The Alter Accords.

by Equinox Starshifter

First published 22nd of August, 2015

Starshifter is looking for the secrets in his memory or lack there of. Seeking out the Element of Magic he hopes to find the answers, but life and Equestria are never that simple or easy it seems.

Starshifter goes from place to place searching for answers that most ponies ask at one point or another. Who am I and what should I do? Problem is that for Starshifter, his questions are more relevant as he has no memories before five years prior. Going from place to place all over Equus he searched till he found that he was running out of leads. In Manehatten, however, He was told of the newest possible lead: The Element of Magic.
'Being part of the Elements of Harmony, and one closest to magic surely this 'Twilight' would have the answers I seek' He thought as he headed to Ponyville to make an appointment with this surely powerful and busy Pony. Well in theory its a good idea till he found out that Canterlot had just been under attack by changelings, this of course is reinforced when Twilight seems to want nothing more to do with anything changeling related. Why does this stay Starshifter's tongue? Why does he stick around Ponyville? Why does he have no memories beyond five years ago? These questions and more will be surely answered in time...right?

Chapter One: Ponyville I have arrived…wait, where is everypony?

Author's Notes:

This is my work of fiction. It has no relation at all with any person existing, least that I know of, at any point in time or place. Everything is a work of fiction.

This work is the property of Equinox Starshifter at FIMFiction.net.

You shouldn’t read this work if you are under the age of 18 as it may contain any of the following and more depending on what I put in there: Foul Language, Sexual Situations both implied and explicit, Death, Dismemberment, Violent acts, Rape, BDSM, Torture, Various kinds of blasphemy, and more. Or maybe not who knows, but read at your own discretion is what I am saying. You have been warned.

Feedback is welcomed, both positive and negative as long as it’s constructive. If you send me a comment saying ‘lol u suck’ or something similar, chances are I won’t read it. However spelling errors, grammar, and the like I will try to fix if you point it out, unless its intentional for it to be that way.

Beyond that I hope you enjoy this plot bunny of mine that I am freeing to the world for free for all to enjoy and gain entertainment from.

Special note: this is my first MLP:FiM fic, so if I do something a tiny bit different chances are either its unintentional or I changed it on purpose…feel free to guess which and point it out.

‘’ Thoughts, “” Speech

The Alter Accords

Chapter One: Ponyville I have arrived…wait, where is everypony?

‘Ahhh nothing as soothing as a cloud for a bed.’ Thought the Pegasus as he stretched out his body. Extending his wings out and looking them over to see if they needed a quick preening. Finding they did he quickly moved first one, then the other to his mouth to straighten out the dark blue feathers that matched his coat. A quick shake to his head tossed the violet mane back and forth, his version of brushing and styling it. “Today is going to be a good day, I can feel it. Finally going to get some very needed answers to my questions. Now let’s see where did that Colt in Manehatten say this place was again?”

The Pegasus moved his head to his saddle bags and retrieved a map and sat on the cloud to hold it out with his forehooves. ‘Alright let’s see I am here…I think…pretty sure, and the guy said Ponyville should be to the south of where I am now. If I am right on how far I could have winged it and came in at evening yesterday but best to catch ponies when they aren’t ready for bed.’

Looking up and smiling as he finds the sun and thus his direction he stretches once more before putting the map away. “Alright, if that colt is right the Element of magic should be in Ponyville. No doubt they should have the answers I seek, even if no pony else has them.”

Leaning over the side of the cloud he would extend his legs and wings beside himself to start his freefall. ‘I love starting my day out like this, way better then coffee.’ The Pegasus thought.

It would be near to two hours before he would spot buildings in the distance, the sight of the town brought a smile to his face and a gleem of hope to his silver-gray eyes that he wouldn’t stop for all the bits in Equus. ‘Five years of my life and finally the answers or there is no answers to be found. This is it, no more working odd jobs to gather bits to go to the next town to see a specialist, no more wondering around wondering if the next place will have the answers, no more questioning myself. If the answers aren’t here I will call it quits and just…I don’t know do something.’

Not wanting to cause a stir in the area with his fly over, ‘Don’t want another Saddle Arabia on my hooves.’ The Pegasus landed about half a mile away and started walking.

When he got closer he was able to observe the town and its inhabitants. Going about their everyday lives, doing their daily routines without a care in the world. ‘Hmm for a town that is home to the element of magic it is a lot more ordinary then I thought…thought for sure there would be a lot of Unicorns and scientists around.’

Realizing with that thought he had no clue at all what place he was looking for he facehoofed and looked around for anypony that would be able to lead him, or at least point him in the right direction. Spotting a mare that had a bag full of letters he smiled. ‘Ahh a Mailmare, surely she would know.’

Walking over to the mare he took a look at her before he would speak. ‘Gray coat, yellowish mane, not a bad set of wings, and bubbles for a cutie mark, hmm would have thought a letter or something for a mailmare, but hey who am I to judge.’

Looking at his own flank he would gaze at the three part yin and yang symbol with the dot on the lower left being colored the same dark blue as his coat with the other two dots being a dull gray. White feathers circled the outside of the mark as if caught in the wind.

He would sigh out loud from his thoughts before being tapped on the shoulder, giving a start he would look to who did it. The gray coated mare must not have thought she would scare him as she too jumped when he did. “Ahh sorry didn’t mean to scare you, you just looked sad so…muffin?” She said holding out said baked good.

The Pegasus looked at her for a moment as if not comprehending what she said before taking the treat and nibbling it. The moment he tasted it his eyes would light up and he found the rest of the treat vanishing into his stomach. “That was the best tasting muffin ever...of all time.”

The Mare giggled hearing that and nodding “Muffins always fix sad faces. I am Ditzy, but everypony calls me Derpy.”

A mouth was opened to ask why she was called that when he noticed her eyes, looking in too different directions and her smile that had a peak of tongue showing off. The overall effect made her look indeed like she was named. “Oh hi, you can call me Starshifter, well at least that is my last name, if I stay in town long enough to get to know you I will tell you my first name.”

Derpy would tilt her head to the side confused. “Why wait to tell me that? Unless you don’t like your name, but why would you dislike your name?”

It’s not that Starshifter hated his first name it’s that he had a bad run in with a temperamental Unicorn that had enchanted his name before and he had to get the hex removed before it had continue to do unpleasant things to him. “It’s just a bit of a tradition for me is all. Some call it weird but to give somepony your first name is personal and shows that you are friends. Not to say you aren’t my friend its just…I was always of the thought there is no such thing as instant friends.” His expression was neutral on that subject. ‘Ya, no such thing, life has taught me that lesson.’

For a moment Star thought he caught a look of sadness on the wall-eyed Pegasus before it turned to a smile. “I am sure we will be good friends then, and there are a lot of ponies in Ponyville who will change your mind about that, they are all so nice and fun.”

He gave a practiced smile at her enthusiasm and remembered why he was here. “OH I completely forgot, I am looking for directions to the Element of Magic’s home. I figured you being the mailmare you could help me out.”

A slow blink happened before Derpy smiled and nodded “Oh Twilight, ya her home is the big tree over there.” The dark blue Pegasus was about to thank her and leave to go to find his answers but her next words stopped him. “But, she isn’t home right now, she went off to Canterlot for a few days for a wedding. I will be going there too tomorrow but I have this last run to do before that. Most of Ponyville is attending.”

‘Buck my life, that is right I heard the rumors that some princess was getting married or something, should have figured they would call somepony as important as the Element of Magic to attend, celebrity status and all that.’ Giving a sigh he nodded. “Well good to know at least. Guess I whould find a place to bunker down for a few days…maybe an odd job or two to get some bits flowing into my bags. Don’t suppose you know if anypony is hiring?”

It was possible he was about to get an answer till they both heard somepony calling out for the mailmare asking if she had the thing that was sent to him or something. “Sorry I have to get back to work, just ask around and I am sure somepony can give you a job. I think the Cakes are hiring down at Sugarcube Corner.”

With that the bubbly mare took flight to continue her route. To say that Star was upset was a good call on anypony’s part. ‘A few days, a week at most, buck it I am so close I can practically taste it. Maybe I should just call it a week and be lazy in a cloud till she gets back. I think I have enough bits to last me till then, but doing work around town might be able to get me a good word in and possibly move up a spot for an appointment in this Twilight’s schedule to see me. Should have guessed she wasn’t here from the fact ponies aren’t lined up across town to see her and ask her questions. Alright then that is settled, find a job, earn brownie points with the towns folk and get in good with the Element of Magic so she can finally give me some answers. Piece of Cake…speaking of Cakes lets go to the place Derpy recommended.’

Upon seeing Sugarcube Corner a few words came to mind in Star’s head. ‘Holy horseapples it’s a bucking gingerbread house…is it really gingerbread or is it modeled to look like it…I mean I could try a bite but…vandalism to the place might set me up in a bad way and wouldn’t be good.’

Stepping up and into the door, the ringing of a bell, a typical store type bell to let the owners know that there was a customer was heard, sounded out. A yellow coated Earth Pony came out sporting a food service hat on his orange mane and a red and white stripped bowtie around his neck. “Hey there, welcome to Sugarcube corner, where the house is sweet, but the treats are sweeter. How can I help you stranger?”

Giving a polite nod of his head Starshifter smiled, the same practiced smile he gave Derpy before. “Hello, I was wondering if you perhaps had some kind of job available. Kinda new in town and was hoping to earn some bits to pave my way for awhile.”

Mr. Cakes put a hoof to his chin and scratched it. “Hmm I don’t know, let me go ask the Mrs. if we need the help. Want to say we do but word of advice, when you are married, always pays to ask your wife on things like this so you don’t get in trouble later.” The Earth Pony gave a chuckle that was shared by Star as he walked to the back.

Star would take a nearby seat to wait for Mr. Cakes to return. ‘Buck, everything smells good here, getting hungry…might have to order when that Colt gets back.’

It would be about fifteen minutes before Mr. Cake’s return and when he did he was smiling. Walking over to the table that Star had found himself at spoke with a smile. “Well good news, with the foals my wife is too busy to help, and with the wedding Pinkie isn’t around to chip in so…” The Pegasus couldn’t help but give a genuine smile this time as Carrot Cake hooved him a map with words on it. “Use today to get familiar with Ponyville since you are new then tomorrow you can help with deliveries. Are you quick?”

The smile that Star had turned to a confident grin “I have won my fair share of races before. I may not be the fastest Pegasus in Equus, but I am far from the slowest.”

A laugh was heard from his new boss. “You sound just like one of Pinkie’s friends. I have no doubt when Rainbow Dash gets back you and she will have a race to see who is the fastest.”

A boastful flap of wings was seen and heard as Star puffed out his chest. “Always like a good race, wind flowing around you, wings pumping as fast as your blood, nothing like it.” This brought another laugh from Carrot before the Pegasus held out his hoof “My name is Starshifter. Nice to meet you, boss.”

Mr. Cakes held out his hoof and grasped Star’s with his. “Carrot Cake, but everypony calls me Mr. Cakes, my wife is Cup Cake, and like me everypony calls her Mrs. Cakes. Anyways like I said, take that map, use today to get acquainted with Ponyville and you will start tomorrow.” The ringing of the doorbell called his attention. “And with that I have to get back to work, have a good day Starshifter.”

Star gave a wave to his new boss as he went to serve a pony before heading out and looking over the map. “Ok memorization…not my strong suit. I need to find a quiet place to study.” With a flap of his wings he was off to find a secluded place. Once found he would smile and stretch. “Ok let’s do this.”

He was glad he found a secluded place in the woods nearby. If anypony was nearby they would surely see the quick flash of light.

Celestia’s sun was coming up over the horizon to signal the start of a new day. Giving a stretch Star smiled and thought. ‘Ahh clouds, best beds ever…of all time.’ After he did his morning routine of stretches and preening he smiled and spoke to himself, a habit that he had from traveling so much alone. “Welp first day on the job, should show up early in case they need me.”

He was silently glad once more to have found this stray cloud, the thought that the weather teams around the area might be slacking only occurred to him briefly before he rationalized it by remembering the wedding, and how Derpy told him most of Ponyville was attending. ‘Just means I can find a few clouds and stash them away for my private beds and maybe a bit of cloud carving to make a home instead of finding a place to sleep for bits. Would definitely cut down on what I need for funds for a while, and depending on the answers that Twilight has for me I may be here for a while.’

