Origins

Chapters

The Seamstress: Origins
Bucker: Origins
Havoc: Origins

The Seamstress: Origins

The Seamstress: Origins

It was a cold winter’s night where we found the beginnings of a legend. Down in the basement of a lonely hovel in the poor district of Manehattan, sat a little, white coated unicorn, toiling away at the work assigned to her this day. The poor little filly worked day in and day out, putting her amazing talent with a needle and thread to hard work for the ones she hated to call her parents.

Pausing for a moment, the little filly dropped her head to the shoddy sewing table and sighed, “Day in and day out, it’s always the same... If only I could talk to somepony to ease myself of this dreadful boredom.” She said, in her rather elegant voice.

All of a sudden, without a sound to be heard, she perked her head up as if she’d heard something. Her horn glowed, and so too did the needles as they levitated upwards, their points all coming together to form a flower-like circle of needles, “Oh, don’t fret. Of course I know you’re here, but I said somepony. You are nice and all, but you make for little conversation beyond topics of dress and sewing.”

The needles danced a little, their points touching together to form a series of clacks, and in response, the white coated unicorn looked offended, “Well, I’m dreadfully sorry if you feel that way, but I crave the attention of a like minded individual. You understand, don’t you? You want to see new needles too, right?” She said, pouting to her levitating needles.

The needles danced and clacked once more.

The filly’s face softened and she smile, “See, you do understand. And don’t worry; I could never be mad at you.” Said the unicorn before she leaned in to kiss her tools.

She gave yet another sigh as she went back to sewing her latest bits of fabric. She was forced to make clothes like this as her family’s sole source of income, her parents living off of her talent after they’d been fired from their respective jobs for theft.

A shiver went up her spine as she heard the door opening behind her. Slowly, she turned her head, and at the top of her the stairs stood her father. He was levitating some hay and water on a plate above his head. He set it down unceremoniously down on the cement floor without even descending the stairs, being gentle with it only because he didn’t want to break the glass. After a moment, he said, “You had better finish those hoof warmers by morning, or I’ll be getting the wooden crop out again.”

Leaving the threat in the air, he shut the door with a loud slam, leaving the little seamstress alone once again. Her eyes began to water after the exchange, sniffling gently as she looked down to her flank. The marks from the last time she failed to make an article of clothing had almost faded entirely, but their memory still ached. Fear of the wooden crop agitated her, and she turned to her needles once again, “I-it’s time to get to work again, my sweets...”

And into the night, the filly worked upon the cloth hoof warmers, staying up far past what her young body could handle. She ate her meager meal after finishing her third hoof warmer, content in knowing that although it was the cheapest of foods, it was enough to fill her belly. It wasn’t until well after midnight did she finish the final piece of clothing that she was tasked to do, her little form exhausted, but she still managed to bring herself to her bed of cloth scraps, collapsing upon it and falling asleep instantly, leaving her nightmare for the oblivion of dreams.

By the time she awoke, it was already noon. This was strange, as she was usually awoken early in order to continue her work, but for the first time in months, she had been allowed to sleep in. Grateful for at least this little bit of clemency, she began to stir, and heard a slight jingle. Looking towards the source, she saw that her needles were beside her, in their flower like pattern, though now disturbed. She didn’t remember bringing them to her bed, at least, last night.

“Now what are you doing here? Well, I suppose I should bring you back over to your table, we probably have more work to do today.” She said, her horn glowing as the needles came to life once more, clattering and dancing to her amusement.

Her smiled turned into a frown as she started to count her needles, “...two...six...eleven? Eleven? Oh dear, one of you is missing!” She shouted, getting up and starting to look around frantically.

A moment of panicked searching took her nowhere, but her attention was suddenly drawn by an arrow as it floated in the air; a glow of purple surrounded it. Her needles had formed the shape of an arrow, and pointed somewhere. She looked to where her tools seemed so eager to get her attention, and that’s when she saw it. Upon her worktable was another plate of hay and water, a strange occurrence, as she usually only got to eat once a night, but stranger still was a note on top of it, pinned down with her missing twelfth needle.

“There you are, you little rapscallion. Come here you!” She shouted, scolding the errant needle.

Her magic enveloped the needle and carried it, and the note it was pinned too, over to her. While her needle joined its brothers and sisters, she had taken an interest in the note, and opened it up. Her heart fell slightly as she read its contents.

Her eyes moved over the words, and she knew instantly that it was her mother’s handwriting. With her father, at least she saw him, but her mother... she had not seen her mother’s face in years now. She only received little bits of words, such as the note she held, from time to time, and this was the first word from her mother she had gotten in several months now. What made her feel the worst was that the words were simply her next project instructions; no personality, no words of hate or kindness, just a simple, impersonal business request.

The little filly set the note down on the table as she sat down at her little work stool. A white hoof came up to wipe away tears that were attempting to burst forth from her eyes, but she wouldn’t allow them to come out, not this early in the morning. She felt something begin to brush her mane, and as she looked up to see what it was, she saw that her needles, blunt side down, were gently brushing through her hair.

She sniffed gently before speaking, “Thank you, you’re always too kind.” She said, simply choosing to ignore that it was her own magic and desires that gave her tools motion.

“Alright, it’s time to start work again, it seems. A vest this time, according to the note. Ready to help me with the task?” She asked, looking to her needles, which had taken their usual flower pattern.

In response, her needles danced and clacked together, bringing a smile to her face. “Great! Let’s get started then...”

On in to the day, and into the night, she once again spent her waking hours toiling away in her basement, sewing fabric and conversing with her needles about her hopes, dreams, and desires. Ones that may never see the light of day.

Three Years Later

The little white filly in the basement had finally grown up to the age of eleven. Her skills had improved greatly, the strength of her magic grew exponentially, and she was generally bigger now. After so many years in the basement, she had become completely accustomed to it, conversing with her needles as she saw fit, four more having joined her previous set to make for better work, and more ‘friends’ to talk to.

Over time, her magic when dealing with her needles had grown even more autonomous, her conscious decisions making way for simple subconscious actions, leaving herself unawares and surprised by the actions of her tools at times, and in these times, forgetting that they weren’t simple tools. She believed them alive.

As she’d grown in skill and speed over the years, so too did her workload, her parents trying to get as many bits out of her that they could. Still, she pressed on, wanting to get as much work done as she could to please her father, not wanting to feel the sting of the crop again.

At the very least, she had been given extra supplies over the years in addition to her extra needles. A few shoddy mannequins were scattered around the basement floor, one of which was in use at the moment as she magically placed bits of cloth upon them. She pinned when needed, cut off bits of fabric that were loose or hanging, and in general, showed off her talents as a now master tailor.

As she continued to craft the vest, she suddenly heard a sound coming from behind her, the sound of the basement door opening. She hadn’t heard much of her parents in the last week, merely getting notes with her morning hay, which was double portioned to last her the night as well. She shook the thoughts from her mind before looking to the stairwell, wondering what whoever it was might want with her.

“You. We don’t have time to be watching this. You can take care of her for us while you make clothes. Bring her up like you, and if you do a good enough job, I won’t bring out the wooden crop again.” Her father said, leaving the threat in the threat in air once more.

Once again, a shiver went down the tailor’s spine, remembering that last time she had her flank punished with the crop. It had been almost a year now, but the memories were still fresh. Those thoughts were disturbed, however, when her father left a small bundle of cloth at the bottom of the steps before turning around and shutting the basement door, locking her away from the world once again.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to the strange bundle of cloth. On top of it was a note, simply laying atop it. Using her magic, she levitated up towards her, and began to read the note.

Dear Rarity,

Already she was shocked, not having heard nor seen her own name in years now. Intrigued, she read on,

I know I don’t talk to you much, and I honestly don’t see why I should have to. But, this time, I think I’ll write a little more to make sure you do a good job with this.

Your father and I have been getting a bit more money recently, and we wanted to expand our clothing line, so, we got you a sibling, one hopefully as talented as you are. Take care of her, name her whatever you want.

PS: Her bottle is in the blanket, leave it at the steps every morning and night and I’ll fill it up. Don’t forget, or you’ll have to deal with her hungry crying every night.

Rarity was simply flabbergasted. To have a child simply to make more money off of them was utterly awful. But, more pressing at the moment, was the fact that she now had a sister, a baby sister, one that she’d been tasked to take care of, all by her lonesome. She didn’t know what to do. She had never taken care of anything before save her tools in her entire lifetime, and now she was responsible for another, baby pony.

Then the realization dawned on her; she had finally obtained something she always wanted. Another pony. Sure, she most likely wouldn’t be able to speak for years, but she could wait. She had patience. She could groom the little one into the perfect conversation partner, somepony that she could speak with, hug, and tell jokes with. Somepony to share her nightmare, somepony that could lessen the torment she had become accustomed too over the years.

This was somepony all to herself.

She smiled, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Four Years Later

“Come on, Sweetie Belle! You need to help sissy with the next set of clothing!” Rarity shouted out, trying to get a little help.

“Otay sissy!” Her little sister said, trotting happily over to her to help.

The little foal was now four years old and had grown up enough to be called a filly. She was often a hyperactive, crying nuisance, but those times were becoming less and less frequent as Sweetie Belle learned to speak and make sense of things. Eventually, she even became a bit of a help, getting bits of fabric when asked, and tidying up around the basement that the two had shared now for the entirety of the little filly’s life.

Rarity was proud to see what her little sister had become. Having raised her nearly from birth, she was there for all of the big moments. Naming her, hearing her say her first words, helping her understand what was helpful and what wasn’t. And most of all, she had somepony to talk too. She still spoke to her needles all the time, much to her little sister’s curiosity, and the needles themselves seemed to move on their own at times, perhaps from the sheer amount of magical energy that had touched them over the years.

As the years went by, well past her fifteenth birthday, she had become a true master of the needle and thread. Now a young mare, with strong magics, she was able to fashion entire dresses from cheap cloth in merely two or three days, a wonder compared to what she did before. With the distraction of Sweetie Belle, this life of theirs was something almost enjoyable, often filled with laughter in the time the two didn’t spend huddled together for emotional support, usually following a visit from their father.

But now wasn’t the time for that. Now was the time for dresses.

“Now that’s a good girl. Okay, I just need you to hold on to little bits where I tell you so that I can make the right cuts, okay?” The white mare asked.

“Otay!” The little filly said, smiling brightly and moving in to position, grabbing on to the right bits of cloth with her teeth. She really didn’t have much talent with dressmaking, but Rarity kept trying.

Looking to her side, the unicorn listened as her needles clacked and danced, the purple glow around them barely visible anymore, “Oh, I know you can do it more easily, but I have to help her practice, or she’ll never get good at this.” She said, scolding her needles.

Dropping the piece of cloth in her mouth, Sweetie Belle looked to her sister with a curious gaze, “Hey, sissy, how come I can’t hear them?” The little filly asked.

Sighing, Rarity replied, “We’ve been over this before, Sweetie. You just haven’t known them long enough. Once your magic starts to work, and you’re around them longer, they’ll talk to you, too.”

“M’otay sissy, if you say so.” The little filly replied, doing back to her chores.

These days almost seemed tolerable. They’d been getting more and better food, and she hadn’t seen the crop in years. And thankfully, Sweetie Belle never had to lay eyes on it. Things were looking up for the two of them. Maybe one day, she could get out of this dump and take her, her skills, and her little sister far away from here, and start a new life. She knew she’d most likely end up sewing and making clothes for a living, but she’d be doing it on her terms, and making all the money for herself. And her beloved sister of course.

About halfway through the dress, with Sweetie Belle making the occasional mess, which was thankfully easy to fix, Rarity paused, hearing a noise coming from upstairs. “Now that’s odd... usually they’re quiet up there.” She said, wondering to herself.

After a moment, her sixteen needles arranged themselves in their flower pattern, each holding on to a different thread, approached her and began to clack. “Maybe... I hope you’re right.”

“What is it, sissy? Someting wrong?” Sweetie Belle asked in her high pitched voice.

“I don’t know, Sweetie. Just stay there for now; I’ll see what’s going on.” She said.

For the first time in her life, she started to approach the staircase willingly, without the thought of food being there. She dared not get too close, or even so much place a hoof on a step, but she wanted to get closer, to hear what was going on.

She didn’t like what she heard.

Above, she heard rustling, heavy thumps, and even a muffled cry. There were sounds of fighting going on above. She had never known her parents to fight, at least, not this loudly, so the possibility worried her. She did not want to deal with her father when he was angry at her. After a few moments, however, she heard a loud thump come from above, followed by a few unfamiliar voices. And soon, the sound of hooves coming for the basement door.

Her eyes opened wide as fear went through her body. She wasn’t sure who this was, but she feared the worst. Turning to her sister, she shouted, “Sweetie Belle! Get in to the bathroom now, and don’t let anyone but me inside, okay?”

“But---”

“Go! Now!”

Her little sister started to tear up at the sudden order, but she obeyed, running quickly for the bathroom, shutting it behind her with what little strength she could manage, leaving her big sister alone.

Rarity backed away from the stairs, her eyes glued to the door. Soon enough, a massive kick shattered the door into pieces, causing a rain of wood to come in to the basement. That was when the young mare saw them. Three ponies wearing balaclavas started walking down the stairs. In the lead was a unicorn stallion, and behind him were the other two, a couple of earth ponies, one a mare and the other a stallion. However, that wasn’t the first thing that caught her attention.

No, her attention was drawn to the knife floating above the unicorn’s head, dripping with a red liquid she was all too familiar with.

“Well well, lookie what we have here! The ones upstairs were useless, but they had some good stuff. This young one, however... what do you think?” He said, turning a head to his lackeys.

“Pft, do whatever you want. I just want the bits.” The mare said.

“I think I want her... for a while at least.” The earth pony stallion said, a disturbing look in his eyes.

Rarity was afraid. More afraid than the culmination of her entire life of abuse. These weren’t her father, no. These ponies didn’t need her alive and in one piece to get money out of her. They just wanted to take what they wanted from her. They might even take away her Sweetie Belle.

That possibility sent a shiver down her spine and caused her to draw a cold sweat.

“Heh, lookit that, she’s all scared. Don’t worry; we’ll take good care of you.” The unicorn stallion said, approaching Rarity with a menacing glare in his eyes.

“Stay back! D-don’t touch me!” She shouted, backing away slightly, her control over her needles faltering as they slowly lowered to the ground.

“Aww, come now. Be a good little filly or I’ll have to scar that pretty little face of yours... like this!” He said.

Rarity barely saw the blade approach her, moving for her face. She just closed her eyes and screamed, waiting for the pain to come.

But no pain came. Nothing. Not even a sound.

That is, until she heard the clattering of a knife.

She was shaking, shaking harder than even on the coldest nights of winter. Shaking more than she ever had in her lifetime. She was afraid, deathly afraid. But still, she opened an eye to see what had happened.

She let out a gasp.

The three ponies stood before her, all of them with their eyes wide, not making a single movement. Of course, how could they possibly move, given their situation?

They were all bound by threads, ones that pierced straight through their bodies and beyond.

She looked them over, wondering just what had happened. Each of them had thread darting through their bodies. It was as if some blast of thread had come from beside her and pierced straight through the ponies that had meant to cause her harm. The strings were pulled taut, and she finally caught sight of the cause.

Stuck in to the wall, pulling the lines of thread tight, making them completely rigid, were her special needles. As she looked to them, one by one they began to glow purple and dislodge themselves before travelling towards her. Soon, all sixteen of them were at her side, taking the shape of a flower. A blood-stained flower.

“You... you saved me?” Rarity asked, dumbstruck.

Her needles clacked, “You did... I... thank you! Thank you!” She said, knowing nothing else that she could say.

She didn’t care that there were three ponies in the basement with her, each of them collapsing one by one as the threads went slack. She was safe. Her sister was safe. And her needles had saved her life. Levitating a piece of cloth over, she cleaned each and every one of them off, removing the small amounts of blood from them. Once finished, she leaned in and delivered her biggest kiss ever to her tools, thanking them for what they did for her.

“Sissy?” Came a shaky voice from the bathroom.

The sound of her sister’s voice brought her back to the reality of things. Her adrenaline was dying down, her needles retreated to the side of her head, where they normally floated, and she quickly turned her head to the door to the bathroom. A small panic shot through her entire body; while she cared nothing for these ponies now littering her floor, she couldn’t possibly allow Sweetie Belle to see this. At her young age, she had no business knowing the ins and outs of life and death. She had her whole innocent childhood ahead of her.

Thinking quickly, she cleared her throat and called to the door, “I-it’s... it’s alright, Sweetie Belle! Just stay in there! I just... need to clean something!”

“But... but it’s dark in here... I can’t reach the light.” Came the sniffling voice of the little filly from the bathroom.

Rarity mentally scolded herself for sending her little sister into a pitch black room when danger was going on. The little filly must be terrified. Bringing a hoof to her head, she started to think, and got an idea. “Don’t worry, Sweetie. My needles will turn on the lights for you and keep you company while I clean up.” She said to her sister.

“...really? I get to play with your needles?” Came the words of a quiet, but much calmer voice.

“Yes, dear. Just ---” She was interrupted by her needles clacking together, “I know. But please, play nice with her, at least until I get this mess cleaned up.” She whispered to her needles.

After a few more clacks, the needles floated over to the bathroom door, slipped under the bottom, and went about entertaining the little filly; after turning on her lights. Rarity sighed and hung her head. She had so much to deal with all of a sudden. Her parents were most likely gone thanks to these three, she now had bodies in her room, and while she had no love for these three, she, or rather, her needles, had seen fit to end them. Unable to process the world shattering events around her at the moment, she did what she could to try and go on.

Using her magic, she moved the ponies to the far side of the room and began to drape them with her cloth. Luckily for her, they left no stains on the floor, the threads left behind stopping any blood flow. She did her best to cover them up completely, so that Sweetie Belle didn’t have to see what had happened.

She started to hear giggles coming from the bathroom, soon escalating in to full blown squeals of laughter. Cocking an eyebrow, Rarity trotted over to the bathroom, and magically opening the door slightly, she peered inside.

She smiled warmly at the sight, seeing her tools tickling at her sister’s side, which explained the laughter, “Alright. Come on now you lot. Sweetie Belle... I have something special for you.” She said.

The needles stopped, and her laughter instantly vanished in the wake of excitement, her eyes opening wide and glistening, “Surprise! Tell me tell me tell me!” She shouted, bouncing up and down in place.

The white mare smiled gently, “Alright. But you have to close your eyes, alright?”

“Otay!” Her sister replied, firmly shutting her eyes.

“Now don’t open them until I say so.”

Once she was sure Sweetie Belle’s eyes were closed tight, she telekinetically lifted her little sister up and onto her back, causing the little one to give another squeal of joy. After a glance to see if the filly’s eyes were still closed, she took to the stairs, slowly but surely. A hesitation met her as she came to the first step, but, she pressed on, swallowing hard and climbing the wooden staircase to her freedom.

Once she was able to see the room above the basement, she knew she was probably right in assuming the worst. Not wanting to look at anything save for the intense disarray of the room, she quickly looked around for the exit to this small hovel. Her eyes were soon drawn to the light shining in from the doorway, the shards of the wooden door strewn about from when it was broken into. Rarity took a deep breath, and walked out into the warmth and light of Celestia’s sun.

She blinked and squinted her eyes as the bright sun hurt them, not being used to this intensity of light. Keeping her eyes on the ground to help them adjust, she spoke up, “Alright, Sweetie Belle, you can open your eyes now. Carefully, it’s very, very bright.”

Slowly, her little sister opened her eyes, and let out a gasp of wonder and amazement. She was outside for the first time in her life and it filled her little heart with a sense of purest joy.

“Outside! We’re outside! Sunny!” She shouted, her eyes closing for a moment before she continued to look around in awe.

Rarity smiled gently and raised her head slowly, taking her own look of the outside world, her own happiness resonating with that of her sister’s. It was magical.

This was a new day for them. Free from the oppression of their parents, this day would light the way for the rest of their lives.

One Month Later

“Sissy... I’m hungry!” Sweetie Belle cried, her little tummy rumbling.

“I know you are, darling, but we ran out of food this morning, and all the bits I have need to be saved for shelter... don’t worry. Just be tough for your big sister for a little while longer, I have a client coming soon, I hope... and when she comes, we’ll have ten whole bits! Five of that will go to shelter, but the other five will get us hay for a week. It’ll be something to feed us for a while. I just hope she comes soon.” Said Rarity.

She had been working on a dress for her first ever client as an independent clothes maker. Sewing was still her passion and greatest talent, and she was very certain it would support herself and her little sister. For the time being, however, the two were very poor. The white unicorn had spent what bits she was able to find from their old home, which was a difficult task due to the stench within. She was not able to find a lot of bits, nor did she find much in unspoiled food, but she did at least manage to get clothing supplies. She spent what she found getting her and her sister a small shack on the outskirts of Manehattan, as well as buying some extra food rations for the two. But now, they had run out of food, and their survival depended on that client arriving soon and liking the dress she made.

“Otay sissy...” The little filly said as she lowered her head and sniffled.

It broke her heart to see her sister like this, and even after depriving herself of food for a day, it still didn’t seem to be enough. She had hoped the client would have arrived, but still, she waited, “I know, Sweetie, but please just... wait. Why don’t you go and take a nap while I work on this.”

The little filly seemed to be mulling it over in her head, but she eventually nodded in agreement and went to go and lay down on their shared bed. It was shabby, but it was better than the mass of cloth scraps they used to sleep on.

Rarity sighed as she watched her sister leave the room, of which their shack only had three, before she gathered up her needles and turned to them, “I hope that client arrives soon, I can’t bear to see her like this, not to mention my own hunger.”

In response, her needles clicked together, the magical glow around them barely visible.

“Yes, I know you wish you could help more, but this is all we can do for now. Maybe we’ll catch a lucky break... Maybe I’ll go back to cleaning, this place still has some filth in it, and it’ll help pass the time. Assume the position, please.” She said, giving a small smile to her needles.

The needles rearranged themselves from a flower pattern and paired themselves up to act as tiny tweezers to help their mistress pick up small bits of dirt. The shack had already been cleaned top to bottom during the unicorn’s stay here, the bulk of the cleaning having been done in the last couple of days as Rarity fought to stave off hunger, and as the amount of dirt in the place began to shrink, she needed smaller means by which to clean, to keep her mind off of things, especially her belly.

With the help of her special tools, she went through her new home, picking up tiny flecks of dirt and dust, putting it all into a small pile for later disposal. The more she did this, the more she enjoyed the feeling of cleanliness. It made her feel in control of her life, it made her feel as if she’d washed away and cleaned her terribly stained past, especially when it came to the constantly dirty basement she lived in. It was all part of a way for her to feel like this was truly a new life for her and sister, a better one, and not just another bad hand dealt by fate.

After she cleaned for what could have been hours, a knock rapped upon her door. Her concentration broke immediately as she jumped in fright at the sudden noise, but she regained her composure quickly and stared at the door cautiously. Her needles began to clack together, but she quickly shushed them and made her way to the door. Unlike the last time her door was intruded, this attempt at entry came with a polite knock, which usually meant good news.

She cautiously opened the door just a crack with a touch of magic before she peered outside, and to her elation, she recognized the face of the pony who had been knocking at her door.

“Tranquil Springs! How marvelous for you to show up! Please, come on in. I put the finishing touches on your outfit a few hours ago, so it should look positively perfect and to your specifications!” She said as she gave her best business smile.

Tranquil Springs returned the smile as she walked into the house, her wings tucked in tightly in the small space, “Thank you very much. I can’t wait to see it.” She said, though at the back of her mind, she was kind of wary about buying a dress off of a back alley clothes maker.

At least it was cheap.

“Wonderful, well, here it is! What do you think?” Rarity said, shifting her gaze from her client to the dress she had made.

The pegasus pony’s eyes widened as she saw the dress. It was a marvel! “That dress looks magnificent! I... I don’t know what to say.”

The unicorn beamed with pride at her client’s reaction, “I’m so very glad you like it! Does that mean you’ll be buying it? We agreed on ten bits I believe.” She asked, a little too eagerly due to her hungry belly.

“Oh of course I’m buying this! Though this is worth much more than ten bits!” Tranquil said, looking at the wonderful dress, “Here, I don’t have much extra money, but this is worth fifteen bits at least.”

Rarity’s eyes widened a little more as she saw her client fishing for even more money. A tip! A wonderful thing! This could get her and Sweetie Belle much in the way of food for a while. “Oh, thank you! You are most generous! You don’t know how much it will help me and my little sister.”

Tranquil Springs paused for a moment before setting down her mouthful of bits on a nearby table, “Little sister? Well... now I’m wishing I could help you a little more. You know... you should go and see Bobbin, down on Pineapple Avenue. She owns a clothes shop, and you might be able to get your talent some more exposure. Just tell her I sent you, and she might be able to help. We go way back.” The pegasus explained, smiling brightly to the maker of her new dress.

Rarity began to tear up a little. It felt as if she had met the kindest pony in the world at this very moment, and she couldn’t be happier about it, “Thank you... thank you very much. I’ll do just that. I need to pick up some food today, but tomorrow, I’ll definitely go. I can’t thank you enough, this is just what me and my sister needed.”

Tranquil’s face softened as she saw the reaction to her little bit of kindness, “Well, don’t worry. You go do that right away. I’ll just be taking my dress and heading out. I have to get ready for a little party tonight.”

“Oh, yes, of course. I won’t keep you. Here, let me fold it up for you.”

Moments later, Rarity handed over the folded up dress to Tranquil Springs, the pony that showed her the greatest generosity she had ever witnessed in her life. They said their goodbyes to one another, bidding farewell to one another, and with that, Rarity now found herself alone in the room.

She let out a squeal of joy.

“I did it! My first sale! And I got a tip, too! I just know I can pull this off now... Sweetie Belle!”

A moment later, she heard her sister’s little hooves come from the bedroom, “What is it sissy? Did you get food yet?” She asked, sounding a little sleepy from her nap.

“I got the money! I’ll be going out to get us some food now, you won’t have to be hungry for very much longer!”

The small quiet trot turned into an excited galloping as Sweetie Belle ran into the room, “Really? Yay! Hurry up, sissy! I want it now!”

Rarity gave a gentle laugh, “Alright. I’ll go and get it for you. You go back in the room and get under the covers, alright? And if anypony comes in, and it doesn’t sound like me, you hide under the floorboards like I told you, alright?” The unicorn said to give her sister a refresher on safety in the house.

The little filly nodded quickly, having practiced just in case something bad happened, “I’ll be otay! Now go!” She said as she prodded her sister’s foreleg with her tiny horn.

The older unicorn smiled, “Alright. Stay safe, I’ll be back soon.”

After she made sure that Sweetie Belle was safely tucked away in the house, she locked the front door behind her and made her way into the city, thinking of getting enough food to last them a few weeks. She’d wait until she had steady income before getting anything tastier than the barest of necessary foods, but she felt that soon she’d be able to get her sister and herself something nice.

It was only a matter of time now.

The Following Day

Rarity sat in the main room of her shack as she munched on some of the hay she had gotten yesterday, enjoying a breakfast before she left for the dress shop. Her little sister was still asleep, her little belly still full of food from the small feast they enjoyed the night before. While she wanted to conserve what they had for the time being, she was not going to deny her little Sweetie Belle a chance to make up for a missed meal, but she did make sure to tell her they wouldn’t be able to do something of the sort again for a while.

She hoped that it wouldn’t be a while, however. She was still young, and her sister younger still. They had their whole lives left to travel down the paths set before them. She had a feeling things would only get better from here.

But, she had to be proactive in this, and after swallowing down the last of her hay and taking a drink of stale water to wash it down, she vowed to do just that.

“Alright you lot, it’s time to go. You can tuck yourselves in to my mane for now. I might be needing you at the dress shop to show this Bobbin my stuff. And I would very much appreciate it if you were on your best behavior and helped me be my best.” She said, talking to her needles.

After receiving a bit of clacking in response, she smile brightly and gave them a kiss, “Oh, thank you very much.”

All of a sudden, she heard the sound of tiny hooves tapping on wooden floor, and as she turned her head, she saw Sweetie Belle sleepily drag herself in to the room, “Oh! Good morning, Sweetie Belle.”

“Mornin’... sissy.” The little filly replied.

Rarity giggled happily upon seeing her sister walk out of their shared bedroom with a mane that looked like it had taken a beating, “Good morning, Sweetie Belle. It’s good that you’re up. I have breakfast laid out for you here already, but I do have to tell you that I’ll be leaving soon. There’s somewhere I need to visit, hopefully to make a deal about getting more money for us in exchange for my dressmaking talents,” She explained.

“Aww… you’re leaving again…” Her sister replied, hanging her head low.

“I am… and I’d like to take you into town with me.”

The little filly perked up at the words. Her eyes widened a little and a smile graced her little face, “I get to go shopping wit sissy! Yay!”

Rarity watched as her little sister danced in place, “Good! I’m glad you’re excited. Now, come on, eat up and we can get going. You have until I get ready, so hurry up!”

Sweetie Belle nodded happily and hopped up onto a little stool that brought her to the same height at their rickety table. As she started to dig in, Rarity turned and began to prepare for the trip.

She wanted to take some samples with her, and some materials with which to create more on the fly, should Bobbin wish it of her. Thinking practically for a moment, she decided to take the saddlebags she had made for herself. It wasn’t a full dress, but she didn’t have one of those handy at the moment, so she had to make do with what she had. The saddlebags were a wonderful shade of purple that matched her mane, and worked well for carrying her things.

She delicately placed what she thought she might need for this in to her bags, including some spare cloth and several spools of thread. Once finished, she closed her bags tightly and turned to her needles, which were still floating by her side, “Alright, I’m ready to leave now. In you go!” She said, lowering her head slightly.

At the command, her needles spread out and weaved themselves in to her mane. She always liked to keep them close to her, but after receiving several odd looks when she first left her parent’s house for having needles floating beside her head, she decided that it be best to hide them. Once they were tucked away nicely and out of sight, she turned to her sister, “Alright, Sweetie Belle, are you done with your breakfast?”

The little filly was in the middle of her eating the last bit of her food as she gulped it all down. For a brief moment, it looked like she might have started to choke, but it passed, and she let out a small gasp before a smile graced her face, “All ready now, sissy! I like going outside!” She said, quite excited to be in the sun once again.

“Very well, let your big sister Rarity take you out for a day in the town! Just stay close to me, alright?” She said, not wanting any harm to befall her younger sibling.

