To Save our Legacy

The rattling of the train provided a tranquil atmosphere; the process of climbing atop Canterhorn Peak was now routine for me and my companion. The early morning rays provided enough illumination for the purple alicorn to comfortably go over her checklist and annotations regarding today’s initiation ceremony at the renewed Twilight’s School for Gifted Unicorns, inherited from her mentor after her takeover of the throne was confirmed. The School of Friendship, located in Ponyville, had now fallen into Starlight’s capable hooves. With us permanently moving up to Canterlot, Twilight was more than eager to take up Celestia’s role as Headmare of the ancient institution, while still dabbling in some teaching as her predecessor had done.

Thus, today was the start of this year’s school term, in which an inauguration ceremony would be held in the assembly hall, where new pupils and teachers would be introduced to each other under the new leadership of my marefriend. I couldn’t express with words how proud I was of her. However, since advanced magic was taught in this school, I wasn’t eligible to teach there as I was back in Ponyville. I surprised myself when I realized just how much I would miss the experience of teaching, but my obligations both as a Prince as well as the head of the ISIT Program would keep me inside the royal castle for unhealthy lengths of time; for that reason, we both decided to move permanently to Canterlot alongside my little brother Spike, who napped peacefully over the seat across from our own. Spike was not an early riser, which was quite ironic considering he was in charge of taking care of Twilight’s castle as he had with the library. The job of ‘faithful assistant’ never ended for the little dragon, but Spike was more than willing to lend a claw if that meant he could stay with us.

The weak morning rays, while providing just enough illumination, didn’t carry with them enough heat to warm the almost empty train car, and since Equestria lacked most technological conveniences like air-conditioning, Twilight and I were forced to snuggle together for warmth.

The nerdy alicorn tucked against my left side ran her eyes with practiced speed over the endless scroll which contained the itinerary for today’s ceremony, as well as all possible considerations and potential shortcomings and how to manage them, as well as her speech, which I had no heart to admit would bore the unsuspecting students to tears, as well as the list of said students that would accompany her in their first year…

Yeah, she was like that, and I loved her so much for it.

As she devoured the contents of the scroll for the umpteenth time, my hand tenderly petted her mane and behind her ears, electing small coos of pleasure from her now and then. She looked adorable, it kept her calm, and it kept me calm. Everycreature won.

“Ugh, I have to remember to talk with her after the ceremony…” Twilight mumbled to herself.

“Hmm?”

She took her eyes off the list of names. “Oh, nothing, just taking a mental note to speak to the last-minute addition.”

I was unaware of that development. “You’ve got a last-minute addition?”

“Mhm, it’s from when we were away on that diplomatic mission to Neighpon last month. Moon Dancer told me an interested unicorn had visited her, wishing to enroll for the fifth-year advanced classes.”

“Fifth-year advanced classes?” That sounded a bit strange; most students enrolling were young fillies and colts whose potential in magic called for a specialized education, both for bringing out their full potential as well as for their well-being and the well-being of those around them, since powerful magic and a lack of proper training tended to end very badly for all concerned.

However, the school was open to all interested unicorns, regardless of age, who were looking to improve their magic in any field they so desired, as long as they passed the entrance exam like everypony else. However, entering during the fifth year of advanced magical students was unheard of. That was only one year before graduating!

“That’s no foal enrolling.” I offered.

“Nope, a young mare, with great potential according to Moon’s letter. The committee approved a late entrance exam which she passed with flying colors, so she decided to make an exception and allowed her to enter. But I haven’t been able to get in contact with her since. I would have preferred an interview with her before the beginning of classes, but…”

I sneaked a kiss on the back of her ear, earning a loving smile adorned with a rosy blush from the alicorn snuggled against me. “You’ll have to introduce us later, then. If she was allowed to enter beyond the usual deadline, she must be very good.”

She reached with her head and planted one of her own on my lips. “Of course I will.”

Twilight’s attention returned to the list of names in front of her. “What’s her name, by the way?” I asked as I leaned back on my seat, thinking about taking a little nap myself until we arrived.

“Opaline Arcana.”

A week after Sunny’s birthday, I found myself starting my morning rounds across town after a stellar start to my day finding my office’s entrance blocked by numerous vines grown ‘accidentally’ by none other than Dahlia, who’d only sought to make a nice gesture and open the door for me.

How that turned into a bunch of overgrown vines blocking the doors I’ll never know, but as I was already running late I couldn’t lose time with that issue. I sighed, thinking of all the paperwork I’d be behind on because of all these delays.

‘I think we have a pair of pruning shears back at the brighthouse…’

Reviewing my mental inventory of all the stuff we’d stored down in the basement, I proceeded past the main square and into Mane Street northbound, where I came across a strange sight that brought my slow trot to a screeching halt.

My tall friend Alex stood near… I don’t know what to call it, but it was some kind of plant. A bunch of vines twisting and branching in resemblance to a small tree, not unlike the one blocking my office. He was carrying on his back that huge double-bladed sword he had brought back from his trip with the girls to Canterlot. In his hands were his two trusty gauntlets.

He stood arms crossed in front of the weird plant, in which a certain trio of fillies seemed to have ended up stuck in embarrassing positions.

Of course, I had to check it out.

“Girls… I don’t know whether to congratulate you or scold you.”

The trio of fillies averted their gazes at his serious tone. “Um… congratulations?” Spoke a hesitant Seashell.

Shaking his head in a firm “No”, the fillies' hopes dropped with a sorrowful ‘aww’.

“What’s going on here?”

