Lyra Heartstrings stared into the eyes of her beloved as she watched Bon Bon fall onto the ground. She was hyperventilating as the cause of Bon Bon’s passing out – a pony wearing a brown cloak, their visage obscured by the shadow of their hood – neared towards the two frightened unicorns.

Vinyl Scratch stepped between the two, her legs shaking but her expression strong and stern as she confronted the assailant. “What’s your beef? We haven’t done anythin’ to you!”

The cloaked stranger didn’t stop. She only chuckled as she closed in on the two unicorns backed against a wall. She didn’t slow down even as Vinyl’s horn lit up and Lyra raised her forehooves into an offensive combat stance.

“If you must blame somepony, blame your precious Princess Celestia.”

A glow of green magic grabbed Vinyl Scratch by the waist and the DJ gasped as she felt all of the wind inside of her being forced out. Suddenly her limp body was lifted into the air and thrown precariously to the side, leaving the startled Lyra all on her own as a swirl of green magical energy surrounded her horn. Magic that wasn’t her own. The assailant grinned beneath their hood and gave just a little flick of her horn.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

Spitfire blew her whistle, making sure that the volume was loud enough to reach all ears and that the pitch was high enough to damage said ears. “That’s enough warming up for today! All cadets front and centre!”

Rainbow Dash huffed as she looked towards the flag just mere feet away from her. Had she been allowed just a little more time, she would have beat her previous record. “Next time,” she cautioned the flag, which responded merely by waving in the wind created as Rainbow Dash kicked off and flew towards her captain.

Her fellow cadets also assembled alongside her. It wasn’t a big class; only seven pegasi were currently on the fulltime course. As it turned out, all of them had a loved one back home waiting for them, and all were trying their best to keep the long-distance relationship alive.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she thought of Trixie, and what the showmare was doing at that time. According to her latest letter, Trixie should have been on her way to Manehatten at that time. Apparently Scootaloo was also going with her class on a school trip.

Thinking about her marefriend and her little sister having fun without her made Rainbow Dash feel a little lonely. The sinking feeling in her stomach was going to have to wait, though, as a sharp, ear-piercing screech was determined to keep such blissful thoughts out of her mind during training.

“Cadet! Were you listening to a word I just said?!” Spitfire asked, an angry expression on her face as she showed no restraint in invading Rainbow’s personal space.

Rainbow Dash stiffened immediately. “Apologies, Sir! My head was in the clouds again, Sir!”

Spitfire turned to the grey pegasus standing beside Rainbow Dash. “Cadet! Repeat my previous orders to Miss Dash!”

The pegasus saluted and said, “We are to run the next obstacle course blindfolded and using only the sound of the wind as our guide, Sir!”

“Correct!” Spitfire shouted as the pegasus grinned happily and wagged her tail. “There will be times where the weather conditions we face will make seeing extremely difficult, if not impossible! Even our goggles would do little good in such circumstances, and it is at those times that we must rely on our ears!”

“Sir!” a stallion further down the line called out as he raised a forehoof.

“What is it, Cadet?”

“If I may ask, Sir, why are Lieutenant Soarin and Lieutenant Fleetfoot standing to the sides with slingshots, gongs and buckets of water?”

“Because I don’t believe in starting slow!” Spitfire responded. “In extreme conditions there will be many things distracting you! The slingshots represent hail, the gongs represent loud noises, and the buckets of water will chill you to your bones! Even through all of this, a true Wonderbolt should be able to navigate their way through the harsh trials and reach their goal!”

“If I may ask another question, Sir, why can I not see any licensed medical personal, too?”

“Motivation!” Spitfire answered simply. “If you fail, it will hurt. So don’t fail!”

“Sir, yes, Sir!” everypony responded in unison as they stiffened up and saluted their captain.

Rainbow Dash looked up towards the obstacle course she was about to fly through and gulped. It didn’t look like much, but blindfolded and in extreme conditions? ‘Hey, this reminds me of when Twilight had to wear a blindfold for her training… Only hers was a lot less dangerous…’

“I’m kinda nervous,” the pegasus beside Rainbow Dash said, reaching a hoof behind her blonde mane and giggling as she rubbed the back of her head. “I have a daughter back home. I hope I don’t die.”

Rainbow Dash smiled. At least she wasn’t alone in how nervous she was feeling. “I still can’t believe you of all ponies also took this course. I had no idea you wanted to be a Wonderbolt, Derpy.”

