One upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria... I'm sure we've all heard that before, but I digress. Once upon a time there were six friends whose essences embodied the very nature of the six virtues of ponykind: honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter, loyalty, and magic. Through their friendship, these six friends accomplished great things and saved Equestria from great evil.

Then came the War. War was such a foreign concept to the six friends, who grew from scared little fillies into the formidable Ministry Mares that controlled the Equestrian government. War may never change, but it does change ponies. In the end, the six virtues of ponykind became corrupted and worn, tired of the senseless conflict that Equestria had become engaged in.

I wonder... will the virtues of ponykind ever become the core of our lives ever again?

“Spark! You horrid BITCH! Get out of my body so I can rip you apart! I’ll kill you!” I screamed, at the top of my... lungs. The depths of my profanity reached new heights as I continued to shout and scream. My rage faltered as the lack of bodily sensation sunk in. I was furious, angrier than I had ever been before - even when I thought Envy had taken my love away from me. I took a deep breath, hesitating again as no sense of air rushing into my chest filled me.

“Spark!” I shouted angrily at the spirit now controlling my body.

The corrupted spirit of Magic gave me a wicked little grin as she regarded my presence. Not long after she had stolen my body, Spark and my friends had made their way out of the cylindrical room and back into the Ministry of Image Hub's main office floor. Currently they sat in one of the side offices attempting to rest after what Spark had written off as just magic burnout. Come on Violet, can't you see she's playing you?! I thought as I glared at the purple alicorn. Naturally, I had followed behind them. I had to formulate some form of plan after all for getting my body back. Lucky followed behind me, staying strangely silent the entire time. I had tried to speak with her, but she had just turned away from me. I sighed, returning to the scene unfolding before me.

“Star?” Violet said, sitting down next to my body.

Spark looked over at the green unicorn and smiled. “Yes my sweet?” she replied, her words rolling off her lips like velvet.

I groaned. I hate you so much, I thought.

Violet smiled softly.

“Are you sure you're alright? I'm not exactly sure what happened to you back there,” she said, placing a hoof on my body's shoulder.

“I'm fine, just a little shaken up. Really I've never felt better,” Spark said. “It was just a little rough on me is all.”

“Hey, what happened to your cutie mark?” Violet asked.

Spark looked back at her flank and scrunched her face up into an expression of confusion.

“I don't know,” she said. “Think that happened back there at the Ministry hub?”

“I'm not sure either. I just hope it doesn't mean anything bad,” the green mare replied, shrugging.

“Yeah, me too,” Spark said. I glared at her.

“So... Did you learn anything from that book you picked up?” Violet said.

Spark nodded and pulled the black book out of her saddlebags. She ran her forehoof over the leather and I was able to finally take a closer look. I shuddered when I realized that the material wasn't leather, at least not in the traditional sense. It was zebra skin. I felt a surge of disgust that failed to turn into nausea, driving home my spectral state again.

“I think this is what she used to cast that spell. I just need to study it a little more,” Spark said, placing the book back inside her saddlebags.

Violet nodded, and I thought for a second I saw a gleam in her eyes. She stood up and went back over to check on Steeljack and Patch. The two earth ponies were busy tending to each other. Leaving Spark, I followed Violet over to listen in.

“Is it just me... or does something seem off about Star?” Violet said quietly.

Yes! I thought. That's my girl! Expose her Violet! Do it filly! I squealed with joy as I watched my friends speak.

“I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, all she did was stare at some book for a little bit,” Steeljack responded.

Patch nodded as she lay next to her coltfriend. She had pulled out Para Bellum and was polishing the weapon with a soft cloth. “She's probably just stressed. We all are.”

Violet sighed. I groaned.

“I suppose you're right, I just... I can't place a hoof on it,” my green love replied.

I stomped angrily, scowling harder at the lack of physical feedback from my ghostly form. This wasn't fair! She was so close to exposing Spark for what she was. I began a new tirade of shouting, mostly profanities of course. A cough from behind me interrupted me. I turned around, seeing Lucky standing there.

“They can't hear you remember? Just like you could only see me, only she can see you,” she said, glaring at me.

I stepped towards her and reached out with my hoof. Lucky shrank back from me, her gaze hardening as she stepped away.

“Lucky... I'm... I'm so sorry,” I said. “You've got to believe me. I didn't... I didn't know it would end up like that.”

“You ignored me. Stupid Lucky, she doesn't know what she's talking about, right?” the green mare said. “Just like when I was growing up. I was always the little filly, always the child. I was cast aside, pushed away from everypony else. Treated like I was an outcast and a failure because I was different.”

My eyes widened. “I... No.. I wasn't... I didn't mean to. You have to believe me, I was trying to save you!” I cried out, tears filling my spectral eyes.

Lucky sighed, looking down at her hooves.

“I... I don't know. I'm just... I'm so mad at you Star. You ignored me when I told you I didn't trust her!” she shouted back, pointing at Spark.

The purple alicorn appeared to be sleeping. She cracked one eye open. “I can hear you two you know,” she murmured. “I'd rather appreciate it if you would fuck off and go somewhere else.”

I growled at the spirit of Magic.

“Go fuck yourself. Give me back my body,” I said angrily.

“Pish. I don't think so. I rather like it here,” Spark tittered, putting her head back down and closing her eyes once more.

I groaned, plopping down onto my rump. Of course, I fell through the floor. This had been happening since Spark had stolen my body. Being spectral I found that I was able to move through walls and floors, and on occasion I would lose some semblance of control of this ability. I struggled for a bit, but finally managed to pull myself up back into a lying down position. Lucky stepped over and sat down next to me. Her eyes were teary. I placed a hoof on her shoulder and pulled her into a fierce hug, surprising the pegasus/unicorn.

“I'm so sorry,” I said, beginning to cry. The tears flowed from my eyes freely as I sobbed into the other mare's neck. “I... I'm so so sorry. I wish I could take it all back. I wish...”

Lucky sighed and returned the hug.

“I... I'm sorry too,” she replied softly. “But right now we have to figure out a way to get you back inside your body so you can fix things.”

I pulled out of the hug and began to wipe my tears away, nodding as I looked over at my body and then back to my friends. They had gone to sleep as well, Violet having laid down next to Spark. I nearly retched at the possibility of that bitch nuzzling my marefriend, doing... other things to her that I couldn't even begin to imagine. The very thought of it made my blood boil over.

I sighed. Lucky was right. There was nothing I could do at the moment other than to come up with a plan to get back into my body. To do that I would have to sneak another peek at that book. It was what allowed Spark to get in, but why did it do that? I shuddered again as I thought about the book covered in zebra skin. I mean, who in their right mind would bind a book in skin? Then again... it was a book devoted to necromantic spells, so I guess that made sense. I looked to Lucky as I stood up, my tears dried up and gone. The green mare smiled.

“So... any thoughts on getting my body back?” I asked sheepishly.

Lucky facehooved. “You mean you don't even really know how Spark got in?” she asked.

I shook my head solemnly. “It had something to do with that book. But I don't know... I'm not sure how we're going to get a look at it without Spark noticing,” I replied.

Lucky nodded. We walked down the hallway, leaving my friends and the bitch in peace for the moment. No sense in talking about our plans with her being able to listen in. The office was quiet, the only noise the humming of the crashed terminals that littered the cubicles and hallway. Clearly, somepony was not happy with their terminal system on the final day of the war. I struggled to come up with a plan. There had to be something I was missing, some angle. My eyes widened as I remembered a certain demure white mare.

“Of course!” I shouted, drawing a stare from Lucky. I giggled for a second, realizing that I had said that out loud. “I’ve got an idea... I think I know who I need to talk to. I just have to figure out how to get to her.”

“What do you mean?” Lucky said, cocking her head at me.

“I... I have these visions sometimes. For the most part, it's been Twilight's emotions that I've had to talk to... but lately, I've been meeting the Virtues,” I explained as we walked.

“The Virtues?” Lucky asked.

“The first one I met was Generosity, whose original bearer was the Ministry Mare Rarity. She was the one who told me about the Ministry of Image hub to begin with,” I said.

We stopped at the end of the hallway as I tried to rack my mind about how to get back to that room with the torches. It had only ever happened to me when I was knocked unconscious. I had no idea how to get back there. I sighed, trying to rack my brain. Come on... think think! I thought as I began to pace the hallway.

“So... how do you talk to them?” Lucky asked..

“I don't really know,” I said, shrugging. “Every time I've met them, my body has been unconscious. It's like some sort of reflex. I don't even know how to make it work.”

“Well... it sounds like a potential plan at least,” the green mare replied.

A whirring sound from down the hall caught my attention. I cocked my head curiously at the sound.

“Do you hear that?” I said, starting back down the hallway towards the source of the sound. I peeked into the office where my friends were. They were still asleep. The whirring noise got louder and louder. My eyes widened as I realized that the noise was coming from a metallic silver orb that was floating down the hallway. It appeared to be a sprite-bot, a device that had been developed by the Ministry of Morale to promote Equestrian patriotism. It was also only humming softly, which in itself was rather odd. Most of the time, sprite-bots played some form of patriotic music. They were normally quite loud.

“Umm... oh shit,” I said, realizing what the floating ball really was. It was an explosive. The whirring turned to a beeping noise as the sprite-bot bomb landed on the floor in front of us. I knew that I had nothing to fear from this thing being a spectral pony and all, but my flesh and blood friends including my body, regardless of the whore inhabiting it, wouldn't survive if this thing blew up in their faces. I turned on a dime and pushed through the nearest wall, emerging back into the office as Lucky followed behind me. If I couldn't warn my friends, then maybe I could warn Spark.

“Hey –!” I started to shout before a massive explosion drowned out my voice. Behind me the wall caved in, spraying debris everywhere. My friends scrambled to their hooves, shouting as Spark stood up in front of them. I followed her gaze and looked past the dust in the air. A groan escaped my lips as I saw the sinister form of Envy standing just beyond the hole in the wall, an evil grin creeping across her face.

“Not her again!” I whinnied.

Lucky cocked her head at me. “Who is this?” she asked.

The zebra pulled aside her cloak, revealing her wicked implements of destruction.

“Her name is Envy. She's a zebra bounty hunter. I've sort of got a five hundred thousand cap bounty on my head, courtesy of the Lotus Triad,” I explained.

“Five hundred thousand caps?! You're shitting me,” Lucky gasped. I stared at her blankly. She giggled. “Okay maybe not.”

I looked back to Spark, who glared at the striped mare.

“Ministry Mare of Twilight, I have been searching for you all night,” Envy spoke. “It seems my search was not in vain, let us begin our dance again.”

Spark grinned. She pointed a hoof at the zebra.

“Well. You want me? Come get me,” she said.

Envy snarled and rushed forward at the group, passing through me. It felt kind of... weird. Spark put her hoof down and her horn flared, sending out a wave of magic that slammed into Envy, knocking her back out of the hole and into the wall beyond.

“Alright, while we've got her occupied let's get going!” Violet shouted.

Patch and Steeljack nodded as my friends made their way out of the small office and into the hall. Spark stepped out behind them, pausing to regard the zebra lying in a heap next to the rubble of the wall. She grinned evilly.

“You guys go. I'll take care of her,” she said.

Violet scowled. “What?” she asked, staring blankly at the purple alicorn. “You can't. The last time we went up against her she almost killed you!”

“Violet, if we don't end this now we won't be rid of her,” Spark said firmly. “Just go already. I'll be fine.”

Violet sighed and nodded. She looked to my other friends.

“Let's go. Don't be late, Star. Please,” she said as she turned back one last time before she took off after the two earth ponies.

I looked to Lucky. “Keep track of them. If we’re going to have a chance, we have to stick together.”

Lucky nodded, turning and heading after the other three. I turned back to the scene unfolding before me. Spark stood over the fallen zebra, grinning madly.

“Now then. I'm getting sick and tired of all this rhyming bullshit you keep spouting,” she said.