After a cute little nod from the filly, Rarity opened the door and together, they set out, out into the bright, warm sunlight they’ve only recently become acquainted with. The slum they lived in looked quite dingy, but what underlying beauty there was was amplified by the wonderful rays of the sun.

However, as nice at it might look, Rarity didn’t want to stay, and so with Sweetie Belle in tow, she headed towards the center of Manehattan. She had wandered around the city a few times with her little sister in the month since they left their parent’s home, but they were still strangers to the layout of the city. Still, even lost, they enjoyed the sights and the sounds together, especially since the center of the city was much nicer than the slums they currently lived in.

Eventually, Rarity decided it was best if they got directions, as after an hour of searching, she still couldn’t find Pineapple Avenue. Luckily, she spotted a pony that might be able to help, “Hello there, officer. I was wondering if I could bother you for some directions?” She asked.

The stallion wearing a blue hat, vest, a golden police badge and rugged good looks turned to her with a smile on his face, “Hello, madam. Not a problem at all, I know this town like the back of my hoof. Where do you need to go?”

Rarity blushed slightly at the officer after getting a good look at him, but decided that she had more important things to do than flirt. Besides, she wasn’t even sixteen yet, he was much too old for her, “Ah-heh, yes, well...” She started, a little flustered, “...I was looking for a clothes shop on Pineapple Avenue, owned by somepony named Bobbin.”

“Oh, I know just where that is, madam. One of her tailors makes our uniforms, you know. Alright, from here... Ah. Go down that road about half a block,” He said as he pointed down the road behind Rarity, “Then take a left, and keep going until the main road hits a fork, and then go right. That’s Pineapple Avenue. Then, you just gotta read the signs as you go along, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh! Thank you so much! I think I only just missed the boutique while looking. Thank you again, officer.”

“Not a problem, and please, call me Solitaire.”

Rarity gave him a flustered giggle and nodded before turning around to follow his directions. Sweetie Belle wasn’t too far behind, and her inquisitive nature got the better of her, “Sissy, why’s your face all red and stuff?”

The white mare blushed even harder now, though out of embarrassment this time, “Shush, Sweetie Belle. That’s... there’s no reason, let’s just keep going.”

The little filly gave her older sister a curious look before the two continued down the road towards the boutique. Sure enough, ten minutes later, the two found Pineapple Avenue, and moments later, the clothes shop came in to view. The store was of moderate size and had a big sign out front in the shape of a bobbin with the word’s ‘Bobbin’s Clothes For All Occasions’ on it.

“Well, this must be the place then. Alright, Sweetie Belle, come on inside and please behave, alright. I want to look around a little first before speaking to the owner. I need to know if my clothing designs are up to par with these.”

“Otay sissy, I’ll just stay close to you.” Came her sister’s high pitched voice.

Side by side they walked into the clothes shop, the older unicorn’s eyes immediately looking over the various outfits and accessories to be found in the establishment. She took everything in with a critical eye, and while some of it was genuinely fantastic, a lot of it was rather mediocre, at least, as far as she was used to. This was the first instance of true pride swelling up in her, the idea that just maybe, her clothing, while not the best, was better than most, which made it a greater financial boon for her.

Her thoughts and observations brought her over to a corner of the store, out of the way of many eyes, as she found herself looking at the various hats on the rack.

Little did she suspect that fate would give to her another path to follow twice in one day.

Rarity’s thoughts were suddenly disturbed when two ponies, one blue and the other yellow, suddenly burst into the shop, wearing some familiar headwear. Balaclavas.

The two ponies stood tall and menacing in the shop, causing a few of the more fright filled ponies to run away and out the door, leaving only a few ponies behind in the shop. One of the masked ponies was a unicorn mare with a yellow coat, levitating a couple of kitchen knives above her head. The other was a blue coated earth stallion, looking like he had quite a bit of muscle on him.

The unicorn approached the counter, a menacing look in her eye, “Keep quiet, and toss all the bits you have into the bag, and maybe we won’t do anything to your nice little store here.” She said menacingly before tossing a brown sac on to the counter, the bag making a jingle as it landed.

Rarity watched in fright as the event unfolded in front of her eyes, her terror from a month past returning in full stride. Sweetie Belle seemed terrified as well, giving a little scream before diving into some clothes in order to hide. She apparently had better instincts than her elder sister at the moment. Soon, she felt something moving in her mane, and moments later, a familiar clacking sound came to break her from her stupor.

“W-what was that?” She asked, in a whisper, turning to see her needles floating beside her head again.

Her needles made a series of clacks that only she could understand, and then all of a sudden flew off towards the hat rack.

“You want me to what?” She asked incredulously, her voice barely rising as she expressed her shock.

Without a sound, the needles ignored their mistress for now and picked up a large hat for unicorns off of the rack. A moment later, they deposited the rather nice looking hat on to their owner’s head, and began to clack together once more.

“A disguise? But this is---”

She was cut off by her tools, which continued to urge her on, trying to talk some sense into her in their own special way.

A moment later, Rarity’s eyes softened and she finally nodded, “You’re right... I can do something about this... in this city... My parents were killed by ruffians like these. Who’s to say that, if I don’t stop them, they might not come after me, or Sweetie Belle... Alright! Let’s go.”

Using her borrowed hat to hide her face, she walked out from her corner of the store and into the open.

The pony behind the counter, Bobbin she assumed, was currently handing over a bag full of what could only be bits to the robbers. The unicorn burglar had the knives floating in the air, while her accomplice carried the bag. They were about to make their leave, but Rarity simply would not allow it.

“Halt, you ruffians!” She shouted to the ponies about to flee.

The two burglars suddenly halted their movements to see just who was calling them out, afraid for a moment that it might be the police here already. However, what they saw wasn’t the police at all. It was a teenage mare wearing a hat much too big for her.

They laughed.

“Hmph... I’ll show you!” She said, turning to her needles for a moment to give them a nod.

The burglar continued to laugh for a moment before snapping in to a mild rage, “Right. Enough of this joke. Let’s see how this little foal likes getting cut.”

With her magic, she sent the knife flying straight for its intended target, aiming to plunge itself into the white unicorn. She blinked as a sudden glint of light flashed in front of her knife. She paid it no mind at first, but when she was not longer able to move her knife at all, she frowned and took a closer look, and her eyes widened at what she found.

Tiny threads, innumerable amounts of them, were suddenly binding the knife in place in mid air, “What the?”

With a flick of her head, the threads suddenly shifted violently and loosened briefly, forcing the knife out its telepathic grasp and flicking it across the room harmlessly. But she wasn’t done there. While she partially let her needles act on their own, or what she believed was their own, she guided them with her will in this fight. Another motion with her head, her horn glowing brightly, and the needles swooped down under the unicorn burglar’s stomach. Not stopping there, they quickly wrapped around her once, making a thick line of threads around her belly.

“What are you doin---” She was suddenly cut off from a sudden intense pressure on her stomach.

With another motion, Rarity had commanded her needles to pull as hard as they could, making the threads around the burglar’s stomach pull very tight, very fast. She had completely knocked out the wind out of the robber, causing her to fall to the ground, sputtering in an attempt to catch her breath.

Dumbfounded by his companion’s sudden injury, the stallion had stood dumbly for a moment before snapping out of it, knowing what he had to do. His front-right hoof stomped the ground and his head lowered to give out a snort of anger. In a mindless fit of anger, he charged forth, ready to plow the young mare to the ground and take her out of commission.

The large hatted mare took a step back as she saw the rather large earth pony charge towards her, but she couldn’t back up now. “I’ll be having none of that!” She shouted out as she commanded her needles to pull the threads.

All sixteen of her needles suddenly began to braid the threads they each held; for the extra strength was needed. With a rapid motion of her head, Rarity commanded the needles to fly around the charging pony’s hooves, circle him completely, and loop one around the thin rope of thread before pulling tightly.

The stallion barely noticed the string that had now surrounded him at knee height, and while he was big and strong, his speed and reflexes were extremely poor. He was all too late when the string suddenly tightened around his legs.

There was nothing he could do to stop himself from falling face first onto the floor.

Rarity was panting lightly, the exertion and panic finally taking its toll on her body. She had never done anything of the sort before, at least, not actively. But with the help of her needles, she had done it. She had sent the two burglars to the ground, but there was still one more thing to do.

“Alright... big finish now.” She whispered to herself.

Conjuring up power from her reserves, as well as the rest of her thread that she had taken with her, she sent forth a flourish of magic and twine to surround the two would be robbers. It took some intense concentration, but in her mind, the results were worth it. The thread had finally run out, the needles she loved so very much returned to her side, and the bad guys were now tied from head to flank in twine.

“That... that will teach you brigands a lesson!” She shouted defiantly.

Rarity was now panting fully, her chest heaving from the amount of magic she had suddenly spent all at once. Years of using her talents for clothes making alone did not give her much in the way of stamina, but that was something she could work on in the future.

Once she felt that the store was safe, she started to glance around, but not before she received a tiny tackling hug to the back of her left hind leg. She almost buckled under the surprise, but managed to stay standing.

“Sissy! That was so cool! You stopped them!” The excited little filly attached to her hind-leg said.

Turning to look, she saw her little sister gripping her leg for dear life, tears in her eyes that were quickly drying up from the excitement of her sister’s actions. Rarity gave her a smile, and was opening her mouth to speak when she was suddenly interrupted.

“Oh, thank you so much for stopping them!” Came a voice from in front of her.

The white unicorn was slightly startled, but she kept her composure, unsure of how to proceed now. She caught a glimpse of the mare that had thanked her and she could tell that it was the shopkeeper that was behind the counter when the robbers arrived. And from the cutie mark on her flank, a bobbin of thread, similar to her own, she figured this must be Ms. Bobbin herself.

“It... it was no trouble, really. I was just trying to protect my little sister here. And umm... I borrowed your hat, but do you mind if I keep wearing it until the police arrive? I’d rather not show my face to those brigands...” She replied.

“Oh! Certainly! In fact, keep the hat! You saved me from losing over a hundred bits today! It’s the least I can do.” Bobbin said, smiling brightly to her store’s savior.

The white mare was taken aback by the sudden grateful attitude of the shop owner, having never experienced anything of the sort with which to compare this too, but she was thankful for the gift, “Why, thank you very much, madam.” She said, giving a small bow.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. That was some amazing work you did there with those two. You must be quite the seamstress to be able to do so much with nothing but some needles and thread.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I do have some practice yes...” She replied, trying to be modest about it.

“I see. Well, I can’t thank you enough for saving my store! In fact, wait just right here.” Bobbin said as she went to her counter, picking up the bag of almost stolen bits along the way.

Rarity looked on, curiosity in her eyes, watching for just what the store owner was doing. After a moment, she realized that other mare was counting out the bits in the bag, but she hadn’t the faintest idea why. Still, she decided to wait, and stole a glance towards the burglars she’d tied up. The two were still bound tightly enough that neither could escape without help. The unicorn burglar’s eyes were covered in thread as well to prevent her from seeing, so that she couldn’t find and focus on her knives to escape.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Bobbin called out to no one in particular, “Just as I thought! I knew I saw some bits at the bottom of this bag when I first started to fill it, I just wasn’t sure! I just did a quick count, and my hundred and twenty bits are all here, and then some. Here, why don’t you take it from these no good ponies? It’s not like they deserve to have it, and it’s not mine to have either.” She said.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t, I...” Rarity sputtered.

“Nonesense! You’ve earned it. Take it and go buy some more thread, and maybe a treat for you and your sister. There’s definitely enough in here for that. I’ll not take no for an answer!” The shop owner said defiantly.

The white unicorn sighed in defeat, “Oh, well, very well then. We certainly could use the bits.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Here, take it and run along now, I don’t think the police take kindly to vigilantes in this town. I won’t say anything though, no one else was around to hear, and I don’t think these two would want to admit they were beaten by someone in their teenage years that they could barely see under a hat.” The kind mare said, giving Rarity a warm smile.

The behatted pony nodded, her horn glowing brightly as she levitated the bag containing who knew how many bits over to herself. However, once she heard that police don’t like vigilantes, she had to ask a question, “Umm... if I may ask, what is a vigilante? I can’t say I’ve heard the word before.”

“You haven’t? Well, I’ll tell you real quick, but you’re going to leave soon because of it! A vigilante is a pony who takes the law into their own hands, one who fights crime and isn’t a police pony. See, in Equestria, you have to be a registered police pony to fight crime, and you did kind of do it in a way that’s usually not allowed, and that’s against the law. In short, you should get out of here soon and head back home.”

“O-Oh my... yes, I’ll be off. Thank you again! Come, Sweetie, let’s go!” Rarity shouted.

“But wh---”

“Now!”

Her little sister seemed to cower back a little, but as her elder sister ran off, she followed along. The mare made sure not to run so fast as to lose her sister, but she ran just as fast as the filly could, wanting to make sure they were as far away as possible.

She had absolutely no idea that what she did could have gotten her into trouble with the police! She knew what they had to do and what they did to those that broke the law. If she had known what she was doing was against the law, then...

As they turned the corner, Rarity slowed drastically, which her little sister was thankful for, letting her catch her breath. The elder sister was deep in thought over the events that unfolded, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that what she did was the right thing after all, pony law aside. Who knows if those two would have ever been caught, or what they might have done to her or her sister had they been spotted. What’s worse, who’s to say they might not have tried to break into their home one day? Who’s to say somepony else might not try? She had seen two vicious robberies in such a short amount of time. So much could happen in such a little amount of time. They could be in danger at any moment, and not even kno---

“Sissy?”

The one word broke the pondering unicorn from her thoughts. She blinked as her head seemed to clear itself, and she turned to look at the source of the voice.

“Are you otay, sissy? We ran far. Why’d we run far?” Sweetie Belle asked, her bright, innocent eyes looking up at her older sister.

As she looked into those eyes, she seemed to find the answer to her problems and her worries. It might be dangerous, but in the end, she knew that she had to protect her little sister, she had to make this city a safer place for her to play, to grow... a safer place to live.

“It’s... it’s nothing Sweetie Belle... come here, dear.” She said, sitting down on her flank before scooping her sister up in a hug.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Her little sister asked again, knowing something was amiss.

“Yes... yes, I am. I just... I just want to hug my little sister right now. We’re going to go home for a little while, and... and tomorrow, I’m taking you out to buy some apples, alright?”

“Apples? I never had one of them before.”

“I know. I haven’t either, but I hear they’re delicious.”

“Really? Yay! Let’s get some apples!” Sweetie Belle replied, hugging her sister tightly with a large smile on her face.

Rarity hugged right back, holding her dearest sister as close as she could, holding back the sounds of her sobs as tears of fear and hope trickled down her face.

Their life was going to be hard, but for her sister’s sake, she would do everything within her power to make things right for the two of them.

Six Months Later

Luna’s moon was high in the sky above the city and the streets of Manehattan were quiet save for the trotting hooves of the occasionally night loving pony. Rarity had become one of those ponies, for it was the best time for her to do her work without being caught. Currently, however, she was sitting comfortably in her home in the suburbs of Manehattan while her little sister slept soundly in the next room.

The two had moved in to a nicer home as Rarity gained more and more bits from her nighttime activities, as well as the dressmaking business she used as a cover. She could fashion a dress in no time at all, and it was easy to pretend that it always took a while, which made things much easier for her. The extra money helped to get her sister in to school, to give her the education she herself was denied in life. To this day, raising her sister properly and safely was something she had not faltered on, and never would.

With her magic, the unicorn levitated a cup of tea to her lips, and flipped the page of the newspaper she was reading. While it wasn’t front page news just yet, the articles were starting to become larger and larger.

‘The Seamstress: Should She Be Stopped?’

Rarity smirked as she saw the title of the article, reading the title she had given herself months ago after her first time actively searching for trouble. She remembered it like it was yesterday...

This was it, this was her first chance to actively clean up her neighborhood, to try and make things safer for her little sister.

The goons were right in front of her, occupied with a small time mugging. She had her needles at the ready. She had her newly obtained hat upon her head, as well as her new clothes, fashioned to hide her cutie mark, upon her back. She was ready to do this.

She stepped forward towards the thugs shaking down a young mare who looked like she was from the upper class part of the city, and when the light finally shined upon her, she spoke aloud, “Halt, you foul brigands!”

The two thugs, one a pegasus and the other an earth pony, jumped in place at the sudden shout from the alleyway, and together, they turned to see who it was.

“Who in the world are you?” The pegasus asked.

“The one who will make sure you end up behind bars before night’s end!”

The two seemed angry at this notion, and while the earth pony stood behind to watch their quarry, the pegasus flew slightly above the ground and dashed forward, looking for a fight.

Rarity, though scared, was ready for a fight as well, and in a flourish of magic and feathers, the battle had begun.

To her surprise, the two thugs barely even knew what hit them. In the dim light, neither opponent could see her thin threads and needles dance through the air, and it made for their swift downfall.

“I didn’t even have to use that much thread this time...” She whispered to herself, noting that she only used half of her two bit supply to tie the two of them up.

“Oh, thank you so much!” The distressed mare shouted to her rescuer.

“It... it was not a problem, madam. I’m just glad you’re safe. Now, you should leave before anything else happens. It’s not safe around here.” She instructed.

“But... I need to properly thank you for what you’ve done for me!”

“It isn’t necessary, please.”

“Then... then at least tell me your name! I must know the name of she who saved me.”

Rarity was suddenly put on the spot. She knew that she was breaking the law with this, and having her name spread around town simply wouldn’t do. But, she wanted to give this mare something. She had to come up with something fast, and as her mind raced, the words of a grateful Ms. Bobbin crossed her mind.

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. That was some amazing work you did there with those two. You must be quite the seamstress to be able to do so much with nothing but some needles and thread.”

“I... you may call me The Seamstress, madam, if you must call me anything.” She said, keeping her hat low to hide her face.

The mare seemed disappointed in getting an alias, but, she took what she was given, “The Seamstress... I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Then you are welcome. But please, I believe you should be leaving now. If you wouldn’t mind, do you think you could tell the police ponies about this place, but leave me out of it?”

“Of course! I’ll do that right away!”

With that, the mare took off down the street, heading towards where she thought the police station could be found.

In the alleyway, Rarity sighed in relief.

She had done it.

The unicorn grinned at the memory as she took another sip of her tea. That was her first time actively seeking out and stopping crime in the city as a vigilante. It was also the first time she had used that nickname, and thanks to that mare who couldn’t keep her mouth shut, the name began to spread like wildfire throughout the city, especially as the months went by and she started to take on more and more every night.

With a bit of focus, she closed the newspaper and set it aside on to a stool next to her nicely furnished chair. A moment later, her cup of tea glowed brightly with her magic as she brought it to her lips for a sip.

The tea was such a wonderful thing. It helped to calm her nerves, soothe her soul, and the small amount of caffeine helped with those late nights. Chocolate, well balanced food, good shelter, and tea were all things she was able to afford ever since she had made a decision long ago, the very night she got her name, a decision that changed the way she made her living to this day.

A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered that night once again, her eyes glazing over as the world faded around her...

The mare she had saved was gone now, most likely to do as she asked and get the police to come and arrest the two she had tied up nearby. This only gave a short amount of time to make a decision before she had to flee from the police.

She remembered how, the night before, she had finally opened the bag containing the bits she was given by Bobbin, and how it seemed to contain the bits the robbers came in with. The bag had contained a whole thirty bits, enough to pay for food and rent for a month. In one act of bravery, she had earned so much.

And it had come from taking money from the brigands she had defeated in the store.

Her eyes turned to look at the two that were on the ground, struggling against their bonds in order to escape. A moral battle raged within her, but the more she thought of her little sister, the more she thought of what she needed to do.

“I’m sorry, boys, but turning you over to the police isn’t the only unwanted thing I’ll be doing to you both today.” She said as she approached them.

The two got worried looks on their faces as the unicorn that had captured them approached, and in their vulnerable position, they closed their eyes shut, fearing what she was going to do to them.

As she looked the two over, her horn began to glow, and the two thugs felt a pressure from inside their bags. She had seen the bags the ruffians were carrying when they were hassling the distressed mare, most likely to hold any ill-gotten gains. She wasn’t too hopeful at first when she felt the first bag empty, but when she felt around inside of the second bag, a smile appeared on her face.

Rarity focused her magic and with minimal effort, she levitated a small amount of bits and jewelry from the bag, all of which was glowing with her magic. She had no time to count it, however, and quickly threw it all into her thread bag before running off, ignoring the cusses and shouts from the tied up thugs she had left behind for the police to deal with.

She had robbed the robbers, and by the look of things, was going to get away with it.

The unicorn giggled lightly as the memory finished playing over in her head. It was the first of many times that she had stolen ill-gotten gains from those she stopped. After months of telling herself that it was for her sister, that it was her reward for stopping those bad ponies, she had come to perform the act as if it were second nature.

Now, a large portion of her funding came from such activities, taking from those on the wrong side of the law. She had even concocted a spell to aid her in the task, a spell to find valuables wherever they might be, but the spell always seemed to prefer gems over bits, no matter how hard she tried to perfect it. It didn’t matter in the long run, however, as it all worked out in the end when she got the valuables she needed.

She took another sip of tea, and with a motion that showed her growing grace, she set the teacup down upon the stool beside her newspaper, the glass clacking against the hardwood. However, at the last moment, an errant bit of pollen wafted up her nose, and before she could stop herself, the irritating speck tickled the inside of her nose.

And she sneezed.

“Eeeuch... How unlady like...” She said, brushing a hoof against her nose to help clear it up.

As she had moved to a higher class of living in the city, so too did her mannerisms. Even in the suburbs, the ponies in Manehattan held themselves with a level of grace and dignity, at least, the ones who didn’t turn to a life of crime. With the constant exposure to the posh attitude and lifestyles, they had started to rub off on her as well, changing the way the spoke and acted even when in private. She didn’t even notice the change herself, and it had taken her little sister to point it out to her, but in the end, she didn’t mind it. It made her feel sophisticated.

Once her nose was cleared, she glanced around the room to make sure nothing was out of place, and as her eyes fell upon her teacup, her eyes widened slightly.

“Oh my! This simply won’t do. I need a cloth!” She said, almost shouting.

She quickly rushed to the kitchen, and knowing exactly where it was, she levitated a piece of stained white cloth and brought it close. Once it was in check, she ran back to her stool, and looked at the mess she had made.

“I was sure I had put you down properly, but no, it’s just my luck that I had to sneeze just as I was letting go, and now I’ve got two tea stains on my nice stool.”

In a fit of concentration and scrubbing, she quickly wiped down the stool, levitating her cup and her newspaper to make sure that she got it all, to make sure that she didn’t leave a trace.

This wasn’t a habit that she liked doing, but it was one she felt was necessary. While the ponies in town always knew that it was The Seamstress that stopped the thugs in the streets, thanks to the extremely obvious fact that they were always tied in countless yards of thread whenever they were found, it was the smaller details that she knew could be traced back to herself.

Her hat always hid her face, so at least that was safe, but many other things made her unique, and there were many ways to track down a criminal based on anything left behind. The way she walked was also important; she had taken to walking differently when being herself, and when becoming the Seamstress. She did what she could to keep her cutie mark hidden at all times as well, using her clothes to both throw off the color of her coat and her hair, and to cover up that special mark she bore on her flank.

The worst offender, one that made her paranoid after every bust, was leaving a piece of herself behind, or rather, a hair. She always kept her mane and tail well groomed, and even started using gel to hold it together in place, but the thought of leaving a hair behind made her fearful. While she could always hide its color in the dead of night, she dared not leave one behind, for she knew that some unicorns in the police force had spells for tracking down criminals with such things.

This fear had led to paranoia after every single nightly outing, rechecking her steps and making sure every little thing that could trace The Seamstress’ actions back to her was removed from the scene of the crime, and in time, this practice started to bleed into her daily life. Every out of place object or mess that she found she cleaned with expediency, as if some sort of force was compelling her to do so.

She had changed much in the last six months, but in her mind, she believed she had changed for the better. She was actively helping the community and her sister, she had plenty of bits to pay for food, shelter, and new materials, as well as a saving set aside just in case. Her life was good, it was on track, and most important of all, Sweetie Belle was safe, healthy, and able to keep her secret safe.

Once the small mess she had made was cleaned up, she brought the cloth back to the kitchen and went to sit down with her newspaper once more. The pages were filled with bits of news of the day that had just passed, and while a little late for the news to be fresh, it was still a good read, one that helped to boost her ego whenever she found an article about her other life.

The unicorn was about to raise her teacup for another sip when she caught a familiar name in the newspaper, “What’s this?”

Her gaze turned to an article at the back of the newspaper;

‘Tranquil Springs Still Missing, Family Worried’

That was a name she had not heard in nearly a month now, but one she still held dear to her heart. The kind pegasus was the second largest factor in the way her life had shaped, from the first bit of generosity she had been shown, to guiding her to the clothes shop that had spawned her other persona. She had continued to buy clothes from Rarity, always giving her a tip for her hard work, and up until a month ago, she was sure the two could become friends.

She had been saddened when the friendly pegasus had stopped showing up, but thought it nothing more than a busy schedule, or maybe a vacation. This article, however, sent a shiver down her spine as she feared what might have happened.

The white mare had no idea where to look first, but she knew she had to.

“Wake up now. I know I promised to give you a break, but something terribly important has come up. Could you please fetch my hat while I get my bags?” She asked to seemingly no one.

Her hair rustled a moment, and, slowly but surely, the objects that she was speaking to came out of her hair, almost drowsy, as if they had been asleep, and in her mind, they had been.

“No time to dilly dally, this must be dealt with immediately!” She said, raising her voice to her needles.

Almost immediately, her tools sprang to life, and flew off towards their mistress’ bedroom to fetch her hat, just as they were told. As they did that, Rarity rushed off to her closet and opened the door. Her horn glowed brightly for a moment, and a plank on the floor moved aside, revealing a hidden hole under the floorboards.

She had dug it out, much to her disgust, some time ago to hide her bags of threads. While she didn’t have to hide her hat, due to it becoming un-mysteriously popular with the mares of Manehattan, her thread bag was what held all of the evidence needed to point her out as The Seamstress. With a moment of focus, she lifted her thread bags out of the hole and onto her back, making sure it was in her proper place.

Her horn glowed once more as she opened one of the bags and levitated her minimalistic clothing out of it before draping it over herself. It was loosely attached, but it did the job of hiding her cutie mark and her true colors, covering her in just the right spots with just the right colors to throw ponies off of her trail in the night.

Moments later, she felt her hat placed upon her head, and she smiled briefly, “Thank you very much; you are always such a help.” She said, turning to her needles.

The sixteen tools grouped together once more after placing the hat on their mistress’s head and clacked together gently.

Rarity, no, The Seamstress smiled in response, and leaned in to plant a kiss upon them, “Alright, my sweets. We have a long night ahead of us, but neither of us can stop for anything until we find my friend.”

Several Hours Later

The Seamstress was finding herself exhausted as she walked down yet another alleyway in the streets of Manehattan, searching and listening for any signs of Tranquil Springs, wherever she might be. The vigilante was fearing that she would have to turn in soon, for the sun was going to rise in a few short hours, and she’d have to be there to help her little sister get to school.

Her heart was heavy as she turned down through the next alley, worry weighing heavy on her mind. However, her ears suddenly perked up as whispers travelled through the stone halls of the city. Quickly, but silently, she rushed over to the source, and she frowned slightly as she grimaced at the ponies that were conversing.

“The Red Hooves...” She whispered to herself.

The Red Hooves were one of the two organized groups of criminals in the city, and they actually brought some form of order to the lesser thugs, though they themselves were pretty bad. They mostly dealt in protection rackets and selling various beverages that were above the legal alcohol limit. The Seamstress knew them well, having stopped some of their activities in the past. Now, she decided to listen in on the ponies talking, all three of them, and wondering if they might have any news for her.

“Can you believe those Black Hooves? How dare they do that to the boss!” A Red Hooves pegasus said.

The Black Hooves, she knew that to be the other group of criminals in the city. They set up after the Red Hooves, and started performing the same acts but keeping all of the bits for themselves, which is what caused the turf war between the two to begin. It almost never got violent, but occasional brawls made it in to the morning papers. This was getting intriguing, and the unicorn vigilante listened on.

“I can’t believe their nerve... but I don’t know what the boss is gunna do now that they have his daughter.” An earth pony said.

“Yeah, he’s lookin’ like he might be ready to crack at any time and give up half our turf.” The third pony in the group added.

“Let’s just hope our guys can get her back before Mr. Springs goes off the deep end.”

The white mare’s eyes opened wide as she heard the name of their boss, something she had been trying to find for months now. Springs. It was almost too hard to believe, but so far, it was the best lead she had, even if it was far-fetched.

Taking a breath, she slowly stepped out into the open. She needed more information, and if she was right, these lot would most likely want her help. If she was right, everyone but the Black Hooves would win in this.

“Excuse me, gentlecolts. But I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.” She said, announcing her presence.

The three colts all suddenly turned to the sound of the voice, and they all frowned in anger at who it was. The pegasus, the leader of the trio presumably, trotted forward a few steps and called out angrily, “Seamstress! What in the hay do you want? We ain’t doing anything wrong just by standing around and having a chat. So why don’t you beat it, if you know what’s good for you?”

Despite his bravado, the Seamstress could see a touch of fear in his eyes, which gave her the upper hand in this conversation, “I don’t think I need to leave just yet, my good stallion. If you answer me one simple question properly; Is the name of Mr. Springs’ daughter Tranquil Springs? You see, I’ve been asked to look for her, and if she’s been taken... well, you had better pray to Celestia that you had nothing to do with it.” She said, her voice growing dark and ominous.

The pegasus back-pedaled a few steps; his two friends now back to being on either side of him. He grit his teeth for a moment, processing the words he heard, before turning to his friends to whisper.

The white vigilante tried to listen in, but from where she was standing, it was impossible to make out the whispers as anything more than mumblings, which was starting to worry her. If these three didn’t cooperate, she’d have a fight on her hands, and combined with the cleanup, she would end up wasting almost all of her remaining time tonight.

Luckily for her, the pegasus stepped forward once again, “Alright. We’ve decided. We may be able to make something of an alliance here, all temporary like. We want the boss’ daughter back, and apparently you do too. So, yes, that’s her name. You game for taking down some Black Hooves and getting her back with us?”

The Seamstress’ eyes focused sharply as she heard the news crudely delivered from the mouth of the thug. Of all the things that the generous pony could have been, being the daughter of the leader of the Red Hooves was the last thing she expected. And now, she was in the middle of petty disputes between the two groups, and that was something she would not allow to continue.

