack them from the side, managing to take them both down in a single lunge.

A ground pony managed to intercept his opponent with his front hooves when he tried to attack him with a jumping attack. He immediately tried to reduce it, however, using his claws and tail, he managed to hold the pony guard's hooves and regain his balance, resulting in some kind of battle of strength

The situation so close allowed him to see the creature better, only to realize that he knew it. "Timberwolf?" The guard was shocked. The same creature that he had defeated in both strength and skill in his recruit days, the same one that he and his companions continually used as a joke comparing him to other creatures that they considered monsters, was he now making them? Forehead?

The guard never stopped applying force to bring the wolf down, but he was stunned by the discovery, his confusion blinding him for a moment.

A fatal mistake

The timberwolf stretched as far forward as possible and, using its longest snout, bit him. The guard screamed, or at least tried to, when he felt how the sharp rocks that made up the wolf's fangs pierced his nose and mouth. He desperately tried. Get away from the wolf, which only further aggravates his injuries

The wolf that noticed how the pony was losing strength did not hesitate to knock it down and start hitting it

The remaining unicorn was smarter and decided to stay where he was and use ranged attacks. The wolf dodged as best he could, but when he got close enough, it was impossible for him to dodge the attacks

“CRACK”

The attack went straight to his face, but he was able to intercept it with his front leg, which was destroyed instantly. His heavy body fell like a stone, and the unicorn hoped that he would end up writhing on the ground in pain or that at least the fall would disorient him like any living creature would

Instead, the creature used the remaining momentum of its fall to leap in the direction of the guard. It was a painful attempt, with only three limbs and its weight, it was destined to end badly, and that was exactly what happened because it ended up falling on its side and looking in the opposite direction to which the unicorn was

It was pure luck that he now had an extra limb and such a reach

The unicorn could do little when the wolf's tail, made almost entirely of rock, added to the force of his spin and caused his brain to bounce off the walls of his skull when it hit him on the side of the head. His helmet did a good job, as without him, I probably would have ended up with a fracture or worse

The princesses were absolutely shocked by what they had just seen, even now as they looked at how these beasts—

No, that guard made it clear what these things were, but he still found it hard to believe.

They could watch in horror as the Timberwolves beat their soldiers unconscious or broke a leg to make sure they weren't a threat

Then they saw their commander, the pony, who dared to challenge their rule for the first time in millennia, only to be met with a reflection of their expressions.

It was obvious that no one expected that result in this fight.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that this didn't turn out the way I expected.

When I broke through the wall with a combination of my flames, raw magic release, and a few basic wind spells that helped me propel myself and focus the surrounding flames, I never expected that the first thing I would see would be the princesses.

A panic worthy of a heart attack invaded me for a second, only to vanish when I noticed that they were imprisoned in some kind of… Birdcage?

What the hell is going on today?

I didn't have time to think about it when my panic returned, although to a lesser extent when I realized that they weren't alone.

The royal guard

The alicorn princesses were beings incomparable in magical abilities, immortal physical incarnations of day and night, and these guard ponies were to serve as their protectors and be a living extension of their will in the face of whatever adversity came their way.

…

What a fucking joke!

At first, I wanted to do an experiment with them, that's why I only sent four. I know it was not the ideal time, but I had to know what I was dealing with

The ideal result was for my wolves to win, of course with difficulty, perhaps to the point where I had to send a fifth. If that happened, we would continue as before

If he ended up in a stalemate, he would send the rest of the timberwoves to finish them off and get to the library on his own, then detonate one to get there using the same spell he used to get here.

'Flame gate' very obvious, I know, but not like that matters, plus it is incomplete and spends more than it should for what it does

If the worst happened, and it resulted in total defeat, I would retreat immediately. I wanted those spells, but I wasn't dumb or suicidal.

But it never, EVER occurred to me that these guys wouldn't last a damn minute. Well, one of them is still conscious and putting up some stamina, but my modified timverwolf already has him on the ground and breaking his second leg

As for the princesses, their gazes brought me back to reality, and I ordered the advance of my troops.

They seemed impressed that I had more, but I didn't stop to watch their expressions. Although I made sure to keep my eye on them, I knew the cage they were in was not normal, but you couldn't be too careful when it came to alicorns

"Who and what are you?"

I was passing to the side of the cage when Celestia asked me with an authoritative tone, as if she owed her an answer. I immediately felt the flames surround my figure, and then I saw Luna stand between us protectively.

I don't feel well

She is my friend, and not for a second did I think of her until I found her here. I forced myself to calm down

"Calm down, princesses, I don't want to hurt you" I said with the most monotonous tone I could use at the moment. I hoped it would be at least a little reassuring.

"Your actions and your words contradict your beast" Luna did not make it easier

"I only came for a loan, I'll leave as soon as I'm done" I started to leave, it seemed like she wanted to tell me something else, but Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head.

Maybe a presentation wouldn't hurt, I don't want it to end like the deer that, for some reason, called me the great mother or the great cuckold

That last one was not funny to me (Cuckold: Expression used in people whose partner is unfaithful to them)

"You can call me Forest Heart, the first bicorn" Luna's expression didn't change in the slightest, being the perfect example of herself. If looks could kill, she certainly would, but Celestia... for the first time since I met her, her perfect face of absolute calm and serenity, he abandoned her, he seemed in a trance, his eyes turned into small dots, and ears attached to his neck.

She knew something, and she would find out that she is

... But not right now, now she had things to do, so my wolves and I moved at a fast pace, we had to make up for lost time

“btt”

"GRRR!" I couldn't help but grunt, one of my drones from the window could see a considerable number of royal guards coming my way.

They probably didn't even know I was here, they're just looking for their princesses. The problem is that they block the fastest way to the library. Of course, I know other routes

The problem is that it seems that the idiot who designed this place wanted to compete with a maze, the other routes are very long, he would even have to go back to the throne room, take another corridor, and then go up some stairs to go back down later

Too much time

I'd have to fight my way through, ideally with an ambush, but the hallway is very narrow, the only room is a broom closet, and we're less than a minute away from meeting.

No way, let's see if those guards from before were recruits or the standard

I stayed behind while the timverwolves went as fast as they could

It didn't take long for the guards to show up, their confusion was obvious, but it didn't take long for them to connect it to just another of the crazy things that happened today, and they ran into them… with no training.

With a demon! It's not difficult, unicorns in the back, earth ponies in front, not all at once! They at least thought of aiming their spears and swords straight ahead, although their speed was reduced a bit.

Both sides ran against each other, but when they were only a few meters away, my wolves stopped and sat down. It took me a second to understand what was happening, the ponies didn't.

The wolves behind them used them as a ramp and attacked the ponies from above, dodging the spears and taking the ponies by surprise, allowing them to take down those in the front lines easily.

Demons!

This is the second time they have done something like this. I knew they had access to my knowledge, but apparently also to my ingenuity

What followed was what I had expected, it seemed unfair. My wolves were not only good, they were perfect, their timing was impeccable, covering the blows that the others couldn't, looking for openings to do maximum damage, and alerting themselves when one of the unicorns started to use his magic

Even those who were far behind and had not yet joined the fight were helping because they had a shared vision, so they had a better perspective of where help was needed.

The pegasi were the only ones smart enough to use their race's abilities from the start and attack from the air.

I guess it's my turn

It was noticeable that all of them lacked experience, if they had, they would know how important it is to be aware of the environment, and they would have seen me

But they didn't, and I would take advantage of it. I took a deep breath and charged up a simple wind spell. I released both at once, and my flames were spread over a much larger area, their intensity was less, but their area of effect was multiplied by several times.

I caught two pegasi, both suffered terrible burns, but I don't know if what brought them down was burning enough feathers or the terrible pain reflected in their screams

"What's that!?"

Finally, one of the guards noticed me and immediately plummeted towards me… That's right, no support, just him against what he saw as practically a living flamethrower.

He had rehearsed this, I never put it to the test, but I knew that I would have to face aerial enemies, so I prepared something for the occasion.

"FLASH"

A simple spell that creates a brief but powerful flash of light—just that—you'd be surprised how much can be done with something so simple. If you don't believe me, ask for flash bangs

He had waited for the moment when the guard was closest to blinding him, and luckily it worked, or else it wouldn't have been so easy to dodge.

Amazingly, I managed to regain control before crashing, but I didn't let him go any further when I used my telekinesis to break a nearby window and hurl the glass shards at him.

Although the armor was mostly useless, it protected his barrel well, so I hardly had to worry about hitting any vital areas as long as he aimed well. Still, it looked painful, and his screams only confirmed it.

"AHHH, BY CELESTIA, HELP!" Something I didn't think about was when he hit the ground, as the fragments embedded themselves further, causing even greater injuries.

"RUN" My attention was drawn back to the group of guards we had faced.

I lost two timberwolves, but instead most of the guards were on the ground or being subdued by my wolves. Obviously, they weren't the only damage they took, metal weapons and magic could pierce through their rock armor, but they didn't feel pain, so they could keep fighting. As long as there was enough of their torso left, they wouldn't die

Not to mention that they were already repairing themselves.

I saw about six guards running in the distance and... I felt weird, my heart was pounding hard enough to hear it in my ears, and my stomach twisted, making me salivate to the point of staining the ground.

Wanna? The time I ate meat from this world for the first time suddenly came to mind.

It was deer meat

When I did, it was because I had no idea they were smart. Since then, I haven't eaten it again, although I admit I miss that unique flavor they had

And if I go? And… no, NO "NO, FOCUS DAMN"

"PUNCH!" I ordered one of my wolves to hit me, it was hard, VERY hard. No wonder the guards fell so fast, the blow stunned me for a few seconds

I guess that's what I get for giving them stone knuckles

Even so, it fulfilled its objective and brought me back to reality

"To the library, quick!" Enough delays, gotta get there now

And to my surprise, it was like that, the biggest obstacle we faced was the frozen stairs, which were no problem thanks to the claws of my wolves, we just climbed them

As soon as we entered, I ordered to make a pile with the tables and chairs to light them with my flames at the same time that I detonated some timberwolves in my cave. As soon as it was ready, I activated the spell, and I immediately felt how my horns no longer stung but rather burned strongly

That spell generates a lot of waste, it's not ready!

My wolves were quick to drop entire bookshelves on him, even if I had read them, some of them still had a lot to learn, and I wasn't about to depend on Celestia's kindness to get me in here.

Once that task was assigned to my wolves, I decided to go for the biggest prize.

The forbidden zone, I looked at this fence so many times, thinking of endless ways to cross it, and finally this "CLAC" is stuck!

How is it possible that the only door in this castle that interests me is the only one that keeps its enchantments?! Seriously, why?

"Oh the hell with that" I didn't care about the alarms or whatever triggered this, without the princesses, these guys are useless

Plus, there's probably no one left monitoring this thing.

I rested my front paws on the grate as I inhaled deeply, and when I couldn't gather anymore I breathed out my flames while igniting my hooves at full power.

It was exhausting, she wouldn't have a problem if she had little breaks, but if she did, she was sure the enchantments on the cage would cool her down, and she would have to start all over again.

It was so frustrating, they were right there! I need them!

I was running out of breath when suddenly my flames intensified as if I had poured gasoline on them, to the point where almost my entire body was on fire.

Blessed is the magic that feeds on my rage!

Curious that after that thought they began to decrease again, but it didn't matter, the lock had already passed, it was liquid, and what was left of the grate looked like plasticine. Although I felt a little fatigued, it didn't compare to the euphoria I was feeling.

“SHING”

Only to suddenly be sliced by a golden bolt… Oh, dammit!

Everything was spinning, it must have been a numbing spell. I had to get up

How did she get here so fast?

It doesn't matter, or so he wanted to think, but the truth was that he was panicking.

Especially when I called my wolves for backup only to have her path blocked by a wall of light.

I saw her, it was still a blur, but I easily made out the whitest and purest fur of her, accompanied by her almost reaper-like golden magic.

Celestia was here!

I'm scared, I admit it, I can barely stand up shakily, and she can't stop looking at me with the same expression of... scared?

“V-Very well, so you were able to withstand the touch of my magic? Impressive, I confess, but that's as far as you'll go here, I order you to surrender now... beast" There was a problem, and it wasn't just that the voice started being timid, it seemed that little by little it was taking courage

It was something else… The voice was thicker than he remembered and more... pompous?

Oh, hell no

"Blueblood?" Finally, my vision normalized, and I was able to see perfectly the big idiot who always bugs me every time I come to this bloody castle.

“So you know my beast name, Good! Now that you know who you're up against, you should know that your defeat is assured. Surrender!” Then he did what I can only assume is a superhero pose or something, the same as if you were posing for a painting.

This guy, this idiot who only knows how to walk around the place, is annoying, believing himself to be the center of the universe... I humble myself.

For three seconds, I only saw red, or well, green, in my case. The next thing I know is that I'm ramming a golden force field with my head over and over again until, perhaps because of the blows, I was able to react

Unfortunately, this gave Blueblood a few seconds to counterattack, and he took advantage of them.

The force field suddenly expanded, throwing me back several meters from where I could see how the shield had been altered again.

This time he shrank, and I didn't understand what he wanted to do until he took a familiar shape that immediately made me tense up.

A sword made of light that immediately tried to impale me, but I was able to deflect it by reinforcing my horns. The training I received from Hawthorn was not much, but enough to learn the basics.

As I dodged and blocked, receiving the occasional cut due to my inexperience, which forced me to back off, I couldn't help but get more frustrated with each passing second.

I knew the spell because I had it, learning defensive spells isn't that strict, and this sword, if it could be called that, was a simple-warped shield with sharp edges

Simple, but effective, and obviously out of my league

But that was not what bothered me, but the detail of the weapon, if the weapon were not a magical construction, it would undoubtedly have been considered a work of art, and that was what irritated me

If I had kept it simple, if I had forgotten the padding and just concentrated on the sharp edges, I could easily have made two or even three of these swords, and there was nothing I could do, I would just fall down in a matter of seconds.

But he did not, and I would take advantage of the impulse, of the frustration that his foolishness caused me, that his pride be his ruin

I rolled backwards with a jump like Hawtorn forced himself to do so many times to get some distance and breathed out as much of my flames as I could once more using a spell that caused a slight breeze, only this time focusing on a specific area.

"A move as desperate as it is useless" A golden lightning went through my flames as if nothing, I tried to block it with my horns, but it didn't help since, unlike my flames, the power of the lightning was too concentrated.

I was sent flying against the wall

It was already the second one I received, and even if it was not lethal, it was really hurting me. I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, and the sounds, although understandable, felt far away.

I could feel how even my anger began to wane

"Your resistance is useless." He was only a few meters from me, still on the ground and with what could almost be considered a concussion, and yet you could see the ridiculous amount of pride in every word and every action he toward

If I had known that, it was probably the simple hatred that seeing that way of acting caused me that kept me in the fight

It didn't matter, my plan had worked, and I couldn't hide my smile anymore, which seemed to confuse him because he stopped for a second, but it was too late.

The timberwolf, created from a few bookcases and a few tables, charged with all the force he could muster in the short run.

I thought it would be more difficult to distract this fool from what my llamas were doing just a few meters from him, but hey, as the saying goes, 'on a gift horse...'

"HAHAHAHA" I couldn't help but laugh as I realized that the meaning of that phrase would undoubtedly be something rather shady if it were used in this place.

"Don't think it's over!"

"BOOM"

My curl stopped at the same time that my timberwolf was sent flying in the same way that I had moments before, only this time it was due to a shock wave.

I want… that SPELL!

That one was different, I could feel it, and my smile would appear again "Offensive magic" I said while getting up once more

I was a bit surprised that the idiot knew about that magic, but it didn't matter, it was just a sample, a kind of prequel to what that magic can do, because if this guy can use it like that, I can only imagine the things I'll do when I have it

Despite his arrogance, Blueblood stared in disbelief as the strange timberwolf positioned himself next to me in an attack position, just waiting for my permission.

Which was not long in coming

My timberwolf was faster, so he attacked first, only to be blocked by another lightsaber. I had to step in before his counterattack took my wolf's front leg off, so I immediately levitated one of the many books falling from the shelf that was my timberwolf and I set it on fire to throw it at him as fast as I could in some kind of makeshift fireball

He fulfilled his mission, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I hope it was nothing important, my attention was diverted to the rest of the books and a poster that was surely hanging on the shelf

It was an hourglass… Definitely nothing useful… I hope

“btt”

“SHING”

My wolf's warning saved me, somehow Blueblood managed to throw lightning at me in the middle of their fight while he kept the sword!

Focus, there is no time to waste!

I levitated two more books and burned them while joining the fight.

I threw one of the books at him, which he dodged gracefully to later block my wolf's bite with the sword. I took the opportunity to reinforce my horns to ram him, only for his horn to shine again. I realized what was going to happen, and suddenly, with a quick thought, I tossed the remaining book behind him

"BOOM"

Such a simple yet useful explosion sent us flying again, only this time it was awfully close.

I could feel the spell hit me, similar to a brick wall right in the face

Okay, I'll give it, the guy's good!

He alone can leave everyone in shame, but something strange that I noticed while he was fighting was the way he moved the sword, it almost seemed… human.

I mean, like a human holding it, what's the point of having telekinesis if you're going to use it like it's just a hand?

“COF, CAGK” My thoughts were interrupted when a large amount of liquid blocked the air and almost drowned me

I breathed through my mouth and moved a hoof to my nose. "Crack." I flinched at something that definitely shouldn't have moved, it moved

Shit!

The pain was leaky but intense as more fluid came out of my nose, it broke my nose! I didn't even know it was possible for that to happen now that I have a snout.

I looked at Blueblood again, and I couldn't help but rejoice, even a little. He didn't look so proud anymore, his fur was full of sweat, his breathing was very erratic, and he was rubbing his head with his hoof.

He can't have much more magic left, and unlike me, he can't replenish it as quickly.

As he ordered my wolf to get up one more time, I decided to stay where he was and do the 'it hurts so much' act. Humiliating? Sure, but if he made her careless, it was worth it.

“Now do you see the stupidity in your actions? I will defeat your beast, and all will hear of the glory and power of Blueblood!"

… God, don't you get tired of saying stupid things?

My timberwolf took one of the many pieces of furniture that ended up scattered thanks to our fight and used it as a battering ram, attacking head-on.

“SHING”

Obviously, the lightning did not wait, it immediately crossed the poor desk and hit my wolf, who did not hesitate to put his arm up to cover himself

If it had been a few moments ago, the attack would have severed his arm the moment it made contact, but now, as tired as he was just pushed back as the limb crackled.

Would not last

It would only give me a few moments, so every second counts. I concentrated, and while I spent my magic, I could feel how my horns burned. I spent what was left of my magic, but it worked.

‘Flame gate’

My vision changed, now I was standing on the charred remains of an ancient book with a view of Blueblod's hindquarters.

"BOOM"

Just then, my wolf couldn't take it anymore, his leg had been pierced along with his head and torso, he would no longer exist. I could feel how his connection with me was being cut off, needless to say, I didn't like the feeling, so while Blueblood took the opportunity took a breath and prepare what I can only assume would be another stunning spell for me, taking advantage of his confusion at not finding me, I bit one of his hind legs

God, that felt good!

"AAHHHH" His reaction was instantaneous, and as the light from his horn disappeared due to his loss of concentration, I tasted his blood

Exquisite!

The sensation, the sweetness, the thickness, I loved everything. I felt like I had found an oasis in the desert

PUNCH

But a kick forced me back to reality, a pathetic and desperate attempt that only served to remind me that I had work to do.

I'm going to finish this

Using all the strength this new body had, I pulled, pulled with such force that the guy stopped touching the ground, and his trip didn't stop until he crashed into a nearby pillar.

Pull again "Crack" Something broke, like a twig. My bite was still firm, but Blueblood's leg now looked flaccid, bent at an unnatural angle. I didn't care, I smashed him against the floor

I yanked again, almost ripping off the piece of meat that was in my mouth, achieving a spectacular throw that sent it crashing against some distant shelves.

I stayed there for a few seconds, seeing that he didn't move. I worried for a second until I noticed the movement in his chest. It was slight, but enough for me

I broke down right away. I needed a break

“btt”

Or rather, I wanted a break, obviously, I wouldn't have it

The barrier blocking my timberwolf's path had fallen, I don't know when, probably at the time I bit it, otherwise, they would have joined the fight.

"What are you waiting for? Move!" No other order was needed, they immediately set out to collect the books and throw them into the bonfire that had formed in the middle of the library, which, in my carelessness, now threatened to consume the entire place.

I'll deal with it later. I wanted to enjoy it a little more, after all, this was my first real fight, and I WON

Of course there were the hydra and other lesser predators, but in that one they helped me, and with the others they were creatures with rudimentary intelligence at best.

This was a real battle against someone truly capable of combat, and as much as it bothered me to admit it, the idiot knew what he was doing. First he isolated me from my reinforcements and attacked me by surprise, then he fought me and my wolf at the same time, which required quick thinking and skill

Maybe… just maybe a small part of Blueblood's pride was justified, just a small part!

“btt”

And now that?

I wanted to stay on the ground a little longer, but I noticed that the timberwolf that was calling me was only a few meters away.

Awfully close

I got up on shaky legs to see what he wanted to show me

Blueblood?

Lying right where I left him, only... it wasn't right.

His eyes popping out of his, erratic breathing, and spasms all over his body, something was severely wrong here, I didn't hit him so hard, right?

“Pillow…pillow, I said!” The same one who called me was the one who ripped the soft seat from the remains of one of the shattered chairs scattered throughout the room.

I didn't give him time to get there when I took the piece of chair out of his mouth with my telekinesis, almost knocking him over, and put it under Blueblood's head.

My horns hurt, it didn't matter. I didn't study medicine, but I knew the basics

As I searched for serious wounds to cauterize them and made sure he didn't bite or choke on his tongue, I sent a mental order to bring any books related to healing magic. I could never learn it, I never had patience with him, but I couldn't fail now

Foam was beginning to come out of his mouth as he writhed between squeals and muffled groans.

It hurt, without a doubt

But why?! I already checked it

Yeah, he has a lot of bruises, but none in a major area, neck is clear, he has a broken rib or two, but the area doesn't change color, so there's no internal bleeding, and it's not the lower ribs, so it couldn't have hit his liver or kidneys either.

What the hell is wrong with him?! The truth is that I didn't even know if what he was doing was correct, my knowledge was based on documentaries, videos I watched because he was bored, and a manga about a doctor that ended in the medieval era.

And all of that was for humans!

Then, as if God himself had grown bored with my pathetic act of desperation, the answer was shown to me.

A drop of a black liquid like tar fell from my snout... For an instant I froze looking at it, then I ran my paw over my snout, slowly praying without realizing it while ignoring the pain that such action caused me, but there was no mercy, look at my hoof blackened by my blood

manticore blood

I didn't think about it, I just used my telekinesis, ignoring the heat of everything related to using magic and trying to move him as little as possible. I turned to Blueblood

black veins

Around the wound extending all the way down the leg and all the way down the flank, reaching to his barrel, why didn't I check this wound first? How did I forget what my blood could do? The answer to these questions eluded me, no matter how much I thought about it.

“btt”

brought me back to reality

"Why did you take so long?!" I snatched the book from my wolf's mouth and immediately started flipping through it.

Detox, detox, detox

I replayed it in my mind over and over again as I frantically searched through the book until it appeared. I looked at the order of the runes and the magic circle without blinking at all. I knew it, it wasn't that complex, and I practically memorized it on the spot. The magic teleportation was much more challenging than this

I can do it

“SHACK”

I could not do it

The spell destabilized the moment I applied my magic to it.

Again

“SHACK”

The result was the same, the slight explosion stunned me for a few seconds, but I forced myself to focus again and check the book again.

Healing spell

“SHACK”

stimulating spell

“SHACK”

Anesthetic

“SHACK”

"SHIT!" I threw the book with all my strength and frustration, turning the book into a ball of burning paper.

My head ached to the point where it felt like it was going to split in two, my ears kept ringing, and my eyes were nothing but spots.

It took me a few seconds to shape reality

My timberwolves kept on throwing more and more books into the fire, did they ever stop? Even when I send them to look for the book? Was that why it took so long to bring it to me, despite being in a library mostly filled with books on healing spells?

It didn't matter anymore, even if they had brought it to me before I noticed Blueblood's condition, I still wouldn't have been able to save it.

I didn't even notice when it passed, but it doesn't move anymore

I killed him

It was not my wolves, it was not due to a mistake due to my lack of knowledge. In our fight, I tried to hurt him, and that was just what happened

“btt”

Because? Why does everything have to go so wrong today?!

The princesses had been released

"BOOM"

The whole castle, or dare I suppose the whole of Canterlot trembled the moment the princesses broke their cage

My wolves immediately headed towards the entrance to slow them down as much as possible while they were joined by others who were coming straight out of my cave through the 'Flame gate' which had already consumed most of the library.

I didn't order them, of course, I had thought before about what I should do in case they were released, but I was still surprised by what I did to Blueblood to think well, even so, my priorities were clear

My life and the mission… Was it because of that? Do I unconsciously tell them what is most important and what they have to do? Did I care so little about the fact that I was now a murderer?

“SHING”

From where I was, I could clearly hear how the spells were being released, destroying two or three of my wolves with each shot, they weren't going to hold out.

"I'm sorry" I said softly, like a whisper in his ear, although I knew he wasn't listening anymore, and if he did, he sure wouldn't.

Once again, I charged my spell, this time fueled by a mass of emotions instead of simple anger.

Despair, frustration, helplessness, shame, so immersed as I was in trying to process it all that I didn't even realize when my body began to spew flames, they just spread around me, oblivious to the fact that what was now fueling them was someone who was once a royal

Managing to push that thought away, I took advantage of the flames by activating 'Flame gate'

“FOREST HEART!”

I could hear Celestia and see her with her magical shield held high above her, protecting herself from my flames, while my wolves clawed uselessly trying to get to her.

For an instant, our eyes met, only to disconnect a second later when she saw who was at my feet.

Enjoy that look, one that reflected his astonishment, his pain, and her inability to accept what her eyes showed him despite having it in front of him.

I enjoyed it and I hated myself for it, I couldn't take it anymore, and I went from there along with the books while detonating all the wolves that were there

“POF”

I felt like a sack of potatoes, I was home, safe, and with all the books I wanted from the library

No matter how you look at it, it was a successful mission... despite the inconveniences, despite that I didn't celebrate, I didn't feel like it, and everything hurt

But of course, the world was not going to make it so easy for me

"Okay, okay, but what do we have here?"

A voice with a comic tone was heard from behind me. It shouldn't be possible, the wards I made weren't the latest, but one of a kind due to the nature of my spell and its connection to the pseudo hive mind at the time. That only I had access

I turned to get a better look at it as the hundreds of wolves on guard duty scrambled for space in the narrow cave.

"Very interesting" The... thing looked at me with a magnifying glass, indifferent to the army that surrounded it "You're like me, a great shake of spices put in a single barrel until it almost bursts, but it hardly shows on you, too bad, you lose, many envy this figure, you know?

I looked at him again as he struck a bodybuilder pose, flexing the muscles of his serpentine shape, which were bulging excessively and disproportionately.

… I have weird tastes, I always knew it, and when I got this body, those wardresses only increased, but this... thing is not beautiful at all, I'm sure of that

“I knew something strange was going on in the castle, after all, green flames? How unoriginal, why not make them out of ice? Or better yet, spread hugs to everyone! Can you imagine?!” He said with the euphoria you'd expect from a madman, and if I imagined it, it was twisted even for me "I can see it even now, you and I are going to get along great!" I affirm with a twisted smile so wide that it disfigures his face

I felt a chill from my nose to the tip of my tail

This day… was not going to get better

Author's Note

And with that, we officially seal the deal, Forest Heart is officially an antagonist and personal enemy of Celestia.
What will happen next? Will Celestia take revenge? Will Discord drive us crazy? Will Forest realize his mistakes, or will he continue to inadvertently fall into the corruption of dark magic?

16- A lovely boy

Celestia stood in the midst of the ashes, unconcerned with the remains that clung to her coat, many of her ponies at first having worried on the verge of hysteria when they saw her amidst the wreckage without moving an inch for hours.

It wasn't until she explicitly ordered them to leave her alone, that she finally had her moment of peace, luckily her sister understood her situation and didn't hesitate to take command of her for now.

Anyone seeing her now would assume she was in a catatonic state, without realizing how wrong they were.

The princess went over and over the events of the day in her head, from the news of Discord's release to her arrival in this exact room.

His nephew's body lying on the ground with an expression of suffocation and suffering as he was consumed by the flames, in a moment of carelessness his protective spell destabilized and failed, if it weren't for his sister's timely arrival it would certainly have ended with him. Much more than a few burns

Miró, her library, her precious collection, used as a shrine and monument to magical knowledge and the great minds who practiced this art, ancient knowledge that she had personally made sure to protect.

And now they were all dust or stolen

If it had been a normal fire, it would have been relatively simple to use a spell to return the books to her former condition, but that green fire... imbued with magical power

A cursed power

As it was, she couldn't even recover the remains of her nephew's body, only dust remained.

Tracking the spell's point of displacement was also not possible in some way that even she is unaware of, the ponies that tried it just got seemingly random locations between Canterlot all the way to ponyville, with a few exceptions.

Despite that, it was not what happened to her nephew that puzzled her the most at this moment, although if the loss affected her, she was more surprised by the emotions she was experiencing, feelings she had not felt in generations, emotions she believed. Completely suppressed, they had suddenly returned with tremendous force

Hate, pure hate, accompanied by a thirst for revenge, from the back of his head he could feel the whisper of a malevolent voice with nefarious intentions driven by nothing more than his selfishness and personal desires, but despite that he was too weak to accept it. Understand his message so he could easily ignore it

She wasn't like that, yet justice was a worthy goal

"Guards" she called

"Yes princess" A couple of guards responded in unison.

"Call Captain Shining Armor, we have things to talk about"

"Go ahead!"

Upon receiving my signal, I jumped and managed to intercept the ball just a few centimeters before it hit the ground and send it back over the net to the opposite side.

All in exchange for a dirt bath and a few scratches, some would think I'm exaggerating, but if you're not going to give it your all in the game, why do you play in the first place?

"Here it goes!" Discord with the grace of a ballet dancer, even in the tutu, she jumped over her side of the fence and hit the ball with her racket, returning it to the danger zone

Lucky that this game was a two against two

Hawthorn as competitive as he is usually I don't accept that he seemed like he was trying less than me, so he jumped right in front of the ball as soon as it went over the fence

The result, crooked snout, cut lip, and a fucking headache.

However, his effort was rewarded, Discord was not prepared for such a quick response and such disregard for personal well-being.

"Aspens!" Discord yelled in panic at the statue-like deer, I was about to celebrate our victory when Aspen, still in a state of apparent petrification, was lifted off the ground and used as some kind of ridiculously large and somehow functional racket.

"NOOOO!" I couldn't help but protest as another point was scored against us, my frustration lasting until I saw the ball bounce off the ground and somehow retain its initial momentum, only to slam back into Hawthorn's face. "YEAH!"

We lost, but for some reason it didn't feel so bad.

"Haha, victory for the chaos team" The serpentine beast celebrated and danced dragging poor Aspen despite looking like a puppet whose strings were cut

Hawthorn still did not seem fully recovered, he fell to the sides as he walked and seemed like he was going to fall at any moment "B- best of 5" This was our second game, and he could barely stay on his feet, continuing would be nothing less how suicidal for him

"I agree, let's continue!" I obviously offered my support, after all, that's what friends are for.

Discord looked animated, he was about to drive the last nail in the coffin when…

"Don't even think about it" It had to be, Queen Fyr, Aspen's wife "They said the same thing more than six hours ago, that's enough"

She was talking to all of us, but I could tell how her focus was on me, when looking at her there is nothing that stands out too much, of course she was more beautiful than average, but other than that there is not much that differentiates her from a deer common

But her character, oh my!

Since I set foot... hoof, hell, since I arrived everyone treats me in two ways either with absolute respect or with fear

Hawthorn was the exception, but he was justified, he was an idiot, Fyr, on the other hand, although he seemed to respect me at first sight, I'd bet she badmouths me and curses me when I'm not looking.

"Very good, I understand" My words were followed by boos from Discord, but he still hadn't figured out what happened when Fyr got angry, and he didn't want to do it today "Aspen they came looking for you"

Ignoring Fyr's apparent death glare, we all looked at the deer king who seemed oblivious to his surroundings, Discord teleported in front of him and snapped his fingers a few times.

"Hello, hello, yuju, is anyone home?" He shook his head like a bartender does to mix liquor and released him only to have him collapse again. "I think he broke."

"No, do you think? Why will it be? I said sarcastically

Ever since I brought Discord, the day had been a bit…wacky for the sleepy forest village.

I still remember Aspen's face when he saw that he brought what was the equivalent of an omnipotent god, even in my home world, just to play... yes play

There was some panic, fear and so many other emotions, but it all ended in acceptance, especially when they realized that Discord could send us all to another plane of existence with a simple snap.

"Very well... I think it's my turn" Hawthorn arrived still somewhat unbalanced, since those were not the first blows that knocked him out today, but it didn't take me long to put his brother on his back and take him along with Fyr who kept giving me a death stare

"FIU, that lady is scary" I couldn't help but agree with Discord this time "Do you want me to make her disappear?" I ask in a playful tone.

"No!... Aspen would kill me"

"I can make him forget" I affirm nonchalantly

I was going to deny it again, but I stopped to think "You tempt me, you tempt me, but... no"

"Nah, you're missing it" I noticed that his gaze lost focus and focused on an area behind me, where I also began to hear a series of laughter accompanied by multiple small steps, the demons had arrived "My little agents of the chaos, where had they been?

The children led by Prince Bramble who spoke for all "We were looking for you, we were supposed to be playing hide and seek" All the imps gave him an accusatory look which of course I joined

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm still playing over there, look" I point to one of the trees in the distance, a second later it fell silent revealing that it was a simple piece of painted cardboard and another Discord wrapped in twigs and covered in green paint that reminded me of military camouflage.

"Behind the!" After the war cry, everyone went in pursuit of the fake Discord, or was that the real one and the copy was next to me?

I shook my head, since I met him it took me ten seconds to realize what a bad idea it was to try to understand anything about him, seriously, anything was a mystery that I preferred not to discover for the good of my mental health

"Well, I guess that's all for today" At the confirmation from Discord, I couldn't help but wonder if a whole day had really passed.

I looked up at the sky completely covered in pink clouds, having no idea if it was day or night higher up.

To think that such power would reside in a child

If a child, that was what Discord was or at least what I felt he was, if he really was a chaos demon, I can think of a few things he could be doing right now with those powers of his, but none of them includes chocolate milk

Maybe it's the naïveté and innocence he seemed to have or me just missing my younger brothers to the point where I felt a maternal instinct for a strange creature, whatever it was had worked wonders.

At first, I panicked as anyone would have done when facing a being that bends reality as if it were a game, then I realized her somewhat... extroverted personality and I decided to do the same as with Luna and show her some games

At first, he showed curiosity, not that of a rational person who is presented with something unknown and wants to understand how such a thing is possible, it was the curiosity of a child who was only interested in knowing what things he could do for fun

That only bolstered my theory, he might be a weird beast on the outside, but on the inside he was a child screaming for attention, and attention is just what I gave him.

But to my dismay, it quickly became clear that he wasn't the type of kid who stays behind a screen, but rather the hyperactive type who can set the house on fire if you're not attentive.

So I did the only thing I could think of and brought it to the dear village, hoping it would burn off that extra energy.

And yes it worked, the kids did most of the work asking him to do all kinds of crazy things with his powers, I felt like parents leaving their kids in the sandbox and letting the little devils do whatever they want

"Yuho, is anyone home?" Discord asked while hitting my head as if it were a door of a house and to my surprise it sounded hollow, I even added an echo to it, which stunned me a bit.

"Discord, what did I tell you about using your powers on living things?" I said with a reprimanded tone

"That can be annoying" She said with obvious guilt

"That"

"But you didn't say anything when I turned Hawthorn into a girl."

"Hawthorn is the exception" I affirmed while she caressed her head and her smile returned to her face

Then she pulled away "Well, that was fun, but it's time to go home for a while, at least I'm really out of shape."

I was praying it was just a joke, but pushed aside the growing uncertainty when I noticed Discord was about to snap his fingers again to go off to who knows where.

"Ahem, aren't you forgetting something?" I said while pointing to…anywhere, the houses were floating, the clouds kept creating floods of chocolate milk, the ice rinks were full of skating deer…there was nothing wrong with that last one, but that wasn't the point” Clean up after playing" I reminded him of one of the first rules I taught him so that the world would not collapse.

"Yes, I heard you mom"

Keep calling me that, and maybe it will come true, for obvious reasons I kept that last thought in my mind, as much as I liked children I was not yet ready for so much responsibility, even more so in the case of a being like Discord

He snapped his fingers and everything returned to normal, the houses returned to their original place, the streets were cleaned, and the deer whined like a child whose toys are taken away.

I also noticed that apparently it was already night

I saw Discord again who to my surprise seemed calm, I would say too much, he was just looking at the deer that were leaving with smiles on their faces, some even saying goodbye and thanking him for the crazy, but fun evening

"Is it a tear that I see?"

"That?! Whose? I? Never!" she flatly denied

"You're not very used to group games, am I wrong?"

"... Well, hey, me, who needs them anyway?"

“Feel free to come back whenever you want”

He seemed to think about it for a few seconds, he seemed unsure how to respond and no wonder, I wouldn't be surprised if he told me that it was the first time he was welcomed somewhere.

"Thank you" He said as he took me in his arms, I expected a hug, but it didn't happen, he just looked at me while he held me "Fence I planted a weird tree"

Once again no idea that he was talking, sometimes he did that, he just talked about things that only he could understand

“I have heard that everyone should plant a tree once in their life” It was the first thing that came to my mind.

"Well, I was absolutely right, maybe I'll do it more often, now goodbye"

"poof"

He disappeared, and I fell as expected, I didn't care and proceeded to shake myself like a dog to get rid of the dust, not everyone did it that way, but I thought it was fun to be honest

Now what to do?

To my surprise, I didn't have to think long when a deer came running in my direction. "Great horn!" I scream loud enough for everyone to hear, and I swear I felt the vein beating on my forehead, enhanced by the flames.

"What did I say about calling me that?" I asked, and the poor man leaned over begging for mercy, to which I just snorted "What's wrong?"

"A-a royal guard came a few hours ago" I immediately tensed up and gave him my full attention, it's possible that Discord's chaos may have been a good cover for not being noticed, but since there's even a slight suspicion of my relationship with the deer, I have no doubt that after what I did in Canterlot all hell broke loose "What happened?"

He directed one of his paws into his saddlebag and pulled out a paper envelope with a dark blue wax seal in the shape of a waning moon. "A letter from Canterlot at the request of one of the princesses."

Right, when I told Luna that I was staying with the deer at the Everfree she panicked and offered me a room in the castle, something I obviously declined because of a certain sun princess.

I immediately took the letter and began to open it "Why did it take so long to deliver it to me?"

"The letter was addressed to a Kirin named Spirit Flame" He was right, it wasn't strange that the letter got lost, now that I think about it, how did he know it was me? I looked at the deer again and recognized it as one that I regularly accompany on trips to Canterlot, each one for his own reasons, but that didn't stop me from meeting people along the way.

"Thank you very much" He nodded and left while I devoted my full attention to the letter in front of me.

And my mind went blank for a moment before rereading the letter again.

It was an invitation to a funeral... and it was more than obvious whose

The landscape passed full of green, beautiful trees with fruits ready for anyone to enjoy and the mountains in the distance, also full of life, gave it a design worthy of being painted and taken to a museum to be exhibited where everyone could appreciate its beauty

All accompanied by a slight mist and rain, it was at the right point to adorn the landscape without becoming a nuisance, there were not even puddles

I was always one of those who liked the rain, even now that I was a creature that literally breathed fire, I found few things more relaxing than sitting on a terrace with a cup of coffee and watching the raindrops fall.

Too bad it was fake, the clouds were put there by order of the royal family so that the weather would not contrast with the melancholic atmosphere caused by the event

Trying not to think about it too much, I disconnect from the drone that is in the train car and focus on my objective again.

A target shooting target, more or less at about twenty meters

I concentrate as much as I can, the circle, the runes, the formula and the flow of magic, everything necessary for the spell to be activated appears in my mind so clearly that I can almost see it in 3D

Even in my mind I think I could easily alter or improve it, but I push those thoughts away.

That time would come

The spell activates and a small ball of green energy forms in the exact center of the space between my horns, I slowly feed it with more energy until it reaches a decent size and then

I loose it

“SHIIIING”

And I stop it immediately!

A powerful beam of energy, with power like I've never seen before, shot out from the front of the ball towards the trees.

He swept them away!

Over a dozen trees were snapped in half or blown to bits, I don't even care that Aspen got mad about it.

I fell on my ass, it turned out that the spells do have recoil or recoil, only much milder, what knocked me down was more of surprise and a pathetic attempt to hit the center of the target

Something that obviously I did not achieve, but I was equally happy with the result obtained

It cost almost no energy, before the spell I could barely sustain a magic attack for ten seconds before needing to rest, now I feel like I could prune the entire forest and my horns have already recovered

And the best part? I could improve it, I was sure of that, it was an innate, instinctive knowledge, at last I will be able to take advantage of the full potential of dark magic

“btt”

My growing elation was interrupted by the message from my drone, apparently the train had arrived at Canterlot.

Quickly, I am engulfed in flames, I immolate the poor drone and activate the 'Flame gate'

I am quite pleased to note that apart from the smell of burning there is nothing to betray its use, then I activate a drying spell and my illusion

In Celestia's library I not only obtained combat spells, but all kinds with which I was able to strengthen my Kirin form, others were quite simple, but undeniably useful in everyday life.

Look out the window and contemplate the city... it was not as I remembered it, it is surprising how the entire population seems to share the same emotions of sadness and this in turn affects the environment

My stomach knots and I feel my flames gain strength, but I stifle both before they become a problem.

With a warning from the train staff I open the door of my small room in the carriage, because of its shape it reminds me of the scenes on the train from the 'Harry Potter' movies, only more colorful.

I noticed the strange look from the train staff when they realized that I was alone when all the other rooms were packed, but seeing that it was first class they wisely refrained from asking questions.

The truth was that I had taken advantage of the royal seal with which the letter Luna sent me had been sealed, it was not necessary, since by royal order all round trips to Canterlot would be free for anyone who wants to appear at the prince's funeral

But I've already wasted a lot of time playing with Discord, more than a day and although it was fun I'm kind of desperate to learn all the spells I can

Also, the number of ponies that decided to attend this already filled the wagons and I don't feel comfortable being surrounded by so many ponies, the last thing I needed was for my flames to feed on that feeling and one of them will start screaming that they wanted to burn them. to all

Speaking of which "Oh s-sorry." I was about to leave when a pony just as eager to escape this sardine can bumped into my butt.

Lucky it was a mare, because if not... let's just say that the prejudices of ponies could be justified

"Don't worry pretty thing" After the comment with a flirtatious tone I winked at her to which she blushed heavily, normally she wouldn't do something like that, but she was so cute!

He tried to hide behind her from her brushing mane, which only made her look even more adorable, would it be rude for her to caress someone in public?

Unfortunately, I was unable to carry out my experiment before being interrupted by another mare who was orange, blonde, and somehow…familiar, perhaps because of the hat.

"Wow, nice try Casanova, but I don't think it's the time or the place" she said with a apprehensive and distrustful tone, I must admit that if she was right

"My apologies and I wasn't doing it for what you think, she just seemed super cute to me!" I affirmed energetically to which the pony gave me a strange look without lowering my guard, I'm not surprised, if you said that to a human, or he hits you hard in the face or gives you that same look "Well bye"

Without further ado, I left the train, I think I heard her muttering something about strange foreigners, but I didn't pay attention to her and headed towards the castle, or I almost made it, rather

"Caution below!" I didn't have much time to think when a tower of I don't know what was falling in my direction, I instinctively rolled backwards while using my telekinesis to catch whatever was going to fall on me, it turned out to be just a pile of mis-stacked suitcases like a game half finished jenga

"Wow" Keeping the tower balanced and the loose suitcases in the air wasn't as complicated as having to do all of the above while looking at the miniature lizard man next to me who was looking at me with admiring eyes.

"Oh dear, thank you very much, if it weren't for you poor Spiky would have been crushed!" she said with too dramatic a tone

“Are you an actress or something?” I couldn't help but ask

"Hey, you flatter me dear" she told me while she ran a hoof through her stylized mane

It wasn't a compliment, are you crazy? I meant

I decided not to pay much attention to that and just rearranged the stack of suitcases, until so many hours of playing Tetris do me any good, why do they have so many different shapes? Suitcases have to be square for a reason, otherwise they're a danger just like now

"Hey Rares, who's the new one?" A new voice joined the party, and I immediately had to force my body to control itself and not go up in flames.

Oh no, oh damn! I would know that voice anywhere

After having her glued to my ear calling me a freak like I wasn't going to remember her

Rainbow Dash

"Do you have a problem with me, little lion?" She said with obvious provocation, noticing my gaze

Instinctively, I growled at him, not very mature, but better than burning down the train station.

“Ahem, Rainbow, you're nice… miss, you were just helping me with my bags.” Before we jumped down each other's throats the mare with too much makeup for my liking, I speak in my defense, though it doesn't help that I don't seem to know how. Refer to me

"Well, it doesn't give me a good thorn" The curmudgeon pegasus replied

"The feeling is mutual, believe me" To my surprise she also begins to growl, only in a less bestial way and more like a spoiled child who did not get what she wanted, in short, it was painful

I was about to rub this in her face when I was bombarded by a pink projectile.

“Oh my Celestia! Who are you? What are you? Why do you smell like sulfur? Why do your eyes seem to be changing color?"

I immediately walked away from the crazy “Hey! Do you mind? Personal space!"

But ignoring my words, she continued to harass me until she was enveloped in a light blue aura.

"Pinkie, what did we say about the importance of staying calm at these kinds of events?" Forget what I said before, I like this mare more and more

Luckily the pony with an overdose of sugar, caffeine and I don't know what else, this time she did seem to pay attention to the rebuke "I'm sorry" She looked uncomfortable while somehow losing color and her mane deflating slightly, what witchcraft! Is this?! “It's just that I don't feel very comfortable in this environment, especially in meetings where there is nothing to celebrate…”

Well… if that's the case I think I can understand, I had an uncle who was a policeman and despite being a tough guy and never seeing him cry, he just couldn't stand funerals, maybe it's because he had to attend several when he was younger, but still it was strange to see him so affected

"Calm down, it's okay, everyone deals with problems in their own way and if laughing helps you, I don't think there's anything wrong with it" I gave him a reassuring smile, and I was a little calmed to see how he returned the same one, just for a second then turn into a maniacal grin and pounce on me giving me the biggest hug of my life

Okay, flirting and emotional support to strangers was one thing, but direct contact was another, as soft as his fur was, I felt quite uncomfortable, I mean, what kind of person goes around giving hugs to strangers?

I raised my body temperature a bit, not enough to burn her, but enough that she felt compelled to let go of me.

"Ouch, ouch!" She complained as she rubbed her hooves trying to stop the burning

"I'm sorry" I lied "Sometimes he gets nervous, are you okay?"

"Oh yes, don't worry, it's all good" she shook her hooves and jumped up and down as if nothing had happened.

Heavens! He must have devilish stamina, even Hawthorn can't help but flinch when he's near my flames.

Rainbow and the white unicorn were still there looking at me with the lizard boy, the pegasus was now doing so with obvious suspicion.

I decided that enough was enough, surely if I continue with them, they will notice that something is not right with me

"Excuse me, but I have to go now, or I'll be late"

“Oh dear, tell me, are you coming to pay your respects too?” It seems that she does not understand

"Yes" Simple and short, I want to go

"And wouldn't you like to join us?" I stopped for a moment, thinking I heard wrong

"That?" ask incredulous

"That?!" Rainbow asked annoyed

"Rainbow, don't be like that, having company at times like this is important"

"Right and we're all together, she doesn't matter, besides we don't even know who she's supposed to be"

And so a meaningless discussion began, without taking into account that I could have my own opinion for a second, at first it was just the two of them until the lizard boy decided to jump in and scold the flying chicken for my liking, despite that she continued to be so stubborn and stubborn

Honestly, I was tempted to accept the invitation just to annoy the mare, but no, I'm sure I'll end up blowing something up, for the safety of everyone around me, it would be best to stay away.

Having made my decision, I took out the secret weapon

"Excuse me!" I said forcefully to get her attention "But I don't think it will be possible"

The pegasus did not miss the opportunity to throw it in his face “Ha! They already heard it"

"I was invited by the royal sisters, and I'm not allowed to bring guests" Rainbow's idiot face was priceless!

I could barely stifle the curl until…

"You too?!"

… What the fuck did he just say?

"Girls we're here, sorry for the delay Fluttershy almost fainted and Rainbow was supposed to help me with Twilight... oh it's you" The same mare with a hat that I met at the exit of the car

"Do you know her?" the lizard spoke

"Something like that" He turned back to the now almost empty car "Girls, it's almost time, come on... you don't want to be late with the princess, do you?"

Before I could ask how they got an invitation from the princesses, two ponies got out of the car, one was the same pegasus I had met before, but the other was the one that got all my attention.

I recognized her immediately, she was the same one I had fought with in that hateful town, only now she was... different, describing her state of mind as depressed would be an understatement, her eyes looked like those of a dead person, her walk was slow and Just like the pink, her mood seemed to be reflected in her body, I don't remember much about her because of the shortness of our previous meeting, but I can swear that her colors were less... gray

Twilight, if I didn't mishear, but what happened to you?

Author's Note

Fyr: Queen of stags, wife of Aspen, mother of Bramble (Doe/Female)

17- A glass of wine in the light of the stars

Author's Note

Forgive me, it wasn't until the translation was finished that I realized that sometimes it changes from third person to first person.
I promise to fix it in the future, but I hope you understand that since it is a translated story, errors like these are inevitable.
:fluttercry:

I'm also thinking about making a chapter that explains Celestia and Luna's past.
What do you think?

17- A glass of wine in the light of the stars

“I'm just saying there's something weird about her” a certain pegasus stated with his head almost touching the ground as if that would help him draw less attention.

"Oh, please, dear, everything about her is... unique, you can't expect her to behave like other ponies would." The fashionista said while covering her muzzle with a hoof, as if it magically blocked the noise, even though she could literally do it. That with his horn and be less obvious

“I'm not talking about that.”

“And what are you talking about then?” The farm pony butted in with a whisper that might as well have been a scream. “Rarity was taken by diamond dogs, and I've never heard her complain about her, you seemed ready to jump on her as soon as you saw her.”

“And what does that have to do with this?” The pegasus narrowed her eyes, increasing the intensity of her gaze, but to me, it only gave her tenderness.

Before the farmer could respond, Rarity intervened, apparently hoping to avoid conflict. “Nothing, nothing, what Apleejack means is that you don't seem very happy lately when there are… other things around.”

I decided to cut them off there, not directly, of course, the simple spell to generate a breeze had been more useful than I could have imagined when I used it to make the wind run in the opposite direction, taking the sound with it. For them, nothing changed, but I could see how their mouths moved without apparent noise

Useful

I'm surprised they didn't notice the sudden change in the weather, but remembering that they didn't even notice how his so-called 'whispers' were even louder than her normal voice, I'm not surprised.

Oh, really?! How is it possible? I'm not even that far away, Fluttershy is the only one separating us, and it's not like that helps much considering she seems to make every effort not to be noticed.

I know she heard them too, she looked embarrassed... although that seems to be her natural state.

There was nothing interesting there, my attention was focused on something more intriguing… and gray, to my right was Twilight Sparkle.

She looked downcast, her face marked with an apparently perpetual sadness; the strangest thing was that this even affected her physique. In no book that I have read does it talk about something like that, although there are quite a few very curious magical illnesses of which I haven't read, but I'd bet this is more tied to your mental state

Pinkie was next to her, trying to cheer her up with a happy talk, but she could tell how desperate she was, it even seemed to me that she also started to lose color.

Fuck! Don't tell me it's contagious, maybe it was a disease after all. I unconsciously strayed, wanting to keep my distance from patient zero.

“Ouch” The sudden contact almost made me trip, but I was able to maintain my balance; sadly, my firm step caused another smaller one to fall.

“Oh, I'm sorry, little boy.” I felt genuinely bad seeing the poor lizard, which until now had gone unnoticed by me, fall.

I used a little telekinesis to help him stand up "OUCH" A fatal mistake, the magic I used was not enough, although it should have been. Curiously, I could feel my magic sliding over his scales as if repelling him, the poor thing could only rise a few centimeters before falling again, only this time less prepared and more vulnerable against the hard floor

I could tell that he wasn't immune to magic, just resistant, it was interesting...

I removed those thoughts and intrigues, so I could help the poor boy and calm the growing sense of guilt that was beginning to wash over me. This time I made sure to do it in a more physical way, using my front paws.

“I'm really, really sorry.” I didn't have to fake the guilt in my voice.

“Oh, don't worry.” The way he rubbed the tip of his snout did just the opposite.

I thought about asking the girls for their opinion, as they undoubtedly had more experience diagnosing him, but I realized that they continued on their own, too absorbed in their own talk to notice a fallen soldier.

Fluttershy was the only one who stayed, and luckily for me, she put aside her fear to check on the poor boy and ensure her well-being while unknowingly placing herself at one of the highest points on my list of wishes. Nice ponies

It's not that she was that long or had much competition

"Leave me alone, I said I'm fine." The boy was kicking at the unnecessary attention, but in my eyes it was like watching a puppy show me his belly, so giving in to my senses, I picked him up once again and brought him into a hug. Bear, squeezing him against my chest

“MMHHH”

“Now, now, pretty thing, healthy, healthy.” Ignoring his protests, I pampered him like a baby.

"Um, excuse me." I turned to see Fluttershy, who looked uncomfortable but determined. "I think you're suffocating him."

“Oh right.” I loosened my grip, and the little one took the opportunity to take a deep breath, but before he could get too far away, I lifted him up with magic, this time making sure to use enough, and placed him on my back like I had seen them carry. To the children here “You will be better there”

“I can actually walk on my own.” You could tell how upset she was.

I've been wanting to do that for a while. I guess I couldn't hide it well because Fluttershy gave me a smile. "It's okay, Spike, I think we'd better hurry up." She said this while avoiding eye contact and pointing in the direction the girls were going. The rest

It's official, she may not be the best pony, but of these six, Fluttershy is definitely my favorite

We set off at a slow trot, always careful to keep me stable enough to keep Spike from being silent. Fluttershy even gave me some advice despite Spike's indignant protests as he told us over and over again that he wasn't a child.

That earned him a good amount of care from both of them.

Despite the good time we were having, I made sure we kept a decent distance from the main group. There was something that kept bothering me and I wanted an answer. “Fluttershy, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to Twilight?”

Suddenly the whole atmosphere changed, I could feel Spike squirm uncomfortably on my back, Fluttershy's good spirits left, and she returned to her initial shy attitude or so I thought at the beginning, even when she tried to cover herself with her hair the guilt was noticeable in her. The whole face

I know the face of someone who is sorry, maybe if he had seen her last week, I wouldn't have noticed, but after Blueblood...

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable…” I tried to apologize, but that only served to sink her further. As if he had hit her, her eyes moistened, and he began to bite her lip, holding back her tears.

I had no idea what to do until I felt a prick on my neck. It was Spike “I think he needs some time alone” He said, whispering in my ear. Something I should add is that it was much quieter than those ponies were. Before

I decided to listen to her and give the pony her space while she slowly returned to formation with her friends.

"What happened?" I asked unconsciously

“Discord” The unexpected response baffled me on several levels

Once I got rid of the surprise of the answer I wasn't expecting, my brain finally processed the name.

LIE! Denial was the first thing that came to mind

Even if he did that, I talked to Discord and made him promise that every time he changed something, he would return it to normal after playing

He wouldn't lie to me!

Despite the impact of the news, I managed to maintain control only because he was a child I was talking to.

"Really?"

The boy looked at me strangely without understanding why it was so hard for me to believe. “Didn't you see what he did when he freed himself? It's also the reason we're here… poor Blueblood, it wasn't fair to him.”

My mind spun several times when I noticed something that didn't match.

“Discord… Did it have anything to do with what happened to Blueblood?” I asked, bewildered.

Again, I earned a bewildered look from Spike. “Don't you read the newspaper, or are you living under a rock?”

Ouch

“I only read the newspaper sometimes, and I live in the forest” Note that I only managed to confuse him more, and at another time I would have gladly answered his questions, but not now “There is a village in the middle of the forest, and I received my invitation just a few hours ago, When everything finally went back to normal, can we go back to Discord?”

He nodded in understanding and began to explain, although somewhat downcast. "Well... when it all started, the princesses called us to help." I raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn't interrupt him. "At first everything was normal... well, as normal as a girl can be." adventure against chaos, but with so many adventures, I think we are already used to the strangeness, or well, we were” He stopped for a second as if he didn't know how to continue, he didn't even notice that I had stopped my march completely

“We failed” Finally he said “He separated us, and when we met again, everyone was... different, Discord changed them, and we didn't know what to do to get them back to normal. We didn't even see him after that, as if he had completely forgotten about us.” She continued speaking with more and more force in her voice “Although a few hours later everything returned to normal on its own, except Twilight, for her, it was worse, not being able to complete her mission and losing her friends affected her, and Discord didn't even care. I didn't even touch her, and she turned gray on her own, and when I finally manage to gather the girls to support her, we get the news that she blew up the castle, injuring who knows how many ponies and Blue!… Blueblood-"

I stopped him right there and pulled him towards me to give him another hug, this time he didn't resist.

She hadn't been able to understand all the details of his story, and she had questions, but now he had a child screaming with rage and on the verge of crying with frustration, and for nothing in the world was she going to leave him without comfort.

We were there for a while, and among the ponies that passed by, some showed curiosity and seemed to want to help in some way, but I just shook my head for them to continue on their way. It was strange to see so many strangers wanting to get involved in someone else's business, but I didn't give it any importance as I petted the poor lizard without caring that my fur was stained with slime and snot.

“Now, now, it's okay, you did very well.”