Envy pushed herself from the rubble, snarling as she lunged at the lavender mare with her deadly blades. Spark dodged the attack, launching a hoof strike into the zebra's shoulder. Envy grunted in pain and lashed out with a blade, catching Spark in the neck and drawing a thin line of blood from the purple alicorn. Spark growled, igniting her horn and creating a stronger version of my normal shield spell. The shield expanded outward, slamming the zebra into the ground once more. Spark leaped backwards, dropping the spell as she grinned. Envy sat up, breathing hard.

“What...? What happened to you?” she panted, dropping the rhyming from her voice.

“I got smarter, you striped bitch,” Spark replied coldly. “Now. Let's end this little game.” She lifted Stargazer with her magic. I felt time stop cold. Well that's a new feeling, I thought. Apparently I could feel when Spark used E.S.A.T.S. in my body. The purple mare dropped the timing spell and Stargazer fired, the bullets ripping across the small hallway.

Envy snarled and pulled her cloak over her prone form as the minigun's rounds slammed home. The body of the zebra melted into the floor, covered by the dark cloak. I blinked. Did she actually get rid of Envy? I thought as I watched Spark triumphantly step towards the cloak lying on the floor. Her eyes darkened with anger as she turned, glaring at me. No... wait, glaring past me. I felt something pass through me again, which was still a very weird feeling, as Envy launched once again at Spark from behind. The zebra slammed into the purple alicorn with a hoof, knocking her into and through the wall.

“It will take more than that to kill me, Ministry Mare!” she shouted as Spark flew into the next hallway over and struck the wall. The alicorn hung on the wall, groaning in pain. I thought that maybe for a brief moment that she had been seriously hurt, before seeing the wild grin painted on her face. It was all an act. She was luring the zebra in for some reason. I floated through the next wall into the hallway as Envy leaped in, tossing a few of her deadly mines towards Spark.

Spark dropped to the ground, swatting the mines back with her magic. Envy’s eyes flew wide as the explosives came hurtling towards her face. The mines exploded outwards, propelling the zebra backwards into another pile of debris. She thrashed, trying to push herself up and back into the fight. Spark was there in a flash, slamming downwards with a frontal assault that was as vicious as the spirit of Magic herself. Envy tried to block the attack, growling as the alicorn's hooves struck her, pinning her down into the concrete below.

“What was that you were saying about killing you?” Spark said, glaring at the zebra as she held her down. She chuckled haughtily, lording her very presence over the other mare. “Because I think I'm just about to.”

“Spark!” I shouted at the alicorn, catching her attention. She sneered viciously at me.

“No. You don't get any say in this Star. I'm in control now,” she said angrily. “I'm going to end her. I don't think the Wasteland will miss one pesky little zebra.”

“You've beaten her, can't you see that?” I said, pointing at Envy. The zebra was struggling still to hold on, but even I could see that Spark's attacks had badly injured her. Despite how few attacks Spark had actually laded, the amount of damage she had inflicted was easily four times greater than what I could have done.

The purple alicorn laughed. “Yes. And I am thoroughly enjoying this.” Spark replied, twisting a hoof on Envy's shoulder. The striped mare groaned in agony as Spark twisted even harder, taking sadistic pleasure in the act. She extended her neck down, stopping short of the zebra's face.

“I'm going to kill you, you know that? I'm going to end your fucking life right here and now, and I'm going to feel sooo good about it,” she whispered softly into Envy's ear. The zebra flailed her front hooves, managing to catch Spark in the leg with a stray hoof strike. The impact of the blow knocked Spark off of her, forcing the bitch back into the wall. Envy pushed herself up quickly, leaping back to her hooves. She rapidly flipped several mines towards the purple alicorn, who disappeared behind a hasty shield spell, covered in mine explosions.

“Like I said, it's going to take more than that to get rid of me,” Envy panted as the smoke cleared, revealing Spark's shield through the haze. Envy flowed in like a striped waterfall as the shield spell dissipated, her knives flashing from under her cloak. One of her desperate attacks sliced into Spark’s shoulder, drawing a spurt of blood. Spark snarled in pain as she tried to dance out of the way of the zebra’s relentless attacks.

“I don't know what happened to you, but you're not the same pony I fought a few days ago,” Envy said. “Who are you, Ministry Mare?”

“I'm not the same mare,” Spark said, grinning wickedly. “I'm the new and improved version.”

I snorted. How full of herself could one get? Envy and Spark circled each other like two hunters ready to pounce on their prey.

“Interesting. So where's the other one?” Envy replied.

“She's not important,” Spark said. What?! I thought. What do you mean I'm not important? I glared at the other mare. “Let's just say she’s indisposed at the moment. For now, you get to deal with me.”

Envy's gaze narrowed as the game of circling continued.

“Well, shall we get back to it then?” she said, lunging forward at Spark, her wicked blades coming in for another close strike.

The alicorn dodged, bringing down her hoof in a controlled fashion upon the zebra's forelegs. I heard the crunching of bones as the zebra hit the wall. She let out a grunt of pain as she struck concrete. Her breath was ragged. She stood, holding her side with her left foreleg. Blood streamed from her side where she had hit the wall. She lifted one of her blades and flicked her hoof, tossing the knife at Spark's head. Idiot, that's not a good move, I thought. Spark reached out with her telekinesis and grabbed the blade mid-flight, sending it soaring around and back towards the zebra. The blade struck home, embedding itself into Envy's neck. She cried out as blood flowed from the wound. Reaching up, she pulled the now blood-stained knife free. Spark chuckled.

“Now then. Let's finish this... shall we? I'm getting terribly bored of all this,” she said, igniting her horn once more. A flash of metal passed through my as the alicorn levitated every stray piece of metal that littered the hall, aiming them directly at Envy.

The zebra snarled and panted, trying to move as the assault of metal shards began to soar through the air. I tried as hard as I could to reach out with my magic, but nothing came. I shouted in protest, my cries igored by the bitch as she flung the swarm of metal forward. Envy ducked, tossing out a glowing silver ball from under her cloak. I cocked my head curiously, wondering what this would do. The glow expanded as the device began emitting a high pitched sound. The sound cut through the air, shattering every piece of metal that Spark had launched at her.

“So am I,” Envy said. “End your life I will, it is not I you will kill.” The zebra pushed forward, battering at the purple alicorn with her front hooves.

Spark grunted as Envy struck, the striped mare putting all of her effort into pummeling the lavender mare. Spark snarled and fired up her horn, launching into a teleportation spell. She reappeared behind the zebra, striking the other mare in the back with a particularly spectacular buck. Envy soared into the wall with a sickening *crunch* and fell to the ground. Spark grinned widely.

“Enough!” I shouted, finally catching her attention.

“Oh what? Leave me alone, little Star. You're not going to stop me,” Spark said, glaring at me.

I growled at her, causing her to chuckle cruelly.

“No. But you really need to think about the wear and tear you're placing on my body, you stupid bitch,” I said angrily. I knew just by looking at myself that I was going through hell. Combine that with the amount of magic that Spark had used up in just this short period of time meant that my body couldn't hold out for much longer without needing a whole lot of unconscious downtime.

“Please. I could tax your body all day long and not need to ---” Spark began to say as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground, passing out.

I felt a familiar tug on my spectral form, one that I had seriously hoped I would feel. It was time to talk to a Virtue. The world fell away into blackness, my last sight Envy limping over to the prone form of Spark. Serves you right, bitch.

Victory! I thought as I looked around me, taking in the familiar scene of the circular room with the six doors. I grinned as I trotted happily into the room, waiting for the chance to speak with Generosity once more. The torch went out and the fire blazed, heading across the room. My eyes widened when I realized that they weren't going towards the door emblazoned with Rarity's cutie mark. Instead, the fire landed on the door next to it that bore the symbol of Fluttershy, the Ministry Mare of Peace. I groaned as the door opened. Having no other options, I stepped through the entrance, appearing in a secluded wooded clearing with a dirt path leading into the forest. The chirping of birds and the chatter of woodland creatures met my ears as I continued deeper into along the forest path. In the distance I could hear a mare singing, her gentle voice carrying along the wind as a chorus of chirps and squawks joined in. The path eventually opened up into a small grove, where a beautiful yellow pegasus mare was conducting what appeared to be a small collection of sparrows, blue jays, and cardinals. I stepped into the grove as quietly as possible. The pegasus barely noticed I was there, thoroughly engrossed in her choir. I let out a tiny cough, hoping to get her attention, but alas it was not heard.

“Umm, hello?” I said a little louder.

The pegasus continued her singing, humming along merrily with her menagerie. I frowned. Come on! I really need to talk to you! I thought as I stared at the buttery pegasus.

“Hello?” I said, increasing the volume of my voice more. Still the mare continued to ignore me. I groaned, getting more frustrated by the second.

“Hey!!” I shouted, finally catching the yellow pegasi's attention.

She shrieked out in fear as her bird-friends scattered. Within seconds the mare was cowering behind a tree. I sighed, realizing I had scared her. I stepped forward cautiously.

“Hey there... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” I said softly, trying to coax the mare out from behind the tree. She stepped out, shaking from head to hoof. I smiled. “There we go.”

“S-s-s-sorry... old habits die hard I guess. I didn't hear you,” she said so quietly I wouldn't have heard her if not for my alicorn hearing.

“That's okay. I should have probably been a little smarter about that,” I said, chuckling. “I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you're another of the Virtues right? Please tell me that you are.”

The mare smiled and nodded. “I'm... Kindness,” she said even quieter. “And you're Radiant Star right?”

“That's right. I'm so glad I'm talking to at least one of you. I was really hoping to speak with Generosity,” I said in a flurry.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

“It's her. Spark. She took over my body. I need to know what to do,” I said, panic sharpening my tone.

Kindness flinched, then smiled, shaking her head. The elegant little pegasus motioned for me to sit next to her. I plopped down, completely unsure of what was to come next.

“I... I see. Spark? You mean Magic right?” she said. I nodded. She looked down at her hooves, a grimace on her face. “I... I don't know. She's very strong Star. It's going to take something major to get rid of her.”

“What do you mean?” I said. “How do I get rid of her?”

“I... I think you're going to need to talk to Generosity and Laughter first,” the kind mare replied. “They'll know what to do. They were closest to her.”

“And what about you?” I asked. “How well did you know Magic?”

“We were friends, but not super close. I spent my time guiding Fluttershy through her Ministry,” the pegasus responded. By this time the birds had returned to the grove, chirping along happily.

“I just wish I knew more about her. I get -- I just feel that I could fix all this if I only had some idea about her motivations and what she wants,” I said with a frustrated tone.

Kindness perked up at this. “There... That might be possible. There may be a way you can accomplish that,” she said. “Some of Twilight's memories might have some answers. You just need to be able to tap into them.”

“How can I do that? I can barely do anything in this form,” I said.

“If you concentrate hard enough, you should be able to access Twilight's full range of memories. Spark can't block them from you while she's controlling your body,” she stated.

I looked away for a second, pondering what she was saying. If I concentrated, I could get into Twilight's memories. I could finally figure out everything that had happened! I nodded, knowing what I needed to do.

“I think I know how. If I can catch that bit -- Spark off guard, I can get past her with Lucky's help. She has some sort of distraction effect on Spark. When Spark began manifesting as a visible spirit she was able to help keep her away at times,” I said, feeling enlightened about the plan at hoof.

Kindness simply smiled and put her hoof on my shoulder.

“Be strong Star. This will all work out in the end. It just has to,” she said softly.

I smiled at the butter-colored mare. “Thank you. Looks like your birdie friends are back now. W-Would you like to continue your singing? It was nice,” I said.

Kindness stood up and fluttered her wings, hovering in front of the choir of birds. She cleared her throat.

“Umm... excuse me everyone. Let's start from the top shall we?” she said confidently to her assembly. I smiled as the birds began to sing, their tones mixing together in a beautiful display of harmony. I watched the pegasus direct the chorus, and even began singing along myself, as the cheery tune eased me out of this world and into the black.

