The Ash

by Raging Mouse

Rating: teen
Tags: Other, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Alternate Universe, Human, Sad, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 116710

A disaster dumps alien matter on Equestria's surface, as well as one alien.

A colossal mass of alien matter ends up on the surface of Equestria as a result of a cosmic disaster, and it is poisoning all it touches. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are caught up in the events as Equestria becomes increasingly hostile to ponies, and the ponies become increasingly hostile to each other. But is it the fault of the alien matter, or is something more going wrong?

It is up to Twilight to find the answer and a solution, preferrably one that also preserves the very fragile life of what may be the last representant of an entire species.

NOTES: Formerly known as 'The Creature'. HiE tag is mandatory for all stories with human characters. Note that there is only a human as a side character in this story.

Thanks to Matdat for grammar and spelling check!

Published 2012-10-22 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-01-17 15:02:17 UTC

The Mountain

Chapter One:

The Mountain

Spike was content. He had the treehouse all to himself, which was why he’d made a nest in one of the basement closets with a stack of comics and a bowl of rhinestones. He’d finished the day’s chores in very little time, in part due to experience giving his actions a polished efficiency, but mostly because Twilight was out with her friends and therefore not researching -apparently synonymous with making a mess for Spike to inevitably clean up.

He had a comic open on his lap and was turning pages with one hand, letting the claws on the other idly dig around among the rhinestones until it was time to pick one and throw it above his head so he could catch it with his mouth. He was quite proficient at it: only three out of four attempts ended up on the floor. So did this one, but it didn’t bother him. He leaned back a bit and fished around among the dust for it, not taking his gaze away from the open comic. He found it and rammed it in his mouth, chewing happily.

He was just about to turn the page when he heard, muffled through the ceiling of the closet, the front door of the library being thrown fully open with great force. Numerous hoofbeats made the roof shudder, and specks of dust fell between the planking.

Bandits? Looters? The Golden Herds of Queen Changhiz, come to raze Ponyville?

Spike had stood up and was gazing anxiously upwards while his comic-influenced imagination raced.

“Spike! Spiiike!”

He gasped. That was Twilight! She was their captive! In danger! He’d rescue her, and Rarity would be-

“Spike, where are you! I need to write a letter!”

Queen Changhiz wanted Twilight to write to Princess Celestia? Spike’s mind whirled, even as he scrambled up the basement stairs to answer the call. Dear Princess Celestia, I have conquered Ponyville and am holding the population hostage. They will scattered among my herds unless... He had reached the top of the stairs, and his grip on reality was strengthened when he only saw Twilight’s five closest friends. They were milling about uncertainly, and Twilight herself was evidently not among them.

He called: “Uh, Twilight? Where are you?”

“Up by the telescope! Could you tell me what time it is from the clock in my bedroom before coming here?”

Spike nodded, mainly to himself. He ran to the scribe’s lectern and picked up an inkwell, two quills and a couple pages of parchment. Then he ran up the stairs to the bedroom and peered at the clock, trying to make out its hands in the darkness of the room.

“The time’s, uh, about three quarters to midnight!”

Twilight’s objection was rapid and loud.

“Don’t be silly, dawn was just a couple hours ago! You mean three quarters to noon!”

Spike did feel silly. Of course he meant that: if it would’ve been that much past his bedtime then outside should be pitch black. In the darkness of the bedroom, he looked at the window. He looked at how the curtains weren’t drawn shut. He looked at the inky blackness that occupied his point of view out of said window and felt his confusion grow. He knew it had been well before noon when he’d settled down with his comics, and he’d only paged through four of the slim ones before being interrupted. It shouldn’t -it couldn’t- have taken the entire day and most of the evening as well.

He ran up to the observatory deck while voicing his complaint.

“Twilight, what’s going on? Why is it nighttime?”

Twilight had turned towards the stairs at the sound of his approaching voice and was able to look him in the eye as his head rose above floor level. “It’s not nighttime. It’s very much still in the middle of the day.” All around the observatory deck, stars glittered in an otherwise pitch-black sky, mocking her words. She turned back towards the telescope and pressed her eye against the eyepiece.

“Be ready to write, Spike. I need to observe this.”

Spike heard hoofsteps from the stairs; Twilight’s friends were ascending to the observatory deck. He ignored them for the moment.

“Is it a storm from the Everfree?”

Twilight merely shook her head slightly, not enough even to momentarily prevent her from gazing through the telescope. When she spoke, Spike recognized her dictating tone.

“Dear Princess Celestia.”

“About -um, let’s see, we ran around in panic for about five minutes, and then ran here in seven minutes, so, um -wait. Are you writing this down? Start again please!”

Spike nodded and let the parchment he was holding simply fall to the floor, revealing the next one in the stack he was carrying. He nodded to Twilight to continue.

“At or around one hour before noon today, about a quarter ago as I dictate this, Ponyville was thrown into darkness. The sun isn’t visible in the sky! Neither is the moon, for that matter. Stars are easily seen though. Oh my, it’s actually quite pretty. I’ve never seen so many before!”

Twilight was silent for a moment, lost in adoration of the sky uncontested by sun or moon. Then she shook herself.

“Focus Twilight! Um, Erase the last three sentences please. Continue with: As I can see the stars, I have ruled out the possibility of an exceptionally thick cover of clouds. I can only speculate that something is blocking the sun as seen from Ponyville.”

Twilight’s friends listened intently behind the scribbling baby dragon. They didn’t raise any questions as there was a pause in Twilight’s monologue. Twilight turned the telescope slightly back and forth by manipulating wheels set into its frame.

“I am currently testing my hypothesis, trying to spot the object through my telescope. The air is very clear, and I’ve easily located several stars I can use to calibrate with, but apart from what appears to be a very faint, reddish circle resembling a halo of some kind I cannot spot anything where I’d expect the sun to be. Um, I mean, where the sun was, approximately, when I saw it last.”

She paused for a bit.

“Were the halo the result of an object occluding the sun’s glare, then I’d expect to see a sharp inner edge, but it’s uniformly hazy. Whatever it is. If it’s even there! This makes no sense!”

She started twisting several wheels set on the telescope. The only effect apparent to her friends was that different sections of the telescope’s body would collapse or unfold slowly, and Twilight’s increasingly frustrated grimace indicated that her efforts had little to no desired result. She shook her head and made a visible effort to calm herself before resuming to gaze through the eyepiece.

“Pardon my outburst, Princess. The excitement is a bit too much. I- I currently have too little reliable data to form a valid hypothesis. I will log the time as I make further entries to this letter. Spike, fetch the chronometer. Wind it up and calibrate it from my bedroom clock.”

Silence descended, except for some faint metallic groans emanating from the telescope as Twilight manipulated it. Not even Pinkie Pie, otherwise guaranteed to fill any available room in the sonic landscape, was doing more than waiting for Twilight to speak again. Thus it was with the air of someone who was reluctantly causing a disturbance that Applejack spoke a few minutes later:

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Applejack?”

Twilight’s tone was neutral, though she didn’t turn away from the telescope.

“Um, is Princess Celestia all right?”

This did cause Twilight to turn and stare at the farm pony.

“Of course she is. Why wouldn’t she be all right?”

Applejack looked down at the deck’s floorboards and shuffled her right front hoof.

“Well she is the Raiser of the Sun. The sun is hers, after all. And the sun isn’t... there... anymore.”

Twilight stared with wide eyes at Applejack without uttering a sound. The farmer stopped shuffling with her hoof and raised her head to gaze back at her with a mixture of embarrassment and fear. After a moment, Twilight averted her gaze and turned back to the telescope. Applejack noted the librarian was now chewing her lower lip, and her ears were slowly folding backwards. The silence had become claustrophobic.

The tension started to wear on Fluttershy, so she looked away from Twilight and the telescope. She sat down and gazed at the floor of the deck, looking on with disinterest as the shadows from the balustrade moved across it. She blinked and frowned. Then she traced the shadows to their point of origin. Then she lifted her gaze further, trying to see. If something cast shadows, then what was casting light? They were well above the level of most Ponyville houses, after all.

When she spotted it, she gave an involuntary squeal and unfurled her wings. This caused Rarity to turn and look at her, and follow her gaze.

“What is it, Fluttershy? What are you whaahAA! Twilight, look!”

Not only Twilight, but Spike and all the other ponies were now staring towards the horizon at about right angles from where Twilight had pointed her telescope. There, an impossibly bright pin-prick of light was slowly ascending. Twilight yelled excitedly.

“Spike, log the time and dictate! Fluttershy has spotted a very strong light-source on the horizon! It is very pale compared to the sun, but I estimate it would outshine the moon if both were in the sky at this moment. It appears to be travelling up and to the left, relative to my point of view, and my best guess at a point of origin would be Mount Canterl-”

Twilight stopped abruptly. She ran back to her telescope and pulled on a lever. Then she put her front hooves to the side of the thickest tube and pushed. The telescope swivelled slowly, gears complaining, Twilight letting it come to a stop when it pointed in the approximate direction of the new light. She pressed her eye to the eyepiece, and her hooves flew to the controls, fine-tuning the telescope’s aim and shortening it considerably.

When she found her target, she let out an involuntary yelp and yanked her face away. Her friends could see a bright beam of light being projected out of the eyepiece and onto her face. Her right eye was firmly closed and a tear was forming at the edge of the eyelid. She let out a frustrated growl, almost closed her left eye as well and then moved it cautiously against the eyepiece.

“It’s so bright, but... Yes, it’s you isn’t it, Princess? It is you. It is!” There was happy cheering from her five friends.

“I can barely stand to look at you through my telescope. You must be glowing so brightly that you would be impossible to look at even with unaided eyes if I were to stand right next to you! What are you doing? You are flying so high!”

While Twilight observed and dictated she was rotating two wheels on the telescope, making it follow the light. Both wheels squeaked audibly, once per respective revolution, creating a rhythm.

Twilight removed her left eye from the eyepiece and turned her head to her friends. Her right eye was now half-opened, though it seemed slightly unfocused and was weeping freely.

“Dash, how high would you say that is?”

Rainbow Dash’s blue coat appeared much paler in the gloom. She folded her front hooves and regarded the light thoughtfully.

“Very high. I’ve never flown that high.”

She frowned, her envy quite apparent. Twilight raised an eyebrow at her.

“Why not?”

“I’d faint long before I ever got that high. It’s so very cold -so cold even a pegasus would freeze- and no matter how much you breathe you never get any air. I’ve heard stories about a pegasus who flew too close to the sun, out of curiosity. He didn’t wake up before he hit the ground. We can crash from pretty far up, but that kind of altitude? While not controlling your descent at all?”

Dash winced. Twilight nodded at her and turned back towards the light.

“Spike, log the time. I am continuing my observations unaided for the moment. It seems you are flying up to where your sun was last, but how is that possible? Isn’t it so incredibly remote?”

As if Celestia had heard her, the pinpoint of light transformed into a thin line for a fraction of a second before again becoming a bright point, but transported over a quite large part of the sky in less than the blink of an eye. Twilight’s eyes twitched as she followed it to its destination, as did the rest of the ponies.

What happened next caused the assembled ponies to exhale together in a disbelieving groan from their slack-jawed mouths. From the streets below could be heard shouts of alarm; it seemed most of Ponyville had by now spotted the heavenly spectacle and was watching with mounting fear.

The faint circle of red light that Twilight had spotted, but doubted the existence of, was now quite evident, and no longer the sedate fog that Twilight had observed. It was sending out dull red streamers of ember glow that curled like smoke, majestically slow at this distance, before separating from the ring and fading away. Despite Celestia’s dazzling star now being right next to the ring, there was apparently no surface to it that could reflect light. Instead, the edge closest to the brilliant glare of the equine deity was being lost in her glare.

But in the middle of the ring, as if through a hole, something had appeared. A spike of matter was emerging, and considering the distance the spike had to be immense. Celestia’s light shone upon one side, and the reflected light showed it had a roughness that made the ponies think of distant mountaintops. The side of the rocky protrusion that did not receive light from Celestia was still illuminated, but by a much more hellish glare from the circle of deep red fire in the dark sky. This second illumination didn’t dissipate as expected, lingering far beyond where mere reflections should have ceased, and fading much slower. It was as if the rocky mass was being heated to a dull glow in the proximity of that fiery loop.

The spectacle appeared sedate from this distance, but appearances were deceiving. A small, still operable part of Twilight’s brain reasoned this, while the rest of her conscious thoughts were stunned into inertness. As if to confirm her thoughts, most of what had already exited the ring of apparent fire broke off. The freed chunk seemed to sail out from the circle -and still more rocky mass was pushing out behind it- and gain speed. It was losing altitude as well.

Twilight and her friends didn’t comprehend the significance of this. They stared unceasingly at the impossible spectacle near the ring. The bright dot that was Celestia was moving around, illuminating the mass from several directions as time passed, but there seemed to be a darkness beyond the edges of the fire that her glare just couldn’t penetrate. The chunk that had broken free was receding, falling, faster and faster, but as it distanced itself from the ring, the light reflected from it by Celestia faded. It fell into darkness, out of sight and mind, while above it another, larger and fatter, piece broke free and repeated the process.

This continued for some minutes, with many additional pieces breaking off and sailing down. Then, suddenly, the sky was lit by a new radiance, in bands of green, blue, purple and pale pink. The bands wavered and flickered, but overall held a constant form.

Celestia seemed to gaze down from the skies, outlined by an aurora. The image’s lips parted and it spoke, somehow penetrating consciousness without having to deal with ears or distance.

“My little ponies, seek open areas immediately! A very great quake will strike you shortly, and I fear not all of your dwellings will hold!”

The apparition disappeared while wails of fear echoed from the streets below the treehouse. Up in the sky it seemed the ring of fire had spewed forth all of the mass it had. One last chunk emerged, its end much more blunt than the spiky front had been, and broke in two. The pin-point of light that was Celestia floated in place for a moment before darting in towards the very last piece of mass, briefly disappearing behind it and reappearing on the other side. Then her star elongated into a line once more, but this time the line was much longer. It touched Mount Canterlot, somewhere near Canterlot Castle.

In the next moment full daylight erupted. Instead of bringing relief, what the daylight revealed caused most ponies, including the six friends standing on the observatory deck of the treehouse, to scream in terror.

The sun now shone exactly where there had been a fiery hole in the sky. Below it, entire mountains of rock were slowly falling towards the surface of Equestria, as if an attempt had been made to build a tower all the way to that incandescent disc, but some force had now caused it to collapse. An immense cloud of dust and fire was apparent on the horizon, where the first chunk had already impacted. On the ground in the distance, racing out from under this cloud, could be seen a shock wave in the very rock itself, no doubt the first of several, originating from that remote impact point. Where the shock wave passed, boulders flew from mountains as their entire faces crumbled.

Twilight didn’t waste time thinking.

Summons

Chapter 3:Summons

“Remember to visit us for a check-up if you start feeling faint or being sick.”

        “Yeah, yeah.”

Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively to her side. The nurse who had spoken to her noticed the gesture, even with both Spike and Fluttershy in the way, and smirked before turning back towards the hospital entrance. Dash was lying on Twilight’s makeshift mobile bed, slowly flapping her wings in big strokes, luxuriating at finally having the space to do so again. This meant her friends had to keep their distance, both so as to not get hit by the wings and so the snow Rainbow Dash was stirring up wouldn’t get into their eyes or mouths. Only Spike, who was pushing the modified trolley Dash lay on, and Fluttershy, who was fussing ceaselessly over her pegasus friend, kept close. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and especially Rarity kept their distances far to the sides of the small, churning snowstorm.

        Twilight walked slightly ahead of the trolley and kept glancing back over her shoulder. That jury-rigged vehicle now holding Rainbow Dash had been her primary means of moving about outside her home for three weeks. Twilight had anticipated Dash’s need for it and so decided not to dismantle it once she herself had regained enough strength to walk around on her own. It had been further modified, the small, squeaky wheels replaced by much larger ones, enabling it to move with relative ease even through the ankle-high snow now covering the ground.

        Dash wore an expression of tired bliss as she inhaled the wintry air.

“Applejack, could you pick up their anemometer the next time you head to the Weather Service Bureau and bring it over to Fluttershy’s? Just tell them I want it and they’ll give it to you. Gotta get back to training these poor babies pronto!”

She gave both her wings a small kiss while Fluttershy gasped.

“Oh my, are you sure you wouldn’t like to rest a bit longer? You could hurt yourself if you worked too hard right now.”

        Rainbow Dash didn’t look at the yellow pegasus, instead letting out a frustrated growl while increasing the speed of her wingbeats.

“I. Want. To. Fly!”

She managed to produce at least some lift, as her torso actually rose from the trolley, but not for long. After a few moments of furious flapping she gave up, folded her wings and laid her head against a pillow, panting heavily. Spike and Fluttershy were still trying to shield themselves from the worst of the intensified flurry of snow that Dash’s outburst had stirred into the air. This meant that Spike had his hands covering his face and mouth rather than gripping the handles on the trolley, which momentarily gained speed thanks to the sloping road before being slowed by a purple aura enveloping it.

        “Spike!”

        The dragon grabbed the handles again, flinching from Twilight's admonishing.

“SorruuUURK!”

He burped a gout of green flame, causing Rainbow Dash to duck down nervously and lie flat against the trolley. Everyone focused on the miniature fireball roiling slowly in the air and shrinking to reveal a rolled-up piece of parchment which Twilight grabbed with her magic. She unrolled the parchment and managed to catch the smaller piece of paper that had been nestled together with it. She stared at both for a moment before her eyes started scanning the parchment. She stopped walking after a few seconds. The others stopped as well. Rarity walked up to twilight, though not so she could read the correspondence, and spoke softly.

“What is the matter, Twilight?”

        Twilight’s lips moved silently. Then she took a breath and read out loud.

Twilight Sparkle,

        We are aware We do not usually contact you, as Our dear sister does, though We feel the need to make an exception. Celestia has been heavily affected on a personal level by recent events and has taken to brooding, withdrawn from the public. Compounding the matter is a delicate situation which is developing regarding one of her pet projects here at the Castle.

        Make no mistake: We are meddling in affairs that technically are none of Our, and certainly not your, business. We make this clear so you will decide upon your response with vision unimpeded. We empathically point out that We cannot order you to do anything. I merely bring this situation to your attention due to the love I feel towards my sister. I think you understand. She should seek strength among her friends like you have, and your presence might remind her.

        You will find the attached document greatly beneficial in finding and reaching Celestia.

        Guarding your night,

        Princess Luna

Twilight’s gaze shifted to the smaller paper. The text there was much smaller and more closely written. A large watermark depicting the moon-and-sun seal of the royal princesses covered it almost completely. She had never seen such an intricate version of it before, and she seemed to be able to pick out detail down to the limit of her vision. She focused on the text and read it aloud as well:

Letter of Rights and Privileges bestowed by the Diarchy of Equestria

to an

Appointed Lesser Agent of the Throne of Moon and Sun

§1: The appointed bearer of this document, miss Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Twilight Velvet, granddaughter of Twilight Spinner, grand-granddaughter of Lace Spinner, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Most Faithful Student of Princess Celestia, Head Librarian of Ponyville Library (henceforth referred to as the rightful bearer), has been entitled full, unrestricted and unhindered access to all areas of Canterlot Castle (henceforth referred to as ‘the estates’) and all domains, dwellings and locales considered attached or belonging to the estates. She has full authority to visit, inspect, study and peruse any and all items found within. All darkness shall be lifted at her request and all doors shall be unlocked in her path.

§2: By presenting this document to anypony or anybeing or anything located within the estates the rightful bearer becomes entitled to their fullest cooperation, and refusal to cooperate with the rightful bearer after being presented with this document shall be treated as a refusal of royal order issued by the Princesses Luna and Celestia in person, a crime of High Treason. The rightful bearer is entitled upon presentation of this document to interrogate any who dwells within the estates, and the subject is dutybound to answer to the fullest extent of their ability. Withholding or falsifying information during interrogation after this document has been presented by the rightful bearer will be treated as obstruction of royal business, oathbreaking and perjury.

§3: The rights, privileges and freedoms laid forth in this document can be co-assigned and shared by anypony while in the presence of this document and the rightful bearer, and the rightful bearer expresses desire to do so, and the assigned party enjoys the full effects of this document except for the right to co-assign and share said document’s effects.

§4: This document holds no sway over Princesses Celestia and Luna.

§5: This document has been issued on the third day of Frostmoon in the year of the leaping salmon, and shall have the force of law until further notice.

Signed, Princess Luna

By the time Twilight reached the end of the second document, her eyes were watering and there was a sharp throbbing pain behind her horn, though the headache receded immediately as she looked away. It appeared something about the watermark made looking at the paper for longer than a glance very uncomfortable. She shook her head and blinked until her vision cleared. When she looked up, her friends were standing in a half-circle in front her, gazing at her wide-eyed and with mouths half-open. Even Rainbow Dash had turned her head and was staring at Twilight with one eyebrow raised. Applejack was the first to break the silence.

“What’s all that about? Why is Princess Celestia raising birds while she’s upset? Has that crazy firebird of hers gone and dropped dead again?”

Rarity made a noise somewhere between a short laugh and a sigh.

“Silly, not that kind of brooding. It means she can’t stop thinking about whatever it is that is making her upset. Luna is obviously asking Twilight, and indirectly all of us by the way, to come to Canterlot and help bring Celestia out of her mood.”

There was a dramatic noise of someone clearing their throat. Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie, who grinned.

“When someone is feeling down, what do we usually do?”

Twilight spoke in a low monotone, carefully enunciating.

“We are not throwing a surprise pyjama party for Princess Celestia. Not even if you bring the chocolate ice cream.”

She held up a hoof to prevent Pinkie from objecting.

“Yes, some kind of party would definitely be fine eventually, but first we need to get to Canterlot and see for ourselves what’s going on. This letter is leaving out all the details! What’s this ‘pet project’ that Princess Luna mentions and what's wrong with it?”

Rarity smiled, tilted her head and regarded Twilight from the corner of her eyes.

“Luna did admit in a roundabout way that she’s manipulating things. Are you not simply champing at the bit to go to Canterlot and find out what this is all about? She’s almost teasing you, saying she can’t order you but at the same time implying that she can get you to do what she wants all the same.”

She turned to look straight at Twilight and her smile broadened.

“The question is, do you mind? She does have her sister’s welfare at heart.”

Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Why is this coming so out of the blue, Twilight? Don’t you and Princess Celestia exchange letters all the time?”

Twilight’s ears fell and she stared straight ahead. Her lower lip quivered slightly and she drew a shuddering breath.

“Not since... the disaster. I’ve been so busy that I forgot all about it. Getting better from my accident. Studying the ash from the fallen mountain. Helping organize the repairs around town.”

She rubbed at her forehead with a hoof.

“Have I really not dedicated even a single thought to Princess Celestia in nearly two months?”

She closed her eyes and sat on her haunches, bent into a hunch. Twilight’s friends watched her mounting depression with alarm until Pinkie spoke up.

“Okay that’s enough Tiredlight Mopeypants to last me all next year! You’ll just catch a cold if you sit in the snow like that. You go home with Spike and get some sleep, and Pinkie will be over first thing in the morning to help you pack!”

“All right.”

Twilight drew a deep breath and rose up on her hindlegs.

“You’re right. I’ll go home and- wait.”

Her gaze flitted to all of her friends.

“We haven’t talked about anypony accompanying me. I haven’t even asked!”

Rarity laughed a light, breathy laugh.

“Don’t be silly, darling. Of course we’re coming with you. I simply can’t resist the intrigue!”

Applejack nodded at the fashionista.

“What she said. We’re your friends, Twi, in case you need reminding, and friend help each other. Right now we’re sticking to you like horseflies!”

This elicited a series of “Yeah!” from the rest of her friend, including a weak one from Rainbow Dash and a weaker still from Fluttershy. Twilight turned and peered at Dash.

“Dash, you really aren’t strong enough yet to walk, so I don’t see-”

“Walking schmalking! I’m a pegasus, see these wings? Fluttershy can fetch me a small cloud and I can go wherever I want on it, and if I get tired, well hello fluffy bed!”

Twilight looked into Dash’s eyes.

“You’d do that? For me?”

Rainbow dashed grinned widely while returning Twilight’s gaze.

“Don’t even dream about trying to stop me.”

Laughter and excited conversation filled the air, mixed in among the snowflakes.

Arrival

Chapter 4:Arrival

        “Canterlot Central! End of the line! Thank you for travelling with Equestrails, have a pleasant day!”

Ponies were disembarking well before the conductor had finished his monologue, some jumping onto the station platform even before the train had completely slowed to a standstill. A group of six ponies from Ponyville were among the last to exit, partly because one of the ponies was being towed on cloud barely larger than her. Rainbow Dash was sound asleep, covered by blankets. One end of a rope was tied to one of her forehooves and the other end was tied to a hook on Applejack’s saddlebags.

They joined a colorful stream of travelling ponies, the fog from their breaths mixing with the smoke from the trains in the freezing air. The stream moved neatly around some areas, like water around rocks, before flowing onto the streets of Canterlot. Twilight and her friends found out why as they were carried to the edge of the first such open space.

A blanket was spread on the icy concrete of the platform in front of them. It was dirty and torn, and the tears had been patched (and some of the patches were torn), but it seemed to serve as home to a family of ponies. A pegasus mare and an earthen stallion together with their four foals were huddled together on it, sandwiched between heaps of furniture and storage crates. Their eldest daughter, a unicorn, seemed to be cooking dinner, using her magic to boil some water in a kettle.

“You poor things! Don’t you have anywhere to stay?”

The stallion switched his attention from the sheet of linen he was mending to Fluttershy, smiled slightly and nodded.

“Our village was evacuated two days ago. The blight from the mountain is getting too close to it, and the pegasi can’t keep away the ashes forever unless they’re willing to fly in poisonous air. We were given a free train ride here. The problem is, thirty other villages are being evacuated at the same time, and all those people are coming here on account of this being the central junction of the railways. So there’s not a single room in Canterlot that isn’t housing a family, and the rest of us make do.”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry.

“But- What about the cold and the snow?”

“Weather Central has spread these fliers around, look!”

The stallion turned to a pile of paper stacked loosely on a box, tugged at one with his mouth and held it so Fluttershy could read it. The rest of the pile had been disturbed enough to cause half of it to slide off the box and land on the ground. The pegasus mare that appeared to be his wife wrinkled her muzzle and shot him a sharp look.

“Flax Spinner! You shall tidy that up right away!”

The stallion named Flax ignored this outburst while he waited for Fluttershy to finish reading the little leaflet held in his mouth. When she reached the end of the text she looked up at the sky, then lowered her eyes to gaze at the throngs of ponies.

“They’ve cancelled all weather? Really?”

Flax turned and spit the paper from his mouth, letting it fall to rest among the other displaced papers. Then he turned back to Fluttershy.

“That’s right. Mighty kind of them, I must say, though of course they can’t do anything about the cold. I’ve heard rumors that some ponies miss the snow, it being nearly hearths’ warming and all, but the townsfolk have been nothing but kind and understanding to our faces. So you see, we might not have a roof but we can’t really complain.”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Still. How about I let you stay at my cottage while you get your legs under you? I live in Ponyville, I could give you-”

Fluttershy’s voice faded away as she gazed at the family. She had expected the family to be delighted, but instead they’d hung their heads and wore gloomy expressions. Flax’ smile was tragic, and he looked at Fluttershy with sadness.

“We wouldn’t feel right accepting that. You only offered it to us because we happen to be closest to where you stepped off the train, right? Other families have been here for much longer than two days, and they are still out in the cold even though some of them are quite ill. If you really want to share your house with some family then you should head to the castle. They are trying to make waiting lists and they’re looking for volunteers to house the refugees.”

By now there were tears making their way down Fluttershy’s cheeks. The pegasus mare walked over to her and patted her gently on the leg. She spoke soothingly.

“What’s your name, darling?”

Fluttershy whispered her name and sniffed.

“Fluttershy of Ponyville, I bet you have a heart so filled with kindness that you could share it with every refugee in Canterlot and still have enough left to move Discord to tears, but you only have one house. We’ll manage. Really. But there are ponies out there who’d really need and appreciate it. Don’t cry for us. We’re provided for.”

The pegasus paused for a moment and smiled gently.

“I’m Dewdrop Spinner, from Gallopwoods, and if it would make you feel better we could always write to you once we’ve gotten someplace to stay.”

Fluttershy gulped and nodded.

“I’d like that.”

Dewdrop hugged her lightly.

“Happy hearths’ warming to you.”

A single, powerful sob escaped from Fluttershy, but she fought to keep her emotions somewhat in check and managed a nod in response. The rest of the ponies from Ponyville had looked on silently and with a mixture of disquiet and concern, and they returned the seasons’ greetings somberly. They nudged Fluttershy onwards and started moving, only to stop after a couple of steps when it dawned on them that Rarity wasn’t following.

Rarity had set down her luggage, opened one of her bags and had pulled out a white silk duvet, partially embroidered with a diamond pattern. Emotional turmoil was apparent on her face as she levitated it over to the family of six.

“I- I’d brought this along as a little vanity project to work on while in town, but I want you to have it. And before you ask, I didn’t bring enough for everypony.”

Her smile was brittle.

“I still want to give it to you. Think of it as- as a hearths’ warming gift.”

The family hugged Rarity as thanks, renewing their promise to write. Then Rarity walked to her friends with an apologetic grin and moist eyes.

“Sorry for delaying us! I just had to do something.”

Fluttershy walked up next to Rarity and drew her into a hug, whispering “thank you” into her ear.

The lightened mood lasted until they walked past the next blanket, only a few dozen paces from the first. Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie Pie acted upon a silent agreement and moved so that Rarity and Fluttershy were in the middle of their group, shielded as much as possible from the scenes of need all around them.

Canterlot’s population had seemingly doubled, the town being completely unprepared for the logistical strain this put on the city’s resources. An effort was being made, though. Twilight and her friends noted that all the cafeterias and restaurants seemed to have been converted to food distribution centers. Lines of ragged ponies snaked out of their doors. Food seemed to be running short, however, judging by crowds of disappointed-looking ponies walking away from some of the eateries. Cast-iron braziers were placed at every intersection, and the ponies crowded around their dancing fires. There weren’t enough braziers though, so simple buckets, stood on loose cobblestones and fed with wooden debris, had also been put to use. The scents of cooking mixed in the air. All of this was probably in violation of fire code, but the city guard (frequently seen mingling with the crowds by the braziers) didn’t seem to care.

The trek through Canterlot was emotionally trying, especially for Fluttershy and Rarity, so the mood of the group was dismal by the time they reached the gates to the castle. The scene in front of them was worse still. Rainbow Dash had awoken by then and what she saw on the castle grounds made her tremble and bury her face in her cloud.

There were ponies everywhere, lying on beds, mattresses or simply a heap of bags on the ground, and surrounding them was a constant droning of misery. These were ponies who were hurt or ill. All too often there were thin sheets propped up on a wooden frame above them, enclosing their heads and torsos. Dash had experienced this, and simply looking at it was enough to trigger claustrophobia in her: it meant the ponies had inhaled ash from the mountain. The sheets prevented secondary poisoning.

There were ponies caring for the ill and wounded, but they were few and far between. Their faces and motion radiated exhaustion. The main path was unoccupied and Twilight hurried, almost breaking into gallop, up to the gatehouse to the inner keep, the others following. The gates were open but the group stopped as if they weren’t, for they had been met with a wall of sound. And of stench.

Rainbow Dash cried.

“No. I just can’t. Leave me out here. I just...”

Pinkie Pie untied the rope Dash was tethered to from an unresisting Applejack, pulled Dash together with the cloud closer to the ground and patted her while making soothing noises. Then Pinkie turned her head briefly to the other four and motioned them on with a wave of her hoof. Twilight steeled herself and entered, with Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy following reluctantly. By now Rarity and Fluttershy were staring with hollow, absent expressions at the mounting despair, but the scene visible from the threshold caused both to twitch and shy away before they could follow Twilight into the keep.

The ponies in the gatehouse were in worse shape than those out in the yard, but where the yard had displayed a mixture of illness and injury every pony indoors had been affected by the alien ash somehow. The cloth tents were everywhere but there were other signs as well: Discolored blotches of fur or patches entirely devoid of fur, infested with sores, boils or stranger deformations still. Twilight spotted a streak of what appeared to be black scales and looked elsewhere with a shudder.

They hurried onwards, past the gatehouse and the inner courtyard (which was blessedly empty from ill ponies, instead being crammed with stretchers, heaps of clean and dirty bed linen, bandages, bags of oatmeal and more), into the main hall of the keep. The hall was spacious and usually held only a quiet echo carried from activities elsewhere in the castle, so the light and noise (and the smell) were jarring to ponies such as Twilight who were accustomed to the normal atmosphere.

A desk had been carried to the middle of the hall. Some unicorn official Twilight vaguely remembered seeing before was sitting on his haunches behind it, surrounded by piles of documents, currently writing on a piece of paper while referencing a file. He was the center of attention of a large group of refugee ponies, while his attention occassionally wandered over to the family of three standing in front of the desk. He floated the paper he’d been writing on over to one of the trio as Twilight approached and caught his attention.

“Miss Sparkle. Notary Inkstain at your service. It is a pleasure to see you.”

His tone was polite but carried a hint of distraction. He glanced around the room as he spoke.

“You have questions, no doubt, and I’ll gladly answer them, but would you mind if we talked while I carried on with my current duties? We are swamped, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head. She now remembered having been introduced to the pony during the Grand Galloping Gala: he was apparently attached to the castle kitchen’s treasury department.

“Not at all, please carry on.”

Notary Inkstain breathed deeply and called out a number. A family of four who had been hovering nearby, clearly anticipating being next in turn, walked up to the desk. He asked for details such as their names and where they had been evacuated from and chatted to Twilight while carefully writing down their answers on a form.

“What can I do for you, Miss Sparkle? You wouldn’t by any chance be here to help?”

“Sorry, I’m here first and foremost to see Princess Celestia.”

Something yellow and pink appeared in the corner of Twilight’s eye. She turned to look at Fluttershy, who’d walked up to the desk. Rarity was just behind her.

Fluttershy spoke with more confidence than usual as she looked at Inkstain.

“I want to help. Any way I can.”

She turned to look at Twilight, silently pleading for permission while Rarity placed a hoof on the purple unicorn's shoulder.

“I’d like to help as well. Please don’t think we’re abandoning you, but I just can’t stand not doing anything.”

Applejack spoke next, hesitatingly.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to lend a hoof too. These ponies look like they could use it.”

Twilight looked from friend to friend and felt her heart swelling. She caught all three in a forceful hug.

“I love you all so much!”

She released them and drew a shuddering breath.

“Tell you what. After I’ve met the princess I’ll arrange for some place for us to stay and then I’ll come back to help you.”

Inkstain’s priorities seemed to have shifted by these statements and he signalled to the family to wait before addressing Fluttershy and company.

“Am I correct in assuming I am speaking to none other than Fluttershy, Element Bearer of Kindness? I have only glimpsed you briefly before, so...”

He rose, walked around the table to face Fluttershy and bowed.

“It is an honor to meet you.We can discuss the specifics of assistance in a moment.”

Turning to Twilight, he coughed apologetically.

“I am afraid I do not know the current whereabouts of her highness Princess Celestia, but I believe Night Court is just starting up in the throneroom. Princess Luna or her seneschal will surely know.”

Twilight nodded and gave each of her friends a brief hug before walking towards the stairs to the upper floors and the throne room. She heard Fluttershy mention her cottage as she moved away.

A short while later she entered the courtroom where court was indeed in session, though none of the princesses were presiding over it. Twilight hadn’t socialised with the nobility -in fact, she suspected Princess Celestia had actively kept her away from that life while she was in Canterlot- so she was unfamiliar with Luna’s seneschal. The mare was elderly and didn’t acknowledge Twilight further than with a brief glance. The seneschal was facing the door and easily looked over everypony else as she was standing in front of the Throne of Moon and Sun, up on the dais. Twilight watched the session for a moment.

The seneschal was apparently reading a part of the court protocol out loud.

“...To shorten response time and increase leverage, the elders of Cloudsdale are asking for temporary permission to move the city to an as of yet undecided location, closer to the fallen mountain.”

There were murmurs in the hall and several ponies shifted uneasily. The raised her head and addressed the assembly.

“I’d like to point out that the matter is somewhat urgent. We’ve discussed this over the previous three days now, with many significant points voiced concerning the matter. Does anypony have anything to add or shall we proceed with voting?”

She looked around the courtroom. Nopony seemed to have anything to say.

“Very well. Then we shall vote: all in favour of granting the city of Cloudsdale temporary exemption from clause five of the Cloudsdale treaty, concerning relocation of the city for military purposes or otherwise, of the year of falling lights, please raise...”

Twilight exited the courtroom and turned to one of the guards stationed by the doors.

“Um, hello?”

The guard nodded to her. Then he raised an eyebrow and seemed to focus on her more intently.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Twilight Sparkle? Captain Armor’s little sister?”

Twilight smiled at the recognition.

“That’s right. Is he here, by the way?”

“Sorry, Captain Shining Armor has departed Canterlot with most of his guard to oversee the evacuations. Just us half-trained rookies are left. Is there any way I can assist you?”

She felt a twinge of worry but ignored it.

“I was looking for Princess Celestia, actually. Do you know where she is?”

The guard furrowed his brow and tilted his head while humming, deep in thought.

“She’s not in her private chambers, or if she is she doesn’t have her guard detail stationed by the doors. So I doubt she’s there. I think most of the instructions she’s given the court lately has been delivered by a secretary, so you could head to the Hall of Secretaries and ask them. I don’t know where her sister is either, but that’s business as usual.”

“Okay, thanks for your help!”

Twilight waved and walked away.

~~~~~~

        Staff Secretary (2nd class) Birch Blossom regarded Twilight thoughtfully while she considered the question. The sounds of quill against parchment scratched all around them, at times broken by a runner’s hoofbeats.

        “It’s true, we’ve relayed quite a lot of instructions from Her Highness lately, but she’s not been here in person. It’s always been runners carrying her messages. Oh, and one pony from the treasury department, now that I think about it. You could try there.”

        “All right, thanks!”

~~~~~~

Lesser Treasurer Gem Polish shook her head.

“She hasn’t been in here in ages. Bad for the public image to be associated with the country’s riches being pooled in the castle treasury. Or not, as the case may be.”

He made a show of trying to be helpful by leafing through some documents.

“I do remember something, however- Ah, here we are. Yes, a cost estimate from the kitchen for some meals to be prepared for her and a number of other ponies, in addition to the usual food they cook. The report came in this morning, so they might have a trail for you to follow.”

“All right...”

~~~~~~

Kitchen matrons Pot and Kettle, two of the largest (and not necessarily in the sense of being fat) ponies Twilight had ever seen, shook their heads without pausing their work.

“We just prepare the food and place it in the delivery room. Somepony else picks it up and delivers it, and we are too busy to pay attention and see who it is.”

Kettle smacked her lips and frowned while inspecting a bubbling cauldron being tended to by two kitchen assistants.

“I did hear the maids from the cleaning staff gush about them being visited by one of the princesses just before noon today. I didn’t believe a word of it, of course, but who knows?”

Twilight nodded silently, sighed and walked on. Just how was it possible for a person as important as the princess to disappear while still being in control of affairs, and why did Twilight get the feeling she was being given the runaround?

Break Through

Chapter 5:Break Through

The marionette of a crocodile was munching happily on a poor, helpless pony doll when a fanfare played by two fake trumpets sounded.

“Doo dododo doo doo dooo!”

Children cheered. The appearance of a new doll, of a pegasus with light mustard coat and grey mane, clad in green shirt and pith helmet, was narrated by a dramatic voice whose origin was hidden somewhere behind a back curtain of sack-cloth.

“Daring Do has escaped the snake pit of hissing horrors and roaring reptilians using her awesomeness and coolness! She leaps onto the crocodile!”

The new doll collided with the crocodile, sending both swinging by their strings, creating enough of an impression of a mighty struggle to enthrall the juvenile audience.

“They trade blows! They trade bites! They hoof-to-claw-wrestle! But the crocodile manages to throw Daring Do off!”

The Daring Doll was wrenched to the side of the makeshift stage, where it hung motionless, tilted slightly downwards. The children shouted for the dummy to rise up and teach the croc crook a lesson. A naturally cheery voice narrated the tragic scene.

“Oh no! It looks like Daring Do has been defeated! Toothy the Crocodile roars in victory! Now he’ll have two ponies to gobble up!”

Twilight spied a blue muzzle attach a stick to the doll’s forelimbs. Then the doll swung back against the croc. The original narrator picked up the story.

“Hurray! Daring Do was only pretending to be out of the fight while she armed herself with a club! Now she teaches the ruffian reptile not to eat ponies by thrashing it until it promises not to!”

The marionette croc mimed an amazingly good simile of the Pinkie Promise while the second narrator continued.

“Then Daring Do offers the crocodile her favourite food! Cupcakes!”

A shower of cupcake-shaped confetti fell on the stage while all three dolls celebrated this miraculous event. The children were loving every second, and even Twilight found a smile on her face.

She’d spotted the children in front of the impromptu puppet theater after exiting the kitchens and wandering the palace grounds to quell her frustration. It served to lift her mood just as effectively as it managed to introduce something magical and cheerful into the lives of the target audience, many of whom were burdened by the threat of pending orphanhood. The foals were children to various ponies being treated around the castle. They had hope, though -the worst cases were at Canterlot Hospital. Ponies had begun protesting whenever someone suggested they be moved there for better treatment.

The theater ended with all three dolls hugging each other in a tangle of wire and a deep philosophical lesson delivered from the wise Narrator Two.

“Remember, gobble cupcakes, not ponies!”

Twilight clopped just as enthusiastically as the wild and raucous audience. The dolls dropped out of sight, and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash appeared -Rainbow by floating her cloud down from the hidden upper reaches of the small stage, Pinkie by bouncing in from behind the back curtain. They bowed to much cheering and hoofstomping.

Eventually the attending nurses managed to restore order to and lead the group of children away (with much showering of gratitude over the volunteer marionette manipulators). Twilight walked over and hugged her two friends.

“Thanks. I needed cheering up and your play was just what the doctor ordered.”

“Ooh, you went to see a doctor? Silly me, I thought you were here to see Celestia!”

“No, Pinkie, it was a- never mind. Where did you get the dolls from?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

“Pinkie had them in her saddle bags. For emergencies.”

Pinkie’s grin suddenly shrunk to a slight smile and retreated from her eyes.

“And I was right. All of Canterlot is an emergency.”

Twilight could only nod at this.

“All of Equestria, Pinkie. This is affecting everyone, it seems.”

Rainbow Dash yawned while nodding.

“Anyways, did you see Celestia?”

“No.”

Twilight sat on her haunches and sighed.

“I’ve asked all day but nopony seems to know where she is, even though they are still receiving her instructions. I think some of the ponies I’ve asked knew but didn’t want to tell me.”

Pinkie gasped, her eyes wide and fearful.

“Secrets and lies?”

Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her jaw.

“Unacceptable!”

She pursed her lips while tapping a forehoof against her chin.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched silently. A focused, concentrating Pinkie Pie was a rare and fearsome thing that you didn’t disturb without very pressing reasons. They didn’t have long to wait before Pinkie’s eyebrows were raised and she smiled victoriously.

“You should get Applejack to talk to them. She can usually tell when a pony is lying.”

Twilight was taken aback.

“That’s a good idea, Pinkie. Thanks! Do you know where she is?”

Pinkie nodded vigorously.

“She came by earlier and said she was heading to the lumber yard.”

~~~~~

Applejack hoisted into place the last of the wooden beams that were meant to go on the wagon in front of her. She wiped sweat from her forehead and walked round to the front where two ponies were waiting, having already strapped themselves to the harnesses.

“All right, you’re set.”

The wagon rumbled off, revealing a curious Twilight approaching. Applejack waved her hat to catch her friend’s attention.

“Over here, Twi. How did your meeting with the princess go?”

Twilight looked down at her hooves and sighed.

“It didn’t. Hasn’t. I mean, I haven’t found her. I think some of the ponies I’ve talked to were lying when they said they didn’t know where she is, but I don’t know for sure.”

Applejack nodded slowly.

“Yeah, I’ve heard ponies talk. They say nopony’s seen hide nor hair of Celestia for more than a fortnight. She still does a fine ruling, though. I wish I’d learn that trick. Bucking apple trees from afar would be mighty convenient.”

Twilight bit her lip and gazed at the farm pony with her head lowered.

“You wouldn’t have some advice for me, would you? I’m at my wits’ end, and Pinkie suggested I get your help to get the truth out of ponies.”

Applejack shook her head.

“Sorry, sugarcube. I’ve tangled with these ponies before, usually when some bureau pony (What do you call them? Bureaccurate? Thanks) comes to the farm demanding this special tax or that tariff, and their lies are harder to spot than anything I’ve ever met. Give me the hives, they do. How can one meet their own gaze in the mirror every morning when they are lying so much they become good at it?”

“They probably lie to themselves as well. Oh, and I said ‘bureaucrat’.”

Applejack chuckled.

“You might just be right. Them bureau curates. Anyway, I suggest you ask someone who isn’t a pony. I saw Fluttershy tending to the animals and ponies in the Menagerie. Some of the castle’s mice might have seen the princess, or something. I reckon it’s worth a try.”

Twilight sighed and shook her mane.

“Thanks, Applejack. I’ll go ask her.”

~~~~~

Fluttershy ceased applying gauze to the shoulder of the patient in front of her while she considered Twilight’s question.

“Yes, it’s very likely they know where she is.”

She regarded Twilight with a sorrowful expression.

“But they won’t talk to me. I managed to -uh- accidentally startle them. During the Gala.”

Twilight sat on her haunches and nodded wearily. She remembered the Gala well enough.

“I’m getting tired, Fluttershy. This day has been so stressful for all of us, but I feel so bad you all came with me and I fail to even find the princess.”

“It’s not your fault. Did you ask Rarity yet? I saw her in the linen stores while restocking on gauze. I think she’s taken charge of patching and cleaning the used sheets. She’s inside the castle and talking to the staff, and you know she likes rumours.”

Twilight nodded. Then her eyes widened and she started chuckling.

“You know, when I didn’t get anywhere with my questions I started thinking the ponies were giving me the runaround, but now I’m running just as much between my friends!”

Fluttershy gasped, put her hooves over her mouth and blinked her large, vulnerable eyes.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know I was doing that!”

“Easy, Fluttershy. I wasn’t implying you were. I was saying that I could have been wrong about the ponies I asked.”

Twilight sighed.

“I’ll go ask Rarity. It’s a good suggestion. Among the best I’ve heard, in fact.”

~~~~~~

Rarity sighed at Twilight, not pausing the needle she held in her magic. She was sewing shut a rend in the fabric of a blanket and reinforcing it.

“Let me see if I understand you correctly. You’ve gone from pony to pony asking where Princess Celestia is.”

“Yes.”

“And they all said they didn’t know.”

“Yes!”

“And they all gave you directions to some other place where they might know.”

“Yes, exactly!”

“And -I’m merely guessing here, correct me if I’m wrong- through all of this, talking to every pony, not even once did you happen to remember and think of showing the very official-looking document princess Luna hinted was so important?”

“Ye-”

Twilight Sparkle turned as crimson as a volcanic sunset. It was quite fetching. Rarity merely smiled, tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow. When Twilight regained partial control over her vocal chords her voice was squeaky.

“Do- Do you think that might help?”

“Yes.”

Rarity sighed again, still managing to smile warmly at Twilight.

“Do you need me to come along?”

Twilight opened her saddlebags with her magic and floated the document out to hover just above her horn.

“I’ll be fine. I’d better read this again, though. Wouldn’t want to misunderstand it or anything.”

She lowered the paper until it was right in front of her eyes and started scanning the text. After a short moment she caught herself idly gazing at the watermarked coat of arms rather than reading. She shook herself mentally and tried to find where she’d lost her concentration only to track back to the first line.

She blinked and squinted at the page. She could feel her attention skitter away from the text and refocus on the watermark. The Moon-and-Sun was quite masterfully rendered. Twilight counted the craters making up the lunar face of Nightmare Moon and arrived at the correct number, which was surprising considering how small some of those craters were. She shook her head to clear some of her dizziness. Then there were the filigree-thin curlicues of fire filling the usual flames circling the sun. She peered a bit closer, even though her vision wanted to double, and thought she could just make out an even finer, gossamer-thin pattern of smoky weave between the larger curlicues. She swayed slightly.

“Darling, are you alright?”

Rarity’s voice sounded distant and muffled.

Twilight ignored the question for a while, instead studying the astonishing detail on the different ponies supporting the moon and the sun. She could see the parts of their eyes, even though none of the ponies were larger than a printed letter in most of the modern books in her library. Her desire to keep studying the watermark waned momentarily, allowing her sense of propriety to make her admit she should probably supply an answer. She wrenched her gaze from the document and tried to focus on Rarity while fighting against her sense of balance which was insisting she was falling. Just as she opened her mouth to reassure her friend she looked past Rarity’s shoulder and spotted Princess Luna, lying against the far wall of the linen store and looking quite secretarial because of the spectacles the princess was wearing on her nose. Luna seemed quite at ease and was reading a book, and she spoke without lifting her gaze.

“That took you long enough, Twilight Sparkle. We do not say this because we are impatient: We are the opposite of our sister in most things, but when it comes to patience both of us have been gifted with a nearly inexhaustible supply. No, we say it because most ponies given the Scroll of Minor Agency start waving it about as soon as they arrive within sight of the castle walls.”

Luna shut her book with a snap, stood and rewarded Twilight with a smile.

“Not you, though. Were We appointing you an agent according to the traditions then observing your behavior when given the Scroll’s authority would be part of your trial of character.”

She watched Rarity with an air of dry amusement. Rarity was alternating between waving a hoof in front of Twilight’s face to catch her attention and trying to follow Twilight’s gaze, apparently looking right through Luna every time.

Twilight tried and failed to restart her brain.

“A test? How did I do?”

“Most ponies are found unsuitable and lose the opportunity to became Agent of the Throne. You are not like most ponies, as I said. We already knew that.”

“Twilight, who are you talking to? What’s this about a test?”

Luna smiled at Rarity’s increasingly panicky manners and nodded towards the paper Twilight was still levitating.

“You had better include Miss Rarity in this discussion before she causes an unnecessary scene. Simply show her the Scroll and state your intent to include her in its authority, then bid her to read it.”

Twilight nodded slightly, still not caught up with events and therefore operating on automatic. She looked at a very worried Rarity and turned the Scroll around.

“Rarity, I want to share these benefits with you. Please read this.”

Rarity stared at Twilight for a long moment, blinking rapidly. Then she slowly shifted her gaze to the paper Twilight was presenting to her. Twilight watched Rarity’s eyes, seeing how they started scanning the text and how they stopped and unfocused when Rarity’s gaze reached the middle of the Scroll. She watched Rarity rock gently backwards, just staring at the paper in front of her. Then Rarity regained her focus and read to the end of the paper. She turned her head to look at Twilight with an expression of confusion.

“I remember this from when you read it to us yesterday, of course. Beautiful watermark, by the way.”

Luna had silently walked closer until she was just behind Rarity. Now she coughed gently.

“Thank you, Miss Rarity. We feel it was quite worth the price we paid the designer of the original.”

Rarity spun around so fast her that her mane struggled to keep up. It swayed back and forth gently even after she’d come to a stop facing the princess. Then she laughed.

“Darling, I’ve been most impatiently hoping to meet you!”

Luna and Rarity traded nuzzles like the best of friends. Twilight felt her hind legs give, and she plopped down on her haunches and gaped at the two ponies in front of her. They were merrily discussing past meetings of which Twilight had no knowledge. Eventually Rarity glanced at twilight and cleared her throat.

“Please forgive me, Twilight dear. I’ve been one of Princess Luna’s tutors of modern etiquette, mostly regarding proper attire of course. It was kept a secret by her request in order to keep the Carousel Boutique from being invaded by curious ponies seeking an audience. We’ve become quite good friends.”

Rarity turned back to Luna.

“But what is the matter with all this hiding? What is the meaning of the document I’ve just read?”

“There are areas of this castle that are made inaccessible by means other than mere guardsponies and barred doors. You will need the ability to spot and traverse these areas if you wish to reach Our dear sister. The Scroll empowers you to do so. There is more to it than that, of course, but that is what matters for the moment.”

Luna looked at Twilight.

“Shall We take you to Our sister?”

Twilight was still reeling from the Scroll’s influence and from the shock of Rarity’s and Luna’s familiarity. She pushed her disarrayed thoughts into the back of her mind.

“Yes, please, Princess.”

Luna started walking. Twilight and Rarity followed her.

“Just Luna, please. Our- My speech might give the impression that I value tradition and formality. It is merely that I am adapting to the modern way of speaking a bit slower than optimal. Be reassured that I‘d prefer informality and I insist upon it among my agents. Well, I would if I had any other than you.”

They were walking along the servants’ halls, meeting other ponies only occasionally. Invariably it was a servant of some sort, bowing low to the ground and not moving until the trio had passed. Twilight seized the opportunity to sidetrack the conversation for a moment.

“Just what is an Agent of the Throne?”

“An Agent of the Throne of Moon and Sun is a pony who is authorised to act as the hooves and eyes of my sister and I. They are unbound by Equestrian law and custom, in varying degrees depending on their station. Your Scroll bestows upon you the title of Lesser Agent, meaning you are considered to have free reign over Canterlot Castle, and authority over all ponies within except for us princesses. Your brother, Shining Armor, is a Greater Agent, by the way. Greater Agents aren’t allowed to discuss the details of their status, or even to reveal it, but it essentially means he is carrying out our will in all of Equestria. And beyond. He needs that status as he’s the closest we have to a general of the armed forces in these mostly peaceful times.”

Luna turned around a corner and started walking down a short passage that ended in a plain wall of mortar and stone. There were no doors and little light. Twilight and Rarity slowed to a halt at the intersection and looked at Luna with confusion. The princess seemed to sense she’d lost her companions, and she looked back at them, but didn’t slow down.

“The important part of the Scroll lies in the watermark, however.”

Princess luna walked straight into the wall without stopping. There was no crash: she glided into the masonry as if it wasn’t there. Twilight and Rarity yelped from shock and ran up to the wall. They prodded it and even hit it, but it was just as solid to the touch as it appeared to the eye, in spite of disappearing princesses. Luna’s head reappeared, not even causing a ripple through the rock, and she grinned at the two amazed ponies in front of her.

“The watermark contains powerful magic. It is part geas, part enchantment and many other things besides. Right now I shall teach you how to use it as a key. Hold the Scroll in front of both of you so that you can see the text, but not so that it blocks all of your view. I want you to see both it and this wall with one glance.”

Twilight floated the scroll a bit further ahead of her as Luna waited. She heard Rarity gasp, then Twilight did the same. The wall had faded away like shadows in front of a lantern, revealing a well-lit gallery cut out of bedrock that admitted the daylight through a series of arched and icicle-festooned windows. The gallery sloped gently downwards and curved to the right out of view. The sound of rushing water echoed through the chamber.

“This room is situated just below the main level of Canterlot. Or it would be if we’d actually commissioned its construction instead of merely drafting the plans for it. But my sister can deal with possibilities as if they were real, and so we can use this gallery-in-potentia to reach some very existing rooms she and I have carved out over time when nopony would miss us. It’s quite a large complex nowadays. We also admit Agents of the Throne as well as anypony we deem have need of a secluded location. All are under geas not to reveal them or talk about what they see or experience while inside. That is also part of the watermark.”

Luna walked through the gallery while talking with a carefree tone, as if she was relating a recipe for vegetable soup rather than discussing state secrets and half-existing rooms. The gallery descended along the curve of the cliff face. An archway placed where the cliff curved outwards again, just beside an ever-falling cascade of foamy water, led to the second-floor balcony of a high-ceilinged hall decorated by plain arches sculpted from the rock itself. Openings led onwards in all directions. The only sound was the echoing boom and drip of falling water. Luna led Twilight and Rarity around the balcony to an exit opposite their entrance. The room beyond that defied exact classification.

“My dear sister, you have visitors.”

The trio had entered a multi-story room in the sharper end of its egg-shaped circular floor-plan. The room was large enough to house Twilight’s treehouse library in its entirety. The floor was lost in shadows at least five floors below the balcony Twilight and Rarity were on, and that was in spite of a brilliant shaft of light entering a huge circular window in the ceiling about four floors above Twilight’s head.

Twilight saw all this in the half-second between entering the room and spotting Princess Celestia. The Princess of Day was sitting on her haunches, slumped into a position that telegraphed great weariness, neck bent over the stone railing and looking down into the darkness below. Celestia looked up as her sister spoke, spotting the group and locking eyes with Twilight. There was indeed great weariness in her eyes and it scared Twilight, as she had never seen the weight of centuries so clearly expressed in her mentor’s face before. There was also sorrow and patience.

Twilight approached that gaze like a moth caught in the light of a thousand candles focused into one single beam. She trotted, then she outright galloped up to Celestia, but she slowed down when she drew so near that she had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact. There she and the Princess stood for a moment, simply regarding one another. Then Celestia bent to nuzzle Twilight’s ear. Twilight leaped forward and brushed her neck against the princess, who bent her own neck further down to wrap around Twilight’s. Soon they were hugging each other tightly.

Twilight felt tears in the corners of her eyes.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

“Dear Twilight. Seeing you lifts a great burden from my heart.”

Celestia raised her head slightly and looked at Luna, who had remained a couple steps removed together with Rarity.

“Dear sister, I think I am supposed to be very cross at you for your meddling but it seems I simply cannot.”

Luna took this with an air of stoicism.

“I shall remind you once you are feeling better so that we can design a suitable punishment for my disregard of propriety and etiquette.”

Twilight spoke, words tumbling out of her, as she buried her face in Celestia’s coat.

“Celestia, you are so sad and tired and I don’t know why and it scares me. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

The Day Princess hesitated.

“Twilight, if I involve you in this... If I let you become involved... This is not something that could have a happy resolution.”

“I don’t care. I just want to be there for you.”

The princess sighed.

“I have made a huge mistake and I don’t know a way to make it better. I completely failed Equestria when I was most needed: before, during and after the mountain’s fall. Now I am lost regarding how to repair the damage. I’m trying to save one single life, in the hope that the solution there could also apply to Equestria in general, but its seemingly inevitable death draws ever nearer.”

“Who are you trying to save?”

“Not who. Look for yourself. You and Rarity have my permission to do so now.”

Celestia craned her neck over the railing. Twilight followed her lead and now saw the brightly illuminated floor, and all the things upon it that the previous darkness had concealed. Her eyes widened ever further as she processed what she was looking at. Rarity had also looked down, and her hooves flew over her mouth before she looked away, overwhelmed by nausea.

The princess spoke in a low voice, close to a whisper. “Perhaps I’d better recount the events leading up to this moment.”

It

Chapter 6:It

“Some time before the day the mountain fell I had a vision. You know my premonitions are usually little more than feelings, a vague memory of things yet to pass, so seeing a great chunk of incandescent rock hurtle towards me was quite a shock. I was even more surprised when I realised I ‘remembered’ the exact time and date this would happen. That is a clarity nearly unheard of.”

Celestia shut her eyes and shook her head slowly.

“I should have remembered there’s always a balance to these things. In any case, I was now aware of the exact time a rock would exit my sun and fall towards Equestria. Rarity, I see by your perplexed expression that Twilight has not had the opportunity to lecture to you about the nature of my sun.”

Rarity shook her head gently while carefully staying away from the railing. She had no desire whatsoever to look down to the floor again. Celestia nodded to her and continued.

“My sun is a hole in time and space. It could be described as a wound in our reality, or a door out of it, but it leads nowhere. I ventured through the sun’s portal several times during my youth, when I’d just been associated with it, and it was always the same. There’s nothing on the other side -nothing at all. No air for your wings, no light to see by and no sense of time that you could call consistent. All I ever felt was a gentle force halting my advance and then pushing me back through, and with nothing to brace against I couldn’t fight it. I tried teleporting, and the spell seemed to work, but I didn’t travel anywhere. The opening remained ever nearby. By itself the portal would be invisible except while passing between an observer and a background star, but part of my special talent is being able to coax energies out of that boundary, creating the incandescent halo that we commonly call ‘sun’.”

“Although the sun doesn’t generate enough heat to have much of an effect on Equestria -were it to go dark permanently we’d only get a couple days’ additional winter- it does get immensely hot if you venture close to it. That’s why the scholars I gathered and offered a chance to study the rock asked me to temporarily move the sun away from its normal orbit so the rock would fall down to the badlands just inside the Equestrian border if I failed to catch it, and to dim its light so the rock wouldn’t melt while passing through the searingly hot region closest to the portal. I was only too happy to aid them as any kind of matter exiting the portal was unheard of before this.”

Twilight was still staring at the floor down below. She spoke in a low monotone without moving.

“You said you saw a rock appear out of the portal. Only one rock?”

Celestia drew a shuddering breath and nodded.

“Just one rock, about the size of a small cottage. Big enough to seriously hurt me if I stood in its way, but easily manageable even with my lesser telekinesis compared to Luna’s. My sister here is the strong one when you want lots of matter shifted. It goes naturally with being tasked to raise the moon, which is all rock and dust. My sun weighs nothing at all.”

The princess let her head fall down to rest on Twilight’s back as an expression of pain briefly twisted her face. “That was the plan, and the reasoning behind it. It fell apart the moment I felt my grip over the portal disappear and the sun nearly extinguished itself. I was scared: I had only moments before reduced its light to a quarter of the usual, hoping it wouldn’t cause much of a disruption, and I dreaded having done something wrong. I haven’t experimented much with the sun since it is such a powerful and volatile thing, so I had absolutely no idea what was happening. In hindsight no amount of experiments would have prepared me. So I flew up to it, trying to re-establish my control all the time. I could feel the link, but it was very tenuous.”

Twilight stroked Celestia’s mane without looking and sighed. “We saw you. Well, most of Equestria saw you. I spoke to Rainbow Dash and she said nopony could survive flying even close to as high as you were. Do conditions improve past a boundary as you get higher?” She tore her gaze away from the thing below and turned to look at her mentor.

“They don’t. I have the means to counter every hardship of the astral void. My cutiemark is not a glowing portal out of coincidence: travel and light are my special talents.”

Celestia shuddered and moved her head to look into Twilight’s eyes.

“When I arrived at the sun I could sense the moment of my vision was imminent, but everything was wrong. I had seen a rock fly out of a quite normal sun, but in front of me was something else. I looked into the gate and for the first time had a sense of depth. I saw the shape of something immense approaching, though from what distance I couldn’t tell. I immediately knew this was not the comparatively tiny rock I had expected. In fact, whatever was approaching was far too large for my magic. I knew it would cause terrible damage, but I wasn’t yet aware of the true size of it as I was seeing only the tip. I panicked then: my attempts to regain control became desperate attempts to close the portal. And I knew I had failed Equestria already.”

Twilight looked into Celestia’s eyes, her sadness and confusion matched by her mentor’s bitter sorrow. She stroked a hoof along Celestia’s foreleg and listened silently while the princess continued in a hollow tone.

“A clear vision, no matter how erroneous, is unusual in itself. I should have also considered the possibility that there’d be more rock, rather than less or none at all as I suspected, and prepared accordingly. Luna is the mistress of matter but I did not even consider waking her and asking her to accompany me.”

Luna ruffled her wings and shook her head. “Sister, it is highly unlikely I would have fared any better. Rather I suspect I would have worsened the situation.”

Celestia nodded her agreement and resumed her story.

“When I couldn’t close the portal I tried to reach through it with my telekinesis and shove the rock back. I do not have a true comparison, but I imagine it felt a bit like applebobbing on Nightmare Night, but instead of water the tub is filled with acid. I could feel my grip on the rock, but even that slight touch was unbearably painful! I had to fight hard to end my telekinesis and it was a close thing indeed. After that my horn was numb. I watched helplessly as the mountain entered the skies above Equestria. Waiting for my magic to return was horrible, for I could see I had to give some kind of warning -if the ponies were caught unprepared when the repercussions from the crashing mountain reached them then the toll would be-”

Twilight made feeble soothing noises, hugging close to Celestia’s chest, as her mentor sobbed and fought for control. Luna spoke kindly.

“Beloved sister, your magic did return in time. You did send a warning. Thus I awoke and looked out my window, to where the mountain was already landing. Thus I knew I was too far from it to reach out and grab it -I would have had to relinquish my hold on the moon- and also that there was no time to get close enough. But thanks to your message I held Canterlot and the castle firm against the rocking earth.”

Twilight blinked and gazed at Luna in wonder.

“I tried to do that in Ponyville! I- It didn’t... It didn’t work so well.”

Luna paused and regarded Twilight with a touch of coolness in her gaze. “If you are still here and able to speak coherently then you did better than most magicians trying to imitate my hold over the moon. For that kind of effortless control you must spend countless hours meditating and communing with the genius loci, or spirit, of the place or object you want to manipulate. My soul is tightly bound to my moon, and Mount Canterlot has known me for over a thousand years. I spoke to the mountain even while under the influence of Nightmare Moon, and it relayed to me how Celestia was faring during that time. You are merely acquainted with Ponyville, nothing more. You are lucky to have survived your attempt. I am sorry, dear sister: we are interrupting you. Please do continue.”

Celestia had regained some of her composure. “I was going to fly to the impact site once the last big piece had exited the portal and only lesser rocks and debris remained to fall, but something made me look back and inspect the final piece of the mountain a bit closer. I saw what looked like dirt and grass upon the rock. And then I saw, clinging to the grass... it.” She pointed a hoof over the railing and down to the floor.

A vaguely quadrupedal shape lay on a marble block in the center of the room, surrounded by complex magical diagrams painted on the floor. It was burnt to a crisp, covered by flakes of black soot. Twilight could see that it wasn’t meant to walk on all fours. Its hip made her think of the species of apes who frequently balanced on their hind legs. With that image in her mind she focused on the creature’s forelegs and did indeed spot something like a hand and even fingers, though from this distance and with the body in such a poor shape it was hard to tell. The short neck and the positioning of the head also hinted at something that balanced their head on top of their torso. The features of the thing’s face were impossible to make out, but the jaw seemed to be too small and weak.

“Is it some kind of ape?”

Celestia nodded. “That’s about as close to a classification as I’d dare to make at this point. The trouble is that from what I saw it had very little fur, mostly concentrated on its head rather like a mane. The skin was a mixture of tan and pink, and the mane was chestnut. It also seemed to be wearing clothing. It had blue covering its hindlegs and hip, and something loose and green covered its forelegs and torso. It- it looked at me, Twilight. Its eyes were much like a pony’s, a blend of blue and green. It reached out to me, mouth open, and I think I read fear in its expression. Then it started to burn.”

Celestia buried her face in Twilight’s mane. “I- I could feel the heat on my back. My sun was regaining its power. And this close to it, the temperature rose in mere seconds to something that boils rock. The poor creature recoiled and tried to shield itself with its arms while the grass around it smoked and withered. I reacted on instinct and used my magic to shield the creature, but to my horror its touch was just as painful as the alien rock. I should have expected it, though.”

She swallowed before continuing. “I couldn’t keep it up for long, so instead I thought of an indirect approach: I flew in closer and twisted space around the creature. It started to fall in the direction I was flying. When I was clear of the rest of the debris I whisked the chunk of the astral void containing the both of us to within spitting distance of Canterlot Castle. All of this took mere seconds, but by the time I arrived the poor creature had reached the state you see below. I did the only thing I could think of at that point and twisted space around it even further, to the very limit of my ability. Inside that magic circle only sixteen seconds have passed since I rescued the creature.”

Rarity gagged. “Does it- Is it still conscious?”

“I don’t believe so. No creature I know of with that extensive damage would be conscious. I know it still lives, but I am also quite sure it is mere seconds from dying. There is also the matter of air. I am quite sure the creature breathes some kind of air -It has the necessary lungs- and it is highly unlikely that our Equestrian variety of air would be suitable, but we’ll talk about that some other time. Even if it could breathe our air it doesn’t matter as the region surrounding my sun’s orbit is airless. It had nothing to breathe when it exited the portal. You probably don’t realise how deadly that place can be even without the presence of my sun, so believe me when I say it is highly unlikely that the creature was equipped to survive just being there. Sometimes I wondered if it was trying to scream. I wonder what it sounds like and I-”

Nopony moved for a few heartbeats. Then Luna walked up to and gently draped her wing over her sister, who was shaking and crying into Twilight’s mane. Twilight did her best to try and soothe Celestia but she was quickly being brought to tears of sympathy. Suddenly Twilight felt Luna’s breath on her ear as the princess of Night whispered instructions.

