'So this is how Hell feels like.' I thought as I walked with a glassy stare and blank expression. 'I expected much more fire and brimstone.'

It would be a long walk back towards Canterlot, but I at the moment I couldn't care less. The whole thing with me ending the threat of Tirek ever breaking free was severely overshadowed by the consequences of my actions. Sure, I gained whole ten Levels out of it, two awesome Skill Books and several Skills that came from Stats growing so much, but, at the same time, I felt as this whole thing was just a prelude for me to drop my guard and let the incoming knife stab me right into the kidney. I could feel my heart beating in my chest with hollow thuds as if there was no point in doing so anymore and it was just going through the motions solely because of a reflex and not because it was supposed to keep me alive. My mind felt numb, emotions were hard to produce and I had to struggle to even remember why I was even like that in the first place, the shock fro earlier left me mostly empty as everything inside was wrecked to the point that even [Gamer's Mind] was severely overtaxed while struggling to keep my sanity intact and my mind from shattering like fucking glass.

I read several Self-Insert Fics on the Internet, there were things that could happen to people, they could end up as somebody else for example. The idea was kind of nice, if not for the vomit-inducing addition that made all of them suffer from the effects of the original owners of the body screwing their minds over for the sake of Fake Conflict. Some ended up as one of the Main Characters and had to play their parts to keep the World from keeling over earlier than it was destined to do, it was kind of sad to read the Stories where the Authors couldn't come up with anything original that would keep the plot going and not repeat the original Canonical events for the sake of not needing to invent something original. I think that I now saw something in those that chose to stay put and keep their heads down. If I didn't act so rashly, if I just stay put and pretend to be Moony without actually doing any grinding or explorations on my own, if only I just kept my fucking head down! I honestly felt like crying right now, I had no idea what to do and how to keep going from this point and what I was going to tell the girls...

I looked down at the small Centaur that held my right hand tightly and trotted near me while looking around as if trying to take her whole surrounding in at the same time. Her smile was just radiating happiness as she held onto me and didn't let go, her black eyes with light brilliant-yellow pupils practically shining with curiosity as she studied the woods that we were going through. Her black skin-tight muscle shirt was covering her from the waist up but left her arms and shoulders bare, it had high-collar that also covered her neck. She also wore silver metal bracers on her wrists, a choker-like necklace thingy at the base of her neck and the metal ring in her nose, that was pretty much that was on her. Her moderate raspberry skin was smooth and I could tell that it indeed its natural color, it was kind of bizarre to see but at the same time it fit her just right. Her hair was black and light phthalo bluish gray and tied in a high ponytail, her tail. on the other hand. was solid gray in color and swished from side to side with excitement. The fur of her horse part was azureish black with her light lime greenish gray hooves with amberish gray clefts. Her eyebrows were of the same color of gray as her hair, but, from under her hair, I could see a helmet-like part of her skin on her head being black with her cow-like ears covered by the fur of the same color. What would also draw everyone's attention was a pair of dark sapphire bluish gray curve bull-like horns that came from the sides of her head and pointed up, they were pretty big for her rather small statue but also managed to look rather fitting with what I knew of her origin and how he looked at the peak of his 'growth'.

Teria was... miniature to say the truth, she looked like she was in her early teens but smaller than you would expect of her. She had lean built and I could see some muscles on her arms but they were still rather small but obviously present. I could feel her Magic too, it was so similar to what I felt from Tirek back then, but it was somehow cleaner than what he had and much less powerful than he could produce even in his weakened state. At first, I actually had no clue what to do with her, the small part of me actually considered killing her right then and there and by that removing the last part of Tirek from this World, but my hand simply refused to move after I already made the mistake of looking into her eyes. Love, happiness, devotion, even [Observe] verified that the emotions that she showed were real and genuine, she was so happy and so innocent that I simply couldn't do anything but watch as she hugged me with all the strength her newly formed body possessed. It felt remarkably like a sucker-punch right into the guts, she didn't even question the presence of my sword and just was happy to hug me even if I didn't return the gesture.

'It's not fucking fair!' I cried inwardly, the young girl that lead towards home was by all accounts an impossibility that shouldn't have been capable of existing simply because there was no place for her in the World. And yet, she was happily holding my hand as I walked through the forest, from the corner of my eyes I could see the floating Window of my [Observe] that showed me her emotions and current disposition. The love and devotion were still present and they were directed at me of all people, she sincere loved me as her mother and I honestly was at loss of what to do with this. There literally wasn't much I could do, killing her or in any other way getting rid of her was out of question as I would never abandon an innocent child to the wolves, Celestia will probably kill her or lock her in Tartarus without even a second thought if she would think that Teria was a reincarnation of Tirek. Oh, I knew about her whole shtick about 'Second Chances', but one thing that I saw in the Cartoon made me want to keep Teria as far away from Sunbutt as possible.

"But I have use for Discord's Magic if it can be reformed to serve good instead of evil."