Freefalling from the cloud with a smile on his face he pulled up at the last second and skimmed off the top of the trees. ‘The forest looks pretty neat, kinda like some of the jungles in South Amareica.’ Sighing as he flew a more leisurely pace he couldn’t help but think to himself. ‘So much time traveling, so many leads, I have set hoof on nearly every continent only to discover zero, zilch, nada, and only obtained more questions. Thought about going to Canterlot and asking the Princess…well Princesses, now that the Mare on the moon is back…seriously how did no pony see the connection to Nightmare Moon and Luna is beyond me, but then again, with how many books I have read, how many wild leads I have come across only for them to turn out to be false…or weirdly true just…not for me, it may just be me that is weird. But ya, if I go to Canterlot they may read my mind or something and find out I know about the connection and banish me to the moon or something. I can’t take that chance.’

Arriving at the bakery he went inside to find a few ponies already there and eating. “Thought I was early, but still cookies for breakfast?” he said quietly to himself seeing what some ponies where eating.

Mr. Cakes seeing him would smile and wave “Ahh Starshifter come here, we have a few deliveries lined up for you today to start with. Depending on how fast you get these done you might have more, just don’t want to rush you.”

Star would smile and nod. “I get it, first day trial run, you want to see if I can deliver them to the right house and most likely they are ones that will tell you after I deliver them if I did so in a timely fashion, if I was kind and courteous and if they get it at all. Don’t worry though I think I have the map you gave me memorized…if not it is in my saddlebags here to double check.”

Cakes smiled at him and chuckled. “I take it this isn’t your first job as a delivery pony. Alright then here are the first four orders. The address for each is on the top. Hop to it.”

A quick rummaging of his saddle bags offered some string that he tied up the four boxes onto each other two by two style. Grabbing one of the bundles in each hoof he winged it out of the bakery and flew up to give himself some space to read the first address.

The first day hadn’t gone to bad, he had indeed gotten the map memorized and had delivered each package to their homes. As well as the second shipment and the third thanks to good word of mouth by the townsponies. Relaxing on his stray cloud Star was now left to his thoughts for the evening as Celestia’s sun was dipping down and Luna’s moon was preparing to rise.

‘Alright, lets go over what we need to talk with Twilight about. Best have orderly and concise report so she knows what she is dealing with. I will reveal my ability to her after giving her the description. Will hoof over all my details, the few that they are, that I know of it, and hopefully she can piece something together to give me some insight. Now let me see. From what research ponies that I have let exam it in full detail I have gotten several thoughts and theories. A: that it is for sure metamorphic in nature. B: It is neat. C: Pretty Versatile. D: Umm It is neat?’ Giving a sigh to himself as he once more knew so little about it he continued his thoughts. ‘Ok theories. A: Has to do with a weird magical instability in flux that has tangled itself and manifested as a tangible. B: It is a result of a weird combination of Unicorn and Changeling magics…like Changelings actually exist, so may not mention that one. C: Freak of nature…possibilities there. D: See theories A and C again.’

Giving a yawn he decided it was enough thinking for today. He had worked up a good sweat and early tomorrow he would get up and dive into the lake he saw for an early morning scrub before another day at work.

The next few days went by quickly with only a few incidents the biggest being a beige stallion with a slicked back black mane called Filthy Rich was a particular dirtbag claiming that he dropped the cake he ordered even though when the thing was opened it was as pristine as could be. Then of course he smirked as his little hellion of a daughter snobby little thing she was came over to the table that her father had carefully put the cake on bumped it with her flank and caused it to crash down on the ground with a splat. His only answer to that was a smirk and a sentence “As you can see you absolutely mangled it, now I expect somepony to pay for your mistake either you or the Cakes and if the Cakes pay for it, well it won’t look good on you will it.”

Star ponied up and spend some of his hard earned bits to pay for it and put on his best fake smile. “Here you go Sir I am sure you and your daughter will enjoy it, after all seeing how it is now you all go great together.”

Not waiting for a response he lifted off to head back to the bakery with a sputtering and cursing Filthy Rich calling out his name claiming he would never work in this town again.

‘May have screwed my chances to meet the Element of Magic with this but…that type of horseapples do not fly with me.’ Of course that turn of thought had put him in a depressed mood for the rest of his deliveries, though it seemed he hid it well since no pony seems to notice. ‘Should have just kept my mouth shut, I may have just lost my answers with that.’

Those thoughts and more came through his mind for the rest of the day. That evening he got rid of most of them with the task that had his mind focused…cloud carving. A lot of errant and stray clouds were ripe for picking above the forest it seemed, he knew the weather team was doing a good job over Ponyville but it seemed they didn’t care when it came to this forest for some reason. He had just gotten done with some of the shape of the house when he found out why you don’t build over the Everfree forest.

A loud roar was all the warning he got before a giant, lion, bat, scorpion combo had flown up and literally batted him through his home and into the forest below. Star of course tried to stabilize himself before he hit spreading his wings out to try to stay in the air, but it only made things worse.

“AHHHH!” Was all he could get out through the pain as a particularly hard branch of a tree hit one of his extended wings with a snap. Whether that snap came from the branch as it broke or his wing he wasn’t sure, but he one or both of those things were broken, hopefully just the tree.

With a loud grunt as he finally landed on the forest floor he was slow to get up, unusual for him since the Pegasus was normally quick to recover from a fall like that. “Buck me that hurt.” Of course the loud roar once again was heard as Star got a good look at it. “Oh it’s a Manticore. Sweet Celestia it’s a Manticore!” Came the reaction as he realized what it was. Stretching out his wings he tried to take off only to find pain when he did so. “Well I can’t fly, looks like I will just have to do this another way.”

He began to frame his mind and think of his Cutie mark ready to do what he did best when suddenly there was the sound of glass breaking over the Manticore’s snout and a puff of smoke before a voice was heard. “Be gone foul beast, for I have not run out of potions in the least.”

‘Wait…rhyming?’ Came his first thoughts as the beast looking to dislike what it was smelling, to say the least judging from its pained yelps, ran off quickly. Star was then treated to the sight of a black and white stripped, or was it white and black stripped…he never did find an answer to that, mare that appeared from the woods.

“Seems it has retreated for today, however I couldn’t stop it till after you were hurt to my dismay.” The Zebra had a kind of buzz cut to her mane and her cloak was covering up her cutie mark so Star couldn’t get a look at it, a habit of his since his own was so strange. “Tell me stranger, why are you building here despite the danger?”

Star couldn’t stop smiling. ‘Honestly my favorite thing from Zebrica, everypony rhymed and made everything so lyrical to hear.’ Giving a cough and a smile he chuckled. “Honestly I didn’t know this forest was such a pain in the rear, otherwise I wouldn’t have started to build over here.”

The Mare smiled hearing the rhyme and motioned for him to follow. “Follow me my friend who is battered, though I have to ask if you spoke as such because you thought I would be flattered?”

Star honestly loved the rhyming and had thought for a time to just settle in Zebrica but his quest for answers brought him away from there “I spent some time on the plains of Zebrica with the natives of those lands, it was because of the Zebras there that I learned to appreciate their words more than the best bands. I must also tell you of my name, I am called Starshifter and I may I ask you to do the same?”

Over the course of a few hours he had learned the Zebra’s name: Zecora as well as seen her tribal sun cutie mark. She was a rather talented herbalist and alchemist knowing just the right combinations and amounts for a poltice to apply to his wing. “On your wing for a few days that bandage must stay, in order to alleviate you of some of your dismay.”

He had no problem with that though he was without some place to bed down, seeing as how he couldn’t fly up and sleep on a cloud. “I want to thank you for your kindness, but I must take my leave and in my haste beg for your forgiveness.” Spoken with a bow as best he could. “I have spent some time in Zebrica and know that for the most part that it is improper to bring a stallion into a mares home, so I am sorry if I have cause you any discomfort.”

While his apology didn’t rhyme it still caused Zecora to chuckle. “Make no fear Star for I too have traveled far, and time has made me see things such as this as par.”

Glad to see he wasn’t in trouble, something he didn’t know back then and was his part of the reason he sought to leave Zebrica at the time along with searching for answer. “Well then Zecora I must bid you an Au Due, at least till the next time I see you.”

He gave a wave as he left and started smiling to himself. ‘Got to find a cloud to sleep on…after all there is more than one way to get a cloud to you.’

For most ponies that came across Star the next day they would raise an eyebrow seeing a cloud right against the ground as he slept on it, what was more was that his wing was bandaged so many ponies were wondering how he got it down there, though most figured he set it up before he was hurt. His deliveries were slower that day having to carry them all on his sides since he couldn’t fly.

‘A few days without flying, rebandage the wing and go back to Zecora to get more of that goo she used. Slimy as it is my wing isn’t hurting today so that is a good thing. Plus going back to visit her to hear her speak isn’t so bad.’ Those were his thoughts anyways till he seen a commotion going on at the square.

There was a beige mare with gray hair giving a speech. He had learned two days ago she was the Mayor of Ponyville. ‘Mayor Mare…still can’t get over that’ He thought with a smile. ‘I wonder what has got her bridle in a bunch though.’

“Citizens of Ponyville I repeat there is nothing to worry about, The Elements of harmony has taken care of the threat that was made against Canterlot and have made sure no pony was harmed in its siege.”

‘And suddenly you have my full attention Mayor.’ Star though listening intently to what she had to say.

“The wedding is scheduled to be held tomorrow and after that the Elements will return home as well as the other citizens who left to attend the wedding. Again no pony was harmed during the siege as such you can all expect your family and loved ones to return safe and sound.” She said loudly for all to hear.

‘With the scroll and ribbon on her side I wonder if she wrote the speech before hoof.’ His mind wondering for a moment before he saw everypony disperse with whispers and wonderings about what happened, some musing that the wedding would be remembered for another reason now at least, while others just wished they could have been there to see it all go down.

Star wasn’t a Stallion of action…least not normally, and while he did prefer action over planning a lot of surprise situations, he had learned to calm himself and at least TRY to think through situations. And right now, he sure was thinking. ‘Ok ok it means the day after tomorrow Twilight will come back and be able to help me…wait Mayor said the Elements, they all live here?! Makes sense I suppose, I was told all the elements have to be gathered for them to work, if the Element of Magic is here then I really should have guessed the others would be as well.’

That night Star went back to Zecora’s who then supplied him with a jar of the viscous ointment and some extra bandages as well as a rhyme before he went back to his low laying cloud to sleep off the night. ‘Get through tomorrow, see Twilight the next day and then…my journey will be done. Maybe I will go back to Zebrica and live there after…well not in the same place, don’t think I am welcome there again, but somewhere out there. Maybe Manehatten did some odd jobs for some pretty spiffy ponies there.’

Star didn’t get much further in thought before sleep took him.

The next day went uneventful and eventually Star got to sleep again, only this time his dreams were disturbed. Everything was in black in white, Star knew this dream, he had it nearly every month since he first started the journey. ‘This again seriously, tomorrow I will know things, I may not remember why I have you now but it won’t matter soon, Twilight will solve things, she has to…she is my last lead.’ The dream proceeded to continue, as six bright spots appeared in the distance making the black turn to gray then to white. ‘Go on, do the thing you always do and wake me up I rather get up and stretch anyways then to-’

Whatever Star would have thought after that was quieted when something unexpected happened. The dream had noise. “You leave us with no choice, for the good of Equus we do this” The voice was male and left Star speechless even as the glow covered everything and-

“GAHHH!” Breathing hard on the cloud the dark blue Pegasus found himself covered in sweat. “Ok ok calm down…not like that is a bad omen or anything…right. I am just nervous and it translated into my dream, ya that is it. Just got to head to the lake wash up…maybe take a jog since I can’t fly right?” stretching out his bandaged wing and wincing he sighed. “Yep, no flying for me.”

He took a jog first as why wash up only to get sweaty again. So a good jog and a clean up later, he still was early for his delivery route…by a good couple of hours. ‘Bakery not even open, oh well I will just…’ He smiled and looked around quickly seeing no pony he got close to the gingerbread house and stuck out his tongue.

“Star, what are you doing?” Mrs. Cakes said carrying her bundles around in a stroller. Seems she took a walk with them to help sooth them.

However it didn’t sooth the Pegasus at all, causing him to flip around and try to spread his wings for flight as he spoke. “I wasn’t licking the-AHH!” dropping to the ground as his injured wing protested the sudden movement.

The neon blue mare came over and rested her hoof against his wing in a motherly way. “You alright dear I didn’t think your wing was hurting that bad do you need some help?”

Shaking his head he stood back up and gently folded wing against his side “It is alright trust me, just…shouldn’t have moved it so quick was all, no permanent damage.” ‘Least it didn’t feel like I damaged anything.’ He thought to himself. Though in his thoughts his brain rebounded off things a few times before landed in a socket he hadn’t thought of till then. “Your husband said something about a pony called Pinkie coming back today and that she helps out…when she gets back will I be out of a job?”