Hearing my query, Alex turned his upper body and offered his fist. “Good morning, sheriff.” I took his offer and reached with my hoof in a hoof-bump. “I was on my way back from getting a bit of early morning training when these troublemakers wanted to show me their cool new powers and, well…”

He didn’t need to add anything else. As earth ponies got more and more comfortable with their new powers, more and more examples of this kind of situation had begun to spread all over the town.

Don’t get me wrong; I was ecstatic seeing my citizens learning to use their new magic, and the absolutely crazy things they’d managed to achieve with it, but…

“This is getting out of hoof…”

“Come on, Hitch, it’s not THAT bad.”

“Oh, last Tuesday’s little problem with Dahlia’s flowers wasn’t THAT bad?!”

A guilty smile grew on his lips at my raised eyebrow. “I mean… it gave us a lot of work back at the lab, so…”

“Because half the town ended up symptomatic whether they were actually allergic or not! Giant flowers burying the town in pollen, Alexander!”

“Fine, fine.” He gave in, making calming gestures with his hands which only served to unnerve me further. “It’s a completely new type of magic, with no available experts to analyze it and make any more sense of it than what we can. It’s going to have to be trial and error, Hitch.”

I wasn't prone to that approach at all in my work. “That ‘trial and error’ could get somepony injured, or worse!” I clamored to my human friend who had begun using his levitation to untangle and lower down the pouting fillies. “Some precautionary measures are in order!” I finished with a stomp.

Kneeling in front of them, Alex playfully tussled the fillies’ manes and ushered them to get a move on and to please be more careful. With a final triple ‘sorry’, the trio scampered off to cause mischief someplace else. “It’s your town, sheriff,” He began while incorporating, “I ain’t gonna to step in your way.” He dusted off his pants and fixed the holster on his back. “But, nothing good comes of bottling up magic, especially new magic like this. Ponies have gotta learn and get a grip on it. They need guidance, not restrictions.”

I remained firm. “Not until I’m one hundred percent completely sure it’s safe.”

With a shrug, he motions with his hand for us to continue our way uptown, “Again, it’s your town. But don’t come crying to me later.”

“Psh, have a little faith, I’ve been going over it for the better part of the week and…”

“IT’S EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!!!”

That, and more panicked yelling brought our attention toward the road that led to the old Canterlogic factory, where a gigantic glimmerberry rolled down at an impressive speed, endangering the early-rising ponies who sped away from it like a Tartarus demon was on their tail. For a moment I thought I could see Sprout amongst the fleeing ponies, who had been found hiding in that very same factory after a month of searching. I would have passed a worse punishment for the destruction he caused to Sunny’s property, but with her mom on the town’s council, he had gotten away with a bunch of hours of community service instead.

Shaking my head to clear away the intruding thoughts, my training kicked in and I began evacuating any remaining ponies from the vicinity as Alex unholstered his sword and charged towards the approaching berry screaming something that sounded like ‘Leeeroy Jenkiiiins’, whatever that meant…

I managed to clear out the nearby ponies, and I started to gallop behind Alex to lend him a hoof. However, one last mare had tripped over the abandoned fruit baskets one of the fleeing ponies had left behind, falling dangerously close to the rampaging berry’s path.

Alex wasn’t as fast as a pony, not without that spell he knows to boost his speed, which he seemed to have forgotten to cast. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it in time. In a split-second decision, I switched targets and rushed toward the recovering mare, quickly overcoming my human friend who looked like he’d had the same idea as me.

I tried to help her back on her hooves and get her out of there as fast as I could, but it was too late. As the berry loomed over us, I tried to use my body as best I could to protect her. Clenching my teeth, I prepared for the impact… but it never came.

Alex had caught up to us, jumping over us with surprising agility, twisting his blades alongside his body in a circular motion, slicing the berry in two before it had the chance to hit us.

No harm came to any of us… but we ended up covered in glimmerberry juice, along with half the street.

As I released my grip on the mare and helped her back on her hooves, I heard Alex laughing hysterically, standing proud in the middle of the berry’s remains. As proud as you can be covered in purple slime, that is.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked, genially confused.

“Sorry, Hitch.” He answered after finishing his laughing fit. “This was just another Tuesday’s morning back in Ponyville. I can't help but miss it sometimes.” In his eyes shimmered a shade of longing.

“Ugh.” The feeling of berry juice sticking to my fur brought a new level of uncomfortableness. “Why didn’t you use your speed spell, uh, ‘acceleration’ or something? Could have gotten less dramatic.”

“I completely drained the gems with today’s training. They need to recharge to function again. Forcing ambient magic doesn’t work that well with most spells and… it kinda hurts.” He explained while rubbing the aforementioned gem with his thumb.

Remembering his explanation about why he ended up so roughed up every time he used too much magic, I understood his hesitation. It was a terrible price to pay, but as he had told us, while his body was not truly prepared to deal with magic at such levels, he was more than willing to pay the price.

“In that case, it’s fine. BUT!” I took a few steps closer to stand in front of him. “This is exactly what I was talking about before!”

He released a defeated sigh. “Fine, fine just, don’t overdo it, please?”

I offered a nod and, after checking that everypony was accounted for and safe, we decided it was best to look into the giant berry problem before another one had the chance to endanger the citizens again. My much-needed shower would have to wait even as I could feel the juice saturating places I didn’t even know I had.

Alex managed to shake a fair amount of junk out of his clothes, and most of whatever ended up over his exposed skin quickly fell away. I guessed this was one of those occasions where having fur was a disadvantage. That juice wasn’t going to come out soon, no matter how much I shook my body.

