Welcome to Demongate Academy

Chapters

Second Class: Secrets of the Supernatural
Night Class One (Chapter 02.5): Celestia's Nightmare
Third Class: Powers Beyond Imagination
Fourth Class: Concert
Fifth Class: Cryptic
Sixth Class: Rarified
First Class: A Twist of Fate

Second Class: Secrets of the Supernatural

Second Class: Secrets of the Supernatural

What just happened? Twilight thought, her mind racing as fast as her legs. There’s no way in Equestria I did that, right? But that voice in my head... Was that really me? No, just focus on getting back to the dorm. I can figure out exactly what happened once I’m there. Blessedly, nothing impeded her progress to her dormitory building, only a few eyes following her mad dash for a few brief seconds. She got inside and hurried up to her room, not stopping until she had flung open her door and slammed it shut behind her. She proceeded to lock, bar, and blockade the door behind her. She didn’t want anypony getting into this sanctuary before she herself could fully explain the scene with Comet.

With the knowledge of her total security, she relaxed, breathing deeply to replenish her near-exhausted supply of fresh oxygen. “Okay,” she said aloud, steadying her breathing.

“Umm... Twilight?”

Twilight whirled to face the sudden sound. “Oh! Oh, it’s you, Spike,” she said with a sigh. She walked past Spike and started pacing. “You wouldn’t believe what happened just now! I... I think I just used magic! It felt weird, though, not like any way magic has been described in any of my classes. Could it be something different, some new kind of magic? Oh, but I can’t possibly stay here, there was an accident and I think I lit Comet Blaze’s mane on fire and--” She stopped mid-sentence to look at Spike, who seemed to be staring past her without hearing what she was saying. “Spike, are you listening to me?”

“Well, it seems that you’ve had quite an interesting day, Miss Twilight Sparkle.”

Two thoughts fought for dominance in Twilight’s mind as she heard this new voice behind her. One of them was hey, I know that voice. I’m saved! The other was oh horseapples, I know that voice. I'm so bucked! She tried to turn, but she found that her legs had frozen in place, giving more heed to the latter thought. She put all her effort into forcing her neck at least to listen to the former thought in order to look at the speaker. All it took was a glimpse of the billowing, ethereal mane for the second thought to win out decisively, locking every muscle in Twilight’s body with fear. “Ah... P-Princess? I-I can explain- well, no I can’t, but- I don’t- ahhhhh,” Twilight babbled, trying to find her voice even with her body frozen.

“It’s alright, Miss Sparkle. I witnessed the entire event,” Celestia said. “And perhaps I can shed some light on it as well.” She levitated a pair of cushions over to herself and stepped around in front of Twilight, setting the cushions between them. “Please, take a seat,” she said, doing so herself.

“S-so, you’re not mad?” Twilight said, blinking rapidly in confusion. She started to regain some feeling in her legs. That was a good sign.

Celestia chuckled. “That remains to be seen. But no, I am not angry with you for your actions. Quite the opposite, in fact. Your abilities greatly intrigue me.”

Twilight, having finally recovered the ability to utilize her extremities, stepped forward to sit on the cushion. “So... What do you know about these powers I’ve just manifested?” She asked hesitantly.

“You are a rare individual possessed of powers beyond magic. They are known by a number of different names, including psionics, extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, or, more commonly and more simply, psychic powers.”

“What? I’ve never read any conclusive proof of psychic powers being anything more than exaggerated hoaxes and works of fiction. Where does this kind of power come from?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“I assure you, your powers are very real. As for where they come from, even I do not possess a complete understanding of how individuals come to possess these abilities.” Celestia paused for a moment, considering how exactly to continue. “If I recall correctly, your assistant is capable of using his fire to send small objects to others. Is this correct?”

“Uh, yeah, I can do that,” Spike said, kneeling next to Twilight. “But what does that have to do with Twilight having psychic powers?”

Celestia pulled out the envelope from Zen Star. “There is a school, similar to this one, which trains ponies with talents like yours to use those talents to protect the world from various kinds of evils. Regrettably, I don’t know much about the place. I want to learn about what they teach, how they teach, anything that may be important. This letter is a letter of acceptance: an invitation for you, Twilight Sparkle, to attend this Demongate Academy.” She levitated the letter over to Twilight and placed it on the ground at her hooves.

“So, you want me to go to this school and learn to control my powers for the sake of Equestria? I think I can do that,” Twilight said, her eyes alight with determination. This was a chance to prove herself, to show that she could be useful even to somepony as great as Princess Celestia.

“I like your enthusiasm, Miss Sparkle. It will serve you well in the future, I can tell,” Celestia said with a gentle smile. “Actually, your assignment is threefold. First, exactly as you said, you must learn to use your powers and strengthen your abilities. Secondly, you need to report to me anything important you learn about the supernatural world in general, including the powers possessed by yourself and your peers, as well as any information you can discover about the Demongate Foundation.”

“So that’s where I fit into all this, isn’t it?” Spike asked, eliciting a nod from the princess. “Awesome, so I get to go with you!” He exclaimed, his giddiness nearly tangible.

“Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly,” Celestia paused and leaned in close to Twilight’s face, a knowing smile adorning her own, “you need to make some friends.”

Twilight leaned back, blushing. “Wh-what do you mean by that? Surely my own social status can’t possibly influence the fate of Equestria.”

Celestia chuckled, righting herself. “Perhaps you’re right, but I’ve found that friends are never a bad thing to have, especially when plunging into the unknown. Do what you can and be true to yourself. I’m sure you won’t have too many problems along the way.” This has to happen naturally. An artificially formed friendship won’t be able to call on the power of the Elements. I’m sorry I’m sending you into this blind, but I have no choice.

Twilight concentrated on Celestia for a few moments, her face wearing a serious expression. “Somehow... I can tell that you’re leaving something out,” she said quietly. Then, she smiled. “Of course, it’s probably something you believe I don’t need to know. If that’s your judgment, it’s good enough for me.”

Celestia stared, shocked that this young unicorn could possibly have seen through her facade like glass. She shook her head to rouse herself from the disbelief. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Now, go ahead and open that letter. I think you’ve waited long enough.” It’s about time you started walking the path of your true destiny.

Twilight opened the envelope. There was a letter, a pamphlet that looked to be a small guidebook, and a small circular badge. It featured a yellow pony head on a violet background, small bolts of lightning seeming to come off the head. She set the badge and pamphlet aside and began to read the letter aloud. “Dear Prospective Student, Twilight Sparkle

Congratulations. You have been chosen to join the student body of Demongate Academy due to your unique talents. Each year, we recruit the best and brightest of the world’s youth so that we may teach them to better use their special talents in a way that will most benefit the world as a whole. We promise to help you better understand what you are fully capable of, and to offer exciting coursework and extracurricular activities. Each month, we conduct field trips to sites around the world where you will have the opportunity to learn many new and exciting things.

There is little doubt at this time that you have begun to realize that most ponies your age do not possess your talents. You have remarkable abilities. Our goal is to help you understand those abilities, and guide you on the path to best using them.

Demongate Academy, founded in 792 SLE (Secundum Lunar Exsilium), has been the world’s premiere school for instruction in the use and control of such abilities for over two centuries. Throughout its illustrious history, Demongate Academy has produced alumni who have gone on to do great things for the world and ponykind. Most have worked in secret, protection the world from behind the scenes, while others are more renowned.

This fall, you will join two hundred other new students from around the world in the academic year’s welcoming ceremony. Classes begin the second Monday in September. However, I implore you not to openly advertise your acceptance to Demongate Academy. To better serve its purpose, as you will soon learn, its existence must remain secret from those in the world who do not possess your abilities.

The Demongate Scholarship Fund has waived your tuition, room and board. Enclosed with this letter you will also find round-trip airship tickets, dated for departure one week before classes begin, as well as a brief primer about the school itself and a badge signifying the type of power you possess, which is to be worn at all times. Upon arrival, you will be assigned a dormitory and a roommate, and provided a schedule of coursework tailored to fit your individual needs.

I warmly welcome you to our family, and sincerely hope we can meet your educational and vocational needs. I promise you your stay with us will be someof the most enlightening years of your life.

Sincerely, Fancy Pants
Headmaster, Demongate Academy
Chief Artificer, Demongate Foundation

P.S. As I understand it, you have an assistant who is also a dependent. Enclosed will be one extra round-trip airship ticket for your companion, who is most welcome to attend Demongate Academy. Perhaps, in his own time, he may also find his own strength.”

As Twilight finished, everyone in the room was silent for a few moments. It was Spike who finally broke the silence. “Wow. That’s... That’s really all I can say.”

Twilight levitated over the pamphlet, shaking it a little, until two silver tickets fell out and drifted into her telekinetic grasp. “Well, these are the tickets... The date printed on them is almost six weeks from now. What should I do in the meantime, Princess? What with today’s events, I doubt I can stay here much longer before something else like that happens. At the very least, I don’t think I should stick around long enough to see Comet again, especially since I’m not supposed to talk about these powers I’ve suddenly found myself to be in possession of.”

The princess shook her head. “No, you’re right. No good can come of you remaining at this school for very long and potentially becoming the center of yet another incident. I suppose for the time being, you should go to your family. Explain what you can about this to them, though I would recommend leaving out the part about you being able to set fires with your mind,” she said with a chuckle. “After that, I would like you to come and stay at the palace and hone these abilities you now have as much as you can without anypony to guide you. I do have a special suite reserved for very talented ponies I take under my wing. In the past, it housed a pony I believe you rather idolize.” She gazed over at the door to Twilight’s bedroom, adorned with a poster depicting a young, pre-Bearded Star Swirl the Bearded and an unknown brown earth pony, a volcano erupting in the background.

Twilight blinked for a few seconds. She looked to the poster, then back to Celestia. She repeated this a few times, before finally settling on what she thought to be an appropriate response. She fainted and fell backward, a giddy smile on her lips.

Celestia stared at the unconscious unicorn for a few seconds. “Well, I can honestly say I’ve never encountered that reaction when speaking to anypony. Does that happen often?”

Spike sighed. “Only when she can get closer to Star Swirl in some way. It’s a weird reaction. It happened this one time when she bought this hat that some guy was claiming Star Swirl had worn during his training. Of course, it turns out it was a scam, and she had paid over 500 bits for a lame 30 bit hat that had been made in Neighpon. She was mopey for a month after she found out it wasn’t legit.”

“I see. Was it possibly a poor decision to offer her the room?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. At the worst, she’ll be unnecessarily happy for a year, barring any disastrous circumstances. At best, she’ll discover any little secrets Star Swirl could’ve hidden there,” Spike said with a shrug. He glanced around the apartment. “Well, I guess if we’re gonna be leaving, I should probably start packing.”

“Of course. Thank you for your understanding, and your cooperation, Spike. And, please, make sure Twilight follows through on my third task. It’s more important than either of you could imagine.”

Spike looked confused, but didn’t question Celestia. “Of course, Princess,” he said as Celestia turned to leave. “Oh, Princess, wait!”

“What is it, Spike?”

“Thanks for delivering this news yourself. I’m sure Twilight appreciates it a lot, especially considering Star Swirl isn’t her only idol.”

“You’re very welcome, Spike,” Celestia said, giving him a sad smile as she walked out the door. After closing it, she sighed. “...But I’m not one to be idolized...”

===

Twilight glanced around the dark dungeon, waiting. Come on... Where are you... Four crudely painted wooden bullseyes sprang up out of the darkness. There! Twilight focused her mind quickly, her eyes sweeping over each of the targets. With a flash, all four bullseyes burst into flame, being reduced to cinders in a matter of seconds. She panted, wiping sweat from her face with a hoof.

“Four. I can hit four of them simultaneously.” She grinned. Just two weeks ago she could barely ignite a single target. She was incredibly pleased with her own progress. Somehow, she was learning incredibly quickly.

Very good, a familiar voice said in her mind. Now, try it blindfolded.

Twilight whirled around, searching for the source of the mental voice. “You were the one who pushed me to lash out at Comet, weren’t you? I’d appreciate it if you showed yourself.”

Not just yet, Sparkly. If you can either find me or burn four targets blindfolded, I’ll show you where I am. If you can do both, I’ll teach you a neat little trick. A blindfold fell from the darkness above the room. Put it on, and concentrate. You should be able to feel something.

Twilight levitated the blindfold over her eyes, tying it down. She moved her body into a ready stance and shifted her head around, pointing her face in different directions. Of course I can’t see anything.

Wrong. Don’t think. Just feel. Reach out with your mind. Don’t rely on your ears, either. They’ll only fool you.

The sound of springs rang out all around Twilight. Feel it? She relaxed, letting her normal senses subside. I just have to feel it... There! She directed her mental energy to the four points she felt, and heard four distinct cracking sounds. She had hit them. She could feel it.

Good, but you still have to find me. Unless you want to give up.

“No way in Tartarus am I just giving up. Hold your horses for just a few seconds.”

Alright, then. Want a hint? Don’t limit yourself to just this frame. Extend your vision.

“Oh, sure, that’s not cryptic at all.” Extend my vision? Frame? Wait, I know this... How do I know this? Time! After a moment of concentration, Twilight could see something. It was blurry, but there was something... Green? Yes, it was definitely green. Where was it? She concentrated further, and her frame of vision extended itself. Off behind her, to her left. There you are! She whirled around to face in the direction she had seen in her vision, casting off the blindfold. “Found you!”

A green earth pony filly stood right where Twilight was pointing with her hoof. She was smirking. “Very good, Twilight Sparkle,” she said.

“Who are you? How are you doing all this?”

“The name’s Zen Star. I’m gonna teach you how to really use your powers.” The filly’s eyes shone with an enigmatic intent.

“I thought I was doing pretty well, all things considered,” Twilight said, pouting a bit.