“Tell me where they’re holding her, and then I’ll go on my own. I prefer to work alone.” She said, her voice sharp and to the point.

The pegasus seemed to think it over in his head for a moment, and decided that if worse came to worse, the Seamstress would be out of the picture and they’d have an opening to rush in and try to grab their boss’ daughter themselves.

“Hmm... alright, that works for me. You can find them down by the docks. They recently took them from us and now they’re flaunting it with the kidnapping. You had just better make sure that she gets outta there alive, or there will be consequences!” He shouted, raising his voice as he saw the troublesome unicorn run off in to the night.

The wind was blowing through her mane as she galloped as fast as her legs could take her, fear and adrenaline coursing through her veins. She owed something to this pony, she owed something great. This pony now in distress was the first pony to teach her that there is some good in the world, and eventually, that she should do what she could to protect that good. Tranquil Springs gave her a light that shined brightly within. She would do anything to protect it.

The docks were closing in fast as her breath grew heavy, her hooves banging loudly against the ground as she approached. She was close, and it wouldn’t be long now until she had to move about quietly once more. Being quiet and sticking to the shadows was always her best bet in any situation, especially since she only had so much thread, and there was an unknown amount of ponies between her and her destination.

She lurked in the shadows briefly, both to catch her breath and take a look at the docks. Her eyes quickly spotted some of the Black Hooves down by the docks, pulling up who knows what from a ship that had docked on the pier. The unicorn frowned deeply as she wondered just what they were trying to pull, but shook her head moments later to stay on task.

The Seamstress watched as the criminal ponies walked in and out of a certain warehouse over and over again, either taking in their crates or simply patrolling. Taking a risk, she decided that it was best to check out the building first, and with light steps, she made her way over.

The windows were high up, but that meant nothing to her in the long run. While it was draining to do over any kind of long distance, but not close ones like this, she had just the spell to help her out with this dilemma.

“Alright, come on out, it’s show time.” She said, speaking to her needles.

One by one, they all floated out of her mane, taking their familiar flower pattern beside her head, “Would you be dears and fly up there for me? I need to see what’s inside.”

The needles clacked together, agreeing to the task, and they flew up high to the window for their mistress. Down below, the Seamstress focused her magics, her horn glowed brightly, and the glow spread to her tools as well. Slowly, her eyes closed, but things did not go dark for her eyes; instead, she began to see things from the perspective of her needles from their higher vantage point. To transfer sight over a distance was difficult, but she was able to handle these short distances with ease, even though it only had limited applications.

“Hmm... nothing here...” She said, whispering to herself as she walked along the side of the building and out of sight. With any luck, none of the ponies in the warehouse would notice her glowing needles or horn, and from what she could see, there were not that many in the building at all; two dozen at best. The bad part was she only brought enough thread to tie up six ponies, which meant she was going to have to get rough with most of them if she was caught.

As she walked along, looking into the building, she wasn’t looking where she herself was walking. Her movement was suddenly interrupted by a stack of boxes that were up against the side of the warehouse, her head slamming right into them, startling her enough to fall on her flank.

Her needles rushed to her side, clacking in worry over their mistress, “Don’t worry dears, I’m fine. Just caught me off guard is all. Come, let’s get back to work.” She said as she opened her eyes to look around.

Today seemed to be her lucky day as she noticed that the boxes she had bumped into were stacked high enough to meet the last window on this side of the building. Not wanting to waste anymore magic, she decided a small climb was in order, and with that, she was off. Her hooves clanked loudly against the boxes, making her wince at every occasion, and she hoped that she could be done with this and out of there before anypony noticed her. Once she was on the first box, it took two more short jumps to reach the window, allowing her to peek inside.

“Now, where are... you... no...” The Seamstress said.

Her eyes widened uncontrollably as she saw something so utterly appalling to her, it froze her in place. There, within a back room of the facility, lying upon the floor, was the unmoving, battered body of Tranquil Springs. From within, words floated to her ears.

“Heh, I can’t wait to see the look on Springs’ face when we hand him his daughter’s corpse after he gives us the turf.” Said one of the ponies inside, chuckling in grim satisfaction over his deeds.

Within the Seamstress, something seemed to snap. Her face went dead in sorrow, and without a thought to her own safety, she leaped forward, smashing through the window pane in a flurry of glass shards. Her needles acted autonomously, keeping the many errant shards that might damage their mistress at bay, acting out of her subconscious want to be protected.

She landed with a thud in the cold, nearly empty room. She ignored the fact that ponies would be on their way to stop her at any moment now, not caring for that at the moment. No, at the moment, her eyes were transfixed upon the body that lay in the middle of the room, battered and broken from who knows how much beating.

All she could do was stare, stare at what the evils of this world had done to the first pony to ever show her light. At first, she wanted to blame the world at large, but she knew that they didn’t deserve it. No, the real darkness was located right here, all around her. It was those ponies that had turned to the evils in the world that had done this to a pony that, as far as she knew, was kind-hearted, generous, and pure.

The darkest parts of her mind wanted to lash out, but deep down, she knew that she couldn’t do it to just anything. But what she could unleash her anger upon suddenly burst into the door.

“What in the hay is going on in here?” Shouted the voice she had heard before.

However, her conscious mind couldn’t hear a thing, only dealing with the reeling shock of the mare she was ready to call friend having been suddenly and unjustly taken from the world. The Seamstress’ subconscious, however, had other plans.

The earth pony who had burst into the room with three of his buddies didn’t even know what happened to them. All they saw was a glint of light, and then nothing at all.

While her conscious mind was nearing catatonia, her subconscious mind was ablaze in fury, and as an extension of her subconscious, her needles acted on her behalf. The moment the pony that had presumably killed Tranquil Springs had finished speaking, her tools moved forth in the blink of an eye, each carrying threads with them. Without so much as a sound of impact, each needle, four to a pony, whizzed through their skulls, leaving behind a trail of red tinted string in their wake. The needles kept on going, however, sewing the threads into the walls behind the four Black Hooves.

One by one, the four ponies slumped, their legs going dead, but their heads were now suspended in the air with the threads, their eyes wide open, but lifeless.

Once the deed was done, the needles shed their strands of thread and floated down to their mistress’ side and began to clack.

The clacking seemed to shake her out of her stupor for the moment, but the sudden jolt gave way to emotions backed up in her subconscious to come forth, and for the time being, she began to cry.

“Why? Why would they do this? Why did s-she have to... to...” The Seamstress choked out, her words unable to fully escape her lips.

At her side, her tools clacked together slowly, almost reassuringly, giving her some form of message that seemed to calm her down, at least slightly. Once they found that her conscious mind was in more of a listening mood, they formed an arrow and pointed out the door, past the suspended ponies.

In her blurry vision, she couldn’t quite make them out, but as sorrow wracked her mind, she didn’t care in the least about them at the moment. Slowly, she nodded to her needles, and began to trot forth, “Y-you’re right... I should leave here, f-for now.” She said, her voice still shaky from the sobs from before.

As she left the room and into the main area, she started to trot towards the exit of the warehouse, simply wanting to leave. The area, however, was still filled with members of the Black Hooves, and not a single one of them was happy to see the Seamstress walking out of their onsite boss’ room. One by one they began to charge after her, a dozen of them in full gallop, coming from all distances within the warehouse, all heading straight for the distraught unicorn.

The Seamstress seemed to still be out of it, but she was recovering fast as her sorrow was slowly being replaced by another emotion from deep within her mind. Her eyes began to clear, her vision and hearing growing sharper, and soon she was able to see the world around her, to see the chaos she had wrought.

Out of the dozen ponies that had rushed her, eight of them were now dead, suspended in various poses by thread that pierced through their bodies. Some were standing, some were frozen in place while running, and there were two pegasi who were now hanging mid air, threads piercing their heads and wings to keep them aloft.

Sudden realization dawned on her as more and more emotion poured from parts of her mind she barely knew were even there. Somewhere deep within her, her rage was finally bubbling over, and her want to wreak havoc upon these ponies who had murdered her friend had finally seen the black of the night. Her teeth grit together, her focus became sharper, and her mind suddenly became consumed with a singular thought.

She had to make them all pay.

Her horn began to glow violently as her magic surged forth, coating both her needles and her thread. For the first time in nearly a decade, she was taking full control of the actions her tools were performing, and with their aid, she made her vengeance reality. The ponies who were still alive to have seen what she had done to their allies were frozen in unparalleled fear, their terrified state keeping them still for the brief moment that she needed to get close to them.

No longer did she waste thread of suspending them, no longer needing the illusion that nothing was wrong around her. Her needles flew forth to each of them in turn, skewering through swiftly at random, piercing vital organs, and for those unlucky enough to live through the initial attack, she left there to rot as their life slowly bled from their bodies.

The eerily still ponies behind her contrasted the brutal scene that was playing out before her as she made her way to the exit. Nopony was left alive in the building, but her rage wasn’t satisfied yet, and somewhere in the chaos of her mind, she knew there were more.

The white unicorn took off through the docks, her legs galloping through the area as fast as they could possibly take her as she hunted down each and every last Black Hooves that she could find. Some had not witnessed what she had done to the others and foolishly rushed forth with all manner of weapons, from knives to lead pipes, all in a vain and useless attempt to stop the intruder. One by one she found them, and one by one she skewered, beat, and choked the life of out them.

Her eyes never lost their intense gaze of pure hatred for these ponies and what they had done, and it wasn’t until the last one did something finally to break through her rage. She had finally tracked down the last member on the pier, and after a chase, managed to back her into a corner.

The Seamstress’ gaze was wrought with rage, even as the pony she had cornered cowered in fear.

“P-please don’t hurt me! Please!” The young mare cried out, tears streaming down her face.

Like a hot knife through butter, the words spoken by the terrified pony cut through her blind rage, striking her heart. Her eyes softened, her rage lulled and dissipated, and her proper senses finally began to return to her.

She looked to the cowering pony, and as she did, it all came rushing back to her.

“By Celestia... what have I done...?” She said, the horror she felt over her action echoing in her voice.

The tone of voice seemed lost to the pony crying in the corner, fearing for her life. The Seamstress could only watch in horror at her workings, having brought such terror in to the heart of somepony else. While in her rage, she felt justified in ending all of those lives, but now, now she felt sick to her stomach about it all. What made her feel the worst was that she didn’t feel as sick as she thought she should be.

Unable to confront her workings any longer, she turned tail and ran, galloping away from the docks as fast as she could, trying to forget the trail of blood she had left in her wake. Tears flowed from her eyes as the images of what she had done refused to leave her mind, endlessly tormenting her with her actions.

She didn’t know how long it had taken her, but she soon arrived at her home, just at the break of dawn. She burst into the door, and with a quick display of magic, she tossed her hat and thread bags to the side. Rarity was distraught, unknowing of just what exactly she could do, how she could fix this, how she might be able to hide from this. But deep down, she knew she could never escape this, for she could not escape her own mind, at least, not on her own.

“Sissy... are you otay?” Came a sudden and sleepy voice from nearby.

Her head turned violently as she looked towards the sound of her voice. It was her little sister. The little filly that she had sacrificed so much for. The little filly that she had taken up arms against crime in the city for. The filly that she fed and raised since the day she was born. The very same filly that she loved so very dearly.

Slowly, she trotted over to her little sister before sitting down in front of her, her eyes still brimming uncontrolled tears. She looked down at her sister’s worried face, which seemed to get more miserable the more the smaller unicorn looked upon her older sister’s saddened face.

“S-Sweetie Belle... I’m sorry.” Was all Rarity said as she scooped up her sister in a hug and cried.

“S-Sissy?” Sweetie Belle said, her voice starting to crack.

But Rarity didn’t respond. She only hugged Sweetie Belle and cried. Soon, the sorrow and worry spread to the younger unicorn, and she too began to wail as she hugged her sister tightly, knowing only that having her sister this upset made her upset too.

And so, the two held each other, and as a family, shared tears as they sat upon the floor next to a pile of inanimate needles.

Two Days Later

For the last two days, Rarity and Sweetie Belle remained confined to their house. Neither of them left for any reason, even for the younger sister’s schooling. After having cried for what could have been hours, the eldest unicorn explained to the little filly that she had done something very, very bad, and that it might mean they have to leave Manehattan entirely and start a new life somewhere else. While the little unicorn was curious, and sad to leave her friends in school, the sheer intensity of the way she was told about it let her know that this was something they had to do.

Rarity had spent the day following her homicidal rage tending to her needles, which after her fit, seemed to be completely unresponsive. It took her hours of manipulation and focus to try and get them back to normal, and while she could make them move, almost unconsciously, they refused to speak to her anymore. Try as she might, her needles remained silent, but for all of it, she still loved them, and hoped beyond hope that one day, they’d wake up and talk to her once more.

On the second day, Rarity had finally gotten the newspaper for the day, and the front page news was what truly pushed her over the edge about the decision to move away.

‘The Seamstress Massacre: Vigilante Turned Mass Murderer!’

Almost the entire paper was devoted to her, filled with various hastily written columns about her, some positive, but many negative. She was thankful no pictures were shown, as she was finally able to start forgetting them. The editors most likely believed that they were too grim to show to anypony, much less a foal that might get their hooves on the newspaper.

With this much attention, she knew it was only a matter of time until somepony tracked everything back to her. She also feared that she might have left something behind, something that would allow them to find her much too soon. Her and her sister needed to move away and fast, which is why she now found herself levitating various objects and foodstuffs into any bag she could get her hooves on, and even some she sewed together herself.

Sweetie Belle was doing her best to try and help, carrying over small objects that she could reach, which admittedly wasn’t much, but it kept her busy and made her feel like she was helping out. She still wondered why they had to leave, but she knew she couldn’t question it anymore, for fear of making her sister even sadder. So, she helped instead, as best as her tiny form could.

Suddenly, a thundering knock came upon the door, followed by a booming voice the frightened the two unicorns, “Open the door. Somepony would like a word with you.”

The voice was female, and held a level of grace and charm, but was also strong and commanding. Sweetie Belle instantly began to cower behind her sister, fearing just who was on the other side of the door. Though, it wouldn’t do her much good, as Rarity herself was also wrought with fear that was striking through her, fear that this was it, that this was the end of their happy family.

She heard mumbling come from the other side of the door for a moment, and the voice from before came back, “We know you are in there, ma’am. We’ve tracked you magically. We need to talk to you, that is all. Now, please open the door and let us in, or I will be asked to break it down by my superior here with me.”

A cold shiver ran down Rarity’s spine as she heard the words. She could try to run out the back, but then they would track her down with magic once again. She could try to fight, but deep down, she knew that she couldn’t try to fight anymore, not after the other night. It was far too soon for her, not to mention the fact that Sweetie Belle might get hurt in the process. That was something she simply could not allow to happen.

This was it, there was no way out. She was done for.

Slowly, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Despite everything that was, and had happened, she was at least going to do this with some dignity and grace. With her best walk, she trotted towards the door, “I’m coming. You don’t need to break my door like some ruffian.” She said, hiding behind a pompous attitude.

Once she arrived near the door, she took another deep breath to calm her nerves. Her horn glowed slightly as she focused upon the door, and with the aid of her magic, the door swung open. Rarity looked on, wondering just who the pony was on the other side of the door that would be the one to end all that she had going for her.

On the other side of the threshold stood a young, orange earth pony, no older than she was, standing tall and alert, and her body sleek and muscular. All of a sudden, she suddenly rushed forward and placed a hoof upon Rarity’s chest, and in a display of strength that shocked the unicorn, pushed her back ten feet effortlessly.

“Just stay back and away from my superior, and nopony gets hurt, alright?” The strong mare said threateningly.

“Come now, Bucker, calm down. We are in her home, let’s treat her with respect. Check the door, would you?” Rang a serene voice from the doorway.

Rarity’s eyes opened wide as she looked to the door and saw nopony there. She was sure she had heard a voice, but there wasn’t a pony to be seen.

“Right away, ma’am.” The orange pony said, leaving to go and take a look out the door.

“...Coast is clear. Your adoring fans haven’t noticed you, nor is anypony stalking the place. Nopony is suspicious just yet.” She said after she took a look outside.

“Very good. Close the doors and cover the windows. As much as I love my subjects, I’d rather not draw attention to miss Rarity’s home.” The serene voice said again, still coming from nowhere.

The earth pony gave a nod to nowhere in particular and got about securing the home from prying eyes. Rarity, meanwhile, was still baffled. She didn’t know what any of it meant. How did this voice know her name? What did it mean by subjects? The white unicorn didn’t know the answers, and from the confused looking around Sweetie Belle was doing, neither did she.

“Area secure.”

“Good, thank you.”

Out of nowhere, a bright light began to shine in the center of the room, right in front of Rarity. Strangely, the light didn’t blind her, as she could see everything clearly. There was no pain or anything, simply a feeling of peace.

However, all peace was thrown out the window as she saw who was at the center of the light.

“Invisibility spells are tricky, but very useful, wouldn’t you agree, miss Rarity.” Said Princess Celestia as she now stood in full view in the center of the room.

The purple maned unicorn’s eyes were almost bugging out of her head at the sight. The Princess herself was in her home! She knew her name! But despite the shock and excitement, she couldn’t let herself act just yet as a little voice at the back of her head kept nagging her about what this could all mean.

After a moment, she realized she still hadn’t spoken, and tried to say something, “P-Princess Celestia! I uhh... why are you... I... I’m sorry!” She said, bowing before the alicorn upon realizing she hadn’t been.

“My little pony, no need for that. Please, stand upright, or sit down. Whichever you prefer, it is your home. Oh, and hello there little one. Do you think you could leave me and your sister alone for a little while and go play in your room?” She asked, having noticed little Sweetie Belle staring at her with utter admiration.

Something about the Princess seemed to make the little filly want to do as she said, despite barely even knowing anything about her. With that, the small unicorn turned around and left for her room, but not before taking one last peek at the beautiful alicorn in the room.

Celestia’s horn glowed briefly once Sweetie Belle was out of sight, and so too did the young filly’s door as it suddenly closed. “There, now we won’t be disturbed. Now, Rarity, there is something we need to speak of. Something that will decide the future of both yourself, and your little sister.”

Despite the request to stand up, the white unicorn had barely moved from her bowed position, her eyes locked on the majestic pony before her. However, when she heard that this was going to decide her little sister’s future, as well as her own, her face grew serious and she raised herself, standing tall.

“Our futures?... Very well then, your majesty. Let us talk then.”

“Very good. I thought that might get your attention. Well, I think I shall be blunt with you for now, as I’ve much more work to do, and my precious student will be waiting for me soon enough. You see, Rarity, I know that you’re the Seamstress, the vigilante who helped to protect this city for the last six months. I also know that it was you that caused that slaughter at the docks. Never has any of my ponies ever done such a thing in all my years of ruling Equestria. This is a grievous crime, even if they were bad ponies.” She said, her face a wall of stone, betraying no emotion.

Rarity audibly gulped as she heard the Princess speak. Her fear was mounting faster and faster. The ruler of Equestria herself was here to personally deal with what she had done, and it was only hope that kept her from breaking down in front her.

“Yes... I know. They... they had killed a friend of mine, one that had shown me the light, shown me that there is kindness and generosity in the hearts of ponies. W-when I saw her... I lost it.” She explained.

The Princess gave a single nod, “I see. That still doesn’t excuse you, however. For a crime such as this, normally, the only thing for me to do would be to banish you to the land where all of the worst criminals in Equestria are sent, forever locked away from the rest of the world. However, I have made note of your skill and your passion, and I come bearing an ultimatum for you.

“Your first option is the dungeon. I will have you sent immediately, your belongings will be repossessed, and your little sister will be sent to an orphanage. You will be known as both Rarity and the Seamstress to all, and all will know your deeds.”

Rarity lowered her head, thinking that that might be the better option, but before she could say anything, the Princess carried on.

“Your second, and last, option will have you be employed by me, in the Equestrian Secret Army.”

Rarity raised her head slowly, looking confused at her Princess, “The... Equestrian Secret Army? But...”

“I know you know nothing of it, that’s why it’s a secret. Now, before I continue, if you do not choose this option, I will erase it from your mind, and it will be as if you never had a choice to begin with.

“The Equestria Secret Army is formed of ponies such as yourself and my guard, Bucker here. The world as you know it here in Equestria is peaceful, for the most part. I do what I can to keep my subjects happy and carefree, though that can’t always happen in big cities such as this one, especially with my resources being spent elsewhere. I simply want my kingdom to be happy, but, there is another kingdom out there who would not see this happen.

“The Kingdom of Barlea is far to the east, past the large expanse of the Everfree Forest, from which I have been banished. Over a thousand years ago, the fires of war raged between our countries, but, it was when a threat to us both came into being did we form a truce that spanned nearly a millennium.

“It was during that time that I spent my best efforts to eradicate the knowledge of the war from my kingdom, so that I would not burden my subjects with the experience. Books were destroyed, schools were told not to teach of it... after three centuries, no one but myself, and the books I keep in a sealed vault knew the tale.

“Sadly, however, twenty years ago, the Barlean rulers saw fit to start the war once more. In hopes of not having to worry my subjects with it, I started to secretly recruit ponies such as Bucker, among others, who had still trained in the ancient arts of war. With them, the most skilled ponies at my disposal, I have been able to take the war to the Barlean’s and so far, keep them out of Equestria.

“But this war will never end with what I have now, and as I am constantly working on keeping the populace happy, and keeping the Barlean rulers far from the country, not to mention controlling the heavens, I cannot help directly. This is why I am still looking for new ponies to join wherever I can, and after what I’ve seen you do, what knowledge I’ve gleaned from my magic, I believe I would like to extend this offer to you.

“If you choose to do so, new accommodations and locale will be in order. I will have you moved to a small town in the countryside, about fifty miles from Manehattan. It’s small, quiet, and peaceful, and doesn’t get many visitors. I will provide you with a new home as well as money with which to do with as you please, such as spoiling. There will be some conditions to this, but they are not too severe. Now, I ask you, which path do you wish to follow?”

Rarity listened intently to the speech that her majesty Celestia had given to her, listening carefully to each and every word that came of the mouth of she that would decide her fate. As she heard the tale of the secret war, and her invitation in to it, her eyes widened greatly. She had no idea such a thing was going on, but, she supposed that that was the point. It was too much to handle all at once, but between the two options, she knew which one she had to pick.

“I... your majesty. With the offers you’ve given me... there really is only one that I can truly choose. I... I accept the offer to join with you. I don’t want to be banished... I can’t leave my little Sweetie Belle!” She said, her eyes tearing up.

Slowly, Celestia let a smile form on her face, “Very well. This decision is now binding. Any act to go against this, I will have to consider treason during a time of war, which will have far greater consequences. Now, come, we’ll be taking my carriage to Canterlot where I’ll instruct you further on the going’s on in the world, as well as the measures you’ll have to take while under my employ, and while under cover. Housing and pay will also be discussed.” She added, smirking a little.

The white unicorn, now under the Princess’ employ, perked up at the word pay for a moment, but shook her head afterward. “Very well, your majesty. Should I get my sister, too?” She asked.

“Oh, yes, of course. Though, do hurry, we haven’t much time to waste.”

One Month Later

The sun was shining bright in the sky, the birds were fluttering to and fro, earth and unicorn ponies roamed the streets, while pegasi flew high in the sky. Everything seemed perfectly peaceful, as if it were truly paradise. At the very least, to Rarity, it was.

After her visit to Canterlot, she had been sent to Ponyville, a small town out in the countryside, one that seemed to be a wonderful place to be. With its small size, and friendly population, there was none of the crime or poverty she had experienced in Manehattan, just a tight-knit community of ponies from all creeds and colors co-existing harmoniously. Compared to the life she had led before, she knew this was going to be her personal paradise.

But even paradise came at a cost. The first cost of all of this was her identity. She had to, at all costs, keep her true identity a secret from everypony. While she could still use her name, nopony must ever know that she was the Seamstress. She had to make a few changes in her life as well, such as how she acted, and what she really did for a living, and how she had to constantly act the part of nothing but a fashion designer with a bit of spunk at times. Her past had to be hidden as well, and after Bucker, who seemed to be a mistress of such things, wrote an entire history for her, she had been told to study it day and night until it became part of her.

All of these things she did not mind very much, but it was the last thing that bothered her somewhat. For everypony, their cutie mark was truly unique, and could identify them with even the briefest of glances. For this reason, Princess Celestia had ordered Bucker to craft a special felt sticker, and after shaving the area around her cutie mark, placed it upon her. Age and a change of manestyle would take care of any other defining marks, but this one had to be changed while she was playing the civilian.

As she stood in her new home, reminiscing of her past month, she took a look to her flank, looking somewhat sad at her missing needle and thread. Instead, three diamonds now marked her flank, something that she’d have to get used to. Still, her sadness simply could not last as she looked around her, at her new home.

While the costs were heavy, especially if she were to accidentally let out who she really was, for which the punishment went unsaid, the extra benefits more than made up for it. In tune to her new civilian life as a fashion designer, the Princess had commissioned her a new home, all to her own, one that she wouldn’t even have to pay rent for, known as the Carousel Boutique. It had plenty of space, a whole store of supplies to start her false career with, and bedrooms for both herself and her sister to live in both very comfortably.

What pleased her quite possibly the most was that, on top of this all, she also received a monthly pay for her services, even if she didn’t do anything for her country the entire month. A total of five hundred bits a month, more than she had ever seen at any one time in her entire life, was mailed to her regularly at a secret drop zone. With money like that, she could easily feed her sister and herself with the best food available, and still have enough leftover to buy supplies, and make dresses for, everypony in Ponyville.

It all seemed as if things were almost perfect. But, the looming knowledge that she could be called in at any time to the fields of war ruined her joy somewhat. She knew that she had to practice, practice her control over her needles and get back in to top form, so that she could face any danger that lay ahead of her and still be able to come back home to her sister. No matter what, she would survive, if only to see a smile on the little filly’s face one more time.

And so, her new life as Ponyville’s premier fashion designer began, and little did she know the adventures and battles that were in store for her.

Bucker: Origins

Bucker: Origins

It was a quiet day on the apple farms of Ponyville. The sun was shining in the sky; the winds scheduled by the pegasi were giving the countryside a nice and cooling breeze, which was a boon for the hard working pony. In fact, there was just such a pony in the orchard this very day, toiling away with bucking the trees, aligning the baskets, and gathering the very fruit that fed the ponies of Ponyville.

Just another day in the life of the red stallion who ran the farms all on his lonesome.

Not entirely on his lonesome, however, as during the busier parts of the season, his extended family always came to help him, and for the time being, Applebuck Season was still a few weeks away. For now, he was mostly setting up baskets and collecting the apples that had ripened a little early, gathering them to feed his immediate family and help bring in some bits at the market.

Today was a perfect day for him, giving him all he needed and allowed him to remain his quiet, hardworking self in peace. He had planned the day to be a sort of day off for himself, no Granny Smith telling him stories of the glory days, and no little Apple Bloom rushing around in trying to get him to play all day long. No, today was supposed to be just him and his prized field of apple trees, and nopony else.

These plans, and the fact that he didn’t even notice a presence nearby, were why he nearly jumped into the air when the tree he was setting up was suddenly bucked, and bucked good. Every apple fell from the tree perfectly into each basket, a buck so perfect it even made him a little jealous, but before he could find the source of the amazing job, a voice called out to him.

“Well, hey there Big Macintosh. Boy howdy, s’been ages since Ah got ta see my big brother.”

Big Mac’s eyes suddenly widened slightly as he heard the words, and even more when he finally caught sight of the voice’s owner.

“...Applejack? Is that you?” He asked, dumbfounded.

“Yessir! Your lil’ sister Applejack has finally made it back to the farm after all these years. And from tha looks ah things, buckin’s in mah blood. Hoo-ey, Ah think Ah must’a got Pappy’s good buckin’ skills.” She said, a bright smile on her face as she observed her handiwork.

As Big Mac stared at his younger sister, his eyes seemed to grow moist as he began to tear up, and unable to contain himself, he rushed over and picked his sister up in a bear hug.

“Ah missed you so much, Applejack...” He said.

“Ah know... Ah missed you too, Big Mac.” She replied, hugging him back while letting a single tear roll down her cheek.

Soon enough, however, Big Mac let his sister go and backed away from her for a moment, a frown appearing on his face, “Where have you been? Your letters stopped years ago! You were supposed to be back here on the farm at least five years ago... what happened to you?” He asked, wondering just what had happened to his sister.

“Well... well, Ah just couldn’t come back... not after so long. Ah remembered... how much you looked like Pappy, and honestly, ya still do. Even after all those years away, Ah just couldn’t bear ta see his face in yours, not after...” She said, looking away from him, her face sullen.

Slowly, his face softened as he heard his sister’s explanation, but there was still something he needed to know, “But why’d you stop sending the letters? It made me so worried...”

“Well... Ah... I just felt so darned ashamed ah mahself that... I kinda hid away, hid away fer five blasted years as Ah worked up all mah courage ta come back to you and Granny... Ah’m so sorry, big brother, Ah really am. Can you ever fergive me?” She asked, looking up at him with teary eyes, showing just how sorry she felt at this very moment.

The look on his sister’s face softened his heart, and melted away any feelings of frustration or anger he may have had still left in him. He lowered his head slightly and nudged his sister’s chin, trying to get her to lift her head, “Come now... Ah forgive you, Applejack.”

A large smile appeared on her face at the words her brother spoke, and once again the two shared a hug filled with the joy of re-uniting.

After the hug broke, Big Mac looked over this sister with pride, “You sure have grown up into a fine young mare, Applejack.”

“Heh, why thank ya kindly, big brother. You grew... and grew... and grew into ah mighty fine stallion yerself.” She replied, chuckling at her jab at his size.

“Heh-heh... Eeyup.”

Big Mac took it in stride. He decided that today’s work could be put off, especially since his sister was around now. He started to trot towards the barn; his sister had much to catch up on.

“Now where in the hay are you headed off to without ah word?” Applejack asked.

“Goin’ to the barn. The others are gunna want to see you.”

“Oh, raight! After seein’ you, Ah almost fergot about the others. Wait... others? Who done moved in here besides you and Granny?”

“You’ll see. Come on now.” He replied mysteriously.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow at her brother, but still, she followed alongside of him, wondering just what he was up too. Together, the two walked to the barn.

“This place ain’t what it used ta be...” She said, looking up at the barn in its state of disrepair.

“Eeyup. Haven’t had the money to fix it up right. Though, with you around, hopefully that’ll change.”