“I failed at everything” He didn't yell at me just because my fur drowned out the sound.

"He was practically a God" I reminded him "And you barely look over ten years old, I don't even understand what you were doing there." I had a small spasm when I felt his claws digging into me, but luckily it wasn't enough to make me bleed, and that's why even the illusion could be maintained

Understood, don't mention age. I mentally scolded myself. I should know better than anyone how much it pisses someone off to be reminded how small they are.

"And yet here you are, with all your friends. If Discord was dangerous enough to demolish the castle with people still inside, imagine what he could have done to your friends, but you managed to protect them." The claws retracted, and his body stopped moving. Being so tense, it seems that it is right for him to continue on that path “You said that you managed to reunite them, they could have ended up in who knows where with who knows what, and despite that, you managed to find them and bring them to a safe place, it doesn't matter "Whether you defeated Discord or not, you protected those who were with you, that was what was important."

Finally, he calmed down. I gave him a moment as he turned away from me, still sniffling but much calmer. “Did I really do it right?”

I gave him a confident smile. “Better than anyone would have done.” I patted his head, and he finally worked up the courage to smile again.

And just then, I felt a great flutter accompanied by an icy breeze right behind me.

Luna, maybe the girls were wondering where I had gone with Spike, or they saw me from the castle, I don't know.

I was stunned the moment I turned around

Wow… just wow… she is beautiful

I mean, she was always beautiful, but that seemed to be the natural state of alicorns, they seemed to possess a natural beauty not only in appearance but also in actions, their mere appearance and presence combined made it seem like any movement was smooth and graceful.

Whether this happens due to countless years of discipline from being in the position of ruler or whether it is something natural to them, I have no idea. Not that I care much, I had already gotten used to it.

But now it was different. If the term 'Absolute beauty' could be considered their natural state, just imagine what it would look like if they really tried to look pretty.

I talk about mundane things like makeup, hairstyles, dresses, etc... but nothing in them could be considered mundane.

“I apologize, am I interrupting?” Her voice somehow sounded even softer and sweeter than it already was.

“N-no, I just tripped, and he was helping me up.” No one believed poor Spike, not only because of the tone of insecurity in his voice, but also because of the tears that he had not managed to completely erase.

It's bad at lying... I'm going to change that, but not now. I'll enjoy the view

Luna was smart enough not to say anything. “Very well, in that case, I must thank you for helping him.”

“Aha…” I said, but I forgot to close my mouth.

"Something happens?" I wonder obviously noticing my quirks

"Just thought"

"That? Yes, I am allowed to ask”

I was about to respond, but Spike started to shake and slipped away from my embrace. “Why do you feel so cold all of a sudden?”

He advanced through the town to the central building of the village, the largest of all, trying to reach an accelerated pace so that there would not be so many witnesses to the state of his king and not cause unnecessary panic due to a simple combination of fatigue and stress.

At the same time, he tried to remain as stable in his gait as possible so as not to be a nuisance to his brother, who was resting on his back.

Luckily, there were not so many deer in the place, most likely they had also become tired from the recent activities, and now that everything was returning to normal, they did not hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity to rest.

Just before reaching the entrance, it was opened by another doe, and although they did not have any personal grudges between them, it was impossible to hide her displeasure upon seeing him. It was not that she was dissatisfied with Hawthorn, but rather with the situation he was in and possibly a certain irresponsible bicorn

Fyr held the door open and made sure nothing hindered Hawthorn's path to his bedroom, where he would leave his brother as gently as he could.

Which wasn't much since a crooked leg unbalanced him enough to drop his brother, now a victim of gravity.

A hollow sound echoed as Aspen's head hit the rounded edge of the bed's backrest.

"What was that?"

“A gas” He excused himself, and Fyr looked at him with revulsion and quickly walked away from there, luckily for Hawthorn, who now saw his brother with her tongue hanging out and her eyes blank.

He surreptitiously covered it with the sheets until only the antlers were exposed.

What had Forest told him some time ago? Too beautiful for this world?

He looked again under the covers at the wild eyes and messy, sweaty fur, all accompanied by a kind of snoring that could easily be confused with suffocation.

Nope

He stepped back and closed the bedroom door, so his brother could finally rest in peace.

But obviously his day couldn't end so peacefully, as soon as he put a hoof in the direction of his room, he was intercepted by a cold gaze that searched his soul.

Realizing that the only way to escape this would be to fake a heart attack or have one, he decided to start the conversation “Is something wrong, Fyr?”

“You know perfectly well what's going on,” she replied dryly.

Of course, he knew it, just like all of Equestria, knowing who Discord was, not many would be comfortable in his presence, and now he would be a regular guest thanks to Forest "You'll have to be a little more specific, a lot has happened today."

He wasn't going to miss the opportunity to annoy his sister-in-law a little if she was given the chance, it had been an unusually hectic and stressful day, and if he could take it out a little, even better, on his natural enemy, he would be happy to take it out. I would

But to her surprise, her response was not what she expected, she didn't even speak to him, instead, she threw a piece of paper in his face. She just looked at him while he took the paper and stretched it out. Make it readable

Quickly, he realized that the paper was what the ponies called diaries, the deer did not have these things. Although their villages were scattered throughout Equestria, they lived in small communities with little or no contact with the outside, so they did not think this kind of thing was necessary

She thought about asking how and when she got it until she read the headline. Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“It's a lie” I don't even doubt it, her words were said with complete certainty

He may not have spent much time with the spirit of chaos, but even the most idiotic would know the difference between a murderous psychopath and a child with the power of God.

Aspen was not the only one who was on the edge with the unexpected visit of chaos, especially when the civilian deer and fawns were nearby, unaware of the presence of the being they were in front of, however, unlike his brother, who was with his hair standing on end until his mind finally failed, Hawthorn relaxed as time went by, realizing as time went by that this was a situation that was not up to him and nothing he did would change anything.

Contrary to what many seemed to think, he was not an airhead, or at least not completely. One does not become a general simply by being the brother of the village leader... well in some places maybe, but not in the Everfree

With the amount of danger that inhabits this forest, it is essential to know when to retreat, and in this case, in which they were being visited/Invaded by what could be the most powerful being in the world, I came to the conclusion that as long as it did not harm them, the best thing I could do was be courteous.

“I don't think so either, keep reading.” That answer only confused him more, but he wisely decided not to protest and follow her order.

As soon as he finished reading, he began to point out the fragments of information he had managed to gather from him. “Then… Discord broke free.” He pointed to the heading and lowered his hoof down the paper as he continued his explanation. “He trapped the princesses, he played pranks on them and the guards, he unleashed his magic across Equestria... then he came back to kill them all with an explosion, and then he left, taking his chaos magic with him.” He shook his head repeatedly. "It's too erratic, even for him."

“Finally, we agreed on something, but that's exactly what worries me.” I snatched the diary from his hooves, looking for a specific part. “I don't think it was Discord, I don't think he's been back to Canterlot since he freed himself.”

Connecting the dots in his head, Hawthorn understood the reason for his concern. “So, who attacked the castle?”

Fyr did not say anything, instead, he looked at the end of the hallway, where one of those new Timberwolves with a duster could be seen diligently passing through every corner of the mansion, an image that contrasted terribly with the appearance of the beast that, from any point of view, was made for combat

Fyr felt a chill. The cursed were scattered throughout the village, doing all kinds of tasks, from sweeping the floor and babysitting to more demanding tasks such as construction and harvesting.

“You can't be serious.” Faced with Hawthor's apparent inability to remain silent, Fyr dragged him into one of the many rooms.

Those things could hear and see everything, they were not safe in front of those things

“He had to meet Discord at some point,” he stated as he locked the door.

“Yes, but he could have been anywhere, he just appears and disappears at will, you saw it.”

"True, and that's why it's strange that they met so soon, Discord had all of Equestria, maybe even the world, to move around, and yet she brings him here just hours after his release. What are the chances that that happens?"

Hawthorn pondered internally. He had to acknowledge that what he said had validity, but... “Do you have any evidence to support this?”

Fyr looked away “Just... my instinct” That was the problem, without evidence, no one could even dare point to the heart of the forest, and even if the act could be done, it would be considered almost heretical due to the beliefs of their people “But I'm sure if we push a little, maybe we'll send some deer to investigate Equestria or arrange a meeting with the princesses."

“Are you suggesting that the princesses are covering this up?” The implications of what Fyr was saying were already serious enough for simply being against what was possibly the embodiment of his faith in nature, and now he was calling the princesses liars?!

“I don't know, but we can find out if we just-” The queen of the forest tried to give more ideas, but Hawthorn wouldn't let her.

"No"

"That?" Fyr asked in confusion.

"Just no"

“Are you seriously going to ignore this? Just because she's the only one who tolerates you besides your brother? It's your responsibility to make sure we're safe, and finding out if we're sharing a roof with a murderer is just one of the things you should-"

"I already know it!" At her sudden hostile tone, Fyr took a few steps back. Hawthorn had never dared speak to her that way, but she had struck a chord. “Understand this!” Noticing his tone that could almost be mistaken for threatening, he forced himself to calm down before continuing, “Can you imagine what would happen if Equestria found out that we were harboring the person responsible for the attack on their princesses' castle and that we even befriended the spirit?” of the chaos that attacked them? “Can you imagine… what Celestia would do if she found out about our involvement in the death of her nephew?”

Fyr felt like she was short of breath as her face slowly lost its color. “… She wouldn't do it,” she said, but it seemed like she was trying to convince herself as well.

“According to your theory, she already changed the truth as it suited her best, what else do you think she is capable of doing? And even if you decide to forgive that, we both know what ponies are like, how incapable they are of adapting to things that are different, and... how they react to fear... they are not going to forgive us for this, whether we are guilty or not.

Having made her point, silence took over the room, as did doubt, fear and uncertainty in their hearts.

“You have to fix this” With no other options in sight, her queen could only give that order.

“I will plow it” And the general accepted her new mission, and with it, the future of her people and possibly the world now also depended on him.

…

If only I had some idea where to start... maybe I'll ask someone... Is that weird zebra still around?

The respectful silence was interrupted only by the occasional cry of some overly sensitive pony, in other words, almost everyone

She was genuinely surprised, the vast majority of these ponies had probably barely even heard or found out that they had a prince, and those who were well-informed surely hadn't heard anything good about him.

And yet he was mourned, as the coffin supposedly containing his remains was left in Canterlot's central square for hours so people could pay their respects.

He would then be taken back to the castle, where Celestia herself would perform the final rites and carry his body to its final resting place.

I watched everything from a distance, from one of the balconies of the castle, along with the royal sisters. At some point, Spike and his friends, along with Cadance were also here, but for some time they came down to pay their respects as well.

The crying could be heard up to here, how crybaby can they be? I didn't mean to insult anyone with that, but we've been here for hours. At first, I just ignored them out of respect and because a small part of me knew that this was my fault and I had to pay.

But that small part of me put aside her understanding of him and lit a fire when she found out that this was all a farce.

I asked Luna to tell me what happened... needless to say, I didn't believe her at all, not only because I was there but also because she was a terrible liar. At one point, Celestia jumped into the conversation while detailing with practiced precision how Discord brutalized the royal guard, and his nephew did what he could to distract him, heroically managing to take him to the library, where he overcame the few magical defenses that remained in the castle, giving his life for Equestria.

Luna couldn't hide the grimace on her face, even with all the years of practice going into her poker face.

On the other hand, I was left blank-eyed as I finally understood what the hell Blueblood was doing in the library.

He was hiding

That was why the enchantments on the door to the forbidden area of the library were still in place when he arrived. At the first sign of danger, he ran to the best protected place and used his magic to reinforce the magical lock, narrowly rejecting the magic. Of chaos

Ironically, if he hadn't done it, he would still be alive.

My thoughts ended abruptly when I felt something extremely soft sliding and enveloping me.

“Spirit” I turned at Luna's call.

"Yeah?" She had been so lost, thinking I didn't notice her and trying to talk to me until she caught me with one of her wings.

“Nothing, just... you looked a little... forget it, are you feeling okay?”

What can I say? “Not much, really.” I knew she had to lie, and fortunately, I was one of those who knew that the truest lies were the ones that carried some truth.

It was not difficult for me to fake an expression of pain and discomfort

Luna's gaze showed concern, and she turned to speak to Celestia. “Sister, I wish to take my… friend.” I noticed a certain amount of pride in using that word. “To a less busy place to talk, if that's okay.”

I thought it was cute that Luna did this for me, however, Celestia shook her head. “I don't think so, Luna, it is in times like this that we have to show that we are still strong and united to calm the worries of our ponies.”

“I understand, sister, that's why we came outside our duties to attend this event, but I highly doubt that being away for a few hours will affect us in any way.”

Celestia looked conflicted, so I decided to contribute "I think it's a little inconsiderate not to think about your sister." The hostility in her eyes was immediate. "Not all of us can remain stoic in the face of loss, you know?"

Luna was visibly uncomfortable, but she decided to remain silent, although I think it was more because she didn't know how to get into the conversation than because she agreed with me.

“Do whatever you want, but in three hours I want you here” He was talking to both of us, but I felt that his gaze was focused specifically on me, almost like a laser beam threatening to open a hole in the back of my neck “Am I clear? ”

“Yes, sister” Luna pulled me away before I had a chance to respond.

I don't even wait, I just use her magic to get rid of me

"HI!” I had to hold back a squeal, from the tail NO damn!

Despite my obvious discomfort, Luna didn't let go of me until we left the room, out of sight of her bossy sister.

“That was disrespectful.” Finally, she let my sore bottom rest.

“Ok, maybe I missed it a little” I said while she rubbed my buttocks. I noticed that she was moving away from her, so I started to follow her.

"That?" He asked before my constant gaze

“You look a little... frustrated” Poker face or not, those eyes say a lot

“All this could have been avoided if only I had known, all it took was a simple question to my sister and-”

“I think I'm going to interrupt you right there, Luna” He was a little upset when I stopped his wailing, but it would be pretty stupid to hear this line of blame again “Be mad if you want, but I'm not going to accept you blaming yourself for something you didn't know would happen, It is the epitome of stupidity. The best thing you can do in this situation is learn from your mistakes, not let them block you”

He stayed for a while thinking about that and about how we were heading to what he noticed was her room. “… Your words have merit.”

Until it helps me to have so many movies and series, they always give the best phrases

“I just can't help but feel like I'm to blame for this, it's supposed to be our kingdom, our subjects that we're supposed to protect, and we failed miserably.”

This... is getting difficult. I kept thinking as we finally reached her room and walked through the doors.

“You… only have part of the blame, but not all.” I had to give in a little.

“Is there a difference?” I ask with disdain

“A huge one, yes.” I stayed near the center of the room as she headed to her desk. “Not all of Equestria's care is supposed to be yours alone, no one believes or expects you to solve everything, that's why it's yours.” "And before you tell me another stupid "The reason why this is your fault, I want you to know that I will burn all your things if you do it."

Her muzzle closed, she knew what I was capable of, however, it didn't take long for her to smile. Did I do it right?

“Anyway, I think... I'm going to miss it,” she finally said wistfully as she returned her attention to the furniture.

“I didn't know you liked me so much.”

“Haha, of course not” She opened one of her drawers and took out a false bottom. Is that a hidden drawer? "But he was one of the first ponies I was able to meet upon my return, he was also in charge of teaching me proper modern behavior... it didn't end well"

Despite the obvious unpleasantness of the memory, the smile on his face did not disappear even for an instant. A small sting returned to my mind, I barely made out what it was, guilt. I tried to hold on to that feeling as much as I could, but it was fading worryingly fast.

"Want?" While I was lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice the reason for Luna's search.

"Came?" It was an ancient bottle, the label was in a language incomprehensible to me, or at least what was left, as most of it seems to have been lost long ago.

“Straight from my sister's royal warehouse” He stated proudly as she poured a glass

"… Wait to? “Wasn't she the one who made these things illegal in the first place?” Well... not illegal, it's just highly regulated, and it's not like anyone is bothered by that. From what I've learned from watching the ponies, it seems that they don't even like it, and as far as I could find out, they don't have a great variety either. Apart from the wine, I have only heard of apple cider

“He only collects them, he doesn't drink them, although from what he told me, he usually shares them with representatives of other nations. Besides, this one was mine, so it's not bad that I have it” He said while caressing the bottle as if it were a cute kitten

“Right, and the fact that she was in a hidden drawer was due to a simple lack of space.” She ignored my sarcasm as she took a big sip. “I think I finally discovered the smuggler from the night watch.”

“BUSH, COF” Luna choked on the wine to the point that she had to spit it out. The problem was that she couldn't get the glass out of the way, so it ended up redirecting itself right into her face while she continued coughing.

Meanwhile, I was trying not to die from the lack of air that escaped me due to the uncontrolled curls caused by such a spectacle.

“How do you know?!” I ask as she wipes the remains of the alcohol and ruined makeup from her face with the dress, discarding it on the spot. Something tells me that a certain unicorn would have a heart attack if she saw this.

Don't look too much, don't look too much, don't look too much. How is it that for a race for which stripping is considered common, stripping is still so exciting?

“Don't count on Shadow to keep secrets.” She rubbed her paw with her hoof as she murmured what I can only guess were future lamentations from the poor guard.

“I can forgive him for having talked more than he should with you, but forgiving you for the loss of such precious nectar is a more complicated matter,” she pointed out to me accusingly.

“Oh, and please tell me, princess, what could I do to make up for such a sin?” She responded to my joke by bringing her glass to my lips. “Nope.” I tried to back away, but her horn lit up, and I was dragged toward her. “Wait, let's talk about this.”

I hate alcohol, no matter how it is served to me. Of the few times I drank wine, it was for a ceremony in the church, and then I had to pray, but not because I was making peace with God but because I knew that my mother would send me with him he did spit the damn thing at the bishop

Obviously, Luna didn't care, she just forced me to open my mouth and pour the liquid, she didn't let go until I was empty.

Oh... wow, she somehow doesn't taste so bad... wait a second

Sweet baby Jesus! The world is melting!

Luna looked expectantly at her friend without realizing that she had just given her a large dose of what was one of the strongest liquors in her world.

"And?"

“Mm… Excelsior”

Luna shook her head in confusion, knowing her friend's comment was surely a reference to something, but she had no idea what it was.

"CRACK"

"Oops, I'll clean it up." It seemed like he was trying to pick up the remains of the broken cup with his magic, but it didn't activate, resulting in a staring duel against the floor for about five minutes in which Luna had already cleaned it, but Spirit didn't seem to notice

Luna began to believe that maybe she had gone too far.

Now that she thought about it, this bottle had been found in one of the warehouses of a ruined fortress that she and her sister had taken refuge in during Discord's reign, it was one of the extremely rare places that chaos magic could not find. For some reason, that magic left random places untouched for the simple fact that being random was in its nature

She found it appropriate to drown her sorrows in something she had already suffered and survived chaos magic not once but twice now.

She had only been opened once after a great victory against the Griffon tribes, who threatened to become the new tyrants, taking advantage of the void left by Discord's defeat. Then she was sealed with magic and forgotten until his return.

She seemed to remember that at that time the label indicated a date almost six centuries before her birth... adding to all the time that passed...

“Wait a second, where is she?” She briefly wondered if this bottle was bewitched to be forgetful in some way, considering the number of times it had to have been lost to survive to this day.

"What is love?!" Luna jumped when the sheets of her bed flew off to make room for an improvised stage “Oh baby, don' t hurt me, don' t hurt me, no more”

Spirit started to sing, it wasn't a problem, in fact, the music was catchy, the movement he made with his head was almost hypnotizing, and I could almost hear the rhythm that should accompany the melody. It would have been a good show... if it weren't for the dance... the way he moved, and how his whole body moved

His hips too, especially his hips, were what moved the most by far, turning the pleasant music into another type of spectacle.

One that left Luna speechless in her place, and the one in which the lyrics of the song could easily be mistaken for a declaration of love, didn't help at all.

“I want no other, no other lover, this is our life, our time, when we are together, I need you forever. Is it love?"

At that exact moment, Luna's heart skipped a beat... because Spirit had leaned to the edge of the bed, dangerously reducing the space between their faces.

At her alarm, Luna carelessly jumped back, causing her to fall.

Spirit couldn't care less when she left her stage and began stalking Luna, similar to a predator. “Yeah, whoa, whoa, ooh, ooh”

Luna tried to get away from her, but Spitir had the advantage of standing, so it was easy for him to climb on top of her while she crawled on her back.

Closer

…

Too close “Don't hurt me, don't m - PUNCH” Luna. I don't even doubt it, the ponies of this era could be more reserved when it came to violence, but she was still old school “Aaauch”

While her friend writhed in a daze, she stood up. She hadn't exaggerated, right? “Come… honey, you need to rest.”

“I specifically asked you not to hurt me” She complained with teary eyes.

Luna just rolled her eyes at him as he levitated her back to the bed until she felt a tug. “Are you going to leave me?” Spirit was now pulling her hair while he looked at her with a sad puppy face.

“Now, now, step aside” Realizing that this was probably the best way for her to relax, she decided to give in.

“Yupiii”

Luna decided not to comment as she climbed onto her bed, looking for a relatively comfortable position, until she felt something hard that she lifted to identify that it was her, and upon discovering it, she was incredulous. “Did you drink it all?”

It was the bottle, once again forgotten

“Mmh… it was sweet,” Spirit said with joy at the memory of the delicious nectar as she wrapped herself in the previously discarded sheets.

“Thank you for describing it to me, because now I will never know,” Luna said with evident depressed anger.

“Wasn't it already open?”

"I had only opened it once, and unfortunately I decided to be courteous and serve first to one of our guests, who fainted on the spot. Then I had to protect the bottle with my life, since the guards thought I had poisoned him, and they wanted to take it away from me to examine it... an internal war almost started, but that was the least of it." He told his story with pride until he realized that something didn't add up. "Now that I think about it, how are you still conscious? This amount would surely take down adult Yack.”

“… It wasn't that strong, whiskey is harder, and that wine was almost like a juice... a good juice-hiccup” Now he was starting to have a hiccup attack that only made him laugh “Jiji”

Luna had no idea what kind of drink that was, but she was curious.

“Mm, juu, juu” Luna's thoughts stopped before a sudden cry.

“And now, why are you crying?” Could alcohol really alter emotions so easily? Just three seconds ago, she was laughing like crazy.

“Um, I want to go home” She said between moans and cries. It wasn't the first time he talked about his home, it only took a push from him, and they could talk for hours, but he couldn't help but notice a certain melancholy and sometimes pain in those stories

Spirit never told her why it hurt him so much to talk about her home, but she could already get an idea by noticing how she always avoided the topic of how she got to Equestria among many other things she avoided.

But still, Luna didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say? She decided not to think about it and let out some of their shared emotions.

"Me too"

That caught Spirit's attention “Do you miss them too?”

“To whom?”

"To your parents"

That question truly caught the princess off guard. How long has it been since she thought about them? “I… I guess... so” Now more than ever, she regretted not stealing more wine from the cellar, she could really use some.

Spirit continued, feeling interrupted periodically by sobs “My mother often scolded me and yelled at me for anything, no matter how small... that's why I always did what I could to avoid her... although it didn't help that we lived in the same house.” Her crying had stopped, but the melancholy remained both in his face and in his voice

Luna didn't really feel comfortable with this, she hadn't brought up the subject of her parents since... When? Do I even talk to her sister about this? Or did they both just bury it so deep that even she could say they forgot the event that defined her life? She didn't even remember the last time she thought about them.

“Hey,” her friend called her, and Luna noticed how her outline had become blurry. “Are you okay?”

Spirit used the blanket she had used to cover herself to wipe the tears from Luna's eyes.

“I guess I missed them more than I imagined,” Luna said with some discomfort and gratitude as she felt her friend comfort her.

“Did you lose them too?” Luna didn't like receiving so many personal questions at once, but the recent death of her newest family member touched wounds that never fully healed, and knowing that her friend had gone through a similar experience made her feel like she wasn't so alone. How you would normally feel

"Yes... in those times, we ponies didn't have anything resembling a government, just some nomadic tribes and isolated villages, it was all so simple... but once the predators found you, it was all over..." The conflict was visible in the girl's eyes. Lunar princess, as if memories of the easiest and warmest moments of her life competed with the worst of horrors to see who had more relevance in her life

Seeing that the princess stopped, either because she didn't want to say more or couldn't, Spirit took it as her cue to continue "... I... I didn't talk to my mother because I didn't want her to give me another lecture... now there are times when I can't sleep thinking about that... it was so easy... to walk in, kiss her on the forehead, and tell her that I love her... so easy." One simply does not realize how many things one usually takes for granted, one believes that everything is insured until one day it stops being that way

Following the example of his companion Luna, he considers the moment of silence as his signal to continue "Despite all the years that have passed and everything I have experienced, I still cannot forget that day, I remember it perfectly... especially my mistake." …” She took a moment to swallow the painful lump that had formed in her throat, preventing her from continuing. Spirit comforted her with hugs until she calmed down, something she really appreciated “I fought with them almost always… most of the time I didn't even have a real reason, I just... I felt left out…”

Realizing that she would not continue, Spirit decided to give her a minute to calm down her emotions. She may have been drunk, but there are things that are not lost, no matter what state you are in. "I'm sorry for not being the right one for you to talk about." this, but I know you need to let this go, Luna. Since I've known you, I've seen you get down on yourself. Almost every time you do something well or feel happy, just a few seconds later you force yourself to return to your serious face, it's like you think that everything you do has no value."

“Most of those moments you talk about happened in the world of dreams, they were not real” She stated

"You see it? That's just what I mean, what does it matter if it was a dream? Or a game? If it made you happy, then what's wrong with it?!” Spirit was starting to raise her voice. She knew it wasn't good to force anyone to say something they didn't want to, but this time it had been the closest she had ever been to her speaking up and saying... anything. She didn't know what, but I was sure I needed to get it out.

Luna had erected a wall around her, a wall that prevented her from always being in true contact with anyone outside her. Over time, this wall even blocked the way to her sister, whom she had long begun to see as a stranger

But the unexpected mention of her parents had revealed a weakness in the structure, and Spirit, like a ruthless conqueror, did not hesitate to take advantage of this structural defect and attack in order to open a hole in the wall.

“Luna… What happened to your parents… and your home?” It was low, and it certainly wasn't a matter for Spitir to get involved in, they hadn't even known each other that long, and he barely had the right to call her a friend, but the alcohol took away the most rational part of his brain and replaced it with a morbid curiosity. And a distorted sense of duty

"What did you do?"

It was like this, with one last mention from her parents, that the great wall finally weakened, and the occasional tears turned into crying: “I just wanted to show that I was as good as her, that they would see me as they saw her, I didn't know. That others would see me!... I had no way of knowing..." Once again, she was choked by a mixture of sobs, some emotional trauma and feelings so depressive that they would put any Emos fan to shame "I just... I wanted to be perfect too”

After that, Luna froze, refused to speak, and covered her face with her front paws, similar to a child covering her face with her knees, hoping that if she stayed like that long enough, everything would go away. What is wrong in the world will go away on its own

There was a lot to consider and very little to work with, he couldn't really understand what had happened before Luna closed again, but there was something he managed to catch on to, there was only one person it could have been referring to as far as he knew, and so nothing in the world was going to let him continue with an idea as ridiculous as that.

“Do you want to be like Celestia?” Lula's crying stopped, contrary to the act, and that said a lot in itself

With confirmation that her doubts were correct, Spirit did not hesitate to tell her what she thought "That will never happen, no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you change or how much you do to be more like her, you will never be close to being like her"

Those words said so directly at such a sensitive moment hurt her deeply, but Spirit had no plans to stop, she knew that Luna needed to be clear about this once and for all.

“Your subjects will never see you the same, you will never be the symbolic princess that everyone looks at with devotion, in fact, I am sure that literally anyone else could be her except you!” Luna was disoriented, she had no idea what she had done to deserve such a verbal attack.

In the end, that was a good thing, since if she had been in any other state, her friend would most likely have ended up with a lot of broken bones at best.

Luckily, she just had to listen a little more.

“On the other hand… there is no one else who can be like you.” The sudden change did little to alleviate her condition “Celestia may be the image of perfection, but it's only because she created that perception.” Spirit grabbed Luna's forehead. And I put them aside so that I could see them well

“Anyone can look pretty, say what everyone wants to hear, and bathe in flattery while feigning modesty to appear humble.” She took Luna's face in her paws to force her to look directly at her. “But not you, you're not like that, no matter how convenient.” "Whatever it may look like to pretend to be someone you're not, you just stand your ground and aren't afraid to say their shit to whoever you're talking to in the face."

"If the situation goes wrong, you don't look for excuses, you look for the source of the problem and cut it. I won't lie and tell you that that makes you perfect, but it's much better than living a lie" Spitir stared into Luna's eyes, who finally seemed to react again "The ponies may love your sister, but it is an empty love, none of them really know her or would be willing to do for her what I do for you now"

Spirit gave her gentle caresses as she wiped the tears from the princess's eyes. “You may not have as many followers as your sister, but I assure you that there is not a pony, griffin, dragon, or a fucking alien that doesn't love you after “A single night with you, and that is far more valuable than any amount of hollow love and dry devotion.”

The affection expressed both in her words and in her actions scared her away from all the fatalistic emotions that flooded the alicorn's mind a few moments ago.

“And if I haven't convinced you right now, I promise I won't give up until I get it... I'll even make the ponies realize how great your night is if that makes you feel better.” As she finished her vow, she simply shrugged her shoulders. At that last part, as if it were no big deal, as if promising to make her happy no matter what the cost or giving her what she had most longed for over a millennium were something natural to do for her, as if the effort required was something that anyone should be willing to do for her

Luna had forgotten the last time she had felt like this... an almost lost memory came to her, she was in a warm place, she was being crushed to the point where it was difficult for her to breathe... it was her mother, her father and her sister as they did everything. Possible by transmitting all the love that was possible through mere physical contact

She needed to feel it again, and in her attempt to replicate it, she grabbed the closest thing and pressed it hard against her chest.

And she felt that he returned her gesture with no less affection than she had received so long ago.

Princess Luna, guardian of dreams, co-ruler of Equestria for the first time in longer than she could remember, felt loved.

And…

… She felt that she reciprocated that love.

18- For a greater good?

I will never drink again... never

Why would anyone do this to themselves?

I'm barely getting up, and I already want to die, I can hear my heartbeat hammering in my head, breathing makes me nauseous and while my mind was fighting to stay calm my body insisted on staying asleep.

“Are you okay, my friend?” That voice... Luna, it was difficult for me, but I began to remember, slowly the memories of yesterday returned with great pain

Luna approached me with those big eyes focused on me reflecting her concern, slowly the distance between us was shortened and… “BIB” I touched her on the nose causing her to recoil from the unexpected gesture, the truth is that It was my best attempt at a hit, now I remember that she was the one who forced me to drink, and I wanted to share a little of my pain, but that was the best I could do, so I would have to settle for that funny embarrassed Luna face.

“Water, please” My voice was hoarse and little more than a whisper, fortunately Luna decided not to be bothered by what had happened before and levitated a glass that she took out from somewhere to fill it with water that she condensed from the atmosphere.

Bless the magic

Although I wouldn't even joke with it at this moment, so I made a Herculean effort to move and take the glass with my paws, but in the end it wasn't necessary, the glass had already levitated, it was in front of me

I wanted to thank Luna for the help, but thirst overcame me, I drank greedily until there was not even a drop left.

I was catching my breath when I felt something soft but firm rub gently on my head, giving me clumsy caresses.

Luna was worried, that was unusual, I mean, of course she cares about my well-being, but she is not usually the type to show affection or concern physically, it may sound hypocritical to highlight this when I always take the opportunity to play with her mane, tail and feathers whenever she's distracted, but the fact that she's so reluctant to let me touch her voluntarily shows how uncomfortable she is with physical contact.

"Are you feeling better?" Luna asked.

The truth was that he didn't feel that bad, his fur, like the rest of his body, was cold to the touch, which gave a feeling of freshness to my sore head while also being cozy due to the softness with which each inhabitant of This world seems to be gifted, so I simply nodded slowly and did my best to focus on the sensations caused by the tender caresses, managing to partially ignore the pain.

Until…

“KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK” I squirmed in place at the sudden sonic attack. What idiot carries out a shootout in a castle?

“I will attend to it in a moment” Luna spoke, and I shuddered, if my own heart already sounded like a drum in my ear, the knock on the door was like a hammer blow with a chisel straight to the skull.

Luna was protective again as she hugged me until I calmed down and then put on some earmuffs that she must have had somewhere in her closet.

Once again I found myself surprised, but I appreciated the gesture anyway.

I couldn't hear almost anything anymore, so I could only see Luna's backside as she looked out the door and argued with whoever she had come to bother, this time I didn't feel guilty for appreciating the view, I owed it to myself, besides that you could hardly see anything due to the darkness of the room that seemed to become one with his coat and the little that was visible was covered by his starry tail... it's enough for me

After a few seconds that seemed miserably short, Luna closed the door and turned to look at me. Despite meeting my gaze, she didn't seem to realize what she was appreciating moments before.

“I'm afraid my sister demands our presence as soon as possible,” she said softly as she approached.

“Mmmh” I let out the closest thing I could to a growl, if this little sunny butt princess wants to see me, then let her come herself, I'm not moving!

“Hold still for a second, I'll use a healing spell.” Without waiting for a response, her horn began to shine, pointing right at my face.

"No, thanks, I'm fine!" I almost screamed, standing up abruptly and jumping out of bed, getting out of Luna's line of fire.

Bad... idea... I want to vomit!, but I had no other choice, those damn spells work in conjunction with another scanner spell to know what they are supposed to fix, but it could easily be used to see through my disguise, unfortunately There is no such thing as convenient and unreasonable as a cure-all spell.

Despite it being a fantasy world, that didn't necessarily mean that logic was dead, even magic had to have common sense in some aspects.

"Are you sure about that?" Luna asked, obviously confused by my sudden change in status.

“Sure, sure…” I affirmed, but I didn't need a mirror to know that I was turning green, I had to make an excuse, so I blurted out a half-truth in the most relaxed tone I could “In my family we don't like to wear those things unless we really need them, we believe that they harm us in the long run, trust me, I can handle this”

No I can't, I can feel it rise up my throat

Luna stayed, examining me for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity "I guess... it's okay, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to interfere in your family customs, but if you feel any discomfort, I want you to tell me right away. Do you understand me?" She finally said it with gravity in her tone.

I nodded, it wasn't ideal for my dizziness, but if I tried to speak I was afraid that much more than words would come out.

“Okay, but first we have to get ready, we don't want to offend you, but it looks like our night didn't give us what the ponies would call a restful sleep.” That was fair, if I smelled half as bad as I felt, then that was an excuse. Enough to kick me out of the castle

However, any thoughts she might have had vanished the moment Luna turned in the direction of the bathroom.

Chance! It was undoubtedly risky, but I instantly lit a flame in my hoof that with a slight and painful shine from my false horn transformed into a 'Flame gate' in which I submerged my snout and stopped holding back.

“BRUUUG”

"What was that?" Luna noticed it

The damn sound!

I removed my paw and the fire went out instantly. By sheer force of will, I managed to close my mouth as the stomach material continued to pile up, leaving me with a sour taste that seeped into my nose.

And then I swallowed, I felt myself go cross-eyed for a second

I can only imagine what Luna thought because she watched the face she was making at all times.

“It was nothing- BRUB- it was nothing” I said covering a burp that escaped me with a hoof “Just a temporary dizziness” I didn't even believe it

“And that dizziness will follow you unless I give you some time alone in the bathroom?” He said sarcastically and leaving the way to the bathroom clear for me.

“I love you, Luna!” I took advantage of the offer right away, but as I was running, I thought I saw Luna's face turn red for some reason.

How strange she was acting today

Celestia was not happy

Not only had they disobeyed her yesterday, but they made her look ridiculous, at her nephew's funeral! Which was significantly delayed by waiting for the arrival of his sister, who never showed up, which caused the delay to be seen as a mistake by Celestia herself, since she was the one who insisted and ordered them all keep waiting

She thought about going and claiming them in person, but she had to be present, the ponies could have no doubt what their princess was doing in her time of need, but the guards she sent to look for her sister returned with burns or trembling with fear and The more soldiers returned, the fewer ponies stayed to watch Blueblood's departure.

That irritated her to no end, although she clearly didn't show it, her serenity never leaving her alabaster face.

But now, as if they hadn't teased her enough already, they had the nerve to leave her waiting, even for something as simple as breakfast, even though she knew they were awake.

Both

In retrospect, getting angry is easier when you know who to direct your anger at, and she had the perfect target for that, coming through the dining room door. The fact that she looked haggard and had an unsteady gait, slightly appeased her anger, but only because she found it pleasurable. The sight or at least until her sister wrapped her wing around her helping to keep her stable.

“Good morning, sister” Celestia greeted sharply.

“Good morning” Luna responded without noticing her sister's sharp tone in the slightest, as she was more focused on helping Spirit take a seat.

Celestia noticed it and didn't like it.

"What's up?" Spirit said simply, showing how little he cared about her manners by not even bothering to lift his head from the table or even look at her.

… If someone got close enough to her neck area, they would notice a vein standing out in the princess's pristine fur, but no one dared to get that close.

“Everything went well today despite the… unforeseen events of yesterday”

“We're sorry to hear that,” Luna said, lowering her ears, finally realizing her sister's anger.

“I sent ponies to look for you, why didn't you even respond?” Celestia questioned.

Luna shrank in her seat without knowing what to respond, it was a moment of weakness that she did not feel comfortable sharing like that, but knowing her sister she would surely insist until she found the answer, whether she wanted it or not.

Luckily, someone else realized how much it hurt him to talk about it.

“My bad” Both heads turned in the direction of the kirin, who still had his head pressed to the table, trying to reach a plate of pancakes that insisted on staying a few inches out of his reach no matter how much he stretched “I don't like funerals, so I got drunk and Luna had to take care of me"

Luna felt happy and guilty in equal parts when she saw how her friend took the blame for her just to avoid problems.

Celestia, on the other hand “Did you get drunk?” She asked incredulously, “Where did you get the alcohol?” The princess stood up in her own seat with her front paws on the table, trying to intimidate her guest.

Too bad Spirit was too interested in reaching the plate with the delicious, soft dough dipped in honey to notice it, Celestia stared at her until Luna, unable to stand the increasing tension, used her magic to bring the plate closer to her friend

With the plate of delicacies in her hands, she had no problem answering “I brought it with me, do you want some?” "I never imagined that you were one of those who drink early" She said in mockery before the stunned look of Luna and the guards.

Before, no doubt, he would have been a little scared by Celestia's hostile attitude, but after noticing that Celestia was the one who cared the most about her own appearance, he realized that she would never stoop to the point of attacking him in any public way. Against a pony and considering that Spirit Flame did not exist outside of this castle, he did not care what else he could do.

Celestia was about to respond when Spirit took out a piece with her fork and chewed it slowly, savoring the exquisite delicacy... or at least until she remembered the obscene amount of sugar that the ponies put in everything

He stopped when the sugar with hints of flour and egg refused to pass down his throat, he took a napkin to wipe away the remains of cream and crumbs or at least that's what he tried to pretend when he returned the chewed and drooled pieces of the pancake while at the same time I wrapped it with the napkin as discreetly as I could...

… Which wasn't much.

Luna covered her face with her hooves, the guards looked disgusted, and Celestia looked petrified with an expression that combined disgust and barely contained rage.

“Y-you.”

"Yeah?"

“Do you have any idea what problems you caused? How did we have to change the schedule we had planned? How I had to give up some of my time to personally say goodbye to my nephew? And I don’t even need to mention your complete lack of decorum that you are showing me!”

After finishing venting her rage, Celestia took some time to breathe and calm down, but to her surprise Spirit did not laugh or sneer to fuel her anger, on the contrary, she kept a straight face as she did her best to sit properly on her back. His chair and then lowered his head despite the dizziness that this caused him

“I'm sorry.” For the third time this morning, everyone in the dining room was perplexed “The loss of a dear family member is something I wouldn't wish on anyone, and I was inconsiderate by behaving like that, having passed such a short time since your loss.”

It took Celestia a moment to understand what was happening, it was clear that none of the mares liked the other and none of them were planning to do anything to change that fact, but at least there were limits that they were not willing to cross and that seems to be the case. That not respecting the mourning period was one of those lines... I could respect that

And so, based on common ground and considerable effort on her part, Celestia took her seat again and decided to offer a truce.

“Raise your head” Spirit obeyed, once again exchanging glances with the princess, but this time without challenge or ridicule, he simply maintained a serious face “I can understand that in your home these drinks are not a matter of great concern, but I ask that as much as possible respect our customs when you're in Canterlot, that's all"

Spirit nodded, looking surprisingly embarrassed “Yes, I understand perfectly, and you don't have to worry about something like this happening again.” The mare showed a genuine expression of disgust, and a shiver seemed to run through her body as her mind wandered through the few memories. Of her trying those drinks and none of them were pleasant “The truth is that I hate alcohol, it doesn't matter how they give it to me, the taste is almost intolerable for me.”

Luna furrowed her eyebrows and felt a pang of guilt again.

Celestia, on the other hand, decided to take this as her opportunity to lead the conversation to simpler and more trivial topics, hoping to avoid another conflict with her guest. “Does it have something to do with your race or is it staff?”

At least for the moment

“This is true,” said Hawthorn, putting a stamina potion in his saddlebag. “Not this.” He denied, discarding the chain and shackles while wondering, what were they doing in the potion warehouse? “Not this either.” I ignore a box full of sensory enhancement potions “And this…” Hawthorn paused for a moment, holding up what appeared to be a pinkish object, elongated and soft to the touch, the tip of which looked like a… “AHHH”

Hawthorn threw the obscene object into one of the corners of the family warehouse while rubbing his hoof against the floor, finally realizing the relationship between the object in question and the other materials found earlier “In the heart of the forest, Fyr! What the hell are you doing with my brother?! And here I thought that his thinness was due to the stress of running a kingdom."

Hawthorn and Aspen were never very different in a sense of skills and combat capacity, throughout their childhood they had equally well-built bodies because they were both trained together, always performing the same exercises and training with the only exception being their personal magic.

But after the marriage, which was shortly before he was declared ruler, they separated and Aspen's physique began to decline no matter how hard he tried, even if they followed the same training regimen.

“Females are scary,” Hawthron shuddered.

"You called me?" A timberwolf passing by heard the angry deer cry and knowing that his creator would not want to miss a possible compromising situation, he sent a signal.

“AHH” Hawthorn jumped at the unexpected guest “Don't you know how to play?!”

The timberwolf backed away as if he had hit it “And you know how to close a damn door?! Damn I'm hungover” The wolf growled in annoyance rubbing his head as he pointed behind him “If you wanted privacy it's your fault for not doing something so simple and by the way, what is… all… that?” The wolf looked at the chains and the phallic object of obvious functionality “Oh friend, wait until I tell Discord.” The wolf began to back away.

“Don't get any weird ideas!” The deer shouted, not wanting to think about what that demon could do with such disastrous information, but he could still save his reputation... what was left of it. "My brother uses this warehouse to store his personal supply of potions, I only came because I have a trip" what to do, and I never go out without an adequate amount of these things”

“Hawthorn! Would you blame your brother for your wicked actions? "I didn't believe you had layers" The wolf looked indignant despite lacking facial features.

“I neve-!”

"But you can rest assured my friend, I don't judge" The wolf interrupted him by patting him on the back while giving him a speech about equality and tolerance that could have been used to lead all the races in Equus to world peace, but unfortunately it would only be used as a simple joke and never remembered again

Hawthorn gave up on the idea of explaining halfway through that and settled for continuing to collect the potions that could be useful to him. “Hey, it's no fun if I don't see you suffer.”

Hawthron stopped, grabbed the wolf's head and shook it vigorously.

Many miles away at Canterlot Castle, a certain visitor Kirin had a sudden attack of dizziness and loss of balance that resulted in her falling directly into a small artificial lagoon in the royal garden while accompanying the sisters on a morning walk, who They learned the hard way that their guest didn't know how to swim.

“Son of a- COF!”

“Yes, yes, have this” Hawthorn took out a sheet of paper that he had kept in his saddlebag and shoved it in the snout of the wolf that was writhing on the ground “It is an exercise regimen, it is specially adapted for you and I want you to “Do it every day without exception.”

“Damn it, Luna, leave my tail alone, you're going to rip it off!”

"I'll take that as a yes, goodbye" The deer took his saddlebag, being sure that he already had everything he needed for the long trip and turned around to leave, but...

“My revenge… will be slow… and painful-COF” Forest declared between gasps.

He had barely managed to reach the shore despite the 'help' of both alicorns, but more than help to get out, it seemed that both were fighting to see who could sink it deeper.

Luna would repeatedly try to pick her up with her magic while Celestia insisted on trying to teleport her, which resulted in a magical clash followed by a mutual cancellation of their magical auras which only managed to hinder the dizzy mare even more, as these 'crashes' often caused enormous damage. Waves despite the limited amount of water

“In that case, I better make it worth it” She ran towards the now terrified wolf that was crawling on the ground and decapitated it in one fluid motion.

That didn't kill him, he knew the limits of these things, but before the head could meet the body, Hawthorn threw it a meter into the air and then kicked it with all his force towards a nearby wall.

The wall burst upon contact, leaving a hole that a pony could easily stick its head through.

"What was that?!" Aspen was heard asking in the distance.

"Bramble! If it was you, get ready because I'm going to show you why our parents had a collection of belts despite not having any pants." Fyr's voice resonated throughout the house, bringing with it several traumatic memories "And if it was you Hawthorn, Start praying to the forest for mercy because I don't have any left!

Hawthorn took that as the ideal time to set the record for the fastest land creature that has ever existed.

“Your majesty” As soon as he was in front of the figure of his princess, his body bent giving a polite bow, more by reflex than by true intention, years of service in the royal guard had turned the polite gesture into an ingrained involuntary habit. To your muscle memory

“Captain Shining Armor” Celestia answered him, but without looking directly at him, his attention was on the Kirin while he was being carried on a stretcher by a pair of guards.

“All I see is darkness…” Poor Kirin lamented.

“Maybe because your eyes are closed” Luna answered with her eyes rolling as she walked to the side of the moving stretcher.

“I swear a fish almost ripped them off!”

The ridiculous conversation continued without him and Celestia paying attention to them, and they continued on their way to the deeper parts of the garden while they took their guest to the castle's infirmary.

“Princess, if you don't mind me asking, what happened back there?”

Celestia shook her head, not being able to understand what had happened either. “I wish I knew, everything was fine while we took a quiet walk in the garden and had a debate in which she claimed that our baked goods have too much sugar to be consumable when she seemed to get distracted and a minute later it was as if gravity had reversed just for her, resulting in her ending up falling into the lagoon and when she finally managed to get out it was as if someone had kicked her in the face throwing her back into the water"

The captain did his best to keep her face serious, but he found it difficult to imagine such a spectacle. “And they couldn't help her?” He finally asked, hoping the answer would distract him.

The princess's face turned red, accompanied by a hint of guilt. “My sister and I don't synchronize well.”

Shining endured the curl, but it was impossible for him to prevent a crooked smile from forming on his face.

Certainly, that was not the way he expected to meet the mare, Cadance had told him about her, he said she was pleasant company once you got used to the rudeness and lack of manners.

Although she was a little worried when she made a special point of never making her angry, when he asked her why that was, she just stared into space trembling as she muttered something about getting an 8 or the pale stallion would catch her.

She had no idea what she was talking about, but it gave him the idea that the pony was intimidating like a dragon, but upon meeting her in such a state, he couldn't help but laugh as he felt the growing nervousness that had built up dissipate.

“He-hem” Celestia coughed into her hair, drawing Shining's attention “Have you finished thinking about what we talked about before?”

Shining's good mood vanished from her face instantly, being replaced by a conflicted expression.

The conflict caused by having to decide between what she thought was her duty and a desire for revenge shared with her princess was clearly visible on her face.

“Excuse me princess, but I'm still not sure about this, it seems to me that you are too impulsive” The truth was that he had turned a blind eye waiting for her to reconsider, he hoped that the plan she had told him about was only the result of anger. Arose from loss and that hopefully she would realize how risky it was when she was more composed, but apparently she was determined to carry it out

"Doubt me?" Celestia asked, stopping in her tracks.

“O-of course not princess, it's just that…” Shining thought, but her words eluded him, it was at times like this that she most envied her sister, who was basically a living encyclopedia.

"Except that?" Celestia pressed again

"There will be problems, the nobles will not like that they have not been informed, especially those who have relatives in the guard." For Celestia's plan to work, they would need a considerable number of guards and the only place that met their requirements was an acceptable distance was the royal guard base in Canterlot, it went without saying that many of those who had the honor of serving in the capital of Equestria possessed noble blood "And... I must admit that it does not seem appropriate that my first great act as commander of the guard is to ignore the chain of command in such a way…”

"You will not be betraying or defrauding anyone, you will be doing exactly what you swore to do, protect Equestria and its inhabitants from evil, and you will not be alone, I will lead this company, I only ask that you make the preparations, I cannot risk that what I plan to leak, and you know very well that I do not possess the freedom that everyone would imagine typical of a princess"

That was undeniable, not only the nobles always have an eye on the princess due to endless political issues, but all of Equestria, she was their idol after all, everyone wanted to know her favorite type of tea, her brand of shampoo. , where she buys her dresses, where she has breakfast and a hundred etc. “I have that perfectly clear, but I think we need more information, we cannot risk danger like this”

“We could do it,” she admitted. “Be patient and gather information, waiting for the right moment to attack, but while we do that, those who follow Blueblood's duty will be at risk or worse.”

“Do you really think all that was because of him? Excuse me, princess, but it seems exaggerated to me"

“What else could it be but? "She came here and went directly to where he was hiding, it can't be a coincidence that she ran into the pony in charge of supervising the area where we know she lives, she had him marked from the beginning." When Celestia read Twilight's letter, she thought that It would be a good opportunity to test your nephew, perhaps help him mature and hopefully abandon some of his usual narcissistic behavior.

It worked on Twilight, after all, forcing her to step out of her comfort zone and confront her worst traits while bringing out the best in herself.

Everything indicated that it would be the same for Blueblood, but unlike with Twilight, Blueblood's adversary decided not to leave anything to chance.

“We have to nip it in the bud before it causes more damage.” He looked directly into the stallion's eyes with an intensity that made him feel like he was making eye contact, not with his eyes, but with his soul. “Would you help me?”

In the end, did you really have a choice or was it decided from the beginning? "Always princess"

Celestia nodded approvingly. “Excellent.”

"But if we are going to do it we have to do it well, the teleportation pillars are ruled out, since they are in the care of the Reality Marble family and mobilizing such a large number of troops without alerting the population will be complicated"

“I agree” Celestia agreed with him on that “We will need a date when both the nobility and the commoners, and hopefully our adversary, are too busy to pay due attention to the surroundings”

At that moment, both the captain and his princess were clear: there was no better date available or a more suitable holiday for their plot.

Celestia internally apologized to her sister for what she was about to do.

“Nightmare night”

19- My favorite movie

Music was something strongly rooted in pony culture, not that that was a surprise seeing the effects that harmonic magic tends to have on them, luckily I have never experienced it, but that doesn't matter now, what really matters is how to take advantage of it

It seems almost, if not all, of the songs these ponies make are happy, with a rather childish tone in my opinion, although that may be because positive emotions predominate in that type of magic, which I'm pretty sure has limited their musical abilities among many other artistic forms

That's exactly why this melancholic tone is more than ideal to attract curious ponies, for them, I suppose it must be something innovative

Main Theme - Hans Zimmer

Although the ponies did not seem very comfortable with my Kirin form, many had been attracted by the melody, only to be caught by the sign that contained a word irresistible to any thinking being.

FREE

I never imagined that being good with a musical instrument could be so satisfying, it makes me rethink some life decisions

“Excuse me” A soft and tender voice belonging to a pegasus foal with light blue fur and white mane distracted me, causing me to lose my rhythm, but it didn't bother me.

The visible shame present in all children when meeting a stranger spoke to my heart

“Tell me little one” I gave him my best smile without showing my fangs, I learned the hard way how much that makes ponies uncomfortable.

"What's that?" He pointed to one of the multiple images I had hanging on the side of my cart

“Oh, that” I said, levitating the leaf closer so he could see it well. “This is a nebula.” Seeing his confused face, I continued slowly explaining “Nebulae are clouds, space clouds, only instead of being made of steam and water these are made of gases and cosmic dust”

“Woooow” The colt released without clearing his eyes of the image “And where can I find one?” He seemed fascinated, almost hypnotized, and it was no wonder, Discord helped me a lot by taking images directly from my memories and making them solid, it was almost like a photograph if it weren't for the fact that these were hyperrealistic

“There” I said pointing to the sky, the poor colt followed the direction of my hoof, the emotion marked on her face, but she died when she found nothing.

"I do not see her"

“Haha, of course not small” The confusion returned to him, so I explained again “These clouds are special, they are not something you can find on a random day and especially not at this time” I pointed to the sun in the distance, it was already getting dark so it didn't hurt our eyes and gave a nice view by painting the horizon orange “It's nice, isn't it? But you shouldn't let it distract you, that's just the preamble to wonders." This time I pointed directly to the sky where some stars were already beginning to be seen.

“There they are, at distances you can't even imagine, born from a dying star, anyone can see these wonders, but you must be willing to look for them” End my little presentation, perhaps too enthusiastic for that little mind

However, to my surprise, the boy didn't seem to lose interest. He seemed a little frustrated, probably because he couldn't understand everything he was telling him, but that changed when he looked back at the pictures and the sign that said FREE.

“I… Can I take her?” He asked, pointing at the image he was still levitating.

“You better take this.” I returned the image to the side of the car and instead took out one of the books that filled the back and that had apparently gone unnoticed until now. “Maybe you don't like reading, but this book has all the images I have here, and it also tells the story of a journey that goes beyond any adventure you could ever imagine”

The colt took the book, his eyes seemed to shine as he read the cover.

Interstellar

It said in big letters, it was the same as the movie poster, but I changed the main character for a brown pegasus with black mane, I wanted to put a griffin, but Fyr warned me that if I wanted to get the attention of the ponies it would be best using ponies which made sense, although I didn't really like limiting myself to a single race, so the other characters were quite diverse

"Thank you so much!" I scream with excitement, hurting my ears, but I don't get upset, on the contrary, I really liked seeing how fascination and intrigue were born in this child's mind.

“You're welcome, but it's already quite late, you better go home” I said patting him on the head.

The boy laughed as he ruffled his hair. “Goodbye.” To my surprise, he jumped up and gave me a hug, which I gladly returned. Then he started flapping his wings and flew away into what looked like a cloud shaped like a house… I still can't get used to that

“Okay… I think I'm done here” I stretched and flexed my muscles to relax, sitting most of the day moving only my arms… front legs are more tiring than you would think, but I didn't dwell on it too much, I had to save my things and take the carriage

I wonder if I'm exaggerating with this, but the truth is that I've wanted to see how these ponies react to fiction for a long time, so you could say that I'm doing this more as a personal experiment than because of the promise I made to Luna.

At first, like every coherent human, I dismissed that promise because I was obviously drunk, and I said it without thinking, in addition to not having the slightest idea where to start.

Until the enlightenment hit me, what better way to show others the grandeur and immensity of space than with what it showed it to me?

'Interstellar' was my favorite movie and the one that basically blew my mind, even now I feel like I didn't see it enough times despite knowing it by heart

Despite that, making the book was a real challenge, writing is much, much more difficult than anyone imagines, the words you are looking for do not come, you discover how bad your spelling really is, the sentences lack coherence and so on. A thousand complications that repeat themselves over and over again

I had to ask for help and luckily Aspen and Fyr were fans of reading, their help in correcting me and editing the multiple drafts was key, and even so if it weren't for my wolves working 24/7 I would never have finished it within this year, Making this masterpiece in a week was nothing short of a miracle

Once finished, I just had to ask Discord for some help to create thousands of copies along with the images and that's it.

I just had to distribute them

Something I took as a vacation, since going from town to town and city to city was quite entertaining, although I didn't allow myself to relax. I continued training as Hawthorn told me and spreading my drones in every city and town I visited.

Now I just have to go to the outskirts of the town, activate 'Flame gate' and... What is that?... No, seriously, what is that?!

With a dumbfounded face, I stared at the pair of street vendors trying to convince people to buy their product, a kind of fruity drink, but it wasn't that that caught my attention, but rather their cart.

It had a motor! It was an archaic thing, its shape looked disproportionate, and it seemed like it was trying to imitate a locomotive, but it was undeniably a car!

I immediately ordered a dozen of my drones to follow them and for nothing in the world would I lose sight of them, meanwhile I continued with my original plan, I entered the forest and teleported all the merchandise I had left to my cave, and I was waiting

Oddly enough, I didn't feel very comfortable in that place, perhaps because this was not the Everfree, something good that I cannot deny about Equestria is how well they have done to grow without harming the environment, resulting in a collection of different large and small forests scattered everywhere

The rest was a matter of patience, it was already late when I left the town, and they did not take long to follow my example by closing their stall and calling it a day

They looked for a secluded place to set up camp, but something that caught my attention was that, like me, they moved away from the town to a considerable distance away from where anyone could find them.

I didn't understand why this was, I did it because I needed to release my flames, but they had no reason to hide, or at least that's what I thought.

My answer came about 30 minutes later, when the village ponies began to emerge from their houses with colorful spots all over their fur and searched the entire village for any trace of the street vendors demanding an explanation.

Interesting

My questions only grew the more I saw of these two and, of course, they weren't going to be resolved if I just stared, so I opened another 'Flame gate' near their camp, leaving myself and some wolves that remained hidden just in case.

I didn't let them see me, instead I crept up to the car and examined it, checking its wheels, gear shifters, what appeared to be a mini chemical factory in the back and the exhaust pipes confirming that it was in fact a combustion engine and continued until I found a way to open the hood

Fascinating! There is no fuel container, no battery, which means… I don't understand anything!

It might seem contradictory, but that's what excited me the most. Not understanding what drives this machine shows how extraordinary it is.

"Ahem"

My growing euphoria came to an abrupt halt when a forced cough came from behind me, I must have made too much noise.