This particular line bore some very bad connotations, it may be just a bad wording on the part of the Author or something like that, but I honestly didn't feel inclined to find out what 'use' will she find for Teria. I could think of a couple of rather unpleasant ones, Discord proved that the crap Celestia was trying to spew wasn't all that much of value when it came to it being valid. Discord turning over a new leaf? Bullshit and a half, I honestly wasn't going to trust the animal jigsaw puzzle with unparalleled Power to be even remotely redeemable. I originally planned to deal with him by letting him break out, and then sealed again so I could steal the statue and drop it into one of the pits of Tartarus for another thousand years or even more to come. But that option was unavailable now, or more like unneeded, with [Magical Drain] I could remove him anytime I wanted to without any problem, the only question is when I should do so? I don't know if me tearing his Essence from him will break his prison or not, it was a huge problem that I wanted to solve as soon as possible.

"Mama!" I twitched but still turned my head to look at the excited child that was still grasping my right hand. "Look what I can do!"

Between Teria's horns and right above her head was floating a small sphere of Magic, Tirek did the same with he used his and I wasn't all that surprised with her Magic being the same color as his was. I'm not sure if I should be impressed or scared of her being able to figure out how to activate her own Magic, maybe she was talented or it was just that simple for her to do so?

"Wonderful!" I put on a kind smile. "You already figured out how to bring out your Magic."

The sensation of my heart being stabbed with a serrated dagger manifested as soon as I saw the sheer level of delight that my compliment brought forth. The one-armed hug that she gave my right leg, as she refused to let go of my hand, only twisted it, there was no way I would be able to actually do anything about her now that I brought her into the World. Her smile at me was so happy that I wanted to punch myself for no actually meaning anything of what I just said, the fangs that were longer and sharper than normal didn't diminish the sheer level 'Adorable!' that Teria was radiating right now.

'Fuck, I will be feeling like shit if I won't do it, am I?' I sighed internally and after letting her let go of my leg I crouched down and pulled her into a hug that she eagerly returned. [Observe] was still reading her and my action right now brought another burst of joy for her, there literally wasn't all that much I could do about it and I honestly didn't want to. Taking responsibility? I was already screwed, so why not to add something like this to the pile? The warmth of her small body and the fact that she obviously milking my decision to hug her for all she could make me almost groan, it was only [Gamer's Mind] that saved me from doing so openly.

"Mama?" Teria pulled back a little and looked me in the eyes, her expression a bit unsure. "I just wanted to know..."

She looked won, the embarrassed look really didn't suit her face. It was actually fully human face or, at least, as close to human's as it can be instead of the baboonish mug that Tirek had. I really couldn't catch a break here, am I?

"What's wrong?" This time was soft and far less fake.

"Em, I was just wondering, where are we going?" She looked at me with curiosity.

I stared at her for a moment, my gaze made her squirm a little but she didn't let go of me as I tried to come up with a correct answer. With what [Observe] showed to me, with her demeanor and with me being responsible for her creation...

"Home." I smiled at her, this time it was fully genuine.

It took us a lot of time to get through the White Tail Woods, even with me using [Teleportation] to considerably shorten our path I really had to flex the Skill to make sure that we will arrive before the nightfall. I needed time, stalling was the only way I could get some without actually doing nothing productive, or anything at all for that matter. Teria was fascinated by me being able to just pop us around like that, I did a couple of teleportations just for the sake of her entertainment and for the sake of getting my mind off the more pressing matters of her existence and my position as her technical mother.

There literally wasn't anything I could do about it, she was here and I couldn't just let a Magic-Eating Centaur wander around unsupervised. There also wasn't much I could do to fix the problem on my own, I couldn't bring myself to kill her or return her to Tartarus where Cerberus would take care of her as it would probably recognize her as a part of Tirek. I also couldn't just drop her on someone who would be able to take care of her, the only ones aware of what she was capable of and actually knowledgeable enough for the job were Celestia and Luna and they were not an option. I also had a very strong feeling that Teria won't let me abandon her that easily, she would probably try to search for me and that would end up in a disaster without fail.

'Damn it, I don't even know how to properly take care of her!' If she was either a Pony or a Human I would've been able to cope, but her being a Centaur made it far harder than it should be in the first place. I could only cope and hope that some general principals applied here too, whatever counted here for an actual childhood I wasn't sure with Vorak being shown only once and not in a parental role... I groaned internally, there was just some things that were simply immune to any and all attempts to make them simpler than they already were. This was one of them, no matter how much I thought about it I couldn't actually come up with any easy way to deal with the whole bag crap that was suddenly and without warning dropped on my head. At least right now I had a small break that I could use to sort out my thoughts and maybe gain some kind of an insight about how to...

"Mama, look what I found!" The joyful cry from the source of my headaches broke my train of thought.

I let Teria roam freely on the big clearing that I found in the woods, she mostly just ran around and explored the place while I sat under a tree and trying to come to terms with what actually happened. My mind was mostly going in circles, there literally was no defined solution I could come up with for the sake at least reaching some form of conclusion on the matter. I wasn't a monster who would abandon a child, and I couldn't keep her due to her literally being the female copy of one of the terrifying threats Equestria ever faced.

I looked up only to see Teria holding up a raccoon with both her hands, the poor critter looked ready to shit himself and was trying to take a break for freedom. Its struggles were really in vain as the poor thing had no chance in overpowering its captor's grip on its sides and escaping. Apparently, Teria was holding it too tightly as it also was making gurgling noises while obviously choking on its own innards. I decided to save the poor rodent and stood up, with one step I was in front of the little terror that would send chills down anyone's spine who was aware of what her predecessor was capable of.