“Tch, you’re so uncreative, though. You focused for two whole weeks on Combustion. Seriously, what’s with that? You devised a nice rig to test yourself and your reflexes, but this contraption,” Zen Star paused, waving a hoof around at the shrouded mechanism Twilight had devised and built with Spike’s assistance, “does nothing to push the limits of your powers. You improved your overall ESPer power more in the past five minutes than you had in the entirety of these past two weeks.”

“So what are we going to do, more of what I’ve been doing, except blindfolded?”

Zen Star shook her head, her teeth glinting maliciously in the candlelight. “Not quite. You see, blindfolding you for this next lesson would be rather unfair. I’m going to come at you, and you have to stay alive.”

As Twilight opened her mouth to respond, she felt a wave of killing intent from the child before her. A vision of blood and violet fur filled her sight, and she jumped backward reflexively. The floor in front of her exploded, showering her with bits of stone and dust. “What in the name of Faust!? You’re insane!” She coughed out some dust she had inhaled.

“Did I say we were done yet?” Zen’s venom-coated voice asked from right beside Twilight. She looked over to the source, but before she could register anything in her vision, she felt the force of a bucking stallion in her side. The force flung her more than a meter. She landed hard on her side. “You’re full of openings. Stay focused when you’re being attacked, or it could spell your death in a matter of seconds.”

Twilight groaned and pushed herself to her hooves. She could feel at least two broken ribs. It hurt to stand. “Gahhh, what did you just hit me with?”

“That was an incredibly weakened Cohesion. You should be able to shrug off that much damage fairly easily. Remember when you were burned by Comet Blaze? You just have to make the pain and damage go away.”

Twilight closed her eyes, half flinching from the pain, half to focus herself. She could feel it, her body repairing itself. Her broken ribs still throbbed, but the pain was incredibly dulled compared to just a second ago. This is absolutely incredible. I wonder what else I can do.

“That’s the spirit, Sparkly! Experiment! Push your powers to their limits, and then go a step beyond that! You’ll make a fine ESPer yet,” Zen said, her smirk now belying confidence rather than malice. “Now, let’s continue!”

===

Two weeks of fighting Zen: 12 EXP

===

“As a unicorn, you have a major advantage over other ESPers in that you’re already incredibly capable with Telekinesis,” Zen said, launching a bolt of electricity at Twilight. Twilight put up a barrier of force to intercept the lightning, which arced over the barrier’s surface and dissipated. “Telekinesis, while it is a rather basic ESPer skill, can be used to learn a multitude of more powerful abilities, including Electrokinesis, which I’ve just demonstrated, as well as Cryo and Pyrokinesis, Biokinesis, Magnetokinesis, Gravitakinesis, Rend, Barrier, Cohesion, and, eventually, Chronokinesis.” Twilight felt the power flowing from Zen as she began to move faster. What in Tartarus? This energy... it’s so incredible! Zen disappeared, and Twilight was barely able to follow her presence shift to- behind me!

The “neat little trick” Zen had mentioned two weeks earlier was called Biokinesis. It allowed Twilight to manipulate her body consciously, controlling the flow of adrenaline and other hormones. She could make herself stronger, faster, smarter, and even more creative. It was an incredible ability, and Twilight was incredibly thankful at this instant that Zen had taught it to her.

She reared back and Biokinetically increased her hind leg strength, letting loose a powerful buck right into the filly’s shoulder. Huh? I’m sure that hit. I felt it connect. She should be smashed against that wall. Why is her presence all the way up there? She looked up to see Zen bearing down on her, the filly’s hoof covered in blades of telekinetic force. Twilight put up another barrier, hoping Zen’s Cohesion would be stopped by the spherical wall. Zen’s hoof impacted the barrier, sparking as telekinetic force clashed with telekinetic force. Twilight grinned. Her shield had stopped the foe’s sword. Two simultaneous loud pops broke Twilight’s concentration. Zen had disappeared again. What’s this pressure on my back? She twisted her head around to see a splash of green lash out at her neck, striking pressure points Twilight wasn’t even sure existed. She slumped and hit the ground, completely numb.

“Still no good at dodging, I see. Strange, I thought your Premonition ability would be able to cover for your lack of agility.” Zen hopped up onto Twilight’s limp body, pressing a hoof at the base of Twilight’s neck. Sensation returned all too quickly, and Twilight’s body ached. “Oh well. Can’t see everything, I guess. That last attack sapped a good amount of your energy. You’ll be lucky to be able to move.” Zen looked up into the darkened area above. “It seems my time training you is at an end. In two days, you’ll be getting on that airship for Demongate Island.”

Twilight tried to respond, but could only groan. At the very least, I’ve improved significantly.

“That’s right, you have.”

Dammit, stop reading my mind.

Zen laughed playfully, which in Twilight’s mind seemed rather disconcerting, considering the brutal training she’d just been put through at the hooves of this monster-in-a-filly’s-body. “Sorry, it’s really a force of habit. Sometimes I can’t even tell if a pony is actually speaking or just thinking. Something I’ve been meaning to work on but neglecting.”

You never answered my question, though... Not really.

“Oh? What might you be referring to?”

Who are you, really?

Zen grinned. “You’re right. I didn’t.” She took a few steps away from Twilight and vanished. Don’t worry, Sparkly. You’ll get your answers in due time.

Twilight rolled onto her back, holding a hoof up to the shrouded ceiling. Two days, she thought. Two more days until it starts for real.

===

After a day of rest, relaxation, research, and reading, the day of departure finally arrived.

Despite the fact that Twilight was incredibly happy to be in the Princess’ presence for a little while longer, she wished Celestia hadn’t insisted on escorting her to the airship. She didn’t particularly enjoy being at the center of attention of large groups like one might find at at the airship port. It was even worse now that she could to a degree sense what everypony else was thinking. Surface thoughts bled into her mind occasionally, disorienting her.

“Are you alright, Twilight?”

Huh? Oh, it’s the Princess. “Yes, Princess. I’m sorry, I still haven’t completely reacclimated my mind to being around so many ponies. Having honed my senses so much in near-isolation, being surrounded like this now is a little overwhelming.” She touched a hoof to the ESPer badge now clipped to the fur on her chest. “Don’t worry. I’ll be alright. I’ll hone my powers even more here, and report anything important I learn.” She wore a serious expression.

“And?” Celestia smiled down at Twilight.

“And, of course, I will complete your third assignment of making friends,” she said, her voice weaker than her first two proclamations.

“I’m sure you will,” Celestia said gently, the massive airship now looming closer. “And of course, you’ll tell me all about them, too, won’t you? I do love to have a view into the lives of my subjects, to see the world how they see it. I’m counting on you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes, Princess. I won’t let you down,” Twilight said with determination.

“Keep her out of trouble, okay?” Celestia whispered to Spike as Twilight turned to the ticket claim.

Spike snapped a quick salute. “As much as I can, Princess. I’ll watch her back, and make sure she makes some friends. You can count on us.”

My brave little pony and her stalwart little dragon. Good luck to you both.

Author's Note

Not much exposition here, just character building, some fight scenes, explanation of certain powers, and... wait, EXP? What is this, some kind of game!? Oh, wait, I'm running it like it was a Paragon game. That EXP Twilight got is the only thing that let her learn Biokinesis and Barrier, as well as a bunch of other stuff. If you're curious about it, I'll give a more in-depth explanation in the comments if you feel inclined to ask.

Zen is quite a fun character to write for. Very enigmatic, and a rather chaotic personality. It's interesting to develop her. So, she started out as one of the Seers (a Specific Power Type), revealed rather early on that she uses ESPer powers (She does have quite an affinity for Cohesion), and now this nerve punch? What exactly could she be?

Ooh, getting on the airship next chapter? I get to introduce the rest of the Mane 6! Whee! Oh, and a major character will also get her introduction. Stay tuned!

Night Class One (Chapter 02.5): Celestia's Nightmare

Night Class One: Celestia’s Nightmare

Fire and screams pierced Celestia’s hearing and vision as a monstrous form stepped into the city square. Celestia glared at the thing. “What have you done to my sister, foul creature?” She growled.

The vaguely alicorn-shaped ebony creature before her laughed haughtily, baring monstrous fangs. “I’ve simply given her what she truly desires, deep in the lowest recesses of her heart.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes, summoning up magical lances of solar flame. “Tell me where she is, you monster! If you don’t tell me, I will destroy you!”

“Oh, don’t you recognize her? Sure, I’ve made a few changes, but Little Luna is right here,” the creature said, unmoving. A sadistic smile curled her lips up. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice her malcontent earlier. So much jealousy and rage in this filly, it’s quite delicious.”

Celestia gaped. “It can’t be... You can’t be her! You’re not my Luna! What did you do!?”

The creature’s smile twisted further as it started to laugh maniacally. “I keep telling you, ‘Tia, but you just don’t listen. I’m controlling your sister. It’s really not all that difficult, since I’m not really doing anything she hasn’t thought about doing herself. You see, when something like me comes upon a creature with as much... shall we say, angst, as dear Luna... Well, it’s difficult to pass up the opportunity. And with me holding this body hostage, there’s no way in Hell you’ll do anything to-” the creature broke off its taunting as a shaft of solar fire immolated one of its outstretched wings. It looked at the annihilated member and rolled its eyes, sighing. “You really don’t get it, do you? This is your sister’s body. Just because I’m in control doesn’t mean you can hurt me. Any attacks you make will just damage Luna. So, please stop hitting me with sunfire and let me take over Equestria with eternal night, ‘kay?”

“Luna would rather die than allow a monster like you to use her for these ends,” Celestia said, her fury creating a palpable aura of heat.

A lone soldier galloped up behind the creature. “Fell creature! You shall not harm our Princess Celestia!” He unsheathed a sword, gripping it in his mouth, and charged.

“Hmm? Oh, another annoying little gnat to be swatted,” the creature said, looking over its shoulder. Its manic smile began to re-form. A tendril of darkness shot out from the creature’s mane, impaling the soldier through the throat before dissipating. The soldier stopped in his tracks as his sword clattered to the ground. He tried to call out, but all that came was blood. He took only two steps before falling unceremoniously to the marble floor. “Oh, what a shame, look at all that blood I’ll have to clean up when we’re done here.” She turned back to Celestia. “Now, Princess, I believe it’s time for you to die. It’s nothing personal, but you’ll probably end up being a thorn in my side that I’ll eventually have to deal with anyway. Might as well get you out of the way now,” it said in a tone that would have been pleasant but for the killing intent behind it.

Celestia felt a wave of bloodlust that completely broke her fiery aura as the murderous monster began to bear down on her. What is this overwhelming power!? Each step the monster took, Celestia felt smaller and smaller, as if each slow, deliberate hoofstep chiseled away more of her confidence. The monster stopped only inches from Celestia’s face, and all she could do was tremble in terror. She could see razor-sharp tendrils of darkness extending from the thing’s mane, shooting out behind it before arcing back and rocketing toward Celestia. She wrenched her eyes shut in anticipation of excruciating pain.

But none came. She cautiously opened her eyes, fearing even to breathe. Am I dead? Is it all over? Did I lose?

No. The shadowy spikes were there, less than an inch from Celestia’s skin, one lined up to impale her eye. But they were unmoving. The monster screwed up its face in rage. “NO! I AM NIGHTMARE MOON! I WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY THE CONSCIENCE OF A FILLY!”

Then, the face softened, and Celestia recognized Luna for the first time since she first encountered the monster. She wore a desperate but determined smile. “You cannot harm my sister, Creature of the Abyss,” she said weakly. “Sister, please, you must do something for Us. We cannot contain the monster for long. You must take up the Elements, and banish this creature along with Us. We can only prevent it from bringing you harm, but you must go quickly. We fear we are not strong enough to hold it back from killing innocents. Now! GO!”

Celestia, no longer oppressed by the aura of bloodlust, nodded to her sister and ran to the treasury. Tears streamed down her face.

Behind her, she could hear that the monster had taken over again. “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I WON’T LET IT END LIKE THIS!!” The outburst was followed by the screams of ponies. Innocent ponies. Dying. Being rent asunder.

But she couldn’t let it stop her. Luna was right. She needed the Elements. But is this really the only way?

Of course it is! Luna is sacrificing herself to give you the chance to save Equestria! You have to take it! She was tempted to stop for this voice not her own, but the situation demanded she push forward.

She flung herself into the treasury, where she held the essences of the Elements of Harmony. “Please, Elements, you have to help me stop this monster!” She called out. Multicolored orbs of light shot out from amid the treasures. They began to resonate. “That’s right, we must banish Nightmare Moon, but we have to save my sister!” The orbs darkened, resonating discordantly. “What!? You must be able to do something for her! I can’t banish her alongside the monster! She’ll be trapped with it for a thousand years!” The orbs flared up in intensity, washing Celestia with an oppressive heat. “B-but... She’s my sister... Can’t you do anything to save her?” She asked weakly. Again, the orbs dimmed. “I understand,” she said, tears pouring from her eyes. She dashed back out of the treasury, the orbs following close behind.

“Nightmare Moon! Turn and face me!” Celestia shouted, having caught up to the monster as it cut a swath of bodies down the streets of Canterlot.

Nightmare Moon turned, malice shining in its eyes. “You... You have the Elements... I won’t let you banish me, though! You won’t stop me, Celestia! Neither you nor your foal of a sister have the strength to stop me, even with the Elements!”

A righteous fury burned in Celestia’s eyes. “You will not have your way with Equestria, Nightmare Moon. I won’t let you use my sister for your own ends.”

Nightmare Moon let loose a wicked cackle. “I already told you, Solar Princess, your Elements of Harmony are too weak to stop me as I am now! I have complete control!”

Not for long.

Bands of force encircled Nightmare Moon, binding her in place. “What!? What is this? Show yourself, vermin!”

