I'm still unsure how Bits can be properly converted to dollars, but even then I'm pretty fucking sure that that fifteen of the former was far too much for an early morning ticket to Ponyville! While I didn't argue there was just something really annoying about not knowing the proper value of money you owned, and Moon Dancer didn't have enough knowledge about prices to actually tell me the proper exchange rate. I wasn't sure if it was only me who got unlucky, or it was just the fact that I was literally catching the first train towards my targeted area. In theory I knew what I had to do upon getting there, but even then the sensation of uncertainty in my guts never fully disappeared as the train finally departed from Canterlot.

'Could've been a better time to know about how Stats affect me.' After working out for the whole night and rising my Stats through literally self-mutilation I noticed how normally fitting clothes Moon Dancer had became a bit more tight around me and decided to check. Apparently gaining VIT also reflected on the general figure I had and made me look healthier and much more fit than before with each Point, while STR gave me the muscles that would be shown but not bulge like on those bodybuilders who dutifully swallow a mug full of pills every morning. In the end I was honestly at loss how to proceed, there was no chance in hell that nobody will notice that I was growing taller faster than it was naturally possible. Changing figure I could just hide with baggy clothes and probably some elastic bands, but changed height was another matter entirely.

I packed all the books that Moony had into the inventory, making sure to not leave anything behind so I would be able to get something to read while I was riding towards Ponyville. It wasn't that I had to wait long as the ride was rather short by normal standards, but simply staring out of the window was going to get boring fast and I decided to at least get something useful to do. The book I pulled out, after making sure nobody will notice that I literally got from thin air, was called 'The Nature of Mana Management' and was filled with useful tips about how to properly work on your control and how to safely find your limits. There wasn't anything really revealing in it that Moony didn't already know, but the memories I gained from her were fractured and I really didn't want to stumble upon some kind of a nasty pitfall that would lead to me getting crippled in a crucial moment. I won't earn any INT from it, but at least I wouldn't be as ill-equipped as any normal person in my position would be.

Next on my agenda was also the fact that I needed to find myself a good source of Experience, there was no telling just how man things I would be able to run into by simply living in Equestria and most of the would well above me. [ID Create] was one way to go, I would need to grind it more and find out properly just what I will be getting out of it here. I had no delusions that mine will be the same as Jee-Han had, this wasn't Earth and I was pretty sure that it was kind of important as his friend was well aware of everything that there was inside of those Illusion Barriers. Maybe I will get Timberwolves? These wooden bastards were sort-of tough and could pull a very good impression of Constructicons by merging into an Alpha Timberwolf at a drop of a hat. It was kind of pointless to simply wonder about it as I would get my answer sooner rather than later, I had all the time until the Grand Galloping Gala to train my ass off to be able to survive Discord intact.

I bought a chocolate bar from the passing trolley, one thing that I could freely admit was the fact that the food here was far better than at home. I already tasted apples, much juicer than I even imagined them being able to be in the first place and the taste was just wonderful. There was some things that were actually worse, the obvious lack of meat in the menu was kind of concerning as I had no intentions of denying myself a good old steak or some chicken for the duration of my stay here. I knew that there was some kind of a taboo about it for Ponies, but there had to be at least something out there! Griffins were carnivore and I was pretty sure that they weren't going to simply bow-out on demand, maybe I could visit Griffonstone? If I will managed to get Gilda on my side I would probably be able to persuade her to give me a tour, even if it's a dump at the moment and looks like a Revolution went thought not long ago. Idol of Boreas was also an interesting thing to see, I honestly was curious if it actually was Magical in some way or form or just a pretty chunk of gold that served more as a symbol rather than 'Aura of Leadership'-doohickey. And maybe add some chilly from the Canter Creek? Kicking out those bulls won't be a problem anyhow...

'Damn, and now I want a burger.' I knew that in Everfree Forest there was cragadile, maybe I could pull a Dandy? Nah, it will be too much of a risk for that to actually work out and I had no idea how big that thing was to begin with. The problem was that the whole World was resized to the more human standards and therefore some fauna appeared to be either bigger or smaller than it was in the show and I had no fucking clue how some of the critters in Everfree were altered. While I was planning to take a look and make sure that I at least had a general idea of what I was going to face there, I had no desire to face anything as unprepared as I was now. I still had no idea how to properly defend myself, even with the most basic arsenal I still had a long way to go before I would consider myself ready to take on an Illusion Barrier with actual Monsters in it, be it a Zombie or something easier.

Maybe I should consider some minor interference with the Canonical Events? I could potentially prevent Tirek's escape, but I had no idea how to actually hold him in Tartarus short of killing him and that was troubling. I could probably kill someone, [Gamer's Mind] would prevent me from hesitating if used right and if there was no other option to prevent something bad from happening I would need to take responsibilities and fix the mess that would happen should I screw up. But it wasn't here nor now and I could just put it on the shelf for the foreseen future, but at the same time never fully leave the option out of question for the sake of having it open in my mind.

I turned the page in the book, doing it with [Telekinesis] was kind of tricky and required a certain level of concentration that I was able to achieve solely due to [Gamer's Mind] helping me to keep a complete focus. Good thing to know that I wouldn't ever be stopped from casting Magic by emotional condition or the lack of an actual concentration due to some form of distraction. I had some time left for me and the next Chapter in the book about the possibility of using your own Magic to Empower someone else's Spell sounded rather interesting.