"That's nice, sweetie." I reached out and ruffled her hair, which made her grin even brighter at me. "But we will be leaving soon and you can't let this little guy come with us."

Teria's ears dropped a little as she looked sadly at the struggling critter that was probably seeing its life flashing before its eyes by this point. Her sad eyes almost made me cave in and let her keep it up until the point it would keel over, there was no amount of pleading she could dish out for me to let her drag a cadaver of a rodent around. A quick application of [Gamer's Mind] fixed the problem and I just smiled apologetically at her.

"Really?" I could swear I even heard a small sad sniff.

"Sorry, but his place is in this forest where his home is." One quick check with [Observe] supplied with the gender of the raccoon, these critters were actually smart and there was no point of provoking it to shit on my foot or something like that. "I'll see if we can get you a pet after we'll get home, but only after everything concerning your arrival will be taken care of."

The last part made her smile return full force. Without even bothering with manual extraction I used [Teleportation] to relocate the critter to the nearby part of the clearing where it instantly broke into a mad dash and soon disappeared behind the trees. The lucky little guy could just run away, I truly envied him right about now.

"Are we going home now?" I looked back at the girl in front of me. "Can I get something big when we will get there? Like a big cat? Or a big bird? Or... Or a bear?!"

In my mind, I could actually see the image of Teria dragging around a struggling bear that was fighting for its life while trying to break free from the vice-like grip fo the centaur girl. I suppressed a small shudder from the whole thing, it reminded me too much of an episode of 'Screwy Squirrel' for my comfort.

"I'll see what we will be able to find." I smiled woodenly at her, my mind too occupied with the images of dead animals. "Now, let go home."

I reached out and took her hand, there was no point of actually stalling anymore as the more time I was absent the more worried the girls will be. Lemon will probably lecture me about being stupid and putting myself in danger, but it will all be derailed when Teria will make her entrance. I also hoped that they will miss my newly acquire height and curves for the sake of actually figuring out how she came along and where from. I deployed an Illusion Barrier and, with a flash of light, we were gone. Due to me not being overly confident in my capability to fly us back to Canterlot I decided that [Teleportation] would have to do for the moment.

'Think positive thoughts, there won't be much damage they will be able to do to me now, right?' Even this little positive thing tasted bitter. I was in my house, just arriving there felt like jumping into the pit and waiting for the spiky press to come down on you, and right now I was about to push the button for its release. With a deep sigh and still holding Teria's hand as the small Centaur was looking around the living room I dropped the Illusion Barrier.

"... and then we will be able to simply relax in the spa." I heard Minuette finish.

She was sitting on the couch with Lemon and Shy, while Starlight was sitting on the chair nearby. They all were looking at something that I could only guess was some kind of an advertisement brochure, I sure hope they weren't planning on dragging me along the ride as I simply wouldn't be able to actually join them in their endeavor for obvious reasons.

"And how are you planning on having Moony with us?" Lemon asked. "I'm pretty sure that there won't be a way for us to actually sneak her in without anyone noticing, even with those fancy Illusion Barriers of her there surely will be at least someone who will see her there!"

'Yeah, now even more than before.' I grimaced and glanced at Teria, who was looking at the girls with wide and curious eyes. They were the only other people she has met so far so there really wasn't all that much surprise in her reaction. I was actually more surprised that she hasn't tried to jump in and talk to them so far, but the tightening of her grip and a quick glance at her with [Observe] cleared that up. She was just being unsure and a little bit shy about the whole thing, I was 'Mama' and therefore automatically approachable but these girls were an unknown and therefore she was lost at what to do and how to react to them. I shoudl've actually warned her about them, but it didn't really feel right to do so without actually alerting girls about Teria too.

"That's the beauty of my plan!" Minuette grinned. "We will rent the whole thing off, or at least one of the saunas and then just make it our little relaxation spot for the evening."

"There is no way we would be able to pull it off." Starlight groaned. "I know about a couple of Spells that would be able to render any part of the body invisible, but the problem with those is that they are kind of useless during things like fog or rain. The steam in the spa will just make the whole thing pointless as it will collect on her wings and render them partially visible, and I'm pretty sure that we won't be able to cast it on her horn without anyone asking questions how she suddenly changed her Type."

"What are we going to do then?" Lemon raised an eyebrow. "I agree that we should pull her out, the stress she's putting herself through isn't normal and the amount of training she's probably doing to grow so fast should be borderline insane with how much stronger she became recently... Whatever she does, it can't be healthy or actually all that simple as she tell us."

"What do you mean?" Minuette raised an eyebrow. "I know that the whole schtick with her becoming an Alicorn was a huge shock, but..."

"No, listen to me here." The Empath of the group, and I was wondering why she didn't notice us just yet with her Power, interrupted the Chronomancer-in-training. "We all went through this thing in school, the lecture about the capabilities and growth-rates of Unicorn's Power. There are limits to how much someone's Magical Power can grow, what Moony demonstrated in these days is an unprecendental case of growth that literally breaks every Rule in the book. I don't think she's doing something bad, like using some foul Magic to increase her own Power just for the sake of Power, but..." Here she grimaced. "I can't really tell, but it's like Moony is making progress unnaturally fast for the sake of warding something off that I can't really pinpoint."