On our way up to the abandoned facility we were joined by a giggling Sunny, who had witnessed our heroic act and now made fun of our ‘injuries’, and Sprout, who was apparently to blame for the overgrown rampaging berry.

“Har Har, laugh all you want, Sunny, but fruit juice funk can stay in your mane for weeks!” I lamented, giving my body one final shake before desisting.

“Sorryyy, it’s just, this plant-powered magic is something special. Growing stuff at the stomp of a hoof? I still can’t believe it!”

“If you want to believe, you can look down the street! That mess ain’t hard to miss, I’d say!”

Sunny patted my side twice, a zone free of junk that is. “Come ooon, Hitch, you can't judge all earth pony magic on one little mishap.”

My flat look was all the answer I needed to express my opinion.

“Um, little mishaps?”

“…”

“Okay, medium-sized mishaps.”

“…”

“Fine! It’s been pretty chaotic these last few days, are you happy now?!” She gave in with forelegs raised in frustration and a little pout.

As it happened, I wasn’t happy. “Sorry, Sunny, but considering how earth pony magic seems to react, combined with the the total lack of control shown by some of the citizens, I’m afraid some restrictions are in order. This way we can prevent more, um… this,” I pointed towards the messed up street, “From happening again and putting ponies in danger.”

Without waiting for her rebuttal, I asked Sprout to repeat what he had been doing just before the accident.

“I swear, I-I don't know what happened! All I did was stomp like this.”

And so, he did, just innocently stomping on the stony path. And yet, his hooves shimmered with green energy, and at the same time, what once was a berry bush now started growing to impossible proportions, to the point where its stem threatened to crack the small wooden encirclement around it from its sheer width.

“Stop the stomping!” I commanded just moments before the weight of the berries became too great for them to remain attached to the stem, crushing us under even more berry junk. With a sheepish smile, Sprout stopped his stomping and remained as still as a stone.

“First, Maretime Bay was shaken up with magic, and I said nothing.”

“Uh, that's not true. You actually said a lot.”

I decided to ignore her and continued. “Then Discord came to turn everything upside down, and I said nothing.”

“I wouldn’t say you didn’t…”

My glare quickly shut her muzzle. “Now earth pony magic has suddenly appeared. NOW I’m saying something.” I stomped to emphasize my point. “I keep this place safe, and I say that it's now too dangerous without some rules.”

While our human friend had decided to remain out of the discussion, Sunny, her being how she is, didn’t share my concerns. “But if our magic can produce something this perfect, there might be no limit to what we can do. We can't cut off a whole planet of possibilities!” She exclaimed while grasping the overgrown berry hovering just a few centimeters over our head.

“More like a cosmos of calamities!”

“Ugh!” Sunny groaned with a tired roll of her eyes. “But how are the earth ponies gonna grow and learn and… learn to grow, with restrictions?!”

Just as I was going to answer, Sprout decided that now was an appropriate moment to loudly sneeze with a little hop, his magic somehow taking a cue from that gesture to activate again, enhancing the plant’s growth even more, to the point now where the wooden fence cracked, causing a sharp piece to fly out before being dexterously caught by Alex a moment before it could pierce one of Sunny’s eyes.

“Sprout. On your haunches. Now.” He commanded. Sprout did so immediately, making sure to look everywhere but us. It seemed Alex finally had decided to join our little debate.

“I’m with Hitch when it comes to setting a few new rules.”

Before Sunny and I could begin with our respective victory and protesting arguments, Alex’s raised hand signaled that he wasn’t finished. “What the earth ponies need is guidance, not strict prohibitions. Since none of us is more experienced than the next pony, it’ll have to be a community effort, with a designated space where ponies can learn how and when to call their magic, so it ceases to appear in random spots, which means that they can then have a designated space to learn how to modulate and reverse the effects of their magic.”

He pointed to the piece of fence grasped in his hand, making direct eye contact with me. “I leave that part to you since it’s your town. But as I said before: do NOT overdo it. Yes?”

I could work with that, so I returned a firm nod. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“Good.” He turned towards Sunny. “And I also leave that to you. I know it’s your kinda thing, so why don’t you put all that enthusiasm into this and work something out? Didn’t you tell me something about a community garden the other day?”

Sunny’s excited dance in place was all the answer we needed.

“Uh, you guys mind lending me a hoof? I’m not sure what to do with this.”

Sprout, still obediently sitting on his haunches, pointed towards the massive berry tree.

“Sorry, mein kleiner Fürer, I’m fresh out of magic, and I ain’t cutting that thing down. We’ll be stuck cleaning the factory’s windows for the rest of the month. I’m afraid you’ll have to learn how and fix it yourself.” Alex finished with a knock on Sprout’s hardhat.

Sprout, at the prospect of having to take responsibility, crossed his forelegs and pouted like a foal.

‘Ugh, why did I even consider making him a deputy in the first place?... Oh, yeah ‘cause his mom asked, that’s why.’

My mind was already going through possible solutions and measures when the sound of a protesting Alex broke my train of thought.

“Cut it out already!” The human whined as he batted away Sunny’s muzzle, who was dead set on licking whatever remnants of berry juice and pulp that still clung to his skin.

Rolling my eyes at the duo’s antics, I grabbed Alex’s sleeve and motioned for him to walk back towards town, as we headed for my home. “Come on, Alex. There’s work to do, and we are both in desperate need of a shower.”

“Whatever to get that slimy tongue of hers away from me. Yes! I’m looking at you!” He pointed an accusing finger towards an innocent-looking Sunny, who busied herself cleaning the remains of juice from her muzzle using that new hoof mirror of hers.

“As if you cared that much...” I teased as we exited the ramp and entered the juice-covered avenue.

