Twilight sat in thought about the stallion she kept seeing in town as she considered what it ment. Or why it seemed no pony seemed to pay him any attention other than to service him like a bunch of sluts. Even though she admitted to herself that seeing such things wasn't really strange. There was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way.

Twilight decided to pace back and forth as she considered the possibilities of what it meant and what was happening with her friends. Deciding she needed some air, Twilight started writing a letter to the princess as she made her way to a nearby restaurant.

Sitting at an outdoor table, she looked over the letter again. "Have you decided what you would like?" A voice asked.

"Daze sandwich please." She replied without looking.

"Rather basic for the personal student of the princess." The voice replied.

Blinking, she looked up at the voice and saw a smiling white earth pony stallion. "How did you?... I didn't…"

"We met before." He replied, before rubbing his chin. Or we will meet…" Shrugging he took a seat with her as a waiter brought out the sandwich she just asked for and a glass of tea for the stallion. "You can get rid of the letter. She won't be of much help."

Putting the scroll in her saddle bag she levitated up the sandwich as she narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean?"

"The stallion you saw." He replied. "She won't know what to do."

"And you do?"

"Correct. Or to be more accurate, I can point you in the right direction." He replied, sipping his tea. "But you might not like it. Most don't." He sighed. As she was about to speak, he continued waving a hoof in the air as if he was swatting away a thought. "Then again they ask me to fix something and complain about getting what they want. So you can see why I'd rather just point and say good luck."

"Wait. You can fix it?" She asked. "You can take care of what's going on here?"

His eyes narrowed at her dangerously. "You know. I am getting really tired of telling you the dangers of tampering with time and reality."

"I'm sorry." She sighed. "I just haven't met many ponies that strong… and none that was able to do it without a horn."

His expression brightened as he sat back. "You mean like Pinkie? Well… Don't tell her this. But if she learned to hone her skill. She would be able to do much more." Shaking his head he sighed. "But we're getting off track. And I'm almost out of tea. You wanted to know how to deal with the stallion."

"Yes please. Do we need the elements?" Twilight asked, as she looked at what was left of her sandwich and wondered how she ate so much without noticing.

"Yes and no." He replied. "You will need your friends. But your path determines if the price will be worth it."

Twilight watched as he got up, leaving behind six scrolls marked. "Path of loyalty", "Path of laughter", "Path of generosity", "Path of kindness", "Path of honesty" and"Path of magic".

Looking over she saw him trot away from the table as he called back. "Just know. Everything comes at a price. Even friends."

Author's Note

A short chapter. I'm not sure yet which way I'll go with it. But some crazy shit is going to happen to the main six no matter what path is taken. The real question is what and how?