The 5th Layer: Equestria has Visitors

Chapters

Prologue: 10 minutes ago.
Chapter 1: Arrival
Chapter 2: Suspicion
Chapter 3: Enlightenment
Chapter 4: Time Passes

Prologue: 10 minutes ago.

The Fifth Layer: Equestria Has Visitors
Prologue: 10 minutes ago.
Max Kodan

You don't remember, but about 10 minutes ago some guy ran up to you: Yes, right where you are when you're reading this now, and started ranting. His speech was long and didn't make much sense, but since I'm going to tell you what he said here, it's ok.

"Ok, so this is gonna be hard to understand, but I'm gonna try to make it as simple as possible. Firstly, we use the word "Layers" in the same way most people use the word "Dimensions." Well, maybe not most people, more like...math-y and science-y people. You'll see soon enough why we chose the term Layer. So, to start out, we have Point. This point has no dimensions whatsoever: No length, no width, no height, no depth, no movement, no nothing. When you LAYER, see, an infinite number of these points on top of eachother, you get Line. No matter how long a Line is, there are always an infinite number of Points that comprise that Line. Think of drawing a graph. You draw a line that has no width that connects 2 points, but there are an infinite number of points between any two given points on that line. Ok, so that covers the first dimension, Length. Then there's Width. If you LAYER, it keeps coming, an infinite number of lines next to eachother, you get a Plane, or a Surface, or Shape. Whichever you prefer. Same thing as before: An infinite number of lines comprise any 2-dimensional shape. Then if you LAYER, this is gonna become a theme, people, an infinite number of Planes, you get a 3- dimensional thing with Depth, or an Object. Or, what's an easy one...I dunno...Volume? No, um...I dunno, I'm sticking with Object for now. Any size Object is comprised of an infinite number of Planes, which is comprised of an infinite number of Lines, which is an infinite number of Points. With me? Good, because NOW shit gets complicated.

"Ok, the only way I have ever been able to properly visualize this is by backtracking a bit. Think of every 3D Object...gah, that word is just not right...FIELD! Field, I like Field. Think of a 3D Field as a 2D Plane. Now, Layer another Plane, but this Plane slightly different. Then keep doing that. You know what you've got? Time. The 4th Layer is Time. We can percieve the 4th layer, but we can't alter it like we can with the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. We can push a rock across the room, but we can't push time. Well, most of us can't. We also can't see backwards through time, even though we can look over our shoulder and see backwards through the 3rd Layer. Well, a few of us can. I mean, WE can, sort of, but we as beings living in 3 dimensions and travelling in a unilateral direction through the 4th cannot. I'll explain that more, because this is still relatively simple.

"Next is the titular 5th layer. Imagine those Timestreams compressed into 2 dimensional pictures. Now, layer them like we did before, but change each one slightly. That's the 5th Layer, Dimension. See why we didn't use Dimension before? Basically, this is how alternate dimensions work. Every possible universe exists, with very, very minor alterations to each one. However, as we go, these minor alterations end up leading to massively different universes. For example, there is the universe you live in, right now, but also somewhere there is the universe that is shown exactly and perfectly in the events of Halo. Between this universe and that universe, there are an infinite number of universes that gradient slightly until they reach that Halo universe. This also encompasses every game you've played, every time you've died, etc. etc. Everything, every single possibility exists somewhere as an alternate dimension. That's where we come in, and that's what we specialize in. Don't worry, the confusing part isn't over yet...

"See, we come from this place we call the Station. It's a dimension with some very special properties. In it, no one can die, no one can feel pain, no one needs to eat, or anything. However, with the right training and equipment, the fabric and the rules of that dimension can be changed. Normally, the dimension is completely open and blank: No floor, no ceiling, no gravity, all that. However, we created a ground, a lot of it, and artificial gravity. Essentially, there's a nearly infinite amount of ground that we can use to build houses and parks and whatever we want. Anyway, in the Station we have a computer system. This system basically allows us to view other 5th layers. We can see and moniter other dimensions. This means we can view the entire time stream for every other dimension, if we had infinite time, which we kind of do. However, there's one weird thing that happens. Once one of us chooses a point in time and travels into this other dimension, everyone who has visited the Station forgets everything about the time stream besides knowledge that can be found at the point in time the person was inserted, and the two timelines sync up. So really, once we interfere, time for that universe is re-written, so the future we saw never happens. As for the past...I think it's the multi-verse's way of making sure we don't lourde our knowledge over the un-knowldegable peons of the present and become like...tyrranical gods or something. I dunno.

"Well, isn't it good that all that confusing stuff is over? Wrong! It isn't! Ok, so a strange question may have arisen in your mind while I went on about the funny computer thing. If there are infinite universes, do we just go and jump into each slightly different one? Well...no. There are these things we call Base universes. There's still an infinite number of them, as far as we know, but the computer will never show us two universes that have too much in common. Usually, if the same "person" exists in 2 different universes, we only get shown one of them. At least that's what it seems like to me and most of the people that use the system. So you are the only you I'm going to run into. We have never seen any other Stations, but I'm betting that there are an infinite number, and they're running into different 'you's.

"Ok, ok...Ah! Here's something: How did I GET to the Station? THAT'S a really interesting one. Well, to start out with, I died. Yeah, I know, right? But apparently I had some sort of connection to the Station for some reason. Probably because my sister's there. Why she has a connection, I don't know. Never knew her myself until I died. Weird, right? Anyway, I died and when I woke up I had all this crap explained to me. Kind of. It took longer and was detailed and made more sense, but I'm kind of in a hurry and I don't want to waste your time. Um...right, were was I? Ah...Yes! Wait...no, no...hold on...I think that's all. There might be more, and if there is I'll find a way to tell you later. I probably won't come back to meet you in person though. You'll know when it happens, don't worry."

You were pretty sure that the guy didn't stop moving entirely for so much as a second. He was always pacing or waving his hands or shaking his head or spinning around or something. Just as you opened your mouth to say something, he raised his hand in front of him, opened it, and let out a flash of light. You were blinded temporarily, and the next thing you knew you were clicking a link to read this story, then on to this chapter of this story, not remembering a thing about the guy. Ok, now that we've gotten THAT out of the way, we'll move on.

Chapter 1: Arrival

5th Layer: Equestria has Visitors
Chapter 1: Arrival
Max Kodan

As Twilight stared out the window of the library, a lone cloud floated across the otherwise clear sky. Before it reached the halfway point in the window frame, a tiny figure darted out from behind a building and vaporized it. From this distance it was impossible to tell if it was Rainbow Dash, but whoever it was was surely part of an organized team. Dash had really outdone herself this time around, and on such short notice, too. But hey, when the Princess says that you have visitors, on the way, you prepared the place. “Hey, Spike...” The unicorn turned in place and scanned the main room for her assistant.