“Oh, that’s how you wanna play, uh? I recommend you Zipp it, or else something might end up slipping…”

I spent the rest of the way muzzle shut and eyes forward.

“Grrrrr, this is pointless! What use do I have for an enchanted mirror if she won’t be fussing over it every minute of every hour of every day?! How am I supposed to learn anything?!”

I remained behind Opaline as she continued screaming at the projection from the magic pool, where only seconds earlier Sunny’s image had faded away as she had finished using the mirror.

We had barely been able to learn anything. To Opaline’s surprise, it seemed Sunny wasn’t as concerned with her image as she was, meaning that Sunny had barely used it outside of the Crystal Brighthouse since I slipped it into her smoothie cart.

This also meant that I was due for another infiltration mission as soon as she lost her patience, which wasn’t much to begin with.

“Curse that Twilight Sparkle for preventing me from stepping a hoof in that backwater town! If only I could find a way, I would have been done ages ago!”

With a nervous gulp, I tried to help her. “B-But Opaline, I never have any problem going back and forth. P-Perhaps…”

“SILENCE!” With a startled jump, I tried to escape her anger by fixing my gaze on the marble floor, ears pinned to my scalp. “Do I really have to explain it to you again, Misty?”

“N-N-No, Opaline. I under-”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO STEP HOOF IN A PLACE I CAN’T SEE?!!”

My legs took a few involuntary steps back, shying away even more from her fury. “I’m sorry…”

“That’s the only reason I needed you in the first place, Misty.” She loomed over my shrunken form.

A painful jab pierced my heart at the sound of those words. She didn’t mean that. I knew deep inside she cared for me. She was just so mad, and I mean even more mad than usual. Since that hooman appeared in town she’d practically been crawling up the walls for some reason, and after meeting him I still couldn’t understand why. She was too busy yelling at me when I told her about our meeting for me to even begin to ask what happened between the two of them.

“Hmph.” She scoffed once she had calmed down, her sight returning to the projection of the coastal town. “This calls for a change of plans…”

My ears perked up. “A new plan?” I hesitantly asked.

“Since you’ve already screwed up and revealed yourself, there shouldn’t be any problems with you going about and learning whatever you can directly from the townsponies. As long as you keep. Your. Muzzle. Shut!”

I vigorously nodded, promising to never, ever, ever mess up again. “Good. Continue with your infiltration, get as much out of the citizens as you can, subtly. Better for us to get them used to you before we attempt to infiltrate further. The answers I need are inside that lighthouse, I just know it!”

Once again, she began trotting menacingly towards me. “And do not, I repeat, DO NOT, interact with Alexander. Don’t talk to him, don’t look at him, don’t even stand near him. If there’s anycreature who can sniff out our operation, it’s him. As far as he is concerned, you’re just another silly tourist trying to make sense of the town, understood?” She inquired with an ominous glow in her eyes.

“Y-Yes, Opaline.”

“…”

“…”

“Then what are you waiting for?! Go already!!”

I practically flew out of the throne room, leaving Opaline to continue mulling over her plan. As I exited the room, my ears caught her last words.

“Those crystals aren’t going to keep me away for long, Sparkle. Soon, I’ll finish what I started…”

I stood alongside Zipp and Pipp in the middle of the congregation of ponies, all of us called by Hitch for an important announcement over the main plaza.

‘Oh boy, please don’t overdo it, please don’t overdo it…’

“Citizens of Maretime Bay.” Hitch began with his speech from the stand inside the gazebo. “I know we started the day with a pretty disastrous, I-I mean, magical morning, ahem. After surveying the recent magical changes in Maretime Bay and the messy ways they've disrupted our daily lives, I have decided there will be... no use of earth pony magic at all!”

“Ugh!” I slapped my forehead in frustration. Alex had warned us not to strictly prohibit the use of earth pony magic. The ponies needed to learn how to control it, and my idea of a community garden where everypony could grow whatever they desired while learning would be the perfect training grounds.

And there went Hitch, doing exactly the opposite of what we discussed.

“That is… until I've collected enough data from all of you to form proper regulations and guidelines!”

The crowd began to murmur in protest. Like myself, they weren’t particularly happy with the prospect of earth pony magic being off-limits.

Sensing the growing unease, Hitch set out to correct it. “Now now, folks, I assure you this is all for your own safety. We don't know what's possible with earth pony magic yet. Until I've taken proper inventory of every flight, float...”

“Seriously…” I muttered under my breath.

“ ...flora, and fauna power, magic is off-limits! That is all.”

With a collective groan, the ponies dispersed to resume their daily activities. Feeling a scowl growing on my features, I followed the pegasi sisters to catch up with the retreating sheriff, who busied himself picking up whatever litter he passed nearby and throwing it into the nearest trash can as he made his way back to his office.

“I thought you said you weren't gonna do anything drastic!”

Hitch slowed his pace to allow us to catch up. “Nooo, I said I would think it over! And my thoughts are telling me it's bad and it's only gonna get worse if I don't step up!”

I quickened my step and stood in front of him. “But earth pony magic is powerful! You can’t expec-”

“Exactly!” He interrupted, walking past me. “What's gonna happen if we have more mishaps? It's my job to make sure everypony is safe!”

I wasn’t going to give up. “Earth ponies need to practice! Like t-the Pegasi and unicorns had to!”

“….Seriously, girls?” Instead of answering, Hitch's features morphed into a flat look. Following his line of sight, I was met with a well-known trio of Pippsqueaks hanging upside down, trapped within what looked like overgrown vines in the shape of a miniature tree.

