CHAPTER TWELVE: THE BLACK STALLION

October 11

The 6:45 train from Ponyville rattled into Canterlot Station and stopped in front of the platform, belching smoke and steam in copious clouds. Mingling with the noise of all the disembarking ponies were the clanks and hisses of the rapidly cooling steam engine as it sat in the biting wintry air. Porters shouted orders back and forth. The crowd rattled suitcases and chattered and hailed taxis; their collective breath, and the locomotive's spirals of smoke, drifted upward in lazy puffs of such clarity that there was no doubt about the subzero temperatures.

The spotlessly clean station was lit by lights that were uniquely Canterlot. First manufactured and patented by Benjamin Flanklin over a hundred years ago, they used a chamber of mirrors that magnified each candle flame within and threw brilliance in all directions. It looked as if the station had its own constellation of miniature stars floating above it. This was rush-hour wintertime Canterlot at its finest. The ponies out at this hour, braving the cold, were warmly bundled but still managed to turn heavy coats and chunky rubber boots into haute couture. A bangle here, a few extra feathers there, and even Rarity's best designs were rivaled by a few of these outfits. Twilight and Rainbow Dash, in plain sweaters, looked very underdressed.

Besides the commuters, the station was also swarming with a mixed force of Canterlot police and other ponies, clad in archaic plate armor, that Rainbow didn't recognize.

"I don't remember this much security," said Rainbow Dash as they stepped out of the passenger car. "Look at all these police! There's even more than at the wedding. Do you think something's going on?"

Twilight let out a little gasp. "Princess Luna's elite guards are here too. See the black armor? They must be here to escort somepony important."

These were heavily armed and helmeted earth ponies and each one carried a short but deadly broad-bladed spear strapped to his back. No doubt these stallions knew how to use them well. Unlike Princess Celestia's personal forces, who showed their rank with medals or lavish breastplates, Luna's commanders simply wore more armor.

Even as she said it, Twilight thought the guards swarming the platform didn't look like they were assigned to escort duty. Only a ruler of a neighboring country would warrant this much heavy security (or Sapphire Shores on another one of her high-profile tours) and there certainly hadn't been any dignitaries on the train. The guards' grim faces and focused patterns meant they were actively searching for something. Or watching for something suspicious.

" 'Important' not meaning us," said Dash. Her wings slowly beat the air as she hovered at Twilight's side. "Did you let the Princess know we were coming?"

Rainbow Dash noticed the long silence before Twilight answered. She tried to cover the gap by fussing over her suitcase as the red-uniformed valet pony set it on the ground beside her; instead, she ended up tripping over the suitcase and landing on her face. "I wrote a letter to Princess Celestia two days ago. Maybe she's just busy with the Court and with whatever's going on up north of the Crystal Mountains. In her last letter, all she told me was that there were disturbances." Blushing furiously, she lifted her bag and tried to look dignified.

"Relax, Twilight. You're not the one on trial here." Unlike her unicorn friend, Rainbow Dash carried no luggage in the hope that the hearing, scheduled to happen in exactly twenty minutes, would be short and she could return home soon.

She wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Being a law-abiding Pegasus (Sonic Rainboom-related damage and noise violations notwithstanding), she had never been on the wrong side of Cloudsdale's police department. She would never admit to Twilight that she was internally shaking with fright. What happens if the court decides I'm guilty of whatever they're accusing me of? Will I be locked up somewhere and not be able to see my friends again?

Well, if I get locked up, at least I won't need any luggage. She laughed humorlessly at the thought.

It had dogged her on the long train ride to Canterlot. The engineers went at a slow pace because of adverse weather, and while Twilight babbled on about a new defensive spell she had been practicing, Rainbow brooded. Each pony dealt with stress and uncertainty in different ways. Rainbow internalized it while Twilight expelled it all in a verbal torrent. After three hours cooped up in a train car, listening to the unicorn go on and on about coherent light and sympathetic harmonics, she was ready to give up and fly home. The crippling butterflies in her stomach hadn't helped either. They had bought alfalfa and wheatgrass sandwiches from the snack car and the food sat like a lead weight in her gut.

So she hovered slowly next to Twilight, taking deep breaths of the chill alpine air and silently reminding herself of her own awesomeness. She was Rainbow Dash, after all. The most awesome of ponies. Surely she could survive tonight.