'Damn, she's a smart cookie.' I actually was surprised just how perspective Lemon was here.

"And that would be?" Starlight asked with a rather serious tone.

"How did she know about you?" The cerulean-haired girl asked. "She literally had no actual source for information like that, she eve knew about your past and I'm pretty sure that there won't be anything written about it anywhere? I'm not saying that we shouldn't trust her, I will be the first to admit that I know Moony and there is no way she would be doing anything that can be harmful to anyone else, but things around her just stopped adding up all of a sudden and I'm more concerned for her than about her."

"I'm too." Shine spoke, her head was bowed slightly as she looked at the floor. "She's different, she's now much more confident and outgoing than she was before, she isn't as hesitant in her steps as she was and it makes her appear so much stronger. When we first met she was a shut-in, her awkward attempts at socialization were making her a loner and I was pretty sure that the only reason she actually talked with others at all was because she had to so not to fail assignments. And then she met me, it took me months to drag her out of her shell and actually bond with her because she barely talked herself and always looked so sad."

'Well, Moony was actually more unsure than sad, according to the memories I mean.' I tried to dig some more, but it was kind of blurry. 'I think her main problem was that she simply didn't know how to properly make friends and interact with children her age. Damn that orphanage sucked ass, no wonder she actually went clam-like for some time if these kids were so damn forceful. I mean, some roughhousing isn't bad and builds character but simply teasing a child that had no actual way to fight back about her refusal to participate in sports? I know that these kids were Ponies, but even then it comes out kind of rough and very hypocritical with them being Earth-Ponies while Moony was a Unicorn.'

"What, really?" Minuette looked at Shine. "When I met her she was kind of shy and unsure, but not to the extent you just mentioned."

"I agree, I could tell that she was kind of nervous but hopeful at the same time back then." Lemon shrugged. "It took some time but she eased up around me and Minuette, you basically being glued to her all the time also helped with how you tried everything to cheer her up. I was pretty sure Morning Roast was considering asking you if you wanted to switch rooms with her, so you won't need to stay away from your crush for prolonged periods of time at night. Apparently, the only objection came from your parents, they really weren't into letting their child live in the orphanage."

I could hear the smirk in her voice.

"W...Wha...What?!" Shine's face was tinted with a pink blush as she waved her hands as if trying to shield herself away from the insinuations. "It wasn't like that! She was just so fragile back then and I didn't want my closest friend to feel alone! Roast was busy with helping around, she already was good with what she does now and Moony had nothing but books going on for her..."

"And thank you for that." I finally announced my presence. "Without you I wouldn't have known the wonders of trying to get the paint out of my skin in the morning and how horribly it itched while I was trying to rub as much acetone into it to get that fake blush out."

"Eep!" Shine actually jumped in her position on the couch and tumbled onto the floor.

"Wha?!" Lemon's head whipped around so fast that I could swear I heard her bones cracking.

Minuette just stiffed as a board, but then also turned around with her eyes wide and pupils shark to the size of pinheads. Through this whole mess, Starlight remained calm and just turned to look at me with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, she obviously detected my arrival but decided to not announce it to the girls. I actually smirked back, this was actually funny.

"So, how was the trip?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, but then her eyes fell onto Teria and her compose shattered as she jumped back. "What the?! Who is that?!"

The loud noise snapped Lemon and Minuette from their shock as they too saw the rather diminutive Centaur that hid behind my leg and shyly peeked from behind it at the four girls that were staring at her with wide as dinner plates eyes. It could feel the grip she had on my hand tightened as she became the center of attention, this was going to get ugly really fast if I won't do anything. Shine managed to climb back onto her feet and she too became stiff as a board as she looked at the creature she has never seen before in her life, there wasn't any actual fear in her eyes but a lot of shock and uncertainty.

"Before we will begin can someone get me something to wear?" I motioned to my rather exposed body. "This isn't the attire I'm really comfortable discussing thing in."

This managed to snap others from the shock, Shine released a squeak and blushed red and instantly switched her gaze at the floor. Minuette finally noticed that I was only dressed in my underwear and her eyes grew even wider and her mouth opened but no sound came out, Lemon was just sitting in the same position and staring at the two of us with a blank look, I'm pretty sure that she wasn't even blinking. Starlight on the other hand apparently caught her breath and restored her balance as she blinked at my words and then released a slight groan and then pinched the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed.

"Only in exchange for the list of what you're eating to grow like that." She let go of her nose and looked me in the eyes. "Seriously, if this some kind of an Alicorn-thing? There is no freaking way that you would be able to suddenly gain that much height in a span of a day!"

"Some very good exercises." I smiled at her twitching left eye. "Did you really think that a visit to Tartarus would be all sunshine and rainbows? It took me some time to get there, but at the same time it took me far less time and far more effort to actually get in and then get out without having to have to fight the Cerberus on the way."

"I thought Cerberus would only harm the Evil..." Starlight blinked.