The fillies giggled nervously. By Hitch’s reaction, this didn’t seem to be the first time this had happened.

“Um, it’s just uh… g-growing pains! I’m sure they’ll get it!” I launched myself in front of him to divert his attention from the trapped fillies.

“Guessing you ponies were too... ‘tied up’ for the town hall earlier, uh?” He ignored my distraction and went to help them get down from whatever kind of plant that was supposed to be. Once done, he placed a sticker with a ‘prohibited’ sign on each of the fillies’ forelegs. “Just a little reminder of the new rules.”

“Awww.” The three lamented in unison.

I could feel my left eye twitching. “You made stickers?”

“Sunny has a point, Hitch.” Zipp thankfully interceded before I could blow a fuse. “It's too early to know if Earth pony magic is anything to worry about. Have you talked with Alex about this?”

“Yes, I have, and he told me he trusted me to take care of the situation as I saw fit.” Hitch firmly answered.

“That’s not what he said!” I tried to protest.

“Look.” He ceased his march with a stomp. “I'm part of the reason earth pony magic is here now. What if I become the reason earth ponies get hurt? As sheriff, I can't let that happen!”

Seeing we weren’t going to be able to change his mind, the girls and I decided it was best if we accompanied him on his experiment runs, seeing as he was dead set on collecting evidence from the townsponies so he could build a more comprehensive vision of earth pony magic. We would try to make sure he didn't go too far… more than he already had.

Hitch decided to start with Dahlia, seeing she had had a bit of a problem with her flowers the previous day, culminating in burying half the town in pollen.

Zipp, her faithful phone in her hoof, hovered above us as we stood in front of the mare’s house, making sure to record everything for later study.

“This is a controlled magic experiment to collect data, Dahlia. Just muster your magic in a little burst.” She instructed the nervous-looking earth pony.

Closing her eyes in concentration, she gently pawed the ground, her hooves shimmering with green energy. I held my breath, praying she would be able to command her powers and do as instructed, if only to prove Hitch wrong.

However, to my dismay, instead of a few weeds growing, with a flash of magic, Dahlia found herself completely buried in flowers.

Sticking her head out of the flowery tomb, Dahlia spoke with a running nose. “Uhh, is now the time I mention I'm allergic to gardenias? Aaaachooo!” She finished with a potent sneeze which ended up covering an indignant Hitch in flower petals. Drawing a huge cross on his list, Hitch stuck another sticker on Dahlia's foreleg and proceeded out of her property with us dejectedly following in tow.

The rest of the morning was spent going back and forth, interviewing ponies and asking them for a little demonstration of their usage of magic, most of them if not all ending up in disaster. By the looks of it, it felt like any success the earth ponies might have achieved with their magic until that day had been completely accidental if their total lack of control over it was any indication.

All around ponies tried to prevent their magic from accidentally activating, their intense focus on the task achieving the opposite effect, since plants continued growing all over the town without control.

Sadly, Hitch was too engrossed with the list of measures and regulations in front of his muzzle, born from that morning’s observations, to realize what was happening around him. “See? I just need to plan and plot out a perfectly thought-out list of precautions all before you ponies can say ‘Presto’!’”

“Presto! Presto!” Zipp and I tried to gain his attention, unsuccessfully.

“Har Har, girls. I meant literally.” He muttered without taking his eyes off the list in front of him.

“No Hitch!” I tried again. “The ponies! They’re…”

“Safe and protected now that we've put a stop to this. You’ll see…”

“Magic is out of control again!” A panicking Jazz cried as she ran across the street running away from something we couldn’t glimpse at first, soon followed by other ponies who tried to escape from the growing plants that were slowly taking over the town.

Where our warnings had failed, the panicking ponies were enough to unstick Hitch’s muzzle from his notepad. “Why didn't you try to tell me?!”

Our collective answer was a flat look, but now wasn’t the time for that. We had to help the ponies!

“The magic’s bottling up. It’s trying to escape wherever it can!” Zipp exclaimed after taking a look around the mass of panicking ponies, whose magic manifested under their hooves even when they were only trying to run away.

“I was wrong.” Hitch spoke after a minute of silent contemplation. “I shouldn't have put a pause on earth pony magic.”

‘Oh, thank hoofness he finally sees reason...’

“I should've gone straight to the Unity Crystals! When ponies united and the Unity Crystals were created, everypony got their magic! Maybe if we remove the earth pony one...”

Whatever relieved thoughts were running through my mind were swiftly gobbled up by raising panic. “W-W-WHAT?!!”

Zipp landed in front of the sheriff, placing a hoof on his chest. “Woah woah, slow down, sheriff. That’s not what we meant!”

Hitch batted her hoof away. “You were right, Sunny! Earth pony magic is powerful! Too powerful! We have to stop it from the root. Come on!” Without waiting for an answer, he began speeding towards our home, where the Unity Crystals continued pouring their rainbow magic towards the sky.

With the pegasi sisters taking to the air, we rushed to catch up with Hitch. In between breaths, I tried to make him see reason. “Hitch, this is NOT the answer! Have you forgotten what happened the last time a crystal was removed?!”

He kept his sights straight forward. “Last time, Discord forcefully ripped one off and scattered the rest. This is different Sunny, without the crystal, earth pony magic will cease to run wild. I’ll leave the other two unbothered.”

“That’s not how it works!” I yelled as I struggled to keep up with his pace.

“And how do you know?” He rudely rebutted. “None of us know how it works, Sunny. But we have to try! It’s the only way to keep Maretime Bay safe!”

I lost my chance to answer as I was forced to dodge at the last second a vine that suddenly appeared from the ground, making me momentarily lose my focus and leaving me behind Hitch.