The pegasus smiled and said, “Well the Royal Guard isn’t recruiting any couriers right now, and I’ve got a sturdy body, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve always wanted to visit the changeling and dragon lands and all that.”

“You two! Did I say that you could start talking amongst yourselves?!” Spitfire shouted, startling the two chatting pegasi. “Since you’re so eager, you can both go first!”

“Uh… together?” Rainbow Dash asked, receiving a nod in response. “But that’s crazy! If we’re both blindfolded we’ll just bump into each other!”

“Glad you get it. Now get moving before I have you both cleaning Soarin’s bathroom!”

Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves both jumped in fright and raced past Spitfire, grabbing their blindfolds along the way. Soarin simply sighed as he and Fleetfoot moved up towards the obstacle course to distract them. “Just because of that one night I had bad hay fries…”

Rainbow Dash was already wrapped in a towel, shivering as her water droplets dripped from her fur onto the cloud surface beneath her and wincing a bandages were applied over her bruised and cut areas by her captain, who apparently had no clue what the term ‘gentle’ meant.

“No kiddin’, I really thought I was gonna die…” Rainbow looked to her left to see the image of the angelic Trixie playing a harp slowly vanishing from her sight, telling Rainbow Dash that she got lucky that time.”

As Derpy Hooves finally joined her, the rest of the group was already shivering and clacking their teeth together as the dreaded gauntlet would soon be thrown their way.

“Well that wasn’t so bad,” Derpy said as Spitfire wrapped a towel around her and began to apply many bandages to the injured mare.

“Not that bad?! You’re more banged up than I am!”

Derpy examined herself and shrugged. “I think I don’t feel pain like most ponies do…”

Rainbow Dash sighed, before turning her eyes over to her comrades and a dark grin spread across her face. “Oh well. At least now it’s over, and we can watch others suffering instead.”

“I don’t wanna die!” one stallion cried as he sought refuge behind him friend.

“Quiet down, all of you!” Spitfire commanded, earning total silence in response. “Alright, next one up is-”

“Excuse me!” Spitfire turned around to find an unfamiliar mare standing behind her. She was short, and looked young, about the age of a teenager. She was dressed in the training attire of the Royal Guard – a green helmet and a pair of green shoulder pads – and she had a satchel to her side with the symbol Canterlot’s postal service. “I have, like, a letter for Captain Spitfire?”

“That would be me, but as you can see I am busy right now. Furthermore, it is against regulations for any unauthorised ponies to enter this training ground! Who let you in?”

“Oh, well, the letter is marked ‘urgent’ and stuff, so the guard let me in so I could give it to you…” The mare reached into her satchel and pulled out a red envelope. “Here it is. I think you might have won the lottery or something ‘cause, like, they said they want you to read it right away.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow and lifted her sunglasses before tearing the envelope open, wondering what the contents could be. As she scanned the letter over she nodded silently to herself. “… I see. You are dismissed.”

“Oh, that can’t be right. I mean, I haven’t married yet, so I’m pretty sure I’m still a ‘Miss’. Unless you count that one time in LAs Pegasus with the guy in the tall hat, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t a real minister.”

“It means you can go,” Spitfire said with an aggressive hoof stomp. “Now.”

The mare simple rolled her eyes and turned around. “No need to be rude. And you’re like, welcome for the letter.”

As the mare took off, Spitfire turned back to her cadets and sighed. “Okay, training’s cancelled.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?!”

“Soarin, Fleetfoot and I have been called to duty! That means you all have the next three days off to use as you see fit!” Spitfire hesitated for a moment before adding, “If you’d like to visit your homes I will allow you to leave these grounds, but be back no later than midnight this Thursday! Dismissed!”

A gasp escaped Rainbow’s lips. “We can go home?” Spitfire nodded before flying off to meet up with her comrades. “… I can see everypony again.”

“I can see my daughter!” Derpy cried in joy as she tackled Rainbow Dash in an aggressive hug. “Dinkyyyyy! Mama’s comin’ hoooooome!”

Rainbow Dash watched Derpy fly away and smiled. “Aw yeah! I can surprise everypony by comin’ home early and then me and Trix can-” Rainbow Dash deflated as she recalled Trixie’s plans for the week. “… Well, Manehatten’s not too far. I guess I’ll just have to divvy up my time some.”