Seems he wasn’t the only pony who hadn’t thought of that. Cup Cake just gasped and looked ashamed “I didn’t even think of that. I am so sorry, but we really don’t have enough bits to cover another pony.”

Waving his hoof around and giving her a smile, this one genuine for someone so nice. “It’s no problem at all trust me. Besides this will keep me going for a tad longer till I find another one. Been hearing things about the apple farm but never thought to go look cause I was employed here. That and no one seems to be there…not that I checked, just when I was flying deliveries before I was hurt I seen no one working around there.”

Unexpectedly Star was finding himself hugged and honestly not sure how to deal with it. “OH Star I am so sorry, I promise to put in a good word in wherever you seek to work at I promise.”

While Star wasn’t used to being hugged like this he responded decently by patting her gently. “It is alright Mrs. Cake trust me, we would have all found out about this one way or another today so it is no pony’s fault.” Looking for a way out of the hug though he decided to use something no mother could ignore. “So can I see the foals?”

Mrs. Cake wasn’t immune to this any much more then another mother as she was half way turning around to pick one of them up before she realized what just happened. “Did you just change the subject?”

Putting on his best innocent face he replied. “What subject?”

Cup Cake just shook her head waving her two toned pink hair around before picking the foals up. “Here they are Pound Cake such a cutie he is,” hold up the light beige Pegasus foal with the chocolate colored mane. “And this is Pumpkin Cake my precious little girl.” Holding up the other beige foal, though this one had a horn showing she was a unicorn and her hair was the same color as her namesake was a nice vivid orange.

Not able to put a filter to his voice before he spoke he said it. “But you’re an Earth Pony, did you adopt?”

Feeling like he committed a faux pas his hooves went to his muzzle though Mrs. Cake was already laughing. “I get asked that a lot. The truth is me and Carrot both have distant relatives that are Pegasus and Unicorns.”

Sighing in relief he smiled and chuckled. “I should have thought of that myself but, not the fastest thinker of the lot, kinda more of a reactor then anything.”

This got another laugh from her as she nodded. “I seen that first hoof a moment ago. Anyways would you like to come in, could get you some coffee or a snack while we start baking.”

He shook his head. “Honestly never liked the taste of coffee, I understand the caffeine helps, but honestly it is nothing a bit of stretching can’t fix, if anything I rather have a glass of juice or even milk since its early.”

Another nod was all he got as she led him inside with the foals back in the baby carriage. He was relaxing against one of the booths when he heard a clank in front of him and seen Mrs. Cake walk away. Looking down he seen a glass of squeeze juice, not one to look a gift in the mouth he drank it. “Apples…not bad.”

It would be around noon before the town started to suddenly liven up. ‘They must be back…buck I have a couple more deliveries to go before I can even attempt to make an appointment with the Element of Magic…oh well she lives here and I am not going anywhere.’

Two quick deliveries later and Star was heading back to Sugarcube Corner to report in. As he got inside suddenly his vision turned pink. “You must be the stallion that the Cakes hired nice to meet you, so tell me what is your favoritecolorfavoritefoodfavoritesongfavoriterandomthoughtthatyouwillsometimesgetwhenyouleastexpectitandwhenyoudoyou-”

In accordance to his reactionary measures he took the logical course of action. “AHHH BRAIN SUCKER, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!!” and started to run around and flail before hitting a wall…at least the pink wasn’t in his vision anymore.

“Oh no buster brown you can’t get rid of me that easy.” Said the pink mass he now could see was a pony. Pink coat and fluffy curly pink hair that was just as bouncy as the Earth pony that was…well bouncing.

Star could only blink before realizing something. ‘Wow, sapphire blue eyes, very pretty.’ Giving a cough and trying to get his hooves back up under him he smiled politely and nodded. “Yes the Cakes hired me while you were away…I have to guess by your coat and hair that you are Pinkie correct?”

A gasp in horror was his answer and certainly not what he expected. “You know my name first but I didn’t give it, are you a mind reader, a space alien…a mind reading space alien?” He was about to answer she suddenly asked “Yes I am Pinkie Pie, but what is your name mister mind reading space alien?”

He almost wanted to ask the perky pony of pinkess if she was for real but decided against it. “My name is Starshifter, nice to meet you Pinkie Pie.”

She took his hoof before he even offered and started shaking it so hard he felt like he was about to lift off the ground cause of it. “Nice to meet you Starshifter and now that I know you are new I can throw you a super special awesome spectacular welcome to Ponyville Mr. Mind reading space alien party extravaganza.”

Any sane pony in Star’s potion would have said the same thing as he does. “Huh, what?”

However without a pause he found himself pushed out of the bakery with the explanation of. “Now go wonder around for a bit I got planning and gathering to do.”

Looking around confused he uttered. “What just happened there?”

His ears though brought him to not thinking about it as he heard something in the distance and getting closer. “Ah reckin’ that they did deserve that Twi but ah am tellin’ ya they had it comin.”

The southern accent stirred something in Star and suddenly found himself wiping a tear away. ‘Well add that to the list of weird but did she say Twi, as in Twilight?’

A younger voice was the next to speak. “Ya Twilight, I mean you seen how nasty those bug things were. Plus feeding on love, everypony needs love and to just take it like that, well they deserve what they got. Plus they had some creepy magic you have to admit.”

Star felt all his hope rising up and was about to burst over as he started to walk over there when the next sentence reversed all that. “I guess Applejack and Spike. I mean I don’t want to have to deal with anything changeling related or even close to the type of magic they used back there, breeer.” Came the voice giving off a shiver.

Of course this lead the dark blue Pegasus to one thought. ‘Well buck me.’

This concludes Chapter one of the Alter Accords. Feel free to leave feed back and let me know how you are all liking the story so far.

Chapter Two: New Job and Party

Author's Notes:

This is my work of fiction. It has no relation at all with any person existing, least that I know of, at any point in time or place. Everything is a work of fiction.

This work is the property of Equinox Starshifter at FIMFiction.net.

You shouldn’t read this work if you are under the age of 18 as it may contain any of the following and more depending on what I put in there: Foul Language, Sexual Situations both implied and explicit, Death, Dismemberment, Violent acts, Rape, BDSM, Torture, Various kinds of blasphemy, and more. Or maybe not who knows, but read at your own discretion is what I am saying. You have been warned.

Feedback is welcomed, both positive and negative as long as it’s constructive. If you send me a comment saying ‘lol u suck’ or something similar, chances are I won’t read it. However spelling errors, grammar, and the like I will try to fix if you point it out, unless its intentional for it to be that way.

Beyond that I hope you enjoy this plot bunny of mine that I am freeing to the world for free for all to enjoy and gain entertainment from.

Special note: this is my first MLP:FiM fic, so if I do something a tiny bit different chances are either its unintentional or I changed it on purpose…feel free to guess which and point it out.

‘’ Thoughts, “” Speech

The Alter Accords

Chapter Two: New Job and Party

Starshifter was on his cloud bed, not really doing or looking for anything, just thinking. Normally he would have been on his back staring up at the sky but even with the fluffy cloud he couldn’t do that just now cause of his injured wing. ‘Great, the Element of Magic wants nothing to do with anything that might even be related to changelings, and considering my mystery might especially if other specialists are right then I will either be blasted, imprisoned, or blasted then imprisoned if I ask her. So…what do I do now?’

That question would run through his mind for a good while now a couple of hours before sitting there in one place for too long gets to him. “Buck it, sitting here thinking won’t do any good, plus I do need a job so let’s do something about that first. I can think of other things later.”

Hopping up and onto his hooves he starts heading to the place he told Mrs. Cake about: Sweet Apple Acres. The nice white fence that led to an arch opening with a vine and apple motif was a nice touch. Though before Star would get a chance to take in the rest of the sights there was a loud THUMP followed by a burst of staccato lighter thuds.

Not sure what to think the first instinct that came to get over to the source as quickly as possible to see if anypony was hurt. “I heard the noise is everypony ok?”

The sight that he was met with was not one he expected. Then again he wasn’t sure what to expect in the first place. Instead there was just an orange mare, toned muscles easily noticed under her coat but in a way that made her look extremely fit instead of bulky or anything else, a natural type of fit. Her blonde mane was covered partially in a hat, which if Star had to guess, was a Stetson. Her tail ended in a tie which he himself was used to wearing when he was doing hard work.

The green eyes of the mare stared at his own gray ones for a moment as her head tilted. “Wha in tarnation are ya goin’ on about? Also ah havin’t seen ya around here before.”

For a moment that southern drawl nearly got to him again touching that spot he didn’t know about before but he quickly surpressed it. The look of concern from before never left the Pegasus’ face though confusion did come to it as well. “Well, I heard this thump and I don’t know thought somepony might be in trouble so I came to look.”

For a moment those green eyes took in Star and for a moment he felt like he was under an extreme amount of scrutiny for a moment before she smiled. “Well shucks that is might kind of ya. Though chances are ya just heard the apples bein’ bucked is all. Any-a-ways ah am Applejack and ah help run Sweet Apple Acres here, how can ah help ya?”

The look she was giving was now friendly and Star briefly wondered what he felt a second ago before he replied. “Oh I am Starshifter. I was recently working with the Cakes as a temp till their other employee returned. So with her return I find I am out of work and am in need of something to do.”

She gave him a brief look before spotting his wing. “Ah don’t know, ya sure ya can work with your wing like that?”

Giving her chin a thrust towards his mending appendage as his practiced smiled. “Well I don’t think I will be flying for a while but that doesn’t mean I am helpless or can’t do work.”

For a moment something seemed to pass over Applejack’s face when he smiled but it quickly passed. “Follow me, ah will have ya meet Big Mac’. If he says your good then you’re good to work here.”

“What is a Big Mac’?” Star asked as he watched her turn around. Of course this gave him a good look at her cutie mark, the three apples with single leaves, as she turned…and her flank. ‘Not bad looking at all, can always appreciate a well carved-Not the time for those thoughts.’

As they approached the barn Star’s eyes kept going back to those toned flanks. “AHHH!” THUMP.

Applejack turned around to find Star’s head against a nearby tree. “Wha’ may ah ask are ya doing to mah trees?”

‘Remember this pain Star, you don’t look at your boss’ flanks like that.’ “Oh no reason, just thought I would try my head at bucking one of these things.” Star said only to cause Applejack to break out laughing.

“Listen Sugarcube ya don’t buck like that ya buck like this.” Still laughing she turned around and thrust out her hind legs striking the tree with her hooves causing every single apple to fall to the ground.

He couldn’t lie about that feat at all. “That was impressive.” Eyes wide at that feat he just saw, of course being one of action and not thought he turned and right away tried his own hoof at the same feat.

Big Mac’ had found them both soon after that with Applejack on the ground holding her sides in laughter. The giant red stallion just looked at the two with a raised eyebrow.

“Whooeeee that was downright funny.” The farm mare said catching her breath.

Star on the other hoof wasn’t looking as pleased. He was currently rubbing his back hoofs. “Got to be a trick to it, but, hey got one apple down.”

The yoke wearing draft pony just looked down where one solitary apple was on the ground. “Eeyup.”

This caught the pegasus’ attention right away. ‘Oh…that is a Big Mac’.’ Standing up and moving over to the red pony he held out a hoof. “I am Starshifter, I take it you are Big Mac’ if not and you are only Medium Mac’ I may have to call somepony from the record books about the biggest pony alive when I meet him.”

Big Mac’ took the offered hoof and shook it, almost to Star’s regret as the grip of the hoof almost hurt his own. “Eeyup.”

The Pegasus couldn’t help himself when hearing that. “Is that a Eeyup to being Big Mac’ or to being Medium Mac’?” He only got another Eeyup in reply.

“Mac’ this here feller is lookin’ for a job. Coming back from Canterlot after a week like that we are behind on our work. Ah reckon’ we can spare a few bits for somepony to help out for abit, after all most of the Apple family came to the wedding and they are all behind on their work too so ah reckon it wouldn’t be fair to call them down here.” Applejack spoke up breaking Star out of his little joke.

While Mac’ seem to be thinking on it, as indicated by his hoof resting and rubbing at his chin, Star got to take in some details about the both of them. ‘Both of them have cutie marks that are closely tied to what they do, kinda jealous actually. It is also easy to tell they are siblings both by their attitudes and their looks…though the freckles look a lot better on Applejack there.’

An lazy sounding Eeyup brought Star back to Equus as he looked at them both paying more attention now. “Alrighty partner, seems ya get to help us out after all. Though ah reckon ya need to learn proper buckin’ form.” Of course with how his thoughts were going proper buckin’ form conjured different images in his mind and it was quickly followed by a heavy thump. “Sugarcube ah thought ah told ya that ya don’t buck trees with ya head.”