I immediately connected to my drone and understood why he had not informed me, neither of them was a threat, both of them were holding medium-sized branches with telekinesis, which meant that they did not know offensive or defensive spells, if they did, they would not incapacitate themselves with telekinesis, not even I can cast two spells at the same time, much less two civilians

“My apologies, your car caught my attention.”

Both brothers looked confused and doubtful when they saw that I didn't even bother to look at them or at least they thought that.

“I see that you have good taste, but I must ask you to come down from there if you don't mind... ma'am” said the brother with the mustache as he looked away uncomfortably, only then did I realize that they could only see my somewhat raised rear part due to how so much that I had delved into the bowels of the machine

Damn and damn nudist culture! I immediately got out of the vehicle with my tail stuck to my side.

Needless to say, my expression of combined shame and fury was not the best to introduce myself to the ponies, who immediately jumped and burned themselves while trembling uncontrollably.

“E-excuse us please!”

“Don't eat us, I assure you we don't taste good, what's more, I have some welts on my butt that I'm sure are contagious!”

Eww, too much information, even his brother tried to distance himself a little from that statement

“Don't worry, I would never hurt the architects of such a magnum opus.” I made sure to sound eloquent as he pointed to the wheeled junk.

“You… Are you serious?” None of the brothers seemed to trust my words.

"It's so weird? Are you going to tell me that such a creation doesn't steal attention every time it enters a town?

“Well… certainly presentation is important in our area of work”

“Are you talking about the scams?” They both tensed, it seems to make you

“If my brother or I sold you something that was not entirely to your liking, rest assured that we will give you fair compensation.” Before I could calm his growing panic, the mustacheless brother levitated a chest and when my mouth opened, he did it too

It was so full of bits that the chest sank into the ground and its brilliance manifested itself despite the complete lack of any lighting source.

“They got this after just one day?!” I asked stunned.

“Of course, after all you won't find better merchants” One of them declared proudly, I didn't pay attention to which one, they seemed to have acquired the habit of completing their sentences.

"As?"

“Parasprite juice is exquisite, a delicacy reserved only for the highest society.” He said what I assume was a rehearsed line to cajole the most naive.

"But?" I asked, remembering what happened in the town.

Their foreheads began to sweat and when they couldn't handle eye contact anymore, they confessed, lowering their heads. “But it has the side effect of causing stains on the fur, but everyone exaggerates, it only lasts a week at most.” I added as if that changed the fact. What is a scam

My look said it all, for someone who almost died due to the unreported side effect, I found this annoying, but for the sake of not losing the little confidence I had gained, I decided to ignore it

“I won't question your sales methods, it's none of my business, however, this” I pointed to the machine “I'm intrigued, where did they get it?”

For the first time, the fear completely left her face. “We did it!” They said in unison

"Oh really?" I asked with obvious distrust, that was hard to believe. This machine, as antiquated as it is to me, is decades ahead of Equestrian technology, even centuries depending on what areas we are talking about.

“Doubt offends, there is no one in Equestria who can make one like it.” I still didn't believe it, not that his actions made them trustworthy.

I let flames adorn my figure in an attempt to intimidate them, which worked wonders.

“So tell me, what drives this machine? You should at least know that, right?"

“I-it's just magic” That made me angry, magic can do many things, but it is not a viable substitute for gasoline, or even electricity. Pure magic can only be used in a very limited range of arcane projects, not mechanics.

“They lie!” I said almost shouting

“W-we use magic to create small explosions that move the pistons that drive the vehicle, that's all!”

…

I'll shut up... it just didn't occur to me. Magic itself cannot be used to make fuel, but if you can make a spell that does the same thing as that, you can even use an electric spell that generates electricity.

How did I not think of it before?! How did I miss something so obvious?

I went back to the vehicle and looked at the pistons

Both brothers were surprised by my sudden change of attitude, but revealing their opportunistic nature, they soon tried to escape in silence.

It didn't work, but it was nice to see them try, but still, I wanted to give them a chance.

“It's a shame they left it incomplete”

Both brothers stopped in their tracks, processing what they had just heard.

I was surprised at how well synchronized they were when they looked at the darkness of the forest, their only escape route, and then turned to look at me again, biting their lip.

Now they were the ones who had been lured and hooked by the false propaganda, by an offer they simply could not refuse.

I had seen his reactions when I talked about his vehicle before, his pride was undeniable, but now I was sure it was true.

The seed of doubt had been planted in their minds, and they could no longer simply leave despite the danger. If it was something related to his great invention, they had to know it, no matter what.

"What do you mean?" asked the brother with the mustache

“You say this is the best you can do? It's a shame, I shouldn't have gotten so excited." I said, "I'm disappointed."

"That?!" The other brother shouted indignantly “There is no one who can do anything better” he stated and to my surprise I managed to perceive some anger.

With that I decided that it was time to show them the true power "The wheels are bad, the wood is useless, you will destroy the chassis in record time and the suspension if it has one, better wrap them in rubber and fill them with air, the engine is functional, but you could improve its efficiency and power if each cylinder has twin spark plugs, and you integrate a double ignition system, magnetos are a good option and speaking of magnetos you could also use them to create a secondary engine that works with electricity to produce a "similar effect to the combustion engine, although it will be less powerful it will still add more power or a backup in case of emergency"

As I progressed with my explanation, I pointed out the parts of the car that needed changes or were directly useless, such as that large bumper that served as a platform, or the disproportionate rear wheels, etc.

By the time I finished, both unicorns were looking at me with open mouths and collapsed brains.

“H-how?, How?, How?!” The brothers grabbed their heads with their hooves as if they were going to fall off.

“In my home we have studied mechanics, chemistry, physics and any other science in depth, we understood long ago that better ways of getting around equal better economy and quality of life” Both brothers were still too stunned to respond appropriately so I decided to hit while the metal was still hot “How about a deal?”

Despite the surprise, both brothers reacted instantly to that word: “I share my knowledge with you, and you market it, and then we divide the profits into a percentage that we will settle later. What do you think?”

They didn't even know what to think, a few minutes ago their biggest worry was that she was a savage and ate them, and now she was making them the business offer they had been waiting for their whole lives. “Who are you?” Finally, they responded almost in unison

“Forest Heart, a pleasure”

Celestia walked through the hallways with an unusually fast pace, she was tired and worried, she had been working tirelessly and in her carelessness she had overlooked a crucial detail, they couldn't blame her, a thousand years make you addicted to routine and her millennia-old routine had undergone a drastic change

Once he arrived at her destination, he greeted the thestral guards, who responded in the same way without giving him a second glance.

She was still not used to his presence or the new design of the tower, she always found the range of colors that now adorned an entire section of the castle quite unimaginative, of course she understood perfectly that this race could see perfectly in the dark, but was it necessary to highlight that fact so much?

She put those thoughts out of her head and focused on her current goal.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

I knock on the door three times… nothing

“Sister, I apologize for coming at such an hour, but I'm afraid we have an urgent matter that we must discuss.” I wait again and nothing

She briefly considered trying to get in. Her sister was still not used to modern locks and she still used her magic to lock the doors, something that tended to cause problems among the castle staff, but for Celestia there was no impediment.

“Hey, princess.”

Before carrying out the act, one of the guards spoke, “Is something wrong?” She couldn't help but notice the reproachful look her fellow guard was giving her.

“I ask permission to speak.” Celestia had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, especially when she saw the guard's nervous face. What did she think she was going to do to him? Does she really compare her to those pretentious nobles?

“You can,” she responded, deciding to keep her opinions to herself.

“Princess Luna is not in her room,” the guard said.

More than bewildered by the late news, Celestia was surprised. There were still more than three hours until it was time to set the sun, and her sister treated the hours of sleep as a sacred ritual that must be extended as long as possible, or she would surely suffer the wrath of some deity.

“In that case, would you have any idea where she might find it?” Celestia asked.

“I'm afraid not, she left quite early, even for a conventional time and seemed to be in a hurry, since she didn't give us time to ask where she was going.”

That was unusual, and it left the princess thoughtful, but she didn't forget to thank the guards before leaving.

He was internally wondering where she could have gone, he needed to talk to her, but as much as he wanted to stop and think, she couldn't just stay still in the middle of a hallway, so he headed to her room hoping he could get the privacy he needed to be able to think

She does not expect at all to see the doors of her room seemingly moments away from being besieged by a troop of her own guards.

“Excuse me,” her voice left her guards in a state of apparent petrification. “Would you be so kind as to explain to me what is happening?”

"M-my princess, I-I assure you that we tried to stop her, but she is like a wild beast, she even dared to throw the Icy Blast soldier out of the window when he did not move." A unicorn guard tried to excuse himself, who from what he remembered was guarding his quarters today, as he pointed to a pegasus guard, the rest of the guards only nodded in confirmation.

“Could you step aside, please?” Not wanting to repeat her question, she decided to find out what was happening herself. Some guards seemed to want to protest, but wisely chose to remain silent and obey.

With her magic, Celestia opened one of her doors slightly to get a glimpse of the inside, what she saw… she didn't expect it.

“Not this one, this thing is horrible and… Why would I have one of these?” It was her sister, in her closet, taking her clothes and throwing them into a pile as she discarded them.

“Princess, we tried to-” The guard tried to excuse himself again without even processing the idea that her princess might be upset about something else besides the unauthorized entry into her chambers, but Celestia was in no mood to listen.

“You tried to deny my sister entry to a room in our castle and then gathered the guards to forcibly expel her from a room IN OUR CASTLE” Celestia gave special emphasis to that part

“B-but princess.”

“You have no authority to command a member of royalty, much less my sister.” The guard cowered in place, not knowing what to say or how to defend himself. “If you had any doubts, you should have come to me.” The alicorn's horn. Shined for a second, taking the information corresponding to the guard directly from the armor, making him freeze, knowing that nothing good awaited him next.

The princess did not say anything else as she entered her room and closed the door behind her, perhaps it was an impulsive act, but there were things that made even her lose patience and her sister's mistreatment was undoubtedly one of them, added to the stress of these days, one could only say that it was not a good idea to make her angry

“Hello sister.” Luna's ears perked up, apparently barely noticing her arrival.

“Oh, hello Tia,” Luna responded without thinking.

Celestia could feel her heart stop for a second and her wings almost take off. How long has it been since he called her that? She really lost count, this was unusual, apparently her sister was in an unusually good mood.

“Are you planning to go out somewhere?” She asked, staying as neutral as possible as she pointed to the pile of clothes, no longer caring that she had messed them up.

“… Something like that, I'm sorry about that, but my wardrobe seems to be somewhat… outdated, she was hoping to find something more cheerful”

Celestia nodded, not many things had survived her battle a thousand years ago, not wanting to sour the mood, changing the subject. “I remember how my things would suddenly disappear, and somehow you would get identical outfits days later.”

Luna quickly defended herself “It's not my fault! You grew too big, and it would have been a barbaric act to let them gather dust.”

“Maybe, but the truth is that I never thanked you for that, after all it was thanks to you that I learned the lock and punishment spells.” A small curl escaped Celestia's muzzle at the memory.

"Do not remind me that!" The lunar princess's face turned red as she remembered how the fabric of that dress suddenly compressed until it left her in a most compromising position in front of an entire mining town with which she was trying to negotiate for raw materials.

Clearly, she burned the dress seconds later and never trusted her teenage sister again.

Celestia, for her part, was still fighting and failing against the urge to laugh. “Do you remember that that year there were many more aspirants than usual who tried to enter the Starswirl tower?”

“Mmmh!” Luna was not at all pleased with the memories of her coming back to her and started stepping on one of her sister's legs.

“Haha, ouch, haha, ah, okay stop!” As soon as Luna removed her hoof reinforced with her usual metal horseshoe, Celestia began to rub her paw, hoping to ease the pain. “But seriously, I know you well enough to know how much you dislike dresses.” Maybe that's why she always likes him. We're missing, and he had to resort to taking his own “Why this change?”

A genuine smile adorned her sister's face. “Nightmare Night is coming.” Luna almost jumped as she announced it.

In the same way that Celestia's happiness came, it disappeared.

“Does it mean that much to you?”

“How would it not be? After so long, there is finally a nighttime festivity truly awaited by our ponies!”

“HUM”

Celestia let out a whimper as she felt Luna almost knock her over, she could practically feel her happiness radiating from her through the contact.

“Besides… there is someone I want to show it to too.”

Celestia knew exactly who he was referring to, and the whole situation caused a strange mix of emotions to arise within her.

Certainly, she didn't like Spirit Flame, but to deny the positive change she was having on her sister would be to be in denial.

In the time since Luna arrived she had become more open, communicative and generally happier, not only with Celestia, a few days ago she was surprised to see Luna having a talk about magic with Cadance and Shining, on another occasion she was surprised asking him for a walk through Canterlot, even though it was night

It may not seem like much, but compared to when I arrived…

“Tia, are you okay?” As expected, her little sister was able to notice the conflict in Celestia despite her mask, and that caused her internal debate to break out.

She had to tell him, hiding it wouldn't stop her from finding out later.

“I'm fine, it's just been a while since you burned me like that.” No matter how much Celestia tried or how much she told herself how wrong it was to deceive her sister like that, she just couldn't find it in her to ruin it. The happiness that had eluded her sister for so long

She settled for returning her hug as she wished this moment would never end.

“It better be here,” Hawthorn complained as he climbed the last stretch of rock and extended his paw to help Zecora.

She did not hesitate to take it to go up. "We have already reviewed all the oases that have been talked about, our destiny takes us along this path." Although the territory they were in was not exactly desert, it was on the border of one, so that the lack of vegetation and the increase in temperature began to become evident

“I hope you're right, we didn't do all this for nothing.” Climbing the summit had been a tough challenge, not for nothing did they have the word danger in their name.

“Puff.”

Zecora collapsed, finally getting a well-deserved rest. “We beg for a moment to stop the movement.”

Hawthorn nodded as he took advantage of the moment to observe the terrain with binoculars.

The views were beautiful from such a height, but he did not waste time contemplating them, he had an important mission to fulfill.

And that was when he saw something, it wasn't exactly what they were looking for, but the fact that they merely existed meant that at least part of the rumors were true and if this was true, what else could it be?

“Zecora I think you'll want to see this.”

The zebra, although tired, did not doubt the words of her companion and composed herself enough to take the binoculars and observe.

A smile appeared on her face as she looked at the small village and with one word described its inhabitants.

“Kirins”

Author's Note

I think at this point you can see where Zecora and Hawthorn's plan is going, but the real question is

Will they arrive in time or will they have already crossed too many red lines for redemption?

19.5- A truth you must accept

“Honey, are you sure you don't want to come? Maybe a little fresh air will do you good” With one last spark of hope, Velvet tried to persuade her daughter for the sixth time.

“Hmmm” But her response was the same, said in the same way and with her nose pressed to the table.

Her daughter had been extremely depressed since she returned to Canterlot or as Twilight preferred to say 'Her failed test of her'.

“… I understand, I'll be back in a few hours.” Before closing the door, she gave an intuitive look at the dragon working hard in the kitchen, who with a nod made it clear that Twilight would be in good hands while she went out shopping.

“Click”

With the departure of her mother, only an uncomfortable silence remained between the dragon and the mare, only interrupted by the frying pan and other instruments used for their culinary tasks.

It didn't take Spike long to complete what he was making, not only because of his unusual talent in the kitchen, but because of how rehearsed he was with this particular dish.

“Two hay burgers with ketchup”

Twilight looked at the two large king size burgers in bewilderment as she looked around the plate. “Why so little?” She looked like a kid who had been given a PS5 only to be disappointed the moment she opened the box and discovered it was a horrible Xbox One.

That traumatizes childhoods!

“Twilight, it's still very early, and you know that these things are not healthy for breakfast, especially when it's the only thing you eat for days” The dragon emphasized.

The mare grunted in protest, and her perceptive mind formulated a dozen arguments for debate, both reasonable and those supported by scientific studies.

But she didn't

Instead, she just let out a small sigh and settled for devouring her food.

Spike couldn't help but let out a tired sigh. Winning arguments against Twilight has never been so easy and so frustrating at the same time

As the minutes passed, silence took over the house again, with the girls back in Ponyville, Velvet out shopping, Night working, and Shining being exploited by Celestia. There weren't many the dragon could turn to

The truth was that he needed help, he was in no way qualified to help the depressed mare, in all their years together Twilight had suffered more than one anxiety attack, but he had never given a reason to validate these attacks, he always complied with the orders. Ridiculous standards that came with being a student of the princess

Except this time

Fortunately, help was not far away.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

"One moment!" Spike didn't know who was playing, but he internally thanked her for ending the awkward moment.

“Hi Spike, it's been a while” They greeted him warmly and immediately, Spike wished he could go back to that awkward moment from ten seconds ago, this was definitely worse “Is something wrong with you?”

“Of course not, no,” Spike denied, feeling his face heat up. Crying on the shoulder of a stranger was already a source of great shame for him, but for that same mare to comfort him like a baby and insist on pampering him whenever she can? That was something that would haunt him until the end of his days. “Please come in Spirit.”

“Thank you” The dragon stepped aside and let in the mare who seemed delighted with the shape of the house, as if the design and structure were something totally new to her.

“Spirit, not that I'm upset or anything, but how did you get here?” From what Spike remembered, she was a friend of Princess Luna, so they met at the castle and chatted, but that was it.

He had no further relationship with her and as far as he knew no one in his family

“Oh right, I asked Cadance where you lived… what a coincidence that they knew each other” Spirit said that last part more to herself, but not noticing, Spike replied

"Actually it's not so much, I live with Twilight, and she is Princess Celestia's student, we had to spend so much time in the castle that it was not unusual for them to spend time together, in fact, Cadance was her babysitter" Clarify the dragon

“And I guess that's how she met Shining, how far-fetched.”

“Yeah,” Spike admitted “… wait, do you know him?”

“Just in passing, Cadance tells me about him, but I think I've only met him twice, and he never lasted more than a simple greeting.”

“I see… and tell me, can I help you with something?” Spike asked, but inwardly prayed that it wasn't him she was looking for.

“Actually, yes” If the dragon knew any rudeness, he would have said it right then and there “You see that I have recently been given a… business opportunity and I wanted to ask your opinion on some of our products.”

"I?" Spike was surprised, they had never asked him for something like that, they usually preferred an intellectual like Twilight or, well... a pony.

“Yes, this is an imitation of the toys we have in my homeland” Spirit's horn flashed, and an object flew out of his saddlebags

Spike took it in his hands somewhat excitedly and looked at it up and down. It was of good quality and well detailed, but he couldn't help but show a small grimace of disappointment. “It's a locomotive.” He moved the wheels, hoping that the momentum would be enough for it to continue. Rotation on its own, but nothing “Twilight once made a similar miniature model and spelled it to move on its own, in fact, I think there are already many of those sold” I try to say it as gently as possible

“You could have told me it was a bad idea and that's it, there was no need to humiliate me.” Unfortunately, his attempts were misinterpreted.

“No, no, it's terrible, I mean, it's not that bad, just… you're laughing.” The Kirin girl made it clear that she had not been offended and was just amused to see her reaction.

"Don't worry, Spike, I wouldn't show you off about the things in my home if they didn't do something worthy." With a swipe of his paw on the chimney, the wheels uncoupled and Spike was surprised.

Curious, he pulled on the wheels and discovered that they could unfold, revealing a limb with five fingers. Now Spike was impressed

“Now pull out of the cabin without fear”

Spike obeyed the instruction, discovering that more parts of the toy were hidden inside. "Now separate them." That's what he did and when he did so he realized that these were the feet and if that was so then...

Without needing another clue, Spike searched the front of the toy where the head should be. If he hadn't known what he was looking for, he would never have noticed the irregular lines and hinges on the bottom. Upon noticing them, he immediately folded the toy into What seemed like an attempt to break it, but instead a peculiar head was released with a strange face with a nose and small blue eyes that Spike had never seen.

The locomotive, if you could call it that, was a brand new toy! Its length was now tall, the front part was now the torso, the rest of the pieces were its arms and legs, although... it looked somewhat irregular.

“You needed to turn it” With a flash of magic, the upper part of the combat robot turned 180° and was ready

The baby dragon's eyes shone with adoration at the genius

"How does this work?!" The scream did not come from Spike as Spirit expected but from the middle of the room

Where the lavender mare had been all this time, but Spirit never saw her because she had ended up right in her blind spot, plus the dull colors of her coat didn't stand out too much.

“AAAH” Spirit screamed, he even jumped in fright.

Spike slapped his face and shook his head. “Twilight, please don't forget to greet the guests.”

“Oh… hello,” Twilight greeted, returning to her previous mood.

“Hello” Spirit returned the greeting even with his hair standing on end.

Spike tried to contain his laughter. “Haha, your hair,” he said, covering his mouth.

Spirit looked at himself and had to admit that he seemed a little funny. His fake mane had gone from elegant and dignified like a lion's to a giant cotton candy.

“Laugh while you can little one, I'll give it back to you”

“But I didn't do anything!”

“And you think that will save you?” The kirin gave him a smile, making sure to show him all her fangs.

“I don't think it's fair, it was my mistake, I'm sorry.” As expected, Twilight was unable to discern a simple joke, which soured the atmosphere, or at least for the Kirin.

“Okay, in that case, I'll show you the plans for our new toys, and you tell me what you think. Having the expert opinion of Celestia's disciple would help me a lot to perfect my merchandise."

For a second the ghost of a smile seemed to appear on Twilight's face, and then she nodded, if there was something that put Twilight in a good mood it was new knowledge and from what she had heard Spirit seemed to have a bit

If Twilight had had the slightest idea how true that idea was, her depression would have been instantly cured and her body would have suffered an effect similar to what she would have had after consuming 8 kilos of the whitest and whitest white powder pure… sugar

“Spike, how about, while Twilight and I talk, you go to your room and try out my other models? They're called Transformers, by the way."

“Transformers” Spike repeated, eager to have the bag with figures that were being given to him, he wanted to use them right now and discover what shapes they had, in addition to the endless things he could do with them, but he controlled his impulse and looked at Twilight, the dragon didn't dare move until the pony gave him permission

Twilight nodded. “Don't worry, go have fun.”

That was all Spike needed. He ran down the stairs and entered the room. What neither of them noticed was the Kirin's furrowed eyebrow when he read that the door he entered through said TWILIGHT in large, purple letters.

“So, do you want my opinion?” Twilight tried to give a warm expression to her guest as best she could, but… the way she looked back at her was not what she expected.

“No, actually” Spirit said with all the sympathy she had shown moments before vanished.

At a neutral pace, he sat at the same table as Twilight, purposely choosing her place in front of her.

“I… I don't understand.” She certainly didn't, the mare's demeanor had taken a 180° turn the moment Spike left the room.

“We need to talk, in private.” As soon as he finished speaking, Spirit's curved horn glowed, releasing a small FLASH of light, more by reflex than by its own will, Twilight's analytical mind immediately recognized the spell used and its function and even some defects and how to correct them

A silencing bubble, rather old-fashioned, she had to add, as it not only prevented sound from leaving the bubble, but also from entering.

Still, she was surprised that her guest knew a spell like that, but that wasn't important at the moment.

“I have spoken with Luna, Cadance and most recently with Celestia.” At the mention of her teacher, Twilight abandoned any feeling of bewilderment about the situation and offered her total concentration. “It's not because of what you think, it's because of him.” Spirt pointed to the room. That Spike had entered

Which only baffled the mare even more. “What do you mean? What about Spike?”

“Are you seriously asking me?” The question was asked with obvious hostility, to which Twilight didn't know how to respond. Spirit sighed and responded, “He's depressed, you insist on taking him into high-risk situations, and frankly it seems to me like you're abusing him.”

Twilight's jaw hit the surface of the table, but she was quick to respond, “What are you saying? I would never do anything to hurt Spike, he's family!” Suddenly it became clear why the silencing bubble

"Oh really? It doesn't seem like it” Spirit stated “Did you know that a few days ago the poor guy cried in my arms until he was tired? Where were you? Did you know he's been having nightmares?”

"That?" Twilight had no idea, and that's why she had a hard time believing it. If Spike had any problem, he wouldn't hesitate to talk to her, right?

“Yeah, it seems like you were too busy feeling sorry for yourself to notice.” Twilight cringed, but didn't know how to respond to such a scathing comment, so Spirit was able to continue. “It's interesting what you discover in one's subconscious.” and apparently Spike has had the same nightmare over and over again since Discord freed himself, if it weren't for Luna giving him priority every night that the boy would have already started hallucinating due to insomnia”

Certainly, Spirit thought that it was not very ethical to delve into the mind of an individual and share that information even among more trusted people, but knowing that she was the one who this suited her, she wisely preferred to keep her opinions to herself.

“W-what nightmares?” Spirit had to give Twilight a point, at least if she seemed to care about the little “Is it Discord?”

“No” She replied “It's you.”

“It's not possible” Twilight denied vehemently, that was something she simply couldn't accept, there was no way Spike would be afraid of her.

Spirit was not affected by her refusal, he only slowly explained “Every night he dreams that you get tired of him and blame him for your failure right before kicking him out onto the street.”

Twilight's chest tightened at that, she felt her strength diminish, and even she could see how her front paws and strands of fur that were peeking out from the edge of her vision lost what little color they had remained

“Oh no, of course not!” Spirit slammed both legs on the table as she stood up in his seat. “You've had enough self-hatred, there's a child up there who doesn't feel safe, he's afraid, and it's your duty as his mother to give him that security!”

"That?!" Twilight's brain was officially on overload. Spike was many important things to her, but a son?! "You are insane? “He’s not my son, he’s… he’s!” Twilight desperately searched for a way to define her relationship with Spike, but that had always been a controversial topic in her family. “Like a brother” She chose to say, even though her parents never called him their son.

Spirit rolled his eyes at her and replied sarcastically “Like a brother, I'm sure they are almost brothers, after all you are just the first thing he saw when he hatched from the egg, you are the one he lived with most of his short life.” "If he is not your son, I assure you that at least he sees you as his mother figure."

“T-that… that's not…” Twilight searched for the words to express herself, but for the first time in her life she didn't have them.

"Possible?" Spirit mocked his persistent state of denial. “All children without exception look for a figure to look up to, someone to see as a role model from whom they can learn and try to imitate, and unfortunately he seems to have chosen you and not.” You have done a good job, or am I wrong?”

“I've taken good care of him,” she stated, but she looked like she was clutching a broken branch.

"Test it"

"As?"

“Easy enough” Spirit said “Just tell me where his room is” With those words Twilight's muzzle closed and Spirit didn't stop “He's already a big boy and constantly growing, the right thing to do would be to give him his own space, and it's not either if it costs you or your family so much, Celestia gave you a full scholarship at no cost and is even in charge of sending you money so you can live in Ponyville”

Twilight quickly tried to excuse her negligence "I was given a public library as accommodation, nothing too elaborate, it only has a bed, besides that it only gives me what I need to buy basic necessities" Of course that was the case, the scrolls, ink and pens were essential and were consumed quickly

“Yes, but that's not why you'd make him sleep on the floor, right?” The silence that followed said more than was needed

Twilight tried to move a certain object out of the room using her telekinesis, but unfortunately Spirit noticed its glow and quickly searched the room for anything that glowed, and when she saw it she was in disbelief.

“Please tell me it's a bad joke.” Spirit had a face of total repulsion as she looked at the basket with a pillow in the bottom that served as a mattress and another smaller pillow along with some blankets that looked like a toy.

"Spike doesn't mind him, he's never complained, and he's the same size as him." Twilight justified herself, but she fell silent the moment a flame formed on Spirit's head, reminding him of a candle.

A very large candle

Spirit soon pulled a canteen from his saddlebags and took a deep gulp before asking a single, devastating question, “Would you do the same thing to a colt?”

Whatever Twilight was planning to say was cut short, for a second she had the illusion of having a colt as an assistant and living with her, she imagined him being crushed by a mountain of books, being thrown due to excessive use of books. His telekinesis, preparing food in the kitchen near dangerous utensils and working late organizing the library

But as expected of his ruthless guest, he did not stop there.

“Does he even have a friend?”

Finally, something Twilight wasn't afraid to respond to. “Of course he does, he has Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, even Princess Celestia is his friend.” She stated proudly, but felt a hole forming in his stomach as he saw Spirit raise an eyebrow, as if asking is he was serious.

“Twilight, ask for his friends, not yours.”

“Yes, they are my friends too, what's wrong with that?”

“Doesn't it seem strange to you that every friend or acquaintance he has is because of you? “More than him having friends, it seems like he is coexisted with your friends.”

“It's not like that, his friendship is true!” Now she sounded desperate, she even looked like some tears were escaping her.

“So tell me, when was the last time she went out to play with her friends?” Twilight remained silent again. “His last sleepover?” Birthday Party? Does he at least have any friends his age? Does he have anything that has nothing to do with you?

Some of Ponyville's younger fillies came to Twilight's mind, but that only hit her harder as she realized that Spike never had the time to get to know them, he didn't even try. Spike was never far from her in her life.

Upon suffering this revelation, Twilight visibly cried, totally regretting that she had never appreciated Spike as she should, calling him her number one assistant as if it were something important when he was much more.

But to her surprise, before she could sink even further into her misery, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned to see Spirit, who, in her growing stupor, hugged her, gave her comfort and tenderly whispered in her ear, "What you did was wrong." bad, but I see how much it affects you, you wouldn't suffer like this if you didn't care, but you still have time, you can fix the damage." She broke the hug and looked into her eyes as she spoke sternly "But not if you wallow in your own It's a shame, you need to get up, if you don't find enough strength to do it yourself then look for it in the fact that he needs you more than ever."

An unusual sense of understanding came to Twilight as she understood Spitir's words. She was right, she may have failed her friends, Equestria, Celestia, but never her family!

A new strength that she didn't know she had come to her as she sat up and her tears stopped.

“Wow” Spirit took a step back quite surprised. Twilight didn't understand until she looked at her hooves and saw how they were slowly returning to their original color. “Well… I'll take that as a good sign… I guess.”

Twilight was also surprised by the change, but this only served to confirm what she had already discovered “Spirit.”

"Yeah?"

“Could you go? "I need to talk to Spike."

If Spirit was bothered by the sharp tone the mare used, she didn't show it. On the contrary, she seemed to respect her. "Of course, and tell her she can keep the toys, I have more."

Twilight smiled. “Of course.” Strangely, Twilight felt no ill will toward the kirin.

With everything said and done, the kirin prepared to leave "Wait" But a second after crossing the door, Twilight stopped her "Just... thank you"

Spirit nodded and said goodbye. “It was a pleasure.”

With a 'click' the front door closed and Twilight considered her options for a minute. Once her decision was made, she arranged herself so that it wouldn't be obvious that she had been crying and shouted “Spike!” She waited a few seconds and nothing. “Oh, right, the bubble.”

Canceling this spell was a simple matter for a mage like her, she just had to apply a little bit of her magic in the right spots, and it would collapse, but she had unconsciously developed the habit of completely scanning the arcane structure of the spells and the magic that held them. Composed due to the insane amount of practice and analysis

“Phew, what a rookie,” she felt a little bad for making fun of the one who had helped her, so she internally scolded herself and refocused as soon as the “Spike!” bubble disappeared.

"On the way!" This time she responded immediately, and it didn't take long for her to go down the stairs with a smile on her face and the bag of toys in her arm. “I was so close, I only had one left. Couldn’t you talk a little more?”

“I don't think that's necessary,” Twilight said as she smiled at him.

“Oh, well,” the dragon responded, already resigned and realizing that someone was missing. “And where is she?”

“She already left, but she said you could keep the toys.”

"Oh really?!" The dragon was so happy that he didn't realize the enormous change that Twilight had undergone in that short period, however, he did remember something else. “But what about the book?”

"What book?" Twilight asked, not knowing what he meant.

“There was a book inside the bag, look” Spike explained as he took out the book that he said in ‘Interstellar’ on the cover.

Twilight's interest was piqued, and she glanced at the book, immediately getting hooked as soon as she saw the first image.

What's that?!

She screamed in her mind as she saw what appeared to be a white donut-shaped building floating above all of Equus.

Her thirst for knowledge was crying out for her attention and she was crying out to be quenched, but she… for the first time in her life she put those feelings aside, and she focused on something more important.

“Spike tell me” The dragon was stunned as he watched Twilight put aside a book without reading “What do you think about going to school?”

Author's Note

I always thought that Spike didn't deserve to be a secondary character, I always thought that he and Luna were undervalued, their stories gave so much more.

20- Nightmare nights finally arrived

“I told you three-eighth, not one-eighth!” Flam yelled at me from inside the car, throwing the crown key that he had given her earlier.

“Shut up and finish adjusting that shit!” I answered him while he threw the correct key at him, and luckily he managed to catch it with telekinesis.

“Crack”

“Damn, I told you this chain wouldn’t hold up!” Unfortunately, Flim was right and some of the links on the metal chain began to twist and stretch, leaving me with little choice.

“Ugh! I shit on everything that can be loaded.” Both brothers drooped their ears at my colorful choice of words, but I was already getting fed up with this infernal machinery.

“Crack”

Now if the chain couldn't hold up anymore

“Flam get out of there!” Flim was obviously the most worried

“Don't even think about moving your ass from that place, it took us more than 14 hours to get here!” I protested

“I'll gladly plow it, as soon as we secure this half-ton engine!” Flam released the key and began to move to get out of the danger zone

That was bad, the fall was not very long, and the engine was modified with parts brought directly from Knossos Land of the minotaurs, so they were of good quality, but even so, I did not doubt that that would be enough to damage the machinery, after everything, could still be considered a prototype

“Damn, I always have to do everything myself!” Letting out another round of curses, I snuck under the car to where the separation between the ground and the interior did not exist.

"You are crazy?! “It will crush you,” Flam warned me in alarm.

“BAM”

I didn't even have time to process his words when one of the links finally gave way and one of the halves of the chain shot out like a whip, almost hitting Flam by inches, meanwhile I felt as if Thor himself had hit me on the back with his hammer

I'm pretty sure I heard things thunder behind me, and things that definitely weren't supposed to move did.

“Finish, finish, finish!” I screamed desperately

Luckily, Flim and Flam were quick thinkers, and while Flam shook off his daze and re-engaged the engine with the rest of the vehicle, Flim picked up what was left of the chain and used a spell to weld it back together and levitate it up. The pulley to then wrap the engine and take off a substantial part of the infernal weight

The time that passed could not have been more than five minutes, but it seemed like an eternity.

“Almost there… Ready!” Flam shouted, removing the sweat from his forehead with a dirty cloth.

I collapsed at that moment, releasing all the weight on the car, which shook hard, but soon stabilized after rocking briefly.

“Well… at least we know that the suspension works” I didn't even bother to find out which of the two spoke, they both sound the same to me

I crawled out from under the car despite the constant pain in my back, not unlike being stabbed.

As I crawled over to an old couch and became one with those cushions, I saw both brothers take ice packs out of the freezer and put them on their heads. I decided to follow his example, but my crooked back didn't allow it, so I only had to use my telekinesis.

Once again, blessed magic

Unlike them, who took out the ice from inside, I opened a back hatch where a magical object called a frozen gem was kept, which is literally that. It seems funny to me that ponies who want ice and don't have a unicorn nearby have to go to the frozen north and mine to get these things

As soon as the gem made contact with my back, a sizzling sound was heard as a result of the clash of our magics.

It's interesting to say the least that if I walked into a freezer in my old world at -200°C, I wouldn't even notice it, but this simple gem can make me shudder just because it has some magic in it.

“So, which part should we continue with tomorrow?” I asked once I found the most comfortable position that was possible for me

To my surprise, they both looked at me strangely. “Do you want to work tomorrow?” Flam asked.

“That is unreasonable” Flim continued speaking.

“Labor exploitation” And Flam ended it

And I was confused. First of all, they were the ones who insisted on finishing the improvements as quickly as possible

Secondly, I'm the one being exploited here! They don't even let me use my wolves because they're scared of them, couple of girls.

“Why the change? So far they never complained.” I had to give them that, no matter how stressful or demanding the job was, they never called it a day without finishing whatever we started, which I respected.

Both brothers seemed surprised by my question until understanding appeared on Flim's face. “Brother, foreigners don't know the traditions.”

An “Ohhh” came out of Flam

Then, to my confusion, they both laughed and, as if the last few hours of grueling work had not passed, they stood up on their hind legs, leaning on each other, and announced “It's Nightmare nights!”

…

My face said it all “What the hell is Nightmare nights?”

Both brothers lost their balance and fell on their backs... I laughed

“Ha ha ha” I will never understand how these ponies became so sensitive to swearing. Luna told me that they were not like that in her time, and she did not say them, because she was taught that royalty should be nothing less than perfect and such barbaric language was not worthy of her.

“Make fun of it all you want, but tonight will be one you will remember.” I don't even care which one of them said that.

“And what exactly is this all about?” It wasn't until I saw the silly smile on both brothers' faces that I realized my mistake.

Flim and Flam proceeded to give me a dance with perfectly synchronized singing in which they explained everything about Nightmare Night in great detail and including some of their personal anecdotes as colts in which they managed to leave all the other colts without candy through of cruel treatment and jokes

Basically, they were dedicated to assaulting children, and they were proud of it

I was internally debating whether to bite them or burn their tails, but something they told me kept coming back to me.

Nightmare Moon was supposed to be Luna, right?

If this was a holiday dedicated to her, shouldn't she be present or something? Why didn't she tell me she? We could have celebrated together. Could it be that she forgot to tell me or just didn't want to invite me?

For some reason, the idea repulsed me, it just felt… wrong.

If she didn't want me to come see her tonight, at least she would have sent me a letter telling me clearly, not to expect me... I

The damn mail!

"Eh, what?" The old stallion woke up suddenly when he heard the familiar sound of the locomotive's brakes, reducing its speed. As squeaky as ever and as expected its almost omnipresent whistle announcing its arrival at the station to the passengers or at least if there were some

Cracking his weary bones, he rose from his chair in the small train station booth and walked out to greet the driver.

“Good afternoon, Steam Oven,” the old stallion greeted as soon as he came into view.

“Good morning.” The earth pony stallion with black fur and gray mane returned a short greeting as he released the remaining steam to lower the engine pressure.

He never ceased to amaze the old pony with how, despite being at a similar age to him, he still managed to maintain such a physique.

“Are you ready for tonight?” He asked. He once finished his work and was preparing to start it again.

"You know me, old friend, always ready to scare colts and steal their candy." The old stallion let out a sinister curl, causing Steam to shake his head.

“Even at your age, you never change.”

The old man couldn't deny that, he certainly enjoyed drama, so he had a rehearsed presentation for every traveler adventurous enough to make it to the last stop.

“Hey, no one is old enough to... Do you hear that?” Suddenly, the old pony's ears perked up, trying to catch something.

“Auditory hallucinations are a sign of becoming senile”

“Shhhh, listen.”

At the insistence of his friend and realizing that it was not another of his jokes, he decided to concentrate and was immediately able to distinguish something

It seemed to be a wild race due to the strong footsteps that caused the hooves to resonate against the rocks.

“Well, well, it seems our intrepid adventurers have had enough of the end of the road-AH AAAAAH!”

The old stallion's cry made him notice the numerous rocks flying in his direction. Instinctively, he dove, but luckily it wasn't necessary, as the rocks crashed quite far away.

They weren't aiming at them.

He realized at the same time that he saw a deer and a pony with black and white patterns on its fur running straight towards them while being chased by a herd of… Unicorns?

That's what they looked like from afar, but even without distinguishing his shape well, he could tell that something didn't match that assumption.

Steam dismissed those thoughts and focused on the important thing. “Hey, grouch!”

“I told you not to call me that!” His friend, who was still using his guardhouse as cover, protested.

"I don't care, come in quickly, we're getting out of here!"

Steam could barely see his friend moving towards one of the cars when he grabbed his trusty shovel, hoping to be quick enough to warm up the engine despite knowing that it had already released all the accumulated steam and would take a while to fill, but Faith It was the last thing that was lost in his opinion

“BIZZ”

However, he was not even given the chance when, in a strong flash and discharge of energy that made his fur stand on end, one of the creatures teleported just a few meters away from him.

She appeared to be a mare, and she looked exhausted, she was breathing heavily, his face was soaked, and his horn was letting out smoke.

Steam might be an earth pony, but he had had a long life, and he could safely say that that teleportation spell was either terribly outdated or the user of it was quite inexperienced, perhaps a mix of the two.

This was his chance, with his strength, his shovel in his hooves, and the vulnerable intruder, he couldn't have it any easier!

“AAAAAH” Steam screamed like a girl. She slipped on pieces of coal, and in desperation, she threw her shovel at him, which bounced harmlessly off the hard skin covered in scales.

…

In an instant, she had lost her perfect opportunity, her weapon, his honor, and... his clean pants, or so it would have been if she brought something to cover her misery. Her lack of clothing only made her failure to control her bladder more evident.

Luckily for Steam, the Kirin did not seem interested in her misfortune, in fact, her face did not show the slightest hint of any emotion. Instead, she took the shovel from it, turned her back on it, and assumed a defensive position, blocking anyone who wanted to access the train.

They didn't take long to arrive

The deer was the first to put a hoof on the station and immediately confronted the Kirin, which did not hesitate to use the shovel to hit it.

The deer blocked the blow with its antlers, which emitted a brief flash as they collided with the metal.

To the Kirin's surprise, as a result of the encounter, only the red-hot handle of the shovel remained.

Hawthorn did not hesitate to take advantage of that moment of distraction and grabbed both sides of the Kirin's head and slammed it into the ground. The worn, rotted wooden boards could not withstand the force of the impact, causing the head to go through and get stuck.

"What are you waiting for?! “Make this thing move!” Hawthorn screamed in the engineer's face as Zecora, who had been mistaken for a pony, entered the driver's cab, helping Steam up.

“I can’t, it will take me at least 10 minutes to get enough heat!” Steam cried out in despair, believing that his time had come

Hawthorn didn't pay attention to him. “Zecora, take care of it.”

The zebra, still not catching its breath, just gave her a nod and took off her saddlebag to search inside.

"Careful!" Steam shouted as he saw another large rock fall directly on top of them, but luckily for them, Hawthorn reacted in time and split it in two.

Unfortunately, the attack did not stop there, and another Kirin jumped from right between the separating halves and hit Hawthorn in the face.

Far from being enough to stun it, having become accustomed to this treatment, Hawthorn evaded the kirin's subsequent attempt to bite him and kicked it with his hind legs. He wanted to take advantage of the opening that this blow caused, but a third Kirin had come to support his opponent.

Fortunately, this time, Hawthorn saw it coming. He stepped aside, dodging her attempt to lunge at him, then grabbed his mane with his teeth and changed his direction enough to crash him into his companion.

“Zecora!” Hawthorn shouted, already tired, but ready to face the wave of hybrids that did not stop arriving.

"I have it!" As if Zecora had waited to be called, she pulled out a jar filled with a bubbling reddish liquid that seemed to release sparks that bounced brightly against the glass.

Steam didn't like that at all, but no one asked him when Zecora threw the jar into the cauldron.

“BOOOM”

The effect was immediate. Steam reacted quickly enough to seal the cauldron an instant after the potion crossed

Immediately, the explosion inside the boiler caused the metal plates to deform, almost bursting, liters of water evaporated, the lid of the boiler became red hot and the chimney expelled fire towards the sky.

As expected, the pressure markers indicated that it was about to burst. “We recommend movement, our companion's remaining temperament is not abundant.”

Steam watched as the stag hugged the back of a Kirin and suplex him, barely getting enough time to roll around, avoiding a stomp that splintered the ground, and responded with a headbutt followed by a blow to the jaw.

Steam watched for a second as those furious eyes focused on him, promising him endless pain if he didn't move.

He decided to follow that instinct and put the train in reverse.

Zecora, Steam and the old stallion who had managed to get into one of the cars fell to the ground when they felt the sudden movement and acceleration of the train.

“It's about time” Hawthorn said as he took a hit from another Kirin and another climbed on his back. Finally, he was being subdued, but contrary to the Kirin's expectations, it was at that moment that he fought in earnest.

Hawthorn leaned forward, almost kissing the ground, and with his hind legs almost losing contact with the ground, causing the Kirin on his back to lean forward, which he took advantage of to push himself up and headbutt the Kirin's jaw. Kirin

If his mouth had been open, he would have lost his tongue, fortunately, that was not the case, and he only lost his grip and fell to the ground with some broken fangs.

At that moment, Hawthorn's antlers shone with power, releasing sparks and making his opponents retreat instinctively. In response, Hawthorn immediately passed his antlers across the ground, destroying it upon contact, demonstrating how powerful they were and causing everyone present to realize that they could have been split in half at any time

That revelation made the kirins doubt, something that Hawthorn did not waste. He immediately started running to catch the train, but stopped when he noticed something more important.

Hawthorn turned back in the direction of the disbelieving Kirin and gave the Kirin who was still stuck with her head in the ground, a hard spank and then returned to his desperate run.

“Next time, invite me to dinner first!” He yelled at them in a final act of mockery as he fled again.

The Kirins, now outraged for the first time, showed an expression of disgust and set off in pursuit while their bodies released faint trails of smoke.

Hawthorn accelerated as much as he could until he reached the driver's cabin, where Zecora offered him her hoof, and as soon as he took it he was pulled inside, but he was not the only one. If he could reach the machinery, a species descended from dragons could do it in the same way and with greater ease.

It would still take a few more moments for the train to reach a decent speed, while its pursuers were closing the distance at a worrying pace.

But to everyone's surprise, it was Steam who reacted first and put his paw into the saddlebag that Zecora had left on the ground. In his desperation and panic, he grabbed the first jar he found, which turned out to be a pink mixture, and threw it at the stampede of Kirins.

The effect was the desired one... but not in the way he expected.

The Kirins who were hit by the liquid or passed by it showed a strong blush before falling to the ground and covering their lower parts while letting out indignant and pleased squeals.

Everyone watched the show as the train gained speed.

"Well… I owe Fyr a favor.”

Idiot, idiot, idiot!

How is it possible to be such an idiot?! She wanted to hit me, she had, but not hard enough in my opinion

Currently, I was running as fast as I could through the Everfree

It turns out that Luna, if she invited me to Nightmare night, she sent me letters, several letters, but in my stupidity I became obsessed with the car project and forgot that cell phones no longer exist.

Luna doesn't know anything about my drones, so mail is the only way she can communicate with me when I'm not in the castle, but those things only go as far as the village, and because of my new project, coupled with the sudden departure of Hawthorn with Zecora to manage one of the many deer villages scattered throughout the forests of Equestria, I had little reason left to return.

Until now

Even through the paper I could tell Luna was excited about this, maybe too excited, only to realize she was already late.

I was to meet her in Canterlot where a carriage would take us to Ponyville.

Why did it have to be that town again?

Well, that didn't matter anymore, because, like I said, I was terribly late. I was considering the idea of teleporting there, but since my siege I moved my drones and other creations away from the castle for fear that Celestia would find them with some search spell or similar.

I could barely see Luna's carriage take off from the distance.

Luckily, the letter also specified that we could meet in town, so I could at least make it to that point.

If it weren't for the fact that I reek of sweat and am covered in oil stains that I doubt any spell could hide, which brings me to my current career.

A tub wouldn't be enough, so I asked Aspen for the closest waterfall I just arrived at.

Without thinking, I jumped from the edge of the waterfall to the river that formed below. I should have known better because it was about 20 meters and I still didn't know how to move properly in the water, much less in free fall.

Result? I fell on my face with the rest of my body extended, the place echoed with a sound similar to a VERY loud applause as my body proceeded to slowly sink.

... That hurt a lot more than it seemed

I had to use a spell I learned after almost drowning in the Canterlot Gardens, my horns and the water around me turning a greenish hue as the currents changed direction and propelled me upwards.

Once I ascended, I proceeded to remove the dirt with the strong blasts of water, teleport a bar of soap, among other things thanks to 'Flame gate', which proves to be increasingly useful

“Bttt”

I felt my breath cut out when one of my drones informed me that Luna's carriage was about to arrive.

I quickly ran the water over my body one last time, removing the foam, before using a drone to the outskirts of the forest to get there as quickly as possible.

Once there, I blew myself up with my flames, evaporating all the moisture in my fur while activating my Spirit Flame illusion.

Once I was sure that everything was in order, I headed to the town, where I soon heard Luna's voice.

Hell, I told him not to use his real Canterlot voice, why so obsessed with breaking eardrums?

I no longer even needed to use the drone to locate her, the noise caused by the simple presentation of her was more than enough to track her.

“A glorious feast!” As if her pose standing on her hind legs didn't give enough drama to her arrival, thunder boomed in the distance, its precision making me question if Luna had caused it, but the dullness of her horn made me realize that it was just was it a coincidence or the result of terrible luck?

At first, I thought the ponies were bowing in respect, now I realize they are terrified.

You'd think Luna would notice the obvious difference, but I knew her better and could tell that she was just as if not even more terrified than these ponies, Luna always had a hard time talking to anyone other than her Thestral guards, I'm an exception only for its invasion of my dreamscape, if it weren't for that perhaps we would never have crossed that gap between a princess and a villager

“Did you ponys hear that? Nightmare Moon says she will feast on all of us, AAAAH!” Pinkie… chicken, you're not helping.

The only thing Pikie managed to do was cause a stampede of foals, to which Luna looked visibly bewildered by this.

"That? No, children, no, you have no reason to fear us anymore, screams of joy are what your princess wants, not screams of terror." Luna tried somewhat desperately to make everyone understand that there was no reason to fear her, although it would have been better if she had refrained from crack the ground with one blow

At that moment, I realized that maybe I should have spent more time talking about his social anxiety than teaching him how to play video games, but was it really my fault? I am practically a stranger, I almost always felt out of place when talking about that topic. What the hell has Celestia been doing all this time?

Finally, I realized that I had enough of this and decided to reach out before the situation got worse.

I was moments away from entering her line of sight, but she just turned to greet a mare in a clown costume. “Madam Mayor, your princess of the night has arrived!”

I unconsciously accelerated my pace when I saw how Luna almost crushed the mayor with her front paw, but in the end she didn't need to.

Luna stopped her hoof inches from the poor mare's face and kept waiting.

To which the mare only responded by shaking harder while she covered her face with her hooves...

Well, I can understand this behavior of simple civilians, but isn't she supposed to be the mayor... as well as an adult?

Have some damn pride!

“But what about all of you?” Luna was now understandably confused as expected, and she pointed to another pony hoping it would heed her greeting, but her response was the same as the mayor's.

Even more worried, she pointed again to another pony, who also ignored her.

I was about to interrupt her when she turned around once again and accidentally ended up pointing at me.

Luna seemed to petrify in that moment, any sign of the bewilderment that overwhelmed her before her disappeared by the sheer perplexity of my sudden appearance.

I decided to take advantage of this and with a mischievous smile on her face I took her paw and kissed it “It is a pleasure of hers, the majesty of her” I said reverently.

Something to which Luna finally responded “Spirit!” Luna jumped in complete panic, almost taking flight as she rubbed her hoof. “When did you get here?!”

“About the part about ‘A glorious feast!’” I said with a painful attempt to deepen my voice while copying the exact same pose that Luna did, a bit difficult to stay on her hind legs, but not as much as I imagined.

Luna responded with a massive blush all over her face “I didn't look like that! TRUE?" She screamed and then asked, trying to hide her face with one of her wings

"HAHAHA!" I laughed so hard my chest hurt.

Meanwhile, the rest of the ponies watched our interaction in disbelief. A second ago the incarnation of all evil stood before them and in an instant she transformed into a timid mare.

Without any of them realizing, her fear had been replaced, but I noticed that she could come back at any moment if she didn't do something soon.

It was at that moment that I approached the mayor and whispered in her ear with a face that had abandoned all signs of the friendliness shown previously: “If you don't welcome her properly right now, I'll have to take a pay cut.”

I said before that the mayor was terrified of Luna, well all that terror was nothing to the way she was looking at me now.

Politicians, no matter what world, her weak point will always be her wallet

She immediately composed herself, although I could see that her legs were still shaking the closer she got to Luna. “Ehem, Attention, mares and stallions, with you, the princess of the night and to whom we owe this celebration, Princess Luna!”

…

Nobody said or did anything... damn, I always have to do everything myself

I kicked Luna hoping she would react, which worked...sort of.

“Attention city-ha!” I kicked her again with twice as much force this time.

She looked at me surprised, and I had to whisper "Talk to them like you did to me, when we met." Luna didn't seem very convinced, I could see the fear in her eyes "Trust me" I told her in a reassuring tone.

For a second, Luna seemed to hesitate, fear taking over her, but then she looked directly at me. I didn't dare look away from her, and I smiled at her, wanting to show my total support and trust in her.

At that moment, Luna nodded and took a deep breath before speaking again, this time with a more controlled tone.

"Sorry for the interruption, dear citizens, but I must clarify that I have not come to cause you misfortunes, the only thing I wish is to be one more in these celebrations to be able to enjoy the pleasures that Nightmare Night can offer!"

Nobody knew what to do, and again silence stole the spotlight

Say yes, or I swear that I...

"Hello!" A new voice caught everyone's attention, one that has become increasingly common to me. Twilight, and with a Star Swirl the bearded costume “You're finally here, welcome!” She said it without the slightest hint of fear or doubt, in fact, she seemed quite excited.

Twilight was probably just intending to give the princess a polite greeting, but unbeknownst to her, she was the one who assured the inhabitants of Ponyville that Luna was not a danger.

An unknown Kirin, of which most probably did not even know his species and who had seemingly come out of nowhere, did not inspire much confidence.

But Twilight? Twilight was a totally different matter, not only was she the student of the beloved Princess Celestia, in addition to being a national hero, but she was also a member of her community, all the ponies present knew her and had spoken with her at least once

The ponies looked visibly more relaxed, some even approached and gave a shy wave, to which Luna responded with equal shyness.

I decided not to get in the way and to step aside. Besides, the exchange of greetings was usually slow, clumsy and tedious to watch, but before I could get too far away, Luna wrapped one of her wings around me and pulled me in, forcing me to be closer to her

I thought it was to annoy me, but I could feel how tense her whole body was. He did a good job of hiding it, but she was still terrified.

I suppose if my presence brings her any comfort, she could stay.

I gave up my attempts to escape and let her pull me closer to her, indicating that I would not leave, to which she seemed visibly calmer.

Which didn't last long, finally the atmosphere seemed to be returning to normal with the ponies refocusing on the festivities when we were interrupted again.

“ZAP”

"My eyes!" Twilight teleported inches from my face, leaving me momentarily blind. Because I always?!

“I found you, I finally found you!” I could hear Twilight almost scream in ecstasy.

“Twilight!” From the voice, I could tell that this time it was Luna who spoke. “I would appreciate it if you would pay attention to the minimum space recommended for such spells.” Do what you preach, Luna.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight jumped at Luna's voice as if she had just realized she was there. “Forgive me, I had forgotten for a moment that you were here.”

… And somehow, that seemed to be the case

Luna didn't know how to respond to that, and I was no less confused, except... "So... when you came before, who were you saying hello to me?"

“Of course I have, I've been looking for you tirelessly” Twilight said without noticing how Luna's gaze darkened.

How lucky that the rest of the ponies chose to wander off and enjoy the festivities away from us.

“Would you mind telling us why you would be interested in meeting Spirit?” Luna didn't look very happy.

Somehow, Twilight didn't seem to notice everything that had happened, and thought that I was good at isolating myself from reality. Here is the teacher!

In response to our question, Twilight pulled out a book from under her carnival magician hat. “This is obviously why.”

“This is…" I was surprised to recognize it.

“It's the book you gave us, he hasn't left it since the first time he read it” Spike informed me, materializing a meter away from me with a rather inaccurate and mismatched locomotive costume. It seemed homemade because of the materials, like cardboard and the fact that no self-respecting store would be desperate enough to sell such a thing

“Spike!” I didn't care about his hideous costume, so I pulled him towards me for a bear hug.

“MMh!” He protested against my coat

Meanwhile, Luna seemed to get curious and took the book with telekinesis from her and-

“I have so many questions!” Of course, Twilight didn't give us a minute.

"About what?" Ask sincerely

“You really don't know?”

"That?"

“Your book caused a stir in Canterlot, your theory of relativity, black holes, the fourth dimension- Mmh!” I had to cover his mouth when his volume began to rise to a level and pitch that could be considered insane.

“Please breathe”

Twilight seemed to notice that, at some point, she stopped breathing and inhaled deeply before speaking again. “Everything that appears in the book has caused a great division among the greatest minds, some claim that it is just nonsense, others that it is a genius, and the others are already trying to replicate the most basic aspects of the book” Twilight stopped to breathe again, but it didn't last long before continuing, “You have to tell me, where did you get the information from? Has anything you said been proven, or are they just theories? And if that's it, how did you come up with them? Will Copper and Dr. Brownie end up together?"

The tidal wave of questions continued like a tsunami. At one point, I was pretty sure he was using magic to keep from fainting because he got to the point of turning blue.

A part of me felt proud to be the cause of such a stir among the so-called brightest minds in Equestria, I felt like an intellectual, a real novelty for me... but... but there was another part of me, one that felt disgusted.

That book is a masterpiece, not only for the plot but also for the way in which it mixes the knowledge acquired regarding science, physics, mathematics and science fiction to give us an image of what the universe and its secrets could be that hides according to our poor understanding

Humanity bled for that knowledge, wars were fought to get my species to where it is today.

What have ponies done in comparison? A thousand years of uninterrupted government and peace

The things that humanity could achieve if it forgot its differences and worked together are a thing of fantasy, we can only imagine what we could be if such a miracle occurred.

However, here you have a race completely united under a single banner, and if that were not enough, each member of this race possesses a power capable of altering from the most basic principles of reality to the deepest ones.

Practically, they have it served on a silver platter, guaranteed success, AND THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING!

“Ehem, excuse me, Spirit, are you okay?” Spike's voice brought me out of my strange trance state.

“I think I was gone for a while... What did I miss?” I asked, and Spike just pointed out to Twilight that she had brought a blackboard and written down a bunch of crazy theories that not even my twisted mind could hope to understand.

Okay... maybe Twilight and I are more similar than I thought.

“She tends to do that, especially when she's 'inspired.'” Spike emphasized that last part.