My arrival onto the station of Ponyville was rather underwhelming as not many people were arriving and there wasn't any real reason for the station to be crowded. I was so used to the Underground that I honestly felt kind of weird not seeing anyone on the station upon train's arrival, good thing that I wasn't going to stick around long enough to actually be noticed. Without any further delay I used [Teleportation] to relocate myself onto the roof of the train station and activated [ID Create] out of sight of everyone, this was going to be a long journey and I had no desire to risk being seen.

The problem with Everfree was the fact that there wasn't any actual map of the place and all I had was a very vague direction towards the Castle that I remembered from the map I saw on the Internet, thank you [Gamer's Mind] for the perfect recall. I turned and looked towards the town, locating the Town Hall was easy as it was one of the tallest building there and now I had my first target. I powered-up my [Teleportation] and made another jump, which actually took noticeably less of my reserves than I actually expected it to. Landing on the other hand was less than spectacular as I missed slightly and appeared too high, the small but sudden fall almost made me lose my footing but I managed to grab onto the ramp and not plant my face into the wooden floor. The building itself was rather big, bigger than it appeared in the show and certainly much more detailed than the Series could properly demonstrate to us.

'This is going to be a long trip.' I stood up straight and looked around, due to a big amount of trees I couldn't see my next landmark but I didn't need to as I could see the bridge that led towards it without much in a way of possibility of getting lost. Another jump and I appeared on the road right after the bridge, this was actually my third use of said Skill period and I already lost a huge amount of my Mana onto it. 'How the fuck Twilight could do it with such an ease I would never understand, her Mana Pool should be monstrous in size for her to just shrug off drains like this! Two uses and I'm left with only about half of my original Mana, I need to grind this Skill as much as possible later on.'

This actually was a very good opportunity to do just that, as I again activated [Teleportation] but appeared only about five meters further towards the place I knew to be Fluttershy's house. As soon as I could see my next target I repeated the process, performing short jumps to make sure that I wouldn't miss anything important. This was actually a very favored tactic in some Computer Games where you could somehow grind Skills, you performed them in the safe and controlled environment in short repeated bursts to gain the Experience needed to Upgrade it further. There was an Online Game called 'Rising Force Online' where you needed to actually grin certain Proficiencies with certain weapons or Magic to increase your Ability to use them and deal damage to the Monsters, I once left my Character standing under the assault of a dozen Mobs just so I could grin his Shield Mastery and it payed off as I spent about an hour away from my computer while also gaining something useful out of it. This was a bit different, more like in the first edition of 'World of Warcraft' where you needed to grind your proficiency with weapons to actually hit the target by fighting and I shuddered as I remembered those dark days.

I only managed to reach the house of the Element of Kindness as I ran out of juice and had to stop jumping, this was convenient enough for me as I made my way around it and into the forest that most people described as 'Unnatural' because they didn't control what was happening there. It was kind of creepy whenever they said it, I was honestly more in the group that thought that Nature should be the one to do all these things and not the population who apparently hated it with passion with the shit they said about it. Fluttershy's complain that animals actually took care about themselves there made me almost facepalm, I would've liked to show her that picture of a lion from Futurama that was taught to eat tofu... I think? Well, something that wasn't naturally on its menu and wasn't meat, Faust was giving out so many 'Control Freak' signals then and there that I lost some of my respect for her.

Taking in the sight of Fluttershy's house I kind of felt a small sense of disbelief fest inside my mind, there was no freaking way that this was possible to build without some fuckery with the laws of Nature. In the Cartoon it looked kind of nice a homey, but now it looked more like it actually grew from the ground and just pushed the higher layers up with its roof. It was still rather nice, even if it looked a little different so not to break too many laws of space and time was my guess, but without any actual fauna around it to finish the image it just looked abandoned and even slightly creepy. I honestly wanted to try and enter, maybe take a look at whatever the girl had going for her for the interior design but in the end refrained from doing so. I would have time and a reason at a later date, but right now I needed to move so not to lose sunlight on irrelevant for today things.

As I rounded the house I saw the road that directly lead into the Everfree Forest, I honestly didn't know how long it will take me to get there and I wasn't very inclined to test my LUK by asking Fluttershy about directions. There was always the option of me simply teleporting onto the highest branch and taking a peak while still remaining inside the Illusion Barrier, which I honestly had no idea how big was at the moment. Upon creating it didn't receive any actual information about its size, only that it was present and created by me, or at least I could feel that much at least. If I would run out of space I could just dispel it and the deploy a new one, but I really didn't want to risk it with how my little abominations in there could actually fly. It was hard to actually judge the distance by a Cartoon so there literally wasn't any actual way for me to know how long it will take me to get to the Castle and how far it actually was now. I could only hope that I was going in the right direction as the only knowledge I had was the one from the Shoe itself, and this Universe obviously wasn't Canon.

I reached out as the Menu opened, this will be a long walk and a good song may shorten the wait and make the experience much more enjoyable. Finding the right Track I pushed the button and the music filled the surroundings, heard only by me but no less real because of that.

"Кого только нет у меня в лесу~"

I was actually also going to check if the difference in the Universes would cause the Castle to gain an actual Armory, getting myself a weapon would be a nice touch and I wouldn't need to wait until I will lean and be strong enough to actually create one from pure Mana.