She found him high up on a ladder, dusting a top shelf. The baby dragon craned his neck around to look at her. “Yeah?” The ladder wobbled dangerously, but he steadied it before he fell.

“Can you get me the letter the Princess sent yesterday?” A trouble look crossed her face. She wanted to see it again, in case she had missed something important.

“Again?” He climbed down the ladder carefully and, at the last rung reached for the floor tentatively a few times before he found it. He stepped firmly and detached himself from it, turning and heading towards a large cabinet across the room. “You must’ve read it like...a million times last night.” He opened the cabinet doors and started fishing through the pile of scrolls to find the one he was looking for. Finally, he pulled it free and held it up. “It’s not like it’s got anything different written in it. Not like it can change it’s words around or something like tha-” He stopped mid sentence and, in fact, froze in place. He shifted a wide eyed gaze up at the scroll in his hands. When it jumped into the air, he shouted and jumped backwards.

Twilight rolled her eyes and magic’d it over to herself, opening it up and peeking at it’s contents.

My Dearest Student Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for the sudden correspondence, but I request that you prepare for the arrival

of a small group of visitors. They are to be treated as royal guests. They will need to talk

to you and your friends once they have settled. I have already informed the Mayor of

their coming, and proper housing has been supplied for them. They will be leaving on the

first train in the morning. I again apologize for the suddenness of all of this, but I trust that

you will be prepared in time. I will give you more information when I can, but I am

currently very busy with affairs in Canterlot.

Your Mentor and Princess,

And her teacher’s signature was scrawled quickly beneath it. The haste with which the note was penned bothered Twilight Sparkle in a way the contents and the possible message from the guests did. What kind of troubles could leave her such a small amount of time to write a note of such apparent urgency?

“Come on, Twilight. Let’s get out of here and go check on how the others are doing. It’ll get your mind off of all this weirdness.” Spike walked up to his friend with open arms. When the scroll rolled up and moved towards him, however, he flinched back. Tentatively reaching out, he poked at it with one claw. Twilight simple shoved it into his hands, so he shook it off and put it away just in time to catch up to his employer as she walked out the door.

Twilight walked briskly down the street, Spike relaxing in place on her back. He held up a short checklist and a quill, looking it over closely before speaking. “Hey, so where should we go first? I’m thinking we should check on Applejack first. She’s supposed to be bringing some welcoming food. Then we’ll go around to everyone else, then we’ll end up at Pinkie Pie’s, where we can wait until the party starts. Does that sound good to you, Twilight?” A few moments later, when he heard no response, he pressed. “...Twilight? You there?” He drew his attention away from the list, and only then did he notice that they had slowed down. When he looked back at his ride’s head, he noticed she was watching a tree at the roadside rather intently. When he turned to check it out, it was easy to figure out why.

Just under the lowest branches of the tree, a bright orange pegasus flapped his wings so hard that he railed his head on the branch he was under. With a disgruntled and hurt cry, he crashed back to the ground. Then he stood up, flapped his wings, and repeated the process. Several times.

“Um...Do you need help with...erm...anything?” Twilight slowed more and cocked her head to the side.

“No! No, I got it. I just gotta-” He hit a different branch this time. “Ack! Just gotta get used to this who-Oof! This whole flying thing...” He again pushed himself straight up and past the first branch. “Ha!” Naturally, he hit the next one and toppled to the ground, half conscious. “Ok, I got it this time...” He didn’t.

The pony and the dragon pup just looked at eachother, shrugged, and moved on.

It didn’t take them all that long to reach their destination. The gate to Sweet Apple Acres stood before them. After a moment to admire the craftsmanship, Twilight headed through, her rider using the list he had as an excuse to stay on her back. As she trekked the path to the farmhouse where Applejack would be, the unicorn found herself lost in thought. A pegasus who didn’t know how to fly? Or rather, one who was just learning how? It was strange to say the least. Thinking back, Twilight wished she’d paid more attention to the stranger’s cutie mark. The thought flashed through her head that he might have been one of the visitors that Celestia had been talking about, but that was totally impossible.

“Watch yourself there, sugarcube!” Twilight snapped out of her daze just in time to stop herself from running face first into Applejack. She let out a light gasp and took a few sudden steps backwards, accidentally tilting herself in such a way that Spike fell off of her back, landing with a light thud on the ground. This seemed to wake him up (He must have been asleep, since otherwise one might think he’d, you know, point out the opposing traffic). He murmered something, then stood up and stretched.

“Ah! Sorry, Applejack.” She looked around. They were still on the path, and they hadn’t reached the farmhouse yet. “We were just on our way to check on you. Where are you going?” She examined her friend and realized that, aside from her trademark hat, the apple farmer was carrying two sacks full of all sorts of foodstuffs slung over her back.

“You didn’t hear?” She tilted her head and blinked. “They’re here early! They arrived just a few minutes ago, apparently. Come on, the party’s already started!” She called out as she galloped off.

Twilight stood there, processing this for a moment. On the surface, it sounded innocent enough. The guests were early. The only question that remained was how. The first train should be leaving the station in Canterlot about now, so how had they gotten here already? A special train? The princess hadn’t mentioned that.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Spike crawling onto her back. “Well, I guess that’ll save us some runaround, anyway. Giddyup, eh?” Spike’s comment drew a less than happy glare from Twilight. With a buck, the dragon went flying. After once again landing with a thump, he raised and rubbed his sore backside. “Alright, I guess I could use the exercise...”

Even as the pair approached, they could see that the party had already started. Someone was playing music, and even from here they could hear Pinkie Pie’s voice shouting out in greeting to everyone individually, then everyone as a group, then everyone individually once again. Just as the unicorn reached the door and was about to open it, it was flung open. In the doorframe stood the ever ecstatic pink pony, grinning ear to ear. “Hey guys, yoooooou’re late!”

“We’re not late, Pinkie Pie. The party started 6 hours before it was supposed to.” She raised her eyebrows a little bit, still curious as to just how this was all in the least bit possible. Still, a party was a party, and it was time to meet the guests of honor.

The party was more chaotic inside than it appeared from the outside, and that was saying something to be sure. Ponies were everywhere, to the point that many of them were eyeing the door in hopes of extending the party grounds outside. The shop, after all, wasn’t all that large. Twilight pushed through the crowd, shouldering a few people out of the way and getting shouldered a few times in return. She was going to be upset about it, but hey, all’s fair in love, war, and a Pinkie Pie party. Every pony for themselves.

Over against one of the walls she caught a glimpse of white, and she headed towards it. It was Rarity. The other unicorn of the Mane 6 had been keeping to the walls in hopes of not being crushed in the throng. Upon questioning, she released what information she knew about their visitors.