“Twilight, I am going to lead my sister to her chambers and try to console her. You might not believe it, but you have already greatly benefitted her state of mind. I know you’d like to remain with her, but for now it is best if I talked to my sister in private. Meanwhile you are free to stay here. I have taken the liberty of arranging your old quarters for you to stay in, and nearby rooms for your friends. Do understand that the conditions of the geas require that you take them to this room should you wish to discuss these matters with them. Twilight Sparkle, I cannot thank you enough and I hope I can repay you eventually. Fare you well until we see each other again.”

Luna gently tugged on her sister. Celestia allowed herself to be led out of the hall. Neither Twilight nor Rarity moved, merely watching the two princesses leave until they were out of sight. Then they stared at each other.

“Twilight. Your mane. It’s a mess.”

Twilight managed to chuckle and sob simultaneously. Then they were hugging each other with great force, and crying just as much.

Lectures

Chapter 7:Lectures

“Morning, Twilight.”

Twilight nodded to Applejack and to her other friends as they followed Applejack’s gaze and greeted her in turn. She stopped in front of the half-circle they formed and regarded each in turn. Then she yawned.

“Good morning, everypony. Did you sleep well? Were your rooms all right?”

All of her friends nodded affirmatively to both questions. Then Pinkie spoke, her impatience obvious in both her voice and features.

“My room was fine and I have managed to store all my party supplies without using the same space twice, like I promised I wouldn’t! But what about you? Did you find Celestia? I can tell Rarity knows something but she’s not saying even though I sang the Oinkoinkoink song at her all breakfast and that usually makes ponies cry and promise me they do anything if I just stop and I think even my Pinkie Promises wouldn’t be safe if I did that to a mirror but I haven’t tried because I don’t wanna cry...”

Twilight glanced at Rarity while Pinkie inhaled like she was trying to empty the hallway of air. She noted the nervous tic playing on Rarity’s left eyelid, the slight sway and the way Rarity’s eyes had trouble focusing. Yes, all of that seemed about right for someone who’d been subjected to sonic torture by Pinkie for half an hour. Then she focused back to Pinkie who sounded like her lungs were just about ready to explode.

“So anyway Rarity won’t tell but I can tell she knows and I want to know so you tell me what I wanna know or I start singing or maybe my picklebarrel kumquat poetry so tell me or-”

Twilight had placed a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. This was standard operational procedure. She spoke mildly but with a hint of reproach.

“Pinkie, it’s not that Rarity won’t tell you. It’s that she can’t. She’s under a geas. You better apologize. I can’t tell you either, but I can show you if it’s what you really want.”

Pinkie had gasped and thrown her forelegs around Rarity’s neck, who’d twitched and tried to move away.

“I’m sorry Rarity! I didn’t know you were loaded down by invisible geese!”

Pinkie waved one of her forelegs over Rarity’s back in a desperate attempt to dislodge any offending but unseen fowl.

Twilight sat down on her haunches and rubbed her forehead with a hoof.

“No, Pinkie! I meant she’s under an enchantment that is preventing her from telling what she’s seen! So am I! And before we can show the rest of you we need to have it cast on you all as well!”

There was a warning tingle in the back of Twilight’s mind. She was skirting the very edge of what she was allowed to reveal to the uninitiated. She sighed and brought out the Scroll from her saddlebags, setting it down on the floor in front of her friends.

“You remember this, right? Well, I want to share this authority with all of you. All you have to do is read it if you agree. Um, I should warn you. What I- what was-”

She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, trying to form a sentence that wouldn’t run afoul of the geas.

“Look, you might not like what you could end up witnessing, if there was something to witness -which I am not implying!”

The four uninitiated -Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash on her cloud- hesitated. Then Applejack looked down and started to read the Scroll. Rainbow Dash saw this, narrowed her eyes and looked down as well. Shortly after that Pinkie started scanning the text. Lastly, Fluttershy swallowed nervously and started reading.

~~~~~

“Whoah! This room is huge! I could practice some of my tricks in here!”

Twilight cringed at Rainbow’s half-shout. Something about these halls -no doubt including what lay on the bottom floor of this room- seemed to demand a reverent whisper.

“I don’t know why it’s this big. You’d have to ask Celestia or Luna. Now, everypony please look down to the floor below us. You have Celestia’s permission.”

She pointed a hoof over the railing and her friends crowded beside her, except for Rarity who was waiting by the entrance, showing great distaste at even being there.

There were gasps and exclamations of shock. Twilight took a deep breath and told them what she and Rarity had seen and been told. When she was finished her friends were visibly upset. Fluttershy seemed especially perturbed: she was turning this way and that, her eyes darting, as if desperately searching for something. Twilight spoke to her gently.

“Is this too much for you, Fluttershy? Do you want to leave?”

“No!”

Fluttershy ran away along the railing, swerving to glance into every opening she passed.

“Wait!”

Twilight started running after her, the others following.

Fluttershy didn’t turn away from one of the doorways, entering it instead. When Twilight reached it she saw it led to a circular stairway going both upwards and downwards. She could hear Fluttershy below her, so she ran towards the retreating hoofsteps. There was another landing after two revolutions of the stairway, but Fluttershy’s echoes still emanated from below. Two landings further down the stairway came to an end, and the only exit was a doorway back into the large room, now at floor level. Twilight re-entered as Fluttershy was only a few steps from the edge of the magic diagram.

“Stop!”

Twilight’s horn flared to life, and Fluttershy’s advance came to an abrupt halt as she was lifted a little bit into the air. Fluttershy struggled for a bit, legs and wings flailing, until she slumped and started crying with great, shuddering sobs. Twilight was alarmed rather than angry, but she was unable to avoid the sharp tone in her voice.

“Didn’t you listen to me? I told you Celestia had stopped time inside this circle! You’d be trapped in there!”

Whatever Fluttershy would have answered went unsaid since a new voice was quicker with an interjection.

“Not quite.”

All six ponies turned to look at the newcomer, a unicorn mare with a surgical-green coat and a short, graying mane, who was walking leisurely up to the magic circle. She spoke with a calm and quite strong voice made slightly gravelly by age and use.

“Celestia is very powerful indeed, but even she cannot bring time to a complete standstill. Not even in an area as small as this.”

The new pony had walked up to the circle and was apparently peering through her square glasses at a small object in front of her, suspended in the air only a small distance inside the magic field. After inspecting the item for a moment she turned towards her onlookers.

“I flicked this coin with great force, and with as much of a spin as I could muster, when I first arrived here. I roughly aimed it so it would travel across the center of the circle. It hasn’t moved much since it hit the boundary of the magic but it has indeed moved. I estimate Celestia managed to slow time to between one hundred thousand to one million times slower than normal.”

She sighed.

“It’s still much too fast for my liking.”

Applejack spoke up.

“Beg your pardon, miss, but who are you?”

The pony’s demeanor brightened. She raised her eyebrows and let the ghost of a smile wrinkle her cheeks.

“Indeed, introductions are in order! I know who you are, of course, and let me assure you I am not offended if I am unknown to you. My name is Marble Chalice. I usually lecture on the theory of harmony and related subjects of magic at Canterlot Academy, but Princess Celestia has for the moment assigned me to spearhead the rescue effort of this unfortunate being you see inside the circle. Pleased to meet you.”

Fluttershy was still suspended in Twilight’s magic, but she flailed about until she was facing Marble Chalice and fixed the unicorn in her stare.

“You said Celestia wants you to help this creature? Well, why haven’t you?”

Marble Chalice wilted under Fluttershy’s gaze, but only slightly.

“I doubt you understand just what kind of difficulties we are facing here. Would you like me to show you what we’ve been doing?”

Twilight’s ears had perked up when Chalice presented herself, and now she nodded vigorously.

“Yes, please!”

Chalice nodded and addressed the levitating pegasus directly.

“Miss Fluttershy, if you’ll bear with me I’ll explain the situation. Please, follow me.”

She walked towards a doorway with Twilight and friends in tow.

“First I must ask how much you’ve already been told. Do you know the origin of this creature?”

Twilight answered.

“Celestia told us how it fell out of the sun.”

Chalice had led them into a long hallway with only a pair of doors facing each other at its ends.

“Then she related to you her, ah, difficulties trying to manipulate the mountain and the creature? They stem from the same problem, you see. The creature is made from the same alien matter as the mountain. We’ve also gathered reports from the villages and towns that have been lost to the ash, as well as studied those affected by it who have been brought here and to the hospital, and they all tell the same thing. Trying to use magic of any kind on this matter results in extremely painful feedback and carries a risk of serious injury. Worse, coming in physical contact with this matter is lethally dangerous. You most likely know how poisonous it is since you must have walked through the castle grounds. That’s just patients with surface contaminations. Were any matter to enter a unicorn’s bloodstream, for example, it-”

Chalice removed her glasses from her snout and polished them silently against her coat. Twilight, walking beside her, noticed her lips were quivering. After an uncomfortable but short silence Chalice replaced the glasses.

“Forgive me, I was sidetracked. The stakes of my research have been preying on my mind. The core of what I was trying to say is: Any pony handling this matter in any way is putting herself in deadly peril. But that’s only half of the problem we’re faced with.”

Rarity spoke up, interrupting Chalice with a single, quizzical word.

“We?”

“Princess Celestia allowed me to pick a team of three to assist me in my research. As I was saying, there is the reverse situation as well. Ponies trying to manipulate the alien matter end up destroying it.”

Rainbow Dash’s question had a challenging tone to it.

“That’s good, right?”

“Matter doesn’t just vanish when it gets destroyed. I can demonstrate what I mean.”

The group had reached the end of the hallway and now entered a spacious yard placed on a ledge in the mountain. The doorway was placed in the middle the cliff face forming one of the longer sides of the yard and the opposite side was a sheer drop down the mountainside, blocked by a stone fence. A couple of huts had been constructed along one of the shorter ends of the yard, to the right of the entrance, while the other side held a large tent-like structure. Chalice walked towards the pavilion while she called out.

“Ruler! Scales!”

A mare and a stallion shoved a tent flap to the side and peered out at Chalice from inside the tent as she issued instructions.

“Fetch a small piece and prepare a demonstration of the saturation test.”

Chalice turned back to the others as the two ponies nodded and released the tent flap.

“The saturation test involves charging a crystal with some magic and then letting it discharge onto a piece of matter from the mountain. This removes the direct manipulation that is so painful to unicorns and frees us to observe the results. We’ve done this before, so we know the precautions we need to take.”

As she spoke, one of the ponies appeared from the pavilion dragging a cart containing a stack of thick glass panes and a pile of bricks. He quickly assembled the four low walls of a box out of the bricks and then set the glass panes to one side. Behind him the other assistant appeared, walking slowly and gingerly carrying a small bottle seemingly filled with oil. Floating in the oil was an indistinct pebble of gray rock.

“Hold up a bit, Ruler. Miss Sparkle and friends, this is a piece of the mountain that was thrown quite some distance away from the impact site. We’re keeping the bits we have in deharmonized oil. Take a look, please. I promise you it’s safe.”

The six ponies gathered around Ruler who held the bottle aloft so they could see. The pebble was entirely commonplace and would have passed unnoticed in any road or field. Chalice lectured on.

“It may look ordinary, but I do not recommend trying to grip it with your telekinesis unless you have a very high tolerance for pain. Miss Ruler here will now use some pliers to extract the pebble and place it on a brick in the center of this structure Scales made. Meanwhile, perhaps you’d like to help me, Miss Sparkle? I have here a simple one-minute crystal capacitor. Would you like to do the honors of charging it?”

Twilight was visily flattered as she furrowed her brow and brought her horn to life, sending a bright beam of her characteristic purple magic towards the crystal which seemed to absorb it.

“Thank you. Now I shall drop this next to the pebble- Done! Panes in place!”

Chalice and her two assistants quickly stacked the panes of glass on top of the brick box, sealing the pebble and the crystal within but letting everypony observe what happened. Once the minute was up, the gem flashed as small arcs of magic started to discharge themselves. One arc hit the pebble and grew larger, causing the other arcs to peter out. The arc died after a few heartbeats, and the gem fell inert. Everypony held their breaths for a few seconds. Then Rainbow Dash grew bored.

“Well that was-”

The pebble exploded with a loud pop, spreading a black soot over the inside of the box and shattering the innermost pane of glass. Then blue and black motes of light, like cold fire, started coruscating over the soot. A crackling noise was heard, and the light intensified to a brilliant blue-white glare with an eldritch core of blackness that made it difficult to perceive what was happening. A sudden splintering sound, followed by the stack of panes settling differently on top of the box, caused all ponies to start and back away. Then the light weakened and died, though crackles and crystalline pings still sounded from the box. Twilight finally gathered the nerve to approach and try to peer inside as the sounds also faded away.

There was no sign of the pebble or the soot it had created. Two more out of the six thick glass panes had shattered from some twisting force, and their shards were scattered inside the box. The brick the pebble had lied on was unrecognizable: it was a twisted, melted green-black shape that sported translucent bubbles on its top. Some of the glass shards were also twisted into new and unrecognizable forms. The six ponies regarded this with some horror as Chalice explained.

“Feed enough magic, of any kind, into this alien matter and it dissolves into a powerful burst of energy. We know the exact amount of magic per weight unit of matter needed, and it doesn’t change provided you know how much the matter has already received. This is easily measurable -the alien matter starts to radiate closer and closer to background amounts of magic as it gets saturated, and we have a reliable formula already. An interesting fact is that we can extrapolate back to when this matter arrived and tell you that it had no inherent magic whatsoever back then. The light itself is relatively harmless, though even the light from this small amount of matter can blind the unwary. Much more dangerous is the incredibly volatile burst of chaos magic accompanying the light. We haven’t been able to quantify it: all we know is that it utterly reshapes all the native matter it touches, corrupting the inherent harmony in the process.”

Chalice gazed at her audience of six while her assistants glumly bowed their heads, reluctant to hear and accept her words even though they knew she spoke the truth.

“I need to make sure you understand this: The matter itself is a catalytic poison that is very lethal. But worse still is that it reacts violently to magic, and once it has soaked up enough it destroys itself while corrupting all nearby matter. The corrupted matter will not decay further, but it is deeply out of harmony. The corruption affects about twenty-four times as much mass as what the destroyed piece held. Even small amounts of this happening to a pony would be incredibly harmful.”

She took a shuddering breath.

“First and foremost, this means we can’t use magic on the creature. Second, this means all of the matter that fell with the mountain will eventually disappear in a massive burst of chaos energy, due to it soaking up the background magic naturally present in Equestria. Some of it a bit sooner, some later, but it will all be gone no more than fourty-five days from now, and when it goes it will devastate everything Equestrian close to it. And it is spreading. The pegasi can’t fly high enough to prevent it even if they could get close enough without breathing minute particles of ash. Since they can’t get close enough, weather around the ash plume has grown steadily more chaotic. Storms are racing outward from it, carrying the ash ever further in all directions and forcing the weather control teams further and further back. We must find an answer or we could be facing our doom.”

Chalice smiled.

“That’s why I am so glad Princess Celestia foresaw my request and summoned you here.”

This caused an exchange of baffled glances among her audience. Twilight spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We have a huge outburst of chaos impending. You are the Element Bearers, wielders of a set of artifacts capable of restoring harmony on a massive scale. She predicted we’d have need of you and summoned you here.”

Chalice’s smile faded when presented with the blank looks of the ponies in front of her.

“Didn’t she?”

Progress

Chapter 8:Progress

Twilight sparkle tossed and turned while images, half dream and half memory, assaulted her. The common theme was that they brought confusion and frustration.

The moments when she’d asked Celestia to let her try the Elements of Harmony on the alien matter played themselves on the canvas of her mind like a silent movie. Celestia had agreed, urged and supported by her sister, though she had been strangely subdued. The princesses had glanced at each other in wordless communication and Twilight was bewildered about the gloom she could sense pass between them. Asking about it was unthinkable, of course, so she was left to wonder about it.

Then came the tests. Marble Chalice had surprised Twilight twice, first by asking questions that betrayed Chalice’s ignorance about the Elements of Harmony. She explained to Twilight that although she lectured in theory of harmony the artifacts had been myth until Twilight had recovered and activated them. Celestia had refused Chalice any previous opportunity to study them.

The second surprise, and first source of frustration during the tests, was when Chalice’s questions forced Twilight to confront an unsavory fact: she was just as ignorant as Chalice about the finer details of the artifact. They worked when needed and that was all she knew. Chalice’s incredulous face was portrayed large over Twilight’s slumbering consciousness and she cringed and shivered.

Twilight knew how rigorous scientific testing could be, but that didn’t stop her frustration from rising further as she tried to accommodate every request Chalice and her assistants made, imposing a seemingly infinite stack of variations on how Twilight manipulated her artifact and the element it was tied to, only to have no results to show.

Since the goal was to render the alien matter harmless the tests all involved directing the magic of the element at a piece of fallen mountain, but no matter what they tried they got the same results as the saturation test: a release of dangerous and chaotic magic that sapped the harmony from all it affected. Additional bricks and panes of glass had twice been carted down to the testing range from the castle’s stores. Sometimes the tiara remained inert when Twilight tried to apply the variation in technique or focus she’d been asked to produce, and though Chalice had dryly commented that the failures could tell as much about the artifacts as the successes, and Twilight agreed, she still felt tired, irritated, defeated and above all shamed.

She felt shame because she’d been entrusted with the care of one of Equestria’s most powerful items -The six artifacts activated together at their bearers’ consensus were able to overpower deities- but she knew next to nothing about their inner workings. She knew what powered them, of course, but nothing about what power they themselves added. It was a glaring absence in her knowledge, and now that she’d become aware of it the hole ached mentally like a molar gone bad. It presented a frightening scenario: suppose the Elements could help neutralise a danger to Equestria but failed to do so because the bearers didn’t know how to use them?

Like what was happening right now?

Twilight woke up due to her own wordless yell of anger. She was sitting up in the middle of the bed, facing her pillow. She’d apparently tossed and turned enough to realign. Her blanket was missing. A weak ray of sunlight through her window told her the time was perhaps half an hour after sunrise.

She became aware of her stomach muscles aching from the unnatural position, so she relaxed them and fell back onto the bed with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. For some minutes she luxuriated on the edge between dream and reality, her mind finally empty, but the morning noises filtering through the window eventually forced her fully awake. She groaned and rolled, landing on all fours beside her bed. She looked down at her blanket, discarded at some point during her restless night, and picked it up with her magic. It was wrapped around her like a cloak as she dragged her hooves towards the door.

She hadn’t had a specific goal in mind, just letting her legs wander aimlessly, but was brought out of her distracted meditations by the bracingly cold mountain wind gusting over the parapet. She’d walked up onto one of the castle’s walls and was leaning over the crenellations, gazing without really seeing out over the lands of Equestria below, eyes fixed on the horizon where the ash plume still rose. Lightning flickered within its mass, amplifying its ominous appearance.

Twilight squinted and could just make out Cloudsdale in front of the pillar of ash. She knew how large the city was, yet it was a mere speck against the dark grey background. The inhabitants of the pegasus capital were brave, or possibly some less positive mental attribute that was closely related to brave. Time would tell.

She turned away and inspected the castle. Canterlot Castle during winter was decorated by frost and icicles, and girdled by smoke from countless fireplaces emanating from a myriad chimneys. She spied a pegasus flying thorugh the air over the opposite side of the castle, making loops and corkscrews around the rising smoke. Twilight let the display of exuberant joy move her until she smiled widely. Then the pegasus flew closer and she made out details like the yellow coat and pink mane.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy!”

She waved and shouted, and the pegasus flew closer to hover in the air in front of Twilight. Fluttershy radiated such an infectious happiness that the unicorn started chuckling without really knowing why or caring, which prompted the pegasus to embrace Twilight in a hug. The normally timid pony squeaked and giggled and wouldn’t stop flapping her wings, not strong enough to lift a unicorn but making both of them stagger back and forth.

“Fluttershy, what’s gotten into you!”

“They wrote a letter! They got sent to Ponyville!”

“Who?”

Fluttershy calmed down a bit and sighed lightly while folding her wings, a far-away look in her eyes.

“The Spinners. Remember? We met them at the train station. I asked Notary Inkstain if there were any injured or sick families I could lend my cottage to, and he said no because they shouldn’t travel in their weakened state and wouldn’t be sent away before they were well again, but that there were plenty of families in need of housing and able to travel, so I asked if it was all right to let the Spinners have it and he promised to arrange it!”

Fluttershy’s voice had risen into an excited squeak by the last sentence, but now she gasped and hid her face behind her hair, lowering her head and peering shyly at Twilight with one eye.

“Um... Was that wrong?”

        The unicorn chuckled and nuzzled Fluttershy on the forehead.

“Wrong? That was just fine, and it’s so you, Fluttershy! I’m happy your mood has improved.”

Fluttershy blushed lightly.

“Thank you, Twilight. I feel that now that I know they are safe and looking after my animals I see hope for all the other ponies here as well. There's hope, Twilight!”

This caused Twilight to remember her night and sober up. She sighed and looked down at the stone floor.

“I’m glad you’ve found hope. I really am.”

Her tone made Fluttershy look properly at her friend and she gasped at what she saw.

“Twilight, you look so tired! Is there something I can do?”

“I just need a cup of tea. I haven’t slept that well. I keep running yesterday’s events through my mind, trying to figure out why nothing we do is working. We will run more tests today, but I feel it’s hopeless and it makes me so tired.”

Fluttershy stroked Twilight’s mane while she gazed sadly at her friend.

“You poor thing. You shouldn’t strain yourself if it makes you this worn out. How about I do the tests for you? Maybe my element works better.”

Twilight moved to shake her head and dismiss the suggestion, but hesitated. She stared at Fluttershy with widening eyes, her ears coming to attention and her mouth opening.

“You know, that’s not a bad suggestion at all.”

~~~~~

The pebble sparkled with a silvery light. Then it disintegrated with a dry, muted pop, spreading a fine whitish powder over the inside of the brick box. Then nothing happened, except for the dust in the box settling. Twilight stared, dumbfounded. She only became aware that she’d been holding her breath when she let her air out in a great exhalation of disbelief.

Fluttershy blushed crimson and whispered demurely.

“Was that good?”

Marble Chalice chuckled by Twilight’s side.

“Miss Fluttershy, that was better than good. That was progress!”

Chalice trotted up to the box and peered inside.

“The brick looks perfectly normal. We’ll leave this untouched while we probe it with magic and see how it responds. That’s your job, Ruler. Scales, I want you to prepare four additional saturation tests.”

She turned to Twilight.

“I think that with these results we’ve established that there might be differences in how the elements operate on this alien matter. This begs the question: are there further variations with the remaining four elements?”

Twilight nodded and stopped gaping at Fluttershy.

“I’ll get the others.”

~~~~~

Five brick boxes side by side contained a fine light gray powder that had shown no further activity during the last hour and a half. The mood was jubilant, and Twilight’s friends were hopping and dancing together with the research team. Twilight was staring mutely at the sixth box, where she’d five times been asked to use her magic to trigger the corrupting burst of the alien matter and then watched as each of her friends in turn had wiped out the corruption, restoring harmony.

She was interrupted when Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Come on, Twi! I say we blast everypony in Canterlot with a good old dose of harmony right this moment.”

This made Chalice stop dancing and hugging Ruler.

“Miss Applejack, I can appreciate your impatience to see us rid of this, but doing that is a bit premature at this point. There are three things we must consider.”

“Oh yeah? What things?”

“First, we need to ascertain the nature of this powder. It seems it is stable but we can’t be sure until we find out what it is. Once we know that we’ll also know what it will do to the ponies who are poisoned by the ash once they are treated, and hopefully how to treat that as well. Otherwise we risk endangering them further.”

Applejack nodded.

“Sounds reasonable. What else?”

“The creature. It’s made of the same matter. If you cure all of Canterlot in a single burst you are likely to disintegrate and kill it. And third, we don’t know what happens when all the elements together affect the rock. We need to plan carefully before we try that experiment, considering that events involving all six elements tend to be quite energetic.”

Applejack digested this.

“All right. So, how long?”

Chalice shrugged.

“We should know what the powder is by a week or so, two at the most. I’ll have samples of it sent to the University: my colleagues and the students there are also working on the problem. They might not have access to all the information and resources I have at my disposal but they are still very capable ponies and the dust isn’t much of a secret. We’ll start planning for the combined experiment immediately but I hesitate to give a time schedule. Volatile things shouldn’t be rushed. Any more information about the Elements would also help, since this set of experiments has raised some intriguing questions. Why, for instance, does Miss Sparkle’s element of magic cause the alien matter to react the same way as common magic but yours do not?”

“Maybe the princesses know?”

“If they do they are not telling me. I’ve made numerous requests to study these artifacts before now and they were all denied. I suspect the elements are a touchy subject to the princesses, but I can only speculate why. One obvious explanation is that they might prove dangerous to the princesses if misused. Your victories over Nightmare Moon and Discord certainly indicates as much.”

Twilight breathed in.

“I’ll ask if there is any literature on the subject.”

        ~~~~~

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I feel it is not in your best interest, nor the best interest of Equestria, to give you access to that information.”

Twilight stared wide-eyed at Celestia and backed up a few steps. Celestia’s face was drawn and she was leaning against her sister, who looked as startled as Twilight did.

“But- Why? Princess Celestia, we are so close to finding a solution, but we know so little about the elements that it is slowing us down!”

Celestia nodded once and looked distraught.

“I will not risk it, Twilight. You will find your answers eventually: I have faith in you. You will not need what you ask for.”

Twilight’s eyes were like saucers and she stammered her response, barely stronger than a whisper.

“Ponies are dying, Celestia. Right here in Canterlot. What is so dangerous that you would gamble so many lives against it?”

Celestia didn’t answer. She closed her eyes and sniffed. Luna stroked her neck gently and spoke quietly.

“Beloved sister, you said you have faith in Twilight Sparkle. But have you actually foreseen that she will not need what she asks for? Or are you merely hoping, praying to the stars not to lose her so soon?”

Luna waited, and when Celestia started sobbing into her shoulder she sighed gently.

“I see.”

She placed a hoof under Celestia’s chin and nuzzled her gently while wiping away the tears moving down Celestia’s cheeks.

“Dear sister, you are speaking of the mare who not only faced my darkness and emerged triumphant, but who managed to cleanse me. If she cannot read it then who can?”

“Read what?”

Twilight jumped and crossed her eyes when she realised she had spoken out loud.

Celestia turned to Twilight and sniffed.

“I am sorry, my faithful student, I am ashamed to say I fear what this knowledge will cost you. There is indeed literature on the Elements of Harmony, but we have let it be stored in an unconventional manner. The knowledge is dangerous and has twisted many well-meaning ponies.”

She sighed and composed herself.

“But my dear sister is right. I was wrong to deny you, even though it probably is in your best interest to forget about this and walk away. Luna? Will you- Will you escort Twilight?”

“Of course, sister.”

Luna kissed Celestia on the forehead and withdrew. She walked over to Twilight and looked down into her eyes.

“Celestia is right to be worried even if she isn’t right to refuse you this opportunity. Still, this must be done. Follow me and keep the Scroll close.”

“What is so dangerous about this knowledge?”

“What you are about to learn is not the magic you are familiar with. This is raw, wild magic from the dawn of time. It existed long before Harmony cast its protection over our world. Ponies who stumble upon it frequently embark upon dark paths where nopony is safe and harm lurks everywhere. Tragedy is a constant companion to these powers.”

Luna stopped walking and sat down on her haunches. After a slight delay she turned her head and looked straight into Twilight’s eyes. “Twilight Sparkle, most of this knowledge falls under my jurisdiction. Cataloguing it is part of my duties. And it was most definitely partly to blame for my eventual downfall into Nightmare Moon.”

She resumed walking and Twilight was so stunned that she didn’t move until Luna had disappeared around a corner. Twilight rushed to catch up to the princess, and when she did Luna spoke again.

“After that, of course, Celestia found another way to secure the knowledge. And that’s part of the problem actually.”

“What do you mean?”

Princess Luna’s face was perfectly neutral.

“She put it in a book.”

The Archivist

Chapter 9:The Archivist

The double door was made of thick oak and was reinforced with steel crossbars. Runes of warding etched, seared into or painted on the wood were designed to keep out those with no legitimate business beyond the door’s threshold and also keep whatever contents inside. There was an ornate brass plate just above Twilight’s head that read ‘Embargoed Texts’.

Princess Luna nodded to Twilight, silently urging her to open the door. Twilight placed her hooves on the wooden surface and shoved. She felt a tingle, like an electric current, course through her legs just as the door began to move and guessed it was some kind of defensive spell. Since she was alive, conscious and unhurt she assumed she’d been cleared for entry. The door creaked open with a coarse groan, and the sound kept echoing for several seconds in the space beyond.

The chamber was about three storeys high and crammed with rows of bookshelves stretching from floor to ceiling. She couldn’t see any opposite wall in the gloom and so had no clue how big the room was, though judging by the long echo it was very spacious. Twilight looked at the bookshelves for a moment while a frown gradually developed on her face. She turned to Luna and raised an eyebrow.

“Where are all the books?”

“Follow me, Twilight Sparkle.”

Luna walked into the empty library and in between two shelves.

“As the plaque said, this is my Library of Embargoed Texts. Celestia might occasionally have need of it, so she’s always been vice-librarian. I am thankful that she took care of it while I was indisposed, and approve greatly the solution she found to the need for greater security.”

“Princess Luna, are you being deliberately vague?”

Twilight was getting frustrated enough to even carry a hint of reproach in her voice. Luna merely smiled at her.

“Knowledge is a double-edged sword, Twilight. We rightly fear some unknown things even though fearing all of the unknown is extremely foolish. Once the unknown becomes the known the problem reverses: We tend not to fear that which we know, even though we might have reason to. Ask any snake charmer what happens when they take their snakes for granted. I am preparing you, Twilight: giving you enough knowledge to have some idea about what you will face while trying to avoid dulling the first impression and making you incautious. Tell me, does this word mean anything to you?”

Luna was tapping her slippered hoof on a small plaque set into the end of the bookshelf. Twilight peered at the metal and tried to make out the symbols. The plaque appeared to be made of copper and had corroded heavily, but there were deeply etched letters that she could just about make out in the gloom:

NECROMANCY

Suddenly Twilight was glad that the shelves were empty. She drew a shuddering breath and informed Luna of this. The Princess of the Night shook her head.

“Twilight, these shelves are full of books.”

Silence reigned for a moment as Twilight digested this. She cocked her head and cast a sidelong glance at the shelf next to her.

“Is it like that gallery? They don’t really exist but can be read anyway?”

“Very astute of you, but in actuality it is the reverse which is true. The books are very real indeed. They have merely been incorporated into a more compact system. The shelf-space is still needed in case the system collapses and the books are dumped.”

“I don’t understand.”

Luna pointed into the gloom. Twilight walked a few steps in the indicated direction while scanning her surroundings. Eventually she spied an object lying on a shelf in the next row. She walked over to and read the plaque of the shelf containing the object: Necromancy LENG - LICH. She gulped and walked up to the object: a book, about as tall as Twilight and bound in some kind of black leather with reddish-brown stains. The front and back covers held the same faded emblem of a scroll and a quill. Twilight peered at the book without touching it. It was very obviously old: she could tell thanks to her experience handling antique books. Yet the paper seemed to be fresh and of high quality.

Twilight peered closer at the edge of the book. No, not all of the pages were of uniform quality. There were sections which were quite yellow, or even tattered. The spine was reinforced with metal and a chain went from the iron bands to the shelf, anchoring the book so it couldn’t be removed.

There was a moment of hesitation. Then Twilight looked at Princess Luna, who nodded in response to the unspoken question.

“Go ahead.”

Twilight picked up the book in her magic.

Guests? What a pleasant surprise. Royalty, even. I am-

Twilight dropped the book and scrambled away until her back thudded against the opposite shelf. The book fell to the floor with a dull thud and a jingle from the chain, ending up leaning against the bottom shelf.

Ouch.

The voice was baritone and extremely dry. There was a slight wheeze to it, which hinted at an unhealthy indoor life. It enunciated slowly and carefully, making Twilight think of Luna.

I think you broke my spine. Does it look broken to you? What about you, Princess Luna? I can definitely feel some loose pages.

Princess Luna cleared her throat.

“Twilight, this is Libram, the Master Archivist.”

“A... Living book?”

Don’t be daft, my little pony. I have no organs, ergo I am not alive. One does not need to be alive to exist, though. That’s the point, actually. Hah, did you notice my expert manipulation of the conversation, Luna? Just a couple sentences back and forth and we’re talking necr- Oh dear. I just fumbled it, didn’t I? By the-

Twilight’s mind filled with half-mumbled words, most of which she couldn’t recognise and the ones she did making her blush. When Libram cursed it was in the literal, casting a spell on a pony hoping for dreadful effects -kind, though his curses did not have any other target than the world in general, which hopefully wouldn’t be affected. After a moment there was a sound like the clearing of a desiccated throat.

Pardon my indiscretion. I tend to get a bit too lively whenever I have a chance to entertain guests. Yes, Miss Twilight, as Princess Luna of the Night and the Dead stated, I am indeed Libram and my title is indeed Master Archivist. I have held that title for the last seven hundred and thirteen years.

Luna smiled gently and murmured to the book.

“Would you please tell Twilight Sparkle about yourself?”

I get to tell somepony about myself? Why, I must have died gone to- hrrrm. It would be my pleasure, Miss Twilight Sparkle! Good name by the way. Good name! Well let’s just pick the juicy bits of my biography for now. Hmmm, where to begin? Ah, yes.

I was born here in Canterlot, a stone’s throw from the castle walls. Wasn’t a good time to grow up, though, what with the war and the famine and all. I didn’t get all the nutrients my body depended on to grow properly, and by the time I’d reached my teenage years my legs were twisted and brittle and I limped from a constant pain in my hip. About the only bone in my body which wasn’t useless was my horn, but as I didn’t move around much I mainly used it to turn pages. My parents were loving and dutiful enough and supplied me with all the reading I could ask for. I had taken care of my basic education by the age of fourteen.

My talent for scribing had manifested when I taught myself to write. By the age of fifteen I was happy and writing down anything and everything in the household that needed committing to paper. I had my own library and some of my older books were getting quite worn so I started copying them and binding new covers. That was me. Book-binder and scribe. I don’t exactly know when I got my cutiemark: it was pointed out to me by a relative. Soon after that I was offered a job here at the castle as junior librarian. Not this library, you understand, but the official one.

I did mention there was a war on, didn’t I? It doesn’t really matter who fought or who won, but it did result in my big sister arriving home with a painful and mortal wound inflicted upon her by some warlock on the opposing side. She was withering before our eyes. I had always held her in very high esteem so I took the misfortune rather hard. I asked Princess Celestia if there were books about the magic of warlocks that I could study and try to heal my sister. Bless her, if there is one weakness in her then it’s her reluctance to tell an outright lie to her subjects! She told me that I was better off staying at my sister’s side than risk forcing my mother and father to lose a son as well as a daughter. In hindsight I suppose I can admit she was right, but at the time I was sixteen and at the top of my world. So I rebelled.

My special talent is two parts: memory and reproduction. My success as a scribe came from the fact that I could faithfully copy a book I had merely glanced at. So when I became intrigued by the wonderfully complex watermark I spotted on a document belonging to one of Celestia’s top generals I copied it. Copying the spells was harder, but once I realised they were there it was only a matter of time. Long story short, I found this library and read every single book in it.

There was a long, drawn-out sigh.

Princess Celestia had noticed me, but she found me too late. I did not want to confront her even though I viewed her as an enemy by then, so I used my newfound knowledge to flee into the city. I divined a forgotten cellar vault beneath our house and retreated there. I still had my sister foremost in my mind, but in order to properly cure her it seemed I had to sacrifice myself. A living pony could not become a full-fledged warlock. There was a ritual described, though. I could bind my spirit to a specially created receptacle and let my body become a mere dead husk, but strengthened and far more compliant to my will. With my aching joints this was not an unwelcome scenario.

So I did it. I made a book to house my spirit -nice and symbolic, don’t you think- and as part of the ritual I skinned myself and bound my own leather to its covers as I was bleeding to death. I succeeded, and passed through death and into undeath, but though I could remember every detail of the ritual and had read every line of text about it I had not stopped to consider every meaning they held. At the apex of the ritual, my newly undead form drew life from everything around it. I had counted on there being rats, insects and other lower life-forms, but I had severely underestimated how much life was needed. This wasn’t a very efficient ritual! And right above my cellar lay my sister’s hospital bed. Her life proved to be just enough.

I emerged into her bedroom and knew that I had not only hastened her demise but also destroyed any chance I had of bringing her back with my new powers. I... I didn’t take that very calmly. Truth be told that’s one of the few episodes since my birth that I don’t remember with clarity. I do recall how I raged at Celestia when she managed to surround me and bind my form with her magic. And she took everything I said and merely nodded in sympathy.

Twilight stared at the leather covers of the book. Now that she knew what she was looking at she could spot the few remaining strands of fur that still clung to the improperly cured leather. In her mind she could hear Libram chuckle.

Don’t let these princesses deceive you: They are far tougher than they appear. Celestia told my undead form that she felt partially responsible for my tragedy due to her failure to see the signs in me, and later when she couldn’t stop me in time. Then she summoned the fires of her sun and incinerated my body as I screamed and begged for a mercy I knew I didn’t deserve. To my endless surprise she didn’t follow up by destroying my book. Instead she started talking to me. She healed my spirit, merely by talking. It took a long time, to be sure, but eventually we reached an understanding. As penance for my actions I was assigned the position of Master Archivist within this library. Princess Celestia weaved further magic into my phylactery as well. Let’s just say that nopony reads any book in this library without going through me first. Just my little joke: it’s the other way around.

Anyway, that’s the synopsis of my life. Sixteen years of excitement followed by eight centuries of being a book. What do you think? Eager to start reading?

Twilight was breathing heavily through her open mouth, verging on hyperventilating, while staring at the book. Luna watched her with some concern.

“Twilight? Are you all right?”

In answer, Twilight scrambled to her hooves and ran off among the shelves. Luna sighed and looked at Libram’s book. She had the impression that the book was looking back at her with an air of embarrassment as the library echoed with the sounds of Twilight being sick. The princess and the book waited patiently. Eventually Twilight reappeared, stopping some distance away and sitting down on her haunches.

“Just tell me one thing. How am I supposed to study these books?”

Luna inspected a wad of dust on the floor.

“You won’t, actually. You read Libram here and in doing so allow him to house his will within your body. Libram has every book in the library within his spirit and can cast every spell they hold. He’ll tell you what you need to know and nothing more, and cast only what you need cast.”

Twilight was utterly horrified.

“You are talking about undead possession.”

I promise I am a complete gentlepony. You have the Princesses’ assurance of that, for only with their permission could I be something other than perfectly gentle. Their binding enchantments are quite the work of genius, let me tell you. Come now, surely you can feel the beckoning of knowledge and adventure!

Twilight backed away.

“This is too much.”

She turned and ran. Princess Luna listened to the sound of retreating hoofbeats until they faded completely. Then she furrowed her brow and pouted contemplatively, looking down at the book by her hooves.

That went well. Think she’ll be back?

She picked up the book with her magic and shelved it.

“Her need is very great, Libram. Fate is being unfair to ponies who deserve better, as always.”

I can sympathise. I do hope she’ll return. I haven’t stretched any legs in over thirty years and there’s this itch on my spine that is quite distracting.

“I fear she’ll feel the pressure of events soon enough. She has been properly chastened, though, so I want you to lend her your full support. Be kind. Hold nothing back.”

A chance to show off? For me? Heh. Heheheh.

This time even the mental laughter echoed.

Collapsing

Chapter 10:Collapsing

“Whoa hey, Miss Sparkle! Are you all right?”

Twilight had slumped against the wall of a hallway, resting her side against the floor and letting her legs point outwards. She raised her head weakly and tried to see through her tears. The gilded armor suit of a day guard glowed even in her wavering eyesight. The pony in it stood beside her with their head lowered, inspecting her body.

“Are you wounded or hurt? Miss, please speak to me.”

Twilight swallowed to clear her throat and hiccuped. Her voice was cracked and hoarse.

“I’m... fine.”

“You don’t look like you’re fine, if I may be so bold. Is there anything I can assist you with?”

The floor was becoming uncomfortable. Twilight gathered her legs under her and rose to sitting, using the wall as support. She passed a foreleg over her eyes to clear them and tried to suppress her hiccups.

“Who are you anyway?”

“Oh sorry, you talked to me in the throne room the other day. Revealing our names goes against regulations as we’re supposed to be indistinguishable from one another, so you’d have to ask the princesses or somepony with their authority about that.”

Twilight huffed.

“That’s the problem: I have their authority. I’m failing them.”

Twilight fought hard not to lose her composure as another wracking sob shook her. She brought up her Scroll and showed it to the guardspony. The guard’s eyes lit up and his posture straightened.

“Oh I see! Yeah, I don’t envy you. If you have one of those then your problems are way, way above my rank. In fact I should be saluting you. Sorry about that, Miss. Er, ma’am. Too bad you didn’t have that when we talked last, I’d have told you to see Garrison Commander Phalanx. She’s our emergency line to the Princesses, strictly for government use.”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes bugged out. Then she closed them while letting her head hit the wall behind her. An expression of anger and pain flashed across her features, but it dissolved into a loud and hoarse laughter. Tears were again streaming from her eyes, but her face showed weary amusement as the laughter went on and on, interrupted by hiccups and gasps for air. The ghost of her laughter haunted the hallway for several seconds after she finally fell silent. Her entire body was shivering and she was grinning.

“Can I resign? I swear, I am not sma-hiccup-art or strong enough to be entrusted with this kind of power.”

The guardspony cocked his head.

“Ma’am, you’ll have to ask the Princesses that. Though if I may, anypony who could bear that power easily would likely be disqualified from having it. The princesses aren’t looking for power mongers but dutiful ponies who are needed by the Throne to bear burdens for all of Equestria.”

His cheeks reddened slightly.

“Sorry, ma’am. I was quoting. We got this explained in one of the lectures on guards’ duties. Um, you look like you got dealt something really unpleasant. Yeah, I don’t want to or need to know, but... I think I could offer you a distraction. A chance to wade in the shallow end of the pool, so to speak.”

Another hiccup escaped Twilight before she answered.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, with the Princesses suspending their normal courtly sessions and Captain Shining Armour abroad we’re in a bit of a bind, because we’ve got two suspects in the castle dungeon in need of interrogation by a representative of the court and we can only keep them locked in until sunset. Then Equestrian law says we have to release them or charge them with something, and without an interrogation that won’t do. But that Scroll of yours means you can act as a proxy for the Princesses, so it would be really helpful to the arresting guardsponies if you’d lend a hoof to them.”

This didn’t sound very pleasant, but it would definitely keep her mind off the business with the fallen mountain and undead mass murderers needing to possess her. Still, Twilight hesitated.

“Who are they and what are they suspected of doing?”

“Oh it’s a pair of travelling salesponies, I think they are twins. They’ve been going from village to village selling some miracle cure they claim is infused with ash from the fallen mountain, and ponies have been complaining that there have been injuries and poisonings.”

Twilight’s ears fell back until they pressed against her head. Her eyes bugged out and a nervous tic started twitching her right eye.

“What. The. HAY-

~~~~~~

-WERE YOU TWO IDIOTS THINKING?!”

Twilight was leaned so far over the small table in the interrogation room that she was practically lying on top of it. Flim and Flam were huddled together in one chair, quaking and leaning as far away from Twilight as possible. The chair was teetering, just behind the point of falling over. They had not managed to insert a single word in the path of Twilight’s ranting for the last twenty minutes. They were nervously switching their gazes back and forth between Twilight’s bloodshot eyes and her horn, which was ever now and then emitting a short arc of magic -a sure sign of a unicorn pushed so firmly against the end of her tether that you could use it as a musical instrument. Her furious panting through her nostrils underlined this.

Two guardsponies, including the one Twilight had spoken to, sat against the wall of the room, on either side of the door, watching the proceedings with every sign of enjoyment. They had planned on playing Good Guard and Bad Guard while Twilight acted as notary, but that plan had shattered the moment they entered the room thanks to Twilight rushing up to the table and launching into a tirade of such heartfelt fury that the guards had merely stared, slack-jawed. They’d been startled for only a moment, though, and they quickly found their mental hooves and played along. The game of Good Guards, Bad Twilight seemed to be nearing its end.

Flim (or was it Flam?) finally sensed that he had an opportunity to speak and did so cautiously.

“We don’t know anything about any injuries! Look, we call it the miracle cure infused with Fallen Liquidised Ash of Mountain because we scoop up some dirt together with ash from our campfire and drop it from as high as we can into the bowl we use for mixing it with water! And it’s a miracle if it cures anything other than excess money! A little common ash and dirt can’t poison anypony!”

One of the guards stood and walked to the side of the table, between Twilight and the brothers.

“You planted the idea in ponies’ minds that the ash had curative properties. So they went out and secured their own supply, dosing themselves according to their own fancies. Here in Equestria we are quite fond of the idea that you carry the responsibility for the consequences of your actions. You tried to profit on ponies’ distress and good-natured trust, and didn’t even stop your act to prevent them from poisoning themselves.”

There was a noise, like rocks under great stress sliding against each other. The Flimflam brothers shifted their gaze from the guardspony to Twilight. She hadn’t moved and was now grinding her teeth. Flim and Flam cracked.

“You win! We confess! We sold dirty water to trusting ponies! But we didn’t hurt anypony, you can’t make us responsible for the actions of others!”

The guardspony nodded and gently, very gently, put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, easing her back and revealing an inkpot, a quill and a piece of parchment resting on the table. Flim and Flam fought briefly over the quill before settling down to write their confession in silence, every now and then looking fearfully over at Twilight whose face was still locked into an image of fury, complete with twitching lower eyelid. When they laid down the quill the guardspony picked up the parchment and scanned their writing.

“All right, we’ve got a confession for quackery and fraud. That just might count as cooperation when we present your mass poisoning case to the judge, but it’s up to Her Honourableness to decide. Stay put and somepony will take you to your cells.”

The guardspony who had remained seated now stood and opened the door. Twilight flung herself from the table with a growl and trotted out of the room. The two guards followed, locking the door from the outside. Then they motioned for Twilight to follow and walked down the hallway to a guards’ lounge. When they entered the lounge they broke into laughter.

“Miss Twilight, ma’am, that was priceless! Oh if we only had a picture of the looks on their faces!”

Twilight sat down on her haunches and took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths to calm herself.

“Thanks. I think I needed a chance to yell at somepony.”

She sagged down onto a worn sofa by a coffee table, settling in to the sound of twangs from the sofa’s springs. The guardspony more familiar with Twilight shoved a bowl resting on the coffee table towards Twilight.

“Help yourself to some honeyed oats. Our treat.”

She nodded and levitated one of the golden snacks into her mouth as the guardspony cleared his throat.

“I’m badge number 602, or Ohtwo to my friends. I have a civilian name, of course, but I don’t respond to it while wearing a coat of the guard. You did us a big favour just now and if you don’t mind me saying so, ma’am, I have full confidence in you as an Agent. I’m sure the Princesses weren’t mistaken when they appointed you.”

Twilight lowered her gaze and sighed.

“Thanks, but I don’t feel like it right now.”

“Maybe not, but eventually-”

Whatever Ohtwo was planning to say was interrupted by a third pony of the guard rushing into the lounge and shouting.

“General alarm!”

The two other guards were startled, but reacted instinctively and rushed towards the doorway.

“What’s going on?”

If there was an answer then Twilight didn’t hear it. She listened as the trio of hoofbeats died down. She could also hear additional shouting from elsewhere in the guards’ barracks. Shortly a trumpet signalled, Twilight assuming it was some kind of assembly order. She stood, hearing the sofa groaning with relief, and trotted anxiously towards the entrance of the barracks.

She stepped into the wintry outside of the outer courtyard just as a group of about forty guardsponies trotted out of the castle gates, Ohtwo presumably among them. Other ponies were no less alarmed though much less organised, and everypony was running about. Twilight heard shouts and nervous conversation. She spied a pattern though: there was a general motion towards the castle walls.

Noon was an hour away, so the lands of Equestria were cast in bright light as Twilight reached the crenellations, where seemingly the entire castle staff was leaning and peering out across the wintry lands below, to the pillar of ash in the horizon. Twilight did so too. At first she couldn’t spot any differences from how it usually looked. Then she noticed how widely it had mushroomed. Rather than only having a stubby cap at the top, it now spread out to cast its shadow over a massive part of the land. Twilight had to turn her head in order inspect all of it.

There was a shout and some pony along the wall pointed downards. Twilight lowered her gaze and looked. She saw a long train approaching along one of the railway tracks, throwing up a cloud of smoke. Behind it was another train and behind that another still.

“What’s going on?”

Twilight asked out loud.

A maid by her side answered her.

“The ash fell on Baltimare during the night, and the ponies are fleeing the city as fast as they can.”

Somepony on the other side of the maid spoke up.

“How many ponies in those trains, do you reckon?”

        Another voice submitted:

“I dunno, looks like twenty carriages on the first train and I can see ponies on the roofs, so say they are crammed full? A thousand ponies per train? So that’s three thousand ponies headed this way.”

Another still:

“Haven’t we been sending some of our refugees to Baltimare?”

“Yep.”

A chuckle.

“Boy are they gonna be annoyed at being back here.”

Half-hearted laughter. Then a voice by Twilight’s side.

“Miss? Are you okay?”

“Nononononononono....”

The last voice sounded increasingly desperate, and Twilight worried somepony was about to lose their mind. Then she realised it was her voice. She had sat down with her back towards the parapet and covered her eyes with her hooves. Somepony tried to drag her hooves away, kindly but insistently, but she resisted and leaned away. She realised she was hyperventilating just as the edges of her vision filled with stars.

Stars are okay. I trust the stars.

She fainted.

She woke up. She opened her eyes and stared straight at Applejack’s concerned frown.

“Twi? Is everything all right?”

She drew a breath like she’d been drowning.

“Nothing is all right anymore! Ponies are hurt and dying and I am too weak and-”

Five simultaneous exclamations of alarm were uttered as Twilight flew up from her bed, her eyes wildly scanning her surroundings. She charged for the door, making Pinkie Pie and Applejack dodge away.

“After her!”

Rooms and hallways sped by. Twilight was not the fastest runner, but the sheer mania driving her, together with her friends’ inability to guess where she was going, meant they were unable to do more than follow. Her friends shouted after her, wasting their breaths. Twilight listened only to her own panicked breathing and the pounding of her hooves.

Five ponies turned around a corner at an intersection, chasing after Twilight, only to be met by a dead end and no pony. Rainbow Dash braked hard in order to avoid slamming into the wall, which meant Applejack ran around the corner and crashed into her with no time to react. The other three followed and added to the pileup. They stared at the wall for a moment once they managed to gather their wits, utterly bewildered. Applejack rose and walked over to her hat, flipping it onto her head.

“Girls, we need to get the Princesses.”

~~~~~

A boom echoed through the halls as Twilight threw open the double doors to the Embargoed Texts. She galloped into the gloom.

Back so soon? That was unexpected.

She didn’t answer, instead gritting her teeth and running on.

Miss Sparkle?

Twilight arrived at the shelf with the solitary book and grabbed it in her magic, bringing it towards her until the chain shackling it to the shelf was pulled taut. She fought hard to stop her panting becoming hyperventilation again.

“Possess me!”

Pardon?

“I said, posses me! I am sick of being weak! Sick of being powerless to stop this!”

Those are all the wrong reasons to seek this knowledge, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight screeched with desperate rage and shook the book with her magic, tugging at the shelf via the chain. The bookshelf seemed to be bolted to the floor as it didn’t budge. She grabbed the book with her hooves and strained to break it free from its shackles but her grasp slipped and she fell onto her back, the impact pounding the air from her lungs. She lay there for a moment, limbs splayed, too stunned to move and coughing weakly. Then she hugged her legs close and turned onto her side. A dull thumping sounded as she lifted her head only to let it fall back against the stone floor. Thump, thump, thump.

She whispered. “I give up.” Thump. “I don’t want anypony else to die because of me.” Thump. “I don’t care...” Thump. “...What happens to me.” She started sobbing, but struggled on: “Just please make everything better.” Thump. “Please.” Thump.

Oh dear.

A gray aura enveloped Twilight and she was floated into the air, still cowering, huddled like a foetus. She could see through her tears that Libram was enveloped in a similar aura.

Twilight Sparkle, your heart is in the right place.

Libram levitated itself back onto the shelf while bringing Twilight to hover in front of the book. Her tears were lifted from her cheeks.

Your mind... is not. Did you not heed my story? My life? You would only ruin yourself and those around you if you were to acquire this knowledge in your current state. But worry not. I will gladly cooperate with you once you can ask for it with both a strong heart and a clear mind. For now, though, you need rest. So sleep!

Blackness and stars comforted her.

A Cleansing

Chapter 11:A Cleansing

Princesses Celestia and Luna faced each other. Luna’s face was stoic and impassive. Celestia’s was worn with grief and worry. They faced, yet they did not lock their eyes or even glance at one another. Both looked down at the bed between them.

“It shouldn’t have to come to this.”

Celestia’s voice was weak and kept breaking.

“It shouldn’t, but until we figure out how to prevent it it will. Again and again.”

“These are the ponies we cherish. These are the entire point of Harmony. It exists for them, yet now-”

“The alternative, sister so dear, is infinitely worse.”

“Something must be wrong for this to be allowed to happen.”

“Wrong? Allowed? Those words are meaningless outside of Harmony, Celestia. That is part of the problem: something alien to Harmony has arrived in its midst. To expect some kind of judgement or regret on behalf of the astral void that spawned this mountain is madness.”

When Celestia remained silent, Luna decided to keep speaking.

“I one thought much the same as you do now, sister. A thousand years ago I tried to transcend Harmony in order to better care for those in its fold. What I found instead was that I had lost my connection to these little ponies. From the outside I could not relate to them and their lives, and instead of realising that it was I who had distanced myself I accused them of neglecting me and my Night. I shouldn’t have to tell you this, beloved sister. You are risking more than just your own self while your thoughts wander upon those paths. I plead: cease thy brooding. Let our frail, mortal and beloved little ponies try to carry the burdens which would assuredly break us.”

A white hoof clad with a gilded slipper gently touched the bedcover and stroked it in small circles.

“But why? Why her?”

A blue hoof touched the white with equal grace, before retreating a bit and coming to rest on top of the other side of the bed. In between them, Twilight’s body shivered under the blanket.

“I don’t know how fate works, sister, any more than you do. If I were to guess, it is a message.”

“A message?”

“From death. We are immortal, by grace of Harmony, but that does not make us untouchable. We die ever so slightly together with those we have loved. Our blessing and our curse is to share in the joy of life, to cherish it with these little ponies, and to truly understand how magnificent a gift it is we must have it taken from us, even if by proxy. I think I spawned Nightmare Moon the moment I took their love and their lives for granted.”

Tears flowed from Celestia’s eyes once more, running down still-damp trails on her cheeks. Were she bedrock then a groove would have already taken an ever-so-slight shape. She nuzzled Twilight’s mane.

“I know. I will still not stop wishing them less suffering.”

“Their suffering scars me as well, sister. But ultimately we cannot live their lives for them. I know you know this too, sister, you only express it differently than I. I do not advise you to stop your caring or to isolate yourself, merely to be careful not to restrict the freedom of the little ponies you love. They are well guided by Harmony alone, just as we are.”

The only sound for a moment was Celestia’s sniffing and even that was weakening. Then she giggled.

“When did you become my elder in wisdom, little sister?”

There was a deep, sorrowful sigh.

“When I erred more, committed bigger crimes and had more to regret. When I strayed further and when my wounds went deeper still. When I decided to forget rather than die. When I had all the time in the world to think and no voice with which to speak. The Night means innocence only for those who are asleep or already dead, dear sister.”

A gentle clack sounded as the horns of the two regents touched. Then Princess Luna chuckled.

“Do not be afraid, Twilight Sparkle. You can stop pretending to be asleep.”

“Eep! Um-”

Twilight opened her eyes and peered cautiously up at the two regents. Princess Celestia’s expression was a mixture of surprise and delight, while Luna wore a mask of dry amusement. Twilight sighed and relaxed, closing her eyes.

“Princess Luna, I’m so sorry. I’ve let you down.”

“What do you mean, Twilight?”

“I- I can’t bring myself to... to be...”

“To have Libram possess you in order to study the Embargoed Texts. Yet that was what you were trying to force before he put you to sleep.”

Twilight sighed and nodded. She swallowed, and her lip started quivering.

“I’m losing my mind. I heard about Baltimare and- all those ponies- and I could stop it!”

Great big sobs harried her body. Then she felt a hoof gently caress her forehead, below her horn. She heard Celestia speak.

“My dearest Twilight. First of all, their fate is not your responsibility but mine and my sister’s. Second, Luna calls the texts Embargoed for a reason: they are dangerous and stand a very real chance of hurting you in ways much more insidious than mere wounds of the flesh. Overreacting and seizing these texts prematurely or needlessly could be more dangerous than not reading them at all. Your caution is welcome and proper. I and my sister cannot advise you on this, Twilight, because we have made sure not to read the Embargoed Texts ourselves since the Nightmare Moon incident, and we have also made sure to forget everything about them that isn’t absolutely necessary for us to know. The knowledge they contain is anathema to Harmony and to possess it is to be less harmonious.”

“But... I bear the Element of Magic. What will happen if I read the Embargoed Texts?”

Celestia sighed and shook her head.

“We cannot say. Hopefully your connection to the Elements means you are more resilient than most.”

Luna spoke up.

“Twilight Sparkle, you have to understand that reading the Embargoed Texts would only be stepping onto the beginning of a new and seldom trodden path. You will not find a spell that makes everything better at the mere wave of your horn. What would follow is rather something you already know intimately: research.”

“You still... trust me? Even though I am this... weak?”

Luna huffed at this.

“I did not anticipate that appointing you an Agent would end up with you being tempted by the Embargoed Texts. I was trying to reach out to my sister. That said, I do not appoint my Agents casually. I determined that you would do much that is good to Equestria if your personality was allowed to impinge a bit more freely on your surroundings, same as with all the Agents I’ve appointed. I generally stand back and let them be themselves. Only if you behave in a way that is untrue to yourself or if I have evaluated you poorly would I feel the need to step in. Twilight Sparkle, neither is true in your case. You have behaved precisely as I had hoped. This reason is also, in addition to what my sister mentioned, why I will not advise you even if I could. By all means hold counsel with your friends if you feel like it, but please do not ask me to tell you what to do. That would rob your appointment of its purpose. You have my blessing as long as you remain true to yourself. Strength or weakness is relative.”

No pony spoke for a while. Twilight stared into Luna’s eyes until she felt she had confirmation of the words Luna had spoken. Then she slowly shifted her gaze over to Celestia, who looked down to Twilight with warmth and sadness in her eyes.

“I’m sorry to you too, Celestia.”

“My faithful student, for what do you need to be sorry?”

“Forgetting to write for so long.”

Celestia nuzzled Twilight’s cheek.

“In that case I too am sorry.”

“Would- would it be all right if I stayed and tried to help? Would you trust me if I chose to read the Texts?”

Celestia pulled back and straightened, gazing up into the canopy of the bed.

“Do I trust you and wish you would stay? How do I answer that best? I think I know. May I see your Scroll, Twilight?”

Twilight nodded and started looking around the room for her saddlebags. She hadn’t until now cared enough to wonder, but she saw she was in her own quarters. The saddlebags lay on top of a dresser by the door. She opened them with her magic and brought out the Scroll, floating it over to Celestia. The princess of Day smiled at Twilight and took the Scroll in her own magic, briefly reading through it before letting her eyes blaze with light and burning her signature next to Luna’s.

“There. Even if you already had the authority to act in both of our names, you now have both of our approval to do so. A mere formality but I think you understand my point.”

        Princess and student hugged. When they released each other Twilight asked Celestia if she was feeling better, causing Celestia to laugh merrily.

“I should be the one asking you that! But yes, I am feeling better. Professor Chalice has informed me of your progress using the Elements and I have been greatly encouraged by it, though I doubt we will be able to save the creature by using them. By her description it sounds like the alien matter changes too much. Now it’s your turn.”

Twilight managed to smile after a couple of false starts.

“I’ll survive.”

She held her mentor’s gaze for a moment before looking down. Then she raised her eyes again.

“Actually, I feel very well rested indeed. Just how long have I slept?”

“Not as long as you might think: about three hours. Libram used a spell on you that threw you into an invigorating slumber that is much more powerful than normal sleep. He isn’t normally allowed to use any spells, but your behaviour was violent enough to allow for self-defense.”

“It defends itself by putting ponies to sleep?”

“He, Twilight. Libram was a stallion in life and he is still a person. He can as a matter of fact defend himself however he sees fit. We did not feel a need to somehow gradually escalate his response to any threat, instead relying upon his judgement.”

Tremors seized Twilight’s limbs.

“Could he have... killed me?”

Celestia nodded.

“Possessed me?”

Another nod.

“But... Why didn’t he? I thought-”

“That he is a mass-murderer and an undead monster who wouldn’t pass up the chance to cause mayhem and destruction? Well, he was that. Emphasis on ‘was’. Seven hundred years have passed since then. That is a long time for regrets to work their craft.”

Luna decided to add to the conversation.

“Twilight Sparkle, Libram neglected to mention that my sister did more than just talk to him. Think about it: He had bound his very essence to a book. Spirits behave much like liquids, in that they take the shape of the container you pour them into. It was an easy feat for Celestia to weave further enchantments into his phylactery... and then simply read him. And edit out what she didn’t like.”

Twilight ogled her mentor, who shifted uncomfortably from the intensity of the inspection. She had difficulties reconciling the image of Celestia helping a filly Twilight discover her talent of magic, and becoming almost like a second mother to her, with the image of Celestia, the ruler, dispassionately performing mental surgery on a pony’s very being and excising that which festered. Not to mention with the image in front of her, of a nervous and fidgeting Celestia.

“My sister makes it sound like I did so regularly. I swear it was not more than twice!”

A giggle, bright like the jingles of Hearths Warming in the winter night, escaped Luna’s lips, astonishing Twilight.

“Admit it, dear sister, you would make a wonderfully capable tyrant!”

A pillow smacked into Luna’s face, bowling her over so that all her legs flailed in the air and her wings thrashed against the ground, making downy, blue feathers whirl everywhere.

“Your tyrant sister commands you to eat eiderdown until you are sorry, hahaha!”

Behind Celestia, the doors to the linen closet swung open by a blue aura. She was smacked on both sides of her head by pillows even before Luna managed to right herself, which was made harder by how much she was laughing.

“Nay, foul dictator, ‘tis the forces of Night who shall prevail and incidentally tuck thine feathered brain into a pillowcase where it rightfully belongs!”

Twilight squealed with laughter as diplomatic talks broke down and the warring sisters exchanged downy artillery fire across her bed. The door to Twilight’s room chose that moment to be wrenched open, and her five friends spilled into the room with various expressions of alarm painted on their faces. They halted quickly and surveyed the terrible battlegrounds with concern giving way to utter confusion. Then Celestia managed to dodge a pillow causing it to barrel into Applejack. The farm pony grinned dangerously.

“Girls, I reckon it’s about time we have ourselves a little coup.”

The Battle of Pillows consisted of an eight-side free-for-all with shifting allegiances and much treachery and lasted until all participants were exhausted. Ponies were coughing up feathers everywhere and the air was thick with them. Twilight’s bedclothes had been confiscated by various military forces and used as shielding or improvised nets. The combatants themselves lay strewn across the battlefield in various poses of defeat.

Pinkie Pie sat up and swayed slightly while surveying the destruction.

“Well done, girls! That was almost as good as when I plan one of my spontaneous parties, but I’m afraid we’ll need more than this.” Her tone had switched to a solemnity very seldom heard from her.

Twilight raised her head and struggled free from under Rainbow Dash.

“What do you mean, Pinkie? We’re beat.”

Behind her, Rainbow Dash sat up.

“Yeah, that took a lot even out of me! It was fun, but I couldn’t do it again.”

“It’s time for another party. I don’t do these often, but my Pinkie Sense says we need one right now.”

Rarity paused from trying to untangle a candlestick from her mane.

“Whatever do you mean, darling?”

She gasped with shock when Pinkie turned towards her with watering eyes.

“We need a ‘cry if I want to’ -party. We’ve seen so much during these last days that would make a pony forget smiling for years -unless they had a good cry.”

Rarity couldn’t withstand gazing into Pinkie’s somber face for more than a few heartbeats before her own mood resonated to the party pony’s. Twilight tried to protest.

“Pinkie, I’ve cried enough as it is. I should get busy.”

Pinkamena Diane Pie turned slowly and pinned Twilight with her mournful gaze. Then she tenderly hugged her.

“Have you really cried enough, Twilight? Really?”

For a moment Twilight was unable to think of an answer. Then she saw and felt a yellow pair of hooves embrace her. Fluttershy laid her head against Twilight’s shoulder and sobbed weakly. Twilight found that she had misjudged her mental state as silent tears began rolling down her cheeks. Next, Rarity huddled up to the group, followed by Applejack, who was covering her face with her hat but couldn’t hide the sniffles. Rainbow Dash abandoned her tough image and pressed against the group.

Finally, Princesses Celestia and Luna spread their wings and embraced all six ponies from opposite sides, enclosing them.

All sang of their sorrows, and became cleansed of them, while the feathers kept snowing.

~~~~~

Luna and Celestia had left, walking together and gently leaning against each other. Rainbow Dash had left after that, barely lingering to pay minimal attention to her mane and tail, followed by Applejack and Pinkie Pie.

“How do I look, Twilight?”

She inspected Rarity’s face and mane. There was no trace of shed tears except for a slight puffyness around the eyes.

“You look fine.”

Twilight was given a hug for her efforts. Rarity didn’t hurry to end the embrace, instead murmuring into Twilight’s ear.

“Thank you, Twilight. I think we all needed this. Good night.”

The she released her hold and walked out the door. Twilight looked after her for a moment before having an uncomfortable feeling she was being watched. She turned her head and saw Fluttershy, sitting on her haunches, next to her.

“What is it, Fluttershy?”

“I want to help you.”

“Help me with what?”

“You said before that you are too weak. Um, I am also weak, but I was thinking... maybe it would help you if we were weak together?”

“Are you- are you offering to try to take some of what’s been weighing me down these last days off my shoulders? Without knowing what it is?”

Fluttershy merely nodded without breaking eye contact. Twilight looked at her for a while, eyes wide and mouth forming a small ‘o’. Then she walked forward and laid her neck against Fluttershy’s, nuzzling one of the yellow pegasus’ folded wings.

“Thank you for the offer, Fluttershy. From the bottom of my heart. But I couldn’t do that to you. I don’t want anypony else have to- hm.”

She backed up with a far-away look in her eyes. Fluttershy waited for her to say something else, but as the silence stretched and it became obvious that nothing more was coming she lost her nerve and padded silently out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Twilight stood still for a while longer. Then she gathered some pillows by the window and lay down upon them. Outside the stars had come out, and Twilight regarded them while the thoughts in her head sought their paths.

Inferno

Chapter 12:Inferno

Twilight sat down in front of Libram’s shelf.

Miss Twilight Sparkle? Isn’t it in the middle of the night?

“The palace guard was doing the shift rotation they always do three hours past midnight as I came here. Why? Does it matter?”

I suppose not. Well then. What can I do for you?

“I would like to study the Embargoed Texts to see if there is anything there that might help end this crisis.”

Do you understand the risks involved? Have we made it clear how dangerous these texts are?

“No.”

Correct. Then: why? Why do you want to study these texts?

“Because if I don’t do it then somepony else has to. I’m here so it might as well be me.”

Libram didn’t answer that immediately. Twilight had patience, though, so she waited. After a short while the disembodied voice interrupted her attempts to estimate the amount of books the library could hold.

I must say I am impressed. Less than half a day ago you made a much less level-headed appeal. It is quite remarkable to see you’ve managed to pull yourself together and even think this through in this short time. I am left with one last question. Are you sure about this?

“No.”

Indeed, how could you be? Well since you are still sitting there I will assume you wish to go through with this anyway. You have the Princesses’ blessing and I deem we’ve done all we can to prepare you. All you have to do is visit me when you’d like access to the books I keep.

“Right now would be great.”

What? In the middle of the night?

Twilight sighed. She was developing a quite strong dislike for having to repeat herself.

“I am used to late-night studying. Does it matter?”

My apologies. I seem to be turning into a creature of habit after all these years. Very well!

The book was lifted off its shelf by an intensifying aura of gray magic. It floated down to hover in front of Twilight and turned so the edge opposite the spine faced her. Then both the front and the back covers opened so their inner sides were displayed. Both contained the same image: an intricate pattern of lines in gold and black that made Twilight think of the watermark on her Scroll, but where the watermark showed the Moon-and-Sun motif this image seemed abstract. An outer circular area was dominated by golden lines, most of which were aligned towards the centerpoint of the diagram, intermingled with black lines. Inside this was a central area almost completely covered by black with only a few streaks of gold visible.