“Heh, well, Ah hope ta do what I can for ya, big brother. Now, who is this other you mentioned? When do Ah get ta see them?”

“You’ll know very sho---”

His words were suddenly interrupted by a high pitched squeal, followed by the clopping of tiny hooves on the dirt road.

“Big Mac! Big Mac! Come play with me!” Came the voice of the red haired little filly that was tearing down the path.

Applejack’s eyes widened a little as she saw the little filly, who looked barely four or five years old, before turning to Big Mac, “You didn’t...”

He shook his head no, knowing just what she was implying. He turned his head to the little filly and spoke, “Not now, Apple Bloom. We have a mighty important visitor, somepony who’s finally come home after all this time. Why don’t you go say hi to your big sister Applejack?”

The little filly’s eyes seemed to light up like the sun and twinkle like the starry skies, “Big sister? Ah have a big sister? Yay!” Apple Bloom said, dancing on the spot for a moment before rushing over to her new found family member.

“Hi there! I’m Apple Bloom! Wow... you’re my big sister!” She said, looking up at the orange mare with bright eyes.

While confused at first, she put on her best smile for her new little sister, “Well, hey there, Apple Bloom. Ah’m Applejack, like Big Mac over there said. Ah’m yer big sister, and Ah’ll be makin’ sure to care good care of you and uhh... stuff.” She replied, stumbling over her words a little.

“Yay! New big sister! Hey, do you wanna play?”

“Well... alraight. Let’s go play somethin’.”

“Alright! Come on, I wanna show you somethin’ that Big Mac gave me.”

Chuckling gently, Applejack smiled to the little filly and watched her run off, but as she walked away to follow her, she turned to her big brother and said, “You and Ah are gunna have a little word over this later.”

Big Mac simply nodded with a smile on his face as he watched his sister leave, feeling happier than he had in a long time due to her return.

But even so, there was still something nagging at the back of his head, something that had been there since she had returned.

Later That Day

Having finally gotten away from her new little sister, if only by putting her to bed at sunset, Applejack was now free to confront her big brother about Apple Bloom’s entrance into their family, mostly, how she even came to be. After a quick talk with him, Big Mac asked her to come to the barn where they could speak in private, and together, the two stood in dusk’s light, ready to catch up on their lives apart.

“So... before we start talkin’ about much, why don’t you explain ta me first where in the hay Apple Bloom came from. Ya said, sorta, that she wasn’t yours, and our folks... Well, where’d she come from?” Applejack asked.

Big Macintosh gave a sigh as he sat down on a pile of hay, unsure of how to explain it properly. Thinking he might as well just be blunt, he let her have it, “She’s adopted.”

“Say what?” The farm girl replied, a confused look on her face.

“She’s adopted... About four years ago now, we... we kinda lost hope. You stopped sending your letters, and we thought that you might never come back to us. Then... a while later, there was a house fire here in Ponyville. Probably the worst thing to ever happen to this place... Apple Bloom’s parents didn’t make it... her father died in the fire, and her mother managed to get her newborn foal out in time, but she didn’t survive the surgery. I was there at the time, helping put out the fire, and when I saw little Apple Bloom... well, I thought she might be able to fit the gap you left behind. We... well, it was hard running this farm all by myself, and I know some day, I’d have to pass on the farm, and without any known next of kin besides Granny... well, we had a long talk about it, and we took her in, treating her as one of our own.”

Applejack was silent throughout the entire explanation, unsure of just what to make of it. Eventually, she lowered her head to the ground with a sigh, “Ah... Ah suppose Ah can’t fault ya for that none, and what you did was a real good thing, givin’ her a home like that. Well... Ah guess ah did ask.” She said, letting out a long breath.

“You okay with it, little sister?” He asked.

“...you know what? Yeah. Ah am. Ah kinda always wanted a lil’ sister anyway. Maight be nice ta raise her and stuff while Ah help out on the farm. Yeah, that sounds mighty nice.” She replied, a smile gracing her face.

Big Mac started to smile in return, feeling a weight suddenly lifted from his shoulders. However, as the nagging feeling kept up throughout the day, he decided that now was the time to be asking his own questions.

“Something’s been buggin’ me since you got back, Applejack... what in the wide land of Equestria were you doing? And where? I know the letters came from Manehattan, but that was years ago...” He said, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“That’s... that’s a long story, big brother. One Ah care ta only tell so much about. Just know that Aunt and Uncle Orange treated me mighty nicely. I think Ah’m gunna go off to bed now.”

As she turned to leave, Big Mac didn’t seem quite ready to accept that answer just yet, “Now, just wait a minute there, little si---”

As he put is hoof to her back, he felt a sudden impending rush of danger as Applejack’s hoof was immediately upon his. It looked, briefly, as if she was going to try something, but at the last minute, changed her mind.

“Sorry, big brother, but do you think you could drop it, fer now?” She asked quietly.

“...Alright. You go and get some sleep, okay?”

His sister nodded before making her leave, heading back to their home to sleep, leaving Big Macintosh in the barn all on his own.

As his sister left, he stared at her with suspicious eyes; something just wasn’t right.

Three Weeks Later

As time went on, things seemed to get back to normal on the farm, at least, as normal as things could be with another set of hooves around. Big Mac was thankful for the help with preparations for Applebuck Season, as things were being done twice as fast. No, even faster than that. For somepony who hadn’t been on a farm in twelve years, Applejack seemed to have the tasks mastered far better than even Big Mac. She seemed to be stronger, faster, and even had more endurance somehow. All of this made him exceptionally suspicious of just what she had been doing while she was away.

Other subtle hints seemed to stand out to him as well, such as how she seemed to be always keeping herself in check, though she seemed to be doing it less and less. Practice, he suspected. She was just too good, and her decreasing suspicious behaviour only made him all the more wary of his younger sister.

After three weeks since her arrival, he found that he simply couldn’t let it lie anymore; in his mind, he felt that he had to confront her about it, concern for the family he had to protect outweighing all else. He was sure that his sister by herself wasn’t dangerous, but with the way she was acting, he wasn’t so sure that she might not bring any trouble with her.

Once he felt up to the task, he waited until sunset before walking up to Applejack to speak with her, “Applejack.”

“Huh?” She said, her head turning suddenly. “Oh, hey big brother! What can Ah do ya for?” She asked, smiling to him.

He noted how her movements seemed a lot less stiff than they were before, she had been practicing, “I was wonderin’ if I could see you in the barn for a little bit?” He asked in reply.

She tilted her head to the side, raising a hoof to raise her hat slightly, “Tha barn? Well... Ah guess Ah can’t say no ta you, Big Macintosh. Sure, I’ll be over in a few minutes. Just wanna toss these apples in ta storage.”

Big Mac gave her the briefest of looks before nodding, “See you there.” He said, turning to leave.

He went to the barn to get things ready. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen, but he wanted to get something out of her, some kind of sign that things aren’t as they seem to be. As he looked around the barn, he spotted some apples off to the side, and with an idea in his head, he grabbed a few and set them aside. Once he felt prepared, he sat upon a mound of hay and waited for his little sister to arrive.

Applejack had taken fifteen minutes after they went their separate ways into order to get to the barn, and thankfully, Bic Macintosh was nothing if not patient.

“Sorry about that, big brother. Ah got held up by a sleepy lil’ sis.” She said, chuckling softly, “She’s tha sweetest thing in tha world, but there’s only so much playtime Ah can handle on a daily basis.”

Big Mac only nodded to this, his face growing stern as he readied himself for the talk with his sibling, “Applejack, I think you might know why I brought you in here.”

Applejack only looked confused at her elder sibling, tilting her head once again, “Uhh... nope. Got a few suspicions, but Ah ain’t got nothing on mah mind. What are you wantin’ outta me anyhow?”

The large red stallion simply narrowed his gaze by a hair and kept speaking, “Don’t play dumb with me now. There’s something you aren’t telling me, and it’s making me worried about you. What in the Equestria did you do in your time away? Did you get mixed up in anything?” He asked accusingly.

The orange mare reeled back by the sudden accusing question, her eyes widened in shock before turning into a stare of anger, “Now what in the hay? Ah asked you ta leave me be about that. Why can’t ya’ll just let me have my peace?”

“Cause I’m worried about you and the rest of the family.” He replied bluntly.

“Look, there ain’t nothing to worry about, alraight? Just drop it and leave me be!” She shouted, turning to leave.

He wasn’t going to have that, however. Hoping beyond hope that he was right about this, he picked up one of the apples he had set aside between his teeth, and with a flick of his head, he tossed it into the air. As it descended, he let fly one of his fore-hooves, gently smacking the apple, hard enough to send it flying, but gently enough not to crush the fruit.

The apple soared through the air until it finally found its mark, directly on the wooden support beam he was aiming for, which happened to be right in front of his sister’s face.

Applejack stumbled backwards and tripped over her own hooves, causing her to fall back on to her flank. Flabbergasted, she exploded at her brother, “What the hay! Now that just ain’t called for! What’s gotten in ta you, Macintosh? You want me to go over there and buck you one?” She shouted, threatening her older brother as she did so.

Perhaps he was wrong about this, maybe his sister had simply gotten that good. If he was wrong, she would be mad at him for a long time, but over time, things would heal. If he was right... he might learn a lot more than he expected. With that in mind, he repeated his previous actions, tossing the apple in the air and smacking it towards his sister. Only this time, he aimed for her directly.

Big Macintosh watched carefully, and his eyes widened slightly as his sister acted with near lightning reflexes, delivering an uppercut to the incoming apple, one that packed enough force to turn the fruit into applesauce almost instantly; the goop didn’t even touch the ground after the punch, the entirety of it having splattered against the ceiling. His gaze slowly went from the mess on their ceiling down to his sister; she seemed to have changed from her uppercutting pose back to a state of acting normal. Or, at least, what he thought was normal.

Applejack recovered from the attack quickly, going back to being shocked and angry at her older brother, “Okay, you are seriously askin’ for a whoopin’. You do anythin’ like that one more time, and... You know what, this ain’t even worth my time. I’m leaving! And don’t you dare even talk ta me fer a month, ya hear me!” She shouted once more.

The red stallion finally saw a glimpse of what he wanted. He was starting to break through her... whatever she had. He knew that she was trying to dodge the situation before she lost her cool completely. He also knew that one more push should bring her over the edge and force her to give him the truth he wanted.

He had no idea what possessed him to do any of this, save for the culmination of three weeks of curiosity and worry suddenly bursting forth. But with this sudden glimpse at an answer, he simply couldn’t hold back anymore. Abandoning his apples, Big Macintosh rose up on all fours and dashed forward, heading straight for his little sister.

As Applejack was leaving the barn, she didn’t see him approaching, but she sure heard his hooves beating against the floor. He was right behind her now, and once he was in range, he reared up, getting ready to try and push her down, nothing harmful, just hopefully enough to get her to act in some fashion.

He got his wish.

As his hooves came down, he barely saw the movements his sister made. In the blink of an eye she had raised her back-left hoof and planted it square in his chest.

Pain surged through him as he was kicked, the impact far greater than he could have expected.

If the pain wasn’t an indication of how strong he had been kicked, the fact that he was now airborne was more than enough to tell him he had been struck far harder than his sister should have been able to muster.

His vision was already beginning to blur, but he could make out the outline of his sister rush at him, faster than he was flying, and another great pain surged through his body as she shoulder checked him, sending him flying even farther across the barn.

A split second later, his back crashed into the wall with a loud thump. He coughed violently, blood spitting out from internal damage.

He hadn’t even touched the ground when his sister was upon him again. He felt her hoof pressing against the top of his chest, near his neck, pushing against him with enough force to keep him elevated and pinned to the wall.

Soon, despite the pain and near inability to breathe, his vision became clear once more. His eyes turned down to Applejack, and in her gaze, he found a fear for his own life.

The orange mare had one hoof upon his chest, while another was against the wall beside him. Her gaze was cold and steely, and her hair was flowing free, her hair tie and hat having fallen off during the assault. She looked almost like an entirely different pony, and with the look she was giving him, one that looked ready to end him right then and there.

But, much to his relief, she removed her hoof from his chest and scoffed, turning away from him as she started to walk away.

Big Mac slumped to the floor, coughing heavily as he gasped for air and ended up inhaling some of his own blood. It took him a few minutes before the coughing stopped and he had caught his breath, but he still felt as if some of his ribs might be at least cracked.

Applejack had waited the entire time for her brother to regain his composure, standing in the middle of the barn and keeping her gaze away from him. Once the coughing had finally stopped, she began to speak, “...Now why in Equestria did you have to push so very far, dearest brother?” She said.

The injured stallion was certain that the voice came from Applejack, but it sounded nothing like her. Her southern drawl had completely vanished, replaced by a graceful, high class voice he had only heard once from a rather stuck up tourist from Canterlot.

“...A-Applejack?” He stuttered out, the pain making it hard to speak properly.

“Yes, it is still I, dearest brother. Sort of...” She said, giving out a sigh, “Things were almost perfect... I had finally perfected the act and was getting used to it... You won't let me leave until I explain everything, will you? Well... although all of this is classified, and I could be banished for it, and... I suppose you deserve this much, dearest brother. Meet me in the kitchen when you are able, and we will exchange words. But when you come into the room, know that you must keep all you learn a secret, lest we both be banished. Know that risk.”

Once she had finished speaking, she left the barn, leaving Big Macintosh alone and in pain, but it was at least pain that he could heal from.

The stallion simply stared at where his sister had been before she left. His mind reeling from the incredibly painful exchange that had just taken place. His mind was now focused on Applejack’s last words, about the true severity that they held. He didn’t feel that there was a single lie spoken the entire time she talked in that voice, and if her secrets meant banishment, then he knew he had to think carefully.

For the sake of his family, he sat and pondered.

Thirty Minutes Later

Big Macintosh limped towards the kitchen. After taking time to both think and to recover, he decided that things may just be best if he did go to the kitchen, that maybe hearing the whole story might put things at ease. Might make him understand what was going on. He was scared, there was no doubt in that, but he was a brave pony, and wouldn’t back down from something like this.

With a heavy trot, the red stallion entered into the kitchen, his eyes immediately going to his sister. She was facing away from him in her seat, her back and freshly brushed mane the only things visible to him at the moment. Her hat was nearby, on the counter, and she had a bag nearby, filled with who knows what. She seemed to simply be sitting there, waiting for him.

“I was thinking you would not come, dearest brother. You have made... an interesting choice. Come, sit across from me and I will talk to you. We should have enough time before sunrise for me to finish.” She said, motioning with a hoof to the chair across from her.

Big Mac only nodded before he slowly limped over towards the chair, his eyes never leaving Applejack. The only time his eyes wavered was when he noticed that, instead of a collection of apples; the orange mare’s cutie mark had changed, changed into a mask hiding behind a dark shroud.

Applejack had noticed the shift in his gaze and spoke up, “Yes, I’ve not the cutie mark you’ve seen before. I’ll get around to explaining that eventually.”

Big Mac only nodded once more, believing that he’d understand all of that soon enough. Eventually, despite his awkward gait, he arrived on the other side of the short table, and like his sister, he sat upon the floor, bringing his hooves up to rest upon the hardwood in front of him. His eyes traveled back to his sister, patiently waiting for her to begin her tale.

Applejack, meanwhile, seemed to be in no hurry at all. She gracefully reached into her bag with her mouth and began to pull objects up one by one. The first was a tube with a sponge instead of a cork stopper, containing some sort of fluid. The second looked like a purple straw, but with a thick white part covering the last few inches. The third item looked to be a bracelet attached to two pieces of flint and a piece of string.

Big Mac was curious what these things were for, and as she started to use them, he grew more confused.

She started to use the items together in unison, first attaching the bracelet to her left hoof, then smearing some of the fluid from the tube on to her right. The fluid seemed to be an adhesive, as now she was able to pick up the purple straw with just a touch. She brought the object up and put it into her mouth before suddenly smacking her hoof on to the table, causing the flint to spark and light the small wick. The orange mare then brought the flame to the white part of the strange straw, and inhaled deeply.

It began to burn, and the scent was something he hadn’t smelled before, and he found it quite foul, making a face of disgust. Not until she exhaled a cloud of smoke, filling the area with the foul smelling gas, did he start to cough out loud.

“Wha--- what in tarnation?” He asked between coughs, his first time speaking since entering the room.

“It’s an old practice... It’s called a cigarette, not many ponies use them anymore, especially since the plant is rather rare. It’s quite relaxing once you get used to it. Don’t worry about the smell, the mint I mixed in should be registering soon.” She explained, flicking the cigarette in a flourish as she spoke.

“Well... I suppose I should get started then. Hmm... I believe it might be best to start at the very beginning, at least, what my recollection might hold.” She said, taking in another lung-full of her smoke.

Big Mac felt nervous, but he was ready to hear the story.

It Was Nearly Twelve Years Ago Now

I was just a little filly, a few months past my fourth birthday, as you know. It was... soon after mother and father had died in the flash flood. Barely two weeks after the night where you, Granny Smith, and I were huddled together in the loft of the barn, terrified beyond our wildest nightmares. To this day I wish I could have told them to forget about the fields, but... what is in the past cannot be changed now.

I don’t remember much of then, save for the fact that the extended family had to come and help us rebuild and you were put in charge of the farm. Me? Well... as you know, in the state of disrepair, and all of the work and tragedy that surrounded the farm, there was just no place for me on the farm.

I was sad, I remember that, as Granny Smith told me I needed to go and live with my Aunt and Uncle Orange. She couldn’t take care of me on her own, and you were still too young to be of much help without some of the others around. So, it was on that fateful day that I packed my things together, took with me father’s favorite hat, and set out with my Aunt and Uncle in the great city of Manehattan...

Little Applejack was amazed by the big city, her small eyes darting every which way, never having been outside of Ponyville for her entire short life. Manehattan was vastly different than her home, and she felt so terribly out of place, even with her Aunt and Uncle Orange by her side.

“Come now, dear. It won’t be so bad. You’ll get used to it soon enough.” Her Aunt said.

“We’ll have you fitting in in no time!” Added her Uncle.

She wasn’t too sure about that, but she was willing to try. As much as it ached her little heart to be away from her home, especially so soon after the incident, but she was going to be a brave girl, just like her pappy always said she should be. She could tough it out for the next little while, she was sure of it.

Once she had spent a little time there, however, things were starting to look a little brighter, but at the same time, stranger. For some reason, her Aunt and Uncle seemed to want to get her to change how she spoke, how she dressed, even how she walked, and surprising even herself, she took to it rather quickly.

In only a week’s time she had the basic speech patterns down, and could hold an upscale conversation like the average Manehattenite. Her walk needed a little work, but she was starting to get the hang of that as well. Those two things, when combined with a new outfit, made her blend right in with the crowd.

And the more she did it, the more she liked it.

It wasn’t until two weeks after her first night in Manehattan did she have her first soirée, and after returning, she was prancing about like an excited little school filly. Which she was, save for the school part.

“Now, don’t you seem excited, Applejack?” Her Aunt asked, smiling down at the little filly.

“Yes! That was mah first taime... umm...” She trailed off for a moment before coughing, “It was my first time, dearest aunt, fooling everypony into thinking I was a true Manehattenite!” She said, switching to her prim and proper voice.

“That you did. And you can speak as you wish in the home, dear.”

“Oh, alraight. Thanks, Aunty Orange!” She said, smiling brightly as she returned to her southern drawl.

Her Aunt merely giggled lightly at the display, “So, you really liked fooling everypony, then?” She asked.

“Yeah! It was like make pretend, but better, cause they didn’t know! Who knew I could be so good at this kind of stuff!”

“Well, I certainly didn’t, but I am seeing quite the talent you possess... I wonder... I’m going to go and speak with your uncle for a moment. Be a dear and wait here for me, alright?” Her Aunt asked.

“Sure thing!”

With a small smile, her Aunt left the room, leaving her all by herself.

She was starting to really like this, pretending to be somepony else all the time. It made her feel like she could be anypony she wanted to be, anypony at all that wasn’t herself. It helped her to forget what had happened that fateful night on the farm, and anything that did that she would welcome with open arms and embrace for eternity. At least, that was how she felt for now.

Finding herself with nothing to do, she wandered over to the tall mirror in the room and began to fiddle with her clothes. At first, she didn’t like them too much, far too stuffy and frilly. But, as the two weeks had gone by, they helped to solidify the illusion she was casting over herself, an illusion she was grasping on to like a security blanket.

Her activities were suddenly interrupted when the door to the room opened once more, revealing her aunt and uncle coming into the room together.

“Well, it appears my thoughts were shared with your Uncle, so it barely took us five minutes to come to a decision on this.” She said, smiling to Applejack.

“Yes, you see, we’ve noticed your potential. Even though you are just a little filly, you’ve grasped the art of disguise rather well. So, we’ve decided to help nurture that talent of yours, you see. We won’t go into much detail for right now, but you’ll be officially taking lessons from us about... certain matters which we’ll discuss in full when we think you’re ready.” Her Uncle explained.

“What kinda lessons, Uncle?” Little Applejack asked.

“Well, from me, you’ll learn to speak, to act, and how to make your own clothes when the time comes.”

“And I will put you on a strict diet, and you’ll be doing exercises with me every day. It’s going to be tough, but, if you succeed, we will give you a great reward. What do you say? Are you up for learning more from your Aunty and Uncle?” Her Aunt asked, using a bit of her own language to help win her over.

The little filly thought about it. They had only given her two weeks’ worth of small lessons, and she was already loving it, and it was making her feel great. She slowly came to the conclusion that, if she took even more lessons, she’d feel even better, and forget about her pain even more, maybe even completely. To her, the answer was obvious.

“Okay!”

The next two years after that were grueling, to say the least. The food was horrible, even though I eventually got used to it at some point along the way, and I still eat it sometimes to this day. The dressing up and making clothes was new for me, and I was never really fantastic at it, but everything I did make was passable as a disguise, and fooled most everypony. The acting lessons were what stuck with me the most, at least, from what Uncle Orange was teaching me. In a year, I could speak seven languages and I could mimic seventeen different accents and styles of speech.

What my Aunt put me through was the worst of it though, but her lessons stuck with me just as much as the acting did. She put me through basic body building and training for those two entire years, feeding me her special diet so that I would grow a certain way, and making me exercise just the right muscles in my body so that I could hide how strong I really was. By the end of those two years, I was solid muscle under the slightest layer of fat to make me smooth and soft to the touch. Quite the feat for any six year old, as I was told when being praised by Aunt Orange.

Simply having all of that muscle wasn’t enough, however, as I was going to learn eventually when she started me on the advanced exercises, but I’ll get to that later. See, my grueling training never really stopped at the two year mark, though it did get easier out of the sheer virtue of practice... But in any case, the reason I pause here was because it was a true milestone for me. It was also when I had earned my cutie mark, and the right to hear the secrets of the Orange family...

It Was Ten Years Ago Now

The training had been rough, the diet disgusting, and the constant lessons and practice were an incredible drain on her. But, at the end of the day, she had learned, and earned, a lot. She had become able to completely block out the memory of her parents, remembering only the good things about them, and forgetting almost all of the pain she felt. She always held on to it a little, however, so that she would never forget what had happened.

She also had to admit that is was fun, at times. The exercise made her unbelievably strong, and the times when she was out actively fooling other ponies into thinking she was an upper class citizen or a ratty street urchin begging for coin were incredibly entertaining. To be anypony was an ability she loved to possess, for it was both something she enjoyed, and seemed to excel at, if the praise from her Aunt and Uncle were any indication.

Today was a special day for her, however, as she had been told that today she was to be tested on everything she had learned from her Uncle. They had said she wasn’t ready to be tested on what her Aunt had taught her, but that would come in time. For now, she was tasked with making a disguise up all on her own, using any of the resources available to her within the house.

The terms of the test were that, to succeed, she would have to disguise herself so flawlessly that even her Aunt and Uncle, who were now in the streets of Manehattan, did not know who she was. To make it fair, the two would be talking to absolutely everypony that they walked past, and if she managed to hold a short conversation with them without their knowledge of who she really was, she would pass the test.

She had given herself a simple disguise, consisting of yellow dye for parts of her coat, and green dye for her mane. A simple Manehattenite outfit to cover the portions that had no dye, and she was set. Simple and efficient, like she was taught.

And so far, it was working.

She had been conversing with her Aunt now for nearly five minutes, and from looking into the mare’s eyes, she could see no suspicion. Of course, her Aunt was a master at such things, so she just might be wrong. Still, her Aunt, nor her Uncle, who was in conversation with a small colt, made no sign of acknowledgement besides what they had been giving to everypony else for the last few hours.

The conversation was short and sweet, and soon, she had to make way for the next pony that had grabbed her Aunt’s attention.

In her mind, she had gotten away with it.

With a quick turn, she had left and went back into the crowd, blending in almost seamlessly all the way back to her home of two years. Two long and hard years.

Her test was over now, and all she had to do was wait for her Aunt and Uncle Orange to return from the outing, and then they’d give her the final judgement. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long, for a mere ten minutes after she had gotten into the door, her caregivers had returned.

“Applejack, dear, it’s time to talk about your test.” Came the voice of Mr. Orange.

The fact that they were here so soon made the filly a little nervous. With a gulp, she walked towards the entryway of the large home that they shared, and still in her disguise, she faced them.

“Well, I have some good news and some bad news. And some great news.” Mrs. Orange said, her face giving a small smile.

“Yes, quite. Well, the bad news is, we found you.” Her Uncle said.

At those words, Applejack’s head lowered down in disappointment. Two years of hard work, all for nothing.

“But...”

She perked up.

“...Under the circumstances, you have passed the test nonetheless.” Her Aunt said.

“Really?” Applejack said, gasping aloud before she started to dance in place.

“Composure, dear.”

“Oh, right.” The filly replied, sitting back down on the floor in a prim and proper pose.

“Good. Now. For the great news. Honey?” She said, turning to her husband.

“Quite. You see, the only reason we found you, and indeed, the only reason we’re making an exception to this, is because... well, if you would kindly take a glance at your flank?” Her Uncle asked.

Applejack tilted her head to the side, glancing at her Aunt and Uncle curiously. She was wondering where they were going with this, but she had always been an obedient little pony, at least, when it came to her caregivers, and so, she looked.

Her eyes suddenly widened and a bright smile spread across her face.

She couldn’t believe she had forgotten about it. In all her time spent training in one way or another, she had completely forgotten about searching for her special talent, the one thing that could define who she was, and the thing that would manifest upon her flank once she had attained it. And after all this time, she had finally gotten it, she had finally found her true talent, and in doing so, she had earned her cutie mark.

“A mask behind a shroud of darkness... that is quite the mark you bear, and one we will most likely have to keep covered when outdoors.” Her Aunt said, smiling a little.

“Huh? Why?” Applejack asked, feeling sad about not being able to show off her once in a lifetime achievement.

“Because, if you show it off, then everypony would know that you’ve followed in our hoofsteps and become a junior spy.”

Now there was a word she hadn’t heard before, “Spy?”

“Yes. Come with us to the kitchen, and your Uncle and I shall explain everything...”

So, just soon after receiving my cutie mark, our dearest Aunt and Uncle Orange sat me down in the kitchen and divulged to me all of their deepest and darkest secrets. You see, it turned out that the two of them were from a long line of spies, as they called them. The line wasn’t one of blood, but one of students and masters throughout the generations, the secrets being passed from one pony to the next.

It all depended on who had the raw talent to deal with all of the intense training that it entailed, and luckily, I was one of those rare ponies. Now, let’s get this straight now, this training was not for being the kind of spy you might see in a book. Aunt and Uncle Orange are part of a group that had its origins found in a long and terrible war nearly a millennium ago. And don’t worry, I’ll get to the war eventually.

During such a time, they had to know more than simply sneaking into places and fooling others. That was only one half of it, and it only got you so far in a time of conflict such as what they had to go through. The spies back then knew they had to learn something extra, something special. This was where the things Aunty was teaching me came into play. Preparing my body for the second art of the spy, the art of combat. Not only did they have to infiltrate places back then, they also had to fight off the enemy when necessary. I don’t know how long they were around, but they had more than enough time to find some of the deepest secrets of the pony body, specifically, in those of us earth ponies.

Unicorns had their magic, and their ancestry was much lazier as a result, and their physical peak pales in comparison to ours. They have their strengths, no doubt, but ours lie in brute force and endurance from centuries of hard work. Pegasi come a little closer, but they are much too light to be able to master the truly complicated portions that I was taught.

As I told you before, Aunty trained my body to be nearly solid muscle, with just enough fat on me to hide the fact. This was one of the better secrets of the spies of old. But, the greatest secret they passed on to their successors... was just how far they could push the body of a pony. With their now ancient ways, they could coax a select few earth ponies into doing amazing feats of strength and speed. You saw first-hoof a fraction of what I’m capable of now, for which I am sorry, by the way.

The ponies that could master what I was taught were amazing forces for Equestria, able to, in small groups, take down vast numbers of those that opposed us. However, after the war ended nearly a thousand years ago, there was no use for them anymore; save for the occasional foray into enemy territory to make sure the truce was being upheld.

It was then that some of them decided to pass on their knowledge to a select few throughout the generations, keeping a close eye on young ponies with exceptional talent and loyalty. I don’t know how many of us are left, but as far as our Aunt and Uncle knew, there is only us remaining. They could be wrong, of course, as we are meant to blend into a crowd and hide, but I’m not terribly confident in the idea.

Let’s see... Ah, yes, well, the next few years after that were quite intense, the training had increased dramatically. Uncle began to teach me ways to mimic the voices of others, how to display a commanding presence or pretend to look easily dominated when needed. He even taught me how to pretend to be a stallion with the right movements of my tongue, jaw, and shortening of my vocal cords. It hurts after a while, though, so I only practice it occasionally.

It was... it was actually around the time I had to stop sending my letters that they told me about the ancient war, and about the one still going on. It was why I couldn’t come home to the farm. It was also the time that I... entered heremploy.

It Was Five Years Ago Now

Applejack was hard at work, training in the hidden parcel of land in the forest near Manehattan. It was where her Aunt had taken her every second day now for the past several years of her life in order to prepare her for her days as a spy. She was currently in the middle of doing push-ups, just some basic muscle training, which always preceded the combat exercises.

“Ninety-eight... Ninety-nine... One... Hundred!” She grunted out, pushing up just one last time.

“Very good, Applejack. You’re progressing well. Ninety kilos this time, not too shabby for somepony your age.” Commented her Aunt with a smile.