Picking herself up, Rainbow Dash flew as quickly as she could towards her dormitory to change out of her wet training suit and pack up some essential supplies… and to let out her girly squee somewhere a little more private.

‘Wonderful’… No, ‘spectacular’! Trixie wrote the word down into her letter in regards to her latest show as she lay down onto her stomach, kicking her legs behind her. Trixie put tapped the quill against her chin, wondering if three pages was too much… or perhaps too little.

“Hey!” Trixie turned to her trailer’s door to find the obnoxious orange filly she thought she had evaded already running towards her. “Is that your letter to Rainbow Dash?”

Trixie signed the bottom of the letter, kissed the empty space beneath and folded it away into an envelope. “No.”

Scootaloo gagged and then shook her head. “Hey, lemme write somethin’ to her!”

“Sorry. That was Trixie’s last piece of paper.” Scootaloo opened the drawer behind her, revealing a large stack of papers that exploded as soon as they were given the room that they were denied inside the cramped drawer. “… It’s rude to go through other ponies’ things.”

“C’mon! I wanna tell Dash how much my grades have gone up!”

“They haven’t,” Trixie said as she held a hoof out to keep Scootaloo at bay.

“They have! I got a whole two marks more last English test!”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Oh, well stop the presses then.”

“C’mooooooon!” Scootaloo pleaded. “I’ll tell her you’ve been neglecting me when she comes back!”

With a reluctant sigh, Trixie picked up one blank piece of paper and held a quill to it. “Fine. ‘Scootaloo’s grades have gone up by two marks’. Happy?”

“And tell her I saw a cloud that looked like her!”

“… ‘Cloud that resembled you’.”

“And I still think she’s really really awesome!” Trixie wrote some more onto her paper. “And-”

“That is plenty!” Trixie cut off as she placed the paper into the envelope. “Trixie shall send this off later today. Now you should go and rejoin the rest of your class.”

“Hey, how’s she been doin’ lately?”

“I’m sorry. Is today ‘Ignore Trixie Day’?”

“You’ve got her letters, right? Is she kickin’ butt up there?”

“Well of course she is,” Trixie answered matter-of-factly. “Apparently she’s at the top of the class, which isn’t at all all that surprising.”

Scootaloo nodded in agreement. “D’you think she’s found somepony better than you?”

Trixie’s eye twitched. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, like, a pegasus who can fly as fast as her and is more pretty and-”

“Scootaloo,” Trixie interrupted in a sharp tone. “Could you… go to the local convenient store and buy Trixie some horn grease?”

“… Horn grease?” Scootaloo asked in a confused tone.

“That’s right. Unicorns need to grease their horns regularly, you know? It’s verrrrry important.” Trixie gave Scootaloo a small pouch of bits and ushered her out of the trailer. “Store’s just around the corner. Make sure you get the premium brand, okay? And buy yourself something too, ‘kay thanks.”

Trixie re-entered her trailer, leaving the confused little filly outside with the small bag of bits. With a shrug, Scootaloo headed down the street to find the local store.

Back inside her trailer, Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. “That should keep her busy for a bit. Stupid kid. Dashie’s not so foolish as to leave this behind,” Trixie declared as she approached her mirror and admired her figure in her reflection. “No matter how hot the pegasus may be-”

Trixie recalled something that made her fur stand on end. Spitfire was amongst the pegasi that Rainbow Dash would be spending a year with. After staring silently into her reflection for a few moments, Trixie looked down towards her stomach and gave it a light poke. “… Maybe a few visits to the gym couldn’t hurt…”

After writing up a quick note for Scootaloo and grabbing her bits, Trixie left her trailer and prepared to set out towards the gym. As she stepped outside, though, she found somepony approaching her.

“Excuse me,” the mysterious, cloaked pony called out to Trixie. “Would you happen to be Trixie Lulamoon?”

A pleasant summer’s day in Ponyville, with temperatures reaching thirty degrees Celestius – that’s three hundred and three degrees Calfin – and water in high demand to fight off dehydration brought on by the scorching heat wave hitting the town. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Twilight and Spike to take a break and enjoy some refreshing, delicious ice-cream together.

And where in Ponyville can one find more refreshing, more delicious ice-cream than Sugarcube Corner? It seemed that Twilight’s idea was not original though, given how crowded the store was by the time the two had arrived. Tables were set up outside and the line of ponies had reached to outside of the store.

