You were hoping you’d wake with a newfound vigor. A drive to seek a way out of this mess, by any means. Surely you could find one if you gave it your all! Surely there’s a way to overcome this, just as you’ve overcome every other difficulty you’ve faced since being thrust into this strange world...

But as you sit up in bed and stare at the particles of dust wafting in the rays of sunlight lingering between the curtains, that motivation is nowhere to be found. It’s true that physically you feel a lot better; a natural night’s sleep has done wonders for you in addition to the healing you received. But mentally? You’re a goddamn wreck. The dream with Luna has drained away any lingering hope you had.

You figured that, if you could somehow find her, she’d stand with you. That maybe with her immense power, she could break the Geas and allow you a chance to flee. Even if the odds were a million-to-one, you still had a chance, and with it the sliver of hope you desperately needed...

But after last night... not only is she indifferent to your plight, she actually wants this marriage to go through. ‘For the good of Equestria’, or some such bullshit. She’d probably even actively hinder you should you try to make a break for it.

You’ve run the scenarios in your head over and over again since you woke up. You, a normal human with no magic and without Cel’s aid, against two true alicorns and the entire Equestrian military. There’s not a single possibility, even in your wildest imaginings, where you win here. You’re not the type to give up or fall into despair; you never were. But the pragmatist in you, that little voice that always told you when you could push the envelope to drive yourself further, and when caution was called for, is screaming THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE over and over again.

You laugh. In cases like this where logic and reason are no help, you’ve usually fallen back on Pinkie’s advice to follow your heart and do what you feel is right. The problem with that? Your heart’s far away now, held by the snow-white pony you can no longer touch.

So that’s it, huh? That’s the end of the story?

Yeah, you suppose it is. But moping around in your room all day is something you grew out of a long time ago. This is Canterlot; surely there’ll be some good bars open to mope around in later tonight. And prior to that, maybe a little sightseeing is in order. You wouldn’t want to waste your last day of freedom cooped up inside the castle.

You stumble out of bed and explore the room a bit. A tailored casual outfit has been laid out for you on the nearby dresser. Another work of Rarity, no doubt, but this one’s a lot different than the others you’ve gotten in the past. With no one there to veto her design decisions, the result is a gaudy mish-mash of frills, bold colors, and sewn-in gemstones. You stand in front of the room’s full-body mirror in the outfit and fight back a few dry heaves. Even Liberace would be spinning in his grave at the sight of this shit...

But it’s not like you can just go out and buy a less nausea-inducing outfit for yourself, so you might as well roll with it. Your hiking clothes were probably burned considering the state they were in by the end of your journey, but even still you dearly wish you had them right now.

You open the door to the hallway and immediately hear a crash as your snoozing pegasus guardspony loses the support of the door he was leaning his side against. He yelps with surprise, but quickly regains his composure, flopping over to his hooves and giving you a wobbly salute.

“M-My Prince! A good morning to you!”

“Hey, Pyre. Sleep well?”

“Yes, I— er, that is to say...” He gulps.“S-Somepony was supposed to relieve me overnight, but I turned him away thinking I could handle the full watch. But it looks like I was wrong, and I’ve endangered you by falling asleep at my post. I beg your forgiveness!”

He bows for good measure and you chuckle. “It’s fine. I’d probably welcome a visit from an assassin at this point.”

Pyre gives you a confused stare. “I’m... I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He nods. “Understood. I shall proceed to not worry about it. My Prince, is there anything you need? If so, I will provide it to the best of my ability.”

You yawn and scratch your head. Yeah, there’s tons of shit you need right now. A ticket out of this fucking nightmare, for one. The ‘anti-nerdy purple alicorn’ amulet you were going to ask Luna for would be nice. Hell, maybe if you had a suitcase nuke you could chuck it at Twilight and slow her down a little...

But you have a sneaking suspicion that despite his enthusiasm, your plucky pegasus guardspony wouldn’t be able to get you any of that stuff. Best to stick with something realistic. You ponder for a few moments, and then...

“How well do you know the city? I want you to take me to the best coffee and donuts place around.”