With a long stretch, she rolled off the iron weights she had been balancing on her back, each falling to the ground with a large thud, “Really? I feel like it’s my limit for the time being, I haven’t seen improvement in two weeks now...” The eleven year old replied.

“Yes, quite. By the time you’re fifteen, I expect you to be lifting twice that, but for now, you are doing just fine. Now, come on, we’ll be begin hoof to hoof combat practice, but remember, we’re cutting short today.”

“Why is that, Aunty?”

“You’ll see, now, come here, dear.” Her Aunt replied.

Obediently, Applejack walked over to her Aunt’s side and paid close attention to whatever the older mare did or said.

“Good. Now, remember what I was telling you before. Start by shifting your muscles to lower your centre of gravity.”

After taking a relaxing breath, the filly shifted her stance, the bulk of her weight shifting lower to the ground, making her much more stable, and making it easier to throw her weight around.

“Good. Next, ready your fore-legs, your spine, your haunch and thighs, and then your back legs. Always in that order. You have to get this right now so that we can start speeding this up, the enemy won’t wait for you to prepare yourself.”

“Of course.” Applejack replied studiously, her body getting ready for the task ahead.

“Now, twitch those muscles back as I’ve told you to rise up, and then reverse the order as you come down for the stomp.” Mrs. Orange instructed.

Though she had failed the last few times she had tried this, she felt more confident than ever today, though she didn’t know exactly why. Perhaps the excitement of figuring out what her caregivers wanted to do with her after her training was cut short was getting to her.

After taking another deep breath to focus her thoughts, she finally made her move. Her fore-legs rose up off of the ground as she brought them both high into the air, and then, all of her muscles worked in unison to bring them back down again in a colossal stomp.

With a great thump, her hooves smashed into the ground, causing a small area around herself to shake and even crack.

“Good work, Applejack! That’s exactly right! My, you are learning even faster than I did at your age. In a few more years, you’ll be able to use that to unbalance anypony within a good ten feet of you, always useful when dealing with a crowd. Don’t forget, you can use that in conjunction with some of the other things I’ve taught you. You need to be creative to be a spy, and not just in matters of acting and wardrobe creation.”

“I know that, Aunty. Uncle has made sure to tell me that time and time again.”

“Has he now? Well, good for him then. Well, now that you’ve managed that, I think we should focus on a little sparring for the time being. We’ll practice the move some more in the future.” Mrs. Orange said.

“Alright. Though, isn't it a little early in the day for sparring?”

“Well, yes, but remember what I said earlier?”

“Oh, yes, right. We’re finishing early.”

“There you go dear. Now, places.”

With a nod, Applejack trotted away, taking her place several feet away from her Aunt. In unison, they faced one another, gave a small bow, and began to fight.

Sparring always took place just after practicing special maneuvers or moves, such as her stomp. While she normally spent a few hours at it, today was being cut short, as she had been told several times today, which meant that her sparring was most likely to be cut short as well. Which she was thankful for, as sparring was always the worst part of her training.

While she went all out every single time against her Aunt, she knew that the older mare was always just playing with her. She was nowhere near as skilled or as strong as her caregiver, and while that made things frustrating for the filly, it meant that the two of them were always safe. No matter how hard Applejack kicked, bucked, or tackled, her Aunt was always able to stop it or avoid it.

But while the point of sparring was to simply try and hit her opponent, it was also to learn how to avoid incoming assaults. It was in this aspect that her Aunt toyed with her the most. She never hit with any major force, never leaving more than a bruise, but every tap and strike served as a lesson for the young filly, teaching her to be wary of every one of her enemy’s movements.

“Hmm... you’re improving day by day, Applejack. It’s only a pity that I can’t be many ponies. Fighting a group was a staple of the ancient ways, but these days, we can’t really simulate that sort of thing, all I can do is teach you what I was taught, and maybe one day, get you to test it live someplace.”

“What... what do you... mean, live?” The filly asked, panting heavily.

“I mean, one day, we’ll send you out to deal with some of the ruffians in town... hmm... well, it will be dealt with eventually, I’m certain. In any case, I think we’re done here for today.”

Applejack nodded to her Aunt, thankful for the early end to her training. She felt the rest was much needed, as she rarely if ever had more than a day’s rest in between training. This also meant that she was finally going to find out what her Aunt and Uncle have been hiding from her for who knew how long now.

Together, the two took a few moments to freshen up, get dressed, and made their way back to Manehattan, just like they did every second day. It had become a routine for them, walking in and out of the town, greeting the ponies of the city, and living the lie they had crafted so many years ago.

Once they had arrived at their home, her Aunt immediately brought her into the kitchen, much to her curiosity. It was then that they laid upon her the biggest secret she had ever known in her whole eleven years of life. They told her what had been passed down from spy to spy, generation after generation. They spoke of the war that had raged in the past; how it was there that their ancestors had learned their art, and how it had all ended abruptly almost a millennium ago, without a decided reason as to why.

While all of this was a shock to her, what came next was an incredible surprise. They had told her that she was supposed to head to their secret training ground once again, except that this time, she had to do it all by herself. That, however, wasn’t the startling part. What got to her the most was when they told her that they had found her a client, somepony she could work for, earn some bits, and get some on the job training so to speak.

They made her swear to keep the secrets of her ways to herself, which she obediently did, before they gave her any more information. Her Aunt and Uncle told her that they didn’t know how long she was going to be gone, but she would be gone for quite some time, at least. She didn’t know how she felt about this, but if they wanted her to do it, then she would.

Before she left, she packed supplies in some saddlebags to take with her for the trip, just in case. There was a small amount of food, some clothing and make-up kits, mostly just the basics required to create her own on her own time, and finally a book that was given to her by her caregivers. They had told her it entailed the entire training regimen they had planned for her, and it was a book she would have to hold on to so that one day she may use it to teach another on top of furthering her own knowledge.

With all of the things she needed packed away, she made her way out of the city and back to where she was training mere hours ago. She had no idea who to expect, but somepony was supposed to be waiting for her, and she was going to have to put on her best face and make a good impression.

Once Applejack arrived, she looked around to find the place completely deserted. She was certain that she had gotten here at the right time. She was only a few minutes early, as far as she could tell, and a thought passed through her mind that she just might be dealing with somepony exceptionally punctual. So, without anything to do, she sat upon the ground, her ears listening out for any signs of noise so that she could quickly get ready when whoever she was supposed to meet finally arrived.

For nearly half an hour she waited in complete silence, taking the time to actively look around for whoever might be coming, but after all this time, nopony had come. It was after her second attempt at a search did she finally get any sort of hint of anypony else around. It was the distinctive sound of wings flapping, followed by the touching down of hooves. It seemed she was going to be dealing with a pegasus.

As the filly looked around for the sound, however, she couldn’t see anypony around, only the faint trace of hooves on the ground where the noise had originally come from. This must have been quite the fast pony to avoid her eyes, but even as she looked up into the air, she couldn’t see any trace of whoever it was. She figured that this pegasus must be playing with her; she didn’t like that one bit.

Applejack turned rapidly towards a new set of sounds, a strange sound of flapping wings combined with moving earth, and it didn’t take her long to figure out what it was. Whoever this pony was, they had managed to hurl a boulder straight at her, one easily twice her size. But she didn’t back down from the sudden attack, in fact, she did quite the opposite. In the past, her Aunt had thrown worse at her, and in recent years, she had gotten very good at doing one thing in particular to stop these kinds of attacks.

She bucked it.

Just as the large rock was about to hit her, she quickly turned her small body and let loose with a buck towards the incoming rock. The timing was perfect, and her back hooves smashed the boulder into pieces, sending forth a scattering of pebbles and stones back towards wherever the attack had come from. Despite the intense tingling in her legs, she found the strength to quickly turn around and look behind, trying to find out if anypony was there this time.

As she looked, she found that, still, she couldn’t see anypony around. Whoever was attacking her was very good, and it was starting to make her both angry and scared. This was unlike anything she had ever experienced in her years of training. It was starting to be far more intense than what she had experienced with her Aunt, for she knew that, this time, the danger could very well be real.

Her eyes continued to dart around, looking for the elusive pony that was attacking her just out of sight. She had to mount an offensive soon, otherwise, she just might have to retreat, which would bring disgrace to all that she was taught. Right then and there, she decided that she was not going to run, she was going to stand and fight whoever or whatever this was, and she vowed to be victorious.

As new found determination washed over her, she finally heard what she had been waiting for all along. The faint sound of hooves walking softly on the ground.

With a quick turn, she dashed off towards the source of the sound, her eyes looking for any signs of life.

At first, she saw nothing, much like before, but in the dust upon the ground, she saw a fresh hoofprint being made by an unseen pony. This was all she needed.

She didn’t know who, why, or how, but at least she knew that she had to fight back. She ran as fast as her hooves could carry her, and just as she made it to where she saw the fresh hoofprints, she heard the sound of flapping wings.

Acting fast, she turned in place and clenched her hind-legs tightly, and with her fore-legs, she launched herself upwards to deliver a mid-air bucking.

Despite not being able to see anything, she felt her hooves meet with soft pony flesh, and the satisfying grunt of an injured foe. With a slight smirk, she landed on the ground and turned her gaze towards the skies, hoping to follow the sound to find her unseen foe once again and press the assault. However, all of her efforts suddenly stopped when she heard a voice, one that made her feel at peace, speaking to her.

“Oh... my...” The voice said before giving a few coughs, “I suppose that is why they called you Bucker in the letter.”

For a moment, she simply started blankly at the empty space where the voice had come from, but soon, she gave the first response that came to mind, “Bucker?”

“Hmm? Why, yes, the codename that Guise and Strike had given you... or hadn’t they instructed you on codenames yet?”

The little filly simply shook her head; she had a codename now... she kind of liked that idea.

“Well, as per the agreement, I won’t look too deeply into who you are, as I’ve done with all of your ancestors in the past, and I’ll simply refer to you as Bucker, if only for your own protection. Now... I suppose I should introduce myself, yes?”

“That would be rather nice of you.” Applejack, no... Said Bucker, starting to regain the eloquence she had developed from being around her Aunt and Uncle for so long.

Bucker heard the flapping of the wings intensify, the pony owning them no longer attempting stealth, and soon, she saw the imprint of four hooves landing upon the ground. Then, out of nowhere, a large flash of light encompassed her entire vision, light that was full of warmth and caring, light that didn’t blind her or harm her eyes, instead allowing her to see the full glory of the pony standing in front of her.

Instantly, Bucker recognized the pony standing in front of her, now sporting a pair of small bruises on her chest.

It was her majesty Princess Celestia.

And then... oh, don’t look at me like that. Yes, I kicked Princess Celestia, but, I believe she was asking for it at the time. She had started a fight, and as I had no idea who it was at the time, I fought back. I supposed I should count myself lucky that she didn’t mind bruises, and even luckier for me they didn’t last very long. She heals fast, you know, probably a factor of how she’s lived for so long. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes...

Immediately, Bucker bowed to the Princess, lowering her head in both respect and apology, “I’m so sorry, Princess. If I had known it was you, I wouldn’t have...” She said, trailing off with short glance to the bruises.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about it. I was making sure you were up to working for me, and I suppose I knew the risk of injury was there, even though I was invisible. You performed admirably for somepony your age, and I have to say, I’m quite impressed with your progress, Bucker.

“In the past, I have always hired on the spies of your lineage at some point in their lives, and I have never once been disappointed in their performance. I don’t know how long I will choose to have you in my employ, but I assure you, you will be well rewarded for your efforts. I’ll explain to you everything you’ll be doing with me from here on out, and what sort of accommodations I can provide you wherever I go. However, before I can do any of that, there’s a very important question that I have to ask you...

“Do you accept my offer of employment?” The Princess asked.

Bucker was a little stunned, to say the least. Her Aunt and Uncle were better at keeping secrets than she gave them credit for, and now, like them, and all of the ancestors of her teachings, she was going to be working for the ruler of all of Equestria. This was an offer she simply couldn’t refuse.

“I graciously accept your offer, and will do whatever you ask of me from here on out.”

“Very good. Now, come with me, I have a chariot waiting for us just outside of this area, beyond the forest where nopony ever really goes.”

Together, the ageless Princess Celestia and her new employee, the eleven year old junior spy, set off on a journey that would change the filly’s life forever.

It was then that she took me all the way to Canterlot, a city I had never even seen at a distance until then. It was quite the wonderful city, and it was there that Celestia’s influence was at its strongest. There wasn’t a speck of crime or filth to be seen, everypony had what they needed, and a few were wealthy, like the ponies in Manehattan. It was quite different from what I was used to, but it was a refreshing change for the time being.

When I asked her about it, she told me that, while she had the influence to manage Canterlot, as she was always there; her resources were spread very thin over Equestria, especially as of late. She may be a goddess, but she is not all knowing, nor all powerful. There was only so much she could do with what she had, and the further away from Canterlot any given city was, the worse off it became.

Ponyville is one of the special places, where things are nearly as idyllic as Canterlot, simply due to the fact that only the kindest of ponies were sent here to help colonize it. The rich land surrounding the town helps as well, meaning that everypony has all they need, and so they needn’t be greedy for any reason. The small community helps as well, because when everypony knows everypony else, it’s hard to get away with things.

In any case, it was from that moment on that I started to work for her. Things were rather... mundane. I was always in disguise. Sometimes I was shadowing her as a child playing throughout the city, other times I was a young traveler, and as I aged, I was even able to pose as servants or guards. It helped me watch her, helped me keep an eye on her and any who might have tried to harm her.

Oh, and before I forget, this was the same time that I had to stop writing my letters. I had forgotten to do so for a week simply out of the shock of working with the Princess, but when I had started to write one, she had told me that, as part of my job, I wasn’t allowed to contact anypony, out of fear that I might divulge secrets or have the letters traced back to me and be caught unawares. So you see, brother, stopping my letters was not something I was in control of, and I yearned to continue contact with you. When I accepted the job, I knew, at the back of my mind, that you were expecting me in three months’ time, but I simply didn’t know it was going to take so long. For that, I apologize, but you have to know, it was out of my control.

Now, let’s see... ah, yes, for the first two years, I did not see any sort of action or real need for my services; save for the occasional rowdy subject, the Princess was never in any danger. That is, until one fateful night three years ago, when I bloodied my hooves for the first time...

It Was Three Years Ago Now

Bucker, having finally entered her teenage years, followed Princess Celestia from the shadows of Stalliongrad, keeping an eye on her majesty to make sure she was alright on this trip. While she never saw much in the way of actual work, she was always vigilant every time they went out to the various cities for whatever reason. While the Princess had her own out in the open guards, she was far more competent than any of them, and she served as an emergency blanket of protection around the ruler of Equestria.

Things had been extremely quiet, especially as of late. The alicorn was simply making a routine trip into the city to check on things, start some sort of morale boosting event, and having her normal guards back up the local security force to help rout any sort of criminal activity. All in all, her visits did wonders for her ponies, especially the ones in big cities such as this one.

For the time being, she was dressed like one of the many ponies who were out and about, moving in and out of the crowd as she felt necessary. She wore only a simple mining helmet upon her head, and a false cutie mark sticker on her flank, depicting a clump of dirt. Cutie Mark sticker crafting was something she had learned in recent months while reading the book she was given by her Aunt and Uncle, and already it was proving quite the amazing tool for getting around unnoticed, eliminating the need for clothing to conceal her flanks.

As she walked in and out of the crowd, she scanned everypony for any signs of hostile intent, and for the first few hours of this event, everything seemed to be alright. However, shortly after the three hour mark, she noticed, for the first time in her two years working for the Princess, a pony that seemed to have far more hostile intent than the average roughhouser or heckler. What was worse, the pony wasn’t alone. Others seemed to surround whoever it was, and together, their gazes kept moving between Celestia and themselves, the clearest sign of plotting she had ever seen.

Immediately she began to make her way towards them, intent on listening in on their conversation. As she approached, she began to overhear the ponies talking; at first, she didn’t recognize what they were saying, as they weren’t speaking common Equestrian, but her Uncle didn’t give her all of those language lessons for nothing. Soon, despite the noise from the crowd, she started to make out what they were saying, and from that, she pinpointed the language.

They were speaking Barlean.

Her Aunt and Uncle had told her that it was the Barleans that Equestria had gone to war with centuries ago, and if they were here now, up to no good... She didn’t want to think about what kind of conflict this might start. For the time being, she couldn’t do anything save listen, as they had no outward hostile intent, and she didn’t want to be the cause of another great war by acting first.

Bucker started to become increasingly worried, however, as she listened in on the conversation. From the sounds of how openly they were speaking, none of them seemed to think anypony within earshot could understand them, especially over the crowd, but she could hear every word. It was hard for her to make out exactly what they were saying over the sounds of both the crowd and their thick accents, but one sentence she caught let her know she had to act, and fast.

“Grab your weapon, Golden Star, and get ready to attack on my signal.”

The Barlean words came from what seemed to be the leader of the group, an earth pony mare who was speaking to a pegasus stallion. The winged pony gave a nod to his leader, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the glint of cold, hard steel.

This was it, this was the moment she had been hired for, one of the moments she had spent so many years training for.

With so many ponies around, she had to act in a somewhat subtle manner. The first order of business was alerting Princess Celestia of the impending danger, so that she could help deal with the crowd, and make sure that she wasn’t caught by surprise. Then there was the matter of keeping the Barleans here while the alicorn worked her magic, quite possibly in the literal sense, to make sure the filly could act without being seen by the populace.

As the orange earth pony pondered her next course of action, a sudden idea sprung to mind that would hopefully solve both of her problems at once, as long as her employer knew how to speak the language of her ancient enemies still.

In a quick burst of motion, she swiftly walked towards the pegasus who was drawing some sort of bladed weapon, and not too gently bumped right into him, causing her helmet to fall to the ground.

For a brief moment, she pretended to be hurt, and gave him a dirty look. It all came down to this, and in a voice that rose above the crowd, she yelled at him.

“Oy! Vigilo qua vos ire, plumamens!”

The sudden shout caught the attention of near everypony in the celebration within thirty feet. Most ponies thought it was just some random nonsense being spouted, and quickly went back to enjoying the festivities; others, however, understood to varying degrees what was going on.

Celestia was the first to understand, her eyes immediately turning to the source of the vile language she had come to despise. There, she saw her secret guard facing a group of ponies, all of whom were gazing at her with either shock or confusion. This was the event she had feared for the past two years since she had hired the filly, but now, there was no stopping it without blowing centuries of secrets wide open; but while she couldn’t stop it, she could help it along.

Bucker now stared at the ponies in front of her. She wasn’t certain at first just how many there were, but now, she knew that four of them had come here to do the dark deed, and she was now the only thing standing between them and her Princess. Her enemies consisted of two earth ponies, a pegasus, and a unicorn. She was going to have to watch out for the unicorn the most, as who knew what kind of spells he could fling at her.

As the teenage filly stood her ground, her gaze shifted slightly as she noticed that everypony, save for herself and the Barleans, had suddenly begun clearing out of the area. While this event was rather mobile, she knew it shouldn’t be moving this fast. Her foes seemed to be just as confused as she was, but a quick glance to the sky gave them all the answers they needed.

Celestia had taken to the skies, putting on a wonderful spectacle of flight and magic to entertain the masses, and at the same time, luring them away from her little bodyguard at a faster pace. With so many eyes on her, she could do little else for Bucker without putting centuries of work at risk. While she hated the idea of sending one so young into a fight so soon, it was what she had originally hired the filly for; she just wished it could have happened later in her life.

As the ponies cleared out, leaving the orange filly and the four Barleans more and more isolated, the foreign ponies got their act together and began to make their moves. Despite the sudden change of events, the pegasus looked as if he was still going to attempt the assassination, his wings spreading in preparation. However, the orange filly had seen it coming, and was already moving towards him. He had barely flapped his wings once when he felt a pair of legs wrap around him, pinning his wings to his side. To the average pony, it looked like Bucker was giving him a hug, but to him, it was a death grip. The air in his lungs suddenly evacuated under the surprisingly intense grip and his ribs felt as if they were going to crack under the pressure.

The sudden assault made the Barleans retreat a few steps, and with their flier in the enemy’s hooves, literally, they had to begin improvisation. The leader of the group was the first to act, and right away she began to bark orders to the ponies under her command. She told her fellow earth pony to attack the filly, while the unicorn of the group was tasked with casting some sort of spell.

With the briefest glances around, the orange filly saw that the nearest citizen was nearly out of sight, meaning that she could finally fight this lot without the need for cover. She quickly moved her smaller frame out of the path of the mare that was charging towards her, letting her tackle to her own ally.

With a quick step to regain her balance after the sudden dodge, she turned to the unicorn, whose horn was glowing brightly from magical focus. He was probably the most dangerous to her out of all of them, as magic could take many forms, even ones that she herself could not see. She needed to take him out first, and with a powerful dash, she aimed to do just that.

Bucker was moving at such great speeds that the unicorn barely had time to see what was coming, his vision being filled by two orange hooves. With a sickening crack, the buck connected directly with his head, knocking him unconscious as well as lightly fracturing his skull. He was down before he even had a chance to fight back, quickly and efficiently, just like her Aunt had taught her.

One down, three to go.

The orange pony quickly turned to face the rest of her opponents, only to receive a hoof to the face that knocked her off her hooves and on to the ground. She grunted in pain as she skidded to a halt, not having felt a jab like that since, well, ever. Her eyes opened in time to see that the leader of the group was the one who had struck her, and with the way she was charging at her, she intended to follow up.

The filly wasn’t out of it yet, though, not by a long shot. She quickly rolled out of the way of a stomp the leader was about to deliver to her midsection and regained her footing, standing upright once again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pegasus and other earth pony had untangled themselves. The pegasus was currently the greatest threat to the Princess at the moment, and as much as she wanted to knock the leader of them senseless, she had to take out the priority target first.

She swiftly ducked an incoming hoof from the leader of the Barleans present, and brought up both of her own to deliver a pair of light jabs to her chest, forcing the mare back a few steps. With her new breadth of space, she took the opportunity to charge towards the other two. She saw her mark, but before she could reach it, she had to deal with the earth pony that was standing in her way.

As she approached, her foe seemed ready for her and her tricks this time, and together, they began to fight. While Bucker had been trained in the art of hoof to hoof combat for years, this mare seemed to have had similar expertise, not to mention a size advantage. But after trading a few blows, the filly knew she had the advantage in this fight, and it was only a matter of time until she saw the perfect opening.

Her opponent made the mistake of making too large and slow of a move, a long leg sweep meant to unbalance her, and it gave her the perfect opportunity to make a strong counterattack. She twisted her body around as she hopped into the air, with an extended hoof; she delivered a jaw cracking roundhouse kick straight to the mare’s face, rattling her brain enough to render her opponent unconscious.

Two down, two to go.

There were still two more ponies left to deal with, and while the leader of the group was glaring at her fiercely, getting ready to attack once more, the pegasus had drawn his blade, a strange curved knife, and looked poised to fly off again in the confusion. She couldn’t allow that to happen, though, and acted as quickly as she could.

The pegasus flapped his wings once, getting himself just barely off the ground; just one more flap and he could start to soar in the skies. But for Bucker, one wing flap was all it took for her to get an idea, get by his side, and unleash a powerful kick towards him. The cracking of bones sounded through the eerily quiet streets of Stalliongrad as her hoof connected with the base of his wing, shattering it completely and leaving him bound to the ground.

The pegasus fell to the ground, screaming out in pain of his broken wing. With him down, there was only the---

Bucker was suddenly blindsided once again by the leader of the group, this time kicking hard into her side, cracking several of her ribs at once. She cried out in pain as she traveled several feet through the air before landing with a dull thud upon the ground. She winced and clenched her jaw, doing whatever she could to avoid curling up into a ball, which would only make things much worse for her.

“You stupid little foal!” The leader yelled out in her native tongue, “It had taken us a year to get this far, and you’ve ruined everything! I will kill you for this!”

The teenage filly opened her eye and caught a glimpse of the enraged earth pony, who had started to walk towards her slowly. She had to get up, she had to fight back, she had to grit her teeth and push past the pain, or else, she’d be done for.

Slowly, she stood, which in turn caused her enemy to quickly close the distance to push her back down with a quick headbutt, re-igniting her pain.

“You will stay down, you mule.”

Bucker felt her anger grow at the insult, but she quickly swallowed it as she saw the leader stand tall above her. For the briefest of moments, she felt powerless, laying there underneath her foe, but for her own sake, she had to fight back somehow.

The mare above her lifted a hoof into the air, getting ready to bring it down upon the filly’s head, when she saw somewhere that she could strike.

With the need to act flowing through her body, she made one last attempt to take down this foreign pony before she was killed. She brought up her hind leg, and in a swift burst of motion, she let it fly and connected with the softest part of an earth pony’s body that she could reach.

The mare’s eyes suddenly widened, and a horrid gurgle escaped her throat as she struggled for breath. She backed away quickly, desperately hoping that it was the hoof that was stopping her from breathing, as opposed to the fact that said hoof had completely crushed her throat. A horrid cough found its way out of her before all chances of breathing in time were lost on her, and in less than a minute, she fell for the ground, suffocating from that lack of oxygen.

The entire time, the filly watching as her foe, desperately trying to grasp to life, however fruitless the effort might have been. For the first time in her life, she watched as somepony she had hurt fell to the ground and die. For the first time in her life, she had killed.

Her eyes wavered as emotions battled each other within her. She always knew that one day she might have to do something like this, but having actually performed the act was a completely different story, especially since she was still so very young.

“Bucker! Oh... oh no... I was too late.” Came a voice from behind her.

Bucker didn’t need to look to see who it was, for she knew the voice well. For the briefest moments, she thought about how she most likely wouldn’t even be able to see the source of the voice, as she must have been using her invisibility spell, since she couldn’t hear anypony else.

“I...” Was all the filly said before going quiet.

“I had hoped that you could still spend a few more years in peace before anything like this happened... and I fear I could have prevented it, if only I had told you about... I suppose I hoped too much that I could shield you from this longer, when I should have told you the whole story from the beginning, especially considering the position. Bucker... I apologize deeply for what you had to do here... and I hope, in time, you can forgive me. I’ve already made sure that this will get cleaned up, and everypony else thinks I’m still on the other side of town, and will for as long as the illusion lasts. ...I’m going to take us back to Canterlot now, so that I can speak with you in private and fix you up, alright?” Celestia explained, a deep sorrow filling her voice.

The filly heard the voice of her Princess speak to her, but most of it seemed a blur as she wrangled with her own emotions. She didn’t know if she wished to cry, to shout in victory, or simply try to forget it. Every time she started leaning towards one, the others would pull her back. She was stuck, and for nearly a minute, she simply lay there, unmoving and motionless.

Moments later, something seemed to click in her mind, those warring emotions suddenly stopped, and from the chaos, order emerged.

Pure, emotionless order.

“I am ready to head back now, Princess.”

Her face held a completely blank expression, her voice holding no emotion within it, simply a dead monotone.

“...Very well, then. Close your eyes.”

Bucker obeyed, and soon, the light of Celestia surrounded them both and whisked them away, back to the palace where she might heal, heal both her body, and her mind.

“It took me a year and a half to truly recover from that incident. My disguises never worked to their fullest extent, because I simply could no longer emote. It put a strain on my job and my cover, and began to worry Celestia more and more. Still, time heals all wounds, after all, and after conversing with others for a while, I learned to be me once again, though I will never forget the look on that mare’s face when I killed her.

“I was sent on a few missions after that. Through the Everfree Forest and across the great plains to the edges of Barlea. You see, after all of that, the Princess had told me a national secret, one I’m sure my Aunt and Uncle knew but didn’t tell me. Several years ago, nearly twenty now, I believe, the war between Equestria and Barlea re-ignited. Thankfully, Celestia was prepared for this, and instead of plunging her country into chaos over the knowledge of the war, she instead sent the best of her secret forces to go and combat the Barleans on their home front.

“I’ve been sent over there several times, each trip more dangerous than the last, just going out to do my service and then returning for rest and therapy, if I needed it. I never did... after taking that first life, every other time wasn’t as hard... and I think that’s what scared me the most. Some of the others I worked with were much worse than I, however. They’re the only ones, besides the Princess, that I would be truly terrified to face on the battlefield. I don’t think I should mention anything about them, however, for both of our sakes.

“Anyway... over time, I began to volunteer and even request missions more and more often, eventually performing fourteen assaults in my last year. This led to an interesting development, actually. For fear of my sanity, Celestia had decided that I be promoted from being a simple secret soldier, to her elite force. Her elite forces are always given the most dangerous and crucial missions, but as a benefit, they are sent to remote places like Ponyville here, where they can live a new life, in peace.

“Some join the elite immediately, like this one unicorn Celestia went to go and see personally in Manehattan two months ago, while I was back on Equestrian soil after my latest outing in Barlea. Seemed nice enough, but if the papers were to believe, she was a mass murderer, a really good one at that. Criminals such as she are almost always given the chance to join the elite before they’re banished, you see, as a way to make up for what they’ve done.

“In any case, I’m getting off track with that. Like I said, I was recently promoted to the elite, and so, after a couple of years shifting from resting spot to resting spot, I was sent here... The Princess eventually found out a little bit more about my history, you see, and she found out my real name, and where I came from and what I was before any of this started. She knew how good I was at acting, as well, and so, she gave me a choice. I could either go to any random small town she chose, permanently instead of temporarily like the last few times, where I could start a new life... or I could return here to Ponyville and just... be Applejack, be myself if none of this had ever happened, if I had never even left the farm in the first place.

“That’s when I thought of you, and the farm. It had been years since I thought of any of you, and it shocked me how much of my past I had nearly forgotten... I still feel ashamed about that... but anyway, at that moment, something inside me missed this place... and missed you, a lot. And so, I made my choice. She gave me two weeks to go and get my hat, practice my farm drawl, and then she sent me here.

“Here... heh, once I came here, it was... wonderful. For the first time in over a decade, I felt like I was home. Being able to work on the farm, like I had wanted when I was a filly, to be able to pretend as if all of the war and fighting that I had witnessed had never even happened. This farm, in the recent weeks, has made me feel more like a normal pony than I’ve felt in years, as opposed to the efficient war machine I had been trained to become.

“And... I suppose that leads us to now. You now know everything, well, mostly everything, I suppose. I’m sure I left out a few details, but I saw the sun rising and felt I should hurry things along. So... I suppose you have a decision to make, now. Are you going to kick me out? Are you going to tell everypony what I’ve told you, putting us all at risk? Or are you going to let me be Applejack, let me have my peace here... let us be a family again?”