Canterlot Station was bustling with rush-hour traffic. Workers from Trottingham and Vanhoover were catching their evening train home; family members laughed and embraced and lugged heavy bags through the thick crowd. Once outside the station and up the steps to Saddle Street, they found a two-seater taxicarriage parked by the curb and Twilight addressed the stout stallion pulling it. "Can you take us to the Palace?"

"You an' everypony else headin' for the Palace tonight," he answered, in a gruff Stalliongrad accent. "Must be somethin' big. Hold on tight." He swept out into the crowded street and began the steady climb through Canterlot's wide cobblestone thoroughfares. The skyscrapers above threw long shadows.

The city was laid out in concentric rings which narrowed as one ascended the peak, and was both a way of maximizing the usable cityspace on the mountain and of reinforcing the figurative power of the nobility and royalty. This was not to say that those on the lower levels were not noble. It did, however, prove that ponies who lived closer to the Palace were more noble (at least in their minds) than others, and ridiculously rich. Here were the compounds of wealthy traders, doctors, aristocrats, and very old unicorn families, some of whose money came from a time in Equestrian history when wealth meant the exploitation of less fortunate ponies.

Celestia's reign had abolished slavery hundreds of years ago. There was a royal decree that to put a fellow pony in bondage and enrich oneself from their suffering meant a long prison sentence. Still, Canterlot's upper classes included the descendants of slaveholders who enjoyed their ancestors' ill-gotten money and squandered it on high fashion and entertainment and parties in the seedy Undercity districts (with armed personal security, of course).

It was dusk, although a very cold one, and the last golden light was dying as Princess Celestia lowered the sun. Soon it would be moonrise. The lamplighter ponies had already lit Canterlot's vast network of streetlamps. Luckily the skies tonight were clear, but Rainbow was glad of the thick clothing she wore because the windchill cut into her like a knife encased in dry ice. Twilight, on the other hand, knew this weather well. When in her parents' flat and later in her own apartment adjoining the library, she loved to be in her warm bedroom, a cup of tea between her hooves, watching the wind blow. Snow was rare in Canterlot because of the jetstream patterns trained on it year-round. Wind or no wind, Undercity or Upper Canterlot, winters were always cold.

Their taxi stallion bounced along and cursed thickly at ponies in the way. Neither mare talked during the ride. Ironically, each was wrapped up in their own worry and blind to the suffering of the other. Rainbow Dash watched towering tenements flash by and imagined the worst-case scenarios for the trial; Twilight nearly hyperventilated at the mere thought of being with her Princess again, and if her heart beat any faster its frantic thumps might become audible.

When they reached the palace gates, two Pegasi in jet-black Night Guard armor stopped them. One stood a full sixteen inches taller than Twilight and could probably toss the unicorn as easily as tossing a feather pillow. "State your name and purpose, citizen," he stated in a stern voice. "Be quick about it."

"Twilight Sparkle, of Ponyville. Holder of the Element of Magic and here escorting Rainbow Dash, also of Ponyville and an Element holder, to her trial appointment."

These two carried evil-looking axes instead of spears, and they swept them aside to let the carriage pass. "Thank you, citizen. Park to the left and somepony will see you in."

"I still know how to use my 'official voice.' Long years of running errands for the Princess," said Twilight. Rainbow Dash laughed, but her heart wasn't in it, and Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be over in a few minutes. Luna is just and she'll see you've done nothing wrong."

"Are you coming with me?"

"I need to find Princess Celestia and let her know about all this. When the trial's over, just wait for me in the foyer." Twilight pulled Rainbow into a quick hug. "You'll be fine."

"If you say so." Looking like somepony heading to her execution, Rainbow Dash hopped from the taxicab and walked up to the main entrance of the Palace, along a walkway lined with Night Guards standing at attention. She walked, not because walking allowed for more time before the inevitable, but because she didn't trust her wings. They trembled like dried leaves in a windstorm. The militaristic bearing of these ponies should have made her feel safe here. It didn't.

It was like the Young Fliers' Competition all over again. A crowd of ponies would be set up for the sole purpose of watching her fall.

Another guard pony took her name and escorted her through shining white marble halls now decorated in black and blue velvet hangings, and eventually into the throne room. At least the Palace was well heated and she felt sorry for the sentries stuck at their posts outside. Rainbow Dash had been in this towering space three times before: once for the Gala, once for the meeting of the Element holders concerning Discord, and once for the royal wedding. Never had it looked so austere and almost barbarian.