“As you wish!” Pyre salutes. “Please follow me.”

And so starts your last day of freedom.

Canterlot’s not a bad city, you suppose. Sure, some of the ponies here are complete uptight arrogant elitist assholes, but there are just as many who are polite and good natured. You’ve just been aimlessly wandering around, with Pyre at your heels, doing nothing in particular. Aside from some snacks, you haven’t bought anything from the various shops you’ve dabbled around in, despite the pegasus’ constant reminders that anything you want would be covered by the Treasury. A nice perk, sure, but you don’t think your average Equestrian taxpayer would take kindly to a freaky alien monkey buying random shit on their dime, ‘prince’ or not.

As a result, the little shops have lost their appeal, and with no bars open at this time of day, the city really doesn’t have much to entice you. Perhaps that’s why your wandering has led you back to the castle grounds, and you’ve been exploring the royal gardens ever since.

They’re really nice. The pathways are perfectly maintained, with not a speck of snow on them, and everything is beautiful and serene. But it all seems so artificial to you; so out of place. You’re used to the wilderness after all, where aside from some previously blazed trails, nature is left to its own devices.

You sit down on a bench near the base of an odd-looking statue to rest, and Pyre takes a seat beside you. With a sideways glance, he begins surreptitiously munching on the candy apple you insisted he buy for himself when you caught him eyeing it at one of the outdoor markets you visited. The sight of it draws some genuine laughter from you. He seems to be a nice pony, if a little overeager. In different circumstances, and if he’d drop this ‘my prince’ crap, you’d probably be happy to call him a friend.

A rumbling pulls you from your thoughts, and you look over to see Pyre clutching his stomach.

“Something wrong?” you ask.

“I... I...” he gasps, another gurgle reaching your ears. “I think I need to go to the little colt’s room.”

“Well, go ahead. You don’t need my permission.”

“But... but I can’t abandon my post! What if you were ambushed?! What if I lost you in the crowd?! I’d never forgive myself!”

You glance around. Aside from some winter birds, the two of you are the only creatures here as far as you can tell.

“We’re inside the castle grounds, so I think it’ll be fine. I don’t intend to go anywhere, and if something happens, I’ll take the blame.”

“B-But...”

“And are you really worried about losing the world’s only human in a crowd? I’m like twice as tall as most of you.”

His eyes dart around as his back legs twitch, and finally, after more consideration, he relents.

“I’ll return as soon as I’m able! I swear on my honor!”

“Take your time.”

And with that, he flies off, leaving you alone in the garden.

Now’s your chance, Anon! With no watchful eyes upon you, you can do anything you want! You can start acting on your plan to get the hell outta here!

You laugh again. Yeah, right. As long as these arcane bands are wrapped around your wrists, thoughts like those will only lead to disappointment. You rest your arms on your knees, hands clasped together, and sigh.

“Fuck...”

“Oh, what’s the matter, my dear boy? Do you not like your new glow-in-the-dark tattoos? I can’t say I blame you. They look awful.”

Your head snaps to attention and you look around. No one.

“Who said that?”

“And what kind of question is that? I don’t see anyone else here but a misplaced monkey and yours truly. Unless you happen to think the birds can talk, but that’d be crazy!”

You stand from your seat and whirl around. It’s like the voice was whispering directly in your damn ear! But still, you find yourself alone.

“Oh, come now. Don’t tell me you’re really that dense. Of the two of us, I should be far denser at the moment!” The voice’s laughter echoes all around you. “Ah, statue humor! It almost makes this punishment worth it.”

Your eyes settle on the large statue positioned behind the bench you just leapt from. Recorded in almost life-like stone is an odd creature unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. To be honest, it looks like someone took a bunch of random animal parts and slapped them all together. What the hell is this thing?

“Ah, there it is. That glimmer of recognition in your eyes that proves you’re capable of learning. For a moment there, I was almost worried.”

Hesitantly, you approach the statue. The creature’s pose is as equally as ridiculous as its general shape. It almost looks like it’s about to get hit by a truck or something.

“What are you...?” you ask, reaching a hand out to touch the stone.