With that closing statement, her story had finally ended. She took one last, long inhalation of her cigarette, her fourth one of in the last six hours of storytelling, and the last she would be smoking for the night.

To his credit, Big Macintosh had spent the entire time perfectly alert, listening to every word, but never having made a sound. His face had contorted with various emotions throughout the tale, mostly at key points that sent a shiver down his spine and made him fear the safety of his family.

But, deep down, as he heard what his sister was doing, how she was taking immense personal sacrifice to protect all of Equestria; every last pony, even himself, most likely owed their lives to her at least once; and nopony even knew it.

At least, until now. While he didn’t like what his sister was doing, and especially didn’t like the fact that she had taken the lives of other ponies, enemies or not, he still had to respect all she had done for him, and the rest of Equestria.

He silently contemplated what he was going to say next. Out of his options, for a moment, he was sure which choice he was going to make, as keeping her around might very well be dangerous for all. But, at the same time, if what she said was true, it might just be safest being close to her.

The red stallion could see that his sister was waiting on baited breath for his response, and she nearly flinched as he took a deep breath in preparation to speak.

“Lil’ sister... if it helps you, if it’s what you really want... Then you can stay here. I’ve missed you terribly, AJ, and despite what you’ve told me, you’re still family, and family has to stick together.”

A small smile spread across his sister’s lips as she heard his words, feeling incredibly thankful for the response.

“Thank you, dear brother. You’ve given me something greater than you can really imagine... When we retire for the... well, day, I suppose, I’m going to get back into character, and from here on out, I’ll be the Applejack that... I sometimes wish I could have been. Things will hopefully go on normally once again, and we can get back to our lives, save for the occasional moments when I’ll have to be whisked away on a mission. I do hope you can cover for me during those times.”

Big Mac gave a small smile and nodded. He protected his own, no matter who or why.

“Thank you again, dear brother... well, this has certainly been quite the night, and I’ve gotten a lot off of my chest this night. Is there anything else you’d like to know?” She asked.

The red pony thought for a moment, and aside from wondering where she picked up smoking in her time away, which was a question he didn’t feel like asking after everything else he had heard, he had nothing.

“Nnnope.”

“Very well then, I suppose we---”

She cut herself off as a voice suddenly came from the kitchen door; she quickly turned her head to look, and a chill ran down her spine.

“Hey! Applejack! I know it’s barely morning and everything, but I completely forgot that you were coming here, and you’ve been so busy lately and I’ve been so busy lately that I totally forgot to throw you a welcome back party! I was up almost all night thinking about it, and when morning came, I thought you might be awake, since you’re a farm pony and all, and so I came here an---” The pony’s rambling suddenly changed to a long, drawn out, over-exaggerated gasp.

Silence reigned in the room as the siblings looked to their pink visitor.

“Bucker... ohh... you’ve been bad.”

“P-Pinkamena... please, don’t!” Bucker shouted, a terrified desperation in her voice.

“You aren’t supposed to tell anypony about you! Not even family! You made a promise to Celestia, you know! And you’re never supposed to break a promise to made you somepony, or you could lose your friendship with them forever!”

“Yes, I know bu---”

“ForEEEveeeer!”

“Please, hear me out about thi---”

“Princess Celestia trusts me to keep her secret, and to make sure ponies like me and you keep her secret! You did a very bad thing, Bucker, showing yourself to your brother. I see the sleep in your eyes, I see the ashes of all your cigarettes, I know you’ve both been here for a long time and... oh my, you told him everything, didn’t you!”

“Curse your blasted insight... I’m imploring you here, liste---”

“You know that Celestia might have to banish you both now, so that nopony ever finds out about all the bad stuff over in Barlea! Oh boy, when I tell her, she’s going to be hopping mad! She might even get me to make you vanish! Oh my! That would be worse than banishing you, because then there wouldn’t be any more parties for you ever!” The pink pony cried out, aghast at the notion of no more parties.

Bucker growled lightly under her breath at the constant interruptions and the danger she had put both her brother and herself in; thinking fast, she remembered an old trump card that she could play that may save their lives.

“Oh no! What should I do, I’d hate to make you lose out on parties, but I promised the Princess that I would tell on you or the others if you did anything like this! Well I guess I have to keep my promise the---”

“You owe me your life!” The orange pony finally shouted.

“Wha?” Pinkie Pie asked, her face contorting in confusion.

“Two years ago, as an elite, you were sent with me and Boom to help us out on our test to enter the elites. You were wreaking havoc the likes of which I had never seen, but you got careless, and somepony almost killed you. I managed to get to them in time and stop them before they plunged the knife too deeply. I saved your life, you owe me. Please, let me call in that favour now... I beg you; don’t go to Celestia about this!”

“Hmm...”

The pink pony fell to her rump as she thought long and hard about the words that came out of Bucker’s mouth. That knife had really hurt, and she was probably right; if not for her, she wouldn’t be here right now, and she would have missed all of those parties!

“Mmmmokay! I guess it’s only fair then. This time, and this time only, I’ll zip my lip, lock it up, and bury it under a house somewhere! But be careful... I see you breaking your promise ever again, and bam! You’ll be in trouble, missy.”

Bucker let out a long, deep sigh of relief as she heard the words coming out of the pink pony’s mouth. She was in the clear.

“So! Can Applejack come out to play so we can partay!”

The orange pony gave a frown at this. Despite having threatened to tell on her to Celestia, she still had the gall to try and ask for a party. Still, she was on shaky ground at the moment, so playing along would be best.

“Umm... sadly, Pinkamena, I am tired, and I think Applejack will have to wait until the evening before she can party with you...”

“Aww... well, okie dokie lokie! I’ll see her then! And call me Pinkie Pie! I like the sound of it better!”

“Err... yes, alright then, Pinkie Pie...” She replied awkwardly.

Moments later, the pink pony burst out into a fit of giggles and waved to the two ponies in the kitchen, “Well, see you later alligator!”

Now, the siblings were alone once again, and Bucker nearly fainted, laying her head limply on to the table.

“...care to tell me what just happened?” Big Mac asked.

“Well... you see... she is one of the two in my elite group that I truly fear. I fear the other because, despite being stronger than she is, her attitude scares me beyond reason... for she is what I could have become. But Pinkamena... she is the most powerful out of all of us, and... no, I honestly shouldn’t say anymore. You are better off not knowing.”

The red stallion gave a gulp as he heard the news, and thanked his lucky stars for his sister’s quick thinking. If she feared that pink one, then he probably should too.

“I’ll do as you say, sis. I won’t say a word to anypony... in all honesty, I just hope things go back to normal now. I don’t think I’ll ever forget any of this, especially her, but I... think I just want to pretend it never happened for the next little while.”

Bucker gave a nod, “I understand, dear brother, but maybe it’s best that you pretend it never happened for the rest of your life. I’ve most likely satisfied your curiosity now, with all of this. I thank you for your promise to keep it a secret, and from the time we go to sleep, I promise you, you will never see Bucker again. I will just be Applejack from now on...” She said, trailing off as she thought about how she had almost lost her peace twice in one day now.

Big Macintosh gave a nod, “Eeyup. I expect you too.”

An awkward silence followed as neither sibling knew exactly what to say next, and with the interest of the story and the adrenaline of the terrifying encounter fading, exhaustion was starting to set in heavily on both of the ponies. As she stifled a yawn, the orange mare thought of what to say.

“I think we should just both head to bed now, and think about what has gone on this night one last time before we try to put it behind us. Are you ready to retire, big brother?”

“Eeyup.”

“Alright then. I bid you goodnight, and I hope to never see you again as I am now.

Bucker stood up and left the kitchen, leaving her brother alone in the room, so that she could get ready for sleep and her disguise for the morrow. Big Macintosh, however, stayed in the kitchen for a little while longer.

He had asked to find out his sister’s secrets, and now that he knew them, he knew that he couldn’t regret the decision, as much as he might want to. He was now the protector of his sister’s secret, and he would not, could not let her down. Like Granny Smith and Apple Bloom, he would protect her in any way he could. After all, despite all of her training and expertise, she was still his little sister, and as her big brother, it was his job to look out for her.

With a sigh, Big Mac stood up from the table, and went to bed, wondering how the years to come would unfold for him and those he cared for the most.

Havoc: Origins

Havoc: Origins

It was a dark and stormy night in the town of Hoofington, and in the local orphanage, all of the little fillies and colts were cowering in the middle of the living room, surrounding their matron as she told them stories, using the ambiance of the storm to enhance the drama of her tales in an attempt to spook her little ones.

“...and then, the great dragon swooped down upon the group of ponies, and with a great breath, he let forth a blast of flame!” The matron said.

As if on cue, a large bolt of lightning arced through the sky, followed by a clap of thunder. All of the little ponies in the room screamed in unison, huddling together at the well timed celestial event.

“Oh my, well, that was eerily on cue.” The older pony said, giggling lightly as she thought of the chances of it all.

“M-Miss Summer Song? That never really happened, did it?” Asked a small pink pony.

“Of course it didn’t, stupid! It’s just a story!” Came the words of a small azure colored unicorn.

“Hey! I’m not stupid!” The pink pony said, turning to the other filly with an angry glare.

“Says you!” The other pony replied, pressing her head up against her rival in a challenging headbutt.

As the two fillies pushed against one another, giving out high pitched growls, Summer Song could only laugh at the adorable sight.

As her laughter died down, she started to speak to them both directly, but calmly, in an attempt to settle the matter, “Pinkamena, Trixie, calm yourselves. Trixie, you shouldn’t have called Pinkamena stupid, and Pinkamena, you shouldn’t have yelled at Trixie. Both of you, apologize or you’ll be sleeping on opposite sides of the room again tonight.” She threatened gently.

The two ponies looked to their matron in the firelight, and then back to one another. They both gave a huff and sat down on the floor, back to back, and crossed their hooves in defiance.

“...I’m sorry, Pinks.” Trixie said in a huff.

“I’m sorry too, Trix.” Pinkamena replied.

After a few moments of the two still acting huffy, they soon broke out in to a fit of giggles and turned to hug one another, causing most everypony to let out a long, drawn out, “Awwww...”

Despite the near constant fighting, Pinkamena and Trixie were inseparable ever since they had met in the orphanage a year before, now, at the ages of six and seven respectively, the two had become great friends. They constantly ribbed on one another, trying to anger the other and start a fight, but no matter how bad it got, they always apologized, and in the end, they remained friends.

“Alright, all you little fillies and colts, it’s time for bed. I think Trixie and Pinkamena’s display has probably countered the scary story I told you, so none of you should have any nightmares.”

A collective groan of dismay came from the small group of little ponies, all complaining one way or another about having to go to bed.

“Ah, I’ll have none of that now! You need your sleep, or you’ll never grow big and strong and become stallions or mares. Off to bed! I’ll have a nice big breakfast for you in the morning, so don’t waste it by being sleepy when I wake you all up.” Summer Song said, smiling to her group.

The little ponies all gave their grumbles of consent and slowly made their way to the beds. There were only seven beds for the the eight fillies and colts, but Pinkamena and Trixie were more than happy to volunteer to share a bed. Despite having eight other ponies around, each of them still missed their parents dearly, at least, those that knew theirs, and they all felt a small degree of loneliness from that. Sharing the bed helped to ease that a little, and make life a little happier for the two.

Sharing the bed also allowed for sneaky plans to be made extra special quietly.

Once under the covers, the two quickly hid under the blankets and whispered amongst themselves, giggling mischievously as they planned to hatch some scheme or another.

“So, what do you think we should do tonight?” Pinkamena asked.

“I dunno... floof up that straight hair of yours?” Trixie responded, quickly bounding on to her friend in an attempt to mess up her mane.

The pink pony let out a shrill squeal as she entered into a wrestling match with the azure filly, trying her best to keep quiet and not disturb the others in the room. Minutes later, the two had finally exhausted themselves for the time being, and both of their manes looked a little worse for wear.

“Hmph... not straight anymore, but not all the way poofy.” Trix said, huffing lightly at failing her task.

“Well, yours is poofy!” Pinks said, giggling lightly as she pointed a hoof towards her friend’s wayward mane.

“Ah! How dare you!” The azure pony replied before starting to fix her hair.

Pinkamena merely giggled and plopped down under the bed while under the covers, sighing deeply, “I’m not tired... but there’s nothing fun to do! I’m bored...”

“Hmm... well, we could always go outside. The rain sounds like it stopped.”

“What? Outside? Are you loco in the coco? We wouldn’t be able to see a thing, and we’re too short to get the lamps!”

“Well, feast your eyes on something I’ve been working on!”

The pink pony tilted her head in curiosity, watching as her friend clenched her eyes and began to grunt on focus. Soon enough, her eyes light up as the rest of their space under the blankets lit up thanks to the light that now radiated from Trixie’s horn.

“Wooow! How’d you do that? You’re still so young! I thought unicorns didn’t get to learn stuff like that until they were, like, eight or nine!” Pinks exclaimed in excitement.

“Well, I am pretty great, aren’t I?”

Pinkamena rolled her eyes and giggled, “Oh yes, you are the Great and Powerful Trixie! Come on, let’s get outside! I think we can get out of the window from here.” She said, getting out from under the covers and heading to one of the windows.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie... I kinda like that. Oh! Hey! Wait for me!” Trixie replied, clambering out from under the covers, dousing her horn light to avoid waking the others.

“Hmm... I can almost reach from this bed...”

“Careful...”

“I am... give me a boost!”

Trix grumbled under her breath as she hopped up onto the bed, making sure not to disturb the colt sleeping in it already, and used her head to push against Pinks’ back legs. It took a little effort, but the pink pony soon rose into the air, and managed to get her hooves on to the windowsill and pull herself up and on to it. Her balance was shaky, but she was pretty sure she wouldn’t fall.

“Okay! Let me get the window and I’ll pull you up.” She said, before playing around with the window’s lock.

Luckily, the window was barred only with a small latch, to keep it closed during windy days, and it was a simple matter to quickly flick it open. A light breeze started to flow in, the air fresh thanks to the rain, though with a touch of ozone thanks to the nearby lightning. The windows were open now, and it was just a matter of hauling up the other pony before they could both make their daring escape.

“How are you going to pull me up there, anyway?” Trix asked.

“Hmm... oh! I know! Turn around and lift your tail, I’ll pull you up with that!”

“But that’ll hurt!”

“Oh, suck it up, you big foal.” She said, sticking out her tongue.

With a huff, the azure pony turned and lifted her tail up to the windowsill for her friend to grab on. She clenched her eyes shut in preparation for the sting, and propped her legs against the wall in anticipation for the sudden climb.

With a quick snap, Pinkamena clamped down on to her friend’s tail, causing Trixie to wince slightly and whimper, before pulling back with all of her might, trying to lift up her friend. For a short moment, it looked like it was going to work, but suddenly, she slipped and lost her footing, falling right out of the window and taking the other filly with her.

With a sudden scream, Trixie was lifted up and over the windowsill, and down in to a bush along with her friend, the two now scrambling on top of one another in the dark, trying to get upright and avoid getting all scratched up by the branches.

“Get off!”

“No, you!”

“You’re on my tail!”

“You’re on my horn!”

The two continued their quiet shouting match, passing instructions back and forth to one another in their own ways, and soon, in the dark of night, the two had managed to untangle themselves and sit on plain old grass, panting heavily from the exertion. As they started to catch their breath, they began to converse once more.

“Can... can you do that thing with the light, again?” Pinks asked.

“I don’t know... let me... catch my breath another minute.”

Pinkamena blew a raspberry at the thought of having to wait, but, she figured she could use the bit of rest as well. Soon, Trixie had regained her strength, and her focused face returned as she conjured up a simple light on the tip of her horn, “Hah! I can still do it! Also... you look ridiculous!” She said, giggling madly as she looked to her friend who have leaves and sticks sticking out of her hair.

“You don’t so good yourself!” The pink filly replied, bursting out into a fit of giggles.

The azure pony seemed to be in a similar state, leaves and sticks sticking out at odd angles from her mane and tail. She was about to huff, but she couldn’t help it, and joined in to the giggling, the two of them eventually bursting into full laughter.

As they laughed, the sleepy voice of one of the fillies in the room called out, “Pinkamena... Trixie! Keep it down and go to sleep...”

Both of the friends quickly clamped their hooves around their mouths, hoping that whoever that was didn’t catch the fact that they were now outside. With some shifty eyes, Pinkamena quickly looked around to assess the situation and whispered, “Let’s get out of here!”

With a quick nod, Trixie began to run off in the direction of the nearby hills that the two liked to play on during the day, and Pinkamena followed along. Together, the two of them made for the hills, Trix’s light guiding the way the entire time.

Once they were on top of the hill, they began to dance around and play, bounding this way and that, wrestling or getting in to play fights, and generally being little friends having a wonderful time together. Still, as they played, the time went on, and the wild energy that came to all little ponies was soon replaced with tired exhaustion.

Pinks collapsed onto the grass once she had felt all played out, and rested her head on her hooves as she turned her gaze to the stars, “The sky is really pretty tonight...”

Soon, Trix plopped down next to her and leaned against her for support and warmth, “Hmm... yeah, it is really nice out...” She said before letting out a loud yawn, “But why do I haveta be too tired to enjoy it?”

“I know what you mean... silly night, being around when we’re all tired... we should stay up late every night like this, get used to it, and then we can watch the night sky together more often.” The pink pony replied.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Pinks!” The azure filly said excitedly.

“Totally... it’ll be really... Oh! Wow! Lookit!” She said suddenly, pointing a pink hoof up into the sky.

Trixie quickly looked up to see what her friend was talking about, and it was there that she saw it. A shooting star, streaking across the sky in a brilliant light.

“Quick! Let’s make a wish!”

“What should we wish for?”

“Hmm... oh, how about...” Trix said, leaning over to whisper in her friend’s ear.

After listening in, she gave a nod, and in unison, they spoke, “We wish that we could be friends forever and ever!”

The two broke out into small giggles as they made their wish and the star vanished in to the oblivion of space. With their wish completed, the two got closer, too tired to walk all the way back to the orphanage, and snuggled up for warmth.

Pinks smiled sleepily as she leaned over and nuzzled Trix’s head lightly. Her friend gave a smile and draped a hoof over Pinkamena, leaning over to make her mane in to a comfy pillow.

And like that, the two fillies fell asleep, kept safe from the chill of night by the warmth of their friendship.

The two friends had gotten into a lot of trouble the next day due to not being in their beds in the morning, though this was nothing new for either of them. After they had been found sleeping on the hills, well past their normal wake up time, the two of them had been scolded and sent in to time out, but it couldn’t really hold them for long.

Pinkamena and Trixie had escaped from their time out prison rather quickly the very moment their matron had gone to deal with the other children, and the two went off to create all kinds of chaos in the town, all in the name of playful fun. Neither of them ever caused any real damage, only a nuisance on the worst of days, and an amusing distraction on the best of them, making the friends rather infamous around Hoofington.

They continued their playing and fighting interchangeably, but their friendship always remained, getting stronger and stronger with each passing day. In the nights that followed their little outing under the stars, they kept managing to sneak out to enjoy the fresh air, despite the efforts of their matron. No locks could hold the two of them, no time outs could keep them penned up, nothing could stop them. They were both tiny forces of playful nature, and could not be contained.

Nearly a week after their first outing, the two of them now found themselves having snuck out of the orphanage once again, already making their way for the hills, quiet giggles filling the air as they had a great time feeling like they were being bad.

“I’m winning, Trix!”

“No you aren’t, Pinks!”

The two of them were racing to the hills, trying to be the first one to reach the highest point of the tallest hill. Trixie usually had the advantage, as she was their light source, and every time Pinkamena got too far ahead, she’d lose most of her light and start to trip up. Though, this was becoming less and less of a problem, as the azure pony’s magical light grew a little brighter each night.

Tonight, however, fortune was in the pink pony’s favour, and she reached the top of the hill first, “I did it! Hee!” She said, giggling happily and dancing on the spot.

Her victory was short lived, however, as a streak of blue suddenly careened in to her, Trixie being a bit of a sore loser. A wrestling match began as the two tackled and tickled and grappled each other in an attempt to claim another victory under their metaphorical belts. They had long ago lost count of just who had most wins between them, but they didn’t care. The competition was always a way for them to have fun and for them to strengthen their bonds.

Despite her winning the race, or perhaps, because she wore herself out by winning, Pinkamena was now pinned by a grinning Trixie, “I win this one, Pinks!”

The pink pony blew a raspberry up at her friend, her face contorting into a pout, “Yeah well... only cause I let you win!”

Trix gasped, “I won fair and square, for I am Great and Powerful.”

Pinks rolled her eyes at that, “You aren’t going to give that up, are you?”

“Nope!”

The two friends began to laugh as the azure pony let her friend go and plopped onto the hill, ready to begin stargazing. They would probably fall asleep out here again; they had gotten used to sleeping out under the stars, using each other for warmth and comfort. Neither minded, as it was always a nice and fun experience, letting the two spend time together in the peace and quiet of the of the night.

Pinkamena laid down on top of Trixie’s back, using her as a pillow tonight, “My turn for the comfy seat!”

“Aww...”

Pinks giggled lightly as she got comfortable, her gaze turning towards the sky. The night was ever beautiful, with the stars in the sky twinkling for the two gleeful ponies to enjoy. As they spent their time star gazing, they suddenly saw that a star seemed to be moving quite erratically.

“Hey, what’s wrong with that star?” Trixie asked.

“I’m not sure...”

They watched the star in curiosity, and from the looks of it, it seemed to be flying towards them in a chaotic flight pattern. A small worry began to grow as the light began to grow bigger and bigger, and soon, the light wasn’t just a light at all, it was a very far away pony. At least, they thought it to be a pony.

As it drew closer, they began to grow frightened, stumbling up and off one another in an attempt to get standing, just in case they had to run. However, their gazes simply couldn’t leave the sight of the incoming pony. They watched as the light grew bigger, and they began to see just who, or what, was approaching them.

They had seen pictures of Princess Celestia before. They knew that she was an alicorn, made up of all the pony races, a goddess with the power to control the celestial bodies. This was why when they saw the incoming pony, they knew that she, or it, too, was an alicorn, one that held untold power.

It’s mane, in fact, it’s entire body, was an amalgam of everything and nothing, shifting from all of the colors of the spectrum, showing images of things long forgotten or of events to come, creating random objects one moment and then destroying them the next. The very image of this pony could only be described by one word: Chaos.

With neither of them realizing it, the pony had approached them, or rather, their town, and now hovered a short distance away, its eyes scanning the area. The figure then broke into a large, malicious smile as it looked out to the town.

An intense power began to gather around it, its image one of pure chaos shrinking and focusing into a coherent ball. The strange forces that surrounded it before now all focused into the sphere, leaving the two fillies with an idea of what it, or rather, she, looked like. Her coat was the color of pure white light, every single color mixed into one perfect shade that reflected all light that touched it.

The two fillies seemed to become slowly mesmerized by what they were witnessing, their eyes glazing over at the majesty of the alicorn floating above them, as well as the beauty of the sphere she was creating.

All of a sudden, after minutes of gathering her chaos in to the sphere, the alicorn spoke.

“Beware Celestia... for I shall see burn all that you love.”

Upon her face grew a psychotic, malicious smile that sent a chill down the spines of the two friends, causing Trixie to let out a squeak of terror, the first sound either ponies had made since the arrival of the alicorn.

Her gaze suddenly shifted from the town down to the sound, down to the two fillies below her. Her grin widened as she began to fly downwards and down towards the ground slightly, “Wouldn’t be right to leave them homeless...” She said to herself with a sadistic grin.

Now, the two fillies were positioned between her and Hoofington, allowing her to get them as well. Slowly, her eyes closed, and for the briefest of moments, she looked calm, almost serene.

And then her eyes shot open, her horn glowed brightly, her face bore a look of pure insanity, and she released her sphere of chaos.

The orb flew towards the two fillies, their eyes wide in shock.

Trixie didn’t know what to do, save for cower beside her friend.

Pinkamena, on the other hand, decided to act.

Even at such a young age, she would gladly give herself up to protect her best friend; she wouldn’t let a thing happen to her.

She didn’t know if it would work, but she had to try it.

She ran forward, towards the blast, and jumped.

Chaos is a strange thing. It is a force of nature that determines the concept of chance in everything, the energy that flows through all things in existence that causes things to act in opposition to order. It fills everypony and everything alongside order. It is the possibility for anything and everything to happen at any given moment. Chaos cannot behave along any sort of pattern, for to follow a pattern would be to give it order. Chaos is the unpredictable, the random, the unexpected.

This is why, when Pinkamena threw herself in front of the orb, instead of obliterating her as the alicorn intended, something unexpected happened.

The energy seemed to flow directly into the pink pony, the chaos of the blast shifting and changing as it all slowly merged with the filly. All of the powers of chaos that the alicorn had focused into the orb, that she had expected to get back after her mayhem had been complete, was now fusing with Pinkamena.

The alicorn had had several millennia to focus her power, to make some form of sense of it and learn to both control it, and be it.

Pinkamena was only six.

In an instant, the entire universe was at her beck and call, all of the information of the past, present, and future became known to her all at once.

It was too much.

And she screamed.

She landed upon the ground in a violently writhing heap, her hooves clenched to the side of her head as she let out a wail so loud and terrible, everypony in the entire town was suddenly awakened in a cold sweat. Every window shattered violently as the sound permeated through Hoofington, into every crevice of every pony mind around.

Ponies from all over the town began to get out of bed, rushing around in a panic at the sound of the voice, unknowing exactly what they should do about it. some fled the area, some tried to hide, and a brave few made their way towards the source, hoping to put a stop to whatever was going on.

Trixie watched on in horror as her best friend, her friend that she realized had intended to sacrifice herself for her sake, and had essentially succeeded, flop around on the ground in the greatest torment she had ever seen. She watched as Pinkamena spasmed violently, writhing around as she screamed, screamed because she had taken the blow that was meant for them all.

She tried to get close to her friend, wanting to try and ease her pain, but no matter how hard she tried, the erratic forces that were barely contained within the pink pony flicked her away at every attempt. Again and again she tried to come to her friend’s aid. Even after she was deafened from the screams and bruised from being thrown back, she still pressed on.

Minutes passed, and battered and bruised, Trixie found herself unable to move any longer, unable to go and help her dearest friend. She felt powerless, she felt helpless. She didn’t know what to do.

And so, she cried.

Up above, the alicorn watch the scene unfold below, waiting patiently for her power to return to so that she may continue her task. But as time passed, a look of frustration appeared on her face as Pinkamena refused to let the energy go, refused to be obliterated, refused to die and release her power. It was rightfully hers, and she refused to let an Equestrian take her greatest gift away from her.

The furious pony began to nose dive, straight towards the writhing pony on the ground. Despite lacking her greatest gift, she was still an alicorn, and still wielded some of her god-like powers. She understood chaos, and in understanding, she could pierce through the forces around the pink pony and end her in order to get her powers back.

But mere feet from her target, she suddenly froze in place, eyes wide in fear, for in the dead of night, the light of the sun shined brightly across the land, and in it was the silhouette of her most hated foe.

Celestia.

Normally she would never outright fear the Princess, her gift of chaos making her an essential force of nature. Her death would banish chaos, and in turn, banish order, for all things must have its opposite to exist. With neither force, the world would tear itself apart and be destroyed. She needed to exist for their entire world to exist.

But at this very moment, she was no longer the bearer of chaos. The very thing that ensured her life was not in her possession. She was vulnerable.

A single thought screamed through her mind.

Run.

The alicorn turned tail and flew, her magic gathering in her horn as she prepared a spell.

She felt heat at her tail, she knew what was behind her.

In an instant, she felt her tail burned away, her flanks scarred by fire.

And she teleported, vanishing back to her far away land, her mission failed.

Celestia frowned deeply, her concentrated solar flare having failed to end one of her great enemies in her time of vulnerability, the time in which she was no longer necessary to the universe. She had sensed the presence of another alicorn on her lands, and acted as fast as she could. Her enemies rarely made it past the Equestrian border without her knowledge, and every time they did, she was always able to repel them either with her soldiers, or her own powers. This had been the farthest they had gotten in years, and it worried her greatly.

But, there were other matters to attend to now.

With the light of day in the middle of the night, the ponies of Hoofington were becoming braver by the moment, and soon began to move towards the sounding of the horrid wailing. None of them knew what was happening, and those that saw the pink pony writhing in unimaginable pain upon the ground didn’t know what to do. None of them tried anything, especially after seeing the battered Trixie crying nearby, save for one certain pony.

“Pinkamena!” Cried Summer Song.

She ran forth to try and help her young ward, unknowing of the true dangers that may hold, only wanting to try and save one of her little ones. However, she was stopped dead in her tracks when a beautiful white wing unfurled in front of her, clouding her vision and stopping her in her tracks.

“Don’t get any closer! I’m already amazed the power hasn’t obliterated her already. But, fear not, she’s held on this long, and if she can hold on a little longer, I can help her.” The Princess said.

With tears in her eyes, the matron quickly lowered her head in a bow, “Thank you so much, Princess. Please, save her!”

“I will do what I can, but not here.”

“What?”

Without another word, Celestia walked forward towards the still screaming pink filly, a calm look on her face even as the chaotic forces smashed against her magics. She couldn’t do what she needed to do here, there was too much risk to the town, she had to move. Her horn glowed brightly for a moment, and with a strong burst of magic, she sent the the screaming filly away, teleporting her to a safe location in the middle of nowhere.

The sound of the wailing died down, and a peace reigned over the town, despite the shattered windows and half asleep ponies gathered around. Quickly, she turned back to the town and its ponies. With another spell, all of the glass that was scattered around suddenly floated itself up and went back to it’s rightful place, every window fixing itself, and any trace of the writhing filly had been removed.

Her next action was one she despised above all else, but in order to maintain their happiness, she had to.

“Everypony! Please, look at the light!” She commanded.

Obediently, her subjects looked up towards her horn, which was now glowing brightly as she began to cast her spell. This was a hard and draining spell on her, and one she loathed, but one that she felt was necessary as times. Her ponies gave out an awe as they watched her, as they watched the spell that was being cast upon them all.

And then, her horn let out a flash, leaving everypony around, save herself, with a dazed look on her face.