After learning Proper Buckin’ form without the thoughts of before, Star found himself at odds with himself. He already knew proper bucking form it seemed and he should have remembered that. Problem was…

‘I don’t have the strength to pull this off like they do. I have to buck two to three times to get all the apples down.’ Giving a momentary chuckle he thought. ‘Maybe I should tell them I am bringing my brother down to help. Least then it should be one buck to a tree, that is Lego doesn’t take all day to observe before doing anything with his lazy rear. I could get Novo but…with how likely he is to do an experiment and miss a key detail I could wind up with whole trees going missing or ending up as something else.’ Of course this was the time, when he was paying the least attention, that something happens.

The next buck to a new tree shook it, and with the sound of "HEY WOAH!" being scream out was only slightly proceeded by the heavy object landing on Star’s back causing his own yelp of surprise and pain.

Star wasn’t even looking as the displeased cyan Pegasus rolled off him and was giving a glare. “Hey, I was sleeping in there, and what do you think you are doing bucking AJ’s trees mister.”

While the Pegasus was gesturing wildly at him then the tree Star barely heard it. ‘I think that dislocated my wing, BUCK this hurts.’

The rainbow maned Pegasus though was now starting to see that he was hurt. “H-hey are you ok?”

This time he heard her and looked up at her. He wanted to respond to her by he was currently clenching his teeth do to the pain. ‘Rainbow hair…has to be dyed.’ Feeling his wing he was sure it was dislocated. ‘Well only two things to do, either get a doc to help or…’ “AHHH!” he said loudly ramming his side and wing into a nearby tree followed by a yelp.

The mare with the cloud and rainbow lightning bolt as her cutie mark just shouted looking concerned at him. “Hey what did you do that for you are hurt!”

Taking a moment to clear his head he nodded. “Was.”

His response made the Pegasus mare look confused. “Huh?”

“Was hurt. My wing got dislocated there so I just popped it back into place.” Star said rolling his wing a tad. ‘Welp that just added another day or two to the healing time…great.’

“That is cool.” Star blinked hearing those words and looked to the Pegasus that had landed on him and gave her a single huh. “What do you mean huh? Not many pony’s let along Pegasus will pony up to fix themselves like that, takes a lot of guts and that makes it cool. Of course if it was me I would have been at least twenty percent cooler about it.”

Of course this didn’t stop the Pegasus from talking, no she kept going letting Star take in the one who just landed on him fully. ‘Cyan coat, not sure what her real mane color is, but this actually works for her. Sleek body…obviously works out more towards speed, I wonder if it’s more to distance or agility? Her cutie mark though shows she is into the weather, must be part of the weather team that went off to Canterlot with some of the others in Ponyville.’

“What do you think?” She said to him expectantly.

‘Buck I wasn’t paying attention again…time to wing it.’ “Well I think my name is Starshifter and I should introduce myself. Hi I am Starshifter.” ‘Nailed it.’ He thought.

Apparently so because she seemed to remember she hadn’t done the same. “Oh, ya sorry ‘bout that. I am Rainbow Dash, fastest Pegasus in Equestria.”

‘Wait wait…I think I heard something similar to this from somepony else in Ponyville…who said something about it.’ “We will have to test that when my wing is better then. I don’t claim to be the fastest but I am not the slowest for sure.” Star boasted to Dash.

Dash for the boast was already in the air hovering with a smile. “Will hold you to that, though I don’t think it will be a long contest if we just race, I mean would look bad if I lap you twice before you get through one lap.” Star was about to say something when she looked up. “OHMYGOSH, sorry didn’t realize I slept this late, got to get to work, okbye.”

She was gone leaving a blast of wind behind that nearly knocked the dark blue Pegasus over. ‘On second thought, ya she would win a race for sure. How come no pony ever challenges me to an obstacle course or something, least I am great at that but no, everypony has to-’

It was approaching night now and Applejack had came earlier and told him to go ahead and call it a day saying. “Ya helped out a right bunch today. Not as much as if ya were an Earth Pony, but ya did good. When the harvest is over we will pay ya then, but till then try to hold out.”

‘So…why am I here again when its dark and everypony is asleep…oh ya I need the bits.’ Star had to go see the doctor after being set free for the day by AJ. Him popping his wing back into place had cause some nasty inflammation and he had gotten some pills to help with that and the pain, just they cost him most of his bits he had in reserve. ‘Ok so what am I to do, I have to be quiet about this so can’t actually buck the trees meaning Lego is out as well as me…hmm…guess that leaves Novo…just don’t experiment and change the trees.’

He was lucky all of the Apple clan was sleeping; as they would have surely seen a light illuminate the trees for a moment before a soft glow the same color as the tree leaves start to picking the apples.

Star didn’t get to his bed till late that night, and with a massive headache. ‘Oww I hate over using it like that. But it was really worth it.’ Head, body, and wing hurting him to no ends he was quick to fall asleep. Though one last thought made him smile despite all the pain. ‘Wish I could see the looks on their face when they see my note.’

Feeling refreshed after his morning bath in the cold lake he smiled and stretched some. ‘Glad that goo that Zecora gave me helps my wing for pain…wish it did the same for the rest of me but oh well.’

All things considering though he was in a good mood, that only lasted till he came to the gates of Sweet Apple Acres where a certain orange Earth pony was waiting with a glare on her face. ‘About face and leaving now.’

That worked as well as anypony would expect as Applejack had already seen him. “Where do ya think you’re going Mister?” Turning his head to see Applejack was still angry, he did what any logical Stallion would do when facing an angry, and extremely powerful, mare. He bolted.

That lasted all of two seconds before a lasso had him in its grip and was dragging him towards her. ‘Buck, and today was looking so good till now.’ “Look Applejack, not sure what I did to make you so angry but-”

Applejack of course snapped at him for that. “Don’t lie to me, ah found your note this morning along with the rest of the work ya were assigned all done.”

Blinking owlishly before he tilted his head he asked. “That is what you are mad about?”

Stopping the pull on her lasso she looked at him and nodded. “Darn tootin’ ah am.”

Knowing he would either not understand the answer or just make her angry he flew into the face of danger to ask anyways. “Why?”

The glare she gave him would have withered weaker willed ponies. “Ah sent ya home early yesterday cause RD come and told me she done hurt ya by fallin’ on ya dislocatin’ ya wing makin’ ya pop it back in. Ah done know ya was hurtin’ before that, so when ah find out ya came back and bucked the rest of the trees in that condition of course ah am right angry at ya.” Star blinked a few times before he couldn’t help himself and started laughing. AJ of course didn’t take kindly to it. “And wha’ may ah ask is so funny?”

Getting his laughter under control he smiled. “Sorry, sorry, I just thought you were angry at me doing the rest of the work cause it took work from you or something.” Seeing her look getting a bit less angry…least till he continued talking. “Honestly AJ I have so many bumps and bruises from my life that I live with a lot of little aches every day. One or two more is something I barely notice anymore.” ‘Like my right forward fetlock from Saddle Arabia, ya definitely not back there any time soon. Thing still aches when it gets cold.’

That last statement brought back the angry look to Aj’s face of course. “If ya was hurting so much why were ya bucking despite that?”

Seems he wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, especially being wrapped up in a lasso and hogtied. ‘Wait when was I hogtied?’ “Cause, it simply needed to be done. You said yourself you were backlogged and needed it to get done. Let me ask you, if I didn’t come to help, would you have continued to buck even if you were hurting or exhausted?”

He won that argument and knew it by the look on her face. She was biting her lip and looked as if she wanted to say otherwise but ended up sighing and untying him. “Maybe ah would but still, ya need to take care of yourself Sugarcube.”

Rubbing his fetlocks Star smiled and nodded. “I will if you will, so tell me, that mean you are taking today off?”

The farm pony just rolled her eyes and motioned for him to get into the field.

Stretching and relaxing against a tree with a glass of apple juice that was brought to him by sweet little apple bloom. She was strangely shy giving him the juice before scampering off. The apple juice was fantastic, cold, refreshing, and very tasty. He was enjoying it so much that he didn’t even notice the bouncing ball of pink party pony in front of him.

“Hey there Mr. Mind reading space alien!” Pinkie exclaimed. Her response was now a forced gulp in surprise from Star that left him coughing on the now burning juice in his lungs. “Silly billy you don’t breath juice in you drink it.” Star wanted to glare at her but was too busy trying to get air back into his lungs properly. “Anyways I came here to give you this.”

Hoofing over a card Star took it and started to read it. ‘You are invited to a Pinkie party for Starshifter, the new friend and pony in town, at Sugarcube Corner at 8:00 PM tonight.’ He gave a blink wondering how many of these she sent out. Though when he looked up to ask her about that but found she was gone. ‘Wait what where did she go, she was just here.’

Getting up to go ask AJ if she needed him for much more today since it was getting close to quitting time he stood up. Or he would have at least till as he got up he felt the twinge in his wing and fell to his belly in pain. ‘Damn it, knew I should have taken them earlier but didn’t want to stop for something to drink…well I got some now.’ Reaching back and pulling the bottle of pain medication and dumping two tablets onto the frog of his hoof he down them then drank the last bit of the apple juice he had. ‘Have to wait for them to kick in that means thirty minutes where I can’t move unless I want to be groaning out in pain every moment I do. Which of course would bother my new boss a lot I would think.’

It took nearly forty five minutes before he could get up to go talk to AJ, but by then the painkillers had dulled the pain so it didn’t show on his face. “AJ, are you here?” He got no answer as he called out to the barn. He then tried the house and similarly got no answer there as well. “Guess they took off…I am sure they had a good reason. Let’s see what time is it.” Looking at the Apple family clock he found he had nearly an hour before it was time for the party. “Guess I will buck a bit more go to the lake get washed up and see if it’s a decent party.”

Thirty minutes of bucking, five to put all the apples away, fifteen more minutes to walk to the lack and wash up, and five to get to town leaving him with five minutes to spare. “Looks like I managed to get here early, good, I hate showing up late.” ‘Well here is hoping there is good food and drink…wait, buck I can’t drink cause of the meds.’

Shrugging he went inside and was greeted with a loud. “Surprise!” from everypony gathered and it seemed that nearly the whole town was there too. It also seemed like he caught them off guard as everypony seemed to have popped out from the closest spots to where they were before.

Chuckling softly he asked. “Showing up early gave you all less time to hide didn’t it?” there was a round of nervous or embarrassed chuckling to be had with that. “Well don’t stop partying on my account, let’s DO THIS!” he punctuated that with a hoof raised and wings extended. Of course this caused him a lot of pain quickly but no pony seemed to notice among the hurrahs.

Normally Star would be right up in the festivities however with his wing sending him cease and desist orders he found it hard to lighten up and join in. instead he found himself in a booth off to the side enjoying a slice of cake and some punch somepony brought him. ‘Cake is well made, but the Cakes didn’t make it as it tastes slightly different. Punch is also not spiked thank Celestia. Would hate to get blitzed cause of the reaction the meds would cause with that.’

“Hey Big guy, what are you doing over here?” It was Rainbow Dash that asked this as the cyan Pegasus was hovering before him. She wasn’t alone either Pinkie was with him as well as another Mare he didn’t know, a pure white Unicorn with a well groomed purple mane that was also styled.

“Yes dear what has you all alone over here?” The accented voice of the cultured pony before him asked.

A practiced smile was his answer. ‘No need for others to worry so just tell a little lie after all they don’t need to know how badly my wing is bothering me right now, might need another pain killer after all this is over…or two depending on how long it lasts.’ “Kinda tired from working over at Sweet Apple Acres and just over all worn out.” Forcing himself to stand up he gave a bit of an overdone bow to the mare that obviously went out of her way to style her hair, either for the party or just in general. “I am Starshifter it’s nice to meet you.”

The Unicorn giggled and held out her hoof to him “I am Rarity and I am in the business of Couture here in Ponyville.”

She obviously expected him to kiss her hoof from her gesture. ‘Well when in Roam.’ Taking the hoof and applying his lips gently to it in a kiss before letting it drop. “A pleasure it is Miss Rarity.”

Rarity just gave a girlish giggle and smiled “Oh my, what a gentlecolt you are.”

“Only where appropriate.” He smiled as he spoke. Of course he got a reaction out of somepony else when he said that.

“Hey, you weren’t all fancy when you met me, you saying I am no appropriate for that?” Dash said angrily to him with a glare on her face, least to her it seemed genuine, anypony else looking at her knew she was teasing.

He shrugged and motioned to his wing. “Well I was kinda busy popping my wing back in place, but if you want I can redo my greeting.”

The comment seemed to take some of the false bite out of her attitude as she momentarily looked ashamed. “Ya sorry about that.”