As you wish. What looked to be a filly-sized pony made of light rocketed out of the sky and impacted the monster, its hoof penetrating through Nightmare Moon’s neck. It twisted the hoof, and Nightmare Moon screamed in agony, though no blood was present. The filly-sized light-pony leapt off, alighting on a nearby steeple.

“You FOAL! What did you DO TO ME!?” Nightmare Moon’s voice wavered and cracked, but lost none of its intensity.

You are now integrated with Princess Luna. Her consciousness has control equal to your own. Now, Celestia, the Elements can work on her! Use them! Fulfill Luna’s wish!

Celestia lowered her head and intensified her glare. “I don’t know who you are, but I must thank you. Now! Elements!” The orbs of light glowed blindingly bright, rising up and orbiting Celestia. Ribbons of color shot from each of the Elements, constricting Nightmare Moon completely. They shifted to orbit the monster and began to spin furiously, forming fiery white contrails.

“No! You foals! You cannot do this to me! I will return! I will destroy you all!!!” Nightmare Moon protested furiously, but in vain. The Elements brought their light down upon her, and she vanished. There was silence for a moment, then a deafening wail as a beam of energy was blasted at the moon by the Elements.

Celestia woke with a start. She glanced around. It was her study. She’d been asleep. A dream... Luna... You wouldn’t have let me have this dream if I hadn’t-- She buried her face in her hooves and sobbed. “I’m so sorry, sister...”

Author's Note

Just a dream? Or a memory long since buried because holding onto it is too painful?
She seeks to atone for what she perceived to be a fault on her part. Does she punish herself unnecessarily?
Also, an important distinction: the entity known as Nightmare Moon is a crude and psychotic possessor spirit, and only becomes as "regal" as we observe in the show (and, obviously, later in this story) AFTER it was effectively fused with Luna's consciousness.

Third Class: Powers Beyond Imagination

Third Class: Powers Beyond Imagination

“Name, power, and ticket,” the guard said coolly.

Twilight gawked. She had never seen a stallion so massive before... I’m not even on the airship yet and I’m already getting surprises. “T-Twilight Sparkle, ESPer,” she stammered, pulling out her and Spike’s tickets from the envelope and flashing them at the guard. “As well as Spike the dragon.”

The huge black stallion eyed her suspiciously. He looked down at a list of some sort, flipped a page, then another. His eyes quickly lit up with understanding. “Ah, Miss Sparkle and her assistant. Of course, of course,” he said, a wide grin gracing his face. “You may board the airship. Please watch your step, and have a safe and pleasant trip.”

Twilight laughed nervously and thanked the guard, stepping through the gate. “Alright, there’s only one airship past this gate, so from here on out, everypony should be students of the academy.” She looked up, taking in the sight of the airship. It looked to be the size of a university building, attached to an unimaginably huge blimp. “Well, I can safely say that this Foundation has a very lacking sense of subtlety.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Spike said, half sarcastically and half in awe of the incredible sight before him. “And look at all these ponies! There have to be hundreds here!”

“Actually, it looks like they’re not all just ponies, either. I think I can see a few zebra, some buffalo, even a couple of griffons! This is incredible!”

“That it is. You know what this also is?” Spike asked. Twilight turned her head to give him a questioning look. “It’s a great chance to make some friends!” he said, giving a thumbs-up.

She simply rolled her eyes and continued her trek forward. “There will be time enough for that later, Spike. For now, I think I should stick to settling myself into the Academy, then I can worry about making friends.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Do you... hear something?” Spike asked hesitantly.

Twilight perked up her ears. “I don’t... Wait, there is something.” It sounded like a faint cheering, getting closer. She turned back toward the gates, where the sound seemed to be coming from. “I can’t really see anything from the ground; there are too many ponies. Hold on, I think there’s a TK trick Zen taught me that should help out in this situation.” She closed her eyes, focusing her mental power around herself, feeling herself leave the ground. Opening her eyes, she could see the ground about 8 feet below. She grinned at her success, but quickly refocused her attention on the sound. Before her eyes could focus on anything, she saw a multi-hued blur streak past her, and felt a sharp pain in her horn. Then there was the acute awareness that nothing was holding her aloft. She briefly considered that she should have been able to calculate the exact time it would take her to hit the ground after being subject to gravity, but the apparent blow to her horn was quite disorienting.

Well, that’s strange, even if I’m in no shape to calculate fall time, I probably should have hit the ground by now. And why does it feel like I’m moving sideways? She blinked as her vision returned to her. Yeah, that’s definitely sideways movement, not under the influence of gravity. “Ugh... what hit me?”

“Oh, hey, she’s awake! AJ, let her down!” A voice? From where? Above?

“Ah hear ya, ah hear ya.” Another voice, with a sort of stern southern drawl, off to the right.

Funny, it’s almost as if I’m being carried. Actually, that would explain both the lack of ground beneath my hooves and the pressure on my abdomen.

And there’s the ground. And the pressure’s gone. Hello, ground. Twilight wobbled as whoever had been carrying her set her down, her head dipping dangerously low. She staggered, righted herself, and sat. As her vision came into focus, she could make out two figures: one blue, one orange, topped with a splash of rainbow and yellow respectively. “One second, let me -” she held up a hoof to stabilize her sight “-just... get you... in focus.”

“You sure you’re okay? Maybe I clipped you harder than I thought.”

Okay, that sounded like it came from the blue one. “You... clipped me? You mean that wasn’t somepony smashing my horn with a sledgehammer?”

“See, Dash, ah told ya to dial it back.”

Twilight’s vision finally focused enough to make out the pair of mares enough to tell that southern-style was the last speaker. “Can somepony fill me in on what exactly just happened?”

“Ah, right. Well, my friend here has a bit of an excitable streak, and when she rocketed off from the gate, ah guess she musta hit you. Dunno how you were keepin’ yourself floatin’ like that, but it was probably a bad idea to get in Dash’s airspace.”

“Point well taken,” Twilight said, gingerly touching a hoof to her horn and wincing.

“Yeah, but then AJ here caught you before you could hit the ground and it was totally awesome!” The rainbow-maned pegasus appeared far too happy for somepony who very nearly killed somepony. Excitable streak is right.

“Well, thanks for the save... umm...” Twilight looked at the orange earth pony questioningly.

“Oh, where’re my manners? Sorry ‘bout that. The name’s Applejack, and fly-gal here is Rainbow Dash.”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is...” Twilight trailed off as she realized Spike was not by her side as she had expected him to be. “I appear to be missing my dragon. Do you two have any idea where he went?”

“You mean your little purple buddy? I think he went of to meet the red one,” Dash chimed in.

“Red one? You mean, there’s... a red dragon? Getting on the airship? As a student?” Twilight fired off her questions rapid-fire, and Dash nodded to each one. “Fascinating. Well, I’d better go find Spike so we aren’t separated for too long. Where would this dragon happen to be?”

The two mares remained silent, their eyes seeming to slip past Twilight.

“There’s somepony behind me, isn’t there?” she asked. Applejack gave a hesitant smile and a quick nod in her direction. Twilight turned and found her eyes planted on a scaly wall of crimson. Tilting her head up, she saw a scaly lizard face glaring down at her sternly.

The dragon held out his arm, dangling a squirming Spike by the neck. “I assume this belongs to you,” the dragon said.

Spike turned sheepishly to Twilight. “Ehehe, hi Twi. I figured if you were being taken care of, I’d go introduce myself to Garble, here.”

“Uh... I... I’m sorry if he was b-bothering you,” Twilight stuttered. Damn, this guy is intimidating. Not surprising, considering he’s a dragon, but it’s still pretty scary.

Garble dropped the smaller dragon next to Twilight, then looked away, almost as sheepishly as Spike. “It’s... well, he wasn’t really bothering me. I just... don’t like to see kids wandering around on their own. I know you were kinda unconscious, but you should be more responsible.”

“O-of course. T-thanks for... looking after him,” Twilight said, trying to conceal her bewilderment. Wait, is he embarrassed? I guess I misjudged him, maybe he’s a really nice dragon after all.

“Well, well, well. Looks like our little Garble’s a little tsundere,” cooed a voice from behind the dragon.

Garble jerked to the side, revealing a white unicorn with an electric blue mane. “Sweet King Vicegrip, Vinyl! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Garble growled. “Wait, what do you mean, tsundere? The hell does that even mean?”

“Eh, just a little lingo I picked up on my trip to Neighpon. It’s a fun place; you should join me sometime. Those ponies love dragons,” the white unicorn said, adjusting her violet sunglasses.“Oh, hey, if you aren’t busy, wanna help me set up? Vesker’s helpin’ out too, and Tavi’s gonna play. It’s gonna be sweet.”

“Sure, why the hell not,” Garble said with a shrug. He turned back to Twilight and the others. “Guess I’ll see you round school. And take care of the kid, starflank.”

Twilight watched as Garble turned and left with the unicorn. “Well,” she said after a few moments of awkward hesitation. “That was random.”

Applejack let out a sigh of relief.

Rainbow Dash simply burst out laughing.

===

Twilight lost the two mares in the crowd while boarding the airship, but she didn’t mind too much. She had found herself a nice, out-of-the-way place ideal for a bit of rest, reading, and training. Unfortunately, as the airship took off, she became keenly aware that not all was right.

“Uugh... my stomach...” she gurgled. “I still can’t believe I’m getting motion sick...”

Spike had gone off to get help nearly twenty minutes ago, and still nopony had come around. I really hope he’s alright, but what’s taking him so long? A number of ponies had walked past Twilight’s little alcove, even going so far as to peek inside, but they all moved along without so much as a word.

“Stupid Foundation... Why couldn’t it have been a train? I don’t have a problem with trains,” she growled under her breath as she glared daggers into the back of yet another pony who decided to retreat rather than speak up. She had to screw her eyes shut as her stomach rebelled again, particularly violently.

“Oh, my. You don’t look too good.”

Twilight opened her eyes and looked up at the bespectacled young mare before her, a cream-colored earth pony with a vivid orange mane. “Don’t feel so good... Can I help you?”

“Actually, I came down here because I thought I could help you. I heard about you from the baby dragon wandering around upstairs. He seems like a good friend,” the mare said with a soft smile. “I’ve got a little trick I can do in situations like this. Mind if I try it out?”

“No, if you’re offering to help, then by all means, try,” Twilight said, forcing herself to return a smile despite her rebel viscera. “I have my own trick, but it requires the kind of concentration apparently not afforded when it comes to motion sickness.”

The mare seemed to glide over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her back. “Well, it seems you have all kinds of tension. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had been fighting for your life a fair bit over the past few weeks,” she said, moving her hoof around several spots along Twilight’s spine.

“Wow, you can tell that just from touching me? That’s scarily accurate.”

The mare was silent for a moment. “S-seriously? No wonder you’re so tense.” She shifted her hoof over one spot. “Ah, there it is.”

Twilight was about to ask what the ginger mare had found when she felt a sharp force in her spine. She jumped to her hooves and whirled on the mare. “What in Tartarus was that?” she asked, bewildered.

The ginger mare continued to smile sweetly, still holding a hoof off the ground. “Not feeling motion sick anymore, I see.”

Twilight blinked, stunned. She’s right! “H-how did you do that?”

“I know a fair bit about pressure points, spinal tension, and various ways to utilize them for a myriad of effects, including, but not limited to, temporarily curing motion sickness, as I’ve just demonstrated.” She extended her ungrounded hoof to Twilight. “By the way, I’m Ginger Snap.”

Before she knew what she was doing, Twilight found herself extending her own hoof to meet Ginger’s. “T-twilight Sparkle. That’s the second time I’ve stuttered my name today; I really shouldn’t make a habit of it.” She lost herself in thought for a moment before pulling herself back to the conversation. “Oh, sorry. Thanks, you were a big help.”

Ginger giggled a bit. “Oh, it’s not a problem. I was glad to help. So, what were you doing down here?”

“I was hoping to do some more training. I wanted to get better with my abilities as quickly as possible,” Twilight explained, settling back down.

“Oh, right, that’s a big topic. Everypony here has powers; it’s quite exciting. So, what did you get?”

“I’m an ESPer. As I understand it, I can, to a degree, mimic magical effects in a variety of ways.”

Ginger nodded, settling next to Twilight. “I’m familiar with ESPers. I’ve had my own fair share of encounters with them in the past,” she said, adjusting her shaded glasses.

Twilight shot her a quizzical look. “What do you mean, ‘had encounters?’ How long have you been aware of the supernatural?”

Ginger gave a hollow laugh. “Oh, I’ve been different since the day I was born. I’ve had my powers a long time, and occasionally I get targeted. Everypony and his supernatural brother wants a piece of me, it seems.”

“That sounds pretty scary. I don’t know if I could handle living like that. What kinds of powers do you have, anyway?”

“Well, I’ve got one of the rarest powers out there. I’m what’s called a breath stealer.” She removed her glasses, causing her eyes to give off a faint pink glow in the alcove’s shade. “It’s one of the two kinds of powers that mess up a pony’s biology to some degree. I’ve got a couple of unnatural traits as a result of this power, but the abilities I get from it are pretty incredible.”

Twilight recalled a bit of what she read about the “breath stealer” power from the introductory pamphlet. “Right, you don’t have any natural spiritual energy, but your abilities stem from the power to siphon energy, powers, skills and memories from other entities. Does that about sum it up?”

Ginger’s mouth started to part in a grin, but she hesitated for a moment, forming it instead into a smirk. “Looks like somepony’s been doing her research. Yeah, that does sum up a usual breath stealer pretty well, but I’ve got a couple extra abilities that not every breath stealer gets access to. First off, I’m pretty much impervious to conventional mundane weapons, except pointy stuff made out of either wood or silver. I once got a silver spear through my side. That wasn’t the most pleasant experience,” she said, causing Twilight to grimace. “Fortunately, though, I had extra power number two: I can regenerate any damage done to me, even severed limbs. Not that regrowing a leg is pleasant, either. But, let’s stray away from the more gruesome talk.