The voice scoffs. “Puh-lease! Don’t tell me you’ve never laid eyes on my magnificently chaotic visage before! Our mutual acquaintances Cotton Candy Head and Moody Featherduster plastered their throne room with stained glass artwork of all my greatest hits, for crying out loud!”

Wait... now it’s starting to register. You heard the story from Twilight before, about how she and her friends sealed this creature after he escaped shortly prior to your arrival.

“You’re Discord, aren’t you?”

You can hear the sound of clapping, even though the statue remains perfectly still. “Bravo, bravo! Exactamundo! I was beginning to fear I’d have to spell it out for you. You’re not a bright one, are you?”

You frown. “You’re really talkative for a chunk of stone. I’m surprised they haven’t moved you to the basement with all the other unwanted artwork yet.”

He laughs fairly hard at your insult. “Yes, despite my current predicament, I can’t resist a good conversation. There are so few willing to listen, or worth talking to in the first place. I’m delighted that you happened to stop by.”

“Well too bad, ‘cause I was just leaving.” You start to walk away, but the phantom voice’s momentary panicked tone causes you to pause.

“Wait, wait, wait! I don’t want to lose this opportunity! I’m a tremendous fan of your work!”

You raise an eyebrow. “...My ‘work’?”

“Of course!” the statue replies, regaining its composure somewhat. “It isn’t often that I see a creature that can spread chaos as gracefully as you. Well, there is a mailmare in Ponyville who’s also a bit of a prodigy, but she’s more of a small scale disaster type. But you, YOU, my dear boy... you’re positively wondrous!”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

He gasps. “What am I talking about? What am I talking about?! You... you don’t even know, do you? You don’t even realize it! You’re such a natural, I’d be tearing up with joy right now if I wasn’t made of stone!” He sniffles some for emphasis. “Think about it! Your mere presence transformed the always studious, always dedicated, always boring Element of Magic into an obsessive maniac, with her friends split between helping and hindering her! You managed to fulfill an impossible dream for our dear Celestia, and in turn allow her to cast away her duties to behave like a teenage filly again, complete with a crush! And to top it off, all of this together has worked to drive poor Loony Luna positively batty! I’ve been watching your little cat-and-mouse chase across the world play out, and it’s the most amusing thing I’ve seen in ages! I can’t wait to find out what you have planned for the wedding!”

You start to feel that familiar sensation of anger welling within you as his laughter swirls in your ears.

“I’m glad all my problems have been so damn entertaining for you,” you snarl. “But I don’t have anything ‘planned’ for the wedding. I’m done. There’s nowhere left for me to run.”

The laughter immediately ceases, and the voice adopts a tone of sincere-sounding concern.

“You’re giving up? No, no, no, that won’t do at all! It’s not like you! What happened to that can-do attitude of yours that’s been so great at driving our little purple nerd to hysterics?! Are you just going to let her win?”

You hold up one of your wrists to the statue, shouting, “And what the fuck do you expect me to do about this, huh?! I can’t enchant pony-clones into bombs to break the Geas like Twilight. I don’t have magic, period! Luna won’t help, Cel can’t help, and Twilight can paralyze me with pain using the bands anytime she wants! Hell, she could turn me into a bomb if she wanted, so don’t fucking act like this is something I’m not trying hard enough to beat!”

You hear Discord sigh. “Well, to put it bluntly, you’re not trying hard enough, but I can’t blame you. When you mortals are pushed this far without the slightest ray of hope, you almost always give in to despair. It’s such a delicious moment for me, and I look forward to it each time... but in your case, it’s counterproductive, so allow me to offer you some friendly advice...”

You tense up. A part of you is extremely wary about taking any sort of advice from a character like this, but another part of you desperately wants to hear something, anything, that could lead to a way out. The statue takes your silence as a prompt to continue.

“You can’t always think of things in absolutes, my dear boy. What you believe to be a boon could turn into a burden. And what you believe to be misfortune can open doors you never even imagined! That’s the beauty of chaos: you never know what to expect! It’s even been my own undoing in the past, ending with my certain victory snatched away at the last moment, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Why, it’s positively thrilling!”