“Everypony, thank you all for coming out here in the middle of the night to help me with my new solar patterns. However, I think I will stick to the normal day and night cycle. I apologize to all you ponies who were looking forward to what I had in store, but, sadly, it wasn’t meant to be. You can all go back to your homes now and catch up on your sleep. Sorry to have been such a bother.” She said in her voice reserved for speeches.

The ponies in the crowd looked around dazedly and confused as they heard Celestia’s words, but soon, some began to snap out of it, starting to cheer to their Princess and letting her know that it wasn’t any trouble and they were happy to help.

It pained her to do it, but she had to. She had to make them forget, or rather, suppress their memories of the night that had just passed, the memories of the other alicorn and the pink pony who now bore such power. To keep the war a secret, and to keep them happy, she had to make them forget.

Ignorance was bliss, after all.

All of a sudden, she heard a light sniffling coming from nearby, and as she turned her head, she finally spotted the little azure filly, curled up on the ground, nearly out of sight thanks to a crevice in the hills, battered and bruised. She knew her spell had even affected her, but she was still hurt, and as far as the filly knew, she had no idea why.

Pity welled up inside of the Princess. She had to make this right as well before she made her leave. With her magic, she lifted the pony out of the crevice and onto the grass, and with a quick healing spell, removed all of her bruises and scrapes. Slowly, Trixie stood up, finding herself physically able all of a sudden, her gaze fixated on the majestic pony in front of her.

“There you go, little one. I’ve fixed all your wounds so nothing should be hurting, you don’t have to cry anymore. Now, I must be off. Run back home and take care of yourself.” The Princess said before taking to the skies, flying off towards where she had sent the forgotten pink pony.

Trixie watched as the Princess flew off, and shot up a hoof as if trying to catch her, “Wait! But... but it still hurts...” She said, placing a hoof right over her heart, “It still hurts right here...”

Tears fell down her face as she felt the pain welling up inside of her, gathering up in the hole she now had in her heart.

Celestia flew through the skies, away from Hoofington and in to parts unknown. At least, unknown to most ponies. The Princess knew every square inch of land that was in Equestria, she knew every secret the land held, even if she didn’t know every secret its ponies held. It was in this remote area that she had sent that poor filly, the one she was now flying towards in order to help.

She was flying at the moment so that she could think of ways that she could help. She had domain over the celestial bodies, not chaos. While her power was formidable in general, there was a limit to what she could do with another alicorn’s domain. She had to be incredibly delicate if she wished to save the life of the filly and the chaos itself, for without it, she knew they were all doomed.

For nearly a minute of her flight she had also contemplated something that made her sick because she had considered it for so long, and because she had even considered it at all. Some part of mind had told her that she could simply leave the filly as is, put a containment spell of sorts around her to keep her from destroying herself, and using her as nothing but a vessel for the chaos to inhabit, leaving her enemies weak. But the thought of that poor filly, screaming in horrid agony for the rest of her life, was something she simply couldn’t allow.

Soon, she touched down, and in all her thinking, she still had no solution to the problem. Before her, the filly that needed her so very much right now was still letting out her never ending scream, a supernatural shriek that lasted as long as her pain, but most likely only told a tenth of her torment. The sight broke her heart, and she cursed herself for having taken as long as she had to have come to her aid.

Unable to wait any longer, and with only a shred of a plan, she leaned forward and placed her horn upon Pinkamena’s head.

With a small glow of magic, she entered into the chaotic landscape of the filly’s mind.

The inside of her mind was unbelievable. Information on a universal scale danced around her to and fro, some of it moving fast, and some of it moving slow. It was almost enough to completely overwhelm the Princess, and if simply looking at it was nearly enough to overwhelm a centuries old entity, she could only imagine what it must be like for the six year old experiencing it now.

First things first, she had to try and find what was left of the pony’s own mind, if there was even anything left. From there, she could take measures to make this easier on her, maybe even fix her completely. The sights and sounds assaulting her from all direction distracted her to no end, everything at once keeping her from finding any shred of Pinkamena left in this place. But thankfully, she knew something that could help her.

Every alicorn had a small measure of power over each other’s domains, depending on how focused the domain owner was at the time, and while she had little power over the forces of order and chaos, she still had some. She focused her magical powers, while not a match for the essence of chaos as a whole, she was still able to dampen it slightly with what meager control she had over the force of order. She just hoped she went unnoticed, or she might get cut off, and then she would be in trouble.

As she focused hard to force order upon the landscape around her, the chaotic images and sensations around her began to recede, retreating to the far corners of the pony’s mind, but it wouldn’t last long.

That was when she heard it. As the chaotic sounds subsided, she was able to hear the sounds of somepony sobbing off in the distance of the mind scape. At first, she thought nothing of it, but as the sound persisted she grew suspicious. Chaos was all about change, and for something to last this long was highly improbable, but, she had to be cautious, for literally anything could happen here.

Soon, as she approached the sound, she broke into a full gallop as she saw what she had been looking for this entire time. In a small, untouched patch of her mind, Pinkamena sat there, crying deeply as the chaos swarmed around her.

“Hello, little one.” Said the princess.

Instantly, the pink pony’s gaze shot up towards the alicorn in her mind. She knew this pony, she remembered this pony somehow, she knew that this pony could help her. Somehow, she knew.

Celestia almost reeled back as she saw the pink pony dash forward, but when she felt the little one wrap around her leg for dear life, she calmed somewhat.

“P-Please... help me... make the hurting stop!” Pinkamena pleaded.

At those words, the Princess’ heart nearly broke, and she vowed to try at least something.

“Don’t worry my little pony, I will do whatever I can to help you.”

“Thank you... t-thank you.” The pink pony said, sobbing between her words.

Slowly, the alicorn raised her head, looking out towards the mindscape for some sort of idea as to what she could possibly do to help. As she watched the chaos around her, she began to notice it pushing against the walls of the pink pony’s mind, as if all of it was trying to get out in one massive burst that threatened to obliterate the filly that was containing it. It was then that an idea came to her, one that might just work.

She had to release the pressure.

With the thought in mind, she began to focus her magic on to a single point nearby, aiming to make this as precise and painless as possible, “I’m sorry, little one, but this is going to hurt a little. But all of this should be over soon.”

The filly around her leg only continued to cry, and her resolve to heal this pony seemed to strengthen greatly. In the best case scenario, Pinkamena would be free of the chaos. In the worst case scenario... she wouldn’t have to feel the pain for much longer.

Suddenly, her horn glowed brightly, and with a grunt of effort, she let loose a small, concentrated blast of magical energy, one that collided with the walls containing the chaos. She kept her focus, putting all that she could into making sure the place stayed in tact, keeping her concentration on keeping the tiny hole she had made from getting any bigger.

Pinkamena’s eyes immediately widened as she felt a sudden rush of relief after a sharp, stinging sensation. She looked around in awe as all the tremendous force that was once tormenting her suddenly rushed out of the small hole that the Princess had created. The intense pressure she had been feeling was vanishing rapidly as it was released.

Celestia, on the other hand, was struggling. While the little one was safe and sound in her own mind, unable to leave it without the aid of a certain few spells, none of which she had cast, the Princess herself wasn’t so grounded. The energies that were flowing past her rapidly were sucking her in to the hole she had made like a vacuum. She felt her footing begin to slip, and despite her efforts to flap her wings, the pull was simply too strong for her in this place.

And so, along with the force of chaos, she was ejected from the pink pony’s mind.

Celestia gave a scream as she was suddenly returned to the real world, flying backwards away from where she had originally been standing, and smashing hard into a tree. Thankfully, the tree broke before her back did, but she knew it was going to leave a mark for a few hours.

She picked herself up as gracefully as she could manage while covered in branches and leaves, “Well, that was... violent. Are you alright, little one?” She called out, turning her head towards the little filly.

Her eyes widened at the sight she saw.

Right next to the filly was a scar in the earth, which she had expected due to the escaping chaos. However, what she wasn’t expecting was what happened to the one she was trying to help.

Pinkamena was no longer writhing on the ground in pain, instead, she now stood on all fours, crackling energy sparking off of her body, striking the ground around her. Her hair was still as straight as ever, though almost eerily so, as she didn’t have a single hair out of place, despite all of her flailing around earlier. But the most striking thing, her face, sent a cold chill down the alicorn’s spine.

Never, in all of her centuries of existence, had she ever been made witness to a look of hellish hate and fury.

Cautiously, she began to approach the seething filly. She knew she could most likely handle her, but there was still a great risk when dealing with somepony who looked like that.

“...Little one? Are you alright?” The Princess asked.

“...where...” The pink pony replied.

“Excuse me?”

“Where!”

Celestia was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but she pressed on, “Where? Where is what?”

“WHERE IS SHE!” Pinkamena shouted, the ground around her shaking.

“Where is who?” The Princess tentatively asked.

“Where is the one who did this to me?” She asked in reply, her voice suddenly growing cold and icy.

“Why do you want to know? And why do you want to do what I think you’re going to do?” She asked, wanting to get the full story before she made any dangerous decisions.

“Why? Why? WHY! I want to make her suffer, I want to make her pay in full for what she did! I will not stop until I end her! And why do I want to do this? You know! I know that you do! But let me put it in scope for you... The chaos didn’t want to get out of me. No. It liked it in my head. Even if it got bored and wanted to leave, for a split second, it wanted to stay, and that was enough. I couldn’t process all that it was and all that it meant, it knew that, and so, it sped me up. I don’t know by how many times, but it sped up my mind so that I could process it in its entirety, so that I could learn it, gain the experience I needed to handle it.

“It felt like years, even decades, the torment never ending as I was assaulted over and over and over again as it tried to force me to experience it! The pain was endless, never before had I ever experienced anything even remotely similar. And the worst part? By the time I began to understand it, just a little... that was when it got bored! That was when my pain changed. My mind slowed down again and I was forced to experience at its normal, blindingly fast pace; all while it was trying to destroy me from the inside.

“Over and over I saw the ever changing chaos in its whole, no breaks, just moment after moment of pain. Each second I spent in there was agonizing, my only relief being that, for every second of agonizing torture that came, I forgot the last. If it wasn’t for you, I would have experienced that hellish nightmare until I died... BUT! When you finally did fix me, the extra space in my head was now suddenly with the memories the chaos had been pushing aside to make room for itself. I can’t remember all of it, that’s impossible, but I remember the pain it made me feel for the entire time. All. Because. Of HER!” Pinkamena screamed out, the rage upon her face intensifying to heights that made Celestia back away, scared for her safety for the first time in centuries.

“I know you want her dead as much as I do, Princess. I don’t remember much besides the pain, but I do remember some of the glimpses of the past that I was shown, some maybe even of the future. I know about your feud... maybe not the extent, but I know that you hate her, that you’ve tried to kill her in the past. I will do it! With or without you, I will do this. For what she did to me... I will make her PAY!”

A frigid chill went up the Princess’ spine, never having heard such strong conviction to hate in all of her years. This pony wanted cold blooded revenge, and she was sure if she stood in her way, she’d be attacked as well. She had to help quell this pony’s rage somehow, and fast. As she thought on it, she remembered that she did indeed have some way to help this, a much more reliable way than the half-baked plan she had come up with earlier.

“I have a proposition for you, little one.”

“...What is it?” Pinkamena asked in reply.

“I’m offering you three things. The first is a way for which you can ease your pain, to block it from your mind so that you don’t have to remember what she did to you all the time. The second is training and time. While I can block the memories, I can’t remove them, and, in fact, I can bring them back. I can bring them back so that you can remember why you are on this quest for vengeance, and remember how to control what power I still feel coming from you. The third thing I offer you is a fresh start in my employ. At times, you will be able to forget all about this, and others, you will remember, and I will take you directly to her lands, so that you can enact whatever vengeance you desire.”

Pinkamena grew quiet as she heard this. One one hoof, it was stalling her from her goals. But on the other, it was a plan to make her stronger... and to help her forget the pain.

“You helped me. You saved my life... and I owe you more than anything. If you can make me stronger, and make me forget then... I will do as you ask on one condition.”

“And that is?”

“I only want to forget the pain, nothing else. I don’t want to forget about anything else! It feels like I’ve forgotten things already thanks to all of this, and I want to hold on to everything I have left, except for the pain.”

“Hmm... you do realize that some of the things I tell you must be kept a secret, yes?”

“I know. I owe you more than you can imagine... I will keep everything you tell me a secret. I swear to you. So please... help me forget this, but don’t let me forget what she did to me..”

Celestia gave the pink filly a nod, understand what she was saying, “Very well. I’ll take us to my palace, and there, I will do everything in my power to help you. Come, let us go.”

The filly didn’t even respond, only waiting expectantly for the Princess to make her move.

The alicorn closed her eyes, her horn began to glow, and in a flash of light, the two were gone, teleported away to the city of Canterlot.

“Are you certain you want to do this yourself, your majesty?” A unicorn wearing a lab coat asked as she scribbled some notes on to a floating clipboard.

“I am, Sterling. I want to have as much of a hoof in this as I can. I do want to help her, but at the same time, our goals are the same at the moment, for the most part. In order to get her to come here, I agreed to help her out, and she agreed to enter my employ, in time. She has the makings of one of the elite, and I wish to gain as much of her loyalty as I can before placing her in that position.”

Sterling’s eyes widened, the clipboard he had been levitating dropping to the ground with a clatter, “Are... are you certain, Princess? Her? But she can’t be more than six or seven years old, and already, you’re considering her for the elites?”

“I am. There is something about her that will make her perfect for it for it. She has... oh, look, a demonstration, albeit a small one.” She said, nodding towards the one way glass in front of them.

The unicorn turned his gaze towards where Celestia had indicated, and he grew curious. Behind the one way glass, in a perfectly flat, white room, stood Pinkamena. Her furious look from before returning after a calm lull in her emotions, and with her rage, came her power. Small flecks of energy spilled off of her with every angry twitch, though it was much more subdued than it had been before, as she wasn’t causing damage this time.

“How is that even possible? She isn’t a unicorn, she should be able to use any kind of magic!”

“She’s not wielding magic, Sterling. What she has is something beyond magic, even though it is in a small dose. She has a fraction of a domain.”

Sterling’s mouth hung open as he contemplated this. This filly held a fraction of a domain, a domain that normally only alicorns could possibly have access too. Even at a fraction, that still granted her power beyond that which anypony of the three major races could ever wield. It was utterly fascinating, and as far as he knew, impossible.

“How... how is that even possible? Nopony, except maybe rare and powerful unicorns, should be able to have even a fraction of an alicorn’s domain.” He asked breathlessly.

“Normally this is true, exceptionally powerful unicorns can influence what we do in very slight amounts, but when it comes to chaos... anything can happen. From what I’ve judged, she still somehow holds a tenth of the energy she had originally contained that nearly destroyed her earlier. She explained to me what she experienced during those short minutes, and it sounded like the chaos was trying to make her its new mistress by force. She was just starting to learn when it changed its mind, though. I managed to have a large portion of it leave, back to its original mistress, but for some reason, some stayed behind... I have no exact idea why or how, just a few theories, some of which I just told you.

“But... right now, she’s still a little unstable, and it will take a few years before she can gain the experience and practice required to even so much as vaguely wield her new found powers. She wants to do it, though. she wants to go through with it. But she also wants to stop hurting, stop the painful memories, and I want that for her as well.”

“I... I see, Princess. Very well then, I will take the notes, and keep a guard on standby just in case.”

“Thank you, Sterling. wish me luck.” She said as she made her way towards the white room.

“Good luck, Princess.” He replied before waving over a gold plated unicorn guard to be on standby.

As Celestia entered the room, Pinkamena slowly turned her head, turned it much farther than she should have been able. The Princess winced at the sight, “Little one... do you think you could turn the rest of yourself around as well?”

“Very well.” The pink pony replied before turning her body around to face the alicorn, “Pinkamena.”

“Excuse me?”

“You keep calling me little one. My name is Pinkamena, Pinkamena Diane Pie.”

Celestia nodded, “Very well, Pinkamena.”

“What are you going to do to me to make me forget?”

“Well... I can’t actually make you forget, but I can lock it away, simply remove it from the forefront of your mind, forcing it away whenever you may recall it. Only a certain phrase will allow those memories to resurface once again, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. However, it will be something I keep a secret from you, so that you don’t say it accidentally.” She said.

“You also want it as a fail-safe, so that I don’t try to turn against you.”

Celestia seemed shocked at the words, stepping back slightly, “What do you mean?”

“It’s still here... I can still see things sometimes. Maybe not now, but... I saw myself returning from... somewhere... and you were... not scared, but worried.”

“I... I see... I will have to keep that in mind, then. How does that make you feel?”

“I have experienced the worst torment imaginable. Not being trusted by you is nothing compared to that.”

“I understand.”

“Now can you please get on with this? I’m doing all I can to stay civilized with you right now, and I would appreciate it if you hurried.”

“Right, of course. Please, stare at the pendulum.”

With a quick shimmering of her horn, a pendulum appeared in mid air, and obediently, Pinkamena began to watch as it swung back and forth. She was going to try something she had learned centuries ago as a means to help her ponies forget the war.

“Stare at the pendulum, Pinkamena Diane Pie. Let its hypnotic flow wash over you.”

As the pink pony watched the pendulum rock back and forth, the magically enhanced hypnotism began to take its effect as her eyes glazed over.

“Good... let your eyelids go heavy... let the magic enter your mind and do its work...” Celestia said in a monotone.

“Yes...” Pinkamena replied, almost sleepily.

“As my magic takes hold of you, it will feel as if you’re forgetting, as if the thoughts that plague you will be moved aside. You may choose anything to take its place, but only after I give you the word. Do you understand?”

“Yes...”

The Princess nodded, continuing with process, “You have expressed your want to help me against the one who has harmed you, if only to get your revenge. From this point onwards, you are now in my employ, and will be treated as such, and reap the benefits that come with it, though at times, you will be called into duty, which you seem more than eager to do. You will only work for me in your state of rage. I hereby bestow upon you the codename Havoc, to be used at any time you are like this. Do you understand, and do you agree?”

“Yes... and yes...”

“You will only be referred to by your codename while you are in this state, and will answer to nothing else. Do you understand, Pinkamena?”

The pink pony gave no response.

“Do you understand, Havoc?”

“Yes...”

“Good. After I have placed the block, and any time when you are not Havoc... then you can be whoever you want to be. Be the pony you’ve always wanted to be without anything holding you back. Please...” She said, her voice cracking slightly, “When you are not Havoc, I just want for you to be whatever you want to be. Do you understand, Havoc?” She asked, her voice returning to its monotone.

“Yes...”

“Very well then. The process of blocking your memories shall begin... First, bring up the memories if you have not already. Bring them to the forefront of your mind. When you have done so, throw them into a chest. I then want you to lock the chest and bury it beneath the ground, and unless I deem it so, you are to never retrieve the chest, nor are you ever to open it without my permission. Do you understand, Havoc?”

“Y... yes...”

Havoc began to twitch slightly, the memories angering her and wrestling against the hold of the magical hypnotism. But, soon, she began to visibly calm, her eyes closing and her head lowering itself towards the ground, her body following along as she slowly laid herself on to the ground. Celestia started to smile as she realized that it was working, her ancient methods putting this pony at ease.

Curiously, the filly’s coat began to change slightly in shade. While she had always been a mix of two shades of pink for her pelt and hair respectively, they seemed to be brighter now, almost happier to have had the weight lifted from it.

The Princess gave a small smile, and she slowly leaned down to nudge the filly with her head, “You can wake up now, Pinkamena.”

Slowly, the now bright pink pony stirred awake, her eyes blinking blearily for a moment before letting out a long, loud yawn. All of a sudden, a look of wonder and curiosity filled her face as she began to look around the room, and herself, rapidly, her eyes darting every which way. It was a huge step up from the fury Celestia had witnessed before, at least.

Suddenly, an immense smile spread across her face as she looked towards the alicorn, her eyes glistening in the light, “You did it! You did it! Thank you sooooo much!” She said, her fore-legs suddenly stretching out to wrap the Princess in a hug.

What shocked Celestia the most was not the sudden burst of joy or the hug, but the fact that Pinkamena’s legs had stretched to several feet in length in order to start it, “Pinkamena, are you okay?”

“I feel amazing! I have never ever felt so super duper fantabulous in my whole life! This is great! I can’t thank you enough! Oooo... chocolate!”

The alicorn looked to the pink pony curiously, wondering just what she was talking about, but after following her gaze to the one way glass, she began to suspect something. With a flick of her horn, the spell that helped keep the glass one way suddenly vanished, and on the other side, she saw that her special guard apparently got hungry and was now munching on a chocolate bar, freezing as he found himself caught.

She frowned disapprovingly, making a note to have a word with him about that, but all of it was forgotten a moment later when something terribly unexpected occurred.

Someway, somehow, Pinkamena seemed to have popped out of the ceiling, and was now dangling upside down as she reached for the chocolate.

Celestia quickly turned to where she knew the filly had been sitting mere moments before, only to find that she was simply no longer there. When she returned her gaze to the chocolate eating guard, she found him clutching his chest in fright with the pink pony and his chocolate now missing, this was most curious.

“Mmm... chocolate-y goooodness.”

The Princess nearly jumped as she heard the voice coming from behind her, and with a quick turn of her head, she saw that Pinkamena was now sitting on her back, devouring the chocolate at a rate that would put any speed eater to shame.

With this new revelation, the alicorn began to piece things together, and figured that the remaining chaos within the filly was acting based on her whims, allowing her to do incredible things.

Now she wondered just how much of it the pink pony could control.

“Ms. Pie... do you know how you did that?” She asked.

“Did what?”

“Manage to get outside of this room in order to pilfer that chocolate?”

“Hmm... I dunno! It was just too good to pass up. I haven’t had chocolate in forever! And it made me sooo sad not having it! So, now, I have it! Or I did, but I ate it all. Hey, you got any more?” She asked excitedly.

Well, that gave her a few hints towards some of her questions, but it didn’t answer them completely. In time, she was sure she could figure out just what this pony was capable of in her happy and enraged states. For now, though, she was content with her accomplishments thus far; she had been fearing that the little filly would have never been able to feel happiness again after what had happened to her.

A smile graced her face as she began to speak, “Well, Pinkamena, you seem to be in high spirits. Is there anything you’d like to do?” She offered, wanting her to be as happy as can be on this day.

“Hmm... I’m not sure! I don’t remember a whole lotta stuff that I might want to do. Ooo! How about exploring? Yeah! I’d love to explore around... wherever this is.”

“Hmm... well, I can’t have you exploring around this place, but, I do know someplace with a lot of good sights to see. Would you like one of my guards to give you a tour?”

“That sounds great! Let’s do it.”

“Very well then.”

If not for the fact that she wanted some privacy with Sterling, she would have done the tour herself, but as it stood, she had to use a guard for the job, “You. You can make up for eating on the job by being the one to show this little one around. Show her around the whole palace, but try to avoid the kitchen, please.”

“Why avoid the kitchen?”

“Because... it’s messy.” She replied, lying as a precaution. Having witnessed the filly inhaling that chocolate bar made her worried that something was allowing her a greater than normal appetite. She’d test it out later, when the palace stores weren’t at risk.

Moments later, the gold plated pony came over to the two and helped to get the pink pony literally off of Celestia back, “I’ll see to it that she gets an amazing tour, ma’am.”

“See to it that you do. Take care now, Pinkamena.”

“Thank you, Princess! You have a good time too!” The pink filly replied before walking off with the guard for her tour of the palace.

Once the two were out of sight, Celestia made her way over to Sterling and took a look at his clipboard, “What did you observe?” She asked.

“Well, it took a bit of extra effort, but my spell worked. I was able to see all of the internal changes that were going on inside of her before, during, and after you altered her mind. Her body was barely solid before you began, most likely a result of the chaotic energies. Once you started the process, her energy output started to dive considerably, but nothing to note besides that. Once you finished, her chaotic output was tremendously low compared to before. It seems that when you locked away her memories, you also locked away a large portion of her power. She still has some, however, demonstrated with the stretching and the instant teleportation, but I have no idea how much of it she controls. But that should come in time.” He explained.

“Then I did the right thing in dividing her. She’ll now have her happy state where she has little power, and the state in which we can work towards a common goal. Thank you for your report, Sterling. You can head back to the laboratory now. Oh, and before I go, could I get an informal report on the progress of your project?” Asked Celestia.

“Oh, yes, of course. Things are progressing nicely, the shock absorbing spring component is needing some work in terms of durability and speed, but we should have that finished in a short time.”

“Good. Let me know as soon as you are past the prototype stage. I have a few candidates for initial use.”

“Already? Very well. Be safe, Princess.” Sterling said, bowing to her before making his leave.

“I will, Sterling. Now, to find out where Pinkamena is, she shouldn’t have been able to get far...”

When she returned to the aboveground portion of her palace, she made her way through the halls, making note of the crooked paintings and wrinkled carpets that were strewn about. It seemed that Pinkamena had been through here, and was acting more energetic than she had anticipated. It wasn’t hard to follow the trail of disorder in order to find the pink pony, but what amazed her was the ground she had managed to cover.

Upon finding the filly, however, she wasn’t sure what to make of the expression on her face. At the moment, she seemed to be sitting down in the middle of the hall, staring wide eyed at a brightly lit room for some reason. Behind her, the gold plated guard was sitting down, panting heavily, looking like he was glad to be able to have a break. Curious, Celestia approached.

“Pinkamena, what’s the matter?” She asked.

“What... is that?” Pinkamena replied, pointing a hoof towards the room.

Celestia tilted her head slightly, leaning over in order to get a look in to the room. Inside, a small gathering of ponies were chatting amongst themselves, some dancing to some quiet music, while others were eating sweets and drinking punch. Balloons and streamers lined the room, and a big banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Daisy Petal’ was stuck to one of the walls.

“Oh, that’s right, I had given them permission to use this room to celebrate the birthday of one of the palace servants, I almost forgot about it. Well, you see, this is a party, Pinkamena. A joyous celebration meant to make somepony feel appreciated, or to make all manner of ponies happy.”

“It’s... beautifuuuuuul!” The pink pony said before suddenly rushing into the room.

The Princess giggled lightly at Pinkamena’s antics, her own spirits being lifted by the other pony’s excitable nature. She thought for a moment, and upon finding that she couldn’t recall any appointments for the next few hours, decided to head into the festivities, if only to keep an eye on the little filly.

Her entrance made all of the ponies in the room stop what they were doing and greet her, bowing before their Princess, “Please, everypony. This is a celebration for Daisy Petal, just pretend like I’m not here.”

Although nopony actually did that, for they could never forget the presence of their Princess, they did go back to conversing amongst themselves, giving Celestia the occasional glance and a smile.

Suddenly, Pinkamena appeared in front of Celestia, her eyes widen in barely contained awe. The alicorn smiled down to her, “So, are you enjoying the party, Pinkamena?”

“It’s... it’s... It’s AMAZING!” She replied, throwing her hooves into the air as her mane and tail suddenly inflated, becoming a poofy, curly mess compared to the straight hair it had been before, “Parties are so amazing! They’re all I’ve ever wanted my whole life even though I only found out about them today, it’s like something that makes me feel soooo happy! I want to spread these things to the whole entire world!”

The filly’s enthusiasm brought a smile to the Princess’ face. However, moments later, she noticed something out of place, “Oh my... Pinkamena, look at your flank.”

“Huh? Why?” The pink pony asked. She did as she was told, however, and her face exploded with joy at the sight, “My cutie mark! I got my cutie mark! Oh, those balloons are so cute! This is the best day of my life!” She shouted as she began dancing on the spot.

“It is certainly looking that way... you enjoy this, Pinkamena... Enjoy it while you can.” She whispered, knowing just what she’ll be getting the filly to do in the future.

With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she turned and left the pink pony behind, letting her enjoy the party while she went to go and think about the sacrifices she had made to protect her Kingdom and its ponies.

Eight Years Later

“Pinkamena, front and center.” Celestia said as she stood in the top secret palace bunker.

“Yes ma’am!” The filly said.

Pinkamena was nearly a mare now, only a few months away until she could be considered a true young mare, but for now, she was just an older filly. She had a great big smile on her face as she presented herself at attention to the Princess. Soon, however, she grew bored of it and her eyes began to wander. The room was the same debriefing room she had been in before; it was drab and boring, covered in maps and documents filled with who knows what.

The thing of note in the room were two other fillies her age, one was a rather serious looking earth pony with an orange coat and creepy looking cutie mark, and the other was a pegasus, more laid back, and had the most strangely colored mane and tail she had ever seen, and it looked great! Though, for the time being, neither of them spoke to her, and since Celestia seemed serious, she’d rather not chance it.

“I have another mission for you, but this one will have a little extra to it. As an elite---” She was suddenly cut off by somepony in the room yelling aloud.

“WHAT! She’s an elite? You told me they were supposed to be the best of the baddest ponies in all of Equestria! She’s just some party girl” The laid back pony suddenly exclaimed.

“Boom, do not interrupt me.” The Princess scolded, “And she is, even if she might not look it at the moment. And she will be the one to take you out on your test.”

Boom crossed her fore-legs and began to grumble to herself, though she did as the Princess asked to avoid her wrath.

“Now, as I was saying. Pinkamena, you’ll be going on a mission, but taking these two with you. I will be trusting you to keep an eye on them. They have both been strongly considered for joining the elite. They both have my recommendations, but first, I need an elite like you to see what they are capable of and judge them accordingly. Report back to me after the mission is over. Bucker will be in charge of your code phrase this time around, as I trust her completely. Is that understood?”

“Yes, ma’am! Clear as punch. Ooo! That’s what this place needs, some punch! And some balloons and streamers... Can I---”

“No, Pinkamena. I’ve told you before, no parties in the debriefing room.”

“Aww...” Pinkamena said, lowering her head.

“Princess Celestia?” Came the voice of Bucker.

“Yes, Bucker?” Celestia replied.

“You mentioned this code phrase before, but what’s it for.”

“You’ll have to wait and see, Bucker. But hold on to that paper that I gave you, read it when you get across the border and you’ll understand.”

Once she was sure the spy was placated, Celestia turned back to Pinkamena, “Well, now that you understand, let me give you your mission.” She said as she levitated a parchment in the air, “You will all be heading across the border into Barlea in order to demolish an armor factory that they have. Intelligence says that they’re near completion, and if it gets up and running, they’ll have enough armor for their ponies to break past the border, which you all know is something that simply can’t happen. Bucker will cover Pinkamena, and Boom will provide back up, scouting, and supply explosives necessary to take the building down without harming any of you three.