“I can see perfectly well in the dark, but bright light, especially sunlight, hurts my eyes; that’s ability three. Fourth, I have the power to put anypony I lock eyes with in a kind of hypnotic trance, which makes draining energy especially easy. Fifth, I can steal physical and mental capabilities: for example, say I encounter somepony who’s really strong or really smart. I can take that strength or intelligence with my energy drain, and use it later to augment my own natural capacities.

“Unfortunately, all that does come at a cost. I told you I have a number of unnatural traits. My eyes are just the start of it. Running water physically hurts me, though I can still regenerate from that. My coat should’ve been a warm golden hue, and when I was young, it was; as I got older, though, it got paler until it was this cream color. Finally...” she began to say something but trailed off. She laughed hollowly again through a thin smile. “Sorry, when I get talking it can be difficult for me to stop.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Twilight said with a smile. “It was actually quite fascinating, hearing what you can do. What were you about to say about your last unnatural trait? I mean, if it’s not something embarrassing or something that you don’t want to share.”

“No, it’s just that... well... this is one of the big reasons I would get targeted,” Ginger said, getting up and striding to the edge of the alcove. She turned back and faced Twilight, her eyes illuminating the faint shadows. “You’d be surprised how many ponies will want to kill you if you have something like this. Promise you won’t run or scream or try to kill me?”

“Of course,” Twilight said, slightly confused. “What kind of thing could possibly make anypony want to hurt a nice pony like you?”

Ginger grinned.

Twilight shot to her hooves and backpedaled a foot or so, bumping into the alcove wall. “I... uh... Sorry, I just sort of panicked,” she stammered, her eyes locked on Ginger’s teeth. Each one was a long, sharp, predatory fang. “I wasn’t quite expecting something like that. You don’t... you know...”

“What, use them for what they appear to be made for? No, no. I don’t drink blood and I don’t eat meat, though some breath stealers have to. A lot of vampire legends are based on breath stealer lore... at least, the vampire legends that aren’t actually based on real vampires.” She took a tentative step forward. “So, you’re okay with my teeth? They don’t completely freak you out?”

Twilight shook her head. “Yeah, I’m okay with them. I was just surprised by them. Of course, your assurance that you won’t eat anypony when they fall asleep helps a lot,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Ginger returned the laugh and returned to the inner end of the alcove with Twilight. “Oh, there is one thing you missed in your research,” she said, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the bookworm. “Breath stealers are effectively immortal. As long as they can feed on spirit energy, they don’t age.”

“So even when you get to be a hundred years old, you’ll look exactly the same as you do now? That’s pretty impressive,” Twilight said, her voice conveying her sense of awe.

Ginger chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose it is.” Her head snapped toward the entrance to the alcove and she sniffed the air. “That’s strange... I haven’t smelled them in almost two years...”

“What’s that? I don’t smell anything.”

“My sense of smell is also pretty well attuned to my spiritual perception. In the same way an ESPer can get feelings with ESP, I can sense spiritual fluctuations through scent. At least, that’s how I perceive it.” She stood up. “Seems we’re about to have company.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to push,” said Spike’s voice from around the corner. “Hey, Twi, are you still here?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Thanks for going to get help, Spike. She arrived just in- Why are Applejack and Rainbow Dash following you?” Twilight looked confusedly at the two mares following her assistant as they rounded the corner..

Applejack took a step forward, a stern expression on her face. “Ya let him go ‘round all by his lonesome again. We spotted him wanderin’ around and thought we should get him back to ya before that Garble feller saw him and decided ta chew ya out.”

“Yeah, and knowing him,”- Rainbow Dash interjected, obviously annoyed -”he’d probably chew us out too for not making sure you were taking care of him.”

“Well, thanks for getting him back here, but he’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself while he runs an errand. Isn’t that right, Spike?”

“Yeah, perfectly capable,” the dragon echoed. “So, Twi, you were saying somepony found you? Where is she?”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Spike? She’s right-” Twilight turned to look at Ginger, only to find the mare had vanished. “-here... What the? Where’d she go?”

“What, didja lose another buddy?” Applejack asked. “We didn’t see nopony but you when we came ‘round. You sure you’re okay? Ah thought Spike here said you were havin’ some kind o’ stomach trouble.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Twilight grumbled, still scanning for any sign of her stomach’s savior. “A pony named Ginger Snap came down and pretty much cured my motion sickness, and she was right here until you three got here.”

“Whoa, wait, hold up,” Rainbow Dash said, wearing an expression of incredulity. “You said ‘Ginger Snap.’ You don’t mean-”

“No way,” Applejack interrupted. “Y-you don’t think she’d be here, do ya?”

Twilight scrunched up her face in confusion. “What’s the matter with you two? All I said was that her name was Ginger Snap. Even if you know somepony by that name, the odds that it’s the same pony are pretty slim.”

“No, you’re totally wrong on that,” Dash said, jerking her head around to look in as many different directions as possible. There was an edge of paranoia in her voice. “You said she was right there but disappeared when we rounded the corner. The Ginger Snap we know is definitely capable of that.”

“Aww, I’m so touched you remember me, Dash,” Ginger’s voice echoed through the hall. “She’s right, Twilight. We have met. Though, last time we did, it was under less than friendly circumstances.”

“We were on opposite sides of a gang fight!” Dash protested, trying and failing to locate the source of the voice.

“You mean your entire gang against little old me, right? That’s how I remember it going. Of course, it turns out you and Applejack here aren’t too terribly bad, since you were the last two standing. If I remember correctly, the three of us had dinner together that night, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds ‘bout right,” Applejack said, still looking around nervously. “So, why don’t y’all come on out and we can talk civil, face to face?”

“Oh, of course. How rude of me, my body instinctively just went insubstantial,” Ginger’s voice rang out with a chuckle. The mare materialized nearly on top of Rainbow Dash, who gave an almost fearful squeak. “It has been quite a while, hasn’t it?”

“Y-yeah, a while,” Dash stuttered. “Hey, wait, you don’t look different at all. You haven’t aged a day since two years ago!”

“Oh, yeah, I was just explaining that entire thing to my new friend here, though I see you girls have already met,” Ginger said with a grin. Dash shuddered at the sight of the fangs.

“Only very briefly,” Twilight explained. “Rainbow Dash here crashed into me-”

“You violated my airspace,” Dash interrupted.

“-and knocked me out, and Applejack was kind enough to carry me to the ship while I was unconscious.”

“Least Ah could do, considerin’ how hard Dash hitcha. Weren’t a problem in the slightest,” Applejack said with a tentative smile, though she still eyed Ginger.

“Well, we were just discussing our powers before you all came along,” Ginger said, sliding next to Applejack. “I don’t think I know what your powers are,” she said, screwing up her face in concentration.

“Oh, well that’s easy,” Applejack said, gaining some confidence. “Ah’m a Spirit Energist. Means Ah can do all kinds o’ fancy things with my spirit energy, including this.” Applejack grinned as a shaft of orange light extended sideways from her teeth. “It’s a sword,” she said through clenched teeth. “Purty neat, ain’t it?”

“Ooh, that’s really cool!” Twilight said with awe. “Manifestation of a weapon made of spirit energy is what that is. I read that your power type was able to do that, but seeing it up close is quite fascinating!”

Ginger turned back to Dash. “What about the Queen of Speed herself? What did you get?”

Dash grinned back at Ginger. “My powers are by far the coolest out there,” she said, puffing up her chest. “I’m a Cambion. It’s where I get my badass mane and my super speed.”

“Cambion...” Twilight thought aloud, bringing a hoof to her chin. “One whose recent ancestry contains demonic influence, and who gains powers specific to the individual. Interesting. I thought they’d be rarer, but I guess Demongate Academy is full of them...”

Ginger frowned at Dash a bit. “So, you mean to say that you’re not different at all from our last encounter? That seems... kinda boring.”

Dash tensed up and glared at Ginger. “Wh-whaddaya mean, I’m not different at all!? I’ve gotten twice as fast as I was back then! And I picked up another little trick, too!” She crouched down and began to growl. Sparks began dancing across her coat as her mane began to rise.

“Whoa, there, Dash!” Applejack called out, backing up a few feet. “Ya do know this here’s metal floorin’, right? Ah don’t think pullin’ out that power is such a good idea. Also, remember what happened last time? Ah don’t wanna go through that tough li’l sumbitch again any time soon.”

“Ugh, fine,” Dash said, letting the electricity arcing along her skin die down. “I guess you’re right, though. I shouldn’t use it much until I can better control the electricity.”

“Wait, you’ve got electric powers? Now that is interesting,” Ginger said, raising an eyebrow.

Dash averted her eyes, focusing on floor. “Yeah, but it’s kinda dangerous to use them... So, I try to avoid it whenever I can.”

Ginger scowled. “So you just don’t use them? Seems like kind of a waste to me.”

Dash glared at Ginger, locking eyes with her. “I don’t use these powers for a reason. Last time... somepony got hurt.” She brightened up, putting on a more confident face. “Besides, my speed is more than enough to take on anything in my way. Even the Wonderbolts can only go a kilometer a minute. Me? I can do a kilometer in ten seconds flat without even breaking a sweat. I was practically crawling when I bumped into Twilight here,” she said, waving a hoof at the unicorn. “If I’m gonna be fighting demons and stuff, I don’t think they’d be able to handle getting smacked that fast.”

“That’s right, it’s a simple matter of physics: an impact with greater velocity delivers more force. Even a demon wouldn’t be able to withstand an impact with that magnitude of speed,” Twilight said, nodding through her explanation.

The three other mares just stared for a few moments. Rainbow Dash shot a smirk at her orange companion. “Well, I guess you could put it like that. You know, if you were an egghead,” she said with a snicker.

Applejack scowled and dropped a few coins at Dash’s hooves, mumbling about how she would never make another bet in her life.

Twilight rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Alright, fine. I was going to do the math and calculate how many Neightons of force were behind a full-speed punch from you, but obviously nopony cares.”

“Well, as fascinating as it would be to listen to Twilight lecture us in physics, I think there’s something even more enjoyable up above,” Spike said, emphasizing certain words so as to not earn his caretaker’s ire. “Remember that blue-maned unicorn who said she needed Garble’s help setting up a concert? It looked like it was almost ready. We should go up and watch!”

“A concert, huh?” Twilight said, bringing a hoof to her chin. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. It would make a perfect testing area for ESP.”

“What, don’t you ever switch off?” Dash asked. “Seriously, if you’re going to a concert, at least go to enjoy the music.” She walked past Twilight, lightly flicking her tail in the unicorn’s face. “So, what do you say? You gonna at least try to have a good time up there?” she asked with a grin.

Twilight blinked a few times. “Uh... Alright. I think I can do that,” she said, her confusion slowly becoming a smile. She turned to Ginger. “Let’s go, then.”

Ginger smiled softly in return. “Of course; let’s.”

Author's Note

Okay, so I should touch on this, at least briefly: only supernaturally-oriented races are able to awaken any kind of supernatural power. As such, there are no donkeys or "livestock" animals like cows, sheep and pigs. However, griffons, buffalo, zebras and dragons are all supernaturally oriented, much like ponies. Zecora will appear as one of the professors, Garble will make a couple of appearances, and I may have Little Strongheart make a cameo at some point. Of course, these aren't the only races at Demongate Academy. No, I'll have surprises for you yet.

Mostly, this chapter is just for introductions and character development. This was probably one of the hardest chapters for me to write, as evidenced by the time it took to write it. Stupid writer's block and procrastination. But, hey, Twi's starting to make friends. This can only end well.

Okay, so a bit of recap in terms of powers:
Twilight Sparkle: ESPer
Spike: As of yet, Unpowered
Zen Star: ESPer???
Ginger Snap: Breath Stealer
Rainbow Dash: Cambion
Applejack: Spirit Energist

Everything look good so far? Please tell me what you think!

Fourth Class: Concert

Fourth Class: Concert

The upper deck was absolutely packed with ponies and other creatures. Perhaps every being on the airship was in attendance as the red dragon and white unicorn scurried around onstage, making last-minute preparations. Once again, Twilight had lost Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the crowd, but this time, Ginger managed to stay by her side, while Spike rode on her back.

“I hear that a mare by the name of Octavia is going to be playing,” she said, trying to get a conversation moving.

Ginger perked her ears up. “Really? As in, Octavia Philharmonica? She’s coming to this academy as well?”

“What, do you know everypony?” Twilight asked with a giggle.

“No, but Octavia Philharmonica is, oh, just a little bit famous,” Ginger said with a smirk. “She’s been the talk of the classical music scene of Canterlot for seven years now. A real prodigy, that one. Of course, lately, she seems to have been influenced by some... well, less than classic forms of music.”

Twilight’s jaw hung limply. “Huh... how do you know about all that?”

“Being a breath stealer doesn’t exactly facilitate staying in one place for extended lengths of time, so I travel a lot. I’ve been coming and going around the Canterlot area for the past nine years or so, and I always like to keep up with the music scene. My constant travelling is how I met Rainbow Dash and Applejack.”

“Wait a minute,” Spike said. “Nine years? If you’re a first-year at this school, shouldn’t you be the same age as everypony else? Twi’s only fifteen, and you don’t look any older.”

Ginger smiled sweetly. “Oh, I kind of slipped through the cracks of the Foundation’s search team. I’m a bit older than I look. I keep forgetting that I don’t look any older than a teen.”

“Huh. How much older?” Spike asked.

“Sorry, but a filly’s got to keep some secrets,” Ginger said with a wink.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. So, what other places have you been to?”

Ginger thought for a moment. “Well, there’s Stalliongrad... Never going back there. And before you ask, no, you don’t want to know,” she said with a laugh. “Oh, twelve years ago, I visited Atlantis.”

Twilight stared for a few moments. “A-Atlantis,” she stammered. “You mean... it’s real? Scholars and explorers have been speculating about it and searching for it for centuries! How in the name of Celestia did you find it?”