“I haven’t caught their names yet, but they’re around here somewhere. There was a...a dark blue unicorn, and I believe a periwinkle earth pony. Very stylish mane, I simply MUST remember to ask where she got it done.” She showed no signs of halting the chatter, so Twilight excused herself and slunk back into the crowd.

More searching yielded nothing. So instead, she headed once more for the door. Spike was lost in the crowd. And, finally, after a long struggle, she broke away and gasped for breath in the outside air. Only a few moments of sweet, sweet relief were afforded her however. From just inside the door, someone gasped. “Hey! We can go- I mean the party’s moved outside now!” Someone exclaimed. Twilight groaned and covered her head as most of the inhabitants spilled out into the yard and the street.

Twilight struggled to her feet, panting from the near death experience. Just as she took in a deep breath: “There you are Twilight! Don’tcha wanna meet the new arrivals? Come on inside, they’re waiting!”

She groaned and collapsed again with the effort.

Once they were inside and the element of magic had composed herself, she looked around to realize that most everypony had run for the door when they had the chance. The only ones left inside were the Mane 6, Spike, and two other ponies that, going by the description Rarity had given, were the messengers the Princess had sent. Finally, things could start getting a bit civil.

“Hi there!” Twilight began warmly, beaming at the newcomers. “I’m so glad we could meet you, and I hope you’re having a good time so far!” She extended a hoof to the periwinkle earth pony. Rarity was indeed right. Her mane was spectacularly done up. It was striking, but it was far from over the top. Despite the warm greetings, the pony held back, eyeing both the hoof as well as the one attached to it suspiciously.

“I didn’t know we were...expected. I was also not expecting such an...enthusiastic welcome.”

“Hey, hey now! Don’t be so stingy!” The unknown unicorn grinned and pushed his way in front and shook Twilight’s hoof eagerly. He bowed his head a bit before introducing himself. “Call me...er...Beta. Beta Max. This is...Alpha Centauri.” The lighter pony tilted her head oddly at this.

“Aah, right. So we were told you had some kind of-”

“No! Um, er...” Everyone had taken a step back from Alpha at the sudden interruption.

“I think what my friend means,” Beta cut in coolly, smiling gently around the room, “is that we’re short one. Our friend is supposed to be here. His name is Gamma. Gamma Ray.” He sighed and shook his head. Twilight noted that he still hadn’t let her hoof go. She tugged and pulled a couple of times until she got it free.

“What does he look like?” This time Rainbow Dash spoke up. With a moment of thought, Twilight realized that she may already know the answer. She proved to be correct.

“He’s an orange pegasus. Probably a bit confused or lost looking.” He sat and thought for a moment. “He’s a bit air-headed like that sometimes. That’d be why he didn’t show up on time, I’d bet.”

“I think I might know where he is.” Twilight turned towards the door, but even as she did she noticed that someone else was there. Naturally, it was the missing ‘Gamma’. He stood in the doorway with a triumphant grin on his face. He was floating several inches above the ground.