“Oh… and you, how has she been?” I chose to change the subject and have Twilight continue in her own world

“Normal, I guess, Twilight helped me make this costume!” Spike dove to the ground, causing certain rigid parts of the costume to move, and once he was completely lying down in front of me, there was a baby dragon sized locomotive.

“Haha, it seems like you really liked those toys.” I rejoiced internally, everything seems to indicate that our sales will be a success. How did it take me so long to realize that I could make money selling things from my world that don't exist here? Damn, that's Izekai survival rule number one

“And you Luna? Tell me what you think” Spike and I looked forward to receiving a professional critique, but Luna seemed too focused as she flipped through the book “Luna?”

She continued, unfazed, and I was already preparing to kick her again to get her attention when the book closed softly. Her face became strangely serene, all signs of emotion leaving her face, except for a simple smile, eerily similar to Celestia's.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

There's no way he wouldn't have liked her... Right?

“I think it's a lovely costume,” she said finally. “Maybe we should get some of our own. I looked through my sister's belongings, but it seems like her taste for the old-fashioned hasn't shown any improvement in all this time.”

I was a little disoriented by the change in attitude, but I realized he was right. I would have liked to dress up too, and if it weren't for the fact that I didn't know, I wouldn't have hesitated to get something really extravagant and, above all, very scary.

“Excellent, if I remember correctly, one of the elements was a skilled tailor, maybe she can help us, Spike, would you be so kind as to guide us?”

“Oh, you're talking about Rarity, of course, follow me!” Spike looked visibly excited, it didn't take him long to compose himself and pick up speed in the direction where I guess Rarity would be.

“What do we do with Twilight?” I asked as he looked at the mare, too focused on filling out the second board that had appeared at some point that I couldn't explain.

All the emotion on Spike's face received a devastating blow, and the dragon stopped dead, but with so much speed gained, he only managed to fall face first into the ground.

At least his disguise made it look like he was transforming, so his honor was mostly intact.

Almost

Spike stood up with some embarrassment and assumed his place next to Twilight. “Go in that direction, and you will see a building shaped like a carousel, you can't miss it. Rarity always takes time to put on her makeup, and today even longer, so they still have time to find it inside”

"And you?"

“Don't worry, as soon as you leave, I'll get Twilight's attention, and she'll stop, but if you're still here, she won't stop” Spike said, and something told me that situations like this had happened too often.

Well, step by step, I can't expect Twilight to change all of her living habits in such a short time.

Although it still bothers me to see Spike so discouraged

“Okay, see you later, Spike.” Luna and I said goodbye and followed Spike's instructions.

Luna was unusually silent, always keeping the same expression on her face. Whatever she was thinking was incomprehensible to me

I didn't know what to do with it, so at some point, my mind started wandering again. There was something Luna said that caught my attention earlier.

'One of the elements was a skilled tailor'

The Elements of Harmony... I felt my fur stand on end as the name was repeated in my mind, as if the mere thought of them was enough to feel a hint of their power.

I was terrified

I wasn't ashamed to admit it. Luna explained to me what those things were and what they were capable of, as if Discord hadn't been enough to show me how pathetic I was on an existential level.

In the face of those things, I am nothing, I was wrong, I am less than nothing

How is it that such power is at the mercy of six common ponies? It doesn't make sense, they can't even imagine what they have

Twilight was one of them, again, it's starting to seem too much to be a coincidence. I still can't make up my mind whether I like her or not, but she's important to Spike, so I guess she's fine.

I like Fluttershy, she doesn't talk much, but she is kind and likes animals. Besides being adorable, there's no way not to love her!

Applejack, I don't know much about her, other than that, she sells apples and the filly I met my first day here is her sister, she must have been worried about her that day... I can understand that, even if it's irritating to me.

Rarity, she is the one I have the least information about, in fact, I just found out what she works on

Pinkie Pie... there's nothing I'm afraid of without a good reason, but that thing... it scares me.

And finally, Rainbow Dash... I hate her, she is stupid, narcissistic and frankly seems like a spoiled child in the body of an adult, very lonely without the characteristic charm of those imps

After all, when you see an adult making the same jokes as a child, it's no longer funny, it's just sad.

… I think she would be fine… I don't think anyone would care. If they were really important, Celestia would never let them walk around without protection.

The elements of harmony are a weapon too powerful and unpredictable to ignore.

I decided

For my sake and Discord's, once again, I must kill

Rainbow Dash, enjoy the rest of this day as best you can, because tomorrow my hunt begins

21- Love... a fatal mistake

Luna and I followed the path until we finally reached Rarity's boutique.

The little guy was right, the thing was impossible to lose. I mean, he had a damn carousel for a second floor! First a gingerbread house, then the tree house, and now this, why the hell do they still use thatched roofs? No matter how much I look for the meaning, I can't find it.

Upon our arrival, Rarity welcomed us and as soon as we told her why we were there, she quickly invited us in. She seemed ecstatic at the prospect of dressing a princess.

“Lady Rarity, I really appreciate your attention, but I understand that on Nightmare Night it is traditional to wear a costume” Luna complained as Rarity made the necessary adjustments to the dress while Luna was wearing it.

The alicorns seemed to be naturally larger than a normal pony could be, something we didn't consider, but which Rarity seemed happy to fix.

“Oh dear, a princess like you should not have to hide behind a hideous costume, you should be adorned with beautiful jewels and taken where everyone could see you, and let me tell you that I would gladly carry out such a task” Rarity stated proudly. She used his magic to move the needle and fabric at speeds and angles impossible without at least a dozen professional assistants, and even then, there was no way for them to achieve the same level of coordination.

Although happy for the praise, Luna didn't seem to like the idea "I guess... it's okay" She responded with some hesitation, but it was understandable. She came here expecting to mix with the common ponies "What do you think, Spirit?"

I had been going unnoticed ever since Rarity invited us in. “I guess it doesn't matter what you wear, you always look beautiful.” I briefly remembered the funeral and the dress, along with all the outfits she was wearing, but I also remembered what she looked like. While we took a walk in the gardens, when I taught him how to play video games, even while he was sleeping “I don't think there's anything you look bad with.”

“… Thank you” And again, that expression of total calm, accompanied by an unusual smile, what the hell is wrong with him?!

“Well… Rarity, would you mind if I see if I can find something for me?” I highly doubted it, but anything would be good to distract me. The last few days had not been easy on me, and I felt that if I continued to stare and do nothing, I would most likely fall asleep standing up.

“Of course not, dear, although I don't usually sell costumes, I don't doubt that you will find something that you like.” She said this without taking her eyes off Luna.

Luna didn't seem to like the idea very much. “But- ah!”

“Don't move princess, this part is especially delicate!” From what I've seen for Rarity, each part seems to be 'especially delicate'

With Luna immobilized like a fly in a spider's web, I decided to enjoy the freedom of a dog without a leash.

It seems that Rarity had good taste, I liked some of her creations, although it seemed quite excessive to decorate them with gems

But that opinion was vetoed as soon as I scanned one of these and noticed that they had enchantments so that the gems would not weigh down and drag the fabric on the floor, on the contrary, the more gems, the more enchantments they had, some made the fabric weightless, others were heated, some were reinforced and a few even cleaned themselves

Even I can't do that!

I quickly selected a few that interested me and scanned them again, this time making sure to examine the magic they were imbued with.

As with almost everything, there is a surprising difference between the knowledge provided by a book and when this knowledge is applied. What I found here will certainly be useful to me.

And as incredible as it may seem, the surprises don't end there.

Against all odds, I found something I liked.

"Why not?" I visualized some with a good design, so I decided to give these clothes a chance and started wearing them

As a former member of a furless race, I was naturally uncomfortable with this nudist pony culture, more than once, it had caused me to end up in one or another uncomfortable situation, so naturally I looked for stores that at least had a decent pair of pants...

It didn't end well

The damn things were incredibly uncomfortable. It turns out fur isn't problematic, unless you put something on top of it, then it becomes hell.

It stung so much! Also, in my opinion, those pants accentuated my hips too much, which somehow managed to be more embarrassing than being naked, and the option I had left was worse than death.

I may be a weirdo with even weirder tastes in an alien body, but they won't even convince me to wear a skirt!

On the other hand, these things that I had found did not bother me, the inner part seemed to be covered by a softer and plusher material, which allowed it to fit well to my body without being enough to irritate my fur. I had no doubt that this was high quality work.

They had no enchantments and unfortunately did not cover the essential parts, but they felt unusually comfortable and comforting when walking.

I have to show them to Luna! Surely she would also like to get a pair... or well two pairs in this case

Quickly and with an unusually good mood, I returned to where she had left the girls.

Rarity had advanced remarkably quickly, although if you asked me, she would say that Luna didn't seem to care, and she was seriously considering knocking out the mare and escaping.

With her magic, it would be easy, and there would be no evidence

“Luna, Rarity, I found something interesting!” I announced

Luna was the first to react to my arrival, and as soon as she saw me

"FLAP"

Both wings unfolded as if they had been spring-loaded, sending Rarity flying or tearing some fabric that Rarity had nearby.

"Oh no! Dear, the fabric has torn, why did you... move?” Finally, Rarity turned to look at me. “Oh darling.” Thanks to her white fur, I could clearly see her face turning noticeably red, even her horn was wrapped in that haze.

"Something happens?" I asked without understanding

“Eh... you huh…” Luna stammered as she regained control over her wings and basically ogled me.

“Honey, if you don't mind me asking, what are you wearing?” Rarity asked me, avoiding eye contact, this time on purpose, but I could notice how she looked at me out of the corner of her eye a couple of times.

I couldn't help but raise a questioning eyebrow, while she looked at my four paws. “They're just socks.” Indeed, simple socks with black and white stripes, why so much trouble?

They were somewhat tight, clinging to the muscles I had gained from constant training, but they stopped at the beginning of my flank, I suppose the pony equivalent of the thighs, which when pressed with the elastic, caused a bulge of flesh. Which revealed a touch of extra fat that indicated that I did not have a scrawny figure either... I... oh... oh dear... Oh my god!

As soon as I realized my mistake, I held my breath and took a huge leap, using my telekinesis at full power to remove the offensive and undoubtedly expensive objects from my paws.

When they were finally out, and I hit the ground, I simply breathed again, and, of course, my body soon imitated the 'human torch' in its entirety.

…

We all stared at each other without saying anything. The awkward silence seemed eternal until I finally managed to muster enough reasoning skills to realize that if I stayed, I was putting the place at risk of fire.

“I'll see you outside” I said and left.

I crossed the door quickly. Some ponies got scared, thinking that a fire had started, but as soon as they realized it was a pony, they simply gave me a curious look and continued on their way.

Good thing it was Nightmare Night, or else they would surely panic. Instead, they simply think it's an elaborate costume or decoration.

I spent a long time trying to calm down, with little success.

Who would have thought that it was more obscene for ponies to wear clothes? No, seriously, who?! It's fucking ridiculous, they were just socks, for God's sake!

They were just socks, it hurts me to imagine what would happen if I had chosen another piece of clothing from that place or from the ones I had visited before.

Come to think of it, that explains quite a few things, like the ponies blushing every time I asked about pants and them being so conspicuous in certain 'areas', as well as those strange offers to include a bridle

I thought they were the equivalent of bracelets or something similar!

I began to consider going back to the forest to immerse myself in my own misery when the door opened and Luna came out, accompanied by Rarity, who was dressed as who I believe was the platinum princess.

“Are you okay, Spirit?” Luna asked as soon as she noticed me.

“Yes, yes, as long as we never, EVER talk about this”

“Oh dear, there's no need to be ashamed, my dear Sweetie Belle makes those same mistakes all the time when she and her friends play dress up.”

“Isn't she a filly?”

“Well, yes, but…”

"But?"

“Sorry, I don't have anything, although I must congratulate your parents for keeping you away from these things to such an extent.”

I choked on that comment. Oh, if they only had any idea about the things I've seen, if any of these ponies got access to the internet, they'd be traumatized for life.

“Let's just go, please” I begged desperately to find anything I could distract myself with.

“I agree, we have already wasted enough time, and the costume was not even completed.” Only then did I notice that Luna was exactly the same as when we entered.

"What happened to that?"

“I'm afraid the fabric was torn, and I had no more in my reserves, almost everything had been depleted due to the festivities.” Rarity placed one of her paws on her chest as if her words hurt her, as she pretended to be that she was going to faint

True… drama fan

I exercised my memory and was able to remember when Luna tore him to pieces. “True, Luna, why are your wings-?”

“It's time to enjoy the celebration, let's go!” Luna announced it energetically and advanced at a quick pace towards the largest group of ponies in sight.

"What was that?" I asked Rarity

To which she laughed "Oh, something tells me you'll find out sooner or later, although we better move or we'll be left behind." For some reason, I felt like she was looking at me like I was a child.

Not having the spirit or energy to investigate further, I simply let out a sigh of resignation before we both followed Luna.

Something told me this was going to be a long night.

As expected, the ponies did not take long to make way for us when they saw the enormous risk of being run over by an alicorn, in addition to the fact that many still seemed to be afraid of him or, at least, were cautious.

“Mh… What purpose does this serve?” Luna seemed thoughtful as she looked at some spider plushies stacked in a bowl at one of the various stalls.

“Y-you must throw the spiders into t-the web.” A friendly and visibly terrified yellow-maned pink pony explained the mechanics of the game to us and pointed to a fake web in the distance.

“I think it's about... 15 meters” I think I gave a good approximation, it wasn't a big challenge. She had already taught her much more complex games, but Luna seemed still dismayed. “What are you waiting for?”

“I don't normally join in the festivities.”

"My dear, no one is forcing you, there is no need to feel pressured, there are more things we can do without getting our hair dirty."

I didn't like that. Luna obviously wants to do it, but for some stupid reason, she chickens out. I guess she has to suffer. “If she makes you feel better, there's nothing you can do to make a fool of yourself worse than I already did.”

Luna laughed a little at the recent memory. “I thought you didn't want to talk about that.”

“Yeah, but I got a smile, now she throws that damn thing, or I'll throw you.”

She wasn't joking, but luckily Luna took it with grace and got into position, flexing all of her legs before throwing.

Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't look!

“POF”

A regrettable shot that lacked strength and she fell painfully to the ground. For a second, I worried that she would be discouraged, but she quickly grabbed a second spider and returned to her previous position (Much to my pleasure) before launching it again with considerably greater force.

“PAF”

Resounding success! With the first throw, she must have checked how to throw it correctly because this throw was precise, right in the center with enough force for the net to tighten, but luckily she resisted.

“Huzzah!” Luna celebrated, and to my surprise, several ponies clapped and cheered.

“A splendid shot” Of course, a ‘Rarity pose’ couldn’t be missing while she said that.

“What other activities can we do?” Luna didn't notice it, but she was radiant.

“It's certainly not my style, but I think I could try the pumpkin toss.”

Luna and I bow our heads at the name

“That sounds like what we're doing, only with pumpkins.” Stress the obvious.

“Oh no, of course not, this is..." Rarity struggled to find a simple way to explain it, but apparently gave up. “Come with me, it will be easier to explain.”

And so we did. It didn't take us long to reach our destination, it was easily recognizable due to the enormous pyramid of pumpkins and the small detail of being catapulted one by one

Where did they get those things from? Is there a store, or do they make them at home?

“If you pay attention, you will see that the catapults are already pointing at the target, so all you have to do is pull the rope tight enough so that the catapult can hit the target,” Rarity explained.

“So it's a game of strength, not skill,” Luna concluded.

“Exactly,” Rarity confirmed.

“I think I can do that” Luna certainly could, I didn't doubt it, and from that smug smile on her face, I can tell that she doesn't doubt it either.

Luna took a step forward, but I blocked her way. "You were first before, get in line." I said it defiantly.

Everyone who heard me was stunned.

Everyone, except Luna “Oh, I have to see that” She said in a challenge.

Don't delay in choosing a pumpkin and taking it with telekinesis

“Hey, magic doesn't work!” A pony in the crowd screamed, and I considered throwing a fireball at him.

But, to my surprise, Rarity backed him up. "I'm afraid you're right, after all, the game is about physical prowess."

Well shit

Already resigned, I approached the large pile and took a large one, then dragged it to the catapult bucket and immediately pressed down.

I was surprised to feel some tension, after all, it had been clear to me for a long time that I was stronger than normal.

Anyway, it was no problem to strain the siege engine all the way and then let go.

“CLASH”

The thing flew along a perfect trajectory until it shattered against the target.

“Was it what you expected?” I asked Luna mockingly.

If she was surprised, she didn't show it, and in her place she carried an even larger pumpkin from the pile and placed it in the bucket before pulling it down with a single hoof and releasing it without much difficulty.

I know a challenge when I see one, and this was a big one.

“Do you really think you can beat me at this?” I challenged, testing if this was serious

"And you do?" Luna responded without the slightest hint of doubt.

“Pumpkin competition!” Neither Luna nor I knew which pony shouted that, but it still served to mark the beginning of our sudden rivalry.

Luna and I ran to the pile and grabbed the pumpkin closest to us before running back to the catapult, loading it up, and throwing it as a projectile again at the target.

The exercise was simple and repetitive, but surprisingly exhausting, by the ninth throw, my fur was already starting to look shiny due to sweat.

I turned around for a second to see how Luna was doing and was surprised that not only did she seem just as motivated as at the beginning, but she was also using her wings to do everything faster.

Daughter of you…!

I repressed the internal insult to refocus on my current work and pick up the pace despite the accumulated fatigue.

Ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen…

I was doing my best, but Luna kept gaining ground, and without breaking a sweat!

At this point, I had to accept that this was a losing battle, but I was sure that she would at least reach the twenty-five mark, maybe thirty if she gave it her all.

With that in mind, I continued in the competition, fighting and reaching the glorious twenty-four and…

“CRACK”

“I shit-!” It turned out that my back never forgot the abuse it suffered a few hours ago, it was simply waiting for the worst moment to remind me.

I ended up falling on my side with my paws, trying to reach my deviated spine.

The worst part wasn't the blinding pain, but the fact that I was in the middle of loading the catapult when the kick came.

The misplaced pumpkin shot into the air at a once-in-a-million angle…

“Plad”

That's right, right in the face

"HAHAHA!" The laughter of dozens of ponies who had gathered to watch the spectacle arrived.

Mayor Mare stepped out of the crowd, grabbed the front paw of a surprised Luna, and lifted him into the air. “I am hereby pleased to inform you that I declare Princess Luna as the pumpkin throwing champion!” I don't doubt it, the bitch even gave me a smug look, just wait I'll save you a place on my blacklist

The rest of the ponies shouted in approval, others whistled, others applauded, etc.

I just wanted to clean myself. I had just taken a damn bath. I hate bathing!...

And that has nothing to do with me liking anime!

"Um… Are you okay?” Rarity asked me as she covered her nose with a tissue.

Curious, I took a few sniffs at the remains of the pumpkin and-

“BRUG” I gagged. Who the hell would think of using rotten fruit?!

A shadow fell over me as I was about to let out a myriad of curses that would make an older man cry.

“Didn't you say there was no way to make a fool of yourself more?” Luna's silky voice reached my ear in a mocking way.

I let out a slight growl in response, but an interesting idea came to me when I saw the pieces of pumpkin stuck to my fur, and my face changed into a wicked smile that Luna didn't seem to like at all.

“Luna~” I said his name, almost like a melody. “Why don't you comfort me with a hug?”

An expression of horror took over her. “Oh, no, no, no, no.” Luna denied it repeatedly as she began to back away.

"Where do you think you are going? Come here and give me love!” Holding on to the bite on my back, I quickly began to chase after Luna, who seemed to forget that she had wings and gave a desperate run.

Our race took us away from the game stands and into the town. We forgot Rarity, but I doubt she cares, and I honestly don't care.

We were having a good time with just the two of us, or at least that was the case until…

“She found us guys, AAAAAH!” Pinkie Pie screamed, and of course the rest of the kids followed suit.

That stopped Luna in her tracks. “Wait, you don't have to fear me anymore!” None of the foals believed her, and they continued with her rampage, this time including Luna who was trying to restrain them.

Seeing this, I realized there was no better time for a little game

In pursuit, I waited for Luna to guide the cattle while I surrounded them on the opposite side, it took me a bit, but it seems that these ponies have the instinct to stay in a herd, so at no time did they separate and if that is So that means I only have to catch one.

“Calm down ‘Chicken Little’ I assure you, there is no danger!” I had to stand in front of Pinkie Pie and use some magic to make it harder for her legs to move, but it worked like a charm, just as I expected the foals unconsciously marked the biggest pony as alpha so when she stopped they did too.

“Luna will not do you the slightest harm” I stated with a confident and authoritative tone. Fortunately, Luna was receptive enough to stop the pursuit of her, managing to calm some of them down a bit.

"How do you know?" Pinkie asked.

I gave them my best smile as I walked over to comfort the smallest, timid colt. “Because she doesn't eat ponies.” I picked up the little colt dressed as a pirate while I made silly faces, earning myself some curls and peace from these little ponies… “But I Yeah!"

The tranquility I had gained was broken as soon as I said those words, and I made sure to show all my fangs in a psychopathic smile while my mane and face were covered in green flames.

“AAAAAAAAAH” Absolutely everyone present shouted “I'm going to eat all the candy in Equestria, hahaha!” I shouted as I took an empty wrapper out of the little pirate's bag and let it go, letting him join the mass of colts running in terror.

A “Noooo!” was heard. Collective, and now I was the one chasing them

“Are you going to stay there?” I asked Luna, who was momentarily stunned, “You're missing out!” I stuck out my tongue and terrorized colts again

Needless to say, Luna took it personally, even in the distance, I could feel the breeze that caused her wings to flap.

“Here they come!” A random pony shouted.

I eat a ball of fire with legs and Luna like a flying demon stalking children, God! I can only imagine the parents' faces when they receive the psychologist's bill for the traumas we are going to cause them.

But the curls were not lacking, and the sweet ones were not lacking either, we must not forget them. Some of the children thought it would be a good idea to throw candy at us to distract us.

Poor and innocent gullible

It worked!

I felt a little hungry, so I took one to fool my stomach for the time being. What I didn't count on was that, of course, they were Equestrians sweets. I immediately felt like I was choking, and my eyes were watering from such a level of sugar that I started to taste acid.

Eating a chocolate here is a death sentence! How can there be such a cruel god?!

In my panic, I looked for something to alleviate my suffering, and luckily, I found a barrel full of liquid. I didn't have time to see what it was when I dipped my head in and drank greedily until something got stuck in my mouth.

With the thing stuck between my fangs, I took my head out of the barrel to notice that it had a few floating apples, so it was not difficult for me to deduce that it had one in its snout as well.

"Prize! Here you go, miss” I was surprised with a pony giving me a stuffed animal of Celestia, a littlestia!

“Thank you” I accepted it, holding my curls.

I decided to keep it next to the apple in my saddlebag, and I walked away from the stand.

I stopped for a second to see how Luna was doing, and sure enough, she continued hunting ponies with the grace of a hawk while they screamed and ran in terror.

I have created a monster, I love it!

She would like to join him, but to be honest, she was already tired. It hadn't been my best week, and this whole situation was quite exhausting

I decided to get out of the way for the moment, so I just walked without a destination in mind until I somehow came to a stream with a small rock bridge that led to the outskirts of town.

With nothing better to do, I walked over to the highest part of the bridge and contemplated the view for a few minutes. It wasn't very high, but the view was wonderful. Without the light pollution of my home and with enough distance from the festivities, I was able to see the stars perfectly and how they were reflected in the water, creating a stellar path that led to infinity

“Beautiful” I said, with nothing else on my mind.

“You are one of the few I have met who share this feeling.” I was startled by the voice, but calmed down when I recognized that it was Luna flying a few meters above me.

“Thanks, I guess. What happened to the foals?” I asked, wanting to change the subject. I liked the night just like she did, but talking about it always makes her melancholic, and I didn't want to sour the atmosphere.

“I decided to give them a break… for now, haha, I certainly didn't know it was possible to play with them like that.” Luna landed softly on the bridge next to me. “Thank you.”

“No reason, it's been a lot of fun for me too” It was the truth, as a human, I wasn't as sociable as others were at my age, so I spent most of my time locked up, and I was fine with that, but since I met her, it has become increasingly difficult for me to enjoy my time alone.

Luna seemed to want to say something, she constantly sniffed and closed her mouth, but nothing came out, resulting in a rather awkward moment between the two.

I decided to finish it "So... How did you find me?" I chose to ask

"The smell," Luna responded immediately, to my embarrassment. "Oh, wait, I didn't mean to insult you, it's not that you smell... well, if you do, but not the bad sense, although you do smell bad and..." Luna seemed to genuinely make an effort to not make me feel bad

She was quite amused, but she was right about that. My body felt stiff because of the various pieces of trash stuck together, some mud, and whatever was in that barrel of apples.

“Well, no way, there's nothing else to do, goodbye cruel world!” I screamed and jumped off the bridge

“Spirit!” I heard a brief warning from Luna, but she was already in the air by then.

“PLAD”

For the second time that day, I landed on my face like a bug against the windshield.

“If there is a god, rest assured he hates me,” I said as I composed myself by rubbing my sore snout.

"Ha ha ha!" Luna laughed mercilessly. “How did you think of doing such a thing?”

“He looked deeper from above, plus he looked good in my head.” I earned another ruthless rip from Luna.

Ignoring her, I focused on cleaning my fur as I had originally planned, but to my horror, I realized that some of the debris had already dried and hardened thanks in part to my flames. It would certainly take more than a little cold water to clean it

“Come here” Luna called to me from the shore. Luckily, her mood to tease her seemed to be over for the moment.

Without better ideas, I decided to trust her and left the stream, looking like a wet dog, with my fake hair covering my eyes.

Everything changed at once! I felt like I had been put in a dryer, sprayed with a fire hose, and my entire body was subjected to pressure that threatened to throw me into the air if I didn't hold on tight.

And then I'm done as soon as I arrive

“Ready,” Luna said, nodding when she saw a job well done.

I blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what happened. “What just happened?”

“Intensive cleaning spell, very useful for those who have to be presentable at any time, but also dangerous if not handled carefully”

I wanted to check that, and I went to the edge of the stream to see my reflection. It was brilliant! Better than when I used my costume for the first time “You're going to have to teach me some of those spells, they would change my life.”

“If you want, I don't think there's a problem, as long as we keep things simple.”

Internally, I agreed, thinking about what kind of things she would consider complicated if she used spells that required such a level of surgical precision in her daily life.

Normally, such anticipation of learning new magic would excite me, but the truth is that I was tired, and this annoying sting on my back continues to bother me more and more!

"Are you okay?" Apparently Luna noticed my discomfort.

“Yeah, it just hasn't been my best week, and I wasn't exactly prepared for Nightmare Night to happen at night.” I rubbed my tired eyes, having to make considerable effort to open them again.

It was only an instant, but enough to take me by surprise when I felt a cold, hard object, but surrounded by soft fluff, make contact with my forehead.

With a grimace of disgust, Luna removed her hoof. “Your temperature is very high, even for a being of fire.” After giving me her medical diagnosis, Luna looked around until she visualized a hill not far away with a tree crowning it.

“Come with me,” Luna said, and I followed her in silence, she was in no mood to complain.

It was a few minutes of peace until we arrived, and Luna lay down under the tree while she made space for me next to her.

The invitation was tempting, but... “What about the party?” I asked for

“This event will last all night, a simple break will not deprive us of anything” She said without paying much interest, which surprised me, because of the quantity and the way in which she wrote those letters. She seemed quite enthusiastic about this whole celebration.

I was curious about the change, but my lazy side was gaining dangerously fast ground against my curious side, impure thoughts, and my gluttony, basically any thoughts that were running around in my head usually.

So I just did some stretches, patted the dirt like a feline, and laid down for my nap, all without thinking... shit, don't tell me I'm part cat... although I guess my manticore side might be responsible.

I pushed those thoughts away and collapsed.

“Bua-hi!” A rebellious yawn emerged, followed by a surprised squeal as a tingling sensation enveloped my body. It was Luna's magic!

“Calm down,” she said, as if she hadn't just almost given me a heart attack.

I was scared, but luckily I didn't feel any magic enter me. The aura Luna was applying seemed to be merely superficial, and she was already feeling its effects.

“Ah~” A moan of pleasure left me as Luna's relaxing aura did its thing and all the tension I had built up melted away.

It was like getting a full body massage.

Unfortunately, with the complacent feeling, it also came with increasing discomfort due to my back and other muscles that had become somewhat tender from overwork.

I was close, but I was having a hard time relaxing enough to welcome Morpheus.

Then I remembered the soft, cool sensation that had touched my forehead a few moments ago.

With that in mind and some of my judgment clouded due to drowsiness, I laid my entire body on Luna's side.

“W-what are you?” Luna looked surprised, and I felt her body tense.

“Shhhhh, I'm comfortable” I made her shut up, too captivated by the feeling of coolness and softness combined as I rubbed my face against the fluff on his chest, which after EXTENSIVE research, I can safely say is the softest part on a pony

After a few seconds, Luna finally seemed to relax, although for some reason, she could feel her heart beating with incredible force. I guess it's an alicorn thing, no wonder, anyone can see that they have a powerful body

It didn't bother me, on the contrary, it was like a lullaby, and to complete it, she slowly placed her wing over me, serving as a blanket.

I was about to let myself go, to finally relax and get my well-deserved rest, but obviously I wasn't going to be granted that easy opportunity.

“I wanted to thank you and… also ask for your forgiveness.” I knew it wasn't Luna's intention to be annoying, but I couldn't help but let out a small growl.

"Because?" Still, I managed to ask, but I didn't bother to look at her and continued trying to fall asleep.

If my discomfort was noticed, she simply ignored it “Before you arrived, I... I didn't know what would become of me, I felt alone... I was afraid, so far from my time and everything I ever knew, even my sister was unrecognizable... I was afraid that everything would repeat itself, I didn't think I would be able to find my place again in such a different world." Luna's voice faltered, it was difficult for her to speak, it was never easy for her to confess her emotions, she considers it a weakness, and that's why I'm so surprised that he told me this

Because?

“But then you came, and without even asking, you gave me one. Since the first night I saw you in the castle, my life has been happier, and since then, you have done nothing but help me. For what you have done, I thank you, but for what I am about to do, I will ask your forgiveness…”

I couldn't get my answer, my mind was fading, my brain was shutting down, and, for a second, unconsciousness took over me.

…

A second later, I came back to reality. Luna was bothering me, it was the only conclusion my confused mind could come to.

Was that a fruit? She wasn't sure, I could feel it in contact with my snout, my mouth, my lips.

It was soft and somewhat hairy, definitely a peach, no idea where she got it from, but knowing these ponies' tastes for fruit, I wouldn't be surprised if someone had given it to them as if it were candy.

With that idea in my head and too dominated by sleep to find the strength to open my eyes, I simply opened my mouth to take a juicy bite.

…

Something wasn't right, it definitely wasn't!

Something invaded my mouth without shame or hesitation, reaching as deep as it could go. In a panic, I tried to back away, but Luna's wing, welcoming moments ago, became my prison as she pressed down on me, forcing me to stay in place.

Finally, I opened my eyes only to be met with Luna's turquoise eyes, just inches from mine, staring back at me without blinking.

It took a few seconds for my brain to clear itself of the haze and try to understand what was happening.

Time that Luna took advantage of to kiss me with greater intensity…

Kiss

Luna was kissing me!

I panicked, I tried to get away, but I couldn't. I unconsciously tried to light my flames, but they didn't respond.

I tried to summon them by force, but they still didn't appear... because they didn't work like that, my fire can only burn with negative emotions, and at this moment... there was absolutely nothing that made me feel bad

Before I realized it, I stopped resisting and began to reciprocate the kiss, letting myself be carried away by the beautiful sensations that invaded me.

I don't know how long we were like this, everything became irrelevant and alien to us

But all good things must end

Luna and I separated, giving each other a few steps of space while we panted as if we had just run a marathon, our snouts connected by a thin thread of saliva that moments later was cut off as it could not support its own weight.

I felt shame, then fear, surprise, confusion, some indignation, among many other emotions, as I tried to understand “What was that?” As if the filter between what she thought and what she said had disappeared, the question was said without really meaning it.

Luna had the decency to look embarrassed with a huge blush that, in any other situation, I would have laughed at. “Just what it seems, I… I wish you Spirit Flame.”

I knew what a kiss like that meant, but hearing her say it was too much!

He didn't need a mirror to know that she was blushing as much as Luna, or even more. “D-do you want me to be your personal courtesan or something?”

“Yes! I say no! No, but if you want... No!” Luna did not seem to be prepared for that question, and she became confused, answering incoherently.

Or so I hope. I-I like Luna, besides, she is as beautiful as only a demigoddess could be, and the idea of being her... 'companion' was not at all unpleasant, but there was a part of me that found it degrading. After all, you could adorn it as you wanted, but at the end of the day, it was just simple prostitution

“Spirit, I have no intention of having a purely passionate relationship with you,” Luna declared with conviction. “I'm afraid I don't express myself well... I love you, and I want us to be together... romantically.”

I didn't know what to say, I just stared at her. I felt lost. “How can you say something like that to me?!” Ask with more intensity than you intended

"What do you mean with that?" Luna reacted as if I had hit her in the face.

How come she doesn't understand?! “Luna, you can't seriously ask this, right? How do you not realize?!”

"What do you mean? What do I not understand?” Luna started to look confused and hurt. “Talk to me!” She demanded it, despite my reluctance to tell her something that was so obvious to me.

"Luna, you… you are so naive” It's no use, how come I don't understand? “Luna, look at me for a second, and then look at yourself. You are one of the rulers of the most prosperous country, you are beautiful beyond belief, and if that were not enough, you are a good person, you are perfect, damn!”

I'd be lying if I said I never thought of Luna as anything more than a friend, but those were my fantasies, and this was reality.

And the reality is that I don't deserve her, I can't even understand how she saw me as a possibility. Her confidence and self-esteem issues must be much worse than I imagined.

"I… I don't have a job, I used to sleep in dirty caves, I barely qualify as anything like your race, and... I have some things that I'm ashamed of having done, that I-” I wasn't given the chance to finish when Luna's horn shone brightly and her magic completely enveloped me, forcing me to close my mouth and close the distance between us despite my attempts to get away.

A magical feat in every rule, considering that the natural resistance of all living beings and that without a doubt mine would be greater, even so, she pulled me to her chest, where she captured me with an insanely strong hug.

I could feel her getting closer. I forced myself to look in the opposite direction, believing she was going to kiss me again, but instead I felt her breath on my ear, followed by a whisper “This is how you see me, is how I see you.”

I stayed frozen

“You have so little, but you don't hesitate to share it, you work tirelessly both to help others and to achieve your goals” I could feel one of his paws rubbing my wounded back “What you are is something beautiful and loving” With his other paw on my chin, she forced myself to look into her eyes again as she used her wing to wipe away my tears. I didn't even notice when I started to cry “And whatever you've done, I don't care, because what you've done for me means more than just a few bad decisions, you are all I need"

I didn't know what to do, no one had ever told me such a thing, and I never thought I would hear something similar, but there was one thing I couldn't deny, and that was that when Luna leaned in to kiss me again, I didn't try to move away.

I liked it. I loved the feeling

But a part, a small, tiny part in my subconscious, screamed desperately, it fought to warn me that, if I allowed this to happen sooner or later, I would regret it.

He was right, I knew it. What right did I have to accept this after what I did? How brazen and insensitive did he have to be?

But… I wanted this so much, and Luna did too, was she really selfish if it was what we both wanted?

Damaging her now, damaging her later, was there a difference? Did she matter?

I want this, and I'm going to have it

I could feel that small part of my subconscious shrink even more until it almost didn't exist, but even so, as I let myself be carried away by Luna's caresses and care, I could perfectly identify how she transformed into a new emotion.

Blame

But the truth is that I don't care anymore, this is my new life, and I will live it for myself

Why did I waste time earlier, regretting a simple mistake?

Nothing else matters... not even that dying voice that fades inside me

Several hours later, just a couple of kilometers away, in an area inhabited by a litter of diamond dogs

A white alabaster horn enveloped in a faint, but powerful, immaculate golden aura went out, not because it failed or was similar, but quite the opposite.

He had found his target

“Now” A voice that, although quiet, was powerful to the point that anyone could hear it resonate even in their bones.

“Understood” Shining Armor didn't need more than that. His horn shone with its maximum splendor, releasing the most powerful spell he had at his disposal, which flew at a fearsome speed until it reached the target area where it was activated.

A large portion of her magic was consumed in mere moments, but, in return, a giant slash dome manifested above an entire section of the Everfree Forest.

While the captain concentrated on stabilizing the spell and ensuring a constant flow of magic, his princess somewhat reluctantly looked away from the forest to face his troops, who revealed themselves when the unicorns severed their connection to the mass effect invisibility barrier.

“My little ponies, today we bring justice, we bring good, but above all, we bring the spirit of harmony with us. Today we will not allow whoever attacks us to go unpunished, evil will not be allowed to win, because this is our land, and as long as I live, there will be no one to threaten it or its inhabitants!” At the end of her speech, she stood up slightly on her hind legs while she spread her wings so that everyone could see her in all her splendor. “For Equestria!”

“For Equestria!” More than a thousand voices responded in unison, while the handles of more than a thousand spears hit the sandy ground, making it tremble.

The time for Celestia's revenge had arrived

Author's Note

Curious how a sincere show of love can be salvation for some, but a condemnation for others.

What little humanity remained in Forest Heart was finally engulfed by darkness.

23- My little ponies… I'm really sorry

Author's Note

I did this listening to a compilation of the most epic songs I could find on YouTube, so you could say I was inspired, and I honestly don't know how it turned out, maybe I exaggerated too much, maybe I didn't express myself well, and it's not understood, I already you will say in the comments.

Any criticism is accepted and appreciated.

Now yes, let's go with the cap.

23- My little ponies… I'm really sorry

In the deer village, life continued like any other day, with one difference, the silence and tranquility of nature that its people had lived with for generations had been replaced by the sound of creation.

Saws cutting, hammers hitting

The village was going through new times of change and growth, the likes of which had not been seen in centuries, all thanks to the timberwolves.

Servants, brought and given almost as gifts to the inhabitants of this town for the embodiment of everything they considered sacred

They were somewhat scary, but quite obedient and extremely efficient. They had not been living with deer for long, but in that short time they had built beautiful buildings in their village with and polished wood, strong and large walls created using an innovative method that involved creating blocks that were assembled on top of each other to form the wall and then covering it with a mixture created by the deer, leaving them almost reflective

It might sound exaggerated to say that such a thing is something that no other race could have achieved on Equss, but these beasts did not need rest, nor sleep, nor food, nor even catching their breath, besides being hundreds of thousands.

They just do whatever they are asked, and they don't stop until they finish that task in the best way they know how, build buildings, clean hunts, take care of children, teach about the structure of chemical components and how to alter them in an almost mathematical way, revolutionizing the field of alchemy several decades or an entire century

Until now

The new normal was disrupted when all the timberwolves stopped what they were doing, remaining perfectly still for a full second before speeding off, all heading in the same direction, not caring what was in their path or the importance of their current job

They ran through doors and windows, dropped their work tools, and threw the children at the first adult they saw as they all ran in the same direction.

All those who appreciated it prayed, because they noticed the desperation that these creations had to reach their creator.

I thought I had a good plan, but as the saying goes, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

…

Or at least that's how it should normally be, but not here, because in this case everything turned out wonderfully.

Normally, it would be idiotic to think that anything I did could somehow surpass Celestia, we're talking centuries of stored, refined and perfected arcane knowledge. There was no way to surpass that, so I didn't even try. Instead, That's why I opted for something that I have depended on enormously since I came into this world.

The deception

My plan was simple, it barely consisted of three parts. Everything had to be perfect, there was no time for a plan B

First, piss off Celestia, make her mind messed up, and miss the most obvious clues.

Second, install two barriers. In the first one, I would put all my effort and resources, I would use every second I had available to enhance it and increase its size and robustness. I would do EVERYTHING to fail, or rather, to make failure convincing.

After all, leaving my home unprotected would raise suspicion and possibly provoke some caution on Celestia's part, but as soon as this barrier was destroyed by Celestia, she took it as a sign of superiority and that her victory was guaranteed.

That's where the second barrier came in, which was the complete opposite, it was paper thin, barely functional and even if left untouched, it would fade on its own in just a few more hours. It was so pathetically weak that it was no wonder it was ignored, so small that it becomes difficult to locate, as flimsy as it is flexible

All of that added together was what allowed my secondary barrier to survive the impulsive deployment of magic and outwit Celestia the way she did.

The third part of my plan was the most obvious, collapse the mine

It's true that I and my timberwolves hid in it when Celestia and her troops dispersed through the forest, but when she ordered them to gather at the entrance to my cave, I had plenty of room to come out with my [flame gate] modified timberwolves. Camouflaged thanks to my secondary barrier, it spread freely through the spaces previously secured by ponies

Thank you very much, fools!

It was then that I ordered the golems to attack, prioritizing the unicorns, the only good thing Celestia had done was distribute them to protect the rest in case of collapse.

I had to delete them first

The element of surprise was well used, in a rapid movement, dozens of lives were cut, obviously they did not always reach their objective. Even so, I ordered them to throw themselves into danger in a suicidal race just to be able to kill at least one unicorn each

“Attention to all my golems” I said through everyone, even the ones who were still fighting, executing or being executed, however, I did not care about them, only one golem deserved my attention.

“Half of you must explode.” The look of terror in Celestia's eyes was priceless.

“Did you feel that?” asked one of the earth pony guards who were waiting their turn in line to enter the mine, like many others.

The progress was slow, and the groups of ponies did not stop arriving. Internally, he wondered how long it would take them to get out of there once they had arrested their fugitive.

“No, what?” A pegasus guard asked confused.

“Feel it, the earth”

The pegasus just snorted, dismissing the comment as some silly earth pony superstition.

“Wait, I think I feel something too,” said another earth pony who had been listening a few steps away.

One could be a coincidence, but two?

“I don't like the way it feels.”

"Something is wrong!"

“I think we should back off.”

"Silence, everyone!" He demanded a unicorn when he noticed how the murmurs turned into screams.

Luckily, his authoritarian tone worked, and silence reigned as everyone present tried to perceive whatever had upset their companions so much.

“Is he… shaking?” He questioned the unicorn, who had silenced everyone when he noticed the vibrations, and suddenly understood why the earth ponies were so upset.

Their racial magic made them more susceptible to these types of natural changes, in the same way that pegasi were more sensitive to climate changes.

“CRACK”

The earth broke

"WITHDRAWAL!"

Chaos reign

The ground shook with greater intensity, cracks began to form, the entrance to the cave began to collapse, condemning those who were still inside, and a stampede of ponies formed, desperate to find a safe area.

The pegasi were the luckiest due to their natural ability, the most intelligent or quick thinking managed to grab the pony that was next to them, taking them out of the danger zone.

A few unicorns who knew teleportation used it without hesitation, but the number of unicorns who mastered that spell did not even add up to a tenth of what the unicorns brought.

Other not so lucky ponies fell into despair as parts of the ground began to give way and swallow their companions or simply make them stumble, something unimportant, but in the current situation it proved fatal.

Dozens of ponies were crushed by their companions, some who realized this could not deal with the idea of being next, and in their panic they clung to the pegasi who were trying to save as many of their companions as they could, the only thing they managed to do was drag them away more of his companions to certain death

The collapse didn't last more than a few minutes, but for the survivors, it felt like hours

Before the incredulous gaze of the ponies, the entire area where they were previously was now divided by a large crack, like a scar on what was once the beautiful face of Mother Nature.

When calm finally returned, the screams and crying soon followed.

There had been hundreds of ponies gathering in that place, it was impossible that there were no survivors.

With this thought in mind, the first group of pegasi managed to muster enough courage to go in and lend their help to whoever needed it, but their naive minds forgot to consider the opposite approach.

When the first brave man descended into the opening, the first thing he saw was the blood dripping between the rocks.

Just as there had to be survivors, there had to be a much larger margin of victims.

Some vomited, others returned, but one managed to spot a survivor.

A pegasus mare descended and stumbled when she touched the ground. She felt weak and dizzy, she couldn't even identify what breed the pony she was helping was, only that apparently its armor suffered a lot of damage, since she could distinguish the yellow color of its fur, was also quite battered, and had one front leg completely crushed by a rock

The poor guy couldn't stop crying and screaming.

“T-calm down” The pegasus mare leaned on the rock as she tried to compose herself “I'm going to get you out of here” She said, but the truth is that she wasn't able to move the rock even an inch “Help! She needed help here! ” She screamed, and luckily her scream was answered.

A group of five pegasi carrying a unicorn descended

“For… Celestia.”

As expected, none of those present were in any better condition, they were still too stunned.

"What are they waiting for?!" The cry of the pegasus mare desperately trying to get the rock off the poor pony's leg brought them out of their stupor.

"Y-you, hold his legs and prepare to pull, the rest of you, pull the rock on the count of three." The unicorn gave instructions while mentally preparing to help levitate the rock and thinking about the spells he would use later to take the pony out to treat its wounds

“One, two… three” They all moved in synchronicity, this caused part of the surrounding land to give way, causing a slight collapse accompanied by a small cloud of smoke, but none of them stopped their efforts, and in the end they were rewarded.

The rock rose high enough for the pony's limb to be freed. The pegasus holding it pulled hard, and as soon as it was out of danger, the group stopped its efforts by letting the rock fall.

The unicorn felt bile rise up his throat as he saw the severity of the damage to the limb. “Hold him… he may have to cut.”

The rest of the group shuddered, but did not hesitate to follow the instructions, although these did not seem to be necessary.

The yellow pony hardly seemed to have any strength, he was no longer even screaming. As the unicorn guard approached, he began to fear that his efforts had been in vain, but to his relief, the injured pony's expression filled with energy as he saw him approach.

Although... it wasn't relief that she saw in him, it was absolute terror.

Before he could ask why, one of his companions warned him

“Watch out back!”

That slight collapse a while ago had not been as simple as they initially believed, something had come out of there and used the light curtain of dust along with the structure of its body to cover itself and get close enough.

The unicorn could only see the advancing golem for a second before his view abruptly changed to the sky, the horrified faces of his companions for an instant, and finally the sandy ground.

The rest of the guards still couldn't fully process the scene that unfolded before them. In one simple move, his pony companion had been decapitated.

Fear petrified them, a fatal mistake that the golem had no qualms about taking advantage of.

“Here they come!”

Surprisingly, the scream did not come from any of those present, but from the surface, outside the crack, where cries of panic and fierce combat could now be heard.

“The timberwolves are here!”

It was heard at the same time that the golem lowered other of his limb to open the head of another unfortunate pony.

The poor guy, at least, died quickly

Another pegasus tried to take off in panic, but the golem did not hesitate to take the injured pony, stabbing him with one of his beaks, condemning him to death, and throwing him against the pegasus, preventing him from taking flight and causing both of them to crash.

It was horrible

Everyone was going to die there

“NOOOOOOOO!”

Or so it seemed

A miniature sun emerged with a gigantic beam of energy that pointed towards the sky, disintegrating anything that obstructed its rise to the surface.

Celestia had arrived, and she was not happy

In the blink of an eye, he flew at the golem, crushing it with his own hooves.

In horror, she saw the corpses of the soldiers she had brought with her, but as much as it pained her, she had no time to mourn her loss, she could still hear the sounds of battle.

"Stay here!" Celestia practically roared as she, in an instant, healed any wounds on the survivors and encased them in a miniature dome.

Realizing that they were as protected as they could be under these circumstances, Celestia wasted no time and took flight at a higher altitude.

Celestia believed that before she was horrified, well now she was desperate

Before her, a pitched battle raged between her ponies, the modified timberwolves, and a few advanced golems that emerged from the rocks.

Their ponies still seemed to have the numerical advantage, and with their pegasi in flight, they had air superiority, but little else. Their forces had been surrounded by what the timberwolves were attacking from all fronts, the destroyed terrain prevented them from moving freely, the golems came out of the cracks and caused disorder among her troops, and although she didn't know it, in the sky, the drones were locating any pony with enough initiative to try to organize the troops and marking them so that they would be hunted as quickly as possible, preventing any opportunity to build an effective defense

Celestia's body moved on instinct, and she cast spell after spell trying to destroy as many of these aberrations as possible from the air, but she had a problem, one that had haunted her since her youth.

It is true that Celestia was a magician without equal, being only equaled, never surpassed in the art of the arcane, and it was not the first time she crossed a battlefield.

But there was a reason why Luna was considered the warrior between the two, even though Celestia had a greater amount of magical power and experience at her disposal.

She was easily distracted

At that moment, Celestia attempted to charge a spell of pinpoint precision that would manifest a gigantic pillar of light that would destroy the enemies within that area while ignoring her own troops, leaving them unharmed and giving them the opportunity to gather, but over the edge. From his vision, he noticed how an earth pony had his weapon taken away from him, and he could not keep his distance from the timberwolf, which did not hesitate to pounce on him.

Without thinking, Celestia canceled her spell that was moments from completion, and she descended to save this single soldier.

On a map table, Celestia had no problem coordinating her troops and deciding what sacrifices needed to be made, but here? On the battlefield? Where did I have to see the fruit of her decisions and mistakes in real time?

Celestia's mind was simply unable to turn away and ignore those in need, such an act was against her nature!

So she had to settle for saving one soldier at a time.

In her defense, she was doing a good job. The enemy she looked at was a dead enemy, but contrary to her deficiency, this time her mistake was being too focused on these enemies.

“SHIIIING”

“AAAAAGH” Celestia grunted and shuddered when a bolt of green energy hit her and threw her several meters until she crashed back into the ground.

The residual essence of her dark magic caused him great pain, but throughout her life she had suffered much worse, so she stood up and assessed the damage.

The impact had burned and darkened her pristine fur, right at her cutie mark, her sun!

“That was on purpose!” Celestia growled, realizing just in time the second beam of energy that was heading towards her.

This time, blocking it with a barrier was no problem.

“Can you blame me for aiming for the bigger target? It’s practically a bullseye!” Forest Heart's mocking voice came from a few meters to Celestia's left.

The princess quickly turned to face her, only to find a group of timberwolves practically devouring one of her guards.

Tearing it apart, biting it, pulling all of her limbs, and tearing off pieces of flesh like one of her ears.

That was unnecessary, there was no point in such exaggeration, but Celestia's mind could not process that fact before her body moved out of pure instinct, destroying a timberwolf with one blow and sending the rest away with an exaggeratedly strong magical wave before charging a healing spell

“BURNS!”

Something she couldn't finish doing.

In her desperation to save the life of her pony, she had let her guard down and allowed a drone to position itself a few meters above her.

However, due to the chaos caused by the surrounding battle, Celestia could not perceive when it blew itself up or the consequent teleportation of [Flame Gate] until she felt a burning weight fall on her.

Celestia immediately reared up, trying to shake off the hot bicorn.

It was true that Celestia was also a being of fire, so logically, that element should not harm her, but this was magical fire, worse yet, dragon fire enhanced by dark magic

Certainly, Celestia could sense that, they could harm her with that!

But the worst came when Forest Heart clung to her

Celestia felt a series of punctures that caused a deep pain in the back of her neck, near her cross. This only motivated her to shake more wildly, with every second that passed, she felt the pain deepen until Forest Heart decided to finish it off releasing an electric shock

Ironically, it was this shot that activated Celestia's combat instinct, an instinct long suppressed almost to the point of oblivion, but which faithfully soon responded to a potential threat to Celestia's life.

Using her unicorn magic and the innate magic of the earth ponies, Celestia rejected the energies that entered her body and then used her horn to manifest a sphere of golden energy that remained weightless in the air a short distance from her until, with a Herculean effort, he dropped with his back facing the sphere, causing Forest Heart to enter the main danger zone before detonating it.

“BOOOOOM”

Being Celestia's own magic and having set her spell to ignore it, the only damage she suffered was caused by her being dragged against the ground.

Forest Heart, on the other hand, suffered much more. They could be said to be on par with burns now, however, there was a difference

Even during the explosion, Forest never loosened his grip on his jaw.

As they both composed themselves, Celestia looked disturbed at the piece of flesh protruding from Forest Heart's snout. Even from a distance and so damaged, she could see the shades of white fur marred with blood and… drool.

Forest Heart was visibly drooling as her greenish pupils dilated before she began to chew rigorously and finally swallow audibly.

She had enjoyed it.

Celestia didn't know how to react, she was practically eating her alive, and she had the nerve to show it off in her face!

"I'll kill you!" Celestia screamed in anger as the edges of her hair transformed into an ethereal fire.

Forest Heart only smiled disastrously at her statement as she also enveloped herself in her own flames “HAHAHAHA, YOU WERE DELICIOUS, THIS-WILL-BE-FUN”

“I don't like this.” Shining Armor truly didn't like what he was seeing.

"Exactly what? The only thing I can see is that we will be going home soon” Iron Blade said nonchalantly.

“I'm not sure, maybe anything that could threaten our princess to the point of having to release that amount of magic?” He emphasized Shining sarcastically and with the image of the golden pillar still fresh in his mind.

From where they were, that was the only thing they could see, but Shining could sense that they were missing something important.

“Haha, you are too paranoid, surely that vermin made the mistake of making our princess angry, you know well how stressed she has been lately, Celestia should have simply decided to end this whole circus as quickly as possible” Blade dismissed all his worries while taking a bite of the provisions they had brought

Shining looked at him stunned. “Where did you get a donut?” Shining would clearly never waste space to bring something as trivial as candy, much less would he eat it in the middle of the most delicate moment of her mission.

"I ordered a cart to be requisitioned." Iron shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Oh, please don't look at me like that, we haven't left Equestria and someone had to make sure our princess had something worthy of her after our victory"

“Sure, ours” Shining almost said, but managed to keep that comment to himself.

The only reason Iron Blade was here was because Celestia was tasked with distracting the nobles with meetings, tea parties, minor errands, and other things, while Shining made the necessary preparations to mobilize a legion.

Celestia could easily get herself off the hook by claiming any excuse she could think of, no matter how flimsy it was of hers, no one dared challenge her, but that left Shining as the main person responsible for the unauthorized deployment of troops.

They had to change that, hence the idea of appointing a legion commander to an inept man so easily manipulated and with an ego so inflated as not to suspect that his only real job was to be present when the nobles began to look for culprits.

“BRUM”

"What was that?!" Shining was immediately alarmed by the sudden noise.

“Relax, Captain, it's just a landslide.” Iron dismissed any thoughts of danger from his head as he took another bite of his treat.

From his perspective, the only danger in this place was confined within the guard captain's force field, and it would be pure luck if at this moment that danger had not already been captured by Princess Celestia.

“Maybe, but the dust clouds should vanish, right? Don’t surround us!” Shining practically shouted in the stallion's ear, making him drop his donut in surprise. “Everyone on guard!”

At his command, all the guards assumed defensive positions.

The pegasi spread their wings, ready to take off, the earth ponies readied their spears, and the unicorns' horns glowed with arcane power.

Then a shadow became visible through all that fog.

What came out of there was not something they expected.

"Please help!" He was a diamond dog in a red jacket. He was running towards them, holding a limp and bleeding arm.

“Stop right there” The captain declared, and although hesitant, the dog obeyed “What happened to you?”

"T-they attacked us, somehow they avoided the lookouts and invaded the tunnels, we confronted them, we thought they were no big deal, but they didn't stop coming and exploding when we knocked them down," the dog explained in panic while clutching his head, almost hyperventilating at the memory “And then those flames!” The poor cry of terror “I have never seen anything like it. They joined the rocks and gems!, and- and…”

"And what happened?" The captain wanted to know more, but the dog remained silent, putting his ears to his neck, his fur standing on end, and looking at the ground as if he were going to devour him. Shining was already considering whether to threaten him or try to calm him down with kindness when she felt a vibration.

Suddenly, everyone began to understand why the diamond dog looked at the ground like that.

Except one

“Answer once and for all, creature! What pestilence haunts you?” Iron Blade stepped forward as he created three swords of light, pointing at his surroundings.

Only one word came out of the dog's mouth "Timberwolves"

…

“Poof, hahaha” The legion commander laughed as he discarded his creations “Is that all? Gosh, I don't know what he expected from a simple earth dog."

“I am a diamond dog, and at least I know when there is a larger predator to fear”

“You flatter me, chucho,” the commander said smugly.

“I wasn't talking about you.”

“BANK”

A stone was thrown, hitting one of the guards in the eye.

"Who did that?!" The guard shouted, quite irritated, only to receive the rude response of dozens of other objects thrown in the direction of his entire group.

"Ouch," a random soldier complained when a stump fell on his head.

“AH!” another growled as a group of grimy branches stained his armor.

"How dare they? - AH!” The soldier screamed when another rock hit him right on the snout.

The entire group began to receive stones and other objects that they tried to block with their armor, but there were beginning to be too many.

“Shield, now!” Shining's order might seem exaggerated when you considered that they were only hitting the frontline soldiers, the others could dodge the throws with ease, and he along with Iron were out of range, but something didn't like it, something felt wrong, and his subconscious knew it and tried to warn him, but no matter how much he thought, the answer eluded him.

“Timberwolves!” The scream immediately caught the captain's attention, and he located the threat.

It was just as the soldier had announced, a group of five, obviously enhanced, running straight towards them, but the captain didn't care.

The shield had already covered them completely, including the diamond dog, and no matter how upgraded these timberwolves were, they were still just rocks and branches. He trusted that his enchanted spears and magic could take care of them with ease.

The timberwolves stopped outside the shield, and soon the group grew until they surrounded the entire force field, but none of them moved from their positions, none of them attacked the barrier, they just… they stood there watching.

“No, no, no, no, let me out, let me out!” The diamond dog started to panic again

“Don't worry, you're safe here.”

"Safe?!" The diamond dog looked at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world “You think this magic protects us?! All you did was lock us up with them. Look!"The dog said as he pointed to a pony, more specifically a unicorn.

One of the same ones who maintained the barrier

“AAAAAAH” The unicorn screamed, but he was not the only one, several more of his same species screamed when they were bitten by… Timberwolfves heads?

“Where did those things come from?!” Shocked, Iron Blade shouted.

Suddenly Shining understood: "The garbage they threw! Everyone, pay attention to the ground, destroy anything that moves."