“I have connections,” Ginger stated simply.

Twilight raised a hoof and opened her mouth as if to deliver a retort, but none came to her, so she shut her mouth into a scowl.

“Yeah, unfortunately they didn’t like me very much,” Ginger said with a nervous laugh. “The guard dogs are scary, too. Had to bail pretty quick after I arrived.”

“Really? I would think that after being isolated for so long, they’d be happy to see a new face.”

“You’d think so, yes. I guess they don’t take very kindly to other immortals.”

“I see... Wait, other immortals? You mean to tell me Atlanteans are immortals like you?” Twilight asked.

“Well, not like me. Breath Stealers are a sort of special case in terms of immortality. No, Atlanteans are something entirely different. I think they called themselves... oh, what was that word... Progenitors, that’s it. I guess if you look far enough back in pony history, there are records of individuals living for hundreds or even a thousand years, but only before some unspecified cataclysm. Since then, the only immortals that have been in the public eye are the alicorn monarchy. I guess most alicorns are direct-line descendants of the last of these Progenitors that didn’t end up in Atlantis.”

“Wow,” was all Twilight had to say.

“Hey, at the time, I had nothing better to do than research. Cut me some slack,” Ginger said with a laugh.

“Yo! Can I have your attention?” A loud voice boomed through the impromptu concert hall. “We are officially ready for this most badass of concerts to begin! I, Vinyl Scratch, will be your most humble DJ tonight.” Everyone quieted their conversations and looked up to the stage to see the shades-sporting unicorn behind a microphone. “For today’s performance, we’ve got Demongate Academy’s very own Octavia Philharmonica!” A wave of whispers spread through the crowd. “Yes, yes, it is, in fact, that Octavia Philharmonica. Hold your fangasms, please.” Laughter from the crowd. “Alrighty, then. Come on out, ‘Tavi!”

A grey earth pony mare stepped up to the stage, toting an oversized golden cello, bringing the crowd to a roar of cheers and applause. She stood, adjusted her pink bowtie, took the cello bow in the crux of her hoof, and rested it on the strings. She took one final, stoic look out at the wild audience, which calmed almost immediately. And then she began to play.

===

Once the concert had finished, a voice spoke over the intercom. “Welcome, students of Demongate Academy, both incoming freshmen and returning upperclassmen. I hope you enjoyed the impromptu concert hosted by members of the third-year class. I would like to announce that we will be docking at Demongate Island within half an hour, so please secure any belongings aside from luggage and ready yourselves for departure.”

“Wow, that was a fast flight,” Twilight remarked. “It’s only been about four hours since we boarded. I thought it would be an eight hour flight or more.”

“I think, by all rights, it should have been,” Ginger said, pulling a map of the world out of her saddlebags and allowed Twilight’s telekinesis to hold it open while they walked. “See, we left from the airport in this area.” She pointed a hoof near Canterlot. “And here is where I’ve been told the Academy is located.” She pointed to empty ocean space, over a thousand kilometers from the coasts of Equestria. “Even the fastest conventional airships should have taken at least seven or eight hours to reach this area.”

“But there’s nothing there,” Spike said. “Does airship speed really matter when we’re headed toward a whole lot of nothing?”

“There’s nothing recorded,” Ginger said. “I don’t think the Foundation wanted it on any maps, so my guess is that they did something to prevent normal creatures, those without supernatural powers, from finding it, even if they wanted to.”

“Right, something about supernatural existence is imperceptible by the uninitiated,” Twilight said. “I think the phenomenon is called unseen.”

“So certain supernatural things are invisible to normals?” Spike asked.

“That’s the basic gist of it,” Ginger said. “I took that power from a ghost once. It was pretty useful for a while, but I ran out of it a while back.”

“Anyway,” Twilight interjected, “this airship is probably enchanted to fly faster or something, which is how it’s getting there so quickly.”

“Oh!” Ginger stopped in her tracks. “The PA system said something about securing belongings. I just remembered I left something really important back where I was resting before I went to find you. You guys go on and get ready to disembark, and I’ll catch up with you once we’re on the island,” she said, and turned and ran off in the opposite direction.

“That was… abrupt,” Spike said. “Oh well, at the very least, plus one friend. See, this assignment from the Princess isn’t going to be too hard after all. And it seems you’re well on your way to two more, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. I guess you’re not too bad at this friend-making thing.”

“Heh, maybe you’re right about that,” Twilight said with a grin. “It does seem easier than I thought it would be. Maybe I can try to make friends with another ESPer, so I have somepony to talk to about my own powers.”

“Hey, that’s a great idea! Can’t you sense other ESPers with your super-senses, too?”

“That I can, Spike. That I can,” Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. She could feel a number of psychic emanations from those around her, but one of them seemed different from the others, more special. She turned to look in the direction of the special emanation.

What met her was a pair of violet eyes, only a slightly lighter shade than her own, mere inches from her face. She fell back on her haunches with a yelp. The light-blue coated unicorn mare in front of Twilight eyed her with guarded curiosity. When she had said nothing for a few moments, Twilight decided to pick herself up and introduce herself. “Hi, sorry about that. I was just--”

“Reaching out with ESP to detect others with psychically based powers,” the mare interrupted.

“How did you--”

“Know what you were going to say? Remember who you were looking for.” The mare’s mouth curled into a sneer.

“Okay, I guess I’m not the only one with--”

“Psychic training, though I’ve been honing mine for about 18 months, while you seem to have just started.”

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “You do know you don’t have to--”

“Finish your sentences?” The mare scowled and locked eyes with Twilight.

The two mares stared at each other for a few seconds with tentative gazes, a number of other passengers slowing their passing-by to see what was going on.

The blue mare snickered quietly, breaking the tension. “Sorry, Trixie just couldn’t help herself. You’re rather--”

“Easy to read?” Twilight interrupted. “My mentor told me that as well, though I had hoped I wouldn’t hear it from somepony who’s supposed to be on the same level as I am.” She flashed a confident smile and chuckled to herself.

“Well, let Trixie see if your mentor was--”

“Any good?” Twilight interrupted again, feeling and resisting a psychic push from the mare. “She was more than good; she was mind-blowing,” she said, sending a psychic push back at Trixie.

Trixie visibly recoiled, her eyes wide, but she quickly recovered. “Trixie sees. Even the meager amount of training you received was enough for you to more than match Trixie’s level. What is your name?”

“Twilight Sparkle. And I presume yours is Trixie, judging from your continued illeism,” Twilight said, her smile turning more sheepish and unsure.

“But of course,” Trixie said with a smug smirk, turning to walk away. “Trixie has a feeling you will be a formidable rival, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight stood there, stunned, still wearing a sheepish smile, for a few moments as the last few ponies streamed past her to prepare for disembarking. “What just happened, Spike?”

Spike opened his mouth and raised a claw as if to say something, but paused. His eyes shifted for a few moments, then he shrugged. “Heck if I know.”

“Well, did I make a friend or not?” she asked, still confused.

“She said ‘rival,’ so I guess you got plus-point-five friends. That makes… three… and a half?” he said, his voice unsure.

“I guess,” Twilight said with a sigh. “It seems everypony else is preparing to get off. We should do the same.” She levitated Spike up onto her back and left the makeshift concert hall empty.

A small green form emerged from a shadowy corner of the auditorium and smirked. “Those two…” Zen Star mused with a chuckle. “Looks like I’ve stumbled on something interesting.”

Author's Note

Exposition, foreshadowing, character development and introduction!
Sorry for the long wait... I tried about five or six different versions of this chapter, introducing different characters, mostly the rest of the Mane 6, but I just couldn't work them in right. So we get friend number 3.5, the rival. The Blue to Twilight's Red, the Silver to her Gold, the Jake to her Ewan. TRIXIE.

Sorry if people's predictions about chaos at the concert were sadly unfulfilled. I just wanted to get this chapter finished and off the back burner. Hopefully with its release I'll be able to get a full head of steam to continue the story.

Cheers!

Fifth Class: Cryptic

Fifth Class: Cryptic

“Please be safe as you disembark the airship,” the steward told Twilight as she walked down the ramp off the ship.

Twilight, however, didn’t acknowledge whether she had heard it or not. She was preoccupied being utterly amazed at the sight before her. “Well, that explains why nopony has ever found this island,” she said breathlessly, mostly to herself.

“It’s… It’s…” Spike stuttered.

“It’s a flying island,” she said with a weak laugh.

“All first years, over here!” A young-looking golden-coated earth pony stallion called out from in front of a small fleet of wagons. Twilight followed the crowd of ponies toward the stallion. “Alright, is this everyone?” He turned to the grey unicorn mare beside him, who looked over the crowd and nodded. “Good, we can begin. I’m Professor Foxtail, one of the teachers here at Demongate Academy. As you all know, your peers among you all have powers of some sort. Some of these powers can be incredibly dangerous if used improperly, so there is to be no unsupervised use of powers, except in life-threatening circumstances.”

“He’s seriously gonna talk about rules?” somepony in the crowd whispered, just barely audible to Twilight’s ears.

Foxtail’s gaze sharpened and focused at one specific point within the crowd. “Yes, I am ‘seriously gonna talk about rules.’ They’re there for your own protection, so if you don’t want to get yourself hurt, I’d recommend listening to my spiel and learning them. Got it?” Everypony in the vicinity of his gaze shrunk back about a foot. “Good,” he continued. “Secondly, with the wide array of powers, nationalities, and species here, including the presence of Cambions, we want to stress very heavily that prejudice will not be tolerated. That said, for student’s protection, we insist that Holy Chosen maintain at least a foot, minimum, as a distance between yourselves and any Cambions, Demon Artists, or otherwise demon-typed students.”

One student near the front raised a hoof, and Twilight could see a ring of light glowing above his head. “What about Petitioners and Summoners, Professor?”

A sandy-brown pegasus stepped out from behind Foxtail. “I think I can field this one, right, Fox?”

Foxtail shrugged. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks. Okay, I’m Professor Sands, the primary Summoner teacher here. Since Summoners usually don’t have demonic blood or any other particularly strong link to demons, they’re usually safe from a Holy Chosen’s touch. Petitioners fall into a similar vein, as their connection to heaven is weaker than that of a Holy Chosen. They don’t burn demons with a their touch, so it’s really just between Holy Chosen and Cambions, as well as Demon Artists. Still, even with this imposition, you can all still be civil with each other. Let’s try to remember that as we move forward this year.” Professor Sands moved back to the wagons.

“That was a good question,” Foxtail said. “Any others?”

“Yeah, what’s your power?” someone in the back asked.

“You mean you hadn’t noticed?” Foxtail said, conveying slight annoyance. The crowd reacted with silence. Foxtail sighed, bringing a hoof to his face. “You all need to pay more attention. Why do you think I’m called Foxtail?” The entire crowd’s collective gaze turned to his tail. There were nine of them, all foxlike: bushy, orange, and swaying hypnotically. “My mother was a kumiho, a shape-shifting fox demon. That would make me a Cambion.”

Huh, Twilight thought. Why didn’t I notice that? That should’ve been immediately apparent to everypony here, especially the ESPers among us.

“Now, if you’re all done asking personal questions, perhaps you’d actually like to get up to the school itself, get yourselves situated in your dorms,” Foxtail continued, using his tails to point to the wagons behind him. “If you’d all get into the wagons here, you’ll be sent up to the dormitory halls. When you reach the dorm halls, you’ll go in the first floor of your gender’s building and find your room. Each of you has been allocated a roommate, with whom you will be living for the year, and perhaps for the next few if you can manage to get along. You will find that your luggage, except for what you have on hoof, or claw as the case may be for some, is already in your room. Once you’re all settled in, you’ll have some time to do as you please. I might recommend socializing, seeing as you’re going to be here a long while and you’ll be seeing the same faces day after day. You might want to get to know who it is you’re living with. We’ll be serving dinner in the cafeteria at seven tonight. It’s currently three in the afternoon, so that leaves you a good amount of time. After dinner, there will be an orientation presentation at eight, in the auditorium.”

The crowd began loading into the various wagons, with Twilight squeezed between a steely-eyed zebra boy on her right and a poofy-maned pink earth pony mare who started chattering at a mile a minute on her left. “Ohmigosh I’m so excited! Are you excited? ‘Cause I’m excited, I’ve never been so excited!”

Twilight chuckled hesitantly. “I don’t know, I’m kind of nervous,” she said as the wagons began pulling themselves up the road to the island’s central plateau. “I mean, we’re about to start learning how to fight demons. Doesn’t that scare you at all?”

“Well, only a little, but even if I do have to fight demons I know I’ll be okay ‘cause I’ve got Surprise protecting me. So I guess I’m a little nervous, but mostly excited- Hey, that could be a new word! Nervouscited! I’m so totally nervouscited now!”

Well, I’ve got her talking, at least. After that semi-defeat with Trixie, I guess I could stand to try again with the friend-making. So, first step, introductions. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way,” she said.

“I’m Pinkie Pie. Nice ta meetcha. Something tells me you’re a… no, wait, don’t tell me…” Pinkie concentrated for a moment, her eyes squinted shut. “A psychic. I’m right, right? Right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Twilight said, mildly surprised. Pinkie looked up to her other side and grinned. “Though my ESPer badge kind of gives that away to anypony who bothers to look. Speaking of that…” A quick glance revealed a white badge with gold edging in the shape of two hooves held together, as if in prayer, with a halo above them. If I’m correct, that means… “You’re a Petitioner, right?”

“Yuppers, that’s right. At least, it’s what the letter and book-thingie told me. Oh, and Surprise explained a lot,” Pinkie said, waving one of her hooves in the air beside her.

“Actually, the Petitioner was one of the few sections of the basic pamphlet that I didn’t read through, so could you explain what you can do and who this... Surprise is?”