“Twilight!” Twilight’s ears picked up the sound of Applejack’s southern accent and she scanned the area for her friend. “Over here!”

She found Applejack and Rarity sitting together at one of the tables outside, enjoying a fine-looking strawberry milkshake together. Rarity waved to Twilight and Spike. “My, you two look like you’ll melt if you stay out in that heat any longer! Why don’t you come and join us in the shade?”

Twilight smiled at her friend’s kind gesture. “Thanks, but we still need to place our orders. Just because we’re friends of the Cakes’, we don’t want any special treatment from them. Right, Spike? … Spike?”

“Can you make sure they put extra rubies in my shake?” Spike asked from his seat opposite Applejack and Rarity, sighing in relief as he lay back in the coolness of the shade protecting his scales from the blazing sun. “And don’t get our orders mixed up! That’ll be real bad for your teeth.”

Twilight frowned but didn’t raise an objection. With a simple sigh she stayed in line and dedicated Spike’s order to her memory. After a good fifteen minutes, Twilight was finally at the front of the queue. She had given Cup Cake her order and paid the price, and in return received a flag with the number eleven on it.

She joined Applejack, Rarity and Spike at their table just as the three were laughing over something. “Hey guys. What’s the joke?” she asked as she sat down at the table and planted her flag down.

“Oh, uh, nothing, Twilight!” Spike said awfully quickly, smiling innocently at the now-suspicious mare.

“Spike was jus’ tellin’ us a few stories ‘bout yer trainin’ with Trixie,” Applejack said. Spike placed a finger to his lip and silently begged her to stay quiet.

“Oh was he now?” Twilight asked, looking down at Spike with those eyes that to him meant extra chores when they returned to the library.

“Like the time y’all thought you were runnin’ in a straight line an’ yer head wound up in a tree.”

“SSH!”

“Or the time ya walked around Ponyville wearin’ a bunny suit an’ didn’t even notice ‘til somepony said somethin three hours later.”

“Pleeeeease!” Spike begged, feeling the chores piling on by the second.

“Perhaps you should stop picking on the poor dear now, Applejack,” Rarity suggested, reaching over to pet Spike’s head, calming the dragon down somewhat.

“Ah can’t help it if ah’m too honest fer mah own good,” Applejack replied with a playful grin.

“Honestly. I swear you’re trying to fill in for Rainbow Dash sometimes.”

“Speaking of which,” Twilight began, “Trixie got a letter from Rainbow Dash before she left last night. It sounds like her training’s going well up there.” Twilight sighed. “Which is more than I can say for me.”

“Aw, you’ll get the hang of it, Twilight,” Applejack said. “Ye’re one of the smartest ponies ah know.”

“But illusions rely on ignoring what’s real and thinking outside of the norm. I’m not good at anything like that; I like thinking realistically! I mean, just look at the time I tried to understand Pinkie Pie.”

“You called?” Pinkie Pie asked as her upside-down face greeted Twilight.

Twilight yelped and almost fell backwards, but thankfully the pink mare behind her was acting as a backrest. “P-Pinkie Pie!”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out!” Pinkie Pie giggled as she removed Twilight’s flag and replaced it with two tubs of ice-cream, each with red additives – strawberries for Twilight, rubies for Spike – sprinkled on top. “Orrrrrder up!”

“Ooh, that looks good,” Twilight said as she licked her lips and levitated a spoon to scoop up some of the ice-cream in front of her, draw it closer towards her mouth, and-

Get interrupted by Spike belching flames into her face, revealing a scroll that dropped onto her spoon, knocking it to the floor, and then landed inside of her ice-cream.

Spike giggled sheepishly as he wiped the bit of ice-cream of Twilight’s cheek away with a claw. “Uh… pardon.” Spike then turned to his own ice-cream and dug in.

With a sigh, Twilight opened the scroll with her magic and read the contents quickly. “Huh?”

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“It says that the princess wants me to meet her at the library right away, and that it’s urgent.”

“Urgent?” Applejack asked in a worried tone. “What d’ya think it could be? Discord rebelling?”

“Chrysalis making a counterattack?” Rarity suggested.

“Somepony escaped from Tartarus while Cerberus was away from his post for just a teeny-tiny bit and is now draining ponies’ magics and the only way to stop him is to find some new alternate Elements of Harmony because we gave them up?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on, Pinkie. Give the princess some credit. I’m sure she’d realise if somepony broke out of Tartarus before he could do any damage. Anyway, we’d better go.”