We were unable to catch him until he had already reached the brighthouse’s entrance, the sisters’ pleas falling on deaf ears as we rode the elevator up.

“Taking the Earth Pony Crystal out is the only way to keep everypony safe from this mayhem!”

“Slow your roll, Hitch! You don't know that!” Zipp pleaded as she stood between the crystals and the scowling sheriff.

“Removing a crystal is not like flipping a switch! This time, we could lose everything!” I desperately tried one last time.

But our pleading was not enough for him. “But if we don't try something, we could still lose everything!”

Forcefully shoving Zipp aside, Hitch crossed the remaining distance and raised his hoof towards the diamond-like crystal.

“Hitch, NO!”

But it was too late. Hitch’s hoof made contact with the Unity Crystal. Closing my eyes and clenching my teeth, I wanted for the inevitable but was only met by a profound silence.

A silence that was broken by a recently-arriving Izzy. “Guys, what’s going on? I saw you running like madponies from Hitch’s office!”

None of us answered, our eyes fixed on Hitch, who stood as still as a statue, his hoof still over the Earth Pony Crystal, but he made no attempt to pull it away from the others.

After a few tense moments, he took a few steps back, falling back on four. “What am I doing?”

A resounding sigh of relief permeated the room. Approaching the distraught-looking stallion, the girls and I approached him, with Zipp placing a reassuring hoof on his back.

“You’re right. This isn’t me.”

“It’s okay, Hitch,” Zipp reassured him as he leaned into her.

“I guess I'm just... so scared. Magic doesn't operate by any rules. Rules are what I know. What if I can't be the sheriff everypony needs now?”

“You'll always be a strong sheriff, Hitch. Because you care.” I stood at his side, placing another hoof on his back.

His head lowered in shame. “I'm so sorry, everypony. I just love Maretime Bay so much. But maybe having less magic isn't the answer…”

Zipp reached all the way over his back and pulled him into a side hug. “But we're gonna find out what the answer is, together, right ponies?”

A cacophony of cheers echoed through the room. With Hitch now back on his A game, it was time to properly tackle this issue.

However, just as we were about to head for the elevator, a warm feeling spread through my flanks. Confused, I stole a glance back at them, and my eyes grew to dinner plates at the sight of my cutie marks glowing with shimmering magic.

And it wasn’t just me, all of our cutie marks started glowing with a resounding hum. This wasn’t the first time this had happened however, since Zipp had caught this phenomenon happening to us now and then. Neither she nor Alex had been able to crack the reason why yet.

As the energy built up in our cutie marks, so did the energy in the Unity Crystals, drawing our sight towards the levitating gems which almost seemed to be vibrating.

“Guys? What is going o-”

Izzy couldn’t finish her question. In a flash, the energy buildup escalated tenfold, bathing the room in a purple aura that momentarily blinded us.

But when the bright spots left my aching eyes, a looming holographic figure stood projected in the middle of the room. A figure I’ve only known in books and stories, but which I recognized immediately.

*My dear ponies, if you’re seeing this….*

“What’s this crap supposed to be?” I angrily inquired, holding the sticker I took from the fidgeting mare in front of me.

“It was Hitch’s idea. He’s forbidden earth ponies from casting any magic before he can work out a better plan to regulate it.” Jazz Hooves answered while doing her hardest to remain in place, hooves glued to the stony floor lest they began casting magic again. She had managed to get them under control a moment ago, and was now resigned to staying put so they wouldn’t start again and contribute to the already messed-up town.

“Of course he did…” Just as I explicitly told him not to. New magic needs time to settle, the connections need to be cemented between ponies and the leylines they draw magic from. It’s always chaotic in the beginning, but strictly forbidding its use only provoked a bottling-up effect which prevented the flow of magic from stabilizing, building up into a feedback loop, which would only worsen the situation.

And that’s exactly what was happening. You ever try to bottle up magic? It’s going to come out, one way or another, whether you want it to or not. Good luck keeping your baby unicorn from releasing its first magic bursts, the difference you’ll get is the magic coming out ‘explosively’ instead of randomly.

Not that the baby would blow up, mind you. It’s complicated. Magic’s always complicated.

I crumpled the sticker into a ball and levitated it into the nearest bin. “I’m gonna go and talk to him, and possibly smack him upside down.” I tiredly shook my head. “You know where he might be?”

Jazz mulled for a second. “Um, I think I came across them while, um…. stretching my legs for a bit.”

“Outright panicking.” She wasn’t going to fool me.

With a little pout, she conceded. “You meanie… fine, I came across them while escaping the vines that kept growing under my hooves with every step I took, you happy?! I think they were heading for the brighthouse.” She flashed me an adorable glare.

I playfully poked her muzzle. “Thanks, Jazz. I’ll see what I can do. Stay put!”

Snorting at the weird feeling, Jazz’s glare intensified, but I was already on my way. Cooped up in the lab that morning after training, I had missed most of the plant disaster, only finding out what was going on when the nurses alerted us of a patient coming in after a nasty hit from, and I quote, ‘a tentacled monster who wanted to eat him.’

In truth, he had just been entangled in one of the many vines which seemed to be the predominant manifestation of earth pony magic as far as I could see. A bit creepy if you ask me. That’s what too much internet and too much tentacle-related media does to your rotting mind.

Taking in my chaotic surroundings, I set out on my way back home, carefully selecting the words for the scolding I was going to give Hitch. Just as my legs began carrying me toward my destination, my phone began buzzing in my pocket. Somepony was calling me.

“Ja?”