“What’s that?”

These are my eyes.

Twilight became aware of a rushing sound. She appeared to be falling towards the book, or the book appeared to be moving towards her, she couldn’t tell. She tried to push back with her front hooves but it was too late-

She opened her eyes. She hadn’t moved. Libram’s book still hovered in front of her, covers closing. She could feel it in her magic... only the aura around the book was still gray. Her eyes crossed and she tilted her head back in a naive attempt to see her own horn. She could just about see the aura on the edge of her vision, and her eyes were telling her that too was gray.

“Libram?”

Just a moment. Let me put this back on the shelf.

Her ears swivelled until they faced each other. Libram’s voice no longer seemed to come from the book, but from inside her. The book landed gently on its place in the bookshelf and the gray aura around it disappeared.

Now, then- oh. Oh my!

“What? What is it?”

Libram’s voice held an awestruck tone that Twilight considered quite at odds with her mental image of the undead pony.

It’s like a library in here!

A nervous twitch played on Twilight’s left ear.

“You... can see my mind?!”

Well, yes. Side effect of possession, I’m afraid. For the time being you are acting as my physical form, and the magic involved means I gain quite extensive knowledge over it. I see what you see, hear what you hear and so on. All the senses, and your thoughts and memories. I’m sorry, but it’s part of the possession package in case somepony with ill intent manages to trick their way this far. It also means I can impart direct knowledge to you if and when you request it and I judge you have a reasonable cause. There are many additional advantages for you to gain with this arrangement, but let’s just get you accustomed to the basics for now. One step at a time, Miss Sparkle. And... if I may... this is a very tidy mind. Very comfortable. Would you mind terribly if I read some of these books I see? The way they are so well preserved in your memory, making it evident you carefully absorbed every letter... It’s beautiful. Almost as good as what I can do, and it’s my magically enhanced special talent for Celestia’s sake!

Twilight was struggling hard not to panic. This intrusive voice in her mind was among the most frightening experiences of her life. The compliments were helping a great deal, though, and she managed to relax enough to analyse her reaction. It didn’t take long for her to form a theory: her mind was her ultimate weapon, and it being vulnerable or exposed in any way was a terrifying concept to her. It had happened before and long periods of nightmares had always followed: Discord, her experiences with dark magic and the multiple times her own insecurities had made her snap, such as the ‘want it need it’ fiasco, were all heavy weights on her mind and terrors to be revisited whenever she slept fitfully.

She heard a noise like someone clearing their throat.

I think I can put you at ease. Well, at least partially. First order of business is to teach you two very simple spells.

A magical diagram bloomed in her mind. It resembled Libram’s eyes but was of far simpler design and contained runes that Twilight recognised. She knew that if she drew it on a surface or managed to portray it in her mind then it would act as a conduit that Libram could travel through, allowing him to enter her mind from a distance. While she was still ruminating this she became aware of something that wouldn’t really pass as a spell -it was more like a magical command. All it did was eject Libram from the mind of any who so much as meditated upon it. In fact, it was so simple that it could be invoked even while one’s consciousness was impaired. This meant it might occasionally be triggered inadvertently. Twilight regained much of her composure as she remembered these comforting facts.

A polite cough made her look around, but she was alone as always.

“Hello?”

You certainly internalised the exit command swiftly. In record time I think. Not that I am complaining, mind you. It means you can try out the summoning conduit whenever you like.

Libram’s voice was once again coming from his book. Twilight felt relief that her mind was once again her own. She could walk away and do this some other day. Libram was right, doing this in the middle of the night was silly and probably contributed to her unease. She should go to bed.

She should, but on the other hoof...

Steeling herself, she closed her eyes and assembled the conduit in her mind.

Well done. Shall I use the conduit?

Twilight squeezed her eyes tightly shut and whispered through clenched teeth.

“Yes.”

This time the world seemed to lurch, threatening to bowl her backwards, but when she opened her eyes she was as still and upright as always. She breathed slowly to calm herself.

All right, she thought, let’s get to work.

~~~~~

Moonlight shone down from the window high above, hitting the balconies about three storeys up from the floor. Some of it did reflect, but the spot of weak light was still so bright that everything else was rendered pitch black by the high contrast. Twilight intensified the light coming from her horn, letting it shine a little stronger on the figure on the marble slab. She caught herself thinking of the creature as a corpse, nothing more, and there was certainly no visible evidence to the contrary. There was a weak smell in the air that she couldn’t remember ever encountering before, and she found it revolting.

She had heard nothing from Libram in quite a while now. The ancient pony had at first been greatly curious about her situation and the state of Equestria in general, but something seemed to perturb him as she continued her explanation of events. He had stopped asking questions. By the end of her monologue Twilight had been worried that she’d accidentally cast him out of her mind again, but while she’d walked to the hidden chambers she had noticed a slight presence behind her eyes that she’d never felt before and assumed that Libram was still with her as long as that sensation remained.

Libram? Are you all right?

I -yes. I am fine. My apologies. Well, then. First order of business would be to figure out if there’s some type of divination we can use to find out more about this creature. I have some candidates in mind thanks to some pretty strong suspicions regarding what’s going on but we should probably test them first, preferably on something other than the creature we are trying to save. You mentioned the scholars have samples of this material somewhere?

Twilight walked to the ledge where the scholars had pitched their tents. She wondered idly why they hadn’t elected to use a couple of the countless rooms that stood empty as she walked up to the one that she thought housed the rock samples. The tent flap withdrew at the touch of her magic and she saw that the tent was mostly filled with stacks of wooden boxes. One box by the entrance had its lid opened and Twilight saw that it was divided into small compartments using thin wooden panels. Each compartment held a mass of straw and a bottle containing a rock suspended in oil. She stopped herself before she would have instinctively tried to grab a bottle with her telekinesis. Instead she elected to plant her front hooves on the side of the box and push it out of the tent. Once outside she carefully picked up one of the bottles with her teeth and carried it a good distance away before putting it down on the ground.

All right, what do I do now?

For now you just have to stand there. I am capable of casting spells through you. When I have something we can use I will reveal it.

Twilight’s horn was quickly encased in a gray aura, but the magic didn’t stay that way. It became a brilliant, pearly white before a silvery beam edged with a riot of kaleidoscopic hues flew out and struck the bottle. She gasped.

“What kind of magic was that?”

Unharmonised magic. Or higher magic, to put it another way. It produced no effect whatsoever. Let’s try this then...

Time passed. Luna’s moon travelled behind Mount Canterlot, letting darkness cover the mountain ledge. There was little to see apart from the multicolored and seemingly infinitely varied displays of light produced whenever Libram cast a spell on the rock sample. Twilight was fascinated by the feel of the spells coursing through her horn, and since she wasn’t the one casting them she could concentrate on that sensation. She was growing impatient, not out of boredom but because there were some questions nagging her and she didn’t want to interrupt Libram. It dawned on her that she didn’t need to ask: Libram could probably see the questions in her mind as long as they were present when he paid attention to it.

Libram cast another spell, but instead of producing a beam of some kind it appeared the whole world had become fluorescent. Every rock and pebble in front of Twilight was illuminated by its own ghostly and colorless light, giving everything a clear outline. The mountain Twilight stood on looked like a clear container of liquid with brightly lit edges and the occasional sparkling particle within it moving lazily. It seemed organic. Twilight noticed her own hooves next: a blaze of milky energy seemed to be contained within her form, forever pressing against her skin from the inside in an attempt to break free.

Please look at the bottle, Twilight.

What is this?

This is a divination of spirit. That everything has a spirit is common knowledge, and much of the magic the zebras use concern its manipulation. We are looking at a visual representation of the spirits that are everywhere around us.

The rock sample was a hole in space, an intruding darkness centered within the bottle’s glowing outlines. It seemed to suck all light from its vicinity.

Oh, how interesting. I’ve only seen theories about this before. Back up a bit and blast it with your own magic, would you please?

Twilight tilted her head and watched her breath condense in the wintry air. Even her exhalation seemed to carry some residual glow. Shouldn’t we get some bricks and glass first?

I’d like to study the effects without any interfering material. You should be quite all right as long as you are further away than a couple steps from it. Just make sure you aren’t casting an actual spell on it because that triggers sensory feedback. Only hit it with your raw power.

A short blast from Twilight’s horn hit the stone. She saw that her magic was also present in her vision of the spirit, but there it was represented as colorless smoke that gathered around the stone and seemed to cling to it. The smoky light focused into traceries of cracks that spread over the surface and brightened, but the darkness it surrounded also increased in intensity and began to encroach upon the glowing outline of the bottle. A bang and the tinkle of glass heralded the bottle’s demise, portrayed in Twilight’s vision as glowing shrapnel erupting from it and flying everywhere. Dark flames shot out from a black rend in space and seemed to injure the spirits of everything nearby, warping and shrivelling the forms and causing them to writhe in an unnerving resemblance to gravely injured animals.

Well that looks bad. But it’s a start, and detecting even minute quantities of the alien matter seems to be very easy with this divination. Do you want to learn it?

Twilight cast the spell. Nah, I got it.

Buh. What the. How did you do that?!

Buddy, ever heard of the Element of Magic? What’s my special talent again? Use my own horn to cast a spell and by Celestia I have all I need to cast it again.

That’s not good, Twilight.

Can’t be helped. Anyways, do you know what happened?

Libram grumbled for a bit, too indistinct for Twilight to make sense of the words.Well I have a theory. The alien matter has its own spirit, but one which doesn’t resemble the spirits of our world. You wouldn’t know this, but Harmony acts mostly through manipulation of the spirit and most of the magic you usually cast is a manipulation of Harmony. Something goes wrong when Harmony comes in contact with the alien spirit and the result is damaging, both for Harmony and for the spirits in the immediate vicinity. What we need to do now is to determine if this really is the case.

How do we do that?

We try to communicate with a spirit. I have several spells to that end and hopefully one or two of them won’t cause a destructive reaction. We test them on more rocks to make sure there’s no danger or destructive reaction, but such a simple object doesn’t really have anything to say. We’ll have to try to talk to the creature. Even if it’s a primitive life-form we should be able to establish some kind of communication. Oh, and could you, I don’t know, close your mental eye or something? All this magic is embargoed for a reason.

Twilight smiled. No can do, mister. New spells and magic is why I get out of bed every morning.

It’s your life to ruin.

Every spell Libram tried avoided reacting violently to the alien matter. In fact, Twilight suspected that he deliberately ceased testing additional spells after four successes. His petulant tone confirmed it.

Well I think four different spells should be more than enough to find the creature’s spirit if it has one. Shall we go and give it try?

Nodding once, Twilight walked through the hallway to the empty theatre. She walked up to the magic circle and sat down on her haunches to wait. A minute passed in silence. She frowned.

Still there, Libram?

How could I have been so stupid! This is inexcusable!

What’s wrong?

I am under a geas not to use magic on those I don’t possess unless they give permission or threaten me somehow. I hadn’t even considered that it might apply to this creature as well! Zapping pebbles is fine, but this thing is still far enough removed from a lump of charcoal to make it an issue.

A grin appeared and widened on Twilight’s face. She could hear Libram sigh in frustration.

Yes, you madpony, it means I have to let you cast the spells.

I’m not complaining. She prodded her memory and the first spell Libram had cast sprang obediently into view of her mind’s eye. What does this one do? How does it work?

They are all variations on the same theme: Letting your spirit contact another spirit and establishing a frame of reference for communication, a mental construct that fetches props from the mind of the contacted spirit to serve as a stage for interaction. The basic construct conforms to-

Twilight cast the spell. She experienced a shock, as if she’d been straining her muscles to push open a door only for it to suddenly swing open without any resistance. Her point of view was moving forward, towards the charred body of the creature. She looked back only to lock eyes with herself. She -her body- was sitting on its haunches at the edge of the magic circle, just as she had left it, except... was that a hint of gray in her eyes?

Her view swivelled of its own accord and the creature’s form loomed in front of her, giant in her vision, and she seemed to be colliding with it just as everything went black.

She felt weightless. She couldn’t breathe! Her eyes snapped open in panic, and she stared straight at... it had to be the creature. The scene was dark, only illuminated by a ruddy glow coming from overhead, but the general form of the creature was unmistakable. Twilight became aware that she was apparently standing on a small plot of some kind of grass surrounded by blackness. The creature was half-prone among the green and tan straws, and it looked about how Celestia had described it. Its face was turned upwards and one of its limbs was reaching up like those fingers could grab hold of something in the air.

Twilight followed the creature’s gaze and saw an angel/Celestia. Feathered wings like tufts of summer clouds haloed in the fires of hell/the sun and arms/legs outstretched as if to welcome me/save the creature. Am I dead/was this a memory?

If I am dead then why would I be choking? The thought appeared in Twilight’s head, yet it wasn’t hers. She flailed her legs to try to move towards the creature, to make some kind of contact and gain the creature’s attention. She shouted with her thoughts.

You are alive! This is just a memory! We’re trying to save you!

The creature turned its face towards her. She stared into surprisingly small eyes, splayed wide open from terror bleeding into partial insanity. The irises were stormy seas of green and blue surrounding contracted pupils, set in bloodshot white, surrounded by what looked like brown leather in the prevailing lighting. Yet that maddened gaze locked onto hers and the pupils dilated, guided by some emotional swell. The creature’s mouth opened and closed a couple times like that of a dying fish.

A memory? I remember... fire.

The creature’s face became a visage of pure horror. Then light and heat like a giant hammer slammed into Twilight and pinned her against the grass. Half a second later she understood pain on a magnitude that made all her previous encounters with it seem like an itch. She lost all her senses.

Trading Places

Chapter 13:Trading Places

Consciousness returned slowly. Twilight became aware of her body and the fact that she was apparently walking, yet the impression was muted akin to being trapped in a well and hearing someone call your name. Her returning senses did not lend her any control either - her wish to stand still went unheeded like a cry for help aimed at a little patch of sky high above.

Vision was switched on and she found herself looking at the creature. Her point of view was circling the slab: she appeared to be walking around the perimeter of the magic spell. Libram's voice suddenly spoke into her mind, sounding harsh.

How are you feeling, Twilight?

I can’t move! I can’t control my body!

Calm down. I took the reins when what was supposed to be an instantaneous spell rendered you unconscious. It’s one of the protective measures allowed me. Since you are already awake enough to panic I suppose you are prepared to resume control. Here we go.

Suddenly the ground below Twilight tilted and she was falling. Her instincts responded before she was able to formulate a thought and a hoof shot forward to stabilise her. She came to a teetering standstill and took a couple of panicked breaths. When she’d re-established her hold on reality she sat down on her haunches and inspected herself. Her entire body was trembling.

What are you expecting to find, Twilight?

She didn’t have to answer. Libram’s question had been enough to bring the memory of her melting fur into focus and set it replaying across her mind. Twilight could hear the shock in his voice when Libram spoke.

Merciful moon! When Celestia incinerated my body I had the small fortune of it being already dead and therefore unfeeling. And by the way, that’s another parallel. History is repeating itself, Twilight. Don’t end up like me.

The shivers running through Twilight’s body were weakening.

Well in that case I hope we can save this creature without having to turn anypony undead.

Ha, ha. Very funny. I can see that you are prepared to handle this responsibility like an adult. No, wait, what am I saying? An adult unicorn wouldn’t do the stupid mistake of casting a spell without paying careful attention to exactly how it works. Well, at least not any adult who’d passed magic kindergarten.

Twilight cringed.

Oh wow, you’ve actually managed to include that in your paranoias? Where do you hide this insanity when it’s not in use? I see no sign of it in here.

Tears formed at the corner of Twilight’s eyes and started their trek across her cheeks while her lower lip trembled. She lay down on the floor and whispered.

“I’m sorry, Libram.”

All was silent for a couple of moments. Then she gasped as a new spell bloomed in her mind. She prodded at the spell mentally and found that she understood perfectly what it did -it was a very powerful healing spell- even though the actual magic being used was unfamiliar to her.

But... Why would a healing spell be among the Embargoed Texts?

I’ll have to be vague about this, I’m afraid. How it works, and why it works so well, is forbidden knowledge. If you try to figure it out then you risk abandoning Harmony.

A frustrated huff escaped Twilight’s lips.

That doesn’t make any sense at all.

Trying to make sense of it all could very well be the biggest mistake of your life. Trust me on this. Anyway, this spell should work on the creature -even through the slowing of time. It works on the same level as the spirit contact spell you cast earlier.

Should I cast it? I mean, we haven’t figured out how to prevent the violent reaction that happens when the alien matter is fed ordinary magic.

The way I see it we should heal the creature right now. It is undoubtedly dying as we speak albeit ever so slowly. There’s no point in gambling with that. Everything else depends on us being able to keep it alive so we can find a solution to the less pressing matters.

You are right.

Twilight frowned and stood up. For a moment she’d been tempted to suggest that letting the creature die was the best option and she couldn’t understand from where that impulse had come. She dismissed the thought and concentrated, gathering the magic for the spell in her horn. Trying to describe magic was always difficult: it was like trying to describe colour in a language developed by a nation of permanently blind ponies. Attempts had been made among unicorns to develop adjectives for the sensations of magic, but consensus could never be reached and most scholars were anyway used to borrowing concepts from the other senses.

Thus Twilight mused, as she concentrated, that the spell she was shaping had a much more clearly defined outline than almost all other spells she’d ever cast -with the exceptions being the spells she’d learned from Libram. The spell could almost be described as sitting uncomfortably in her mind, jagged edges, restless vibrato full of life and heat.

The approaching sound of hooves on stone caused her concentration to falter.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing?”

The magic charge faded. She looked up and saw the green and gray pony approaching her.

“Marble Chalice? What are you doing here this early?”

The scholar stopped in front of Twilight and regarded her with curiosity.

“It’s less than a quarter of an hour to Celestia’s reign. I wouldn’t call that early -most of the songbirds are up.”

“Wow, I didn’t realise. Time flies” when you are unconscious.

Chalice chuckled, though Twilight couldn’t escape from noticing that her gaze was nervously avoiding Twilight’s eyes.

“I’ve heard rumours you’re something of a night owl. Have you been researching all through the night?”

Don’t tell her about me. The less she knows, the better. If you must, you can allude to gaining access to a secret library.

“Um. Yes. Um. I took a couple of rock samples in order to perform some experiments. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

“No, not at all. Celestia knows, we managed to gather up tons of the more far-flung debris before falling ash made it too dangerous to venture near the impact site. There should be more than enough for our needs.”

Chalice gave an encouraging nod to Twilight.

“So did you find out anything helpful? It looks like you were casting a spell when I saw you.”

“Actually, yes, I think I can heal the creature’s wounds.”

Chalice’s eyes widened and she sat down.

“Really? That’s wonderful! Don’t let me stop you!”

Twilight nodded and turned back to the blackened form of the creature, again gathering the requisite magic for the spell. She could see through the corner of one eye that Chalice was apparently staring at her, but she decided to ignore it. She fired the spell, causing a stream of yellow sparks to shoot from her horn and impact the creature.

Nothing happened.

Chalice cleared her throat.

“I haven’t seen many samples of magic that wasn’t colored by a pony’s personal aura, and I can’t recall anything about yellow effects. May I ask what that was?”

Twilight was still staring at the creature in bewilderment as she mumbled her response.

“That? It was spirit magic.”

“Oh, like that which the zebras use? It doesn’t produce a reaction from the alien matter? Intriguing. Too bad it didn’t seem to work, though. Although, to be honest...”

Chalice leaned towards Twilight as if she was confiding in her.

“...I’ve sometimes thought it would be best if the creature would die. That way we could concentrate on the real problem.”

She raised a hoof to halt Twilight’s disbelieving outburst.

“I know, I know. Princess Celestia herself specifically tasked me to save this creature. And yet... I sometimes feel it’s distracting us from far more important matters.”

Chalice gave an embarrassed cough before continuing.

“Anyhow, do you have any idea why your spell didn’t work? Does the creature have a spirit at all?”

“Yes, we- I checked. I am sure. I don’t know why it didn’t work.”

“I haven’t read much about zebra magic, as it is a different system from harmonic magic, but I did read the exploration diaries of Dr. Living Stone. If I remember correctly, one of the zebra elders mentioned that some illnesses of the mind could render a zebra immune to some of their magics. If I remember correctly, the rhyme went ‘No harm from anger-cast spear, nor balm from a loved one so dear’. I guess that means healing and harming magics.”

Oh of course! I’ve read Living Stone’s diaries and I should have thought of that! It’s true -and what’s more, it’s quite reasonable to assume that the creature’s mind might be injured by what it’s gone through.

Twilight was still confused.

But why did the communication spell work?

Hmmm, we’re hitting the dangerous territories again I’m afraid. Trust me: though they are both spirit magic they couldn’t be any more different.

Chalice was still staring at her. It unnerved Twilight somewhat, but she assumed she only appeared to be deep in thought rather than carrying out a conversation in her head. Still...

“Thank you, I think you probably have found the explanation for why my spell didn’t work. I am only a laypony when it comes to psychiatry, but that should hopefully be enough, especially if I can get my friends to help when I talk to the creature.”

Marble Chalice blinked slowly.

“Um... Miss Sparkle, you speak as if actually communicating with the creature was something you’ve already accomplished.”

“Oh! Um, yes. Well, we had a meeting... Spirit to spirit, actually.”

“Fantastic news! What was it like? What did it say?!”

“Um- it was a brief encounter. It was remembering the moment it entered our world, and... for a spirit that seems to be just as vivid as actually being there. It was... very, very painful.”

“You are telling me that the creature is reliving that moment while in a coma? Yes, that can’t be a good sign regarding its mind.”

Chalice laughed suddenly.

“Oh ponyfeathers- I have just delivered a report to Princess Celestia, yet what you’ve told me just now certainly warrants another one!”

“I could deliver it -I’d love to visit her- but what did you report?”

“Oh right! I have good news. The analysis came back: the material created by blasting the alien matter with the Elements of your five friends turns out to be common mineral crystals. Rock dust, basically -which is something very different from what our attempts to analyse the alien rock indicated. So it would seem that the elements can normalise the matter, though not without disintegrating it in the process. Not so good for the creature, but it means your friends can be instrumental in cleansing the affected lands and curing the poisoned ponies. We’ll just need a way to spread the effect as wide as possible, preferably over all of the world at once.”

Twilight laughed delightedly.

“Finally the beacon of hope is lit! We must tell my friends immediately!”

“That’s already being done.”

Chalice sighed and ran a worried hoof through her mane.

“I’m afraid this is probably going to be a very trying time for them. Until we find out how your combined Elements react to the alien matter we won’t dare use the massive area spells they can cast. A testing range is being specially constructed with all haste at the base of Mount Canterlot, but it’s still a couple of days from completion. In the mean time your friends will be asked to cure individual ponies, beginning with the most critical cases at Canterlot General Hospital. I’ve- I’ve been there. They are quite upsetting to look at.”

Twilight digested this in silence. Chalice nodded at her and inspected her coin before moving to the testing area.

In case you should ask: yes, the healing spell should cleanse a body of all poisons.

No, I think it’s best if I stay here and try to help the creature. There must be a way to heal its mind.

The spirit link should speed things up greatly, as mental illnesses are quite apparent there -though it does mean you expose yourself to a damaged mind. You’ve already experienced what that can mean.

Twilight nodded and lay down facing the creature before casting the spell. She convulsed, and her head fell to the stone floor.

Drat.

Twilight’s mostly purple eyes blinked and turned gray. Her body stood. Her mane was shaken in frustration. Then her legs started walking, taking her around the magic circle. Her eyes regained some of its purple during her sixth lap.

Unnnnngh.

There you are. Ready to take over?

Ohhhh. Not yet. I feel so weak. Tired.

Twilight’s body slowed down for a bit before resuming its pace. Spiritual contact is dangerous and can lead to harm. I don’t think I specifically said it earlier. Still, you don’t have a choice if you wish to heal this creature. Resting between attempts is a good idea, though.

It was just like last time. We were at the sun portal and the sun started burning again. I failed to get the creature to change the scene. But I don’t understand why it has such an effect on me: isn’t it all in our minds? What exactly happens to me?

It’s not in your minds, but in your spirits. Your spirit could be said to contain a memory of your body, and it is this memory that manifests as you when you commune with other spirits. When your spirit experiences an event wherein the representation of your physical body is drastically altered it can’t tell that it’s only the manifestation and not your real body which is altered. The conflicting information causes your spirit to be partially dissociated with your material self. Reality reasserts itself over time as your physical body re-imprints on your spirit. On the other hand, repeated changes to your spiritual form within a short time span might completely sever the link between spirit and body, resulting in madness, coma or even death.

A moment of mental silence let Twilight’s body complete another lap.

Libram, why are you walking around in circles anyway?

I don’t get to experience the luxury of having a body very often nowadays, so I tend to take every chance I get to just walk around and stretch some legs. In over seven hundred years my subconscious mind has stubbornly held on to the notion that I should have a body, so just walking is very relaxing for me. Um. I hope you don’t mind. I walk in circles because it would be impolite to move you somewhere else without your permission.

Another lap of silence.

No, actually, I don’t think I mind. Could you walk us to Princess Celestia while I rest a bit more? I need to talk to her and then find Fluttershy.

It would be a pleasure!

Twilight’s body leaped joyfully and headed towards the stairs.

TLC

Chapter 14:TLC

Fluttershy focused. She let her compassion and her goodwill flow out of her and gather at a point in front of her. In her imagination that point was a brilliant, white and green point of light hovering above the unmoving lamb in front of her. She let the light hover gently down until it touched curly fleece, at which point she felt her necklace stir. Her opening eyes saw the golden glow that surrounded the injured critter for a moment before dissipating.

The lamb’s legs kicked and it opened its eyes.

Fluttershy found herself embraced by two young ponies who were laughing brittle, teary-eyed laughs of immense relief.

“Oh... My...”

She blushed at all the attention, but truth was she revelled in it because it meant she’d been able to help somepony. Well, somecritter if you wanted to get technical.

The two young ponies transferred their attention to the lamb and fussed over it.

“Elsie, how do you feel?”

“Be-e-e-etter...”

That had been the general theme wherever she went since that morning. Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had headed to the hospital after coming to a general agreement that Fluttershy would be spared having to enter that place, considering the rumours circling around. She’d been grateful, but a little bit surprised when Rainbow Dash had also asked to be excused. Everypony understood her, considering how close a thing her own healing had been. In hindsight it was fairly obvious that her being an Element of Harmony had certainly helped protect her from the worst effects of the ash she’d inhaled.

Rainbow Dash did have an ace tucked in her feathers: she’d announced she was going to tend to the guardsponies guarding the ash-poisoned areas and coordinating the rescue efforts. She’d flown off towards Cloudsdale.

That left Fluttershy free to decide for herself, though she hadn’t seen any need to: everypony was concentrating on, well, everypony. That left a lot of other beings completely ignored. She’d first flown to the communal stockades of Canterlot. They were bursting at the seams with animal companions brought by the evacuees. Feed was scarce, the wintry ground had no grass suitable for grazing and many critters were in terrible shape, having fared no better than their pony caretakers when the ash reached them.

Even thinking back to it made her squeak a little out of equal parts horror and contriteness. She’d used The Stare on the herdsponies, extracting a promise to enlarge the pens until the critters had room to roam. The guilt was quite thoroughly lessened by the results: a much larger pasture had been erected in merely two hours. Bales of hay and sacks of oats had also arrived from somewhere. It sometimes galled Fluttershy how ponies had to be coerced into showing even such elementary kindness towards other ponies, not to even mention other creatures.

She was so lost in thought that she bumped into somepony. A moment of confusion later she was steadying and automatically apologizing to what appeared to be a very sickly earthen mare covered by a hooded robe. She took in some details while her brain supplied apologies on auto-pilot: the muzzle not covered by hood was covered by a ragged, tan coat full of blemishes. The robed pony attempted to push her gently away, letting Fluttershy feel how she trembled.

“Oh dear! Are you all right? You look like you’ve been poisoned by the ash.”

Fluttershy let go of the mare and pointed at her necklace.

“Luckily I can remove that so you can recover. Just let me-”

“No!”

The mare had almost shouted the single word, startling Fluttershy badly and causing her to back up.

“But- but-”

The mare drew back her hood, to the sound of gasps and surprised shouts from every nearby pony. Her head was badly disfigured. A wide streak of coarse, black hair, as if she’d been burned, crossed her face diagonally from a left upper ear, shrivelled to a clump of flesh, to the right side of her jaw. One eye was covered by a milky film and was oozing a clear liquid. The other eye lacked whites and iris, and there was no sign of either eyelid, making it look like a black marble.

Fluttershy merely gaped at the sight in front of her, transfixed, while her legs buckled underneath her. The mare advanced a couple of steps to close the distance between them, bringing her battered face level with Fluttershy’s. She hissed, though if she was angry or not was hard to tell: her upper lips seemed to be permanently fixed in a snarl.

“I don’t need your so-called ‘cure’. I am one of the few who will live on while the rest, all of you too weak to be purged by the Ash and incapable of accepting its gift, will fade into a memory. This I have been promised, and don’t you dare take that away from me!”

The mare suddenly reared on her hind legs and started shouting.

“Ponies! If you have the strength to look into yourselves and uncover the ugliness within so that it may be cleansed, then seek out the ash and be pure! Accept the gift of the gods and be promised life eternal! Forsake these false goddesses who would make you their slaves!”

“Hey you! That’s treason! You are under arrest!”

To the guardsponies’ credit they had waited to announce their presence until they were positioned to put a hoof each onto the mare’s shoulders. Unfortunately they were unprepared for what happened next. The mare, despite her sickly appearance, seemed to be equipped with all the strength her earthen form was entitled, plus another generous helping of the same. She twisted out of their grasp and slammed her front hooves into the icy pavement. There was an ear-splitting crack and a flash of black and blue, and the stones closest to her writhed and twisted in the corrupting flame of the alien ash. It also caught both guardsponies, making them wail in terror and pain as it crept up their legs, burning and twisting them. Then the mare fled, knocking away any pony in her path.

Fluttershy roused herself from her paralysis and immedately set to curing one of the stricken guards. She let her worry and sympathy pour into her Element. The golden glow enveloped the guard, healing his legs and making the discolorations on them scatter like dust. A sudden tingling noise made Fluttershy turn in time to see golden sparks hit the second guard, alleviating his injuries just as completely as the Element of Kindness had managed with the first guard. She trailed the sparks’ paths back to the source: Twilight was looking down at the other guard. At least, it looked like twilight, but the mare in front of Fluttershy had gray eyes and didn’t seem to acknowledge her friend.

Then twilight blinked, swayed and shook her head. When she looked up again she locked her now-purple eyes with Fluttershy.

“Oh, hey, Fluttershy! I was looking for you. What exactly happened here?”

Fluttershy spoke about the robed mare and her rantings, and what she’d done to the guardsponies. Twilight’s expression darkened as she listened, and she was silent for a long while after Fluttershy had told everything. The guardsponies thanked them profusely, expressed their dismay at not being able to detain such a dangerous individual, and left to make a report to their superiors.

“Twilight? What’s on your mind?”

The question caused an extreme reaction. Twilight was so startled she nearly leaped into the air, and the look she gave Fluttershy was a mixture of alarm and guilt.

“What? Nothing! Why do you ask?”

Now that Twilight was staring so wide-eyed at her, Fluttershy noticed there was still a hint of gray in her friend’s eyes. It frightened her and she backed away, mumbling.

“Um... You were silent for so long, so I was wondering about what you were thinking... Sorry?”

Twilight shook her head and mane. Then she graced Fluttershy with a slightly forced smile.

“No need to be sorry. I was a bit distracted thinking about this.”

Her smile disappeared.

“This could be very bad. This earth pony can spread the corruption the ash leaves behind? And she does so willingly? She believes it’s a gift?”

Twilight shook her head again.

“The Princesses need to be informed. Could you come with me? I’d like to ask you to help with the creature as well.”

“Um, I thought our Elements wouldn’t be used on the creature?”

“No, no. You see, the creature seems to be stuck reliving the moment it was burned by the reigniting sun. I believe it’s lost its mind. We need to find a way to calm it, and to do that we’ll need to speak to its spirit. To do that I’ll cast a spell on us so that our spirits can contact each other. I won’t lie to you: it could be unpleasant. We feel everything as if we’d really be there. It won’t really happen to us, you understand, well it will happen to our spirits, but then we just need to- Fluttershy? Where did you go?”

Fluttershy had stopped walking without Twilight noticing. She stood staring straight ahead with wide eyes, wings partially unfurled as if about to fly, quivering with fright. Twilight walked up to her side and nuzzled her gently until Fluttershy relaxed and tucked her wings against her body.

“Fluttershy, I know it sounds scary but I believe it’s the only way we can help the creature. Please? The only way I’ve found to heal it requires that we heal its mind first.”

“Um- If- If it’s that badly hurt... then... maybe it’s better if- if we let it... pass away?”

Twilight’s eyes bugged out and she stared at Fluttershy with her mouth agape.

“You? Even you would suggest that? Just... what is going on?!”

Fluttershy whined.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It just sounds so scary, and sometimes when I find an animal who’s really hurt, so hurt that I can only hold it and try to ease the pain, they look at me with their eyes and they just beg me to release them from- from...”

The whine became a wail and she collapsed into a fit of sobs.

Twilight used her hoof to gently stroke Fluttershy’s mane.

“I’m sorry. I don’t intend to force you into this. I just don’t know if I can do it alone. Celestia wishes to save the creature, and I’d really like to do so, for her sake if not for anything else.”

“No, you are right.”

Fluttershy gulped and calmed.

“It does deserve a chance. I’m very scared, but I’ll do it. I don’t know why, I can usually control myself when I need to help somepony or somecritter. There was this idea in my head that just... letting it go... would be better.”

She chuckled bitterly.

“Look at Fluttershy. She’s so scared of helping she wishes others would just die.”

“Stop that! That’s not true, Fluttershy! You are a very brave mare and don’t let anypony tell you different!”

Twilight hesitated.

“Besides... You are not the first to suggest we’d be better off if the creature died. It’s almost strange.”

“Well, I’ve changed my mind. I hope you can forgive me for even suggesting it.”

Twilight nudged Fluttershy, encouraging her to rise up from where she was lying in the icy street.

“There’s nothing to forgive. Now come on. We’ll go and make sure Celestia knows about the strange mare you met.”

~~~~~

“This is very worrying, Twilight. What you describe sounds like some kind of dark magic, able to manifest even in earthen ponies!”

Princess Celestia was frowning, sitting on the Throne of Moon and Sun. There were murmurs and whispers all around Twilight and Fluttershy as the ponies attending Day Court discussed her news. Celestia cast a glance sideways, to where her sister was watching from one of the balconies, before shutting her eyes. After a moment she opened them and looked at Twilight again.

“Twilight, in light of this it becomes clear that our highest priority should be erasing this corruption from the face of Equestria. Everything else is secondary.”

“Ummm what about..?”

Celestia’s gaze hardened.

“Everything else is secondary.”

Twilight bowed nervously and backed away with Fluttershy following her. When she was out in the court’s lobby she finally turned and ran, stopping to lean against a wall a bit further away and take a couple of deep breaths. She twitched as a hoof touched her shoulder.

“Um, are you all right, Twilight?”

“I’ve... I’ve never been scared of the Princess before. But this time...”

She shuddered.

“There’s something very, very wrong going on here, Fluttershy.”

“Well... maybe this whole situation is new and making Princess Celestia act in a manner unfamiliar to you?”

Twilight turned away from the wall and faced Fluttershy.

“Princess Celestia is one of the most caring, loving ponies I have ever met. She’d never, ever be this worried about somepony- er, some creature’s- survival only to change her mind like it didn’t matter anymore!”

“You are right. I know she wouldn’t do that.” Fluttershy’s brows pulled together and she stared into space. “Maybe... maybe you misunderstood her? I mean, she didn’t specifically tell you to let the creature die, did she?”

Twilight nodded while chewing her lip.

“You must be right. I simply misunderstood her. She couldn’t outright mention the creature while in Day Court, after all. Come on, let’s go to it.”

Fluttershy followed Twilight. As they walked she became aware that Twilight was mumbling. She moved a little closer, in case she’d gone deaf and Twilight was speaking to her normally after all.

“...Must be that I misunderstood. She’d never... Never...”

~~~~~

“Are you ready, Fluttershy?”

“Eeep! Um... Yes.”

“Remember, you’ll feel like you can’t breathe. It’s okay, though. Your spirit form doesn’t need to breathe. Just ignore it and try to make the creature pick a more comfortable location. I know approximately how long we have before the sun ignites, so if I tell you we’re out of time you should immediately end your spell like I showed you.”

“Eep!”

“Don’t be afraid. Just remember that you can end the spirit link whenever you wish.”

Fluttershy held her breath for a moment before letting it rush out, relaxing while she exhaled.

“Twilight? Let’s just do it.”

Twilight hesitated before nodding and shutting her eyes. A silvery light enveloped her horn and then expanded to cover all of her before jumping to Fluttershy, who gasped.

Fluttershy couldn’t breathe! She strained her lungs to inhale any available scrap of air while opening and shutting her mouth in panic. Then she opened her eyes and took in the scene. In front of her was Twilight and... what had to be the creature.

She heard Twilight talking... at least, she thought she heard Twilight talking.

Look at me, please. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I’m trying to help you. We’re speaking on a spiritual plane that you have control over. Could you please come up with something less hostile?

Fluttershy fought to ignore the feeling that she was suffocating. Then she ‘heard’ another voice.

I... Remember you.

Yes, that’s good but could you please please please remember something else than this?

I remember... fire.

Oh no. Fluttershy, we go! Now!

Fluttershy blinked. The charred body of the creature was in front of her. She swayed slightly and steadied herself with a hoof.

“Oh my...”

Beside her, Twilight let out a frustrated groan.

“You can say that again! Anyway, we need to try again.”

“Wait. Does he always say the same thing?”

“He? Um, no. It- he- does seem to know we’re there and respond to us.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. Twilight waited for more, but that seemed to be all Fluttershy had to say.

“Ready for another try?”

“Yes.”

Once the silvery aura had enveloped Fluttershy she opened her eyes and spotted the creature, half-sitting, half-lying on the grass as before, staring up at a hovering image of Celestia.

Twilight walked up to the creature, stopping by its feet.

Look at me, please. It’s Twilight Sparkle ag- Fluttershy?!

Fluttershy had ran up to the creature and thrown herself in his lap. She felt his hands touch her lightly on her back. She turned her head and saw that he was looking directly at her, for the first time actually focusing his eyes. She let her body tremble, expressing all her fear, while locking her gaze with his.

Mister? I’m scared! Remember the fire? It’s going to come soon unless you help me!

His mouth opened and shut soundlessly, but his voice rang clear in her head.

The... Fire?

Yes! Please, make it go away! Make us go someplace else! All you have to do is wish and all of this will go away and we’ll be elsewhere! Please, take us someplace where it’s safe!

She felt Twilight try to pull at her shoulder.

Uh, Fluttershy? I don’t...

Twilight stopped as she watched a hand lift and slowly start stroking Fluttershy’s mane. Fluttershy tried to channel all her helplessness and meekness into her gaze and pour it into the eyes of the creature.

Please save me. Please, protect me and keep me safe. Please. Take us somewhere safe.

Fluttershy, nice try but-

Please. Take us home.

Another slow stroke of Fluttershy’s mane. Above, Celestia’s outlines were becoming brighter.

We need to go, Fluttershy!

Take us home.

We really should go now!

We should go home.

The light level had surpassed that of noon in a desert with the sun directly overhead.

FLUTTERSHY!

I don’t want to burn! Please, please, PLEASE-

The sun’s brilliance forced her to shut her eyes.

Twilight inhaled reflexively to brace against the imminent pain, and air rushed into her lungs. She paused, holding her breath, her eyes slamming open in confusion.

The sun was in front of her, warming her face gently.

She was standing on a floor that had the appearance of polished and lacquered wood, and was looking out of the largest windowpane she’d ever seen. It stretched from floor to ceiling, and the ceiling was high. The vista in front of her was beyond mind-blowing. The sun was low on the horizon, and everywhere she looked she saw gargantuan towers with mirror surfaces, reflecting the sun, each other and everything else. She was awestruck.

She finally exhaled.

“Where are we?”

“Home.”

She turned at the sound of the creature’s voice. He was sitting on the floor, his back leaned against a white wall, Fluttershy still trembling in his lap with her hooves in front of her eyes. Twilight walked up to her and gave her a gentle nuzzle.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy. You did it! You managed to save him!”

“I... did?” I was so scared!

“It was pretty scary. But you were so great. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Fluttershy frowned.

“Um... You heard my thoughts?”

“We’re still in the spirit plane. We’re not really talking right now -it’s all in our thoughts. You accidentally projected yours so we could hear it.”

Twilight sighed and rested her head against Fluttershy’s side.

“I almost, almost broke the spell, but I just couldn’t bear leaving you behind.”

“Um... I’m sorry I didn’t end it when you told me to. Please, don’t be mad.”

“I’m not.”

Twilight raised her head and regarded the creature. His eyes and expression had gained a ghost of awareness that hadn’t been there before and he was following her and Fluttershy’s discussion with his eyes.

“Um, hello again. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Do you remember my name?”

He peered at her.

“Twilight Glitter?”

“Close. Twilight Sparkle. And this is Fluttershy. We’re here to help you.”

“Help me how? I’m dead, right? Isn’t this the afterlife?”

“The what now?”

“The afterlife. You know. The place you go to when you die?”

“Is that what happens to you? We believe we get passed on to Harmony, and Harmony purges us of our previous life, making us empty and ready to be reborn as another pony. I’ve never heard of any afterlife, and this wouldn’t be it because we’re not dead and neither are you. This is the spirit plane, as I said. I had to come talk to you here because you are unconscious.”

“Why am I- wait. That fire really happened, didn’t it?”

Just as he’d said that, the creature’s hands began to blacken. He raised one of his hands up in front of his face and watched as his skin slowly turned to soot and flaked. The other hand, still caressing Fluttershy, was doing the same, smearing soot over her mane. She squealed and struggled to get away. The creature mumbled.

“You’re lying. I’m really dead, right? I must be. Nobody survives that kind of thing. You’re just getting my hopes up before I get sent back. Back to the fire.”

He shoved Fluttershy away and rose to his feet, balling his fists and raining soot. The advancing wave of black had eaten away his shirt and pants, raining ash down onto the wooden floor.

“I don’t want to go back! I want you to go AWAY!”

Healing and Scarring

Chapter 15:Healing and Scarring

Twilight opened her eyes and shuffled backwards on her haunches before she got her bearings. To her right, Fluttershy was looking around with an expression of startled confusion. Twilight looked back at the marble slab holding the creature’s body.

“Better try this quick before he gets worse again...”

She cast the spell of healing. The golden sparks struck and the creature seemed to swell, upsetting flakes of soot which fell down revealing healthy skin beneath. At least, Twilight assumed it was healthy. From what she’d seen, the creature’s own body image was mostly hairless so she assumed the creature’s fur coating was supposed to be almost non-existent. The mane hadn’t grown back very much either. Still, she sighed with relief. The creature was out of the most immediate danger. Perhaps this would please Princess Celestia.

I wouldn’t count on it, Twilight.

She ignored Libram for the moment and turned to Fluttershy, giving her a hug.

“You were amazing, Fluttershy. Thank you so much.”

“Um, it looks like he didn’t believe us. Maybe we should go back and talk to him?”

“I’ll do that eventually, but I think I’ll bring somepony along who is better at honesty.”

“Oh. Oh! Good idea. Um, in that case do you think I could return to helping the animals?”

“Yes, go right ahead.”

Twilight sat down and watched Fluttershy go.

Libram, I have a feeling you know much more about this situation than you are letting on.

Of course. That’s my job, basically. I exist outside Harmony, making me the perfect repository for knowledge that would drive a pony to darkness or insanity. Whenever you ask me a question I need to carefully consider if giving you the answer is really worth it.

Well I think something is wrong. Ponies I know are behaving strangely. Or am I wrong, Libram? Is everything as it used to be?

Well, no. You are in fact skirting dangerously close to the truth.

Well let’s say I figure this out without your help. Why would that be so bad? What would happen to me?

Harmony would turn on you.

Harmony would...?

Your friends, the Princesses, every pony you met. They would all see you as their enemy.

But... why?

Twilight. Please, let it go before it’s too late. It’s not worth it.

Well what about you then? I don’t see you as my enemy even though you have all this... knowledge.

Really, Twilight? You weren’t disgusted by me and insanely terrified to even be in my presence when we first met?

All right. You have a point. But I’m no longer afraid now. So what’s changed?

It’s because you have understood, deep down, what I am.

Well? What are you?

A captive. Your mind, Twilight Sparkle, is my prison courtyard. Harmony does not fear me, chained as thoroughly as I am.

A huff that ended with a groan forced its way out of Twilight’s lungs.

Why? Why does Harmony work like that? Just what is Harmony anyway?

Well now you are asking all the right questions. I’m coming really close to failing to protect you, and when that happens... I fear for you almost as much as I fear for myself. Ponies generally don’t survive long outside Harmony. For the last time: drop it. Drop it and just walk away. What’s coming is going to be bad enough.

What do you mean? What’s coming?

The subtle presence in her head was gone. Libram had left her. She sucked in a lungful of air through clenched teeth and held it, shutting her eyes and scrunching her muzzle into a grimace, before letting it out in an explosive exhalation.

“Fine!”

She walked to the nearby mountain ledge, hoping to talk to Marble Chalice, but the green mare was nowhere to be found. Her two assistants were present, though. They were folding the tents.

“Um... Hello? Rules and Scales was it? What are you doing?”

The two ponies nodded politely at Twilight, and the earthen mare spoke up.

“Ruler, Miss. Professor Chalice has decided to conclude her experimentation with the alien matter here on the ledge. She believes she won’t get any further answers without using the resources found at the University, and moving it all here would take too much time to set up. The matter would be gone before everything was set up and in order.”

“Oh? All right. What about the creature, though? I managed to heal it, but- wait! Where are you going?”

Both ponies in front of Twilight had looked at each other before running towards the opening in the mountain. She ran after them and found them excitedly circling the creature’s slab, just outside the magic field, discussing what they saw.

“Definitely some kind of ape, but I’ve never heard of such a hairless species.”

“We might want to wait before establishing that. Miss Sparkle’s healing spell might not regrow fur.”

“Nah, look at his head. There’s a good mane and beard there even if it’s short.”

“What’s that, Scales? His head?”

Scales gestured vaguely towards the creature’s midsection. Ruler nodded after craning her neck for a brief inspection.

“Right. It’s definitely a male.”

She turned to Twilight.

“This is very exciting, Miss Sparkle! Do you think he’ll wake up soon? Maybe we should ask Princess Celestia to remove the time stop field?”

“Um, yeah, that’s what I wanted to discuss with Professor Chalice, actually. Celestia mentioned that she doubts the creature can breathe the air here in Equestria, which means it’s probably suffocating right now. If we could rely on all our magic we might bypass that easily but we can’t.”

“That’s a pretty smart assumption by the Princess! I wouldn’t have thought of that myself. Would be a shame to go to all that trouble only to see him fare like a fish on dry land. Lucky for him -and you- we’ve got plenty of alien air stored.”

Twilight did a double-take.

“What did you just say? You’ve got alien air stored? How did you get that?”

Scales gestured to the wooden crates now standing under the open sky.

“We learned the hard way not to store the alien matter in enclosed and unventilated spaces. We’d placed the first batches of it we gathered in a basement vault at the University and the air in that room turned to poison overnight. The rocks still held a lot of gases, you see, and it had seeped out. We’re very lucky only three ponies died.”

Ruler sobbed once, and Twilight guessed she had known one or more of the unfortunate ponies. Scales threw a comforting leg over Ruler’s back and hugged her before continuing his recount.

“After that a new store was hastily built in the open air, using mechanics to filter out the alien gasses and store them in tanks. At first we considered just letting the gasses burn out by blasting magic at them, but that would be too damaging to the surroundings. So that means we’ve got quite a lot of the stuff sitting around and nopony knows what to do with it, but I bet you could have some kind of room built and have it filled with that gas in order to let the creature breathe. Well, assuming it’s the right gasses.”

Twilight beamed a brilliant smile at him.

“You are absolutely right! It’s risky but it’s the best plan we have. We’ll need to construct the walls out of glass or crystal, so we can look in and he can look out. The floor needs to be alien matter, of course, to protect his hoo- his feet. And we’ll need a way to freshen the air! This needs careful planning!”

She danced a little dance of excitement and spun a pirouette. Then she settled down and stared at the two amused ponies in front of her.

“But... This is going to be expensive. How am I going to handle that?”

Ruler raised an eyebrow and peered at Twilight quizzically.

“Don’t you have Agent’s credentials, like Chalice has? That means you have the right to use all the resources of Canterlot Castle, which by extension means all of Equestria is at your disposal.”

“Oh. Oh! Oh right...”

~~~~~

Applejack opened her eyes and saw Twilight standing in front of her. She’d been so heavily asleep that it took a good while to sort out all the necessary bits involved in talking.

“Uhhh. Ummmm. Nnn. Ohhh, heyyy, Twi. Haven’t seen you in a couple of days. Or has it been a week? Anyways, what are you doing here? What have you been up to?”

No answer came. Applejack became worried, shook her head to disperse the last remnants of sleep (which had been blissfully dreamless for a change) and peered closer at the mare in front of her. Twilight’s expression bore a mixture of anxiety and pity. Then Applejack sensed she was still tethered to the cart she’d been pulling last night. Somepony had thrown a blanket over her sleeping form, but she was still lying in the middle of the castle’s lumberyard.

“Aww hayfeathers. Did I doze off right here?”

“Um, it sure looks that way, Applejack.”

Applejack sighed and lay her head down on the frozen cobblestone. She was still weary and feeling cold despite the blanket, which actually seemed to be an old carpet wrapped in a ragged burlap sack. She felt Twilight lie down by her side.

“What’s the matter? Every time you work yourself to the bone it’s because something’s preying on your mind.”

Applejack lay silent for a while before answering. There were no tears or shivers. She simply talked in a dead almost-monotone.

“I can’t sleep anymore without nightmares, unless I am really, really tired. Twilight, did you ever go to Canterlot Hospital? You didn’t? Good choice. Land sakes, that place was just horrible. The screaming and the weeping and that stench. I thought I’d seen it all when we got here to the castle past all them ponies, but it was nothing, Twilight. Nothing compared to the hospital."

"We were met by the doctors, and just looking at their faces scared me. They took us to see to the most pressing cases first, things that I wouldn’t have called a pony even if they presented me with signed testimonies from their mothers; they were so badly twisted. But our magic worked, Twilight. That’s the only reason why I don’t have nightmares during my waking hours too, I reckon. We used the Elements, and from under all that twistedness, filth and pus there would spring a pony, worse for wear but with nothing that bed rest wouldn’t fix."

"The looks on their faces were like honey to us. Both the doctors and the patients, I mean. Then the doctors asked us to help with the difficult cases. When we said yes they took us to the closed wards. The open wards, you see, had ponies who’d taken a beating on their bodies. In the closed wards were the ponies who’d been touched in the head by the ash. Twilight, they didn’t wanna be cured. Some were just shouting and cussing, kicking and biting at everypony who came close. Them we just blasted from a safe distance, and more often than not they’d collapse, taken by seizures. Some of them died even with the doctors being right there to help them. Some did calm down and apologise, but those were the lucky few."

"Rarity left after a couple of those, and I can’t find it in me to blame her. We all need to know how much we can bear before we break, and nopony should be asked to bear more. I think she wouldn’t have coped with the other patients anyways. The ones who became angry or sad that we’d cured them. There were some who kept shouting that we’d killed them, that they’d been promised a better life or something and we’d taken that away. Pinkie tried to cheer them up, but she had her fill when one pony we’d cured tried to bite her. She left, and I think she made the right choice because it didn’t any get better after that. The worst I saw was a unicorn with her horn sawed off. The doctors did that to her. Her horn had been touched by the ash, and she’d been blasting everypony she could see with blue-black fire, corrupting them as well. She called it a gift, and she wailed more when I cured her than when the doctors took her horn. At least, that’s what they told me."

"That was some hours past noon on our first day there, and already I was alone. I didn’t reckon the others would return, they’d seen too much, but I knew that if somepony didn’t do this now then we’d have more ponies to bury soon. Oh yeah, on the third day they took me to the morgue as well. They wanted to see if my magic could restore the dead so they could be listed in the hopes that somepony would recognize them and give them a proper burial. Well, it worked. I guess I’m glad about that. It also worked through the bags they had the bodies in, which spared me from having to do them one at a time. There were wooden coffins stacked like timber, Twilight. Ceiling high piles of them. The carpenters had run out of nails at some point and had reinforced the joints with glue and rope instead."

"So yeah, I did the closed wards all by myself. Pinkie and Rarity did have the stomach to take care of the open wards, even though the patients there were often in much worse shape. They worked just as much as I did, we simply parcelled the hospital wards between us and I took the worst places to spare them."

"I started having nightmares about the hospital after the first day. They got worse over the next days. Pinkie and Rarity have them too, and we get together to... to cry and talk about it. I think it helps, I do. But for now I’d just prefer not to dream, thank you very much, if it’s not too much to ask.”

Twilight was staring off in the distance, Applejack realised, vaguely in the direction of the hospital. The recount seemed to have stunned her to speechlessness. Applejack didn’t mind telling it, actually, she felt she’d probably lose her mind if she’d have to bottle up all that. She tried to stand but failed, falling to her side instead, causing the cart to creak as her harness tugged at it unevenly. This drew Twilight out of her shock, and she used her telekinesis to undo the harness and push away the wagon. Then she nuzzled Applejack behind the ear.

“Applejack, you’re burning up. You’ve worked yourself sick, and sleeping out in the cold can’t have helped.”

Twilight picked up Applejack with her magic, eliciting only a weak moan of protest from the normally headstrong mare, and deposited her on Twilight’s back. She started walking towards the castle.

“I’ll take you to Fluttershy. She’ll take good care of you.”

“Ummm, to Fluttershy you say? Really? Twilight, she’s in worse shape than I.”

This brought Twilight to a halt.

“What?! What’s happened?”

“You remember the Spinners, right?”

“Yes, Fluttershy arranged for them to use her cottage. Um. Why.”

Applejack finally mustered enough strength to show emotion, and even in her current condition she chose to display sympathy, grief not for her but for another.

“Twilight, I’m sorry. Fluttershy got another letter from them yesterday. It’s bad, Twilight. Really bad.”

“Oh no.”

~~~~~

Dearest Fluttershy,

I do not know how to tell you this, or even if I should. I feel you should be spared, since I am hearing so much good about you and your friends from our new neighbours, but at the same time I feel it would be wrong to hide things from you after you’ve so graciously given your house to us for an undetermined time period. I could see it in your eyes when we talked that you are a very gentle and sensitive pony, and everything around us in this cottage confirms this. So please, believe me when I say: We are grateful to you. We don’t blame you for any of this.

We had such wonderful snowfall the night before last. Big, beautiful flakes that glittered in the lamplight from the windows. Next morning the landscape was like a hearths’ warming postcard. We’ve never seen winter like this before, as Gallopwoods lay in warmer lands close to the desert. Naturally enough the children were wild with excitement. They had such a great and merry time. Even Silk, our eldest, laughed for the first time since we had to leave our home. With hearths’ warming imminent the school is closed, so we let them play in the snow under Silk’s watchful eye while we went into town to shop food and presents.

We were interrupted a couple hours later when Tale, our second oldest, called our names outside the shops. We didn’t understand him, but we rushed home. We found our youngest two inside the house, surrounded by the animals and Silk, who was hysterical. They had been eating the snow, pretending it was icecream. I don’t know how the animals knew what was going on. We pieced together later that that bunny of yours, Angel, tried to stop them, but his attempts were misinterpreted by Silk as being rude, so she’d chased him away. She couldn’t know that the snow had contained ash from the mountain.

They’re dead. Our two youngest foals are dead before they even got their cutiemarks. We took them to the hospital, of course, but there was nothing the doctors could do.

Silk took it hard. I think she blames herself, even though it wasn’t her fault in any way. She just couldn’t have known. She’s run away, I think out of some fear that we’d blame her as well. We don’t. We just want her here with us.

If you could spread the word that ponies should keep an eye out for her then we’d be grateful. She’s a unicorn, as you might remember, with a tan coat and rust red with a streak of pearl white on her mane and tail. We think she left clad in yellow boots and a scarf with white and red checkers.

If you see her, please tell her that we love her dearly and that we miss her.

Forever in your debt,

Flax & Dewdrop

Anger

Chapter 16:Anger

“Cheer up, Rarity! The ponies are improving. Soon the hospital will be back to normal!”

Rarity didn’t cheer up. She glanced at Pinkie Pie, bouncing by her side.

“Pinkie, I simply can’t comprehend how all of this gloom isn’t getting to you.”

“Oh it gets to me just as much, but these ponies don’t need to see another frowny face. They need laughter. I can save the sadness for later: that’s why we do the cry-outs.”

Pinkie stopped bouncing and settled into a normal walk while she contemplated something.

“But I never thought I’d have cry-parties every night. So much sadness!”

“Indeed, darling. I’m just glad you’re there for us all -and especially for Fluttershy right now.”

A shudder went through Pinkie’s body, making Rarity raise her eyebrows.

“Is that your Pinkie sense? What does it mean?”

“Um, I dunno if it’s the sense, but I feel like we’re being... watched.”

This time Rarity shuddered. She looked around: they were walking along a hallway in the hospital, one level below ground. The staff had a couple of simple bedrooms here and she and Pinkie had been given one when they had expressed their willingness to be available at short notice should an urgent case of ash poisoning turn up. They were currently returning from it after having enjoyed a brief, mutual moment of rest.

The hallway was quite spartan, lights spaced quite far apart to save expenses, since it wasn’t a part of the hospital where patients were expected to roam. The walls were bare cement, dotted here and there with old, mustard-colored flakes of paint grimly hanging on and remembering days with a less stringent budget. The lamps were weak and far from sufficient to illuminate all of the hallway, leaving most of it in darkness.

Rarity looked ahead and saw a pony at the end of the hallway, only outlined against the lamplight of the emergency exit sign. Well, to be exact she saw a dark pony-shaped figure with purple, glowing eyes. She slowed down until she stood still, with Pinkie by her side. Rarity started to tremble. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pinkie start to back away.

“Who’s there?”

The shape advanced until it came into the next cone of light, revealing Twilight looking at them curiously.

“Hi, girls. What’s up?”

Rarity blinked.

“T- Twilight? Please don’t scare us like that.”

“I startled you? I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Pinkie Pie chimed in, though her voice was shaky. “Hey, I usually enjoy a good scare, ha ha, eh, but we’re a bit nervous right now. Did you hear about the break-out?”

Twilight nodded. She’d reached her friends and stood in front of them, turning her head to look at each in turn. Rarity stared at Twilight’s eyes. It had to be a trick of the light. Twilight’s eyes can’t really be glowing. My imagination is running haywire, that’s all. That said, they do seem unusually vibrant right now...

“I was procuring some materials from the castle’s stores when a runner from the hospital showed up. She said that most of the patients from the closed wards had escaped. I came here to make sure you girls were fine and also to find out more about it.”

Rarity snapped out of her musings. “Dreadful affair. Some of the ponies that we- well, Applejack mainly- had cured remained hostile to everypony else. Can you believe they wanted the ash to poison them? Anyway, one of them apparently got out of their room early this morning and released the rest. Then they rushed the hospital guards and escaped into Canterlot. When Pinkie and I arrived there were guards everywhere, poking around in case some of them had tried to hide in the hospital and wait for the general hullabaloo to die down so they could sneak out later.”

“Did they find any?”

Pinkie answered. “Nuh-uh. That just means whoever’s playing hide-and-seek is good.”

Rarity tittered nervously. “Don’t talk like that, Pinkie! I’m too high-strung as it is.”

“Sorry!”

Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, how many did the guards manage to find?”

“Darling, that’s what troubles me the most. We’ve heard talk that there are about thirty patients missing, but so far we’ve only heard of one being brought back: a pony who tried to sneak out of Canterlot broke her hindleg while climbing down the cliffside.”

“Only one? Oh dear. In any case, I’d like to see that pony.”

“Really? All right, follow me. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what for?”

They started walking, with Rarity in the lead. Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts. “I, um, think Harmony is doing something to these ponies.”

This drew a snort from Rarity. “Nonsense! That’s just- that’s nonsense, Twilight! These ponies are not even in harmony, so you have-”

“Are you sure?”

“About what?”

“Are you sure the ponies in the closed ward have lost Harmony? Have you checked?”

Rarity stuttered for a moment, incapable of forming words. Then she glared at Twilight. “Well isn’t it obvious to anypony?”

“Obvious how? That they look twisted and sickly? That they are violent and hostile? Ponies fully in tune with Harmony can fight quite fiercely among each other. Even we, the Element Bearers, are no exception to that. I could remind you of a couple of events we’ve been through here in Canterlot, just to name a few.”

Twilight took a deep breath, her face gradually settling into a scowl.

“You know what the really obvious part is? You used your Elements to cure these ponies. Everything that actually hasn’t been in Harmony has been attacked by the Elements. Nightmare Moon was first banished to the moon and later actually destroyed when the Elements were used on her. Discord was twice turned to stone. But these ponies? They get healed. So whatever is the problem with them now, it can’t be that they are out of touch with Harmony, because they are still breathing. The Elements don’t bring ill to ponies in touch with Harmony, or else King Sombra would probably grace the castle’s statue garden right now. No matter how wicked, he was still somehow -somehow- part of Harmony.”

“That’s enough, Twilight.” Rarity looked downright distressed.

The conversation died down for a moment as neither Twilight nor Rarity seemed inclined to continue. Pinkie chose to speak instead.

“But why would Harmony make them even more grouchy?”

“I don’t know.”

“But this is Harmony we’re talking about. Shouldn’t somepony know about these things?”

“Good question. Really, really good. You know why, Pinkie? Do you know why that is a amazingly, colossally, stupendously good question?”

Pinkie was shying away from Twilight by this point. She giggled nervously.

“Um, no?”

“Because nopony knows about these things! Remember Marble Chalice? She’s Professor of Harmonic Theory over at the old C.U. I went to see her yesterday to pick her brains about Harmony. Well, get this: Her classes are about ethics and philosophy. She actually knows very little about the actual workings of Harmony. About the only useful thing I gleaned from her was a simple spell meant to see if something or somepony is in Harmony. When I pressed her on why she hadn’t tried to find out more she got angry! Angry! It’s as if nopony wants to know how one of the most central things in our lives actually works!”

“Um, Twilight? Are you okay? You’re kinda yelling at me.”

Twilight lowered her head and fought to control her temper. Eventually she made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a sob.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie. I’m getting so frustrated over this. Everywhere I turn with these questions I get one of two answers: either the pony knows nothing or I’m told in no uncertain terms that I’ll come to harm if I keep prying into these matters. I just don’t understand how they can say that when it’s obvious something is going so very wrong between the ash and Harmony. If I don’t seek out the answers, what then? What are we going to do with these ponies? Lock them up? Forever?”

Pinkie’s thoughts on the matter went unheard, as a muffled shout and the jingle of heavy chains echoed from ahead of the trio, distracting them all. They had arrived at the closed wards, and at a door with a guardspony posted outside. He eyed the trio warily but only nodded curtly to them. Additional shouts and the jangling of chains could be heard from inside.

“Good day, Ladies. The patient is being fed right now. Please, for everypony’s safety, follow the instructions of the orderly if you plan to go inside.”

Twilight digested this for a moment. Then she walked up to the small, barred porthole set in the door and looked inside. The single-patient room on the other side was spartan, to say the least. A single block of some kind of spongy material seemed to serve as a bed. A pony was currently shackled to it, rendered nearly immobile. There were even iron bands meant to hold her head still, but they had been loosened, most likely by the unicorn orderly sitting in front of the bed. A bowl of gruel was held in the orderly’s front hooves and a spoon hovered in his magic. Judging by the mess his attempts to feed the patient had been less than successful. The shackled pony, an earthen mare, fought against her restraints with a rabidness Twilight had seldom seen, hurling insults all the time.

Twilight sighed, steeled herself and pushed the door open with her magic. The patient’s head snapped around to glare at her, but the insult that had been forming on the captive mare’s lips died before being uttered. The earth pony’s irises shrunk to pin-pricks and all of her struggling ceased. The baffled orderly looked around and spotted Twilight.

“Hello, Miss. Are you a relative or an acquaintance?”

“No, I’ve never seen this pony before as far as I can recall. I am Twilight Sparkle and I’m here because I’d like to find out more about this pony and those like her.”

Twilight advanced further into the room. The chained pony now wore a mask of fright, and strained against her bonds again, but now to get away from Twilight. This mystified the orderly.

“Are you sure? She’s been snarling and snapping at every single pony before you who’s entered this room.” He eyed Twilight warily from the corner of his eye even while seemingly looking at the patient.

“I’m quite sure. I don’t know why she’s reacting like this. Well, not for sure. If you don’t mind I’d like to check something for just a second and then I’ll be away.”

The orderly nodded his silent permission. Twilight sat down in front of the bed, shut her eyes and started to concentrate. Almost at once she heard the jangling of chains. The patient moaned and wailed in fright. There was also a startled gasp from her side.

“By Celestia!”

Twilight interrupted her spell and looked around in alarm. The orderly was staring at her, a look of awe on his face.

“What’s the matter?”

“Miss, your eyes. It looked like they were leaking purple fire just now.”

Twilight blinked, frowned and turned back to the chained mare in front of her.

“Miss, I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. I’ll just cast a very simple spell of divination. Not on you, but on me. It won’t affect you in any way.”

The patient didn’t answer, only peering at Twilight while sobbing from terror. The earthen mare was shaking so badly that there was a constant jangle from her shackles. Twilight sighed and looked around until she spotted a washbasin and a towel by the door. She gripped the towel with her magic, and yes, now that she held her eyes open she did notice that her vision had turned ever so slightly purple. She saw both Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who were standing outside, gasp and stare at her face. Rarity even backed away a bit. Twilight ignored them and turned back to the patient, bringing the towel ever so gently towards the supine pony’s face.

“Miss, what’s your name?”

Twilight began wiping away the gruel stains on the mare’s face and mane. The patient finally seemed to relax, but was still staring at Twilight like she was an inescapable doom.

“L- L- Lavender Leaf.”

Twilight rewarded the mare with a gentle smile while hovering the towel over to the washbasin and rinsing it before bringing it back. She glanced briefly at Lavender Leaf’s right hindleg, which was covered by a plaster cast.

“Lavender Leaf is a very pretty name. Would you like me to heal your broken leg?”

Lavender didn’t answer, though Twilight saw from her expression that she was torn between her fright and the desire to be free of her injury. Doubt and hope warred in her eyes. Then a quick flash of something a lot more subtle sped over Lavender’s features before she managed to suppress it. Twilight pretended not to notice the devious look as the captive mare did her best to return to looking scared.

“Y- yes, please.”

Twilight nodded and said no further comment while she concentrated. Her vision flared purple, but the golden sparks shot from her horn as before. Then she smiled at the look of awe and wonder that had stolen over Lavender. Twilight sighed inwardly as the mare in front of her again had to briefly fight off the calculating look. She decided it might be better to play along for now, so she glanced at the orderly and the cooling bowl of gruel held in his hooves.

“You must be hungry, Lavender.”

“Um.. Yes.”

Twilight smiled and raised an eyebrow at the orderly, who nodded enthusiastically and held up the bowl for her to grip with her magic. She floated bowl and spoon over at Lavender, but when she brought a spoonful of gruel close to the mare’s mouth Lavender looked away sadly and held her mouth closed.

“What’s wrong?”

“This is so... demeaning. Could I please eat for myself?”

Twilight glanced over at the orderly while Lavender wasn’t looking. He had a warning frown on his face that Twilight had expected, so she winked at him.

“I’m sure that will be fine.”

She magically grabbed the manacles locked around Lavender’s hooves while the orderly backed away slightly. Lavender smiled with bliss and gratitude, almost managing to convince Twilight who floated the bowl of gruel over to her so she could grab it.

When Lavender hurled the bowl with full force at Twilight it did nothing more than leave Lavender’s hooves before being caught in Twilight’s magic, not even spilling any gruel. Lavender sobbed of desperation and fright, and used the temporary distraction to hit Twilight on her back leg. There was a sharp crack and the scent of burnt earth filled Twilight’s nostrils before she divided her magic to seize Lavender’s hooves. She didn’t even pay attention the orderly’s alarmed shouting, nor that of her two friends, before they were but a memory: all she saw was Lavender’s expression change from amazement to utter terror as the captive switched her gaze between Twilight’s face, her leg and the floor.

Twilight looked down. She was standing in the dead center of a spreading stain of black and twisted cement, still warping from the strange, chaotic magic of the ash. She herself was completely untouched. She wondered over it briefly before shelving the matter for later introspection and returning to more pressing matters. Her magic pressed Lavender’s hooves against the bed and her glow enveloped the manacles, binding the ash-touched mare once again.

“I’m sorry, Lavender, but you shouldn’t have done that.”

Lavender screamed, her eyes wild from terror. The orderly gently put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Miss Sparkle, I think you’d better do what you came to do and leave.”

She nodded, concentrated briefly and seemed to inspect Lavender carefully. She shook her head and bit her lip, then glanced back and forth between orderly and patient. Then she sighed heavily while rising to her back hooves and turning towards the door.

“Sorry about the floor. I had to give her a chance to be nice.”

She returned to the outside, trading apologetic glances with her friends and the quite alarmed guard. Lavender stopped simply screaming to form actual coherent words just before Twilight closed the door to her room.

“WHAT ARE YOU?!”

The door slammed, punctuating Lavender’s accusing question. The guard whistled appreciatively.

“Miss, are you really all right after that? I saw her hit you on the leg!”

“Well I think she bruised me a bit. Why?”

“Miss, anypony who’s been incautious or unlucky enough to get hit full-on by one of these earth ponies? They’ve been carried away on stretchers. That black and blue fire does something to them and the parts of the body where they got hit get twisted.”

Twilight sighed and nodded tiredly. “All right, I’ll add that to the list of mysteries we need to figure out.”

Rarity cleared her throat.

“Well was it worth the trouble, at least? Did you find out what you wanted?”

“Yes. Actually, that pony was even more bound to Harmony than usual.”

“That just doesn’t make any sense, Twilight.”

Twilight chuckled. “Sense has left Equestria a long time ago, Rarity.”

Pinkie Pie and Rarity watched her leave. Neither dared mention the purple fire that occasionally trailed from Twilight’s eyes.

Welder

Chapter 17:Welder

Applejack opened her eyes. She’d been dreaming, but the details had not survived the transition to the waking world. Since she was still smiling she gathered the dream had been good. She gazed up at the canopy of her bed, allowing herself to linger a moment in comfortable drowsiness. Then she heard somepony knocking politely on the door to her room.

“It’s unlocked. Come on in.”

The door swung open and Applejack twitched before smiling at Twilight. She inwardly cursed her poor impulse control: the look Twilight was giving her could only mean she’d noticed the little involuntary reaction.

“Hello, Twi.”

“Good morning, Applejack. I came to see how you’re doing.”

“Twilight, I just slept one of the sweetest sleeps of my life. I don’t rightly know what spell you cast on me last night, but I’m mighty glad I was desperate enough to let you.”

Twilight smiled.

“Nightmares and dreams are linked to the state of our spirit. It’s a little bit of info I’ve come across during my recent research into spirit magic. I contacted some zebra families living in and near Canterlot and talked to them about their magic. One of them was friendly enough to teach me a spell the other day that soothed the spirits of those who’ve been traumatised.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this.

“Well I guess I can testify it works.”

She threw the duvet off her and leapt to standing on all fours before jumping off the bed, landing next to Twilight.

“Now, I know you saw that you gave me a bit of a start just now, and I apologise for that. That said...”

She peered closely at Twilight’s eyes.

“Why in tarnation are your eyes glowing purple, Twilight? You’re not turning to darkness are you?”

Twilight giggled nervously, made uncomfortable by her friend’s close examination of her face.

“Um, I’m not sure. Seems like it’s just excess magic.”

“Excess magic?”

“Yes. I haven’t had time to investigate it much, to be honest, but it seems harmless.”

Applejack looked doubtfully at Twilight.

“If you say so.”

“I do. So anyways, since you are feeling better perhaps you could help me out a bit with the creature?”

“Sure thing, Twilight. Lead the way.”

“Excellent!”

Twilight turned around and headed out the door, talking to Applejack over her shoulder while walking.

“Thank you so much, Applejack! I’ve actually designed a spell that I think will help us a lot. It’s my first time creating a spirit magic spell, so I’m eager to try it...”

The walk to the hidden section of the castle was uneventful. When they arrived at the theatre that held the creature Applejack noted that the place was changing. Four pillars supported a square frame, centered above the creature’s slab. The pillars and frame were solid stone, magically shaped and seamless. A stack of thick glass panels leaned against one of the pillars. Applejack regarded all this in silence before turning to Twilight.

“All right, what am I here for?”

Twilight nodded her head towards the creature.

“Before I let the creature wake up I’d like to explain to him, via his spirit, where he is and perhaps ask what happened to him. This is a bit difficult at the moment, because he believes he’s stuck in some kind of afterlife with us ponies as his tormentors. Don’t laugh, Applejack! This is serious!”

Applejack struggled to relax her face.

“Sorry! I’m real sorry! It’s just- that’s the most cockamamie thing I’ve ever heard!”

“I know, I know. It’s what he believes, and I’d like you to help me convince him otherwise. Previously I’ve been limited to whatever scenery he’s thought up, but my new spell should change that.”

“So, what are you planning?”

“I intend to show him Equestria.”