“Well, you know how that pegasus professor was talking about Summoners and Petitioners in a group before? That’s ‘cause Petitioners can call on angels in pretty much the same kinda way Summoners call on demons. That’s the basic gist of it, anyway. Oh, but Petitioners get a couple of added bonuses,” Pinkie explained.

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, there’s the not having a chance of being eaten by whatever we petition. That’s always nice. Next is where Surprise comes in. Petitioners get a guardian angel,” Pinkie said, beaming. Twilight stared for a moment, looking between Pinkie and the space she had been waving at earlier. “Oh, right. Surprise just reminded me that guardian angels are invisible, except to their charge.” She looked down disappointedly, her poofy mane actually seeming to lose some of its poof.

“Aah, don’t worry, I believe you!” Twilight said hastily. “I mean, it’s kind of faint, but I can definitely sense something there.” As soon as she said as much, Pinkie’s mane puffed back out and a smile returned to her face.

Hey…

Huh?

Be careful…

Who’s there?

Beside you…

Twilight looked to her right, at the zebra boy. You’re using sending, aren’t you?

The zebra gave her a sidelong glance. Yes. I’m a Seer. I can do that.

Why don’t you just talk to me?

I don’t want the pink one to hear me. I wanted to warn you. There’’s something very wrong about her.

What do you mean, wrong? She seems perfectly fine to me.

He gritted his teeth and glanced over at Pinkie. I can see her guardian angel. It seems to be struggling against something. The energy she gives off just seems somehow off. I’ve never encountered anything like it before.

Twilight concentrated her thoughts on Pinkie for a moment, but felt nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever it is, I can’t seem to sense it.

The zebra rolled his eyes. ESPers can’t see the things Seers can. You can detect things like a certain demonic wrongness in the atmosphere, but Seers can pinpoint things like that. That mare’s powers may be of a holy nature, but deep within her soul, there is most certainly something evil.

Why are you telling me this?

He averted his eyes. By the end of the coming ordeal, you will need her. At some point, you may need to save her from herself.

Twilight scowled at him. What does that even mean!?

The zebra shot Twilight a smirk. I don’t know for sure… I just gave you a prophecy. If I had all the answers, there’d be no need for you, would there?

“Ooh, are you two playing a game by sending secret messages to each other by facial expression? Looks like fun!”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her seat when Pinkie started talking again. “A-ah, Pinkie! You startled me!”

“I know. I saw how you jumped. So, can I play?”

“It’s not a game,” the zebra boy said flatly. “Just a friendly chat. Nothing you need concern yourself with.” He gave Twilight one final sidelong glance. Just remember, be careful.

Twilight spent the rest of the wagon ride in silence.

Author's Note

Well, not exactly less than a week after the last chapter, I had been hoping to make this one longer, but it works like this, as its own self-contained scene. I really hope I can get better at writing quickly so I don't keep everyone waiting =.=

Anyway, Pinkie Pie. She exists now.
What could be hidden deep inside of her? Stay tuned to find out!

Sixth Class: Rarified

Sixth Class: Rarified

The zebra boy’s warning weighed heavily on Twilight’s mind as the wagons approached the dormitory buildings. The coming ordeal… What does it have to do with me? What could it be, anyway? These questions and many others raced around the inside of her skull, occasionally bouncing into each other, but that only gave rise to new questions, none of which she had any answers to. Oh well, she thought with a sigh. No sense dwelling on it when there are more pressing matters. She hopped off the wagon after it came to a stop, giving one final glance to the zebra, who simply walked to the boy’s dorm as if nothing had happened.

Pinkie Pie, of course, hopped off into the girl’s dorm happily, unaware of Twilight’s wariness toward her. Twilight sighed and approached the girl’s dorm as well.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Spike asked from atop her back.

“Hmm?” Twilight craned her neck to look at her dragon companion. “What would that be?”

“Where do I go?” he said. “Do they expect me to stay in the girl’s dorm?”

“I guess I hadn’t considered that,” Twilight admitted. “They did say we’d all be assigned a roommate, so I just sort of assumed we would be roommates, like we were back at Celestia’s School.”

Spike sighed, bringing a palm to his forehead. “Seriously? It’s not like you to forget to consider something like that. It’s, you know, kind of a big thing.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said. “with my training beforehand, and all the stuff going on during the trip here, It just sort of slipped my mind. I’ll ask about it, okay?” She trotted up to the door to the girl’s dorm, where a mint-green coated unicorn mare sat behind a desk with a levitated list and a sign stating, ‘Questions? Ask the prefect!’

“Excuse me?”

The mare looked up from her list, bleary-eyed and yawning. “Oh, hey, you’re an incoming freshman, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight replied. “Anyway, I have a question about the living arrangements for me and my companion here.” Spike waved from atop her back.

“Okay, just going to need your name...s.” she said, blinking a few times.

“Twilight Sparkle, and Spike the dragon.”

The minty mare scanned her list for a few moments before her eyes seemed to settle. “Yup, we’ve got the two of you listed together. Oh, wait, you won’t be alone. I guess, due to your unique situation, you get a quad. Pretty rare for a group of freshmen to get one of those.” She pondered something for a moment. “Twilight Sparkle, huh… That name sounds kinda familiar… Ah, right! I heard from some contacts back at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns about you. You hatched the dragon egg, huh? Guess that would be you, eh,” she said, nodding to Spike. “That task wasn’t even supposed to be passable. It stumped me for a while. They’d have let you in even without completing it, of course, since the school couldn’t turn a profit without accepting students.”

Twilight stared for a few seconds, her jaw agape. “You were at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” she was finally able to ask.

“Yeah, and I was able to do a fair bit of magic, too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my own magic I was using. Once they had me examined in that respect, I kind of got tossed out for using ‘stolen magic,’ which I guess is actually a thing. That’s when the Foundation picked me up, saying my magic was coming from demons, and I needed to be able to better control it. Three years later and here I am, top of the Demon Artist class. Not that there’s a whole hell of a lot of us, but meh.” She noticed Twilight’s jaw once again hanging limp. “Oh, right, I totally forgot to introduce myself! I’m Lyra Heartstrings. Like the sign says, I’m a prefect, so you can come talk to me about stuff, if you need help. And, from a fellow Celestia’s-School-Supernatural-Ejectee, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to you.”

“T-thanks,” Twilight stammered.

“I guess talking to you woke her up some,” Spike whispered.

“Anyway, lots of work still to do, haven’t slept in three days. You’re in room 137. Got a look at your other roomies.” Lyra paused for a moment. “Well, you’ll see for yourself. Your key is in your acceptance envelope. Don’t worry, we made sure everyone’s got theirs,” she said as Twilight pulled at her saddlebags. “Good luck!” she said with a wave and a yawn.

Twilight thanked her and entered the building. “Okay, that was a good catch, but I guess we got a lucky break,” she said.

Spike gave her a critical glare for a moment, but eventually shrugged, his expression loosening. “I guess it’ll all work out. I wonder who these roommates of ours are going to be.”

“I don’t know. Let’s hope it’s a pleasant surprise,” Twilight replied hopefully. She took a few more steps after these words before a door to her left burst open and a red pegasus slammed into the wall to her right, trailing fire behind it.

The pegasus stood with little difficulty, brushed herself off, and apologized to Twilight for the accident. She sneezed and a small jet of fire shot from her nose, very nearly singing Twilight, who just barely had the presence of mind to dodge it. “Ugh… Damn allergies,” the pegasus said irritably before walking back into her room.

“As long as we don’t get one like that,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh before moving on. “Anyway, let’s see here. 129, 131, 133, 135… Here we are, room 137.”

“Home sweet home,” Spike said reluctantly. “Shall we?”

Twilight telekinetically turned the handle and pushed open the door to her new home. Two faces were immediately upon her, one of them happily familiar.

“Hey there, Twilight,” Ginger Snap said with a grin. “So you’re our third roommate? Guess we’ve got a little bit of luck after all.”

“Ginger! I was hoping I’d be able to catch up with you.” Twilight turned to the second, unfamiliar pony. “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle. I guess I’m your new roommate.”

The other pony, a unicorn with a carefully styled violet mane and a pristine white coat, regarded her critically for a moment. “A pleasure. I am Rarity.” Her eyes gravitated to Spike, who had been fussing over a small bag of snacks he was trying to pull from Twilight’s saddlebags. “Oh, I was unaware that the Academy allowed pets.”

“Excuse me, but who’s a pet now?” Spike said, finally extricating the snack bag and turning to the offending speaker. His annoyed expression softened almost immediately. “Oh. Hi,” he said meekly.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I just saw you with Miss Sparkle and I assumed… Well, you have my deepest apologies. What’s your name?”

“Uhm… I’m Spike,” he said, his face scales glowing slightly redder.

“So you’ll be our final roommate, I take it?” she concluded.

“Y-yeah, I guess I will be,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “I, uh, hope that won’t be too inconvenient.”

“Oh, not at all! I simply love meeting new creatures, pony or otherwise. I hope for a good year with all of you, and to commemorate out meeting--” She paused, went to a bag, and pulled out a trio of jewelled necklaces. “You’d all look simply marvelous in these,” she said, draping the necklaces over Twilight, Ginger, and Spike’s necks.

They all just stared, awestruck, at this sudden gifter.

“Is something wrong? Is such gifting unacceptable in your society? You must forgive me, the clan did not give me much opportunity to interact with other ponies,” Rarity said, slumping slightly, a disappointed look in her eye.

“Ah, no, they’re beautiful!” Twilight said quickly, smiling when Rarity regained her smile and posture. “It’s just that… well, I don’t think ponies of any culture normally give gifts this extravagant at a first meeting.”

“They don’t,” Ginger said, eyeing Rarity carefully.

“Hey, come on, Ginger. Ease up on her,” Spike said, his tone not without a trace of bitterness. “Seriously, she gives you a really nice gift and you look at her like the butler in the kitchen with the lead pipe.”

Ginger shook her head. “You said ‘clan.’ No modern equine culture uses that as their primary descriptor of the family group.”

“Beg pardon?”

“You weren’t raised by ponies.”

The room was silent for a moment, before Rarity sighed and patted her mane with a hoof. “I suppose there’s no use in hiding it. It’s not something I’m incredibly proud of, per se, but you are correct. I was not raised amongst other ponies. Not for most of my life, at least.” Twilight and Spike looked between the two with their jaws dropped. Rarity continued. “It happened shortly after I’d received my Cutie Mark, it must’ve been almost seven years ago. I’d just unearthed a cache of gemstones when I was abducted by a pack of diamond dogs. They’d been watching me for a few days after I stumbled through their territory, and when they saw what I was capable of, it seemed they couldn’t resist as valuable a resource as myself.

“At first, I was little more than a slave. Life was a living hell, searching out and digging for gemstones in a dirty underground cave. Before too long, though, I started bargaining with them for better treatment in return for my cooperation, and, with a little perseverance, they complied. I kept up the same tactics for three years, until I was, quite literally, the ‘top dog’ of the pack. They eventually made me a queen of sorts, as I was bringing them greater fortune than any other diamond dog clan in this hemisphere,” Rarity finished, her eyes blazing with a sense of victory. She then seemed to startle herself, her statuesque pose becoming more humble. “I must apologize. I always seem to get myself riled up when I talk about my past.” She rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “In any event, my clan has a custom of gifting those of equal stature to ourselves a gift such as what I gave you. I thought it would be a fitting gesture, as we are all to be living together under one roof, at least for the next year.”

All were silent again for a moment.

“Okay,” Ginger said with a shrug. “Sorry if I seemed a bit paranoid. I get like that sometimes, at least when confronted with something new. I’ve been burned too many times in situations like that, so it never hurts to be cautious.”

“You weren’t like that with me,” Twilight said.

“I suppose I wasn’t, but you didn’t really stand out as being potentially dangerous.” She was met with suspicious glances. “Hey, come on. Combine an unfamiliar scent with an inconsistent speech pattern and boom. My suspicion is entirely justified.”

“I don’t… I don’t smell bad, do I?” Rarity asked, her eyes glistening with the beginnings of tears.

“Wha-- No!” Ginger responded emphatically, waving a hoof wildly. “I just mean, your spirit energy doesn’t smell like a normal pony’s, that’s all! My powers make my senses all weird, so I can sort of smell spirit energy.”

“Oh, well, in that case…” Rarity began.

“On the subject of powers,” Twilight interrupted, trying to lighten the mood, “what kind of powers do you have, Rarity?” She looked to Ginger, who gave her a sheepish smile.

“Hmm… Well, according to my letter, I’m something called an Artificer. I’m not entirely sure what that means, to be perfectly honest. My advisor in the clan said it was some kind of legend among dogs, something called a ‘Great Maker.’ I’d always thought it was some kind of creator deity or some other mystical nonsense whenever I’d heard it referred to before. My guess is that there were a number of famous diamond dog Artificers who became heroes of a sort.”

“Oh, yeah, in the underground supernatural community, diamond dogs are pretty famous for their number of Artificers,” Ginger said. She then lowered her head and her voice, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Unfortunately, that fame turns to infamy when you consider how many of those same Artificers turn to the demonic side. Anyway,” she said, brightening back up, “I guess it’s a pretty incredible twist of fate that you turned out to be one. Or maybe the earthly energies made you develop into one. The entire system of who gains powers and who doesn’t is a little odd, I’m still trying to work it out myself.”

“Fascinating,” Rarity said. “I never thought others my age would know so much about this new and fantastic world.”

“Actually, Ginger’s a bit of an exception,” Twilight said. “I personally didn’t know I even had powers until just a couple of weeks ago, even though my ESPer powers are generally considered the more obvious powers. It’s a little amazing you had a frame of reference to your own powers without knowing you had them, even if yours is one of the most subtle.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about other powers, for somepony who claims to have only discovered your own mere weeks ago,” Rarity said skeptically.