But it was too late, the objective had already been achieved, distract the unicorns that were feeding the barrier, weaken it and attack

“CRACK”

With a creak like window glass, the barrier gave way, and the timberwolves entered, which surprised them. Even with the unicorns distracted, it shouldn't have broken so easily.

A more elaborate battle than that of the Everfree began, mainly because these soldiers had seen their enemy and knew he would come, so there was no element of surprise to take advantage of, apart from having their leader with them to guide them.

But they also had disadvantages, the fragments of timberwolves scattered and reforming frequently distracted the Equestrian soldiers, worried that an enemy would suddenly appear in the middle of their ranks. Even so, the performance of the Equestrian troops was nothing to sneeze at.

“Left flank watch out, right flank press, Iron get out of the way!” Shining couldn't stop barking orders as he pushed Iron to the side, narrowly managing to avoid a stolen spear thrown by a timberwolf and responding with an energy beam, managing to destroy the aggressor "If you're not going to help, don't get in the way!" Shining shouted at Iron Blade and shouted orders to his troops again.

The truth is that the captain was tremendously frustrated, there was nothing he wanted more than to fight alongside his fellow guards, but he was far from being an optimal combatant.

Defensive magic is his specialty, he could even be said to be a prodigy in that area, but maintaining a force field the size of a city was wasting most of his strength.

No matter how skilled and prodigious Shining was, he was still a unicorn, not a miracle worker like the alicorns, he had his limits.

“Okay, okay!” Iron shouted, and to the captain's surprise, he created a series of large ethereal swords that fell like arrows, not on the timberwolves but on their surroundings, creating cages that prevented them from surrounding the guards while dividing the enemy army into small groups

In a second, the balance of the battle tipped in favor of the Equestrians

Shining gaped at his unicorn companion.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I’ve been on the guard almost as long as you’ve been alive!” The commander shouted indignantly.

Perhaps, there is a possibility that he and Celestia misjudged him.

Certainly, he wasn't going to tell her that, maybe later, but for now, there was something more important.

Shining watched with a critical eye as the timberwolves were forced back and bombarded by the occasional spell from his fellow Iron, but there was something about the sight that disturbed him.

There were many bodies, despite being victorious, almost half of his troops had died or been seriously wounded in that short period, however, it was not that that disconcerted him the most, but the fact that several of these bodies had their armor torn

The upgraded timberwolves were supposed to be all wood and rock, how did they manage to cause that kind of damage?

Then he realized something as he looked at the diamond dog that had joined his forces, helping to repel the attack.

A timberwolf pounced on the dog's back and bit him on the shoulder of his good arm. He screamed, but far from freezing from the pain, he responded with a jerk that expelled the wolf which, in the same way, recomposed itself, ready to attack immediately. Only to be brutally destroyed by the claws of the diamond dog, demonstrating why his breed was the owner of such a name.

The dog allowed himself a smile at this victory and proceeded to celebrate… By biting his wound?

No, there was something there between his teeth that he began to chew like a treat, then his ears shot up, and his fur stood on end once again, with the only difference that now, instead of looking at the ground, he turned to look at Shining to the eyes

Once again, they felt the ground vibrate

“Iron run!” Shining screamed when he realized the danger

"That? Because?" Despite his confusion, when Iron did not receive a response, I decided to follow the captain.

Unfortunately, it was a second too slow, a second too late

“CRACK”

In the same way that in the Everfree Forest, the ground began to collapse, but this time instead of the earth opening and swallowing the ponies on top of it, something came out from inside it.

Something bright and multicolored

Bigger than a pony, but not as big as an alicorn, at least in height

Iron Blade was thrown into the air as one of the emerging beast's claws cut him.

Shining could see in horror how the pony and its hind leg fell meters away from each other, and then the person responsible ran straight towards him.

Unknowingly, Shining was facing another variant made by Forest Heart, but not one made for battle but for transportation.

That thing was a Beta created entirely of rock and reinforced with gems of all shapes, sizes and colors, stolen from the diamanté dogs.

If there was any wood or brush inside it, it was completely covered by its glass armor.

Suddenly Shining understood why the timberwolves had become so deadly, their claws and fangs had been changed for sharp gems, some even of great magical quality.

And the one in front of him was completely armored with them.

Shining Armor for the first time in his life, he questioned whether joining the guard had been the right decision.

Forest Heart saw how a beam of golden energy capable of covering his entire body went directly in his direction.

Without hesitation, he activated [Flame Gate] and reappeared a few meters away, where he immediately breathed fire out of him without caring what he was giving him.

"Enough!" Celestia shouted, she could see in detail how the green flames inevitably overwhelmed some random pony, but Forest cared little. “Damn monster!”

Celestia launched another energy beam at Forest Heart, and the same scenario repeated itself again.

In fact, this scene had been repeating itself for a while, and as a result, the forest was on fire

Forest no longer even had to sacrifice troops to teleport, on the contrary, thanks to his attack/flight combat strategy, his fire was spreading on its own, resurrecting his troops or even creating new ones.

On the other hand, there was Celestia who stopped chasing her momentarily to cast a force field around a trio of ponies who were moments away from being overwhelmed by the enemies.

It only took Celestia two seconds at most, but thanks to his ever-watchful drones, Forest did not miss the opportunity, and with his own magic fanned the flames on Celestia's side while turning them into [Flame Gate]. Only this, Maybe it wasn't for her to use.

Three modified timberwolves and a golem jumped on Celestia less than a meter away.

The golem was the closest and the one she tried to hit first, but Celestia managed to dodge it by inches by jumping back. Afterward, she had to duck to avoid a timberwolf's jumping attack.

However, another of the wolves took advantage of the moment to attack one of her hind legs, which bled, but little else.

Modified or not, there was no timberwolf with the strength to break an alicorn bone, something Celestia noticed, so she deliberately ignored her attacker and concentrated on melting the next timberwolf who tried to gouge out her eyes, which she succeeded in doing, but not fast enough to notice the tackle from the golem

Celestia lost the air in her lungs at the surprisingly strong blow, but she managed to compose herself and teleport away before the golem crushed her to the ground.

With the advantage that distance gave her, Celestia made use of her vast arsenal of spells to turn the ground and its depths into a quagmire, causing the beasts to become victims of their own weight and inability to fly, condemning everyone to sinking and later returning the soil to its natural state, burying all its attackers at once

Sadly, Celestia did not have time to celebrate her victory when Forest attacked her using the same combination of spells with which she brought down the walls of Canterlot Castle.

The impact was much more devastating than that of the golem.

Celestia tried to compose herself, she managed to plant her hind legs on the ground while she used her adversary's horns as a foothold to hold on to.

Celestia's hooves scraped the ground, leaving a couple of parallel marks, but Forest Heart was no less persevering and continued to advance with even more strength and flames on her body until finally a tree stopped her march.

Celestia really felt that, it wasn't the torturing effect of the dark magic, but she truly could feel her ribs cracking as she was crushed between the tree and the bicorn hat.

Luckily for Celestia it was not her body that gave way, but the tree whose roots came to the surface and the canopy touched the ground.

Such was the strength of her enemy, and yet he was still inferior to her.

With a surge of anger, Celestia used her front paws and, with sheer brute force, forced the bicorn back.

The action was tremendously painful, the beast's entire body was on fire and had left horrible burns on her belly and chest, but Celestia was furious!

Once she had pushed her enemy back far enough, Celestia lifted her up, achieving a bipedal position, before slamming Forest into the ground, using all her strength.

The bicorn grunted in pain. She knew that alicorns were strong in every way, but this was ridiculous. She had practically sunk it into the ground, creating a microcrater and filling the ground with cracks that spread like cobwebs, but she didn't have time to process the damage.

Celestia wrapped her horn with enough magic to turn it into a weapon capable of cutting through any mundane material or lesser magic, and slammed it into her like a guillotine.

Forest detonated a shockwave at herself, catapulting her out of the danger zone, but her flight didn't get very far as Celestia activated a second spell, and a magical barrier prevented her from going any further.

The use of simultaneous spells was a task whose difficulty was only comparable to its danger, which increased depending on the number of spells that were attempted to be used at the same time, which is why the barrier vanished as quickly as it appeared.

But Forest had no time to take advantage of this, as Celestia followed up with a thrust, giving him no chance to flee again and no time to even think about what spell to use. Forest reinforced his own horns and deflected Celestia's attack.

That was the only thing he could do while Celestia continued with her crazy assault. Deflecting Celestia's attacks was a feat that required the use of all of her strength, trying to parry or repel any of them ran the risk of opening the door for her head

“She already dies once and for all!” Blow after blow, each one faster, stronger and more furious than the last, but luckily for Forest, these were too wild, without order and to a certain extent predictable, that was the only reason he had been able to withstand the brutal assault until now. , but little by little, it was reaching the point where that advantage was beginning to lose importance

Celestia's slashes had reached the point where Forest's four legs left the ground after each impact.

Forest had to do something, she had an idea, but it seemed desperately crazy even to her.

But in such a situation, she could no longer afford to think that, and as an old commissioner said, more times than one can count, "A slight chance of survival is better than none."

With that idea in mind, Forest Heart waited for a downward blow, like the one Celestia had given her at the beginning, and as soon as it arrived, she deflected the magic reinforcing her horns to her fangs and jaw while twisting her head neck and received the impact with his mouth open

Damn madness! That it worked... somehow, however, not without consequences

Several of the fangs that received the impact were immediately shattered, the others were loosened or splintered, the muscles of her jaw suffered a slight tear, and due to her uncomfortable position, Forest almost broke her neck.

But despite all the pain that such a maneuver caused him, there was no delay in biting her, even knowing that this action would only increase her pain.

And he was right, it turns out that biting a lightsaber is not the best idea, since his lips and part of his gums were immediately charred.

Despite all that, Forest did not let up because he knew that his turn had finally arrived.

With all the hate, the pain, the contempt she felt towards ponies in general, even the awkward moments she spent with Celestia and a feeling of revenge that Forest didn't understand where it came from, it was that she stopped holding her breath and exhaled as many flames as possible without stopping biting the alicorn's horn

Celestia couldn't do anything except close her eyes before the wave of flames hit her directly in the face.

Because of the way Forest was biting the horn, he couldn't put Celestia completely in his line of fire, but even so, a large part of the big pony was directly receiving his flames, and he couldn't use his magic to defend himself because that meant putting at risk his horn

Something he simply couldn't do, there was an instinctive fear implanted in all unicorns at the mere prospect of exposing such an organ to danger, a feeling almost worse than death, from which alicorns were not exempt.

“AAAAAAAAAH” As such, the only thing Celestia could do was scream and shake wildly.

Pulling and screaming, shaking from side to side, she would have cried if her tears didn't turn to steam the instant they came out.

In her moment of desperation, Celestia spread her wings and took flight, or did the best she could.

Forest couldn't help but be carried away without letting go of the horn, something she wasn't willing to do, it was too good an opportunity to pass up, so she had to settle for the idea of taking a ride.

The distance separating them from the ground didn't increase much, but her speed did. Out of the edge of her dwindling vision, Celestia could see the immense number of trees, and she changed course in hopes of crashing into one of them.

A hope bore fruit, now the tables had turned, and upon impact, Forest almost lost his grip, but she managed to maintain it, however, the blow with her trunk took his breath away.

Using her magic, Forest forced air into her lungs and again exhaled another massive jet of flames.

Celestia had had enough

Using all of her strength, Celestia flapped her wings as hard as she could, her earth pony and pegasus magic working together to achieve a result greater than the sum of its parts.

The tree split in half, resulting in enormous pain on Forest's part, but as foolish as only a mentally damaged person with a serious history of literally explosive anger issues could be, she refused to loosen her grip and persisted with her flames.

Celestia continued in the same way

Two trees

Three trees

One of the two had to give in, and it was obvious who

Forest released his grip on her and let go of the horn. No matter how stubborn she was or how strong he was, there was no way he could defeat an alicorn with just that.

Celestia did not let her fall, empowered by fury, bloodlust and an alarming amount of adrenaline in her blood, she caught her enemy before touching the ground and took her to the skies.

Reaching as high as the dome would allow

"Are you happy?! It was worth it?! Now you will die having achieved nothing but suffering and meaningless deaths!”

The complete lack of fur on Forest's snout made it difficult for Celestia to read her expression, but she could tell with a glance.

She was smiling

At that moment, a signal was sent to the Forest Heart hive mind, and all of its drones followed it.

Drones were Forest's weakest creation and, therefore, the easiest to make. The material and energy expended to create a modified Timberwolf were at least ten times greater than those expended on a single drone, and there would still be materials left over.

Forest did not have enough control or experience over his flames to control the ones that now consumed everything inside the dome.

But what would happen if the fire was already in the desired position? In that case, all Forest would have to do was keep him in her place, something she could do perfectly well.

Celestia had not been able to see them, the right side of her vision was blurred to anything beyond a few meters, and the left side of hers was completely blackened.

How could she have seen the flock orbiting them, as a planet should orbit its sun?

The drones detonated

More than a thousand drones detonated, each contributing a small but substantial amount of flames, and Forest set the sky on fire inside the dome.

For Forest, that green fire was a part of her, an extra limb that they now slid all over her body, ignoring her as if she were part of the flow of flames.

But Celestia, Celestia was his natural enemy, Forest did not know it, but the entity that had summoned him to this world never forgot who had forced him to take such an action, hence his instinctive desire for Celestia, but now his guest had offered him an opportunity

It was at that moment that the nameless entity of the Everfree felt a feeling that he had never been allowed to experience.

Desire for just revenge, RETRIBUTION

The sea of flames that covered the sky condensed into a sphere a few meters in circumference, turning liquid almost solid, and Celestia's suffering reached a new scale of magnitude.

However, she was far from finished, as ruthless as she was relentless. Forest kept his grip on the alicorn with one of his front paws and with the other, she began to hit Celestia in the face, the stomach, and anywhere he could reach, while with no one to keep them in the air, the ground approached dangerously fast

At some point, Celestia managed to gather enough rationing capacity to block one of Forest's blows, but she was so ecstatic and overwhelmed by the madness and emotions of a being foreign to her that Forest didn't even think about it when she took the paw that Celestia used to block and bit her brutally, tearing off a piece of flesh that left the bone exposed.

It was that sight, of a predator devouring her flesh as her body was torn apart, the expectation of certain death, that caused something inside Celestia to activate.

“BOOOOOOOOOOOM”

A gigantic amount of magical energy was released from Celestia's body, similar to a volcano erupting.

The imminent danger of death had caused Celestia to instinctively draw on the power of the celestial object linked to her.

That was bad, not only for Forest but for the world in general. The only times she had to resort to such power was when she had to move the celestial object that provided her with such energy.

If the action you performed did not expend said power at the same rate as it was absorbed, it could result in a loss of control of it that would result in an unimaginable cataclysm.

Fortunately, that didn't happen. The dome that Shining Armor created was primarily intended to block Forest Heart's escape, but it accidentally also partially obstructed her access to her hive mind and similarly affected Celestia's connection to the sun.

Something that not only saved Celestia from being consumed by her own power, but also gave her counterpart time to act.

Luna, who was already in Canterlot, was forced to use her own connection to the moon to further interfere with that of Celestia and the sun, then crash through a window and fly directly to the Everfree.

These two factors were what prevented Celestia and her star from going supernova.

But there was something else there, something that just... woke up

And Forest Heart could feel it, she had been brutally expelled, she suffered a lot of damage, but thanks to the timely interference of the Everfree forest entity that alerted her to the danger, she was able to activate [Flame Gate] in time and escape to a distance... technically safe.

But that didn't matter, Celestia, or whatever that thing was in front of her, cast a healing spell on herself.

It didn't work well, her affinity with that magic had been affected. Instead of her spell granting her the necessary energies to heal, the healing process consumed her body's own nutrients, giving Celestia an especially emaciated appearance because, due to the brutality of this process, it was not possible to repair all the damage, leaving several burns and wounds without completely healing

But she managed to restore her eyes, and that was exactly what disturbed Forest.

It was upon seeing those orange eyes that Forest felt it, it wasn't dark magic, but almost there, a measly step away.

That alarmed her. If an alicorn was already this powerful, what would it be like when empowered by dark magic?

She had to end this now or start praying.

Things were not going well for Shining

The situation had turned upside down for him and his soldiers

Many of his soldiers bravely ran to his aid as soon as they saw that his captain was in danger.

It was a serious mistake, as after Iron Blade's death, the ethereal swords that previously prevented the timberwolves from overtaking them vanished.

The sudden withdrawal of soldiers on the battlefront, along with the disappearance of their only defensive barrier, had disastrous results for the Equestrian forces.

Shining had to risk casting spells in an attempt to stop the crystallized Beta in front of him from eviscerating him.

With his magic reserves so low, a single bolt of energy would only bother the beta like a mosquito would bother a lion.

Telekinesis would be the least damaging to both his concentration and his dangerously low reserves of magic, and he had no problem locating a spear that once belonged to one of his fallen soldiers.

It was a little far away, but as soon as it was enveloped by Shining's pink aura, the spear took off at lightning speed and stabbed deeply into the beast's front leg, interrupting its swing.

Shining immediately retracted the spear before the Beta could even think about breaking it, and watched the fruits of his labor.

The enchanted spear had managed to penetrate quite a bit into the armor, however, he had not managed to penetrate it and the edge of the spear had also suffered damage.

"Captain!" The first of his soldiers had arrived to rescue him, obviously, they were the pegasi.

There were three of them, two with swords in their mouths and one with a spear in his front legs.

“Don't try to take him down, just distract him!” Shining warned

The pegasi immediately followed his order, joining their captain and clawing at the crystallized armor with rapid slashes, while Shining took advantage of the distractions to strike as hard as possible until the weapon gave way, and he swapped it for another on the ground.

Like vultures, the pegasi harassed the Beta, but none of them realized who was harassing them.

One of the pegasi that was returning to ascend after a successful hit against the head shell was hit by a drone directly in its eye

The drone had plummeted with its stone beak pointing directly at the large eye opening.

“AAAAAH” I screamed as I fell

“Wounded soldier!” He yelled at the pegasus with the spear as he rushed alongside his companion to catch the free-falling pegasus.

There were no worries on his mind. Shining had also noticed his rescue attempt and was restraining the Beta, risking levitating four weapons at once to make sure he kept him away.

But, far from what Shining expected, the fight never happened. The Beta stood patiently in his place while he waited, hunching over and… Raising his serpentine tail?

A growing sense of alarm exploded within Shining, but it was too late.

The Beta moved his tail like a whip, and the countless gems that made up his armor lost the strength that held them together and were thrown away.

"NO!" Shining shouted as he saw how more of his soldiers died, and in a horrible way.

The pegasi did not catch his comrade, because they had been impaled by the rain of sharp gems.

There were so many that it was impossible for them to dodge, clearly, they were not able to reach very deep. The Beta was an amateur launcher at best, in fact, the only reason it had managed to hit its target was because the gems scattered like shrapnel.

But what his attack started was ended by gravity

“There are too many! Where do we run?!”

The bad news did not stop coming when Shining witnessed how his soldiers were overtaken and subdued by the Timberwolves.

He had no reinforcements, surrounded on both sides, there was only one thing he could do without stopping feeding the shield, and they would call him crazy.

With the four spears in his possession, Shining made a desperate dash directly against the Beta, who was blocking his path.

As expected, the Beta responded in the same way

The first claw was blocked, launching the spear accurately into the elbow joint.

The rock didn't have anywhere near the same level of strength as the crystals, so the limb gave way and the Beta stumbled.

The second and third spears were thrown directly at the head, but these did not have the same level of accuracy as the first, so one collided with its helmet and another was intercepted by the Beta's leftover leg.

He only had one of her left, and Shining knew exactly what he had to do with her.

Shining stabbed the sharp side of the spear into the ground as she continued her run and held on to the shaft with her front paws, causing it to bend dangerously.

The Beta and the drones realized his intentions instantly.

I was trying to do a pole vault

She was trying to get past the Beta!

They weren't going to allow it

Beta and drones launched to intercept him in the air, the Beta with notable greater difficulty, but jumping anyway.

There was no escape for Shining, he would die there... or so it would be, if he had jumped, but instead he simply let go of the handle of the spear and continued running on the ground.

Normally, chasing him wouldn't have been a challenge for the crystallized Beta, but the moment Shining released the spear, it straightened violently, and the handle slammed into his face with such force that the crystal helmet fractured.

If the Beta had been intelligent, he would have been outraged by such plagiarism of 'Coyote and the Road Runner'

Taking advantage of that moment, Shining ran desperately until he reached his shield, where upon his arrival, for a measly moment, a small opening through which he could barely pass by crouching, and as soon as he crossed it, the opening closed

The opening had lasted less than a second, and Shining was confident that Forest would be too busy to have taken advantage of it.

Shining collapsed to the ground, finally saved he felt like he was melting as all the tension from moments ago left his body.

"Captain"

That voice... Shining knew it

“Captain, what do we do?”

Shining didn't want to look, but he couldn't help but slowly stand up to turn around and looked in horror at his soldiers, mares and stallions, stripped of their armor, showing their true appearances, all with crippling wounds, some dying, all forced by the forces. timberwolves claws to stand in front of the shield and look it in the eyes

Some she recognized, some classmates with whom he graduated from the academy, others with whom he simply shared a passing greeting in some hallway, and others whose faces she had only seen on paper.

Everyone looked at him desperately, waiting for him to do something, anything.

“Ah” The first, without the armor and the illusory spell on him so that all the guards looked the same, could clearly see the features of the light blue mare when a timberwolf grabbed her head from behind and slammed her against the shield “Au !”

Screamed the mare before being slammed into the barrier a second time, followed by a third, and then a fourth.

“Pases, spos” The first blows had drawn blood, the next ones were breaking his nose and teeth, resulting in him not being able to speak properly.

“NO, NO, NO, NO, Stop, captain, help!” Another of her soldiers was taken in the same way as the mare and beaten again, using her shield as a weapon.

It was horrible. Shining had never in her life imagined such a cruel act, not only for those ponies, but for him.

That spell was supposed to protect ponies, help them, and save them, and now they turned it into a tool to torture both him and his soldiers.

More of his soldiers joined in this cacophony of blows, screams and pleas.

Shining struggled to drown out his screams, but even by closing his eyes and blocking out the sound completely, he could imagine them perfectly, whether he wanted to or not.

But one voice stood out

“Don't even think about dropping this thing!” The only voice he didn't plead for

“Iron Blade?” The old stallion was still alive, he didn't look well, although his wound seemed to have been healed. He was in the same position as all the other soldiers, with the only difference being that he was the only one who was not begging for his life.

“If you don't hold on, everything will have been- poof” Iron's face was beaten again in an even more brutal way “Everything will have been in vain” The dying soldier whispered before being whipped again

He was wrong about the stallion, he was a true soldier, loyal to Equestria and its people.

Shining wanted to tell him that, he wanted to apologize and exchange advice to learn from him and get closer to his goal of being a true royal guard, an exemplar of the best values that Equestria represents.

Just like his teammates always wanted, none of them deserved to die here.

“CRACK”

A sickening crack echoed in Shining's mind as another guard's skull finally gave way, spilling his brains across the barrier, which did little to stop the timberwolf from continuing to unnecessarily slam the corpse against the shield... his shield, his spell.

Shining had chosen not to save him, he was choosing not to save anyone present. If he had full magic of him, saving them would be easy

But his orders... What mattered more? What would Celestia do?

I achieve it

Celestia did it

She passed through the flames as if they were a light breeze, destroyed Forest's creations with a blow as if they were candles, and then subdued Forest Heart as if it were a stray animal.

He had nowhere left to run from her, not in here, not with her here too.

Celestia's paw was on Forest's chest as he pressed with greater intensity every moment. Forest tried to escape with blows, fire and spells, but for Celestia it was a painful spectacle.

The sun princess could feel her ribs give way, allowing her paw to sink and the black blood to drip from Forest's mouth and her other wounds, but she tried not to rush, on the contrary, her progress slowed down.

She wanted to enjoy it, she wanted to see the life leave her body, she wanted to see the pain and regret in Forest's eyes.

And then she stopped

...

What was she doing? She was Celestia, she would never stoop to such a barbaric act, no matter how much this being deserved it.

Celestia took a few steps back, and the magic that empowered her began to disperse, freeing her mind from the haze and realizing the hell that she herself had unleashed.

“Where are my little ponies?” Celestia questioned herself, she had helped and saved countless soldiers, but she couldn't see or feel any of them. “But-but, what did I do?”

“CRACK”

Celestia's thoughts were interrupted when a set of variously colored vials were thrown and shattered right in her paws.

A cloud born from the combination of spicy dust, sleep, dizziness and lightning completely enveloped Celestia as roots emerged from the ground and completely enveloped her.

Forest watched everything in amazement, but not because of the collective effect of the multiple potions, but because of her caster.

Zecora ran towards her friend, partially buried in the ground with one last jar in her mouth, it seemed that the contents of it were simple water.

As soon as Zecora was close enough to her, she popped the cork and shoved the neck of the bottle down Forest's throat.

With her body so damaged and broken, coupled with the confusion of her friend's arrival, Forest had no way to resist, he could only swallow.

“AAAAAAAAAAAG”

“BANG”

Celestia's makeshift prison obviously didn't last

"SHE IS MINE!" Celestia looked like she was going to lunge at them both, but upon seeing Zecora's face, her hesitation and confusion overcame her for a second.

“My friend, flight would be the best way out,” Zecora said simply.

At that moment, Zecora's cloak glowed with a greenish hue and completely enveloped her like a cocoon, followed by the flames of Forest Heart, and then the two disappeared together.

All in a moment too short for Celestia's overloaded brain to process what happened.

…

It didn't matter, Celestia told herself mentally, they couldn't be far away, not with the barrier… the barrier… it was gone.

Celestia stopped hanging in the air, and as soon as her legs touched the ground, they gave way.

Celestia felt enormous pain. Her brain finally seemed to process the state her body was in, her muscles and her mind finally gave up after being forced to cross her boundaries so violently.

The last thing she saw was the ashen wasteland she helped create, and the last thing she thought about was all the ponies who had trusted her and were now part of those ashes.

“I'm sorry.” With sheer force of will, Celestia shooed away her own biological needs to dedicate a few last words to her faithful ponies. “I promise I'm going to kill her so that you can judge her properly.”

And finally, Celestia was able to rest. She was going to need it, it would be the last one she would have for a long time.

25- The buzz of flies

There is not much to say

It only took us forty minutes to organize everything for our departure and we got into the carriage where we took off.

Of course I didn't have to go, but it was easy to excuse myself, partly because my excuse wasn't a total lie.

I hadn't gotten as close to Cadance as I did with Luna or Hawthorn, but she was definitely more than just an acquaintance, and I was going to help her if I could... especially since her situation was my fault.

During the trip, I asked Luna for a more concrete explanation. She gave me a summary of the situation, and I understood that the charges were an exaggeration, a way for the noble families to vent their anger.

It all started with protests from the family of one of the survivors, a certain Iron Blade.

That family declared Iron Blade to be a devoted soldier who was injured in the line of duty but failed due solely to Shining's interference and incompetence.

The rest of the noble families did not need more than that. Many of these families had lost not only relatives but their direct heirs.

Needless to say, they were eager to find someone to blame and didn't care if someone was really guilty or not.

One would think that such things would be easy to discredit when you have the support of the three ruling princesses, and that would be the case if it weren't, because apparently Shining had already made enough enemies in high places who encouraged this repudiation of him.

But what is truly burying it is that, surprisingly, the story told by Iron Blade's family was not completely false.

I wanted to hear more, but we had already landed

Between my questions and Aspen's, I barely noticed it.

“Welcome, your majesties.” Raven welcomed us all with a bow, but she didn't look well. In addition to her disheveled appearance, she seemed quite uneasy.

Luna let Aspen out of the carriage first, I guess because of some ethical protocol or something, Luna was the next to get off and bow back. “Thank you for having us. Tell me Raven, has anything happened during my absence?” Obviously, Luna also noticed how agitated the mare seemed.

“Princess Celestia needs assistance.”

Luna couldn't help but wince. “Does she need help with… that?” I don't know what they're talking about, but it seems that with Aspen here, they had decided to be cautious

Raven just nodded, afraid to say more than she should.

“Understood, I will go immediately to assist you.”

“No, she doesn't need it.” Luna seemed ready to fly until Raven's response came, which she seemed to confuse. “And that's just the problem, Celestia is-”

“Hello sister, how was your trip?” We all froze at the interruption “King Aspen, I apologize for not noticing you, and the same to you, Spirit Flame” Celestia bowed to me and Aspen.

Celestia looked good... and that was exactly what was most disturbing

Celestia was perfect and at the same time she was a mess… she had injuries, she could see more than one bandaged leg, even some blood fogging the bandages and yet she didn't limp despite her graceful gait.

Most of her face was covered by a thick bandage and she still managed to smile warmly.

Her torso was covered in slightly red bandages, and one of her wings was firmly splinted and tightened, something like that had to hurt or at least cause difficulty breathing, but her voice was so soft and her breathing was calm and controlled.

It was everything one expected to see from an immortal and unsurpassed ruler, divinity, but such a display of perfection in that state was not comforting, but rather alarming to mere mortals.

“Princess Celestia, although our relationships have not been the best in recent times, we deeply regret your loss.” Aspen, as expected, did not allow herself to be intimidated.

“I appreciate her support, and I hope she can help us”

"With what? If I can ask"

Celestia did not respond immediately, instead she used her good wing to invite Aspen in. “The details are somewhat delicate, but we hope that she can help in the precarious situation in which our dear captain finds himself.” ”

“I understand” Aspen accepted the invitation and entered the castle followed by Celestia.

I was about to follow them too, but a dark wing blocked my path. “I think it would be best to separate here, dear Spirit, the topics we will discuss are not something that anyone can participate in.”

I looked at her with concern. “I understand Luna, but you can't tell me that seeing that doesn't worry you too.”

Luna nodded "You're right, I'm worried, but it doesn't look like I'll have the chance to talk to my sister until later, and something tells me it's going to be a long and... very delicate conversation for the two of us."

"Yeah! You're right, we have to concentrate” Twilight quickly broke the hug and pointed to a bookshelf that already seemed to have been ransacked, but she still had some books “There you will find everything you need to get started in Equestrian laws. If you have questions or need more information, do not hesitate to ask me”

“I understand.” I thanked him and followed the direction he had pointed me in.

The bookshelf was a little far away, in fact it was in another section of the library, why was Twilight so far away, no idea, I only cared about the book in front of me.

A simple law book and, as expected, as thick as my hoof

Until reading so much manga and science fiction novels helped me, reading a law book was boring as expected, but since I was already used to reading it it wasn't a big problem.

Before arriving at Equus, I enjoyed reading books of 400 pages or more that I could finish in a week, as long as I had no other things to do.

I must highlight that the laws were better defined than I expected for a society that never went beyond the medieval era, or at least in matters of health, education and health, but there were others...

'Norms of the Common Good'

That's what they were called, and these included, but were not limited to, being a good neighbor, a good son, saying please and thank you, obeying the golden rule, etc.

What does someone have to do to fall into the category of a good neighbor? Does the Golden Rule even mean the same thing here as it does on earth? How did these things get into a law book? They leave too much to personal interpretation, with meanings that are too open or vague.

The worst thing is that the differences between laws and norms are never specified, they are supposed to be different, it is explained briefly, but in a very imprecise way, mostly it seems to expect the reader to intuit that they are a kind of pseudo-law not reprehensible unless is considered appropriate… there is, I don't know, it's a bit confusing in that area, I can only give my own conclusions

Ridiculous!

I'm no lawyer, but I have no doubt that anyone, even a law student, would have a field day if they somehow ended up in Equestria too.

This is just what I was looking for, if I continue… Brrrr… it's possible… Brrrrr… I just need… Brrrr

Okay, I'll kill that fly first.

I looked around and found nothing, but I still heard the constant hissing

It took me another second to realize that the sound was not coming from outside but from inside my head, right in my hive mind.

I got scared and looked for a connection with some drone, I no longer had drones in Canterlot due to the sudden increase in security that followed after Blueblood's death and I preferred that they continue to believe that I lived totally ignorant of the outside, but Canterlot could be seen from almost all of Equestria and I could assure that there was no shield surrounding her

However, the hiss was still there, but now that I focused better I realized that it was not the same as the feel of the Everfree

Shining's shield made my connection harder, weaker, but this feeling... it's more like interference, instead of something trying to cut my signal, it feels like something trying to override it.

It reminds me of the static of a television with no signal

Bttrrrrtt

A somewhat diffuse signal came to me

It was one of my most recent creations.

Minilestia

… I forgot that I left it lying there along with other things that I didn't put away because I was distracted by my talk with Twilight

I know it wasn't the most ethical thing to do to take advantage of the situation to try to give one of the princesses what was basically a hidden camera, but the idea was too tempting to pass up.

Especially with what he's showing me now.

It's Twilight talking to a unicorn guard, and while another unicorn guard did so, he positioned himself on the opposite side of his partner. Twilight did not give importance to the presence of the guard who left her field of vision while she chatted with the guard who claimed to be an acquaintance of Shining. Until he felt something brush the tip of his horn

Instinctively, Twilight looked up to see what caused the disturbance, finding a ring wrapped in a greenish aura… for a second, she was confused about its purpose until the guard she was chatting with a few moments ago pounced on her, making sure to surround his neck with his paw, cutting off his air

Twilight began to struggle trying to free herself, but that was a trained soldier and Twilight was a book geek, the difference in strength was evident, so she tried to use her magic, but a light blow on the horn from the guard was enough. He was holding her to interrupt whatever spell Twilight was trying to form.

At that moment, the guard holding her angrily demanded that his partner take action, as he had frozen after failing to put what I assume to be a magic-inhibiting ring on the lavender unicorn's horn.

He quickly moved, taking the fallen ring and placing it on Twilight's horn, who was already turning blue from lack of air.

At this point, you would expect me to run from her and save her, but no, I had noticed something else while watching the kidnapping.

There was a third guard, one who was further away than the rest and was watching me

It was fortunate that I never let go of the book I had been reading, thanks to that, I was able to avoid suspicion by simply putting the book on my face.

I would like to say that I managed to stay calm because of my training and impeccable discipline, but I knew that it was mostly due to the effect of the current of silence.

I was grateful for that, a cool mind and logical reasoning were what had kept me alive until now and I wasn't going to abandon them no matter how desperate the situation.

So I analyzed the situation and saw it from the most logical point of view.

Disadvantages

I don't know how many guards are actually on this, for all I know, there could be a group waiting for us at the entrance of the library or more hidden among the many hallways of the library

One of the guards has me in his sights so I was able to say goodbye to the element of surprise

Twilight is already completely subdued so I can't count on her support.

My shapeshifting spell has been steadily improved, but it still takes a couple of good hits or a spell to make it disappear, which I can't allow.

Thanks to the castle defenses, none of my summons are available, not even my drones

And if all that wasn't enough, I'm still hurt. It's not that I'm totally helpless, but I'm not in my best condition yet.

In short, I would have to fight these three guards head-on in a weakened state while freeing Twilight from being used as a hostage without taking a single hit in the process and without help, only to then face an unknown number of enemies.

…

It was a pleasure meeting you Twilight, maybe a little more time and we would be friends, but for now you are alone... I'm sorry

I went back to see how Twilight was doing, and as expected, she was unconscious while a castle maid arrived with a food cart covered with a large white tablecloth.

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. I suspected it before, but now I was sure there was more, it's a good thing I didn't interfere.

They stuffed Twilight's unconscious body inside in a way that made it impossible for her to see from the outside, then acted as if they didn't know each other, and the maid left the way she came while the soldiers patrolled the hallways of the library as if nothing had happened.

As the minutes passed, one by one, they left at intervals of five to twenty minutes, probably trying not to appear suspicious.

They were professionals, or at least most of them were, the same one who failed to put the inhibitor ring on Twilight and subsequently froze while being subdued turned out to have some kind of taste for cute things or something, because I can't think of any other reason why he decided to take minilestia with him

I cut my connection, and I collapsed, no one was there to see me anymore.

I managed to stay calm, but that does not mean that the fear and panic had vanished, they were simply suppressed, but they were still there and had exhausted me.

My body was sweaty, my heart was beating like crazy, causing a lot of pain in my chest, and my mind was already starting to slow down due to fatigue.

Demanding so much on a body that has just woken up from a coma may not be the best idea.

I decided to take the book to continue tomorrow, but for now I'm going to sleep

I was so tired that I didn't even think about where I was going, I just walked on autopilot, so it was no surprise when I ended up arriving at Luna's room.

The guards were kind enough to open the doors for me and I wasn't in the mood to look for a guest room, so I walked in and collapsed on that soft bed.

But there was something wrong… BRRRRR

The buzzing had returned, and with great force

What the hell could be causing-?

“Spirit, I thought you wouldn't make it.”

“HIP” I jumped at the sudden appearance of Luna. “Where did you come from?”

“This is my room, is it so strange that I'm here?” Luna pointed out as she laughed.

“Yes, that's true, but I thought you said you would come find me when you were done.”

“Oh… I think I forgot, you know how things are, and with all that chaos” Luna quickly dismissed my complaint without giving it much importance.

That disconcerted me a little, although with everything that's going on it doesn't surprise me that I'm secondary.

I didn't have time to think about that when, faster than I could notice, Luna appeared in front of my face.

“But we're not going to let something so simple ruin our time, are we? ~”Luna spoke in a flirtatious voice as she reduced the distance between us to zero.

Luna basically tried to knock me down when she kissed me too intensely.

I had to get up and move back as far as the back of the bed would allow me to prevent Luna from climbing on top of me.

“WOW! “Luna, relax for a moment, okay?” I had no idea what kind of bug bit her that made her act so impulsively. Luna is usually more shy

"Haha, why? I've waited long enough for this and I know well that you have too." At that moment, Luna bit my tail and pulled hard enough so that the distance between us was minimal.

I felt quite exposed, and alarm bells were ringing in my head. I levitated the cushions on Luna's bed, both to cover myself and to smash one into Luna's face.

“POOF”

“Luna, calm down now.” I tried to sound as authoritative as I could, but the truth is that not even I believed my painful performance, while, once freed from her grip, I stepped back again.

Luna moved the pillow away from her face and I was surprised by the way she looked at me.

There was quite a bit of anger

“Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about doing it, why not now?” As if Luna were trying to tempt me by walking sideways, showing me the entire length of her body, and tensing her muscles as if it were a modeling session.

It was quite... tempting, technically, I was still a teenager, or at least I had the mind of one, so my imagination ran at full speed, giving me ideas and thoughts that were not at all holy.

Maybe if I had started with something like that, I wouldn't be so reluctant, but as it was, I didn't feel comfortable, in fact I was panicking.

“Because I believe there is a time and a place for these things, and this is definitely not the time.” The situation went from zero to one hundred in less than a second. The country she leads is in mourning, one of our friends was moments away from losing her lover, and her sister seems to have gone crazy.

How did Luna expect me to react?!

My complaint fell on deaf ears when Luna also climbed onto the bed.

I tried to move further away, but I collided with the back of the bed again.

A compassionate and innocent smile appeared on her lips, but for some reason it seemed closer to a predator stalking her prey. “Do you trust my Spirit? You love me as I love you?"

“Of course, but-”

“Then prove it” Luna didn't let me finish answering when she kissed me again with even more force than before. I tried to move away from her, but Luna didn't let me.

Luna hugged me tightly, making sure she couldn't escape, to which I immediately shivered.

That hurt a lot, it hadn't healed yet, and it seemed like Luna wasn't holding back her strength, and the fatigue accumulated from this entire day was already starting to catch up with me.

In fact, I felt even more tired than before, I barely had any strength, and even my magic felt weak.

But a flash of burning in my mouth made me react by instinctively exhaling my flames.

Luna finally broke away from her shaking her burnt tongue.

"What the hell?!" I screamed in confusion as she clutched her sore chest. “Did you just bite me?”

“And you burned me!” Luna responded with even more anger and strength, “Now be quiet and stay still!”

“No.” Ignoring the pain, I stood up again and looked directly into her eyes with defiance.

"What did you just say?"

“Luna, you almost broke my ribs again!”

For the first time, Luna stopped looking irritated by my complaints and stepped back to look at me, immediately noticing the bandages as if she barely noticed they were there.

“What's your problem Luna?”

Luna did not respond, she just stayed thoughtful and looking at me expressionlessly, which made me very worried. “Forgive me.”

"What?"

“It's been a very difficult few days, and I figured she could count on you for some relief.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds. I knew Luna, and I could tell that this apology was insincere.

“What do you think I am, Luna? I asked you if what you wanted from me was just fun, and you said no, you wanted something serious, and now you come and treat me like I'm your property, what the fuck, Luna?!” I couldn't help but raise her voice as she expelled faint flecks of flame from my mouth, showing how irritated she really was.

“Like I said, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, and if you want privacy, I'll give it to you” Luna started to back up, which immediately alarmed me.

"I did not say that! Just… just talk to me next time you feel like this, and then we’ll see what to do, okay?” Please try to be understanding. I have no idea what difficulties must come with your position, all I knew was that I didn't want this mistake to ruin things between us.

Luna rolled her eyes. “If you say so.” With her vague response, Luna simply lay on her side of the bed while she again forced me into an unauthorized hug, although more carefully this time.

I felt frustrated by the way she ignored me. I wanted to continue arguing, but again, the fatigue accumulated during the day hit me.

She was barely able to keep me conscious as my eyelids became heavier and heavier.

The last thing I noticed was that, for some reason, the freshness always present in the body of my favorite alicorn and to which I had become accustomed to enveloping me to the point of missing him whenever he was not around, was no longer there... Why?

Meanwhile, in a meeting room at Canterlot Castle

“So, you want me to lie, is that what you mean?” Aspen declared indignantly.

Cadance flinched slightly at the severity of the stag king's tone, but Celestia did not hesitate to respond.

“Of course not, honesty is important to us and an essential part of coexistence, all I ask is that you avoid commenting on certain topics as much as possible.”

“Like the disaster caused by the incompetence his captain showed in containing a threat or the multiple treaty stipulations he violated with his small operation on my lands.”

At the mention of her lover's name Cadance did not take long to speak in her defense "That is not true, our treaties clearly stipulate that if any danger is detected that threatens the safety of a member of any of our species we are free to act as we consider." appropriate regardless of the territory in which we are located and without the need to inform the authority that governs a certain territory."

Aspen looked at Cadance with an intensity that the young princess was not used to, but thanks to Celestia's classes, she was able to avoid showing her unease… or for the most part, at least.

“That only applies in a situation that requires immediate action or there is no time to inform said authorities. You had weeks to inform me what you planned to do, and if only you had done it, we would not be in this situation”

Surprisingly, the forest king's response provoked the first reaction on Celestia's face. “Are you implying that the presence of your forces would have changed anything?”

Aspen almost responded immediately, but stopped at the last moment. Celestia was a skilled politician, much more skilled than him, so he knew that if he claimed that they could deal with the threat without telling the whole truth, it would certainly raise Celestia's suspicions.

So, gritting her teeth, Aspen just shook her head. Hopefully, Celestia will interpret that her irritation is caused by her helplessness.

“In any case, that does not free them from responsibility, both for the act and for the failure, a failure that will take generations for my people to repair.”

At that, Celestia could not object, a huge area of the Everfree was incinerated, and with its magic contaminating the land, it will be extremely difficult for life to emerge again.

So Celestia chose to counterattack “And what were you doing? The threat was still there, your people were even more exposed than my ponies and yet you preferred to ignore it."

“That's because nothing else had happened for over a month, and if you had stayed away, I would have left you alone too.”

“Yes, but until when, or do you think that that army she defended herself with was created for fun? It was only a matter of time before he attacked again, what we did is called a preemptive strike” Celestia almost said in mockery.

“Did you even consider the idea that peace was an option?

The sun princess narrowed her eyes at her. “She invaded my castle and killed my nephew in cold blood.”

"You started! “You attacked the forest and it responded in the same way.”

The screams had already arrived, and in the experience of the youngest of those present, from here everything could only get worse, something that could not be allowed.

“ENOUGH, YOU TWO!” Cadance screamed desperately. Shining Armor was in trouble, and to save him, she needed all the allies she could get, she couldn't allow herself to have King Aspen against her "I beg you, your majesty, I understand that we have wronged you and your authority, but Shining is innocent, I ask for your help” Going against all the teachings given by Celestia, Cadance rose from her seat to kneel before the king of all forests, both out of respect and supplication.

Even Aspen could not hide his surprise at such an act and its symbolism.

A ruler who bends the knee in his own castle before a foreign king, this is even more serious if this ruler was an alicorn.

In the end, Aspen was forced to back down. “I will consider it.” These were not the kind of acts that could be easily ignored.

Cadance was satisfied as she returned to her seat, she felt some fear at Celestia's reaction, but to her surprise there was no reaction.

Celestia continued to look smiling and complacent.

In fact, she barely glanced at Cadance before turning to the room's last occupant.

“And what do you think about this? “You have been very quiet sister.”

With that, Aspen and Cadance's gazes fell on the lunar princess.

Luna didn't say anything for a few seconds until she realized they were talking about her.

“I-I'm sorry, I got distracted for a moment,” Luna admitted with some embarrassment.

“If you don't mind me asking, what could possibly distract you at this vitally important moment?” Celestia didn't mean it maliciously, but Luna still felt a little offended.

“It's just that I felt... anger. Sorry if it's confusing, it's just that-”

“You don't need to explain, Aunt Luna, I understand perfectly, I went through something similar too.” Cadance, always understanding, comforted her.

"You do?"

“Of course,” Cadance nodded effusively. “As soon as I found out that the nobles preferred to waste time chasing my Shining before focusing on the real enemy, I felt just as irritated.”

“Oh…yeah, sorry about that.”

“As Cadance already said, there is no need to apologize for that, sister, but I advise you to learn to ignore those emotions in moments as crucial as this.”

“Yes, I'll do that.” Luna understood perfectly, in fact, she was almost as good as her sister at controlling her emotions when it came to exercising politics.

And that's exactly why she couldn't understand... Why was she suddenly overcome by a wave of murderous rage?… Strange

26- An equal?

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

…

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

I'll definitely burn that door down or put a hidden detonator in it.

…

“TOC, TOC, T-”

“I HEARD YOU!” Shit! I shouldn't have done that...

Today I feel really bad

My head hurts like I'd dropped an anvil, I practically have no strength in my extremities, and my eyes felt gritty.

Slowly, I crawled out of bed until I fell face first over the edge.

What's wrong with me today? Is it a side effect of using such strong anesthetics?

Unfortunately this doesn't help, I really need to wake up

I could only grit my teeth and charge a spell

It wasn't a spell that would automatically keep me awake, I couldn't do something like that without messing with my brain, something I wasn't ready to do yet, so I went with the second best choice.

"DOWNLOAD"

I shivered at the sudden amount of electricity running through my body. Of course, since it was my own magic, most of its effects were suppressed, but it still served its purpose.

In a jump I recomposed myself with new energy driven by pain

I made sure my disguise was still active and opened the door. “What do you want?”

The guard on the other side of the door took a step back, there was no fear in his gaze, but surprise and... Amusement?

"My apologies for waking you up, but His Majesties asked me to inform you that they have already finished their meeting and are now in the dining room." The guard seemed to be trying hard not to look at me, and covered his mouth with his hoof.

“Okay… I'll be there in a moment.” Don't wait for a response before closing the door.

Just now that the guard mentioned it, I noticed that Luna was no longer here, she must have left while she was sleeping.

I remembered what happened yesterday and immediately became very irritated, but I also thought about what happened before that.

Twilight was kidnapped... that wasn't good, but as much as it bothered me, I couldn't do much. They had me under surveillance at the time they kidnapped her, so I have no real excuse to explain how I saw what I saw, and to top it off, the armors are enchanted to make their wearers look the same so you could put them in front of me and I still wouldn't recognize them

The best thing I can think of to do is wait for someone to ask about her and encourage them to search for her. Hopefully, when they realize she's not at the castle or her parents' house, someone will get suspicious.

There was also that peculiar interference that she had almost forgotten about. What could it be? Maybe Celestia is trying out some new switch spell, which is a worrying idea since, if true, that interference in my hive mind means it's working.

Apparently I had a lot of important things to do, but until then I needed to go to the bathroom

… As soon as I walked in, I understood why the guard looked at me the way he did.

I looked like a giant cotton candy, most of this mane may have been fake, but I have constantly improved this spell to the point where when I electrocute myself, my lion's mane reacts.

It took me 30 damn minutes to clean up that mess, relieve myself, and change my bandages.

By then, the boost of energy gained from the pain was already fading, and I was not about to electrocute myself again and go through that mane hell again.

So I have no choice but to hold on

As soon as the dining room doors opened, everyone turned to look at me more out of reflex than out of true interest, but none of them looked away.

I expected it, I did what I could with my hair, but I couldn't hide the effects of my fatigue. The only way to hide them would be to use makeup, an option that makes me prefer death.

I may have settled for this new body, but first dead than effeminate

“Good morning” Luna greeted me, but I didn't even look at her.

My target was the maid who was serving the drinks

Note that both in the cart and on the table there were traces of typical light breakfast foods, except for Luna who had a main dish, another salad and dessert.

True, for her, this is dinner

“Good morning, Lady Spirit, what can I-”

“Coffee” I interrupted the maid, not being in the mood, she needed the nectar of eternal life now.

"O-of course, just give me a moment to fill-"

The servant had barely managed to put water in the teapot when I again did not give him time to finish and used my telekinesis to snatch the teapot from her paws along with a jar containing a kilo of coffee beans.

I raised my right front paw, which lit up on fire as soon as the kettle landed on the flat part of my paw. As the water began to boil, I dropped the jar to concentrate solely on the coffee beans and squeezed them until they became a ball of just 5 centimeters in circumference

By the time I finished my magic demonstration, the water was already bubbling, so it didn't take long for me to drop the ball of coffee in, close the lid, shake it, uncover it, and drink straight from the pot.

Ah, just what I needed, as black as my soul and as intense as hell

“Um, Spirit, is everything okay?”

I turned to look at Cadance. “Yes, why do you ask?”

“Well… You ignored Luna when you came in, and it looks like you could faint at any moment.”

“Very observant, I give you 10 points, now leave me alone as I convert my blood into caffeine”

I heard someone leave her seat. I looked, and it turned out to be Luna

Luna's seat was behind me, so the quickest way would obviously be to go straight, but when I saw her approaching from behind me, I remembered what happened last night and felt a shiver of repulsion, so I turned away from her.

I tried to hide it by finding a place to sit near Aspen, who was sitting on the opposite side of the princesses, who always sat together.

“Is there anything left to eat?” I asked as she sat down.

“There are some pancakes, toast, cheese and fruit left, but if you like, I could ask them to bring you something that is more to your liking.” As expected, Celestia was the one who maintained her composure the best, she spoke as if my sore and act had been planned

I looked at the pancakes and shuddered again, “No thanks, I'm fine with this” I levitated a banana and started peeling it to take a bite.

“Is this how you eat it?!”

Everyone's gaze went to Luna, who was looking horrified at me, and to the banana they were eating.

I could only raise an eyebrow. “Yes… What did you think it was like?”

“I, well… I don't think it matters.” Luna's face began to turn red.

“That's what happens sister, when you don't accept suggestions and try to pretend that you know everything.”

“I-it's not my fault, those things weren't edible in my time, how would I know?”

"Common sense, maybe?" I suggested taking another bite.

Even Aspen was caught off guard. “How did you come to the conclusion that the peel was the edible part?” There was no mockery in her voice, Aspen was genuinely interested.

“I thought the seeds were there, I thought it could be edible, but I don't like feeling those things in my mouth”

“So you just eat the peel and throw away the rest?” Cadance was incredulous and horrified at the idea of waste

Luna shrugged her shoulders. "I usually eat the peel of oranges too, they don't taste that bad." Well, I can't refute that. I also knew someone who did that and even used the peels for cooking recipes, plus the ponies are herbivores, so maybe they are tastier o- “It's easier to eat than pineapples”

…

Again, all faces went in Luna's direction.

“Repeat that again… please.”

“The pineapples” Luna stopped for a second, realizing how we were looking at her. “You eat the pineapples whole... Right?”

We all stopped looking at Luna and looked at each other as if we were having a telepathic chat.

“Pft, HAHAHAHAHA, sorry, sorry! HAHA” The first to fall was Cadance

“HAHAHAHA” Then, of course, it was me holding my stomach and slamming my face into the table, trying to stifle my laughter.

Even Aspen had trouble containing her smile, and some of her laughter escaped at times.

Celestia remained stoic, but somehow her smile seemed more genuine.

For her part, Luna looked like she had decided to dye her fur red and was covering her face with her front paws.

Oh, Luna, haha, even if I try, I can't get mad at you, but I'm still going to get revenge.

With new energy I got up from my seat and approached Luna with another floating banana.

Luna peeked her head out of hers and gave me a shy smile when she saw that she was no longer in a bad mood.

I placed a hoof on her back as a consolation and said firmly, “You know, Luna, if you want to fuck, I'm willing whenever you want, you just have to ask, but I would appreciate it if you would at least invite me for a walk first or just ask me how.” "It was my day, I don't think it's too much to ask, that's all, goodbye"

I gave her a passing kiss on the nose, as her mouth was wide open, as was everyone else's, whether they were involved in the previous conversation or not.

Taking advantage of the moment as I left, I peeled the banana completely and stuffed it into Luna's open mouth.

“Enjoy it, then tell me how it tastes.” She still doesn't react, I think I broke her. “Aspen remind me that I have something to tell you later, goodbye” As I left the dining room, I didn't say anything, many were still in shock, even Celestia looked disoriented, but my previous call caught Aspen's attention, so I managed to move my lips so that it read, 'It's important'

Or at least I hope he understood that, I don't know what's good about Aspen reading lips

BAM

I kicked the doors shut and left, whistling when I realized something.

Damn, what a good coffee! All the fatigue and headache I felt since the morning disappeared

BAM

The doors closed behind Forest Heart or, as everyone in that dining hall knew her, Spirit Flame.

“Well, I can certainly say that I didn't expect that,” Celestia commented as she took a sip of her tea. “Sister, what exactly did you do to provoke that reaction?” I doubt your peculiar way of eating could be seen as provocative, or was it some kind of Kirin mating ritual?” Celestia wasn't joking, she was genuinely weighing those options.

“Cough, gug” When Luna finally came back to reality, she almost choked on the banana that Spirit had put in her mouth, and as a reflex, she ended up gagging slightly and devouring it in one audible gulp without managing to bite it, resulting in her eyes turning. They became moist at the difficulty of having something so large pass through their throat as they gasped for air.

Aspen and even Cadance looked away at Luna's expression, and the rest of those present only blushed at the face of the Lunar goddess.

“Yes, I think I'm starting to understand it.”

“Sister, stop it!” Luna claimed while she wiped away the remains of slime with notable embarrassment.

“Still, I think it's a good question. What Spirit did came out of nowhere, did you do something to make her react like that?” Cadance asked, trying to calm her own blush.

“Of course not, yesterday was the first time I saw her in weeks, and even then we didn't spend much time together, since we were negotiating all night.”

That left everyone thinking in silence, weighing their options.

“Is it possible that this is her way of dealing with her fear?” Celestia offered, confusing everyone a little before turning to the Stag King. “I understand that Spirit was caught in the crossfire in the… incident, right?” All traces of that welcoming presence left Celestia.

“Yes, that's how she got those injuries.” Aspen did her best to hide her anxiety with a mask of concern for her friend.

“In that case, it could be that such moments of great danger have affected him”

Luna felt deep worry and guilt at the prospect that his lover might have acquired some kind of trauma. “I must admit that I can't be sure, I mostly avoided the topic when I realized how uncomfortable she felt talking about it. I thought it was best to give it some time."

"But what does that have to do with how she acts now?" Cadance chose to ask when she saw her aunt too deep in her thoughts.

“When someone is faced with her final moments, his perspective tends to change; maybe he wants to enjoy the moment while he can?”

“Are you suggesting this was a very direct hint?” To Aspen, the situation didn't make much sense, and they were overthinking things, but that was because she knew Forest Heart much more than those present, and she knew how random she could be.

Especially since she became friends with Discord.

Celestia shrugged. "It's the best I can come up with at the moment with the information I've been given, although I feel like we're leaving something out here, so it's also quite likely that she's wrong."

The admission did little to calm Luna's growing concern.

“But if that is so, what should I do?” Luna looked at her sister, hoping she would share a part of her ancient wisdom with her.

"I don't know," Celestia shrugged, killing Luna's hopes. "She's your consort, you know her better than me. If you want, you can talk to her about her fears and comfort her, or follow her instructions and invite her to dinner."

Luna began to blush at the prospect of what her sister was suggesting. Certainly, that had been her intention in approaching Spirit at first, but as their relationship deepened, her priorities changed.

“I guess I'll see what to do, for now, we have to focus on saving Shining Armor.”

Cadance could only nod in gratitude “Thank you aunt, but as a princess of love, I can't ask that of you. If your special pony needs you, then it is your duty to do everything you can to help her."

“But what about Shining?”

“You don't need to separate yourself completely, you can do both if you maintain a balance between your duties and your personal life, because if you focus too much on one, you could be saying goodbye to the other without realizing it”

Cadance's advice was well received

But there was a problem, something that only one member of the table could detect due to his position at the table and the fact that he was already used to working while the antics were happening around him, so they did not distract him.

For a brief moment, Aspen swore Cadance's eyes turned green.

Then the right and third doors on the left

Damn unnecessarily big castle. Despite all the times I've come here, I don't think I've seen half of the structure, but I think I finally made it to Twilight's room.

It turns out I just couldn't keep waiting. Now that I have my mind renewed, I was able to think more clearly, resulting in me becoming more and more anxious about Twilight's kidnapping, so I decided to speed things up a bit.

“TOC, TOC-”

I didn't even finish my second knock on the door when it was opened.

“Twilight!” Spike shouted, hopefully only to be disappointed when he saw me “Ow!”

“It's nice to see you too, Spike,” I said mockingly.

“Oh, I'm sorry Spirit, I'm glad to see you too. It's just that Twilight is a little late, and she's never late, and when she does, that's when she panics, and that's when everything goes wrong, and when that happens, I have to-"

I stopped her rant with a hoof to her mouth. “How far behind is she?”