"Technically? Yes." I grimaced a little. "But he also positioned there to make sure that nothing will ever get out and I didn't want to test my luck if it will see that I don't belong there. The damn thing was powerful, even from a rather large distance I almost keeled over from a single glance it gave me. I'm pretty sure that even Celestia will have a hard time getting around such a monster, this actually pose a question why she didn't simply lock Nightmare Moon in Tartarus instead of sending her to the moon."

"What?!" Lemon apparently regained her wind as she jumped on her feet. "Explain!"

"Well, I'm not sure that Nightmare would've been able to get out..." I began but was interrupted by her glaring at me with fire in her eyes.

"Not that!" She marched over to me and tried to look imposing by the difference in heights kind of made it hard for her. "Explain that!" She pointed with her left hand at Teria, who shrinker slightly behind me. "Explain this!" I actually had to use [Gamer's Mind] to retain my calm exterior as Lemon grabbed my left breast with her right hand. "Explain everything!"

"... Before or after you'll finish groping me?" I asked teasingly with a raised eyebrow.

This question actually managed to knock the winds out of her sails and she blinked, the anger leaving her face and confusion taking its place. She looked at her right hand as if she was seeing it for the first time in her life and then gave my breast an experimental squeeze. Apparently the fact that she was technically molesting me finally registered in her mind as she suddenly flushed as red as a tomato and jumped back with a sound of a cat having its first experience with anal.

"Mama, who are they?" Teria asked, apparently overcoming her shyness due to sheer circumstances.

"Well, the one with with blue and white hair is Minuette, the one with pink hair is Twinkleshine and the one who just grabbed my breast was Lemon Hearts." I then looked at the girls that were frozen in shock, apparently the little Centaur dropping the bomb so casually temporary disabled their higher brain function. "And the last one is Starlight Glimmer. Now, don't be shy and greet them properly."

Teria looked at me with some uncertainty, but apparently her trust in me was strong enough for her to overcome her own fear as she stepped from behind me and raised her right hand in an awkward wave. She didn't let go of my right hand, though.

"Hi, I'm Teria." She fidgeted on the spot at the dead gazes of the audience. "You're mama's friends, right?"

The first one to move was Shine, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed as a puppet that had its strings cut. Her departure from the land of the wakefulness apparently wasn't enough to snap others of their stupor as the still just stood and looked at us with blanks stares. It was kind of becoming creepy, and their soulless gazes reminded me too much about zombies for comfort.

'Fuck, I need some new clothes.' I finally managed to squeeze myself into one of my last sweaters I actually had, Moony didn't have that many clothes that could be stretched that fucking much. I would need some new clothes soon, pants or a skirt were out of the question as they literally didn't fit me anymore no matter what I did with them. I even actually used Inventory to try and put them on, but they were torn apart upon manifestation by my body's far larger frame than they were made for. So right now I was sitting on the couch in training boxers, that for some reason existed in Equestria, and a sweater that was stretched to the extreme and would probably be torn apart if I as much as flex my own muscles or perform any sudden movements.

"Now, you will explain everything." Oh, and Lemon was standing in front of me with a murderous scowl on her face. "You won't cut any corners and will say everything as it is."

Starlight was sitting on the chair nearby, reading a book but was clearly amused by the whole thing as she was glancing at us from time to time. Minuette was sitting on the worktable that I had here, I didn't really care as she won't be able to break it with her weight and she looked really out of her comfort zone right now. Shine was just sitting on the floor and looking at Teria with a small wooden smile on her face, I was kind of afraid that she would stop breathing at some point if she will keep this up.

"What exactly do you want me to explain?" I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my right hand.

"Everything!" Lemon look really not in the mood right now. "How did you get so much bigger just in a day?!"

"Honestly?" I had an answer for that one, even if it wasn't a complete truth. "It's a Spell called [Might of Magic], Tirek developed it passively and on an accident and I just replicated the effect while I visited him. It's not really all that hard, it's just that your own Magic powers-up your body making it stronger, I have a lot of Magic and it got me a boost that you see right now."

"Alright, and what does this Spell actually do beside the growth-thing?" Lemon wasn't going to let it go.

"I'm stronger, faster and much tougher than before due to my own Magic." I shrugged. "It's passive effect and once applied cannot be canceled off no matter what, I was trying to analyze Tirek to find a better way to contain him and, in the end, I stumbled upon this. It's honestly awesome, I can feel my Magic coursing through my body and enhancing it while also not actually being used!"

"... It's not some kind of a Dark Magic, is it?" Lemon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose while closing her eyes.

"No!" I huffed at the accusation. "It's nothing like that! Think of as about a 'natural augmentation' that my own Magic provides to my body by just being inside of it. It's nothing like what you're thinking off, and I didn't have to actually alter myself to learn how to do it."

"And what about the growth?" She didn't lose any wind in her sails, but at least Lemon decided that at least this conversation can be calm and constructive. "I can understand the principal of what you're talking about, Starry did something similar when you sparred with each other, but she never grew because of it."

"Actually, mine if quite different from what she's describing." Starlight said as she put the book down.

"How so?" My interrogator looked at the second most powerful being in the room.