“Right behind you,” Spike said with his mouth full and his spoon still in his ice-cream.

Twilight’s magic grabbed the young dragon’s ear and pulled him out of his seat. “We have to go now. The princess said right away!” Twilight turned her attention to her friends. “Girls, sorry to ask, but could you-”

“Of course we’ll come, Twilight,” Rarity said.

“If it’s somethin’ urgent, ah bet the princess’ll be happy ta see us all there,” Applejack added.

Pinkie Pie removed her roller-skates and apron and tossed them to the side. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I’m going out to save the world with Twilight and the otherrrrrrrs!”

“Just be back by supper!” Cup Cake replied from inside the store. “And don’t let that Discord talk you into doing anything bad!”

“I woooooon’t!” Pinkie Pie happily skipped down the path leading away from Sugarcube Corner.

Twilight, Rarity and Applejack all exchanged strange glances before simply shrugging and following after the pink mare. “Whatever it is, I just hope we can do this with Rainbow Dash. We’ve always been a team.”

“As long as she’s still with us in here, we still will be a team,” Applejack said as she bumped a hoof against her chest, bringing a sure smile to Twilight’s lips.

After finding Fluttershy and bringing her to the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight and her friends waited silently for Princess Celestia to arrives. Several minutes had passed, but the princess still had not arrived.

“Could’ve easily finished my ice-cream before she got here,” Spike huffed as he kicked a book sitting before him.

Twilight sighed and picked up the book with her magic, looking for its proper place on her shelves. “We have ice-cream in the kitchen,” she reminded the dragon.

“… Don’t have any rubies, though,” he muttered.

Suddenly, the door opened. Everypony turned to the blinding light as the silhouette of a pony walked in with wings extended. Twilight and her friends bowed in preparation for the royal visit that they were about to receive.

“Hey guys! Miss me?” Twilight gasped and slowly raised her head. Standing before her was not the regal, majestic figure knock as Princess Celestia, but instead was… “Uh, why are you all bowing?”

“RAINBOW DASH!” Pinkie Pie cried in sheer delight as she tackled the pony to the ground and squeezed so hard that her eyes began to bulge out of their sockets.

“PIN… KIE… TOO… TIGHT…”

Twilight, Rarity and Applejack combined were required to pry the pink pony away and Fluttershy offered a hoof to help Rainbow Dash to her hooves. “I don’t understand,” she said as Rainbow dusted herself off. “I thought you said that you couldn’t come home except for holidays.”

“Yeah, well, somethin’ came up for the Wonderbolts so they gave us some time off. Only three days though.” Rainbow Dash looked around at all of the ponies gathered in the library. “Why is everypony here, anyway? You havin’ some kinda party without me?!”

“‘Course not,” Applejack said. “… Right now.”

“I received a letter from Princess Celestia,” Twilight explained. “It said that she wanted to meet me here. She also said that it was urgent, so I thought I should bring everypony along.”

“That is wise thinking,” a voice said from the doorway. Princess Celestia entered the library with two pegasus guards flanking her sides. Everypony bowed once more and she motioned for them to rise. “I wanted to speak to your friends separately, though. Well, I suppose there is no harm in talking to you all at once.”

“Princess Celestia, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, concern showing on her face and in her voice. “Why did you want to see me suddenly?”

“Because there is a great threat currently in Equestria,” Celestia said. “… I expected more shocked reactions.”

“Eh. Kinda saw it comin’,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Is it Discord after all?” Applejack asked.

“Or Chrysalis?” Rarity ventured.

“Or a T-Rex?!” Pinkie Pie asked, smiling rather than looking worried.

Celestia shook her head. “I know not or who, or even what we are currently faced with, but I do know this: in the past week alone, seven ponies in Canterlot have been injured and taken to the hospital. Those ponies are: Fancypants, Upper Crust, Moondancer, Silver Wand, Glowbox, Ember Blaze and Prince Blueblood.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. “Those names… There’s something about them…” Twilight gasped as it all came to her.

“That’s right. All seven of those ponies were students at my school.”

“What?!” Twilight’s friends all shouted in unison.

“Then that means that Twilight’s in danger!” Applejack said.

“We must do something at once!” Rarity declared.