"И заяц, и лось, и барсук!~"

I could go with the hand-to-hand option, but judging by the fact that Celestia of this World carried around a long golden staff with a big symbol of the sun on the top there was something I would need to look into. It was a pity I couldn't use [Observe] on the things from my memory, it would've been interesting to actually know what the fuck that thing did. I knew that it could've been just a Royal Decoration that she carried around for the sake of the image or some other crap, but there was always a chance that it was something more.

"И старый глухарь, услыхавши лису~"

And speaking of Celestia, I honestly felt that people underestimated just how fucking big she was when transformed into a humanized version! I mean, in the Series she was tall but there were things that looked better on paper than in life and apparently the size-difference between her and a normal person was transferred as accurately as possible. She was a freaking giantess that was twice as tall as a normal person! I kind of glossed it over as a memory from Moony's younger days, but after checking for the second time I actually was stunned into silence from the image I saw of the current member of Equestria's Diarchy.

"Взлетает на толстый сук.~"

'I will call bullshit if isn't using Magic for support, these things are literally the size of big pumpkins!' Her flowing rainbow-colored hair that was long enough to reach the ground and a tail of the same length, her white horn that can be mistaken for a freaking spear attached to her forehead and her huge white wings with golden regalia attached to them... I honestly expected many things but this honestly took the cake and the whole fucking bakery with it, I didn't see Luna just yet but I wasn't going to try and guess just huge she will be even if smaller than the Sunbutt.

"И ёж по дорожке бежит, семеня~"

This only spoke volumes about how fucking innocent this World was with the fact that her appearance alone didn't instantly generate an instant boner-fest from the male population. I'm pretty sure that if someone with these gifts would've walked down the street in the normal World there will be some serious consequences and a huge strain on the male population's ability to concentrate for some time.

"К хорошим друзьям на обед.~"

I shook off the image and concentrated on making my way towards the general direction of the Castle, I still had no fucking clue how anyone managed to find his or her way here to begin with. These girls must've been spliced with fucking birds to have internal compasses that fucking precise!

"Fuck you!" I called out from the branch of a rather tall tree I was sitting on. "You and your whole fucking family!"

The Timberwolf and its two clones just growled as they prowled on the ground, making circles around the tree and snapping at me from time to time. They were at it for about five minutes now and at least let me use [Meditation] to regain my Mana, it wasn't all that hard to tune them out after the initial shock of being attacked by the animated piles of wood wore off. I decided to exit the Illusion Barrier and check if there was any clues outside of it, there were some things that just didn't reveal themselves inside of it and you had to see the real thing to know. It took me a minute of meditating to regain Mana and then I teleported onto the highest branch of a tree, trying to gain at least some understanding of my location when I heard the noise and saw these wooden bastards jumping out of the big bushes. I basically missed them by several seconds, there was no way I could've been able to fight them off in a close and personal encounter.

But my current position gave me a very nice opportunity to test out a Skill. I raised my hand and pointed my index finger at the Timberwolf that put its front paws onto the tree for leverage to try and reach me, a ball of Magic started gathering over its tip.

[Cero]

This time I didn't make it as concentrated as I did at first and let it show its full size, the cone-shaped beam of Mana slammed into the animated wooden animal with enough force to knock it back and blast off most of its front. I put every last bit of Mana I had into it and kept it going until my reserves ran dry, I managed to destroy most of its body with some pieces being thrown to the sides by the kinetic force of the attack when it connected.

Gained 2,170 EXP.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

'... De fuck?!' I gaped at the sheer amount of Experience I gained from just one of these bastards. This was just too fucking easy, but at the same time I knew that it really wasn't due to the fact that now I had a very good idea just how fucking ridiculously powerful the Titans like Celestia, Nightmare Moon, Luna, Tirek and Discord were. There always was a very easy way to see how strong someone was when compared to you in a Computer Game, you needed to find a Mob that you theoretically can't kill and ask this person to kill it. If my theory was right then Celestia could wipe Timberwolves from existence with her sheer presence alone, if she wished to anyway.

I absently put my newly gained Points into INT and activated [Meditation] to regain my Mana to finish off the other two bastards. I actually used [Observe] on one of them and had to actually snort at the Stats that these things were assigned by my Power.

STR: 53
VIT: 25
DEX: 37
INT: 20
WIS: 10
LUK: 20

This was rather interesting thing to see, and while I knew that these things weren't actually smart the INT was more about the fact that they had Mana in them. Well, to be more precise the Mana in them was used to actually hold them together as they were Spirits possessing big piles of twigs, but the points still was that they had it and not as little as I thought. In the end I just decided to not care as these bastards gave me Experience for almost free and served as good little test-dummies for my Skills, as far as I could see my first test went without a hitch and I still had to of them to try my [Cero] on. They weren't even technically living beings, so putting them down wouldn't be out of place in this World. If my memory serves me right then Applejack actually killed some them herself, and then Spike did the same with an Alpha Timberwolf via a rock to the throat...

'How fucking stupid does they think the kids watching the Series actually are?' That was one of the most anticlimactic victories in the whole damn thing, and I'm counting the whole bullshit mess with Changeling Invasion where Mana was literally generated out of thin air. My train of thoughts was interrupted by the grown from the other Timberwolf who glared at me from the ground, the crater I made with my previous blast right in front of it as it sniffed the remains of its comrade. 'Well, I just have something for you too.'

