"What?" the horned stallion said slowly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with surprisingly dextrous hooves.

"You heard me. What the hay are you doing in my house? And who's this guy?!" Twilight yelled, pointing at Murr.

"Long, not altogether riveting story." Ren said. "Please don't yell. Murr's never been too good about being civil to people who've just woken him up, and I don't think he ever changed."

"Murr, then, is it? That's this guy's name?" Something clicked in her mind, and she gasped when she noticed Murr was wearing the same cloak as their assailant the previous night. "This is the guy who attacked us! Why is he here?!"

"Yeah, funny thing, that." Ren sat up. "He was one of my friends back home a long time ago. We all thought he died, but long story short he switched over to the other side and apparently we now have our own side."

"But he tried to kill us!"

"Calm yourself. I can handle him if he turns out to be not-so-friendly. If he turns again, I don't think I'll have any remorse for showing him the error of his ways."

"As long as you're sure..." Twilight looked to the cube on her shelf, eying it with curiosity. "This is it, right? That cube?"

"Yeah. Remember what the princess said, though, you're supposed to cast this on it." He handed her the copied spellbook page.

"Oh, right. The nullifying suspension spell. Honestly I'm not too sure why this exists, unless there are malicious magical artifacts in Equestria." Her horn flared, and the cube turned gray. "There we go. Supposedly that means it worked. Guess we should send it off to the princess."

"Yeah, but can you see about getting Murr a disguise too? I don't think the ponies are going to take too kindly to someone who nearly murdered them."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Yeah, I'll see. It might be something only the princess can do herself, though, so don't hold your breath." She picked up the cube with her magic and walked upstairs to her bedroom. Curious, Ren followed. He opened the door, to a shriek and a rather forceful exit.

"Wasn't expecting that." Ren said, shaking his head. He moved to wake Murr, but hesitated. What if he really was lying to them? What if he just wanted Ren to lower his guard, make it easier to stab him in the back later? He shook his head again. He'd have to wrangle an oath out of him later.

Twilight descended the stairs not long after, an upset expression on her face. "I enjoy my privacy, thanks. I expect you to honor that."

"Um, yeah. Sorry about that. Didn't realize what you were doing would require that."

"Whatever. So, something tells me you're not telling me everything. Is this guy really on our side? Or is he just going to murder us all in our sleep?"

"I have a... test of character planned. I will have him make an oath to me that he will not betray any of us. If he does this, he will die alone and in agony. If he refuses to take the oath..." Ren trailed off.

"Sounds like a decent enough course of action. So what is our move from here?"

"When we get back to Dereth, we're going to rally several groups of people and creatures to our side, and then we stick it to Asheron and Bael'Zharon both."

"So... none of us are coming, then."

"Pretty much."

"Hmm." She brought a hoof to her chin, thinking. "Why would you want to put an end to Asheron, as well? Isn't he like, your mentor or something?"

"Was." Ren's expression shifted. "He's been acting... oddly, as of late. But even normally, he's just as much of a genocidal prick as Bael'Zharon. He's just better at masking the reasoning behind the systematic extermination of everything that's ever breathed in the same space as us."

"Okay." She shuddered. She needed to change the subject. "So..."

"What?"

"About those lessons you promised me..."

Ren sighed, rolling his eyes. Oh, how he had seen this coming. "Yes, I've proven that planar magic works in this world. It doesn't work properly, though. Also I haven't really tried to cast it in unicorn form, but I guess I could."

"Please do."

Ren sighed again. "Twist my arm a little more, why don't you..." he whispered to himself as he exited the building. He took a more solid stance, and prepared to cast the same generic recall spell that had brought him here. He tried to cast it. The spell fizzled. He took a deep breath and tried again. It fizzled again. He thought to himself, hey, at least it's fizzling instead of not doing anything at all. This probably just means I have to re-learn everything. He sighed as he realized that wouldn't be very feasible unless he could get some practice. He'd have to see about that. The mare had helped him in more ways than one, it was the least he could do to repay her by teaching her what he knew about portals. He had an idea.