“Well, it’s all there in the manual,” Twilight said, rummaging in her saddlebags for the guidebook. She finally managed to pull it out, and opened it to the Artificer page. “Yup, it’s all right here. ‘Artificers have the innate ability to craft physical objects: wards, talismans, and circles, and infuse them with their own spirit energy. Ultimately, Artificers are virtually unlimited in their versatility, often able to accomplish feats to rival the most powerful magics.’ Well, okay, maybe subtle isn’t a perfect description, I guess Artificers’ items just aren’t as blatant as, say, slinging psychic fire around.”

“I see your point,” Rarity said. “But that does clear up what exactly I’m expected to be able to do, at least to some extent. Now, what about you three? You said you were an… ESPer, is that correct, Twilight?”

“Yeah, that’s just a fancy descriptor for somepony who slings around psychic fire, in addition to other effects like reading minds, seeing the future, or levitating things with my mind.”

“I see. And Ginger? What sort of powers do you possess?”

“I’m a Breath Stealer. Basically, if I see somepony with a power I like, I can forcibly take it from them. It seems that it’s not a very pleasant experience for those I take power from, so I’ll try not to drain you guys if I can at all avoid it,” Ginger replied sheepishly, trying her best to hide her teeth.

“I... very much appreciate that,” Rarity said with a nervous smile. “And what about you, Spike?”

“Eh? I don’t…” Spike hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head in shame. “I don’t actually have any powers… I’m just here as Twilight’s assistant.”

“Spike, I… I’m sorry,” Twilight said, the very air in the room seeming more sober. “I never even considered--”

“It’s okay, I decided to come with you, and even if I hadn’t really wanted to, I probably would’ve anyway,” he said, putting on a weak smile. “I mean, you’re really the only family I have.”

After a few more moments of silence, Ginger spoke up. “You’re wrong.”

“Wait, what do you mean, I’m wrong?” Spike asked.

Ginger stepped over to Spike, placed her snout against his forehead and inhaled deeply. “You’re not powerless. You may not have developed anything obvious yet, but I can tell. There’s a small spark in there, inside your soul, just waiting to be awakened. I don’t know when it’ll happen, but you can take pride in the knowledge that you have powers. And that you aren’t here by accident.”

“G-Ginger… Thanks,” Spike said. A small, but still strong and genuine smile replaced the weak one he had been wearing.

Ginger strode back to the other side of the room, placing her bag on the bed in the corner. “We’d better get our things in place quickly, so we can grab something to eat. I don’t know about all of you, but I haven’t eaten anything substantial since yesterday,” She said cheerfully, giving Spike a discrete wink.

“Ah, yes. Food does sound wonderful right now,” Rarity said, hurriedly going back to unpacking.

Twilight turned to Spike. “You’re okay, then?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Spike replied. “I’m good now. Thanks. Honestly, that was exactly what I wanted and needed to hear.”

“Good.” She patted his shoulder with a hoof. “One of these days, I’ll get the older sister role right. Come on, let’s get unpacked and get to the cafeteria.”

“Right,” Spike said, setting to work. He looked down at his clawed hand with a smile, and said to himself, “I wonder what it’ll be.”

Author's Note

GOD DAMN THIS TOOK A LONG TIME.
Sorry about the wait, kiddos, I just get writer's block something FIERCE sometimes. Hopefully I'm back in the swing of things.
Hey! We finally get character backstory, if only for a character that was just introduced. I hope I pulled this fate-twisted Rarity off okay. Diamond Dogs! She lives with Diamond Dogs! She's QUEEN of the Diamond Dogs! Well, damn.

Well, only one major character left to introduce before we get into the meaty plot of the story. Did I save the best for last?
Stay tuned to find out!
Professor Plaz OUT!

First Class: A Twist of Fate

First Class: A Twist of Fate

“How? How can this be possible?” Celestia demanded of the old tome. “Prophecies do not simply change themselves on a whim!” She telekinetically threw the book against the wall of her study in a fit of anger. It took a moment for her to calm herself. She stepped over to the book, gingerly cradling it in her magic. The prophecy was supposed to read, “On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape,” and so on. Celestia had read those very words on this page, three years ago. But those words of familiar prophecy had vanished, replaced by something more foreboding. “As the Child Of Destiny awakens her true powers, a celebration of light in the darkness in the place where strength is enkindled shall herald the return of the Queen of the Night.” Was this some kind of dream? No, that was impossible. She would have noticed by now if it was a dream.

“What kind of magic could possibly have the power to twist fate in such a way?” Celestia breathed to herself. A knock on the door caught her attention, and she wheeled and opened it. “Yes?”

The brown unicorn bowed respectfully before opening a scroll and reading from it. “Princess, it’s something urgent from the Seers. They request your immediate presence,” he said, before galloping away.

The Seers? But they never called upon anyone, not even the Princess herself. This day is just getting more and more curious. This has to be related to the changing of the prophecy, Celestia thought as she trotted through the maze of halls down to the Seers’ Sanctum. There’s no other explanation as to why the Seers would call upon me. Deep within Canterlot Castle, the great wrought-iron doors of the Sanctum loomed before Celestia. “I’m here. You said you wanted to see me?” The doors creaked and swung open just enough for Celestia to enter the darkened hall of the Sanctum.

“Princess Celestia, thank you for coming,” a hushed voice in the darkness said. A blindfolded, pale gray pegasus stepped out of the shadows. “I am Seer Veilsight. There is much to be discussed. Come inside, but light not your horn.” Veilsight turned and stepped back into the dark. Celestia hesitated. “You need not worry, Your Highness, so long as you follow my voice and the sound of my hooves, you will not falter,” Veilsight insisted. “Now, please, time is of the essence.”

As Celestia followed as best she could in total darkness. It was not something she was used to. In the near thousand years since the incident that pressed on her mind, she had only stepped hoof in the Sanctum seven times, and then only to request the aid of a Seer to oversee diplomatic meetings. Only once in the history of her reign did she venture this far in, during the building of the palace when light was permitted inside.

She heard occasional gasps and shuffling and whispering off to the sides of the path Veilsight was leading her on. “Pay the acolytes no mind, Princess,” the pegasus told her. “They are unaccustomed to one with such vibrant spirit energy in their midst.” Before too much longer, Celestia heard Veilsight stop. “We are here. The Council will see you.” A flutter of wings signaled Veilsight’s departure.

Celestia looked around, still trying to acclimate to the dark. For a few moments there was a deafening silence. She decided to break the stillness of the moment and spoke up. “You summoned my here. Why? Does this have to do with the changing of the prophecy?”

A candle lit itself off to Celestia’s right, illuminating an ebony-coated unicorn stallion, blindfolded like Veilsight. “That is correct, Princess. Something rather unprecedented happened. We know you, too, are attuned to these kinds of events. Tell us, what do you know about this prophecy?”

Celestia turned to face the speaker. “It was one of the prophecies of Star Swirl the Bearded. He wrote it long ago, even before the events in question came to pass, and the prophecy was inserted into the story of Nightmare Moon. I remember it clearly. But this morning, I felt something, some kind of magic I have never before felt. Somehow, I knew something was wrong, that something had changed. And somehow, I knew exactly where to look. What could have done something so inconceivable as changing a prophecy?” Celestia asked.

Yet more candles lit up, revealing a ring of ponies encircling Celestia, all blindfolded. “There is only one thing with enough power to do such a thing,” said a green-coated earth pony filly. “The Elements of Harmony.”

Celestia wheeled around to this new speaker. “The Elements? But they have not been used in almost a thousand years! How could this be?”

The filly smiled slyly. “Despite your use of them in the past, even you do not know all the secrets and powers contained within those sacred objects. I have seen this: The Elements of Harmony will be used by the Child of Destiny at the Place where Strength is Enkindled. What happened today was not because of anything that happened today. Time is a malleable barrier. Today’s mutating prophecy is a result of a future use of the Elements.” The filly was silent for a moment, waiting for Celestia’s thoughts, but none came. Whatever the white alicorn was considering, she was doing so silently. “You must have questions for us, Princess. Please, ask away. It’s not every day you get a chance to speak with the Seers of Canterlot Sanctum.” The filly grinned mischievously.

“Of course…” Celestia hesitated. There were so many questions flooding to the forefront of her mind, battling for the right of being the first to be asked. “What is… What is the Place where Strength is Enkindled? It was mentioned in the new prophecy as well.”

A gray unicorn mare stepped forward from the circle. “Excuse me, Zen Star, but I believe I would be the best suited to answer this question. Princess, my name is Verita Bility. I am a professor at a very special school called Demongate Academy. My associates and I of the Demongate Foundation search for young individuals, pony or otherwise, to study at this school. Of course, not everypony can be admitted. Only those with supernatural abilities, like us Seers, can gain entry.”

“You mean to tell me that there is a group among my citizens that constructed a school within Equestria without my knowledge?”

“Frankly, Princess, we didn’t think it was important for you to know about. If it had at any time in the 200 years since its founding become a major threat to the security of Equestria, we would have told you. However, all problems stemming from the Academy have been swiftly dealt with by the Foundation. Also, we did not build the school within the borders of Equestria. As we accept students of all races, we had a need to be located in unclaimed and undisputed territory.” Verita felt the gazes of the other Seers on her. She looked around at them, her stare piercing the blindfold. “If we are to tell her of the Academy, she has a right to know as much about it as possible. It may be important that she knows where the Academy is located.” She turned back to the Princess. “Demongate Academy is located on a floating island at the edge of the world. The only ways to reach it are by airship or teleportation.”

Celestia eyed the Seer suspiciously. “Your school and your group have such an ominous name. Why ‘Demongate?’ There are other things you could call it that would be less suspicious.”

“Well, Demongate Academy was built on the site of one of the few remaining Gates to the Demon World.” Verita’s words caused Celestia’s eyes to widen, but Verita continued unabated. “By building a facility to train individuals with extraordinary abilities on top of the Gate, the Foundation believes that the world is better protected from a demonic incursion. We maintain several failsafe protocols in the event of such an event. Firstly, the Gate itself is guarded by Cerberus, with specific instructions not to let anything past him. Secondly, the entire gate area is surrounded by a maze navigable only by those who know it, or those who are extremely lucky, neither of which describe most demons. Thirdly, the entire area is warded against both unauthorized entry and demonic exit. Most things that try to get out are going to have a difficult time of just those three steps. When you factor into the equation that each and every student and faculty member is trained to combat these foul creatures, you can be assured that it is perfectly safe.”

“So, this Demongate Academy is ‘the Place where Strength is Enkindled?” Celestia asked. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Numerous other prophecies have made reference to a group called the Enkindlers of Strength, those who are not incredibly powerful in their own right, but are able to awaken and hone the power of others. At least a hooffull of these prophecies have come to pass, and the Enkindlers of Strength always reference the professors, such as me, of Demongate Academy. It makes sense, then, that Demongate Academy is the Place where Strength is Enkindled.”

“What about this celebration of light in the darkness? Could that be the Summer Sun Celebration? If that were the case, this new prophecy didn’t change the day of her return.” Celestia looked hopeful. “The last Celebration was just a week ago. We have nearly a full year to prepare for that day!”

Verita’s face turned grim. “No, Princess. It’s not the Summer Sun Celebration. It’s the other solstice. The light in the darkness, the celebration of the fire of friendship in a cold and hateful world: Hearth’s Warming Eve. That leaves half a year.” Her mouth turned to a reassuring smile. “Still enough time to make preparations, of course.”

“Half a year…” The princess fell silent. But there was still one piece missing from the whole truth of the matter. “I have just a few more questions, concerning—”

“The child of destiny?” The green filly spoke up again and smirked. “I knew you were going to ask about her. If you’re thinking that we have to prevent her from entering Demongate Academy, you’d be wrong. More is coming in these next years than Nightmare Moon, Princess. The child of destiny must take up the Elements, along with those who bring her to finding the Spark. It is absolutely imperative that her admittance be what sets off this chain of events.”

Celestia glared at the child, but suppressed her annoyance enough not to comment on the questioning of her unspoken judgment. “If that is what you have foreseen, young Seer, I shall trust in this knowledge. I do have one final question. Who is she?”
As the filly giggled, Celestia could have sworn she saw a mischievous gleam from behind the child’s blindfold. “But of course you would need to know this, Princess. I believe you are at least somewhat familiar with this particular little pony of yours. Her name is—”

===

Twilight Sparkle growled in frustration. “Useless… All of these books… are absolutely… USELESS!” Her telekinesis violently threw a number of books in every direction. “I just can’t figure out what’s wrong with me!”

Spike looked around the library, blessedly clear of other ponies at the moment. “Don’t you think you’re taking this whole thing too seriously? I mean, sure your magic doesn’t work, I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe you’re not supposed to be able to do magic,” he said. He immediately regretted his choice of words.

“If I’m not supposed to be able to do magic, how and why could I possibly be a student at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns!?” she snapped. “You wouldn’t even be here if I couldn’t do magic! It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Sorry, but I still think my point stands. Maybe you can’t do magic because you’re supposed to be able to do something else. I mean, history is full of ponies who can do things they should never be able to do, like earth ponies taking down tyrannical dragons singlehoofedly, pegasi breaking the sound barrier, and so on.”

“Spike, those aren’t real historical figures. Lord Thunderbolt was made up, and Scale Smasher had a veritable army behind him when he took on the dragon Vicegrip. And even if they did do what the stories say, they probably had unicorns at their backs, making them more powerful. Only unicorn magic can do things like that.” Twilight levitated another stack of books over to her table.

“Well, what about that? You have near perfect control of your levitation powers. Maybe you’re some kind of telekinetic, psychic power user!” Spike exclaimed, hopping up onto a stool. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Twilight sighed. “Psychic powers don’t exist, Spike. Levitation is an inborn ability available to all unicorns. If I couldn’t even do that, there’d be no way they’d let me within a thousand feet of this school.”