"Well, I just coat myself in Magic and provide myself with a powerful and flexible shield that would also enhance my physical capabilities as a side-effect. Think of it as wearing an armor made out of Mana, but it also adds some more to your capabilities in close combat." She shrugged. "It's the most basic explanation I can give, it took me months to figure it out and make it so I could use efficiently without risking running out of Mana. Incorporating flight into it was also a tough nut to crack, but, in the end, it was totally worth it."

"Alright..." Lemon scratched the back of her head. "I'm not very good at that Type of Magic, but what about the negative consequences Moony can suffer from this?"

"None." Starlight looked at me with interest. "You literally let your won Magic run through your body to make it tougher and sort of reinforce it to fit your own Magical Power, right?" I nodded slowly. "Well, it's kind of what Princesses do, they are that big because they are that powerful and their Mana is so dense and they how so much of it that it literally infuse their bodies with itself and makes them bigger. I'm pretty sure that Princess Celestia would be able to literally shrug off anything I would be able to throw her way, she won't even feel the attacks and they won't cause any damage whatsoever."

"So Moony isn't turning into a Villain?" Minuette asked from her position against the wall. "And we won't need some stupid costumes as her minions?"

I threw her an annoyed look, she sure as hell could keep her trap shut about this whole thing. Her joke may have relaxed the atmosphere a little, but, at the same time, it also gave the others some very unneeded ideas that I would need to work around for my next trick.

"Ha, ha, ha." I deadpanned. "I'm not sure you would be able to even pass as one, maybe a jester?"

"Nah, I'll leave it to Shine, she knows how to make you smile." She smirked at the still catatonic girl. "Is she alright?"

"Just leave her be, she'll snap out of it sooner or later." I waved her off.

I could see Teria sitting on the floor behind the couch, and munching on the apples I gave her, she already went through about a dozen of them and I honestly couldn't see her even slowing down. The little terror was pretty much satisfied with nobody paying an actual attention to her and me being near while she stuffed her face with delicious food, considering that it was her first day existing I couldn't blame her for going a bit too far with her exploration. The main question was: where the fuck was she putting it all?!

"And what about her?" Lemon nodded towards the Centaur. "Where did she come from?"

"Actually, that's a very interesting story here." I chuckled sheepishly, this part I would have to play perfectly because otherwise, they would be able to tell that I'm bullshitting them. "Tirek tried to drain my Magic, he wasn't able to do so as I was too strong for him to actually brute-force his away through, but I managed to figure out the whole thing and basically reverse the process... somewhat."

"You... stole his Magic?!" Starlight's exclamation ended in an embarrassing squeak.

"Not exactly." I shrugged. "I managed to extract his Essence, there literally wasn't any Magic in him after all these years and I managed to tear it out o him."

"So...?" Lemon looked at me, I could see a slight trace of fear in her eyes. "What happened to him?"

"He won't be able to use Magic or steal it from anyone ever again." I smirked. "He's literally less than nothing now, even if I had to kind of use his own method against him to make it so."

"... Alright..." Lemon was still staring at me as if searching for something but then she just sighed and shook her head. "On a less morbid note, where does she comes into the picture?" She motioned towards Teria. "She's not his daughter or something?"

"Nah." I shook my head. "She's basically his legacy, but in a very roundabout way. Funny thing about Essence, it will always try to reconstruct itself a body and if given enough Mana to do so..."

Starlight's eyes widened and she instantly locked her gaze on the still eating Teria, Lemon did the same as hers almost popped out of her head from surprise. Minuette was a bit slower on the uptake, but then her head snapped towards the Centaur too and her mouth opened slightly. Apparently, me dropping such a bomb on them once again rendered their minds broken and inactive. Strangely, it was a very satisfying feeling.

"... You created her?!" Lemon choked out. "But... But where did you get the amount of Mana needed to actually do such a thing?! To permanently conjure a living tissue and then construct a vessel that would actually function as a fully living body..."

"It shouldn't be possible." Starlight acquired a faraway look as she probably was trying to calculate just how complicated this whole thing was. "You would need to deliver an insane amount of information into the Essence to perfectly micromanage the process, there is no way your brain would be capable of something like that! That's why Cloning via Life Magic was actually banned out as the Unicorns trying to do so just burned their own gray matter out upon the first try!"

"I had enough Mana all by myself, and the Essense did all the heavy-lifting as it already had a blueprint of Tirek's physiology in it." I smirked at their stunned looks. "I just needed to provide the fuel for the process and in a record time she popped out into existence!"

"But..." Starlight blinked. "But what about the Soul? You couldn't have just pulled it out of nowhere!"

"Again, the Essence had the blueprints for everything, I only needed to add Mana to it." I sighed. "This is not a Golem, not an Automaton and not a Simulacrum, this is a living breathing being that was born today via me infusing Tirek's Essence with enough Mana for it to reconstruct itself a new Vessel." I blinked. "And it sounded way better in my head too." I decided to ignore the accidental innuendo. "It felt like a kick in the guts, but at the same time I have a very good Recovery Rate of my Mana and therefore I was back at full tank rather soon. Teria here is far from what she could've been and I can safely say that she's not like Tirek in any way or form. He was a Monster, she's an innocent child that is now experiencing her first day of actual life."