~~~~~

The creature looked up and blinked, confusion and wonder slowly stealing over his features. At least, to Twilight’s eyes that’s what it looked like. His face was so deformed compared to ponies’ that it was hard to tell. At least his body image was once more unhurt, otherwise she wouldn’t have tried to guess. She simply remained still, smiling benevolently at him as he looked around, taking in the view.

Admittedly, the view was spectacular. Twilight had always liked this hilltop near Canterlot. It was a smooth, uniform dome and was covered by soft, short grass thanks to the various herds that grazed nearby. Colorful flowers dotted it almost year-round. All in all, Twilight had done a pretty good job (she thought) reconstructing it in the spirit realm. Canterlot was more, er, Canterlot-y than the real thing, and distant Ponyville was not so distant, but those were just for reasons of convenience (she’d managed to convince herself).

A venerable oak grew right on top of the hill, and she’d made sure the creature would be leaning back against it for his first view of Equestria (or its spiritual simile if you wanted to get technical).

She was getting nervous, though. The creature wasn’t saying anything. He was just sitting there, taking in the view. It was unnerving. She glanced over at Applejack and was taken aback by how carefree the farm pony’s expression was. Applejack was smiling while looking at the creature through half-closed eyelids.

“Fine day, partner. Mind if I join you for a spell?”

The creature started and seemed to notice the ponies for the first time.

“You again? Wait, you look different.”

“Pleased to meet you. Name’s Applejack.”

“You’re not real. None of this is.”

“You’re right, of course. Twi’s here’s the one for technical terms, but she said ‘spirit’ enough times so I got the gist of it. We’re talking through them, you see. But we do have real bodies, just as you, and we’d really like to make your acquaintance in the flesh, as it were.”

Applejack walked up to the tree, turned around and planted her rump on the ground next to the creature. She leaned back until she met the bark of the tree and sighed.

“Take your time, though. We’ve got no hurry. All of this must be mighty strange to you, and from what we can tell you’ve been put through the wringer something fierce, so we’re not pressuring you or the like.”

Silence reigned for a while. Applejack gazed out towards ponyville, a small smile gracing her muzzle. Eventually she tilted her hat to the side, rolled an eye towards the creature and saw him staring at her.

“Give you half a bit for them thoughts of yours. Deal?”

“I- I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? Aren’t you just trying to trick me before I burn again?”

“Now why would we want to do that?”

“I don’t know!”

Applejack sighed and pulled her hat down lower.

“Look, just think for a bit, all right? Let’s say we actually do have this odd hankering to see you burn. Well, what’s stopping us? Why aren’t you burning right now? Also, why did Twi here together with Fluttershy go through all that trouble to get you out of the sunfire if they wanted you to be there? Because we don’t want to.”

She tilted her head back and turned to stare straight into the eyes of the creature.

“This is the honest truth, stranger. We don’t mean no harm.”

The creature’s mouth fell open and he turned to stare straight ahead. Then he lifted his arms and cradled his head with his hands.

“But if that is true then...”

He gazed at Twilight.

“Am I back on Earth? Did we survive?”

“Um, sorry, this isn’t Earth. This is Equestria. You... fell out of the sky, basically. But I don’t want you to worry. We’ve healed your wounds and are doing our best to get you on your hoo- feet.”

The creature coiled into a foetal position, rocking forward while digging his fingers through his hair.

“I can’t believe this is really real!”

This caused Applejack to chuckle.

“Didn’t I just tell you that it technically isn’t? But I get what you’re saying. It’s a lot to take in, I bet. You want us to leave you alone for a while?”

A hand shot out and grabbed Applejack’s leg, causing her to flinch.

“No! Please, don’t go!”

Applejack hesitated, but only for a split second. She leaned gently against the creature and patted his hand with a hoof.

“It’s all right, partner. We’re right here.”

Twilight watched the pony and creature in front of her. She couldn’t interpret the creature’s facial expression, but his posture and the way his body tensed seemed to indicate a high level of stress. Unsurprising, really. She was quite glad when he uncoiled and relaxed, letting his legs sit flat against the ground and wiping his face with his hands. His small eyes darted to the side and his head turned until his full attention was on Applejack beside him.

“Okay, this is real, and holy shit at that. You are real. You look like some kind of small, colorful horse. Is that what you really look like?”

“Yup, near as I can tell. We’re ponies.”

The creature’s brow furrowed.

“We’ve got ponies on Earth, but they don’t look anything like you.”

Twilight nodded.

“It’s probably not the same thing, but close enough so that we’d use the same word in our respective languages. You see, we’re not actually talking right now, our spirits are directly exchanging ideas and concepts, but we experience it as talking thanks to the spell I use to talk to you.”

The creature stared at Twilight.

“S- s- spell?”

“Um, yes. You know, magic?”

The creature clapped his hands over his eyes and giggled.

“Holy... shit.”

Then he laughed, a strange, high-pitched laugh that seemed to force itself out of his lungs in fits and bursts. Eventually he settled down and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He sniffed and grinned at Twilight.

“You’re telling me that you do magic?”

“Yes.”

“Oh wow. That’s unbelievable.”

Applejack grunted at his side.

“Believe it, buster. Twi here’s one of the strongest magic users in Equestria.”

“Oh wow. How do you do that, anyway? Do you wave your hooves about?”

“Um, no. It’s controlled with my horn.”

The creature focused on Twilight’s forehead and his fingers straightened, apparently subconsciously. His voice dropped to an awed whisper.

“You’re a damned unicorn. That’s just sick! Can I touch it?”

Twilight chuckled nervously, causing Applejack to laugh at her discomfort.

“Go on, Twi, let him touch your horn!”

“Erm, I’m not sure it would feel as it should, actually. Our body analogues aren’t perfect copies, just good enough to be accepted as real. They don’t need organs, after all.”

The creature did an amazingly good version of the puppy-eyes considering how small his were.

“I wanna touch it anyway. Please?”

Twilight huffed.

“Oh all right.”

The creature leaned forward until he tipped over into kneeling and stretched out a hand towards Twilight’s head until he’d placed a finger on the very tip of her horn.

“Holy close encounters of the third kind, Batman...”

He giggled again, while running his finger lightly against the side of Twilight’s horn. Then he gripped the tip with the ends of his fingers and lifted, causing Twilight’s unresisting head to rise a bit. Then he pushed gently back down before pulling again, causing Twilight to do a sluggish, bobble-headed nodding motion while she raised her eyebrows and peered at him. Applejack burst into such a bout of laughter that she fell over. The creature also started laughing while he released his grip and sat back against the tree. Twilight pouted in order to stifle her own giggles and cleared her throat.

“Could we focus for a bit, please? I’d like to figure out what we should call you.”

The creature reined in his laughter and grinned at Twilight.

“Hello Twilight Sparkle, unicorn pony of the Horselands, my name is-      -and I am a-  -.”

Twilight blinked and then sighed, while Applejack frowned.

“Say, partner, could you repeat that? I didn’t catch it.”

The creature obliged, making a show of speaking slowly, but it didn’t matter. Both his name and species came out as mere gibberish to Twilight and Applejack.

“Applejack, it’s no good.”

“Why don’t we understand him, Twilight? I thought the spirit thingy translated for us.”

“It can only do so if we have the same concepts in both languages. It appears that his name and species don’t even remotely match any word we have. We’ll have to work around that.”

She turned to the creature.

“You’ve mentioned that we look like small horses to you, and it’s certainly true that we’re apparently distant relatives of horses. We’ve tried to guess your general type and have you listed as some kind of ape. Would this be correct?”

“Oh, so you got apes, then? Yes, it’s true, my species is a kind of hairless ape.”

Twilight nodded and smiled.

“Good! We’re making progress. Next question then: Do you have a cutiemark?”

“A... what now?”

Twilight turned until she stood sideways to him and pointed a hoof at her flank.

“That’s a cutiemark. I don’t suppose you have one?”

“Is that like a tattoo, or is it painted on?”

“No, it’s natural fur pigmentation.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I assure you, I’m not. I ask because they can be pretty strongly tied to our identity, and if you have something similar then we could use it to give you a name you could use.”

The creature rolled his eyes.

“Magical tattooed technicolor ponies, holy shit.”

Applejack harrumphed.

“Be respectful. You look pretty strange to us too.”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s... a lot to take in, you know? You can’t just convince me that I’m not dead or hallucinating and then go and tell me that I’ve landed in some kind of fantasy land where magic is real and the horses talk, without making me feel dizzy.”

“Don’t your ponies talk?”

“They’re just dumb animals. Do your apes talk?”

“No they don’t. I think we already established that what you call pony might not be what we call pony even if the concepts are generally similar.”

“Still, you said you use magic. Do you guys have any technology? Any -  - or -      - or - -?”

He stared at their faces while his expression soured.

“Damn, what am I supposed to do on friday nights? Do you sit on sofas eating popcorn while staring at the wall?”

“We can discuss technology later. Since we know that word it does mean we have something similar, but perhaps not the exact same things. There’s bound to be differences, after all. I’d like to work on the name problem a bit longer, though. Do you have some kind of title?”

The creature thought for a moment.

“All the bills are addressed to a Sir or Mister. Oh, then there’s my job title, of course. That would be Junior Welder.”

“Welder? That’s oddly specific. What about the rest of the blacksmithing trade?”

“Huh? Oh, you got no mass production of steel then? We don’t have smiths anymore, that’s all done in factories. I work in construction anyways. I weld together prefabricated steel bars that form the skeletons of buildings.”

There was a short silence while the ponies digested this. Applejack hummed tunelessly and nudged the creature with a hoof.

“Stranger, I kinda like the sound of Welder. Junior Welder. No, wait. Welder Junior. Could you live with that name?”

The prospective Welder leaned back against the tree and let his gaze unfocus for a moment before shrugging.

“Meh, I’ve been called worse. It’s what some of the foremen call us all at work anyways, the impersonal bastards. Might as well make a joke out of it.”

Twilight grinned and brought her front hooves together.

“Welder it is! Pleased to meet you, Welder! Now, could you tell us what happened to you?”

Welder’s face fell instantly into a frown.

“The end of the world is what happened to me.”

Voracious Space

Chapter 18:Voracious Space

Applejack and Twilight stood at the edge of a seemingly bottomless pit through earth and rock almost a hundred meters wide. The hole was vaguely circular. It tapered slowly off so there probably was a bottom, but that had to be a very long way down. One side of it was much more vertical than the other and the ground near the top on that side had partially caved. Other than that the side of the pit was so smooth it had a polished appearance. The ponies stood on the safer edge but were still fighting a powerful vertigo while peering down into the abyss.

Welder stood a bit away, studying himself -his past self.

“I don’t get it. I don’t know how I looked back then, and I definitely didn’t walk all over this area inspecting everything, so how is it that everything here is so detailed?”

Twilight backed away from the edge and turned to him.

“This spell isn’t relying solely on your memory. What you remember is merely a guide the spell uses to fetch the whole picture.”

“Neat. Erm, I guess in hindsight it was stupid of me to pack all that survival gear.”

Twilight walked up to Welder and regarded the other Welder, the one frozen in memory and time and carrying approximately his own weight on his back.

“To not pack it would have been to give up, wouldn’t it? I think I’d prefer a little silliness if the alternative was to lose hope of a future.”

“I guess. I mean, I had seen the news. I knew that this was most likely going to be the end. I think I didn’t really believe it until I spotted that.”

He waved vaguely in the direction of the hole.

“It had to be pretty fresh. I mean, by this time the oldest ones were a bit more than a week, but considering it hadn’t collapsed yet it had to be about a day old, not more.”

Twilight nodded and looked up at Welder, searching his face for signs of emotion.

“Welder, what were you doing out here?”

He walked up to the edge of the hole and sat down on the ground next to Applejack so his legs dangled over the edge.

“I was escaping, I guess. I’m not sure. The cities were getting unpleasant and I didn’t want to remain among the rioting and the looting. Everyone of importance had by now fled to the southern hemisphere, away from Earth’s direction of travel, in the hope that there’d be something left when it was all over. That left no government, no services and no power to more than half the globe. I didn’t have savings and I didn’t have friends or family really, so I was stuck with no options. Most people would probably have cowered in their apartments, but I got this idea that I wanted to say farewell to the planet.”

“How did you plan to do that?”

“There’s a quite tall hill near where I live. One side of it is cliffy enough for a little rock climbing, and I and some work buddies used to go there. The top has -well, had- a really great view. I was heading there.”

“Through the wilderness?”

“Yeah, sure, why not? The roads weren’t any quicker. I didn’t want to deal with strangers right then: too many people had lost all their pretense of civility. So I trekked through the woods instead.”

Applejack tore his gaze away from the depths below and looked around.

“All right, so great big holes were appearing in the ground. Why? How does that tie in with the end of the world?”

Welder frowned and turned to Twilight.

“Hey, can we get time to move? In that case I think I know how to show you what was going on.”

Twilight nodded.

“Yes, you only need to will it.”

“All right. Hmm.”

Welder thought for a minute. Then he nodded and the scene changed.

Twilight and Applejack gazed at their new surroundings, which were surprisingly familiar. They were at Welder’s home, but where it had been empty of furniture the first time it now had a charming atmosphere of clutter. They had appeared at about the same place as well, in what seemed to be a living room. Twilight identified a low table, a sofa against the wall facing the windows and a shelf on another wall, but the rest of the furniture was a bit more difficult to figure out. Then she heard Applejack gasp and turned to see the farm pony look out of the windows.

Judging by the dark sky it was evening. The towers of polished metal outside should have been mere shapes against the sky, but instead they bathed in light. The streets below were full of light and life, visible everywhere.

“How big is this city, Welder?”

“I don’t know exactly, about two million people live here I think.”

Twilight and Applejack simply stared at one another, bereft of speech. Welder sat down in the middle of the sofa and indicated that they should join him. They managed to tear themselves from the view, leaped up and made themselves comfortable while looking at him expectantly.

“This should be about four days earlier, and I should-”

A door slammed.

“-Just be arriving home after being laid off.”

There was a muffled thump of something being dropped on the floor. Then the Welder of memory appeared in the doorway to the living room and marched to the table by the sofa. He picked up a small, glossy device looking like a flat box with square knobs on top and aimed it at what Twilight assumed was a polished black cupboard.

Twilight had to revise her guess when a bright image appeared on the surface of the supposed cupboard, accompanied by some soft music. The picture seemed to be some kind of color chart. The Welder of memory seemed to frown at the image for a moment before again waving the device he held, making the image switch to another one, of what appeared to be yellow text on a blue background. Memory-Welder snorted and let the device he was holding fall onto the table with a clatter before marching out of the room.

The Welder of the present sighed.

“I’ve just gone to the kitchen to make some dinner.”

“What’s this device? Some kind of scrying mirror?”

“This is one of the technological things I asked you about. It’s an entertainment device, mainly. We use other devices to record moving images which are then distributed so they can be viewed on these screens. You know, like watching a theater performance? It’s also used to distribute news. It’s called a remote viewer, or television, for that reason. T.V. for short. Did you get all that?”

“Yes, we did! You explained it well enough so we could grasp the concept, well done! What does it say? That’s text isn’t it?”

“Sorry, I should’ve expected that you have different letters. It says ‘our channel is experiencing difficulties at the moment, and we are working on it’. We shouldn’t have to wait long if I remember correctly.”

Applejack turned to look at Welder.

“Why were you laid off?”

“They couldn’t pay our wages anymore. The bosses had disappeared somewhere, and no-one with access to money remained. Nobody had made any new orders for materials and supplies either.”

“Why in tarnation did they just up and-”

Applejack was interrupted by a sound from the TV. The shoulders and head of someone appeared, blurry at first before sharpening. It appeared to be a male, based on the facial hair. He seemed to be agitated and was looking directly at the viewer. Welder raised an eyebrow at Applejack and pointed at the screen with a small smile. The man in the picture started to talk.

“Okay, listen up. I don’t know how long we’ll be on the air, so just watch this. The people in charge have known about it for a couple of days now.”

He looked off to the side and then the image flickered to that of a female, shown from the waist up. This person was holding what looked like a model of a solar system and was speaking.

“As I was saying, the Earth, and the entire solar system with it, is travelling through space. The exact direction isn’t important, but it’s vaguely ‘north’. You could say that the northern hemisphere is facing ‘forward’. Now, we’ve detected that the region of space in front of us is quite special. It seems the laws of nature that we rely upon are shifting. We’ve concluded that we’re entering a part of space where, sometime during the young universe, something absolutely cataclysmic took place. The only theoretical models we have with the energy required refer to the biggest stars that could exist collapsing in on themselves.”

The speaker looked nervously at the camera.

“While most traces of the ancient catastrophe have been scattered elsewhere, the local space-time is still greatly weakened. We’ve trained our telescopes forward and confirmed that the region ahead is full of discontinuities, or holes, in space. They are unfortunately so numerous that the Earth will most likely be hit by millions of them, or more, before exiting the region. Since our relative velocity is huge we’ll have no chance to warn people to get out of the way, and even if we could do so it might not matter. I cannot predict this accurately but even optimistic guesstimates state that the Earth will lose a significant portion of its mass while passing through this region.”

The image switched back to the male.

“There you have it. This recording is at least two days old and I’ll leave-”

The image disappeared. The Welder of memory had entered the room at some point and was aiming the remote once more at the TV. Then he snorted and left the room. Present Welder sighed.

“I didn’t believe it then. I made my dinner and ate it. I went to bed early. By the time I woke up the rioting had begun.”

He looked at Twilight, who was staring back at him with sadness in her eyes. Then he looked at Applejack, who was inspecting the surface of the leather sofa with curious interest. Welder’s eyes widened and he looked nervously back and forth between Twilight and Applejack before willing them to a different place and time. They were now sitting on the edge of a cliff, at the top of a hill. The towers of the city were a majestic backdrop at the horizon, and below them a forest covered everything. Welder coughed nervously.

“Anyway, here we are. This is where I spent my last day on Earth.”

The hilltop opposite the cliff was quite flat, and covered by tall grass. A tent was pitched a short distance from the edge. A rumbling echoed as Twilight and Applejack watched the tent, followed by tremors felt through the ground. A scruffy and confused past-Welder shot out of the tent and looked around. A plume of dust was rising from the forest.

Twilight looked at the plume. It appeared to rise from a clearing in the woods.

“What was that?”

Applejack looked in the same direction.

“I think it was the ground shifting near the pits.”

Welder nodded in confirmation.

“Yeah, there were- hold on, can I slow time? Ummm...”

He concentrated. His past self slowed down, making him grin.

“Cool! Now we should be able to see it happen.”

“See what happen?”

“Keep watching the sky!”

Past Welder had stepped up to the cliff and was lifting a hand at a glacial pace to shield his eyes from the glare of the morning sun. Then his back arched as he leaned to let his gaze follow the dust plume up to its end and past, up into the sky.

“Any second now... There!”

Welder pointed past his memory’s shoulder as a small black speck appeared on the morning sky. It appeared for a moment to grow larger while standing still, but a slight sideways motion soon became apparent.

“Whoa, let’s slow it down more... and stop.”

The black shape ended up floating in the air at eye level. It had travelled at an angle and was about to impact the ground near the base of the cliff. It looked like someone had painted the sky on a canvas and then punched a hole in it, showing only torn edges bordering on total darkness. A slight ripple in the air trailed it. Welder and the ponies watched it, Welder’s expression grim. His memory had also spotted the black shape.

“All right, I’m about to let the time flow at normal speed again. I should warn you, that thing is eating the air in front of it as it goes, and we’re about to hear the boom from the implosion behind it as the air to the sides rushes in to fill the vacuum it creates. Better brace yourselves.”

Time resumed its flow. The black shape hit the ground much quicker than the ponies could track. A split second later the sound of air collapsing in on itself reached them, reminiscent to being very near a lightning strike. The inital crack was like a hammerblow to every part of the body at once. Welder’s memory threw himself backwards with a weak wail. His cry was mixed with the startled shouts of two ponies. Welder slowed time to a stop once more and looked over to where they had tumbled.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t remember just how strong that was. Are you guys all right?”

Applejack picked herself up first.

“Whoa nelly that thing bucked. Twi, you okay?”

Twilight sounded groggy.

“I’m... um... I’m all right. I was just unprepared.” She blinked and looked around her before rising to her hooves.

Welder looked at the both of them.

“That was the closest miss before the end. Do you want to see the rest?”

“Is it going to get worse?”

“Well, yes. I was lucky for a couple more hours. They went from appearing at a rate of maybe one every five minutes to one every second or so. The noise was constant at the end, and the ground kept trembling.”

Twilight shook her head.

“I don’t think we need to see all of that. How about showing a still moment from just before you got hit?”

Welder nodded, took a breath and concentrated. Twilight and Applejack were amazed by how much the landscape changed. The hill had shifted slightly at some point, and part of the cliff face had crumbled. The forest was mostly gone, as was the city. Small islands of the original surface was visible, sometimes sporting a couple of trees, but mostly the environment consisted of sharp spikes of rock surrounded by deep chasms, as if someone had poured acid over the entire land and let it eat its way down. Almost directly overhead was another of the black shapes, this time threatening to crash down directly upon the hilltop. Past Welder, frozen in time, was too busy trying to hold on to the ground to see it coming. Terror and tears glistened on his face. Welder sighed and knelt by his past self.

“That’s it. That thing hits and the next thing I know it’s dark, I can’t breathe, I’m bathed in a red glow and it feels like I’m falling. I twist around to try to figure out what’s happening... Well, you know the rest.”

He sat down and looked at the ponies with sadness while chuckling lightly.

“Well, I guess we’ve come full circle. This is the part where you laugh at me and tell me I have to relive that as well... for all eternity. Right?”

Applejack rolled her eyes and snorted.

“Come on, I thought we talked about this already! We are not gonna do that!”

“Okay, that’s good. Really good. Um, I’d really like to wake up in that case. You seem like pretty nice people.”

Twilight sighed.

“It’s not that simple. You’re in stasis for a reason. It seems that the matter you are composed of isn’t compatible with Equestria’s natural laws. We need to figure out a way around that. I’m working on it; trust me. In the mean time you’re better off here.”

Welder hung his head.

“I’ve got no choice do I?”

Applejack nuzzled him cordially on the leg.

“Hey, buck up. You’re safe for now and we’re working on getting you through all of this. It’s just taking a lot of time.”

He smiled gently.

“Thanks.”

Twilight nuzzled him as well.

“Hey, we need to end the spell now, but I’ll be back to talk to you soon. Okay?”

“Okay.”

He waved sheepishly at them. Then Twilight and Applejack were back in their own bodies, blinking and looking at Welder’s body on the slab. Twilight put her neck over Applejack’s and hugged her.

“Thank you, Applejack. I don’t know what I’d do without my friends. Each of you support me in different ways.”

“That’s real kind of you, Twi. You know we’ll be here for you when you need us.”

Applejack glanced again at the half-finished structure in front of her.

“What’s all this being built then?”

“I’m creating an air-tight room for Welder. I’m going to fill it with air native to his home so he can move about and breathe. Once that is done I can seriously consider waking him.”

Applejack looked skeptical.

“I dunno, Twilight. Seems like the fellow might not appreciate living like a fish in a bowl.”

“It’s only temporary, of course. Once we’ve found a solution for the problem of his incompatible material composition we’ll get him out of there.”

Applejack nodded.

“You know, Twilight, I’ve had doubts about this whole affair. It felt to me like we were letting good ponies suffer while we doted on this alien.”

She held up a hoof to indicate that yes, Twilight’s gasp had been noted.

“I know, Twilight. It’s stupid to feel that way. I don’t know where it came from. You’re focusing on the big picture even while helping Welder here. I’m just saying.”

“I... Uh, I guess I appreciate how frank you are. Actually, you’re far from alone in having doubts. I... I think something’s planting these thoughts in ponies’ heads. Even Princess Celestia seems affected.”

“Huh. Well-”

Applejack was interrupted by a shout echoing through the stone hallways.

“Twilyyy!”

B.B.B.F.F.

Chapter 19:B.B.B.F.F.

Time stood momentarily still for Twilight Sparkle, embracing and embraced by her brother. He’d thrown a leg over her back, their necks were rubbing against one another and the tips of their horns clashed as if they were fencing. For a moment Twilight only sensed the joy of a long-overdue reunion, but then details about her brother started trickling into her awareness. The way his voice cracked as he laughed, the way his legs shook and the manner in which he looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

Shining Armor had to be close to fainting, judging by how tired he seemed. Twilight pulled out from under his leg and walked so they were facing. She studied his face intently, still wearing a half-smile, concern flaring in her eyes.

“Big bro, are you all right? You look like you’re about to drop.”

Shining meant to flick his head in a gesture of nonchalance but the small movement caused him to lose his balance and stumble. When his legs regained equilibrium he stood for a moment, blinking dazedly, before half sighing, half yawning.

“I haven’t had much chance to sleep, Twily. Less than ten hours in the past four days... or was it five? It doesn’t matter. I sleep when I get the chance, but we’ve been so busy lately.”

Twilight noted the slight fumbling in her brother’s speech. She recognized it all too well: she had plenty of experience with the underlying state of mind. A sort of waking sleep, when you’d pushed your consciousness past breaking point and continued on until it seemed like a good idea again. In Twilight’s case this usually involved studying or nursing one of her paranoias. But her brother was the captain of the guard. She felt sorrow at his worn-out state and let it show on her face.

“Shining, you need sleep. When do you have to leave?”

Shining Armor sighed, not having the strength to meet his little sister’s gaze.

“Before midnight. Less than six hours, give or take.”

“And even though your whole body cries out for rest you come find your little sis?”

Twilight crooned her affection while she nuzzled his cheek. Then she pulled back and put a hoof under his chin, raising it until their eyes met. Her gaze held steel.

“B.B.B.F.F, you are going to get some sleep right now. You can crash on my bed; it’s closer than the barracks.”

“Aww but Twily, I wanted to talk to you. There’s so much-”

Twilight shushed him with a hoof over his lips and a grin on her face.

“Shining, just this once we can both have our cake and eat it. Trust me, will you?”

~~~~~

“Sis, this is amazing!”

Shining Armor looked around, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, at the familiar vista of Twilight’s favourite hilltop on a perfect summer day. Twilight simply grinned back at him and continued shaping clouds into historical figures.

“So, do you know this one?”

Armor squinted at the cloud. It showed an earth pony clutching a scroll and a telescope.

“Ummm, hang on, I got this... Tycho Bray?”

“Ooh, good guess but no.”

“Umm... Harness Stepler?”

Twilight gasped.

“You guessed it! Was it the telescope? I tried to make it as historically-”

“It’s because my little sister has lectured me on her favourite subject until I knew stars and astronomical figures better than the back of my eyelids.”

This made Twilight blush and stutter.

“I- I didn’t bore you, did I?”

“It was fun, honestly. Fun and oh so adorkable, Twily!”

Armor lay down in the grass and rolled onto his back. Twilight was giggling and blushing too much to speak so he used that to gain a moment to just think while gazing up at the gallery of cumulus astronomers.

“I keep thinking I should feel tired, but here I don’t feel sleepy at all. It’s weird.”

“Your spirit never sleeps and doesn’t need to rest in any normal sense. Isn’t it great? You’re getting a good night’s sleep while we’re having fun here in the spirit realm. I’ve got plans, you know: if I could design a spell that allowed me to take a couple of books with me to here then I could study while I slept! No more Twilight the Red-Eyed!”

Shining raised an inquisitive eyebrow at this, making Twilight chuckle and blush.

“Err yeah, my eyes get bloodshot sometimes, and the nickname was given by my friends. It’s their fun way of needling me when I go overboard with the studying.”

Shining gazed up at the clouds and smiled.

“I can see it now: Twilight the Red-Eyed! The greatest mind since Starswirl the Bearded! Inventor of the somnophobic spell! One for the history books!”

A hoof jabbed his side, making him cringe and laugh. Twilight harrumphed.

“Yeah, very funny.”

“No, seriously, Twi. Already this spell is great. If you actually manage to create a spell that lets you study while you sleep then scholars and magicians will likely sing your praises for all time.”

“Awww you think so? Well it’s true that the potential applications are very appealing. I just wish I could figure out why all of this magic has been kept in the Embargoed Texts.”

Shining Armor’s eyes flew up and he rocketed to a standing position, staring at Twilight.

“Did... did you say this magic came from Luna’s secret library?”

“Um... yes.”

He walked up to her and nuzzled her lightly on her forehead.

“Twily, please be careful. That library has a very bad history. I’ve read a log of all the ponies who’ve been granted access to it and it seems there’s something there that turns good ponies bad really quickly. Over a third of the names refer to classified documents in the palace guards’ archives.”

“There’s a log of visitors? I’ve never seen one.”

“The Princesses maintain it.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes and gazed into the distance, past her brother.

“Shining, would you mind if I read that log?”

“Huh? No, not at all. I guess you could-”

Twilight concentrated and a book appeared in front of her with little fanfare. It was quite plain, being smallish and black, though obviously of high quality. She looked down at it and then up at her stunned brother.

“This is the log, isn’t it? You see, I can fetch items from your memory if you are thinking of them. They’re not real, of course, but they are identical to the real thing.”

“Whoah.”

Twilight opened the book with her magic and started to page through the book, skimming the pages. Shining watched this for a while before clearing his throat.

“So, Twily.”

“Mmhm?”

“This library business. Can it have anything to do with the rumours I heard about you?”

Twilight’s ear twitched but she didn’t look away from the book.

“Twily, it seems the palace guards are frightened of you.”

That made her look up and let out an explosive, disbelieving guffaw.

“What?! Why?”

“Just rumours. It appears you and your friends were quite emotional when you first arrived. The rumours say your friends are dealing with it somehow, but you just went from a wreck to being totally calm. They say that at night you stalk the palace hallways with glowing eyes.”

“That’s ridiculous. You know me, Shining. Why would the palace guard be afraid of a pony with bad sleeping habits?”

“It’s mainly the thing with the eyes. I dismissed it as typical embellishment at first but there were some pretty insistent rumours about that.”

Twilight sighed and looked down at the book again. “I guess I’ll have to do something about the glow then.”

“I- hey- what. You mean your eyes do glow?”

This produced a snort and an irritated tail swish from Twilight.

“Yes! It’s annoying, but since it’s also apparently harmless it’s way, way down on my to-do list.”

“Well, why are they glowing?”

“I don’t know for sure. I haven’t had time to do much more than a little search in books of magical ailments and there’s this thing called eyefire that sometimes occurs when powerful mages stop maintaining some big enchantment and don’t cast any magic for a while; the magic that would have gone to the enchantment leaks from the eyes for a time before the body readjusts its intake. I don’t know what I’ve stopped maintaining, and I’ve been casting spells as usual, so it’s not a perfect match but it’s all I’ve found.”

Shining thought this over in silence while Twilight continued reading. Suddenly her ears perked and she laid a hoof gently on a page.

“Shining, who’s Silver Gavel? I’ve never heard of that name. Only... This is Celestia’s handwriting, and she calls her ‘my faithful student’. There are also a lot of references to case files.”

“Yeah, that wording rang some bells for me too, so I checked out the references. She doesn’t exist anymore.”

“What do you mean ‘doesn’t exist anymore’?”

“I mean that the files in the palace guards’ archives are missing. I asked the archivist about that and he looked at me like I was holding a mageblade to his throat. I asked Princess Celestia about that and she looked like I’d shoved a spear through her sternum. Then she ordered me not to speak that name ever again. She’s been erased from history, Twilight.”

Twilight turned and looked towards Canterlot, deep in thought. Shining Armor sat down and watched her. Eventually she roused herself and turned to Shining with a smile.

“I haven’t even asked what you’ve been doing!”

Shining chuckled.

“I’ve been organising the rescue and evacuation efforts. Making sure the weather teams have cloths for their muzzles and goggles for their eyes. Sorting the train schedules. Making sure the ill and wounded are prioritized.”

“That has you so occupied you don’t have time to sleep?”

“Well, the situation keeps changing. Every so often the chaotic weather by the ash column makes a big push that the weather teams are unable to deflect, meaning another area becomes uninhabitable and another handful of villages need immediate evacuation. Then we’ve discovered that some really, really small specks of ash have travelled over all of Equestria, carried on winds higher up where the pegasi can’t fly. There’s not really anyplace left now that hasn’t got at least a small amount of alien ash, which means I’m coordinating medical responses everywhere.”

Shining sighed before continuing.

“All of this I’ve actually delegated pretty efficiently to my lieutenants. Then suddenly a train of evacuees gets raided and many of the passengers are taken.”

“Moon and Sun, that’s horrible! Did they see what kind of creature it was? Griffon marauders? Changelings?”

Shining turned and stared into Twilight’s eyes.

“Ponies did it. Ponies attacked a train filled with tired and scared refugees, taking as many as they could before disappearing.”

“What? What kind of pony could do such a thing?”

“Witness accounts are pretty incoherent: most are simply too shocked by the event to be objective. But even then, when you try to dispel all the exaggerations and the inaccuracies, you are left with a few details. First, all of the raiders appeared to have ash-born injuries. Second, they were shouting battlecries referring to an ‘ash queen’ or to being reborn into eternal life. All it means is that over the past days I’ve had to scramble an actual military action to search for the missing refugees and post guards with every train so it hopefully doesn’t happen again. ”

“Hold on, Fluttershy ran into a pony raving on about ash and rebirth right here in Canterlot!”

Shining nodded.

“They’re probably connected. All of the major cities have reported ponies disturbing the peace by shouting frankly treasonous claims. It looks like there’s some sort of hostile cult out there that worships the ash, for some strange reason. After hearing what they’re capable of I’ve given standing orders not to try to apprehend them, but to chase them out of town. I still get reports from guards who try to play heroes and pay the price. I can’t fully blame them either. I’d love to get my hooves on one or two and ask some serious questions.”

“What about Lavender Leaf, the patient at Canterlot Hospital that tried to escape?”

“I read her file this morning. Claims not to know anything and isn’t very eager to talk anyway. Frankly, I’m tempted to ask if you could somehow use this spirit magic to interrogate ponies!”

“Well it-”

Twilight’s head snapped down at the black book lying in the grass. She blinked a couple of times, staring slack-jawed at it.

“What is it, Twily?”

Twilight lay down on the grass and covered her face with her forelegs. She groaned. “Stupid, stupid, stupid-”

“Hey, easy now, Twily. Don’t say that. What’s wrong?”

She removed her hooves and looked at her brother through watering eyes.

“You ask if spirit magic could be used to basically fetch information from ponies’ spirits! It’s a perfect idea, because the spiritual memory doesn’t forget! What’s worse, such a spell exists! Because I made it and just used it on you. I didn’t even for a second stop to think about the possible misuses of such a spell! Fetching knowledge from unwilling ponies would just take more magic! They wouldn’t even necessarily know it happened!”

“Um. I think we might have found a slight sliver of a clue why this magic is embargoed, Twily. I think it would be best if I didn’t ask for it after all. In fact, I’d ask you not to write it down anywhere.”

Twilight nodded and groaned again. Knowing the innermost secrets of everypony around you shouldn’t be so deceptively easy. Then she became aware of the grip of a magic aura around her and she opened her eyes just as she was thrown onto Shining Armor’s back.

“Enough worry! Time to play with my lil’ sis!”

“Hey mister! In case you haven’t noticed I’m no longer-”

There was something wrong with Twilight’s voice. It was pitched too high. In fact, she sounded like-

“-A foal?”

She looked down with creeping realisation at Shining’s suddenly huge back and her own stumpy legs, bouncing against his side as he galloped down the hill at break-neck speeds. She giggled and squealed from the thrill.

Here, in the spirit world, she could be the little filly Shining loved to play with -if he willed it and she let it happen.

Visions and Sensibilities

Chapter 20:Visions and Sensibilities

Rarity smoothed out a crease in the lacework. Then she backed up and regarded the ponnequin for a while. If she searched her feelings she knew she’d find the satisfaction of a completed project somewhere in there...

...Somewhere behind her horror at what she’d made.

A muse, Rarity considered, is a fickle thing, and their every whisper should be caught and retold by the artist, lest the muse take offense and find somepony more willing to be her hooves and horn. Rarity could of course produce dresses according to the demands of a customer, a task that rarely if ever required the blessings of a muse, but she had never ever considered being such a mere seamstress, content to make dresses that some other pony had designed.

Dressmaking was her way of expressing herself, and would she have been a more superstitious pony then there’d have been an altar to her muse somewhere in the boutique. She felt she would grieve less if she lost her ability to speak than if her inspiration, her muse, left her.

There were times when her muse was sulking, of course. It invariably meant Rarity would be driven to distraction and hysterics looking at her bare ponnequins. She fancied that this display of how she depended on her muse, and couldn’t function without her, always served as an apology for whatever had offended her inspiration.

The opposite could also be true. Rarity’s muse could also whisper into her mind so many designs that they swarmed in her thoughts and danced in her dreams. She’d wake up and find that she’d tried to make a ball gown out of her bedsheets in her sleep. Even so she accepted it with stoicism and gratefulness. If her cup runneth over then she wasn’t imbibing the wine of inspiration quickly enough.

Never before something like this, though. Rarity felt she knew the unwritten rules she and her muse agreed upon. Once inspiration struck there had to be a dress, and it had to be complete. To do less was to sin and risk her muse’s wrath.

But never before had she been inspired by her nightmares. Never before had she feared that creating something would be an affront against the good and the kind things of the world. There was of course an aesthetic to it, but it was the kind you appreciated by recoiling in horror.

Never before had her muse poured poison into her ear.

The thing on the ponnequin wasn’t bad. No, it was most definitely one of her greatest works, and now that it was finished she could move on. Already there were whispers of a more benevolent kind from her muse: she fancied that she was being congratulated on performing a difficult but necessary task, and that she was given a promise of a return to the status quo.

All that remained was to decide what to do with her creation. Now that her inspiration had been given a form she thought she could dispose of the result as she saw fit. On one hoof she’d rather forget all about this. On the other hoof it could serve as a template of sorts, maybe for nightmare night costumes, if properly filtered and toned down. Besides, the ensemble was quite tough: dismantling it would take considerable effort. In fact, it might have been more efficient to simply lug the entire ponnequin outdoors and light it on fire, though that would be bound to raise questions.

She considered her predicament for a moment before arriving at her decision with a shrug. Let them ask. Let them talk! She could do with her name on ponies’ lips in Canterlot. The mystique would probably do her good.

She gripped the ponnequin with her magic and lifted it.

She put the ponnequin down and released it.

It was quite heavy, especially so with her latest work on it, but she was no slouch when it came to telekinesis. That wasn’t the problem, though. She’d felt something. An incompleteness.

There was one step missing. Her mental spawn had a purpose, and her muse would not let her off the hook before it had been fulfilled. The thought filled her with both dread and manic anticipation. Normally her heart would sing at this stage, but though it did beat quickly it was not from anything positive.

Rarity shut her eyes, leaned her head against the ponnequin and sobbed. She was trapped. Going back was as unthinkable to her as going forward. Tears splashed onto the carpet and her frame shook as she cried bitterly. Her creation wasn’t bad. It was evil.

A feeling slowly wormed its way into Rarity’s frayed consciousness, a sense that she was no longer alone. She cursed herself mentally; she should have remembered she wasn’t in her own boutique, but in Canterlot Castle. There was no bell on her door, and she’d forgot to close and lock it anyway. She didn’t want to turn around and check in her current state, though, even if she doubted anypony really had entered her chambers without announcing themselves.

So she swallowed her sobs, stilled her shaking and dried her tears with a hoof before turning around and meeting the gaze of a pair of burning, purple eyes. She shrieked, darted into a corner of the room and collapsed into a quivering pile.

She heard Twilight’s voice.

“I’m sorry, Rarity! I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. It’s just that I heard you crying from the hallway and when I went to check on you I was distracted by this... dress.”

A hoof applied a gentle pressure on one of her legs, causing her to flinch and pull them tighter against her.

“Rarity? Please, speak to me. What’s the matter? Why were you crying?”

Rarity had nowhere to go. For a moment she toyed with the urge to break down completely and wail like never before, wail until somepony would declare her insane and give her some medicine to calm her nerves so she could sleep. She didn’t do that though. It would only be stalling things. So she relaxed her legs and brought them underneath her in order to stand up.

Twilight was standing in front of her but she must have seen something unsettling as Rarity rose since she backed away. Rarity looked into the purple fire of her friend’s eyes and sniffed at the irony.

“Rarity, you... you look terrible. I’m sorry, but you do. Please, is there anything I can do to help?”

A laugh and a sob fought over Rarity’s windpipe for a moment before she re-established control. She needed to keep it together now.

“I... I feel terrible, Twilight. But... Maybe you could be willing to help.”

“I just said so, didn’t I?”

Rarity sighed, gaining strength now as she was moving forward again.

“You’ve asked about my inspiration -my muse- before and I’ve told you all you want to hear. So you remember that I believe I have a contract of sorts? What I envision must come to fruition. Therefore... this.”

She waved a hoof at the ponnequin and Twilight turned to regard it again.

“Its name is ashen regalia.”

The -for lack of a better word- dress had started life as a full set of war barding. The steel was colored a dull black and had a nasty, insectile quality in its shaping that couldn’t have originated from any smith. Any sane smith at least. It didn’t intimidate with spikes, instead working a much subtler form of dread.

“Did... did you shape the metal?”

Twilight stared at the champron. It had a rondel of sorts, but instead of a central spike there were a fringe of various arachnid metal fangs and feeder manipulators surrounding a central hole.

“Oh yes. I have spells for working with nearly any suitable material you’d care to mention.”

The parts of the ponnequin not covered by metal was obscured by vertical strands of tough cloth. The thick and rigid materials were colored with blues, dark grays and purples in chaotic patterns, looking like a moving line of ember glow on a piece of charcoal or like a dark aurora borealis. Large iron studs dangled near the lower ends of the cloth.

“This is... This is because of what you experienced in Canterlot Hospital, isn’t it?”

Rarity smiled in spite of the situation, caught herself and found the smile becoming a giggle.

“You are right, of course. At first I felt only pity and revulsion as I watched the patients. Their injuries were churning my guts, they truly were. But it was the ones in the closed wards that affected me the hardest even though their injuries often were lighter, if more unfortunately located. I started having... dreams. Dreams of this dress. They were only snippets, vague visions of a terrible shape.”

On the back of the dress was a riot of lace shaped like two black wings, partially unfurled like a swan. The lace gave the wings an impression of being faceted, making them look subtly alien. Twilight stared at them for a moment before looking at their creator.

“I thought you could dismiss your ideas if they were too vague, Rarity.”

“I did dismiss them then. I unloaded my sorrow and my disgust together with Applejack and Pinkie Pie and it helped. Then... I saw a pony in the hospital and the next night I dreamed of the whole dress. I woke up and knew every single part of it, and also that there was no escape now. I had to make it. The barding was easy to get, actually. There’s plenty of discarded things in the castle stores and the quartermaster was actually delighted that I’d take it off her hooves. The rest of the material I just had to ask for. Now... now it’s finished.”

“Shouldn’t you be relieved then? You can move on and forget about this. I could dispose of it for you.”

“Oh Twilight. Thank you for the offer, but no. I don’t think I’ll ever truly forget this even though I wish to with all of my heart. As for moving on... well... there’s one tiny little detail left.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, when I met that pony in the hospital... Afterwards I always dreamed of the dress being worn. So... I need to present this dress to her. I- I need her to wear it, Twilight.”

“Moon and Sun. What did she do to affect you so?”

Rarity looked away, unable to meet Twilight’s gaze.

“The patients in the hospital... I pitied them. I sometimes felt disgusted by them or surprised and angry when they refused our help. This pony, though. This one pony. She was the only one -the only one in a hospital filled with terror- who truly frightened me.”

“Wow. She must be pretty scary! Who is it? You indicate it’s not one of the patients. One of the doctors? A visitor? I can’t imagine you got many visitors: the one time I came to see you you were... so... scared...”

Rarity hung her head and lowered herself slowly to the floor, still looking away from Twilight. She mumbled.

“Everypony else is scrambling to deal with this crisis as best they can. This one mare also took it badly at first, but then... she coped. She... found her place, her center. She has talents she could use and resources at her disposal to let her use them. She wears the catastrophe of the falling mountain like a coat. So I made an outfit of it for her to wear. Other ponies also notice this air around her, you know. I’ve talked to them. I have to, because in my head I am screaming and raging at myself for being so terrified. Knowing I am not the only one helps a bit, but only makes the question of why so much more urgent.”

“Uh, Rarity... when we met... at the hospital. You... you said I’d frightened you. But you’d just forgotten that, right? You’re really talking about somepony else... I don’t really scare you, right?”

Rarity turned to look at Twilight. She gazed deep into the purple fire of Twilight’s eyes and felt the ice gather in her stomach.

“I’m very very sorry, Twilight. You terrify me as few things have before. I don’t know why, I really don’t. It’s not your eyes. Even ponies who meet you in bright daylight, when their fire is invisible, feel at least vague unease in your presence. I think I am one of the most affected, actually. I blame my -ah- artistic sensibilities. Let it be a fact that you are still my friend! We are all still your friends. We can’t help it and we don’t know why, but we all do fear you at least a bit. Fluttershy -for some reason that normally so terrified pony doesn’t feel more than a bit of discomfort around you! Applejack is much the same. Pinkie and I... We’re the opposite from those two, really. I haven’t asked Rainbow Dash: I haven’t seen her yet since she returned yesterday.”

Twilight sat down on her haunches.

“So you made this dress for...”

“For you!”

Rarity squeaked and hid her face with her hooves, shuddering where she lay on the floor. She heard Twilight move and heard the chink of metal armor against ponnequin.

“Um, Rarity? How would I even wear this? I don’t see any clasps or buckles on here.”

She didn’t move more than necessary to lift her head a bit off the floor so her jaws were free, allowing her to speak.

“I... I tried to incorporate that, but whenever I did it felt wrong somehow. In the end... I just assembled the dress around the ponnequin.”

A thought struck Rarity and she removed her hooves from her eyes, gazing hopefully up at Twilight.

“It means it’s impossible for you to don it, doesn’t it? In that case I can declare it a failure and move on... destroy it... Twilight?”

Twilight was looking at the dress while chewing her lower lip. Rarity’s question took a couple of seconds to register. Then Twilight glanced at her took a breath and moved her lips soundlessly before answering.

“It means it’s tricky but not impossible for me to get into. I’m just worrying what all this is leading to. I can feel a certain pull from this dress. It scares me, Rarity, but somehow I know I’ll be wearing it. That hints at some kind of enchantment at play, but I should be protected against magic like that unless it’s something very powerful indeed. In any case, I don’t see the point with all this if it turns out to actually be some spell cast on us all. Is something trying to drive a wedge between me and the rest of you? There are probably easier ways to do that.”

“Twilight, I almost wish it was an enchantment. I would have something to blame then. Or it could end, robbing me of all memory of this. That would be so relieving that my soul aches for it.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. Then her horn flashed, enveloping Twilight and the ponnequin in a burst of her purple magic. When the magic faded the ponnequin was bare and Twilight was-

Rarity wasn’t consciously aware of scrambling back into the corner. She wasn’t aware of much except two flaming eyes, filled with compassion, pouring liquid terror into her mind. Then all was black.

~~~~~

Rarity opened her eyes and stretched luxuriously. She didn’t remember going to bed but considering how well-rested she felt she had surely needed the sleep. She pushed back the duvet and slid out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

On the way she passed her bare ponnequin. The maids down at the cloth stores had been kind enough to lend it to her, and already her mind was filling with ideas for dresses to clothe it with. She turned them over in her head while washing off the sleep and getting her mane in order. She was obviously recovered from her ordeal in the hospital since her inspiration had returned. The last week now felt like a dream, all those days of worrying her muse had left her as not a single design entered her mind, though she supposed she was never truly awake unless she had some inspiration to translate into fabrics and designs.

When she went to clean up her bed she noticed there was a note on the bedstand. She brought it in front of her face with her magic and saw Twilight’s neat text.

Hello Rarity,

I came by but you were asleep. I wanted to invite you to a little get-together, so that all six of us could celebrate. The occasion is of course tomorrow’s test of our combined Elements as well as (on Pinkie’s insistence) a waking up party for Welder, our alien, which will take place after the tests. It will happen tonight, two hours after Moon’s Rising, at the ballroom.

See you there!

Love and friendship,

Twilight.

This delighted Rarity. Maybe a party would be just the thing to dispel that silly nervosity that had struck her whenever Twilight was near. It didn’t do to be frightened of one of your best friends after all.

Now she needed to decide what to wear, of course! And knowing the rest they’d just appear without any formal wear at all! That wouldn’t do either, naturally, so it befell her to choose and bring along dresses for her friends as well. She wondered briefly why she hadn’t designed anything for her friends’ stay in Canterlot before now, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. Her muse was inscrutable sometimes.

She trilled a happy tune and trotted over to her wardrobe.

Cages of Stone and Glass

Chapter 21:Cages of Stone and Glass

The field at the foot of Mount Canterlot had been cleared of snow. What it normally was used for was impossible to tell. It was surrounded by woods and there was no line of sight to Canterlot City. No path led to it. Twilight wondered for a moment if the field actually was some kind of secret testing range.

Fifteen upturned crates had been placed in a row extending from the middle of the field to its edge, each crate about a stone’s throw apart. A bottle containing a sample of rock from the fallen mountain stood on each crate.

Twilight surveyed the scene and nodded her approval. She could see that she and her friends were supposed to stand in the middle of the field and use their Elements to create a massive area spell. The crates and bottles were supposed to gauge the spell’s effects at varying distances from the center.

“Good morning, Twi. Sleep well?”

She turned towards Applejack’s voice and saw her friends approaching beneath the trees behind her. They were smiling at her. Granted, some smiles were more nervous than others but still. Last night’s party had done wonders to clear the air between them. She had reassured them that they had nothing to fear. They’d had the first genuine fun, all together, in over a week (but it had felt like months).

Fluttershy and Applejack had talked to her for a long time. Both were still marked by their respective troubles but they still managed to relax and eventually had fun.

Pinkie Pie had been amazingly skittish around Twilight. Eventually Twilight had enough and caught Pinkie in her magic, tickling her until she shrieked with laughter. That seemed to break the ice between them and Pinkie apologised for avoiding Twilight; she should know better.

Even Rainbow Dash had admitted she was viewing Twilight differently. For her the change was quite obvious since she’d been away from Canterlot. Unlike the others she was actually impressed. It’s like you radiate coolness and awesomeness, she’d said.

Twilight realised she’d looked all of her friends in the eye except for Rarity. To her chagrin she had to force herself to meet the fashionista’s gaze. Rarity didn’t seem to notice. They hadn’t spoken much last night.

“I slept great, Applejack. I feel so much better after last night.”

“Good to hear. So, how do we do this?”

“Marble Chalice should be here any moment now to explain things.”

The professor did appear only a moment later, accompanied by the princesses. Chalice greeted them enthusiastically while Celestia and Luna studied them, locking their gaze on Twilight. Chalice took a deep breath and started talking.

“Hello, Twilight, hello everypony. Thank you for coming. This will not take long; we merely need to see how the alien matter reacts to your combined Elements. Hopefully it will purge the chaotic energy from the matter, allowing you to use the Elements to clear huge areas of Equestria from the poisonous ash. I just need you to don your necklaces and tiara, go stand in the middle of the field at the end of the line of crates and activate the Elements. Simple as that. Princess Celestia will now hand you your Elements. Any questions?”

They formed a line. Celestia hovered the coffer with the Elements, giving each pony their jewelry. Twilight was after Pinkie Pie and Applejack, and Celestia hesitated and frowned just as she was about to lower the tiara on Twilight’s head.

“What’s wrong, Princess?”

Celestia looked into Twilight’s eyes for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before shaking her mane and blinking. She lowered the tiara so it touched Twilight’s head. Twilight felt a slight tingle emanating from it.

“Nothing, Twilight. I must be a bit worn out from all the stress.”

“Cheer up. As long as everything goes as we hoped we’ll soon have a solution to this mess.”

Celestia smiled at Twilight before moving on and giving Fluttershy her necklace.

Once everypony had their Elements they walked out to their spot near the first crate, where they faced each other. Eventually Twilight found that all of her friends were looking at her expectantly. She cleared her throat.

“All right girls, this is maybe a bit different than what we’ve tried earlier since we don’t have a target. This should still work though. Just focus on your elements. Open your hearts to each other.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and put her hoof forward so it hovered in the air in the middle of their circle. She looked at her friends.

“Let’s do this, girls. All together.”

Each laid a hoof forward, touching Rainbow Dash’s and each other’s hooves. Then they closed their eyes and sought their focus.

Twilight smiled. To think of her friends brought her such warmth. They truly empowered her in a most literal sense, so it was no mystery to her that the Elements used their friendship to power their grandest spells. She breathed deeply, a happy sigh, as she thought about how close they were and felt the magic tingle from the tiara become a torrent of energy that flowed through her every fiber...

A white light enveloped the six ponies and merged into a single globe that suddenly expanded rapidly, accompanied by a thunderclap. Marble Chalice and the princesses shielded their eyes instinctively, turning partially away, before blinking and surveying the field again.

The bottles exploded in blue-black fire, consuming the crates as well.

Marble Chalice sighed and turned to the princesses.

“I’m sorry, your highnesses, but it appears that we can’t look to the Elements for an answer to our current problems.”

“That’s all right, Professor Chalice. We had to-”

An anguished scream was heard from the field.

“Twilight!”

Princess Celestia’s head snapped to the Element Bearers. They were surrounding Twilight, who stood unmoving. Celestia unfolded her wings and covered the distance with two powerful wingbeats. She landed next to the six ponies and met Applejack’s panicked and pleading gaze before her eyes came to rest on Twilight.

Twilight had been turned to stone.

Celestia felt as if her gut had been kicked. She wobbled and collapsed, still staring incredulously at the statue of her faithful apprentice.

“No. No...”

She felt the impact through the ground of her sister landing beside her. After a short moment she felt a wing drape over her back.

“Dearest sister, we must accept the facts and deal with them.”

Celestia nodded mutely even as tears formed in her eyes. She gazed at the remaining five Element Bearers through her blurry vision. They were looking back at her with expressions of fear, worry and anxiety. She sniffed.

“My little ponies... I am sorry. Harmony has passed judgement on Twilight Sparkle. The Element Bearer of Magic has slipped into the shadows. I... I sensed something different about her, but I didn’t dare suspect she had darkness growing in her heart. I knew she was taking risks -I cannot help feeling that this is partially my fault- but I hoped for the best. Now it’s too late.”

Applejack stomped so hard into the ground that the earth flew.

“Too late my hoof! You can’t just tell me that we’re going to leave her like this!”

Luna locked her eyes with Applejack.

“Calm yourself. There is indeed still hope that we can rescue Twilight and pull her from the shadows. But we need to be very prepared before attempting to do so: she’s one of the most talented and powerful unicorns in Equestria. If she reacts poorly, or if we fail, we’ll be in great danger.”

Celestia sobbed lightly and nodded.

“Luna is right. My little ponies, we have too much to deal with already. We cannot risk having to deal with an out-of-control Twilight right now.”

Applejack backed away a bit, her expression aghast.

“What- what are you saying?”

“Applejack, please be assured that we will try to help Twilight. We will bring her back from stone. But... We can’t do it now.”

Celestia rose unsteadily and looked at the five grieving friends.

“Now that we know we can’t use your Elements together we must find another solution to bring Equestria out of this crisis. In the meanwhile, your individual Elements are still the only good cure we have for severe ash poisoning... I’m afraid you are going to be very busy. I beg of you: please think of Equestria. We need you.”

There was no objection. Five ponies simply leaned against each other for comfort as they cried.

~~~~~

Welder opened his eyes and gasped, moaning with terror. For a moment he thought he was burning again, but he saw no flames. He managed to still his panic and realised that what he felt was the entirety of his body being asleep. He groaned and tried to move his arms and legs. They reacted, but very sluggishly, and he couldn’t move his arms past his elbows, making his hands drag over his chest as he thrashed and flailed.

Ever so slowly the feeling of pins and needles disappeared and some strength returned to his limbs. He started paying some attention to his surroundings. He was apparently lying horizontally, looking up at a brilliant point of light above him. He turned his head to the side and saw a wall of gray stone right next to him. In the other direction was a similar wall, just out of arm’s reach.

The surface underneath him felt cold and smooth. He pushed himself up a bit and put his shoulder underneath him so he could look down. He was apparently lying on a slab of marble. Not only the slab was cold, he realised. The air was pretty cold too. The shivers he was beginning to notice weren’t only from his weakened state.

He pushed against the slab with his arm and managed to sit up. He groaned as the small move set off fireworks in his head. After a while they cleared and he looked around again. He was in a small room, barely bigger than the slab he’d been lying on. The walls looked like granite rather than cement, but there were no seams, not even in the corners. He assumed it was cement after all, simply painted gray. The light overhead was too brilliant to see what was causing it, but he guessed it was a lamp. To his left was a low doorway. In fact, it was so low he’d have to duck through it even though he was of average height. His feet told him that the floor was more cold stone.

“Uhhh...”

He became aware of the dryness of his mouth and throat. He was parched.

“Hhhello? Anybody there?”

After a moment he heard a cry answer him. It was unlike any sound he could remember hearing, but it definitely came from some kind of throat. It had weird inflection and was punctuated by strange and unfamiliar consonants, and sounded muffled and distorted, but it was definitely something trying to speak.

He looked at the darkness beyond the doorway. The sound had come from out there. He guessed it would be Twilight Sparkle, the ‘pony’ that had talked to him in his dreams or whatever. He worked the muscles of his legs for a moment and then tried standing up. He laid a hand on the wall opposite him and slowly shifted more of his weight onto his feet. Eventually he was standing. He realised the ceiling wasn’t very high up: he’d hit his head if he tried to jump. He looked back to the light for a moment and put his hand in front of him to shield his eyes from most of the glare, but no matter how he squinted and moved his hand he couldn’t see any light fixture, just that incandescent point of light.

He shook his head and turned it away, letting his hand fall against his hip. The impact of hand against flesh made him aware that he was naked. He looked around, but there was no sign of any clothes. So... to go out and face an unfamiliar world buck naked, or to stay inside this combination of broom closet and mausoleum for ever?

He crouched through the doorway. There was no threshold; the same stone floor continued uninterrupted. He straightened up and looked around. He was standing in a shaft of light coming from directly above. The light didn’t illuminate much, though; the stone floor was smooth in all directions out to the end of the light and then there was only darkness. He turned around and inspected the structure he’d been in. It was a seamless box of gray stone with a hole cut out for the doorway. He saw a basin off to one side of it though. He walked over to it and saw that it was filled with what appeared to be clear water. Next to that was another basin, empty this time, with a hole in the bottom. And next to that lay what appeared to be his clothes, neatly folded.

The basins were quite low. They were lower than what he’d comfortably be able to sit on. He knelt down by the water basin and cupped a hand in the clear liquid, bringing it to his mouth and slurping it down. It felt wonderfully refreshing. After drinking a couple more handfuls he wiped his mouth with his arm and moved over to his clothes. He picked up a t-shirt... but it felt wrong. He ran his fingers over the material. It should have been cotton, soft and pliable, but this fabric was quite stiff.

Nevertheless. It was scratchy but it stretched enough to function, and it fit. His jeans were of the same fabric even though they looked like they always had. He put them on. No sign of boxers, briefs or jacket.

A knocking sound made him start and spin around.

He saw three ponies in front of him, though that name still felt wrong. One had a hoof up in the air and it took a moment for Welder to realise that it had in fact knocked on a sheet of glass that stretched between them. He had failed to notice it previously. None of the three looked familiar. In fact, two of them were distinctly larger than what he’d experienced in his dreams. The ‘normal sized’ one had a green coat, slightly darker than mint, and light gray mane. The two big ones had pearl and dark blue coats respectively, and their manes... He couldn’t discern their manes properly. They seemed to be waving about like they were underwater and being moved by ocean currents.

“Hello?”

The small one opened its mouth and spoke to him. Now that he saw them he could vaguely associate the sound to a horse whinnying, but the comparison was tenuous at best. He didn’t understand a word.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand you... Do you understand me? Please nod if you do.”

He waited for a moment, watching the trio. The large white one was in the center, and she -Welder thought it looked like a she- bent down and spoke to the small green one. The green one said something back and then her horn suddenly glowed with a green outline, making Welder gasp. Three objects were floating up to the glass from behind the trio. They were white rectangles with black markings on them. The green pony looked up at them and then rearranged them into a vertical row.

Welder stepped closer and peered at the objects. He realised there was text -recognizable text- on them. Each carried a single word: ‘can’, ‘you’ and ‘breathe’. The letters were large, faithful copies of printed type. Welder was struck by a memory. Twilight had appeared in front of him and asked to study some samples of writing from his world, so he’d thought them back to his apartment and given her a dictionary. She’d been so excited she’d danced a little four-legged jig before settling down to read, all the while easily answering his questions.

Now that he thought about it, she had mentioned her rulers. He looked back at the trio. Yes, the two big ones matched the description she’d given. He gulped.

“Y... yes. I can breathe. Where is Twilight Sparkle? I thought she’d be here when I woke up.”

They didn’t answer. Instead, the smallest one raised a hoof and pointed it to the side. He turned and looked.

The outside wall of his little house opposite the doorway was now visible and it was covered by shelves containing neat stacks of white plaques like the three pressed up against the glass by the green pony’s magic. He understood and walked over to the shelves. Sure enough, there were hundreds of what felt like thin sheets of wood, each carrying a different word. Most were stacked into very large piles but two lay separate: the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ were painted on them. He picked up the ‘yes’ and inspected it. The other side had large markings that he was unfamiliar with, but he assumed it was the Equestrian equivalent to ‘yes’. He walked up to the glass and pressed the sheet against it so that the alien text was visible to the ponies.

They nodded at him and started talking to each other animatedly. Welder noted that the glass had to be quite thick. It was also slightly uneven and distorted the view in gentle waves, though not enough to be a problem. He walked over to the shelves again and looked through the pile of words. He noticed that one pile of wooden sheets was larger and inspected it. He nodded when his suspicion was proved correct, shuffled through it and chose one sheet as well as one from another pile. He brought both back to the glass and presented them so the ponies could read them.

‘Where’, ‘Twilight Sparkle’.

The tall white one, Princess Celery or something like that, staggered backwards. The other two seemed to turn and speak to her with some concern. Welder realised the white one’s eyes were moistening. He’d made the ruler of this world, a very powerful being if Twilight was to be believed, cry. Great start.

The white princess straightened and said something to Welder before turning and walking away. The other two also glanced at him before departing. He was left staring at them, slack-jawed, mystified and utterly alone.

Harm(P)ony

Chapter 22:Harm(P)ony

In her mind, Twilight screamed.

She was bursting with panic but had no outlet. There was nothing outside her thoughts to latch on to. Complete absence of anything invaded her senses. She couldn’t even sense herself. All she was, was a silent, terrified shriek.

She had no concept of time, nothing with which to measure its flow. For all she knew her terror had lasted a minute... or a thousand years already. All she knew was that eventually she was no longer shouting but crying. The crying turned to moaning. Then she finally gave up the last shred of hope and the moaning died in her mind.

That’s when she became aware of the song.

It was a lullaby. She could tell even though she sensed no words. It was hummed, by an unfamiliar voice, somewhere near her... as far as she could tell. She didn’t hear it as much as she thought it.

This is it. I have gone mad.

The lullaby stopped, to be replaced by a ghost of pleasant laughter.

My little pony, the only ponies who come here are either completely sane or completely mad to begin with. It’s the sane ones you need to watch out for, if you ask me.

What... Where am I?

The mind Twilight sensed was definitely that of a mare. She didn’t know how she could be so sure. She didn’t care if it was a mere figment of her imagination. Even if she was only talking to herself it swept away most of her terror, diminishing it to a mere seething in the back of her mind.

Canterlot Garden, near the hedge maze. At least, that’s what it was when I arrived. It might have become something else. Does Canterlot still stand? The one who came before you won’t tell.

What? Yes, Canterlot is still here. But... Why would we be in Canterlot Garden? I can’t see anything! I can’t feel anything!

Wait... You don’t know? How could you not know? Didn’t they even give you a trial? Have they been reduced to such barbarism that they have become assassins themselves? I... This is my fault. I failed. Now Harmony is anything but.

There was a long, drawn-out grumbling. Twilight was unaware of any words in it, but somehow she intuited that a long-dormant anger was awakening.

Please, what happened to me? Who are you?

The grumbling was replaced by a chuckle.

Sorry, newcomer. Rules say the newbie goes first. What’s your name?

Rules? Um. My name is Twilight Sparkle.

Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Funny enough that’s a name I’ve actually heard here. It’s been screamed, mostly. The last one to arrive has a serious grudge against you. Whenever he gets going he rants so loud that it’s heard all over the place. The others yell at him to be quiet but he ignores them. For my part I despise him with all of my might, so if hehates youas strongly then we must be destined to become really good friends. Now... My name is Silver Gavel.

Silver Gavel... I’ve heard that n- you had access to Luna’s library!

Ah. I was afraid of this. A fellow champion of True Harmony, then?

True Harmony?

It’s a long story. But I haven’t answered your other question. You’ve been turned to stone. And unless they’ve moved me somewhere then they’ve placed you somewhere near me in Canterlot Garden.

STONE? No! Nonono-

Hey! Calm down! There’s no use panicking! Don’t make me sing to you again, because I don’t think I have the patience.

If- if we are stone then... how do we speak?

We don’t speak. Have you studied any spirit magic? There are books about it in the Embargoed Texts.

Yes... Well, not much beyond specific spells I needed.

All right. Well, cosmological theory says: Everything has a spirit. Right? Everything. Take the smallest speck of dust you can see: it has a spirit. Take a very, very delicate blade and cut that speck in half. Congratulations, you now have two vanishingly small specks of dust, each with their own independent spirit. That goes for you too. You have one spirit. But every part of you has a spirit as well, and that spirit is somehow both independent of and integrated to your whole spirit. It goes down in scale as far as you can detect. With me so far?

Yes.

Good. Now, our spirit is kind of the knowledge of who we really are. An ideal version of us, you could say, though it does tend to reflect our current state of being. We can get in touch with our spirits by meditating, and through that we can get in touch with other spirits. Being turned to stone kind of shuts us off from the real world, so there are no distractions preventing us from sensing with and acting through our spirits. Our spirits don’t really speakso it doesn’t matter to them that we’re currently statues.

I... I see. It... it had to be the Elements. They... they turned me to stone. I just couldn’t believe they’d turn on me.

Surely you must have had somekind of warning. The Element Bearers are the False Harmony’s lapdogs anyways. They don’t tend to be subtle around their enemies.

False harmony? And no, you don’t understand. The Element Bearers are my friends! I bear the Element of Magic!

A silence stretched out. Twilight couldn’t measure it reliably. She somehow sensed great amazement and surprise in her unseen companion.

That’s unexpected. But I guess I should have seen it. No matter who you are, if you know too much then the False Harmony will stomp on your head. I wonder what happens to Princess Luna when she really starts investigating my case like she said she would. Actually: as far as I know the princesses were the Element Bearers. Did something happen to make them give them up?

Another silence stretched. This time because Twilight’s mind was racing.

Twilight Sparkle? Are you still there?

I’m sorry. It’s just that... The princesses haven’t been Element Bearers for over a thousand years!

Twilight proceeded to relate the main points of history. The fall of Princess Luna and the rise of Nightmare Moon, how she was banished and how she later returned. She then proceeded to recent events, focusing on the fallen mountain and the creature. Once she finished a third silence began, the longest so far. She waited patiently for Silver Gavel to speak.

A thousand years? It hasn’t felt that long. Of course, time is impossible to measure in this state. But still. No matter; from what you’ve told me our fates are tragically identical even though you aren’t actually guilty of any crime other than knowing too much. I wouldn’t compare it to my own. I know that the False Harmony is cruel though, so I am not that surprised.

If I may ask... What was your crime? There are references to court records, but they’ve all disappeared.

I’m not surprised by that either. I tried to assassinate the princesses by poisoning their food.

Twilight gasped mentally. Silver Gavel chuckled darkly and continued.

I know. It’s awful to think of even in retrospect. I, same as you apparently, was Celestia’s faithful student. I loved her dearly and admired Luna with all my heart. Still, it was the only way I saw to vanquish the False Harmony. I... I don’t regret trying. I had to. From what you’ve told me, things haven’t gotten better since then. My failure cost more than what my potential success would have.

Why did you fail?

I overdid it. I had no idea what kind of dose it would take to kill an alicorn, so I added so much poison that the servants carrying their food were adversely affected by the fumes rising from the hot dishes. They collapsed and the guard was called. The food never even entered the royal dining room.

So... Why did you do it?

To end the False Harmony.

What’s that? Surely there’s only Harmony?

That’s what they would have you believe. Twilight Sparkle, let me tell you about Harmony, both the True and the False.

Twilight listened. Eventually she understood.