Once more I pointed my finger and the Mana started collecting on its tip, even making the cool sound that all the Fans loved so much.

[Cero]

Another blast crashed down onto the small clearing that was right in front of me, this time impacting its target directly onto its back and pushing the damn thing down while tearing through its wooden carcass. I honestly didn't mind much about how I was going to spend most of my Mana on these attacks as the reward was making all the recharge time totally worth it. I could practically see as the body of the Timberwolf was torn apart and the pieces shredded by the attack, it was only because these guys has so little in terms of the defense that I could actually pull this shit off with their bodies literally made out of rotting wood and all that. Even with the own Magic holding them together there was very little that actually prevented their bodies from taking damage, and if I remembered right then 'The Gamer' actually prevented them from regenerating and reassembling themselves after I killed them. So I effectively just got rid of two Timberwolves permanently, nothing would bring them back and there was now two less beasts populating the Everfree Forest that everyone would need to be in danger from.

'Goodie.' I smirked as two Windows popped out in front of me.

Gained 2,170 EXP.

Your Level has Increased by 1.

I put all the gained Points into INT and again started to wait for [Meditation] to replenish my Mana so i would be able to get rid of the last wolf. There was something very therapeutic about killing this little shits with such an ease while actually being aware of the whole 'Peaceful Harmony' that was going on in this World, a strange and very warm feeling that left me with a sense of fulfillment. I wasn't going to go on a murderous rampage like some monster, but getting rid of small problems that were plaguing this land with the solution that was obvious from the fucking start and wasn't used because of reasons unknown felt really good. Maybe I could just get rid of the whole problem with the Ursa Minor while I was at it? Nah, there was no chance that I would be able to even scratch the damn thing with my Magic.

I could feel that my Mana was full again, it only took about a minute and a half to fully refill my Mana Pool with [Meditation] and even then it was brutally useful Skill. In most Games there simply wasn't any time to sit and simply recover and you had to drink potions or use Skills with huge cooldowns to restore yourself to a combat-capable condition, in here I felt almost blessed with how much I could just sit around and recover while my opponent simply prowled around while growling at me. There were things that I would need to address at a later date, like that fact that my Mana Regeneration during combat was kind of pathetic and needed some serious work, but it could wait as I took aim again.

[Cero]

Third shot and all opponents were out! This one came out even stronger than the previous two and I could clearly see how it tore through the ground under the wolf while literally grinding the wooden beast into pieces. Cool thing, no matter how many time I look at it, there is simply no other way to describe how fucking awesome it is to be able to simply shoot beams on demand!

Gained 2,170 EXP.

This time I didn't get a Level, but it didn't matter as I gained something much more important in the end. I now knew how my attacks worked against the local fauna, it wasn't a battle experience per say, but it was close enough to it so I could measure myself up against something that would come later on and see if I could beat it or not. A test of strength maybe? Nah, I just basically put my everything into those shots and there was no way I would be able to repeat this performance in a real battle without leaving myself exposed and vulnerable to my opponent. I sighted and activated my other Skill, I still had some things to do and wolves didn't drop anything so no luck here.

[ID Create]

Tracking through the forest when there was nothing but you around was kind of weird, even in my world you could always hear something like a bird or any other critter around you or just the wind blowing through the treetops. In Illusion Barrier the only thing you could hear was yourself as you was the only thing that moved about or mover period as even the wind wasn't present here. After I managed to teleport myself onto the highest branch of the tree and get a good look for the directions I found out that I actually was moving in generally right one, but slightly off.

'Good thing that whatever crap lives around here can't see me, I honestly not sure how I would do against a Manticore.' I knew that theoretically I would be able to pull it off, I just needed to keep myself out of range and then smack it with my [Cero] as many times as I would need to put it down, but there was no fucking chance that I would be able to pull it out on practice. While [Gamer's Mind] gave me a cool head, there was a certain thing such as actual capability through accumulated experience that I needed to take into account as I had none when it came to fighting something or someone. In many Fics the Self-Insert somehow was able to fight off different foes for one reason or another, but at the same time it was never explained where the fuck did they get the sheer Skill that was needed to get their wins. I never wielded a sword and therefore I had no clue how to do anything with it beside swinging it around and trying to hit someone or something with the sharp side, it wasn't like I will suddenly become a Master Swordswoman just because I'm in Equestria now.

Well, technically I would need a Skill Book and a lot of time for grinding, but it would still not be an instant Mastery no matter what.

I also spent time grinding my [Telekinesis], it wasn't that hard to find a boulder big enough to be a proper target and then just carry it around to slowly grind the Skill while making several smaller ones rotate on an orbit around me. Due to the Level of the Skill it was a very slow process, but I honestly couldn't care less as long as there was at least some progress going on and I could actually do something about not standing still when it came to my advancement. Not long ago I came upon the river that left with at least some knowledge that I was coming closer due to me being pretty sure that it was the same one that Steven Magnet lived in, I had enough Mana to simply teleport onto the other side so there wasn't any need for me to get wet. I had to leave my training rocks behind, but I would need all the Mana I could get to fully scout the Castle and then get away without being either spotted or stuck somewhere unpleasant due to the traps that littered the place. From what I gathered from 'Castle-mania' the place could give Castlevania a half-hearted run for her pocket-change on its best day, but even this was impressive all on its own.