Darkness gave way to bright light as my eyes opened. I looked down, hoping that Spark's untimely fainting had allowed me to resume control. Seeing my familiar spectral blue coat, I groaned. Of course not! That would be too easy. I stood up, trying to take the measure of my surroundings. It was definitely not the Ministry of Image hub. In fact, it appeared to be some form of office in an abandoned warehouse. I looked down, seeing my real body lying strapped down to a table. Standing off to the side, looking cautiously out the window was Envy. She looked like she had been through hell, and I didn't doubt it. Spark had really done a number on the zebra. She was breathing heavily, but I could see the telltale signs of healing magic already doing their work on her wounds. Where are we? I thought as the striped mare turned away from the window at the sound of a groan. I looked back to my body, seeing that Spark had awakened.

“Fuck... what happened?” she said venomously as her eyes fluttered open, locking onto the zebra in the room. “Oh. You're still around are you?”

Envy glared at the alicorn.

“Regardless of how much I yearn to make you scream, a greater lust than revenge is had.” she said. “Once you are in the hooves of the Lotus Triad, I shall be far richer than anyone could ever dream.”

I grinned. Wait a tick. This is my body too. The Lotus Triad is just going to end up killing me... I thought as I watched the scene before me unfold. I glared at Spark.

“Yes, well. That's unfortunately not going to happen,” Spark replied, her horn glowing as her bonds unraveled before the zebra's eyes. The striped mare moved in to neutralize Spark, but the alicorn had already rolled off the table. Envy snarled, tossing a knife out from under her cloak towards the lavender mare. The blade flickered with Spark’s magic and shot back towards Envy, striking the zebra in the right shoulder and pinning her against the wall. Spark's horn flared with power, yanking another knife and plunging it into Envy's left shoulder as well. The zebra yelled in pain as the magic that was healing her tried to keep up.

“Now then. Let's have a little chat you and I, shall we?” Spark said. “I want to know everything you know about Pride.”

I looked over at Spark with confusion. Pride? I thought. Why does she want to know about her?

“Why... why are you interested in her?” Envy said, grunting in pain.

“I seek to remove her from this world. She is a false Goddess, and does not deserve to live,” Spark replied. “Tell me, and I may make this easy on you.”

“Fuck... you. I shall never betray my brothers and sisters,” the zebra said, spitting at Spark.

The alicorn snarled, reaching out with a hoof and smacking the other mare across the face.

“Tell me what I want to know,” she said. “That bitch is going to get what she deserves.”

Envy groaned, trying to struggle against the knives holding her to the wall. “If you want to know more about her... about us... find Stable 180. That's... that's all I can tell you,” she managed to say through bits of pain.

“Stable 180?” I asked, knowing full well that Envy couldn't hear me. “Where the hell is that?”

“Where is Stable 180 located?” Spark echoed. “Tell me. You stupid, stupid zebra.” I could see that even with the healing magic, Envy was in a great amount of pain. Her eyes kept sliding closed, jerking open whenever Spark twisted one of the knives holding her up.

“I... I don't... Wrath. Speak to Wrath. He will tell you what you need to know. But warning upon you, he will kill you. He is not as weak as I am,” she said.

Spark shot me a glance. “I take it you know who she is talking about?” the alicorn said, addressing me directly. I glared at her.

“Why would I help you again?” I replied.

“Because, you obviously have been planning something behind my back with the green bitch. I also know you want to know about Pride as much as I do,” She said angrily.

Envy groaned and looked up at the alicorn. “Who are you talking to?” she said weakly.

“Shut up. I'm done with you,” Spark snarled in reply.

Envy went silent, staring death at the mare. “Fine. Wrath is located at Colter Field. He's a minotaur, and the leader of the Cult of Iron Will. You seriously didn't pick up on this when we met the Minotaur?” I asked, clearly confused.

Spark stared at me blankly.

“I don't pay attention to everything you do Star. You're kind of boring,” she replied. I glowered at her. She turned her attention back towards Envy.

“Now then, what to do with you?” she said, grinning.

Envy snarled weakly and struggled fruitlessly against the knives pinning her to the wall.

“When I get out of here Ministry Mare... I will find you. This I swear,” she said, continuing on to speak in her native tongue. It sounded rough through her ragged breathing, but if I had to guess it was some sort of curse.

“Listen here, you,” Spark said, coming in close to the striped mare's face. “I'm going to make this perfectly clear. You will stay away from us. If I so much as smell you, I will end you.”

Envy simply stared at her, saying nothing. Spark pulled out another of her blades from the zebra’s cloak with her magic, hovering it in the air between the two mares.

“Spark! That's enough!” I shouted. Spark turned and glared at me, venom in her eyes. She whirled back to Envy furiously, sending the knife soaring towards the zebra's head. “No!!!” I yelled as I heard a *thunk* noise. I stared past the purple alicorn. The blade was embedded in the wall next to Envy's head and her eyes were closed.

“We're done here,” Spark said, stepping through me and proceeding to the door. Pushing it open, she headed into the warehouse as I followed behind. The warehouse was barren and had definitely seen better days. Rubble lay strewn about the floor and dust covered everything in sight. I strode alongside the bitch controlling my body.

“Your friends are nearby. I can only assume they came looking for you.” Spark said. I glared at her, but said nothing. Spark latched onto the main warehouse door with her magic, easily pushing it open. We stepped out of the warehouse and turned onto the corner, seeing Violet and the others standing at the far end of the street. Spark waved as we made our way down to them. Violet hugged her as we made contact. I could see Lucky on the other side of the group. She nodded at me.

“You alright?” Violet said, breaking the hug.

Spark nodded. I stepped past the group as they tried to figure out where they were going next in order to speak to Lucky. She patted me on the shoulder as I trotted up next to her.

“What happened to you?” she asked. I could hear Spark explaining how she just managed to escape Envy. Liar, I thought before turning my attention back to Lucky.

“Well. She got knocked out and I got to speak with one of the Virtues, just not the one I wanted to,” I said. “But I have an idea. I need you to distract Spark for me. I think... if you're messing with her I can get into Twilight's memories.”

“Twilight's memories? Why would you need to do that for?” Lucky asked.

“Something Kindness said. I think they might be able to help me figure out what happened with Spark,” I replied as we followed behind the rest of the group.

We had been keeping to ourselves, hoping that Spark hadn't noticed what was going on. I nodded to Lucky and moved in a little closer to Violet and the others. They were talking amongst themselves while walking through the ruined city. There wasn't a soul in sight. I wondered briefly where we were in relation to the Ministry of Image. I lifted my foreleg to check my PipBuck and sighed. Not having one kind of sucked. Instead, I tried to pick up on what my friends were saying. Spark was walking ahead of the others, keeping to herself and reading the book from the MoI hub.

“Everything is fine Violet,” Patch said quietly. “She's had a hard time. If I were her, I'd be feeling pretty nutty too.”

“I know, but I just can't shake it. Something just... Isn't right,” Violet said. I cheered silently. I knew my love was smart, but I was ecstatic that she was already questioning things.

Steeljack nodded. “Do you know where we're going now?” he asked quietly. “I mean, she really isn't being too up front about things.”

“Star wants to investigate Pride now. I'm not sure what changed at the Ministry of Image. She's been looking at that book this entire time. She said there's answers in it, but... I'm not sure,” Violet replied. “It kind of scares me. There's something wrong with it.” She stepped forward up next to Spark and nudged her, getting the purple alicorn's attention.

“Yes sweetheart?” I heard Spark say. I growled. I really wanted to kill this bitch. Not just for taking my body, but for acting this way towards Violet. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I needed to focus to get into Twilight's memories. I noticed Lucky moving into position and grinned. It was almost time.

“Do you know where we're headed to? Just wanting to know so I can mark it on my PipBuck,” my marefriend asked.

Spark smiled and tucked the book away.

“Sure. I've been thinking about what we talked about before. Heading to Colter Field to see this Wrath fellow that the Minotaur told us about.” she replied.

Violet nodded. “I see. And anything more from that book?” my love said.

“No. Nothing yet. There are answers here Violet, I can just feel it,” the purple mare said, shaking her head.

I nodded over at Lucky, who moved into position and began to chatter animatedly at the other alicorn. I could definitely see that she was distracting the mare. A twitch had begun to develop behind Spark's eyes as she tried to stare death at Lucky without being noticeable by the others. I focused as hard as I could and jumped forward into my body. I felt myself latch on and I could hear Spark's voice in the back of my head shouting at me as I began to melt away into pure darkness.

I felt my hooves touch down on a strange rolling landscape that was spread out before me. The sky was dark and the ground was checkered, like I was standing on a giant chess set. I trotted along, trying to figure out where I had ended up. Where am I? I thought as I came across a tree. No... wait. A tree house? Yes, it was a tree house that looked a lot like Twilight's. I stepped up to the tree house's door and knocked on it. No answer. I pushed open on the door and stepped inside.

“Hello?” I called out.

The interior of the tree house looked much like a library. There was nopony around, no sense of any presence, no noise or movement. I trotted into the center of the library, looking around at the books on the shelves. They didn't have any titles on any of their spines. I sighed and picked one up off the shelf. I opened it, my eyes widened. The pages inside were moving pictures, showing various scenes from Twlight's life. Memories, I thought. Interesting. I wonder which one I should be looking for. I looked up at the ends of the book shelves, noticing the pictographs on the sides of them. A glimmer of light crossed my eyes, revealing a stylized drawing of the Element of Magic tiara. I trotted over to the shelf, seeing only one book sitting there. It too bore the Element tiara on its cover. I opened it up and felt the light of the memory wash over me as I fell into it.

It was a familiar feeling being in Twilight's body. Having experienced many of the original Ministry Mare’s memories before, I was used to it by now. I was in a long hallway filled with stained glass windows. It appeared to be one of the palace hallways. At the far end of the hall was a massive door with a horn lock in the center of it surrounded by six colored jewels. I looked up at the stained glass as I walked, taking in the scenes portrayed on them. A group of six ponies surrounding a single wicked alicorn. A group of six ponies and a draconequus set in stone. Six ponies, six Elements. I stopped at the door.

“Alright, we're here. And we're alone. You can show yourself now,” I said aloud. A giggle burst from my right as my shadow took form, turning into a very familiar dark maned unicorn. Spark had a very wide grin on her face.

“So. You finally decided to accept my offer?” the dark mare asked.

“Please. Show me how I can save my brother,” I replied. “The sickness is getting worse every day. I'm afraid. I don't want to lose him Spark.”

“And you won't, my dear, sweet Twilight. I have a plan to save your poor brother,” the Element of Magic responded. She motioned at the door. “All you have to do is open this door, and I can access the Elements of Harmony. With them, I can come up with a spell that will save Shining Armor.”

“I... I don't know... what if Luna finds out we're here,” I said nervously.

“She won't, trust me. And if she does, you can say that you needed the Elements for that one project of yours,” Spark said, grinning wide.

“You mean Gardens? Well I suppose if I wired the Elements directly into the Crusader Maneframe, it would boost the power output exponentially,” I said, thinking about the implications that the megaspell could have with the power being reinforced by Equestria's most powerful magical artifacts.

“Twilight sweetie, focus please. We're talking about your brother here, remember?” Spark interjected.

I sighed, and nodded. I summoned my magic, feeling the otherness flow through me as Spark lent me her power. The door before us opened easily, revealing six pedestals inside that each held a gleaming necklace along with a golden tiara. Spark grinned and stepped into the room.

“Alright. Time to get to work. Oh giiiirls!” she called out into the dark room.

The gems on the necklaces began to glow as the Elements of Harmony were activated. Spark was gleeful as she pushed her magic into the swirling rainbow of color. It was stunningly beautiful. But as I watched from within Twilight's body, something felt... off about it as well. There was something clearly sinister about Spark's intentions. I could feel it even then. How long ago did the Element of Magic get this bad? I thought as I watched the dark maned unicorn work her terrible magic. The rainbow spiral coalesced into a flash of magic, temporarily blinding me. When my eyesight recovered, I could see a scroll lying in the center of the room. Spark grinned as she picked up the piece of paper with her magic.