Spike stopped and started counting with his talons. “I think about... 11 hours?”

Hell, I know they have to take into account the time it took for Spike to realize that Twilight wasn't coming back and the time it took from when I woke up to when I got here, but I still slept a lot.

“That's definitely not right… wait, you've been waiting here all this time?” Maternal instinct activated

“Uh, yeah, I didn't know what else to do. Normally, I am always with Twilight as her assistant, but lately she leaves me with a lot of free time, she even forbade me to follow her” The dragon responded, who seemed quite bewildered.

“And have you already eaten?”

“Of course, Celestia always makes sure to have a basket full of gems for when Twilight and I come here.” Spike pointed to the small diamonds scattered across the table that I could tell were crumbs.

God, that still hurts to see. If only someone here had the slightest idea what humans would be willing to do, so here it is considered simply a pretty stone that literally grows everywhere and is used for lunches or paperweight

"Later, I'll get you something suitable, I refuse to believe that those stones are balanced food."

Spike let out a sigh. “You already sound like Twilight.”

“Yeah, speaking of, do you know where she could be?” I saw her in the library, but when I left, she was gone. Come on Spike, bite the bullet.

“Isn't she in the library? That's strange."

“Maybe she came home? She's not that far away, maybe she went to visit and fell asleep or something” Thinks Spike thinks!

“Why would she leave without me? "That doesn't make sense. "We're on the right track." But a lot of what she's done lately doesn't make sense, so I guess she doesn't surprise me." Spike resigned himself with visible disappointment.

And… we went back to the beginning

“Do you want to go look for her?” Hopefully, when we don't find Twilight, her family will start to panic.

“Yes, but…” Spike stopped and leaned over to look at a clock that looked like it was from the Victorian era. “It's almost time, and they won't let us see it later.”

I could see his unease in the way his eyes darted back and forth from the clock to the hallway, as if Twilight were going to suddenly appear or the weather would change.

"Who?"

“Shining, we have a very strict visiting schedule, and if we don't go at the indicated time, they won't let us see him.”

Oh! Fuck

“In that case, it is most likely that she is already there waiting for you to arrive… Or not?” I asked, tilting my head, trying to sound credible.

Spike jumped and slapped his face. “You're right, she must be waiting for me!” The short dragon returned to the room and grabbed a backpack before leaving again and closing the door. “Thank you Spirit, sorry, see you later!”

And... she's already gone...

I decided to follow the dwarf

After what I saw yesterday, there is no way I would leave a child alone in this castle, plus his stubby legs didn't allow him to run that fast, so catching up with him was no problem, in fact, for me, it was like walking fast.

I could see how the poor boy was so desperate that he didn't even notice me. For my part I couldn't take my eyes off the guards, I couldn't help but feel suspicious of my surroundings, since I could swear that from time to time I felt the same interference that had been bothering me since yesterday, but it was so weak that I couldn't be sure

Celestia was in the dining room, and she didn't seem to be doing anything... but it's still too early to discard ideas, especially when I have no idea what it could be, although an emptiness in my stomach told me that it wasn't good... that, or he complained to me for not having eaten more just because he wanted to joke with Luna

Anyway, after a while, we finally arrived

It wasn't what I expected, it wasn't an underground dungeon full of rusty chains, dirty walls and putrid smells.

It was a simple room, tucked away in one of the castle towers. I couldn't see inside from here, but I'd bet it was pretty similar to one of the guest rooms I usually stay in when I come to visit, the only difference being that it is guarded by several dozen guards patrolling along the corridor and its surroundings

I guess it's the benefits of having influential friends, and by friends, I mean princesses.

"It's here?"

“AAH” Spike jumped in total surprise for what must have been an instant teleportation for him.

“Calm down Spike, you worried me a little earlier, so I decided to follow you. Alright?" I tried to excuse myself while he pointed to all the guards who were now looking at us with suspicion.

“Everything is fine, don't worry, although next time I would really appreciate a greeting or any warning.”

“I'll buy at a bell, happy?”

“I would appreciate it,” Spike thanked, although he dismissed my comment as a joke.

"But for you"

"That? Because?"

“Because you're so fucking adorable,” he scoffed as he squeezed his chubby cheeks despite his obvious annoyance.

The truth was that, despite what she appeared to be, she was terribly nervous about seeing Shining. He is a direct victim of my actions and would be a threat to me.

I didn't get to see much of Shining's fight against my wolves since I was busy with Celestia at the time, but the fact that I lost connection with all of them right after he deactivated his shield shows how powerful he is when he doesn't have any restrictions. Besides his shield itself, I have no doubt that he could lock up all of Canterlot with that

"AHEM"

One of the guards coughed, likely to get your attention, and I immediately allowed Spike to slip out of my grasp.

“Please come with me, the captain is waiting for you.”

Spike quickly looked around, hoping to find the purple unicorn. “Where is Twilight?”

The guard shook his head. “She's not here.”

“Oh” Spike looked visibly discouraged.

"Cheer up Spike, we'll look for her later, but for now, have fun with Shining, you must have missed her a lot."

Spike forced a smile and tried to look strong when I reminded him why we were here.

Seeing that we were ready, the guard led us to Shining's room and rang three times "Visiting time, a baby dragon and a..." The guard turned around for a second, looking at me and my fake scales, apparently looking for a way to define myself as “…his mother”

My brain shorted out, and I went face first into the floor.

"She is not my mother! And I'm not a baby” Spike claimed.

The guard simply shrugged and scoffed, “How would I know? Neither of them look like a pony."

The guard began to return to his position, guarding one side of the door, but I placed a paw in front of him, forcing him to stop.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

“Do you really ask that when you have those things attached?” The idiot pointed at my fake scales with visible revulsion. “For all I know, you could have come out of an egg.”

I think the guard was trying to sound tough, bad luck because the paw that had blocked his path was now touching the front plate of his armor, and it started to heat up.

“Seeing your face, it is undoubtedly better to be born from a rock than from that filth you call mother.”

The guard looked at me surprised. Apparently not expecting such a response, I could see the anger on his face, but also the doubt as sweat began to accumulate due to the increasing increase in the temperature of his armor.

“D-do you think you can intimidate a royal guard? Beast"

“I don't know, you tell me” I shortened the distance that separated our faces, almost touching our snouts while specks of fire escaped from my mouth and nose “Do you feel intimidated?”

I expected that pony to cower, but surprisingly, he stood his ground, even with some doubt on his face but not fear.

That surprised me. Where did that confidence come from?

Neither of them backed down, and no one said anything, or rather no one dared, any action could trigger a fight...

Now that I think about it, getting into this just because of a passing comment wasn't the best idea... I think the sudden recharge of energy made me a little impulsive.

How the hell do I fix this?

My mind was in a jumble when I felt a surprisingly firm hoof force the boiling paw back to the ground.

“I think what the Polished Shield recruit meant was that he is not familiar with your race and that he would surely strive to learn so that this mistake would never be repeated, right?”

Only one pony dared to interrupt us, and I must say... he was more intimidating than I expected a simple pony to be capable of.

“Captain Shining Armor, or should I say, former captain, weren't you told that he was not allowed to leave his room under any circumstances?”

“Is still captain, and yes, you are right, the princesses ordered me, in the same way that Princess Luna ordered each of you, or should I say warned you that you should never interfere with Spirit Flame.”

Another staring duel, but unlike mine, the guard couldn't maintain his composure and backed away.

“Thank you very much for the reminder, Captain.” Polished said that last word roughly, but he soon disappeared from our sight, to which Shining quickly led us to his room and closed the door.

"That was incredible!" Shining and I jumped without waiting for Spike's startle. "That silly pony came to bother and then Spirt throws his fire. I thought we were going to fight, and then Shining comes and makes him retreat with a look." Spike continually tried to imitate my breathing fire with little success “You have to teach me how to do that!”

Shining and I looked at him and then at each other…

"HA HA HA"

"HAHAHA"

"Don't laugh!"

“What did you expect? "You're so damn cute." I tried to squeeze his cheeks again, but Spike was already expecting that and dodged me.

"I have to agree with Spirit," Shining admitted to Spike's irritation. "But I have to admit, I'm curious, I didn't know you two knew each other."

That puzzled me a little. “Didn’t Twilight tell you?”

A crooked smile appeared on Shining's face. “We don't talk as much as I'd like, and not even Twilight is good enough to add a second recipient to Spike's fire.”

I was surprised to learn that Spike's fire was enchanted with a variant of teleportation, but not too much, in fact, I based [Flame Gate] on that same spell when I found it in one of the many books I stole from Twilight's library.

“And speaking of Twilight, where is she?”

“We don't know, we thought she would be with you.” Spike immediately became discouraged.

“Cheer up Spike, she can still make it.” I tried to comfort him, even knowing that she wouldn't make it through.

“Don't you know where she is?”

“We haven't seen her since yesterday.”

"That's... not normal." I could see concern appear on Shining face, and I think Spike did too, luckily Shining didn't seem to be as clueless as Twilight is. "I guess that leaves the fun to ourselves, huh?" Did you bring what I asked for?” Spike's eyes lit up at the question, and he immediately took off the backpack he was carrying to open it and reveal that a box was all that occupied the large space... an eerily familiar box.

Is that what it is?... No, there is no way, it cannot be

“Ogres and dungeons!” Spike shouted for joy.

Close enough

“I think we have time for a short game.”

Spike looked like he was about to scream like a schoolgirl with excitement, but he stopped suddenly.

“But what about Spirit? "We can't leave her for the next 4 hours while we play with this."

Thanks to Spike's reminder, Shining seemed to remember me, and her face immediately contorted into a complicated expression. Apparently she had planned this game for a while, and my arrival had ruined it.

“Excuse us Spirt, but don't you happen to have some interest in fantasy and tall tales?” Spike and Shining turned to look at me, but by then I had already moved, grabbed the game box, set up the board on a table along with the dungeon master area, and started creating my character and his stats on a sheet of paper. paper

“What are you morons waiting for? 4 hours are barely enough for a small campaign if we haven't created our characters yet, and by the way, wooden dice suck, get some metal ones as soon as you can because I refuse to play with third-rate material."

Spike and Shining gaped at me.

"You play?"

I had to hold back my laughter at that question, and it still escaped me a little “HAHA, if you knew, I don't even know how to begin to describe the games we have at home, I'll tell you, give me a decent game, and I'll teach you how to play Warhammer “Fantasy”

“I don't even know what that is, but I know I need it.”

“The honest truth, but now bring your butts to the chairs and find a comfortable position because we will be here for a while.”

5 damned and most grueling hours later

“There's my back, I can't feel my legs” Shining's faggot complained

“No, what a tragedy! I would feel bad for you... if my character hadn't literally lost them!” I slammed my face into the table with enough force to shake everything on it.

It was a massacre.

In the second hour of play, we realized that we were not going to finish the game before the visiting time passed, so we tried to hurry

Serious mistake, especially when one of the players has a severe impulse of idiocy and decides to shout LEEROY JENKINS at the most important moment of the game

“At least you weren't looted by goblins. Talk about humiliations.”

“I still can't believe that one of those killed you from behind, even having the guardian class, I've never seen such an unfortunate roll of the dice.”

“And I can't believe you abandoned poor Spike like that.” Shining pointed to the dragon, now unconscious and foaming after his brain went into overload, when I decided to make an armor with the remains of a mother dragon and an omelet with her eggs.

“I don't know what you're talking about, I said clearly that I would make sure he stayed in the fight until the end, and that's what I did.”

“But not as an undead!” Shining shook his head in denial. “Of all kinds, why a necromancer?”

“I'm good at managing troops and with magic.” I avoided eye contact, hoping to hide my nervousness. “And before you say “summoner,” their beasts aren't so easily replaceable.”

As with chess, this game also had its discrepancies with its human version, but nothing that I couldn't adapt to.

Shining sighed as he rubbed his red eyes. For a second I thought he was upset, but he soon smiled as he offered me his paw. “Yes, you're right. Good game.”

I composed myself, accepted the greeting, and then helped him put away the board.

“I must say that this was not how I expected this to happen,” Shining commented, managing to catch my attention.

“Sorry for butting in on his visit, I was worried that Spike was alone in this castle, and then we ran into that idiot.”

“Oh no, that's not what I meant. Sorry for that fool. I hope it doesn't taint the ideas you have about the royal guard. Normally, I make sure that the staff that runs the castle is much better trained, but lately we are short of staff, and We have had to fill the gaps with what we have” There was an awkward silence, but it lasted shortly before he returned to the main topic “But what I was referring to was our meeting.”

“You… You wanted us to meet?”

“Of course,” Shining nodded. “I told you that Cadance told me about you, in fact, she was already planning a double date, but then Discord arrived and… other things.”

I noticed some frustration, but for the sake of coexistence, I decided to follow Shining's example and not separate myself from the topic of conversation “At that time Luna and I were not dating yet.”

Shining looked at me with genuine surprise “Really? From how Cadance described them, she would have sworn it was serious.”

"And what kind of things would those be?"

"Oh, nothing, you know, the typical nonsense she says about any couple." Now it was Shining who was avoiding eye contact.

Just wait Cadance, I'm going to make sure I don't forget that.

“It's something quite recent, if I'm honest, I understand why everyone thought the opposite, but nothing happened between us until Nightmare Night.”

Shining was thoughtful for a moment. I wondered what was going through her head when she asked “… Have you noticed that the wings tend to flap when they get excited?”

“Yes” That took me by surprise “And have you noticed that her hair wraps around you like a tentacle?”

"Yeah! "Everyone thinks Cadance's hair doesn't move, but I swear she's trying to strangle me."

“PFT, HAHA” I couldn't help but laugh when I realized the real reason for Shining's interested in me “So, this is what you wanted to see me for? To discuss alicorn oddities?"

“A worthy goal if you ask me, and there are not many who can understand us”

“I agree!” I shook her paw as if I had found a brother lost for years.

"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK"

I became discouraged as soon as I heard the knock on the door. “I think we're out of time.” I looked at the clock on the wall and was taken aback when I realized we still had time.

“BfFTtfff”

The interference…

“Last visit of the day, her little sister.”

My body failed, and I was petrified as I listened to Shining happily run to the door to receive his last minute visitor. “Hello Spirit, long time no see” They greeted me energetically, and I had no choice but to respond the same. I turned around and saw her “BBFfffF” There was nothing abnormal about her, her body was exactly as it should be. She almost convinced me, and I must admit that if it weren't for me doing something similar, I would have believed her act too.

“Hello Twilight, Spike and I were worried that you wouldn't make it, where have you gotten yourself?” Was I too direct? Does he hide badly? What will he do if he finds out what I know? What will I do in that case?

“Oh, I wasn't doing anything important, yesterday I just decided to go for a walk. I needed some fresh air, you know, with everything that's going on lately, some time alone helps a lot.”

We were in the library... I haven't known Twilight for long, but I know about her. I talked to her a few times, and I can say that there is nothing more relaxing for her than books

Even Shining seemed to look at her strangely, but he dismissed any idea that she was too distracted by the happiness of having a family member present.

At least now I know what causes that interference... and it scares me

“By the way, what happened to Spike?”

“Shining, I don't take good care of him.” I quickly excused myself as she pointed at the stallion.

Fake or not, I don't want to deal with any of Twilight's wrath, or at least for now.

Soon I'll have to do something with this other… hive mind.

Author's Note

Sorry for the slow update. We all know how it is this time of year with testing and that, unfortunately, the next update will likely be delayed for that same reason as well.

By the way, maybe you noticed that the guard let Twilight in even though her “strict visiting hours” had already passed. That happened because Polished Shield guard thought that Twilight had a nice butt… that's all, when they find some slight incoherence in the story, it's because of things like that. It is not necessary to look for greater meaning.

27- What is love?

A simple question, but with so many answers

Depending on who you ask, they might give you a biological or philosophical answer or maybe they'll just laugh in your face for asking such a silly question

But there is someone who knows the answer to that question, or rather, a race that knows the answer

Love is a resource, not unlike crops or minerals mined from the earth

Just a means to an end, nothing more

Even if your dependence is not as great as the Changelings', all races depend on this emotion to survive to some degree, either as a method of species preservation or as mere motivation to survive adversity

The Changelings knew better than any other race that love had only two characteristics, quantity and quality

The amount of love an individual could produce depended mainly on the species, but could also increase or decrease depending on how healthy, strong or magical this individual was

Except for non-sapient species

Dogs were a good example of these; they could produce more love in a year than a Changeling could hope to eat in a lifetime, however, their quality was so poor that even if a Changeling always had a stomach full of dog love he would still die of hunger

That hollow love only served to delay the inevitable

While the quality of love was the factor that varied the most regardless of race, gender or any other distinction

Everything in quality depended on the life an individual had lived and what he had learned

That is precisely why ponies were one of the worst food options that Changelings could find

Some might believe that because it is a land in which its inhabitants profess friendship and harmony in every corner, the quality of their love should be extremely high, but the reality is that it is not

The love that ponies produced was strongly limited by their lifestyle, which was oblivious to difficulties, and their poor imaginative capacity

Imagination played a crucial role in quality, after all, phrases like "I would do anything for you" depend entirely on the creativity of its sender and receiver

The recipient of such a phrase could be thinking that that person would die for it, while its sender could be thinking of giving up a childhood dream of being a guitarist or something similar

In Equestria the second case was the most frequent, the ponies simply did not get into their heads the most horrible aspects of life, they always focused on the positive, they saw the world with a rose-colored lens, ignorant of reality

That was precisely why the Changelings could not understand how such a quantity of love was generated so suddenly in such a country

Cadance was not a surprise, the alicorns occupied one of the highest positions in terms of magical powers, so they could already produce an absurd amount of love, and Cadance being the very embodiment of the feeling, was forced not only to produce an abnormally high amount even for her species, but also one that could be of the best quality ever seen

It was that love that attracted the Changelings to Equestria, even against their will, they were attracted like moths to a light

But the closer they got, they also realized how bad the environment was for them, they were starving, such a cheap love was not enough to satisfy their demanding physiognomy

They even considered retreating, but at that moment, another whirlwind of love began to form

At first, it was small, but it didn't take long to gain strength as the weeks passed, along with another smaller one, supposedly the recipient of those emotions

It wasn't until Nightmare Night that they finally both finished forming

Now the Changelings had a problem, if one alicorn was enough to attract them from the other side of the continent, what would happen if there were two? Worse still, what would happen if there were three?

That's right, as ridiculous as it may sound, in some ways the love of the pony to whom that love was directed reciprocated it, not in the same amount but with an equally fierce devotion

All that added to the malnourished state of the Changelings hive took away their options, they had to give that love a try, or they would fall into a bestial state

Luckily Equestria had suffered enormously, they were weak and distracted by political divisions, which gave them the ideal moment to act, but there is a factor that they did not consider

She was not the captain of the guard, she was not even a pure breed of the pony tribes, however, she was responsible for reciprocating the love of an alicorn with no less intensity, which made her an enigma that had to be investigated

That was the reason why this Changeling decided to personally take charge of infiltrating her inner circle and why he was deep in one of the royal gardens, following the trail of that tasty, that juicy, that sweet, that lov-

“Keep moving that moon butt! You're giving me quite a show~” Hearing those words with a juicy tone from behind the groves, the Changeling immediately dove into them, hoping to catch some of the residual love, only to be disappointed by what he saw

It was the anomaly, better known to everyone as Spirit Flame, still with a few bandages and levitating a series of combs and brushes to groom Princess Luna's fur and mane

“I-I would never, moon butt?! Never say such a thing again, especially in the presence of my sister!”

“Tell your sister, understood!”

The princess of the night gave her lover a look that promised absolute torment

“Okay, okay, no jokes about your big ass in front of Celestia, happy?”

Luna didn’t stop her gaze from diminishing in intensity “In front of Cadance either”

“You’re killing me, woman!”

There it is. That was what the Changeling was looking for, love born from the simplest and most mundane moments. It wasn’t as good as that obtained in moments of greater intimacy, but it still turned out to be incredibly potent

Every cell in the Changeling’s body squealed in joy at being fed this top quality food again

Btrrtr

A small jolt in the hive mind disturbed the Changeling, he would later remember to search and tear the chitin off the clumsy drone that has been causing the interference that has happened recently

“Twilight, what are you doing there?” Spirit Flame spoke

The Changeling cursed himself for allowing himself to be distracted by the food to the point of being discovered

Princess Luna stood up suddenly upon learning of the presence of the intruder

“Twilight!... How much did you see?” Luna asked with embarrassment

The Changeling was no fool, he had studied the role he was to play, but on the other hand, he had followed his role to perfection these past few days and had made sure not to raise any suspicions

“I thought I heard something about a moon bottom putting on a show”

The Changeling watched the princess's face turn red as a tomato, he could feel her embarrassment and enjoyed every second of it

“My goodness, Twilight, I didn't know you could be so shameless”

The Changeling had to hide his frustration behind a crooked smile and a rehearsed blush of embarrassment to save face

The fake Twilight didn't like this pony, she was too observant and quite random, you never knew where she could be, and a simple passing chat was enough to change her supposed routine completely. She would have already ordered to put her in a pod if it weren't for Luna, alicorns should not be underestimated, the fewer disguises there are around them, the better

“Yeah well, you know... the nerves”

Spirit and Luna gave a pained expression, and the Changeling could sense the guilt emanating from the lunar princess

“I deeply regret that I seem to have neglected my duties on the day of your brother's trial, but I assure you that I have not been negligent, however, I fear that my lack of knowledge in the current judicial area would only hinder the process, Celestia and I agreed that she would take care of the preparations”

“You don't have to apologize for wanting to relax for a moment Luna I have seen how hard you have worked these days” The Changeling had to contain the urge to vomit as he said that, if this were the hive, he would have whipped them both

“You see? I told you, it's not the end of the world if you relax a little” Spirit scolded Luna “Now spread those wings”

At the mention of her avian limbs, Luna jumped trying to keep her distance while blushing again

“S- spirit please, Twilight is watching us”

“She doesn't care, "Right?" Spirit asked Twilight

That was tempting for the Changeling, it was tempting, tempting... but unfortunately he couldn't allow himself to get out of character that much.

“What?! Of course I care, how can they think of doing that in public?”

“Is preening wings supposed to be something intimate? Luna, how could you?!” Spirit shouted with feigned indignation

“Don't blame me! I thought you knew.”

“Am I supposed to believe that from someone who tried to accept my proposal only a day later?”

The fake Twilight had no idea what proposal Spirit was talking about, but Luna's blush increased furiously, and the lustful emotions emanating from Spirit told her more than she needed

“It's not fair- ZAP” Whatever Luna was about to say was lost when a letter teleported with a golden glow right in front of her face

Luna's mood immediately changed to a more serious one, and she caught the scroll with her magic to begin reading it

Neither Spirit nor the fake Twilight dared to interrupt, they wanted to know what that thing said, but the truth was that they didn't need Luna to tell them, they already knew it

“It's about time” And with that Luna confirmed it

“Aren't we supposed to still have a few more hours left?”

“My sister probably wants to make sure I’m on time, or she might want to talk to me about something important.” With her explanation, Luna approached Spirit and kissed her goodbye. “See you later.” Finally, Luna turned to the fake Twilight and gave her a comforting hug. “Goodbye to you too Twilight, everything will be fine.”

Shortly after Luna left, there was only an awkward silence.

“I think we should get moving. I know there’s still time, but I have to make sure I get a good spot.”

“Were you allowed to attend?” The fake Twilight asked in surprise. Only family members and members of the nobility were supposed to be allowed to be present in cases like this.

“Advantages of dating the boss of bosses. Luna named me her royal advisor or something.”

“Oh, then let’s go. I have to meet my parents too.”

Spirit picked up the combs she had used to groom Luna’s fur with her magic. “How have Shining and Spike been?” I haven't seen them since the visit the other day”

With that casual chat both mares continued on their way to the Canterlot Hall of Justice

The place impressed Spirit, as it was as big as a stadium with boxes included, with the only difference being that the stage had a long table with the center part being the highest

“Is the place supposed to be that big?” Spirit couldn't resist asking

“Not really, but since this is such a controversial case and involves so many members of the nobility as well as a multitude of commoner families, they had to get a place with enough space for all the relatives who wanted to attend” the false Twilight clarified

There was also the fact that in Equestria nobles of a certain rank could also be considered law enforcement officers, so there was no need for permission to demand information about a legal case or, as in this case, to testify about it

“Twilight!”

The heads of both mares turned to meet another, somewhat older mare, with grayish fur, a purple mane with white stripes, and a three-star cutie mark. She had a smile, but it wasn't fooling anyone. No amount of makeup would hide those dark circles.

“Hi, Mom,” the fake Twilight greeted Twilight Velvet with a hug. “Where are the others?”

“Princess Celestia was kind enough to give us our own box, your friends are already there… or so I thought” Velvet said that last part noticing Spirit

“A pleasure, Spirit Flame to serve you”

“I know who you are dear, everyone knows it”

“Damn, Luna wasn’t lying when she said that rumors spread fast”

“You wouldn’t believe it” Velvet said in a tired voice “Please follow me, it seems that this place will fill up quickly”

As they both followed Velvet, they realized that she was right, despite the large size of the place, it was filling up with a constant and ever-growing influx of ponies

“Knock, knock”

“I’ll open it” The door to the box opened, revealing a familiar mare, unfortunately for Spirit “Oh, you…” Rainbow Dash said reluctantly when her gaze met Spirit’s

“Yes and you too, unfortunately”

Rainbow simply rolled her eyes and backed away to let the mares in without wanting to make a scene, even she knew it wasn't the time

Without saying another word, everyone looked for their place in the box. The fake Twilight introduced her father to Spirit, and after a brief greeting Spirit found a seat between Spike and Fluttershy where she tried to keep a relaxed conversation to avoid tension, but her success was only partial, everyone knew why they were there and that in the worst case her friend could lose a brother

The Sparkle family were the most serious, only speaking when the parents were curious about some legal triviality and keeping silent the rest of the time

The other girls wanted to comfort their friend, but they didn't know how to approach her. They hadn't been as close lately compared to how they used to be just a few months ago

“DONG, DONG, DONG”

The sound of a bell rang three times, and all voices fell silent. Those present quickly looked for their seats, surprisingly no one was left without a seat

The doors opened, and the three sisters walked through them along with a dozen ponies from the most prestigious noble families of Equestria and, surprisingly also King Aspen

Quickly, they took their seats behind the long table on the stage, with Celestia in the center, Luna to her left and Cadance to her right

Celestia was still noticeably thin, but she no longer wore her bandages and seemed to take her time to arrange some papers. When she finished, she exchanged glances with the other princesses, and when they nodded, Celestia proclaimed

“Show the accused in”

The doors opened once more, and four royal guards advanced in formation with Shining Armor in the center of it

“Why do they bring him like that?” Rainbow complained indignantly, pointing at the inhibitor ring lodged in Shining’s horn

“Protocol” Explained Night Light, as a former member of the royal guard, she understood the need for such devices, but that understanding did little to ease the frustration of seeing her own son with such an artifact

“At least the princess managed to get his chains removed” Velvet tried to console him, but the same frustration burned within her

Shining walked until he was in front of the princess, with his back to the public

“Captain of the Canterlot guard Shining Armor presents himself to be judged, your majesty”

Celestia gave a slight nod before speaking “Captain Shining Armor, today you are accused of treason, sedition, cowardice and dereliction of duty that resulted in the escape of the criminal Forest Heart, who now threatens our kingdom. How do you plead?”

“Innocent”

And so it began, I couldn't help but notice the differences between the legal system of this world and my own

The trial seemed more like an interrogation with the judges filling in for the duty of a prosecuting attorney by asking the questions, reconstructing the facts, and calling witnesses

Somehow there had been a few survivors, but these couldn't say much, as they were the ones who were buried underground after the mine collapsed until the rescue teams arrived and often had some sort of PTSD

Shining had to choose to defend himself, as it seemed that most of the lawyers were members of the nobility and as a result were either directly against him or had also lost a family member, so they couldn't be trusted

But not everything was against Shining, it was noticeable that the princesses were trying to help him by asking the right questions and making sure they got all the information corresponding to the facts so that the truth wouldn't be manipulated against Shining

I don't know what kind of legal tangle Celestia did to get Aspen in between the judges, but he was being useful to her Dismissing any ideas from the other nobles for accusing him of breaking treaties related to those lands, stating that he had been informed, invalidating one of the nobles' strongest moves to condemn Shining

In short, everything was going well

“Let Legion Commander Iron Blade come forward”

Or so it had been until this veteran pony and survivor of the Everfree disaster showed up walking on three legs and a prosthesis replacing his lost limb

It was this pony's family who were the main and most insistent in wanting to condemn Shining. This pony is not only a member of the high nobility, but is also a first-hand witness who suffered serious injuries contrary to Shining who managed to get away with only a few scratches

Iron's words would carry great weight

“Commander Iron, we understand that you helped in the cover-up and deployment, is that true?”

“No.” Multiple murmurs were heard among the audience, the princesses themselves seemed uneasy at that answer. “I did not help Captain Shining Armor, he helped me, and even if I had not had his help I would have found a way to carry out that operation as soon as I had been aware of the nature of the threat we were facing.”

At that moment, the murmurs turned into accusatory and indignant shouts.

“Order in the court!” Celestia stood up from her seat and spoke with a tone of authority that only she could invoke. Once silence returned, she focused again on the commander. “Commander Iron Blade, do you realize what you are saying?”

“I understand perfectly your majesty, there is no need to repeat the question”

“In that case, I would like to dismiss the charges of sedition, as the main person responsible for the organization and deployment of the troops is Legion Commander Iron Blade”

More murmurs, but this time they were from the nobles sitting at the same table as Celestia

They argued for about 10 minutes before they finally nodded in approval, some with neutral faces and others with barely contained anger

“In that case, the charges of sedition are dismissed”

The Sparkle family breathed a sigh of relief, they were still far from the safe zone, but it gave them hope that everything could turn out well in the end

“However, there is no doubt that he is a traitor and a coward”

Contrary to Iron Blade's previous statements, this time there was no swarm of curses, but absolute silence

“Commander, I hope you notice the contradiction in your statements” “There is no such contradiction, Shining Armor may not be guilty of deploying our troops into that death trap, but he is guilty of failing Equestria by allowing one of the greatest monstrosities our nation has ever faced to escape.”

“I did it for you.” Shining finally felt it was his time to speak. “You and the others would have died if I hadn’t lowered the shield. I defended the Equestrian ideal!”

“Are you sure about that? I only watched as you saved yourself.”

Celestia quickly took advantage of that moment to interrupt. “If Shining Armor had stayed to fight, he would have died and the shield would have fallen anyway. His retreat was not an act of cowardice.”

“I wasn’t talking about his life!” Iron Blade stated forcefully, something that confused more than one, myself included “And I wasn’t talking about his retreat either!” Realizing the volume of his voice Iron took a moment to breathe and calm down before continuing “The captain could have lowered the shield at any time to finish off the enemy we were facing, but instead he decided to wait, he waited for our comrades to be overwhelmed and massacred, he decided to retreat within the safety of the shield knowing that he would be the only survivor and then, after all the sacrifice of our comrades, after their mad rush to save his life and the fulfillment of our mission" Iron pointed at Shining while looking at him angrily "Then you didn't have the courage to move forward with Your decision, you decided to lower the shield to save less than a dozen lives, making all our efforts and sacrifices in vain! Is that your idea of the fulfillment of the equestrian ideal? Because if that's the case, let me tell you, I should never have been accepted into the guard!"

The crowd went wild, shouts of support for Iron Blade and condemnation for Shining

I could see Velvet start to cry and seek support in her husband's arms

“What was I supposed to do?! Let them die?!” Shining tried to defend himself, but even he seemed affected by Iron's words

“At this point, you know very well that the answer is yes!”

“ENOUGH!” Celestia's shout using Canterlot's royal voice left my poor ears ringing. "I will not allow my ponies to speak of our people's lives as bits to be exchanged."

Iron Blade bowed to Celestia with an expression of genuine sadness. "I'm sorry princess, but members of the royal guard take an oath to do whatever it takes to protect the ponies. I'm not saying our lives are worth any less, but if necessary we must make the ultimate sacrifice, whether it be to die or live with the pain."

I could see something there. For a second, seeing the steely gaze on that pony, I could see how this affected the others who looked at him. The guards guarding the stadium seemed firmer and prouder, even the simple spectators seemed to praise those words that were truly inspiring them

But I also saw the disgust plant itself on Celestia “Every life is precious, Commander Iron Blade” Celestia reiterated her point, not willing to let the idea of being martyred be seen as a viable option among her troops or her people

And with that all the momentum gained by Iron Blade's words vanished and the previously proud ponies looked embarrassed

Iron looked resigned to not being heard “In that case I will only ask one more question” Iron left his place on the podium and approached Shining to look him directly in the eyes “Was it our lives you wanted to save or just your own conscience?”

…

Shining didn't say anything and I could tell with a look, he didn't know

BOOM

Fortunately or unfortunately for Shining, he wasn't given the chance to respond, as the doors to the hall were blown off by an explosion. Luckily, Luna managed to react fast enough to catch both doors with telekinesis before they crushed anypony

Due to recent events, security was high, so the guards were quick to take up positions with their spears raised

“Wait!” My eyes widened as soon as I heard the voice and recognized it

“Oh, fuck!” I couldn’t help but curse

Luckily, everyone was too distracted watching the real, disheveled, injured Twilight who had just kicked down the doors to pay attention to me

“That one over there is an imposter!” The real Twilight pointed and savagely accused the fake Twilight standing next to her parents, who were still struggling to understand what was going on

I don’t blame them, the trial had been an emotional rollercoaster for them and now this is happening

“Don’t listen to her, she’s lying, it’s obviously a trick!” The fake Twilight quickly defended herself, and unfortunately it seemed to be working, since Rainbow being the impulsive idiot she is positioned herself to one side defensively, the rest of the girls just followed her example because they didn't know what else to do

And then the chaos began, I thought the trial had been a mess, but I was wrong, that doesn't even compare to the chaos now, even Celestia and her attempts to calm the crowd were unsuccessful

…

I should just keep quiet, let them take the real Twilight and speed up our plans.

The preparations we made aren't ready yet

For a second, my gaze met Aspen's in the distance, and she didn't leave me as she waited for my instructions. Then I looked at the desperate Twilight moments away from being taken by the guard

…

I'd be abandoning her for the second time

…

Ok, fuck it, you can all go to FUCK, I can't believe I'm the one who has to do this

What a fucking great time, you chose to escape Twilight. Just by showing up, you've already blown these guys' cover and shattered the plans we've both made, so looking at it that way it doesn't matter much what I'm about to do either

I held my breath, trying to imitate the girls who were protectively grouped around Twilight, I wanted to give the impression that I wanted to give my support too until I was next to the fake Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder

“Thank you, thank you for trusting me” the fake Twilight told me with crocodile tears in her eyes

“No way-BRUGH” It was then that I belched a stream of flames rights in her face

“AAAAAAAAAAAH

“AAAAAAAAAH”

I heard screams, at first from Twilight's friends and parents, although I think I saw Rarity and Fluttershy faint at the sight of their friend's head turned into a torch

I didn't let this affect me and quickly placed a paw under the fake Twilight's barrel and, using all my strength, I threw her out of the box… I think we were on the third floor

I quickly gave up trying to understand what was going on around me when the audience and the princesses themselves saw what I had done and looked at me with expressions of horror

“What have you done?!” Night Light knocked me down with a skillful movement and held me by the neck until I crashed into the wall with a strength I don't expect from a unicorn, I could see the murderous rage in his eyes and at the edges of my vision Velvet running to the edge with the girls waiting to see the state of their supposed friend

The only one who didn't move was Spike, who was still in shock without being able to react

It hurt a little to see him like that, but I couldn't think about it much when I felt Night Light starting to press my neck harder

Okay, maybe it's time to put up a little… fight… oh fuck, oh shit!

I grabbed Night Light's paws with all the force I could, pushing them back, and I could see in alarm when his horn started to spark, but my biggest concern wasn't there

“Behind you, idiot!” I screamed as soon as the air returned to my lungs

It seems that the fear on my face was enough to convince him because he immediately turned around to see a greenish pillar and inside it the false Twilight whose body grew and stretched until it reached a size comparable to Celestia's, her fur lost its color turning black and green like her mane and her now lanky legs broke and opened

It was something quite bizarre and disturbing to see, although I had already been warned

“You dare to attack the queen of the changelings?!”

Fuck her! Waning Shadow, you better have everything ready, or I swear I'll kill you.

28- Battle for Canterlot (Part 1)

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, but studies have been overwhelming me these past few months.

28- Battle for Canterlot (Part 1)

The sea of chitin we were facing threatened to overwhelm us at any moment while another sea of chitin appeared behind us, blocking our way and as if that were not enough, the sky was becoming colored with arcane explosions that blinded anyone who looked up for more than a second

At least I have the privilege of giving a few last big words “If we are going to die, I want you to know that I blame you for everything!”

“That doesn't help me!” Shining answered, irritated. I can't blame him, just like me, he has been killing bugs without rest

“How good! Let it be known that I died as I lived, being an asshole to the very end”

PUNCH

I didn’t have much time for jokes before I had to punch and smash the face of a very stupid or overzealous Changeling

It may not have been that long, but Shining and I had created what could be considered a mound of corpses, with me being the main enforcer, while Shining protected both of us from the occasional spells that were thrown at us

We had done pretty well, but everything has a limit, and that limit is clearly an alicorn-level spell courtesy of a mutant bug queen

Oh my god, how did the situation come to this in just 2 hours?

2 hours before

Throwing out the fake Twilight may not have been the best of ideas, but Chrysalis, if I was informed correctly, seems to be in much better condition than I was told. It is true that she seems somewhat rickety, but she certainly does not seem to be dying, not with the amount of power emanating from her

“What does all this mean? Who are you?” Celestia was quick to take flight and face the intruder

ZAP

Luna for her part, teleported directly in front of me with her wings outstretched, blocking any possibility of Chrysalis attacking me or any of the occupants of the box

“She's an impostor!” Twilight shouted from afar “Her kind is a parasitic shape-shifter that takes the form of the pony you love and feeds on your love, she and the others kidnapped me days ago, and I don't know who else they could have replaced”

My congratulations Twilight. With a simple sentence, you not only caused panic in the public, but you also sowed doubt among the members of the guard

Chrysalis let out a threatening hiss that reminded me of a snake “How do you know that? And how did you escape?”

“Your guards like to show off almost as much as you do, and I've lived in Canterlot all my life, I've done a lot of experiments with the magic crystals in those mines”

Chrysalis far from being upset, seemed more amused “Very well indeed, I admit I may have underestimated your student, but it's too late now. While you and your foolish ponies were playing politics, my changelings and I were preparing for this moment. Maybe you discovered us too soon, but it won't change anything, very soon all the love of Equestria will be ours, and with it, we will obtain more power than we ever dreamed of”

“PFFf jajajaja” What kind of idiot would laugh at a time like this?… yes, that's me “Sorry, sorry, jajaja, I swear I'm trying to be serious, pf”

“Did I say something funny?”

“Well… something like that. You were doing so well with your evil monologue, and suddenly you jumped to ‘the power of love’ I admit, I didn’t expect it” I couldn’t help but think how ridiculous all this was

Some shape-shifting pony insects that eat love, what kind of high must Mother Nature have taken for these guys to appear, and how do I get some?

“That’s right, and I must admit that feeding on your love was something particularly satisfying” And with that, I shut my mouth. I didn’t see the joke anymore, and it seems that Chrysalis noticed my change of mood. “I see that it doesn’t amuse you anymore, right? Knowing that the one you spent the nights with and the one you gave your love to was not the one you truly loved” Chrysalis smiled evilly at my incredulous expression

I could see the looks of pity that the others gave me, some even looked indignant and angry at such a deception, but I could only think of one thing

“Chrysalis… How can you be so stupid?” My question earned me the confusion of those present, a confusion that was overshadowed by a shudder at the sudden loss of temperature

Even Chrysalis seemed surprised when she saw her own breathing like a mist

“You did what?” The words were said with a coldness that caused me to shudder for the second time, but this time it was not because of the cold at all, but because of the tremendous murderous intent emanating from Luna

Chrysalis was no longer smiling

“You dared to take what is mine, and now you show it off?” Luna began to float without moving her wings, the surrounding shadows seemed to solidify as they lifted her up to a height higher than Chrysalis

Even Celestia moved out of the way as she positioned herself to the side of Cadance who, parallel to Luna, had just moments ago stood in front of Shining defensively

I think it was at that moment that Chrysalis realized the mistake she had made

Never anger an alicorn, much less try to steal their special pony

SHIIIIING

A powerful beam of energy came out of Luna's horn in the direction of Chrysalis, who seemed alarmed, but managed to control herself enough to launch her own beam of energy

Both forces collided in the middle, with enough force to send gusts of wind everywhere

For a second, both forces seemed to compete equally, but one was quick to overcome

The ponies gasped in surprise and panic when the beam of Chrysalis' energy began to gain ground, but I didn't, I knew better because Luna had already explained it to me

Alicorns have to learn a different type of spell than a normal unicorn would learn

A unicorn learns spells to optimize its magic and get the most out of it, but alicorns couldn't afford that luxury. For any magic user, it would be a simple levitation spell, for them, it was a weapon capable of compressing almost any mundane thing, including living beings

That was why the spells the alicorns normally used weakened them instead of empowering them, as you would normally expect

But I had seen what happened when they stopped limiting themselves. Celestia showed me that in our previous confrontation in the Everfree and now that Luna's eyes were starting to turn white, I realized that I would see it once again, but before she showed her true power Luna began to speak

“Equestria has already been threatened and attacked time and time again by villains with selfish motivations just like you, and just like them, you too will fall. Let it be known that anyone who comes after you will have the same fate, EXTINCTION”

BOOOOM

Holy shit! Everything happened very quickly. Luna's magic beam became as thick as a car and overwhelmed Chrysalis' magic, making her crash into a wall and explode

The wall gave way and spat debris everywhere, but Celestia and Cadance were not there as mere spectators, both reacted quickly and protected the ponies present by destroying the flying debris or generating magic shields before they managed to hit

"Cough, raa"

Amidst the dust and rocks, Chrysalis's coughs and moans could be heard. When she was finally in sight again, her appearance had changed noticeably

The queen's chitin was full of cracks from which thick green blood dripped

If there is something I can respect, it is that Chrysalis was still standing despite her injuries

"Enough" Celestia, trusting that her sister would take care of it in case the queen tried to attack, dropped her defenses to approach peacefully “You have been defeated, surrender now, and I will make sure that you and yours receive fair treatment”

At that moment I couldn't and didn't want to hide the foolish smile I had on my face

“This isn't over” Whether it was out of pride or simple stubbornness, it seemed like Chrysalis just couldn't accept defeat

“I think so, accept it, you got your ass kicked!” Rainbow screamed beside me, leaving me half deaf

Her jeers were followed by other boos and jeers from other ponies in the audience who were previously too scared to even say anything, but after seeing the weakened state of their attacker, they didn't hesitate to get brave and mock as if they were the ones responsible for leaving her in such a state

BTfftt

I felt it, the interference

Something wasn't right here. I know Chrysalis has an army, I know she's been overfeeding herself as much as she can, but it should be obvious by now that they won't do her any good

So, why the hell is she still smiling?!

“It's pretty easy to be brave when you're protected by an alicorn, isn't it?”

Hearing the amused tone in Chrysalis's voice, I froze in place, feeling a pit forming in my stomach

Btt

A message from the few drones I dared to put in Carterlot

They have begun their attack! The shifters are invading

“I wonder how they will react when a power like that turns against them?”

What the hell was she talking about?! I desperately searched the surroundings, and when I found the abnormality, I was so surprised that it took me a second too long to react

It was a second too late

“CELESTIA, BEHIND YOU!”

All heads turned in the same direction and stayed there. The only one who didn't turn around immediately was Celestia herself, due to a sudden pang in her abdomen

When Celestia finally managed to compose herself enough to turn around, she could see Cadance's horn imbued with magic buried deep inside her

“C-Cadan-”

“AAAAAAAH”

“NOOOOOOO”

Celestia's words were cut off when Cadance pulled back her horn in the most damaging way possible, exposing Celestia's insides to the world

I don't even know who screamed first. Was it Twilight, her parents, one of her friends, Luna, or someone in the audience? I have no idea, I just know that everything went to hell

Luna, in her desperation, tried to reach her sister while casting spells at Cadance trying to push her away, but in her effort, she ignored Chrysalis, who was waiting for that moment, and did not hesitate to take advantage of it by launching a beam of energy at Luna

I felt like I had a fucking heart attack

With a huge explosion and a hole in the wall, Luna was expelled from the building

The infiltrated changelings began to reveal their true form and jump on ponies who fled and screamed in terror

The members of the guard were quickly overwhelmed

And Chrysalis focused her attention on me

“Capture her, and the last princess will surrender without a fight!” Chrysalis shouted her order. I suspected it was just to show off, as I knew she had a hive mind too, so she had no need to shout orders

I didn't have time to think about that as a group of Changelings took flight in my direction, forming a mini swarm

I didn't feel fear, after what Chrysalis did to Luna, I had no room for that in me

There was only anger

“GRAAA”

I roared like a beast, and far from running away, I took a run-up and jumped towards one of the flying changelings in the swarm and bit it. I then exploded into green flames, forcing the flyers to scatter

I think I took them by surprise, because once I crashed to the ground using the roasted changeling's body as a cushion, I could see how surprised Chrysalis was

I started running as the flames my body generated gathered around me, giving me additional power and speed

Some Changelings tried to get in my way, but with the amount of flames I was generating, it was easy to scare them away or directly burn them

I had it. Chrysalis had not yet recovered from the damage received by Luna's spell, and the amount of magic she had to spend to expel it had left her extremely vulnerable

I accelerated as much as I could, destroying anything that stood in my way, and when I had it within reach, I jumped like a predator on its prey

BOOM

Only to finish, like a fly against glass

A blue barrier blocked me at the last moment. After cursing a bit through my sore nose, I realized the source of the barrier

“Cadance, what the fuck?”

“Hahaha” Chrysalis laughed “Nice try, but she is under my complete control”

I looked back at Cadance, now that she was close, I could notice her expressionless face and her eyes tinted by a green aura. I already figured something like this was happening, but it kept surprising me

I looked into hypnosis magic, mind control, etc., and I can say with certainty that it is one of the most difficult magics out there, even more so than teleportation

The slightest mistake can result in dire repercussions for both the caster and the receiver. Anything involving the brain requires surgical control. Even I, who proved myself capable of using such magic, have not been able to learn even the simplest of spells and I don't think I can do it without months of practice at least

And now Chrysalis was controlling a fucking alicorn!

“How the fuck did you do that?!”

“Quite easy actually, despite her powers, this little princess doesn’t seem to have ever fought, she has practically no mental defenses, capturing her and… experimenting~ on her was extremely easy”

From the way she said it, I think Chrysalis was implying something, but I decided to ignore it

“That won’t last, alicorns are naturally resilient and always bounce back, even Celestia will survive”

“Oh, of course she will, she and all of you will survive solely to feed me and my children”

I felt my front legs being restrained against my barrel by an ethereal blue chain that kept me suspended in the air

Cadance had me captured. Chrysalis took the moment to stalk me, coming closer to me while licking her lips

“I had to expend a considerable amount of magic recently to get rid of that nuisance you give your love to, I think it's only fair that you share a little.”

Chrysalis's jaws opened, revealing her sharp fangs

I was hoping that if she bit me she would be poisoned by my blood, so I let her get close without lighting my flames

That proved to be a mistake when I felt like a hand wrapped around my heart and squeezed it

It hurt like hell, and to make matters worse, some sort of pink weightless substance began to come out of my mouth and nose, preventing me from breathing

The more of that stuff came out the worst and more tired I felt. Chrysalis was about to swallow that substance when a multicolored projectile hit Cadance freeing me

I immediately reinforced my fake horn and headbutted Chrysalis as the pink substance returned to me

I felt strangely invigorated and dizzy as my strength was restored. I took advantage of that moment and that Chrysalis still hadn't recovered from the powerful headbutt to launch a shockwave sending Chrysalis flying

“Hey, Torch, are you okay?”

Torch? And that voice… or fuck me

“I would love to die right now” I replied to Rainbow as I gathered myself

“Dramatic”

I wish I had another option, but I definitely can’t win this fight alone

“Watch out!” I quickly warned Rainbow when I saw the glow on the horn of a recovered Cadance

Rainbow reacted great by dodging with a good aerial maneuver and redirecting to counterattack

“Rainbow don’t try to attack, just distract her!” I tried to warn Rainbow that any attempt to attack would be useless, but I didn’t have time to check if she had decided to obey when I had to jump to the side to avoid a beam of green energy

“Enough of the games!” Chrysalis looked furious, and either because she was still badly injured or she wanted to save her magic for better use, she decided to confront me with an alternative method

For a second, flames engulfed Chrysalis' body, and her body changed into what looked like a huge, purple-striped super wasp

The damn thing looked like a war beast, with its six sharp legs, fangs, stinger, and immense size

Good thing it didn't go into berserker mode. I think it's the River of Silence potion that's the reason I can still keep a cool head despite all this damn chaos

What was I up to? Oh yeah, I remember

Run bitch, runeee!

I wish saying and doing it were as easy, but Chrysalis' size was giving her an advantage

I tore some seats off the floor with telekinesis and threw them behind me, hoping to hit something. I miss having my drones watching my back

I was trying to think of a plan when I heard an annoyed growl and a stereotypical cowboy yell

“Yeehaw!”

I stopped for a second to see what was going on, and my jaw nearly dropped when I saw Applejack riding the beast like in a rodeo, holding on only to a lasso she held with her teeth and had managed to wrap around the beast’s neck

I stood there for a while, looking confused as to how exactly that crazy mare had managed to get there, when I realized that it was the best time to fight back

But I stopped at the last moment, I couldn’t cast a spell that powerful. Hybrid breeds like the ones I’m imitating are known to have weaker magic than a pure unicorn

It’s already problematic enough that my flames are still green. If they see me using that kind of magic, it won't take long for me to raise suspicions, and all it takes to take me down is a simple rumor

But my fire wasn't going to be enough to overwhelm Chrysalis with such a large form

What to do?

Nothing came to mind, but it was clear to me that Applejack was having trouble riding Chrysalis. I tried to help by levitating seats off the ground and throwing them at that witch, but I was achieving little

It was at that moment that I noticed Rarity approaching with a bunch of floating curtains taken from some of the countless windows in this castle

Before I could ask what the hell she was thinking of doing, the fabric moved like a snake, skillfully coiling around Chrysalis's legs and limiting her movements

... Okay, I admit it, these girls are a box of surprises, and they are completely crazy

However, inspiration came to me when I noticed how Rarity began to levitate another set of curtains

“Rarity, stop!” I didn’t stop to explain and lit the curtains on fire, concentrating as hard as I could to order my fire not to consume them

“What?!” Rarity, understandably confused, jumped up

“Applejack, get ready to jump!” I yelled and didn’t wait for a response when she turned to Rarity again “Rarity, gift wrap it!” I said, pointing at Chrysalis

Rarity's mind took a good moment to understand what I was asking. Her sight went from the tip of my hoof to Chrysalis being ridden by Applejack, and she finally stopped at the curtains engulfed in flames when something seemed to 'click' in her mind

Once again, the curtains seemed to come to life and snaked through the beast's legs, stretching out and clinging to its limbs

It was elegant, almost like a dance

Applejack had plenty of time to realize what was happening, Chrysalis noticed it too, but it was too late for her

The second Applejack jumped off the beast's back and removed her lasso from its neck. The flaming curtains tightened, wrapping Chrysalis' body completely and... leaving a cute bow on top

I rolled my eyes at that last thing. I turned to see Rarity, who seemed moments away from vomiting.

“Hey, everything okay?” I asked

“I never thought my art could be used like that, how horrible!” And… Rarity fainted, even making sure to strike a dramatic pose as Applejack arrived in time to catch her

I decided to pay no attention to her antics and focus on the threat

I looked at Chrysalis, engulfed in my flames, growling, roaring and writhing in pain

The curtains trapped her in such a way that, although she had the strength to tear the fabric, the position of her limbs didn’t let her exert her power properly, and as a result, she was being cooked alive

I was surprised by such a level of mastery. Maybe I should ask Rarity for some lessons

“What are we supposed to do now?” Applejack asked as she slapped a stunned Rarity a couple of times

I had planned to say something cool, something that could be considered a protagonist dialogue, but I wasn't given the chance to make a fool of myself

BOOOOM

A multicolored projectile crashed, grazing my face by centimeters

Still shocked by the event, I slowly turned my head, finding a disoriented Rainbow Dash with eyes spinning like a whirlwind.

Strangely, it reminded me of defeated Pokémon

Your pegasus pony has been weakened, tuturururu

I literally felt cold sweat forming on my forehead “You tried to attack her, didn't you?”

“Hey, did anyone write down the number of that carriage?”

Applejack and Rarity ran to their friend's aid as I slowly turned around just in time to see Cadance free Chrysalis with a simple spell

Once freed, Chrysalis immediately reverted to her original form and began coughing up smoke as if she were a chimney

The chitin didn't show the severity of her burns, but I was willing to bet that they were pretty deep. Even if there were no external burns, her internal flesh must have been cooked

“I'm going to kill you!”

I'm running out of ideas

“Rarity, lightning together now!” I screamed and pulled Rarity to face Chrysalis, who was already charging her horn and firing her own magic beam

I responded in kind, and our powers clashed similarly to the previous confrontation between Chrysalis and Luna, with the difference that this time when Chrysalis' beam began to gain ground, I couldn't do much to stop her

Luckily for me, it was then that Rarity managed to react, and either out of impulse or fear she managed to launch her own magic beam adding her power to mine

We didn't manage to unite our spells, the combined spells were too complex and required a lot of practice, something that neither of us had. They were simply two independent magic beams that pointed to the same place, but it was enough with a little extra effort on my part to stop Chrysalis' power in its tracks

“Get her out of here!” I screamed, unable to look away from the front, hoping that Applejack would decide to listen to me and take out Rainbow

It was at that moment that I felt Chrysalis' magic advancing again, only much slower than before

I could barely see Rarity from the edge of my vision, but she seemed to be at her limit, and as a result I had to add more power, but in the long run, that didn't change anything, even if Chrysalis lost her strength before us, Cadance would crush us, in fact the only reason I can think of for why she hasn't done it already is because of Chrysalis' own amusement or carelessness

"L-luna, Luna, please answer" I have no choice but to beg "I need you, please help me!"

BOOOOOM

The answer I got was twofold, Cadance who remained flying above Chrysalis raised a barrier blocking a series of blue magic rockets resembling shooting stars, but what Cadance couldn't block was the bus-sized golden beam that hit with immense force breaking through her barrier and expelling Chrysalis out of the building

Rarity and I immediately collapsed from the overexertion, but I persisted to see the owner of the attack and was shocked to see Celestia's smoking horn in the distance

Did Celestia just save my life?

The poor princess was still on the ground, being besieged by the Changelings who had apparently decided to ignore everyone else and go for Celestia, but she wasn't alone. I could see members of the Sun Guard, Iron Blade, Aspen, even Twilight giving their all to protect her from the swarm

However, Celestia made a mistake in helping me, since seeing her master being attacked, Cadance marked Celestia as a target and tried to attack her, but before she could do so, Luna took off like a rocket ramming Cadance

Cadance crashed into a wall where she recomposed herself and counterattacked with a hundred ethereal swords, which Luna only managed to evade and block with an impressive mix of flight skill and magic

Fortunately, that moment of respite was all I needed to recover, and as soon as I could, I threw another magic beam, but not at Cadance but at the wall where she was nailed, causing her to fall along with it

The wall did not collapse entirely, but its partial fall allowed us all to see a small part of the true magnitude of the attack

With the sky full of Changeling, some kidnapping ponies in cocoons, explosions and screams of panic can be heard in the distance

“Spirit, Celestia, are you okay- BOOOM!” Luna tried to reach us, but as expected, Cadance was quick to recover and burst the rubble she had fallen into

“We're okay, I'll take care of Celestia, you focus on freeing Cadance!” I shouted to Luna

Luna seemed to hesitate a lot, but seeing Cadance's horn shine again and knowing full well that we could end up in the crossfire, she nodded and launched a shockwave as she descended towards Cadance

The shockwave was exaggeratedly strong, it literally sent part of the building flying and everything that was left of the wall collapsing along with Cadance

“What do we do?!”

I was surprised to see Spike helping Rarity up and Applejack with an unconscious Rainbow on her back

However, it was a good question, what to do?

The Changelings kept coming through every damn window, gathering around Celestia's defenders

I know I told Luna I'd take care of her sister, but this would be the perfect time to escape, as it's only a matter of time before the Changelings overwhelm us

Creating a barricade or blocking their entrance seemed impossible or inefficient due to the massive hole Luna made in the building

Moving Celestia somewhere else was an even worse idea, as we'd lose the little defense these walls give us

“Get out of here, find a safe place”

“What?”

“Of course not”

“We can't leave them”

Are you serious? I expected that from Spike because he's a kid, but these two mares are just idiots

“What are you proposing? They keep coming and having to protect you all just distracts me”

“Can't you do something with your magic? Some spell or something?”

I had to resist rolling my eyes. How does this mare think magic works? Now I understand why unicorns make fun of the other races so much

“Yeah, sure, I’ll just put us all in a giant balloon and float us out of here,” I said with obvious sarcasm

“That sounds like fun, let’s do it,” a shrill voice replied

Holy shit! What a scare!

“Pinkie, holy crap, where were you? What about the others?” Rarity recovered faster and was quick to question Pinkie

“We’re holed up with Twilight’s parents, they sent me to find them after we rescued Shining.”

“And you made it across an active battlefield to us without a scratch?” I asked incredulously

“Oh, it wasn't that hard, you just have to run and bounce over and over until you get to where you want to go, it's what I always do in a war zone”

I'm just more confused with each passing moment

I was in shock until I felt a hoof on my shoulder, it was Applejack

“Don't think about it, it's just Pinkie being Pinkie”

Ok… fuck it, I don't have time for this, and I've seen weirder things, whatever Pinkie does can't be that bad

“Pinkie get us out of here”

“Okey-dokey lokey”

I was wrong, VERY wrong.