While I was walking I had a very nasty thought that due to some unforeseen change in the Timeline or some form of 'For What of a Nail' crap the whole thing with a Shadow Pony would turn out real and I would need to get out of there. While I couldn't throw away such a notion, there simply wasn't all that much I could do without actually knowing what there is to do about a literal ghost. Well, [Gamer's Mind] should prevent it from possessing me, so there wasn't any risk of Nightmare Moon returning through me and the trying to pull the same retarded shit for the second time around.

It took me another fifteen minutes of walking to reach the damn bridge and see the ruins of the Castle, there was no fucking way to describe the whole thing other than as dump. The whole place looked downright abandoned, which was expected, but the sheer level of neglect it was suffering from was downright ridiculous! It was like Celestia specifically assisted Mother Nature in ruining the whole place so nobody would notice how it was housing Equestria's all-powerful 'Win Button' that were the Elements of Racism. I was pretty sure that there was something akin of a Magical monitoring system in place, there was no fucking way that Sunbutt would leave those rocks unguarded, but my [ID Create] and the fact that Elements weren't there anymore should let me bypass that. I will be spamming [Observe] without a pause to make sure that there wasn't any unforeseen surprises for me to stumble upon, but I only had this one chance because I won't be returning here ever again. Or at least until Twilight will get her own Castle, that's for sure.

Using [Teleportation] to get over the chasm, there was no fucking way I would trust the flimsy bridge to not drop me to my death, I started walking towards the very old ruins that were possible holding the solutions to my problems. I was a realist and I knew that there wouldn't be any easy answers, but at least this will be a start and that would mean I had a very nice chance of getting myself something worthy as a reward. As I reached the huge opened double-doors I made sure to scan everything around with [Observe] so not to stumble upon a trap, I could see the weird pedestal that held the Elements' stoned forms in Canon before Twilight and her band managed to turn them into a crown and five collars. I walked in and looked around, inside the Illusion Barrier there was nothing that could even remotely say that there was a World-Changing Event performed right in this half-collapsed chamber and if the Canon was right then...

'So that would mean that the place where Nightmare was finally vanquished...' I looked to the right and saw a tall part of the Castle with stairs leading up to it, I knew that expecting any sort of consistency from Canon here would be pretty stupid but I honestly had no better lead than this. The pedestal and the room itself held literally no value to me, and risking dropping the Illusion Barrier wasn't something I was inclined to do, but the room where there was a chance to find the remains of Nightmare Moon's armor? Now that was an absolutely different matter altogether, I don't think Celestia will instantly drop everything and teleport here if someone would stumble upon the whole thing and I could probably lie my way out of the whole mess with [Gamer's Mind] keeping my emotions in check. For a chance to have something like that in my possession I could take one small risk, and with [ID Create] I would be able to escape faster than anyone would be able to arrive even if I was detected.

Another use of [Teleportation] took me to the top of the stairs, it pretty much emptied my reserves as I walked up and towards the room that held now almost iconic value in this World. I knew that Celestia was going to give Twilight a free reign over this place, but even then I was pretty sure that she wouldn't let her come here before cleaning up the place from some of the more unsavory literature. Inspiration Manifestation was one thing, and while it was powerful from a certain point of view, it was relatively harmless than some of the things I was aware off from my personal knowledge of the Universe I was currently in. I had to wonder if the parallel world from the Comics was real or not, it would mean that Star Swirl's hidden lab was also a thing and I would be able to loot it too if I would be able to actually find it. But that would also mean that the crap about Nightmare Forces and that would mean that I would need to take care of that too, but only if Twilight won't be able to do so as had no fucking desire to live in the World with eternal night going on.

The outer stair of the building lead me onto the inner stair and then into the room that not two days ago was the place of a less than impressive showdown between Nightmare Moon and six civilians that were somehow dragged into this whole thing. Preparing [Observe] I took and deep breath and let the air out from my nose and then dropped the Illusion Barrier and instantly starting scanning everything around me while trying not to move as much as possible. It took me about fifteen seconds to find something that made my mind almost short-circuit from the shock.

[Essence of Nightmare Moon - Level: Legendary]
The remaining Essence of Nightmare Moon that still clings to the World in the form of the remains of her Armor. While there is almost nothing left of the Evil Spirit after its destruction via the Elements of Harmony, even in its severely weakened state the Essence possess Power on par with the strongest Unicorns. With the conscious gone there is nothing holding the Integrity of the Essence together and it will soon fade away into Oblivion, its Power forever lost.

'... De fuck?!' I honestly never would've even considered the fact that the remains of Armor were anything but what they appeared to be, but apparently I was wrong. I knew that there was something wrong with this whole thing, Celestia couldn't just leave this lying here without some measure of protection. If someone could find it there could be a brand new Nightmare Moon Incident occurring, and this time with a far more danger as there will be no telling what the twisted mind of the new host would desire to accomplish. The chest-plate, an armored gauntlet and a pauldron looked rather harmless, all made from midnight blue metal and just left on the floor as if they were nothing but a discarded trash. If I didn't know better I would've agreed, but my [Observe] opened an entirely new can of worms that I honestly had no desire to try and even poke with a twenty-meter stick. Maybe this was the real source of that Shadow Pony crap and in reality some poor bastard stabled upon it and got possessed? Fuck, this whole mess was giving me a headache and severely lowered my opinion on Celestia, if she wanted for this thing to disappear on itself then why did she leave it here?!