“There will be a chariot waiting outside of the palace shortly that will take you to the border, from there, you are on your own. You’ve all done missions for me of various degrees of difficulty, but this one shouldn’t prove to be too hard, especially with all three of you. I wish you all the best of luck, and expect you all to return with positive results. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The three teenage fillies said with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

“Then move out!”

The flight was long and boring, much to Pinkamena’s dismay. She had tried to start conversations with both Bucker and Boom, but neither seemed to want to talk to her. Bucker seemed way too focused on her work, and Boom was being just plain rude, which wasn’t very nice. Thankfully, the flight didn’t last all that long, and soon, the three of them were at the Equestrian border.

After bidding the two chariot pulling pegasi farewell, the three looked out to the border, and began to walk.

“Pinkamena, when should I use the code phrase?” Bucker asked.

“Celestia didn’t tell you? How silly of her! What if we got ambushed or something and you didn’t know to do that? That would just be sooo bad!” She said, her face becoming intensely sad for the briefest of moments, before snapping back into a smile, “You should use it when we start to see some of those bad Barlean ponies. Not sooner though, I really don’t like it. Ah, the things I do for revenge.”

The last sentence seemed to startle the other two ponies, especially when she started to hum happily and bounce as she walked, as if what she said didn’t even matter. Neither thought that this pony was all there in the head, so they cautiously walked with her, letting her lead, just in case.

As they traveled through a small forest, Pinkamena continued to bounce around, looking every which way, both to find something fun, and looking out for danger.

“Alright, we’re nearly in range of the detection spell. We should be fast from here on out. The longer we cause trouble here, the more chances we’ll attract unwanted attention.” Bucker said as she looked at a map.

“Don’t worry! I mess up that spell when I’m around, especially when... well, you’ll see!” The pink pony said with cheer.

“What? How in the hay do you pull that off?” Boom asked.

“It’s a seeeecret! For now, anyway. I wanna surprise you two! The looks on your faces will be sooo funny! And when I remember to laugh, I will!” Pinkamena replied as she began to giggle.

The other two teenage fillies shared worried glances, wondering just what the Princess has gotten them in to with this pony.

Soon, the three of them arrived at the edge of the forest that separated their nations. They had taken the long way so that they could have as much cover as possible for when they arrived at their destination. Now, there was only open ground, consisting of a quarry and a factory, a dirt road its only connection to inner Barlea. It was hard to see, but there were definitely moving ponies, which meant they would have to get their hooves dirty.

“Well... here we are. Do you want to make the battle plan, or should I?” Bucker asked, willing to defer to her superior.

“Hmm... well, normally I’d just go in myself and do all the work, but this is a test for you two! So, let’s see... Boom! The Princess said you were good at scouting so... do that! Find out stuff about them over there.” Pinkamena said, pointing a hoof towards the factory.

Boom replied with a grumble, but being outvoted, she decided it was best to just obey. With that, she spread out her wings and took to the skies, flying fast and high so as to blend in with the sky and avoid detection.

“Woooow! She’s really fast!” The pink pony said in awe.

“That she is. Well, I see some Barlean ponies now, does that mean...?”

“Hmm... nope! Let’s wait until she gets back. Then you’ll back me up while we go in, and I’ll try to watch you a couple of times, so that I can see what you can do too! But so far, you’re doing good!”

“But... I haven’t done anything yet.”

“I know! I just wanted to put a smile on your face. You are so boring! I’m throwing you a party when we make it back.” Pinkamena said, looking quite adamant about this.

“Err.. right... well...” Bucker said, unsure of what to say to that.

Luckily, the orange pony had no need to respond, as Boom suddenly returned, “Alright, I checked out all I could without getting caught.”

“Wow! That was super-duper fast! How’d you do it? Oh, and what did you find?” Pinkamena asked excitedly.

“I managed to do it because I have never met a pony faster than I am! And I didn’t find much. The quarry had about two dozen earth ponies, a few pegasi, and a unicorn or two, probably for the trickier stuff I guess. The factory had mostly unicorns in it, I counted a dozen, but I couldn’t see in every window without getting spotted. There were also a few pegasi and earth ponies in there too. The tally came to around sixty of them. I don’t think I’ve fought that many at once before... Think I should lay out some artillery fire?” Boom asked.

“Nah, I like to get my hooves dirty when I do stuff like this. If you want, though, you can go after the quarry and Bucker and I can head to the factory. It’s always fun seeing what kind of neat things they make in there, so I wanna see it before you blow it up.” Pinkamena said, still looking as happy as ever.

“Right... well, I’ll wait for you two to start, then I guess I’ll deal with the quarry before swinging around with the explosive charges for the factory.”

“Okie dokie lokie! Okay, Bucker. I think it’s about time now. You can use the code phrase now. Just wait until I get all relaxed and close my eyes. Works better that way.” She explained.

“Alright then...” Bucker replied.

Boom and Bucker watched as Pinkamena seemed to calm herself, closing her eyes in order to focus. The brash pegasus decided to stay around just to see if the pink pony could back up her talk, while the spy was waiting for her cue; though she too was curious as to whether or not their Princess was telling the truth or not. Once the elite of the group was ready, the blonde haired pony began.

“Let’s see...” She said as she took out the piece of paper she needed. “Okay... just need to say the top line to start, and the bottom line to end it... seems simple enough. Ahem...

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, by order of Princess Celestia, the party has ended, and the fight has begun. Cry Havoc and let slip the pony of war!”

“What kind of code phrase is... what... the hay?” Boom began, her voice trailing off in shock.

As the words reached Pinkamena’s ears, her eyes suddenly opened wide, an expression of fear crossing her face. However, that didn’t last long as her face transformed in to a look of unspeakable fury. Her pelt and hair grew a little darker, a little duller, and her mane and tail seemed to deflate, becoming thin and straight. A fraction of a moment later, jolts of visible energy began to form around her, striking the ground and scorching it beyond recognition. The sight nearly made the others flee in terror, that is, if their fear would even allow them movement.

“All of them... all of her servants... I will make them PAY!”

Havoc’s yell reached the skies, shook the trees, and made her two companion fall on to their flanks and scramble backwards. In the blink of an eye, her head faced the factory, the building filled with the servants of the one she hated so very much. In an instant, she leaped in the direction of the building, jumping a mere ten feet, but upon landing, she sunk into the ground like a shadow, vanishing from sight.

“...what in the hay was that!” Boom shrieked, her voice cracking as she attempted to regain her cool.

“...I have absolutely no idea.” Bucker replied before shaking her head. “Come on, we should hurry up.”

The brash pegasus watched as the spy started to make her way towards the factory, which was where she was certain that psychotic pony had gone, “Are you insane? She’ll probably kill you if you go there!”

“If she was going to kill us, she would have while we were sitting on our flanks in a stupor. Get your act together, Boom. We have a job to do.”

The brash pony grumbled under her breath, cursing this turn of events. As she watched her companion head towards the factory, she briefly contemplated turning tail and abandoning this place, but deep down, something prevented her from doing so.

“Aww horseapples...” She said before flying off towards the quarry, as she had been told to do.

She had to make them pay. Each and every last one of them. She had to make them pay for what their mistress did to her.

They would suffer as she did. She would not stop until they were no more.

There is one. It will pay. It will die!

A factory worker who was currently outside, enjoying a daffodil and celery sandwich, barely registered the fact that a pink earth pony suddenly jumped out of the ground and tackled him. However, neither pony hit the wall of the factory, or the ground beneath their feat. All that either could see was unending darkness, and only Havoc came back to see the light.

One down, and many more to go. Slowly, she turned her head towards the factory, visions of the ponies inside filling her mind, amongst other things. She walked forward, straight towards the wall, and with a small burst of controlled chaos, the wall became like air to her, and she passed through it with ease. Unfortunately for her, she ended up stepping in to the security room, immediately alerting the unicorns that were in the room with her.

She quickly threw out her hoof, pointing it towards one of the unicorns, a female. Her leg instantly stretched out, startling the mare and allowing her only one last second of precious life before it collided with her neck, snapping it instantly. Havoc held her hoof there for a moment before letting the limp form of her enemy fall to the ground.

The other unicorn in the room had a few extra seconds to think and act thanks to this, however. With a quick burst of magic, his horn lit up, and the bell worker was alerted. Sadly for him, Havoc knew exactly what he did. Her gaze turned to a quill on a nearby table. Suddenly, the quill burst into flames, and shot forth towards the stallion like a rocket. The moment the burning projectile touched him, his world became fire as he was smashed into the wall. However, instead of a pony body colliding with a thud, a pile of soot smacked into the wall instead, a black stain the only evidence he had even existed.

Moments later, the signal reached its destination, and the bells signaling the enemy began to ring across the factory. Everypony in the place began to either evacuate or go to grab some sort of weapon with which to defend the place with.

Havoc knew what the bells meant, and she didn’t care in the least; it just meant they would be coming to her and she wouldn’t have to waste the time hunting them down.

As she walked out of the room, she saw the inside of the factory. Forges, conveyor belts, and hammers pressing metals of all kinds, making all sorts of weapons and armor for the Barlean soldiers to use. It was also a perfect area for her to work her power. As she entered the main factory floor, the Barleans began to finally notice her presence, and started to show different levels of fear. Those that knew her were terrified, and those that didn’t would soon learn their mistakes.

As she looked to the ones brave enough to charge at her, she found that there were too many to do things her usual way. Instead, she had to change her tactics a little, pulling out what may very well be her most powerful weapon; alteration of probability.

Her gaze, normally so filled with fury, suddenly grew cold and emotionless as she focused on the area around her. With all of the tools around her, it was almost hard to choose which she was going to use to end these servants of the one she despised so very much. They were getting close, but thankfully, she was ready to act.

The door of a nearby forge closed, the heat inside building up far more rapidly than it should have.

A single bolt that helped to hold it together came loose, and under the influence of the building pressures, launched forward.

An earth pony fell to the ground as it struck her in the head.

More bolts soon followed, clipping more of the ponies that were charging after her, and weakening the structure of the forge.

The pressure became too much, and with a lack of bolts to hold it in place, the entire front end of the forge burst off, slamming into some of them, while molten iron washed across the ground, burning even more. Those that fell instead of getting away didn’t last long.

A single fleck of red hot metal flew into the air and struck a piece of rope that was transporting some beams of iron for further processing.

The rope melted almost instantly, and the beams fells to the ground, crushing the main gear box for a conveyor belt, sending shards of metal flying every which way.

Event by event, Havoc forced a near impossible chain reaction to occur within the factory. Object after object falling into place, destroying one thing after another. But the objects weren’t what she was after. She was after the ponies caught in the crossfire. While not as direct or satisfying, it still got the job done. She watched, her cold fury never abating for a moment as she watched the death and destruction that she was causing.

Soon enough, ponies began to flee from the area, terrified by the horrible loss on their comrades to this strange pink pony. However, this only served to give a cue to her, letting her know that she had thinned the herd enough to start getting her hooves dirty. She always preferred getting up close and personal with her acts of revenge, but she knew her limits, and until they were smaller in number, she never risked getting too close. Now, however, she felt she had nothing to fear.

Havoc began to run through the pandemonium she had caused, and despite all of the debris and fire scattered about, not a single piece of dirt or lick of flame touched her for even an instant. As she ran towards the fleeing ponies, she caught sight of a knife that had been left on the ground, a knife that was meant for her. It felt like poetic justice to her as she picked up the knife on the ground, holding it between her teeth with an vice-like grip. It was going to be the perfect tool for dealing with the rest of them.

All of the ponies that were running from her became easy targets. The moment any of them blinked, she’d be there in front of them by the time they opened their eyes. With a quick swing of her head, she slashed them all, one by one. Some reacted quicker than others, but although she was normally reliant on her chaotic powers to fight, she was no slouch with a weapon, and she managed to use her surprise to fend them off easily enough in order to deliver the killing blow.

Pony after pony fell to her might, her rage pushing her forward to reap as much pain and destruction upon the Barleans. As the minutes passed, the floor was littered with the bodies of her enemies, and she grew more and more consumed with the fight, if one could call it that. Even as only a few of them remained, her fury didn’t abate in the least, only mounting with each life she took, unsatisfied with only this.

However, this eventually made her careless. She normally never faced this many ponies all on her lonesome, so she rarely reached this state of mind, and was usually never in any danger because of it.

This time was different.

As she was dealing with one pony, she didn’t register the fact that there was another behind her, one that had been hiding in terror. However, this Barlean, a pegasus mare, was trained to fight, and knew an opening when she saw it.

Havoc barely felt the tip of the knife enter her side, but as it sunk in deep, pain coursed through her body, causing her to cry out in pain. She felt it, bit by bit, as the blade traveled straight towards her heart. Endless possibilities passed in front of her eyes, but as her time dwindled, so too were her options to save herself.

Just as she felt her life beginning to flash before her eyes, the cold steel nearly piercing her heart, she heard a crunching sound, followed by a dull thud.

“Are you alright?” Came a voice.

Havoc turned suddenly towards the voice, but calmed somewhat when she saw that it was Bucker, standing over a fallen Barlean.

Her companion stepped back slightly at her gaze, but she ignored it, having realized long ago how terrifying she looked at times like these. Right now, though, wasn’t the time for talking. She had a knife embedded in to her, and she had to deal with it. Off to the side, she noticed a piece of red hot metal sticking out of one of the broken furnaces. A moment later, she turned her head in order to grab on to the knife, and with a hard tug, she managed to pull it in one quick motion. But she still had to stop the bleeding.

With a few steps and a thrust of her side, a horrible hissing sound filled the air as she cauterized her wound on the red hot metal.

“...This will do until we reach Canterlot. Everypony in here is either dead or gone now. Has Boom done her job?” Havoc asked, her voice calm and icy.

“Uhh... Y-yeah... she collapsed the tunnel, trapping most of them inside. A few got away though.” Bucker replied.

“Hmph... they’ll tell their leaders about this attack. Celestia will want to know.”

“I know. It’ll be in my report.”

“Good... I don’t want to feel like this anymore. Ending them eased the painful memories somewhat, but they are starting to return in full. Say the ending phrase. Now!” She shouted.

The spy began to stumble, her fear of the pink pony evident, and she quickly fished for the note. After getting it out, she placed it on a safe spot on the ground and held it open with her hooves before reading it aloud.

“Havoc, by order of Princess Celestia, the war has ended and the party has begun. Let joy fill your every fiber once more.”

As the phrase began, Havoc’s eyes closed automatically from the post-hypnotic suggestion. As the words filled her mind, the process she had performed of locking up her painful memories in a box and burying it replayed in her mind at a rapid pace. Once the final word was spoken, the pink pony found herself lying on the floor, a yawn escaping from her mouth as she felt like she had just woken up.

“Mmmmph... ahh...” She said as she stretched, “Well, that’s one way to get exercise! Well, looks like a job well done! Woohoo!” She cheered, dancing on her hind legs for a moment as her hair suddenly inflated in to its previously curly style.

“Havoc? Are you... alright now?” Bucker asked.

“I’m not Havoc anymore, silly! I’m Pinkamena, like before! I just got real mad for a little while, but now I’m back to normal!” She said, cheering now that she was happy once again.

“Alright then... but what about your wound?”

“Hmm? This thing? Psh, no problemo, sister. I’ll just go and see the nice doctor in Canterlot and be right as rain in no time at all. Ooo, I can’t wait! She gives me the best lollipops!” Pinkamena said, drooling at the thought.

“O...kay then. I suppose we should get Boom in here, then, to level this place.”

“Oh, right! Almost forgot. I hope it’s like fireworks! I haven’t seen fireworks in a long time, not since one of Celestia’s parade’s, but that was soooo long ago, like, three weeks! Come on, let’s go and find her so that I can watch! Also, so that I can get out of here, it stinks, too much iron in the air.” She said as she made for the exit of the factory.

“I don’t think the smell will go away...” Bucker said, knowing that the smell was coming from the red stains on the pink pony’s pelt.

The rest of the mission went smoothly, as it was only a matter of letting Boom do her work unimpeded. Despite the state of the inside of the factory, enough of it was still standing that it could be re-built easily, which meant that it was best to simply level it. With a few well placed charges, the place blew sky high, and the detonation gave a grand display of color and sound, to which Pinkamena cheered gleefully.

When the trio returned, the pink filly was sent to the doctor for a sponge bath and some salve for her wound to make it heal. She eventually did give the two passing grades, and threw them both a party once Celestia had officially welcomed them into the elites, and to her joy, sent them both to where she was being stationed on her downtime; Ponyville.

Four Years Later

Pinkie Pie pranced through Ponyville, a large smile on her face as she greeted everypony she laid her eyes on, spreading the exceptionally good mood she was in that day. She didn’t know exactly why she felt so happy; maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t had a mission in a while? Or was it just an amazing day for no particular reason?

In any case, she didn’t care, simply happy to enjoy herself in her downtime. Though Ponyville was meant to be her home so that she could lead a happy, normal, and relaxing life, thanks to the friends she had made, she ended up going on all sorts of adventures all the time, though these ones were a lot more fun than her trips to Barlea.

As she walked through the two, she noticed that a lot of ponies were all of a sudden heading towards the town square, and as she listened to the buzz, she heard something about a show being put on. Well, this was turning out to be a better day than she thought; she loved shows, usually no matter what the subject! They were always incredibly entertaining, and almost every one of them gave her new ideas for different kinds of parties to throw. With that in mind, she followed along, excited to see whatever was going on.

When she arrived, she saw that everypony was surrounding this strange cart sitting in front of town hall, all of them staring at it curiously. As she spotted her friends at the front of the crowd, she managed to push and wiggle her way to the front to meet with them. However, before she even had a chance to greet them, a voice suddenly rang out through the crowd.

“Come one! Come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful, Trrrrrixie!”

Those words echoed in her mind over and over and over again, her jaw dropping slightly as she started at the unfolding cart with wide eyes. Those words seemed to very familiar, and as her mind tried to process it, she simply stood there with a dumb look on her face.

Once the cart was unfolded, a boastful azure unicorn appeared in a puff of smoke, wearing a purple wizard hat and cape; Trixie, she assumed. It didn’t take long for this to be confirmed, as this pony continued to announce herself in the third person nearly endlessly throughout the show.

Despite the fact that this unicorn was making a fool of her friends, she found that she could only stand there, watching the show as it progressed from beginning to end. Even after the crowd began to disperse, she simply stood there, at least, until Fluttershy spoke up.

“Umm... Pinkie Pie? Are you okay?”

“Huh?” She let out before shaking her head, “Oh umm... of course! I just... need to go and think for a little while, our little secret, okay?” She asked, putting on her best smile.

“Oh... okay then, I’ll leave you be then. I think Angel Bunny might need me anyway.”

The pink pony gave her pegasus friend a wave goodbye, watching her fly away for a moment before retreating back into herself. It was true what she said, though, she needed to think about this, about why Trixie struck a chord within her.

Once she had found herself a quiet place in her room to simply sit and think, she replayed the event in her mind over and over again, remembering the words that were spoken, specifically the part about her being Great and Powerful. The unicorn’s look also passed through her mind, and for the life of her, she simply couldn’t put a memory to the face and name. Try as she might, her current memory simply wasn’t cutting it, but deep down, she knew that Trixie was tied to her somehow.

“If I can’t remember her now... maybe...”

She closed her eyes and began to focus, remembering today as it had just happened, only backwards. From there, she kept going backwards, day by day, week by week, rethinking on her entire life in search of this elusive pony.

Hours went by as she did this, even as she played things in fast-motion. She had gone through nearly her entire memory, right to the day where she first stole that chocolate bar from Celestia’s guard. But... there didn’t seem to be anything before that, absolutely nothing at all. It was as if before the event with the Princess, she never even existed, but deep down, she knew it to be false, and so, she tried to press on, tried to go further back, back in to the memories she had long forgotten.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar shook the very foundations of Ponyville, a sound that sent a chill of fear down her spine. Immediately she made for the window to look outside, wondering if she could find the source.

It didn’t take her very long to notice the the gigantic bear with a pelt made of the night sky stomping around Ponyville. This wasn’t going to be good.

With the thoughts of helping in her mind, she quickly made her way down to where the bear was, and saw that nearly everypony in town was there, including Trixie. Once again, her eyes simply couldn’t leave the azure mare, her thoughts focusing on her once again.

She was so lost in her staring she didn’t even see Twilight Sparkle’s amazing display of magic, rendering the Ursa Minor completely harmless, and saving the town. Pinkie pie remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, completely engrossed with the unicorn, and the longer she stared, the harder something at the back of her mind pushed to be freed.

She could feel it building up, something long forgotten, buried beneath the pain and suffering she had endured, the pain she had hypnotically locked away more often than not these days. The more she looked, the more the pressure built up, the more something deep down inside of her wanted to come out, and the more she felt it, the more she wanted to know just what it was.

Things began to grow hazy as she stood there in the crowd, a fog surrounding her mind as she tried to think about what this pony meant to her.

But then, some words from the azure pony split through the fog.

“...but you will never have the amazing, show stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

The floodgates opened, memories of her childhood came rushing back to her, but more specifically, she remembered Trix.

All of the old memories flooding her mind was nearly overwhelming, things she had forgotten because of what she went through, because of that vile alicorn who attacked Hoofington so very long ago.

That was when she finally noticed that Trixie had run off towards the nearby forest. She had finally remembered her past, and now it was running away from her.

She couldn’t let that happen.

Pinkie Pie quickly ducked behind somepony, and while her abilities in her hypnotized state seemed to work at random most of the time, she had gained some control over it over the years, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

When she reappeared, she checked around herself, making sure that she was in the right place, and the sound of quiet sobbing letting her know she had made it. At least, she hoped it did. As she turned towards the sound, she caught sight of Trixie sitting in the middle of a patch of grass, crying to herself. The sight broke her heart, and unable to stand it any longer, she made her way out towards the azure unicorn.

“Hello there...” She said tentatively.

“Who--- Who are you? Are you here to make fun of me... I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie as well? Here to shame me farther away from town? Ruin my career some more!” Trixie yelled, her pain obvious in her voice.

Pinkie flinched at the words, but she took it in stride, knowing that the unicorn was in pain, “No... I’m not. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“...Why would you even care about Trixie? No one in your stupid little village does! Y-You’re just trying to play mind games with Trixie, and it’s not going to work... Go away! Leave me... alone!” She shouted, her voice cracking on the final word.

Pinkie Pie may be bubbly and random most of the time, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t perceptive. She immediately caught the cracking of her voice, and suddenly, she understood. She had to do something, and she had to be careful about it.

“Well, if you want to make me leave, you’re going to have to make me.” She said as an idea came to mind.

“What? Y-You would dare to challenge the Great and Powerful Trixie? I’ll show you... I’ll show you I’m not to be pushed around! Not anymore...” Trixie replied, her face turning to anger, despite the tears still streaming down her face.

The pink pony didn’t reply to this with words, instead, she walked towards the unicorn, a light smile on her face.

“S-Stay back! I’m warning you!”

But Pinkie Pie didn’t relent, and instead of moving back, she walked up to the emotionally shaken mare and leaned forward. A pink forehead met a blue one as she started to push against the distraught Trixie, gently at first, but increasing in force to antagonize her in to pushing back.

The azure pony was dumbfounded by the sudden pushing against her head, wondering why it felt oddly familiar. Still, it was nonetheless a challenge, and after her embarrassing defeat mere minutes ago, she had something to prove; and so, she pushed back, hard.

“Oh wow, you’ve sure gotten strong... heh. Grrr...” Pinkie Pie said, growling playfully as she did what she could to match the enraged strength.

For a few moments, Trixie simply pushed as hard as she could in order to win this, but soon, the words her opponent said suddenly began to sink in. Her pushing became light, and in turn, so too did the pink pony’s, but neither relented all the way.

“What... what are you talking about? Trixie has never seen you before, so why do you say such things?”

Pinkie could see something in the unicorn’s eyes that told her something had gotten through. It was time to step it up a notch, deciding to take a physical route once again instead of words, fearing that speaking might be too much too soon. A gentle hoof was needed here.

At least, metaphorically, as now was the time for what she remembered to be their favorite game; wrestling.

The pink pony sidestepped Trixie, who was still pushing against, causing her to stumble forward a little. With the opening, she leaped forward and tackled the azure pony to the ground, rolling with her in order to soften the hit; they were not little fillies anymore, so she had to be a bit careful about how she threw her weight around.

“H-How dare you? You have the nerve to attack the Great and Powerful Trixie like this? Have at you!”

A sudden burst of anger surged through Trixie as she started to fight back against the pink pony, the serene smile her opponent was wearing irritating her to no end. She pushed against Pinkie’s chest with her hind legs, tossing her in order to regain her footing. When she saw the other pony picking herself up off the ground, she took her chance, and returned the tackle she received, with a little extra interest. Whoever this was, there was no way she was going to lose to her, not now.

The two rolled around on the ground in their conflict, one playing, the other trying her hardest to be serious about it, but simply not finding the will to fight to the best of her ability. Her embarrassment and sorrow from earlier began to fade as she fought, faint feelings of joy and play starting to take the place of her fleeting negative emotions.

As Pinkie Pie enjoyed the activity, the happy memories of their time together floated around in her mind, each second revealing to her more intricate details of her childhood, and of her best friend. She could tell from the look in her eyes, and the lack of intensity in her wrestling from she first started, that she was starting to get through to the azure pony, she just had to keep it up.

With that in mind, she took a dive.

The boastful mare looked down at the pink pony she now had pinned beneath her hooves, her breath heavy as she panted from the effort, “I... I win... I win this one, P... P... What is that name? There’s a name at the tip of my tongue... who are you?” She asked, looking bewildered at the pony she had pinned.

Pinkie Pie’s smile widened slightly as heard those words, the quote finishing itself in her memories. She wiggled out from under the pin, using Trixie’s dumbfounded state to get away easily, but she didn’t break contact for very long. She quickly stood up, ignoring the dust she was now covered in, and embraced the azure unicorn in a gently hug.

“Come on, you can remember me. Despite what happened, I know our friendship is still in you somewhere. You can remember, can’t you, Trix?”

The words tore through Trixie’s mind, breaking down the walls of the memory suppressant spell she had been affected with so long, the hole in her heart that she had forgotten about long ago filling up once again.

“P-Pinks? Is... is that you?” She asked, tears threatening to pour down her face.

Pinkie gave out a choked sob, “Yeah... it’s me, Trix. Years ago... I know you forgot, I did too, thanks to all that happened...”

Suddenly, the years she had spent feeling so very alone made sense; It wasn’t that she was really alone, it was that she was missing somepony very dear to her.

When she realized this, her tears burst forth, and she clenched on to her old friend as if she’d be gone if she didn’t.

“By Luna... oh Pinks... I remember it now... Celestia did something and... I don’t think she realized exactly what she made me forget. F-For years I felt like a hollow shell without you... my best friend in the world. The only thing I remembered... was the Great and Powerful thing...”

Pinkie returned the embrace in full, clutching Trixie for dear life. She knew what her friend had been through, and while she herself had been through worse, she couldn’t bear the thought of her childhood friend in any sort of pain, “I guess... I guess at least something got through, huh? You even made it your job to be Great and Powerful...”

“Mm... that’s right, I did... I... until now, that was the only thing that I knew that tied to the mysterious hole in my heart. I clung to it for so long... but when it started to fade, I didn’t know what to do... so I started to call myself the Great and Powerful Trixie. For a while, it made me feel better, like somepony else was calling me that... eventually, it just became who I was... I was such a foal! If only... if only I had done more to look, to try and find you, then maybe---”

Trixie was suddenly cut off thanks to a pink hoof over her lips, Pinkie Pie leaned back a little and looked in to the azure unicorn’s eyes, “Don’t worry, Trix... By the same logic, I should have looked too... but we both forgot, circumstances years ago having torn us apart. But now... we’re together again, and never again will we forget each other.”

“No... not again. Oh Pinks... I missed you so much... And I owe you so much more. You... you almost died for me!” She exclaimed, that particular memory resurfacing.

“Of course I did, Trix... you were my best friend, and if I had to die to save your life, I would have, and like you said, almost did...”

“You were screaming... the pain you must have felt!” The unicorn said, started to look worried for the earth pony, looking her over for injury, as if it had only just happened.

“Don’t worry about it! I... it was really bad, but... Celestia helped me. She helped me forget how bad it was, she... helped me to do things that I don’t think you want to know about and... things she made me promise not to tell anypony.”

“I... I understand, I think. I thank her for what she did for you and... none of that stuff you can’t say matters right now. After so long, I remember, and I have you here with me... I never want to let you go ever again, Pinks.” She said, her voice beginning to choke up again.

“Me too, Trix, me too... But we’re going to have to let go eventually... I have to stay here, and you... there’s places out there you still need to see, a life you still need to lead... and as much I’d love to have you here with me until the end of time, it’s just too dangerous for you to stay.” She said.

“But... no! No! I only just got to see you again! I don’t care about any dangers, I only care---”

“---about you.” Pinkie interrupted, finishing the sentence, “This is where we’re going to butt heads again, Trixie... I care much too much about you to put you in danger... Here.”

When she finished speaking, she turned her head and bit on to a piece of her mane. With some quick grinding of her teeth, she severed a lock of hair from her head, and held it it in her mouth for a moment. Gently, she placed it on her friend’s nose, giving a little smile behind her tears.

“Take this, Trix... if you have this, no matter where you are in Equestria, I’ll know, and I’ll be able to come visit you... and I promise I will every night, even some days! Don’t ask how I can, just... trust me when I say I can. Do you believe me?”

Trixie stared at the shred of hair on her nose, and with the magic of her horn, she levitated it up to take a closer look at it, “Just... just this? If I keep this safe, you’ll come see me?”

“Yes... you won’t have to be alone anymore, Trix. We’ve found each other again, and while it’s going to be a little rough for awhile, I promise you, one day, I’ll come to you... I’ll come to you and tell you that I will never leave you again, that we will never have to be apart for an instant ever again. Just... for now, just believe me, and promise me you’ll wait for me. Because... no matter what, I’ll make my promise come true.”

The azure pony looked to be lost in thought for a moment before throwing her forelegs around her childhood friend, embracing her once more, “I... okay, for you Pinks, I’ll do it. I promise... I’ll wait for you. Just... come and visit me, like you said you would. I don’t want to feel alone anymore...”

“You won’t have to anymore, Trix... you won’t have to anymore.”

Together, the two ponies held on to one another, sharing the joy of being reunited, sharing the sorrow of having to still be apart, and sharing the tears that came with both.

Though they had to part for now, what mattered most was that this time, was that they wouldn’t forget.