~~~~~

Fluttershy landed with only a whisper of a crunch from the frozen lawn and folded her wings. She listened: off in the distance she could hear two palace guards trying to make their patrol duty more bearable by having a conversation. They were too far away to notice her and were unlikely to come this way. This was not a night for stealth. The air was too cold and the overcast sky too dark; you’d just risk hurting yourself. Unless you were somepony who made extra effort to be gentle and careful. No lights illuminated this part of the gardens except for some candles laid at the foot of the statue in front of Fluttershy. She noted there were some wreaths laid at its base as well.

The sight made her blood boil.

She sighed with more force than usual and reached back with her wings to unclasp her saddlebags and let them fall onto the light dusting of snow on the grass. After a moment’s rummaging with her snout she pulled out a piece of string from one of the bags. Tied to one end of the string was a strip of something dark and leathery. She held the other end of the string in her mouth and flapped her wings, leaping up onto the statue’s base. She hooked a hoof on the stone pony’s back to steady herself. She spent a moment to brush all the snow off the statue. Then she pressed the leathery strip against a stony cheek.

“Wake up, Twilight. Come back to us.”

She started rubbing her hoof against the stone, leaving a smear of something dark. She muttered under her breath.

“Cockatrice comb under starry dome! Free my friend from stone and give her back her bone!”

Soft, yellow light erupted from underneath Fluttershy’s hoof and spread out to envelop all of Twilight’s petrified form. Fluttershy adjusted her grip, putting both forelegs around Twilight and flapping her wings. Colour returned to Twilight’s mane and Fluttershy felt her weight decrease to that of a pony. She fell limply around Fluttershy’s legs as she was lowered off the statue base and onto the ground.

Fluttershy gently stroked Twilight’s mane while tilting her face up to the stars and whispering.

“Thank you, Zecora.”

Eventually Twilight twitched and raised her head. Fluttershy shushed her quickly and threw a blanket over her. Twilight looked around in confusion before focusing on her friend, and Fluttershy was glad to see there was no sign of the purple fire in her eyes.

“Can you stand, Twilight? We need to get you away from here. It’s not quite safe for you out in the open.”

“I... Yes, I think.”

Twilight fought to gain control over her legs. Her first attempt to stand nearly tipped her forward but before too long she was upright on all fours. Fluttershy nodded and motioned for Twilight to follow, but just as she started to move Twilight apparently thought of something and looked around.

“Wait, Fluttershy. Is there another statue nearby?”

Fluttershy was perplexed but did not show it, instead shaking her head.

“Not that I know of. We’re quite far from the more frequented areas.”

Twilight looked confused.

“That doesn’t make sense. She should be very close by.”

“She?”

Fluttershy’s question went ignored. Twilight looked around, but no other statue was in sight. Then her gaze went to the stone base where she’d been stood. It wasn’t new: bare strands of withered ivy clung to it and its surface was quite worn. Fluttershy looked on with anxious bewilderment as Twilight slowly walked up to it and studied it closely.

The top wasn’t completely smooth. Four broken hooves of stone was all that remained of another statue -one that had been sculpted separately from the base and then glued to it with cement. The fractures were very old. The statue hadn’t been complete for hundreds of years, and its original shape was probably long forgotten.

Twilight sat down and started to weep. She laid her lips gently on the cold stone and whispered.

“I’m sorry, Silver Gavel. There’s nothing I can do for you right now. I promise I’ll be back to help you!”

A hoof touched her shoulder and she heard Fluttershy’s bewildered voice.

“Twilight, who’s Silver Gavel?”

She swallowed and blinked away her tears before turning to Fluttershy. Fluttershy gasped and shied back a bit, and Twilight could tell why. There were purple pinpoints of light in Fluttershy’s eyes -reflections of her own gaze.

“A friend I met recently. We promised we’d help each other if we ever got the opportunity.”

She rose to her hooves again.

“But for now we must leave. Do you have something we can use to cover my eyes? I take it you didn’t free me with anypony’s permission.”

Fluttershy nodded mutely and fished through her saddlebags until she found a pair aviator’s goggles with dark tinted glass. She gave them to Twilight, who donned them.

“I can’t see a thing in these!”

“Um, I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of another way. Grab my tail. I’ll lead you wherever you want to go.”

“Wherever I..? Fluttershy? Do you mean you don’t have an escape route planned?”

Fluttershy’s ears fell and she whined.

“I- I was hoping this- all of this- was just a misunderstanding! Twilight, they left you imprisoned in stone when you’d done nothing wrong!”

She took a breath and her voice strengthened.

“I watched them be sad about it. You better believe they grieved. But they grieved you as one mourns the dead! They were pushing you out of their thoughts! I could see it on their faces: they were forgetting about you. I don’t believe for one second that Celestia is so busy that something as important as her most faithful student being imprisoned in stone would just evaporate from her mind. So it has to be like you said. There’s some kind of enchantment on us, isn’t there?”

Twilight was silent for a while, not moving except for the occasional swish of her tail, staring blindly through the goggles at a point past Fluttershy’s shoulder. Then she put a hoof on top of the goggles’ rim and lowered them slightly, peeking over them with her burning eyes at Fluttershy.

“...Yes. An enchantment is basically what it is. But you have to understand, Fluttershy. This was not a misunderstanding. Harmony has cast me out with good reason. If I was to approach the princesses then they would probably render my magic inert, gag me, put me in irons and throw me into a dungeon until they came up with a way to dispose of me permanently without using the Elements.”

Fluttershy gasped.

“But why would they do that?! What have you done that is so bad?”

“I rebelled against Harmony.”

Twilight held up a hoof to stop any further questions.

“Fluttershy, the less you know the better. The princesses can’t help themselves. They too are under the enchantment. We should move quickly anyhow; we are far too likely to get caught if we remain here.”

“A- all right. Where would you like to go?”

A moment of silence passed. The chill air carried faint echoes of laughter from the two distant guards.

“I... think we need to stay in the gardens, actually. We need to circle around the castle, away from the city and towards the mountainside. You lead me, and while we walk I want you to keep an eye out for any kind of pond or lake that might be lying under the snow.”

“Oh? What kind of pond are we looking for?”

“It’s at least six bodylengths across. It’s perhaps a stone’s throw from the end of the cliff ledge behind the castle.”

“That’s the princesses’ private gardens. You’re probably talking about Luna’s carp pond.”

“You’ve been there?”

“Oh yes. Princess Celestia is kind enough to let me wander there freely to ease my mind. Luna feeds the carp with breadcrumbs. They’re very nice carp.”

“All right. Lead on. I’ll follow the sound of your hooves.”

Fluttershy started walking. Twilight could follow her easily enough as long as she stayed close. Nopony cared much for a frozen garden in the middle of the night, not even the guard captains who made the patrol routes, so their journey was worry-free. This meant they had time to think.

“Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Are- are you going to become nasty? Will you start using dark magic?”

“I can see why this would worry you, Fluttershy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. The answer is no -hopefully- and yes, I’m afraid I must.”

Fluttershy whimpered. They walked in silence for a while, Fluttershy easily navigating them through the maze of paths.

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

“How long was I petrified?”

“Um. Ten days.”

There was a shocked silence.

“They have all of us travelling separately. We go from village to village, town to town, all over Equestria where the air is still breathable. We cure the poisoned. Even the ones who don’t want to be cured, and there’s more of them every day.”

Still more silence.

“I chose tonight because I’ve been sent to a small village on the other side of Mount Canterlot, not that far as the bird flies. I snuck out of my bedroom window on the second floor of a tavern. There’s a guard outside my door, Twilight. I don’t know why.”

Even more silence. Fluttershy flicked her ears to face backwards. She could still hear the hoof-falls behind her, so Twilight was still following.

“I think I can guess, though. You heard about the raid on the refugee train? The raiders struck again, and the guardsponies went missing as well. Now the guard is trying to evacuate villages that are already empty when they reach them, with only signs of a fight remaining.”

There was a sigh behind Fluttershy.

“Nopony understands what’s happening, Twilight. At least, nopony I’ve asked.”

“Are you asking me?”

“Um. Maybe? Do you know what’s happening?”

“Frankly? Yes. It didn’t feel like ten days, but I had time to think about this. I... also had help sorting it out.”

“Um... so what is happening?”

“She will not tell you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy squeaked and whirled towards the new voice. It came from the side, off the path. Twilight had started so badly that she’d lost her balance and fallen on her side. She was scrabbling away from the direction of the voice, legs skidding over the frozen gravel. A part of the shadow under an alder tree dislodged itself and assumed the shape of a starry-maned alicorn.

Luna smiled gently at Fluttershy.

“Twilight cares for you too strongly to cause you that much harm.”

Unleashed

Chapter 23:Unleashed

“Please! Don’t hurt Twilight! She’s done nothing wrong!”

Fluttershy was cowering at the silver-clad hooves of the Diarch of Night. Luna had advanced towards Twilight before Fluttershy had thrown herself in front of her.

Fluttershy flinched as she felt something touch her. Then she realised it was Luna’s nose that was gently touching her cheek and opened her eyes. The princess was looking down at her with a quite mild expression.

“Fear not, Fluttershy. I will not, how did it go again, let me think...”

A smile crept on Luna’s face and she raised a hoof.

“Aha! I remember. I will not ‘render Twilight’s magic inert, gag her, put her in irons and throw her into a dungeon while I figure out how to dispose of her permanently’. Twilight can be so exaggerating sometimes; it is honestly quite amusing!”

The smile faded.

“Though I fear my dear sister just might do that if she were to catch you.”

Twilight finally found her legs and she rose carefully, still caught between warring instincts.

“P... princess? You... don’t intend to... stop me?”

“No, my little pony. I do not. I do admit the urge to do so was strong. I was already preparing my assault before you said something that stopped me in my tracks. Silver Gavel. You paralysed me with a name, Twilight. I was lucky to be on the ground, watching you from behind the hedges, rather than hovering above you. It would have been a most undignified crash.”

Twilight bowed her head.

“So you remember her.”

“I do now. I don’t know if I chose to forget her or if I was made to. I don’t remember the details surrounding her. But I do remember enough -I remember her doom. And I remember how mine followed.”

Twilight looked distraught.

“Will- will this mean problems for you?”

“Nightmare Moon -shaped problems? It might do -if you get caught quickly. I am currently allowed considerable leeway by Harmony. Rules have been loosened in order to deal with you, and my domain has always had a need for questionable tactics. Intrigue is my forte, and that requires... dangerous thinking. It’s possible that the mere mention of the name Silver Gavel would have cast me out of Harmony previously, but I can sense how it bends around you currently, ignoring me. I am... the lesser evil. Harmony will deal with me once it is finished with you.”

Twilight laid her hoof on Luna’s.

“Princess Luna, how much do you know?”

“I doubt I know anywhere close to everything. I know enough to see there’s a problem with Harmony. For this reason I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you have to understand I can only do so covertly -and probably only temporarily. I am ‘under the enchantment’ as you put it. With time I will most likely change my mind -or have it changed for me as it were- and hunt you down. My sister will start as soon as she finds out you have escaped. I intend to give you some advice.”

An eager look stole over Twilight's face. Advice was part and parcel of Twilight’s passions. Luna smiled at her and drew a deep breath.

“Twilight, you must hide from us. The day is my sister’s domain, and if she wills it then nowhere under the sun is hidden from her gaze. If you travel by day, stay in the shadows. Better yet, don’t travel during the day. Rest instead."

"The night, on the other hand, is my domain. I am benevolent now, but I will scarcely remain so for long. Do not trust the dark of midnight, Twilight. My gaze pierces it as easily as Celestia watches the world at noon. Further, there is the matter of dreams. You are outside Harmony now, and as such I will have difficulty finding and entering your dreams -but it is not an impossible task. Be awake but hidden during midnight, when I am strongest.”

Twilight frowned.

“But that leaves me with nothing!”

“Nothing will indeed be perfectly safe for you anymore. But there is much wisdom in your name, for you should let twilight be your domain. We -my sister and I- will be inattentive and unfocused during dawn and dusk, making it easier for you to act. Twilight is also the realm of magic. Magic has always thrived in transitional states and places, in dawn and dusk, thresholds and fulcrums, prophecies and half-truths. I suspect you will be most powerful then.”

Twilight considered this and nodded after a while.

“All right. Thank you, Princess. I guess it was fortunate that you spotted us.”

Luna laughed softly.

“It was no mere accident, Twilight Sparkle! Fluttershy’s rescue attempt was doomed before it even began. I am aware of the nightmares your friends have suffered from, so I have taken to guarding their sleep to grant them at least some rest every night. When I discovered that Fluttershy here was still not asleep at this late hour I became worried she was suffering from insomnia and intended to go to her, to see if I could help. Instead I saw her fly past below me in the opposite direction!”

Fluttershy squeaked and blushed. Twilight shuddered. Luna continued somberly.

“Say instead that you are fortunate you managed to stay my hoof before you even knew I was there. Twilight, do you have a plan? Only ‘yes’ or ‘no’, please. Tell it to nopony!”

“Y- yes.”

“Good.”

There was a pause as Luna seemed to hesitate.

“Is there anything I absolutely should know?”

Twilight thought this over.

“Um. I’d need to use your library again, but I fear Libram won’t let me even though the damage has been done, so to speak.”

“Ha! There are more dangers in that library than that, Twilight Sparkle. Nevertheless, you have my permission -in secret. I cannot tell Libram to let you read his books: it is up to you to find a way.”

“Good enough for me. Thank you, princess.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Anything else?”

Twilight looked first at Fluttershy and then down at the snowy ground.

“Um. I promise... I promise that I have everypony’s best interests at heart. No matter what.”

Princess Luna turned away and spread her wings. She glanced back over her shoulder at Twilight.

“Do not let that be your epitaph, Twilight Sparkle. Only survivors get to explain their actions.”

A burst of her wings took her into the air. Then she was gone, impossible to see against the dark sky. Twilight watched her leave with a heavy sigh before turning to Fluttershy.

“You should get back to the inn. If you like, I could make you forget freeing me. That way you’d not feel guilty if someone brings it up.”

Fluttershy blushed. She knew herself.

“Um. That might be a good idea.”

Twilight nodded and her eyes flared while a glowing mote of purple light collected at the tip of her horn. Then she gently touched Fluttershy’s forehead with her horn, making the glow jump over to Fluttershy in a short arc and disappear. Fluttershy blinked furiously.

“But- but I still remember?”

Twilight smiled sadly and hugged Fluttershy.

“You’ll forget once you sleep. Fluttershy, thank you for giving me this chance. It could be that you’ve done something very important for all of Equestria, and I won’t let you down. We- we won’t probably meet again for a while... Take care.”

There was a weak sniff.

“I will. Goodbye, Twilight.”

Twilight watched the skies for a while after she’d lost sight of Fluttershy. Then she set her jaw and looked down. A brief flash of purple illuminated the gardens, but went unseen by any guard.

Twilight appeared outside the doors to Luna’s library. She raised a hoof... and put it back down while glaring at the double doors. She remembered that they were warded. Technically, she still had permission to enter. Technically, she had Luna’s permission to be there. In practice she’d rather not rely upon permissions -they tended not to work so well for those who were fugitives otherwise.

She cast several spells, draining or isolating the wards cast on the door. Then she focused on the space behind the door, likewise neutralising several spells there. Only then did she grip the doors in her magic and swing them open. She threw her mind forward into the gloom as she stepped undeterred over the threshold. Somewhere ahead, sensed by her magic, was a monstrosity. Oh, and Libram of course.

To say Libram was enchanted wasn’t even close to doing justice to the spells, hexes, runes and other magic that maintained and confined him. She could see the divinations that let him sense the world around him: he knew he was being observed but she could tell by the way his divination spells moved about that he was unable to sense far enough to spot her. She could also see the spells that let him exist in the first place, bound to his phylactery.

She cast the spirit vision spell. Ghostly outlines of books filled every shelf, where actual physical books should be were it not for some serious messing with potentialities. One spirit was quite different. Even after all these years Libram’s spirit was pony-shaped, though it was filled with gray smoke and blue lightning. There was also a spirit for his book. Twilight reached out to that with a spell.

Soon enough, in her mind’s eye, she was leafing through pages of ghostly light, reading text looking like the after-images of lights on your eye when you turn your head in the dark. She made a mental note about which sections possibly needed changing as she read. Once she reached the end of the book she considered for a moment before flipping the spirit of the book over and opening the front cover again. There wasn’t much written there, on the first page, but she erased it all with her magic. Then she added a line.

Then she started walking forward, hoofsteps echoing on the flagstones. A spell assaulted her almost immediately: dark magic, by the looks of it. Black lightning arced through the air around her but never touched her. The nearest shelves sprouted small crystals which crumbled into dust after a while. Then came a whoomp as the air around Twilight ignited. Her fur remained unsinged as her protective enchantments cooled her. She snorted and spoke out loud.

“Libram, a wise spellcaster does not try another frontal attack after a failed one.”

She was answered in a fashion. Gray magic created barriers ahead and behind of Twilight. Then she heard the bookcase to her left groan as it was being pushed in her direction. She rolled her eyes even though the gesture was lost behind the purple fire billowing from them, and stopped, watching the structure lean more and more. It fell... and the top of the falling bookcase crashed into the bookcase on the other side of Twilight, quite far above her head. The other bookcase swayed but didn’t fall. She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

“Libram, that was quite poorly planne-”

The mental attack had wormed its way past her defenses and proceeded to destroy her ability to think. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she tipped forward, falling onto her face.

Libram’s gray magic surrounded Twilight’s unresisting form and lifted it into the air. Then it floated to his bookcase and came to rest in front of his book.

He sighed inwardly. Twilight had been such a nice acquaintance. A brilliant mind, really. So organized and full of energy! But the lure of knowledge had damned her. He could tell that she was no longer a pony of Harmony. Her eyes were the obvious sign, of course. Her life was forfeit now. Libram had instructions... written instructions... though oddly enough he couldn’t feel their compulsion now. No matter; Twilight’s punishment for trying to steal the Embargoed Texts would at the same time be Libram’s reward for diligent servitude... for as long as her body withstood his possession before dying.

His book hovered into the air, letting both covers open and reveal their diagrams. Twilight’s unresisting head was raised and her eyes were aimed at them.

He didn’t explain his actions, taunt or berate her. The spell he had cast left her insensate anyway. He merely moved his consciousness across the conduit and let it flow into his new limbs. His spirit flowed into its new housing with insignificant resistance. Libram wondered about that for a moment: the body felt oddly vacant. He assumed his spell had effectively wiped out Twilight, leaving her body a living husk. He hadn’t expected that, but on the other hoof he’d never used the spell before either. He’d have to make a note of it once he’d gotten used to this body.

Granted, the body was a mare, but he’d adjust with time. Adjusting the body was an option, but one which he dismissed: it would shorten its lifespan and he wanted to preserve it for as long as possible. The necromantic energies swirling through him would inevitably cause it to fail long before what was normal for a body this healthy.

Libram grinned. Finally a bit of freedom! He’d have to be humble and generally stay out of the princesses’ way, of course; he understood they’d been rather fond of Twilight Sparkle. Seeing her possessed body would likely rouse bad memories and unpleasant emotions. All that remained now was to tuck away his phylactery and report the ‘tragic’ event to Princess Luna. His book still hovered in the air with both covers opened, gripped in his magic. He inspected it, noting it was in quite good shape.

However... Was that a streak of purple in his oculic diagrams? He looked closer; if the ink was scratched or stained then the diagrams might stop working. He had to determine the problem and fix it carefully.

Then he saw another purple line. It appeared right as he was watching! Then a third! His grin faded as his eyes darted over the pages. Both diagrams were changing... into purple. He gaped.

“T- twilight?”

Libram’s book was seized by a purple aura. Libram tried to pull away and flee, but found that his -Twilight’s- body was similarly enveloped. He tried to pry himself loose with his own telekinesis but it found no purchase against the purple glow -Twilight’s aura was frighteningly strong.

“What are you doing? How are you doing this?!”

Twilight’s voice whispered into his mind.

You are a lich without a proper body, prevented from forming one but gifted with the ability to possess others. It’s quite logical to assume it is your ultimate weapon as well. I left myself open to mental attacks on purpose, preparing a refuge for my mind on the spiritual plane. I also enchanted myself with spells that would trigger when my body became possessed. To put it simply: You are trapped. I am turning the tables on you.

His eyes were forced forward and he couldn’t blink. The plague of purple had by now completely overrun his own black and gold lines in the diagram. He whimpered.

“Wh- why?”

I am going to borrow some books, Libram. Starting with you.

The purple eyes filled his mind. Twilight’s body was enveloped in purple flame. And from the bookcase next to her there came a gentle thump as a book suddenly appeared next to where Libram’s book would stand. Then another one appeared. Then two more... soon the thumps became a single sound as the books appeared on the shelves. The sound intensified further, until a final crescendo turned it into a deafening boom that suddenly stopped, leaving only fading echoes ringing through the library.

Twilight opened her eyes and let her body float to the ground. Then she looked up at Libram’s book. She grunted, and purple fire coruscated along her horn and past it. There was a metallic groan as the bolts anchoring the chain shackling Libram’s book to the bookcase were torn to pieces. The chain fell away from the bookcase and dangled in the air.

There was a purple flash, and both Twilight and the book were gone.

At Large

Chapter 24:At Large

Welder swallowed and gagged. He scooped his hand into the water basin and brought it cupped to his mouth, slurping some water. The black disk was as foul-tasting as its components were unidentifiable, though he sometimes suspected it at least partially contained his own waste, reprocessed once he’d disposed of it down the hole of the waterless basin.

He’d been told that it was food. He didn’t doubt it, as he was still alive if a bit thinner and weaker than before. He looked down at the half-finished cake in his hands. Consistency like soft bread and taste like ammonia and dirt. He’d tried to find some combination of word cards that would convey how bad it tasted but without any ‘taste’ word he’d been stumped.

Another word missing from his cue-card vocabulary was ‘bored’, and it most certainly applied. There was nothing to do apart from the occasional tests of his intelligence and reasoning that the green pony asked him to do, and they’d been childishly basic. She’d also asked some peculiar questions about his arrival -’did’ ‘you’ ‘come’ ‘here’ ‘want’ ‘to’ and ‘did’ ‘you’ ‘harm’ ‘ponies’ ‘want’ ‘to’?

That didn’t bode well, though he should have expected it. If he couldn’t even breathe the native atmosphere then everything that followed him to this world would probably poison the natives as well. Still, he didn’t like the insinuation that he’d done so on purpose and had most insistently waved the ‘no’ -sign at her. His demand to know why such questions were even asked went unheeded. It wasn’t the first question to be ignored. ‘Where’, ‘Twilight Sparkle’ was permanently laid down by the glass.

He’d also taken to laying out information about his own status, ever since he began to worry about the slowly increasing nausea he felt. The cakes tasted horrible, but not that horrible. Something made him feel constantly sick. Maybe it was his hygiene? The only clean water was in the basin. There was no warm water and no soap. He cleaned himself as best he could over the dry basin, not wanting to pollute his drinking water, and also tried to wash his clothes, but he still felt grubby all the time.

It all added up to feelings of frustration and loneliness. And fear. He was pretty sure he hadn’t seen the green pony in over a day. A little light came from above every now and then, which he assumed to be daylight, but it filtered through a gray material that looked a bit like ice from below and didn’t amount to much more than a murky gray gloom. He was becoming depressed at the thought of spending much further time like this.

He’d sleep when he felt drowsy, but would wake up shivering and with aching muscles. The air was a bit too chilly, and the stone he was surrounded by didn’t help. There was no mattress and if he tried balling up his clothes into a makeshift pillow then he’d be too cold to fall asleep. He guessed he’d been in the glass room for about nine days now, and he’d sure lose his mind before nine more days passed unless something changed.

He regarded the half-eaten cake of undetermined origin in his hands. He really didn’t feel up to the task of finishing it. He set it down on the edge of the water basin with a sigh before standing and stretching. Stiff joints creaked and popped, and he groaned appreciatively, feeling a bit better. He considered his situation. Perhaps if he couldn’t complain directly about his food then perhaps he could ask for different food? He was sure he’d seen that word.

He went over to the stacks of words by the back wall of his stone hut and hunted through the piles. There had been a system to the piles but he’d discovered it far too late when he’d already ruined it by returning the cards to piles with similar word sizes rather than words with similar usage. It took a while therefore to find ‘different’, ‘food’ and, as an afterthought, ‘please’. He’d taken to studying the Equestrian markings, trying to decipher the written language, and had made some basic progress. He assumed the symbols were related to Equestrian phonemes, but nothing guaranteed a direct relationship. They didn’t seem to be pictograms: he’d only seen a total of twenty-three different symbols.

He looked at the symbols on the ‘fronts’ of the cards. He’d begun calling the sides with the bigger markings the fronts. His cards inevitably had the text he could read in smaller print, no doubt since he’d be able to read them up close rather than pressed up against wavy glass. Consequently the Equestrian text was printed large. By now he could identify about fifty cards from their Equestrian markings alone, and the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cards with only a casual glance even though there were other cards with equally short words on their fronts. Equestrian, he assumed, had more vowels (and if so then less consonants, provided his letter count was correct) than the average for common human languages, allowing for a larger selection of short words.

Thus he studied the cards in his hands as he strolled towards the glass. He glanced up, did a double-take and threw himself back with a strangled yelp, sending the cards he’d held flying to the sides. He landed hard enough on his backside to force the air from his lungs, and he sat stunned while staring at the two ellipses of purple fire that glowed in the darkness on the other side of the glass.

The burning ellipses winked out for a split second, like blinking eyes. Then a bright point of light appeared above them and soared upwards, shining down on Twilight Sparkle. Welder blinked stupidly at the pony before picking himself up and walking to the glass. He looked down at the pony: there was no doubt this was Twilight Sparkle, but the glowing eyes were definitely new. She seemed to just tranquilly regard him.

“Twilight? Is that you?”

The pony blinked again, momentarily quenching the purple flames. Then another, weaker mote of light formed at the tip of her horn and detached. It floated forward, up to the glass and through it. Welder backed away warily just before it stopped. He inspected the light cautiously, but it just hung in the air at shoulder height, shining a bright purple. Then he looked past it at Twilight, who met his gaze with her head tilted and an eyebrow raised. She started tapping a hoof in a very familiar expression of impatience.

Welder reached out with a hand and very hesitantly put his right index finger next to the light. Before he could react it was drawn to his hand, disappearing in a flash and making a weak purple glow travel up his arm. He drew a startled breath.

“Hello, Welder. How are you?”

It was Twilight’s voice. Except she hadn’t really said those words. He’d heard her speak the same unintelligible language the other ponies used, but somewhere along the way his brain had decided it understood her perfectly.

“Twilight! We’re have you been? I- I’m mostly fine, but I am slowly getting more and more nauseous. Also, I don’t think that cake I’m eating gives me all the stuff I need.”

Twilight nodded. One of her ears flicked irritably. Her horn was engulfed by purple fire. Welder looked at it wide-eyed. It streamed past the tip of the horn before coming to a point of its own, creating the ghostly image of a much longer horn superimposed on Twilight’s actual one. She seemed to be looking up into the air inside Welder’s glass enclosure.

“Your air hasn’t been properly recycled despite the fact that I had written down careful instructions at the University. The cakes were ever only going to be a short-term measure. I should be able to fetch you some of your own food.”

Twilight sighed.

“All this means is that I’d have to stay here -which is impossible- or that you’d have to come with me to where I’m going, at least for a while.”

Welder sensed his opportunity and fell to his knees while clasping his hands.

“Twilight, I’m going stir crazy in here. If you can arrange it then please, please take me with you!”

This made Twilight huff.

“You don’t understand my situation, Welder. There’s a lot you haven’t been told, I gather. First among those is that I’ve essentially become an outcast. The princesses have turned hostile towards me. If you’d travel with me then I couldn’t guarantee your safety. I’m not going on a pleasure trip but am essentially fleeing for my life. And where I’m going is probably quite unpleasant.”

Something seemed to occur to Twilight and her expression changed. She looked wide-eyed at Welder.

“On the other hoof... we’re about to run into a hard limit concerning you and I’m probably the only one who can help you past it. In fact, now that I think about it you’d probably be guarded if I tried to return later. Perhaps... perhaps I’d better take you with me right now.”

Welder nodded eagerly, causing Twilight to sigh.

“All right. I’ll have to gather some things and figure out how to get you safely out of there. I’ll probably be gone for a while.”

She disappeared in a purple flash. Welder started pacing around his prison, letting a hand drag against the glass walls. Thoughts came to him unbidden. Twilight had seemed different. Of course, this was the first time they’d actually met face to face, but her behaviour was off as well. She’d said she’d gotten into trouble with the rulers, so that could explain it. Perhaps it was the way she’d startled him that changed his perception of her, but she also seemed slightly larger in real life compared to the spirit world.

She’d said she was heading into peril. Did he really want to go with her? He found he was surprisingly determined to do so. Maybe he simply craved freedom, maybe he was indeed going mad: it didn’t matter. He’d probably outlived his entire species. High score right there. Now he wanted fresh air and new vistas.

He sat down after two and a quarter laps and leaned his back against the glass, burying his face in his palms. High score for surviving the end of the world? Yep, he was definitely losing it.

Twenty minutes later there was another purple flash announcing Twilight’s return. She’d appeared at the same spot as before. Welder stood up and looked with considerable interest at the items hovering in the air above her head. There was a large and ancient-looking book with a very strong-looking chain dangling from it, as well as...

Welder looked closer.

“What is that?”

Twilight looked up at the largest object and shuddered.

“It’s... armor. It will serve as a disguise.”

Welder opened his mouth to object but thought better of it. It was true that nobody would be able to recognize the pony inside of that but disguises tended to lean heavily on being inconspicuous as well. You were anonymous inside that thing, but the outfit itself... Welder didn’t know the first thing about barding, but even he could tell this was something special -and not only due to how he instinctively backed away from it. He’d seen horror movies with the same aesthetic.

“Don’t you think you’ll be recognizable anyhow together with me?”

“I’m sorry, Welder, but the time hasn’t yet come when you can roam freely. I’ll move you to somewhere safer and make sure you are comfortable. Then I have to go elsewhere and I can’t take you with me. I’ll check up on you more frequently, and I’ll work on how to make this world safer for you, but it’ll take time. I’m forced to divide my attention between several things at the moment.”

Welder sighed.

“All right, thanks anyway. Anywhere’s got to be better than this.”

“We shall see. For now I’ll have to take a couple of temporary measures. I managed to find a useful fetching spell and should be able to get you some cold weather gear with it. Your species seems to be quite adept at increasing your temperature tolerance by varying your clothing. This will come in handy, since it’s wintertime here in Equestria.”

Twilight walked around the outside of the glass until she was next to Welder.

“First things first, though. I’ll use magic to create an inexhaustible supply of air in your lungs. I’ll also protect you against poisoning.”

She concentrated and her horn flared to life, shooting purple flame once more. Welder noted that it also danced down her mane. Then he noticed that he was also enveloped in purple fire and yelped. He flailed at the ethereal flames in panic for a moment before managing to control himself and realising that it wasn’t any actual fire. Then the flames disappeared and he looked up to see Twilight grinning at him.

“That should do it. How do you feel?”

Welder’s eyes darted this way and that while the rest of him held still.

“Um... normal? I don’t feel anything special. Wait, the nausea is disappearing!”

He smiled and took a deep breath. No doubt about it: a foulness in the air that he hadn’t been aware of was now gone. He smiled gratefully at Twilight, who smiled back before shutting her eyes and concentrating once more. This time the purple fire enveloped a section of the glass wall. The wall warped and an opening appeared. When it was large enough to serve as a doorway for Welder the glow dissipated and Twilight opened her eyes again.

“Hurry now. Tell me what kind of clothes you’ll need in as much detail as you manage. Then we need to get going.”

Welder nodded and thought for a moment before launching into a lengthy description of winter clothes. Twilight kept her eyes shut and her horn blazing while he talked, and one by one various pieces of clothing appeared and landed next to her. He laughed happily once he saw the tags: they were his size. He tore off his shirt- and hesitated. Then he decided he didn’t see any need to be embarrassed, considering Twilight was still keeping her eyes shut, tore his pants off and quickly put on proper clothing (with actual cotton, he noted), including underwear.

“This feels great! Much better than the first ones I was given. No offense.”

He paused.

“Hold on. You said you fetched these clothes? You mean these are actual ‘made on Earth’ clothes? You found where I came from?”

Twilight nodded slightly but looked sad.

“Yes, Welder. To all three questions.”

Welder stared at her while his mouth worked soundlessly. Then he took a long, deep breath and held it for a couple of heartbeats before releasing it as slowly.

“Tell me what’s left of Earth.”

Twilight looked away.

“Welder, I’m sorry. There’s hardly anything left.”

A moment passed while Welder looked inwards. He... was unmoved. The news that his entire civilisation, species and home planet was gone seemingly didn’t affect him.

“Hardly anything, huh.”

Twilight turned and looked at him. He supposed she’d look endearingly sad if it wasn’t for the tongues of purple fire licking her eyes.

“There’s a small, cold and barren planetoid surrounded by dust and gasses. It also looks like your sun was affected. It’s smaller and redder than in your memories, and there’s a lot of interstellar debris.”

“Well where did you find all of these clothes?”

“Kind of nowhere, really: most of the material from your planet is still stuck in non-dimensional spaces. Ironically that makes it easier to find and fetch even though they can’t be said to have actual spatial coordinates.”

Welder fell silent and studied his hands. His lips moved in pace with some internal monologue. Then he looked back up at Twilight.

“Could there be other survivors?”

“Well, yes -but don’t get your hopes up. It’s a distinct possibility, though it’s extremely improbable. Non-dimensional space isn’t survivable. Someone might have been lucky and gotten ejected out of a portal, like you did, but if they faced even a fraction of the difficulties you faced then they most likely didn’t survive -and that’s if they were ejected near a planet.”

“But what made me fall out of- of your sun- if nothing else is doing that?”

Twilight shrugged and shook her mane.

“The physical laws of N-D space don’t lend themselves to easy study. I haven’t the faintest clue. But if you’re taking the news this good then we really should get going.”

“All right.”

Twilight walked towards the darkness, lighting the way with a light on the tip of her horn.

“This way. Oh, and you have practiced climbing down cliffs, yes?”

“Yes... wait. Why does it matter right now? I’ve practiced with equipment yes, but not barehanded!”

This made Twilight stop, but only for a moment.

“I’ll figure something out.”

Life is a Test

Chapter 25:Life is a Test

“We have to assume that Cloudsdale has been lost.”

Shining Armor’s voice was weak. In defiance of etiquette he was not looking directly at Princess Celestia, but down and to the side. She didn’t care. Her own gaze was nowhere near her captain of the guard. She was looking out through one of the clear windows of the courtroom, at the roiling masses of cloud surrounding Canterlot Mountain. She didn’t care about the reaction of the court either, though she understood those that shouted in alarm and didn’t begrudge the frankly disrespectful chatter that arose for a moment. It died down as everypony waited for Shining Armor to explain. He took his cue.

“We haven’t had a missive from them for three days now. The last missive mentioned a temporary pause on weather control efforts to let their teams rest and recover. It spoke only of a day’s pause, however, and we’ve seen no sign of stable weather for three days now. My scouts cannot fly long in the ash-laden clouds and have been unable to locate the city.”

“What of the other cities? Perhaps Cloudsdale has drifted near one of them?”

“It’s possible, but in that case we have no way of knowing. All lines of communication are broken. None of the squads I’ve posted to other cities have managed to contact me.”

Celestia was silent for a moment before raising her head and speaking loudly.

“I’m afraid this court will have to resume tomorrow. Stewards, find Princess Luna and ask her to meet us in the council room. Shining Armor, please accompany me.”

He made a tired salute and went to walk by Celestia’s side as she left the court. They walked down the castle’s hallways in silence for the most part. Eventually Shining Armor couldn’t contain himself any longer.

“Princess, have you any news... of my sister?”

~~~~~

Welder looked up at the nearly vertical wall of rock. A series of hand- and footholds optimised for his grip were slowly filling in, leaving no trace behind. One by one Twilight’s magic faded from them. He didn’t know what the future held, but he was certain that he’d remember this descent for as long as he lived. His first attempt at free climbing had involved a magical unicorn hovering next to him and formed cavities in the cliff face where it was most convenient for him. When he’d complained of fatigue she’d extruded a wide slab of rock for him to rest on.

“Twilight, that was unreal.”

The pony shot him an annoyed look.

“I thought we’d already established that-”

He silenced her with a wave of his hand.

“That’s not what I meant. I just can’t deal with all of this strangeness.”

Forest pressed up against the mountainside. Twilight led him directly away from the cliff at first, down a steep incline. There was a thick layer of snow, nearly reaching up to Twilight’s barrel, hampering their movement. After about an hour of this Welder was becoming very tired.

“Twilight, can’t you magic a path for us or something?”

“Normally yes, but this snow is mixed with ash from your world.”

“So?”

“It reacts poorly to telekinesis. Watch.”

Twilight sent a blast of magic into a drift of snow by a tree. It started to crackle with blue-black fire. Welder stared at the pyrotechnic display while Twilight explained.

“Put simply, you come from a universe with different physical laws. Some are actually quite similar, but there are enough differences to render all the matter that arrived here essentially unable to exist for long in its current form, maintained only by a lingering aura of physical laws from your world. It’s decaying, falling apart into Equestrian matter and a mix of dark and chaos magic. We’ve already determined the exact rate of decay, but certain magics seem to greatly accelerate the process. I theorise it’s because they disrupt the physical laws holding the matter together.”

“All matter from my world? But I am also made from that...”

“That’s the hard limit I mentioned. I have less than fifteen days, at most, to figure out how to convert your physical structure to Equestrian matter while still letting you function.”

“Twilight, that sounds impossible.”

“It may seem like so but I can’t determine that until I’ve made an effort.”

They struggled forward in silence for a moment before Welder spoke again, short on breath.

“Thank you. For trying, I mean.”

Hours later a gray light seeping into the countryside announced that dawn was taking place somewhere beyond the thick cloud cover. Twilight glanced back at Welder and frowned as she saw him stumbling along, clearly on his very last reserves of strength. They made camp of sorts next to a large pine so laden down by snow that it formed a solid roof. Canterlot was still too close to risk making an open fire, so Twilight heated a pile of rocks with her magic instead. A low rumble was heard as Welder held his hands out towards the rocks and he glanced down at his stomach. Twilight smiled at him.

“Hungry?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“All right, let me see if I can fetch you some of your native food.”

Welder never tired of watching the purple fire play over her horn and spout from her eyes. It was both unnerving and fascinating. Then something long and thin appeared in the air next to her with a small pop and fell to the ground. Welder leaned over and gripped it, but yelped and threw it down almost immediately. It had been intensely cold, much colder than the winter air surrounding him. He’d probably been lucky he was wearing gloves.

“What the... That thing is so cold it burned!”

Twilight shook her mane. “It must have been somewhere very cold then. Nudge it over by the stones and it will thaw.”

Welder did so and waited. The frost vanished eventually, revealing a bar of salami in a plastic wrapping. Welder’s mouth was suddenly filled with drool, forcing him to swallow. He tested the package’s temperature periodically, and when the wrapping was warm to his touch he tore it open. The smell was... heavenly. With a frustrated sigh he laid the bar down on two sticks by the searing-hot rocks, assuming that the core of the salami was likely still frozen.

Finally, finally he heard a sizzle from the meat. The scent had driven him insane twice over. He gingerly gripped the bar by its end, swallowed the excess drool while he moved the salami to his mouth, blew on the end gently to cool it down, opened his mouth- and glanced at Twilight.

She was watching him intently, unmoving apart from a slight flick of her tail.

He closed his mouth while staring into those pools of fire. Then he bent forward and grabbed the plastic wrapper, inspecting it.

Ingredients: Meat (horse, cow, pig) 72%...

He looked over the text and into Twilight’s unmoving gaze. He swallowed more drool.

“Twilight.”

“Welder.”

“Out of all the foods. An entire planet’s worth. You managed to fetch this. Want to convince me it was a coincidence?”

Twilight thought this over for a second.

“Not really.”

Welder lowered the bar of equine salami -and some hidden part of him cried.

“Is this some kind of test?”

~~~~~

“We did not wish to test your loyalty, Captain Armor. We would rather not force you to choose between your sister and serving Equestria. We chose not to tell you of Twilight’s petrification so you could pursue your duties undistracted. She was perfectly safe, after all.”

Shining Armor held Princess Luna’s gaze for a moment before lowering it.

“What would you have me do now? Chase her?”

Celestia spoke before her sister could answer.

“We do not chase after Twilight. What threat she may represent will manifest itself in due time, and we must deal with more pressing matters. The capital is cut off. It has eight times the population it is designed to sustain and winter food stores are already running low, with spring a month away. We can’t contact the other cities -not even we dare flying in these ash-choked clouds and they cover all of Equestria by now- so for all practical purposes Canterlot is all that’s left right now. That means it is imperative that we survive until we can produce food again.”

“How do we do that?”

“The evacuated villages have stores of food that can be purified with the Elements. You need to arrange military expeditions to get those stores. I can only guess that these ash cultists will also want those, unless they can farm on snow, so you need to be prepared for a fight. Do whatever is necessary to secure enough food for Canterlot.”

Shining Armor looked troubled.

“Princess Celestia, these ashen... We’ve managed to identify some of them. They appear to be Equestrian ponies. It feels wrong that we are discussing violence against them.”

“They have constantly used violence against us. Don’t forget that. They are enemies of Equestria, no matter their origins.”

Luna interjected.

“You can always ask one of the more combat-capable Element Bearers to accompany you. The Elements certainly seem able to neutralise these ashen ponies’ abilities. That could enable you to face them in a more controlled manner than all-out combat.”

Shining Armor grumbled.

“Balancing the safety of Canterlot and my soldiers versus the health and lives of some misguided ponies?”

Celestia smiled sadly.

~~~~~

“Call it an empathy test.”

Welder risked glaring at Twilight.

“Could you have possibly waited until I wasn’t famished?”

“Not really. Moral bounds are more reliably tested when crossing them is tempting.”

Welder looked down at the fragrant and probably oh so delicious length of salami still in his hands.

“So I guess you know we’re meat eaters, huh?”

“Remember when you showed us your apartment the day you got laid off?”

“Yeah?”

“When you arrived home that day you immediately set to preparing dinner. Do you remember what it was?”

“Bacon and-”

Welder’s eyes bugged out. Then he slapped himself on the forehead. Twilight chuckled a bit.

“The scent kind of carried. It’s not a scent we ponies often get to experience, but I’ve dealt with some local examples of carnivores who heat their meals. Oh, and I know about the leather sofa as well.”

Welder groaned and hammered his forehead some more with the palm of his hand. Then he heard two dull thumps. When he looked up he saw, lying on the ground next to Twilight, a paper bag containing a frozen loaf of bread and a fillet of salmon packed in vacuum. He glanced at Twilight.

“You’ll find that most Equestrians don’t care what you eat as long as it doesn’t come from a sentient being or a closely related species. I admit that most of your normal sources of meat are now taboo as a result, but it can’t be helped.”

The bread and fish were torn from their packages and placed near the hot rocks.

“You really don’t mind if someone eats meat?”

“The practice does appear disgusting to us, but that’s cultural rather than moral -as long as you stay away from sentients. We eat living things as well, after all. Just because grass doesn’t react on a timescale that allows us to appreciate it doesn’t mean that it’s any different. Life is life, and we can’t survive on minerals and sunlight.”

“What about magic?”

“Diminishing returns. I can stave off hunger with my magic, but it returns with a vengeance. Only a kind of microscopic organism we have found can subsist on magic alone. There are theories that pure magic-eaters were much more common and more advanced in aeons past, but no real evidence.”

Welder leaned towards Twilight, curious and eager.

“When you say ‘pure magic-eaters’, what does that mean?”

Twilight laughed.

“Careful, mister. I could lecture about this until your ears fall off! Anyhow, I’ll try to summarise: That microscopic organism I mentioned is found all over the world. There’s versions of them in the air, soil and water. Other versions have been absorbed by the other life, where they’ve formed symbiotic relationships with their hosts.”

“It’s what gives you magic, isn’t it?”

Twilight was surprised.

“How did you guess that? I don’t think it’s evident.”

“I don’t remember much about my biology from school, but I know plants have this thing inside them that converts sunlight into sugar or something like that. I figured it’s probably the same.”

“Well you’re right. Every pony has an organ in the middle of their backs, under the spine, filled with the things. It also regulates our body growth, by the way. I could actually show you! There’s a spell that makes the organisms glow as if the pony had turned transparent, letting their light shine through. Want to see?”

He nodded, and his vision was immediately clouded by purple. He blinked and rocked backwards in surprise. Then he looked around.

“Wow, it looks like the forest is teeming with fireflies! They’re even in the ground beneath us.”

“Yep, they’re everywhere. And if you look at me you should see a big glowing cluster of them on my back, and another glow from my horn. Pegasi have them concentrated in their wings and related musculature, and Earthen have them spread uniformly all over the body.”

Welder looked at Twilight and started to squint. After a moment he raised a hand with a chuckle. He pushed his voice into a deep rumble.

“The glow is strong in you, Twilight.”

He laughed for some reason that Twilight couldn’t figure out.

“You’re almost painful to look at!”

“Huh? Maybe the spell was miscalibrated. Let me see- GAH!”

Twilight flew to her hooves and craned her neck to look herself over.

“This is way, way too many of them! What’s going on?”

~~~~~

“What’s going on with Twilight’s magic?”

Shining Armor was escorting Princess Celestia to the Balcony of Dawn and Dusk. The pre-dawn castle was as silent as it ever could be, especially in these exclusively royal parts of it.

“In truth I don’t know. I can only speculate it is a sign of her growing darkness. I don’t know of any other explanation for such... outbursts. Her petrification is probably all the proof we need.”

A wince crossed Shining Armor’s face.

“I- I still can’t understand how Twilight - my Twily - could have... could have turned to darkness.”

“I don’t know exactly, but I believe she was enticed... by power.”

~~~~~

“Well, I think we have established that I’m becoming increasingly more powerful. I’m not even feeling tired.”

Welder didn’t answer. He just walked forward in a daze, craning his neck and gaping awestruck, half-eaten bread loaf stuffed with salmon forgotten in his hand. Five full-grown trees circled overhead, following his and Twilight’s progress through the woods.

“All right, what can I try now... Oh, I know! Mass transformation!”

There was a light grunt in front of Welder side and a massive flash overhead. The tree trunks had turned into heaps of planks and the branches were now piles of firewood. Welder shut his mouth and tried to return some moisture to it. Then he took an absentminded bite from the bread. The five stacks of planks merged into one. Then they floated down and landed next to Twilight, who regarded them critically.

“I’ll have to make a note to return here. This is good timber.”

She walked on. Welder paused at the pile of wood, trying to guess how much weight they represented before awkwardly running through the snow to catch up with Twilight.

“Uhh, wow. That’s all I can say, Twilight. I don’t know what you could do before, but this is just amazing. Hey, think you can grow replacement trees?”

“Age spells, huh?”

A short while later five fresh saplings grew so fast that they splintered the frost-gripped ground in the clearing where their seeds had been planted. Welder was giddy, clapping his hands and hooting in appreciation -a stark contrast to Twilight’s worried disbelief. He lost his jubilant mood when he noticed her expression.

“What’s wrong, Twilight? Aren’t you happy?”

Twilight turned her back on the unnatural growth and resumed walking, Welder by her side.

“No, this is scary. This kind of power should only be achieved slowly and with great effort. The only comparable examples I know of are either alicorns or the most corrupt creatures in the world.”

“Hey, maybe you’re becoming an... alleycorn... then?”

Twilight snorted.

“Alicorn. You don’t just become one. Whatever produces them is unknown even to themselves, they claim.”

“Come on. That means it’s a possibility, right? I mean, wouldn’t it be cool if you had wings too?”

“Welder, I don’t need wings. Between teleportation and self-levitation I can fly as much as I like.”

Welder folded his arms and grinned.

“Okay then, miss smartypants. You tell me what you think is happening.”

“I think... I think Harmony -the False Harmony I mean- has been limiting my magical ability all my life, and now that its influence has been removed my true potential is awakening.”

“Huh? Why would it do that?”

“It was in part created to do just that. Remember how I told you about the magic-eaters? Well, the False Harmony was created right after ponies first learned to use their innate, eater-granted magic. They nearly wiped themselves out. You see...”

Welder listened, increasingly aghast.

Twilight Falls

Chapter 26:Twilight Falls

The doorway was so low that Welder had to crawl into the house on all fours. Twilight had been right, however -the ceiling was much higher. He could stand straight without fear of hitting his head. He looked around and saw he’d passed through a small vestibule into the main room, a kind of combination of kitchen, dining room and bedroom. A large stone fireplace stood in the center of the room, its chimney disappearing into the sloping ceiling. A ceiling window -an unlikely feature for similar homes on Earth- let in the gray evening light through a layer of snow. Walls and floors were unpainted and unvarnished wood, half-logs with the flat side inwards.

“Cozy!”

Twilight stood on the threshold to the vestibule and looked around.

“This is a typical earthbound pegasus dwelling. They have lots of airspace because they like to fly even while indoors. Will it do?”

Welder looked around thoughtfully.

“It will. A bit old-fashioned, but I should manage. Beds are too short, but I’ll improvise. What about the original owners?”

“They should be in Canterlot. This village was evacuated early on. They won’t be back before this is over -one way or another.”

“What village is this anyway?”

“Gallopwood.”

Welder peered into the three adjoining rooms. They were obviously used for storage. Since he was still unable to interact with Equestrian objects without endangering his health they held little of interest to him. There was a lack of furniture that struck him as odd, but that meant he had less to move out of the way: only a table, really. He shoved that against a wall and put down a bag of foodstuffs on it. The bag rattled, being mostly filled with tins.

Meanwhile Twilight had walked to the fireplace. She shut her eyes for a moment and concentrated, until a loud clatter sounded. A jumble of snowy firewood now lay next to the fireplace, and she picked up four pieces and stacked them in the fireplace.

“You know, there’s magic in your hair now too.”

She turned and saw Welder staring past her eyes. Craning her neck revealed that he was right. A weak purple shimmer was moving through her mane and tail. The sluggish motion reminded Twilight of sunlight on the seafloor. She groaned in annoyance.

“Ponyfeathers. I don’t need this on top of everything else!”

“I think it looks kind of awesome.”

She shot him an annoyed glare.

“Consider this: within two weeks I’ll have to cast something that will probably be very delicate and very, very complicated on you in order to save your life, and all of this extra magic is making it very difficult for me to even comb my mane without tearing it out due to misjudged strength.”

“Okay, it stopped being awesome.”

The logs in the fireplace were lit with a loud bang and sparks flying everywhere. Twilight jumped away, eyeing her coat warily for signs of smouldering hairs. When she found none she concentrated again and the book she’d been carrying appeared in the air, held in her magic. She looked around while biting her lip before levitating it under the table by the wall. Then she turned to Welder.

“I’m going to leave this book here with you. Welder, it’s very dangerous. Please don’t touch it.”

“What is it anyway?”

“It’s... a biography with a very extensive reference section. Look, can I trust you not to give in to your curiosity? I mean it when I say it’s dangerous.”

“I can’t read your language, so I think I can rein it in. But while we’re at it, I’d owe you a big one if you could magic up some entertainment. If you really plan on leaving me here then I’m bound to get bored.”

“Sure! I know just the thing.”

This time a large amount of books appeared and fell to the ground around Twilight. She looked down, obviously pleased, and picked one with her magic, floating it over to Welder.

“Start with this one. The title is ‘foal’s first book’.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“If you touch any of the pictures you’ll hear a voice speaking the name of the object in the picture.”

“Oh? Cool.”

Welder sat down crosslegged on the floor and flipped open the first page. As advertised the page was filled by a picture, a quite jolly rendition of a pony. Large Equestrian letters formed a single-word title below it. Welder pressed his finger against the page and was rewarded with a quite authentic pony voice sounding from the book. He pressed it a couple more times, then he smiled shyly at Twilight.

“I don’t think I can make most of these sounds with my voice.”

“Your first aim should in any case be to understand pony speech. We’ll figure out a way to let you answer once you have a grasp of the language.”

Welder bent over the colorful book, coaxing the voice from the pages. After a while he looked up and saw that Twilight hadn’t moved. She was staring into space and her ears were twitching.

“Is something the matter?”

Twilight started and glanced at him with a guilty frown.

“I’m procrastinating.”

“Oh? I guess that’s reasonable. Those ash ponies don’t sound nice.”

“That’s not a problem. They’ll accept me as long as... as long as I look like them.”

“I thought you were going to wear that armor.”

“Yes, but that’s so they won’t recognize me. I need to shift my own magic to match theirs in order to be accepted. And... it’s a bad mix. Dark and chaos magic in roughly equal proportions.”

“What is it going to do to you?”

“It’s going to hurt.”

Welder watched as Twilight’s eyes grew forlorn and her lips started to quiver. He set down his book and scooted over to her.

“Hey. If it were just for me I’d tell you not to do it. It’s not worth it. But I get that you have to do this, and... I don’t know what would help. Do you have painkillers? No?”

She shook her head while a large tear rolled down her cheek.

“Aww hell, don’t cry. You’re gonna make me cry.”

He reached out and brushed away the tear on one cheek but it was soon replaced by another. Twilight leaned her head against his hand. Then she walked forward and gently lay down on his legs. Welder was surprised; she was heavier than he’d expected. He could feel her entire body shivering and occasionally twitching from a quiet sob. He started absent-mindedly brushing her mane through his fingers while trying and failing to figure out what to do.

Suddenly Twilight’s body spasmed once, after which she went rigid with tension. A cry escaped her lips, weak at first but quickly gaining in strength. At the same time the purple fire in her eyes went out, to be replaced with a blue-black glow that seemed to seep out from the corners of her eyes like a fine mist before dissipating.

The cry cut off suddenly, accompanied by another spasm as Twilight’s entire body was engulfed by black and blue tendrils of fire. Welder yelled in alarm and leaned away but felt no heat. When the flames winked out they seemed to take most of the colour in Twilight’s coat and mane with them. She’d turned ashen gray, except for the two streaks in her mane and tail. She was breathing heavily, and Welder noted that there was even blue and black fire coming out of her mouth.

Everything quieted down. Welder lifted a hand and touched his cheek, genuinely surprised to find it wet.

“Twilight, are you okay?”

She didn’t answer. Her eyes were closed. She was still breathing, though. He was getting uncomfortable with her weight on his crossed legs, but he didn’t want to move. He let both his hands rest on her back while he waited, occasionally lifting one to run it through her mane. Twilight obviously lived dangerously and was somewhat used to it. Welder’s idea of danger was not wearing a hardhat on a construction site. He began to realise how much he depended on Twilight.

When Twilight eventually stirred and opened her eyes she found Welder looking down at her anxiously.

“You scared me.”

She didn’t answer, instead trying to control her legs. After a couple of groggy attempts she managed to stand with Welder assisting her by pushing her up. She walked around until her legs were steady. Then she walked back to Welder, who was still sitting on the floor, and hugged him with her forelegs.

“Thank you.”

“Twilight, what do I do if someone comes? If I have to leave for some reason?”

She released him and stood back. A moment’s concentration conjured a large gem floating in the air, enveloped in a blue-black aura. Twilight inspected it with a frown before shutting her eyes and sending an arc of magic to it from her horn. Welder looked at the gem with wide eyes.

“Whoa. What is that?”

“Just a gem from nearby, I didn’t specify what kind when I fetched it. I’m putting a couple of small enchantments on it. If you hold it away from you and turn around it will shine brightly in my direction. If you squeeze it and speak my name I will hear it no matter where I am, even while asleep. That way you can find me and I will know you are looking for me. But only use it if you have an emergency.”

She floated the gem over to Welder, who raised his hand in order to pluck it from the air. Twilight quickly snatched it away.

“No, don’t touch my magic. Cup your hands and let me drop it for you.”

He did as told and was soon holding the gem, about the size of an egg, and looking into its facets.

“You’re telling me this thing just happened to be nearby?”

“Sure. They’re very common.”

He shook his head in wonder. Then he stood and watched anxiously as Twilight walked over to where she’d discarded the armor. She picked it up with her magic and straightened it out, and in a flash she was wearing it. Her horn now looked like a gray, fire-wreathed tongue sticking out from some monstrous insect’s mouth. The armor now seemed to radiate fear. Welder swallowed, caught in a fear all of his own.

“Be careful, all right?”

Twilight’s voice was changed by the armor. It ringed of steel and cruelty.

“I’ll be careful. I’ll be back in a week or so. Good bye, Welder.”

Once Twilight had left silence descended over the house, broken only by the turning of pages and the tumble of books. And one annoyed outburst.

“Does that damned pony think textbooks are entertaining?!?”

~~~~~

The two pegasi assigned to the patrol had spotted the single target easily. They had been curiously vague in their description, and Golden Spire now understood why as she peered cautiously at the apparition from behind a bush. The thing was fully covered in steel and cloth, and blue fire burned in its eyes and was exhaled with every breath. Lacy wings of black were folded on the creature’s back, rimmed by blue glow. Ghostly black-and-blue mist seemed to evaporate from its head and neck, giving it an ethereal mane of sorts. It strode on top of the soft snow without leaving a trace other than some trails where its garment disturbed the flakes.

A dread gripped Golden Spire as she observed the creature. She had to do something: it was heading towards the headquarters, through the areas she was tasked with guarding. She estimated that her chances, going up against something unknown and seemingly bursting with magic, were essentially non-existent. But to do nothing... and have that thing wander unopposed into headquarters... then, if she was very lucky, there’d be nopony alive to realise she’d let it through. She was stuck between the buck and the appletree.

She glanced at her three fellows: another Earthen and two unicorns. They all looked to her for leadership. Which was a farce, really: her family ran many businesses and were generally quite successful businessponies and leaders. She, on the other hoof, was a painter. A painter that specialised in tasteful paintings of apple still lifes. Her family’s reputation had forced her into a role that did not fit her well.

She couldn’t give up though. Her insecurities and weaknesses had been brought into the open for everypony to see, and instead of ridicule had attracted sympathy and acceptance. Everypony else in her group was just as scarred, just as imperfect. They could only trust that the rebirth would also be granted to them even if they were already dead when the moment arrived.

Thus reassured she used silent hoof signals and whispered half-sentences to order the unicorns to signal the pegasi into an aerial attack. They were then to join the fight from a distance, throwing magic at the creature from behind cover. Golden Spire then glanced at the other Earthen. Berryfield had been blinded by the revealing of his inner truth and was useless in a fight, unless the enemy was really loud. If two pegasi and two unicorns were unable to bring down their target then Golden Spire was all that was left. She donned her spiked helmet and horseshoes while the unicorns signalled.

The attack began with the clouds directly above and in front of the target beginning to churn and extend downwards. The creature didn’t seem to notice until it was too late: a big bolt of lightning struck it. When Golden Spire removed the hooves from her eyes she saw no trace of the intruder. There were sooty blast marks surrounding a pure white bulls-eye in the snow.

She let out a sigh of relief. That had been easier than she’d dared hope.

Oh no. She’d just jinxed it, hadn’t she?

Very nearly on cue, two panicked screams dopplered out of the sky and into the trees nearby before ending in pained grunts and breaking branches. The closer pegasus, A scrawny stallion that Golden Spire didn’t particularly like but who she now nevertheless desperately wished was unhurt, landed in sight of her with both wings encapsuled in a solid block of ice. A thunderclap made her cringe and look up again, at a hovering figure surrounded by electric radiance.

Flying, blue, pony-like, controls weather and freezes ponies.

“Windigo!”

Golden Spire was running before she’d finished her cry of warning. Windigos were mythical creatures, but her team’s drill instructor, an old veteran of the guard, had ordered them to formulate battle plans against many such beings. Then the team had rehearsed them. That was weeks ago, however, and nopony had taken it very seriously. Exercises meant to have them learn each others’ behaviour rather than actual combat preparedness training. She now bitterly regretted the casualness with which she’d dismissed the tactic from her memory, now trying desperately to recall it.

Two blue-black streaks of magic streaked into the sky from her unicorn teammates, but the windigo teleported elsewhere long before the bolts had a chance to hit. Then a globe of blue fire enveloped one of the unicorns, and with a loud thump all the snow and ice in the vicinity flew up and drew together into a giant mound with the terrified pony in the middle.

“Gossamer Glitter, no!”

The other unicorn screamed with terror and desperation -Golden Spire remembered that the unicorns were cousins- before launching a bright beam towards the windigo. The bolt actually struck; Azureshine’s cry had gone unnoticed. It bowled the windigo over, but seemed to do little else. Azureshine definitely caught its attention, however, and when the thing stabilised itself it was facing the frantic unicorn.

“Azure,run you stupid foal!”

Golden Spire’s shout was ignored. Azure stood her ground, as did the creature. The unicorn’s resolve cracked first, and she sent another lance of energy hurtling towards the windigo. The creature launched its own beam, which snaked out and struck the incoming attack head-on... absorbing it. Then, much like a snake eating a smaller snake, the windigo’s magic travelled down the unicorn’s magic and locked around her horn. The glowing arc intensified while the terrified pony desperately tried to break the contact, to no avail. Azure wailed pitifully as her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed like a wet rag.

The windigo returned its attention to the pile of snow containing Gossamer Glitter, just in time to send another snaking energy arc towards the horn emerging around the melting and steaming snow. When the arc winked out Gossamer was unconscious with only her head freed. In the following silence the windigo slowly rotated in the air until it faced Golden Spire. She stood transfixed by terror as it slowly descended towards her. Sure, she was armed and armored, but that depended on her foe being earthbound.

This was it. She was going to die. The reassurances of a reincarnation and a better life suddenly seemed awfully flimsy to one part of her mind, while another cursed her faithlessness and a third simply resigned itself to her fate.

“Goldie? Did we win?”

That was Berryfield. His head appeared behind the crest of a hill, his milky-white, unseeing eyes gazing anxiously into his personal darkness while he slowly stumbled forward through the snow. It was enough to let Golden Spire free from the mesmerizing power of the two approaching pools of fire that was the windigo’s eyes.

“Berry, run!”

She yelled at him to flee, but through her tear-filled vision she saw him slow to a halt and sit down.

“I don’t hear any combat, Goldie. If you tell me to run, then why aren’t you already? What chance do I have to escape from something that defeated pegasus and unicorn alike?”

He was blind, but he was probably the bravest of the group... and the fiercest believer in the rebirth. Golden Spire smiled even through her desperation; he was truly an inspiration. Spirits uplifted, she turned to face her doom... only to see that the windigo had changed course.

“Berry... it’s coming for you.”

The earth pony lifted his head high, staring into the air with a defiance that took Golden Spire’s breath away.

“I am not afraid, Goldie. If I die here, then from my viewpoint my rebirth will only arrive that much sooner. No windigo can take that away.”

“Nopony dies here if I have anything to say about it.”

Golden Spire gasped with astonishment. The windigo’s voice was female, and tinged with metallic echoes. It spoke of ageless cruelty and a heart in which permafrost had settled since before history began. And yet... windigoes were supposed to be monsters incapable of speech. It landed in front of Berryfield, much too distant for Golden Spire to be able to charge it before it had time to react. Berry seemed to sense the windigo, judging from how he leaned ever so slightly away. Then it spoke again.

“What has wounded your face?”

Berryfield let out a short laugh.

“You see a wound as if it could be healed. It is my spiritual imperfection manifest. Though it blinds me, it is surely much better carried on my flesh than festering within me, wouldn’t you say? Strike me down and my pure spirit, unburdened by this deformity, shall merely wait for its next and final shell.”