"... This is one of the things that were left behind the curtain, isn't it?" I muttered as I reached out and touched the remains of one of the terrors of Equestria, that was currently also one of the most incompetent Villains in the Series. As soon as my fingers brushed against the cool metal a new Window popped up and after reading it I felt a little bit feint from the sheer bullshit that was currently presented to me on the silver platter.

This is the Essence of [Nightmare Moon].
Would you like to Absorb it?

I had no fucking clue what to do... There was so fucking many things wrong with this crap that I had no idea how to properly respond to it, I knew that whatever 'The Gamer' was suggesting wasn't harmful to me as the Warning would've popped out and informed me that I was hacking at my own ankles. Han Jee-Han had that safety feature and I was pretty sure that I had it too, but on the other hand there was no way for me to find out for sure as I literally had no way to test it. There were several ways for me to do so, but at the same time I had a sinking suspicious that any one of them would end up with me dead or worse and therefore I decided against any experimentation until I would get a more detailed knowledge about the capabilities of Magic I possessed. Right now I was presented with an opportunity to actually test something like this, and technically with [ID Create] I always had a safe way to contain whatever side-effects would be caused by my little tests. I couldn't do them in the presence of others due to the fact that anyone in Equestria will think that something was seriously wrong with me if I was to start testing Spells made for killing others. There literally wasn't any actual fighting in Canon, and the only proper fight that we saw was between Tirek and Twilight while she was on some serious steroids via Alicorn Magic. Those bitch-fights we saw after Starlight Glimmer screwed up the timeline didn't count as I was honestly unimpressed by them rather than anything else, Celestia could literally incinerate Sombra with one blast but that conflict still somehow took place.

I sighed and shook off the random thoughts that again were coming to me in the moment of confusion, rambling was one of the things I did when nothing made sense and shit was literally flying at my face. Right now I had a choice to make, and I knew that it was the one that I had to make now and hope for the best outcome possible in the end. As I picked up the remaining pieces I instantly tried to put them into the Inventory, but it failed as this thing was technically alive and therefore I couldn't store it no matter what. Simply carrying it with me around sounded rather dumb as I honestly couldn't hid it anywhere and I didn't know any protective Magic that could hide this thing from anyone period. As soon as I listed it I instantly applied [ID Create] and therefore prevented anyone from spotting me or detecting my actions when it came to the Essence, no need to risk the two Divine Rulers of Equestria dropping on my head with their horn blazing.

This left me with either leaving it here, which wasn't an option I honestly was going to consider, or trust into 'The Gamer' and use it to 'absorb' the Essence, whatever that mean. I knew that the original Power wouldn't have let me get hurt, but mine was slightly different and therefore there was a chance of me actually screwing myself over with a huge rusty cleaver. I wasn't sure what exactly would happen, but it self me with several options I could potentially imagine happening.

The first option was me simply becoming stronger, like those little 'Boost Sigil' that in some games you could pick-up to Increase your Stats. I wasn't betting on it as there was no fucking way I would stumble upon such a cheap way of doing things, there was a limit at how broken my Power could be and I honestly wasn't going to hope for the best here.

The second option was that it will act as a Skill Book that will give me some Skills that Nightmare Moon knew, which would be kind of cool as I really wanted that mist-form thingy she had going for herself. Being able to fly like that and get through obstacles via small cracks in their structure would be downright awesome! And if it worked as I hoped it was I could even use it to avoid taking any damage whatsoever by simply shifting into it whenever an attack would be heading towards me!

The third option was that it will actually affect me and make me assume the traits of Nightmare Moon, making me look like her at least partially and therefore being unable to hide my own status from the people. It will be the worst of the best option as it will leave me with relatively free reign while I would need to forever forget about my identity as Moon Dancer and just create a new one somewhere else. Maybe that village that Starlight Glimmer claimed for herself? There wasn't much going on for her and with a simple sneaking I would be able to expose her and her little game while making sure that she won't get away from the lynching mob, I wasn't above breaking someone's legs when their little grudge could lead to the collapse of a Time-Space Continuum.

'Well, future favors the bold, eh?' I pushed the button and accepted the option, if I already got myself tangled in this crap then I would do everything in my Power to make it end well at least for myself. Risking another Nightmare Moon was something I couldn't do no matter what, there was not enough Scooby Snacks in the World for me to even consider it! As the remains of the Nightmare Moon burst into motes of light and the absorbed into my body I felt as if my own skin was too damn tight for me as the sensation of something expanding inside of me grew. Several Windows popped open as the world around me spoon but I managed to regain my footing, I could swear I felt as if something ripped right before the strange sensation inside me finally reached its proverbial bursting point and suddenly rushed all over my body. 'This was so fucking stupid...'

As I finally managed to focus enough to read the Windows I got another interesting news about why 'The Gamer' made my life infinitely easier.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] your STR has Increased by 25.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] your VIT has Increased by 25.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] your DEX has Increased by 25.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] your INT has Increased by 50.