“But how?” Fluttershy asked. “We don’t have the Elements anymore, so-”

“That is correct,” Celestia said, silencing the group and gaining their attentions. “That is why I did not call you to Canterlot, Twilight. Rather, I came here to warn you, and to ask you not to act recklessly or impulsively in this matter.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against the sides of her head. “Y-You want me to just… do nothing?”

Celestia nodded. “Precisely. Without the Elements, you have no means of fighting this new threat. Also, as a princess, if you were to be defeated, too, then I fear that panic may spread and morale may lower. That is why I must ask you to stay here and be cautious.” Celestia looked behind her shoulder to the two guards standing behind her. “Flint and Coal here will be your personal bodyguards.”

“Sir!” Flint shouted with a salute.

“We will defend you with our lives, Princess!” Coal added.

“But Twilight’s not exactly some ordinary everyday alicorn!” Rainbow Dash protested. “She’s got more magic than anypony I know!”

“Having magic, and being able to fight with magic are two very different things,” Celestia said. “Not only has Twilight received no formal training, she herself is too soft and gentle a pony to take on an opponent of this strength.”

“How strong we talkin’ here?” Applejack asked.

Celestia hesitated for a moment before answering. “Your brother, Shining Armor… He fell yesterday, engaging this foe in combat.”

Gasps filled the library. “S-Shining…” Twilight shook her head quickly, tears welling in her eyes. “N-No! It can’t be true!”

“Relax,” Celestia said, placing a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder to calm the mare down. “His injury was light. He will be out of commission for a couple of days, but he is perfectly fine.”

“Your Majesty!” Princess Celestia turned around to see a third guard rush into the library, panting heavily as sweat ran down his face. He bowed quickly. “Princess, news from our team in Manehatten!”

“Manehatten?” Applejack asked. “Ah thought this was goin’ on in Canterlot.”

“The culprit moved to Manehatten three days ago,” Celestia said before turning back to her soldier. “Report.”

“Three more casualties! Miss Lyra Heartstrings, Miss Vinyl Scratch, and Miss Bon Bon!”

“… That third name does not sound familiar,” Celestia said as she put a hoof to her chin.

“She is an earth pony, ma’am. It seems that anypony trying to defend targeted individuals is also attacked and injured!”

Celestia narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth. “I have to put a stop to this… Tell the guards outside to prepare for our departure. I am going to Manehatten personally to put a stop to this.

A loud gasp caught everypony’s attention. All eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, who was shaking next to Twilight. “O-Oh my gosh…”

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

“Manehatten… Trixie is in Manehatten!”

“S-She’s right!” Rarity said. “Trixie is a graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, too!”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy shuffled her hooves on the floor nervously. “I-I hope she’s okay…”

Rainbow Dash remained silent for few moments, before pushing past Celestia and her guards and taking off outside. “Rainbow Dash, wait!” Twilight cried as she followed the pegasus outside, but a sonic rainboom at such close range pushed her backwards. After that, Rainbow Dash was long gone.

“Darn it, that hot-headed filly!” Applejack said in an annoyed tone as she left the library. “We can’t let her go alone! We gotta go after her!”

“Please, wait!” Celestia pleaded. “It is too dangerous! Without the Elements of Harmony, you can’t-”

“Sorry, Princess,” Applejack said, “But ah can’t jus’ sit back an’ do nothin’ while a friend’s in trouble, let alone two friends!”

“I cannot sit idly by and simple watch, either,” Rarity declared as she exited the library. “I shall go, too!”

“Woohoo! Group trip to Manehatten!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced outside. “Hmmm… I’ll have to cancel foalsitting for the Cakes tonight, but I’m sure they’ll understand!”

“Um… I’ll come, too,” Fluttershy said, putting on her bravest smile over her shivering form. “Rainbow Dash needs her friends there, so I’m coming, too.”

Twilight looked at all of her friends with her mouth agape, and then she smiled before turning to Princess Celestia with a determined look. “Princess, the truth is, we battled Nightmare Moon without any concrete proof that we’d even get the Elements. We can’t rely on artefacts like that to save us all the time, and this time, we don’t have a choice but to go and help our friend, Elements or no Elements!”

Celestia stared at her student in utter amazement. She saw the fire in her student’s eyes and she returned it with a gentle gaze. “… Flint, Coal, change of plans. You are to come with us to Manehatten and protect Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

Twilight and her friends all cheered as they ran together to Celestia’s royal chariot… which seemed only big enough for half of the group.