Another round of laughter rolls through your thoughts before he continues.

“I don’t expect you to figure this all out on your own, so I’ll give you some hints. Take it from me; I was quite the magical prodigy back in my youth, much like the problematic purple pony we both adore so much. You say you ‘don’t have magic’, but that couldn’t be further from the truth now. Look at your wrists! You may not be able to sense it, but you’re positively bursting with it!”

“I am?” You look down at the glowing bands as they constantly shift, dull, and brighten.

“Of course! A Geas is a difficult spell, not only to cast, but to maintain. You’re like a little flea attached to our dear Twilight Sparkle, constantly sucking out a bit of her magic in order to feed the curse. If too little magic is siphoned, the spell fails and the Geas breaks, and if too much magic is siphoned, well... *POP* goes the weasel, as they say! I invented that turn of phrase, you know. Ah, those were the days...”

You cough in annoyance and he continues.

“Hmph. Tough crowd. As I was saying, the flow of the magic is constant, and we all know constants are boring. Our studious little OCD alicorn will be sure to strictly regulate it down to the tiniest degree, as is her nature. But what if I were to tell you that you had the ability to... liven things up a bit? And maybe take more of her magic than she’s willing to give?” He can’t help but follow his own question with a short, sinister laugh.

“I’d say I’m not interested, because you mentioned not two fucking seconds ago that if I drained more magic, I’d explode,” you reply.

“Yes, yes, of course you will if you allow the extra magic to remain within your body. But, if you were to redirect it somewhere else for a while, it could end up being a particularly perplexing problem for our purple pony princess!”

You turn back to address the statue, as crazy as it sounds. “Redirect it? How?”

Again, he laughs. “Sorry, but that, my dear boy, is the end of my hint. It’s no fun for me if I give it all away! But as a completely unrelated aside, I love your suit. A Rarity original, I’m sure...”

You can hear the chimera’s voice starting to fade as he speaks, and he seems to take notice as well.

“Ugh. All this yammering on is too much effort. It’s using up what little magic I’m able to control like this, so I suppose the hint line is closed. Besides, I need to save my energy to observe the wedding~! Even though I’m not on the guest list, I can assure you I’ll be there in spirit...”

“...I’ll save you a slice of cake anyway, just in case,” you chuckle.

“Ha! Don’t count on it, but I appreciate the gesture...” His voice is almost gone now, and you have to strain to hear it. “Oh! And one last thing! When you see Cotton Candy Head, tell her I said I approve. She’ll know what it means. Arrivederci!”

And with that, the voice fades away. You step closer to the strange statue just to see what’ll happen, but the only sounds come from the various birds perched atop the nearby hedges. It looks like he really is gone.

Pretty much every instinct you have is telling you to not trust this guy. He’s undoubtedly bad news, and he seems like the type who’d definitely betray you down the line. You trust him about as far as you can throw him, and considering he’s like a four ton solid piece of stone, that’s not very far at all.

But still, he’s given you what you so desperately needed— a ray of hope. Something to cling to. If you can just figure out the specifics of what he was talking about, you might have a way to beat this thing and to find your way back to Cel’s side.

There’s no time to waste. Looks like you won’t be doing any bar-hopping tonight, but that’s okay. There’ll be more opportunities, because it’s not like you’re getting married tomorrow or anything! Not if you have anything to say about it, at least...

You mumble an apology to your still-absent guardspony as you forego your promise to wait for him and make your way toward the castle proper.

You’ve got some reading to do.

“Rainbow Dash, don’t you dare move that leg before I have everything pinned in place.”

“But it itches!”

“Just ignore it! The more trouble you make for me, the longer this will take. I only have a few alterations left to do on yours.”

The blue pegasus groans and bites her lip while a spool of measuring tape and several needles sail around her in the air.

“There! All done,” Rarity hums. “You can relax now.”

Rainbow breathes a sigh of relief before slouching and scratching her itchy leg with her other back hoof. “Ugh, I hate wearing dresses like these. I can’t even move my wings right.”