The worst decision of my entire damn life, I would have gladly stayed where I was waiting to be devoured by these Changelings and tried to follow this demon in the form of a pony if I knew what awaited us

Things happened too fast, my mind has a hard time remembering. I can only theorize that it is such a traumatic memory that my subconscious suppressed it as a way of protecting my mental stability

When I came to, I was running down a hallway with Spike clinging to me.

“Quickly come in!” Night Light yelled from a door. I turned to him, I had no idea what was chasing me, but I had no intention of finding out

As soon as I approached the door, Night Light stepped aside, letting me pass and closing it behind me, but he couldn't close it completely when a giant tentacle tried to break through

I noticed that we were in a warehouse of chairs and other types of furniture, but that didn't matter at the moment

Applejack, Shining and a now awake Rainbow joined Night in trying to close the door while I looked around, noticing Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Velvet

I handed Spike to Velvet and quickly ran to the door, where I threw my fire at the tentacle that tried to break through. It immediately backed away with a loud screech, allowing us to finally close the door

“What was that thing?! Where did it come from?! What the hell is a kraken doing here?! We're not even near water!” I screamed, feeling my heart jump out of my chest

“I told you that if Pinkie starts shaking, it's because you have to pray” Applejack said in rhyme, which gave me a headache. It seems that my mind is quite reluctant to remember any details of what happened

I shook my head, trying to shake off the headache “Ok, never mind, Shining make a damn shield”

“I can't, this thing won't come off” Shining explained in a fatalistic tone while pointing at the inhibitor ring firmly attached to his horn

I could imagine how suffocating it must be to have that thing restricting you, so I decided to try something

“Let me see” I asked Shining while motioning for him to come closer

“You can't take it off without the correct magic sequence” Shining explained it to me as if I were a child

“Do you think I'm an idiot? I know a trick for this type of situation”

Shining obviously hesitated, but that doubt didn't last. With Celestia injured, his sister in the middle of the battle, and Canterlot being invaded, the poor guy was desperate to join in the action

“Do whatever you have to do, just get this off me.” Shining ducked his head as he brought his horn closer to me

Once the inhibitor ring was within reach, I meticulously inspected it until every detail was engraved in my mind, and at that moment I inhaled deeply, barely noticing at that moment that I had the attention of everyone present when I let out a belch of fire straight at Shining’s head

BRUGH

“AAAAAAAAAAAH

“AAAAAAAAAH

Some of those present screamed, others fainted, and Night Light knocked me down again

I think I just experienced déjà vu

“Let me melt the damn ring!” I could feel Light’s grip loosen as he heard me say those words

“Dad, I’m fine, let her finish!” It was weird seeing Shining talk with his head covered in flames, but luckily his snout was free of fire, so he was able to speak without problems

Night Light looked apprehensive but chose to let go

Now that I had no more distractions, I could devote my full concentration to controlling my flames so that they would condense around the inhibitor ring

“Ah, aaaah” Shining started to complain

“Hold on, it’s almost completely melted” I decided to hurry up a bit

“AAAAAH” Shining screamed, this time I did worry

“Stop”

“You’re hurting him!”

I couldn’t see who was yelling at me, probably everyone, but it was too late to stop

Still, it wasn’t reaping, something was wrong. I could swear that my flames weren’t directly affecting him, but then, what was causing him so much pain?

“The melted metal, it’s burning his face!”

Holy crap!

Night Light is right, I forgot to consider what would happen to the ring when it finally melted

That damn thing isn't part of my flames, so I have no control over it. Shining has melted metal right on his face!

As soon as I realized my mistake, I jumped on Shining, grabbed his head to keep him still, and licked the remains of the metal with my mouth

As a creature of fire, metal at that temperature doesn't affect me, and hooves weren't a good option to remove it, so the best I could do was suck that thing clean and then spit it out, which I did

…

Curiously, the screaming stopped completely after that

Shining wasn't screaming anymore, though there was a horrible burn on her forehead that luckily didn't reach her left eye, but she seemed to have forgotten about the pain as her white fur turned bright red

“Did she just…?” Shining didn't finish the question, and there was no need

Great, I got carried away, now I want to die

There's a lot I don't know about pony culture, I admit that, but even I know that horns are a no-go zone

“This never happened”

Wretched Rainbow seemed to be holding back her laugh

Applejack tried to comfort me “… Well, you did it for the sake of-”

“It never happened!” I repeated, and to divert the conversation, I focused on Shining, who was still as red as a tomato “Shining stop thinking stupid things and form the shield”

Although Shining looked like the living image of an introverted teenager who had just experienced female contact for the first time, it didn’t take long for him to get serious and shoot a ray of light that pierced the ceiling

“Ready, this whole building is blocked” Shining assured us, and I felt that uncomfortable feeling of interference in my hive mind again

The others in the room had no way of confirming it, but it seemed to be enough for the girls, who let out sighs of relief

For my part, I still had things to do, and I wanted to do them quickly until I was knocked back to the ground

“Night Light what the f… fuck” The words died in my mouth when I realized who my aggressor really was

It wasn’t Night Light who was holding me, it was Twilight Velvet, and there was fire boiling in her eyes with the intensity of a thousand suns

“Stop burning my girls’ faces! “Children!”

I suddenly felt small under the gaze of an angry mother, perhaps because it reminded me of my own

I suddenly analyzed my actions and realized how unconscious I had been. When I threw the fake Twilight out of the box, they could have believed that their daughter had died. Then the invasion happened, they had to rescue their son by themselves and seek shelter, only for me to arrive and scare the shit out of them again

I saw Fluttershy and Rarity hugging and crying on each other's shoulders, Applejack and Rainbow with bruises and cuts, but what really hurt me was seeing Spike terrified in Pinkie's arms

... I was wrong, and I no longer have the excuse of corruption by dark magic. I can't keep doing these things, I have to be better than this

“I'm sorry” I didn't know what else to say. For a moment it seemed like Velvet was going to hit me, but Shining came to my rescue

“Mom, I understand how you feel, but I need your help right now”

Velvet looked confused until she realized what she meant “No, of course not, don’t even think about going out there”

Shining didn’t hesitate “There are still a lot of those things inside the shield, and Celestia is still defenseless, I have to help”

“You are no longer part of the royal guard, they kicked you out, they betrayed you!”

Shining seemed to be hurt by that comment, but far from backing down, there was even more conviction in his gaze “They may have taken away my armor, my rank and called me a traitor, but I made an oath not for glory, but because you taught me that it was the right thing to do” Shining’s gaze left his mother and focused on his father, a former member of the guard “Or am I wrong?”

Night Light let out a dejected sigh “Honey, let her go”

At that moment, Velvet knew she had lost, and I felt her grip on me lose strength “If anything happens to any of my children, I will come after you” Velvet did not threaten me, she only told me a fact that would happen without a doubt

“Understood” I must admit. I was a little jealous of the scene that had formed, but I had no time for those thoughts

“Father, I am going to need you to stay here and protect them”

Night Light seemed displeased for a moment, but upon seeing his wife and Spike, the doubt was erased and replaced by a military nod

“You should stay” I said to Rainbow and Applejack as soon as I noticed they were following us

“No way, I still have a lot of this to give away” Rainbow boasted while punching the air

“Celestia and Twilight are still in danger, I can't stay hidden while they face those beasts” Applejack seemed even more determined not to back down

Realizing that trying to persuade them would be a futile effort and that I had no time to waste, I opted to keep quiet and let them fight

As much as it pains me to admit it, I must say that these mares seem to handle themselves quite well in these types of situations

I looked at the rest of the girls, and none of the others seemed enthusiastic about the idea of getting back into the fight, which I approved of. Better a competent enemy than an incompetent ally, the saying goes

With a simple nod, Shining opened the doors, and the four of us ran off, hoping that it's not too late to save Equestria from the Changelings

“Shit, we forgot about the octopus!”

A hope that was diminishing more and more

29- Battle for Canterlot (Part 2)

CRACK

Another hit, another Changeling skull smashed… I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, I'm trying not to turn into a serial killer maniac, but these guys are making it really hard for me

I've tried not killing them all and just knocking them out or something similar, but they're so damn weak!

At first, I thought their chitin would offer them some good natural defenses, so I hit the first ones I encountered without holding back. Imagine my surprise when the head of one of these changelings compressed and turned 180°

If seeing that was repulsive, imagine feeling it

It was then that I remembered what I had been told, and that is that these guys are starving, so they are very weakened, plus most of the Changelings attacking us are not even real soldiers, they are just workers used as cannon fodder to overwhelm the enemy

Realizing that, I tried to hold back throughout the battle, but it was incredibly difficult, and apparently I was not the only one

Shining seemed to be the most affected by all the blood and death, especially the one he contributes to forming, while the girls did not even blink, but I do not think it was because they were indifferent or something, but rather they were simply not paying enough attention to the damage they were doing

The Rainbow and Applejack's inexperience became evident on many occasions when Shining or I had to save them from an attack they didn't see or when they went too far into the enemy area and almost surrounded themselves

Despite all these setbacks, we finally managed to reach the mini dome Twilight had made to protect Calestia and which was protected by the members of the Solar Guard who were still being besieged by Chrysalis' dwindling forces

Shining fired three energy beams in quick succession, managing to kill two Changelings and wounding a third, who fell in a nosedive and was quickly finished off by the soldiers' spears

Rainbow saw four Changelings firing energy beams from a distance at Twilight's shield and decided to hit them in a movement so fast that I barely noticed it

I decided to help Aspen, who looked pretty tired and had some cuts, fortunately nothing serious

What are these idiot guards doing? He may not be a pony, but he's still a king!

I ran around Aspen in flames, creating a circle of fire that kept the Changelings at bay

Realizing that victory in this little battle was practically guaranteed, I decided not to do anything flashy and stay inside the circle with Aspen and launch energy beams at any Changelings that tried to attack from the air

I didn't have to wait long, Shining, Iron Blade, and Rainbow greatly sped up the defeat of the Changelings

When the last enemy was finally knocked down, I turned off my flames, and instead of running to Celestia like everyone else, I stayed talking to Aspen

“It seems you got hit pretty bad, are you okay?”

“Yes, one of the guards was a Changeling, and he took me by surprise, but I took the trouble to teach him one of the fighting techniques my dear father taught me” Aspen explained to me while pointing at what looked like a piece of abstract art made of shattered chitin and bathed in green slime that no sane person would ever believe was once a living being “What happened to the night guard? Why didn’t they arrive?”

“We didn’t expect the invasion to happen so soon, Twilight’s arrival destroyed both plans”

“Still, where are they?” They couldn't have fallen that easily.”

I agreed with Aspen on that, so I logged into my drones to find out what was going on out there and gave my report.

“It seems they prioritized civilians and key positions that we had made clear we couldn't lose… makes sense, those things were the only things we managed to fully plan before all this happened, plus remember that the night guard isn't as numerous as the solar guard, even with their recent losses.”

“So, what do we do now?”

Good question. On one hand, I knew the most sensible thing was to hide and wait, but on the other, knowing that Luna was in a fight with such a disadvantage was killing me with worry.

“For now, let's see how Celestia is, then… I'll see what I do.”

Aspen and I approached the main group, ignoring some guards and Applejack, who was helping to tie up a group of six changelings with her lasso.

“How did you get free?!” Iron Blade pointed an ethereal sword at Shining, along with several other members of the guard

“Do you really think that is a priority right now?” Shining was understandably upset

“These shape-shifting abominations could be anyone, and I know for a fact that you have no way of breaking free from your inhibitor ring”

“We melted it, you fool, and if I wanted to take you down, I would have already done so,” Rainbow boasted, not making it very clear to me if she wanted to avoid conflict or start it.

Iron Blade looked puzzled, and his gaze stopped at the burn on Shining’s face. “If that’s true, how did you avoid getting burned completely?”

At that instant, I felt my own face heat up and saw the discomfort in Shining, but Rainbow seemed more amused, and as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, I bit one of her front paws.

“OUCH”

Rainbow tensed up.

“I knew it! They’re copycats.” Iron celebrated having permission to kill us, and his guards stepped forward, ready to attack.

“SHUT UP FOR NOW!” The scream almost left us deaf—a scream full of strength and fury, surprisingly coming from Twilight, who with tears on her face, was desperately trying to heal her teacher's wound. "I NEED ABSOLUTE CONCENTRATION AND FOR THAT, I NEED SILENCE!"

Twilight's sudden interruption gave me the second I needed to explain my actions.

"Hey soldier, I suppose that as a high-ranking noble you would have been given advanced magic courses, am I right?" I asked Iron, who seemed offended that I asked him something obvious

“Yes, of course I do, and I must point out that, as expected of me, I passed said courses with great honors” Of course, according to that same education, Iron could not miss the opportunity to boast of any achievement, regardless of whether it already occurred more than a decade ago

“Then you should be informed that no matter how powerful an illusion or shape-shifting magic is, it can only affect the exterior, the interior of an individual will always remain the same” Giving that bit of information, I raised Rainbow's front paw in the area where I had bitten her, highlighting the traces of red blood

Iron Blade looked at this and then looked at his weapon and those of his soldiers bathed in the green blood of the Changelings. His face changed to one of frustration, and he muttered something under his breath. If I had to bet, I would say it was a curse when he realized that he lost the opportunity to do justice on his own

“Put down your weapons, search and eliminate any stragglers” Iron gave his orders to his soldiers and completely ignoring me, he walked towards Aspen with a respectful bow “My apologies for the suspicions King Aspen”

“There is no need for an apology, if I had been in your situation, I would have similar suspicions as well” Aspen responded to Iron's bow with one of his own without any apparent rancor

“I know it is ungrateful of me to ask this after my accusation, but is it possible that you have some healing method that you can share with our princess?”

“Nothing that can fix such damage in the short term, however, I trust that I can at least ease her pain”

“That would be good, please do what you have to do” With that said, Iron stepped aside, letting us pass

Rainbow who had been surprisingly patient, withdrew her paw and began to rub the wound “Was it because of what I was going to say?”

"It was because you were the closest" I noticed her nod of understanding and quickly added "And because of what you were about to say" I ignored her spiteful look and focused on Celestia

I... I wasn't quite sure what to do

As I got closer, I could see Twilight's magic trying to properly insert Celestia's guts inside her so she could close the wound

That was too much, even for me, if I hadn't had to hunt and cook my own food, I would have vomited right now

Ignoring the aberrant scene, I approached Celestia's head, which was resting on the hard floor

I quickly looked around, hoping to find something soft, but I only noticed Aspen taking out different ingredients from her saddlebags and mixing them

The previous battle scattered debris everywhere and destroyed all the furniture in the place

With a sigh, I realized I had no choice, and I sat down next to Celestia and then with extreme delicacy I took her head and left it resting on my legs while giving her little caresses trying to calm her down

I saw the surprise not only in Celestia but in everyone who saw me, some even seemed angry that I dared to do such an act, but they were all silenced by a simple word

“Thank you” Celestia said with a weak and tired voice, truly worthy of someone her age

“No need, try to rest, even if it's just a little” Celestia said nothing and closed her eyes

Out of sheer curiosity, I cast a rather weak analysis spell so as not to disturb Celestia, and I was surprised at how much she showed me

I expected the latent magic in Celestia to slow the spell or at least lose strength as it moved through her body, but none of that happened

Holy shit! What the hell happened here?

I could perfectly see the wound on her side, the damage to her organs from being burned by mere proximity to Cadance's magic-imbued horn and Twilight's poor attempts to repair them, but it wasn't that wound that disturbed me but the rest of her body

Celestia looked relatively well on the outside, but inside she was deteriorated, as if a 20-year-old man had x-rays, and they gave results of a 95-year-old

I know how this happened, it was our fight, it wasn't something I did, but when Celestia healed herself with pseudo-dark magic, maybe at that moment she managed to regenerate faster, but in the long term her wounds would be much more serious to the point that it took her longer to heal than me and that's even though I have much less magic helping me heal

That was another point to take into account, what the hell happened to Celestia's magic? Why isn't it helping her heal and rejuvenate?

The answer came to me like a bucket of cold water

It was my fault, Celestia hadn't fully healed yet and the magic she could generate was very limited... and yet she saved me from Chrysalis

...

"Shining" I whispered weakly while looking for him with my eyes

"What's wrong?" Shining answered right next to me

I was surprised that he was so close to me, but I ignored him "Make a glass with your magic"

Shining looked a little confused, but I think he didn't see the problem because he immediately created a glass made of the same magical material that his shield was made of

I had to concentrate much more than usual to conjure such a simple spell, but it couldn't be helped, the element I have the most affinity with naturally is fire and water is the opposite

When Shining realized that he was filling the glass with water, he seemed to understand what I was trying to do and created a straw

Okay that's going too far, how useful can defensive magic be? Offense is supposed to be cooler!

Putting those thoughts aside, I focused on giving Celestia the water

“Celestia try to drink this”

I brought the glass of water closer for Celestia to drink, which she didn't hesitate to do

“MMH!”

And Celestia immediately regretted it, I think she would have jumped if she could, but in the state she was in it was impossible

“What happened? Did you drown or something?” Shining asked scared

“No, the water has bubbles”

At Celestia's peculiar response, Shining and I turned our gaze to the glass of water and indeed it had bubbles

I'm an idiot, I had to resist the urge to bring my hoof to my face

The mental image is important in magic, when I condensed water from the air I was thinking of a bottle of carbonated water, which unknowingly altered the result

“I'm sorry, I'll get you normal water right away”

“No, it's okay, I like it, I don't think I've ever tried a drink like it” And with that Celestia continued drinking with notable interest

Who would have thought? Maybe this will interest my partner's Flim and Flam

This was a moment of peace after the storm that was interrupted by a strong tremor that reminded us that the danger had not yet passed, we were simply passing through the eye of the hurricane, and soon we would have to face its strong winds again

Moments later, I received a warning from my drones that the battle outside was intensifying

So I spoke in a firm voice addressing everyone present “Guys, this place will not be safe for much longer, we have to move and do something about what is happening outside”

When I turned around, I noticed that the guards had managed to gather all the civilians remaining in the building, including the girls and Spike

“To go where? “The whole city is under attack” Shining pointed out the obvious

“As much as it pains me to admit it, Shining is right” Iron said as he focused on the large hole in the wall that allowed us a privileged seat to watch the battle “The best we can do is reinforce the place and hold on until his majesty recovers”

Iron's idea was followed by a series of nods and multiple approvals, obviously none of those present were informed of the real state of Celestia's health

Based on what Luna has told me even with the privileged physique of the alicorns Celestia will take weeks to fully recover from such damage, maybe even more than a month

I better cut that idea off “That's not going to work” I said, but as soon as I tried to explain, I felt Celestia jump trying to stand up awakening concern in everyone “What the fuck are you doing?!”

Celestia obviously failed in her attempt, and luckily I managed to catch her before her head bounced off the floor, the last thing Celestia needs now is to suffer more damage

“Th-the elements, g-gather, gather the elements of caf” A loud cough interrupted Celestia's words, but her message was still clear

Everyone present shared anguished and worried looks

“No! Master Celestia, I haven't finished healing her yet, I need to make sure you're okay," Twilight protested, but with a tone less hostile than before and more pleading.

Celestia had to take another sip of her water before speaking with a more broken, weak and controlled voice. "Twilight, this is the only way we can stop the invasion without losing more ponies. My sister can't win this fight alone without seriously injuring Cadance, and she would never do that. Waiting for me to recover is not acceptable. Go get the Elements of Harmony and get this over with."

...

Are you serious?... That was your damn plan!

Sending a bunch of civilians to scour an active battlefield?!

"Celestia, with all due respect, I think you're delusional. We need a real plan."

"Hey!"

I couldn't help but let out a sigh of exasperation. How could I not? Rainbow Dash had something to say

“Beating up the bad guys, saving the day, and looking cool while doing it, that sounds like a great plan to me”

“And how do you expect to do that? There's a literal army between us and the vault that holds the elements”

“It's nothing we haven't done before, my friends and I are used to this kind of stuff, right girls?” Rainbow turned to her friends

“Of course I am” Applejack didn't hesitate to give her support

“If Equestria needs me, how could I refuse?”

“I'll have to throw a big victory party after this!” Pinkie Pie said between bounces

“Maybe” Fluttershy whispered

“See? We can handle this, but if you're scared, just say it, we'll handle it just the same”

“How did they handle Discord?”

…

My words were taken with open hostility

All the girls reacted as if I had slapped them

“Enough! Cough-cough” Celestia raised one of her wings from the ground as a show of authority “We have no choice”

“But she's right” Twilight admitted without daring to face her teacher “We failed back then, we can fail now, with the difference that if we fail this time it won't just be a bad joke, our entire civilization will be devastated, we can't take that risk, we need a real plan”

No one could contradict her words, because they were the truth, most of those present were soldiers who understood the seriousness of the situation, the rest were scared civilians who had no idea how to react to such a situation, even Celestia due to her condition could not find the right words to help her student

That would have been the end, but there was someone in the audience who would not listen to reason

“Nonsense!” Spike shouted at the top of his lungs “Twilight I have seen you do amazing things since we came to Ponyville and not just you but all of our friends, you have all done much more than any other pony could have done, you have to stop thinking about failing when you have always found a way to get ahead”

“Spike you don’t understand”

“What is it that I don’t understand? You failed once and gave up, and now you’re going to give up again without even trying?” Spike looked like he was crying, he looked shy and fragile, it was clear that he had never dared to contradict Twilight and much less speak that way in front of so many ponies, but he seemed more determined to make his point clear “Twilight failing is not bad, but if you allow failure to dominate your life then you will continue to fail forever”

… wow… WOW, boy when did you become so wise!

Twilight took a moment to ponder Spike's words and recover from the surprise that the boy she had raised was now scolding her

"I-I..." Twilight stopped looking at Spike and focused on her parents giving her their support, along with her brother and best friends. Then she focused on Celestia who being so close to me, I could see how she tried to give her a confident smile, and finally she looked at me... Of course, she would seek my support too even though I am the one she knows the least and by quite a bit

More than anything out of fear of being excluded I gave a rather forced nod and smile, but that seemed to be enough for her

"I haven't given up yet, not while I have friends and my family by my side"

With that said, Spike ran out to give Twilight a big hug followed by his family

Meanwhile, I held back a growing desire to crash my face into a wall until I was unconscious

"What are you thinking Celestia?"

A smug smile appeared on his face. “You’ll see, everyone will see… in due time.”

With a sigh at the vague explanation, I turned to the rest of the carriers “And you, what will you do?” My gaze focused on Rainbow, who was about to answer without thinking, so I hurried to interrupt her "This will be dangerous, some might die, or they might have to kill"

I pointed to... anywhere, there weren't really pony bodies scattered around or anything, but changelin bodies with broken chitin and many wounds from which their green blood was spilling

For the first time since I met her Rainbow's narcissism abandoned her as she looked at the green stains that stained her fur, finally realizing the true weight of her actions, Applejack was in a similar state

The rest of the girls were horrified, I could see how doubt filtered through all of them

I may have given my support to Twilight, but these girls have a right to know what they are getting into and if they can't deal with that then they shouldn't play the hero

But to my surprise one of them stepped forward, one of them overcame the fear that overwhelmed her and despite the tremors that plagued her body, she remained Reluctant to back down

“Will we save lives?” Fluttershy asked

I must admit that I was shocked, I knew this mare, not for long, but enough to know the fear she has of simply existing, she was definitely the one I least expected to take the initiative

“Possibly, you would save every soul in Equestria”

“Then we will, not only because Twilight needs us, but for every pony and friend we’ve ever had” Fluttershy’s speech would have been more motivating if it weren’t for the fact that she was shaking like a plucked chicken, but it seemed to be enough for her friends who also shared a hug in which for some reason they decided to include me

“Alright, alright, we will, but at least let’s prepare ourselves with a real plan before doing this crazy thing”

I was giving a final check to the straps that tied me to the carriage, which wasn't anything elaborate, it was something we made with the materials we found inside the building and our magic, so it was a pretty poor invention that didn't have a roof, it didn't even qualify as a carriage, much less worthy of transporting royalty, but it was the best we could do with what we had on hand, so it would have to do

“How much time do we have left?” I asked my ballast companion on my left, who was also making sure the rags we had gathered to cover our precious cargo were kept there to hide it

“Exactly… about seven minutes” Shining clarified after taking a quick look at a pocket watch we confiscated from one of the nobles taking refuge in the building

“In that case, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting me earlier. I know it wasn't easy for you to support this plan, especially with the risk your sister will be running”

“You didn't leave us many options either, but I understand why you did it. Although I must admit that I'm surprised you can keep such a cool head, I thought you would be the most enthusiastic about going out to fight”

The truth is that Shining is right, the curse of the current of silence is the only thing that still keeps me sane “I'm actually worried to death, but I'm the type that always favors rational thinking and military tactics over things like the power of friendship or some “Prophecy about a savior, please don’t be offended”

Shining shook his head and smiled reassuringly “It doesn’t offend me or my sister, in fact, I’m sure she would approve as well, and I, for one, admire that you can keep that kind of thoughts in this situation”

I felt a little embarrassed by the compliment “Thank you, although I have to admit that if it weren’t for the danger Luna is in, I would never have suggested such a desperate and crazy plan like this”

This time Shining nodded “I admit that I also thought you were crazy when you suggested this plan, but you said that this already happened in your home, and it ended relatively well. If they could do it, why can’t we?”

I could literally feel the sweat escaping from my pores as I tried to hide it “Yep… everything is possible when you have family”

“What?” Shining was confused by my particular choice of words, and it made him pay attention to my behavior and at that moment I could see how suspicion was starting to take root in him

Telling him the truth wouldn't help at all, but it's too late for Shining to back out now, so I don't see the harm

This is just an innocent joke, there's nothing wrong... maybe

“… listen Shining, I have to be honest with you, this did happen... just not the way you imagined”

Shining was understandably confused and not quite sure how to respond to that “What do you mean?”

Well… here goes

“What we're about to do is out of a movie” I stood still, expecting some kind of violent reaction, but instead I only saw confusion on Shining's face

“What's a movie?”

I should have imagined “Oh… well, do you know the effect of passing images of the same event in rapid succession?”

Shining tilted his head, quite puzzled. “You're talking about when the images seem to be moving.”

I nodded. “Exactly, now imagine adding audio, color, and a light projector through the image so that it can be seen by several people, that's a movie.”

…

For a long while nothing happened. I could almost see the loading bar above Shining's head trying to fill up as it gave the 'Processing Information' notice until it finally completed.

“So… none of what you told us actually happened?”

I scoffed. “Of course not. What kind of madman would do something like that? Not even the most mentally ill person in history would try it, much less succeed.”

“But that's exactly what we'll be doing!”

I just laughed harder “Yeah we will, and you thought I wasn’t desperate to go out and fight, well now tell me how desperate you think I am lol” At that point I basically burst out laughing

Meanwhile, Shining seemed to be struggling to keep his cool “N-nevermind, Twilight has been in high-risk situations before and come out on top” The way Shining consoled himself seemed adorable to me, but he condemned himself with the following words “There’s no way she’d fail against some bugs when she’s already surpassed Nightmare Moon”

“Eeeeeeeeeeh”

Shining slowly turned his head to look directly at me “What do you mean, eh?”

I scratched the back of my head uncomfortably “So… they didn’t tell you”

“Who didn’t tell me what?”

“Well… during Luna’s return, none of the girls were in any real danger at any point”

Shining stared at me as if I had said that I liked to kick puppies. “You're lying,” he said, denying the truth.

“I got curious once and asked Luna how she was defeated by six young mares with no knowledge of combat or any particularly powerful ability. Do you know what she said to me?”

Shining gulped, as if he were afraid of the answer. “What did she say to you?”

“Luna told me that it was precisely for that reason that she was defeated. After having a thousand years to prepare, she expected Celestia to have an army surrounding her or some powerful magical artifact that would contain her again. Imagine her surprise when the only resistance she found was an inexperienced student accompanied by five rather impulsive villagers. Luna decided to be cautious and not eliminate them immediately”

I think Shining was getting a little desperate “But she couldn't stop them, those 'simple villagers' passed all of Nightmare Moon's tests”

“The key word here is 'Tests'. Luna just wanted to make sure that they weren't trying to trick her with undercover agents or something like that, but after verifying that the girls didn't have the slightest military training and that they were simple civilians, she decided to defeat them and imprison them” I saw how Shining opened her mouth to reply again, but I jumped in before she could object “She may have been a megalomaniac tyrant at the time, but not a genocidal

I could see a mix of emotions crossing Shining's face, none of them seemed pleasant

“Let me see if I understand. We are about to do something that at the very least would be considered an insane act, and my sister and her friends are running straight into what could be considered a death trap without any preparation or experience”

I should stop, but I have a habit of doing stupid things when I'm nervous to calm down, and it wouldn't be that fun, would it?

“Yes!” I shouted between laughs and with crazy psycho eyes “We're going to die!”

Shining was now desperate, he looked like he was going to cry “It's cancelled, it's cancelled, I have to tell everyone to stop!” Shining desperately tried to remove the straps that kept him attached to the carriage, but opportunely, at that moment, the clock that showed how much time we had left hit zero, and Shining's shield around the building began to fade

“Too late!” I screamed as I started running towards a wall that had collapsed during Luna and Cadance's fight and now allowed us a convenient exit to one of the side streets

Shining, with no other options than to let himself be dragged along, also started running, lightening our shared load

We didn't even make it through the hole in the wall before a conglomeration of Changelings passed first into the building, cutting off our path

It was no problem. Shining didn't hesitate and launched a powerful purple energy beam, while I launched a wind arrow imbued with my green flames

The combination of both attacks not only decimated our attackers, but also destroyed the wall even more, giving us a larger space to pass through

When we both left pulling the cart, we had to make a turn too sharp to avoid crashing into another building, so we had a hard time keeping control, and we skidded, causing it to lean and rest on only one of its wheels, which caused the blankets covering our precious cargo to shake, and They exposed a part of what they were trying to hide

As soon as the small part of Celestia's multicolored mane was visible, the Changelings sent a signal through their hive mind, causing each member of this species in the surroundings to stop whatever they were doing and focus their attention on us

We knew this was going to happen, and yet I felt great dread seeing that black mass coming towards us

"They're shooting at us!" I screamed, although it wasn't necessary, since my partner could also see the green flashes going in our direction

Shining created a wall of energy above our heads, allowing us to run while we were protected, but that could do little to the attacks that impacted our surroundings, causing destruction

One of these energy beams hit the ground in front of us, creating a crater that hindered us and reduced our speed

"This isn't going to work, to the right, in three!" Shining warned me with sweat running down his forehead, maintaining that spell while we ran away, like this was exhausting both physically and mentally for him

“Two!” I shouted back, just like we had said we would if this happened

“Now!”

At Shining's signal, I slowed down as he accelerated, allowing us to make a sharp turn

The cart we were dragging didn't stop until it hit a pole causing both of them to take damage, but luckily the cart managed to stay in one piece so we simply accelerated again while Shining created another wall of energy right behind us causing many of our pursuers to crash like flies against the glass

The slight respite we gained was short-lived when we realized that the Changelings had raised a barricade about 100 meters away, as expected from another possessor of a hive mind, the coordination of these guys was good

“Road closed!” I pointed out the obvious again, but it was necessary for both of us to maintain coordination

I contacted my drones that were in the air and calculated my chances

“Left on three and prepare to make a big hole!”

Shining didn't have time to protest or ask questions

When our countdown reached zero, I accelerated and Shining slowed down while unleashing a bus-sized energy beam at the building blocking our advance

Now there was no pole to stop our skid, so I had to try harder and use telekinesis to keep the car stable

Unfortunately it seemed that Shining's energy beam was too effective, as the building began to collapse and if we tried to change our direction we would undoubtedly be hit by the Changelings

Knowing this, we both accelerated as much as we could as the building collapsed around us

I felt a piece of debris hit my back, but it wasn't big enough to knock me down, although it did hurt quite a bit

“Spirit, what the hell?!” Shining cursed me when he noticed that on the other side of the building we crossed there was no other path, but a small terrace through which we were going to fall soon

“Don't brake, speed up!” I demanded Shining, but it was too late, we reached the edge and fell

Some feline instincts that I didn't know I had helped me to fall properly on the roof of another building conveniently located in that place

That was what my drone showed me, as Canterlot was attached to a mountain, this city had a curious staggered way of distributing its infrastructure, as in this case where the buildings looked like giant stairs

I had to hold on to the roof with all my strength, since Shining hadn't fallen completely well and the wheels of the cart were hanging in the void

Shining pulled himself together and helped me pull, we both managed to stabilize the cart before we started running again, only this time on the rooftops instead of the streets

“I don't know how you convinced me to do this!”

“You better shut up and make a ramp!” I practically begged Shining when I saw that we were running out of places to run

Shining did as I asked and with a noticeable effort created a long, rough path that reminded me of Hot Wheels tracks

Unfortunately, as soon as we passed over the pink path, we noticed that there was no friction, and we slid down it as if it were a slide

As expected, our landing was not pretty, I had to concentrate hard so that the illusion of my kirin form did not fade, in addition to covering up the black blood scratches that revealed my nature

Luckily, Shining was not better than me and the time it took him to recover was enough for me

BTTT

A warning from my drones informed me that practically every changeling in the city was heading towards us from all directions, our little slide trick bought us a few minutes, but that was all, to make matters worse the cart we were pulling lost its wheels and the straps that joined us broke under the strain

“Okay, it will be The first to admit that this was a disaster, we are not even close to where we wanted to go, we barely ran about… six blocks?

I felt a chill run down my spine and turned around to see Shining looking at me with murderous rage

I have to think of something fast, or he'll kill me before the Changelings get a chance

I looked around for some escape route or anything convenient

Luckily, I didn't have to look too far, the solution to our problems wasn't far away

"Shining quick, help me push this, we have to get to that store" I explained while pointing at a large, three-story, elegant-looking bakery

Damn, these ponies really like sugar

Shining realizing that he was already too deep in this shit to stop now, helped me push with magic, which made the process much easier

The front of the store was quite wide so we didn't have any impediments, or at least that was the case until the sky started to fill with Changelings

Shining kept pushing the cart with her body while diverting her magic into a shield that blocked the magic shots, but there were too many

“This is taking too long, get out of the way!” I used more magic than I would have liked to create a strong shockwave that sent the cart flying, crashing into furniture, windows, and the bakery counter, creating a mess

“Good enough, get in!” Said and done, I was the first to find shelter inside the store, but I stopped to go further in order to cover Shining by returning some of the attacks we were receiving with my own magic shots

The good thing is that it was impossible to miss, the outside was so full of bugs that they practically blocked the sun

As soon as Shining entered, we changed, and now it was Shining who covered me with a shield

I saw his horn shine more intensely

“Don't expand the shield, let them in and follow me!”

Shining gritted his teeth and canceled his spell. I'm honestly surprised that he trusted me so much, if I were in his position I would doubt every action, especially when these actions seem worthy of a madman

I put those thoughts out of my mind and focused on going even further into the store while dodging and trying to counterattack the spells that went through the windows

I needed to find the warehouse

"I can't hold them back anymore!" I heard Shining shout

"Let them in, it doesn't matter anymore, come here!" I answered while destroying the machines and pastry ovens

ZAP

I don't know how bad things are out there, but if Shining decides to teleport, it means we're screwed

Even knowing that it would hurt me, I looked at the place where Shining had come from, noticing how it was full of Changelings, and what's worse, they had already taken over the cart and were looking bewildered at Celestia's cut hair that we had put there to attract them

“Where do they keep the damn ingredients?!” I screamed, holding my head

Upon hearing me, Shining looked at me strangely for a moment before pointing to a secluded door that literally said ‘ingredient cupboard’

I didn’t have time to reprimand myself, my scream had alerted the now-enraged Changelings at having been tricked, and they were coming for us

I threw my fire breath trying to gain a few seconds, which worked, but it lost its effect when two other groups of Changelings opened a hole in the ceiling and another in a wall that led to the outside

Luckily, I had already reached the door, which I didn’t hesitate to knock down. What I found inside was better than I could have imagined

I turned around to face our aggressors “Hey idiots”

All eyes were on me, even those who were trying to subdue Shining while he was wrapped in a mini shield

Perfect

“Do you know which country laughs and then explodes?” The confusion was evident, but I didn't stop when I unleashed a wind spell without holding back this time. The sacks of flour that filled the warehouse, among many other ingredients, were torn apart, scattering their contents throughout the building and its surroundings, at that moment I lit a spark "JA-PON"

I finished my joke. Too bad none of those present understood it... or survived it

30- Battle for Canterlot (Final Part)

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

6- The one who does not pay does not enter Who says?

"FIII" After my newly learned and not at all used whistle just to show off, though I'm alone... four modified timberwolves appeared in front of me and right in the middle was my Beta, a simple combination of two timberwolves that looks a bit like a Rek'sai, but only because of the arms that protruded, it was something that I created to serve as a mount since the timberwolf and I are almost the same size so I fall easily and we were going to be riding for a few hours to Canterlot

As soon as the night fell we left at full speed without stopping for a second, advantages of your servants not being made of meat I suppose

I think we reached the walls a little before the two hours of travel had passed, the six of us were glued to the wall and I was covered with a hood that Zecora lent me, obviously I didn't tell him what it was for

With my drones I could see about two guards passing through the top of the wall and one looking sleepy in a watchtower, as the guards passed through the wall my drone came in through the window of what appeared to be the kitchen , he searched through the upper pantries until he found a tower of stacked pans and knocked them over the edge

With another of my drones I could see the lookout jump and almost fall off the edge of the tower. Is it wrong to feel disappointed that it didn't happen?

I shook my head at the thought, later I would worry about that, as soon as the guard entered the tower I ordered my drone to go out the way "Btt" came in. As soon as another of my drones gave me the signal that the guards already had passed I ordered the group to climb in absolute silence

Honestly I was a bit disappointed, the level of security was quite poor, although I shouldn't be surprised since in this city the wall doesn't even cover all the land where it was built, it was enough to climb the mountain to avoid it, although it was to be expected if it is chosen to build on the edge of a mountain Who was the genius?

No matter how majestic the view is, it's not worth it if you can't protect it and as if that weren't enough once you passed the wall there were practically no guards, at night the streets were deserted so it wasn't hard for us to sneak up to a few blocks from the royal palace entrance

The only place in the city with activity, the carriages did not stop arriving, days before I had eavesdropped on a conversation between one of the noble couples while they were having lunch and I found out that a meeting was going to be held, it was a type of party to raise funds for to help another country that was going through a crisis, the rule was that any noble who donated could attend and apparently no one misses the opportunity to enter the royal palace, I include myself of cource

Me and my team sneaked through the alleys to the fence of the royal garden where once again security proved to be almost non-existent and this one I almost say to be polite it seemed like all the guards were standing guard at the party or the castle for what areas like the garden were easily accessible, with a nod to my beta he put his front paw under my barrel and threw me over the fence

I fell with the grace of a stone, but it didn't hurt as much due to the number of times I had rehearsed it in the forest.

I quietly slipped into the bushes and cast a spell the only spell I've had time to learn since I got those books, a pretty basic shapeshifting spell, when the book said dark magic was mainly focused on offense it seemed to me great or at least until I find out the drawbacks, the 'focused on offensive magic' also translates to 'you'll be bad at everything else'

This shape-shifting spell is the most basic of all, which means a higher expenditure of magic and a simple hit is enough to disable the illusion, still, I had to admit that the details suited me quite well.

Now I was a different pony my fur was dark blue, my now orange mane grew and now resembled that of a lion, my horns were replaced by a curved one and I had scales covering my cheeks, legs and my skinny, I was a kirin or at least how the book says they look

The kirins were an apparently legendary race, a kind of dragon/pony hybrid, but it is known that they existed, although nobody has seen one for more than a century, which is perfect, if by accident I run into someone and prove to be ignorant, I can blame to the fact that I come from a faraway place and that's the cherry on the cake in one of the stories I read about them, rumors were mentioned that they can become beings of fire, although another said that they were different types, even so I decided that it was worth the risk since it seemed like the perfect disguise

As I walked around the garden of my hair and saddlebags, what seemed to be insects of all kinds came out, only those who looked closer could notice that they were actually made of twigs, I still do not dare to send my drones inside the castle since this one was quite guarded with guards in each corner and what I suspect were magical protections of different types, but I don't know which ones since I haven't reached that part of the book yet, even so that didn't stop me from guarding the whole Exterior

I slowly approached the banquet area, I couldn't release my insects in one place, I needed to spread them around the outside of the castle if possible, I saw that some guards were looking at me strangely so I tried to look natural when approaching the table of the snacks where I grabbed something and put it in my mouth without thinking… I want to vomit. What kind of thing is this? While resisting the urge to spit it out on the floor, I looked at the banquet plates. Is that hay?

It looked toasty with some things on it but it was definitely hay, I took a quick look at the other things on the table and realized something I should have noticed much much sooner

The ponies were herbivores, right? I never noticed it, maybe because I'm human, but now that I think about it, it's rare that I can eat meat, in fact, now that I realize it, the meat tastes even better than it did at home and that here I have no spices of any kind, I just heat the meat and eat it

“Btt”

I shake the thought and swallow the hideous piece of crap to pay attention, apparently some of my bugs found something interesting, that was faster than I expected actually

A few hundred meters from me a deer of colossal size appeared, although it was surely half the size of a normal pony and it looked that way because I was looking at it from the perspective of an insect, apparently it was somewhere in the garden near where I entered, I'm lucky I got out of there fast

Suddenly I feel a shiver that runs through my entire body, although I don't know if it could be called that since I could feel how the sensation oppresses me with force to the point of not being able to move, I feel how my body temperature drops, my breathing slows. shortens to just enough to keep me alive, my stomach churns and makes me want to throw up

In front of the deer there is a pony much larger than any that I have seen, with wings and a horn, completely white and with an almost ethereal multicolored mane that fluttered despite the fact that there was no wind, the view was not bad at all until I could recognize that She was beautiful despite not being of her kind, but there was something about her that terrified me, like when a prey has the misfortune to be face to face with a hungry predator ready to devour you at any moment and before me was without a doubt the alpha predator

"Good evening, King Aspen, it's a pleasure to see you after so long" "Likewise, Princess Celestia." Although his pronunciation was impeccable and his face showed no emotion, it was obvious that he was upset, in fact I would dare to say that he was angry, but that It was not what struck me the most, but it was the simple fact that the deer spoke

I slowly walked away from the party to a less busy place as the conversation continued.

“Is something wrong King Aspen? He hasn't answered my letters and from what I'm told the deer have completely stopped trading with Equestria." Aspen's face finally betrayed him and showed a part of her barely contained anger. "You told me we'd be safe, that my people would not be affected by your decisions”

At the unexpected tone of reprimand the princess freezes for a second "Is this because of the Everfree?"

“!!”

That really got my attention "You told me that it won't affect our way of life, you even told me that it might become safer, nearly thirty deer have been eaten!" Although his tone was high, he managed to hold back his scream as he hit the ground hard with one of his hoofs.

Celestia took a step back and some guards peeked out from behind, but receiving a signal from their princess they backed away “W-what do you mean? What kind of creature could do something like that?

After a second of silence, he answered confirming my fears "Timberwolfes" suddenly Celestia tensed "Timberwolfes are you sure?"

“At first we thought it was some new type of predator that you had accidentally awakened with your little cleaning up in the woods, but recently the son of one of our guards who luckily received some training from his father managed to survive the attack on his group. that he had gone away from the village to amuse himself. He told us that at first everything was normal, they laughed, they played, until one of his companions went far away and disappeared, another of his friends went to look for him, but he did not return either by the time they realized that something was wrong, it was already too much. Later, they were surrounded, the wolves separated them and finished them off one by one, even the ones who managed to react fast enough and managed to get away from the wolves only headed into an ambush… does Celestia sound familiar to you? since when do timberwolves know advanced hunting strategies? This had never happened in history until you decided to mess with the forest "

This time Celestia was not intimidated and calmly spoke "How do you know about the hunts?"

"The fact that you have decided to forget the dark times of Equestria does not mean that all the rest of us agree and do not change the subject" It seemed that the princess wanted to say something else, but she held back "I am very sorry for your loss, King Aspen, I know that you will never I can make it up to you, but I promise to do what I can-"

"You can let my troops march to the Everfree to clean up your mess." Aspen no longer seemed to hold back from showing her discontent.

"I'm very sorry Aspen, but I can't do that, I trusted you Aspen, but you know that the nobles would never accept that a non-Equestrian army marches through our lands like nothing happened" His sadness seemed genuine

"Then send your guards" If looks could kill Celestia would have been mutilated and killed dozens of times by the look she was receiving from the deer king

"It's more complicated than that and you know it, in the first place, nobody would agree to send an entire army to finish off some timberwolves and in the second-"

“Then what the hell are you planning to do?!” Finally, I can't stand it I think I almost hear it from here wherever I am...

"Give me time, with that I could convince the nobles to send a small force that can work together with the ones you have settled in your village and-"

"How long?" He was really mad if he didn't even have the patience to let her finish her sentences

"About four weeks or so" He didn't say anything else he knew it would be useless

"Four weeks in which my people are defenseless and could be massacred even as we speak" Celestia was going to say something, surely an apology, but Aspen turned around without giving her a chance "Good night princess" Although her voice returned to her neutral tone didn't make it any less threatening

There was nothing interesting to see anymore so I cut the connection , walked over to some bushes and finally threw up everything I had eaten since breakfast yesterday. The problem was not only the fact that I ate the meat of another intelligent being, but that it was my favorite, it was the tastiest I had ever tasted, so I ordered my wolves to hunt them, especially the deer

As soon as I got control of myself I signaled my wolves to stop hunting deer and start avoiding them like ponies.

"Excuse me, who are you?" I froze at the sudden voice, I slowly turned to see a white unicorn with black mane and glasses, only then did I realize where I was

Somehow I had gotten into the back of a stage, I admit I was always clueless, but since I didn't see it it was beyond me

"Would you be Spirit?" He approached me without fear asking questions that I was not prepared for!

"Ehh yes" I said it more out of inertia since I had decided to call myself by the name Zecora Flaming Spirit gave me

"Perfect! I thought you weren't going to make it, you're lucky I recognized you, if I hadn't read that your way of presenting yourself is something... eccentric I would never have spoken to you” Now I was sure he was talking about someone else, but he didn't give me time to explain myself As I started to crawl, what the fuck did I just get myself into?

Author's Note

Proofread and edited by Underrated Drake

I do not know much about the deer in mlp, although if I have investigated them I have not read the comic, if anyone knows any information that they consider interesting, do not hesitate to put it in the comments.

22- Pride is the weapon that fools use to cut their own throats.

“GRRRR” I groaned when I felt the first rays of sunlight hitting my eyes. Despite it being dawn and having my eyes closed, they were powerful enough to dazzle me.

No matter how hard I tried to go back to sleep, it was impossible, both because of the sudden arrival of light and the resulting frustration.

“Mmh” I heard a noise and felt something move on my side. I opened my eyes to see a sleepy and drooling Luna, and despite that her horn still gave off a slight glow. Had she done something?

Whatever it is, don't notice it

“Good morning?... What happened to us?” I was pretty groggy too, I was never the best at mornings without that damn alarm clock that gets on my nerves.

"… You fell asleep after… that… and I decided to keep you company” Luna blushed a little, and most of her sleepiness dispersed.

What happened yesterday?... Oh... Oh! I remember

I didn't need a mirror to know that she had an idiotic smile from ear to ear.

“What do you mean when you say 'after that'? "I'm going to need to refresh my memory," I told him in a playful tone.

To which Luna responded by biting my ear and pulling

“Ouch, ouch, okay, I get it!” She finally let me go, and I proceeded to rub my ear “Abusive.”

“Kiss”

I couldn't help but jump when I felt her kiss me right on the area where she had bitten me before.

"Better?" she asked

“Now you're the one with the silly smile!” I complained, completely embarrassed, I only managed to make her smile widen “To hell with it, let's go back!”

That seemed to catch Luna's attention, since she immediately stood up and looked worried. “I must return to the castle, my sister informed me that today she had to replace her daytime duties.”

“Let's go then,” I said, taking the opportunity to avoid any other embarrassing events.

We both headed back to Ponyville in a somewhat awkward silence, neither of us knowing what we were supposed to say after last night.

Obviously, the festivities had already ended a while ago, and only the ponies were left clearing their play stations.

Apart from them, there weren't many ponies left awake, but there was something strange that I noticed, and that was that each one seemed to be talking about something that I couldn't hear.

They often gave us short, poorly concealed glances, thanks to those huge eyes. Considering that Luna is a princess, normally this behavior would not attract attention, but the fact that they are trying to hide it so insistently and laughing makes it suspicious.

Luna didn't seem to notice, or she just didn't care.

I could already see their carriage with a pair of Thestrals in very good physical shape, they could be seen a little tired, but they seemed to refuse to show weakness, always attentive to their surroundings, in fact, they were already looking at us even before I noticed them.

“Princess, Spirit, wait!” To our surprise, our walk was interrupted by a familiar voice

“Lady Rarity, what a pleasant surprise.” Luna greeted her politely, obviously trying to hide the fact that we had forgotten about her.

“Likewise, princess, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to deliver this to you.” Only then did I notice the floating bags she was carrying with her.

“I am very grateful to him, but there was no need to bother, especially after I broke his last attempt to grant me something.”

“With all due respect, princess, it's nonsense, plus that stroke of inspiration they gave me wasn't going to let me sleep until I made them something worthy, even if that meant having to undo some old dress to get the material” Rarity stated proudly while He brought a bag to Luna and another to me.

I was a little touched by the fact that she also did something for me when, she had no reason to do it at all.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I opened the bag to look inside.

“BOM”

I immediately closed it as she tried to extinguish the flames of embarrassment all over my face. I looked to my side, seeing how Luna was doing the same with a no less blushing face.

“Seeing how much you liked those socks, I thought you could use an outfit to complete the outfit,” Rarity scoffed without the slightest hint of shame.

This mare is crazy!

While I continued in my personal delirium, Luna realized something that had gone unnoticed by me. "Lady Rarity, when you say that we 'inspire' you, what did you mean?"

My whole body tensed up at what Luna was implying.

“There, darling, please, that show that you two gave us last night was worthy of one of those novels that I used to read as a filly, it makes me believe that I could still find some prince charming for me, oh my, just imagining it, ah~” One She once again returned to her drama queen status while I felt like I was going to have a seizure.

Meanwhile, Luna and I looked at each other as we realized the implications of what she had just said.

“You, you, you, you” I tried to put what I was thinking into words, but I was too dazed for that.

“You saw us!” Luna completed it for me.

“Well… only in part” I confess with some frustration “Keeping those rioters in order was quite a challenge.”

Unruly?... The colts!

Realizing this, I looked back at the ponies who were gossiping earlier and noticed how some of them were carrying their tired children, but that their parents seemed to insist on keeping them awake with a chat in which they shot us occasional glances.

I didn't need to ask what that talk was about... I shit on everything!

I take it back, forget about Rainbow, I'm going after Pinkie, and then this whole damn town!

“Um… excuse me” As if the devil decided to make an appearance, one of those colts appeared behind Rarity.

She was a mare, a unicorn with white fur and a mane that varied between various shades of pink. She looked tired and somewhat confused.

“Oh, this is my beautiful sister, Sweetie Belle, and she stayed awake until now because she wanted to tell you something, princess” Rarity introduced her.

"Me?" Luna was surprised

"Yes," Belle confirmed and began to explain, apparently somewhat unsure. "Well... we had a lot of fun tonight with Nightmare and the other boys, and I wanted to ask her if we would see her again next year." The filly looked at us with puppy eyes "... Yes, it's not much of a bother."

Luna seemed moved, and somehow all the nervousness that Belle had was contagious to Luna “That's very good... I mean! It wouldn't be any trouble, I would love to spend the next Nightmare night with you”

“YESSS!” The filly jumped in euphoria at Luna's legs, giving her a hug. The difference in her size made the sight of her as comical as it was cute. “And you can also help us get our own special pony!” And the tenderness is gone

“Hey, Belle, I think you're still a little young to be thinking about those things,” I said as a series of humiliating thoughts from my past came to mind, which I internally swore to never remember again.

"I agree with Spirit on this case, little sister, a young girl your age shouldn't have those kinds of worries until she's older."

“Oooooh” The tender marshmallow made a pout that would have melted me before, but apparently Rarity had acquired a monstrous resistance to its charms because she did not hesitate to take it with her magic and let it fall on her back despite the girl's attempts to escape

“Speaking of which, I think we agreed that after your goodbye, you would go straight to bed.”

"Oh no"

“Oh, yes” After giving Sweetie Belle a scolding look, Rarity looked at us again and then bowed while preventing Belle from falling by holding her with her magic. “Goodbye, princess, I hope you had fun and that you enjoy those gifts I gave you.”

Luna also bowed, but this was less striking and more of an assent. “Thank you very much, and I reiterate my gratitude for joining us on this special night.”

“What gifts?” Belle asked curiously.

“Oh, nothing dear, forget I said that.” Without anything else to say and wanting to avoid that topic, Rarity began her march back to her home.

“Well… now what do we do with these things?” I asked, pointing to the floating bags carrying kinky socks and other less pure things, “Should we throw them away?”

To my surprise and delight, Luna didn't seem to like the idea. “I… could take care of such possessions… if you don't mind.” Poor Luna tried to mask the nature of her request, acting as if taking care of these things was a chore insignificant

I found the idea both exhilarating and terrifying, as a man of the human species. Obviously, I experienced everything that could be done with this body alone, as soon as the idea entered my head

Did you want to go further with Luna? Fuck yes! But even so, and despite the growing emotion that the idea provoked in me, I couldn't shake the idea that I would only humiliate myself. At this moment, the mere idea of being alone with Luna filled me with panic.

I'd better wait until I have a little more control over this body and adjust to the idea of having a relationship before trying something so extreme.

“Hentai” I just said to her while she handed her my bag.

“…I don't know why I feel like whatever that means is more insulting to you.” Luna was genuinely confused by that feeling.

Damn otaku trends! Our shameful existence transcends dimensions

Pushing away her shame, I approached Luna to say goodbye to her with a kiss on the cheek. “I'll come see you in a few days, as always.”

Luna looked disappointed. "So... you're not coming?”

"Can? Wouldn’t that cause problems?” I asked, trying to rely on as many excuses as possible.

Living with Celestia, haha, no

"That's how it would normally be, but seeing that the whole town already knows it, I have no doubt that by tomorrow, the news will be a trend in Canterlot." I was skeptical that the information could arrive so quickly in a world without telephones, but to my surprise, Luna looked at me with absolute seriousness. “Never underestimate the power of a good gossip.”

"Sure... but, even so, I enjoy the freedom that my lifestyle gives me. Thanks for the offer, but I prefer to continue as before." As expected, Luna seemed dejected. "Hey, I promise to come see you more often, agreement?" I surprised myself by letting myself be carried away by instincts I didn't know I had about her and rubbing against her in an attempt to comfort her.

To my surprise, far from being surprised by her extensive contact, Luna reciprocated by resting her body against mine and bringing her face closer. “Yes, but don't make me wait too long, or I'll come look for you.”

Instead of answering, I settled for one last kiss before we broke contact, and she climbed into her carriage. The Thestrals, proving to have mastered the art of discipline, they remained respectful at all times without saying a single word, although I could swear that I saw one biting his lip and the other with dead eyes, as if his reason for living had suddenly been taken away from him.

I decided to ignore that

The carriage Luna was using this time had no roof, so we continued saying goodbye until we disappeared from each other's sight.

Oh my god... I'm really in love

Even knowing how idiotic and dangerous it would be to live with her in the castle, I found myself regretting not having accepted her offer.

Somehow, the moment she left, everything took a backseat. The opportunity to tour the town did not produce any type of emotion in me, the gossiping ponies were indifferent to me, the possibility of knowing and experimenting no longer attracted me.

As she walked down the streets, she tried to force me to find something that piqued my curiosity or that I even found remotely interesting.

But it was no use, my mind kept wandering to the next task I had assigned myself.

I concluded that the city council should serve

I stopped in front of the large structure, still adorned with cobwebs, pumpkins and other things more striking than terrifying, in my opinion.

My magical fire should be able to burn regardless of the material, as long as it does not have magical protections.

The resulting fire should be big enough to attract the attention of the entire town, including a certain pegasus with a prismatic mane, and among all that chaos, no one would notice if, on one of her trips to bring rain clouds, she didn't return.

A quick and precise attack… yes, I can do that, although I must also prepare for the attack to miss. As much as it bothers me to admit it, the bastard is fast, so a plan B wouldn't hurt.

Everything seemed to be going well in my mind, the gears were already turning and the foundations of a plan were already forming. The only thing I didn't like was how dangerously close I was to the school.

I thought about alternatives, but for the first time, I felt lazy. I simply felt that it was not worth the effort to alter a plan that already seemed perfect to me.

Everything seemed tedious to me, in my eyes, the world lost its value... children still seemed cute to me, but... they are like a decoration, a nice painting or a fun toy

I decided to just retreat back into the forest. A change had happened, I don't know precisely what change, but something felt out of place inside me.

But for the life of me, I couldn't place what it was.

Anyway, a hit like that needs at least a week of planning, I'm not a careless person.

I couldn't disperse the tension that invaded me until I felt the earth staining my hooves. This forest had always seemed comforting to me, and that's exactly why I felt lighter. I dropped my costume, and my mind returned to happier topics like what to do for myself future date with Luna

I'll have to work really hard to-BBTBOF

…

Shock

I was lying on the ground

What the fuck was that?!

A memory came back to me of a long-forgotten programming class. My group was trying to start a motor for a fan made with garbage from our homes... it didn't matter, what was relevant was that I was in charge of the wiring and the one that connected the plug, like the one that connected that Arduino chip with that breadboard

I must have done something wrong, or the cables were in worse condition than we thought, because as soon as we connected the thing to the wall, a spark was heard and a burning smell came out.

We unplugged the thing immediately, only to realize that the plastic on the plug had melted and stuck together, ruining not only our project but some of the school property.

My mind is now that plug

It didn't hurt, nothing hit me, but it was like my entire brain suddenly filled with information only to suddenly cut off.

The always-constant flow of information between me and my creations had been suddenly cut off as a large number attempted to communicate, and sparks had flown as a result.