“Rainbow dear what are you two talking about?” The prim and proper Unicorn asked seeing the exchange of looks.

Deciding to get a bit of revenge on Dash for the fall he grinned. “Oh well you see I was bucking apple trees over at S.A.A. and she lands right on top of me, of course the way she landed on me gave me a nice look at certain things and well, you can’t blame a Pegasus for having a small wing extension now can you?”

The reactions were mixed in the group with it ranging from dead silence with a blush that turned the cyan an almost purple from the red bleeding through, to a giggle, to an Oh my.

Of course those reactions changed as he started to speak. “I am just kidding it-”

Given that he didn’t get a chance to finish thanks to the pain in his wing from Dash shoulder bumping him causing him to crumple to the floor. “Hey that isn’t what happened and you know it, you should tell them what really happened.”

He would have but he was currently in too much pain to move. Keeping his eyes closed as everything was slightly blurry from the burning sensation in his wing making him nauseous. ‘Don’t think about the cake you just ate, don’t think about the cake you just ate, after all you want to keep it in right?’

It only took a few seconds before Dash and the others realized he wasn’t getting back up before the brash Pegasus started to apologize. “Oh I am soo soo sorry I forgot your wing was hurt I didn’t mean to-I-I, I will go get Fluttershy, she will help out.”

Star didn’t see her take off to find whoever Fluttershy was nor honestly did he care. Right now he was focusing on keeping his stomach contents on the inside, although he did feel himself being levitated into the seat of the booth. His guess was Rarity did it.

“Where does it hurt.” Came a calm confident voice, one he recognized but couldn’t place at the moment through the pain.

‘Guess that this is the Fluttershy that Dash mentioned. Must be a doctor or something.’ He moved one of his hooves to point at the joined and at the Radiale.

There was a feel of magic prodding the points he motioned too. “There seems to be some serious inflammation of those points and some swelling around the tissue and muscles there.”

‘Pretty much what the doc that examined me said. Still glad nothing is broke.’ He gave a nod and kept his eyes shut. Next she asked what was being done to treat the issues and he managed to tell her to look through his bag to grab the jar of ointment, bandages, anti-inflammatory pills, and painkillers.

He didn’t, however, expect her squeal of surprise. “Oh this is a First Edition of Magical Focus and Theory.”

He heard Rainbow Dash walk up with a pfft. “Egghead.”

Fluttershy just gave out a huff. “Hey I just appreciate the finer points of reading about such things as this.” The next part was mumbled mostly to herself but no doubt everypony heard it. “Though why a Pegasus has this is curious.”

Everypony else shrugged it off but Star opened his eyes quickly only to shut them before he could see anything to stop the spinning of the room. “I-It’s my brother’s. He is a Unicorn and likes to read it.”

Most ponies seemed satisfied with that answer except one of them. “OH OH where is your brother, is he with you, should I have gotten him some cake too? OH he will need a party too.”

‘BUCK IT ALL!’ “They are in town, but mostly been doing research.” Star managed to say through the pain. Only to feel a couple of pills being held up for him to take along with some water.

“They?” Came the voice of Fluttershy once more. “You have more than one sibling with you?”

‘Alert Alert, Abort, Abort, Scatter, Run, Hide, Abandon ship *Splash*’. Star ignoring his imagination and the sounds it made just nodded. “Ya, one is a Unicorn and the other is an Earth Pony.”

He couldn’t see it but he could hear the bouncy enthusiasm…’Wait how do I hear that?’

“Oh Oh what is there names, I will go get them now.” Said the pink party pony of positivity.

‘Well time to get abit esoteric on them…wait is Novo’s vocabulary leaking in again?’ “Well you see, like my their name is Starshifter, it’s our last names. Where we come from you are only supposed to get your first name to friends who have earned your trust.” His thoughts quickly devolved into the wishing of ‘Please buy that!’

“Okey Dokey Lokey.” Said the same cheerful voice that had asked him before. He almost gave a sigh in relief when she asked. “So what is your first name then? I mean we are all super duper best friends now so you can tell us.”

He thought for a moment trying to find a reason to say no, but honestly couldn’t find one. “It is Velox.” He said gently. ‘Its not exactly as if it’s a lie, but…its true enough I suppose, plus not the first time I pulled this, just have to keep it up.’

“Well it is nice to meet you Velox Starshifter, I see you already met Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. I have heard you work for Applejack, and I am sure Fluttershy will come around to see you eventually.”

‘Alert Alert warning warning!’ He was almost angry at his brain when suddenly he realized what it was talking about.

Opening his eyes he was gazing at a lavender coated Unicorn whose mane had a darker purple then his own mane with a violet stripe in it. “Hello there I am Twilight Sparkle, Resident librarian, student to Princess Celestia, and the Element of Magic.”

‘Don’t sound stupid, don’t sound stupid, don’t sound-’ “Hello Miss Sparkle Twilight I am Starlox Velshifter” ‘Damn it!’ This of course earned a round of giggles from all the mares around him.

It was Rarity, surprisingly that saved him. “Twilight dear I think you startled him with all your titles.”

Twilight for all her previous comments blushed through her coat gently and giggled. “Oh sorry about that, I had just got finished re-reading How to greet strangers volume 1 again and it said to say all your titles and such…guess I forgot how impractical that is sometimes.”

‘There is a book about that sorta thing…Wait there are more than one volume? Wait somepony actually reads them?!’ “Ya I suppose that would do it.” He wanted to say it with a chuckle but it just ended up sounding nervous.

Pinkie of course hearing that nervous noise ended up grabbing him up in ad big hug that left him hurting worst then before. “Don’t be like you Silly willy Shifty-Whifty…wait that didn’t sound right. I mean we all have titles like that, I mean Rarity here is the Element of Generosity and has her own Couture line, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty and the only pony who can do a Sonic Rainboom, Applejack is the Element of Honesty and owns her own orchard that sends apples all over Equestria, and I am the most perpetually perky party pony Pinkie Pie Element of Laughter. Oh there is also Fluttershy the Element of Kindness who takes care of all the local animals but you havent met her yet. Here let me go get her.”

There was literally a poof of smoke as she vanished and normally any sane pony would be questioning that…but considering the truth that was just dumped on him he was suddenly very nervous and thinking rapidly.

‘Crap-baskets all the Elements right here gathered, did they figure me out and intend to banish me, turn me to stone…something else nasty that I can’t think of right now?’ “Wow, I somehow managed to meet nearly all the Elements in a couple of days, and if Pinkie is really going to go get the last one I will…I hope I am not the occasion you are all gathering.”

He said that with as best attitude he could manage till Twilight grinned and spoke. “Of course you are.”

Outwardly he was calm and composed, inwardly…’BUUUUUUUUUUUUU-’

“I mean it is your party right?” Twilight finished saying.

‘-CCCKKKK….oh…nevermind. Lower the threat level from putting head between your flanks to kiss your plot goodbye, to mildly terrifying once again.’ “Haha no going to lie thought you were about to banish me or something, I mean isn’t that the reason the Elements normally gather?” He chuckled at the joke.

“PFFT, we don’t need to use the Elements to hang out; I mean we are all like, the bestest of friends.” Dash spoke hovering behind and slightly above the others.

Suddenly on the table before him a yellow coated mare with a pink mane was placed with an eep by the party pony. “Say hi Fluttershy.” There was a noise of some type from the pony but for the life of him, Star couldn’t hear or understand it. “Oh come on Fluttershy he isn’t a bad pony, I mean sure he doesn’t always smile with his heart but he seems like a good pony.”

“What what she said-” ’Wait what?’ ”What do you mean about my smile.” This had him curious, especially if somepony could see through some of his practiced smiles. ‘Could have sworn that I perfected them.’

Pinkie looked to have been about to answer then Flutteryshy finally got to speak. “H-hi I am Flutter*Mumble*”

“Oh come on Fluttershy I am as far from you as he is and I couldn’t hear you at all.” Dash spoke loudly in annoyance.

“I-I am Fluttershy.” This was heard a bit easier than before but only just barely.

The adorable shyness was making him more relaxed…till Filthy Rich appeared in his line of sight and spoke to everypony at the booth. “I see you girls have met our newest resident hooligan. Come come now get away from him before he does something to make you regret his presence even more.”

‘How about I rip that R off your name and add a B and T somewhere in it.’ However what he thought and said was two different things. “Nice to see you again too Mr. Rich, though I am surprised you are here, I thought you might be going around stealing foals lunch money or something.” Velox said with a smirk on his face.

Of course Filthy just kept on smiling and chuckled. “My boy just cause I made you pay for my cake that you ruined doesn’t mean you need to think of yourself as a foal.”

‘I WILL KICK YOUR FLANK!’ The Pegasus just kept smiling though. “Its ok, I am sure a shining example such as you can lead me down a path, though I don’t think I will every wish to be a septic tank but who knows, somepony might.”

“Why you stuck up little AHHHHhhhhhh!” The last bit came from Filthy dropping down a trapdoor.

Twilight looked to Pinkie pie that had her hoof on a pull cord. “Pinkie, why is there a trapdoor there?”

The answer was a grin and laugh. “Oh Twilight, why WOULDN’T there be a trapdoor there.” Everypony just facehoofed and let the topic go.

Eventually AJ and Big Mac’ showed up to say hi and to check on him. “Dang ya are lookin’ right banged up, everythin’ alright?” Applejack asked with Big Mac nodding also wondering the same.

“Just a hard day at work combined with running into an unpleasant Filthy Rich, wrapped up in the ball of pain in my side that is my wing and I suppose that would do it to anypony.” He would sip on his punch lazily as he thought to himself. ‘If they are truly friends wouldn’t do good to mention to her Rainbow hitting my wing again.’

Hearing that statement caused the apple farmer to smile and nod at him. “Good, ah reckon that means ya won’t be sneakin’ out to buck apples tonight huh?”

Shaking his head he sighed. “No can do boss, too tired and exhausted to do that. Oh and since I told your friends I suppose I should tell you. Starshifter is my last name, my brothers and I have it, but my first name is Velox. Something of an issue that we don’t tell anypony our first names unless we trust them and are friends. So there you have it.”

“Alright.” The southern sounding mare said. “I reckon ya have your reasons for that, maybe tradition of the like but, if your brothers come around have them say howdy sometime.”

A yes would have been given but…there was a mighty yawn instead. “I suppose that signals the party wrap up for me, tell everypony I headed out and tell Pinkie thanks for the party.” Getting up and thanking that the pain killers were working again, if making him abit light headed from taking so many in a short amount of time in the last couple of hours.

Meanwhile Twilight was confused and pulling out several books from the library. “Spike, did you find my copy of The magic in us all by Harry Hoofdini?”

The little purple and green dragon of an assistant was groaning at having to leave the party early for one of Twilight’s hunches, but then again, she was right about that fake Cadence. “You sure this is important Twi, I mean can’t it wait till we get more cake from the party?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so Spike, when I scanned that Pegasus his Mana channels were all wrong, well not all of them but he had many more than normal Pegasus, all going everywhere in his body, even more so then a Unicorn.”

Spike froze and looked at her with a look of fear “He isn’t a changeling is he?”

Seeing her number one assistant lock up like that made her go over to him and nuzzle him. “No Spike he isn’t a changeling, I was using a true sight spell that I learned the day of the wedding to see if he was. No something else is up with him, good or bad I don’t know, but it’s something.”

Being calmed by the affection made him smile then frown as he thought of something. “This isn’t going to turn into something like a Pinkie Sense thing is it?”

Twilight froze hearing that and frowned. “I hope not.” Thinking for a moment the lavender Unicorn pulled down a few books that she planned on for her research. “I just want to know what is causing that, in most cases an excess of Mana channels, usually results in the lost of a ponys special abilities after a time cause of burn out, like a Unicorn would no longer be able to cast, a Pegasus no longer able to fly or manipulate weather, or an Earth Pony no longer able to have incredible strength or ties to the land like others. That is at best too.”

The worry in her voice transferred over to Spike as clear as day. “What is the worst case of that do?”

Twilight didn’t answer and instead she just smiled “Don’t worry Spike, I am sure there is something we can do about it, but the thing is, usually a pony loses those abilities even before they get their Cutie Mark. The fact he has it means he either has cured himself of it, or somepony else did. So I just want to know how is all.”

“Oh if that is all then just ask.” Spike said yawning, it was getting close to his bed time anyways.

Picking him up with her magic she carried him up to his basket bed. “Go head and get some sleep Spike I will just be up a moment longer.” He mumbled something and nodded before curling up to sleep. ‘Oh Spike, if only it was just that, something else is up with that Pony and I will get to the bottom of it.’

Chapter Three: A Race, The Current, A Pegasus’ Channels, and Dietary concerns.