“Here it is. I hope you know, Twilight, this is very special magic,” she said, handing me the scroll.

I looked down at the scroll, seeing a mixture of languages from changeling to zebra. I looked up at Spark.

“What does it do?” I asked curiously.

“In order for this to work, you're going to need to do something very hard. You're going to have to let your brother die,” Spark said, her eyes dead serious.

My eyes widened. “But... I thought this spell was supposed to save him! It was supposed to be a cure!” I shouted at the dark mare.

“Trust me. This is better than a cure. This is a way you can bring your brother back into a healthy body,” Spark replied. “Face the truth Twilight: your brother's body is dying. His shield spell will only keep the sickness at bay for so long. With this... with this you can bring him back to life, completely healthy, even better than he was before.”

I looked down at the scroll again, considering the horrible implications. If there was a way you could bring a loved one back... would you? I thought. Even if it meant the complete subjugation of another?

“If I do this... what do you want? You mentioned payment before,” I asked suddenly.

Payment? I thought. What does she mean by payment?

Spark smiled knowingly. “Yes. I would like just one thing Twilight. I want to survive. I want to live forever. Immortal. I want you to use this spell, this one I just gave you... to give me my own body,” she replied.

I cocked my head at her. Of course, I thought. That's what she wants.

“Exactly how am I supposed to do that?” I asked.

“There will come a time when you will need to leave the completed spell for another to cast. It will give me a body, one that is strong and will bear my spirit,” Spark replied. “I will be drawn into that body, and it will serve me, forever. It’s the least you could for for little old me, after everything I’ve helped you with.”

“And that's all you want if you let me use this to save Shining Armor?” I replied. She nodded. “Deal,” I said instantly. “I'll do it. Just give me the power to save my brother.”

“Excellent,” Spark said. “Now then, let's get out of here before we're seen.”

She dissipated into nothing. I sighed and turned back to the open door, igniting my horn and gently closing it. I trotted back down the hallway, looking up at the stained glass windows. I stopped for a moment, pausing to look at the one of the Six defeating Nightmare Moon.

“You can come out now Radiant Star,” I heard Twilight say.

What? I thought as I felt myself become disconnected from the unicorn's body. Suddenly I was standing in front of Twilight. She stared intently at me.

“So. You saw that I assume?”

“How...? How am I here?” I asked, clearly confused.

“This is a dream Star. This is a real memory, but because it's my memory, it's inside your head,” Twilight replied. “Because of that, I can see you and you can see me.”

“So this isn't real?” I said, cocking my head at her.

“It is, and it isn't. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. I'm here to tell you something important,” Twilight replied. “If you're here, that means Spark is in control. Am I right?”

“Yeah... but how did you...?” I sputtered.

Twilight raised a hoof, silencing me. “I was prepared for this. To show you this memory. To show you where it all started. You needed to see this,” she said. “You needed to know. So you can beat her.”

“Why did she do this? Why did she push you to this?” I asked, motioning to the door behind her.

Twilight sighed. “At some point during the war, I began to notice that she started appearing to me. She spoke of power and how she could help me end the conflict,” she began. “At first she seemed like she only wanted to help, but after a while... she started scaring me.”

“Scaring you?” I said. “What do you mean?”

“She began coming up with these crazy plans. They all involved forbidden magic, and she started becoming... dark. She took sick pleasure in her ideas, and how they would kill the zebras,” Twilight replied.

“What changed?” I asked.

“Are you familiar with the story of Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked. I nodded. “When my friends and I turned Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna, I think we started this whole miserable thing. I think the whole war, all of the pain we caused. It all came from that single event. I think Nightmare corrupted the Elements of Harmony, twisted them for her own selfish sick game.”

“So what does this have to do with what just happened?” I said.

“This was the point that I realized something was truly wrong with Spark. When my brother... when Shining Armor was afflicted with the Littlehorn agent. I felt as if everything in my world was breaking down. I was... desperate. I only wanted to save him. Spark offered the way to do so,” Twilight said. “But the way she offered... I tried to understand it. I tried to understand why Spark wanted to survive so badly. And now, I know why. She wanted you.”

“Me? Why am I so important? Why was I chosen for this?” I asked.

Twilight sighed. “Because I chose you. I chose you to receive my power, for this exact reason. To defeat her for good and put the Elements right again. It's all her, Star. It's always been her. She's the corrupt one,” she pleaded with me.

“Well that's all fine and dandy, but how am I supposed to defeat her if I'm not in control of my body?!” I shouted at the lavender mare.

“There is a memory orb in your possession that came from my memories. You found it with the ones in Tenpony Tower, correct?” Twilight said. I nodded blankly. That was the orb Pride tried to get me to view. What does it have to do with anything? I thought. “You'll need to trick Spark into activating the orb. Once she does, I'll be able to hold her from there.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I said. I still wasn't sure if this whole thing was even real or not, let alone if the mare was telling the truth.

“The power I held is locked in that orb. When the Twilight Society cast the spell it stuffed Spark into your head, and my power into the memory orb. This was purely intentional. Spark was always supposed to think she had won. That, Star, is her greatest weakness. She thinks she has you now, but her control is not absolute,” Twilight explained. “The same spell that you used to access my memories is called a mind dive spell. It will allow you to access the dreams and thought of another. I trust you know the best way to use this.”

I nodded, thinking of a particular green filly that had been extremely suspicious of Spark.

Twilight’s eyes shifted from left to right as she continued. “Now you've gotta go now before she figures out I was here. Be safe Radiant Star. I will see you soon.”

The world around us began to filter into white as I called out to the mare to find out more. Soon, it was the only color I saw.

I reappeared in filth and ruin, staring at my nose embedded in a rotten plaster wall. Panicked, I thrashed backwards and fell over. I frantically hoofed at my nose, finding no damage at all. I looked up at Lucky’s giggle, and remembered I wasn’t currently flesh and blood. My mind whirled with a maelstrom of bits and pieces of information, the most important of which was tricking Spark into looking at Twilight’s memory orb. I looked around, realizing we were in a dark room. Violet and the others were laying about. They appeared to be sleeping. Spark was nowhere to be seen. Lucky smiled.

“Hey,” she said. “Are you alright?”

“I'm... I'm fine. Where are we?” I asked, nodding.

“Abandoned store,” Lucky replied. As the darkness coalesced into shapes, I could see that we were behind a counter of some sort with a register terminal attached to it. “Stopped here after you went in.”

“And Spark? Where is she?” I said.

Lucky motioned for me to stand and pointed at the far end of the room. I popped up over the counter and looked in the direction she indicated. Spark stood at the end of the room, engrossed in the book from the Ministry of Image. I wondered if Violet even knew that the fake me was awake. I looked back down at my love, wishing and hoping that someday I could hold her again. If I ever got that chance, I swore to Celestia that I would never let go. I looked over at Lucky.

“Well, while she's distracted, we can talk. I'm assuming we're still on our way to Colter Field?” I asked. Lucky nodded. “Good. That will give us some time to come up with a plan.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I need to to contact Violet. You've seen it, she's already suspicious of her. We need her help. If she can expose Spark, the others will help,” I said, motioning to my sleeping lover. “Any ideas?”

Lucky shrugged. “Maybe that book Spark has been looking at holds some idea,” she offered.

I looked over at Spark and thought about what Twilight had told me about her. Quite frankly, she scared the hell out of me. I nodded and slowly made my way over to the purple alicorn. She was so focused on the book, she didn't see me as I stepped up next to her. However, something told me she knew I was there.

“So... you're back,” she said flatly.

“Hello Spark,” I replied in kind.

“That was a bit of a stunt you pulled there. I can tell I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you,” Spark said, glaring up at me from the book.

“I told you already. I'm going to get my body back,” I said. “You are not going to win this fight. The fact that I'm still here must mean you're not in total control.”

“So... is that what you think? You think I couldn't get rid of you like that? Is that what she told you?” the alicorn said, snarling.

I stared at her. A stirring behind us alerted Spark to the sound of Violet waking up. She quietly made her way across the room, stepping through me and placing a hoof on Spark's shoulder.

“Star? Come on, you need to get some rest. This isn't healthy,” she said.

Spark glared at her. “Violet. I'm kind of busy. This is really important,” she said, trying to do her best to sound normal, instead coming off kind of bitchy.

Violet frowned. “Fine. I see how it is,” she said curtly, turning about and heading back over to Steeljack and Patch. I looked back at the spirit of Magic.

“She's gonna figure you out, you know that right?” I said. “She's already suspicious.”

“Let her. By the time she does I'll have complete control,” Spark started to say.

I smiled as she realized what she had said. She had just given away her weakness, how I was going to beat her.

“I knew it. You aren't in total control,” I said.

Spark glared at me and stood, placing the book back into her saddlebags. She trotted back over to the group, lying down next to Violet.

“I'm sorry,” I heard her say softly. “You're right. I need the rest. Good night Violet.”

Violet sighed. “I'm sorry too. Things have just been a little too crazy lately,” she replied. “Good night.”

I groaned and sat down next to Lucky.

“How am I supposed to talk to Violet? I can't even get close enough to Spark to look at that book,” I said. “It'd be so much easier if I could just dive into her dreams like I did into Spark.” My eyes lit up as I remembered what Twilight had said. “Wait. That's it. Twilight told me that I could use the same spell to access her dreams.”

“You sure? Would that even work?” Lucky asked curiously.

“Twilight said it would work. It's worth a shot,” I replied, standing and moving over next to Violet, who was now sleeping. I smiled and tried to focus hard on her, hoping that she was dreaming. I reached down and tried to force myself into that dream. I felt resistance, but maintained my focus and powered through... Finally, I felt myself fall away into the nothingness of Violet's dream.

I was looking down at my love, a broad grin across her face as she nuzzled my neck sweetly. I sighed and leaned into the gentle embrace.

“Ohh... Star, how I've missed you,” she murmured. I nickered and kissed her on the cheek. I looked around, examining the area. Within the mercurial nature of dreams, this could change at any moment, but for now we were in a fancy bed in a nondescript hotel room. Violet was lying next to me in a position that suggested a heavy amount of sexy time was going to happen soon. Dirty littly filly. So this is what she dreams about? I thought as I kissed her deeply again, doing my best to make this look like the dream was still continuing.

“I love you...” I breathed, nuzzling my green love.

Violet grinned and sighed, bringing her forehoof up to rub along my neck.

“I love you too. It's really you isn't it?” she asked softly.

I looked at her with wide eyes. “Always the smart one weren't you?” I replied, earning a nod from my marefriend.

“The other one, she's not you is she?” Violet said, her eyes filling with tears.

“Spark,” I said simply. “She's taken over. Since the Ministry of Image.” A soft 'No...' echoed from Violet's lips. “She forced me out of my body, but she doesn't have total control. She can be expelled, but I need your help to do it Violet. Only you can do it.”

“W-W-what do you need me to do?” Violet said.

“There's a memory orb in my saddlebags. It was one of the ones that we found in Tenpony. The one with Twilight's cutie mark on it. You need to get Spark to activate it,” I said.

Violet sighed and nuzzled my neck again.

“Isn't she going to be suspicious when I try to get her to view a memory orb? You know as well as I do how much I hate it when you look at those things,” she replied.

“I know, but I’m sure a clever, sexy, intelligent pony like you can figure out a way. It's the only chance that we have to get her out of my body and under control,” I pleaded with her.

“I... I'll try. What is she planning to do Star?” she said.

“I’m not completely certain, my love. I know she’s trying to maintain control of my body,” I said, nuzzling my face into the crook of Violet’s neck.

“The bitch,” Violet grumbled, and I choked back a snort of laughter.

“I know, right? Anyway, I know she’s after Pride, probably to kill her. I’m not even certain about that, she’s been spending so much time in the black book... There’s a good chance we haven’t seen what she’s really up to, yet, and I don’t care.”

“What?” Violet said, surprise evident in the tension of her neck

I kissed her gently, then continued. “Whatever she wants, I don’t. If we can get her into the Twilight orb, we should be able to lock her away or destroy her or... Or something! And I don’t care what she’s up to once she’s gone.”