“… It seems we’ll need a second chariot,” Twilight giggled as a shade of red crossed her face.

“Spike, I would like you to take the train to Canterlot and stay by my sister’s side,” Celestia told the baby dragon. “If anything happens to me, I would need a way to contact Luna immediately.”

“Got it! You can count on me!” Spike said with a salute. Celestia gave the dragon a small pouch and he hurried off towards the train station as quickly as his little legs would allow him to.

“If you are after the Great and Powerful Trixie’s autograph, then you will have to wait until the show tonight,” Trixie said in a dismissive tone as she ran a brush through her mane, ignoring the pony in favour of the mirror before her.

“Student number one three five eight zero at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, graduated with a major in Illusionary Magic and a minor in Theatrical Arts.”

Trixie stopped her brushing and slowly turned to the cloaked pony behind her. “Oh, you’re one of those. Well, Trixie doesn’t mind stalkers, so long as they keep at least three hundred feet away from her at all times.” Trixie gasped as she saw a bright-green beam of light heading her way and quickly conjured up a spell to teleport atop her trailer.

“You are one of the special few whose special talent is magic itself. You might be more entertaining than the rest.”

Trixie grinned as her horn lit up beneath her hat. “Entertaining others is what Trixie does best.” Trixie stood her ground as she unleashed a shockwave of magical energy towards her assailant.

The cloaked pony simply stood still as the magic passed right through her… and then she teleported behind Trixie and delivered a kick into the showmare’s spine.

Trixie gasped as she felt the pain surging throughout her body and found herself landing on the ground in front of her trailer. “H-How did you…”

“Illusions will have no effect on me,” the pony said as she jumped over Trixie’s fallen body and landed just before the showmare’s eyes, “For I have obtained powers beyond what this world can offer me.”

Putting all of her effort into standing up, Trixie glared at her opponent and backed away slowly as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. ‘That spell should have disorientated her senses, making it impossible for her to move properly. Illusions don’t work on her? Who am I dealing with here?’

“If you wish for somepony to blame, blame your precious Princess Celestia.”

Feeling the back of her trailer make contact with her rump, Trixie realised that she was backed against a wall as flames began to surround the cloaked pony. She fired a blast of magic, only for it to be nullified by the wall of fire. “Wow. An opponent worthy of Trixie’s time and effort?”

“From where I’m standing, it seems as though I am vastly superior to you.”

Trixie felt a vein pop in her head. “Oh yeah?” Trixie asked through gritted teeth. Using her magic, she reached into her trailer for anything that might help her out. A distraction so that she could catch her opponent off guard, a shield to defend herself with, a weapon to break through the cloaked pony’s defences… “Hm?”

“Don’t resist and this will hurt a lot less.” The flames gathered into one point in front of the cloaked figure and became a spear, the tip aimed towards Trixie.

“GET AWAY…” The spear disappeared and the pony gasped in surprise as suddenly something straddled her from behind, a pair of orange hooves covering her eyes quickly afterwards. “… FROM MY SISTER-IN-LAW!”

Trixie’s eyes widened. “Scootaloo?! G-Get away from her, it’s dangerous! … Also, I’m not your sister-in-law!”

Ignoring Trixie’s command, Scootaloo continued to obscure the attacking pony’s vision whilst stubbornly refusing to leave. With a disgruntled grunt, the pony used her magic to grab Scootaloo’s wing and pull her into the air, causing the pegasus a great deal of discomfort.

“Let go of her!” Trixie ordered as she teleported to the pony’s side, delivering a swift kick to her side and forcing her to release the filly. With Scootaloo secured, Trixie teleported a short distance away. “Now I’ve got you!” Trixie declared with a grin as she raised a crystal flute towards her mouth. ‘Can’t believe I’m about to use this thing, but…’ After taking a deep breath and finding the right note, Trixie channelled her magic through the flute and blew into it.

The pony simply stood there for a few seconds, unmoving… before taking a few steps forward. “I told you, you world’s magic has no effect on me.” The pony teleported before Trixie and, before the showmare could react, fired a beam of magic directly into Trixie’s horn. “You are a strong one. I wonder if you’re the one who became Celestia’s new pet?” The pony closed her eyes and focussed. “Oh? This ‘Dashie’ seems to mean a lot to you… You’d go so far as to risk your life for her? What a fool. I’ll make sure you realise what a mistake it is to trust in others.”