Thick black drapes covered every window, admitting no light except that provided by the tapers on the walls. A deep blue carpet led across the crowded space to the throne which sat filled with a dour indigo alicorn. For a moment, the Princess of the Night looked a little like her nightmarish avatar. She sported an unadorned silver breastplate and matching greaves with a trailing cloak of pure black. Completing her look was a slender metal band on her brow, and the result was pure godly intimidation. Luna shifted on the throne and held her regal head high and, in that instant, looked much more than a Princess. She looked like a primordial goddess of battle. She truly looked like an alicorn.

Twilight told me that both sisters are well over a thousand years old and were the ones that put an end to Discord. In that getup, it's not hard to believe. The only thing keeping her from looking like Nightmare Moon reborn was the lack of a helmet.

With each step the throne seemed to grow in proportion to the blue Pegasus. Now she stood in the front row of ponies and was scarcely ten feet away from the ruler of the night who, from the sounds of the proceedings, had only just arrived and was in a volatile mood. At least I'm not late. Twilight would never forgive me.

"Attention!" thundered Darkmane, his eyes narrowed under the helmet. "The Night Court will now come to order! All stand for Her Royal Highness, PRINCESS LUNA!"

As one, the ponies stood and inclined their heads respectfully.

"The royal bailiff, Fresh Parchment!" From the left door hobbled a very old unicorn with bent knees and a papery white mane. There was, however, nothing wrong with his voice, which carried clearly across the chamber. "Tonight's order of business will now be heard. All interested parties please step forward."

Apparently her case was not the first on tonight's list. She wormed through the crowd and found a space at the end of the row, close to the curtains where her bright mane and tail would not draw too much attention, and listened to the bailiff read off the opening procedures.

"Case number four hundred and eighty four: Straight Edge v. the city of Rio de Janeighro!"

A snow-white stallion with amber mane was escorted to the podium by two guards. His cutie mark was a pocket calculator and a pencil. He must have been known to at least some Canterlot residents, because a low chorus of boos followed him across the room and one or two actually shouted insults in his direction. Rainbow Dash craned her neck for a better look at him. She couldn't remember ever seeing a more dejected pony.

He's cute though, thought Dash, looking closer. The earth pony had a strong, honest bearing and was of proud build, with sharply defined features and deep blue eyes, but those eyes were pointed at the floor and the rest of him followed suit. Everything about him hung- his head, his mane, his hooves- they sagged like a tree collapsing under the weight of snowfall. As he took the podium, he slowly looked up at Luna with disinterest. He paid her no more attention than a used tissue and soon his head drooped down to the floor once more, although his eyes darted nervously to and fro as if he had something to hide.

"Straight Edge!" said Luna sharply.

He jerked as if horsewhipped, looking wildly up at her. "I won't tell you anything!"

"We shall see. Do you know why you are here tonight?"

But the stallion was focused on something, or somepony, that was not his Princess. He held a hoof out as if shaking an invisible one and began to converse animatedly with thin air. "It's an honor to meet you, sir, and I promise I won't let you down. It's awfully generous of you to promote me to junior accountant and I'm afraid I'm a little underqualified for the position-"

"You are here," said the Princess at alarming volume, "because the courts of Rio de Janeighro commuted your sentence in exchange for a fine of a hundred thousand bits and the assurance that you would accept their ruling. You spent some of that money on a legal team to further appeal the case."

"I assure you, I'll have that quarterly report on your desk by Friday morning. As to the financial statements, they're on hold until our Ponyville branch gets caught up on its reports, which could be as early as next week. Something about running out of ink, which is odd because there is a writing supply store right across the street! It sells sofas too, if I remember right, because Filthy Rich was the pony that financed their loan and he invited me to the dedication. A very fine pony. He's a close personal friend of mine, and-" He rambled on and on, as if he was in a business meeting and not on trial before a very irritated alicorn.

Luna took a deep breath. The supernatural roar of sound she then produced made Rainbow Dash's eardrums shake.

"SILENCE!"

It was her Royal Canterlot Voice, delivered in anger and loud enough to vibrate the curtains. The stallion shrieked and stared in terror at Luna. Many ponies in the crowd covered their ears.