“What happens now?” Violet said softly.

I shrugged and pulled her into a sweet embrace.

“I need to go and try and speak with somepony. Find some more answers. Keep going on to Colter Field. I have a feeling we'll need to speak with Wrath anyways. You'll know when the time is right,” I said, grinning.

Violet kissed me again. I pulled out of it and embraced her one more.

“Can't you stay a little longer?” she asked, giving me the saucy bedroom eyes.

I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“You dirty little filly,” I said aloud as I leaned in, kissing her on the neck and taking in her sweet scent and a hint of chocolate. “I guess it couldn't hurt to stay a little while...”

I reappeared next to Violet, who was still sleeping. She had a goofy expression on her face, which made me giggle. Even in my noncorporeal state, I felt warm and flushed. Don't worry Violet. Everything will work out, I thought, recalling the events of her dream. I stood, looking over at Lucky as I felt my blush intensify.

“It worked,” I said, the smile on my face passing into grin territory.

Lucky grinned back, an almost predatory sparkle in her eyes. “So what now?” she asked.

“Now... we wait, and I try to talk to Generosity and Laughter. There's still a few things I need to fill in about Spark, and I think they'll be the ones to know them,” I replied.

With the sudden change characteristic of the city, the sun rose above the buildings, filling the room with warm light and awakening the ponies within. Before long, and with a few bouts of glaring between Spark and I, we were following behind the group in their trek through the ruined city of Chicacolt. Everypony was quiet as we walked. Violet kept shifting her gaze over to Spark every few seconds, the purple alicorn seemingly in her own world.

Patch and Steeljack were extremely subdued, having not been able to talk to Violet, but knowing something was going on. Violet was almost absurdly affectionate, rubbing up against Spark and nuzzling her. I couldn’t figure out what my mare was up to, until I saw her literally knock the black book aside to plant a kiss on Spark’s muzzle. The devious and clever trick brought a smile to my face.

What are you up to Spark? I thought several times throughout the journey. I knew that Spark didn't have total control yet, but why was she not trying to take it? The most likely possibility, I mused, was that she couldn’t, or didn’t know how. Which made Violet’s book-blocking almost impossibly helpful.

The journey through the city was also very quiet in terms of action, which was surprising. I would have assumed with the huge bounty on my head, more ponies would be after me. I figured that was due to Envy, whether she had warned off any others, or they had heard about how bad Spark had trounced the zebra. Bored, I started paying attention to the city itself while we walked. At first glance, you really couldn't tell that Chicacolt had been hit by any sort of megaspell at all. Many of its tallest buildings, while in bad shape from the ravages of time, appeared to be relatively intact. I asked Lucky about this, hoping she might know something about it.

“What, you mean you don't know?” she said. I shook my head. “Ohh... that's because Chicacolt wasn't really hit by a traditional megaspell. It was destroyed from inside.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, cocking my head at her.

“Well. Chicacolt apparently had this tower defense system that was supposed to take down any conventional missiles, but it went haywire. Some ponies believe the zebras infiltrated the city and took control of it, but that it ended up killing them too,” Lucky explained. “Sure, the city got hit by neighboring radiation from the other cities that were hit. Everywhere got hit by that stuff, but that only ghoulified some ponies. Any other ponies that died were killed by the pulse from that thing.” She pointed at a building far in the distance. I realized after a few moments that she was pointing at Filly's Tower.

“You mean to tell me, the building that the Minotaur lives in houses the city's most powerful defense system and it was responsible for killing this whole city?” I asked, completely flabbergasted at such a thing. I made a mental note to definitely ask the Minotaur about this later on after I had gotten my body back.

“Crazy stuff huh?” Lucky said.

I nodded silently. Crazy stuff indeed.

“How do you know all about this?” I said, keeping a close eye on the rest of the group. They were continuing their walk in silence.

“Well. I did actually come from a Stable after all. One near the city. After it opened, we started putting together the pieces of what had happened. Comparing stories and putting knowledge together about Chicacolt,” Lucky replied.

“That explains so much,” I said, grinning and poking the green mare in the side. Lucky sighed. “Hey, I'm only kidding. I did the same sort of thing with the Followers. What made you leave your Stable to begin with?”

“These for the most part,” she said, flapping her wings to indicate them. “That and my horn. I was a freak, an ‘anomaly’ they only put up with because they didn't have a choice. I hated them for it.”

“I'm... I'm sorry. I... I know how you feel. We alicorns have always been shunned by the Wasteland as a whole,” I said, sighing and extending a wing over the spectral mare..

“Thanks. How do you do it? How do you put up with it? I... All those years ago, everypony around me just treated me like I was a child. They all hated me, just for what I was,” Lucky said.

“I... I guess it's because I have Violet maybe? She always sees the best in everything, and she always knows how to make me smile,” I said. “Even if everyone I met tried to shoot at me, she would still love me. It's that kind of love that keeps me going.”

“I see... Star?” Lucky asked. I looked at her quizzically. “Do you ever think I'll be able to be real again?”

I sighed. I had been sort of dreading this question from the green mare.

“Lucky. You are real. You've shown me that with every action you've taken. That's important,” I said confidently. “I made a promise to you, and I'm going to do it the right way this time. I will find a way to fix you.”

“I... I'm not sure Star. I'm not sure you can fix this. I don't want to see what happened at the Ministry of Image happen again,” she said.

“No worries. Once that bitch is out of my body, we're going to get you back into yours,” I replied. I realized I had been paying little attention to the rest of the group as I almost walked through Violet. They had stopped. I looked forward and realized why.

Colter Field. We had arrived.

The ancient sports stadium stood tall over the dead terrain, guarded by an amazingly intact barbed wire fence. The stadium itself certainly had seen better years. One side of the stadium's box office had caved in completely, and the ground surrounding the structure was pockmarked with numerous holes that indicated the presence of mines. The stadium had its rain cover up, not that it did any good as there was a large hole in the center of it. Despite its age however, the stadium was clearly being used still. Live spotlights dotted the sides of the building, moving back and forth and spraying their light into the darkening sky. Outside of the main entrance into the stadium stood two minotaur guards.

“What's the plan?” Violet piped up.

“For now, we rest and take a few watches on the place. I don't want to go in blind,” Spark said, saying something smart for the first time since I met her.

“Agreed,” Steeljack said. “There's an old trolley station just up the street. Saw it as we were walking here. We can hole out there for the time being.”

Spark nodded and the group turned about, trotting along the street towards the station. I took one last look at Colter Field, and then followed behind Lucky. The station was indeed abandoned. It appeared that there had been ponies waiting for the trolley when the world ended. Several skeletons littered the station floor. My friends began setting up for the night, Spark stepping away for a moment. She pulled out the book once more and sat in the corner, studying it intently. Violet grimaced and moved quietly over to Steeljack and Patch. I stepped in closer to hear what they were saying.

“We have a problem,” Violet said softly.

“What do you mean?” Patch replied.

“Star. She's not who she says she is,” the green unicorn mare said. “She's been replaced by Spark.”

“Spark?” Steeljack inquired, casting a glance at the corner where Spark lay.

“Yeah. She's been inside of Star's head all of this time,” Violet said. “Star is... she's outside of her body somehow.”

“Okay, I'm sort of confused here,” Patch said, pointing over at the purple alicorn. “You mean that isn't Star over there?”

Violet shook her head. “We need to help Star now. She told me how to do it. But I'm going to need your help. It's going to be highly dangerous, but it's the only way to get Star back,” she replied.

“What do you need us to do?” Steeljack said.

Violet grinned and gathered the two earth ponies into a hug.

“Knew I could count on you. There's a memory orb in her saddlebags. You remember the ones from Tenpony Tower?” she said. Steeljack nodded. “We need to get Spark to activate the one with Twilight's cutie mark on it.”

“How... how are we going to do that?” Patch asked.

I smiled as I watched my friends plan. Pretty soon I was going to be back in my own body. I could hardly wait. I looked back at Lucky. I had promised that I would help get her back into her body, and I meant it. The spectral mare was lying down, looking at her hooves. I sighed as I stepped over to her.

“Lucky?” I said. She looked up for a moment. “I'm going to be gone for a bit. I need to try to speak to Generosity. Will you be alright?”

“Yeah. I'll be fine,” the unicorn/pegasus replied.

I grinned and turned towards the corner where Spark sat, still engrossed in the black book. I focused hard on the purple alicorn, trying to find that place in my mind that took me to the Virtues. I felt a familiar tug on my spectral self as I dove into Spark's body and the world fell away into darkness.

I looked around, grinning at my triumph. I was standing in the circular room once more, surrounded by the six doors emblazoned with the cutie marks of the Ministry Mares. I sat and waited for the next door to open. The torch doused itself, sending its fiery package towards the door marked with three balloons. Okay... not the one I really wanted to talk to, but it will have to do, I thought as I trotted to the door and stepped inside. The doorway opened up into a large bakery. The sweet sticky smell of sugar assaulted my nostrils as I made my way into the main kitchen. The happy sound of a mare humming a joyful tune filled the room. A bouncy pink earth pony was zipping about the kitchen, tending to the various cakes and cupcakes she was baking.

“Hello?” I asked.

The pink pony stopped what she was doing immediately, pouncing upon with me with wild abandon.

“Ohmygosh I've been waiting for you for so long and now you're here I can hardly believe it and do you like cupcakes ohmygosh I'm not done with them yet I hope you don't mind I'll get them done quickly!” the pink mare exploded with joy. I could barely keep up with the earth pony's exuberant behavior.

“Oomph. I'm fine, trust me. I don't need any cupcakes,” I said, trying to keep the mare from attacking me with hugs.

“Oh. You're probably a pie pony then do you like pies I like pies I like cherry pie do you like cherry pie?” the mare continued. I had no idea how the pink pony could even say things that fast.

“No really, it's okay. Are... you Laughter?” I asked.

The earth pony nodded animatedly. “Yup that's me! Laughter is my name, making ponies smile is my game!” she said, bouncing about the kitchen once more. She stopped for a moment and stared at me. “And you're Radiant Star. The Ministry Mare! The mare who buried Pinkie Pie!”

“You saw that?” I said.

The mare nodded again excitedly, before lunging forward and hugging me tight enough that I feared for my ribs.

“Yeppers! That was a really nice thing for you to do. I've never met a nicer alicorn, I mean Princess Celestia was pretty nice but she never really had the opportunity to do something like that and you did and you DID and it was just wonderful!” Laughter exclaimed, squeezing me even tighter before releasing the embrace.

“I... I just felt so bad for her,” I replied. “She tried so hard to reunite with Twilight. I couldn't just leave her there.”

“And for that, I thank you. Pinkie was the only bearer of Harmony that truly understood the nature of Laughter. I loved her so much,” the pink mare said sadly.

“Look. I came here to ask you about Spark,” I said, catching Laughter's attention.

“Spark? What about her?” she replied. The pink mare's curly hair instantly deflated at the mention of the Element of Magic. I felt as if I was speaking to a distinctly different pony now.

“You were as close to her as Pinkie was to Twilight. She's in control of my body now, Laughter. I need to know why she's doing this. What happened to her?” I said, trying to keep some measure of control over myself. To be fair, I was angry at these Virtues. They had worked their ways into my life and I was pissed.

“Spark... she was my bestest friend, even before Twilight ignited the Elements of Harmony,” the mare said. “After all, Laughter is the best kind of Magic. But there was something... wrong with her.”

“Wrong?” I asked.

Laughter nodded solemnly. “She was... wrong. Corrupted. She had these grand ideas for the six of us to live on. It was almost like she saw the end coming,” she replied. “She... she knew these strange things.”

“What kind of things?” I said.

“She knew all sorts of things about zebra and changeling magic, as well as how to use them. Things that she never should have known,” Laughter said.

“I saw this memory where Spark convinced Twilight to take possession of the spell that put her into my head. I could sense that something was completely wrong about her,” I explained.