He went back inside, and shifted to his Isparian form. Twilight watched, curiosity gracing her features.

"I'm never going to get used to seeing that." she said flatly.

"Try actually doing it. It feels so weird, not painful or anything like that, but it's weird to all of a sudden have fingers again."

She laughed. "Yes, I would imagine that being rather jarring." A ball of green flame appeared next to Twilight, a letter and book falling from it onto the desk next to her. She broke the seal on the letter carefully, and read the letter aloud.

"To My Most Faithful Student,

This is truly one of the most interesting and strange artifacts that I have ever laid eyes on -- perhaps it has properties other than those previously discussed?

I recognize a few of the markings on it--"

"Glad she does, because I don't." Ren interrupted her. Twilight cast him a glare. He shut up. She cleared her throat before continuing.

"-- but not nearly enough to determine its origin. I am sending it on to one of my more gifted associates, to see if she can make anything of the enchantments this object may or may not have. I know you'd be able to figure out what this thing is sooner or later, and I mean no offense to you by saying this, but while you get accurate results, it can take some time, time that we do not really have. I heard about the train accident -- it relieves me greatly to hear everypony made it to safety, well, safely.  And you said that you are now harboring the individual responsible for this? Hmm. Very well, I will trust your judgement on this for now.

As to your inquiry as to the nature and practicality of the spell that I used to gift Feaurax -- excuse me, 'Ren' -- with his unicorn form. You will find the information necessary to execute it on page four hundred fifty three of the enclosed book. I do not know whether you will have the capacity required for casting it, as it is one of the most complex spells known to exist, but if there is anypony alive capable of casting it other than Luna, Cadance, and myself, it would be you. If memory serves, you may be able to enlist the assistance of a few of your unicorn friends to cast this if you find you come up short. Do please let me know if you do manage to cast it, it would answer a question that has been itching at the back of my mind for a good while now.

I assume this is meant to disguise the individual responsible for the aforementioned train accident, is it not? As I said, I will trust your judgement for now, but if this comes back to bite you, I do not think I will need to say that 'I told you so.' Do be careful, please.

Please let me know if there is anything else that I can be of assistance with."

"That last bit sounded like she's acting like a storeroom clerk..." Ren giggled.

Twilight decided not to read the signature, deeming it redundant. She also decided not to grace his joke with a response. It would only encourage him. "Page four-fifty-three, huh? Let's see..." She flipped to the page with her magic, sitting back in a chair. Ren took the opportunity to sit as well, taking out his journal and scribbling some things down in it. The princess is stumped, but she's sending it along. Murr came back today. Have yet to see if he's genuine. Was enlightened as to Asheron's true nature today. He's as bad as the Hopeslayer if not worse. Writing was so much easier with hands. He put the thick book away, and looked at Twilight's face. She still wore that unbreakable mask of concentration, but there were two noticable differences. One was that there was a bead of sweat running down the side of her face. The other was that her pupils were now tiny dots in the center of her eyes. "This... this is nearly impossible..."

"What?"

"This... this spell. I really don't think I could pull it off, not even with half of the unicorns in Ponyville lending a hoof."

"Wonderful. Does that mean we need to bring him to Princess Celestia too, or...?"

"No. I am not going through that junk again, not so soon. If the princess has to be the one to cast the spell, I'm sure I can convince her to come to us instead. We really don't want a repeat of last time."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We can only try to cast it. The good thing about these older spells is that it's an all or nothing deal -- it either works or it doesn't. You don't get stuck in an in-between state."

"Well, that's good, at least. I don't even want to know what an in-between state would look like between an Isparian and a pony." Ren shuddered.

"Thanks for that mental picture. I really could not have lived without it." Twilight snarked, grimacing.

Ren gave a wry grin. "Any time." If Twilight had fingers, she would have flipped him the bird. They walked back to the entryway of the library, where Murr was still sleeping. "Hey, Murr. Wake up." Murr actually did flip him the bird, in his sleep no less. Ren chuckled. "Got a bucket? I want to try something..."