“I DID IT!”

~~~To Be Continued~~~

Chapter 2: Suspicion

5th Layer: Equestria
Chapter 2: Suspicion
Max Kodan

The group was gathered outside, in their favorite picnic spot. The three new arrivals; Alpha Centauri, Beta Max, and Gamma Ray, had joined them, and they were chatting and getting to know each other. Twilight Sparkle stood off to the side, watching the proceedings with rapt interest. Rainbow dash flew over the area and Gamma, who had been enchanted by the skill and speed she showed, followed clumsily. The blue racer did an areal loop, and when the slightly less skilled pegasus tried he ended up wrenching himself sideways, slamming himself into a tree branch. After all that, right back where he started.

Something still seemed slightly off. She couldn’t quite place it, but these ponies didn’t seem...natural. It was mostly their cutie marks. For some reason, Twilight couldn’t quite tell what they were. Whenever she looked, her eyes traveled away by themselves, and she immediately forgot what she’d seen. It was strange, and it bothered her greatly. For now, however, all she could do was learn.

Alpha was sitting by herself, watching everyone while staying comparatively silent. The purple unicorn trotting up beside her and sitting down didn’t seem to affect her in the least. “Hey!” She quipped cheerfully. No response. This was a cold one. “I...see you’re not really interacting with anyone.” Silence. “So...er...I figured I’d break the ice. I know we’ve been kind of introduced, but I wanted to make it formal. Hi! I’m Twilight Sparkle. I love books and studying and organization.” …. “Soooooooo, this is where you tell me something about you. Anything. Really. Do you have a favorite food? A hobby?” Alpha just sat silently, her expression completely unreadable. Twilight gave a hearty sigh and hung her head in defeat.

“I like...singing.” She spoke! Her voice was actually rather beautiful. Her demeanour didn’t let on at all, but it did sounded as though she could belt out an opera, if she would only give herself the chance. Melodically, the words danced around Twilight’s head for a moment before she realized that it was probably her turn to speak.

“That’s wonderful! I know a few ponies you should meet, and if you’re as good as you sound you could end up on stage with them!” She beamed. “Oh, you would be wonderful, and it would be really fun, and...” Alpha blinked several times, leaning back from the outburst. Twilight slowed her rant to a stop. “And, well...I’ll just let you think about it, ok?” She inched away from the newcomer, who didn’t change her stance at all. Then she zipped some distance away. Perhaps the others would be more talkative...

Just outside the Ponyville Train Station, a pegasus glowered. Her wings flapped in agitation, her normally flowing chestnut mane looking somewhat frazzled. As the last few ponies walked away from the building, her teeth ground together. They weren’t here. They were supposed to be on the train. She was told they would be on the train. Whatever happened, she needed to find them, and she needed to find them now, before they ruined everything. She closed her eyes in a light meditation. A moment later, they snapped open again and she pivoted in the air. Kicking off, she flapped her wings furiously, speeding along the rails that led towards Canterlot.

Next up would be....Beta. Might as well go in alphabetical order. Twilight chuckled at her own over-nerdy pun and approached the dark blue unicorn. He was cheerily chatting it up with Pinkie Pie and Applejack. The three of them stood sideline, watching, while Rainbow Dash led Gamma around the area. He hadn’t improved much.

“Hey!” She repeated the quip from earlier, settling herself in a space between the unicorn and AJ. “Have I missed anything?”

“Not all that much, m’lady.” The honorific would be mildly enchanting if she hadn’t heard him repeat it to every filly he saw. “I was just regaling your friends here with a few of my Tales of Worldly Travels.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie poked her head around the visitor to make eye contact with Twilight. “He was telling us about some of the weird and cool places he’s been!”

“It’s no big deal, just a little travelling, you know...” He was blushing. Applejack leaned closer to Twilight.

“Can you come over here for a sec’?” She whispered, nodding her head a few yards away. Twilight blinked and looked back at Beta, but he was deep in conversation with Pinkie. Something about a boat and a whale and an umbrella. She shifted herself off to the side to sit alongside her farming friend, who had moved away from the group. They were sufficiently secluded now, as the activities around were making a fair amount of noise.

“Does this bunch seem a mite...off?” Applejack spoke in a slightly raised whisper still, her eyes trained on Gamma as he bobbed his way after his lead. She was trying to stay inconspicuous. Something was really bothering her. “Have ya’ tried lookin’ at their cutie marks? It’s like they ain’t even there. Or somethin’s there, but ya’ can’t tell what.”

“I noticed that...” The unicorn frowned and followed AJ’s gaze, again trying to look at the area on Gamma’s flank. Again, her eyes seemed to just slip off of it. “There’s another thing, too. They were supposed to be on the first train here from Canterlot, but by the schedule, they shouldn’t have gotten in until about 15 minutes ago.” She tucked the corner of her mouth into her cheek, wracking her brain. “But who else could they be? They’re odd, but they don’t seem evil. And if the Princess was talking about somepony else, then they would have come on the train and come over here, right? We’re not exactly hidden.” It was true. They would be seen rather easily if one were to walk from the train station through the town. Logically, they would be the first group a newcomer would go to. Plus, they should have a picture of the Mane 6, or at least a description. “I don’t think we have any choice but to go with the idea that these guys are the real deal, but...”

“But?”

“But, well...why haven’t they given us their message yet? Or even mentioned Princess Celestia, or their mission? Everything just seems so...mysterious.” Her purple mane covered her eyes as she bowed her head. She was thinking too much, and her brain was overloading. For the moment, ONLY for the moment she told herself, she would give up and roll with the idea that these three were the ones sent by the Princess. “Just...keep your guard up.”

The two nodded to each other and, for now, parted ways.

The brown mane waved as the wind rushed past it. They had better be on the next train. Things were strange here, and she couldn’t track them as well as she was used to. With any luck, this would be the last time she needed to chase them down. As she rounded a large bend in the mountain, she saw the train chugging along. She slowed and revered direction, letting it catch up. As it passed, she glared into every window, frightening a few of the passengers but not seeing who she was looking for. Where could they be? She groaned as the last car of the locomotive sped past her, then gave herself another boost of speed, steering around the remainder of the bend.

It had been several hours since the party ended. Despite their best efforts, even together, Applejack and Twilight couldn’t find anything particularly wrong with the three oddballs. Aside from the obvious issue with the cutie marks, they seemed more or less...normal. When sundown neared, they met each other once more. This time, their chat would be a bit more private. They sat together atop a large hill, outside the normal limits of Ponyville. The lights were just starting to come on, and one building at a time clicked to life. They remained silent until every one had sparked. The town lay before them, shining spectacularly.

For just a moment, Twilight marvelled at it’s beauty; at the ability for such a small town to produce such a bright light. In these hours, despite the twilit sky darkening, the streets of Ponyville were bright as day. And yet, eventually, the light would burn out, one at a time, and the town would fall dark and silent until Celestia’s Sun broke over the horizon.

“So? What d’ya think? Anythin’ come up today?” The farmer cocked her head to the side just enough to catch the scholar’s eye. She seemed tired, which was odd. She rarely showed fatigue, unless it was after a long day of hard work. And even then it was rarely more than an ‘Ah’m off to bed for the night. See y’all tomorrow!’

“No...what’s wrong?” Twilight worried, frowning and tilting her head.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Ah just...Ah spent all day tryin’ to look at her cutie mark. Alpha’s, Ah mean. It’s...harder than any work Ah’ve had to do all season! It was suckin’ the energy right out of mah head.” She stood and wavered on her feet. “Ah...think I need to be gettin’ on to bed.” She took three steps and stopped, looking dangerously close to falling over.