“C’mon, Twi, where’s your imagination? Hey, what about that rumor that Princess Celestia has a bunch of ponies that can see the future in some kind of secret council or something? That sounds like it could be true.”

The lavender unicorn glared at her scaled companion. “That’s complete and total nonsense. If it was true, why would the princess hide something like that? Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to getting absolutely nowhere on my magic studies,” she said with a groan.

“Aww, what’s the matter, Sparkly? Still hung up on the fact that you’re a total failure?” said a voice from behind Twilight. The lavender unicorn whirled and saw a crimson unicorn with a violet and white straight-cut mane standing in the doorway of the library, smirking.

“What do you want, Comet Blaze?” Twilight asked through gritted teeth, trying as hard as she possibly could to remain civil.

“Oh, you know, just checking to see what everypony’s favorite screw-up is up to.” Spike slammed a hand down on the table, attempting to rise to counter Comet Blaze’s words, but Twilight held up a hoof to stop him. “Oh, that’s adorable. The baby dragon wants to fight his mommy’s battles for her,” Comet said snidely. “But honestly I just wanted to see if you wanted to come to Silver Stream’s birthday party. Everypony who’s anypony is gonna be there. If you wanna stop being a loser, maybe you’ll show up.” Comet laughed haughtily as she left the library, ignoring the two pairs of angrily glaring eyes watching her departure.

Spike turned to look at Twilight, her face screwed up in concentration, and waited a few moments before breaking the tense silence. “What, you’re not seriously considering going, are you?” It seemed to break Twilight out of her reverie, and she looked at him, confused. “I mean, come on. It’s gotta be some kind of trick. You know Comet and her gang are just a bunch of bullies.”

“I don’t know, Spike. You were saying just a minute ago that I should take a break from studying. Seriously, what’s the point of reading magical theory for hours on end if I can’t even do the simplest of non-telekinetic spells? Maybe going to this party will do me some good.”

“Yeah, because you and parties end up so well,” Spike began, voice dripping with sarcasm, “like when they gave you a bottle of shampoo for your birthday.”

Twilight sighed. She knew Spike was right, and she shuddered a bit at the memory of the “mane-removal shampoo” incident. “Alright, Spike. Of course you’re right. You’re always right about this stuff,” she said, rubbing Spike’s head with her hoof. “I’ll just buy something for Silver Stream and mail it to her. She’s nice enough, so I don’t want to just blow her off completely. You can handle the Sending, right?”

“Of course,” Spike said with a grin and a ‘thumbs-up.’ “Now let’s get that gift and get you home and set you down with a good fiction book. I think you’re all researched out for this year.”

Twilight levitated Spike up onto her back, along with a choice few books, and turned to leave. “I guess I could take some time to read up on my mythology,” she said with a giggle as she left the empty library, save for one unnoticed watchful white alicorn and a blindfolded green earth pony filly.

===

Back in the Sanctum, Celestia turned to the filly with a look of confusion. “I’m still not convinced, Zen Star. You said this filly is the child of destiny, and I agree there is something powerful within her that was able to hatch a dragon egg, but she’s currently failing to perform even the simplest magic, aside from the inborn unicorn levitation power.”

Of course, the ever-present smirk adorned Zen Star’s face. Merciful Watchers Above, Celestia wanted to wipe that smirk away. “I can assure you, Princess, this Twilight Sparkle has the potential to become as powerful, if not more so, than Star Swirl the Bearded. Would it help you to see her powers begin to manifest?”

“Please, wait. Star Swirl the Bearded was an Archmage. This Sparkle girl has no magic. How can you even make this comparison?” Celestia asked, growing more confused the more this irritating earth pony filly spoke.

Zen Star laughed; it was a haughty, condescending laugh. “Oh, my dear Princess, I thought we explained this to you. There are more powers in this world at work than just magic. Angels. Demons. Psychics. The power of the soul. It has been this way since the foundation of the world, before you took your place of power, and for most of that time, it has remained secret. Of course Star Swirl never told you he was an ESPer. Had you found out, it would have been his fault that the most dangerous of mares was let in on the biggest secret the world has ever seen.”

“Zen Star, that is quite enough of that!” Verita shouted, and the filly obliged, still wearing that disgusting smirk. “My most humble apologies, Princess. My… colleague… is rather outspoken, and can be rather rude, especially when dealing with figures of authority who are not normally privy to the kind of information we deal with.” Verita’s apology subdued Celestia’s barely contained wrath, at least for the moment.

“Please understand that I’m not used to being spoken to like that by even the most powerful of unicorn archmages. I do not wish for there to be any kind of contention between myself and your organization of Seers, so please control your younger members,” Celestia said, still masking her rage at the filly. Zen Star, however, laughed her haughty laugh again. “What is wrong with you, child!? Do you have no respect even for your Princess?” Celestia roared, her eyes and mane alighting with a furious blaze.

Zen Star looked rather taken aback by Celestia’s outburst, but she quickly replaced her surprise with a soft smile. “So, it takes you a while, but when it comes down to it you can show that you truly do command respect,” she said softly. Her expression and voice then hardened in determination. “Very well, Princess: You command respect, so thus I shall give.” The filly threw off her blindfold and locked eyes with the Solar Princess. “Allow me to clarify my previous statements. Star Swirl found himself in a similar predicament to our dear child of destiny, unable to actually perform true magic, per se. He did, however, find in himself a very special gift: the gift of psychic powers. He was trained by a great master of the psionic arts, said to be a stallion from beyond the stars,” Zen Star said, a knowing twinkle in her eyes.

Not ten seconds ago, Celestia had been ready to immolate this filly in solar fire, but this change in her demeanor, this story she was telling, the things she knew had been wrong with her long-lost faithful student, everything was coming together, and the filly had Celestia’s rapt attention.

Zen Star continued. “He used his power to protect Equestria, nay, the entire world, from all manner of threats. And the entire time, he was able to masquerade as an archmage, all his knowledge of the magical arts feigned, but at the same time, he wielded a power to rival the greatest magic users to walk this land, with the exception of yourself and your…” She trailed off, but kept her eyes locked with Celestia’s.

“How do you know all this?” Celestia asked, absolutely shocked by the revelations placed before her.

Zen Star laughed again, this time more a giggle of a filly with a secret, one Celestia found no ill will against. “Oh, I don’t think we can get to that just yet, Princess. When it becomes relevant, however, I will no doubt share with you my secret.”

Celestia’s expression softened. “I don’t know how, or why, but somehow, I believe… I can trust you, Zen Star.”

Zen Star smiled, for the first time showing a softer joy. “I truly appreciate that, Princess. Now, shall we go and observe our little child of destiny? I know exactly when her powers will begin to manifest.” She extended a hoof to the Princess.

Celestia stepped forward, her trepidation about this strange filly evaporating with every inch she moved closer to Zen Star, despite any lingering confusion. “Very well, let us go,” she said with a smile of her own. She took Zen Star’s hoof in hers, and the pair of them vanished from the Sanctum.

===

The next afternoon, Twilight sat beneath a willow tree, enjoying both the beautiful summer day and the thick, dusty book of mythology she was currently leafing through. That’s strange, she thought. I don’t remember that particular prophecy. Oh, well, I’ll cross-reference it later with some other mythologies, maybe check with one of the professors ab—huh? Is somepony yelling at me? Sure enough, Twilight looked up to see a fuming Comet Blaze. “Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought. Did you want something?” Huh, that only seemed to make her angrier.

“Did I want something!? You ungrateful nag! I invited you to Silver Stream’s party yesterday and you never showed! I even told everypony I’d convinced you to come, and when you never did, it made me look like a fool!”

Twilight sighed and telekinetically closed the mythology text. “So what? I didn’t feel like going, so I didn’t go.”

“SO WHAT!? SO WHEN I GIVE A LOSER LIKE YOU AN INVITATION OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF MY HEART, YOU TAKE ME UP ON IT! THAT’S WHAT!!”

Twilight was suddenly aware that she was standing, her face mere inches from Comet’s. “You know what, Comet? I really don’t care.” She had no idea where this was coming from. Normally, she was perfectly civil. Why was her temper rising to match Comet’s? That was so out of place for her. “You know what I think? I think you’re mad that I didn’t show because you set up some kind of trap for me to fall into, to embarrass me in front of everypony, to prove how much of a ‘loser’ I am, but it backfired and ended up getting you instead. And everypony laughed and laughed, and you totally deserved it.”

Wow, this doesn’t sound like me at all. And that last part was a really low blow.

Comet backed off a foot or so, visibly shaken by Twilight’s words. “H-how dare you talk to me like that!? You’re nopony! You’re nothing! You can’t even do magic!” Her horn began to glow, magically heating up the air around her, readying a magical flame to lash out.

Fight fire with fire, a voice in the back of her mind told her. Get mad, she can’t talk to you like this.

“Seriously, Comet, shut up!”

Why am I so mad?
No, you need to get mad. This has to happen.
Huh? What has to happen?

“I don’t have to take this crap from the likes of a bully like you!”

You have to strike back. Summon up your fire, your anger, get her first.

“I’m not the loser! You can’t even remember who Star Swirl the Bearded is!”

Come on, get angrier! Show her you’re not one to trifle with!

“I’m nothing? I hatched a baby dragon, for Faust’s sake! What have you done lately?”

ENOUGH WORDS! BRING ON THE FIRE!!!

Twilight couldn’t see what happened next, except that she was engulfed in crimson flames and blacked out, but not before hearing Comet Blaze screaming something about her mane being on fire. Hey, wasn’t that really satisfying? The voice in her mind asked, just before the blackness took her.

It only had a hold of her for a few moments, but Twilight thought the blackness had held her for years. When she tried to open her eyes, all she could feel was pain, and snapped them back shut.

Come on, Twilight, you’re not going to let a little burn beat you down, are you?
No! I can’t stay down like this. I need to get back up; I can feel Comet’s rage bearing down on me.
Good! Feel it! Get UP!

Twilight wobbled to her feet, and felt the pain somehow subsiding.

What? Those felt like second- to third-degree burns, which should be really painful. Why can’t I feel the pain? Is there nerve damage?
No, you idiot, you can feel your body, feel your muscles move. Take a look at yourself.

She finally succeeded in opening her eyes, looking down at her legs. They were unscathed.

But that’s impossible!
No, not if you can tell damage and pain to go buck themselves.
How could I possibly do that?
You still don’t know, yet? Your power is awakening. Now, give her a taste of your true strength!!

“Hey Comet, take a mud bath!” Twilight shouted at her flaming-maned peer.

Comet Blaze looked around frantically, still screaming obscenities at Twilight, spotted a muddy puddle, and jumped in it, dousing her mane, but covering herself in filth. “WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON!?” she wailed.

This is your power, Twilight Sparkle, the voice told her. Your days at this school are over—
WHAT!?
But your lessons have just begun.

Twilight paled, taking in the sight of the sobbing red unicorn whose mane was burnt beyond recognition, covered in mud.

All she could do was run. She had no ears for the faint popping sound over on a nearby hill.

===

A sudden popping sound broke the stillness of Celestia’s study, depositing the Solar Princess and the no-longer-blindfolded green filly. Celestia coughed and gasped for breath. “Wh-what was that?” she managed to finally say.

“It’s called chronokinesis, or time manipulation. It’s a really tricky ability, but I’ve effectively mastered it,” Zen Star said, probably too nonchalantly. “That was tomorrow afternoon. That’s when Twilight Sparkle discovers her true power. She’s an ESPer, always has been. She just never had the right teacher. It isn’t your fault that she couldn’t learn from you. Your powers are incompatible. She never would have gotten to what you saw without just a little bit of a push.”

“What do you mean by a push?” Celestia asked, still out of breath, but recovering. “Did you influence that display somehow?”

Zen Star looked at the Princess quizzically, and then smiled slyly. “My dear Princess, I practically orchestrated that entire scene. It was quite a simple matter of sending her my own thoughts, and influencing her emotions so she’d be in the prime state to perform her natural abilities.”

“I… I thought you had foreseen her discovery of her powers. Yet you forced them? That seems like a rather self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“Yes, well, sometimes a self-fulfilling prophecy is the only way to get a point across. Besides, nopony really got hurt. Sure, the Comet filly’s mane will be a disaster and she’ll be the laughing stock of the school for a few days, but she was a bully and she deserved it.” She looked at the Princess’ disapproving gaze, and her giddy grin faded into a scowl. “I’m sorry, Princess. It may have been cruel, but when you’ve done this kind of thing as long as I have, sometimes you must realize that cruelty can be a necessary evil. It was probably even crueler to Twilight, to coerce her into doing that, making her believe she’s some kind of monster. Which is why you need to go to her, Princess.”

Celestia looked down at the green filly, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Tomorrow, at three o’clock in the afternoon, you need to go to Twilight Sparkle’s dormitory room and deliver to her this letter,” Zen Star said solemnly, producing a letter out of her cloak. The letter floated up to Celestia on its own, unaided by the Princess’ levitation. “You should talk to her, tell her—No, convince her—that she’s not a monster. That’s what she’s going to need to hear. And before you ask, yes, it’s the absolute truth.” Zen Star turned and headed for the door. “She’s no more a monster than you were.”

Author's Note

And here be the first chapter! What does everypony think?
There are many questions to be answered! Will Twilight be able to handle leaving her entire world behind for this floating island at the edge of the world? Who is Zen Star, really? Will Comet Blaze ever regrow her mane?
Yeah, yeah, I know nopony is going to care about Comet Blaze. She's supposed to be a bitch.
Anyway, I will post the Character Files somewhere, so if you wish to view them, I suppose you'll need to get a copy of the Paragon Database, over here: http://www.robertzprojects.com/tremorworks.php
Also, to understand pretty much anything in that program, you'll likely want to pick up the Paragon Universal RPG, which you can find info about at http://www.tremorworks.com/