Author's Notes:

Will no longer be putting my normal warning at the top anymore. Figure those who are still reading get the point by now.

Side note: Apparently my fic has been included in a group that denounces fics and claim them as unreadable and other such things. Not sure if this is a violation of rules or anything but thought you all should know. I myself don't let others judge what a fic is or isn't so read on and make your own judgements.

As for me, I will continue to write and upload no matter what cause perseverance as well as the fact you cannot judge a fic based on two chapters, plain wrong. My upload schedule, bar the unseen, should be every Wednesday or Thursday.

Have a wonderful day everyone and enjoy the fic.

PS: Found a few editorial mistakes so am correcting them, if you see this message that means I already went and fixed them.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Three: A Race, The Current, A Pegasus’ Channels, and Dietary concerns

It had been a hard week, bucking apples, promising others to meet his brothers and overall acting friendly in a weirdly over friendly, least for him, town. ‘Not that it’s a bad thing, but I keep expecting the other horseshoe to drop any moment and have to start making a mad dash for my life.’ He stretched out his wings with a smile. ‘Well at least now I am cleared to fly, had been soooo long since I took to the skies, let’s get the scent of the wind in my mane once more.’

He took off from his grounded cloud bed, which had been the talk of the town asking why he didn’t have a home to go to. His answer was simple. “I like to look at the sky while I sleep, the stars twinkle really lovely at night and are very soothing.” ‘After all they are half the reason I took the name Starshifter in the first place.’

Taking off slowly feeling his wings beat through the air each time he slowly gained altitude before flying off. Applejack had given him the day off and he was happy for it. ‘Flying all day after about a week and a half without was almost as bad as…hmm I can’t remember but I am sure there was a time.’ That thought though cast his mind half to the reason he first came to Ponyville in the first place. ‘With Twilight a no go for answers, I suppose I will just have to let my past go. Five years though of pros and cons, five years of travel: pro, five years of searching: con, five years of new sights and experiences: pro, five years with ONLY those sights and experiences: con. I am sure my ability is tied to why I have no memories before five years ago.’

So caught up in his thoughts he didn’t even hear Rainbow Dash catch up to him and start speaking to him. “I said HEY!”

The sudden interruption caused him to miss a beat of his wings and drop down a few feet in the air. “Oh hey Dash, didn’t hear you there. S’up.”

The rainbow maned mare just smiled as she seen him flapping with no trouble. “Well you said when you got better you would like a race, so lets do this, from here to AJ’s barn what do you say?”

Velox knew he had absolutely no chance at winning. “Sure why not, I need to stretch my wings anyways.”

“I won’t try to embarrass you too bad then.” She said with the cockiest grin ever seen.

The grin was shared by Star as he looked at her. “Sure you won’t.”

“Flying backwards for that last stretch was cruel you know that right.” The dark blue Pegasus said to RD. The race wasn’t even close as she easily outpaced him even going so far as to fly backwards for the last bit…somehow. “I swear that shouldn’t be possible at that speed.”

“Told you I was the fastest pony in Equestria.” That cocky grin hadn’t left her face at all since the start of the race. “I mean you were close to matching me when I was flying backwards like that.” The giggle that punctuated that statement hurt almost as much to his pride as it did to his ego all at once.

“Ya ya you said and you are now most likely right. I didn’t believe it before, though the rainboom thing should have spelt it out all the way for me, but hey there was always hope before now.” Truly hope joined his pride and ego in taking a hit.

Giving him a pat on the back her grin turned into a friendly smile. “Hey at least it was a good race. I mean if you get abit better you might just barely make it into the Wonderbolts.” She then looked at the sun. “Anyways I got to go, the kids are expecting me at the school house today to join them for a game of dodge ball, want to join?”

‘Ok brain status report, pros and cons go. Pro: get a chance at revenge for the loss of the race. Con: could get our flanks handed to us. Pro: get to have fun. Con: get our flanks handed to us by foals. Pro: get to make kids laugh. Con:…get our flanks handed to us by foals?’ Pros outweighing the cons he nodded. “Sure why not, sounds fun.”

The two of them flew overhead to the school as Dash decided to make small talk. “So what brought you to Ponyville? Well besides the weirdness? Most ponies tend to stay away from here cause of it.”

He would have shrugged if not for flying. “Honestly, I just like to travel, been doing it for the last five years now.” He left out the part of what he was searching for of course. “Now though…I am not sure if I want to travel anymore.”

Perhaps it came out more depressed sounding then he meant or maybe Rainbow Dash was more empathic than others gave her credit for. “Something happen?”

“You could say that. Anyways is that the school house?” Of course it was a blatant attempt to change the subject but…it was true none-the-less.

Either distracted enough to forget the subject or because she also wanted to do so but when they landed she told him to stay here while she informed the teacher that it wasn’t just her to come to play.

He heard a bell somewhere in the classroom before suddenly a hoard of children came out all carrying brightly colored balls. Star thought it was adorable and he couldn’t way to see how fiercely the kids would play when he realized something way too late. Standing over the kids, who were now surrounding him in all direction including some even in the air, was Dash holding two dodge balls one for each hoof. “Well kids this is my friend Starshifter here, let’s give him a good initiation.”

There was the horrifying sound of adorable rawrs of cuteness from the kids as they hurled the deadly dodge balls at him.

All too soon school was back in session after the dodgeball session. The teacher, one Miss Cheerilee, a two toned pink maned Earth Pony with a darker pink as her coat color.
As was his hobby, though usually one that got him in trouble, he took a look at her cutie mark when no pony was looking. ‘Three flowers that look happy…all pink too, is she related to Pinkie Pie?’
“Class take your seats.” The kids would soon do that as she would smile. “Today we have two guests, you all know Rainbow Dash, however you may not all know Starshifter. Say hi class.” There was a chorus of hi’s directed at him after that. “Mr. Starsihfter.” She said addressing him politely a sure sign that she wanted something Star thought. “I was told you have traveled all over the world and seen many things. I was hoping you could tell us some things about your travels.”
‘I was right but I don’t mind.’ Moving over to the front of the class and smiling both at the teacher and the kids with a genuine smile he spoke. “Well honestly there isn’t much I can say.” The foals all gave an aww of disappointment before he held up his hoof. “You all didn’t let me finish. I said there isn’t much I can say at least in Equish, for you see, there are words in the languages across the world that seem not to translate well, but I will do my best to describe what I saw.” Taking a breath he would continue. “I suppose my first stop in a place that is Canterda. Its really cold and a lot of them speak with an accent for you see most of the ponies up there know Prench as well. Prench is the language that the ponies from Prance speak.”

The class was almost over as he was moving on to the next place he visited. “I would have to say that Germaneigh has the Best sa-” the bell rang and he realized it had just saved him from a really awkward moment. “salads, *cough* yes. Anyways seems I ate up more of your time then I would have though.”
Cheerilee just smiled and gave everypony their homework and sent them home telling them it was all due tomorrow.
Dash of course was drawn into his stories as well since he caught her more than once staring at him with the same eyed wonder that the kids had. Of course she showed no sign of it now. “Those were some decent stories you had. Not as cool as some of mine but cool enough. Though at the end there I thought you were going to say sausage, eww, how can anypony eat meet like that. I mean sure I know Pegasus like me CAN eat fish but we don’t have to.”
The thought of her eating fish suddenly brought about a random thought about sexuality that left him confused. ‘Why did you think that brain? That’s weird, you’re weird.’ “Well I have met many ponies that had gotten an acquired taste for it, and then there are others that have a problem getting protein from normal foods so they need to supplement it with meat. I mean you can’t fault them for health problems right?”
She seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. “I guess, but the first one is still a horrible thing.” He just gave a shrug as Dash continued. “Though I have to say I thought you would have done better on the dodge ball teams, you were often the first one out.”
While Star would be the first to admit he wasn’t the smartest, or the quickest to solve a problem sometimes. He was observant if nothing else and he seen how competitive Dash was, not to mention how happy it made the kids when he was nailed. “What can I say; I just seem to be a lot slower than I thought.”
Dash frowned and opened her mouth to say something when suddenly there was a loud bang and two foals were in the doorway. “Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!”
The little filly was orange with hot pink mane, she was also still without her cutie mark though that wasn’t the problem right now. Her large lavender eyes were welling up with tears. This caught both their attentions as Dash quickly asked. “What’s wrong Squirt?”
The filly seemed to be too emotional to speak, instead her friend was speaking. “It’s Apple Bloom.” Cried the white coated filly. Her mane was two toned lavender and pink but looked to have been disheveled in her haste. “We were walking back to her club house when Diamond Tiara took her homework page and threw it to the wind, then, then it flew into the Everfree,” a sense of dread was welling up in the dark blue Pegasus. “And then, and then, Manticore.”
To say that both Dash and Star was flying out of the classroom would have been an understatement. “Dash go back and find Twilight or somepony who knows how to use location spells and knows how to teleport or move quickly, after all more people looking quickly the more quickly we can find her.”
Dash nodded though honestly she thought he should go back but reasoned she was quicker and could get to Twilight faster than him. “Alright, but you keep looking while I go get her.”
He gave a nod and kept towards the forest. ‘It’s a hunch but I have to check.’ Flying to where he had left his cloud house foundation he sat up there and scanned where he could see. It didn’t take him long especially cause of the scream of terror.
The manticore was right atop of her as they came into a clearing. Star was zipping down there as fast as he could when he seen a sight that would cause him some nightmares for a while to come. The manticore’s paw knocked the filly across the clearing and into a tree. What’s more is he could see the red bleeding scores that the claws left in the girl.
Not sure if it was a fatal blow or just a ko hit with some scratches didn’t matter to Star. ‘No one hits a kid EVER!’
A dark blue glow started to spread from his wings and covered his body. Once it covered him there was almost a sucking watery whoosh sound as he moved in quick fits and bursts at speeds that blinking would make you miss.
Slamming into the side of the chimera-like creature and growling an almost animal like growl he shouted. “You want to hit a foal, motherbucker; then try me on for size instead!”
What the angry Pegasus didn’t know is this manticore recognized him; it was the same one that tried to make a meal of him when it was stopped by his rescuer that time. The creature lifted up its tail and whipped it forward sending a few spines at him.
Not a single one hit him, as each one that would instead was quickly preceded by a wet whooshing sound followed by hitting moisture. A spine, a whoosh, a spine a whoosh each time. To say it upset the manticore would have been stating it lightly. It infuriated it and caused it to charge the Pegasus that was defying it. This of course resulted in a surprisingly wet manticore as each time it charged and seemed to have Star in its claws it hit the ground instead after a whoosh was heard and a splash of moisture to its body.
“Not sure if you can understand me or not, but one of your kind understood Zecora when she saved me so this is your one chance. Leave now or you die.” The manticore had made its choice, it wouldn’t back down again as it leapt at him. There was a moment of pity and sadness in the Pegasus’ eyes before he sighed. “You chose poorly.” There was a whoosh as the manticore landed where he was only to be wet once more and unknowingly to it Star was in the air back hooves straight down as there was another whoosh as he came speeding down…right on the neck of the manticore.
Of course right before he delivered the final blow Twilight teleported her and the other girls into the clearing to see him whoosh down and break the creature’s neck. “Buck, I have to get Bloom to the hospital.” Star said not seeing the others there. Of course he knew right away they were there when he heard Applejack call out Apple Bloom’s name.
Twilight however was already there with a flash of violet light. A quick diagnostic spell and she sighed in relief. “It is ok AJ, she just has a few minor cuts and a minor concussion though we should get her to the hospital so it doesn’t grow into something worse and I can’t really teleport with everypony back but I can take her with me.” She barely had time to finish the sentence before Applejack was telling her to go. A violet flash later she and Bloom were gone.
Of course now that she was gone, everypony could think about what had happened. Of course it was Fluttershy who spoke up first…well not so much spoke but was vocal in her sadness. Running over to the dead manticore and cuddled it gently while crying.
Velox remembered she was a caretaker of animals and not sure if that was one of her charges or not he still said what he said. “I am sorry I had to kill it Fluttershy, but I did warn it to leave, I couldn’t leave with Bloom like she was and with me using The Current. It would have hurt her or worse.”
Fluttershy either didn’t hear him or ignored him, though not the rest. “What may ah ask is ‘The Current’ and why couldn’t ya use it to rescue Bloom quicker.”
Star just let the blue glow die out as he shook the water from his coat. “Ok I have to start with abit of a magic lesson, do you mind?” She just gave him a glare. “Fine I will make it as quick as I can. All ponies have magic, some can use it more easily than others, Unicorns for example can use it outwardly in a visible way. Pegasus not so much in that they can move weather, fly, and land on clouds with no trouble. Finally Earth Ponies use it passively, using it in their strength and connection to the land.”
“Yes dear we are all aware of that.” Came the couture countess of the group.
“You would be surprised who doesn’t.” He half muttered to himself. “Anyways that is all I did, manipulate weather.”
“Horseapples!” The rainbow maned flyer of the group called. “I work as the head weather mare of Ponyville and have never seen or heard of anypony doing what you did.”
Star sighed, he hated explaining this as half of it was in the feel of what he does, but he always said if it was important he would explain it. So he let his wings glow, but only his wings and flapped them showing them all as they slowly gathered moisture from the air to coat it. “I am manipulating weather, after all, what is a raincloud or stormcloud but moisture.” He let the glow spread down to one hoof as he waved it around gathering more moisture from the air to his hoof almost in a ball. “I am just…really, really good at the fine manipulation of it one a really fine scale.” The glow spread to his other forehoof as he tossed the ball of water back and forth between them as he sat on his haunches. “What I do is kinda use the water as a springboard for myself, except with it touching me, I can make it move with such force that it moves ME instead. Thus making move really quickly, though will most likely feel sore tomorrow even with a Pegasus’ natural durability like we show in crashes. That and I am kinda siphoning magic from other areas that a Pegasus passively uses their magic towards…like flight.”
Pinkie was the one that chimed in this time. “Oh oh but we saw you flying.”
He shook his head and tossed the ball up as if to use it as a demo. “If the ball of water is hanging in the air like that is it flying?”
Everypony seemed to understand that but Applejack seemed to have one more question. “Ok then why didn’t ya just dash in with that Current dealy and rescue Bloom before she got hurt?”
Star looked to Dash as he spoke. “Dash I think you can relate how a Pegasus’ natural protections extend to anypony she touches while in flight.”
The racer just nodded and sighed. “It’s not like I am a egghead or anything, but, the weather team and most Cloudsdale ponies is trained to rescue ponies as they fall. Something called transference happens where the magic that protects Pegasus in flight kinda like a safety net of magic or something.”
AJ nodded and understood. “Well as I said earlier, when I am using the current I am kinda pulling the magic from other passive areas of a Pegasus’ normal abilities…that being one of them. If I were to dash to Bloom to pick her up well…” he pointed to a flower nearby in the clearing waiting till everypony was watching, then shoot the ball of water at a decent speed at the flower. The speed wouldn’t have meant anything to anything alive except maybe cause a bruise, however to the flower it scattered its petals everywhere after bowling through it. “I would have been the water ball there and Apple Bloom would have been that flower. I think I will leave you to your imaginations to come up with the results if I tried.”
The farm mare just paled, even through her coat at the thought, Rarity gasped, Dash got a tiny bit green around on her face as her hoof came to her muzzle, and Pinkie…was Pinkie. No pony knew what she was thinking about except it caused her head to tilt to the side. Fluttershy seemed to have overhead everything in her grieving. “Starshifter did the right thing, though I wish it didn’t have to be like this, he still did the right thing. Anyways we need to get out of the Everfree before anything else tries to get us…that is, if it’s ok with everypony.”
A nod was given by everypony along with a yawn from Velox. “Pegasus magic isn’t really meant to be used like that so it is kinda exhausting, so don’t mind me, still plenty of juice in the can to check up on Bloom.”