Twilight swept over to her side and nudged her up, holding her steady. “Er, maybe I should walk you home.”

The two set off together, slowly working their way through the streets. Nearly everypony was inside, so they still retained a sort of privacy. “Ya know,” Applejack yawned, “It ain’t just the cutie marks. Somethin’ else don’t settle right with me. I cain’ quite put mah hoof on it, but somethin’ is jus’ unsettlin’ about that lot. Like somethin about ‘em is lost, or missin’.” She shook her head. “They kinda make me feel....sad.”

It was a few moments before Twilight could form a response, and just as she opened her mouth to deliver it her ear caught a bit of a conversation. “-the rest of you?”

It sounded like Cherilee, and the fact was confirmed when they rounded the corner and found themselves right in front of said pony’s house. The schoolteacher was outside, and, right in front of her, stood the three suspicious guests. Twilight stopped in her tracks and grabbed her friend, hiding around the corner and listening intently, shushing the confused and tired pony’s protests.

“What do you mean the rest of us?” It was Beta’s voice, and he sounded genuinely ignorant of whatever was being discussed. The other two stood (or floated, Gamma hadn’t gotten over the initial rush of flying) silently.

“Well,” Cherilee began, “The Mayor said that I was supposed to be hosting 5 ponies. She even showed me the letter from Princess Celestia.” So this was the setup the Mayor had arranged for them. Cherilee did keep a few spare rooms in her house, as she would babysit her students if her parents went out of town overnight or longer. Being a teacher in this age of enlightenment under Celestia’s rule tended to be a good position to be in. “I have all of my rooms ready for you, so I just wondered where the other two were.”

Venturing a peek around the corner, a hoof still clopped over Applejack’s mouth, Twilight caught a glimpse of the alphabetically named trio. Beta couldn’t see it, but Alpha was glaring at his back. Gamma drifted back and forth in the air, his eyes wandering around, as if he were imagining himself gracefully swooping through the sky like Dash. “Oh, er...” Beta rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof. “Must be some kind of mistake. The Princess was rather busy when she sent us, so she must have just written down the wrong number.” Immediately, Twilight narrowed her eyes. Now they were insinuating that the Princess had made a mistake? Unthinkable. “It’s just the three of us after all, right? And no one else has shown up?”

Cherilee thought about this for a moment, then sighed in resignation. “Well, whatever the case, you need a place to sleep for the night. Come on in, you have your choice of rooms.” And with that, all of them went inside.

Applejack had fallen silent, but she couldn’t hear around the corner quite as well as Twilight could. When the latter’s hoof was removed from the former’s mouth, she took a deep breath in, then let it out in a rush. “Well, what was all that for, sugarcube?” The rush of the moment had given her a bit of a boost in energy. She straightened her hat and quirked an eyebrow.

“...It’s...strange. The Princess may have been busy, but I don’t think she’d make such a simple mistake as that. If there were only 3 ponies, she would have said that 3 were coming, no matter how rushed she was. And they came before the train did. And I’m not sure what it is, but they have terrible poker faces. They’re hiding something, but I just can’t figure it out.” She stopped and hung her head, covering her eyes with her foreleg. She was starting to feel as tired as Applejack.

Even as the two contemplated the warm, blissful oblivion of a deep sleep, they could hear more voices. For a moment, Twilight thought she’d be able to eavesdrop on Alpha, Beta and Gamma, but the voices were coming from somewhere else. It sounded like they were just around the opposite corner, walking behind Cherilee’s house. Whoever it was was speaking low, almost grumbling. The pair shifted themselves closer to the corner of the building nearest the sound and, stretching their ears, listened closely.

“-ean really, how do you LOSE a TRAIN?” The first voice was female, speaking sharply, addressing someone else who was unseen.

“Hey, hey, don’t look at me. Talk to Kale.” This one was male, smooth and even, with a practiced suave tone.

“But-but-but...you saw them, right? The flowers? They were so huge and majestic and beautiful!” Another female (apparently named Kale), her voice soft and frail. Thoughts of Fluttershy jumped into their heads.

“So you jump off a train!?” It was the first voice again. “And what about the rest of you?”

“She dragged me with her.” The smooth-talking stallion sounded mildly exasperated.

“They jumped off a cliff. We couldn’t very well leave them alone...” This was another female, her voice rather crackly, as if she had something caught in her throat.

“So, we went after them. Stick together, right?” It sounded like the male counterpart of the previous voice.

No new voices emerged as the conversation continued, and, counting it out, Twilight came up with 5. 5 ponies who had been on a train, but had jumped off. She froze in place, her eyes flicking between the corner and the lit second story windows in Cherilee’s house. So, these 5 must be....

Twilight leaped into action, popping out around the corner in front of the group. They all reared back in surprise, some of them hunkering down and preparing to rush forward. Upon seeing the huge grin across Twilight’s face, however, they relaxed and traded glances.

“Who...are you?” It was the sharp-tongued female. A brown pegasus with chestnut hair who stood front and center of the group. The other four were slightly spread out behind her. Three unicorns and one earth pony.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. And this...” She reached behind the building and dragged the semi-conscious farmer out into the open. “Is Applejack.”

“Twilight Sparkle...Ah, yes, we were told to seek you out.” The others were silent, just looking at each other and cooling down a bit. “We come with news from Princess Celestia. But, it’s kind of late. We should talk in the morning...We were told there was shelter prepared for us?”

“Um...Yeah! Sort of...Why don’t you come with me? I’ll set you all up for the night, and we’ll discuss some things in the morning. Applejack...” She turned to glance at the drowsy pony. “Can you make it home alone? I’ll take these guys to the library. Meet me there in the morning?”

A murmured sound that seemed close enough to an affirmative was all Twilight needed. “Alright, come on, let me get you all set up!” And the group headed off with mixed emotions towards the library.

Chapter 3: Enlightenment

5th Layer Equestria
Chapter 3: Enlightenment
Max Kodan

The party sat around a table in the Library. Twilight had explained the situation to the real messengers Celestia had announced. Currently, the fakes were sleeping peacefully in Cherilee’s house, and the urgency seemed nonexistent. At least, that particular urgency. There was still the matter of the reason they had been sent in the first place.

“It can wait.” If Twilight remembered the order of things, this was the pony who had spoken second earlier. He had introduced himself as Cy, and nothing more. He was an inch or so taller than the rest of them, and his coat was a rather unique shade of maroon. He sighed and hung his head, even though the others nodded in agreement. “The fact that someone has assumed our identities worries me, but I’m not sure what to make of the fact that they didn’t know anything about us. They could just be travellers seeking free food and shelter, or...” He paused and contemplated, as if not entirely sure if he wanted to continue the sentence.

“Ok, perhaps it can’t wait.” This was the brown pegasus from earlier. Nell, she was called. Just judging from the way the group sat (with her in the center, and everyone else paired off on either side), she seemed to be a leader of sorts. Her brown mane fell before her eye as she took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “We’ll give you the quick version, though the full version isn’t much longer.” She rolled her neck. It looked like she was preparing for a speech, not a briefing. “Basically, there’s...something...coming towards-” She paused momentarily. “Towards...Ponyville.” After shaking off whatever was bothering her, she continued.

“We’re here because we’re the ones who picked up this thing. It isn’t natural, whatever it is, and the town is going to need fortification and defense. We suspect that whatever’s coming is sentient. That’s why these impostors are such a problem. They could very well be spies sent by this thing. So priority number one, before we start building up a defense, we need to find out what our unwanted guests are. The last thing we need is to have our weak spots pointed out by some rookie who just learned how to fly.” She huffed as she spoke and deftly ignored the chuckles of the others around her.