Golden Spire sighed and closed her eyes. Berry had sermoned at the windigo. He had either nerves of steel or an incurable insanity.

“May I try to heal your wounds, then?”

He snorted angrily. “Kill me or leave me alone. Don’t torment me with false hope.”

“I wouldn’t ask for permission unless I suspected I could do it, Berryfield. I mean you no harm.”

“Very well, windigo. Try your best. Then at least we’ll get this farce over with.”

Berryfield crossed his forelegs and tilted his head, gazing in the approximate direction of the windigo. Golden Spire saw a golden light envelop the monster’s horn, from which sparks flew and impacted Berryfield... and the disfigurements on his face melted away. He was suddenly blinking stupidly while his eyes focused. Then he turned and looked straight at Golden Spire, and they gaped at each other.

A cry of surprise made them aware of her pegasus teammates cresting the hill and looking at them in confusion. The windigo -if it really was one after all- looked back at them.

“I don’t mean to harm you. I am here to help, and ask that you show me to wherever you live.”

Berryfield now wore an expression of awed reverence. He prostrated himself in front of the creature and looked up at her with eyes flowing with tears.

“What is your name, great windigo?”

The creature paused for a moment.

“Call me Fulcrum.”

Amidst the Ashen

Chapter 27:Amidst the Ashen

In the darkness of the meditation halls, someone sobbed. The emotion had scant force behind it, merely producing a quiet squeak every now and then that didn’t carry more than a few paces. It was all the emotion that a soul worn to the core could produce without breaking.

A door creaked open and flickering cyan light spilled into the room, emitted from the azure horn of a unicorn mare clad in a gray hooded robe. A steaming bowl hovered in front of her. She closed the door behind her with a shove from a hoof and walked forward until she stood in front of the source of the sobbing.

A unicorn with an earthen coat was chained to four posts by the far wall. The posts were part of a pair of rows that stretched between opposite walls of the room; up to eight ponies could be similarly chained at the same time. Her shackles weren’t locked: only a simple bolt on each manacle held them and her in place, easy enough to manipulate even with teeth. But there was a fifth bolt. It locked in place an iron collar around the pony’s neck. From that collar two chains rose, one to secure in place a smaller ring that had been threaded onto the unicorn’s horn and another ascended to a ring in the ceiling.

The visitor regarded the captive with deep pity for a moment. The shackles and collar had chafed, making most of the fur underneath fall out and leaving reddened and swelling sores. They also prevented her from lying down. She couldn’t lean on the collar around her neck either: it would choke her. Her eyes were half-closed and glassy. A trail of drool hung from her slack jaw.

“Oh child. Why are you doing this to yourself?”

The visitor drew back her hood. The face revealed was mangled by a wide scar travelling from the horn almost to the tip of the nose. Three more scars radiated from the base of the horn, but went up over the mare’s head, ruining her blue-white mane, making it sprout in uneven clumps. Her violet eyes were compassionate and tear-filled, and she raised a hoof to touch the cheek of the bedraggled mare in front of her. The gesture caused the captive to flinch and pull away with a whimper and the jangle of chains.

“Why does facing your imperfection scare you so? Your fellows in stubbornness and uncertainty have long ago seen reason.”

The robed mare gestured towards the empty shackles to either side.

“It is painful for only a moment, after all. Then everything is better. There is serenity and hope, and purpose. It doesn’t matter who you were or what you did, you’ll be among friends who accept you. Does that sound so bad?”

Only a weak sob answered her. The scarred mare chewed her lower lip for a while and then looked around the room. Her horn lit and a low bench floated over, sliding to a halt between the captive’s legs.

“Look, you need to rest. Lie down for a while.”

The captive’s barrel fell onto the bench and her head followed. Her eyes closed instantly. Her back rose and fell slowly in pace with her breathing. The ice-coloured mare lied down, prepared to let the captive sleep. They were quite similar despite the age difference, she reflected, and were it not for a quirk of fate their roles could be reversed. Even their coloration bore similarities. Her own bluish coat and two-toned hair was faithfully varied in reds and tans on the mare in front of her. Tan coat, rust-red hair and a streak of pearl.

“Please... let me go.”

The blue mare raised her head and gazed at the captive in surprise. She’d expected her to fall instantly asleep given the opportunity.

“I’m sorry, child. I can’t do that. The priests have decreed that you shall be put through the conversion and it is not my place to object. I’ll gladly help you in any other way I can. You seem like a kind and gentle pony, and I’d love to welcome you as sister, but only you can unlock these chains. I’m not allowed to touch them.”

The prisoner’s lips trembled and her breathing quickened. She opened her eyes fully and looked at the mare in front of her.

“But- but if I do that-”

“When you do that it will bring forward your imperfections. That which mars your spirit, twisting it into an ugly shape.”

A blue hoof stroked a red mane slowly and the captive let her tired eyelids fall closed.

“Surely you see that it’s better that way? Even if some ponies are crippled by the revelation, they are nevertheless grateful. To think -all that, festering on your spirit? The flesh is unimportant. Let it be scarred, while your spirit becomes whole. Doesn’t that appeal to you?”

The next words to escape the captive’s lips were so faint that the blue mare had to lean forward to hear them, forced out between clenched teeth.

“But I’m a monster. I’ve done... a horrible thing. If I... I will die. I know it. I deserve it.”

The blue mare sat for a while, stunned by the self-loathing she sensed from the captive’s words. Then she sighed.

“We... haven’t traded names, have we? It was impolite of me not to introduce myself. I am Ash-Sister Trixie. You can call me just Trixie, though. I don’t care much for titles nowadays.”

Trixie ran a hoof shyly through her disarrayed mane and smiled gently at the red mare.

“Will you tell me your name?”

“S... Silk. Silk Spinner.”

“That’s a pretty name. Silk, what could you have possibly done to deserve death? You are so young, after all. Only barely a full-grown mare.”

This drew forth a sob from Silk. Then she started talking, haltingly and incoherently, about two younger brothers who were no more. By the end of the tale Trixie’s cheeks were also wet. She put the bowl of soup, by now suitably warm for eating, in front of Silk’s unmoving head. The mental strain of retelling had finally overcome the young mare’s distress and she’d fallen asleep.

Trixie remained seated in front of the mare, letting the glow from her horn dissipate so she was surrounded by darkness and her thoughts had no distractions.

Ash was the problem, of course. It remained poisonous even to the ashen, but their tolerance was vastly better. But to grip it telekinetically hurt just as much. She could understand the girl’s reluctance perfectly. The ashen were forcing her into contact with the very substance that had taken from her two loved ones in her care. Silk really only had one choice and that was to go forward, but she had to be given time. The priests’ commands could not be disobeyed -they only had everypony’s best intentions at heart (guaranteed by the purity of their spirits), after all- though they might just be delayed.

Yes. The girl needed time to recover and heal. Surely the priests would see that. Trixie had better ask for permission in any case. Purity of spirit was not the same as perfection, and intentions could be misunderstood. She raised her hood and padded softly to the door. She opened it only enough so she could slip out through the crack, then she closed it as quietly as possible, lifting it with her magic to prevent any squeaks or groans from the hinges.

Something plopped onto the fabric of her hood. She looked around and saw small, dark impact craters appear in the russet dust around her. Winter didn’t really come this close to the badlands. Instead a rainy season ensued, promising light rains multiple times per day. The parched earth swallowed it all without a trace. The ash also seemed to play havoc with the weather, and fierce thunderstorms raged about once per week, blanketing the ground with hail. The ashen pegasi had lost most of their weather manipulation skills so the weather went largely unchecked. What little control they could muster was saved for the crops.

Trixie pulled her robe tight around her body and hurried towards the priests’ dormitories. The early hour wouldn’t be much of a problem; somepony was always awake and praying. Trixie avoided the main entrance, that led directly to the halls with adjoining private chambers, and headed instead to a side entrance that took her to the dormitory’s temple. She didn’t use magic on the door. It was inlaid with alien rock, laboriously hoof-cut into panels and framed with wood. It swung open easily enough by her hoof’s touch.

Inside the temple the air was warm and dry. This was one of the first buildings to be refurbished when the ashen set up their base in the abandoned town, and it used to be a minor office building. Now the large wooden halls held holy items: alien rocks mostly and, encased in crystal, a tuft of charred alien grass. The scholars debated intensely whether the relic should be preserved as is or if an attempt should be made to revive the precious greenery of celestial origin. The grass had the main stage in the center of the room, while display counters containing the rocks lined the walls.

There was somepony praying in the temple, as Trixie had predicted, but to her surprise there was a crowd already talking to the priest. By their armor they seemed to be a group of patrollers, but the last figure was... different. Trixie’s eyes widened as she saw the magic that flowed from the creature. Its armored shell seemed less designed to protect the wearer and more intended to keep all of that power contained.

She moved cautiously closer, and the words of the group’s discussion became audible and clear. The priest was speaking to the creature.

“...My rudeness, honored windigo, but we didn’t anticipate a situation like this. I hope you can understand our curiosity.”

The windigo (and Trixie had gasped when she heard that title) spoke in a sharp, echoing voice in which Trixie fancied she could hear arctic winds howling.

“I am first and foremost here to satisfy my curiosity. I wish to learn about the ash and the ashen. In exchange for letting me study you -and with you- I will lend you whatever aid I can. If it is true that you are unable to heal the scars that the -ah, revealing- leave behind, then I can definitely offer a service that I think you’ll appreciate.”

The windigo motioned a hoof towards a pony who beamed back at her and nodded encouragingly at the priest. Trixie was so shocked when she recognized Berryfield that she gasped loud enough to alert the priest to her presence. Mother Grindstone -a gentle Earthen despite her name- glanced at Trixie and made a small nod in greeting before motioning at her to approach and join the group. The windigo continued speaking.

“Perhaps foremost on my mind right now is the question of what is causing this injury in the first place?”

“Injury is perhaps the wrong word for it, honored windigo...”

“Please. Call me Fulcrum.”

“My apologies, Fulcrum. These deformities are the signs we bear that our once tainted spirits are now pure, because the taint has been externalised thanks to the blessed celestial ash. They are a source of pride, and also a mark that we are all alike. Nopony is intrinsically pure. That you can cure them is... remarkable. Pure spirit and wholesome shell is a blessing indeed.”

“How do you know that the spirit is ‘pure’ as you call it?”

“Our exteriors were joyful. At the same time ponies harbored darkness within. We basked in the light magic and in harmony while our spirits were chaotic, discordant. With the revelation brought on by the ash, the situation is reversed -which certainly is better, don’t you think? We might now be physically bound to darkness and chaos, but that allows our spirits to soar in light and harmony. It is a small burden to bear an imperfect shell for a lifetime, when you will be reborn into a better one for eternity once the ash achieves its potential.”

“I... see. And what if I told you I could probably bring about this... revelation... without any damage to the pony?”

Mother Grindstone imitated a fish for a moment, opening and shutting her mouth while she stared bug-eyed at Fulcrum.

“I’d... call it a miracle.”

“Excuse me, Mother, if I may interrupt... Fulcrum? Can you really do that?”

Fulcrum turned and Trixie took an involuntary step backwards as she was presented with two burning blue eyes below a monstrous insect’s maw that belched azure and onyx fire.

“I believe so.”

Mother Grindstone studied Trixie’s face and raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you ask, Sister? Is something the matter?”

Trixie nodded.

“Forgive my forwardness, Fulcrum, but my name is Ash Sister Trixie, and- is something wrong?”

Fulcrum had stumbled backwards right after Trixie had introduced herself.

“No! No... The winds of magic blew strong, that’s all. Please continue.”

“There is a pony in the halls of meditation. She’s been set on the path of revelation, but dares not take the final step -she fears it would consume her, leave her with a shell unable to sustain her. And so she’s been too afraid to proceed. She’s wasting away, and I fear that she’s now too weak to survive the revelation even if her outer signs proved benign. I came here to ask the Ash Mother for permission to postpone her conversion, but... perhaps, Ash Mother, there is now another option?”

Mother Grindstone beamed at Trixie and Fulcrum.

“It seems you were sent by the ash to be here at this time! If you can aid this unfortunate pony through her ordeal then it is surely a sign. Will you do as Ash-Sister Trixie asks?”

The windigo remained silent for a while.

“May I see the mare?”

A little while later Fulcrum stood in front of Silk Spinner. She looked at the chains and the shackles. She took in the bench and the bowl of soup. She turned and looked at the assembly of ponies behind her. Trixie, Grindstone and the ponies of the guard patrol all looked at her with mixtures of hope and awe.

“Please explain this set-up.”

Mother Grindstone spoke.

“This is the typical revelation rite for the reluctant or stubborn unicorn. It is symbolic. Once they truly understand that only their own shortcomings prevent them from being free they will convert. This is represented by the shackles. As you can see, the latches are easily manipulated by teeth, not even to mention the telekinesis all unicorns possess. All they have to do is open the latches with their magic and they are free.”

“I assume there is a ‘but’.”

“Very perceptive, honoured Fulcrum. See the little ring around her horn? It is hollow. Inside are a few grains of ash.”

“...Ah, I understand. The telekinesis passes by the ashen grains as the unicorn tries to grip the latches. The pain makes them grip the grains instead, which increases the pain further.”

Fulcrum turns back to look at Silken.

“This results in aura feedback. The unicorn pumps more and more magic into the grains... emptying their magical reserves... just in time for the grains to release their own burst of magic. This travels down the magic aura into the horn. You replace a unicorn’s magic with that of the ash.”

“That’s a very technical way of describing it, but essentially accurate.”

Fulcrum looked at Silk Spinner. Then she looked at Grindstone, who nodded supportingly and gestured for her to keep going. Trixie fancied that the windigo glanced at her as well while she turned back to look at Silk.

“What is this pony’s name?”

“She’s Silk Spinner, honoured windigo- Please, are you certain you are fine?”

Fulcrum had staggered again. She straightened slowly and seemed to stare ahead, above Silk while answering.

“I am just perfect. N- Never felt better.”

Trixie felt doubt. Fulcrum was being evasive. She kept silent and simply watched as Fulcrum gently lowered herself so her head was level with Silk’s.

“Silk Spinner? Wake up.”

The young mare’s eyes twitched before fluttering open. Then they focused onto Fulcrum and she wailed weakly while backing away, straining against her bonds. Trixie rushed around the windigo and laid a soothing hoof on Silk.

“Calm yourself. She’s here to help you.”

In honesty Trixie could perfectly understand Silk’s reaction. Fulcrum was a fearsome sight. But exterior meant nothing at all. If Fulcrum could do what she claimed then under that armor was a being of pure light. Silk calmed gradually thanks to Trixie’s attention. Once she was still again Fulcrum talked.

“Silk, my name is Fulcrum. I wish to help you. If you let me, I can bring about your revelation without the need of ash. I need nothing from you but your permission. I could even let you sleep through the procedure.”

Silk stared at Fulcrum like a trapped rabbit at a wolf, but she nodded. Trixie hugged her and patted her reassuringly, whispering soothing words into her ear.

“Very well. Would you like to be asleep?”

Another nod.

“Then look into my eyes, Silk.”

Trixie saw the captive’s eyes unfocus and her eyelids close. Then she felt the body beneath her hooves relax. Silk’s head lolled to the side. Fulcrum lowered her head until their horns nearly touched. Black and blue fire started playing on the windigo's horn before leaping over to the sleeping mare. The fire intensified and produced a rushing sound, until the glow was so bright that it overloaded the retinas of those who looked at it. Trixie turned her head away and looked at her shadow, etched on the wall behind her in dark blue light. Silk twitched once in her grasp, and the ash sister's head whipped around to look down on the mare’s face just as the glare from the magic arc died down. There was a blue glow from behind Silk’s eyelids, but it too faded as Trixie watched.

“It... it is done. She is one of you now. I am... tired.”

Trixie looked up gratefully at Fulcrum, who sagged slightly.

“Honored Fulcrum, I wish to stay with this girl and tend to her. If you wish you can retire to my quarters to rest.”

“That would be great. Where are they?”

Trixie gave the directions. Everypony watched as Fulcrum left. Then Mother Grindstone turned to Trixie and smiled brightly.

“This is a sign, mark my words. The end and the rebirth draws near! I must haste to inform the Queen, she’ll be delighted I’m sure...”

In an unfamiliar room, gratefully shedding armor that was quickly turning into a prison, Twilight slumped onto a bed and covered her eyes with her front hooves.

“What am I doing?”

Studies

Chapter 28:Studies

        Trixie felt a small twinge of foolishness as she was knocking on the door to her own room, but it only slowed her hoof for a fraction of a second. The room wasn’t really owned by anypony; she’d simply moved in without objections. The priests could certainly tell her to move out again. They had not done so, to her slight relief.

        There was a sound of magic being used from behind the door. Then the windigo’s voice was heard, sounding surprisingly out of breath in a pony-like way.

        “It’s -ah- open.”

        Trixie pulled the door open with her magic. Her quarters weren’t lavish by even the most imaginative application of the word. A bedframe had been built next to the wall opposite the door, with a single row of shelves above it. To the left was a small window and to the right was a small closet. There was not enough floor space left to enable a pony to lie down comfortably. Fulcrum stood with her back against the window, putting her faceplate almost within touching distance of Trixie’s hooves. The windigo’s fiery mane billowed from unseen mystical winds and shone clearer than last night.

        “Hello, honoured Fulcrum! Did you rest well?”

        “Tr- Ash Sister Trixie? I rested well enough, thank you. How is Silk Spinner?”

        Trixie smiled gratefully.

        “Just Trixie, please. She woke up a couple of hours ago and immediately opened the latches with her new ash magic. Naturally enough she’s still weak and confused, but also immensely relieved to be past her ordeal. I think she’ll be able to heal mentally as well now. She’s blamed herself for terrible events that she had little to no chance of preventing.”

        “That’s good.”

        “It’s more than good, honoured Fulcrum, it’s fantastic! We’re all so excited to have you here with us. We feel it’s finally a sign from Harmony that the rebirth is coming.”

        Fulcrum started. Then she slowly halved the already short distance between her and Trixie.

“Harmony?”

“Yes! The true Harmony, of course. Much of the Queen’s prophecies talk about how we’re slaves to a false Harmony, and that the rebirth begins with its defeat.”

“Oh. Oh. And... what of this rebirth?”

Trixie smiled shyly.

“It’s what initially attracted me to the ashen. I heard one of the preachers while I was in Manehattan...”

“What were you doing in Manehattan?”

“I was looking for a job. There was an ad in the newspaper about an opening in the stage effects department of the Manehattan Metroponytan -uh, do you know it? It’s a famous opera house. Anyway, I’ve been something of a showmare all of my life, so I figured I’d show them my pyrotechnics and hope for the best, but...”

Trixie’s face became dejected from the memory.

“...But they said it would be a fire hazard. I had kind of bet everything on that job, I’d even sold some of my own stage props in order to travel there, so I was... sad. Then I heard the preaching.”

Her eyes became dreamy.

“This pony was lecturing about the rebirth. How we wore pretty exteriors over a rotten spirit, and how this was all wrong and mixed up. I could certainly see that... in myself and in those I had associated with. She also spoke of how there’d be a time when all ponies would be remade, with ageless and powerful bodies... but only those who’d accepted their ugly selves and could see beneath it would also have pure and eternal spirits.”

Trixie exhaled a longing sigh.

“I’ve been looking for something all my life. I think I hid my own insecurities by making those around me look bad or foolish. I felt like the preacher was talking to me and nopony else. So when the guards chased her away I followed her. The rest is pretty obvious, I guess.”

“Is there more about this rebirth?”

“Not much, really. The Queen’s prophecy is rather short. It says that when the false Harmony dies our true forms will be revealed and we’ll live forever. Most agree that this must mean we’ll become alicorns. Can you imagine?!”

Fulcrum hung her head.

“Yes I can, actually.”

“You mean... you believe in the prophecy? We’ll become alicorns?”

“Well... yes. Most ponies will become alicorns. It depends on their ancestry. Some might become windigoes instead, or some other creature.”

“Oh! Is- is that why we haven’t seen windigoes? Their birthright has been suppressed by the false Harmony and they’ve been reduced to ordinary ponies? Does this mean you’ve cast off its chains and been reborn ahead of time?”

Fulcrum sat down slowly and looked away, out of the window.

“...Something like that.”

Trixie danced with excitement and joy.

“This is wonderful, wonderful! But why do you appear so sad, Fulcrum? Surely this is good news?”

“Well, there was a time long ago when most ponies were alicorns and windigoes were plenty. It ended very badly, Trixie.”

This was absorbed with an air of worry. Trixie didn’t appear to know how to respond.

“Anyway, you are probably here to get some sleep.”

“What? Oh! Not at all, actually. I caught enough sleep next to Silk Spinner. I was sent here by Mother Grindstone to tell you that the priests have arranged quarters for you, and to lead you to them.”

“Oh? That was kind of them.”

“You are very important to us right now, so it’s the least they could do! Also, I’m to tell you that the Queen wishes a demonstration of your revelation powers. One is being arranged in the town square, in front of her palace.”

“...What kind of demonstration?”

“The priests are gathering volunteers and overdue reluctants for you to gift with the revelation.”

The windigo shuddered.

“Does the conversion tire you much, Fulcrum? Will gifting the revelation to many be a problem?”

“No... that’s not the- I mean, there’s no problem.”

“I think that there is. It’s that some of them won’t agree to this, isn’t it?”

“I... er... yes.”

Trixie smiled and bowed down low to the windigo.

“Think of it as harsh love: it’s for their best, just like bad-tasting medicine to the ill. I had never expected such kindness and compassion from one of your kind! The stories about you must be fabrications and lies spread by the lackeys of the False Harmony.”

“Oh? Ah, you refer to the notion that windigoes thrive on negative emotions. Well, they -we- are actually empathivores, or emotion eaters, in general. The myths focused on the negative emotions partly because of history and partly to differentiate them -us- from changelings. I, uh, greatly prefer positive emotions. Friendship. Anyway, can you show me to my quarters?”

“Certainly.”

~~~~~

Ash Queen Diamond Dust turned her head to look at Elder Ashen Speaker Firebrand. The wrinkly, balding stallion was looking down at the market square, no doubt deep in his thoughts, but he nevertheless sensed her gaze and swivelled his eyes to her. Those brown eyes were, as always, filled with mirth. Firebrand was a thoroughly happy pony, requiring very little to burst into laughter.

“My queen, do you lack for something?”

“The air is chilly and my sores are growing cold. Also, my horn is leaking again. See to it.”

“Ha ha! At once, your majesty.”

He stomped his hoof once, prompting a novice priest to run up and bow down by his side. He whispered instructions in the young mare’s ears, and she shot away. Less than a minute later two ash sister unicorns levitated rocks into an iron basin underneath the raised bed the Queen rested on and used their telekinesis to excite the rocks until they glowed with heat. A third unicorn sister gently levitated a cloth against Diamond Dust’s forehead and wiped away a trail of odious fluid that was snaking down from her misshaped and cracked horn.

She was almost immediately more comfortable and let her mind resume its lazy exploration of the False Harmony’s labyrinthine pathways and connections.

“My queen, the windigo is waiting for your signal to start.”

Diamond Dust snapped back to the here and now, giving the Elder Speaker a sharp look.

“I wanted to observe her as she arrived! You should have told me earlier!”

Not even being scolded erased the smile from Firebrand’s face. He merely backed away half a step and bowed repeatedly as a gesture of submission.

“A thousand grains of ash in my gruel as punishment for my inattention, my queen. The windigo is over there, next to the group of priests. She’s quite unmistakeable in that suit of armor.”

Queen Diamond looked in the indicated direction. When she saw the windigo her eyes narrowed to mere slits and she grimaced. There was no ignoring the power present in that being. Still, raw magic wasn’t important.

“Tell her to begin.”

A priest on Diamond Dust’s left side walked to the edge of the balcony and took a deep breath before bellowing a declaration.

“Her majesty Queen Diamond Dust, Ash-Prophet and Herald of Rebirth, greets the windigo Fulcrum and bids her proceed!”

A cheer carried from the market square below, the customary reaction to any declaration by the queen. She shut her eyes and concentrated on sensing the False Harmony through her horn. It appeared as it always did, a ghostly web of glowing lines creating a complex weave in the air. It usually travelled straight with only gentle curves, but near ponies it bunched into knots. The ashen had especially wild knots for some no doubt trivial reason. The windigo, however...

Diamond Dust felt her frown turn into a rigid snarl.

The windigo bent the lines of the False Harmony away from her. Just as Diamond Dust herself. She heard a collective gasp from the ponies gathered around her, followed by a smattering of applause from the balcony and cheering from below. She felt Firebrand’s breath on her right ear as he bent towards her and whispered.

“She seems to be the genuine article, my queen. We’ve been sent a sign: a prophet!”

Diamond Dust laboured hard to quell her increasing fury, but her face would not fully obey her commands and she felt her lips twitch into an even fiercer grimace with every successive cluster of applause and cheering.

They didn’t cheer or applaud that enthusiastically for their own queen. Fulcrum was not a prophet but a problem.

“Commander, step forward!”

She heard the rustle of armor from behind and to her left as Bulwark rushed to her side in reaction to her snapped words. The Queen didn’t bother turning towards the old mare or removing her attention from the False Harmony.

“Your thoughts, commander.”

“This could be what we’ve been waiting for, my queen. Not only will this windigo quickly and efficiently bolster our ranks, but our experienced troops will benefit greatly from being free of their scars. She’s the key, your majesty. We can begin our sacred campaigns much sooner, and be that much more ready when the rebirth comes. With the windigo’s help I truly believe we can do this, my queen.”

She felt Firebrand’s moist breath again.

“Your majesty, they are finished.”

Hearing this Diamond Dust did open her eyes and look down on the square below with mild confusion. The ash sisters and priests were indeed helping the newly ashen onto their hooves.

“But... I heard no screaming.”

“Indeed, my queen, it appears Fulcrum prefers to induce revelation while the subject is rendered unconscious by her magic.”

Diamond Dust glanced sideways at the Ashen Speaker, disgusted by his sorrowful and apologetic tone. He was a true prodigy when it came to oratory skills, but this was overshadowed by far by his gleeful sadism. In these insane times he truly had a lot to laugh about.

Still... he had given her an idea.

“Speaker, a vision has spoken words of wisdom to me.”

“Yes? What shall be written as new scripture?”

“Pain... is integral to true spiritual cleansing. The windigo must only induce revelation on fully aware subjects.” Let them come to resent her. She’s easy enough to fear.

The Ashen Speaker laughed a heartfelt, merry laugh.

“Wonderful, wonderful! I shall declare it immediately, my queen!”

“Good. Be excused, all of you, but send for Night Whisper.”

Diamond Dust looked down at the square and caught her breath. The windigo was looking straight up at her. For a moment their gazes battled. She actually felt she would have to blink, and the shock made her twitch, but at that very moment Fulcrum looked away suddenly. Diamond Dust was left with a taste of bile in her mouth while the square below her cleared, the confused new inductees being led away by kind ash-sisters.

“You wanted me?”

Diamond Dust fought hard to smile and turned to the pony who’d appeared without a sound by her side. The mare was coloured in drab greens and browns that somehow made her almost invisible in bad lighting, which was pretty much always under the dense cloud cover that dominated the weather currently. And she was so silent in motion she could steal earwax from an owl. The scars on her face had nothing to do with ash.

“I want three things from you, Whisper. First I want you to tail the windigo Fulcrum. Always know where she is. Take some powdered lodestone to slip into her meals and a jewel of sending for yourself and report to me her every move. Got that?”

“Yes. And the second thing?”

“Research ways to kill a windigo. Report your findings.”

“Understood. And third?”

Diamond Dust’s light pink mane and coat was ruffled by a sudden wind blowing past the balcony. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She lit her horn and levitated a bowl of warm, herb-scented water over to the unicorn by her side.

“My wings are aching. Wash them for me, my faithful servant.”

~~~~~

Fulcrum stumbled on the threshold to her quarters, making Trixie rush forward to grab her in case the stumble would turn to a fall.

“Th- thank you.”

“Honoured, are you tired? Did the demonstration drain you?”

“No. Well, yes. Trixie, Was that... alicorn... your queen? The Ash Queen?”

“Yes.”

Trixie had expected the moment of mute horror, so she simply nodded at Fulcrum.

“She used to be a unicorn. The scriptures don’t say why, but she ate some ash. It poisoned her, of course, but she’d done it in solitude and nopony discovered her. So she lay in torment as she digested it and the ash entered her bloodstream. It is written that her first vision of the coming rebirth was caused by the first particle of ash to reach her horn. Her self-induced revelation ruined the horn, and it’s permanently wounded, but it didn’t decrease her magic ability.”

“And... the wings?”

“The ash is the culprit there again.”

Twilight thought back to the alicorn’s appearance. Beautiful, shimmering white-pink coat. Same colour mane, but translucent and glittering, as if faceted. Blackened horn, bent at the middle where a foul growth of bone billowed out, covered by cracks that oozed fluid. And the wings... little more than skeleton, with hanging, flimsy threads of skin and a couple of scrawny feathers.

There was also great power there. Twilight had felt it. True, the princesses Celestia and Luna also radiated power, but their magic could be described as songs. Harmonious and beautiful. Diamond Dust’s power was a blood-saturated growl.

She steeled herself. There were more pressing matters.

“Trixie, have the ashen studied the ash?”

“Extensively. Individual scholars in all the cities have studied the ash, even prior to joining us. When they’ve inevitably done so they’ve gravitated to each other and pooled their efforts. If you’d like to meet them then I could show you to their compound. It’s by the farms.”

“Thank you, but I don’t want to keep you from your duties. I could find it by myself.”

Trixie grinned nervously at Fulcrum.

“Honoured Fulcrum, I’ve neglected to mention that the priests have decreed that an ash-sister shall serve you for the duration of your visit. I- I thought that since I was already doing that...”

“I see. Thank you, Trixie.”

A nervous exhalation escaped from Trixie when she remembered to breathe out as well as in. She took a couple more breaths to calm herself and then bowed to Fulcrum.

“Shall we go now? I wager the scholars will be delighted by your visit.”

“Yes, please. I am... eager to learn.”

Trixie laughed and walked outside, Fulcrum in tow.

“They will fight each other in their haste to shower you with books. They’re learning so much, but the rest of the ashen aren’t really interested in the more scientific aspects of the ash, so they’re writing books that nopony else will read.”

“Why such a disrespect for learning?”

“Scripture says that the laws of Harmony shall be written anew. It’s generally interpreted as meaning that our world will change. What’s the point of learning about something that soon will be different? That’s the general opinion anyway, and the clergy supports it. Ponies are needed in the fields and in the armies of the faithful -not in the libraries.”

Trixie snorted before continuing.

“Heresy be damned, I bet the Element of Magic would have a thing or two to say about that.”

“I woul- I mean... what?”

“The Element of Magic. One of the False Harmony’s lieutenants, Twilight Sparkle. The best lies are built on a foundation of truth, and so the Elements of Harmony can be forces of good even while they serve the false order. I’ve had the honour of meeting her twice! Though... I wasn’t exactly on my best behaviour. She showed me what I was. A fake. I owe her much gratitude for the path my life has taken since then.”

“H- how do you mean?”

“Thanks to her I was open to the idea that I could improve myself, that I could be something more. Before I met her I doubt I would have listened to the ashen preachers. Without that I’d probably be holed up in Canterlot or some other place, miserable and arrogant. Or I’d be cowering among the stubborn, waiting for my turn to be given the revelation.”

“I... wow.”

“Yes, I’ve been lucky! Anyway, here we are!”

The sign on the building said “LIBRARY” and Trixie felt her heart warm towards Fulcrum as the windigo reached out with a hoof to gently stroke the word. It was almost like the loving caress of a couple reunited after a long period of being apart. Then Fulcrum pulled open the door with her magic and trotted briskly inside.

Trixie smiled, lost in nostalgia. Judging by Fulcrum’s behaviour, she and Twilight Sparkle would get along like a house on fire.

Hybrid Matters

Chapter 29:Hybrid Matters

        Welder sat, hunched forward, huddled in blankets. Books, carelessly tossed without regard to their state, and tins in various states of emptiness were scattered around him like debris from a meteorite impact.

        He didn’t think about anything unless he could avoid it. Thinking hurt.

        At first he’d tackled the books with gusto in spite of his initial outburst. They were something to do, and he figured he’d feel much better if he could understand the local speech. He figured he’d surprise Twilight with some basic grasp of her language when she returned. But he’d hit a wall almost immediately. He only had one source of spoken Equestrian, and the children's book was anything but eloquent. Even pronouns were outside its realm -he couldn’t even do a ‘me Welder, you Twilight’ schtick. He suspected that Twilight vastly overestimated his mental capacity, or simply didn’t understand the difficulties involved in learning a new language from scratch.

        He’d given up on figuring out the textbooks during the middle of his second day at the cottage. When he made that decision he'd felt terrible, but when he figured out the reason he was surprised -he felt he was letting Twilight down.

        Why had he come to look up to and depend on the pony so much? The answer came quickly enough: she was probably the only creature in the universe right now who could carry a conversation with him.

        That made him realise how utterly lonely he felt.

        Scared by that epiphany he’d attacked the textbooks again, but after only a couple of hours he’d given up again in a fit of rage. The anger had simmered down into something that turned inwards, and he found himself thinking all the thoughts he’d tried to avoid, in an act of mental self-flagellation.

        He’d never see a human face again that wasn’t his own.

        He’d been single. He’d mourned his parents and planted their ashes next to each other. Then he’d gotten on with his life. He’d missed them, sometimes desperately, but hadn’t filled the hole with a close companion or a pet. Uncles and aunts had passed away or been distant acquaintances to begin with. On the other hand, some of the guys at the construction sites he’d worked on had been good friends. He’d been alone by choice, but never really lonely. Now he was utterly and truly alone. The only meaningful and intellectual contact with another being that he still had was with a purple equinoid whose glowing eyes unsettled him even in hindsight.

        It didn’t take long with thoughts like that before he was emotionally exhausted and fell asleep, but the dreams were worse. He’d walk in cities he knew, but they would fall out from under his feet into gaping chasms, and he’d soon follow, screaming, into the darkness. In other dreams Twilight would be with him, and he’d reach out to hug the comforting presence only to have her snatched from his closing grasp by a bright star that started burning his flesh and the dream would dissolve into white and a ghost of pain.

        Sometimes, for some reason, he dreamt of the big blue pony with wings and a horn. Princess Moon. She kept trying to say something to him, but those dreams always ended as soon as he saw her. He desperately wished he could stay and talk to her. Maybe she’d understand.

        He didn’t sleep much after that. He just sat and tried to kill his thoughts. Because it hurt to think about it all.

        He didn’t realise he’d started rocking until a hoof touched his shoulder, stopping the motion.

        “Welder, what’s wrong?”

        He looked up and pulled back seeing the flames wreathing Twilight’s form and pouring out of her eyes. She was still for a moment before closing her eyes... and suddenly the fire disappeared, leaving a gray unicorn with purple highlights in her mane and tail. When she opened her eyes again they had purple irises and large, black and sorrowful pupils with only a hint of ghostly blue in them.

        “Speak to me, Welder.”

        She laid a hoof on his shoulder again, and this time he didn’t pull away.

        “They’re dead.”

        The new voice was hoarse and weak, and it took several seconds before he realised that it was his.

        “Who?”

        “Everybody. Everybody.”

        He broke down. His body shook and he didn’t cry as much as shout his anguish. The world and time became a blur, and in the few moments of clarity between the black veil of depression he saw gray, furry legs wrapped around him in a hug and felt something warm against his cheek.

        He couldn’t tell when he fell unconscious, since his sentience had been shattered long before. All he knew was that when he opened his eyes he felt like himself again. He could probe backwards in his memory and knew that his recollection of the time before he fainted was essentially perfect, but the memories carried less significance than a particularly vivid dream. He felt distanced from the sobbing wreck he’d been, and he certainly felt better.

        “Good morning.”

        He only noticed he was lying on his back when he turned his head towards Twilight’s voice and saw her lying on the floor next to him, legs drawn close, reading a book. She still bore no trace of the magic that had constantly streamed from her.

        “Twilight?”

        “Yes, it’s me. Feeling better?”

        Welder thought about it. He still knew he was alone. Everything from before was still true. But the edge of despair was gone. He was mystified: he’d felt much the same as last night (if it had been night) after burying his father, but it had taken several months, if not years, to go from that to the kind of stoic composure that he now felt regarding the demise of his entire world. He sat up and furrowed his brow while looking at Twilight.

        “I... I feel strangely fine. I shouldn’t feel this good. I should still be a mess.”

        “We don’t have time for the normal stages of grief, I’m afraid. I may have helped you along. I’m sorry, but I felt it was necessary.”

        “Uh. Okay. I guess.”

        Twilight uncurled her legs and stood, stretching her back.

        “Come on, let’s take a walk. You could use some fresh air.”

        She walked over to the door and looked back at Welder expectantly. He rose stiffly, wincing at his aching muscles. Then he walked over to Twilight, who pushed open the door with her magic and waited until he’d stepped outside.

        “Just how long was I out? I figure you can’t have been gone more than three days.”

        A gray half-day reigned outside. The air felt cold, perhaps just below freezing. It felt invigorating to Welder.

        “You slept for about nineteen hours. I cast a spell to help your spirit heal from the shock. I should have done that earlier, but you seemed to cope with your situation back then.”

        “It just hadn’t sunk in I guess.”

        There wasn’t much more than a light dusting of snow on the ground. The trees were leafless but carried buds on the tips of their branches. Twilight led the way, heading down a path leading to houses barely visible in the gloom.

        “Let’s talk about your situation. I’ve managed to contact and join the ashen, and their research was beyond what I’d dared hope. They’d managed to catalogue and compare Equestrian matter with yours, and created a list of spells that actually enables Equestrian matter to simulate yours. From that I got all I needed to convert your matter into Equestrian without hurting you. It involves creating a stable shell of Equestrian matter that uses enchantments to behave as if it was alien. That way you can have a body that behaves like it used to, but without the hard limit of matter decay to worry about.”

        “All right... so when will you cast it?”

        “I already did.”

        Welder stopped and looked down at himself, spreading his hands and staring at them. He looked and felt just the same as always.

        “You’re kidding.”

        “Nope. You’re officially made from native matter now. Welcome to Equestria, buddy.”

        He laughed nervously.

        “So is that it? I can survive?”

        Twilight grimaced and tilted her head from side to side.

        “Yes and no. You can breathe, drink and eat, and the magic will help your body convert what you ingest into usable material. You won’t accumulate magic, so I’ll have to periodically recharge the enchantments that let you function. This is a step in a long process, Welder. A big step, to be sure, but it’s not the end. Your anatomy is still weird and doesn’t really function without magical aid. You’ll need big changes before this is over.”

        “Couldn’t you just magic me into a pony?”

        “No, that’s ridiculous. It wouldn’t work at all.”

        “Why not?”

        Twilight turned and walked up to the side of a building. The house looked like someone’s home to Welder. It was low, the roof ending at level with his eyes. The wall seemed to be whitewashed adobe. Round windows with four panes of glass and wooden frames completed the to Welder’s aesthetic saccharine look. Twilight’s horn started shimmering with a blue-black aura and a cone of light shot from it, projecting images onto the house’s white surface.

        “Our brain structures are very different. I’ve examined yours and I assume you have a general idea about how it looks? Well, this is a pony brain. Note how it doesn’t rest on top of our spinal cord, but is surrounding it, the cord ending just above our foreheads where the horn begins for unicorns? There’s also a completely different structuring to the brain. Yours is basically divided in two bigger parts and two smaller. We’ve got four major sections and three minor. I doubt that our brains are even remotely similar in how they are ordered.”

“To put it simply: if I just unceremoniously changed you into a pony then you’d not be able to think as before. Best case scenario you’d become a different personality as your mind adapted to pony neurology. But that’s if -and it’s a big if- you’d be able to use your pony brain at all. It could also end up with you tasting thoughts and feeling memories. Or with you just dying, unable to breathe or to keep your heart beating. And even that is not the worst-case scenario. And that’s just the brain. We’ve got major differences in the rest of the body as well.”

Welder nodded. He was actually relieved even if it did leave his future uncertain.

“Will it ever happen? Will I ever have a life again?”

“I hope so. You might not believe it, but I do think your arrival could have a long-term positive effect on Equestria. I see it as our duty to make you as comfortable as we can.”

“Long-term you say...”

“Yes.”

They walked in silence for a while after that, looking at the dark and silent houses of Gallopwood. The village center wasn’t that impressive. The town hall was only a slightly larger building, looking much like the actual dwellings, and Welder hadn’t guessed its function before Twilight had pointed it out. Eventually they agreed to head back to the house where Welder was staying.

“What’s up with you then, Twilight?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your eyes and your mane. They’re no longer burning, or whatever. Did you find out what’s causing it?”

“Oh, that- yes. It’s worse than I thought.”

Then Twilight laughed, making Welder raise his eyebrows and stare at her. She caught his expression and giggled some more.

“Sorry! It’s just that it was the first ashen I met who actually guessed right. They mistook me for a windigo! Uh, do you know about windigoes? No? All right, they appear around the time when our civilization first dawned. I’ve talked about that time period before. The windigoes trace their roots back to a small nation of ponies attempting to deal with the sun being extinguished.”

“The sun?”

“Yes. Back then we had an actual star, not like today. Anyway, they used magic to reshape themselves. They wanted more power than the unicorns, the weather control and flight of the pegasi and the emotion feeding of the changelings. Then the forces of Harmony absorbed their nation and the windigoes were incorporated with the general population, taking pegasus or unicorn forms. I’d say roughly thirty per cent of ponies alive today have some windigo ancestry... Including me.”

“Soooo...”

“So when I say I have windigo blood, I mean that I have a lot of it. I checked with some divination spells the other day. My ancestors going back almost for eight generations are all mixed unicorn and windigo.”

She took a breath before continuing.

“They never knew. Social stratification had made the old windigo population marry among each other, creating a group of lesser aristocrats that were almost exclusively unicorns. Wars had erased their history, but social dynamics kept the group cohesive. And now that Harmony no longer keeps me in check my heritage is awakening.”

Twilight snorted and glanced at Welder.

“In a way you were right after all. Would I have had the usual mix of ancestors I probably would have become an alicorn. But Harmony didn’t choose the Element of Magic at random. As nearly even parts unicorn and windigo... Control and power. I was the obvious choice, really.”

“Braggart.”

Twilight shot him a sharp look with her ears flat against her head, but he was grinning. She relaxed, laughed softly and they walked on. Just as the front door to Welder’s hideout came into view he cleared his throat and turned to Twilight.

“What does a windigo actually look like?”

She stopped and looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Well like me, of course.”

“So windigoes looked like unicorns in general?”

“Oh that. No, they don’t.”

“Can you show me?”

Twilight stopped and stared ahead of her, deep in thought.

“I don’t know. I just figured out how to suppress my windigo heritage so I’d look like a normal pony. I guess I could also enhance it, but it hasn’t crossed my mind to try before now.”

She tilted her head looked at Welder.

“Shall I try? Windigoes are pretty scary.”

Welder folded his arms and gave her a challenging smile.

“Do it.”

Twilight shut her eyes and focused. Harmony had kept her windigo aspect dormant through enchantment, and it had been easy enough to duplicate. Twilight had always preferred finesse to raw power when it came to magic, so a return to her unicorn norm had been very relaxing. Even so she admitted to herself that Welder’s question was intriguing. So she focused on her enchantment and inversed it, having it suppress her pony aspect.

Welder nearly fell backwards as black smoke and blue fire exploded from Twilight’s form. He stumbled backwards, arms pinwheeling and mouth agape, while ogling the expanding cloud. Suddenly a comet of blazing sky-blue flame shot out from the top, with a keening that only with great difficulty translated to laughter in Welder’s ears. He gulped nervously as the shooting star abruptly changed course, heading straight for him, and he involuntarily shielded his face with his arms.

When a few seconds failed to produce an impact he cautiously removed his arms and looked ahead.

“I knew you’d be scared.”

The voice was Twilight’s... but it had harmonics both lower and higher than her usual one, and there was a gentle rustle of ice crystals in it. It was coming out of the mouth of a pony-like creature that was hovering in the air in front of Welder, its front half a gray pony surrounded by blazing blue flames and the back simply a billowing cloud of glowing blue smoke that slowly darkened to pitch black. She radiated such intense cold that Welder had to back away. The ground beneath Twilight was emitting crinkling and cracking sounds as it settled into rock-hard ice. Moisture in the air condensed directly into snow around her.

Suddenly she looked up with wide eyes. Then she looked around.

“I can feel your fear. But I also felt the fear of another just now. Whatever it was it went away.”

~~~~~

Whisper gazed at the image of Queen Diamond Dust.

“I’ve tracked Fulcrum to a village called Gallopwood. Here she’s spent the day talking to a monster whose species I cannot name.”

Whisper’s jewel of sending was wedged between two tree branches. The image it projected was grainy and flickering, but she still saw the queen narrow her eyes and lean forward.

“Tell me more.”

“Fulcrum appeared in three forms. She can apparently disguise herself as a unicorn pony. The form she uses when she carries her suit of armor seems to be a hybrid of unicorn and windigo. Today she revealed her true windigo form to the monster. It looks approximately as the legends portray. The monster looks like a starved and sickly diamond dog with a small and narrow head. Its paws lack traditional claws and have more and longer digits. They are very dextrous. It speaks in an unknown language.”

“What did they speak of?”

“I do not know, my queen. I could not risk moving close enough to hear. My research indicate that windigoes are aware of all living beings capable of emotion that enter their vicinity.”

The image of Diamond Dust remained still for a moment.

“I will have to take that into account. Was there anything else?”

“No, my queen.”

“You have done well thus far, my faithful servant. Carry on.”

The jewel of sending dimmed and the image winked out. Whisper grabbed it with her magic and tucked it in her tool belt. Then she shut her eyes and focused. She felt the pull of the lodestone and headed silently in that direction, invisible among the shadows.

Scorched Equestria

Chapter 30:Scorched Equestria

        Trixie knocked on the door to Fulcrum’s quarters. The windigo had apparently been away somewhere yesterday. This was the second time within a week. Fulcrum was perfectly entitled to coming and going as she pleased, of course, but it did make it difficult for Trixie to know when she should be attending the windigo. Now, however, there was a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

        “Come in.”

        Trixie pulled the door open and entered. Fulcrum’s quarters used to be the mayor’s offices of the city hall. High-ranking clergy had claimed the rest of the offices as living quarters. Trixie didn’t know who had occupied the rooms before Fulcrum, but they had expensive taste. Lacquered wood and brass fittings dominated. Fulcrum had added her own touch, in the form of books.

        Books everywhere.

        Trixie looked at the sea of literature in front of her. Fulcrum wasn’t immediately visible, so she raised her voice.

        “Honoured Fulcrum, would you like me to sort these books for you?”

        Every book in the room suddenly glowed and rose into the air. Then they collected into stacks and settled down neatly in the bookshelves and on the tables of the room. Trixie watched awestruck.

        “I’ve studied intelligent spells with self-organizing tasks lately. This is an unanticipated but most welcome added benefit.”

        The voice sounded close, but Fulcrum was still nowhere to be found. Trixie advanced cautiously, trying to peer through the doorways into the other rooms.

        “Have I come at a bad time, Honoured?”

        “No, not at all- wait. What are you doing on the ceiling?”

        “The...?”

        Trixie’s eyes swivelled upwards. Fulcrum was calmly reading a book. Upside down. On the fl- on the ceiling. Trixie gulped.

        “Um, I am sorry to say that it is you who are on the ceiling, Honoured Fulcrum.”

        “Oh. So I am. No wonder it seemed so tidy.”

        Fulcrum stood, upside down, and casually floated away from the ceiling. She rotated around without fanfare in the middle of the room and landed lightly on the floor a moment later. Trixie grinned, trying to collect her thoughts and remember what brought her here.

        “A parade is going to be held in your honour tomorrow. I am to ask if you’d like to participate on the main spectator stage, together with the Queen and the high priests.”

        “Would it be improper to decline? I feel uncomfortable being the center of attention.”

        “It is entirely proper to decline, Honoured. Personally I think the Queen admires your humility. She’s sparing you from almost all of the official gatherings, except for the public giftings of course. You’re kind of integral to those.”

        Fulcrum shuddered. Trixie felt she knew the windigo well enough by now to be able to guess why.

        “The priests understand your reluctance to cause pain better than you think, Honoured. In fact...”

        She made sure to close the door to Fulcrum’s quarters. Then she leaned in close and whispered to the windigo.

        “They agree with you. The queen’s doctrine of suffering is insanity. It makes no sense and clashes with earlier scripture. They’ve been secretly drugging the ponies selected for the public conversions and instructing them to scream and shout a lot.”

        “The priests... disobey Queen Diamond Dust?”

        “She might be the one who’s started all of this. The first prophet. But we have a new prophet now.”

        “Who? Oh, wait. Silly question.”

        Trixie giggled, but stopped when she heard Fulcrum sigh.

        “I didn’t come here to replace or depose anypony.”

        “If I may pry a bit... what did you come here for?”

        Fulcrum was silent for a moment.

        “I came here to save Equestria and protect its inhabitants from harm.”

        Trixie appeared thoughtful. Then she tilted her head and peered searchingly at Fulcrum.

        “There’s something about the ash and the rebirth that bothers you, isn’t there?”

        Three sharp raps issued from the door before Fulcrum could answer. The windigo pushed it open with her magic. A stallion in priest robes stood outside and bowed low.

        “Honoured, the ash sisters in the infirmary ask for your help treating a group of the faithful.”

        “I’ll be right there.”

        Fulcrum walked towards the door and Trixie fell in behind her. The walk to the infirmary was short, which was a blessing considering the heavy rain. For once the ground seemed to have sucked up all the moisture it could take, but what that meant was that instead of dust flying into the air and invading eyes and throats there was mud that sucked at your hooves and clung to your coat like tar.

A fork of lightning struck just outside of town, the boom nearly simultaneous, but when the light disappeared there were blue-black sparks in the air around the lightning’s path. They crackled audibly even at this distance, polluting the air with black smoke. Fulcrum looked up at the display and shook her head.

        “Trixie, the alien matter is getting unstable. In the coming days it will take less and less magic to make it decay. Soon it will start to decay spontaneously. That’s when your prophesied rebirth takes place. The ash is everywhere now, and the combined outburst of chaos magic will seriously hobble the enchantments that make up the False Harmony. Normally trying to dispel them would be suicidal as they are extremely well defended, but for a period of time after the rebirth its shields will be down. The air will be poisoned by the corruptive magic, sickening everypony. Since the False Harmony draws power from ponies’ magic it will starve as they use their magic to heal their bodies and fight off the poison instead. Queen Diamond Dust will be able to topple the enchantments, ridding Equestria of the False Harmony forever.”

        “Praise the ash...?”

        “The False Harmony has indeed suppressed the magic of ponykind. Partly to sustain itself but mostly to prevent the extinction of our species. Chaos and war will likely erupt if the False Harmony collapses. Ponies will awake to find that they’ve become demigods overnight. At the same time, the enchantments that nudged them towards cooperation and peaceful coexistence will be gone. Squabbles between neighbours will escalate quickly. Ponies will be unfamiliar with the level of animosity they feel. Bloodshed seems certain.”

        A silence followed as Trixie repeatedly opened and shut her mouth, horrified by what she’d been told. The door to the infirmary stood before them, but neither made a move to open it.

        “Does- does the queen know about this?”

        “She does. She knows all about the False Harmony. When she looked at me during the first demonstration I looked back into her eyes and cast a spell allowing me to see into her spirit. She knows exactly what she’s doing. That’s why she’s lying about ending the False Harmony. It would be foolish of her; she’s using it to rule over you after all. Haven’t you wondered why the converted so easily switch allegiances? Loyalty to Equestria should be difficult to erase. But loyalty is enforced by the False Harmony. Conversion merely throws a switch in ponies, flipping them from normal Equestrians to rebels. The False Harmony reigns over both factions, and if Diamond Dust manages to conquer the standard government -the Princesses- then she’ll become the undisputed ruler of all of Equestria, and her title of Queen will give her access to and control over the False Harmony. She plans to change it, not destroy it. It will be King Sombra all over again, right here in the heart of Equestria.”

        Trixie had tears streaming down her cheeks and mingling with the rain. Fulcrum was looking at her all the time but never ceased speaking.

        “The rebirth is a lie, Trixie. Something like that would happen if the False Harmony would fall, but instead of a paradise there would be war. But what the queen wants above all is power over ponies. She’ll not topple the very thing that allows her to rule. Instead, she’ll let the ash poison the air and the lands, sickening everypony and making them too weak to stand up to her. Then she’ll set about changing the False Harmony, likely introducing tendencies for blind subservience and unquestioning loyalty among the dictates of the enchantments.”

        “She- she must be stopped.”

        “I know. I didn’t come here with the intention to depose anypony... but intentions change. If the clergy is bold enough to disobey her then there is more hope than I dared wish for. The devotion of her followers is her greatest strength. If they stop seeing her as their rightful queen then she’ll be shut out from the False Harmony, unable to modify it to suit her tastes. But as an alicorn she’d still be able to destroy the weakened False Harmony when the ash finally decays. I have no doubts she’d do it too, out of sheer spite. So I have to find a way to preserve the False Harmony, most likely by preventing the event you call the rebirth. As long as Canterlot still stands in opposition Diamond Dust will be unable to change Harmony. The princesses don’t have knowledge of or access to Harmony -only full kings and queens do- but they are recognized royalty and thus they must give consent to any changes to be made. As long as they remain alive and in power, that is.”

        “She... plans to attack Canterlot. You are telling me she’s going to capture or kill the princesses.”

        “Yes. From what I’ve been able to tell her preparations are well underway. My arrival accelerated them immensely.”

        “The conversions! The healing of the scars! Fulcrum, you must stop them!”

        Fulcrum looked at the door ahead of her.

        “If I do so she’ll twist it to her followers so it appears I am withholding a painless and unscarred existence out of cruelty and spite. They’ll come to resent me and they’ll gather to her, strengthening her further. I know she sees me as a threat. The stupid doctrine of pain makes it pretty obvious she’s afraid of what will happen if I gain support among the ashen. So...”

        The windigo pulled open the door.

        “...We disobey her while the priests look the other way. When the time comes to face her I’ll need all the support I can muster.”

        Trixie stood in shock for several seconds before duty nudged her inside the infirmary. Fulcrum had stopped just inside the doorway while surveying the hall. Trixie edged past her, thoughts racing. If Fulcrum needed support then Trixie knew how to help. She raised her voice and modulated it to be humble and kind, yet filled with conviction.

        “Loyal followers of the ashen, you stand in the presence of the second prophet, the bringer of revelation and the angel of mercy. Show your love for Honoured Fulcrum!”

        The halls of the infirmary were filled with Cloudsdale pegasi, and Cloudsdale pegasi knew how to cheer. The noise was painfully loud, causing several ash-sisters to clap their hooves over their ears. Trixie grinned at a visibly stunned Fulcrum; she still had her old bag of tricks. She continued once the noise had died down.

        “Please obey the ash-sisters at all times and remain calm, so Honoured Fulcrum can give you all your due kindness and attention as efficiently and smoothly and possible.”

        Then she nodded to the sisters on duty, signalling for them to take over. A queue was formed, and ten pegasi at a time were corralled in front of Fulcrum. Trixie engaged the pegasi in small-talk, subtly interrogating them about the goings-on of the ashen while Fulcrum cast her spells. These were veteran faithful, so they mostly needed removal of their revelation scars or healing of other injuries. Several had developed breathing disorders from flying in the ash-choked air. Fulcrum healed them all with no sign of tiring, and the relief coupled with Trixie’s words of encouragement worked a combined enchantment on the pegasi, making them regard Fulcrum with reverence and unbridled gratitude. Some raised cautious questions about a rumoured edict that the scars were holy and removing them was a sign of weakness, but Trixie or one of the other nurses scoffed at such babble -winking at each other all the time.

        The officer pegasi were last in line, with their commander being very last. She was in a bad shape, limping up to Fulcrum with one wing in a sling. She explained casually that it was injuries suffered while defending Cloudsdale from the ashen. While Fulcrum’s golden sparks shot out and mended the commander’s injuries, Trixie took the opportunity to ask what was next for the grizzled pegasus.

        “The queen wants me to oversee the conversions of Las Pegasus and Manehattan. Instead of bringing them here there’ll be local headquarters set up. Communication is by magic. It’s my understanding that all able-bodied ponies will converge on Canterlot a week from now, for the final conversion campaign. It’ll be... interesting... to go up against aerial defenses I helped to plan. The boost of our healed bodies will be welcome.”

        Trixie bowed to the pegasus.

        “Ash clear your path, Commander Spitfire.”

        She and Fulcrum exchanged a worried glance before the other ash sisters surrounded them, thanking them and generally chattering. One week until doomsday.

        Twilight returned to her quarters after praising Trixie for her deeds and telling her she had the rest of the day for herself. Going full windigo had been like the opening of a previously unknown eye: she could taste the love and the reverence the faithful projected towards her even now. As she entered the converted city hall she sensed the priests hidden behind walls and doors. Their emotions were like background noise. Mild and tame versions of boredom, fear, anger, joy and all the other feelings in various mixes. The new sense was both a wonder and a nuisance. It bothered her sleep and distracted her at inopportune times. It was like a noise that couldn’t be shut out.

        She entered her living quarters. A silver tray with cups and a steaming bowl of soup stood on a table. Even in Canterlot Castle Twilight hadn’t received such service, but here she’d had her meals carried to her room without even having to ask. She sighed, but her stomach growled. Her hunger was lessened but not eliminated by her windigo heritage. She swung the door shut behind her and latched it. Then she teleported out of her armor and walked up to the food tray.

        The soup was delightful. The Earthen followers of the ash had had their natural magic strengthened greatly, but it was also made unpredictable. Crops could be made to grow from seed to harvest almost overnight, but with the majority of it spoiled by chaos magic. It still meant that the ashen had plenty of food.

        Food really helped. Twilight could feel her muscles relaxing. In fact... she couldn’t even sense the emotions around her anymore. She sat down clumsily and stretched her neck, sighing with pleasure. She was so weary all of a sudden, but it was a very pleasant kind of weary. The world swam in and out of focus.

        A small, metallic sound made her look around, but her eyes wouldn’t obey her properly and it took some time before she located the source. There appeared to be a magic aura around the door latch. Twilight frowned at such impoliteness as she swayed. Invading her privacy like that was... it was important, wasn’t it? That it didn’t happen? She couldn’t remember why. The aura was a very pale pink, she noticed. Who had an unconverted aura in this place? Wow, she felt smart for having thought of that.

        The door swung open just as the entire room tilted to the side. Twilight found her cheek pressed into the carpet on the floor. Somepony should check on gravity, she thought before closing her eyes.

        Pale pink hooves, she thought. Please, Princess Celestia, let me sleep a little longer...

        ~~~~~

        Trixie left her quarters. The novices’ and ash sisters’ quarters were pleasantly silent at this hour. She walked outside and noted with a smile that the air had cleared. Weak beams of sunlight pierced the clouds. The ground had firmed up again but was not yet reduced to its base state of fine dust. Judging by the hoof- and wheelmarks a large number of ponies had marched past some time last night, likely another army of the faithful out to bring word to the unconverted. She entered the old town hall and was soon knocking on Fulcrum’s door.

        “Honoured?”

        The door was gripped in a blue-black aura and swung open, revealing Elder Firebrand. The wizened pony looked at Trixie with eyebrows raised before recognising her.

        “Ah, the hoofmaiden. Run along, my little pony. Fulcrum has released you from your service.”

        Trixie shot a lightning glance past Firebrand and into the room. It was filled with packing crates and ponies. Some crates were being unpacked, containing mostly gold and silver artwork. Other crates were being packed... mostly with books.

        “Wh- what?”

        Firebrand smirked and leaned closer, looking deep into Trixie’s eyes.

        “She’s so displeased with your, haha, sub-par conduct that she’s cast you away. A little sleeping potion in your evening tea made sure you wouldn’t bother her as she made her escape.”

        Trixie knew she should pretend to be deeply hurt by Firebrand’s words, but she’d fixed the high priest of the ashen with a level stare before she could think about it so she maintained it instead. Firebrand’s gleeful grin quickly escalated into wickedness.

        “Don’t believe me? Well to tartarus with you then. You don’t matter in any case. Your precious second prophet has left as part of Queen Diamond Dust’s retinue, at the head of the army. If you run really fast on your little stubby legs you might catch them before they reach Canterlot. But I wouldn’t bother if I were you. Fulcrum has, hahaha, agreed to perform one last service for the ashen, and I’m afraid it will leave her rather... drained.”

        Trixie paled and backed away. Firebrand was laughing with such joy that he was dancing in place. She ran. The ash-sisters and the priests had to be told. But as she searched, she found the stronghold of the ashen to be empty.

On the Eve of War

Chapter 31:On the Eve of War

        “Shining Armor... my beloved husband. Our defenses are... we don’t have any. They attacked too quickly.”

        A dull boom echoed.

        “Even now they are beating on the lower gates. We’ve sealed the windows, and I tried letting crystal grow over the doors, but when I did that I felt such pain that I had to stop. They must have brought their ash with-”

        There was a massive crash, followed by shouts, screams and the ring of metal against metal. Cadence’s panicked face became a blur as she moved the crystal she was speaking into. Then there was a discontinuity as the image and sound jumped. Another face now stared out from the image.

        “This is commander Bulwark of the Ashen. The Crystal Empire is now a protectorate of our queen, Diamond Dust the Ash Prophet. The crystalline have seen sense and even as we speak they bolster our ranks. The former princess, Cadenza, is our guest for the time being. I trust you’ll receive us -and her- with open gates once we arrive at Canterlot. Oh, and don’t try anything stupid. You’ve already lost, you just might not realise it yet. If you need convincing then look at the sky.”

        The projection winked out and the crystal that had projected it stopped glowing, leaving the nightly throne room dark except for what light fell from the blue-black aurora in the sky outside. The world below was darkness, hidden behind clouds that were pitch black at night.

        “Canterlot stands alone.”

        Shining Armor stood in front of the Throne of Night and Day. His voice was as broken as his exterior. He didn’t have the willpower to lift his head and face his regents. Celestia and Luna sat on either side of the throne. Luna’s face was hard, set in an angry, fearful frown. Celestia had tilted her head slightly and was watching Shining Armor with pity.

        “Our deepest thanks and most heartfelt regrets, Captain. Your adherence to duty in these personally trying times does you great honour. You will now retreat to your quarters to rest. That is an order. Guards, see to your officer.”

        Celestia glanced at her sister as Shining Armor was led away.

        “We’ll need him as rested as possible for what is to come.”

        Luna nodded.

        “Dear sister, perhaps it is time to sound the call to arms?”

        “You speak wisely. Nobles, step forward.”

        Court during night was usually a lonesome affair, but the room now was thronged. The Canterlot elite was present, as well as prominent families from several other cities thanks to the evacuation. The clear space reserved for supplicants was quickly filled by representants of old families and wielders of power.

        “Your families’ titles are heralds from ages past, honorifics and rewards bestowed upon them for services rendered to throne and country. Some, during peace... but most during conflict. All have one common virtue: when Equestria called, your ancestors answered. My brave ponies, war is coming again. The enemy marches, ash and darkness her callsign. So I ask you: will you carry on the names and deeds of your foremothers? Will you pick up lance and barding and gallop to our defense?”

        Silence fell. Nopony spoke. No gaze met Celestia’s increasingly desolate stare. Luna closed her eyes slowly and pouted. Then:

        “I’ll do it.”

        The crowd in front of the throne looked around. Little by little their heads turned towards the back of a hall and they shuffled sideways, forming a path between the throne and Applejack.

        “I’m as noble as dirt. I’m as common as they come, princess. But ma and pa didn’t raise quitters. My legs are growing restless without solid bark beneath my hooves. Point me at ‘em and tell me when to buck.”

        If one looked carefully and tilted one's head just right, the deep shadows on Princess Celestia’s face might have given the impression that there was the beginning of a smile there.

        “Hey!”

        The shout came from high above, just under the ceiling of the hall. Rainbow Dash descended until she hovered above the massed nobles.

        “No hard feelings, princess, but I’m sick and tired of buzzing around your chandeliers like some bird in a cage. I want the ash outta my skies, like, ten seconds ago, and if I need to punch somepony in the face to get that then lemme at ‘em!”

        The princesses smiled warmly at the two Element Bearers.

        “Excuse me, dear... Lovely scarf, dear... Did I tread on your slippers? Dreadfully sorry!”

        Rarity pushed through the throng of ponies as genteelly as she could manage and fixed the princesses with a thousand-watt grin.

        “Your majesties, those simply fantastic ancient traditions of bestowing nobility upon brave and valiant ponies... They surely haven’t been abolished since?”

        Celestia raised a hoof to her mouth and coughed gently while her sister answered, eyes gleaming.

        “It was with some pleasure that We- I- found them still in effect after our return, Lady Rarity.”

        Rarity managed to chomp down on the squee and swallow it.

        “Well, ah, I shall certainly not be found wanting when the call sounds! Noblesse oblige, after all!”

        Celestia smiled like a winning gambler and bowed to her.

        “Spoken with wisdom.”

        She raised her head and addressed the hall again, her voice stern and challenging.

        “Generosity, Loyalty and Honesty stand before you. A more fitting description of bravery is hard to find. They have answered the call! Will ponies read in future books of history of how you kept silent, or will your defiant yells join theirs?”

        The windows shook and the crystals in the chandeliers vibrated from the clamour of voices.

        ~~~~~

        “What is your wish?”

        “Night Whisper, I believe congratulations are in order.”

        Whisper raised an eyebrow at Diamond Dust’s image.

        “The poison you researched worked perfectly. The windigo is contained and travelling with me. You may find this hard to believe, but she’s actually Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. How does that line sound on your merit list?”

        “Hard to believe, your highness.”

        “Well believe it. Or have you ever heard of the Grand Star of Harmony ever manifesting on more than one pony at the same time?”

        Night Whisper smiled. Her dreamt-of status as legend among assassins seemed attainable after all.

        “Since you’ve performed so well I believe a reward for your faithfulness is in order.”

        The unicorn leaned forward.

        “The monster. No doubt some pet of the Element. It’s not in any book I’ve found. I believe it might even be so exotic as to be one-of-a-kind. Doesn’t that sound like an exciting kill?”

        ~~~~~

        “This is a... ball. The... ball is red. This pony is...”

        Welder frowned at the book in his hands. What was the pony? Early? Windy? The words seemed correct, but he couldn’t figure out how they applied.

        “This pony...”

        He did a double-take. That wasn’t the word for indicating the state of something, but a very similar one. He cross-referenced his notes: large text scribbled with a sharp bit of coal onto the wooden floor. There were scuffs from his feet all over the letters, but all in all the text was still readable. Soon understanding came to him. The word indicated that what followed was the pony’s name. He added a note and returned to the book.

        “Aha! This pony’s name is... Uhhh... Morning Fart?”

        He slapped his forehead.

        “Morning Breeze!”

        He did a little victory dance and dove down to his stack of tins. Twilight had explained that he should savour the meats from his old world while he still could. Unless he built a smokehouse and became a hunter, non-poisonous meat would be rare indeed when his body was further adapted to Equestria. So he opened a tin of meatballs in tomato sauce with reverence and placed it carefully right next to the fire burning in the fireplace. Then he picked up the book again.

        “Morning Breeze... has... the red ball. The ball is... No, wait! The ball belongs to Morning Breeze!”

        Seldom had advances in basic reading comprehension been celebrated with such evil laughter. He ran his finger gleefully along the next line, eagerly deciphering the further adventures of Morning Breeze and her red ball, when he heard the front door slam. He lowered the book and turned to look at the dark vestibule.

        “Twilight?”

        A moment’s wait brought no answer. He furrowed his brow, walked over to the table and put down the colorful book he had been reading in between the stacks of already-conquered children’s- foals’- literature and the yet-to-be-attempted literary masterpieces (one of which inevitably would be about a pony called Spot who liked to run -he could feel it coming like death and taxes).

        When he turned around he saw something, a faint smear of blurry colour that moved against one of the whitewashed walls. He peered closer and realised it seemed to be the translucent image of a pony. It was moving towards the fireplace.

        “Who are you? Oh wait... Who you?”

        The ghostly pony glanced at his direction, did a double-take and leaped backwards before freezing. It was very clearly surprised at being seen. Welder raised a hand cautiously in greeting while grabbing a book at random from the piles behind him.

        “Uh... Hello... No cry? Dammit, I don’t think I know the right words! Uhhh... No cry hurt leg? Lost nappy?”

        The apparition blinked twice. Then it dove towards the fireplace. The flames went out, and the cottage interior was plunged in darkness.

        “Whoa! What did you do that for, ghost pony?”

        Welder felt around blindly along the table. He’d begged Twilight to fetch him some luxury items from his world. He’d just figured their presence would be comforting for as long as they lasted. Besides, some of them could probably be reproduced locally once Twilight had had the chance to look at them. After a couple seconds’ breathless panic his fingers brushed a surface of rough aluminum. He closed his hand over the sturdy flashlight and quickly found the on-switch. The batteries still worked, and a cone of bright light shone out and into Welder’s face since he’d stupidly aimed it at himself. He quickly turned it away and blinked until the spots disappeared.

        A metallic chink made him turn just before something heavy impacted him. Pain bloomed in his right thigh, and he wailed as he fell. The flashlight tumbled away from him and spun to a halt shining against a wall, reflecting just enough light to outline the room. He’d pressed his hand instinctively against his thigh and could feel something liquid spreading on the palm. He brought his hand to his face in a daze and saw how it was slick with his blood. He yelled then, out of pure fear.

        Suddenly there was another light. A horn was glowing on the other side of the room, wrapped in a blue-black aura. Three similar but smaller auras appeared and rose into the air. Welder stared wide-eyed at them as they wove around one another, diving and dipping like a group of birds. They emitted only a weak light, and the things they enveloped were dull and black, but he realised with increasing terror that there was no mistaking those shapes: blades, like daggers without handles, were floating towards him with clear menace.

        Survival instinct overruled the pain from his thigh and he pushed himself back, away from the hovering metal spikes. It mattered little. Each aura flashed in turn, launching the blades towards him fast enough to make them whistle. He felt them impact and penetrate deep into his left thigh and both shoulders.

Now each limb was an unresponsive mess of pain, and he cried weakly as he slumped on the floor with his back leaning against the table. Whimpering from terror, he lifted his head and saw his attacker appear from thin air in front of him, as if melting into view. It was a unicorn mare, with green-brown mane and coat, clad in stiletto-bladed slippers (one of which was coated with his blood) and locking his gaze with the iciest stare he had ever seen, enhanced further by her blue eyes.

        She advanced ever so slowly, clearly exulting over her work. She smiled a very satisfied smile as she placed a hoof on his injured thigh and carefully transferred her weight to it, making Welder tremble in agony and clench his teeth. His vision receded, and so did the pain.

        ~~~~~

        Night Whisper frowned. The monster was becoming limp and its head was lolling against the table. She must have hit a major artery in one of its limbs. Not much time to do what had become a tradition for her: whenever she personally assassinated somepony she made sure to look into their eyes as they passed away. It was her little window to infinity. She’d be very cross with herself if she missed the chance to see it with this unique creature.

        No worry, though. She lit her horn and reached out with her magic to the creature’s head-

        The pain was indescribable. It was like her revelation rite, but a thousandfold worse. It was as if the creature was made entirely from the ashen matter! Dimly, in the back of her head, some small part of her shouted about the danger of aura feedback. She’d die if she couldn’t let go of the creature’s head. Watching it die no longer mattered: she was fighting for her own life. So she did what she could to push away the pain and tried to focus.

        She’d underestimated the force she’d used, but she managed both to shove the creature away from her and to throw herself backwards, cutting the link. The creature flew under the table and crumpled into a heap. Thumps from falling books were heard. Then all was silent. Night Whisper inhaled and exhaled slowly, marvelling at her fortune.

First, the creature had spotted her when she’d have been invisible to anypony else. Then there was this. She’d been very, very lucky she didn’t try to simply choke the life out of the thing with her telekinesis. She’d toyed with the thought for such a long time, and only a whim had made her choose to bleed it to death instead: she’d wanted to feel it twitch through her hooves instead of her more impersonal magic.

        All in all, much too close for comfort. Her frazzled brain was shutting down, and she was physically exhausted enough to welcome unconsciousness.

        The sound of a falling book made her eyes slam open.

        She slowly turned her head to look at the room. The monster was moving. She gasped incredulously and fought to return control of her legs, slowly scrabbling away from the thing. She watched with disbelief as the creature crawled clumsily out from under the table on all four limbs, apparently ignoring the wounds. Once clear of the table it stopped and its head turned very slowly towards one of its forelimbs, lifting it and wiggling the five small appendages in a disgusting manner, as if it was unfamiliar with its own body. Three metallic thuds sounded as Night Whisper’s throwing blades were pushed out of the wounds they’d created. Then the monster ever so slowly tilted its head back to look at Night Whisper.

        Its eyes were gone. In their place shone orbs of pure gold.

        The monster brought its back limbs under its torso and it rose ever so slowly, not for a second releasing Night Whisper from its gaze. It opened its mouth, and hesitated, running its tongue over its teeth as if feeling their shape. Then it tilted its head and spoke, voice somehow horribly twisted from what it was, apparently forming syllables with an unfamiliar throat.

        “Well this is an interesting development.”

        That was enough to snap Night Whisper back to her senses. Fury and terror raced down the nerve pathways of her body, forcing her limbs into obedience. She sprang to her legs and snarled at the monster before invoking her invisibility. Then she ran as silently as she could to the creature’s side. It was slowly moving its head from side to side, head tilted with astonishment, mouth slightly open. She tensed, shoved with her hind legs and got enough speed to leap- The creature’s eyes locked onto her and a winning smirk appeared below them.

        The table slammed into her face.

        She came to lying on her back, limbs splayed like the cardinal directions on a compass. She tried to move, but something held her head and legs in place. She couldn’t even open her mouth. Her eyes swivelled desperately and saw gold-black auras wrapped around her hooves. Five glowing, fleshy hooks above her glowed with the same magic. She studied them some more and realised she was looking at the five bent digits of the monster’s right forelimb. It was standing right in front of her, glowing limb stretched in front of it as if she was a marionette and it was holding the strings.

        “Sorry, my little pony, but invisibility works poorly against one who can see into the spirit world. Now...”

        The monster crouched and pulled its hand back and up. Night Whisper felt herself sit up into an unnatural position, hanging by her limbs from the monster’s telekinesis. Her head rose until she was forced to stare directly into the monster’s golden eyes.

        “...I’m afraid you’ve done a number on this body, and I must say I’d rather like to give it a chance. See what it can do, so to speak. So I’m just going to borrow a little something of yours to heal it with. Sound good?”

        Night Whisper felt herself nodding in sync with the creature’s middle digit.

        “I think so too! You break it, you mend it is such a good policy. It would be a shame to let this frame go to waste after all the hard work Twilight Sparkle did on it, wouldn’t it? Caught between this world and another, not really capable of living but stubbornly refusing to die, it is ridiculously magical yet incapable of casting... but I have special provisions for that.”

        The monster drew a deep breath through its nostrils.

        “To put it simply, this body is a necromancer’s fondest dream come true. And I have certainly had time to dream! Now be a good little assassin and tell me all you know. The more you make me listen the longer you’ll be in possession of a soul.”

        The last thing Night Whisper ever saw while alive was two shining orbs of gold. Libram didn’t watch what happened afterwards, because he was quite accustomed to the events. Instead he rose, stretching this unfamiliar body’s muscles, and rummaged around the cottage until he found a gem. With a grin he held it out in his hand, with his arm stretched out, and turned slowly until he found the direction where it glowed the brightest. Meanwhile Night Whisper’s body rose slowly and trotted to his side, vacant eyes staring at him. He lifted his gaze from his new servant and looked straight through the walls of the cottage, in the direction of the gem’s light, towards Canterlot. Then he squeezed the gem and brought it close to his smiling mouth.

        “Twilight? We should talk.”

The Assault

Chapter 32:The Assault

        Trumpets blared their alarm signals. Cries of confusion, fear and orders echoed from the city below. Princesses Celestia and Luna, together with Shining Armor and the Element Bearers, all clad in light barding, didn’t look down at the chaos of the capital but rather at the source of the panic.

        Walls of cloud were rising around Canterlot, trapping the city and the castle in an upright cylinder of clear air surrounded by darkness and dust.

        “The normal clouds of winter do not rise that high.”

        “You are correct, Luna. These are not normal clouds. They are dry... filled with ash. There is alicorn magic in the storm.”

        “Tia... How can the queen be an alicorn? We have records of a Diamond Dust. Born into a wealthy family of the jewellers’ guild. Parents are active in the Seaddle political scene. She’s listed as being a unicorn. No crimes.”

        “Dear sister, I couldn’t possibly answer that. I don’t recall how we became alicorns. Were we born as such? Perhaps we were linked to our aspects during adulthood in the same way as Diamond Dust seems to be linked to the ash, perhaps not. The time for answers is not upon us yet.”

        The clouds were now higher than the highest peak of Mount Canterlot. Their ascension slowed and stopped. Shining Armor looked down.

        “Princesses, the enemy is visible. Shall I signal fire at will?”

        “Not yet. We’re playing for time. Let’s not hurry our adversaries unnecessarily.”

        Celestia looked down. The clouds that had girdled Canterlot Plateau were receding, retreating into the cylindrical wall of the higher clouds. As they retreated they revealed column upon column of marching ponies. She brought some energy to her horn and cast a focusing spell, looking closer.

        “By the sun. They are... clad in stone. Their spears... stone! Their shields, stone!”

        Luna also looked down at the emerging troops.

        “Alien stone, I think you’ll find. Our unicorns will not be able to use their magic against them.”

        This produced a snort from Shining Armor.

“Maybe not telekinesis, but a simple burst from anypony’s horn will blast that armor to pieces.”

        “Maybe so, Captain... but the resulting eruption of chaos will likely hurt our defenders much more than their attackers. Take a look at the back of the columns, Armor.”

        He squinted, trying to see what had caught Princess Luna’s attention.

        “They’re towing huge carts, filled with... rocks and dirt? And... oh. Catapults.”

        “They intend to poison us. Overwhelm us with the ash. They know we could just wait four days for all of their alien matter to decay, but they’ve brought along enough to corrupt all of Canterlot when it does so. The solitary Elements will not be able to neutralise enough of it before the time is up.”

        “So... They intend to invade Canterlot, and failing that they will try to heap so much ashen matter on us that we’re wiped out four days from now when it all goes kablooey.”

        “I’d guess so, though I am not familiar with ‘going kablooey’, Captain. Is it a new military term?”

        “No, Princess. It is vernacular for exploding. I’d recommend not using it in official texts.”

        “Noted.”

        They watched in silence as the opposing army spread out. Then Shining Armor’s breath caught in his throat. Luna glanced at his face and followed his gaze down to an open wagon. Princess Cadence was shackled by her legs to four sturdy posts, and a tiara of stone sat on her head, cradling her horn. Her wings were bound as well. She appeared tired but otherwise in good condition. Luna frowned at the setup for a moment, unfurling one of her wings and gently touching Shining Armor with it to reassure him, before letting her gaze set on the next wagon. That one was built like a mobile bank vault. Iron bars criss-crossed a large, studded wooden box resting on four solid wooden discs that served as wheels. Six ponies struggled to pull it. Almost a hundred ponies guarded it.

        “I wonder what is so dangerous that an alicorn pales in comparison and why they’ve taken all these pains to bring it here.”

        Celestia tilted her head in contemplation.

        “Good question. We shall see what we’ll find out once the inevitable envoy reaches our throneroom.”

        “With all due respect, Celestia, meeting with them would be stupid.”

        “What do you mean, Armor?”

        “They are here to conquer. They might occupy the city and even the castle itself, but they could never claim to have taken Equestria unless they can lay their hooves on you. Everything else is a secondary concern: Equestria stands and falls together with you. The envoys will demand unconditional surrender, and when you say no I give even odds for them to try something right then and there. Putting any of this scum in the same room as you is extremely inadvisable.”

        “Thank you for your insight, Captain, but I doubt the queen herself will accompany the envoy, and we can surely manage anypony else trying to spring a surprise attack. She’ll have something else in mind I’m sure. We’ll entertain the guests as long as possible until they realise we’re only stalling. Come, we have other things to plan.”

        ~~~~~

        The envoys from the ashen entered the ballroom. The three high priests ambled sedately forward, smiling serenely at everything and everypony, their jewelled ceremonial staves glittering in the candlelight. Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood side by side in front of them.

        “Welcome! The princesses are slightly occupied but will meet with you momentarily. In the meanwhile, perhaps you’d like some refreshments? We’ve put together an assortment of freshly baked goods for your enjoyment.”

        The spokespony of the ashen, a wizened earthen mare clad in blue-black robes, looked over the presented delicacies with every sign of enjoyment.

        “That was very kind of you indeed! We’re of course saddened to hear that the princesses cannot see us immediately, but we’re quite prepared to wait as long as it takes. They should under no circumstances feel the need to rush their schedules on our behalf.”

        She gazed steadily at Rarity and Pinkie pie, still smiling, while a tremendous boom shook the castle and trumpets signalled alarms from Canterlot City. Then she continued.

        “After all, our troops certainly don’t see the need to reschedule their activities while we wait.”

        Rarity alternated between gasping and sputtering monosyllables.

        “B- But that’s a gross breach of diplomacy! Military etiquette clearly states that-”

        “Miss Rarity, this delegation is not here for diplomacy. We will be close, should the Princesses see reason and surrender. At that very moment we’ll run out of here and shout for the fighting to cease. We wish to provide expedient mercy to the citizens of Canterlot -to make sure that as soon as their tyrants bow to us there will be peace.”

        Pinkie huffed and used her forelegs to sweep up half of the table’s displays of sugary treats in a single move.

        “Well then, these wares were for diplomats! I guess I’ll go find some and make sure they are having a good time!”

        The high priest merely fixed her with a level stare.

        “You do that. We don’t anticipate having to stay very long in any case.”

        Rarity growled and rushed out of the room, all the way to the castle’s gates and into Canterlot City. The capital sloped downwards from the castle to the city gates, allowing Rarity to assess the situation at a single glance with every street laid before her. Huge boulders were flying up and crashing onto the city buildings from the plains below. Clusters of smaller rocks and pebbles rained down and threatened to cause serious injury to anypony caught beneath them. At the same time the wall of cloud was collapsing. In mere seconds the billowing ash would descend upon the city. A cry went up, repeated by everypony who heard it. Rarity shouted it as well.

        “Cover your mouths!”

        It was the work of a split second for Rarity to uncoil her scarf and tie it around her head so it acted as a filter in front of her mouth. Then she ran on in the abruptly darkened street, squinting through the dust.

A shape in front of her turned out to be an armor-clad unicorn clutching at her throat and wheezing. Rarity ran up to the mare and gripped the fabric of a plain skirt peeking out underneath the armor with her magic, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain in her horn as small pieces of dust interfered with her telekinesis, ripping out a patch of cloth and bringing it up to the mare’s snout. Then she opened her heart to the Element around her neck, bathing the choking unicorn in silvery light. Focus returned to her patient’s gaze and she was rewarded with a grateful but hurried hug before the unicorn ran onwards. Rarity ran after her, down through the city streets, stopping to aid those who’d been caught unprepared for the ash.

Horns were lighting up, sending pulses of magic up into the polluted air. A dangerous tactic, and the unicorns doing so were weighed down by multiple layers of clothing to soak up the chaos magic that issued forth from the overloaded particles of ash in their vicinity. Rarity ran up to every thickly clothed unicorn she saw, purging the accumulated corruption from their armor with her Element. She was progressing slowly closer to the city gates, where the noise of fighting was loud enough to tear at the eardrums of anypony in immediate vicinity.

“Pegasi!”

The sudden cry of warning made Rarity look up at the sky. The ashen clouds above were swirling, stirred by unseen wings within them. Shouts of surprise and alarm were heard from all sides. A net, weighted by stones, suddenly fell out of the ash above, entangling her. She yelled with surprise of her own and focused on her Element again, sending a small pulse in all directions. The ashen web crumbled to dust. An anguished scream nearby made her look around and see the nearest armored unicorn succumb to aura feedback from the much more concentrated ash in the net that had entangled him. Rarity quickly ran in his direction but failed to reach him as yet another net enveloped and tripped her.

Two pegasi landed in front of the struggling stallion, each carrying a staff of some kind strapped to their barrels, with a small jewel at the end pointing forward. They laid a hoof on their staves and guided the jewelled ends towards the unicorn’s horn. A bright arc of blue-black magic made contact between the staves and the unicorn, causing the hapless stallion to writhe and spasm with pain.

Rarity gasped. She could feel her perception change: the unicorn was turning from ally to enemy. It lasted only for a short moment, though, before the unicorn collapsed and the pegasi collected their nets... and turned to Rarity, the net entangling her disintegrating, already sending a kick towards the closer one’s head. The pegasi have quick reflexes, but it would have taken precognition to react in time.

As one pegasus flew into a wall and collapsed, the other one stared with wide eyes at Rarity before leaping into the air.

“Element Bearer!”

Rarity gulped. She’d just been promoted from random target to priority target. A nearby doorway offered the most likely protection, so she darted to it and found the door ajar. A bolt of lightning struck the street behind her and the shockwave picked her up and threw her inside and against the wall of a hallway. She looked back, stunned, and saw a pegasus mare land next to where the lightning had struck, electricity arcing over her wings as she scanned around. Rarity’s white coat was perfectly outlined against the dark wooden wall of the hallway, and the pegasus spotted her immediately. Lightning flashed in her eyes and Rarity could hear the electric hum as the pegasus unfurled her wings, letting her feathers sprout like antennae.

The pegasus charged, electricity playing over her body. Rarity yelled defiance and her horn flashed wildly as she slammed the heavy oaken front door into the oncoming face of her opponent. There was a crunch and brief burst of electricity on the wooden surface. Then Rarity let the door open again and saw her enemy lying in the middle of the street, out cold and with blood pouring from her snout. She quickly concentrated on her Element, sending a pulse each of its magic towards the two unconscious pegasi and the still unconscious stricken unicorn.

My little ponies, cover your ears!

Celestia’s voice in her head. The princess sounded urgent, so Rarity did as told and clapped her hooves over her head.

There was a noise as if the very air was torn asunder, followed by a boom that wasn’t heard as much as felt. Rainbow shockwaves of magic shredded the ashen clouds and impacted the streets below, clearing the air of the ashen dust and severely stunning any ashen caught in their wake. Rarity spotted Rainbow Dash pulling up from her pass over the city, lightning-gemmed necklace glittering.

Then a blue-black bolt of lightning flew over Dash’s shoulder. Enemy pegasi were flying out of the cloud walls, trailing ash and smoke, and converging on her. The clouds and the ash was slowly creeping back over the city, but the defenders were capitalizing on the improved visibility and clear air, pushing the disoriented enemy back towards the gates.

Rarity glanced up at the dot in the sky that was Rainbow Dash. Her friend would probably relish the twenty-to-one odds, but Dash was being distracted when her sonic rainboom would soon be needed again. Biting her lip, Rarity ran into the building again. She lit her horn and looked around, searching for a staircase when her light fell on three small, frightened faces peering at her from behind the edge of a partially opened cellar door.

“Mommy?”

Rarity’s breath caught in her throat. Images of Sweetie Belle and her parents flashed before her eyes, but she forced herself to remain composed.

“Not mommy, young ones. She told you to stay hidden, didn’t she? Go!”

Her inflection had been perfect and the foals obeyed instantly, closing the cellar door. Rarity looked to the right of the door and found stairs leading up. She muttered under her breath.

“This is for you, little sister.”

Soon she was clambering out of a hatch and onto the sloping roof of the mansion. Sharpened stakes had been mounted on the roof tiles in order to hinder enemy pegasi from landing. She picked her way gingerly between them until she was standing on the crest of the roof, switching her gaze between the sky and the colorful pennants flying from the mansion’s flagpoles.