The walk was a quiet and solemn on the way to the hospital though everypony cheered up when they got there and heard that Bloom was awake and just fine. The bump on her head, while indeed a minor concussion, called for nothing more than an overnight stay for monitoring. The cuts on her side, while more serious, were fixed with a few stitches as they hadn’t gone too deep.
“She will have some war wounds to show off to her friends and some scars, but her coat should cover them so no pony will be able to tell unless they get up close to feel.” Nurse Redheart said to them. “A few days rest after that and not too much activity should make her right as rain.”
Star had met her last time he was here, but was in too much pain to really pay attention to her. She was a white Earth Pony with a bubblegum pink hair with a red cross on her flanks as her cutie mark.
AJ was more than relieved and shook Redheart’s hoof so hard she practically lifted her off the ground with each one. “Thank ya so much Nurse Redheart, ah can’t thank ya enough.”
While the news and the rejoicing came and went Twilight had been told of what happened as well as how it was done and that is where Velox came in overhearing the tail end of the conversation to Dash and Rarity. “Theoretically it’s possible and it would explain why he has that book, though he said it was his brothers.”
Considering what had happened, knowing how seeming close the girls were to each other, it wasn’t hard to figure out what they were talking about. “Ya the book is mine, I lied cause well, how often do you find a Pegasus interested in that stuff. Most ponies will just look at a pony weird if they say ‘I want to learn about magic’ when they have no horn.”
Twilight blushed at having been caught talking about a pony behind their backs. “Sorry didn’t mean to go about talking like that I was just caught up in what Dash and Rarity were saying and couldn’t help but think out loud. Though it does explain how you have such a buildup of mana channels. It is consistent with a lot of passive abilities in other pony species and considering you have built them up it makes it look like you cast magic making your overall network a lot larger in appearance even if your well isn’t that deep. It also explains how you avoided another problem most have if they come to that naturally.”
“The Gridlock Conundrum right?” He asked much to Twilight’s surprise.
“You know about that?” Her eyes were lighting up just like whenever she found a good book.
He gave a nod and smiled. “Found out about it by accident from a doc that I met before a couple of years ago, said ‘if I didn’t know how to manipulate my mana so well that I would have had magical burnout by now and either died or became sickly’.”
Bouncing on her hooves Twilight was so excited to hear somepony, even non Unicorns, knowing about magic. “That’s right, though I wonder how you came up with the idea to manipulate weather on such a fine scale such as that.”
Chuckling as he gazed up remembering. “Novo thought of it.” Hearing no pony speaking he looked down and realized they looked confused. “Oh sorry Novo is my Unicorn brother. He specializes in fine manipulation of telekinesis and high level transmutation. He said and I quote ‘All is one and one is all’. When I figured out the meaning of that I realized that there is more to everything then we realized and looked abit deeper and found The Current.”
Twilight suddenly looked confused, she wasn’t the only pony either as even AJ had joined them along with Pinkie and Fluttershy. “Wha’ does that mean.”
The dark blue Pegasus just grinned and chuckled loudly. “Sorry but I can’t tell you cause if I did it would lose a lot of its meaning and importance…it’s something each pony must learn to truly grasp its meaning.”
The Unicorn prodigy smiled and gasped “Exactly like the magic of friendship, if somepony tells you, it’s not even close to what the real thing is and you will over look how deep it’s meaning is.”
Blinking and not really getting what she meant he just nodded “Ya, sure like that.”
“Mind if I examine your mana channels tomorrow, I only got a cursory glance at them when I examined your wing and it might provide more clues to how others can avoid the conundrum.” The hopeful Unicorn asked with large pleading eyes.
Star, for all his travel and experience, found he couldn’t bring himself to say no to that face. “Fine, but you have to ask AJ here to spare me for a while so you can poke and prod me to your heart’s content…wait that didn’t come out right.”
Of course as he said that last part there was a blush from Twilight and a giggle from some of her friends. Giving a cough to cover the embarrassment she nodded and looked to her honest friend to see if she would. A nod in the affirmative later and they had decided to start at noon tomorrow. With that AJ headed home to tell Big Mac and Granny Smith how Bloom was coming along. Rarity took her sister, the little white Unicorn filly named Sweetie Belle, home with her. Dash flew off with the orange Pegasus filly named Scootaloo promising to show her a trick to help make her feel better.
With the foals all gone that left Star, Fluttershy, and Twilight alone. “Wait, where did Pinkie go?”
Seems the Pegasus was the only one concerned as her two friends seem to just accept her vanishing act as normal. “So it’s a tad early but would you too like to join me for a snack at a café?” Fluttershy seemed to nod softly and smile to the invitation from the lavender pony.
The violet maned Pegasus was about to decline when a quick image of something passed through his mind quickly reminding him of something he had been holding off on for a while now but needed to take care of. “Twilight and Fluttershy, while I would love to join you I have something I need to take care of, so raincheck on that for me for another time.”
Twilight looked disappointed, seems she wanted to talk more to somepony who knew about magic if Star had to guess, while Fluttershy looked slightly relieved. ‘Guess she is still upset at me about the manticore.’
Flying off and separating from the mares he headed to the lake he uses to wash up. ‘Thanks to Rainbow Dash, I kinda have an idea of what the locals would think if I did this in the open so, best hide this for now.’ The afternoon was filled with him cutting a stout pole and grabbing a line from his saddle bags to fish. Like he had told Rainbow Dash earlier how some ponies eat meat for the pleasure of the taste and how others needed it cause their bodies were a bit dysfunctional, he was of the latter type. ‘Ya I like the taste of flesh sure but my body needs it as well, the cravings are just my body’s way of telling me, HEY I need some protein here. The slip about sausage was it screaming as loudly as possible. I got real lucky cause of that bell…wonder if I hated those bells when I was young?’
The problem with fishing is that while catching was exciting for a few short moments, it left a lot of time to think to one’s self. Starshifter did too much of that and found himself instead looking over his time in Ponyville, contemplating if he should stay or go. The answer wasn’t simple at all; he wanted to stay for sure as the town was peaceful serene and friendly. On the other hand he didn’t want to risk exposing his secret to somepony who had, not too long ago, didn’t want anything to do with what might even have a hint of changeling to it.
Dinner for Star that night consisted of a lot of fish over an open fire that made him wish that ‘The Current wasn’t water, but fire based’ to get the fire started easier.

The next day he showed up for work and when asked by Applejack why he showed up he simply said: “Twilight wanted me to show up at noon, till then my time is my own, so I came to help out boss.” For the next five minutes he got a lecture on how she wasn’t his ‘boss’ but his friend who just so happened to be paying him to help out around the farm. Shrugging and just accepting that rather than arguing with a stubborn mare he went off to buck the trees best he could.
He only got a third of what AJ had done before it was time for him to leave. “Going to go now AJ and wash up, after all if Twilight is going to poke and prod me, got to smell nice right?” He said winking to the farm mare that gave a slight blush and told him to ‘git’.
He only got to the Golden Oaks Library right near noon, a few minutes before and knocked on the door. “One moment!” Came a non-female voice.
‘Wait did I have the wrong tree house? I could have sworn Derpy told me to come here when I first came to Ponyville, am I remembering wrong? SWEET CELESTIA is my memory getting worse am I going to forget-.’ Before his thoughts could get the better of him the door opened.

Standing in the doorway stood a tiny reptile looking creature. It would have only come up to halfway of the height of a normal pony, less so on one the size of Big Mac’, with purple and green scales covering his body, the latter coloration being on his belly and fins.

“Can I help you?” He asked politely staring at Star with those slit pupils.

Coming out of his musings on what he was staring at he shook his head. “Sorry I think I got the wrong place, I was looking for Twilight Sparkle. Sorry to bother you.”

Turning around to walk about he was stopped by the voice of the youngling. “Oh you’re the pony Twilight has been talking about, ya this is where she lives, come on in.” Taking a few steps inside he puffed out his chest suddenly “and if you’re wondering, I am a Dragon.”

‘Oh that is what he is, never would have guessed that.’ “I kinda figured, I mean they are pretty distinct.” By the look on the tiny dragon’s face he had caught him in the lie and made him sigh. “Ok ok, I had no clue you got me.”

Looking suddenly downtrodden he only shuffled his foot on the ground and mumbled out a reply. “Probably cause I’m a baby dragon.” Not sure if that was meant to be heard or not Star said nothing to show he heard it. “Anyways Twilight will be up from the basement shortly, she was just getting some testing items.”

The question of ‘what was she getting exactly’ wasn’t voiced as he didn’t have time as Twilight came up from the basement carrying all kinds of weird equipment ranging from something that looked to go on the head of a pony, to wrist straps, tubes, something that looked like a mouth bit, and a few others things that couldn’t even be described without adding mad scientist in front of it. Star looked back over to the dragon quickly with a worried look hoping against hope that he would have good news for him. Instead the dragon was looking away and heading to the kitchen leaving him to his fate.

“Thank you Spike I will take it from here.” She called out to her assistant with a smile before looking at Velox. “Ok let’s start with a few base magical readings on your AF in your innate state.”

Thanks to Novo he knew what AF, it stood for Arcane Force and was often used at a measure of a Unicorn’s magical power. “So your wanting to see if my AF is higher or lower than the norm right?”