The unicorn seamstress sighs. “And that’s precisely because it’s considered rude to fly during the ceremony, and I don’t trust you to remember that.” A giggle from the nearby butter-yellow pegasus causes Rainbow to roll her eyes as the frazzled-looking unicorn dashes over to her, tape and pincushions in magical tow. “Fluttershy, dear, I’m going to need you to help make these basic alterations for the bridesmare gowns. I still have Twilight’s dress and Anonymous’ suit to finish and I’m running out of time! Do you think you can do that for me?”

Fluttershy nods. “Oh, yes. Of course, Rarity. None of this seems too hard, so I think I should be okay.”

Rarity smiles, some of the tiredness leaving her face. “Thank you. It appears it’ll be yet another sleepless night spent working. But to have my designs featured in yet another royal wedding... oh, the amount of publicity will simply be staggering!” She rears up and squeals for emphasis as she magically removes the dresses from their owners to place them on the nearby dressforms.

“Well, I’m glad you’re excited but I’m gonna go stretch my wings,” Rainbow says, cracking her neck.

“Be a dear and fetch Anonymous for me while you’re out, would you?” Rarity calls back. “I suppose I should go ahead and get his fitting out of the way.”

“On it!” She disappears, leaving a rainbow trail behind, and the two remaining mares begin their work altering their respective gowns.

“Aren’t you excited for Twilight?” Fluttershy beams. “First she becomes a Princess, and then she gets to be married to her true love! She’s so lucky...”

Rarity coughs and grits her teeth. “Yes, it’s wonderful... but once again, I find myself ever the bridesmare. If somepony were to tell me that among us Twilight would be the first to get married, well... I don’t know if I’d be able to contain my laughter. And yet here she is! Then again, her way of courting her stallion was somewhat... odd. And I suppose calling him a stallion is a bit of a stretch...”

Fluttershy giggles. “I don’t think it matters as long as she loves him. And don’t worry, maybe you’ll find somepony you’re interested in at the wedding. Maybe you’ll even catch the bouquet!”

“Darling, I’ve caught the bouquet at the last five weddings I’ve attended,” Rarity says with a deadpan stare. “I believe I’m conclusive proof that it doesn’t work.”

“Oh. R-Right, I forgot.”

She sighs. “Still, despite the oddity of it all, I can’t help but envy how romantic it was. Chasing your stallion across the world, never giving up, ending with the perfect storybook royal wedding... it’s the stuff of romance novels!”

“Oh yes, I agree,” Fluttershy chirps as she moves to work on the next stitch. “I think I heard something about that famous author, Mistress Notfluutershai writing about something like that for her next book.”

Rarity hops up and down with glee. “Oh! I absolutely adore her work! Wherever did you come across such juicy gossip?!”

The butter yellow pegasus folds her ears back and looks away. “Oh, um... I-I heard it as a rumor at the market...”

“Well, I certainly hope it turns out to be true. She has such a way with words. And her, ahem, intimate scenes... so raunchy!”

“Um... anyway... d-do you think Applejack and Pinkie Pie will come?” Fluttershy whimpers. “They were invited too...”

“Hmph. After the way they behaved, I’d rather they not. It was very gracious of Twilight to send them invitations by dragonfire. I think it was more of a gesture of goodwill than anything, as I doubt they’d be able to return to Equestria in time with their airship in such a state.” She giggles. “I suppose if my career in fashion ever fizzles out, I have another talent to fall back on. Commanding an armada was more fun than it had any right to be~! But then again...”

She steps away from the dress to admire her work, and Fluttershy does the same.

“...I suppose I should stick to what I do best.”

“They’re beautiful, Rarity.”

The unicorn beams. “Oh, darling, if you think these look good, wait until you see Twilight’s wedding dress! I’m certain, without a single doubt, that tomorrow will be a day to remember...”

The castle’s great library puts Twilight’s old one to shame. It’d be easy to lose yourself among the endless rows of filled bookshelves. In fact, you’re not quite sure how to get back to the main hallway from the little secluded table you’ve occupied for your research, but you suppose that’s what your personal guard is for.