Laughter nodded. “Twilight wanted to save her brother so badly. She would have done anything, including give in to Spark's delusions of grandeur,” the pink mare said.

“Spark is definitely deluded. Thank you so much Laughter. I know things have been bad, but I promise I will try to fix it,” I said quietly.

The normally bouncy earth pony reached in and pulled me into another tight embrace.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said, beginning to cry into my shoulder. I smiled and hugged the poor pink mare back. Her hair instantly erupted into an explosion of curls and the widest smiled I'd ever seen graced her tear-stricken face.

“Now then, how about those cupcakes? I don't want to leave you hungry after all. I made them just for you!” she exclaimed, releasing me from her hug and bouncing over to the stove. In a flash she had pulled a fresh batch of beautiful cupcakes out of the oven and frosted them. She bounded over to me and set them down.

“Oh. Alright then, I might as well,” I said, picking up one of the confectioneries with my magic and popping it into my mouth. The taste was overwhelmingly sugary. I could feel my dream teeth rotting from the intensely sugary confection. I put down the half-eaten pastry and smiled.

“It's quite good. Thank you,” I said, smiling. “I really should get going though. There's things I need to do, and I'm going to need to speak to Generosity before all this is through.”

The pink mare nodded. “Just remember. When the time comes, if you need us let us know,” she said. I grinned.

“Thank you again,” I said as the world around me went into darkness and the pink mare disappeared with it.

I looked up as I reappeared. I was in darkness, my spectral body giving off a soft glow that only I could see. Spark and the others appeared to be sleeping soundly. Lucky stood in the corner, standing a solemn guard over a group of ponies who couldn't even see her. I waved, smiling as I stood up and trotted over to her.

“How'd it go?” the green mare asked.

“Pretty well. I miss anything?” I replied.

“Nothing major. They went to sleep a few hours ago. There's been a lot of activity though, down at the stadium,” Lucky said.

“How so?” I asked.

She motioned for me to follow her, and we walked outside and up to the hilltop overlooking Colter Field. A throng of creatures, from ponies to griffins, were moving into the main doors of the coliseum.

“Hmm... I wonder what's going on.”

That was when I saw them. A crew of minotaurs clad in power armor were sneaking their way up the street, headed right towards where my friends and Spark were holed up in the trolley station. My gaze narrowed as I realized they didn't look too friendly.

“We'd better get back there. Hopefully this doesn't turn out like I think it will,” I said, turning away from Lucky and galloping as fast as I could towards the trolley station. Lucky followed behind as the group of minotaurs crept closer to the abandoned building. We didn’t make it in time. The minotaur team beat us to the trolley station, and pounced, startling my friends awake. Within moments, the battle was over. The minotaurs held my friends and Spark within tightly wound bonds of iron. I sneered at them even though they couldn't see me. Why wasn't Spark doing anything? With her magic power, she could certainly turn the tide of the battle, even now. I began to wonder if her control was beginning to slip on its own, or if she had figured out Violet’s plans and let them get captured to thwart her. I grinned as the lead minotaur stepped up to my friends.

“Welcome friends,” he said, his brusque voice commanding and powerful. “Today is your lucky day. You have been selected to compete.”

“Compete? Compete where?” Patch said angrily, struggling against her bonds.

The minotaur sneered. “Why, compete in the games of course! Especially you Ministry Mare. The Overlord wishes to see you fight. He wishes to see if you're worth turning over to the Lotus Triad or not,” he replied.

Spark simply glared at the minotaur, saying nothing. Violet remained silent as well.

“What kind of games are we talking about here?” Steeljack said.

“The kind where the strong survive, and the losers... die,” the minotaur holding him said, grinning.

I stared at Spark, catching her eye. She looked... angry. I grinned at her, mouthing the words Soon I'll be back in my body as the group of the minotaurs hoisted my friends up and began carrying them from the trolley station. I looked to Lucky and shrugged. There wasn't much I could really do about anything at this point, so I had no choice but to follow and see where this headed. I certainly hoped that Violet had a plan to get out of this. I couldn't care less about what Spark had planned.

We followed the group as they started their trek down the hill towards the stadium. I grimaced as I realized that these minotaur were most likely working for the Cult of Iron Will and the Overlord that the one had mentioned was probably Wrath. The minotaurs carried my friends around the back of the stadium, where a set of massive double doors led into the backstage area. The doors opened, revealing several minotaur guards wearing blood red cloaks. They motioned the group towards an area marked with the sign Slave Cages. I sneered at this. Of course the Cult were slavers. If I was correct about the sort of games the minotaurs had talked about, they were gladiatorial fights with slaves as the fighters. The lead minotaur chuckled as he barged his way into the slave pens, tossing my friends to the ground below. Their saddlebags and weapons were stripped from them and taken into a nearby set of secured lockers. I cringed as I watched Stargazer get locked away. When this was all over and I was back into my body, I promised I would kill every last fucking minotaur I had to in order to get my gun back. A glimmer of purple caught my eye and I turned towards it. Violet opened her mouth slightly to show Steeljack and Patch that she had managed to catch the Twilight memory orb in her teeth without being seen. I smiled. Way to go Violet! I thought, trying not to let Spark see my grin. She deserved what she was going to get when Violet sprung her trap.

I looked about the slave area. Several horridly underweight ponies huddled in various cages, looking deathly sick as they tried to keep warm. Another cage held several griffons, looking even worse than the ponies had. What caught my eye however, was a metal enclosure with a window. I looked inside and gasped in awe. The beast inside was dark grey, its yellow eyes glowing in the blackness. Wicked claws tipped its fingers and it was hunched over. Its hands, feet, and even its neck were bound so that it could not move at all. I realized with shock that the beast was a hellhound. I shuddered, hoping that none of my friends would have to face this horror in the arena. I trotted back over to the cage that held my friends, noticing that each cage was electrified and that several minotaur guards patrolled the area, each of them equipped with deadly looking energy rifles. There would be no escaping this area by force, and any use of magic would be dealt with lethality.

I stopped by the cage, looking over at Lucky and sighing. It looked like we were going to have to wait after all. A thundering noise rumbled throughout the main hall as an extremely large minotaur encased in power armor stomped through the slave pen doors. He snarled and simply pointed at the cage my friends were in. Alright then. No waiting after all, I thought grimacing as I watched my friends get dragged out of the cage. I followed along behind as they were shoved forward into the hall.

“Walk,” the large minotaur said.

With no other choice but to comply, my friends marched ahead down the long hallway. Lucky trotted beside me, an expression of worry written all over her already pained face. The hall was adorned with old war propaganda along with posters for the Chicacolt Bears, a hoofball team that apparently used to play at this old stadium. One of the posters held the sparkling face of Fluttershy, the Ministry Mare of Kindness. I chuckled at the image of the timid mare promoting such a violent sport as hoofball. The long hall ended in another large set of double doors. The minotaur in the lead pushed through the doors and the rest of the group was ushered in.

My jaw dropped at the sight of the stadium's field. The field itself was long gone, having sunken deep into the earth below, leaving nothing more than a black pit. A massive circular platform of iron and steel had been built above the darkness in the center of the crevasse. Two more iron platforms stood on each side of the main platform, suspended by iron cabling. Large monitors adorned the sides of the stadium, currently displaying prewar advertisements. Sparkle Cola changed over to Fancy Buck Cakes as I watched. In the center of the stadium directly above the main platform was another platform. Hooked up to it was a forest of microphones and equipment. It appeared to be some form of announcer's booth. What was truly shocking however was the crowd. Raiders, slavers, and generally nasty ponies alike filled in every spare inch of the dilapidated stadium's seating areas.

Mixed among the ponies of the crowd were everything from griffons to minotaurs. Also sitting in various sections of the stadium were representatives from what I figured must have been every damn gang in the entire city. I sneered as I saw Lotus Petal and her Triad cronies in one section. A large group of Mexicolts sat in another. Further back, I saw the familiar brahmin and earth pony mix of the Cowpones. Finally, front and center were the bakery boys of the MMMM. My heart jumped when I saw a familiar cream colored unicorn sitting with his gang. I felt even more elated when I noticed that Danish had a cross look on his face. He did not appear to be enjoying himself in the slightest as he saw Spark and my friends ushered out of the pens. The rest of his gang shared in his silence. I supposed we had friends in the MMMM after all.

The crowd was loud and raucous, waiting for something big to happen. I was able to spot more of those red robed minotaurs lining the sides of the stadium seating. They appeared to be keeping the peace amongst the unruly bunch. My friends were pushed forward down the long set of stairs that led down to the stadium's ground level where a grouping of cages indicated that they were used for slaves. As they arrived at the bottom, the minotaur in power armor leading them sneered.

“Just the Ministry Mare and the unicorn. The other two... sit,” he said forcefully. Two of his guards grabbed Steeljack and Patch and unceremoniously deposited them in the slave pen seating. Spark growled at the minotaur in power armor as she stepped up onto the makeshift bridge, crossing over onto the main platform. Violet followed behind, a smile quirking her lips as she carefully walked across the bridge after the purple alicorn. The majority of the crowd roared in delight as it watched the two step into view. I could hear Lotus Petal screaming for blood. I nodded to Lucky and headed for the platform, which in this state was basically just walking. Spark stepped forward with a glare for me as I walked onto the edge of her platform.

“What's wrong sweetheart? Cat got your tongue?” I chided the purple mare. “You know I've been wondering why you haven't been doing anything to get yourself out of this mess. I mean, you want to be the Goddess right? Why not just subjugate them to your will?”

“Eventually, you foal,” Spark replied. “I planned for this. How else would I not get to meet this Wrath character that Envy told us about?”

I sneered. “Of course. Always planning, always waiting. Well, I've got news for you bitch. Your endgame is coming soon,” I said, grinning.

Spark growled.

“We'll see who’s endgame is coming, you-,” she said, her reply cut short by a loud rumbling noise from above.

I looked up, seeing a dark form land on the suspended platform to the right of the main platform. The figure was clad in another one of those blood red cloaks, but the form revealed that it was definitely a minotaur. I shuddered as the the figure tossed off its cloak. The figure was definitely a male. His bulging muscles were scarred beyond belief. One of his horns was broken off, the end of it frayed and splintered. His eyes were red and bloodshot. He wore no armor, but I was fairly certain he didn’t need any. What was striking about the creature were the devices attached to his arms. Iron circular bands wrapped his upper arms from his shoulders to his elbows. Injector devices lined each band, poised to strike deep into the beast's flesh. Massive gauntlets with clawed fingers sat at the end of each hand. He snarled, revealing vicious white teeth in a grin that would make anyone cringe in fear. I didn't even need to hear the roar of the crowd to know who this was. This was Wrath.

The minotaur raised his hand, silencing the crowd instantly. He turned a complete circle, his hot stare covering the entire population in the arena, before he spoke. When he did, his voice was powerful and brooding.

“My... brethren,” he said, still holding one clawed hand in the air. “Tonight! I invite you all to join us for a most... unexpected occasion.” He turned to face the crowd, which was hushed, giving the minotaur their utmost attention. “We of the Cult of Iron Will have a special present for the dregs of Chicacolt. But first, ohh before we arrive at the main event, I wish to address you all. My friends, my brothers, we are all the lost children of this great city that was burned to the ground. From its ashes we arose, taking what we needed, what we wanted. We took what we were owed my brothers!” The minotaur spun around, facing the other side of the stadium now. “And out of the senseless violence we forged a new path, one given to us by the late and great Iron Will. His teachings have shown us the path to enlightenment!”

The crowd was still, waiting for what Wrath would say next. The acolytes of the Cult stood ready, as if waiting for something to happen.