*Alex! Where are you?!*

“Oh, hey Sunny. Just got off work, I’m…”

*Great! We need you back home. Right! Now!*

“Yeah, I was on my way, why? Did something happen? Apart from the town falling apart, that is.”

*Hitch became desperate and tried to pull the Earth Pony Crystal out from the rest…*

“HE DID WHAT?!!” My scream made a few passersby jump in fright.

*N-No! He changed his mind at the last second. B-But then s-something happened, a-and…*

She sounded like she was on the brink of a panic attack. “Sunny, Sunny, remember what we talked about. Take a deeeep breath and the-”

*OurcutiemarksbeganglowingandthenaproyectionofTwilightSparkleappearedandgaveusamessage!*

“...”

*Alex?*

“…”

*A-Alex?!!*

“… I’m on my way.”

I hung up before giving her a chance to answer. My heart must have skipped a few beats when my brain registered the name of my ex-marefrend and the word ‘message’. I was left standing still in the middle of the road, my eyes reduced to a pair of pinpricks and my thoughts running a mile a minute.

“Excuse me, uh, sir.” One of the passersby approached me with concern. “Are you… feeling alright.”

“... Move.”

“E-Excuse me?”

My eyes met the mare’s with rising panic. “Move!”

And move she did, jumping aside with a yelp, freeing the road ahead.

“Accelero!”

With heightened speed, I crossed the distance to the brighthouse in a matter of minutes, discerning the waving figure of Izzy signaling me their location in the crystals’ room from the balcony.

Flying up to the girls’ shared bedroom, I silently cursed the slowness of the elevator. It was my turn to suffer a panic attack, it seemed.

Jumping out of the elevator before it could finish its journey up, I madly scanned the room in search of Twilight’s projection, but only found an empty room, flabbergasted ponies aside.

Swearing under my breath at having missed it, I crossed the room towards the group of fidgeting ponies, more precisely towards a certain pink-furred pegasi.

“Show me,” I demanded, harsher than I would have preferred.

“W-What?”

“I know you’ve recorded it, Pipp. I need to see it.”

My hunch was proven correct. The petite pegasus reached for her wing holster and passed me her phone.

Tearing it out of her hoof, I searched for the latest video in her gallery, walking all the way out to the balcony and taking a seat against the railing.

I had to hold back a sob when the image of Twilight appeared on the screen. I could have sworn she had grown a little bit more, her alicorn form was manifesting more and more each week back then, but it was hard to tell from the projection alone. She wasn’t wearing any royal regalia, not even her crown, as I knew she always preferred.

The ponies took positions around me, Sunny and Izzy pressing against my sides. I felt Sunny sliding her hoof under my shirt and placing it over my scar in a comforting gesture.

Pressing play, I fixed my gaze and strained my ears to absorb as much of the message as I could.

*My dear ponies, if you’re seeing this, it means the Unity Crystals have been reunited, and magic flows once again through ponyk- kzzzzzzzk*

For whatever reason, some fragments of the message had been corrupted, screeching static obscuring parts of the message as the projection of Twilight flickered and distorted.

*kzzzzzzzk -arth pony magic will be manifesting for the first time in the hi- kzzzzzzzzk -questria. Magic is alive. Always changing, growing stronger. There are forces out th- kzzzzzzzzzk -want to exploit it. Once, a pony tried to steal all the mag- kzzzzzzzzk -herself, and almost succeeded…*

‘Is she talking about Opaline… or Cozy perhaps? It can’t be Stygian if they’re a she. Daybreaker? Eris?... No, Eris ain’t a pony… Faust’s sake there’s so many it’s outright ridiculous!’

*-kzzzzzzzk -did all I could to prote- kzzzzzzzk -by summoning all my magical strength as well as- kzzzzzzzk -agic flow through them, safe and protected as long as they remain active- kzzzzzzzk.*

A particularly long period of static followed, allowing my brain a few seconds to realize she was indeed talking about Opaline’s failed attempt to overthrow her, as Discord had told me.

*kzzzzzzzk -but the spell is broken. You’re exposed to the world once again. You must watch out f- kzzzzzzzk -befo- kzzzzzzzzzzk -unsure at which moment he will appear, but if you can, find Alexa- kzzzzzzzzzk -‘ll help you against- kzzzzzzzk -and please, tell him I’m- kzzzzzzzzzzk -I’m with you.*

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the hologram of Twilight fizzled out one last time before disappearing completely, leaving behind a group of mares frustratingly demanding for it to reappear, as well as a haunting yet incomplete message.

The static combined with the fact that this was a recording of the original message made it a bit hard to understand some of the fragments. And yet, I wasn’t surprised the message had cut off at the most crucial moment. Knowing my luck, it was not going to be an easy task for me. It never had been, so why start now? No, I was meant to continue stumbling around blind. The warning of a threat was plainly evident, just as Harmony had expressed in her cryptic message.

But who or what is the threat we should be looking for? Gosh, I could think of a hundred different names of creatures who realistically might still be lurking around. And perhaps it was a new one entirely, or several!

‘She’s asking them to find me…. why? Why would she trust me after…’

“Alex?”

Sunny’s hesitant voice brought me back from my musings. Handing Pipp back her phone, I asked her to please send me the video so that I could check it over again. It was looking to be a loooong night for me.

Izzy’s light headbutt brought my attention to her concerned visage. Gently scratching behind her ears, I turned to the group, struggling with all my might not to crumble in front of them. I didn't want them to see me like this... any more than they already had.

“I…” I was about to say I was fine, but that was far from the truth. “I… need some time to process this… alone.”