The Skill [Mana Affinity] has been Created through the INT rising above 50.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] you WIS has Increased by 50.

The Skill [Mental Serenity] has been Created through the WIS rising above 50.

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] your Skill [Unicorn(Passive)] has Evolved into [Alicorn(Passive)].

Through the Absorption of the Essence of [Nightmare Moon] a Skill [Nightmare Form] has been Created.

'Well, shit...' I could only think as I stared at the Windows that all but spelled out to me how I managed to royally fuck up.

"This is so fucking bad that I can even tell that I'm at the bottom right now and still trying to push through!" I grimaced as I looked at the Window that showed my Stats. "Fuck!"

I sat on the small podium that was in the room and literally brooded, while an unexpected boost in Power and an incredibly was welcomed with open arms the other additions were better left unreceived! I glanced over my shoulder at a huge pair of wings that tore their way out through my clothes, they the same color as my horn as had a huge span that I couldn't properly measure right now. Due to the Skill that I gained from the [Alicorn] I could at least perform some basic actions through them and probably fly without much problem but at a very sedated pace and with borderline tank-esque maneuverability. My horn also became longer and sharper, I could actually stab someone with it like with a spear... that was attached to my head.

On the other hand, the sheer implication of what [Alicorn] gave me were borderline stroke-inducing, Luna and Celestia had these things for more than a thousand years and their Levels were probably in several hundreds which meant that they were pretty much monsters in terms of sheer Power. And then I remembered that Chrysalis managed to beat Celestia somehow... And Cadance... And then I remembered that she was preparing an invasion that would potentially made her clash with Celestia in a one-on-one combat... The only thing that stopped me from curling into a ball and starting to suck my thumb was [Gamer's Mind] that stopped me from having a panic attack and think rationally, there was a Canterlot to consider and I was pretty sure that there won't be a 'Dragon Ball'-Level fight going on as Sunbutt won't let loose with so many innocent bystanders present. Turning the Capitol of her Nation into a smoking crater would be a poor idea when she was still at large and in-charge in Equestria, it will be her weakness as she won't be able to use her whole Power to squash the Changeling Queen like a bug without risking the lives of people around her.

'At least the boosts in INT and WIS are good from something.' I thought bitterly, this whole situation was a disaster and I could only blame myself for it. In theory, I could still salvage it and probably manage something bearable out of it without anyone noticing, but... There was no fucking way I would be able to hide my wings from the public, they were just too fucking big and I had no way of concealing them other than cutting them off. There also was a fucking chance that they will actually grow back as I would eat something and therefore will restore my own Health back while also repairing any damage done to me in the process. My altered appearance also bore some serious consideration, you can't just gain fifteen centimeters over a day and this was also what I couldn't hide along with my now rather noticeably curvy body. I could practically feel as if someone was laughing at me right now, some higher Being that was responsible for my current situation was obviously getting the kicks out of my misery and there was no other way to put it.

My clothes, that were quite baggy when I put them on, were not tightly hugging my body but at least they were still good to go and I won't risk going commando. I could still do something about my position, there were things that I honestly had no idea how to handle but they were rare and in-between and mostly were about how I was going to handle any social interactions from now on. One thing I knew for sure was that in no fucking case I was going to reveal my new status to Celestia or anyone who would snitch on me to her, I would prefer death before becoming a crowned Princess of Equestria for very obvious reasons that anyone would see if they were to look close enough.

It was time to move, as I already lost half-an-hour to simply sulking about what happened instead of trying to actually do something about it myself. There wasn't any easy win here, and there won't be a miracle that will fix everything in my new and temporary life, I had to move on my own and I had to do so with my own two feet down the road and into the World... And I just managed to sound incredibly lame and corny inside my own head. But at least it was true, nothing will happen if I won't work for it to actually happen, so it was time to finish what I came here for and then leave to never come back. There was no way for me other than up now, I managed to dig myself into a really deep hole and the mess wasn't going to clean itself...

'And now I'm rambling again.' I sighed and stood up, this was just me stalling for time that I could be using to actually do something productive. Concentrating on the image of the entrance to the Castle I activated [Teleportation] and vanished in a flash of light, appearing right where I needed to be and with a far less drain than before due to my new Skills and much more solid reserves. Now I needed to find the Library, and then clean it up while still being on high alert to prevent anyone from noticing me and then running away from here as fast as possible towards my new home and using the whole night there to figure out what to do from here now on. Getting all the books available was one of the things I was going to do anyway, so there was a big chance that I will be able to find something in there that will let me hide my new appearance from everyone. I wasn't sure how developed was Illusion Magic in Equestria, but there was a big chance that there was a Spell for invisibility and I would be able to at least partially apply it to myself to hide my wings.

Walking through the entrance again and then heading towards the path that led directly towards the big stairs, there wasn't much to go by and the only other way for a quick search was by flying around and searching for the hole in the roof the would lead me right into the library. At least I had a general direction thanks to the 'Castle-mania' and its literal bullshit of a plot, while it was a horrible source of proper directions as the turns and twists that the girls went thought made Hogwarts look like a straight line there were simple facts that I could work with. With a single use of [Teleportation] I was on the top of the stairs, I walked to the right and made sure to look under my feet so not to trigger one of those shitty booby-traps that made the floor open and then close over your head. The corridor was mostly made out of stone blocks, an odd picture here and there left a lot to be desired but I couldn't care less as I made my way towards the inner chambers of the former home of Equestria's Diarchy.