The experience stunned and disoriented me for a while.

I had to reconnect, that was the important thing, it was my best skill and my life insurance for desperate escapes.

Using countless hours of practice, experimentation, and intuitive control, I was able to feel my creations again.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I felt the presence of the rest of my being again. I was whole again, but something was wrong. The signal from those closest to me was stable, but with everyone else, it was noticeably weaker

I had to make a notable effort to let the information pass

“Btt”

“BTTT”

“BBTTTTTT”

The reports did not wait and-

…

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!” A gigantic pink dome covered a huge section of the Everfree, the same one I was in, but that wasn't what scared me, it was the army that was crossing it, led by Princess Celestia herself.

I didn't even have to think about it, I activated 'Flame gate' in the furthest place possible, without caring if there were witnesses at the exit.

“Puff.”

A cloud of black smoke was what my flames transformed into as soon as I tried to change their nature, covering my body completely in soot, leaving me like a black stain.

“… Oh, oh” The connection was not strong enough to let me pass, nor them to enter…

I'm trapped

Time later

“Injury report” Celestia asked with fear.

“23, princess,” she lamented the pegasus mare who was giving her the report, “4 for getting too excited with the spears after her speech, 7 for sprained ankles on the way here, and 5 for due to the common cold. It seems that a guard came, ignoring her condition and infecting the rest

Celestia looked at her, bewildered. “I counted 16.”

“Oh, yes, we think they must have gotten lost along the way… maybe they separated from the invisibility barrier… for some reason,” she replied with some embarrassment.

Celestia didn't mind that part, in fact, she smiled to herself. There were a lot less of them than she expected!

Usually such long marches ended with at least 50 injured or discarded for various reasons, but there was no doubt that she had done a splendid job managing her forces.

Unfortunately, her good mood was soured upon seeing her approach the captain of the guard.

The smile on her face faltered, but she managed to hold it. “Go find your lost companions and take them back to Canterlot.”

“At her command.” The pegasus mare bowed before flying away.

As soon as they separated, Celestia's face took on a serious expression. “I thought we had already made our duties clear.” She said dryly.

“Princess, please reconsider, we still have time to look for her sister.” Shining Armor pleaded once again.

“I already sent guards to look for her, and they confirmed that she is no longer in Ponyville, she could be anywhere from here to Canterlot.”

“We can wait” Shining couldn't help but grimace at his poor suggestion, even he knew that this was a rather unfavorable idea, by train it would take them around 3 hours just to get to Canterlot and that is assuming that Luna is already there and not have decided to take a walk somewhere else

As expected, Celestia did not accept. “No, she refused to allow this abomination one more second of freedom if I can prevent it.”

The captain was getting exasperated, that was a poor excuse from his perspective, and he didn't know if the princess had made it up in hopes of motivating him or if he was totally serious.

But one thing he couldn't deny was the fact that the more time passed, the more likely it would be that his enemy would find a way to breach his shield.

Not that that was an easy task, but he knew extremely little about this dark mage and her unusual abilities.

Even Celestia was completely unaware of them.

And that's exactly why he would never have agreed to this plan, if he had known that Celestia was planning to do it alone, the sisters were supposed to go together!

“At least let me accompany you” He knew she wouldn't listen to him, but he couldn't be calm with himself if she didn't try her best.

“We already discussed that when we were making the plan, you would only become a target, and we know that our opponent is willing to kill, I refuse to take that risk.”

“My life is nothing compared to yours, I beg you.”

“Stop it” Celestia's wings spread fully as she used Canterlot's royal voice, drawing the attention of some nearby guards “Do you think I'm incapable of defending myself? “Do you think that the despicable bicorn is superior to me?!”

"Of course not! But I took an oath to protect you, princess. I beg you, let me do my duty." Shining knelt as far as possible, clinging to the slightest hope.

“That oath was not for me, but for Equestria and the inhabitants of it.”

And it was best for Equestria to have her princess safe and sound, but continuing to protest beyond this point could be considered insubordination, even so Shining was starting to consider it.

"Is everything okay, princess?” With the arrival of a voice that Shining new quite well, the captain knew that she had taken too long.

An opportunistic nobleman had arrived

“Everything is fine, Commander Iron Blade,” his princess assured him as she returned to a more relaxed posture and looked at the newcomer.

"Of course, but if your majesty is willing to listen to a suggestion from one of your most loyal and trusted legion commanders." This unicorn had undoubtedly had the idea of being chosen as legion commander by the princess herself.

It was true that Shining Armor was the captain of the Canterlot guard, but as expected of an army whose objective was the supervision of each Equestrian city and its borders, it was made up of multiple military branches.

One of them were the legions, which could vary in number from 1,000 to 10,000 soldiers, supposedly, since the largest recorded legion did not exceed 7,000 soldiers, and of course, in these times of peace, the legions were not only few, but that barely met the numerical requirements

Equestria had discarded the need for having troops in reserve long ago, being seen by the nobility as nothing more than a waste of resources and bits.

The only exceptions were Canterlot the capital city, Horseshoe Bay, right on the coast of Baltimare, the area closest to the border of Griffonstone and finally, a series of mountain ranges on the side of Vanhoover called Galloping Canyon. No one knew why. They had placed those troops there so close to the frozen north, perhaps the Yaks, although they were hardly considered intelligent beings by most of the ponies, so such caution seemed unreasonable.

“And what kind of advice do you think would be appropriate to give me?”

"I couldn't help but notice a certain displeasure on the part of our captain, and that worries me terribly, after all, as you already know, the maintenance of the force field depends on him, and therefore the success of this mission rests completely on the idea of him being capable of maintaining it until the capture of our fugitive”

Celestia narrowed her eyes without even making the slightest effort to deduce exactly her intentions. “And would you like that responsibility to be transferred?”

“Clearly, I know that we agreed that the captain would wait for us with about ten guards in case of emergency, but I consider it more expedient if he allowed a volunteer comparable to him in terms of magical power to take charge of a small garrison specialized both in protecting the captain and in containing him if the situation warrants it”

“Are you suggesting that he would disobey an order from the princess herself?” Shining protested indignantly.

“Isn't that what you were already doing by questioning her like that?” Iron Blade faced Shining, almost clashing their horns.

“Enough, both of you,” Celestia declared, putting herself between them and forcing them to separate. “Legion Commander Iron Blade, you accepted his proposal to ensure the safety of Captain Shining Armor and our mission until my return.”

“Princess” Shining, for the first time in his life, felt abandoned by Celestia

“Even now, you question her.” Iron Blade shook his head as he clicked his mouth disapprovingly, as if he were a misbehaved colt, which only irritated the helpless captain more.

“Iron Blade immediately selects the guards who will assist you,” Celestia declared, not wanting to waste any more time on pointless quarrels.

“At his command” Iron Blade went directly to carry out his order with a cheerful step, with the idea that he had earned some favor from the princess.

"Because?" Shining obviously didn't believe such a thing.

“Because it means one less burden that I will have to carry with me and that I hope you will take care of” And she was absolutely right.

“… Okay, but please take care of yourself, we will be waiting for you”

“Remember, no matter what happens, don't drop your shield.”

Celestia made sure to look the captain in the eyes, but it wasn't necessary. He already understood perfectly the importance of his duty “I will not fail him.”

Celestia didn't say anything, instead, she hugged him like a mother would calm a scared child. “Thank you for taking care of me.” She whispered, erasing any bad resentment Shining might have had.

With that farewell and seeing Iron Blade return with fifty soldiers, Celestia left to lead the main force that had almost completely crossed the barrier.

A simple nod is what the commander received as a greeting and farewell.

Once the last of her guards crossed the shield, Shining closed the small opening she had left, allowing Celestia to discard the barrier she herself had created to cover that opening against the threat of teleportation.

Once inside, no further orders were needed, they had previously assigned groups to be able to spread throughout this section of the forest until they found their objective.

This lasted for hours, from the beginning, they didn't know what to look for, a house? A stronghold? A lone pony living off nature?

This gave rise to many false alarms, fights with predators, legs twisted by the uneven terrain, complaining noble relatives, among many other ailments.

Until something changed, Celestia's observation skills, trained to detect the slightest alteration in facial expression in a variety of races and perfected after a millennium of political stratagems, allowed her to notice a certain irregularity that was repeated contrary to the natural pattern of the leaves

Celestia stopped her pace, everyone who followed her example, although after a minute of simply observing nature, one of them was encouraged to speak to her.

"Princess…"

"I have you!" The poor pony jumped and backed away when he saw Celestia's horn begin to glow.

Briefly, he questioned what he could have done to insult his princess, but then he realized that it wasn't him that Celestia was looking at.

In fact, Celestia had not even noticed the guard's presence, her total concentration was on the creature she had caught.

It looked like a bird, but calling it a bird would be an insult to that species, in the same way it would be to call the Timberwolves an animal.

These things were only parodies of what were real living beings, and yet this… bird writhed, trying to free itself from its magical grip.

Celestia observed it and analyzed it, it was noticeably weak physically, the branches formed its skeleton, and the leaves replaced its feathers.

Celestia could perfectly understand that such a thing had gone unnoticed in this environment, even she noticed it by mere luck. For all she knew, they could be surrounded by these things and have no way of knowing.

“This is unexpected of you, Celestia, don't you know that it's rude to show up at someone's house without an invitation? I didn't have time to clean the place” Celestia was visibly surprised when the thing stopped shaking, and she began to speak in a distorted voice, resulting in linguistic barbarism.

She reminded Celestia of the ancient necromancers she faced in the past, who used their undead as extensions of their being.

He didn't like reliving those memories.

“Can you blame me? The last time we met, you did not give me your address and showed a total lack of decorum.” Despite her impassive face, those words were spoken with notable hostility.

“Fair enough,” Forest admitted. “If it's any consolation, Blueblood was the first and only decent fight I've ever had with your kind.”

“Don't you dare name it, you are not worthy.”

"Are you serious? Are we talking about the same type? He may have put up a good fight, but only when compared to the rest of his species, all things considered, he's not much of a compliment."

“Big words for someone who is moments away from falling to the same race you denigrate.”

The bird had no facial expressions, but Celestia could notice its inner flame flickering “Yes… you are right, but I ask you, Celestia, how much are you willing to sacrifice? “You wouldn’t have brought in such a force if you thought this would be easy, so why don’t we avoid bloodshed?”

Forest Heart waited for a response from Celestia, but she didn't say anything, she just kept looking.

“I can't fix what I broke, but I can make it up to Equestra in other ways, I have a lot of knowledge to the extent of which you cannot imagine or understand, I can return your books to you in perfect condition, and I will even lend my wolves as cannon fodder if the situation requires it.” so that you no longer have to risk your precious ponies, even if you hate me, you must understand the benefits of an alliance.”

“Nothing” Without thinking, without meditating, or doubting, Celestia gave her refusal.

"That is a no?" The surprise in Forest's voice was conveyed perfectly, not that she didn't expect a rejection, but she didn't expect such an immediate response.

“It is the answer to your previous question, what am I willing to sacrifice? That's simple, nothing, you will have nothing more from me, you may have taken us by surprise before, but now I am the one who has caught you off guard” Celestia attracted the bird inches from her face, looking at it with an intensity that made Forest tremble despite not being present "I can sense your desperation, even through this creature, I can tell, you are terrified, and it is good that you are, because before you is the judgment of Equestria" Celestia fully spread her wings as she acquired a pose that highlighted his magnificence

On any other being, it would have looked ridiculous, but this was an alicorn, a physical manifestation of one of the forces that made the miracle of life in the world possible.

Her emboldened guards assumed positions behind her princess as they aimed at Forest Heart's aberrant creation with their spears and horns.

“This is my counteroffer, surrender, and I will be merciful, I will help you disassociate yourself from that disgusting dark magic that afflicts you, but reject this offer and by my name and the sun that empowers me, I promise you that no more lives will be lost and that I will personally lock you in the deepest floors of Tartarus where you will never again be able to harm an innocent pony or even see the light of my sun again.”

With the speech over, there was only one thing Forest Heart could say.

“Once I tear you apart and show you how pathetic and useless you really are, I'll have fun playing with your little soldiers the same way I did with Blueblood, then I'll go to Canterlot and fuck your sister's brains out! ”

“SHIIIIIIING”

A golden, car-wide beam of energy incinerated the poor magical creation and the trees behind it.

Celestia had lost her composure, something unthinkable, but everyone present understood. How could someone dare to speak in such a way to her princess?

"Oh, come on Celestia, who are you fooling with all that theatrics? To your soldiers? To your subjects? We both know what really happened when you failed to contain Discord!”

Where before there was a single voice coming from a single creation, now there are dozens of voices coming from the forest around them, too many to count, impossible to locate them all.

"Be quiet!" Celestia demanded, and in doing so, she made a mistake and exposed a weakness.

"Blueblood didn't die as a hero, he was just a crying fool who chose the wrong hole to hide in, it was what was expected of him, but you?" A weakness that Forest would gladly use. “You failed him, protecting him was your responsibility, and instead you allowed yourself to be captured.” Those words cut deep. “You abandoned your family, again!” But none of them burned the way her past mistake did. “And that's why you are and will always be useless.”

“AAAAAAAh!” Celestia was now grinding her teeth, trying to contain herself, but it was impossible, each word was spoken with malice, designed specifically to bring out the worst in her, and for a moment she relented.

A powerful flapping of its wings lifted it several dozen meters into the sky, the ideal place to unleash its anger.

A burst of flame that would put a dragon to shame ejected from her horn, seamlessly enveloping the surroundings and destroying any artificial creatures she might have encountered.

In the distance, the bicorn smiled, with the negotiations failing the best she could do now was heat the metal until it was red hot and strike while it was still hot.

“BOM”

An explosion echoed in the distance, the sound muffled by the distance, but one that Celestia and all the troops inside the dome had no problem recognizing.

It was the sign, a group had found something

Despite Celestia's need to get there as quickly as possible, she managed to be conscious enough to remember to put out the flames she had created.

"Move!" The soldiers, momentarily dazzled by the spectacle they witnessed, shook off their shock and followed their princess from land and air.

Celestia obviously took the lead, gaining distance between herself and the group, but it didn't matter.

The only thing on her mind was making Forest Heart suffer.

It didn't take long for her goal to appear in his vision.

It was a tiny dome compared to the one they were already in, but the unicorns that powered it had not been trained since childhood in a specific magical area so compatible with their talent.

Celestia arrived at her objective and was horrified to see the dome surrounded by at least 50 modified timberwolves besieging them from all sides.

Inside was a group of 20 ponies, the exact number they had agreed upon for the groups that would explore the forest by section.

She internally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that everyone was alive and apparently unharmed, but her peace of mind didn't last long when she saw a part of the shield give way.

It was only an instant, but one of the guards, an earth pony who was not taking proper precautions, was too close to the barrier, and the timberwolf's reinforced tail managed to stab him in his hind leg.

Celestia saw red

Like a meteorite, Celestia descended from the sky without trying to slow down.

“BOM”

The ground shook and cracked as it impacted the earth, forming a fiery crater.

Despite the fearsome spectacle, the Timberwolves did not hesitate to respond to the challenge, they changed their objective and headed straight to Celestia.

The first one tried to jump on her

“SHIIING”

Was blown up heavy by an energy beam

Three others tried to take advantage of that moment to attack from different directions.

“BOM”

They failed when a shock wave hit their bodies, completely destroying them.

The Timberwolves realized that attacks like that were not going to work, so they opted for a simple race driven by the power of numbers, hopefully at least one of them would manage to reach it.

But to her surprise, her race did not last long when the legs of those in the front line were swallowed by a burning mace.

The sight would have been disconcerting, to say the least, to any enemy, however, the Timberwolves knew no fear.

Undeterred, they jumped on the bodies of their companions that were being consumed by the lava that was now the ground, using them as platforms to reach their prey, and almost got it.

Celestia flapped her wings once, and a tsunami of flames and melted rock engulfed all who dared to think of her as prey.

The guards behind her gaped at the devastation their princess was capable of.

“Open the shield”

"Eh what?" The guard closest to her asked.

“Open it, now!” Even though the fight helped clear some of the anger Celestia was feeling, she was still a long way from being satisfied.

Faced with the outburst, the unicorns stopped supplying magic to the shield out of pure fright.

Celestia wasted no time and immediately went to the injured guard. A flash of her horn, a nod of her head, and voilà, the wound was gone, she didn't even leave a scar.

“You're okay now” The guard, still shocked, only managed to give a slight nod. “Who is the leader of this group?”

“It's me, Soft Breeze.” A pegasus mare showed up, struggling to remember the proper way to behave.

"Report"

The pegasus bowed his head

"What happened?" Celestia asked slowly, to her growing frustration.

Breeze finally managed to partially emerge from the post-battle haze and respond appropriately “Our group was exploring the area without separating us more than five meters from each other, just as he told us… jeez, if we hadn't listened, that timberwolf would have…” Breeze couldn't finish what he was saying when the shock of his first battle came back, along with the realization of how close he came to dying

“Soldier Soft Breeze, I need you to concentrate,” Celestia said this time with more intensity.

"It's true," Breeze said, shaking his head. “A noise, came from a cave, maybe an internal collapse? He heard the echo of the rocks falling… if it weren't for that, we would never have realized that it was there, it was well hidden. It was when we cleared the obstructions that the first wolf attacked, nearly decapitating me. I dodged it out of pure reflex!

"Enough! "I think with that, I can get an idea of what happened next." Celestia preferred to have the full story, but she wasn't in the mood to put up with what was surely a high-born girl facing the world for the first time, so she just inferred that the unicorns reacted quickly, creating the barrier and sending the signal.

Without paying more attention to the mare, Celestia was on her way to the entrance of the previously mentioned cave when she sensed them.

Magical protections, some intended to ensure that the entrance goes unnoticed, others to attack any invader

Celestia noted with disgust that several of the defenses could easily kill a pony or something larger with traps that turned the floor into a spike trap, turned the air toxic, released electric shocks, there was even a long, sloping hallway with a rock. Huge and round, that would crush anyone passing by

Normally, she would be patient, she would take her time to examine the various defenses, pose hypotheses and counterattacks.

But she wasn't in the mood.

Leaving aside subtlety and opting for raw power, Celestia sent a wave of magical power that broke down the barriers she had detected and then spread throughout every inch of the excavation.

It was like dropping a bowling ball on sheets of glass, the defenses were shattered one after another

As soon as the information gathered by Celestia's spell reached her, despite her state of abject rage, she couldn't help but be surprised by the size of the lair.

It extended in a zigzag across hundreds of meters, it must have taken years or decades, centuries even!

How long had Forest Heart actually been preparing? Or did she find it by chance? It was not possible to do such a thing in just a few months

However, for Celestia that fact quickly lost importance.

Her spell had already scanned the entire underground structure and given him a complete map, but more importantly, she found Forest Heart and his creations.

All meeting at a single point, in one of the deepest areas of the underground fortress, a much larger and more spacious area to the point where a small city could fit and the pegasi could fly without problems, and of course a few side tunnels overflowing of enemy troops awaiting their arrival

She didn't have to think about it anymore, Celestia launched her own magical explosion into the sky, signaling to all of her forces that they should gather together.

And so it was, slow, almost unbearably slow, each time Celestia seemed more impatient while the ponies did not stop arriving and looking for her place among so much nature.

“Attention ponies!” All of her heads turned in her direction, giving him her full attention. “The time has come, prepare for the fight, follow me!”

Not everyone had arrived, but she was not willing to waste any more time, her enemy was also preparing for their encounter.

"One moment!" Celestia's march did not stop as she passed the entrance to the cave, but she made a sign indicating to the soldier who could speak, "With all due respect, your majesty, do you think it is prudent to enter enemy territory like this?"

“Do you think we will lose?” She responded bluntly.

“Of course not, but a cornered animal is the most dangerous, if it gets desperate enough, it could cause the mine to collapse.”

Celestia paused at the observation, not at the obvious proposal for a collapse, but at the fact that this was indeed a mining operation.

In her outburst, she had overlooked some obvious details.

Celestia slowed her pace and looked at the earth pony, this time with real attention, and she was surprised to recognize him. Shining Armor was in charge of organizing the forces, how they would be divided, and who would lead them.

And this guard was one of those leaders, just like Soft Breeze

Internally, Celestia gave her approval of her decision. Not only did this guard dare to question her, but he also didn't seem to be carried away by the idea of a certain victory just because she was present.

“I highly doubt that something like this will happen and if it does, we should not worry, the enemy's organization suggests that they expect a direct confrontation, with backup troops attacking us from all directions, but I have already destroyed their magical defenses and plan to form a barrier in the area of combat, it will save us most of the problems and will protect us in case of collapse” Celestia explained, but out of respect for the stallion she decided to follow his advice “But just in case, divide the unicorns, one for every five ponies, tell them to prepare for Teleport your companions if possible, otherwise they are spells that manipulate the earth, they should have the knowledge to make a shelter”

“Affirmative” The stallion nodded and stepped back to give the order to his peers.

That was it, no more delays. Celestia made her horn shine and took the first step, her guards followed her in the previously agreed upon formation.

More guards joined every second as Celestia went deeper. From time to time, they came across rocky pillars that served as support and hindered their group progress, as well as secondary paths that followed the minerals and that Celestia ordered to avoid, she already knew how to avoid them where they were going, and I knew they were empty

The entire plan of the place was already in her head, and despite having a single objective, her mind trained to multitask could not help but deviate periodically, thinking about the possible uses for such a place.

Throwing it away would be a waste for such a work. Even if he disliked its creator, he had to admit the place was well made, they had descended for a long time, and at first glance there were no traces of instability, the main path had a cubic shape and was spacious, leaving a respectable distance from the mining areas, its entire route had been well established with a uniformly sloping ground, even with occasional stairs, it just needed some lighting and to do something with those annoying pillars

They were the only thing that didn't match the rest of the place, they weren't polished, their structure was uneven, and they seemed scattered randomly, as if someone saw a crack in the ceiling and said, 'I'll cover it with this'. Maybe I was giving it too much credit to its creator

Anyway, he may also have used it as a mine or a guard base. Since the founding of Equestria, the ponies have always tried to claim the territory of the Everfree, perhaps this place is the first step to finally achieving that goal.

“Pum.”

It was then that, in her carelessness, her horn touched rock, as always the sensation of rubbing against such a sensitive organ was disorienting, but she quickly composed herself to verify where she had gone wrong.

The cave had narrowed significantly at some point when he got lost in his wanderings.

“Did something happen, princess?” asked the same stallion that she had advised her at the entrance to the mine. Celestia didn't even notice how close she was.

“Nothing, just distracted me,” Celestia excused herself as she prepared to continue.

The stallion nodded. “Shall we turn around?”

Celestia's march stopped before beginning “What? Because?"

“Why… there is no longer a path?” The guard responded, confused.

…

Celestia didn't know what to say because it was true, right in front of her there was a half-excavated rock wall.

The stunned princess blinked a couple of times, hoping it was a hallucination or something similar, but she did not faint, raising one front paw and moving it fearfully, pushing her forward.

The hard rock stopped their progress

"That?" She questioned herself.

“Is something wrong, princess?”

“This wall shouldn't be here, it should be a corridor.”

“Could we have missed a tunnel?”

"No! This is where I'm sure." Celestia refuses to accept any possibility of failure

“It couldn't be much deeper anyway.” The guard simply shrugged his shoulders.

“What makes you say that?”

“My first three years in the guard, I was assigned to Dodge City, and you can't live there without learning a thing or two about mines, and let me tell you, they don't usually go that deep.”

Celestia froze in place. “But this mine is at least 700 meters long, we are not even halfway there.”

"Now I'm sure you were wrong, princess. As far as I know, there is no such deep mine, the temperature, oxygen and gas pockets become too serious a problem at that point, something that could change if there were more unicorns willing to work in mines and not leave all the work to-”

The guard continued to ramble, but at this point, Celestia was no longer listening, she was dealing with the growing feeling of discomfort, as if someone had dropped an anvil into her stomach.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

She again gathered her magic for another scanning spell, but this time instead of releasing power like a brute, she opted for a more delicate style.

She searched for imperfections and errors between her magical projection and reality as her magic spread throughout the structure of the mine.

It didn't take long for her to find them, one of them was right next to her on the wall that was supposed to lead her to deeper parts. Then there were the side roads that were longer or shorter, the stalactites that shouldn't be there, even the road I was on didn't have the appropriate dimensions.

Then she injected her magic into those places. It didn't take much, comparatively, it was nothing more than a gentle breeze, and the plane she had been following blurred before her incredulous gaze.

Like a work of art with paint thinner thrown on it, the mine map was replaced by a pirate imitation fit for a 6-year-old colt.

And she and her soldiers were at the bottom

But there was one more thing that his spell detected—one thing that was too far away to notice before. His spell had been designed to detect specific magical life forms, such as ponies or modified Timberwolves, but now that the barrier was gone, and the distance had shortened significantly, she could easily detect a similar enough magical life form right behind her.

Celestia turned around just to see a rock pillar larger than her deform, releasing what appeared to be a shovel-shaped limb and falling in her direction.

"Princess!"

“CRASH”

Celestia felt a blow on her side before she crashed into the wall and felt something metallic fall on her.

She quickly composed herself and noticed that what she had on top of her was the earth pony that had been accompanying her, but she was not okay.

When she died, when she pushed her, he positioned himself in the line of fire and received the blow. The armor did a good job of preventing the wearer from being torn in half, but it deformed horribly.

On the side in the rib area, she had a deep dent, just by looking at it, she knew this was bad.

“Contain him!”

A scream caught Celestia's attention.

Her soldiers had already set out to stop the creature using their spears, but the narrow terrain made it quite difficult for them.

That was something that the thing took advantage of.

Celestia had never seen anything like this, of course she had seen golems before, she herself created several in her student days, but there was a world of difference between those puppets, only able to follow instructions and make the simplest movements, and this thing that was in front of me

She was a biped with four upper limbs that moved in perfect synchrony, it was almost as if she had spent her entire life practicing with them.

She extended her first arm, deflecting the spear attack to the ground, earning herself a few minor scratches, and using one of her legs to step on it and break it, disarming a guard.

It was heavy and strong, enough to put their lives at risk, that was all Celestia needed to know to finally react.

It took enormous self-control on her part to not unleash a single blast of arcane power that would surely collapse the mine, so instead she created an ornate sword of light and sent it flying.

“CRASH”

The thing was strong, I had no doubts, but also very slow. Despite seeing the attack approaching, she could not evade it and was split into two halves, which, as soon as they hit the ground, fragmented.

There was no more time to waste

“Princess, is she okay?”

Celestia ignored him and focused on stripping the wounded soldier of her armor while she cast a scanning spell.

“Three broken ribs, bone fragments in the left lung, a torn kidney…” Celestia murmured and breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't serious, maybe for other ponies it was, but for her, it was just a spell

"FLASH"

And so it was, a flash of his horn and the guard breathed as if his lungs had been squeezed, which was partially true.

“Cof, COFF, EZ” The poor pony coughed and struggled to breathe, but he was alive. He would be in enormous pain for the next few days, but he was alive!

Celestia congratulated herself and allowed herself a moment to relax.

“Get him away, get him away!”

That moment didn't last

"Doctor!"

At that moment, she remembered

“Be careful, this is how it goes!”

The countless pillars that had passed since they put a hoof in this damned mine

“He's dead, it can't be, he's dead!”

But it wasn't until she heard that scream, that echo brought to her through those infernal hallways, that she realized.

She had broken her promise, the battle had just begun, and countless ponies died.

Worst part? She still had her scanner spell active, she could feel better than anyone thanks to her magical sense. Every life was lost, every battle that was fought, every drop of unicorn blood was spilled.

“Attention to all my golems”

Celestia felt a chill when she heard that voice coming from the remains of the advanced golem as it reformed.

Forest Heart's voice

“Half of you must explode.”

The breathing of everyone present was cut short when the golem gave off an increasingly intense green aura, almost causing them blindness.

And still, no one blinked or looked away.

“BOOOOOOOM”

24- Surprise visit

Author's Note

So that they can see that their comments do take you into account, even if they take too long, they can alter the story.

24- Surprise visit

It hurts... It really hurts

Even now, after all this time, he still felt Celestia's flames burning me as if she were still there.

It was a great advantage to have the freedom to choose whether she wanted to endure that pain or not.

Still, it seemed extremely strange to see my own injured body lying face up in bed in what could be considered a coma.

I had never disconnected from it to such an extent. I knew that I could take my conscious mind through the hive mind to the bodies of my creations, but I never dared to check to what extent. I had always left a part of me clinging to my bicornuate body... Seen like this, my main body is not very different from any of my creations, only of a higher quality

If Celestia had destroyed it... Would she really have died or would my consciousness simply travel to whatever body was available to me?

…

A few weeks had passed since the... battle on the Everfree or as the ponies are calling it, 'The Tragedy of the Everfree'

Never in the known history of Equestria have ponies faced such misfortune.

There were almost no survivors, almost a thousand lives were lost at once and they were blaming me

I can't protest that, the truth is that, if it was me who killed them, even my state of madness is not enough to justify mass murder.

I review the memories of what happened in my mind over and over again, not just my actions and decisions, but what I felt in those moments.

It felt good… at that moment, I tremendously enjoyed the destruction he was causing and the power he was exhibiting.

After all, that's the goal when you travel to a fantasy world, to gain power, defeat creatures, and have adventures.

I never really stopped to think about the goal behind what I was doing.

At first, I just wanted to survive, and when this was no longer a problem, I wanted to... Level up?

Holy god... How did I not realize this wasn't a game? Was my excitement so great that I couldn't see what I was doing?

I don't doubt that corruption by dark magic played its own role in my head, but I can't blame dark magic for everything, as that would automatically absolve me of anything I did or could have done.

And yet... despite knowing that, knowing that both logically, and morally I was wrong, somehow... I don't care, or not as much as I'm supposed to.

I guess this is the price for using a cursed item like the current of silence, who would have thought that the cure for one curse would be another curse?

"Knock Knock knock"

My internal musings were interrupted by the knock on the door.

“Come in, it's open” I said from the drone I had been forced to use to communicate and be aware of my surroundings since my main body went into recovery.

“Good afternoon, Heart” Aspen walked in making sure to close the door behind him “How are you feeling?”

I stopped for a moment and turned to see my bandaged body again.

I wasn't healing well, not as well as someone who heals as fast as me, but it seems like I underestimated how emotional the magic was.

Since coming here, I have learned that magic is an inherently emotional thing, to the point where the magical energy used to cast spells not only does what it is made to do, but also takes on a certain level of willpower.

Basically, if you cast a shield spell with no real threat present, it will be inferior to a shield made with the genuine intention of protecting something important to that caster, despite casting the same spell both times.

That's exactly why my wounds heal so slowly, Celestia truly wanted to kill me, and now the residual magic that her magical attacks left in my body acts like a potion, preventing the wounds from healing properly.

“Pretty good, all things considered,” I said finally. “Those potions they gave me cleaned up a lot of that… magical potion, thank you.”

“No problem,” Aspen shook it off like it was no big deal, which it probably was. Deer have hundreds of potions of all kinds in their holds.

An awkward silence took over the room. We both knew that this was not a casual visit, there was something we had to talk about, but I decided to postpone the topic a little longer.

“How is Zecora?” I asked with real guilt seeping into my voice.

“Better than you, I guarantee you, you did a good job protecting her from your flames with her cloak, other than that, she only has bruises and scrapes, at worst a scar.”

“But... And the pain?”

“… Getting better, she will completely fade away in about two days maximum”

Zecora, like me, was trapped inside the force field of the captain of the guard, fortunately as a resident of the Everfree she knew the place and the best methods to go unnoticed, managing to evade the guards and the conflict until she saw the aerial show that gave with Celestia

But after that Celestia's attacks got out of control, it was impossible for her not to receive a blow or burns and with it the same magic that poisons me now, only in a much smaller dose luckily.

“I have a huge debt with all of you and I plan to pay it”

“We don't do this expecting a reward.”

"I know, but we both know that you have a duty, and you came to fulfill it." I stopped looking at my body and looked at Aspen again.

Again, we looked at each other without saying anything for a few seconds.

“I'm sorry,” Aspen finally said.

“Don't do it, you've offered me practically everything since I got here, and now I've brought you more than trouble. If I stay or Celestia finds out that they offered me asylum, all the deer will pay dearly.”

Aspen visibly frowned, he was angry “She brought this on herself, if only she had talked to me before conducting a military operation on my lands all that bloodshed would have been avoided, but instead she decided that our opinion It didn't matter, that we couldn't contribute anything useful despite having lived in this forest almost as long as the ponies have been inhabiting Equestria or that perhaps we could offer a non-violent solution! At one point Aspen started to scream, obviously she had been stressing out and just now she found some kind of release, she had to stop for a moment to calm down “Celestia has no respect for us, that's why I can't blame you for what happened or at least “not totally”

“Thank you, but we both know it's not that simple, right?” From the day I met Aspen in the Celestia gardens I knew that he knew something that I didn't, I hadn't given it priority at the time, since I had other things to think about, but now I realized that it was a mistake, I had to know “Something else happened, Aspen I need to know, what did Celestia do? “How is it for her to come into this world?” Aspen had no way of discerning the true meaning behind those words.

“I don't know all the details, but I can tell you what I know, you will decide what to do with that information”

Even with that artificial body, I could not help but release the air that I was holding or that I unconsciously tried to hold, nor could I understand how I did such a thing without lungs.

“Well, tell me everything and then… then I will leave and never tell anyone that I ever had contact with your people” he bothered me a little. The truth was that I had already gotten used to the deer, and coming to visit them, whether to train or relax, had become part of my routine.

It was a real shame to have to say goodbye.

I could see the conflict on Aspen's face, it was obvious that he did not want to give in to Celestia's whims, after all this was his land and he was a king, but the reality was that both he and his people were at her mercy for which only gave me a respectful bow in gratitude and apology.

“What Celestia did to the forest a few months ago-”

"My King!"

Of course at the most important moment we would be interrupted, more than a week of peace and tranquility and right now they have to interrupt us

The door was practically knocked down by the messenger deer that was breathing heavily, it seems that it had come all the way at full speed

“Calm down and tell me what upset you so much,” Aspen ordered.

The deer took a few deep breaths before hurriedly replying “The princess is here!”

…

“Well… shit” It escaped me

Aspen did not pay attention to me and continued questioning the messenger, “Is she coming alone or are more soldiers accompanying her? And if so, how many? Has she already landed, or is she still in flight? What weapons do they have? Have they given any indication of their intentions?”

The questions kept coming and the poor deer, with no opportunity to respond, only cringed more as the questions kept coming.

Meanwhile, I was immersed in my personal misery, wondering how the hell he found me. Then I had the fantastic and obvious idea of using one of the drones I had left in the area to observe the invasion force.

A very small invasion force consisting of a high-quality silver carriage and a pair of Thestrals

Ah… oh, right… I told him I lived with the deer.

“Aspen” My call to the deer king stopped his attempt to strangle the deer that seemed to have fainted “Relax, they are not here for me, or well, they are, but not in the way you imagine.”

"That?" As expected, with such a vague explanation, I only got confusion.

“It's... a long story, but now this is more important, did you meet Princess Luna?” Aspen opened her eyes apparently remembering the existence of a second princess.

“No, our relationship with Equestria has been strained since your arrival, so we haven't had the chance.”

“I understand, I know this is confusing, but I need to ask you to order the deer not to be surprised by my appearance and that they should call me Spirit Flame or just ignore us. As long as they can do that, everything will be fine."

Aspen didn't understand everything, but he had enough trust in me to comply without asking for the time being.

Aspen nodded and dragged the fainted deer away. “Later, I want answers.”

“Okay and don't worry if she asks to see me, just bring her, I'll be ready” With that said, Aspen closed the door and I went back to my thing.

I moved around awkwardly in the body of the drone, but managed to position it inches from the face of my bicorn body.

I had to concentrate, gather my consciousness and take advantage of the influence that each of my creations had on the hive mind.

Without delay, all my remaining creations responded by giving a small pulse like the 'Btt' that I usually receive when they want to contact me

The moment all the signals accumulated, I abandoned that body and caused the drone to burn, while the leftover flames found their way to my face, where they entered my nose and mouth.

The combination of the arcane power in those flames and the mental shock sent by the hive mind was enough to reactivate my body.

“CAF, COF, AK” As expected, I choked and coughed as I tried to adjust back to the sensations of my burning skin, broken bones, and damaged muscles to the point where breathing was torture.

I couldn't stop my breathing from becoming erratic, and an overwhelming need to cry came over me. I was no longer on a battlefield, and I couldn't depend on adrenaline or madness to ignore my state.

Waiting didn't make it any easier, I almost left the body again, but I forced myself to stay there, I had to do this.

Luna couldn't see me like that

The fear arising from that last thought was enough incentive to grit my teeth and swallow my cry.

It took me a while to regain enough control to cast the shapeshifting spell, but I did it, and I was exhausted. I almost fainted, I barely got a few minutes of calm when the door to my room opened.

I didn't know who it was, my eyes were closed, and staying as still as possible seemed to be the best way to control the pain.

Then I felt a breath near my face and a hoof on my chest, but none of that bothered me, on the contrary, it was the first moment of peace I had gotten in a long time.

“Oh Spirit… What have they done to you?” It was Luna, and I could hear the pain in her voice.

Although I changed my form, I couldn't do anything to remove the wounds or the bandages. Although I have healed relatively well, I am still a mess.

“If I had stayed alone a little longer... I'm sorry.” I could feel Luna's head fall into my chest in what I assumed was a form of hug.

Her crying was already more than enough reason to let her know that I'm awake and okay, but as soon as she lay on top of me, that became a priority.

Her cold body was a refreshing comfort to me, but my ribs are broken!

However, the position we now find ourselves in provides me with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Luna had let her guard down, she was vulnerable to attack and I was going to take advantage of that.

That's why I approached her, slowly shortened the distance between us, being careful not to let her notice her and then attack.

LAME

“HYAA, but what?!” Luna stood up quickly while she rubbed her wet ear with her hoof.

“HAHAHAHA, COFF, HA, COFF, Your ear tastes funny” I wasn't kidding with that last part, but I didn't have time to really enjoy Luna's silly face when it transformed into one of infinite rage.

Luna climbed onto the bed and hovered over me, placing her front paws on either side of my head, forcing me to look into her eyes.

In short, I was not happy

"Do you have any idea? The remotest idea? How long did I wait to hear from you?! "A visit, a simple letter, anything, but no, you just disappear without saying anything right in the middle of the greatest tragedy our nation has faced in generations and when I finally find you, you do this to me."

Put it that way... I admit that I did wrong

I didn't even have time to apologize when Luna moved, I couldn't do anything other than close her eyes, hoping she wouldn't hurt too much.

… I cannot describe my surprise when I felt no pain at all, but a deep kiss on the lips and tears of happiness falling down my face.

After what seemed like hours, Luna finally pulled away. “I thought she lost you.”

I didn't know what to say... my heart stopped when I heard her and saw her as if it were the first time... I was surprised that she could feel so much of something other than rage after having drunk the potion of the current of silence

“I'm sorry, I couldn't move and... I still shouldn't have forgotten you, I'm really sorry.” I really regretted it.

“It's okay, I'm here, we're together, that's what matters” Luna hugged me again, I didn't care about the pain anymore.

In this moment, after all that pain, suffering and regret

I was happy

“Bring more cake!” The scream of one of the servants of Canterlot Castle was heard among many others.

“And wine too, the last bottle is already gone along with the last barrel of tea!” shouted another as he carried a cart full of empty plates.

“Bring more of everything, and someone bring Princess Luna, tell her what's happening again!”

“She's not here, she said she had an important matter to take care of in the deer village!”

“CRACK”

With the creaking of a dozen fine porcelain plates, all movement ceased.

“She did, what?” Celestia asked in a cold tone, not bothering to clean the pieces of pastry cream stuck to her snout.

“She... w-went to visit the deer because what happened... happened so close to their borders that we feared this would further aggravate our already tense relations with them, so we decided it was time for a political visit.” Raven, his assistant, responded.

Celestia's eyelid twitched, for a second, it looked like she would explode, but instead she “Ha…ha…HAHAHAHA” She just laughed uncontrollably.

Celestia laughed and laughed. At one point, she picked up another piece of cake directly with her hoof and popped it into her mouth, only to be followed by another and another. She didn't even give herself time to chew, she just kept putting more and more in without stopping her curling at any time.

This made the castle staff extremely worried. “Princess p-please slow down.”

Celestia ignored it and began to babble while she continued swallowing “Gug, visit, HA, gu, visit yes, deer yes, gug, LIAR!” Celestia shouted unleashing her real Canterlot voice “Of course she would, now that I need her she abandons me for that cheap reptilian whore of hers! Why aren't you here Luna?! "We were supposed to be there together."

In her tantrum, Celestia accidentally broke the table, scattering the fine desserts and throwing pieces of broken plates and glasses in all directions.

“Ah!” Raven was the closest, but she received nothing more than a simple cut on her front paw, not unlike a paper cut.

Still, that was enough to scare everyone present and make them back away.

“I'm sorry” The whisper was heard. Celestia watched as those present looked at her with fear, some ready to flee at the slightest sign of danger. “I'm sorry.” Celestia repeated without looking away from the drop of blood that dyed the white fur a crimson red. “I'm sorry, I'm not enough. ”

Many of those present wanted to go to her princess, hug her and comfort her... but they were so afraid that none of them were willing to take such a risk.

“ZAP”

Celestia teleported away, leaving the staff to clean up the mess while she set off on a desperate run, or that's what it would have been like if she weren't so damaged.

Like Forest, Celestia had healed well, but not completely, as much of the damage was done to herself by healing herself with a spell powered by pseudo-dark magic.

With a limping and staggering step, accompanied by labored breathing and the sound of an upset stomach induced by poisoning produced by the uncontrolled intake of sugar and alcohol

Celestia knew that she was putting on a degrading spectacle, that her mane and fur were disheveled, sweaty, full of sticky stains.

He wasn't worthy of her, this wasn't her, he repeated internally, but he couldn't help it, he couldn't block out the memory of the ponies he failed, ponies who should be living peacefully with their families and that she had condemned.

Celestia killed them

“BRUUUUG” Celestia stopped her from walking and vomited much of her stomach contents onto the floor, fortunately this area of the castle was restricted, both for the staff and the guards.

“You know it's true” Or so it should be… in the window, in one of the many stained glass windows, she could see the reflection of Forest Heart “You were the one who killed them.”

Celestia began to hyperventilate “It's not true, you know it's not true, it was you!”

Forest nodded, agreeing with him. “True, very true and I must confess that it was a huge pleasure, but it wasn't a pleasure reserved just for me, was it?”

"I do not know what you're talking about!" Celestia tried to cover her ears, but her voice still sounded the same.

“I think you do know” Forest said playfully, Celestia tried to avoid her by looking away, but her image kept appearing, it didn't matter if she looked at the floor, the carpets or her own body, the bicorn continued to manifest itself “Your explosion when Finally you stopped repressing yourself and gave in to that voice, that always tempting voice, the same one that until that day you had kept sealed, but that, for a moment, a miserable moment you let out, and as a result everything burned."

Celestia closed her eyes, but that only made the image of her become more vivid in his mind.

She was back there, in the Everfree, and in the distance she could see herself falling along with Forest until Celestia literally exploded.

The princess was able to see in great detail the ponies that were still fighting to save their lives, the pegasi that bravely continued trying to save as many of their companions as possible.

Until she ruined it, in the blink of an eye, she turned them to ashes

“NOOOOOOOO! It's not true, it's not true! Celestia screamed, cried and kicked uncontrollably.

"Yes, it is! Admit it, you are a murderer, a monster, you have always known it, and it is only a matter of time before your ponies know it too.

"NO!" At that moment Celestio opened her eyes and ran back to him, completely ignoring any distractions like his wounds opening or the doors he destroyed in his path. “I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not.” ”

Finally, his goal was in sight.

The princess slammed into it, at no point did she slow down, but her mind was not able to register the pain at this moment.

She had become almost primitive, which led to a clumsy attempt to get her horn into the slot. “Almost there, almost there, almost there.”

I enter

The magical protections gave way, and the mundane and magical locks were unlocked, with a strong push, which would have destroyed any other door that did not belong to a magical vault like this, Celestia entered.

There she was, her chest, with her magic opened, revealing the reason for her obsession.

The elements of harmony

It was true that she was no longer its bearer, but Celestia was still the individual who once possessed not one, but three of the six elements, as well as having studied them for centuries searching for a way to cure her sister.

And now that Twilight and her friends had awakened them, she also gained access to that power, not to control it, the elements would simply reject and possibly punish any attempts to extract their power that were not from their current wielders, even she was no exception to them. That

But Celestia did not need to use that power, only to feel it, touch it, look at it, and the moment she did, her being was overwhelmed, her personality suppressed, and her soul suffocated by the simple contact with a being whose nature her mind was not capable of fully understanding.

A tired, disturbed, scared and to some extent traumatized Celestia was what entered that vault, but… What she came out of that place was better?

“How fascinating, I never imagined that such a work could be done with such simple materials,” Luna declared while admiring my wolves' pathetic attempt to imitate Rivendell. “Perhaps the ponies would do well to learn from you.”

“Yes, maybe,” Aspen said, wanting to avoid this conversation. The situation obviously made him uncomfortable, but there was little he could do. It wasn't like he could just tell Luna to leave without a good explanation, that would make him suspicious.

Something Aspen desperately wanted to avoid, especially since he found out that Luna and I were a couple... his reaction to that news was... peculiar, but I attributed it to the unexpectedness of the news.

“Where do these steps lead?” Luna asked, too fascinated with the internal structure of the palace to notice this.

“I don't know,” Aspen said which earned him a confused look from Luna.

“I think he's inviting you to find out, Luna,” I suggested, trying to save the situation.

"Oh, in that case I'll be happy to find out." Luna entered the descending stairs with remarkable good humor while I gave Aspen a reprimanding look, to which he looked at me with alarm and pointed to the path the stairs followed.

I think I didn't understand, but I didn't have time to ask, since I couldn't separate myself from Luna for long.

After my meeting with Luna, the three of us decided to take a walk to show her around, something Luna was against due to my injuries or at least until Aspen had the brilliant idea of pumping me full of drugs to the point where I felt like I was a stuffed animal and yet Luna remained quite protective of me, sometimes using her wing to force me to stay close to her

"This is fantastic!" Luna declared in joy “It's beautiful the way they used the roots to create paths, I didn't know they could be so big, and the way they cut them out and these columns, oh my, what a wonderful throne!”

Ok… now I understand why Aspen seemed alarmed, where the hell did all this come from?!

It is an exact copy of the throne room of the elven kingdom that appeared in the movie 'The Hobbit' in which they entered the black forest, and it doesn't stop growing!

How far did this go! My wolves couldn't do something like this in a hundred years. I looked at Aspen, who was as shocked as I was by the sudden growth of his domain.

“Hey, thanks princess, this place… took us a long time… to make” Aspen tried to invent as he moved almost in a trance to the throne, he was practically drooling.

“Hello miss, who are you?”

“Hello little ones, I am Princess Luna of Equestria?”

My attention returned to Luna when I saw that she was talking to a pair of fawns.

“Bramble! How long have you been here? “Do you want to give your mother a heart attack?” Aspen quickly stopped massaging her butt with the elven throne seat.

“Sorry, dad,” the prince lamented.

“I see, so these are your children, my apologies, but my sister must have been busy when she told me about her family, could she ask the name of the second prince?”

Wait... What did Luna just say? Something about a second... what?!

Me and Aspen focused entirely on the fawn hugging one of Luna's front paws.

It's a fucking clone!

CRACK

Something broke... it was Aspen's mind, apparently there were too many surprises for one day

The thing was identical to Prince Bramble, except that it had the colors reversed. I don't blame Luna for getting confused, I would have mistaken them for twins too if I didn't know, since Bramble is an only child

“Oh, oh, let me say it” The boy separated from Luna, stepped back and… took out a wooden sword along with a breastplate from I don't know where before declaring “I am Maximus tenth Meridian, commander of the armies of the north, general of the legions felix and loyal servant of the only emperor Marco… Marco… there, what was he like? "His names are so boring that it's not worth it." The brat threw his sword against a column, but it bounced right off his soft nose.

Now it's my turn to go crazy

WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?! How do you know that legendary dialogue? And above all, how dare she desecrate him?

“Are you okay, little Máximo?” As surprised as I was, I failed to warn Luna of the danger while she checked to make sure she hadn't hurt herself. “I think it was an incredible speech, and I would have loved to use something like that. “I was a general too, you know?”

"Oh really? Oh, really?!" The boy, forgetting the existence of any law of physics, began to jump enough to equal or surpass Luna's height, his body seemed like rubber with each bounce, and the innocent Luna just laughed.

“Calm down, little one, you could hit yourself again or worse,” Luna warned, looking into space. Majestic or not, this place without railings is a danger

“I just watched a 56-hour marathon of movies, series, anime, and 80 kilos of junk food that I didn't even know could exist.” Luna gave Aspen a death glare before grabbing the boy with her magic and taking him to her loin in the hope that it would rest

Even if Luna didn't understand most of what this child was saying, anyone she would realize is that children shouldn't do that.

While Luna was saying sweet nothings and rubbing the head of… whatever that thing was, I approached Aspen and Bramble.

“Bramble, where did that demon come from?”

“I don't know, I found him staggering in the kitchen while he mumbled things in languages he'd never heard before... he reminds me of Uncle Hawthorn the night after one of his girlfriends dumped him.”

“Bramble, I told you we didn't talk about that.”

I ignored Aspen and walked with some hesitation to Luna as she prepared a sequence of combat spells.

“Hello… Is that little one okay?” I asked while pointing to the source of my concern on Luna's back.

“He is, I think he simply has an upset stomach, although it could also be a magical upset.”

“Magical…discomfort?” I think I read about it in one of the books, something like the flu, but instead of the respiratory system being affected, it's the magic of the body that suffers the infection.

“Yes, the prince exhibits all the signs, he only looks at his eyes”

I decided to listen to Luna and looked into her eyes. They were exorbitant, he had quite noticeable circles under his eyes, his yellow retinas seemed to momentarily fade, and his red pupil, in addition to shining, changed shape to a sharper one like that of a predator.

…

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I dismissed the spells he had prepared along with my worries.

This explained everything

“I think you're right Luna, why don't you let me take him to the infirmary?” I said it in a deadpan tone.

“In that case, I will carry him, you are still injured, lead the way, please.”

The tone in which Luna spoke left no room for an argument.

“Aspen, we're taking your other son to the infirmary.” I gestured to Aspen so that he could simply nod and let us go, which luckily he did.

Luna had no problem following me back to the surface, lucky we didn't go too deep or we would have gotten lost.

“Luna…” I caught his attention, but I was honestly afraid to ask this. “How is everything in Canterlot?”

Luna couldn't help but grimace, obviously, she didn't want to talk about this, and the truth is, neither did I. "Not very good, almost every noble family had one or more relatives in the Canterlot guard, so almost all of them have declared mourning, which has massively increased my duties."

“I'm sorry about that.”

“Don't do it, I had been asking to be given more responsibilities, and well, now I have them” Luna let out a sigh.

“But it wasn't as you expected.” I slowed down my pace a little and leaned on his shoulder. I guess this is the pony equivalent of walking holding hands.

"No, it was not"

“And Celestia?” I made sure to ask that question carefully.

Luna hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke. “Physically, she is recovering, the rest… she is strong, she just needs time and some help.”

Luna simply wrapped her wing around me, denying me any chance to get away from her, she didn't say anything after that, and I didn't ask.

“We're here.” I opened the door to the infirmary, where, luckily, I had already thought of a plan.

While Luna put the sick fawn on a bed and tucked him in, I opened one of the cabinets and took out a jar at random.

I doubt it will matter if I give him the wrong one.

“Luna, I'm going to give him this, in the meantime, why don't you find Fyr and tell him what happened? "Surely she's in Aspen's office helping with the paperwork," I suggested, trying not to sound suspicious.

“Sounds good to me, but I don't know where her office could be.”

“Just ask a servant or guard, I know there aren't as many as in Canterlot, but I don't think it will be too difficult for you to find them, or could it be that the little princess needs a nanny to move around in a castle 8 times smaller than hers?”

Luna scoffed at my bad joke. “If I could handle Anor Londo, I can handle anything.”

After that comment, Luna left the room to which I looked at my patient again, and as expected, he was no longer the same.

“Is Discord serious?”

There he was, the lord of chaos lying in bed with a blue ice pack on his head and a comically large thermometer in his mouth.

“Achu!”

I was forced to duck quickly as blue fire erupted from Discord's nose, caused by his sneeze.

“What is not obvious? “I am badly hurt”

I stared at him blankly. “You were wrong, this is what someone who is sick looks like.”

Discord froze for an instant... literally, with a jolt, he shattered the pieces of ice that surrounded him, and they reformed next to him, creating another smaller, sick Discord, but at least the original one had returned to its original colors

"Really? I have never experienced it” Discord said with a thoughtful face.

Normally, his antics wouldn't bother me, I'd even find them fascinating, but not now.

“What are you doing here, Discord? This is really not a good time.”

“Well, believe it or not, this is not my fault, I was just looking for a place to recover after that apocalypse I had to survive when that little imp found me and started using me as his wish machine.” ”

“Are you talking about Bramble? Was it because of him that you decided to make the modifications to the deer home?”

"I didn't decide, in the middle of my escape, some of the most fanciful things in your mind piled up and hit me. I needed to get rid of some of the information that suddenly went directly into my brain" Discord explained to me as he took his brain out the ear and cleaned it with a cloth until it shined

I should note that he was remarkably small

"My mind?" I'm already used to not understanding only half of his explanations, but that made an idea form: “You got into my head!”

“Hey, don't look at me like that, do you have any idea how rare it is to find a race that not only has chaos in its nature, but can thrive in it. I'll give you the answer, none that ever existed! I was simply curious and decided to explore your memories. Is that so bad?”

“Sounds like what a stalker would do” Despite everything, I wasn't upset, I was a little flattered that an existence like this saw value in humanity

Despite his behavior, Discord is still the closest thing to a god he has ever known.

“I just wanted to finish watching my ‘Konosuba’ marathon, and I would get out of there, I swear, I didn't expect everything to start burning.”

That baffled me.

"What do you mean?" I asked with some trepidation

“Well, there I was minding my business when I suddenly felt as if Buddha himself had given a physical fragment of his enlightenment to Bob Marley, who did not hesitate to grind it up to make an ultra-intense joint that he shared with everyone” The body of Discord was carried away with the breeze, emphasizing how numb the experience had left him “And then everything went KABUM!” Discord was solid again, only this time he was dressed as an American soldier and his face reflected the thousand-yard stare “Explosions everywhere, unnecessarily brutal deaths, and the fire consuming everything, I barely made it out of there alive!”

I didn't need any more explanations, I thought I knew what he was talking about.

“So you were there when Luna kissed me and also when I had my battle to the death with Celestia.”

Discord's mouth fell to the ground...literally, he quickly picked it up and reassembled it, but he didn't say anything.

"You will not say anything?"

Discord seemed conflicted, I saw a smile form on his face only for it to twist, if there is an emotion that I didn't expect to see from him, that was the shame "... I want to do it, but after what I've seen in there, I have a feeling that's not what you need."

“Ha, and what do I need?”

“A question, one used by your people more as a joke or as a simple greeting, some words whose importance they have forgotten… my friend, are you okay?”

…

I lost concentration, my shapeshifting spell faded, and I wanted to laugh at the stupidity he had just said, but instead I just stood there and… suffocated.

“I don't know, I genuinely have no idea, the potion they gave me suppresses my emotions, not until I feel nothing, but... I don't feel joy or that sick pleasure for what I did in my worst moment, but I don't feel guilt either, or not enough. Where is that supposed to leave me? I am a good person? Bad person? Does it even matter at this point?”

Since I woke up, I couldn't stop debating this. I'm not the good one, that's clear, but have I fallen enough to be the villain?

I don't wish any harm on the ponies, and I don't want to cause them more suffering, but I won't give myself to them or embark on a trip to search of redemption. Just note that I feel more guilty for worrying Luna than I do for making those soldiers die

“Some of the damage is irreversible” Discord confirmed my fears “Whoever you were on Earth, that individual no longer exists. You should stop comparing yourself to that child who only knew death through a screen, and instead of seeing yourself as a being that inhabits a new body, you should think of yourself as a totally new individual who accidentally obtained the memories of someone else." With his paw, he patted my head, consoling me "You are no longer a human, you never were, you are Spirit Flame, the first bicorn that ever existed, a new and unique being who still has too much to learn and experience, so don't beat yourself up for a stumble, live this new life without regrets, even if you make mistakes, just do the best you can.

I felt the moisture run over my face, I didn't know I could still cry. I couldn't process that fact well when I found myself walking towards Discord, where he welcomed me with open arms, wrapping me in a tight hug.

“How many drama movies did you see in there?”

“Ha, with a life as long as mine, it is inevitable not to have lived yours too” I didn't understand anything in that sentence

Before he could ask, one of Discord's ears twitched and he broke the hug. “As cute as this moment seems to me, I recommend that you return to Aspen and Luna. Fyr is already thinking of ways to torture him for the supposed bastard son and Luna seems to have some news that you won't want to miss."

Not many times have I seen Discord serious... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen him serious. I guess that's all the more reason to pay attention to him.

"Okay, please rest. I will tell the servants to bring you food and something to entertain you." Upon reaching the door, I activated my shapeshifting spell and turned to say goodbye, but to my surprise, Discord was no longer there, just an empty room

“Thank you.” I didn't know if he could hear me, but it didn't hurt to try.

I left the infirmary, returned to the new section of the elven kingdom and it didn't take long to find the group

Fyr had Bramble on his lap near the throne, probably explaining to him that that fawn was Discord, and at a considerable distance from them were Luna and Aspen talking.

The atmosphere seemed tense

“Hello… Did I miss something?”

Luna was the one who responded "I must confess that the main reason for my visit was not to visit you Spirit, I came here to present an invitation to King Aspen."

"So that?"

Luna bit her lip and avoided eye contact. “The trial of the captain of the guard, Shining Armor accused of treason and sedition.”

My jaw fell

Discord was right, this news certainly caught my attention.