"... You brute-forced Creation via pure dumb luck..." Starlight groaned as she buried her face in the palms of her hands. "I actually read the 'Theory if Spiritual Equivalation' and the author was spot on about his hypothesis, what you did was basically his masterpiece that he wasn't able to accomplish due to old age and him simply not being strong enough to pull this off. It was a pity that Celestia refused to even listen to him, Blazing Heart was the most talented Unicorn of his generation and a true genius when it came to Soul Magic..." She lifted her head and looked at me with a small sardonic smile. "I actually used his teachings to steal Cutie Marks, and two hundred years after his death you basically managed to accomplish his Dream through an accident that wasn't even meant to be anything other than a disarming of a ticking bomb."

"... Why did she refuse?" I actually was curious what reason did Sunbutt came up with for this one.

"She said it was unnatural and that his research was against the Harmony of Equestria." Deadpanned Starlight.

"That's kind of stupid." I scratched the back of my head. "So many problems could've been solved by simply developing Soul Magic, at least from where I'm standing."

"Will you two stop reminiscing the past already?!" Lemon cut in. "It doesn't fix the problem that we have the representation of one of the most prominent Villains in Equestria's history sitting inside Moony's house! Stay on topic here, we need to find a solution to this as soon as possible!"

"What to decide? She can stay here and I will be taking care of her." I said with a straight face.

"... What?!" Lemon gaped at me. "You can't just do that! She isn't a puppy or a kitten that you can just take in like that!"

"Mama, you promised that I can get a pet when we will be home, can it be a puppy?" Teria showed a perfect timing as she asked her question. "Big and fluffy one?"

"We'll see, but right now I need to deal with the current problems." I turned and looked at her. "After I'll deal with this we'll see about getting you a pet."

"Okay!" She grinned at me and then returned to munching on apples.

"... You promised her a pet?" Minuette asked with a snort. "Did you actually specify what kind of a pet you're going to get her?"

"Mama said that she will find me one!" Chippered Teria, her fanged grin looked both adorable and scary for normal Ponies. "Mama didn't let me get that raccoon that I found in the forest, but now I'll get to have one even better than that!"

'Ever helpful...' I groaned internally.

"I'll think of something." I answered. "And about me knowing these things? I already told you about Starlight and how did I find her town, there really isn't that much of a story if you're observant and can see the patterns in the strange disappearances that were happening all around the place. Did you really think that nobody would notice so many Ponies going missing?"

"Actually?" Starlight scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "No, I had them in the town and they could verify for each other if authorities would arrive. If the person isn't missing and isn't held against his own will then there is literally nothing actually illegal about my actions. If nobody would try and dig deeper and figure out that I technically didn't own the place and it wasn't registered as a settlement then I was pretty much untouchable from the juristical point of view."

"You really thought these things through, didn't you?" Minuette smirked at the girl.

"About Tirek?" I grimaced. "There was a book about him, the only copy in existence at the moment is in the Royal Library, and I'm talking about the Forbidden Section where Celestia hides all the dirty secrets about the past that nobody should know about without some very explicit need." Partially true, the book existed in Canon. "The 'History of Equestria' speaks of several great calamities that can threaten our country, the first one to arrive was Nightmare Moon and she was put down by the Elements of Harmony. There is literally can't be smoke without fire, and if the Elements returned then there must be a very serious reason for their reemergence, there is no such thing as coincidence and you already saw the proof."

"And what exactly was the proof of what you're saying?" Starlight wasn't mocking me, she was listening to every word I said intensely. "I won't be the one saying that you're wrong, I'm the proof of the fact that some of the things you're talking about are true. There is no way you could've learned about... him without some very serious digging done."

"Moony, to be perfectly honest this whole thing sounds like a talk of a crazy tinfoil-hat, but you're my friend and I know you aren't going to simply lie about something like that..." Lemon hesitated for a moment, probably trying to come up with a proper wording. "I'm giving you the benefit of doubt here, and I trust you that there is something to your theory."

"I'm in." Minuette shrugged. "So far all you said turned out to be the truth, so I have no reason to believe otherwise."

"I was never in doubt, you helped me out and gave me something worth living for." Starlight looked me in the eyes. "There is literally nothing I can do to repay you fully for this."

"Thanks, girls." I smiled at them, this really warmed my heart. Then my smile turned into a smirk. "So, who's up to some serious training?" Without waiting for their reply I deployed an Illusion Barrier but then noticed that one of us still was catatonic. "Right after we will snap Shine out of her stupor."

"Damn, look at her go!" Minuette whistled from her position on a floating platform that I was holding in their air with [Telekinesis]. "She sure knows how to kick ass!"

Teria right now tearing through the horde of Porings and Drops with absurd ease as she literally stomped some of them into the ground. Her hands were always in motion as delivered punch after punch to the ones which decided to jump her, she was tough enough not to get hurt but they could still overwhelm her with sheer numbers. So far she was holding great and even got several Levels after several hours and probably a couple of Points for the sheer effort.