"You are here because there is no higher legal authority than my sister and I. Regardless of what shady tactics your lawyers use, the fact remains that you killed a family of three for no further reason, apparently, besides them being in your way."

The crowd let out a united gasp. For the first time, he held Luna's gaze. "It wasn't my fault." His voice trailing off into a whisper, he gasped, "He told me that the only way to make it stop was to give him three lives…"

Luna, apparently, did not catch his muttered words. She read from a piece of paper handed to her by the bailiff. "You were found in a Rio alley, a bloody knife by your side, with which you cut your own hoof after using it to murder three defenseless ponies. The blood on the knife was later proven to be that of Jasmine Bouquet, of Trottingham, who was in the city visiting her mother and older sister. All three were found dead in their home from multiple stab wounds."

Rainbow Dash could feel a creeping uneasy sensation going through the assembled ponies around her. It was quite separate from the butterflies in her stomach. Was it because these were ordinary Canterlot citizens to which the words murder, blood or stab were horrid concepts better left in Equestria's violent distant past, and now were brought to light? Or was it Princess Luna's full power being brought to bear on a stallion clearly in need of mental help? Something was just off about him. He wrung his hooves and uttered non sequiturs, but his eyes were the windows to whatever suffering had him in its iron grip. Every small sound or motion brought out a cry of terror or fearful twitch.

"I told him no! But he wouldn't listen! The screaming! Oh Celestia, make it stop!" He rolled piteously on the floor.

"Celestia is not here. If you expect justice, it lies with me."

"Everywhere I look, right there waiting…" His eyes were wide and startlingly white, and a thin string of drool was at his lips. "A stallion. Black mane, black coat, and white face. Not a face. Just a kind of shadow where the face should be. His voice in my mind. He told me that the pain would stop if I just did what he said. What would you have done?"

"You're talking nonsense," put in the bailiff. "You stand accused on three counts of murder and one count of evading the law. What say you in your defense?"

"What would you have done?" the poor pony repeated, much louder than before. He was screaming now. "I couldn't sleep! Or eat! With that horrible face always looking at me-"

"Describe this stallion to me," said Luna.

"I told you, there isn't one! There's no face but the eyes are always watching and they never blink-"

"So your defense is that a faceless pony told you to murder three ponies, and then go about your life as if nothing was wrong?"

"My reputation is at stake here, sir," he raved, once again talking to the air. "Those ponies at Lockheed Maretin are cooking the books. They're just making up numbers and plugging them into the balance sheet. If I sign off on this, I'll be just as red-hooved as they are. I mean… airships are a new technology, and in high demand, but there's no way in Equestria that they could bring in ten million bits in pure revenue." He alternated between his two monologues, and to those standing in the back of the room it sounded like two ponies arguing: one, spouting meaningless financial jargon, and the other, distraught over being watched by… something.

By this time, the crowd was completely silent. Every eye was on him and the unease in the room became greater with each second.

Luna took a deep breath, remembering her sister's advice on dealing with frustrating ponies, and for the first time since addressing the accused her voice gained a softer quality. "Since you give no reason why you killed three innocent ponies, I begin to think that you are trying to escape your guilt or distraught over what actually did happen. Was there another at work, perhaps this 'black stallion', somepony that you are in fear of and whom blamed you for the crimes?"

"Don't you understand? There is no one else. Only me and him! That- thing! It's not a pony and it can't be argued with or fought or stopped or evaded!" Like a filly, he fell to the floor and sobbed. "I had to kill them!"

"You are only admitting your guilt, citizen. However, you are clearly not of sound mind and you will be placed in the dungeon, under guard, until the police can do a more thorough investigation or such time as it takes for you come to your senses." Luna looked almost remorseful as she uttered the sentence. "No harm will come to you and no stain placed on your character until this court knows the full truth."

"NO! YOU'RE NOT LOCKING ME UP!" he bellowed. The change in his character was frightening. Before, he had groveled on the podium in front of Luna, and now he flew to his feet and shook his hoof in her direction. Spittle flew from his foaming mouth. "If I'm locked up then he'll know exactly where to find me and then he'll kill me too!"

"I will personally see to it that a physician is provided to you in your cell. Perhaps under supervision?" she added, almost as an afterthought, and glanced at Darkmane. The gargantuan stallion nodded silently.