Pyre the pegasus sits nearby, an annoyed look on his face. Every once in a while, he glances over and mumbles something that you promptly ignore. You don’t have time for his antics, especially now that you’re so close to actually making a breakthrough with th—

“...You didn’t keep your promise...” he grumbles.

“A) Shut up, this is a library. B) Quit whining. And C) I already apologized like a million times. Bring me that book, third one from the top of that stack closest to you.”

He does so, sulkily, and you return to your research.

God, you hate reading. Especially about subjects you have no interest in, like magic. This is the kind of shit you’d let Cel handle, and you dearly miss her right about now for this and a million other reasons. You’re surrounded by various volumes, cross-referencing and pouring through them looking for relevant information. You’ve got all the classics: The Nature of Curses, Magic for Dummies, Encyclopedia Arcana, Sacred Bond: A Treatise on the Geas, A Study of the Lost Arts, Spellcrafting 101, Mommy, Why is This Stuff Coming Out of My Horn?: A Unicorn Foal’s Introduction to Magic...

Yeah, if Twilight saw you like this she’d probably be gushing like a fire hose, so thank god she’s not here. Thankfully, between all this stuff you’re finally starting to understand what Discord was getting at. There is a way! It’s a longshot, especially for a total amateur like you, but it’s possible, and you already have everything you need to make it work. You’ll have to run a few tests in your room later tonight to iron out the details, but things are finally looking up for once!

It’s not going to be enough to beat Twilight, but that’s not the goal. You just need to run. Everything else will sort itself out like it always does. Maybe.

It’s best to not think about what comes after too hard, Anon. Focus on the present. You close the book you’re holding and stand.

“Put all these back where they came from, please.”

Pyre glances over at you with a questioning look. “My Prince? You don’t intend to check any of these books out?”

“Nah. Too boring,” you shrug. “I was trying to learn a little about one of Twilight’s interests since I’m, y’know, gonna marry her and everything, but I guess I’m not cut out for it. We should probably head back.”

It’d be way too suspicious to leave a paper trail by checking out the books, so you’ve committed everything you need to know to memory. It’s sort of a paranoid step, but right now you’re operating under the assumption that Twilight’s keeping tabs on you through your guard here. Luckily Pyre doesn’t seem like the type to be able to put two and two together when it comes to magic either, so he shouldn’t be too curious about your true intentions. You sincerely hope Princess Autismo’s not constantly monitoring you, because if she is, your plan’s fucked before it even gets off the ground...

You hear a short whine as the pegasus protests, “B-But that’ll take forever! And it’s more a job for the library’s caretakers!”

“No, Pyre, it’s rude to leave this mess for them. The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll be done. I’m going to head back to my room.”

“Yes, My Prince...” his ears fold back and he pouts.

Poor guy. You hate to be a dick, but you’ve got work to do and the precious remaining time until Zero Hour is constantly ticking away. You leave the pegasus behind and make your way through the great labyrinth of bookshelves.

Fifteen minutes later, you realize this was a bad idea.

“Fuck...”

Yeah, you’re totally lost now, and you haven’t seen another living creature this entire time. Turns out this place is even bigger than you thought... you should’ve definitely had your guard escort you out. He’s sure to track you down eventually, but this lost time is really going to hurt you in the long run. You pick up the pace and begin to jog. It’s not like there’re any stern-faced librarians around to scold you, anyway...

Turning a corner, you come upon a sight that stops you dead in your tracks. The good news: it’s a door. The bad news: it’s not the door to the hallway you were looking for.

“‘Forbidden Archives’...?”

Before you stands the most imposing gate you’ve ever seen. It’s sealed tightly shut, carved from ancient stone and absolutely covered in intricate carvings that seem to tell some kind of story when taken together. Ghostly blue flames dance from the nearby wall torches. You’d have mistaken the whole thing for an entrance to some sort of dungeon or ancient ruin had the nearby wall-mounted plaque not tipped you off.

There’s obviously something very important beyond this door. But it’s odd... why aren’t there any guards to protect it? It doesn’t make any sense... are they going by the honor system or something? Or maybe the damn thing’s booby trapped...