Meanwhile Minuette, Shine, Lemon and Starry were performing the standard routine of their physical training while we were talking about what to do next. They basically told me to stop being an idiot and spill the bean already, and really wasn't going to argue with that one as they should probably know that my next target was Discord. I gave them a brief summary of what was going to happen if he ever got free and all four of them agreed that he should never be released with his Powers intact. I may have added a bit more vivid details to the whole description, but it was for the sake of making a point and also warning them of the danger should he ever be left to rampage through Equestria again. Chaos Magic was dangerous, I couldn't emphasize more on this matter and they got the idea of just how far it can stretch the boundaries of Reality for the sole purpose of some childish monster's amusement. Nobody protested against me pulling out his Essence, they knew that it was necessary and that it was for the good of all of us. One of the most prominent threats to the World would be neutralized without even getting a chance to cause harm, there wasn't a better option I could see here.

I once again looked at Teria as she punched another Poring into oblivion, she was doing great and the girls were free for the night as I was going to keep them here until tomorrow for the sake of preparing them for the challenges to come. Some would be small, some would be big and some would even challenge their perception of the World around them. There wasn't any Magical 'Win Button' that Twilight and her minions had, we weren't born with a 'Silver Spoon of Destiny' in our mouths like those six were and that meant that we would need to actually push forward on our own as the World itself won't hold our hands for this whole trip. I already screwed things up, Season Five and Six were mostly gone and Season Four would be left in shambles soon enough.

I grunted as I pushed up a huge block of stone that I tore out of the ground, there literally wasn't any actual equipment strong enough to become a challenge for me now and I had to improvise. Starlight and I discussed the idea of some sort of adjustable weights that we would be able to carry around as a part of our training, she wasn't very knowledgeable about Enchantments like the ones we needed but the basics were the same as everywhere. Runes weren't a problem, but the actual execution was. I was honestly more inclined in creation of something akin of a Gravity Room like in 'Dragon Ball Z', but it wasn't all that practical to use so we decided to make them mobile weights like the ones I saw in 'Naruto' and then just adjust them with time and maybe add some other functions more. Standard barbells and dumbells were also included, we just needed something to make them weight more than they originally did.

'Gravitation Magic isn't an option, this would end up with a disaster like that one time they tried to create a small floating island via it.' Using this Magic for a long-term Enchantments wasn't something you would actually want to do, the whole thing was really glitchy and required a lot of constant adjustments and maintaining so the sphere of influence wouldn't slip and accidentally hurt anyone. Simply making the item weight more on the other hand was far easier and required far fewer headaches to work through, Twinkleshine even volatile to help as Gravitation Magic as a Sub-Class of Stellar Magic and she was actually pretty good with it after only reading the book once. While not able to actually cast any Spells she was sucking in the knowledge as a sponge and after getting them ready physically I was going to let them work on their Magic for as long as it will be needed.

I saw Teria charging at the now appeared Mastering, it was several hours already since she started her battle and the damn girl knew how to keep going no matter what! She was tough and I could see her Stats actually growing rather fast, soon she would be ready to tackle the next Level of my [ID Create] along with the girls, I knew that the Mobs would be getting stronger with an exponential progression so I would need to keep them here for a tad bit longer until I would be comfortable enough with their progress to let them try out the next one. Starlight and I could probably tear it apart in less than an hour, it would boil down to our ability to kill the Mobs en masse and how many of them we would be able to destroy in one blast. Minuette, Shine and Lemon didn't have such a luxury so they would need to adapt and grow a tad bit more before they would be ready in my understanding of the term.

'Well, at least she's having fun.' I snorted as I saw Teria's fist tore right through the building's wall as the huge Poring managed to dodge her punch. She didn't have any style and like I fought like a brawler, it was mostly her being so young that she was never taught anything just yet and this was mostly a demonstration of what she was capable of specifically made for me. Her STR was insane for her Level and she would only be getting better with time, I only needed to make sure that she wouldn't solely work on it and forget about her other Stats that would become very valuable later on. I wasn't worried about the girls, they were doing great and soon they will be entering another regime of training that I developed specifically for them where my own method will be hopefully applied to them by proxy.

And also I would need to track down Discord, there won't be any second chances for him to break free and wreck havoc through the land. 'The Return of Harmony - Part 1' and 'The Return of Harmony - Part 2' won't happen, I will prevent them from becoming Reality and there wasn't anything that would stop me from doing so. It was so easy to see it from the other side of the screen, and it was so hard to not shudder when you were going to actually be part of the twisted and borderline insane World that was warped by Discord's Magic. Celestia will have to find herself a new tool to work with because I'm going to break this one permanently, killing him now wasn't an option as he was encased in stone and therefore temporary unreachable, but his Magic was there for the taking.

It would be kind of ironic, he will end up powerless in the land where everyone hates him for what he had done all those years ago. The same position of helplessness that he made others go through when he ruled Equestria, with the positions being reversed I was actually wondering what he will do. I was pretty sure that his reaction would be kind of similar to Tirek's, if he was still alive to find out that his Power became Teria and she's on the road to became what he failed to, 'An Indomitable Force'.

Author's Notes:

A/N: Well, here you go! As usual, any comments, criticism, and suggestions leave in Reviews! Also, I added Twilight's profile to the List, please read it and give me your opinion!