Four of Luna's guards moved, as one, toward the podium and began to steer the gibbering stallion toward the side door. Then the unthinkable happened. He uttered a scream of rage that might have been believable coming from a manticore, or perhaps a Hydra, or a dragon having his scales torn out one by one. Twisting and fighting like a cornered snake, he wrenched free of the guards and launched himself at the Princess.

The alicorn sitting in the throne simply swatted him away like an annoying fly. She flicked a spell in his direction, not even moving her head more than an inch, but even at her distance Rainbow Dash felt the roots of her mane stand up from its force.

Cartwheeling into the air like a puppet, the stallion fell with a sickening crunch on the stone. It was over in a second, before many in the crowd could even see it, and he lay motionless with his coat feebly smoking from the power of Luna's spell.

"Next case!" cried Fresh Parchment, and began to read out its name- the very one Rainbow had traveled to Canterlot to attend- even before two guards dragged the limp pony away, and underneath him was a smear of bright red blood from his shattered muzzle. He had taken the curse full-force in his face.

Somepony close to the stained carpeting screamed shrilly. Five feet away from the podium, Rainbow Dash's whole body trembled.

She had heard it said that in a fight between three equally skilled members of each pony race, a unicorn would always be superior. The magic of a unicorn could never be equaled even with Pegasi reflexes or earth pony strength. And then there was an alicorn, gifted with all three and with the magical talent of a hundred unicorns.

My dad used to say that it wasn't right for the Princesses to rule over the rest of us. Everypony thought he was crazy, but maybe he was on to something. What's keeping her from using all of that power in the wrong way?

Why, the Elements, of course.

The thought of being on the receiving end of that spell with only a magical necklace as protection- even with Twilight and her friends backing her up- made a shiver go down her spine. I'd much rather do a Rainboom, with both my wings tied, than be a part of that.

When her name was called, she joined four other Pegasi on the slightly raised platform set up a few paces from Luna's throne. She noticed the others' awed gasps at her presence and blushed; no doubt they had heard of her flying prowess. However, now was not the time to play the celebrity, even if the temptation was strong.

The younger Princess looked even more fearsome up close. Her flawless features, frown included, could have been carved from marble. There was nothing of the shy alicorn bobbing for apples on the last Nightmare Night in Ponyville. Had something happened to change her demeanor so radically? Rainbow dared to look directly up at her. How a pony could be both feminine and terrifying was beyond her mind, at any rate, yet what caught her eye was the state of Luna's attire. The form-fitting silver armor bore dents and battle scars; the cloak was tattered and had distinct burn marks all over it, as if she had lost a wrestling match with a dragon.

"Rainbow Dash," said Luna tonelessly, cutting through Rainbow's thoughts of why her Princess looked so rough. "The weather manager of Ponyville. It is good that you have come and more importantly, citizen, that you have come on time. A quality lacking in some Pegasi."

Was that a compliment? It's hard to tell when she sounds that upset, and after she used that stallion as target practice. "I… got the notice in the mail. Wouldn't miss it."

Luna leaned forward and regarded her with interest. "To be clear, you are not on trial. You were called to offer testimony and insight into recent events." Her magnificent head turned to Rainbowshine, who stood meekly to Rainbow's left. "Do you and your fellow ponies still hold by the accusations you leveled in the last session?

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Would you be so kind as to repeat your charge against the weather department of Vanhoover, that you brought before us last Monday?"

The Pegasus turned to face the crowd, clearing her throat nervously, and finally plucked up the courage. "Well… two Fridays ago, Cloudsdale got hit by a rogue thunder cloud and… you've probably seen the papers. It hit the hospital and an apartment building in the Cirrus District. A filly died and a few others are still in critical condition from the fire." She looked from Luna to Rainbow Dash to her companions. "That storm cloud wasn't one we made at the weather factory. Somepony let it get loose, from somewhere."

"And so you think Vanhoover did it?" asked Rainbow Dash flatly. "How do you know?"

"We don't! But where else could it have come from? It hit the north side of the city which means that it blew south, or somehow slipped through our airspace."

"So whose weather department is incompetent?" Stardancer jeered.

"As to the second possibility," said Luna, "Rainbow Dash has been summoned. Rainbow Dash, did your weather department allow any storm clouds to break loose from their formations within the last three weeks?"