~~~~~

Rainbow Dash dodged a bolt of blue-black magic before turning into the path where it had flown past and accumulating G:s until she heard her bones creak. She was prepared for the surprised pegasus stallion now meeting her head-on and extended her back legs just enough to snag both of the attacker’s wings just above their base. She felt one wing give against her hoof, pulling the bone out of its alignment. The pegasus beneath her screamed in pain and started to plummet. Dash held on and grabbed the net tucked in the pegasus’ belt before kicking him away, sending him falling towards the spiked rooftops of the city below. Then she flapped twice to dodge another pony who’d tried to skewer her with a spear.

She fought to regain some speed as she divided her attention between her pursuers and untangling the net in her hooves. A bolt of lightning shot out at her and she let it course along her wingtips to be deflected against another pegasus who took it straight in the chest, frying her primaries and sending her into an unconscious spin.

Dash’s awareness was razor-sharp. She had almost an omniscient view of the sky around her and its air currents. It was almost like meditation to her, a serene state of mind where air and muscle conspired to dance violently with her foes. That was why she dodged the wingdaggers before she was conscious of somepony managing to sneak behind her. She noted the new opponent’s flight vector and added it to the constantly updating list in her mind, focusing instead on the unravelling bunch of weights and webbing in her hooves. She yawed hard right and opened her wings fully. The braking caused the net’s weights hanging from her hooves to swing like the end of a flail, connecting hard with the back of a pegasus flying past. Then she swung the net around and open, hurling it into the face of a careless opponent who was trying to charge her.

Then she regarded the newcomer hovering nearby with narrowing eyes.

“Hello, Spitfire.”

“Hello, Rainbow Dash. Time to see if your warrior spirit can cash all the checks your mouth has written.”

Rainbow Dash glanced around, noting that the other pegasi were keeping back for the moment.

“What do you mean? I don’t see anypony in this sky who could- whoa!”

Spitfire had done something with her wings that Rainbow Dash hadn’t quite been able to follow, suddenly shooting forward with momentum that Dash just couldn’t comprehend how she’d achieved. The dodge had been a hair’s breadth from failing and Spitfire seemed to be charged with so much static electricity that it singed the tips of Dash’s feathers. She quickly tried to pull away, but Spitfire turned so hard that Dash’s eyes threatened to water in sympathy. There was something else, too: little metallic whistling noises as Spitfire gently undulated her wings, dislodging small winged needles tucked between her feathers. The needles curved further inwards in the direction of Spitfire’s turn, sending a cloud of stinging death towards Rainbow Dash.

Dash yelled and dodged again... and felt a hoof connect against the back of her head. Spitfire had managed to make Dash focus her attention on just one opponent out of fifteen. Bad mistake on Dash’s part. She folded her wings around her and let herself plummet while she tried to fight the unconsciousness threatening to envelop her. Lightning hissed past her, sending inquisitive sparks into her mane and causing her to twitch, but also clearing her head somewhat.

She tasted death. This was usually the point during her stunt practice when she knew she’d pushed herself over her limit and it was time to pull out, but it wasn’t the ground that was rushing to meet her that would kill her now. Still, she looked down, searching for a street where she could do some canyon flying. Instead she saw three large, blue gems centered in a huge, rainbow-coloured bullseye.

She grinned and opened her wings, yelling straight ahead:

“Catch me if you can, you neutered turkeys!”

Normally, a dive worthy of a sonic rainboom would have been the last thing on her mind while dogfighting multiple enemies carrying long-range weapons: it was fast, sure enough, but it was also straight as a sunray before she could reach critical velocity. She flapped her wings to gain speed quicker during the first stage of her dive, hoping that the faster pegasi would try to catch her and thus fly in the way of the ones trying to shoot her with their lightning.

Even if the chasing pegasi were unable to match Rainbow Dash’s speed they had to stay on her trail if they wished to continue engaging her. There was one pegasus back there who probably could, however, especially when flying in Dash’s slipstream. She started to feel a very intense electric charge on her hindlegs just as she approached the strange floating bullseye.

The bullseye and the gems dissolved into tens of colorful ribbons that flowed around Dash, letting her pass without touching her. A familiar blue aura caught her attention for a split second and she saw Rarity out of the corner of her eye as Dash shot past just below critical velocity.

Then the electric charge was suddenly gone. Dash spread her wings again, pulling up and out of her dive below the roof level of most buildings along the street she’d entered. She looked over her shoulder and saw Rarity standing on a rooftop and waving back at her. The unicorn’s horn was glowing as she used large streamers of cloth to snare two pegasi who were trying to fly through the bullseye. An unconscious Spitfire, likely shocked by the sudden telekinetically induced deceleration, lay at her hooves.

Dash flew over to Rarity and hoofbumped before landing on the roof. She grinned at the limp form of Spitfire while engaging the Element around her neck. Spitfire’s eyes fluttered open while the Element’s glow was still fading around her.

“Well done, Dash. Though next time we’ll have to try a little one-on-one.”

“Bah! Why make it harder for you if you’ve already lost once?”

“Call it friendly sparring.”

Lightning grounded itself on some of the stakes on the roof, and Rainbow Dash took to the air to deal with the rest of her pursuers. Rarity walked over and studied the bound pegasus.

“You must be Rarity.”

“Charmed, I’m sure.”

“If you could unbind me then I’d be very grateful. We need to hurry and make sure the princesses are safe.”

Rarity tilted her head.

“Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Did you see the jewelled staves we’ve been issued?”

“Yes?”

“The envoys carry more powerful versions.”

A War of Tag

Chapter 33:A War of Tag

        “YEEEEE-HAW!”

        Applejack waved her hat and cheered at Rainbow Dash as her friend made another pass over the city, rainboom thundering out from her path and clearing the air again. Then she charged against the disoriented ranks of the ashen. A couple of their unicorns had enough presence of mind to see her coming and level their staves at her, but she leaped over their beams and swung around in the air, landing in front of two ashen and using a hind leg each to buck them into the air. The impact was so powerful it shattered their stone armor. At the same time she concentrated her Element through her hooves, severing her victims’ link to the ash. No doubt some ashen near where they landed would immediately reconvert them, but even that took some time that would otherwise be spent fighting.

One of her targets had been a unicorn with a jewelled staff, which had been dropped. Applejack stomped on it, shattering the jewel, before looking for additional foes. No enemy was near her: everywhere she looked she saw defenders of Canterlot stand unchallenged.

“They’re retreating! Push them out of the city!”

Others took up her yell and charged with her at the receding ranks of the ashen. Hooves thundering under her, Applejack peered at what lay ahead. The troops in front of her seemed more heavily armored. Earthen ponies with very large shields of metal and stone, behind which stood a phalanx of unicorns with-

She slammed all four hooves into the ground in a desperate attempt to halt her forward momentum before all those jewelled rods were levelled at her, but the flagstones making up the street were so smooth her hooves skidded over them. One unicorn’s beam hit her in the shoulder, pouring blue fire into her nerves. She gave up on her legs and let herself tumble, focusing all of her stubbornness into her Element. The pain relented as the arc of blue fire splashed against a bubble around Applejack, but she began feeling increasingly faint as her mental strength was sapped by the continuous onslaught of magic.

She managed to get her legs sorted out and rose to run away. To her right and left were less fortunate ponies, unable to defend themselves without an Element of Harmony. Applejack growled to herself and glanced at a pony to her side who’d charged the ashen together with her less than thirty seconds ago only to now become enemy. Seeing the ponies who had fought by your side suddenly turn on you after a moment’s confusion was unsettling, to put it mildly. Come to think of it her Element now seemed to do that as well, only to the ashen. Applejack thought back to Canterlot Hospital as she ran behind a wall, wondering what was different now.

A dull whistling moments before a mighty crash heralded a boulder that slammed through the wall next to where Applejack was taking cover. She stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out why her gut told her this was something new. Then she realised: it hadn’t come from the plains below, but from the direction of the road up to Canterlot. The ashen had dragged catapults almost up to the city gates. She swore softly to herself: that had to be taken care of quickly. Firing from there the entirety of the capital was laid out like a shooting gallery, allowing for a precision unavailable with the catapults firing blind shots up from the plains.

She put a hoof on the boulder next to her and peered towards the city gates through the hole in the wall. Rocks were sailing out of the swirling cloud that concealed most of the ashen forces. She considered the problem for a moment before deciding that Rainbow Dash probably had the best chances of disabling the catapults, assuming she’d be made aware of the problem. The boulders probably looked like pebbles from up in the air.

Climbing up on the boulder seemed the best solution, so Applejack did that. She reared up on her hind legs and used one hoof to balance herself against the wall, taking her hat in the other and waving at the multicolored speck in the sky. Thankfully Dash didn’t have too many distractions since she’d managed to down Spitfire with Rarity’s help, and so Applejack soon caught her friend’s attention. She glanced towards the enemy lines but saw them holding positions and letting the catapults do their work, though luckily no further boulder seemed aimed at Applejack’s direction. There was a strange blue glow on the wall next to her, so she looked up in the sky. Nothing there except an approaching multi-colored but definitely not glowing pegasus. RD seemed to have something on her mind judging by the way she was gesticulating and pointing at Applejack.

Applejack frowned. And looked down at the catapult boulder, whose glow was by then edging past blue and into white in its intensity, something in its core shining bright as a star.

“Oh ponyfea-”

There was a short, sharp moment when every nerve and muscle in Applejack’s body felt like it had gotten in the way when Big Mac was lining up a buck. Blue and black spots whirled in her vision and she might have screamed, though she wouldn’t admit to it. She honestly didn’t expect to be alive so she was quite pleased when the world decided to swim back into focus. She was lying by the wall, only the wall was now blackened and twisted. Applejack peered at it, trying to make sense of it all. Then she looked down: she was lying on top of a huge patch of black corruption. The boulder was nowhere to be seen.

“Applejack!”

Rainbow Dash was hovering in the air a short distance away with a look of absolute shock plastered on her face. Applejack stared back in confusion... until she felt it. Dash was the enemy now. The farm pony looked back down at her unhurt hooves, finally understanding what had happened. So this was how it felt being one of the ashen.

It didn’t really feel like anything special. Fancy that. The world continued as before.

A sudden gust of wind made Rainbow Dash flap madly to keep her position. The ash clouds were closing in again, but more forcefully than before. She stared down at her friend... enemy... and racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do. Applejack raised her gaze from her hooves and stared back except for a little flicker of her eyes off to the side. Dash’s senses screamed their warning too late and a net struck her wings. She fell screaming to the ground, taking the impact on her side and landing partially on one of her tangled wings. The pain stunned her and she moaned and writhed feebly, tears streaming from her eyes.

When she regained her bearings she saw Applejack looming above her, together with three unicorns. Each of the unicorns were carrying jewelled staves and were aiming them towards her. Applejack gave her a mournful nod.

“Sorry, sugarcube, but it’s best if we get this over with quickly.”

Applejack flinched and looked away when the beams connected with Rainbow Dash.

~~~~~

The gatehouse was empty and the guard posts deserted. Rarity stepped cautiously over the threshold and into the outer yard of Castle Canterlot. An afterthought made her look back and light her horn. The catch on the portcullis winch glowed with her aura as it lifted, making the machinery spin freely as the massive iron bars slammed down and blocked the entrance to the castle. The metallic boom echoed around the comparatively silent yard, making Rarity shudder.

“Hello? Anypony there?”

When no answer came she advanced nervously towards the castle doors themselves. The double doors should have been heavily guarded, but nopony could be seen. She willed herself to step forward and into the darkness of the reception hall. It was as deserted as the outer yard. Broken furniture and bits of armor was strewn over the floor. There were sounds though: faint echoes of shouts, booms of slamming doors and the metallic clangs of fighting travelled through the halls.

“Rarity?”

Fluttershy was standing on the upper landing of the main stairs, in front of the entrance to the court antechamber. She looked down at Rarity with surprise.

“Fluttershy, darling! What’s happening?”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment while watching Rarity approach the bottom of the stairs. Then she took a breath and flared her wings.

“Um, the envoy had these staves that nopony suspected to be weapons. They were capable of turning ponies over to the ashen. They’re at the entrance to the princesses’ private wing of the castle, trying to force down the door.”

She looked into Rarity’s eyes, causing her friend to slow down in the middle of the staircase.

“Not all of them, though. One of them is here with me.”

And she stared into Rarity’s eyes, nailing her friend to the spot, while a smiling unicorn carrying a jewelled staff walked out from the court antechamber.

“F-f-fluttershy?”

Fluttershy started walking down the stairs, never breaking her eye contact with Rarity.

“Shush, Rarity. It’ll pinch for just a moment, then everything will be fine.”

Rarity couldn’t look away or move. Fluttershy’s stare commanded her to stay put. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other unicorn -one of the delegates, she realised- advance. A little glowing jewel hovered in her vision in front of her horn. Then pink legs landed on the delegate’s head and back, smashing the ashen mare into the stairs and sending a wave of magic through her body.

“Tag, you’re it!”

Pinkie Pie cannoned into Rarity, sending both tumbling down the stairs. Above them Fluttershy actually growled and stomped her hooves in frustration.

“This isn’t a game, Pinkie!”

Pinkie had slid to a halt at the foot of the stairs. She quickly sprang to her feet and helped Rarity while glancing at her pegasus friend.

“Am I laughing?”

Rarity looked at Pinkie and had to admit that no, there was no laughter in the party pony’s face. Pinkie was crying, her face caught between anguish and fury. Fluttershy had turned towards the stunned unicorn by her side and was focusing her Element, but instead of the normal glow her necklace was burning with blue and black flames. Rarity gasped and drew on her own Element, sending it out towards Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, stop!”

Pinkie Pie joined her and the two advanced towards Fluttershy. The pegasus started backing away and concentrated her Element on defending herself while switching her venomous gaze back and forth between the two mares in front of her. Whenever one of them would advance too far they’d be met with Fluttershy’s Stare. The trio progressed slowly until they all stood on the upper landing of the stairs.

“Fluttershy. Darling. This is ridiculous. We’re two against one. Let me and Pinkie take care of you and then we’ll sort this out together.”

Rarity’s words had the desired effect. Fluttershy stopped, looked down at the floor and pouted. She slowly dropped the barrier she’d erected with her Element, letting the energies of her two friends wash over her.

That’s when Pinkie Pie was struck by a blue-black arc of energy and collapsed. Rarity gasped and traced the arc back to its source, an earthen pony with a staff standing to the side of the stairs together with some castle guards. All were ashen. Fluttershy slowly raised her head and gazed coolly at Rarity.

“I could say the same to you, Rarity. Give up.”

Rarity bit her lip and stared at Pinkie. Her friend was groaning and shuffling her hooves in an attempt to rise. There was also no mistaking what her senses told her: Pinkie Pie was now enemy.

The earthen pony levelled his staff so the gem pointed at Rarity, prompting her to flee down the stairs while weeping in panic. She galloped through the castle doors and out into the clouds of ash swirling in the outer yard. There she heard yelling coming from the gatehouse. She ran towards it and saw a pegasus up by the winch. As she approached her heart lifted.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Dash paused her efforts to wind up the portcullis and gave the pony below a wave with her hoof.

“Hi, Rares. Be with ya in a sec! Gotta let in Applejack!”

Rarity smiled with relief and ran in under the shadow of the gatehouse. The earth pony wriggling through the gap under the slowly raising was indeed Applejack herself and Rarity ran up to her-

Applejack was enemy. The farm pony grinned sadly at Rarity and rose to her hooves.

“Sad day for the defenders of Canterlot, huh? Luckily it won’t be your problem much longer.”

Rarity backed away while shaking her head in denial. Other ashen troops were by now also worming their way through the ever widening gap under the portcullis. Applejack turned her head and whistled up towards the top of the gatehouse.

“That’s enough, RD!”

Rainbow Dash appeared out of the swirling ash and landed next to Rarity, causing her to shriek and jump sideways. Then Rarity saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy approaching from the castle doorway. Strength left the last Element of Harmony and her legs buckled.

Rarity closed her moistening eyes and whispered.

“I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle...”

~~~~~

Trixie stumbled out of the forest and up to the first tents of the field hospital. She gasped for breath and looked around wildly. Moans and cries of pain reached her ears, and injured ponies were strewn about the ground, each lying on a blanket. Ash sisters and priests wandered between them, doing their best to heal the wounded. Trixie ran up to the closest one, an ash sister like her, and laid a hoof on the pony’s shoulder.

“Quick, where is Fulcrum?”

The ash sister stared at Trixie in confusion.

“Fulcrum? The windigo left us the night before we set out for Canterlot. The high priests praised her and the staves she’d gifted us with. Nopony kno-”

“That’s not true! The queen did something to Honoured Fulcrum and she’s here somewhere!”

Trixie’s generally unkempt appearance and her breathless, desperate tone had attracted several additional listeners by now. A priest raised his eyebrows dubiously at her.

“How can you know this?”

“Honoured Fulcrum warned me that the queen is going to betray us! She’d never just leave of her own accord, since she wants to protect us!”

“Don’t listen to that pony. She’s a heretic and a witch.”

The voice was quite unmistakeable to Trixie and she turned to gaze angrily at Elder Firebrand. The wrinkly high priest was disembarking, together with two personal guards, from a chariot pulled by two pegasi.

“Ash Sister Trixie, you have fomented rebellion against our queen and one true prophet for quite long enough. It is time to face your punishment.”

A boom from above made everypony look up. Three distinct shapes were flying around the peaks of Canterlot Castle. Elder Firebrand laughed and looked back down at Trixie.

“Even as we speak Queen Diamond Dust is fighting the princesses, and when she wins nothing will stand in her path. The rebirth will come. But you will not be alive to greet it, neither will your tainted soul be reborn. Guards? Execute her.”

Firebrand’s personal guards unlocked their hoofblades and strode forward. Suddenly fireworks erupted from Trixie’s horn, drawing the attention of everypony in the field hospital.

“I am Ash Sister Trixie, hoofmaiden of Honoured Fulcrum, the Second Prophet and Angel of Mercy! I renounce the traitor queen Diamond Dust and her cronies and implore you, good followers of the ash, to do the same! They would use the coming rebirth for their personal gains and enslave you all in an even more corrupt Harmony. Even now they hold Fulcrum captive somewhere, preventing her from preaching the truth. Help me, brothers and sisters. Overcome these tyrants!”

Her words echoed for several seconds. Firebrand looked at her with an expression that told all about the endless hate he felt for her at that moment. Then he smirked.

“Do you really think they’ll fall for that?”

Mother Grindstone dislodged herself from the crowd walked up to Trixie’s side. The priestess looked at Firebrand with undisguised hostility and spat towards him.

“Actually, you rotbrained gelding, we already suspected much of what she’s saying. I think that if the rebirth really is coming then it’s high time we had us a bit of housecleaning in the order.”

Firebrand growled. Suddenly his jewelled staff was hovering in the air, business end pointing at Grindstone.

“I’ll teach you respect before you die!”

Nothing happened. The staff failed to produce any kind of magic whatsoever. When Firebrand realised this he was so shocked that he released his magic around it, letting it fall to the ground. Trixie grinned and breathed deeply.

“Watch as those who would betray the true prophet find their weapons powerless and their words useless! All praise Honoured Fulcrum!”

A cheer went up among the ash sisters and priests and was picked up by the soldiers as well. Firebrand finally looked worried and he started backing away. Then he turned to his personal guards.

“Stall them!”

His bodyguards moved to cover his escape as he ran. Not towards the forest, as Trixie had assumed he would, but towards a large group of soldiers that was approaching quickly. As he neared them he began yelling.

“Soldiers! The priests are rebelling! Protect me! Protect me, and you will be richly rewarded!”

The soldiers already held their weapons ready. They had been too far away to hear Trixie’s declarations. She swallowed reflexively as she saw Firebrand meet them, knowing that the wounded soldiers of the camp would be no match for these troops.

Then Firebrand reached the first soldiers, but instead of closing around the high priest they shoved him aside so hard that he stumbled and fell. Somepony shouted out in alarm from the back of their formation, gradually making everypony’s heads turn away from the stunned and prone Firebrand. Even his bodyguards lowered their weapons and stared.

The soldiers weren’t running to some new posting. They were fleeing something, shouting warnings as they ran.

“The dead have risen!”

Shapes could be seen just behind the fleeing soldiers, and when all had passed Firebrand he suddenly saw them clearly. They were without doubt the living dead. Corpses in every state of decay were moving out from under the trees. Firebrand’s eyes were already wide with terror but still managed to widen further when he recognised the pony standing right in front of him as Night Whisper. He looked into her unfocused eyes and screamed.

Meanwhile the fleeing soldiers had reached the field hospital. Trixie and the priests had called out to them, begging them to stop and help defend their wounded comrades. A line two ponies deep had formed in front of the tents, including everypony in any condition to fight -even Firebrand’s former bodyguards. Trixie stood between two ponies clad in much more armor than her and gazed out at the scene in front of her. The undead were horribly numerous, with tens turning into hundreds pouring out every second from the shadows under the woods, absence of visible breath in the cold air all the evidence needed to convince her that no pony in the field ahead of her except Firebrand still had a pulse.

        Trixie watched as Firebrand was dragged away and listened to his terrified crying. She shuddered: his fate was almost, almost worse than he deserved. Then the undead forces looked up at the line of ponies... and kept their distance. The animated corpses weaved back and forth in front of her and the rest of the troops but never ventured closer than just out of stone’s throw. They seemed to be held back by an invisible border.

        Feeling half daring, half foolish Trixie took a large step forward. The undead directly in front of her backed away a similar distance. She glanced to her sides at the ponies next to her, who were looking back at her with confused expressions.

        “They’re being controlled. There’s a necromancer somewhere out there.”

Twilight Fulcrum

Chapter 34:Twilight Fulcrum

Libram lowered the shining gem in his clutch and raised his gaze to study the heavy wagon in front of him. More metal than wood, it had to be heavier than the siege engines he’d seen.

The padlock was made of solid steel and was threaded through a steel hoop as thick as the thickest digit on Libram’s body’s upper limbs. Magic had been liberally spent during the many phases of its construction: enchantments had been woven into the still molten metal as its parts cooled in their molds. Further hexes had been etched into the springs. Libram guessed the key fitting the lock was also highly magical, likely requiring a certain state of mind in its bearer to even have the right shape. That such a padlock hung from the door of the most heavily reinforced wagon Libram had ever seen spoke volumes about how precious its contents had to be.

He swayed slightly as he contemplated the vehicle. Perhaps whoever had chosen the lock had been too busy to arrange similar protection for the door or the rest of the cart. Or perhaps they didn’t expect anypony to actually be in a position to break it open. The small army of soldiers guarding it might have instilled a false sense of security in the owners of the wagon. Too bad for them said soldiers had turned tail and ran at the sight of a little reanimated flesh.

He shook his mane -or intended to. This body didn’t really have the kind of mane that tossed about properly when shaken. Just a short growth of hair on top of the skull. Libram half-suspected the creature whose body he possessed actually cut it that way on purpose. Then he drew upon his magic.

The steel loop that held the padlock bubbled as if alive, blooms of rust appearing on its surface. The rust quickly spread to cover all of the metal. Flakes began to fall off the loop, then it bent under the weight of the padlock before snapping. A muted clunk sounded as the padlock landed on the frozen ground.

Libram flexed the digits of his right upper limb and let his magic play along them, opening the door until he had a wide enough gap for his head. Then he looked inside. For a moment he merely stared, his eyes roaming over the interior. He looked at the barding that lay in a pile against the back wall. Then he focused on the pony suspended by chains from the ceiling.

“Looks like I caught you at a bad time, Twilight Sparkle.”

The wagon interior was too low for his body to stand upright, so he used his upper limbs to pull himself inside so he sat against one of the side walls, one leg hanging out of the door and the other resting on the floor. He took care not to disturb any of the bowls positioned directly beneath Twilight.

He studied the sight in front of him carefully. Only his necromancer’s training told him Twilight was still alive. Anypony else would have dismissed her as a days-old corpse. Her body was beyond emaciated, eyelids half-closed and eyes dull and lifeless. She was gagged by a steel bit. Dark streaks on Twilight’s legs led up to shining jewels seemingly embedded in the coat on her barrel. The jewels seemed clear, but pulsed with a deep red color. There were also gems stuck to her horn. There they were enveloped by a constant stream of blue-black fire and they pulsed as they absorbed it. Finally, one very large gem was embedded in the fur on her forehead. Libram studied all of this with fascination.

“No wonder you were less than talkative through the gem. Looks like they’re draining you of everything you have. Well, that’s nothing a little blood magic can’t partially fix.”

The dark liquid in the bowls started to slosh about. The surface in each bowl extended upwards until it seemed the liquid was flowing against gravity, up Twilight’s legs. Soon the liquid had pooled around the gems and were disappearing behind them. Once Twilight’s blood was back where it belonged her body was enveloped in a gray aura, lifting her from the chains that suspended her and laying her carefully down on the cart’s floor, among the now empty bowls. Libram also pulled away the bit from Twilight’s mouth. Then he plucked the shining jewels away one at a time. He left the jewel on Twilight’s forehead for last and when he reached out with his magic to grasp it he hesitated and let the aura die. Then he took a deep breath, gripped the gem and pulled.

Twilight’s eyelids fluttered as soon as the jewel left her forehead. After a few heartbeats she gasped and her eyes became focused. Her head rose with a start and she looked around wildly before focusing all of her confusion and terror on the form sitting in front of her. Libram grinned back, his golden eyes flashing.

“I will admit to being a very unlikely knight in shining armor, but maybe if you squint real hard I could pass for one?”

“W- Welder? How are you- no. Libram. If you’ve harmed-”

A hand was gently laid on her mouth.

“Shut up. If you’re going to demand explanations we’ll be here all day and there’s better things for both of us to do. Just let me say what needs to be said and if we’re lucky we’ll have time for explanations afterwards.”

A boom sounded from outside but both ignored the sound. Twilight nodded silently to Libram.

“All right then. First and foremost I trust you’ve read through those books you took from me, including the treatises on the magic of phoenixes.”

“Yes, but-”

“It’s too chaotic to predict the results, I know. Nature magic is unpredictable, ditto fire magic. Use it anyway. You won’t find a better alternative in the time left. It’s better than what will happen if you don’t.”

Twilight snorted weakly and cast an incredulous glance at Libram who narrowed his eyes in return.

“I know, Twilight. I know what’s coming sounds like a necromancer’s playground. Thousands dead and dying, poison in the air and water, oh my what fun to be had. And I’m a necromancer, no, scratch that, I’m the necromancer. Bear in mind that if I actually wanted that then all I had to do was stand back and watch you die. Splat goes Equestria and I have enough corpses to last through two centuries of insane depravity. But, you know, it was never about the power for me. I tried to save my sister and failed. Then I just lashed out at the world. After that I was a book set to guard a library.”

Libram lowered his gaze and studied his hands.

“Now I want to rest. I want to do something else for a change. But I’d rather do that in a nice little world with carefree ponies in it than in a dead, poisonous cesspit that warps flesh. So I want you to go out there, kick the queen of the ashen where it hurts and use the phoenix magic!”

Twilight sighed and her head slumped down to rest on the floor again.

“I feel too weak to even rise from here. I can’t oppose the queen like this.”

“That’s certainly true, the way they’ve drained your magic by having you cast endlessly. I’m not sure where they found out that you could perform massive ashen conversion spells because you certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to demonstrate it to them would you. I’m sure Luna and Celestia will be sad to hear that you’re unable to help but they will doubtless understand. You can tell them as soon as Diamond Dust has defeated them. It won’t be long now.”

He took a deep breath and tilted his head, regarding the devastating effects his words had had on Twilight for a moment before continuing.

“Or... are the rumours true that you’ve become a windigo?”

Libram grinned as Twilight nodded.

“In that case, cheer up. We’ll have you up and about in no time at all.”

~~~~~

A third blow struck the door to the princesses’ personal chambers. The force behind the blow was magically augmented, and blue-black fire played on the surface of the ancient wood before it blackened and twisted. The noise of the impact was past ear-splitting and into territories of physical pain. It echoed. The magic reinforcing the door flickered and failed, causing what was left of it to fall to pieces.

Shining Armor looked up at the ponies rushing into the room and moved so he was standing between them and the two princesses. He growled and his horn lit, producing a translucent barrier in front of him.

“Luna, Celestia, flee!”

The royal sisters glanced at each other and ran for the windows, using their magic to smash the glass panes before leaping out into the air. Shining Armor silently wished them good luck while warily eyeing the ponies in the room, four of which were particularly familiar.

~~~~~

“Sister, where shall we go?”

Celestia looked back at her younger sister, face sad and tired.

“Luna, I have no idea. We just need to get away for now.”

The spires of Canterlot Castle receded behind the two sisters, and Celestia looked back at the structure with longing. She spotted the approaching pegasi as soon as they rounded the main keep.

“We need to fly faster, sister!”

Luna strained to accelerate, but the larger and heavier alicorns had a clear disadvantage when it came to flight speed and agility. Especially considering the particular pegasi chasing them: a rainbow streak flashed past Luna and she found one of her wings tangled by a net. Rainbow Dash curved around with a triumphant look only to see the Princess of Night momentarily dissolve into a blue mist, making the net fall.

Spitfire had tried the same tactic with the Princess of Day only to see Celestia become a beam of light and reappear a short distance away, untangled by her net. For a moment the wonderbolt captain wondered why Celestia hadn’t escaped entirely, but the desperate look the regent aimed at Luna immediately offered an explanation.

“Use your wisp form to escape! I’ll find you later!”

Luna heard her sister and let herself dissolve again. When Celestia saw that she’d been heard she turned into a beam of light and shot up into the clouds... only to bounce away and smack into the roofs of Canterlot Castle, where she rematerialised in a state of confusion. She lay stunned among the cracked roof tiles, for the moment unchallenged, and could only search for her sister with her gaze. Soon she spotted the tell-tale blue smoke, but Luna was having troubles of her own.

The wind had picked up around the gaseous princess, and her wisp form had trouble moving forward. Celestia saw how a tendril of the ashen clouds reached out for her sister and how Luna still struggled to push against the ever strengthening wind, but with decreasing effect. She and the ash cloud mixed. Then, out of the cloud wall, flew an alicorn Celestia had never seen before. Light pink coat and mane, black and twisted horn... and large wings of ash. Those wings beat powerfully, sending ever stronger winds pummelling Celestia’s little sister and curling her wisp cloud into a tumultuous ball of gas mixed with alien ash.

Diamond Dust’s wings crackled with electricity. Then a searingly bright arc of lightning flew out and struck Luna’s form. An echoing wail sounded as the ash mixed in with her form glowed and erupted into chaos magic, only to be cut short when Luna no longer had the focus to maintain her incorporeality, causing her to rematerialise in a massive burst of blue-black fire. Celestia felt her sister turn enemy and saw her fall, and let out a cry of anguish of her own.

Fighting back tears she called upon her sun. The clouds above her became painfully bright to behold, but since they weren’t made from water vapor they didn’t dissipate. Instead, the heat excited the ashen particles, making lightning flash in the clouds. Celestia realised she was cut off from escaping. She took a deep breath and became a beam of light again, this time launching herself straight at Diamond Dust.

The Queen of Ash didn’t have time to react even though she’d been looking at Celestia and was bowled over by the Princess of Day’s rematerialised and burning hoof connecting with her jaw. There was a crunch as bone broke and a sizzle as fur burnt. Diamond Dust’s wings beat once, causing their feathers to dissolve into a thick mess of ash and smoke that enveloped Celestia, choking her and making her eyes sting. The Day Princess flew backwards, beating her flame-wreathed wings and searching for clearer air. Lightning shot out from the cloud in front of her but bounced harmlessly against a bubble of magic. A net was thrown at her from behind, but it burned to nothing before even making contact.

A shape in the clouds ahead turned out to be Diamond Dust with reformed wings. Celestia charged, intending to pierce the queen with her horn, but Diamond Dust’s form dissolved into flakes of ash and let her pass through without causing harm before reforming. Behind Diamond Dust the air was choked with particles of ash and they clung to Celestia’s body like tar, smothering her flames and making it painful to breathe. She shut her mouth and cast a spell to keep her lungs filled with fresh air, but was alarmed by how emptied her reserves of magic were. Taking her attention off Diamond Dust had been a bad move and she was informed of that fact by a hoof kicking her wing out of joint.