“TRIXIE!” Scootaloo kicked the cloaked pony’s foreleg, achieving no results in doing so. She tried a couple more times, even resorting to biting when Trixie’s body fell limp and collapsed to the floor. “Stop it! Let her go!”

“Do not interfere, little one,” the cloaked pony said as she picked up Scootaloo and prepared to throw her aside.

“IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII…” The pony turned around, curious as to the noise quickly approaching her. She found something blue about to make contact with her face… and then it did. “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“WAH!” Scootaloo cried as she was flung into the air. Rather than hitting the hard ground below her though, she landed in the soft embrace of the pony she admired more than any other. “R-Rainbow Dash!”

“Yep! Here to save the day!” Rainbow said as she lowered Scootaloo down and ushered her to take cover. She found Trixie laying unconscious on the ground and shot the cloaked pony a glare. “I don’t know who you are, but you messed with the wrong pony’s marefriend!”

The glare was returned in equal ferocity. “How dare you… Kicking through my barrier as though it was nothing! You’d have to have achieved supersonic speed for a feat like that. And yet, I see no Wonderbolts uniform…”

“You’re looking at the future Wonderbolt captain, Rainbow Dash! I’ll make sure you remember it while I’m pummelling you into the ground!”

“Don’t be conceited! You got in one lucky hit, but do you honestly think that you stand a chance on your own?”

“Perhaps not. But then she’s not alone.”

Rainbow Dash looked to her side to find Princess Celestia approaching. Behind her, her friends were all rushing to the scene, too. “W-What? You guys… How’d you get here so fast?!”

“Chariots’re faster than ponies,” Applejack said matter-of-factly. “Duh.”

“You messed with the wrong friends!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she pointed to the cloaked pony. “Reveal yourself right now!”

The pony paid no heed to the pink pony’s demand. Her attention was focussed solely on the large, white alicorn staring sternly towards her. “So, you’ve finally come to deal with the situation yourself,” she said as she turned her body towards the princess. “It only took, what, ten casualties to draw you out? Princess Celestia, I wonder if you even remember me?”

Celestia’s eyes widened, as did Twilight’s. “I know that voice,” Twilight said in a shocked tone. “But that’s impossible.”

The cloaked pony reached up and pulled down her hood. “A new princess? It sure didn’t take long to find my replacement, huh?” With the hood down, everypony could see the face of the orange-coated unicorn with bright-green eyes and a flame-like red and yellow-striped mane.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Rarity cried in shock. “But she should be in that other world that Twilight told us about!”

“Other world?” Sunset Shimmer asked. “Ah, you must mean the afterlife. Unfortunately for you, I’ve come back to take my vengeance on the one who had betrayed me.”

“Did any of y’all get any of that?” Applejack asked.

“Sunset Shimmer, please stop this madness,” Celestia pleaded, taking a single step forward.

Sunset Shimmer took three steps backwards. “… Perhaps there are too many of you at this present time.” Sunset’s horn sparked and a wall of flames surrounded her. “I’ll be making a tactical withdrawal for now. You could follow me… but then somepony might get burned.”

Turning around and fleeing as quickly as she could, Sunset Shimmer unleashed her spell and redirected the flames both left and right. Celestia and Twilight both reacted quickly, teleporting to opposing sides and using their magic energies to stop the flames from spreading to any buildings.

By the time that all was clear, Sunset Shimmer was long gone. Rainbow Dash was about to take off after her, before she remember that there was something more important to take care of for the moment. Rushing to Trixie’s side, Rainbow Dash felt her marefriend’s head. There were no injuries, no signs of a fever… yet Trixie was fast asleep, and waking her proved extremely difficult. “What’s wrong with her?”

“It’s a spell,” Celestia said. “Sunset Shimmer must have shocked her system with a powerful spell. It will take an equally powerful spell to wake her. My guards will search the city for Sunset Shimmer. I need you six to escort Trixie to the nearest hospital.”

“Princess, I don’t understand,” Twilight said as she used her magic to lift Trixie into the air and then gently lower her onto Celestia’s back. “How is it possible for Sunset Shimmer to be here? The portal between our world and that other one shouldn’t open again for a very long time!”

“… That was indeed Sunset Shimmer that we encountered just now, and at the same time, it was not,” Celestia said, serving only to confuse her pupil even further. “Twilight, I know how sceptical you can be, but… I wonder if by any chance you believe in ghosts?”