"Not that I know of. But I know that things have been, well, weird. Especially around the Everfree Forest. We had a storm come out of nowhere last night, and with wind like I've never seen before."

The other four ponies, glaring at each other and muttering in low voices, missed the sudden change in Luna's posture. Rainbow Dash didn't. She noticed that her Princess stiffened when the words 'Everfree Forest' were out of her mouth. Luna sat straighter in her throne and now spoke directly to her, with a frown that was enough to melt metal. The alicorn almost sounded as if she was readying another curse to use on her.

"Citizen, you know as well as I do that storms do not come out of nowhere. Your jurisdiction ends at the Unicorn Range, correct?"

"Um, yeah. From Ponyville to the ocean, north of the river and up to the forest borders."

"Then it would seem that more is going on around the Everfree Forest than has been revealed." Let these clueless ponies make of that what they will, Luna thought. "My guard has inspected the Vanhoover records and it is my ruling that the ponies of that department are not at fault. Rainbow Dash, you are of good character, and if your stellar management record is to be believed, your department would not allow such lax standards either. My sister's student vouched for you, at any rate."

She let that sink in before she continued. "As to Cloudsdale: the royal treasury will match the outlay of Cloudsdale to repair and compensate for the storm's damage. It is also the court's ruling that all Pegasi handling thunderheads pay extra care from this night forward and avoid the vicinity of the forest until it is ruled safe. I repeat, stay out of the forest."

The bailiff's staff cracked against the floor like a horsewhip, and Rainbow Dash let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. So I can go now? she thought, as the other Pegasi vacated the stand. Before I get cursed?

Just then, the throne room's doors burst inward with a crash. Two Pegasi, one of Celestia's rank-and-file footsoldiers and the other one of her own elite guard, galloped across to their Princess. "What is the meaning of this untimely interruption?" she exclaimed. "Explain yourselves!"

"There's been an- incident- in the Undercity, your Majesty. Something terrible. It is probably best explained on the way." The Sun Guard removed his helmet and bowed respectfully, revealing a tan coat and messy bright blue mane. He was obviously ill at ease and upset by the message he carried. Luna could see it, as plain as written words, in his eyes.

"What is your name, soldier?"

"Flash Sentry, at your service, Princess."

"And why did you not follow the chain of command and bring this to the attention of your Commander, Shining Armor, instead of disrupting these proceedings?"

The other Pegasus, head lowered to the floor, spoke up in a deep voice. "Apologies, Excellency, for our abrupt intrusion. The situation is one of rage."

Luna leapt to her hooves as if electrocuted. "Are you certain of this?"

"Yes, Princess. There is no doubt."

'Rage' was, of course, a code word. One that Luna knew well. It was one of six such code words- rage, cruelty, selfishness, betrayal, deceit, and pride- used by her and her sister to refer to the Elements of Harmony in mixed company. It wasn't as if the Elements were the strictest of state secrets, although only a pony well versed in Equestrian history would know more than the name. Nevertheless, they were magical objects of unknown true power and, along with the identities of their owners, were kept secret from any would-be assailants. Her sister advocated for their secrecy and it was the only suggestion of Celestia's that she wholeheartedly supported. The six mares were, as she never got tired of telling Celestia, only mortal ponies. An Element of Harmony was no armor against an assassin's blade.

If the Elements fall, we all fall. Equestria falls.

Each word was the antithesis of the Element it represented. 'Rage' meant Happiness, the element held by- Pinkie Pie. The crazy one in the chicken costume, on Nightmare Night. Are my worst fears coming true? Is somepony attacking the Element holders?

"Very well. Tonight's Court is dismissed and will resume at the scheduled time tomorrow night. Flash Sentry and the rest of my guard, with me." She tossed her flowing mane and rose from her throne; as one, the soldiers formed a phalanx around her. As an afterthought she said, "Rainbow Dash. I feel you have had a trying night, but you also have a stake in Equestrian security concerns and a duty to defend it. If this news is true, it will concern you too."

She crossed the distance between them and now stood nearly face-to-face with the smaller pony. Luna's muzzle lowered to Rainbow Dash's ear and she spoke in hushed tones, so that only she could hear. "One of the Elements may be in danger. Fly now with me to the Undercity."

Not up to last chapter's standards, but hey, midterms are a bitch. #13 will be up soon.