It took me about twenty minutes to finally locate the right room, and I honestly could tell that the place was huge! Canterlot's public library had more books in its disposal, but this one had it beat by sheer quality over quantity when all the modern books were accounted for. I opened my Inventory and prepared for the most crucial part of my visit, with the new and improved Mana Pool I would probably be able to do this in one go without dropping any of the books and I would need to be fast as I still feared that a lot of things could go wrong at any given moment. Taking a deep breath and then releasing the air through my nose I dropped the Illusion Barrier and instantly started grasping books that lay around me with [Telekinesis] and shoving them into my Inventory at an accelerated pace. I didn't even bother to read any labels as I simply took everything and was going to browse through them at a later date when I will have the time to do so alone, an old and crumbling relic of the bygone era wasn't a proper place for that.

Book after book flew from their shelves and disappeared into my Inventory, I could feel the drain on my Mana and it was far lesser than I could imagine it to be with so many objects being manipulated at the same time. Without stopping I walked towards the nearest chair and pulled on its back, but nothing happened and I moved to the next one that made the secret entrance into the Princesses' Chamber to open for me. I stretched my influence over the books inside and pulled them all towards me, whatever Celestia and Luna had privately for themselves couldn't be worthless so I needed to take these books too. The only thing that I didn't touch was their private diary, I had no desire to actually read it and there wasn't any actual information that I would need inside of it.

Logically my next step would be to search for the treasury or for the armory, but I knew that it would be a futile endeavor as Celestia wouldn't have left anything like that behind no matter how bitter she was about Luna and the whole thing with banishment. I still held a certain cave as a possible source of my income as soon as the Dragon inside would be given the boot, maybe I would be able to even buy myself a better equipment than what Moon Dancer had in her possession at the moment. From a purely optimistic point of view I basically skipped a very serious time of grinding by pure accident and therefore could actually spend time grinding my Skills so they would be able to catch-up to my sheer Power. I was still nothing when compared to the likes of Discord, Tirek, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Sombra, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, but today I too a very big step forward in department of sheer brute force, the only thing left for me to do was to apply a lot of finesse to it.

Suddenly I detected a resistance against my pull that followed by a click and the sound of the wall sliding away, I turned around only to see an entrance to the chamber that held Inspiration Manifestation. Well, searching for the right book would've been a long and boring process, but by simply pulling in all of them I actually managed to open the hidden door in a record time. I walked towards the door and looked at the lock, Spike melted the thing with his fire but I didn't have such an option so that left me with relying on a pure brute strength and the small hope that it wasn't made very sturdy. I stopped collecting book and used my [Telekinesis] to grasp the padlock, steadily adding more and more Mana I started pulling with as much force as I could apply. I could hear the groan of the metal as it bent under the force of my telekinetic pull and then with a screech the tore through the ring that it was locked upon and crashed into the far wall of the library with enough force to tear through the solid rock and leave a hole behind.

'Maybe I used too much Power...' I opened the door and walked inside, making sure to watch where I was stepping and I walked up the stairs that were hanging in the air over something that closely resembled a bottomless pit. The book made out of stone, with spikes and a strange mark on its cover was lying on the pedestal under a ray of green light that looked like it was coming out of nowhere, as I approached I could make out the sounds of bats that apparently took their residence in this particular place and no my arrival woke them up. I wasn't going to risk using [Teleportation] for this one, if there was a protection against it or an alarm system I wouldn't be able to tell and it would probably cost me a lot more than I was willing to give up. As soon as I grasped the book I saw a Window appearing right in front of me.

This is a Skill Book [Inspiration Manifestation].
Would you like to Learn this Skill?

I pressed the acceptance button and instantly dashed back down the stairs, finishing my run with a big jump as I landed onto the floor of the library and could hear as the stairs behind me were collapsing. I smirked, this was going far better than I expected and as I listened to the door behind me closing I again reached out with my [Telekinesis] and started collecting books into my Inventory. I also called out my Skills Window and looked at the new Skill, it wasn't all that impressive on the surface but, in the end, it was cool nonetheless as it severely boosted my performance when it came to the Magic that was considered my 'Special Talent'.

It took me another minute or so to finish gathering all the books that were in the library, I even lifted the table and made sure to check behind the bookcases so not to miss anything worth taking. With the Royal Diary being the last book left I could safely say that I managed to accomplish my task for today, even if it came with absolutely ridiculous side-effects that made me want to swallow a whole bottle of Tylenol. Making sure that I had everything I used [ID Create] to produce an Illusion Barrier and then teleported out fo the Castle, it will be a long way home because I now had no actual way to use the train. Well, I did gain a pair of pretty nice wings and I should probably test them out at some point in the future, so why not now?

Author's Notes:

I know what many would say, that I'm giving too much to my Character and she's growing too fast when it comes to Power, but can you all please imagine just what Level does Celestia hold and what her Stats would look like? What about Luna? Chrysalis? Tirek? Cadance? Twilight? Starlight? These guys are monsters when it comes to Power and Jessica doesn't have a couple of decades to properly catch-up to them so I decided to at least give her a freaking chance at evening out the playing field with the others.
Once again, your Suggestions, Criticisms and Comments are all welcome!