"Yeah, it's around here somewhere. Just try not to make a mess." Ren found the bucket, and filled it with cold water. He started giggling like a schoolgirl, moving into full-blown cackling the closer he got to Murr.

Rude awakening in three...

Two...

Ren tripped over his own feet, cursing at the splash he had made by dropping the bucket.

"You're cleaning that up!" Twilight's distant voice yelled.

He did as he was told, knowing better than to provoke the wrath of the already somewhat agitated mare. He got another bucketful of cold water, being extra careful with his limbs this time, and stood over Murr. He started laughing maniacally as he dumped the bucket on the mage's head, the man springing to attention and spluttering, a look that would murder a flock of pegasi on his face. He turned to face Ren.

"The hell, man? What'd I do this time?"

"You wouldn't wake up."

"He's lying. He just wanted to mess with you." Twilight ratted him out, reentering the room. She stepped in a puddle. "Dammit, Ren, you're cleaning this up too!"

"Now everyone's mad at me. My life is complete." Ren said, imitating some kind of zen-like voice. Murr clocked him in the back of the head while he wasn't looking. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Do I really need to tell you? You know why." Murr said in a raspy voice, tone ominous. Ren laughed uneasily.

"So. We're going to try to turn you into a pony."

"What." replied Murr flatly.

"Don't worry, it's by no means permanent." To prove his point, Ren switched into and out of his unicorn form.

"As long as you don't screw it up, we're golden."

"... One thing, first."

"And what's that?"

"I... I need you to make an oath to me."

"Ren."

"I'm serious."

Murr sighed. "Dammit. I don't mind the oath so much as the completely asinine poses I have to make for it to be official."

"If it'll make you feel better, you don't have to do the poses."

"You will, however, have to make a Pinkie promise." Twilight cut in, giggling.

"Never break a Pinkie promise!" hissed a voice from the doorway.  Ren and Murr took a nervous glance behind them. There was no one there, pony or human. Twilight rolled her eyes, obviously used to this.

"And... what's that?" Murr asked, still a little spooked.

Twilight sighed. "Repeat after me. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I will not betray the ponies of Equestria if it is at all within my power not to do so." He did. Somehow she had the feeling her specific terminology would come back to bite her later.

"Now do the motions!" the same voice from before hissed again. They complied. "NOW KISS!" the voice was clearly just screwing with them now.

"No, Pinkie, I am not going to kiss him." Twilight deadpanned. Said pink party pony burst through the door in a fit of giggles.

"I know, but could you imagine? Your brother would be soooo angry with this guy!"

"Yeah, kind of the main reason I don't go after romance. That and being the isolated bookworm tends to suck any of those opportunities from your life."

Ren cleared his throat. "Murr? The oath?"

"Oh, right."

"Personally, I think the Pinkie promise is enough." Dash said, coming in through the open door."If he breaks it, she'll make it haunt him for the rest of his life."

"A lot of good that does if we're all dead." Ren said, to the tune of Murr rolling his eyes.

Dash's eyes went wide. "Carry on then."

Pinkie giggled. "Yeah, I wanna see this!"

Murr sighed, then kneeled before Ren, who in turn kneeled as well.

"Hey Twilight, mind being the oathmaker?" Ren asked.

"The what?" the mare in question asked flatly.

"The oathmaker just presides over the whole thing, makes it official. Acts as a witness."

"Sure, why not."

Ren turned to face Murr. "Do you, Murr, agree to be bound by the conditions of this oath?"

"I would not know, you have not yet explained them to me."

"The first and only term of this oath is that you, Murr, shall not betray..." he paused, thinking of the best way to put this. In the end, he opted for the same goal as Twilight did with the Pinkie promise. "... Any of the ponies in Equestria, as long as it is within your power not to do so. Having had these terms explained to you, do you understand these terms?"

"Yes." Murr responded.

"Do you agree to be bound by the conditions of this oath?"

"I do."