Twilight took a few moments to process this. Losing that particular battle, she began organizing things in her head. First thing’s first: Remember everyone’s name. The maroon earth pony with the deep green hair was Cy, the auburn colored pegasus was Nell, and the light blue unicorn with the short white mane was Kale. The other two were a bit more difficult. They looked nearly identical, if one were to see their silhouettes. Both unicorns appeared rather asexual: Short manes, quiet eyes, medium built figures. The only difference was that their colors were switched around. The one (the female?) had a dusky blond mane, while her(his?) body was the color of old silver. The other one was just the opposite: Tarnished silver hair and a dim, gold body. She’d had them figured out before, what was the trick she’d used?

Riiiight, Gold was worth more than silver, so gold came first. There was more gold on the body of the male, and his name was first alphabetically. So the one who was ‘worth’ more came first in the Alphabet. Then, their names were Cadence (Or Cade) the male, and Kamiryn (Ryn) the female. Cade and Ryn. Golden Cade and Silver Ryn. Remember, remember, remember...

...Such a stupid way to try to remember names....

“So what do we do?” Kale had spoken up. At a glance, she seemed surprisingly calm, considering how on edge everyone else seemed to be. She shook her mane gently, then tilted her head in thought. “Any word from Ash? Anyone?” She looked around the table for a response, and everyone shook their heads. She sighed to herself and rested her chin on her hoof.

Unable to contribute much, since she really still didn’t know what was going on, Twilight cleared her throat and diverted the discussion, while asking a question that was on her mind anyway. “Um...who’s Ash?”

“My sister.” Cy’s reply was short, and no further explanation seemed to be forthcoming. The purple unicorn sighed to herself. That hadn’t lasted as long as she’d expected. Instead, she turned her mind to the task that everyone else seemed to have taken up. They needed to figure out who the impostors were.

It was several minutes before anyone came up with anything. However, at almost the exact same time, Twilight and Cy both raised their heads, their eyes bright with realization.

“Hey, why don’t we...”

“Couldn’t we just...”

The two stopped and stared at each other for a few moments, both waiting for the other to speak. Cy shrugged and bowed his head slightly, signaling for his counterpart in thought to go first. She obliged. “Well, couldn’t we just introduce you to them? If we can get a reaction out of them, wouldn’t we be that much closer to figuring out who they are? Maybe they’ll know you, if they’re working with whatever you’re talking about.”

The group turned to look at Cy, to gauge his reaction. He blinked and shrugged. “I was going to suggest jailing them on charges of impersonating royal emissaries, but we’ll make that plan B. She’s right, better to give them a chance. I’m pretty good at spotting that look of recognition.” He smiled a little, nodding. “I approve. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Ryn sighed. No! That was Cade. ...No, hold on, definitely Ryn. Silver Ryn. She sighed, shaking her head and standing up. “Why do you always say that? You’re like a generator for bad sitcom lines. Every time you open your mouth, it’s to get us into trouble.”

“Or out of it.” Cy stuck his tongue out at the female twin, who rolled her eyes.

“More the former.”

Twilight advanced up the road just ahead of the group of 5. She would have to think of a name for the group later. Maybe an anagram of the letters of their names? C, R, C, K, N...Ok, so maybe not an anagram. The six ponies made their way along the road towards the house in Sweet Apple Acres, where Twilight was meant to meet everyone else. “Hey, everyone!” She had thought long and hard, and had come to the decision that a blunt, loud exclamation that she was there would be the best decision.

It certainly caught everypony’s attention. Twilight was leading a group of 5 strangers to their rather important meeting. Applejack seemed confused for a moment, but then a light of understanding struck her eyes. She nodded quickly and smiled widely. “Well ah’ll be, ya found some more friends, Twi?” She beamed and trotted over, giving her friend a confused look when her back was to everyone else. Twilight shot back an apologetic ‘go with it’ glance. The farmer girl sighed to herself, then smiled at the newcomers. “Mighty pleased to meet y’all. Mah name’s Applejack, and this here’s Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.” She indicated each of them in turn. At this point, however, she stopped. Somehow, she knew, the next part was more important than introducing the ponies who had saved their land of Equestria. Twice. “And that there’s Beta Max, Alpha Centauri, and Gamma Ray.”

It was hard to judge who’s look was more telling. The three impostors had paled and now stood frozen in place, their eyes locked on the 5 new ponies, each of whom had a rather exasperated look. The one Twilight knew as Cy stepped forward and shook his head. “Well, that answers that question.” His eyes opened and he trained a gaze on the opposing earth pony. “Really? Beta Max? That the best you could come up with?” He smirked.

For each step that Cy took, the other three took one away. “Well, you know, heat of the moment.” Beta tried to sound confident, but as he backed up, his voice shook. Any mystery to their true identities was quickly dispelled, but that wasn’t quite enough.

“Now,” Cy continued, closing his eyes and smirking softly, stepping deliberately towards them, “Why don’t you just tell me who you really are, and who you’re working for, and this can go real smoothly. No harm no foul, after all.”

“Cy, pay attention!” Nell called as she began to rush towards him. His eyes opened and the look of triumph fell off his face. Beta Maxi, or whatever his real name was, had regained some form of composure, and his horn glowed a dull blue. He lifted his two companions off the ground and pulled them towards himself.

“I said you were going too far, didn’t I?” Alpha shot a glance at the red unicorn, shaking her head and groaning to herself. “Whatever...” She glanced up, frowning heavily. Nell, the twins, and Kale were charging them head on. Beta hunkered himself low, gritting his teeth a bit.

“Shut up, shut up! I got it...” With a light grunt, Nell stopped in her tracks, as if she’d hit a brick wall. She rubbed her nose and glared up at the trio. “Sorry, sweet thing. We gotta dash. See ya soon!” He smirked and winked, though he seemed to be exhausted already. With some strain, his horn glowed all the brighter, and in a bright flash of bright light, they disappeared.

Rainbow Dash had wanted to act, but she found doing so rather difficult. At first, she was going to go to greet the 5 new ponies that had come up the trail to the farm. Then, when AJ beat her to it, she decided it would be better to try and ask Twilight why they were here on such an important occasion. When the sole earth pony walked out to confront who she had thought were the messengers from the princess, her body strained to charge after him. She wasn’t quite sure if it was the attitude of the two groups that gave her pause or if Twilight was using her mysticism to hold her back.

And then everything stopped. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma were gone in a flash of light, and the blue pegasus was left with mental whiplash. What started in a low groan grew. “What the CLOP is going on here!?” She shouted, stamping her hoof and ruffling her feathers. She stalked close to the deep red earth pony, glaring him right in the eye. He flinched and stepped back wordlessly, blinking.

Applejack came between them, holding the pegasus back. “Woah there, calm down,” She said calmly, attempting to soothe both sides at once. “It’s alright, sugarcube, it’s alright. These are our friends,” she cooed calmly. Dash didn’t look amused, but she did relent.

From the sidelines, once the dust settled a little, a white unicorn daintily stepped forward. “Right, now that that’s behind us...” Rarity shot a glare at the mildly belligerent pony. “Twilight, dear, I’m sure you have the purest intentions at heart, but could you please explain just who you’ve brought into our company, and why they’ve driven the Princess’s couriers?” She frowned, tilting her head up and to the side.

“But these ARE the messengers!” Twilight exclaimed, stepping forward and shifting her front shoulders back: A habit she’d formed when she was trying to be helpful and informative. “I...I don’t have all the details yet, but something really bad is happening, and those other might have been a part of it. I don’t know how much time we have, so now is not the time to-”