Your curiosity is killing you now. Goddamn it, Anon, you never could resist this sort of stuff... you cautiously reach out for the handle, but a previously invisible barrier shines and causes you to jump back.

Well, that explains that. Sealed by magic. No need to station valuable sentries in an out-of-the-way place like this when you can hang a big old magical DO NOT ENTER sign on the doorknob. Looks like you’re not getting through to see what’s so ‘forbidden’ about it.

Oh well. It’d probably just be another distraction you couldn’t afford anyway. You move to leave when you notice the Geas bands on your wrists start to shine. There’s a hum of magic in the air, a creaking sound, and to your utter amazement, the barrier vanishes and the great doors begin to open.

You immediately jump behind a nearby bookshelf, fearing that someone from inside the Archives is leaving, but a quick glance back reveals no one to be there. The corridor beyond the door continues into the darkness with no end in sight.

You glance at your wrists again and the light fades back to its normal level. That can’t be a coincidence... what the heck is happening? Did the Geas act as some sort of key? That’s all you can think of, but it doesn’t make any sense...

”From a magical standpoint, you and Celestia are the same pony because you now share her magic. And likewise, anypony I cast a Geas on will share my magical hoofprint too...”

A part of Twilight’s speech from the day she confronted you and Cel on the snowy path outside your home suddenly flashes through your mind, and combined with the research you just did, it all becomes clear.

Who would have access to the Forbidden Archives? Equestria’s Princesses.

And Twilight’s Geas, by its nature, gives your body the same magical signature as her, and the spell on the door can’t tell the difference!

You shake your head and laugh. “‘What you believe to be misfortune can open doors...’ The bastard meant it literally! Imagine that...”

There’s no longer any doubt in your mind. There’s something here that Discord wanted you to seek. Something that’ll help. To be honest, your whole plan still has some holes in it that you were planning to fill with optimism and a little luck. Not exactly the most sound approach...

But maybe, with whatever you happen to find, you can come up with something more concrete. Every little advantage you can scrounge up will help, and if there’s any place you’ll find such an advantage, it’d be here.

You step beyond the threshold without fear as the doors close behind you. The corridor quickly opens up into a vast circular chamber; the various candles lighting themselves with a flourish of magic as soon as you set foot inside the room.

You deflate a little. More bookshelves, and with them more books, though these look much older than the ones you’ve been flipping through up till now. It makes sense, you suppose, since the entrance to this place is found within the library itself. To even stand in this room is probably a dream within a dream for most pony scholars, but being here doesn’t do much to help you now since you have no idea what you’re looking for in the first place.

You begin wandering the room, looking for anything of interest among the dusty tomes and scrolls, most of which are written in some crazy ancient horse language that you can’t read anyway. Several minutes of fruitless searching causes you to think you might be wasting your time after all.

And then you see it. Resting on a reading table positioned in the center of the room is...

“Well now... what’s this?”

You lift the item, carefully balancing it in your hand. Oh, this’ll be useful. This’ll be beyond useful, and it’s exactly what you were lacking. You carefully pocket it within your gem-encrusted jacket before starting toward the exit. It doesn’t look like there’s anything else here you can really effectively utilize, and this should be more than enough.

You emerge from the archives just as Pyre flutters around one of the nearby shelves in his search for you. With his help, you manage to escape the library and make your way back to your room, which you order him to stand watch over from the outside.

The sun has long set by the time you finish your testing and preparations. There’s not really much more you can do at this point. From here on out, you’ll either succeed or fail. Worrying about it won’t help, and it’d be best to get some shuteye to recover some of the energy you know you’ll desperately need soon.

You’re almost asleep as soon as your head hits one of the many pillows of the comfortable bed, but before you allow yourself to be lost to Luna’s domain completely, you instinctually reach out to capture yet another pillow and pull it close to your body.

It’s a poor substitute.It’s nowhere near as soft, comforting, or as warm as her, but it’ll have to do for now. A soft smile begins to form on your lips. It won’t be long until you’re holding her in your arms again. You’ll accept nothing less. Twilight, Luna, and the world itself be damned.

Yeah, if there’s one thing for certain, tomorrow’s going to be a day to remember...