“Now, I know what you are all here to see. I promised a fight, and by Iron Will I am going to give you a fight!” Wrath shouted, inciting the roar of the crowd once more. They died down as the minotaur continued on. “But know this. The teachings of Iron Will aren't just for anyone. No. They are for the strong! There is no room for the weak in this world! We are the stronger! We are the victors! They will not block us from becoming the rulers of this forgotten city! No! When somepony tries to block ---”

“WE SMASH THEIR HEADS WITH A FUCKING ROCK!” the blood-red robed acolytes of the Cult shouted in unison. In any other place, the robed minotaurs pretending at religious ceremony would have been comical. Here, surrounded by the rusty evidence of their savagery, they were terrifying. Spark and Violet stood in the center platform and I thought that maybe for a moment that Spark actually looked afraid. Wrath chuckled with insane laughter, his grating voice echoing across the crowd.

“Yes, that's right my brethren! Smash their heads! That is what we are here tonight to see! So without further ado, my honored guests of the evening... I give to you all the Ministry Mare!” Wrath shouted. The crowd roared once more. Screams of profanity and hatred could be heard, cursing the Ministry Mare's name. Wow. I'm real popular, I thought. “That's right. The Ministry Mare and her friends are with us, and not only are they our guests, but they are going to compete in the games for your entertainment.” My eyes widened at this. Oh no, I thought as I looked down at Violet and Spark again. He wouldn't.

“And we're going to start right now! The Ministry Mare and her little green friend down there... well, should I say... her little green enemy?” Wrath said with a hint of mystery in his voice.

Violet glared at Spark. I shouted, not caring that she couldn't hear me. This wasn't fair! There was no way Violet would survive in a one-on-one fight against Spark, not after the alicorn took down Envy as easily as she did.

“Place your bets and take your places competitors! It's time of the event you've all been waiting for!”

Two of the acolytes leaped across the crevasse and landed next to Spark and Violet. They escorted each one to the opposite ends of the platform.

“Now then, I suppose I should let you little ponies know the rules of the games! The number one rule is: FUCK the rules. Do what you have to in order to survive! The first one to kill the other is the winner. Any questions?” Wrath yelled.

Spark shook her head, her eyes intent on Violet. Violet somberly shook her head as well. She stared hard at Spark, saying nothing. I noticed that she was keeping her lips tightly together, which meat she was still carrying the memory orb in her teeth. The brazen clang of a gong echoed through the arena, and the fight was on. Violet put her head down for a moment and then opened her eyes, a fury unlike what I had ever seen before from the green filly held there. She snorted and began to charge at Spark, who seemed to be surprised by the first attack.

“Violet? What are you doing sweetie?” Spark said, still trying to keep up the appearance that she was me.

Violet ignored her and kept charging forward. Spark's eyes widened as she cast a teleportation spell, reappearing on the other side of the platform. Violet stopped and turned about, glaring at Spark with murder in her eyes. She stayed deathly silent. I knew it was because she'd drop the orb if she talked.

“Sweetheart? What's wrong? Why are you doing this?” Spark said, trying to sound like she was crying at the sudden betrayal from my love.

Violet growled and finally opened her mouth, pulling the memory orb out with her hoof.

“Stop calling me that!” she shouted at the purple alicorn. “I know who you are, Spark. I want my mare back, now!”

Spark's expression slipped from her smarmy pout to honest shock, before hardening into a cold, calculating smirk. “Ah, so we finally get to the heart of the matter,” she said, her voice turning silky smooth as she cackled maniacally. “I own your little Star, you pathetic wretch! Her body is mine to do with as I damn well please. The purple alicorn shrieked, before breaking out into an honest-to-Celestia peal of mad laughter. Even the minotaurs were disturbed by her insane cackling.

“Then I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done to her,” Violet simply said as she charged forward.

I watched with elation. You go filly! I thought as she got closer to the purple alicorn, hoping that the memory orb she was holding would turn the tide in this battle. Without it... I seriously worried for my lover. She never was any good at hoof-to-hoof combat and Spark clearly had an edge magically. Spark smiled, and I knew Violet was in trouble. Her horn ignited and she grabbed at my marefriend's leg, tripping her mid-charge and tossing her to the ground. Violet hit hard, groaning as she pushed herself up. She channeled her own magic into a large blast that missed cleanly, soaring past Spark's head. The alicorn laughed as she stepped to the side, not even dodging, just moving out of the way.

“Give up little Violet. You're never going to win,” she said.

Violet grimaced. She was worn out from the magic blast and in pain from her earlier fall.

“I don't need to win,” she panted. “I just need to make you do this!” She tossed the memory orb from her right hoof right at Spark. I surmised that she hoped that the alicorn would think it was a grenade and try to lob it back with her magic.

Spark snickered and put up a hoof, batting the orb to the ground.

“Oh, what do we have here?” she said, looking at the orb rolling on the ground in a circle. “I guess little Star's been in contact with you. Interfering insignificant little bitch ---” Spark never got the rest of the sentence out before Violet was upon her. Ignoring her magic, my beautiful green unicorn brought her hoof across Spark’s face like a hammer on an anvil. The crowd roared in delight as blood sprayed from Spark’s smashed lip, splattering on the platform. Violet roared with fury as she gathered herself, her horn lightning and even manifesting a layer of overglow.

“YOU WILL NOT TALK ABOUT MY MARE LIKE THAT!” she shouted angrily, pushing all of her magic into a single form in front of her. A makeshift blade made of magic materialized before her, the feat fueled by my love's rage and hate of the spirit that had made my life a living hell. Spark reeled back from Violet's strike, snarling. The crowd continued to scream for blood. I could hear Wrath above, laughing wildly at the spectacle.

Spark grinned, forming her own blade of magic in mid-air. “So, the gloves are off, so to speak,” she said. “So be it then.”

She surged forward, slashing with wild abandon at the green unicorn. Violet raised her own magical blade, blocking each strike but having an increasing amount of trouble keeping up the act. By the third or fourth attack, she was running visibly ragged. Her breathing coming harsher and faster as she pitifully tried to block Spark's slash. The green blade of energy shattered beneath Spark's magical sword, knocking the unicorn mare down.

“Now then. Let's end this little game, shall we? I'm growing oh so tired of you,” Spark said, grinning.

Violet coughed, streams of blood spewing forth from her mouth as she glared up at the purple alicorn.

“Fuck you. It's not over yet, even if you kill me. Steeljack and Patch still know who you are,” she managed to say.

Spark laughed. “Those foals are even less of a match for me than you are,” she crowed. “I'm so disappointed in you, Violet. I thought you would be tougher than this. But now, it's time to finish this.”

Her energy blade came up, and a sadistic smile crossed her face. I shouted, tears streaming from my eyes, knowing that Violet couldn't hear me but I didn't care. The blade came across as Violet pushed herself back to try and avoid it. The energy sword struck home, catching Violet in her right foreleg just below her knee. I didn't even need to hear the slick wet cutting noise it made to know what had happened. Violet howled in pain as the green lump of flesh that was the bottom of her leg went flying. The crowd roared loudly with glee while I shouted and cried until my voice was hoarse. Spark spared me a glance, grinning wickedly at my distress, malice in her lavender eyes. Violet continued to howl as she tried to get away from the purple alicorn, drawing her attention once more.

“Oh, trying to escape are we? I'm not done with you yet filly. I'm going to make you suffer,” Spark said, stomping after my injured lover.

Violet shuffled across the platform on her stomach, her blood pulsing out her stump into a sickeningly shiny red trail. She stopped a short couple of feet away, flipping onto her back as Spark stood over her triumphantly. The lavender mare leaned in close to Violet's fear-stricken face. She whispered lightly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“Just think of it this way Violet. You'll get to see her after all... when you're dead,” she said, bringing up her energy blade once more.

Violet's expression turned from pain to a sly grin as she spat blood into Spark's eyes, blinding her temporarily.

“Fuck you,” she said, her blood smearing her face. Her remaining hoof came up and across, and I saw something released from it fly into the air. I realized that it was the memory orb as I saw the purplish gleam streak upwards towards Spark's horn. The orb connected and activated.

Violet had told me, in the past, that memory orbs didn’t do anything when activated. The user just sat there with the orb stuck to their horn. This was different. Purple lightning arced out of the orb, wracking the alicorn’s body (my body!) with agonizing shocks. Spark howled in pain as the magic from the memory device took on a life of its own, tugging and pulling a spectral form out of my body. As the thrashing spirit-form of Spark was ripped from my flesh, my original coat color returned in flashes and sweeps. The purple lightning intensified as the mare pulled free, incinerating her in a cloud of foul smoke. I felt drained myself as the purple lightning died away.

“Star!!” Violet shouted, crawling over to my prone form. “Star!!!”

“An unexpected upset my friends! The Ministry Mare is out and so is her friend!” Wrath shouted. The crowd screamed and hollered, a near-riot contained by the red robed enforcers. I moved towards my body, hoping to get back into it so I could help Violet. She was curled up next to me, howling in pain and misery as she lay clutching the stump of her leg, next to my lifeless form. Before I could get close though, a spectral hoof shot out, stopping me dead.

“Don’t even think about it, foal. You still have me to deal with,” a cold voice said.

I looked from Violet to the voice, seeing a dark ghostly alicorn standing between me and my body. She was a deep royal purple, with a flat black mane. She was clad in regal vestments, befitting a Goddess, with a dull tiara on her brow.

“Spark.” I said flatly. “I thought the orb was supposed to contain you. How did you get out?”

“Pitiful foal. Twilight told you about that didn't she? I suppose I should have expected it. That mare never did truly know the power she held,” the purple alicorn spat. “I was more than capable of breaking free.”

“I'm going to make you pay, for what you did to Violet,” I said, anger rising in my voice.

“Oh? I'd like to see you try,” Spark replied. “But neither of us are in any shape to fight at the moment. We're both a product of the condition of your body, which at the moment is in too much pain to let either of us fight.”

I glared at the purple alicorn, but I realized she was right. Ever since the memory orb forced her out, my strength had waned considerably.

“Fine then. So you won't mind if I take my body back then,” I said.

“No dice, sweetie. As soon as my strength comes back, I'm hopping right back in. I have things to do and ponies to see,” Spark replied.

“Why are you doing this? Why, Magic? What happened to you?” I asked.

Spark snorted angrily. “Don't call me that name. I'm Spark. Magic died a long time ago,” she said. Beyond her, I could see several medical guards of the Cult carrying Violet away. “As for what happened to me. I saw the truth. She showed it to me. She showed me the potential I always had.”

“Who...?” I asked.

“Nightmare of course. She was my true teacher. While Twilight studied under Princess Celestia, Nightmare herself was my mentor. She taught me how to access real magic, true power,” she said.

“Nightmare? You mean Nightmare Moon? But I thought you and the rest of the Elements defeated her?” I asked.

“Nightmare was always there, always waiting. She was inside of Princess Luna of course. The war gave her the perfect opportunity to make me her protégé,” Spark said. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back into my body and find Pride so I can give myself to her.” My eyes widened at this revelation. Give herself to Pride? I thought.

“What?!” I shouted at hearing this. “What do you mean give yourself to her? I thought you wanted to kill her?!”

Spark groaned. “You really are very dense aren't you?” she said. “It was never about you! You were the sacrificial lamb I needed to find the one who would carry me to greatness! I had hoped you would turn out like your other sisters, but no... Twilight somehow had her hoof in that. I needed somepony better than you. Stronger. More... willing.”

“And you think that's Pride?” I asked, glaring at her.

“Pride is powerful, and I will gladly share myself with her to become the true Goddess of the Wasteland,” Spark said, growling as she turned to go back into my body.

I charged forward, spinning around and bucking into the shady alicorn's side. She went flying, grunting as she struck the metal of the platform.

“Enough!” I shouted. “You're not getting back into my body.”

“Even if it meant I was going to leave you for her?” she said. “Even if it meant that you would finally be free of me?” I nodded.

“I can't let that happen. You are too dangerous,” I replied, growling myself as the other alicorn pushed herself up from the ground and made a break for my body. I moved to intercept her. I collided with the other mare, both of us falling to the ground.

Spark snarled and tried to clamber along the ground towards my body.

“Oh no you don't,” I shouted, reaching over the top of her. My hooves pushed off of her back and I flapped my spectral wings, hopping into the air before slamming into the lifeless body. Spark’s roar of anger blended with a rushing noise as a warm glow suffused my entire being, and I felt myself being pulled back in. My entire world went pitch black and everything fell away into nothingness.