“Now is the perfect ‘time to-’!” Dash shouted. “If we couldn’t trust the last guys, then how are we supposed to trust this bunch? They seem kind of sketchy to me...” She floated close to the maroon one again, scrutinizing him enough that the stranger became uncomfortable and backed away. The attempt at avoidance was in vain, of course, as the pegasus followed in order to kept an eye on him.

As all of this occurred, the remaining four newcomers sat patiently. The three unicorns seemed to be having a silent conversation, glancing at each other and swishing their tails in turn. The lone pegasus stretched her wings and sat, watching with mild interest. None of them said a word as their 5th member was accosted. Either they were used to seeing their friend treated like this, or they were enjoying it. Or both.

“Enough! Rainbow Dash, come on!” Twilight grabbed the floating fury’s tail with her teeth and dragged her back. The offset balance forced her to the ground, and she grumbled.

“I don’t like this. There’s way too much that we don’t know, and I don’t like not knowing stuff. And really, how do we know these guys are the right ones, huh?” She sat back crossed her front legs with a huff.

“You’re right.” Everypony turned. This was the first word most of them had heard from any of the new set aside from Cy. It was the pegasus: The one who stood in front of the others. She stretched out her tan limbs, then her neck, then relaxed. Her soft, violet eyes regarded each of the Mane 6 in turn while she paused, waiting until she had their full attention. “Rainbow Dash, right?” She fixed her gaze on the rainbow haired mare and smiled gently. “I like you. I think you need to relax a little, but I like you.”

“That’s new.” Two of the others chorused.

Introductions were had, and soon enough everyone knew everyone. Nell, the chestnut pegasus, continued where she’d left off.

“You should doubt us. It’s natural, and it’s smart. In times like this, you should start doubting everyone you don’t know, and a few people you do,” she began, nodding in a sage-like manner. “So we’ll prove ourselves.” She reached back to her long, bushy tail and reached into it, fishing for a moment and pulling out a scroll. She took it in her mouth and flicked her head downwards, letting it unfurl.

It was written carefully in large swooping calligraphy that everypony recognized immediately as Celestia’s script. Whatever doubt had existed nearly vanished. Twilight quickly swept the scroll up in her magical embrace, examining it closely to ensure it was legitimate. Pinkie Pie seemed to suddenly realize that new people meant a new party, and began bouncing around the yard. Applejack and Rarity sighed in unison, then stared at each other in mild surprise. Fluttershy sat some distance away, blushing gently and tracing a butterfly’s path with her eyes. Rainbow Dash, unsure of what to do, just sat and stewed, waiting for everything to calm down a touch. And the 5 strangers from somewhere regrouped, whispering shortly amongst themselves. As everyone, save Pinkie, started to regather, Nell stepped forward once more.

“We should take our meeting inside. Further away from prying eyes and ears, yes?”

Chapter 4: Time Passes

5th Layer: Equestria Has Visitors
Chapter 4: Time Passes
Max Kodan

The only sounds in the entirety of ponyville were the occasional clopping of a hoof on a hard surface and the quiet crackling of the newly lit braziers. There was an ominous feeling about the town tonight, now that the walls had been finished. The wooden barricades rose three stories, providing a good vantage point for anyone on top of them. Despite the warm glow of the fire, the walls felt cold and foreboding to the residents. They were a sign that things were unsafe. And to those old enough to think in such a way felt as though they were a sign of war.

Atop the wall nearest to the forest, the odd pony named Cy kept a vigilant watch on the dark mass of trees. More braziers had been set up along the treeline. Nothing would be able to approach from the forest without being seen by one of the 12 ponies that took constantly rotating shifts along that wall. It was still 10 minutes until his relief was meant to come take his place, which is why his ear twitched at the sound of someon- some...pony walking up the ramp towards his assigned area.

“Hello?” He asked the corner behind him where his visitor would emerge. He didn’t turn his head, rather, he kept his eyes trained on the forest’s edge.

“It’s me.” Twilight Sparkle’s voice said from behind him. He nodded his permission for her to join him. She approached somewhat slowly, then poked her head around to get a look at his face. His eyes never left the trees. He was really taking his job seriously. Every once in awhile he would blink, but nothing more. She sighed softly to herself and sat, looking out in the same direction that he was. From here she could see Fluttershy’s house. All of the animals had been taken out of it and moved to a more central location, but it was no wonder that the pegasus was the most on edge of all of them.

“You should really get some sleep” Cy said, still not looking at her. The unicorn snapped out of her thoughts.

“Oh, no, no. I’m not tired at all,” she said.

“Yes, you are.” He shot back at her, though not unkindly. “You haven’t slept since we told you about The Station.”

Twilight thought back. The Station. The name stirred her memories.

She remembered 11 ponies crowded around a single table in the library. Somehow, it had just become their default meeting place. It was the day after they had driven the three fakes out of ponyville to parts unknown. Their escape was troubling, but not more so than the matter of the unknown entity that was headed towards their town. The meeting in the barn had been all tactics. Building a wall, preparing a defense, signing people up for shifts, fortifying houses, and so on. This meeting, however, was different.

Everyone agreed that the newcomers, who were yet to be named since they turned down Rainbow Dash’s “The Furious Five” because of something Cy called Copyright Infringement, would only be able to properly be of any help if they revealed more about themselves. This gathering would hopefully remedy that situation.

They wove a wondrous tale, to be sure. Stories of alternate dimensions: different planes of existence, places where physics worked differently, places where magic could not be found, and places where it was so rich the air stirred in your lungs. Fabulous stories about the place they called The Station, a universe that was created and altered by those who resided within it. A mysterious machine that allowed those trustworthy enough to handle the responsibility to jump into other realities. And the core group of 30 or so people who jumped back and forth, protecting those that needed protecting from threats beyond their imagination.

It was quite a bit to take in. The existence of other worlds had been seen as a possibility before, but not on this scale. Several ponies had appeared claiming to be “human”, and the word popped up again from this group. Suddenly, the addled explanations of thumbs and bipeds seemed a lot more believable.

Twilight shook herself from her memories and returned to the present. “No, I guess I haven’t. It’s just so much to take in, sleeping isn’t really that much of an option for me right now.” She said.

“It’s been three days,” Cy said in return. “Go get some sleep.”

Has it been three days already? The unicorn thought. Or rather, she tried to think. The amount of time that had passed being brought up, she found her brain a little fuzzier than she remembered. “N-no, not just yet,” she said, shaking her head to wake herself up. “I came up here for a reason, you know.” She had intended for that to come out as a scolding remark for dismissing her so quickly, but it came out as more of a open mouthed yawn barely distinguishable as language in her own head.

Cy paused for a second, his sights still unwavering, before he replied. “Fair enough. What did you come up here for?”

“I wanted to know more. More about you.” She paused for a moment. “I mean, not about you, but about the 5 of you. So, yeah, about you. And the rest. All of you.” She finally felt as though she had gotten her point across. She watched as Cy tilted his head in thought and pondered her request for a short while.

“Hm...about us, huh?” He said wistfully, nodding. Though they had explained where they came from, the discussions of personality and individuality had been skipped over. Thinking back, they had given a bit of a ‘We Are Legion’-esque speech when they described the Station. “Yeah, I could tell you a few things.”

The sound of another set of hooves signaled their perfect timing. The two of them descended the stairs and passed the new watchpony. The replacement and Cy nodded at each other in passing, and the replacement sat atop the wall, staring out at the edge of the forest with fresh eyes.