Celestia screamed past her clenched teeth and tried to stop her fall with her telekinesis, but the ash clinging to her horn immediately sent aura feedback into her pain centers, increasing her agony. She still worked past the pain, stabilising her disabled wing with her magic and managing a somewhat controlled plummet -until Diamond Dust slammed both of her hooves into Celestia’s head.

~~~~~

When the Princess of Day regained consciousness she was looking up at the crown of a pine. Most of the branches above Celestia had been broken and her returning sense of touch told her that it was probably herself who’d done that. A hundred pains and aches queued up and presented themselves to her, each one enough to make her wince and together enough to make her moan feebly. Past that she felt something around her horn. Looking up as far as she could was useless, so she tried shifting a leg in order to feel her horn with a hoof. That produced better results, and she felt cold stone resting on her forehead and around her horn. It also meant that the manacle around her leg came into her field of vision just before something tugged on it.

She followed the chain attached to her leg until she stared into Applejack’s eyes. The farm pony looked back apologetically.

“Sorry, Princess, but the queen wants your conversion to be as public as possible. That’s alien rock around your horn, so I’d recommend not using your magic right now.”

Celestia slowly raised her head, more out of weariness and the constant hammering of pain in her muscles than out of caution. All the remaining Element Bearers stood around her and were each except for Fluttershy holding a chain attached to her limbs.

“How... how can you do this? How can you follow that tyrant?”

Nervous glances darted around the circle of friends before Rainbow Dash coughed and shrugged.

“She’s the queen of the ashen for the moment, Princess. That means we’ve gotta at least pretend to follow her orders.”

Celestia moved her lips silently while allowing herself to be pulled upright. A cart was waiting in the snow nearby and she gasped as she saw Luna’s unconscious form on it. The Night Princess’ body was badly marred by the ash, but Celestia could tell her little sister was alive and recovering. The Element Bearers herded her towards the cart and she climbed up on it with thoughts racing and eyes fixed on Luna. The chains around Celestia’s legs were bound to the cart before Applejack hitched herself to it and began pulling. Rarity and Pinkie Pie walked behind while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew above and to each side of it. The trees of Canter Forest passed slowly by as the cart made its way towards the road up to Canterlot.

Celestia stroked sister’s back gently, gazing sadly at the patches of black that spotted the dark blue coat under her hoof. She spoke without lifting her head.

“Pretending to, Rainbow Dash?”

Dash scratched the back of her head and chuckled a bit.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I’ve got all the details straight since it’s all so new to me, but when we got down here the ashen weren’t celebrating their victory like up in the city. It seems there’s this other ashen prophet that’s recently appeared, by name of Fulcrum, and the ponies down here think she’s the one that should be queen instead of Diamond Dust, but nopony is sure where Fulcrum is or if she’s even still alive. There are all kinds of rumours flying around, but it looks like the ashen nation is about to split down the middle. I think the queen knows it too. I think she wants your conversion to be public so the ashen will think she’s awesome and be more likely to follow her.”

Celestia mulled this over.

“What else have you heard about this Fulcrum?”

Rarity hopped up onto the cart, drawing half-hearted protests from Applejack, and sat down next to the Princess.

“Her full title is something like Honoured Fulcrum, Second Prophet and Angel of Mercy. The ash-sisters and priests seem to be exceptionally fond of her, as are most of the soldiers. Apparently she was seen just now, single-hoofedly routing an army of the undead that was attacking a field hospital near the road to Canterlot! We passed by that place on our way here and will return the same route, and they were still cleaning up some of the traces of battle, but I didn’t see this Fulcrum anywhere. Also, rumours have it that Diamond Dust tried to kill her but failed. The queen hates this Fulcrum for some reason.”

Rarity chuckled and grinned at the princess. She was the center of attention now, all of her friends paying attention to her discussion.

“Oh, and they say she’s a windigo! Can you believe such tales, Princess Celestia? A windigo from the old legends? How preposterous!”

A voice, sounding like the wind howling through metal pipes, or like the crack and groan of lake ice, answered Rarity.

“The rumours are not so greatly exaggerated this time, Rarity.”

The Element Bearers gaped at the armor-clad windigo descending towards the cart. Icy blue fire billowed from every crack in the armor and left a trail of black smoke. Where the back parts of a pony would be there was only more blue-black smoke. All in all it was a terrifying sight. Other ponies were running out of the woods and cheering. As the windigo descended to hover in front of the cart a chant formed among the newcomers.

Fulcrum! Fulcrum! Fulcrum...

A blue unicorn with icy mane ran up to Fulcrum and bowed low. Even though the windigo’s appearance had paralysed Rarity she managed to gasp when she recognised the pony clad in ash sister’s vestments. Fulcrum turned to Trixie and spoke to her before the unicorn reared up and conjured up a salvo of fireworks.

“Honoured Fulcrum thanks you all for your enthusiasm, but asks you to quiet down so she may speak!”

The crowd gradually fell silent, though shouts and cheers heralding Fulcrum’s appearance were still heard in the distance, and additional ponies kept appearing. The windigo levitated up to face Princess Celestia.

“Celestia, you are the last remaining unconverted ruler of Equestria. If Diamond Dust performs the conversion she will immediately be able to strip you and your sister of your nobility and assume sole rulership. I assure you that is not in the best interest of anypony but herself. She’s just another King Sombra, but worse, waiting to happen. I, on the other hoof, wish to see Equestria saved and her lies defeated. I also wish to prevent this, or something like this, from happening ever again.”

“How will you do this? Do you intend to go to war?”

“No. I intend to challenge Diamond Dust to a duel for the throne of the ashen while my followers spread the news of her lies.”

Celestia tilted her head.

“That Diamond Dust is lying about many things is unsurprising. But you aren’t being entirely honest yourself, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your armor. Have you ever revealed your face to your little ponies?”

Fulcrum hung her head but didn’t answer. The flames from her eyes flickered as if the windigo was blinking.

“No... I haven’t, Princess.”

“Well then, another question: what do you want from me?”

“Legitimacy. In order to successfully challenge Queen Diamond Dust I need something to back my claim. The more ashen who swear fealty to me the better. But in order to really force the queen’s hoof I would need royal backing... I ask that you recognise me as queen of the ashen and surrender to me. In order to prove my good will I shall do you a service.”

Sparks of gold flew from Fulcrum’s horn and impacted against Luna, curing the Night Princess’ ash poisoning. Celestia felt a lump in her throat as she realised how relieved she was when her younger sister stirred. She bowed her head.

“If nothing else, you’ve proven yourself to be the lesser evil, Fulcrum. I do not fully trust you yet, but...”

Celestia raised her voice and tried to adopt the official tone she used in court without it wavering too much as she spoke.

“...I formally surrender to you, Fulcrum, and support your claim for the title of queen.”

The following cheer was loud enough to echo back from the nearby mountainside. More ponies ran out to spread the news, while still more appeared to join the burgeoning crowd around the cart. Fireworks again went up from Trixie’s horn and she reared exultantly to address the gathered ponies.

“Fulcrum will challenge the false queen! Will we support her, ladies and gentlecolts? Will we swear her allegiance?”

More cheering, prompting another burst of pyrotechnics from the showmare turned nun.

“Then repeat after me: I, Trixie Lulamoon, hereby swear upon the ash and the rebirth to follow Honoured Fulcrum...”

While the crowd droned on, Luna turned to her older sister.

“We see that they got you as well, but... what is going on, Tia?”

Celestia was about to explain, but her voice died in her throat when she realised Luna was no longer enemy. In fact, none of the ponies around her were. Her eyes grew and she turned to Fulcrum.

“Was... was surrendering enough? Am I ashen now?”

Fulcrum nodded.

“Tia? Who’s this?”

Celestia managed to gather her wits and quickly explain to Luna the general outline of what was happening while the improvised oath droned on around them. She bent her head close to her sister and spoke directly into Luna’s ear as the oath reached its end and more cheering erupted. Luna kept her gaze fixed on Fulcrum, noting how the magic fire licking the windigo’s features were intensifying. She narrowed her eyes and addressed Fulcrum with her Canterlot official once she’d considered Celestia’s words for a moment.

“Honoured Fulcrum? A word, please.”

Fulcrum turned away from Trixie and the crowd and regarded the princess of the night.

“Yes, Princess Luna?”

“Would you like my endorsement as well?”

“It would certainly help, Princess. Diamond Dust has it by default since she was the one to defeat you.”

“I will give it to you... on one condition.”

“What condition is that?”

“That you here and now remove your helmet so we may look upon your face.”

The windigo swayed as if Luna’s words had pushed her backwards. She turned briefly to look at Trixie, who was leading the crowd of ponies through some kind of hymn, before looking at the five Element Bearers and back at Luna. Applejack had listened intently on the conversation and now she spoke.

“Hay, if you get both princesses’ endorsement then you’ve got mine as well. You look mighty terrible, but the queen looks quite beautiful and she’s as rotten to the core as any worm-eaten apple I’ve seen. Maybe there’s something to all this ugly on the outside, pretty on the inside mumbo jumbo after all. You go on and take off that there helmet and you got yourself some mighty strong hooves to help you buck that queen in the ol’ posterior.”

The other Element Bearers quickly voiced their agreement with Applejack, except for Rarity who was still as a statue. The crowd had gotten wind of this development and now an expectant silence was spreading, broken by occasional calls for Fulcrum to doff her headgear. The windigo kept staring at Luna and though the Princess of Night couldn’t actually see Fulcrum’s eyes she got the expression of somepony well and truly trapped by circumstances. She decided to push her luck.

“You see, Fulcrum, I’ve been wondering a bit. A very powerful acquaintance of mine disappeared recently and mighty creatures such as you or she don’t just vanish into thin air, or appear out of it for that matter. So I have one vanished pony and one appeared windigo and I wonder... could they be related?”

“I... This armor is one solid piece. The head parts don’t come off.”

A sudden bout of nervous laughter made everypony look at Rarity. The fashionista’s eyes were watering and her entire frame was shivering, but she was pointing a hoof at Fulcrum.

“Ahaha, ahah, aheh, I- I- I think you’ll find there are a pair of hidden buckles on the inside of the criniere, where it meets the peytral. Just... press gently and you should be able to easily lift both criniere and champron away.”

The windigo looked at Rarity, and for some reason seemed ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Rarity.”

A sudden burst of magic coursed through Fulcrum, so bright that it left spots in ponies’ vision. When the magic faded Fulcrum’s flames burned a deep purple instead of blue and black.

“I guess I don’t need to conceal my identity anyway, now that I’m officially part of the ashen and on course to become queen.”

The fire around her horn flared, and a series of metallic clicks sounded from around the base of her neck. Then a purple aura gripped the head and neck parts of the armor and Twilight Sparkle pulled it up and away... accompanied by a quite large collection of incredulous gasps from the nearest spectators. There was a thud as Trixie literally flipped, having been so overwhelmingly surprised that she reared and landed on her back.

Trixie was used to fireworks bursting from her horn, but now there were fireworks inside her brain and it was too much. She did the only sensible thing she could think of and fainted.

Coronation Fireworks

Chapter 35:Coronation Fireworks

        A thousand hooves pounded the cobblestones of Canterlot City, their noise mixing with shouts of joy and celebration. Musical instruments added to the din: drums, horns and pipes of all kind were played with reckless abandon. The focus of the noise was the wagon containing the two princesses of Equestria. It was surrounded by a densely packed crowd of revelling ponies that grew quickly as it proceeded through the streets of Canterlot on its way to the main market square below the castle.

        Diamond Dust’s guts twisted in fury. The ponies near the stage had long ago tired of saluting her and were milling about, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the incoming procession. Already the echoes coming from between the buildings were louder than what her cheers had been. Never mind that the two princesses had been defeated and that Celestia was in shackles, the ponies still celebrated them more than they did their queen.

        “Bulwark?”

        The rugged commander stepped forward.

        “Yes, your majesty?”

        “As soon as I’m crowned I want you to behead the princesses. Pick somepony you trust to assist you so you can execute them at the same time.”

        “Your will be done, my queen.”

        “That reminds me, send a soldier to fetch Firebrand from wherever that lout is hiding. He’s supposed to be the one that performs the revelation upon Celestia.”

        “My soldiers are already looking for him, my queen. There’s been reports of fighting down by the camp and he was last spotted in the vicinity. Details are sketchy, but some claim the field hospital was assaulted.”

        “Really? Some kind of rebel movement?”

        “Probably, my queen. The rumours speak of the undead attacking, but I’ve not received any reports of casualties. We’ll be able to ask more once the prisoner and her escort arrives since they had to travel through the field hospital to reach us. It is my hope that Firebrand is with them.”

        Bulwark left to carry out her orders. Moments later the first wagon of the procession rounded a corner and entered the main street of Canterlot, bringing it in view of the market square and the stage. Cheering erupted around the stage and the spectators were herded back so a clear path formed between it and the procession. Another wagon swung into view, containing Mi Amore Cadenza and, Diamond Dust noted with some amusement, her husband Shining Armor. By now he’d have realised that the former empress had never been an actual hostage, having been immediately converted during the assault upon the Crystal Empire. Diamond smirked as she imagined how poorly that discussion might have played out. Firebrand was standing next to them and the Ash Queen’s mood lifted further upon seeing him.

        Then a third wagon swung into view, confusing Diamond Dust for a moment. It was the heavily reinforced strongbox on wheels that served as the windigo’s magical prison. She wondered for a moment why it was there until she realised that Twilight Sparkle would have to be killed anyway, so she might as well die together with her beloved princesses. She assumed Firebrand had anticipated this and felt slightly less angry towards the high priest. It would be extra sweet to execute Twilight in front of her friends, the other Element Bearers who were looking so proud as they served as their former princesses’ honour guards.

        Diamond Dust smiled. Yes, something as horrifying as unknowingly escorting your friend to her public execution was certain to have been thought of by that old sadist Firebrand.

        The carts finally approached the stage and were turned around so they could back up to one side of it and the passengers could simply walk from one to the other. The reinforced cart had been parked in the middle, most likely for symmetry. Firebrand walked up to Diamond Dust while the three princesses were herded to their places. The high priest was garbed in his full vestments, including a voluminous hooded robe that left his face in deep shadow, but his grin shone nevertheless.

        “Hello, your majesty. Shall we proceed?”

        The Ash Queen glanced at the three princesses. They were all looking back at her, faces portraying varying degrees of fear and apprehension. One thing was off, though.

        “Firebrand? How come I can tell Celestia is of the ashen already?”

        “A little surprise for you. She will perform the coronation speech.”

        Diamond Dust looked into the dark shade of Firebrand’s hood. She could just about make out his eyes, and they seemed almost to glow with a golden sheen. She was impressed.

        “I knew you could be persuasive but you’ve outdone yourself this time.”

        Firebrand chuckled merrily.

        “Oh you haven’t seen anything yet, your majesty. So, shall we get the party started?”

        “Go ahead!”

        The elder unicorn turned around and nodded to an icy blue unicorn who was standing near the stage wearing an utterly stunned expression for some reason. The mare was clad in ash sisters’ robes and she started slightly when she noticed Firebrand was signalling her. Then she concentrated and a huge cascade of fireworks erupted from her horn. Firebrand reared up as they exploded overhead and shouted to the spectators.

        “Citizens, be silent! The coronation of the Ash Queen shall commence!”

        Celestia’s shackles were loosened and she stood, turning a complete revolution to look at the crowd surrounding the stage. Then she took a deep breath.

        “My little ponies, we are gathered here today to reward and celebrate one mare’s ceaseless struggle for the good of all of ponykind. She’s sacrificed so much to be here now and her very life has been imperiled countless times, but she’s withstood every challenge issued to her and overcome all the obstacles in her path. To have accomplished so much and beat so slim odds with stakes this high is momentous.”

        Celestia hung her head.

        “Even I and my sister Luna opposed her. Even we moved against her. We regret it now and hope she’ll forgive us. We were wrong and we must accept that with humility. We are looking forward to seeing what she intends to do next.”

        Diamond Dust was so touched by the speech that she almost considered letting the princesses live. Almost. She listened raptly as Celestia continued.

        “It is therefore my greatest honour and highest joy to stand before you today, my little ponies, when she finally reaches her goal and everything she’s strived so hard for falls in her lap. It is therefore with all my love that I shall proclaim her Queen of the Ashen, Queen of Equestria, Empress of the Crystalline and, above all, Sovereign of Harmony. If anypony has ever deserved this it is her.”

        Diamond Dust saw one of the Element Bearers, a pearl white unicorn that the queen recalled was named Rarity, light her horn and step forward with a velvet-draped pillow hovering behind her. On the pillow rested a gold tiara adorned with sapphires and crowned with a huge emerald cut into the shape of the Star of Harmony. This was more than impressive, Diamond Dust was amazed that Firebrand had managed to produce such a fantastic piece of jewelry. She actually found herself so moved that there was a lump in her throat. The ceremony was shaping up to be unforgettable.

Celestia lifted the tiara with her magic and held it in front of her while looking straight into the Ash Queen’s eyes. Diamond Dust sensed this was her cue so she walked up to stand in front of the princess, marvelling at how calm and collected Celestia seemed. That created a sting of jealousy: the Day Princess was far too graceful to let live.

        “Therefore, ladies and gentlecolts, it falls upon me on this day and on this hour, and with you as Harmony’s witnesses, to bestow this tiara and the title of Her Imperial Majesty the Queen upon...”

        There was a flash of magic above Diamond Dust and four metal-clad hooves slammed into her back and wings with a nasty crunch, flattening her against the stage and knocking all the air out of her. Dimly she heard Celestia talking on without even losing her rhythm.

        “...Twilight Sparkle, also known as Honoured Prophet Fulcrum. Long live Queen Fulcrum!”

        The crowd of spectators erupted into paroxysms of jubilation, the noise from their thundering hooves deafening in intensity. It was enough to bring Diamond Dust back from the brink of unconsciousness and she gazed blearily through the pain up at the purple armor-clad unicorn in front of her. Twilight Sparkle was wearing the tiara -her Element, Diamond Dust realised- and was looking back down at her with insufferable smugness. The shock and sudden rage made her shiver, and she issued forth an inarticulate scream while she tried to rise... only to find she was stuck to the stage.

        Her shivers were increasing in intensity as she looked back at herself and found out the problem: ice was growing around her, and it had already encased her legs. She wrenched her head forward and found Twilight -Queen Fulcrum- speaking to her with eyes blazing.

        “You should’ve heeded the old legends, Diamond Dust. This is what happens to ponies incapable of showing love and friendship when windigoes are near.”

        “No no no no you shall not take this from me!!!”

        The Ash Queen’s savage yell echoed as her body transformed into a cloud of ash and swirled up into the air before drawing back together and reforming, free of the ice and complete with wings adorned by ashen feathers. She flapped powerfully to gain height while snarling down at the ponies on the stage. There was an explosion of purple smoke and blue ice where Queen Fulcrum had stood, then the windigo appeared rocketing after Diamond Dust. The windigo’s magical propulsion offered much higher top speeds than the ashen alicorn’s (admittedly magically assisted) wings, and Diamond Dust dodged and screeched at Twilight as she thundered past.

        Then Twilight turned sharply and zoomed back for another charge, aiming for Diamond Dust’s head. The Ash Queen forgot her rage for a moment and gulped before letting herself fall out of the way. Intense cold burned the ashen alicorn as she was enveloped in a cloud of ice crystals. Then she realised she could no longer feel her wings.

        One shocked look back at her scrawny, skeletal wings encased in ice mixed with ash was all Diamond Dust had time with before she fell down and smacked into the cobblestones of Canterlot City’s central market, the ponies below barely managing to leap out of her way in time. Immediate unconsciousness was cruelly denied her and instead she felt how her body broke from the impact and her frozen wings shattered. The pain made her choke, and she threw her head back in a desperate attempt to control her lungs and inhale. The ice grew around her once more, numbing her body. She shut her eyes tightly and a detached, analytical part of her tried to reach out to Harmony but failed. Harmony had shut her out. Instead, her alicorn aspect answered.

        Her link to the ash opened and she poured her anger and her pain and her desperation into it, screaming through her mind until every piece of alien matter rang with harmonics of her voice.

        And then the very nearly critical alien matter -all of it- began to stir.

        Diamond Dust managed to freeze solid with an insane grin plastered on her broken face.

        Twilight looked down at the Ash Queen’s unmoving form and frowned. She had felt an immense shift in magic right after Diamond Dust had fallen. Then she gasped as the body trapped in ice began to glow in the characteristic hue of the alien matter. She looked up and saw how the clouds around Canterlot were also beginning to glow, and the ashen soldiers still wearing their armor were shouting with alarm and struggling with the buckles.

        “Oh no...”

        She flew down to the stage, where everypony, but especially Firebrand -Libram- looked up at her.

        “It’s do or die, Twilight.”

        She nodded while she chewed her lip. Then she shouted above the rising panic of the crowd.

        “We need to use the Elements right now! Girls, gather up!”

        The Element Bearers gathered around their new Queen but looked a bit dubious.

        “Twi, last time we did this it kinda went poorly for you. You sure about this?”

        Twilight smiled reassuringly at Applejack before closing her eyes.

        “It’s different now. Last time I was just a rebelling lieutenant who knew too much to Harmony. Now I am Queen and I’m supposed to know about these things. In fact, I can sense harmony now...”

        And Twilight did. It stretched out before her mind’s eye as complex patterns of energy, at the same time delicate like gossamer and containing more power than any lightning bolt. It sprawled over the entire world, penetrated every mind that was part of it and bent everything within its domains to its will. But it was weakening. Clashing directives made its gears grind against each other. Its source of energy -the ponies- was severely depleted. And now an external threat was dawning that could shatter it for good.

        Twilight saw all this and yearned to explore and study it for ever, but she didn’t have the time right then. Instead she focused on the Elements, magical tools that controlled and restored Harmony’s enchantments, and particularly on her own Element -the engine. Before its workings had been as obscure as the night sky to her, but now they were laid bare. She saw what had to be done.

        She opened her heart and her mind to her friends, a lump coming to her throat as her windigo senses let her feel her love for them be reciprocated, returned to her five-fold. A hexagram of friendship created a magic diagram in the Harmony... and into it she poured the invocation to call the renewing fire of the phoenix. She felt herself lift into the air as the massive spell took hold, the feeling of the elemental magic surging through her new and exhilarating.

        She opened her eyes and saw how gigantic wings of fire were building around her and her friends, stretching ever farther. She lowered her gaze and saw the princesses, Celestia, Luna and Cadence, look up at her with awe and joy... and behind them stood Welder, who had been hidden in the armored wagon, and whose eyes were bulging with terror.

        Twilight looked into Welder’s wide-open eyes and saw in their mirroring surfaces her incandescent wings explode.

        Welder, sustained by enchantment and body made from unnatural materials, raised his arms in front of his face and screamed as the purging flames of the phoenix enveloped him.

        Welder burned.

        ~~~~~

The phoenix fire raced across Equestria and beyond, carried by the energy paths of Harmony. Divine flame born from a spirit of nature whose aspect was both creation and destruction, it embodied rebirth through self-annihilation. That which was natural was purified and strengthened, taints of corruption burnt away. That which was unnatural was anathema to the fire, and thus it lashed angrily but ultimately futilely at the magical shields of the undead ghost it sensed within the body of an old pony.

The next creature it encountered was even less natural. A strange construct that shouldn’t live, guided by an even stranger spirit. It was also defenseless against the flames of the phoenix. There was a third abomination as well, a creature that had melded with matter and natural laws that were alien to this world. It was surrounded by solid ice but such paltry barriers were of no concern to the flames of the phoenix.

The fire ate with satisfaction, consuming flesh and spirit so that new and proper life could grow.

        ~~~~~

        When the fire left Twilight’s stunned mind she found herself lying next to the stage, surrounded by ponies in a similar state of returning consciousness. She breathed in, hesitated, and breathed until her lungs threatened to burst, holding in air that was so fresh it intoxicated her. Her lungs absorbed that sweet power and converted it to silver that leaped into her veins and coursed into her limbs, filling her with energy and making her want to run just for the sake of running. She gathered her legs under her and stood, looking with wonder at everypony around her. They seemed, somehow, more right than ever before. Healthier, certainly. Manes had grown and coats were lustrous and shaggy.

        Then she looked past the ponies. Where there had been a ruin next to the market square, of a house that had suffered a direct hit by a catapult boulder of alien matter, there was now a tangled forest of bushes and young trees that were growing unseasonal leaves in the middle of the winter. The warmth she felt on her coat made itself known, and she looked up. The ashen clouds were gone, and Celestia’s sun shone in a perfect blue sky.

        She felt the joy and relief of success a fraction of a second before she remembered Welder. A burst of magic and purple smoke later she was standing on the stage and looking down at the charred remains of what had been a living, thinking being. The blackened form in front of her simply did not want to register its significance in her mind. She sat down and tried to sort out her feelings. On one hoof, she had saved Equestria. She was queen.

        On the other hoof... this wasn’t supposed to happen.

        She sat and stared at the pile of ashes as the ponies around the market square began to cheer and laugh again. She was still staring when she heard Applejack joyfully exclaim that her ashen magic was gone, replaced by normal earthen powers. She was still staring when Celestia draped a wing over her for comfort, but by then there were tears rolling down her cheeks as well.

        “You did the best you could, Twilight. You did more than anypony could ask of you.”

        Twilight still stared ahead and down, but found her voice somewhere far away.

        “He didn’t want to burn again. I promised that I wasn’t going to make him burn.”

        She felt sympathetic hooves touch her as she began to shudder.

        Then there was a weak sneeze, and the ash that had formed Welder’s torso whirled into the air. Twilight froze and stared at the black pile. Then she slowly moved forward, reaching her forelegs into the ash until she touched something solid.

        Everypony stared down at the wriggling thing she pulled out of the ashes and cradled in her forelegs. Tiny, stubby fingers dug into her coat and gripped tight. Green-blue eyes looked into hers with the sort of serious wonder that make the very young seem so very ancient. The soot-covered alien infant sneezed again and smacked his lips, meeting Twilight’s utterly stunned gaze without blinking.

        Fluttershy cooed.

        “He’s... so... cute!”

Peace Court

Chapter 36:Peace Court

        The throne room of Castle Canterlot was packed beyond capacity. Unicorns and Earthen were packed so tightly on the main floor that anypony wishing to move had to negotiate with their neighbours, who’d negotiate with their neighbours. The air above was filled with the sound of wings beating as pegasi attempted to hover without blocking anypony’s view. The guards no longer had to shout somepony off the chandeliers. Instead any pegasus who felt tired zoomed to the balconies and hanged with one hoof clinging to the balusters. This lead to the balconies being girded with a colorful band of bodies. From the ground they looked amusingly similar to a cluster of giant fruit bats.

        Technically the time was fit for Day Court, yet Celestia sat beside the Throne of Night and Day. Luna sat on the other side of the empty chair. Cadence stood behind them both, together with Shining Armor. The three princesses were nervous, but Armor looked downright depressed. Behind the royalty stood lesser nobility. Delegates from every major settlement in Equestria had arrived. The griffon kingdoms had sent envoys, who seemed mainly concerned with finding out just what the blazes had happened and if it could lead to adding succulent pony meat to the menu of tomorrow, via armed conquest.

        Celestia flicked an ear towards Luna as she heard some whispering.

        “Shining, can you make any guess what she’ll say?”

        The (former) Prince Consort sighed and shook his head.

        “The Twilight I knew couldn’t make an entire clergy scramble to carry out her every request. She couldn’t order us all to gather in this room. Luna, I don’t have a clue what Twilight wants.”

        “Then why so glum?”

        “I’m not entirely sure. Guilt, perhaps? I met her and saw the signs for myself, so I guess I feel a bit responsible for how all of this turned out. If she becomes a tyrant it’s my fault.”

        “Armor, I speak to you now backed with all my centuries of experience. This situation is far too complex to assign any kind of responsibility or blame. Don’t torment yourself with regret over things that are apparent only in hindsight.”

        Luna kept silent about her own judgement of Twilight’s personality: the unicorn, in her opinion, was quite unlikely to be malevolent except unintentionally. She watched Shining calm down while a mischievous thought entered her mind.

        “Thank you, Princess Luna. I’ll try not to.”

        A soft chuckle escaped the younger diarch’s lips.

        “No need to be so formal today, Shining. Who knows? Maybe she’ll strip us of our titles and do the raising of the sun and moon herself.”

        Shining Armor’s face contorted into panic and he began stuttering a reply, but he was interrupted by a cascade of murmuring racing through the crowd. Moments later Twilight appeared, power blazing from her windigo form as she hurtled in through the antechamber, leaving a trail of purple mist, and halted in the doorway to the throne room, gazing sheepishly at the crowd in front of her.

        “Um. Hello? Sorry I am a bit late. Finding a nursemaid took longer than I thought, and finding one willing to nurse a... you know, never mind.”

        Twilight flew to land in the only clear space in the room: the dais directly in front of the Throne of Night and Day. The magical mist covering her back half cleared once she made contact with the ground, leaving her looking merely eldritch instead of terrifying, clad as she was in her armor (without the headpiece), mane and tail flowing like a nebula in deep space and emitting so much excess magic that the air around her crackled and tinkled. And under her breath mumbling a litany that Celestia just barely managed to decipher.

        “...Only for now. It’s all right. You’re queen and you can fix this...”

        Then the purple unicorn gulped and raised her voice.

        “All right. Here we are. So! First things first.”

        Twilight’s gaze flickered around the room until it landed on her old babysitter.

“Cadence? I think Diamond Dust stripped you of your titles. Um, you can have them back. Please?”

The pink alicorn looked surprised for a moment before smiling widely at Twilight.

“Thank you, your highness.”

“Just call me Twi- oh wait. We’re in court and I’m qu- yes. Thank you. Next... aheh, I guess it’s time for me, as sovereign of the victorious part of this conflict, to state my demands?”

Celestia and Luna exchanged a cautious glance before the Princess of Day spoke.

“If that’s what you want, my queen.”

Twilight winced.

“Okay, that just sounds so wrong to my ears. Please, Celestia... etiquette be damned, call me Twilight. Right! Um, first... I want the additional rules and laws as stipulated by the Three Lances’ Peace Accord, as well as the mentioned Peace Accord itself, erased and made void.”

Twilight’s words didn’t echo in the packed hall, so silence ensued immediately when she stopped talking. Confused faces were evident everywhere. An elderly statespony cleared his throat and raised a cautious hoof.

“Excuse me, Queen Fulcrum, but are you referring to the Four Spears’ Contract of the year of red lightning?”

“No, sorry, that’s another agreement entirely. I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of this one, since it’s almost fifty-five thousand years old.”

The courtroom was filled by confused chattering. Twilight stood unmoving, waiting for it to die down, when a hoof rapped thrice sharply on the marble floor and a familiar voice called for silence. Trixie met her prophet’s inquisitive stare with a quick and embarrassed flicker of her own eyes. Twilight nodded her thanks.

“Yes, it’s that old and yes, Equestria is still governed by it.”

She turned towards the three alicorns.

“What do you say? I need to hear answers from all three of you.”

Celestia, Luna and Cadence looked at each other in confusion. Then the Day Princess turned to Twilight and spoke.

“How can Equestria still be governed by it, my q- Twilight? None of us have ever heard of it, so we certainly can’t enforce any of it.”

“You might have forgotten it, but Harmony never forgets.”

Another short silence developed, this time undisturbed by anything more than a slight smack of wingtip against wingtip and a whispered apology from among the chandeliers. Then Luna spoke.

“Can you show us this document or tell us about it?”

“Yes.”

All external magical emissions disappeared from Twilight, except for a bright white halo around her horn. Her mane and tail reverted back to normal hair. Then there was a rustling sound and a mass of parchment appeared in the air in front of Twilight before falling to the floor. The princesses grabbed random pieces of document and scanned the text.

“Tia, can you read this?”

“...Yes.”

“So can I, and I don’t know how.”

Twilight cleared her throat.

“To put it simply, this is a peace agreement between what then passed as Equestria and another nation. Said nation agrees to be annexed by Equestria, provided that certain parts of its laws are incorporated into Equestrian law as well. You can read it because Harmony translates for you.”

Luna looked up from the parchment she was holding and stared at Twilight.

“A cursory reading seems to indicate that most of the purpose of these laws were to forbid any excess knowledge in the general public?”

“You are correct. The higher your social standing the more you get to know. The nation in question tried to rule through obscurantism: they held that ignorant ponies were easier to govern.”

Celestia shook her head in confusion and lowered the parchment she was holding in her magic.

“This is barbaric and repugnant, and I could certainly see why it shouldn’t stain the law books of Equestria, but is it really relevant after all this time? Why bring it up?”

“I told you. Harmony never forgets! That set of laws is being enforced to this day. Ponies are encouraged not to question how society works, or why. Those that persist quickly find themselves the targets of Harmony’s ire. Those who repent are made to forget. Those that don’t are cast out of Harmony and made into targets... foes. I am queen now, and thus I can tell you anything it pleases me to... but before long, unless those rules are rendered void, those present today would be made to forget all about it. With little nudges in your minds Harmony would restore your ignorance. So I tell you again: I want that peace agreement and all those rules struck off from the books. Do you agree to this?”

The three princesses didn’t need to confer. A quick exchange of glances was all it took before they all nodded to Queen Fulcrum. What happened next caught them off guard, however. Twilight’s eyes lit in the manner they always glowed when channelling her Element, and her entire body lifted. Ripples coursed out from her form and raced outwards while a deep bass tone rang as if a gigantic bell had been struck. A pressure against the temples that everypony present had previously been unaware of relented, making them relieved and confused. Twilight levitated back to the floor and her eyes closed, a serene smile playing on her lips.

“I have gripped the thread... and the unravelling can begin.”

Then the half windigo, half unicorn opened her eyes and gave Luna and Celestia mournful glances.

“I’m afraid this next part is going to be very painful for the both of you. My next demand is that a law be made stating that Harmony shall immediately restore to all living ponies the memories it has erased. We- we will most probably need to take a break immediately afterwards, so I want the court to be adjourned until tomorrow morning once the law comes into effect.”

The diarchs stood unmoving, glancing towards each other, expressions of uncertainty and reluctance strengthening on both faces.

“You are telling me and Luna that... we’ve acted badly while under the influence of Harmony... and then been made to forget?”

“Yes, Princess. I think Luna is even aware that much of her memory has been taken from her.”

The princess of the night sighed and nodded at Twilight.

“You have my agreement. Though the reunion might be painful, I am lesser without my stolen memories.”

Celestia nodded as well, though slowly and with wide eyes staring at the unicorn queen.

“I don’t know why I feel so afraid to do this, my q- Twilight, but... I feel I must. If I have committed wrongs I have to set them right.”

Twilight met her gaze and fought to keep away a tearful grimace.

“Princess, it- it might be too late for much of that, but we shall see.”

Finally, Cadence nodded as well.

“You haven’t mentioned me, but I too have lived a long time by now. I guess I might be affected even though you don’t know about it? In any case, I can’t deny Celestia or Luna what is rightfully theirs.”

The Ashen Queen nodded, took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it rush out in a command.

“This court is adjourned. I want the room cleared except for the Element Bearers, the Princesses, and whoever else the ponies I mentioned want to stay with them. Trixie? Please find ink, a quill and some scrolls, then come back.”

The courtroom emptied quite rapidly considering how overflowing with ponies it had been. In the end the only unmentioned pony to remain was Shining Armor, standing next to Cadence and looking warily at Twilight. The Element of Magic looked at her friends and hung her head.

“Girls, when I formally create this new law the princesses are going to be flooded with, uh, unpleasant memories. I want you to help me comfort them, if that’s alright with you.”

They arranged themselves so that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor and Twilight sat next to Celestia and Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Cadence and Rarity sat by Luna. Then Twilight turned her head and dictated to Trixie.

“Please write this down. I, Queen Fulcrum of Harmony, hereby decree that all memories taken by Harmony in accordance with the requirements of the Three Lances’ Peace Accord shall immediately be restored to their rightful owners.”

“...Got it, Honoured Queen Fulcrum.”

“Thank you.”

Twilight levitated the parchment from Trixie’s grasp and concentrated. A watermark resembling her own cutiemark appeared on the paper right before the document began to glow with a white outline. She threw her hooves around Celestia’s neck and hugged tight, while the sun princess gasped and her entire body twitched, memories dripping into her conscious mind like ink into water, staining, spreading and combining to form an ever darkening picture. The ever increasing shock and horror was evident on Celestia’s face, and her head swivelled slowly until she was staring, mouth agape, at the statues in the garden.

Behind her, Luna, the more clandestine ruler, howled with despair and tore herself from the ponies comforting her, taking flight and escaping through a doorway. Celestia shut her eyes and mouth and began to shake violently before she soundlessly turned into a ray of sunlight and passed through a window, disappearing in the air outside. The remaining ponies expressed dismay and an intention to chase after the diarchs, but Twilight stopped them.

“Let them be, for now. I will go to them tomorrow, before court resumes.”

~~~~~

Twilight found Celestia lying on the frozen ground beneath Silver Gavel’s broken statue. The solar princess lay on her back, one wing and two legs touching the worn stone and her face pointed at the sky, eyes open and unblinking. The windigo landed a short distance away and switched to her pony aspect before walking the final distance to the princess. Then she sat down on the other side of the statue, with her back resting against it. She scuffed the ground idly, cleaning the snow away from the dirt and dry grass.

“I talked to Luna just now. She’s actually happy: she’s remembering something of her parents.”

The following silence lasted for several minutes. Twilight was quite prepared to wait, however. Even without looking at Celestia’s face she could tell that her words were stirring something within the princess. When Celestia did speak her voice was weak and cracked.

“Her parents?”

“Yes. It turns out you’re not sisters by family. You are much older, born from an earlier dynasty.”

“I don’t remember anything about my parents.”

“I’m sorry about that. Time, not Harmony, took those memories from you. I could teach you divining spells that will let you look into the past and let you find out what you’ve forgotten. Now that knowledge of Harmony no longer is so volatile, many of the spells in Luna’s library can be released to the general public. Would you like that?”

“Yes. I’d like that very much.”

“All right. There’s another spell I also think you might be interested in right now, Celestia. I used the library last evening to do some research and came up with a way to pull a spirit into a temporary body, letting it interact directly with the material plane.”

“Wh- why would that interest me?”

When Twilight didn’t answer, Celestia turned away from the sky and looked at her faithful student. The purple unicorn was looking at her, craning her head around the corner of the statue, but when their eyes met Twilight switched her gaze up to the empty air above the statue base. It didn’t take long for Celestia to understand, and the realisation made her dizzy and nauseous. She sat up and brought her head close to her student’s.

“I want to see her! Cast the spell!”

Twilight did as told. Her horn erupted in golden fire at the same times as a brilliant mote of light appeared above the stone block. Guided by Twilight’s horn, the mote floated down off the pedestal to hover above the ground. Grass, snow, sand and dirt erupted from the area around it and hid it from view, forming a pony-shaped shell that quickly gathered mass and solidified. It was prone, lying on the ground as if sleeping.

Silver Gavel opened her eyelids slowly, revealing dull, glassy eyes lit from within by a golden glow. She saw purple legs walk in front of her, and a sympathetic face lowered itself to meet her gaze.

“Hello again, Silver.”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’ve cast a spell that gives your spirit form and lets it act.”

The construct looked down upon her body, noting the materials it was composed of, prodding it and turning it this way and that before looking back up with apparent trepidation.

“If you can do this... then why not just release me?”

Twilight shook her head and smiled sadly.

“You are sharp. We could’ve been such good friends! Two reasons. One, your spirit is much too old. The instant I returned you to your biological form you’d die of old age. Two... I’m afraid item one is academical, really. Your body... your statue... see for yourself.”

Silver Gavel’s head swivelled in the direction Twilight pointed. Then she stood and walked slowly up to the empty pedestal. She sat down in front of it and peered, mouth slightly ajar, down at the four imprints of stone hooves on its upper surface. She had ignored Celestia, who was nailed to the spot where she sat, staring at the construct with a mixture of woe and horror, but after a while Gavel’s eyes turned to meet the princess’ gaze.

“Silver... I’m sorry.”

A hoof of hard-packed snow and dirt reached out and gently wiped away the tears from the princess’ face.

“Oh Celestia. It’s not your fault. The False Harmony did this to us.”

The princess of Day lost her remaining composure and embraced Silver Gavel in a powerful hug while sobbing loudly. Twilight chose to remove herself discreetly and walked over to the balustrade at the edge of the gardens. She gazed down and out over the lands, drinking in the view.

Verdant green was everywhere, faded almost to black in the pre-dawn gloom. The white of snow was only visible where the ground was bare, such as the places where naked mountain pushed through the soil. The passing fire of the phoenix had caused everything alive to grow a bit, shaking the snow and ice from every tree and plant and making them sprout unseasonal greenery. Twilight had already decided that Winter Wrap-up would be rushed forward this year: half the work was already done anyway. It was time for spring to arrive and for the land to awaken.

The Queen of Ash was interrupted from her ruminations by the sound of two sets of hooves approaching. She turned around and saw Celestia, face still streaked with tears but smiling, and Silver Gavel, piercing stare fixed on Twilight, approach the balusters. They sat down next to her and the Day Princess’ horn flared to life. Twilight could feel the magic flow from the princess, and she coughed politely.

“Celestia, if it’s time for dawn I wonder if you could do me a favor? Set the sun into its spring orbit. I think it’s best if we ended winter.”

The Day Princess cancelled her magic and shot her a sharp glance.

“Are you going to command the change of the seasons from now on, my queen?”

A furious string of stuttered denial and embarrassment flowed from Twilight, stopped only when she spotted Celestia’s mischievous grin. She felt her cheeks burn so hot that she idly wondered if her fur would catch fire.

“If you’re going to poke fun of me I just might.”

Celestia laughed heartily, her mood improving visibly. Then she resummoned her magic, raising the sun above the horizon. Meanwhile Silver Gavel walked up to Twilight and sat down in front of her, gazing at her with disapproval.

“I thought we agreed that the False Harmony had to go, Twilight. Yet now I hear you’ve made yourself queen? Sure, you’ve removed the obscurantist laws... but why not just end it all immediately?”

“Because simply removing it would most likely cause ponies to end up killing each other in a never-ending string of wars and other conflicts. Then something like the False Harmony would rise again. We’d end up no better than before. The False Harmony needs to change, yes, but I’m far from convinced it’s best to simply scrap it. I intend to let everypony think about this instead of deciding for them.”

Silver Gavel’s construct looked deep into Twilight’s eyes for a long time. She seemed to search for something. Eventually she backed away, face etched with deep suspicion and mistrust.

“Princess? I accept your second offer. I just can’t leave now. I need to see this through.”

Twilight gazed between construct and princess in confusion.

“What? Accept what offer?”

Celestia bowed her head and nuzzled Silver Gavel on the neck.

“I offered two things. First I offered to let her rest. I offered to- to disrupt her prison... and bury her remains. Second, I offered to enchant a phylactery for her and give her a body to inhabit.”

“What?! But Princess-!”

“Not like Libram, no. We’ll construct a proper magical body and enchant it so she can inhabit it. And she’s already existed so far past her natural life span that it just doesn’t matter anymore if we prolong it indefinitely. You do realise she’s older than Libram by more than two hundred years?”

Twilight sat back and digested the princess’ words. Eventually she nodded at Silver Gavel.

“All right. I’m happy with it, actually. When I discovered there was nothing left of your body it kinda hit me hard. I’m glad you’ll get more time to actually live.”

“Don’t be too happy. Fading away was tempting, but I don’t fully trust you, Twilight Sparkle. I’m going to keep an eye on you and what you do to the False Harmony.”

Twilight found that her eyebrows had risen as far as they could go. She shook her head and blinked.

“Uh, I guess that could be good? If you want I could recharge the spell animating your construct so you can attend the court this morning.”

“You do that.”

Celestia frowned and poked the construct with a wingtip.

“Be polite, Silver Gavel! She’s fought hard for Equestria and she’s legitimately its queen!”

“Sorry, sorry... Thank you, Queen Twilight.”

“We’ve shared the same pedestal, so we can skip formalities. Call me Twilight.”

She coughed again and looked nervously at Celestia.

“Right, then... is there anypony else I should... reanimate?”

The Day Princess froze for a moment and winced as if something had caused her pain. Then she sighed deeply.

“No... Silver was the only pony that ended up unjustly petrified. There are cases of other kinds of injustice but it’s too late for them.”

“I’m sorry for having to spring all of this upon you, Princess, but there just wasn’t a way to do it gently. Now that you’ve raised the sun it’s time to go to court again. Ready?”

“I am ready, Twilight. Lead the way, my queen.”

Celestia waited for Twilight to react and raised an eyebrow when the title she’d used seemingly went unnoticed. She smiled towards Twilight’s retreating back before following, Silver Gavel’s golem by her side.

Coming Home

Chapter 37:Coming Home

        The tree house came into view and Fluttershy breathed out a sigh of relief, tensions melting away. The old tree had several new shoots and every branch was bowed down by the weight of fresh and healthy leaves that glowed and rustled in the spring sun and the mild breeze. The place was a hive of activity and animal noises, which for the yellow pegasus was synonymous with ‘quiet’ and ‘peaceful’. Through the background chatter of her chosen haven she did hear the teeth of a rake being dragged across the ground, something that was out of place since it wasn’t her doing the raking, but she’d expected some kind of sign from her guests. Well, tenants was perhaps a better word for them. Pony tenants.

        Flax Spinner was raking the path in front of the door to her house. A moment’s pause to straighten his back made him aware of the approaching pegasus. He spit out the rake before turning to the open front door and shouting.

        “Fluttershy’s here!”

        The ensuing chorus of squeaks, peeps, growls, hisses and other animal calls as well as the rumbling stampede of a myriad running critters made Fluttershy gasp and slow down. Mere seconds later she was surrounded by a living sea of bodies that hugged, nuzzled and ground itself against her in almost every kind of appreciative and affectionate gesture found in the animal kingdom. Birds sat on her ears, making them sag, and nibbled lovingly on her mane or just stroked their heads against hers.

        “There, there. I missed you guys. Have you been kind to the Spinners?”

        A chorus of affirmative noises answered Fluttershy and the throng around her relented slightly, enabling her to walk slowly forward to the three waiting ponies ahead of her. She noted the glow surrounding Dewdrop Spinner’s entire bearing and smiled widely at the pegasus.

        “Hello... and congratulations.”

        Silk blushed and rubbed her stomach shyly with a hoof while her husband traded nuzzles with Fluttershy.

        “Hello and welcome back, miss Fluttershy! Shall we take your packs?”

        The yellow pegasus glanced over her shoulder. She was wearing saddlebags and carrying an assortment of additional packs and bundles, the largest of which was swept in a blanket and perched on her back. A raccoon was sniffing curiously up at the large bundle and she deterred it with a gentle push.

        “Thank you, that won’t be necessary. I’ll take care of them myself. How are you? Well, I can see that you are relatively happy.”

        Flax and Dewdrop exchanged glances and nodded slightly at Fluttershy, but then hung their heads and sighed collectively.

        “We’re quite all right. We’ve been able to get on with our lives ever since your letter, but we still miss our daughter. Hearing Silk’s been found and that she’s safe was so great that I don’t have the words, but we ache to see her again.”

        Hearing this made Fluttershy nod and smile gently.

        “Ah, well, I think that can be arranged...”

        She turned her head and called back along the path.

        “Silk? It’s all right, just like I told you. Come out.”

        A candy color mane atop a tan face peeked out from behind a wide tree trunk. Two teary, frightened and hesitant eyes peered at the four ponies. Dewdrop emitted a scream of delight and happiness that evolved into a mixture of laughter, wails and sobs, loudly trying to express the storm of emotion she felt as she galloped towards her eldest daughter, who was also running with tears falling freely and an expression of anguish, longing and regret twisting her face. They collided purposely, embracing each other with their entwining necks. Flax was with them an instant later, pressing up against his daughter’s side and craning his neck over the two others, sandwiching Silk between her parents. Tale, Silk’s younger brother, galloped up and let his back brush against her neck and chest. They laughed and they cried.

        Fluttershy watched the tableau with a happy smile and moistening eyes until a weak cry from her back made her ears flick around. She craned back and took the largest bundle in her teeth, setting it gently on the ground in front of her and prying open the wrapped blanket with her wings. Two wide and vulnerable eyes looked up at her.

        “Did all the noise wake you up? I’m sorry.”

        A white and furry shape walked up to the bundled child. Two long ears twitched. Then the head was raised and two button eyes above a stern frown regarded Fluttershy questioningly.

        “Hello to you too, Angel. This is Welder. I want you to be nice to him, as he’ll be living with us.”

        Angel continued to stare at Fluttershy, only raising an eyebrow. At his side, two eyes followed his dangling ears’ every move... and then two tiny hands grabbed the closer ear, making the rabbit stiffen in shock. The ear was unceremoniously brought closer for inspection, meaning that the tip was inserted into Welder’s mouth and sucked on. Fluttershy beamed down at the pair, nuzzling the paralysed rabbit.

        “He likes you already, Angel! I know you’ll be the best of friends soon.”

        Angel snapped out of his trance and squeaked angrily at Fluttershy before opening and closing his mouth theatrically, making slurping and smacking noises.

        “Don’t be silly. He doesn’t want to eat you.”

        The rabbit stomped on the ground, gently dislodged his (thoroughly soaked and messy) ear from the baby’s grip and stormed off. The baby’s eyes followed his departure while tiny hands clenched and unclenched. Welder whimpered and turned back to look at Fluttershy. She nuzzled him gently before carefully replacing his bundle on her back.

        “Let’s get you moved in, shall we?”

        ~~~~~

        “...And it is therefore with utmost respect that I must decline your demand. Signed, Twilight Sparkle. No, wait, scratch that, I’ve used that too much... Queen Twilight? Ugh, I hate that.”

        Trixie levitated the scroll and quill lower, allowing her to peer over it at the purple mare in front of her.

        “May I suggest ‘Prophet Fulcrum’? Miss Laurel Leaf is one of your priesthood. She’d probably appreciate the signature and heed your reply better.”

        Twilight nodded vigorously.

“It’s better. Good idea, Trixie. Spike, what’s the count?”

        The baby dragon was sitting on Twilight’s back, his back facing her head and heels dug into her flanks for support. He scanned a parchment scroll in his one hand and used a claw on his other hand to count the inky scratches on the scroll that served as tally marks.

        “That makes one thousand, six hundred and twenty-nine demands for immediate alicornhood versus one thousand, five hundred and fifty-two demands for stronger regulations on magic usage.”

        “Wouldn’t it be easier to keep count somewhere else than on my back?”

        Spike shot Twilight a dirty look and turned around, clamping his arms around her neck. He ignored Twilight’s protests that he was crumpling the parchment against her.

        “It probably would. I’m not moving.”

        Twilight sighed and craned her neck around so she could plant a kiss on Spike’s head. Then she turned back to Trixie.

        “We’ll need to archive these letters as part of my official correspondence. A thorough statistical analysis will also be needed. How many unicorns for or against? What about the other two kinds? Or what about ex-ashen and unconverted?”

        Trixie nodded as the quill danced in her magic.

        “Anything else, Honoured... I mean, Twilight?”

        “How have your arrangements come along?”

        “Just fine. The mayor graciously lent me a small office at city hall, and they’d be delighted to house your offices as well, at least temporarily. Especially when I mentioned that Ponyville would be getting a budget for supporting this branch of the government.”

        Twilight sat down on her haunches, idly patting one of Spike’s hands with a hoof. She looked around the treehouse library, its familiar shelves speaking to her of home and comfort.

        “We can’t count on the Ash Queen’s offices being in Ponyville for more than six years, so I don’t think we should commission the construction of a permanent building. The town hall will do, and we’ll try to find space for the archives somewhere nearby. A secondary archive in Canterlot should also be founded.”

        The ice-hued unicorn smirked and narrowed her eyes at Twilight.

        “You really think you won’t get re-elected? Celestia and Luna told you that you wouldn’t be able to shed the mantle of royalty and I, for one, believe them.”

        “I don’t want to be queen-elect!”

        “Enough to sabotage your appointed duties?”

        “No, never. Even if I don’t like it, I’ll do this as good as I can.”

        “Right. I wouldn’t worry too much about commissioning a building that might never be used unless you get re-elected. Twilight, you are Prophet Fulcrum. You are Ash Queen Twilight, and even though you insisted on elections the ponies of Equestria will always see you and nopony else as having that title.”

        “We’ve erased the laws from Harmony that required unquestioning loyalty to the throne. They are free to change their minds, Trixie.”

        “They won’t. Trust me, my queen, they won’t. The former ashen... they are proud of what they were, and you are their representative. We shall see what the next generation of ponies do, but since there are unofficial temples to the ash in every major city and most towns I dare say they’ll pass on their values and traditions. You can count on being queen for the foreseeable future.”

        Twilight stared at Trixie.

        “There are temples? Is there one here in Ponyville?”

        This made the former showmare blush.

        “Um, y- yes.”

        “Oh Trixie.”

        “Well I could afford such a big house thanks to my wages as your secretary and adjutant, so I had plenty of room over... it kind of felt natural. A- and the few ashen here -well, actually, there’s more than a few now, since some of them are moving here- have always looked to me for leadership, probably thanks to my being your hoofmaiden.”

        An ear flicked on Twilight’s head while she peered intently at Trixie.

        “So what do you do in these temples?”

        “We meditate. Try to get in touch with our spirits, and the spirits of the Two Harmonies.”

        “Huh. Really? Has anypony managed to come in contact with the Harmonies?”

        “Well, not that I know. We believe that just trying is enough, really. One doesn’t have to embody Harmony to live in accordance to it, after all. But it’s possible, right?”

        A chance to lecture and theorise always perked up the purple unicorn and she rose, careful not to dislodge Spike, to pace back and forth while thinking.

        “It’s entirely possible, in theory. I’d say it’s very unlikely to succeed, however. The False (or Lesser as ponies call it nowadays) Harmony is a pony construct, but conflicting directives and the mind-boggling age of it would probably mean its mind is both alien and more than a bit insane by our standards. The Greater Harmony, however... it’s so vast and alien that I doubt we’d even realise if we’d ever manage to contact it. It might even be dangerous.”

        Trixie shrugged.

        “We won’t know until somepony succeeds. Anyway, I find it very relaxing, and it does wonders for my focus.”

        Twilight tilted her head.

        “You know, I think I’d like to try that. Celestia knows -heh- that royal business is stressful enough. It might be good to have another way to relax besides the Spa trips with Rarity.”

        “Oh, you’d be very welcome to join us! It would be such an honor!”

        “Let’s finish up here first. Then I’d like to check out this temple.”

        Spike shifted on Twilight’s back and groaned dejectedly.

        “Watching you doing nothing is going to be bo-ring.”

        She bent her neck again, bringing her mouth up to one of Spike’s finned ears. She murmured gently to him.

        “Spike, you don’t have to come along. You could always go and do something else. Would you like to visit Rarity? Or maybe eat some ice cream?”

        “No! I want to stay with you!”

        “Oh Spike. I know you missed me so terribly much. I missed you too! But sooner or later you’ll have to let go. I won’t disappear, I promise.”

        There was a long silence before Spike answered with a waveríng voice.

        “Maybe tomorrow. Okay?”

        “Okay. You can take a nap while I meditate. How about that?”

        “...Okay.”

        ~~~~~

        Trixie’s rented house was indeed quite spacious, consisting of a lower floor with a shop front and an upper floor meant for living quarters. The large shop window was unadorned except for some modest window blinds and a ceramic bowl containing smooth rocks surrounding a single lit candle. Twilight recognised it as a symbol of the ashen.

The main room inside was empty and spacious. Light rectangles in the wooden floor revealed where counters had stood when the room actually had served as a store of some kind (Twilight didn’t know exactly what kind -it had been closed before she’d moved to Ponyville). Colorful carpets and pillows were strewn over the floor and banners filled with text hung from the ceiling. A faint scent of incense wafted against Twilight as she stood on the threshold and peered into the gloom. Trixie moved around inside, lighting candles with her magic and gradually creating a comfortable glow.

Twilight walked up to one of the hanging banners and focused on the text.

Of the Nature of the Two Harmonies

The Lesser Harmony is made by ponies and is prone to error and malfunction though it means well. The Greater Harmony is not a made thing and is thus perfect, but uncaring and unfeeling as we ponies are next to nothing compared to it. Sometimes the two clash.

The Lesser Harmony was created by ponies a long time ago weaving enchantments into their laws and agreements, trying to stop their wars and their nigh-omnipotence from ending their world. It was a fragile thing and it grew out of control as other enchantments and laws were incorporated into it, and as old kings and queens died, through violence or accident, and nopony rose to replace them and control the development of Lesser Harmony. Instead of a final apocalypse ponykind suffered myriad small ones that kept resetting our civilisations and our history until finally Prophet Fulcrum arose to Queen and ended the tyranny of Lesser Harmony.

The Greater Harmony was born as the universe was born, for it is the spirit of the universe. Just as every pebble has a spirit, just as every pony has a spirit, just as every knothole, space between straws of grass and the void between the stars have spirits, so too do the ties of friendship between ponies create a spirit, so too does the nations of Equestria have spirits and so, too, does every imaginable grouping and gathering of everything have spirits. So it follows that the universe as a whole has the ultimate spirit, that every other spirit is but a part of. This Greater Harmony tells the universe what it is supposed to be.

When the Lesser Harmony grew too large and bloated, it was noticed as an aberration. Maybe it wasn’t the Greater Harmony itself, maybe it was, but something, some higher spirit of which the Lesser Harmony was but a part, definitely noticed things were out of kilter. Whatever it was, it sensed an itch and began to scratch. It is difficult to say how many of the disasters that befell Equestria were indirect attempts to get rid of or at least diminish the Lesser Harmony, but Prophet Fulcrum has said that Diamond Dust had definitely been set on her path by some outside agent, as had probably she herself been set on hers. As had Discord, that corrupter of Harmony. As had...

“What do you think?”

Twilight started and turned to Trixie, seeing the icy mare watching her intently and with a slight blush developing on her cheeks.

“What is this, Trixie?”

“Um, we kind of need new scripture. I’ve, um, rewritten some of the speeches and lectures you’ve held into more concise forms. The temples in the other towns have been hounding me, well you actually, for something like this...”

“Trixie, I’d like at least some authorial control over these if my words are going to be incorporated into some kind of philosophical scripture.”

The former showmare bowed repeatedly.

“Of course. I’m sorry! I’ll show all the drafts to you when you have the time.”

Twilight nodded, walked to a cluster of pillows that looked comfortable and lay down on them. Then she looked back at Trixie.

“A bit empty in here. How often do you have visitors?”

“Oh, there’s usually one or two dropping in in the afternoon, and come evening there’ll be five or six in all.”

“Huh. That’s actually a quite good day for the library.”

Trixie was sweating bullets. This was probably one of the most delicate situations she’d ever faced.

“Aheh... Maybe they wouldn’t mind a book presentation once in a while?”

“Not a bad idea at all. Perhaps we could even let a few copies of some of the more accessible works of philosophy be placed here.”

Twilight ignored the relieved exhalation she heard and settled in among the pillows. Now that she was here, it struck her that she didn’t really need to meditate to contact the Lesser Harmony. As long as she was queen it would readily respond to her via magic. As for the Greater Harmony... she didn’t see much point in casually attempting something like that. Contacting the spirit of the universe was for others.

But what did that leave her? She was about to give up, rise and do something else, when she recalled that Celestia and Luna seemed to commune with the spirits of the sun and moon respectively, as well as of Canterlot Mountain. Maybe she could do something like that.

Clearing an active mind like Twilight’s was perhaps more difficult than usual, but she also had a disciplined mind. One by one she filtered out the external world while at the same time recalling the total removal she’d felt while petrified. This time was different, of course, but it served as a good starting point. She reached out, searching for a spirit that she felt intimately linked to.

Hello, Ponyville. Can you hear me?

Prologue

Prologue:

Celestia Falls

A million things had to happen for this story to be at all possible. Most of those can be glossed over, or assumed common knowledge. Where to start the tale is still problematic. One very definite beginning occurred so far away in timespace that quantifying the distance is pointless. Suffice to say that a very, very large star died in a most spectacular manner. This had, of course, a profound effect on the immediate neighbourhood, but we aren't now relating the fates of those who were  directly touched. That much drama is mere statistic.

As a starting point, that event has the problem that the myriad following events were exciting and interesting, but not in any way critical to the story we shall tell. Let us therefore leap across those immense spans of time and untold stories by stating that the next beginning we choose to narrate happened aeons later, during Commoners' Day Court.

~~~~~~

Princess Celestia's front hooves flew up in front of her face at the same time as she threw her body back and to the right.

The sudden motion caused her to tumble over the upper legrest of her throne and fall to the carpet lying on the marble dais that also held her throne. She had lowered her hooves as one reflex receded and another took its place and managed to halt her fall before her head would have impacted the floor. Still, her crown was wrenched from her head by its momentum, and the muffled clang as it bounced on the deeply layered velvet seemed jarringly loud in the hall, managing to fill the shocked absence of sound that had interrupted the usual droning murmur of commoners' court.

She stayed motionless for two heartbeats, holding a gasp, eyes staring wildly in front of her, though nopony was in a position to gaze at her face and wonder what she could be seeing. Then she shoved with her front hooves, rising and turning around to gaze at the room. After a split second of taking in the scene, she spoke:

”Guards, stand down. He is not to blame for- for this.”

A by now deathly pale supplicant managed to still his quaking a bit as the two armor-clad pegasi who had reacted appropriately (yet erroneously) backed away from him and folded away their wingdaggers.

The princess made an effort to regain some of her decorum as she repositioned herself on the throne of Night and Day. She lowered her head as she saw her errant crown float towards her, enveloped in the magical aura belonging to the Royal Secretary, who had fetched it. The Secretary was an elderly stallion, and Celestia felt a twinge of remorse as she glanced at his pained face -keeping the Royal Garments was part of his duty, and Celestia doubted he'd ever seen the crown be so mistreated before. Still, while what was done could not be undone, the crown could certainly be undented and repolished. She cleared her throat.

”Steward?”

Another elderly pony reacted to her title being called, and trotted forward to stand next to the supplicant.

”Yes, Princess Celestia?”

The princess indicated the supplicant with a hoof and spoke.

”Please make sure this poor pony's needs are attended so he can collect himself before resuming his appeal. Once that is done, I would have word sent out to the University that their professors of geology and magic are to convene in this hall, one hour after dawn on the first Saturday of leaves' fall.”

The steward raised an eyebrow, being unable to fully suppress his curiosity, while giving the still-quite-shaken pony beside her a reassuring pat.

”Shall we suspend court, your majesty?”

The princess shook her head.

”We shall continue. What item is next?”

The court resumed.

~~~~~

The dawn of the first Saturday of leaves' fall was cold and still. Frost fought and lost against the invading rays of the sun on every windowpane. The ground was artfully covered by the shed parchment of spring and summer, stiff and sugar-coated by ice. Some ponies are never content to just savor the moment, though. Several piles of leaves already reached higher than the average muzzle, and were still being added to.

A group of particularly sizeable heaps were located at Sweet Apple Acres, leaning against one of the long walls of the barn.

”Pinkie, for the last time, less jumping and more helping!”

The affronted partymachine ceased her bouncing, blew away a leaf that clung to her chin and glared at the orange pony who had spoken.

”But I AM helping! I'm patting down all the leaves for you!”

Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes.

”We're not going to compost them against the barn wall, dummy. Big Mac and I will move all of this next to the beehives before the snows start, but we don't have the frames ready. This is temporary storage!”

Pinkie Pie gasped, staring wide-eyed at the farm pony.

”So you need them uncompacted? Okie-dokie-Loki!”

She became a blur as she resumed moving, and the leaf-pile erupted as if struck by a tornado. Applejack groaned and pulled her hat in front of her eyes, while behind her four bouts of laughter pealed.

”You should have seen that coming, Applejack!”

She glared up at the source of the remark, Rainbow Dash, and rolled her eyes.

”Sure, Miss Hindsight; Pinkie here is so predictable, all things considered.”

Dash hovered lower and moved her grinning face closer to Applejack's level.

”She can be one hundred and twenty percent relied upon to have fun.”

”I'd be really happy if she could simmer down just a bit.”

Applejack’s mouth was a straight line. Rainbow Dash chuckled and flew higher in order to perform some lazy aerial stunts around the leaves who had been thrown highest. She ceased doing so as a blue aura of magic enveloped the leaves, halting their escape and bringing them back towards the pile. The pearly unicorn whose horn was glowing spoke without looking up from her own task.

”Pinkie darling, be a dear and stop causing such a mess!”

This caused the disturbed pile to eject its agent of destruction in a great arc, Pinkie landing on all fours in front of the unicorn and immediately coming to a perfect stop in a calculated insult to Newtonian physics.

”Sure thing, Rarity!”

Rarity passed the hyper pony a mug of hot chocolate, dismissing the thought of what that would do to her activity level. Pinkie was always active, sugar or no sugar. Meanwhile, Applejack turned towards a yellow-coated pegasus who was demurely sipping on her own cup of chocolate.

”Fluttershy, how many homeless hedgehogs need housing? Hah! Say that three times fast!”

Fluttershy raised her eyes momentarily to meet the farmer's gaze and mumbled into her cup.

”Um, three families. If you don't mind.”

”I don't mind one bit. We'll make sure there are three frames with good entrances.”

The timid pegasus smiled gratefully, raising her face to look straighter at Applejack.

”Thank you. They are very grateful as well, I am sure.”

”Oh you know me, Fluttershy, always ready to lend a helping hoof. Though... if they could, say, patrol the hayloft and watch for insect pests whenever they happen to wake up, then that would be mighty helpful for me...”

”Of course, Applejack. I'll ask them.”

”Ooh, what a great example of symbiosis!”

Applejack and Fluttershy turned towards the purple unicorn who had said the last remark, and the former tilted her head.

”Symbol of what now?”

Twilight Sparkle was floating a notepad and quill in the purple shimmer of her magical aura. She lowered these slightly.

”Symbiosis is the cooperation of two different species for mutual benefit. There are numerous  examples, such as-”

She interrupted herself as she noticed that Fluttershy apparently was wrestling with an urge to add something to the discussion.

”What is it?”

”Um, wouldn't symbiosis only happen naturally, and not as a result of planning?”

Twilight was momentarily speechless.

”Well, that depends on how exactly you define symbiosis. This might not be evolved mutualism, but still.”

She seemed quite surprised by Fluttershy’s objection. A mug of hot chocolate gripped in a blue aura floated over to the purple-coated librarian, and she nodded over to Rarity as her own aura enveloped it.

”Thank you.”

Rarity also floated one cup each over to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the latter landing to savour the drink. Then the neat unicorn picked up her own cup and carefully sipped at the viscous liquid through a straw. She'd brought napkins, of course: her friends were certain to need them, but if you needed a napkin you were already dirty or resigning to be so shortly. Small-talk and idle chatter gained strength as the sextet of friends went from expressing satisfaction at their finished task to basking in the rays of the autumn sun and relishing the cool, clear air. Eventually Applejack glanced at the sky and spoke.

”Well girls, I am mighty thankful you all helped out and I've agreed to let Rarity decide how I should repay you in turn.”

Rarity enjoyed the inquisitive attention of her five companions and displayed them a predatory grin. She kept silent while waiting for her friends to work out what exactly she could have asked for and chuckled as each reacted according to their personalities. Applejack's smile was a mixture of embarrassment and apology and she avoided her friends' eyes by glancing a second time at the sky, Pinkie was hopping in place and cheering joyously, Fluttershy and Twilight looked delighted at what they assumed Rarity had chosen while Rainbow Dash stopped glaring at Applejack, let out an exasperated groan and voiced her complaint.

”It's going to be the Spa, isn't it? It's always the Spa!”

The fashionista stuck up her nose at Rainbow Dash.

”It wouldn't shatter your public image to admit you enjoy the pampering, Rainbow.”

”Never!”

Dash turned towards Applejack.

”Come on, big guy; you call this repaying a favour? Don't be ridiculous!”

Rarity interrupted any answer the earth pony might have supplied with her own.

”Rainbow, did you know that Aloe has studied athletic therapy at Manehattan Sports Academy? I hear she's an expert at deep wing massage. I thought I'd have to treat you to something a little extra, so I went ahead and booked a full athletic treatment for you and Applejack while the rest of us have my usual care package.”

This caused Rainbow Dash to land beside Rarity, fold her wings neatly and regard the unicorn with her undivided attention.

”So when is it?”

Rarity smiled victoriously.

”I booked it at noon, so we should have -uh-”

She looked up at the sky.

”Applejack, what time is it? It seems I can’t tell.”

Applejack was already peering at the sun.

”Now that you mentioned it, Rarity, I've been wondering. It should be just a couple hours after dawn; we haven't worked on these piles for more than three hours at most, but I...”

She looked confused.

”I don't know what the time is either. The sun is wrong somehow.”

Twilight chuckled.

”Maybe we took more or less time than we thought! But I'll be sure to send Princess Celestia a letter chiding her erratic guidance todaaaAAAAH!”

Twilight's scream was only the loudest of six exclamations of shock and surprise. They had by that point all been peering, through slitted eyelids, up at the sun.

Recuperation

Chapter 2:Recuperation

        Twilight awoke with a start, her eyes flying open. Awareness returned slower than consciousness though. She was apparently lying on her back with legs drawn in close to her body like a dead fly. She kept still while waiting for contact with the world.

First to register upon her senses were the creases of the bedsheet below her, felt through her coat. Next the blanket covering her and ever-so-slightly pushing her down, making her feel trapped. Then her sight - she followed a mote of dust caught in a beam of light for a while before focusing past it to study the veins and knots in the wooden planks above her. She let her gaze linger there for a moment, staring thoughtlessly up at the bedroom ceiling. The shaft of light entering her bedroom window told her she’d managed to wake up before noon. Her ears registered several sounds of hammering faintly heard from outside.

        Eventually, without her characteristic determination bordering on hurry, she made walking motions with her back hooves. This took surprising amounts of effort, considering that only the blanket covering her up to her neck was impeding her, but she managed to throw it off and it crumpled into a heap at the foot of the bed. Then she let her legs fall to the right. She lay on her side for a moment before scooting to the edge of the bed and placing her right front hoof on the floor.

        Her leg wobbled alarmingly as she let it take some of her weight but she judged she’d manage to stand. Progress! The other three hooves followed and though they felt like taffy they supported her. She breathed excitedly and smiled for an instant. Then she noticed she was beginning to lean dangerously. She overcompensated and was for a panicky, breathless moment in danger of falling. When she managed to reach equilibrium again much of her confidence was spent. She glanced at the stairs and felt a lump of despair in her throat.

        Twilight shuffled over to the landing anyway. There she sat down and surveyed the ground floor of the library. Most of the shelves were empty. Piles of books were everywhere in the room. This would have been considered normal for some days, but the stacks of paintings with their glass shattered were definitely out of the norm. Ditto the carefully gathered piles of broken pottery, sorted by color. A large crack on the wall that appeared above the front window (shattered and boarded), travelling down to it and continuing below it to finally disappear into the floor, was also new.

        She’d seen all this before so now it merely drew a deep sigh out of her. In the otherwise silent library the sound had enough strength to alert Spike who’d been crouching next to a pile of damaged books, matching errant pages with the correct spines and applying glue. He stood up and stared at Twilight with a mixture of joy and consternation, then he ran towards the stairs.

        “Twilight, the doctor said you shouldn’t try to stand yet!”

        “I don’t care, Spike. I am going stir crazy and I feel- I feel fine.”

Fine compared to someone who’d ran four times from Appaloosa to Las Pegasus without resting, at least. Much better than yesterday, in other words. Relatively fine, to put it in another way. Most definitely fine according to some definitions. She pouted glumly.

“I want some fresh air.”

        Spike had reached her and looked at her with sympathy, but was still blocking the stairs down to the main hall.

“I could open the bedroom window for you. I’ll bring up some soup in a little while, and could find some books-”

He was silenced by Twilight’s hoof brought up against his lips.

“Spike. My number one assistant. Please. Help me down the stairs.”

        The baby dragon bowed his head. His love and devotion was too strong to countermand Twilight even when he thought she was endangering her wellbeing. Still, negotiating the stairs proved a difficult task. Spike spent most of the time between Twilight and the edge of the stairs, just behind her front left leg, where he’d try and give her as much lift and support as he could. When they reached the floor Twilight collapsed, drained from the exertion. Spike leaned over her and gave her a hug before straightening up.

        “Look, you are not doing any more walking today. But I’ll bring the trolley and we’ll take a walk that way, how about that?”

Twilight didn’t even lift her head. Eyes closed, damp from sweat, quivering like an alder leaf in the wind, she let her chin scrape at the floor as she slowly nodded once to signal her agreement.

        The trolley was a jury-rigged cart originally meant to carry books. The shelves had been ripped out, and a low wooden box with low outwards-leaning sides had been installed in their place, making it look like a miniature wooden mining cart, except it was carrying pillows and blankets rather than ore. The low sides enabled Spike to help Twilight enter the bed-like vehicle with relative ease even now, with Twilight offering as much assistance as a wet rag. Once Twilight was comfortable and warm Spike grabbed the two handles on the back and steered the trolley towards the front door.

        Outside the weather was nearly as perfect as ever. Marring the sky was a thick plume of black smoke visible on the horizon, rising slowly until it hit some invisible border and spread out. The plume didn’t mushroom too far before becoming hazy and dissipating. Twilight had studied it yesterday for as long as she’d been able to; Spike had carried one of the smaller telescopes to her and helped set it up. She knew the cloud consisted of what appeared to be volcanic ash. A hastily gathered army of pegasi ensured the ash rained down as close to its point of origin as possible, and Twilight was very glad they had discovered the ash was extremely poisonous before the plume had any opportunity to reach civilized regions. Twilight understood that the first group of pegasi to reach the cloud -they had taken no precautions, not knowing there was a danger- was in much poorer condition than herself at the moment.

        Twilight was the extreme opposite of glad that Rainbow Dash had organized and led that group.

        Twilight tore her eyes away from the plume with a weak shudder and lowered her gaze. A couple of ponies were stringing a banner high from two facing houses in the street directly in front of the library’s front door. It read-

OUR HEROTWILIGHT SPAR

        -before the banner’s designers had apparently ran out of space to the sides. Which was odd, considering the street was wide enough to accommodate a much larger banner.

There was a loose crowd of ponies in front of the treehouse; neighbours, acquaintances and some strangers, and all of them were approaching the trolley. Twilight was overcome by a surge of emotion and she had clenched her eyes shut and fought an urge to cry, but she heard murmurs of heartfelt gratitude being directed at her and felt the occasional light nuzzle against her forelegs. Then Spike raised his voice.

“Sorry, ponies, but Twilight is really tired and just wishes to take some fresh air, so if you could please step back a bit?”

Twilight felt Spike start pushing the trolley again, and the murmurs fell behind. Spike muttered something about display pieces and personal space. Twilight opened her eyes and blinked away a film of moisture, letting her vision clear. Houses were passing her by as she was being carted up a slight incline towards Ponyville General Hospital.

“Spike? I’m fine. Why are we going to the hospital?”

She intended to sound reassuring, but what came out of her mouth was hardly stronger than a whisper. Fluttershy would have asked her to speak up. Spike answered in between huffing and grunting as he pushed resolutely onwards.

“I want the doctor to look you over if you keep trying to stand up when she said you shouldn’t.”

Twilight didn’t feel she had the strength of will to argue right then. The trolley nudged open the double doors to the hospital a short while later, causing the nurse on duty to look up from his paperwork. He trotted over and greeted them.

“Hello miss Sparkle, hello Spike. Did you have an appointment or is this an extra visit?”

Spike let go of the trolley’s handles and caught his breath a moment before answering.

“No appointment. Is Doctor Foaley available?”

The nurse went back to his paperwork and pulled out a paper which he studied for a moment.

“She’s with a patient right now, though she should be ready shortly. You can wait outside her office. Let me get that for you, Spike.”

The last remark made Spike stop reaching for the trolley’s handles and nod gratefully. The nurse started pushing the trolley, and Twilight with it, down the halls. He looked at her and cleared his throat.

“I hope I’m not out of line here, but on behalf of my friends and family I’d like to say: Thank you, miss Sparkle. My sister just wouldn’t stop pestering me until I promised I’d tell you how grateful we all are for your efforts.”

“Thank you.”

Twilight smiled tiredly. She'd whispered again. She wondered idly what was wrong with her voice while the trolley was pushed to a halt next to a door.

“Well, here we are; I’m sure the doctor will see you shortly. Have a good one, Spike! And..”

The nurse had turned towards Twilight and discovered that the mare had fallen asleep. He hesitated and nodded to Spike again before walking away. Spike pushed the trolley carefully and silently a bit further away from the door before sitting down in a chair and settling down to wait.

He was idly counting floor tiles as the door opened, and Doctor Foaley walked out. She glanced over at spike before turning and holding the door open for Mrs. Cake, who was also exiting the doctor’s office, carrying one of her twin children on her back. They were apparently engaged in small talk, and Spike caught the latter half of a sentence from Mrs. Cake.

“-Tiresome, and we have to keep ordering extra flour, but the little darlings seem to enjoy it so much. I just can’t figure out where they got the idea to play in it.”

The baby unicorn was sucking on a pacifier and observing her surroundings with huge eyes. When she spotted spike she grinned hugely and started rocking back and forth, making her pacifier fall to the floor. Doctor Foaley spoke next.

“Well, medically it does no harm as long as they don’t eat it or it clogs their ears. Just make sure their ears are clean and watch out for any signs of aching tummies after they’ve played in it. If they do eat it you could consider keeping them away from flour, but I doubt they like the taste of it enough to do so anyway.”

Mrs. Cake had spotted the lost pacifier and picked it up. She smiled to the doctor as she cleaned it against a handkerchief:

“Thank you, Doctor Foaley.”

Then she reached back to place the pacifier back in Pumpkin Cake’s mouth, but the little foal kept leaning away. Pumpkin was still locking eyes with Spike and Mrs. Cake had unknowingly blocked her sight.

“Da’gn!”

Pumpkin pointed and laughed the peculiar, hyperventilating laugh of babies, causing Spike to grin back. Mrs. Cake finally noticed him.

“Oh hello, Spike! How are you today? And how is Twilight?”

The baby dragon nodded in greeting and pointed to the trolley and its inhabitant resting further along the hall.

“She’s getting better, I think, but still has almost no strength at all.”

Mrs. Cake looked at twilight’s sleeping form with sympathy, shaking her head slowly.

“The poor dear.”

“DA’GN!”

Pumpkin shouted wildly, still rocking back and forth and pointing at spike. Mrs. Cake grabbed Pumpkin and cradled her in her left front leg, shushing while replacing the pacifier. Pumpkin still had her eyes riveted on Spike.

“I’m sorry,” Mrs. Cake explained, “we’re reading through a book with pictures of various beings found in Equestria, and it has this magic box that plays the sound of the being shown if you point at a picture and pronounce the name of the creature...”

She smiled and looked away.

Spike thought, what kind of ‘sound’ would a dragon... Ah. He climbed up on a chair, raised his arms in a mock threatening fashion, grinned at Pumpkin and did his best to roar -quietly, so as to not disturb Twilight. His good intentions were swiftly demolished when an appreciative Pumpkin nearly jumped out of Mrs. Cake’s cradling embrace and emitted an ear-piercing mixture of squeal and giggle, this time expelling the pacifier under a chair. Spike slapped his forehead and jumped down from his chair, searching for the pacifier. It had rolled all the way in and was resting next to the wall. He sighed and crawled to fetch it. As he did so, he heard Mrs. Cake speak again.

“Sorry about that, Twilight. Pumpkin’s picking up some of Pinkie’s moods as of late.”

He straightened out and handed the pacifier to Mrs. Cake without looking, instead gazing anxiously at Twilight.

“Did you get some rest?”

Twilight’s head was raised a bit from the pillow it had rested on and her eyes were half-closed, but she nodded mutely and yawned. Doctor Foaley nodded at her.

“Ms. Sparkle. Spike. Hello to you both. Let’s get you inside, shall we?”

The doctor walked over to Twilight’s trolley and manoeuvered it into her office, with Spike following and closing the doors behind him. Doctor Foaley walked over to a filing cabinet and opened it, picking up a thick folder before closing it again. She took the folder in her mouth over to a desk and laid it down so it fell open. Then she turned back to Spike and Twilight.

“So, what brings you here today?”

Spike took a breath and straightened.

“I’m think that Twilight is wearing herself out. I caught her standing on the top of the stairs to her bedroom today. She wanted out, but I talked her into using the trolley. She’s not going to hurt herself, is she?”

He looked at the doctor with apparent worry. Dr. Foaley raised her eyebrows and peered at a blushing Twilight.

“You managed to stand up unaided? That’s good. Would you mind if I examined you a bit?”

Twilight shook her head indicating her consent, and the doctor moved to the side of the trolley.

“Push against my hoof, please. Good. Now use your other hoof. All right, now we do the same with your hind legs. And the other one. Very good! Yes, your strength is returning I’d say. Please lie on your side.”

She waited for Twilight to do so and then pulled the patient’s top hind leg outwards until it was straight. Foaley pushed against it gently with her other hoof, in various places, until twilight let out a sharp gasp.

“Did that hurt?”

“A little.”

Dr. Foaley nodded and returned to her desk, creasing her forehead and pursing her lips while her eyes scanned the text on some papers. Then she smiled back up at Twilight.

“I think I can speak with confidence when I give you your prognosis now; You should be fine in a week or two. A month from now and there shouldn’t be any lingering signs left. Just keep eating high-calory foods: Plenty of nuts mixed with your salad, please! But not sweets. They give energy, yes, but what you need is building materials for your body.”

A sigh of relief told of how Twilight had looked forward to hearing something like that.

“But what happened to me? Does this mean you know?”

Foaley nodded.

“I think I do. I’ve spoken to your friends, of course, but perhaps you could tell me yourself what you did when the mountains fell and the earth quaked? Just what were you planning?”

Twilight sighed and rested her head against a pillow while mumbling.

“There wasn’t really a plan.”.

        This made dr. Foaley rear back theatrically.

“No plan? This doesn’t sound like the Twilight Sparkle I know!”

        This had the intended effect for half a second, as twilight smiled, but then her expression became a pained grimace and eyes clenched shut.

“There just wasn’t any time. I could see the first shock wave approaching. I’d read about earthquakes, of course -great waves of force carried by the rock beneath our feet- so I thought I’d make a raft of sorts- let the waves pass by harmlessly underneath.”

        Foaley shook her head.

“I haven’t read about stuff like that, so I can’t say exactly why that didn’t work. Witnesses say that when the first wave reached the edge of town it caused a huge spray of dirt and rock to burst all around it, and much of your tell-tale magic aura could be seen among the debris that wasn’t flying.”

She tilted her head and continued with incredulity in her voice.

“Did you really attempt to hold still the entire foundation of Ponyville?”

        Twilight drew a shuddering breath and nodded silently.

        Foaley nodded thoughtfully.

“I don’t pretend to know how magic works. I’m no unicorn. But I’ve read enough about injury while casting to have a general idea. What you used is called telekinesis, or TK for short, right? It’s a weird thing, and I just can’t wrap my head around some of the principles. Like, when you lift something with your TK, it can move and struggle freely unless you specifically hold it still. What I mean is, the object’s movements don’t interfere with your TK. But how about striking the object while you are holding it still?”

        “Well, if the blow is weak then it won’t matter much. It might push the object around. More than that and I’m told it’s much the same as if you’d strike my horn. I’d lose concentration.”

        “Not quite, I believe. From the journals I’ve read I’ve learned that unicorns reflexively strengthen their TK on an object if they perceive it being struck. Take that and combine it with the fact that the stronger your grip is the stronger your sensation of it is, and we have some -eh, interesting- effects.”

        Dr. Foaley nodded towards Twilight.

“What happened to you only takes place when a unicorn makes a great effort to hold something still with their TK and the object is struck with very great force indeed. Here’s what I think happened: as the waves struck against the sections of ground you tried to hold still you felt it and the reflex to hold tighter kicked in. This caused the next wave to be felt even more keenly, causing you to involuntarily grip tighter still -and so on. You ended up with a kind of magic cramp where you couldn’t relinquish your grip even if you wanted to. With me so far?”

        Twilight shuddered and nodded once.

“But why am I so weak?”

        “Well, any magic tires you out a bit, right? And when you do lots of it you get tired fast. But this time you couldn’t stop. Your horn is very efficient, of course; it uses some kind of energy source totally different from what the muscles and the rest of your brain use. Fact is, we’re not sure where all that energy comes from. But we do know it somehow comes from your body. Lifting something with your horn is much less taxing than lifting the same thing with, say, your hooves, but both actions do strain your body to some extent. And now you were gripping countless tons of dirt and rock as it was pounded from the side and from below by forces that I just can’t imagine. And you couldn’t stop.”

        Twilight swallowed dryly while dr. Foaley shuffled some papers before continuing.

“This kind of magical cramp has an official name, reinforcing aura feedback, and it has been recorded before, but it’s always been with less powerful magics. That’s how we know the process is much like a very rapid form of starvation once your magic reserves have emptied. You lose fat, you grow weaker and if it goes on long enough even your bones start to get brittle. It could even be fatal.”

        The doctor's voice lost its lecturing tone and softened.

“Twilight, you had a rather close shave; I think it got to your bones by the time the last wave rolled past and your grip loosened. But seeing as you are already managing to stand, it sounds like you are bouncing right back.”

        Twilight felt tears on her face. Hearing Dr. Foaley speak about it had caused her to relive it vividly. The fear and utter disbelief as the first wave approached. The disorientation as she felt like her brain was ringing like a bell after it had struck. The mounting panic at not being able to stop. The utter despair as she blacked out. She felt Spike’s arms hugging her waist.

        “It’s all right, Twilight. You’re gonna be all right.”