I awoke in the circular room with the six doors. How did I get here? I thought. I looked at the six doors, all of them were dark and grey, somehow dead feeling, save for the center door. It bore Twilight's cutie mark. I sighed. I guess I'm not going to get to talk to Generosity before I --- I jumped, my train of thought completely derailed, as a door opened without the torch indicating it. A demure white mare trotted out of the door bearing Rarity’s cutie mark. She was smiling brightly, and wore a simple gown that looked marvelous against her alabaster hide.

“You were thinking about me darling?” Generosity said. She looked at the door with Twilight's cutie mark. “Be careful in there. She's not pleasant to be around.”

“What do I do then?” I asked.

The white mare sighed. “I'm very sorry for all of this, Radiant Star. This is all of my fault. If I hadn't pushed on Rarity to explore the zebra necromancy this might have turned out much differently,” she said.

“And Nightmare? How does she factor into all of this?” I asked.

“You must understand, we were all responsible for that. We had no idea what any of us were getting ourselves into when the Ministries were created. We didn't even known what war was. We were six scared little fillies imbued with ancient power. How easy it was for her to corrupt us,” she said, shaking her head.

I smiled and stepped towards the mare, pulling her into a hug.

“It's not your fault, yours or Rarity's,” I said. “It's not even really Spark's fault. She's as much a victim as you are. I see that now.”

Generosity nodded, as the flame shot out and hit the door with Twilight's cutie mark. The door opened slowly. I looked down at the white mare I was embracing. She smiled up at me with sad eyes.

“Good luck,” she said.

I nodded, extracting myself from the hug and making my way towards the door, pausing just inside the entrance. I walked right into a very familiar library. Twilight's library. Standing the center of the floor was a dark purple alicorn surrounded by iron bars. I walked up, catching her attention.

“Hello Spark,” I said. “Here we are again.”

The other alicorn glared at me. “Yes, it would seem that you beat me. For now,” she said. “You got your body back. Why must you torture me so?”

“Because... because despite how much I hate you and how much I want you dead... I want to try to understand you,” I said. “I want to understand why you let things get this way.”

“You want to know how I became Spark?” the mare said. I nodded. “Fine. If you must know, when Luna formed the Ministries I was scared. The war had already gotten too far for any of us to truly comprehend. I had no idea what was expected of me or Twilight.”

“And that's when she came,” I said, more of a statement than a question.

“Indeed. Nightmare offered me a chance. Power, unlimited power. All I had to do was become her student, and learn the ways of darkness. Over time, it corrupted me and the other Elements by proxy. Then, it happened,” she said.

“What?” I asked, cocking my head.

“They tried to kill me. They couldn't of course, by that time I was far too powerful. I stood fast, even against all of the rest of them,” she said, noting my horrified face. “What? They didn't tell you that? Of course they didn't. Their big secret. How they tried to murder their closest friend. I had to come up with some plan to save myself. And here we are, two hundred years later.”

“Why me?” I asked.

“I don't know why it was you. I only know that you were the right pick. As soon as I saw you through Twilight inside the Goddess, I knew you were the one. Unfortunately, I was trapped inside her. When the Goddess died however, I was let loose,” Spark replied, shaking her head.

“But you weren't exactly free,” I stated.

The deep purple mare nodded. “I floated from one valley to the next, seeking a host to take on my power. Eventually I found a unicorn who became a slave to me. That unicorn is the one who left the spell for the Twilight Society to cast. But something else happened when they cast it,” she said.

“Twilight came too. Out of the ether. Her spirit was too strong to give in, knowing you were still out there,” I said.

“Yes...” she replied, sneering viciously.

I sighed and moved to the bars. “Spark, it doesn't have to be like this. You're not at fault here. You were... misled. Corrupted. This isn't you, can't you just see that?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, my course is set. And now that I am free of you, I can find another more willing to accept me, like Pride,” the mare said, snorting. My eyes widened. Free of me? I thought.

“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.

The other mare grinned wickedly.

“I always have a trick up my sleeve, this one just so happened to be a side effect of Twilight's memory orb. It expelled me from your body and mind literally. I'm no longer inside of you,” she said, motioning to the bars. They began to glow as they dissipated. “I'm free. Free to do what I want. And I didn't even need to find the other one to do it either.” She began to fade from sight. I shouted at her.

“Wait! Spark!” I cried out.

The spectral mare let out a giddy laugh.

“Be seeing you, Radiant Star. The next time we meet might not be so pleasant,” she cooed as she disappeared. The last thing to fade away was her triumphant smirk.

I awoke with a start, smelling the rank stench of bile as I pushed myself up from the makeshift bed. I groaned. Where am I? I thought. I realized after a moment that I had been laying on a bed. I looked down at myself, seeing the familiar purple coat I had been used to for so long. I was back in my body! I sighed, my mind replaying the events that had transpired. I searched the back of my mind for the familiar weight of my unwelcome passenger, and felt... Nothing. She wasn’t there. Memory returned, and my eyes widened.

“Violet!” I shouted.

A groan came from beside me. The gloomy darkness parted enough for me to make sense of my surroundings, and I was in a dirty room, tired medical equipment racked against filthy walls. I looked over, seeing my lover laying in a bed much like my own. She was alive! I nearly jumped for joy, but then I saw her condition. Her injured leg appeared to have been repaired, but not with flesh. A metal prosthetic leg extended down from her knee, ending in a metal hoof. Who did this? I thought as I moved over to the bed and nuzzled my marefriend closely. She appeared to be in and out of consciousness as she wrapped a leg around my neck.

“You're awake. This is good,” a voice echoed in the darkness. I looked up, seeing the imposing form of Wrath standing in the dark entryway. His red bloodshot eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“W-W-why?” I asked. “Why save her?”

“Because I said so,” the minotaur brusquely replied. “My word here is law. And I don't need dead slaves.”

I glared at him. Figures, I thought.

“And me? Why save me? Why not just kill me? I'm pretty sure that the Lotus Triad would like that, and you'd be rich,” I said.

Wrath laughed dryly. “The Lotus Triad won't trouble you anymore. Their caps belong to me now. I saved you because then I would not get the chance to fight you myself, Ministry Mare,” Wrath said. “I was very pleased with your performance the other night, especially after the green one used the orb to knock the invader out of your body. I was quite surprised that you survived combat at that level.”

“So that's it. You saved me just so you could kill me yourself.” I said. Wrath nodded. “What about my other friends?”

“They shall be brought to you. As will your weapons and saddlebags,” he said. “To ensure your cooperation in my challenge.”

“Really? And what if I refuse?” I said.

Wrath paused for a moment and then laughed.

“If you refuse, I'll just kill you all of course,” he said. “But if you accept my challenge and live to tell the tale, I will help you as best I can against Pride. I will not face her in battle myself, but all my knowledge of her will be yours.”

My ears perked up at this. “Pride? Why? Isn't she like you?” I asked.

I felt Violet shift next to me, groaning in pain. I looked down at her for a moment and smiled. She quieted as I stroked her fevered brow. It felt so good to be able to be near her again.

“Yes, but I hold no love for my wayward sister. I would see her driven to her knees and slaughtered like the dog she is,” Wrath said. “Iron Will provides, and I believe if you can beat me, you can beat her. Now, I have duties to attend. I must take my leave.” The door closed and the minotaur was gone.

I heard another groan below me. I looked back to Violet and pulled her close into a hug. She grunted in response, her eyes finally opening as she looked up at me. For a few moments we stayed there silently looking at each other.

“Is... it really you?” she said softly.

I nodded. Tears filled her eyes. I cooed softly, holding her close.

“Shh... it's okay. It's all okay now. She's gone. You did it,” I said, feeling my own tears stream down my face. “You did it, you amazing little mare you.”

Violet cried hard, sobbing into my neck. I sighed.

“Violet, it's okay. Please. Talk to me.”

“It... it hurts, but I just... I missed you so much. I knew... I knew something was wrong with you, but I ignored it. Why did I do that?” she said, tears flowing freely from her lovely green eyes.

“You couldn't have known. She was very good at keeping up appearances, but in the end... she didn't have complete control. And now she's gone, but not for good,” I said.

Violet's eyes widened. “If she's gone... where did she go?”

“Pride,” I said simply. “She went to go to Pride. And we let her out to get there.”

“Which means that we need to find Pride before something really bad happens?” she said.

I smiled at her and nodded. “You always were my smart little filly weren't you?” I replied.

Violet grinned through her teary expression. She looked down at her hoof, her grin changing to a grimace almost instantly.

I smiled again. “Hey, it'll be alright. You're not out of this yet Violet. You'll be back on your hooves in no time.”

“I know... it's just... it feels weird. Almost unnatural,” she said, waving the metal foreleg around. “I believe it's some form of cybernetic. I have no idea how the Cult got ahold of this kind of tech.”

I nodded and listened as Violet began to poke and prod at her new leg, and while I sat there my mind turned to the future. I thought about Spark, and how a single choice had corrupted her so much. I felt bad for her, I realized. I wanted very much to save her, to show her that she wasn't just evil.

I thought about Pride and Wrath. I knew what needed to be done now. I would need to fight Wrath, and survive. Easier said than done, but it was necessary in order for me to finally track down Pride and Spark... and end this once and for all. I was also going to have to try to find a way to speak to Twilight at some point. She was going to have some explaining to do about why her spell couldn't contain the corrupted spirit of Magic.

I thought of all the things I had done, and all the things to come and I sighed. At that moment, none of them mattered more in the world than the green little mare sitting next to me.

Author's Notes:

Wow. Just... wow. Words cannot express this chapter. This chapter really ended up being a lot different than what my outline said it was going to be. First things first, Envy really wasn't supposed to be in this chapter at all from the get go. Then I realized something rather important... Envy wouldn't give up chasing after them so easily. So we get to see Envy getting thoroughly trounced by Spark, a big difference from when her and Star fought.

We also get to see the rest of the Virtues. I had a lot of fun writing these scenes, because it gave me a chance to distance the Elements from their Bearers, but also show how connected they truly were to the Ministry Mares. We also got to see that war infected them as much as the mares themselves.

Also, Spark's exodus. This was necessary to turn Spark into not just the evil voice, but to turn her into the true villain of the piece.

And of course... oh Gawd Wrath. I have been waiting to write him for quite some time now, and I have never been more thoroughly pleased with how he came out.

Anyways, onto the plugs! I have to say, I am insanely pleased about how many of you guys noticed that Spark took over my tumblr. She's been very fun to write and just because Spark has left Star in this chapter, the tumblr is separate so she'll be continuing to answer your questions alongside Star. http://askradiantstar.tumblr.com.

My story plug of the week is pretty special, as the story I'm plugging is one of my direct inspirations on how to have a good alicorn main character. I'm talking of course about “Fallout Equestria: New Beginnings” by Ilushia. Seriously, if you are not reading this story please do so NOW. It is one of the best little sidefics I've read yet, and Ilushia is one of coolest authors I've met yet in the IRC Chat. Keep at it Ilushia!!!

Time for some thank yous. First off, thank you guys. The readers. You all are so, so awesome, and you make this even cooler for me to keep doing this. I love you all. Thanks to you, Starlight has gone over 10,000 views on FIMFiction and also was the top spot in the FOE EQD Sidestory Post.

Mucho thanks to Wirepony and Cadmium, my editor and prereader. Without you guys, this thing would not be possible.

Thanks to the folk in the IRC Chat who provide much encouragement. McMesser (for his awesomeness that is his figures. I'm gonna have to make a blog post on that at some point), Ilushia, Dimestream, and everyone else who is AWESOME.

As always, I thank Kkat for creating this crazy little world that I've chosen to play in.

Editor’s Note: Wheeeee!

Wrath is best pony. I will punch anyone in the face who disagrees. Next chapter, Star faces the challenge, the most difficult fight of her life - a dance-off! Or not.