Sunny tightened her grasp on me, letting me know that she did not agree with my request. Izzy mirrored the earth pony’s movements, effectively trapping me under their joined fluffiness. On any other day, I wouldn’t have minded a bit, but at that moment all I wanted to do was to look at that message over and over again, taking in as much of Twilight’s image as I could before I eventually broke down.

“Guys, please…” The panicked screams of the townsponies could be easily heard from the balcony. “You’ve got work to do down there before the town ends up overrun. I’ll join you as soon as I can but, please…”

With extreme reluctance, my two favorite mares let go of their embrace, but not before bathing me in comforting nuzzles which I made sure to reciprocate with a small peck behind their ears.

As the ponies slowly moved back towards the elevator, I addressed the sheriff one last time. “I don’t think I need to explain how this should be fixed.” I warned with a pointed look.

Hitch returned a firm nod. “I’ll take care of it. For real this time.”

“Good.”

And with that, the ponies went on their way back to town, flashing me one last worried look before disappearing down the elevator, leaving me with my butt firmly stuck on the balcony’s floor, tiredly looking at the three crystals from where the projection had emanated from.

“…So, they are protecting the magic, and not just from the ponies themselves… is this the change of plans Discord mentioned?”

I continued voicing theories to myself, trying to connect the message from what I had learned from the talk I had with Discord after our confrontation.

“The spell broke, so they’re exposed to the world once again… the world… meaning they were hidden from everycreature, not just whatever this threat is.”

It made sense considering Equestria, while one of the most powerful, wasn’t the only superpower in Equus. Westria was a land full of riches in many ways, riches many would be more than willing to exploit if the chance presented itself.

Celestia and Luna’s influence, and sheer raw power, had proven to be enough deterrent for the surrounding kingdoms to even consider attempting something drastic… for the most part, at least. A certain changeling queen thought she could get away with it.

We all know how that ended, both times.

“But without them, ponykind wouldn’t have had a chance against any of the attempts of being taken over, especially if they were too busy destroying themselves at the moment… a risky move, but I would have done the same.”

Discord told me the three cities suddenly reappeared one day a few years ago. Whether it was the spell running out of energy or a programmed occurrence, he had no way of knowing.

A small ding from my phone signaled a new message, from Pipp, who had now sent me the recording of that message. I had no strength or desire to go anywhere else, choosing instead to review it where I sat. Over and over, I studied the message, trying my hardest to milk it for all the data it was worth.

My vision blurred the longer I saw her image, to the point I ended up forgetting about the message entirely and I instead focused on her, her familiar voice soothing my ears, my fingers brushing the screen in a feeble attempt to feel her silky fur… Gosh, how much I missed her, how many things I wished I could say to her…

I sniffled in a feeble attempt to clear my nose. “What have we gotten ourselves into this time, Twilight…?”

Without warning, a full-body shudder brought me back from my stupor, a feeling I recognized as a big magical outburst. Years of living surrounded by it had allowed me to develop my own kind of ‘sixth sense’ for magical energies, which served for little more than sensing when something big magic-related was happening close by, nothing any other creature from Equus couldn’t do, but I would take what I could get.

“What was that?” I asked myself as I looked over the railing. Whatever happened seemed to have done so near the end of Mane Street close to the path that led to the abandoned Canterlogic facility.

‘I swear, if it's another glimmerberry rampage…’

It WAS another glimmerberry rampage in fact, since I found my friends covered head to tail in berry junk, just as Hitch and I were that very same morning, the ponies all laughing amongst themselves as they tried their best to clean their coats. Sparky, who Hitch must have collected from his home on his way back, tentatively gobbled up globs of juice dripping from the sheriff’s coat. A small crowd had gathered around the disaster area, all eyes strained towards a new addition that surely wasn’t there this morning.

An addition that chilled my blood and halted my steps before I could fully reach where my friends were gathered.

“I-Is that a….”

“Hey, over here!” Izzy sought to gain my attention, but my sight was set on the tree in front of me, grown straight from under the stony path enough to reach well over five meters, a height which usually took a tree of similar properties several years to achieve. But this wasn’t a normal tree. This kind only grew under very specific circumstances.

‘A Together Tree…’

This wasn’t about the color of its peculiar, shimmering flowers, the shape of its leaves, or the roughness of its bark. A tree such as this could take many different forms, and grow in a multitude of places.

No, it was the magic it radiated, and the presence residing within it that was my concern.

Traveler…

With panicked steps, I tried to put as much distance as I could from the magical tree, hands twitching and gauntlets humming with a restrained desire to burn it to a crisp.

My sudden reaction was enough for my friends to notice my growing unease. “Whoa there, big guy, everything okay?”

Zipp’s question didn’t register in my brain, as my feet continued carrying me backward step by step toward the interior of the town.

Sharing worried looks, the ponies hurried to catch up to me the moment my panicking brain decided it had had enough and thought better to find refuge within the narrow alleys bordering Mane Street.

I wandered aimlessly until reaching a small park near the border of the second level, where the town’s grounds met their end, and the surrounding meadows stretched until reaching the tree line of the nearby forest.

After having lost my trail inside the small labyrinth of side streets, Zipp caught sight of my sitting form under the shade of a tree after she’d decided it was best to take to the air while the rest continued on hoof shouting my name.

“Guys! Over here!”

Following her directions, the group of ponies stood in a half circle around me, concern painting their features, unsure of how to proceed. I pressed my back against the bark and fought to regain my breath. This was a safe tree; I didn’t feel her presence inside it. It was safe. It was safe….

‘There’s no safe place from her….’

It shall be our legacy, our duty...

“SHUT UP!!!”