“So, where do you want to start?” Cy rolled his shoulders as he walked, working out the kinks from standing still for so long. He also started blinking rapidly, which made Twilight wonder if he’d blinked at all, his entire time up there.

“Uh, I don’t know. I guess...tell me about your friends.” She said.

“Which one?” He asked as he stretched his neck.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, being a bit taken aback by the question. She had expected him just to dive into it, going one pony at a time. “Well, how about Nell? She seems to be your leader, or something. Is that right?”

The red pony smiled a bit to himself. “You know, I never really thought about how to describe each of them to someone, but it actually got a bit easier once I saw the...what were they...cutie marks?” He looked at her and Twilight nodded her affirmation. In all the rush of what was going on, the cutie marks hadn’t really seemed like a very big deal. When they first arrived, there was something there on their flanks, but the marks were like Alpha, Beta, and Gamma’s. They were difficult to focus on, and even when they were focussed on, it couldn’t be said what they were. Shortly after arriving in Ponyville, the cutie marks solidified.

The advent of the cutie marks was most interesting to Cy in particular. He had immediately begun working them over in his head, and it would feel good to say them out loud. Nell’s mark was the top half of a redish orange circle, the bottom defined by a jagged line. It looked like a sunrise blazing over a set of mountains, if you looked at it in the right mindset.

“Nell is...yeah, I guess you could say Nell is our leader. She’s really good at keeping us on task. I’m the newest one here, but from what I’ve heard from the others the team was a bit...useless before she came in. The other three were just kind of blindly doing whatever seemed like a good idea. Half the time, it really wasn’t.” The pair turned past a building and kept walking. For a talk like this, they would need some time, so they wordlessly decided to take a lap or two around the enclosed village.

“So that’s where her cutie mark came from, I guess. She’s like the light that breaks through the darkness. She gives us direction and keeps us seeing what we need to see.” He said with a bit of finality. That was the best way he could describe her, he supposed.

“Well, that’s...poetic. Very poetic. You seem to think highly of her.” Twilight smiled to herself. For some reason, a vision of Princess Celestia flashed into her head momentarily. She shook it off a little: This was about Cy and his companions, not about her. Just then, they passed a light blue unicorn that was hunched over something on the ground. It took a moment for Twilight to recognize the pure white mane as Kale’s. She began to approach out of concern, but Cy stepped in her way and guided her to keep walking.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine.” He said, smiling slightly.

Looking back at her, Twilight realized that she was staring intently at an apple that was sitting on the ground, her horn glowing a gentle blue that matched her body’s hue. “What...what is she doing?”

Cy smiled in response, then let out a small chuckle. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but...” He paused to laugh a little more to himself. “She’s trying to weaponize that apple.”

The statement took a moment to sink in. “Wait, she’s trying to WHAT!?” The purple spellcaster reared back and stopped in her tracks, turning around as if she were going to find that the scene had changed somehow.

Cy laughed and nodded. “Well, that’s the end result, anyway.” He said with a smile. “Kale is an enchantress. She holds magic that works specifically with changing the properties of physical matter. Magic here, however, is different than everywhere else we’ve been. Just as our bodies changed to this, our abilities changed as well. Right now, she’s trying to change anything about the apple. Then, once she figures out the magic, she’ll start doing more impressive things, like making them explode.”

He glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see the white-maned unicorn relax and take a bite of the apple, chew it for a moment, then spit it out in utter disgust. After a moment of wiping her tongue clean, she leapt up and let out a whooping cheer, grabbing a nearby pony and basically force-feeding them a bite. they reacted in a similar manner. She laughed a little and jumped in her excitement. “Well? What does it taste like?”

The poor random passerby gagged wordlessly for a moment. “It...it tastes like rubbish!” He said in a surprisingly british accent.

“It does! It does! I thought I was just hopeful, but...it really does!” Kale cried out, turning to gallop down the road. “It tastes like garbage! Garbage!! I made an apple taste like garbage!!”

And she was gone around a building.

Twilight stared in disbelief. Not in the abilities of the unicorn mare, but in the outburst. Up until then, Kale had been rather quiet and unassuming. She spoke up rarely, and didn’t really let her opinions get in the way. Rather, she let things go on, and gave a slight nod or a mildly troubled look when she agreed or disagreed with anything. But seeing her excited like this, Twilight wondered if she had a bit more pull than she pretended to.

“But I...” She organized her thoughts as she spoke. “I thought she was trying to weaponize it, why is it such a big deal that she made it taste different?” She tore her eyes away from the street for a moment to look at her escort confusedly.

“Well,” he began, “She’s got the hang of it now. She couldn’t try to make it explode, because then the only way to test it would be to have it explode. If she can change the taste, then she can test it more or less safely. The important thing is that she can change something. Now that she’s got the hang of it, she’s going to start the real work.” He turned and nodded down the road. “Come on, we have a couple more people to talk about.”

After a short distance, it became clear that Cy didn’t really know where the twins were. Twilight had realized early on that the siblings were rarely apart, so you’d think 2 ponies that were so distinctively identical would stand out, but in fact they seemed to be no where. “Do they always disappear like this?” She asked after the third pony they’d questioned gave them a negative answer.

“Not usually. They’re probably training.” Cy sighed and tucked the corner of his mouth. “See, they’re actually two of the greatest warriors we have. Battlemages, as it were. They’re 100% in sync, and not just by chance or practice.” He jumped up on a crate and craned his neck to get a better view of the area. “They have a psychic connection. A strong one. And that combined with their magic...Let’s just say, when they fight, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

After a short pause, Twilight spoke up. “There’s nothing beautiful about fighting,” she said harshly. When Cy looked down at her, he realized she was glaring daggers at him. He winced back, but then calmed himself down.

“That’s...No, you’re absolutely right. I worded that incorrectly.” He hopped off of the box and looked the unicorn right in the eyes. “Look, I understand that this all might make us look kind of...bad. Violent, warworn, hardened...whatever other terms you can think of. But I promise you this: We are not cold. We do not want war. We strive for peace, always. Only when that is not possible do we fight back. And right now, more than anything, I’m worried about keeping whatever is out there in that forest from doing any damage to anypony in this town.” He concluded, his eyes just as stoic and unwavering as they had been on the wall.

Twilight stood in mild shock. She had been taken aback by the sudden change in his attitude. And somehow, she believed him. She sighed and relaxed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...” she stopped herself. The look in Cy’s eyes lightened, and Twilight felt the need to apologize melt away. She decided instead to change the subject. “What about you? You’ve told me about everyone else, what do you do?”

Cy took a step back and sat down where he was. “Me? Well...interesting story, actually. I’m a weapons specialist, as it were. Being here, though, I’m kind of missing...well, thumbs. Everything moves differently here.” He lifted his front leg and arched it at the knee a few times. “I can’t really handle any kind of weapons or anything. Makes me a bit useless in fighting as it were.” He shrugged. “But outside of that, I’m a planner. I...well, I plan. A strategist, I suppose. I, ah...” He cleared his throat. “Stategise.”

As Twilight was about to respond, the sound of a bell clanged loudly, echoing through the buildings lining the streets. Twilight bleached slightly, and Cy hung his head. “Look like...I’m not getting any rest after all.” He turned his head and looked up at the wall. “Looks like something is here, Twilight Sparkle. Prepare for the worst. Prepare...” He closed his eyes. “Prepare for war.”