"Then, with one Twilight Sparkle acting as our oathmaker and witness, I proclaim you to be bound by the terms of this oath. If you break these terms, your internal magic shall turn against you, killing you slowly but surely, with agony of the worst kind wracking your form. Do you understand these consequences?"

"Yes."

"Is it also understood what constitutes as betrayal?"

"Yes."

"Then I believe we no longer have any matters worthy of official discussion. Rise, Murr, and take on the chains of burden this oath leaves to you." Murr rose to his feet slowly. Ren also rose, just as slowly. Ren smiled. "I'm proud to call you my brother in arms again."

"So... is that it? That looks a lot more formal than I thought it would." Twilight asked hesitantly.

"Yup. And it looks more formal than it should because it is more formal than it should be. It's a holdover from Old Aluvia, doesn't see much use anymore, but it works." (yes I totally made that up moving on)

"I see. Well, we should probably get started on the spell. Ren, all you need to do is focus your magic on the same point that I am. In unicorn form, of course. I'm dictating what spell is being cast, so if you focus like I am, together we should be able to pull it off." She grimaced. "Or maybe not. I don't think we'll have quite enough power behind it to do it."

Ren obliged her, shifting into his unicorn form. Twilight put on a mask of fierce concentration and determination, flaring her horn as the aura slowly began to envelop Murr. He mimicked her, focusing all the magic he could into his horn and targeting Murr with it as well. The cobalt and pink auras seemed to mesh together over Murr's standing form, mixing to make a sort of dithered light purple. What was more important, though, was that their auras together managed to fully encompass Murr's body, the changes already beginning to take place. They started at his ears, morphing them into that of a pony's. Pinkie took a note of the color of the fur, a deep red, almost maroon. His head of hair was changed to a mane, of the same styling, not quite long enough to reach his shoulders, and thick and dark. Murr was significantly older than Ren, older than him by almost a decade, and the difference showed more noticably than before. While in human form his hair was only flecked with gray, in pony form the gray was much more pronounced. Perhaps it was the contrast with his new fur. The spell worked its way downward, making clothing disappear and maroon fur take its place. His body was shifting in shape to that of a pony, in place of his arms being two forelegs capped with hooves.

The changes slowed and began to reverse, Twilight's magic reserves failing. Ren quickly noticed this and began to overexert himself. He poured every last drop of his magical energy for his pony form into the spell, and then some. Twilight's aura flickered and gave out as she collapsed, gasping for air. This is it, then, he thought to himself. We've failed. Unless...

He began to search within himself for his Isparian form's magical energy, in the hopes that it would aid him. He looked and looked within himself, but could not locate it. He was about to give up when suddenly the floodgates were opened, a torrent of magical energy flowing through his form and into that of Murr's. The changes worked their way forwards again, the spell only taking a trickle of his Isparian form's mana.

What he didn't notice was the light blue glow that he'd taken on, the subtle glowing growing brighter by the second. He finally noticed it when the secondary aura came to a boil, so to speak, flickering and flaring brightly before exploding into a mass of light blue. An image had also appeared on his flank, which had previously been left blank. It was of a chain, stretched taut. Ren kept up the "assault", the spell having worked just past Murr's now dark red stomach. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash watched with wide eyes from Twilight's side, working together to hold the spent mare up. The effects of the spell inched their way along Murr's legs, exchanging flesh and robes for different flesh and fur. The spell finally ran its course, capping Murr's hind legs with hooves and topping his head with a horn, as befitting a mage.

The blinding blue aura left Ren abruptly, him falling unconscious before he fell to the ground. Murr landed on his legs, moving to help his comrade up. Murr looked at Pinkie and Dash, who looked at him. They all nodded, moving their charges to their respective sleeping places (Twilight to her bedroom, Ren to a particularly comfortable-looking chair) before Dash and Pinkie left to go get some practice and check on some cupcakes, respectively. Murr, having nothing else to do, plucked a book off the shelf and, sitting down in a chair next to Murr, began to read to himself. Next Chapter: The Calm Before The Storm Estimated time remaining: 55 Minutes