A nod was all he got as he walked over to her as she started levitation some of the scraps, the cap and more all to fit over him. “I already calibrated this so it should be accurate, now just stay still for a few minutes while this gets a base line.” Looking over a nearby object that had a needle going back and forth over a paper that it was rolling out she continued. “An average Unicorn adult has fifty AF in their body at rest and while focusing it’s a hundred and fifty, triple cause they are focusing and condensing their own internal mana to a focal point, in this case their horn. Meanwhile Pegasus and Earth Pony adults only have twenty and ten AF respectively and its all passive. In the case of Pegai in general its more spread out over many factors so their relative AF is only five or so. Earth Ponies are more focused and actually keep the rating of ten that is why often they are physically stronger than any Pegasus in general, exceptions not withstanding of course.”

Star could tell Twilight was in her element, both figuratively and literally as she had that bright look to her eyes while he himself already knowing that was actually drifting in and out of what she was saying, at least until an excited ‘OH’ was heard. “What, huh, I’m paying attention I swear!”

The Unicorn missed his exclamation as she was looking at the results of the read out. “That is very interesting. Your baseline is really high, at forty AF already higher than a normal Pegasus by double.” She was looking at the readings excitedly even as her horn was glowing and writing down notes with a levitating quill and parchment. “Now I want you to use that current thing you used on the manticore.”

To say he felt like a bug under a magnifying glass would have been about right, the way she was staring and scribbling on the parchment almost made him bolt. “R-right.” Concentrating and focusing on his wings he started to lazily flap them as they started to glow.

As they started to gather moisture he suddenly became aware of another set of eyes watching him. Glancing over he could see Spike peaking at them from the kitchen trying to act like he wasn’t but so obvious that he was.
“Do you want just my wings or the full thing?” He asked looking back to the Unicorn scientist as she was righting. She gave a nod wanting to see the full transformation as she sighed and slowly let the feeling of The Current over take him. All the moisture in the air was suddenly a part of him, extending his sense of touch to know everything in the library within a certain distance. His coat grew damp as the water clung to him as a second coat; he knew in worst case scenarios he could use the water as a cushion for blows, either if he fell or against something hitting him…even if it wasn’t a very good cushion. When he got into the full swing of it Twilight told him to hold it for a few minutes so the chart could stabilize to get an accurate reading.
By the time the readings came out Velox was sweating into the water, as he only ever used The Current in fits and bursts and never as a sustained effect for long. “That is interesting.”
Hearing her voice he spoke in abit of a strained voice. “Mind if I cut this then?”
Giving an almost absentminded ‘huh’ she looked over to him and realized what he meant “Oh sure go ahead.”
A relieved sigh later and the sound of water splashing against the floor of the library as the water that was clinging no longer obeyed the command to stick to him and instead returned to obeying gravity. “Thank Celestia; that is tiring.”
She was looking over the printout with a frown on her face, Star tried to ask what was wrong but all he got was a ‘shhhh’. It was ten minutes before she spoke. “Alright I think I can make heads and tails of this now.” Before he could ask of what she was already explaining. “Alright from the looks of it you temporarily boost your AF output by nearly Quadruple, even in a Unicorn that type of multiplication for focus is dangerous and will often lead to a Unicorn burning out or going so far as to drain their own life force to cast. It’s similar to what you are doing except almost like a furnace instead. What you are doing is putting pressure on your well to force it to pump at a higher rare and oversaturated your being while at the same time closing off channels of your mana that aren’t related to the effect. Once the initial reaction has started, the fuel you use becomes a lot less but still used in a steady amount, almost like a plasma reaction but with your mana and body instead.”
‘Brain status report, amount understood in that…what do you mean 0%, damn it brain you’re supposed to be smart.’ “Ummm what?” He asked both with a confused voice and look to him.
Twilight though continued to ignore him and continued on. “However once that pressure to your well is applied it no longer puts out any mana at all, as it closes itself off while the reaction is going so it’s not forced into cycle of supply and demand that can’t be cut off, which is good as it would mean if it did do that you would have died the first time you used it.” Looking over to him she smiled for a moment then frowned. “You are very lucky to have gotten it right the first time. One wrong step and you would have died.” Getting her curious face back on she was still scribbling on the parchment…or another parchment as it was. “You said your brother gave you the idea, but did anypony help teach you how to do that or did you discover it on your own?” Star confirmed the latter that he developed it on his own as she started to bounce on her own again. “If you were a Unicorn that would have been a new spell, that would have been so exciting, however at the same time it is not really anything new, just a more extreme version of what is already being done. So maybe it wouldn’t be a new spell…hmm anyways I would suggest if you ever try to teach anypony that you have a Unicorn around just in case your pupil can’t close their mana well after the reaction starts that way they don’t cause a vacuum effect to their well that will end with them killing themselves.”
‘Ok those parts I understood. Note to self, Don’t teach this to others without Novo…alone bad, Novo good for teaching. Brain, mark it under important and contract my mouth to say it anytime somepony asks.’ With his brain doing that he nodded. “Got it, lucky thy name is Velox and don’t teach without a Unicorn around.”
“Preferably two Unicorns as the reaction you cause is higher than a normal Unicorn adult which means they wouldn’t be able to stop it as their AF count is lower and less dense then the effect you produce.” She said writing that in her notes. “But if we can get other Pegai to use this technique it might revolutionize the weather industry or even add more capabilities to the royal guards arsenal.” Velox thought he heard her say something like, ‘and how they badly need it after Cadence’s wedding disaster’ under her breath before she smiled up at him. “Anyways this is just the preliminary tests, now for the blood tests, the active pinpoint tests, the-”

‘Body why must you be so angry with me, its Twilight’s fault she put you through the wringer.’ His body responded with angry throbs of exhaustion and pain from various parts of himself. ‘Well buck you too body, I see what my kind treatment of you gets me, next time you want a cinnamon bun from the cakes see if you get it.’ He was walking home and sighed looking up at the sky. ‘She tested me all day; I barely got a snack from Spike between her tests. Right now I just want to go to my bed, curl up and fall WHERE THE BUCK IS MY BED?!’
His mind screamed out as he was looking where his cloud bed was, instead there was only his saddlebags with a note on it. Moving close he picked it up and read it: ’Dear resident, you have been caught with an unlawful use of an errant cloud as well as the fact it was parked in a no loitering zone and have had it removed. This has been a warning and as such I told the weather team to come clean it up. There is no need to thank me for helping you obey the laws of the town. Filthy Rich. PS: tell your ‘friends’ that the trap door leads to a cesspool and should really look into moving it.’
The note crumpled as he ground it under his hoof as he closed his eyes breathing deeply. ‘Alright, breathe deeply, count to ten, and it will be better. One, two, three, fourfivesixseven-’ there was no more counting for Star at that point, instead he just shouted. “MOTHERBUCKER!!!”

Chapter Four: Oh hey Velox, what are you up to today? Wait, who are you?

Author's Notes:

Hey there, surprise release...wait that didn't sound right let me try again.
Hey there, I released a chapter early and hope you all enjoy, why might you ask, well the day I release this is my birthday so I thought you would all enjoy that.
Oh and if your wondering about the schedule I set up, don't worry nothing will interrupt it unless its important, every Wednesday/Thursday is release day. Every time meaning tomorrow or Thursday you all will get another chapter to enjoy

Why are you giving them a birthday gift if its your birthday?

I don't need a reason brain, go back to thinking up things.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Four: Oh hey Velox, what are you up to today? Wait, who are you?

Applejack, the strong, honest farm mare of Sweet Apple Acres was currently upset. The reason was simple, an employee of hers had failed to show up for work, though if you asked her she would have said it was a friend that failed to show up instead of an employee. Regardless of the title and what she thought, he was still late and this resulted in her being in an already miserable mood. Apple Bloom was still in the hospital, and while she was being properly taken care of, Applejack was always thinking and worrying about her.

‘So many sick ponies in the hospital wha’ if she catches somethin’ one of them has, she is weaker than a newborn kitten right now after all.’ Was just one of the current thoughts she was having and to make matters worse she would have to stay bucking apples later then she wanted to cause of the absent worker. ‘That pony has some right explainin’ to do when ah get hold of ‘em.’

The attitude was so bad even her brother Big McIntosh, or Big Mac’ as he was affectionately referred to by most, was staying clear of her. Or at least that is what she thought before spotting the big burly pony bucking an apple tree lazily nearby in the grove that was supposed to be Velox’s job. “Darn it Big Mac’ don’t go doin’ that lazy bum’s work for him, ya need to let him come back and do it himself.”

Mac obviously didn’t hear her or purposefully ignoring her, the latter of which AJ personally thought as she had yelled it pretty loud. Continuing her rant she kept on over there thinking to give her brother a piece of her mind, except slowly but surely she started to recognize differences in the pony bucking the trees and her brother. The first being the mane color, while Mac had a mane the color of ripe oranges, this burly pony had a mane color of a deep red wine an almost burgundy or rust colored mane. While their coats were just about similar this stallion’s coat was a shade brighter. When she was close enough to him now she noticed he was also a touch smaller then the big draft pony, but not by very much as he was still plenty bigger then herself.

“You’re not Big Mac, who are you?” It seemed the stallion ignored her for a moment bucking another tree before looking at her and then simply nudging his nose towards his cutie mark. AJ took the hint to look at it. “Wait is that Velox’s cutie mark?” ‘No wait, it’s not.’ At closer look would reveal it was similar to the Pegasus’ mark but with a few noticeable differences. On the lower left part of the three part yin and yang symbol where the blue dot was filled, this one was instead a dull gray. The colored dot for this pony was at the top with a red the same color as his coat, and where Velox had a swirl of feathers all around the outside of his, this pony had lines looking like they were cut from stone radiating outwards from his mark.

“Lego.” Came a deeper voice from that stallion then that of her friend before he turned around and bucked another tree almost lazily causing all the apples to fall as easily as any other of the apple family. “Brother is sick so I am replacing him.” AJ was about to protest that he shouldn’t work to cover his brother but he cut her off before she aired the thought. “Family is the most important thing in the world, if you can’t support them and hope they do the same then it would be a sad, sad world. Plus if I am right I should have his work done today and his work tomorrow down…maybe even the next two days if my plan is correct.”

AJ couldn’t fault anything that he said and cause of that it had made both her anger at Velox for not showing up vanish, but also the anger that this pony had caused her seeing him working in his place. She wasn’t comfortable with it in the least but she couldn’t fault him. AJ was about to ask him about the plan but instead he moved over to one of the wagons that the family used and dragged it and the baskets he had loaded into it to another tree and placed new baskets down before bucking once more.

If she wasn’t used to her brothers silence for most thing she would have thought the pony was rude, what was more was that he was moving to the wrong trees in the grove, well at least by how she showed his brother how to do them, either he didn’t know or he ignored it. For now she was content to just keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t hurt himself or mess up too badly.

‘Similar cutie mark, similar gray eyes, but the demeanor and personality difference of those two are nearly opposite. Ah mean sure Mac’ and me are different in a lot of ways but Velox is outspoken, hard working, and a tad weird at times but is a good pony. That pony, ah think he said his name was Lego or maybe that is another word or something, anyways his brother seems strong, but lazy. Ah have to tell Mac to keep an eye on him.’ Heading over to the barn where said brother was currently at, fixing up a wagon that had busted itself from a bad bump to town the other day and had something break in the underside. AJ would admit she didn’t know as much about that stuff as her brother so was content to let him work on it. However what she had to say was more important. “Mac’, can ah have a word with ya?”

Big Mac slide out from under the propped up wagon on a little wheeled trolley covered in a few grease stains. “Eeyup.” He was a stallion of few words if there truly ever was one that was for sure.

“Seems ah found out wha’ done happened to Star, seems he caught sick and his brother just got here to help us out.” The response to that was just a raised eyebrow of the draft pony. “Right big feller he is, almost as big is ya Mac’ but seems a touch on the lazy side, so keep an eye out for him kay?” He just nodded his head and wheeled himself back under the wagon. “Anyways going to take our last wagon out, seems Lego, ah think his name was, is usin’ our back up wagon to collect apple baskets. So while ah am in town sellin our family’s sweat and tears ya make sure he don’t hurt himself none.” This time a grunt from under the wagon told her that he understood.

Today was a good day for sure for selling, everypony seemed to be busy for one reason or another and didn’t have time for a proper lunch so she ended up selling all of her apples earlier then she thought she would. ‘Granny is goin’ be so happy to hear this, plus it means ah can get back to work buckin’ the trees.’

As she wheeled her wagon through the fields up to her home she noticed a distinct lack of the new stallion in his section of the orchard. To bet that a few choice words came to mind to the work-oriented mare’s mind would have been a sure bet as she mumbled to herself about lazy stallions as she got to her house.

*THUMP* came a heavy blow of hoof on wood as AJ stared at her brother and Velox’s brother hoof wrestling. “One ta zip.” The big stallion of the orchard stated to his opponent with a slight grin. “Don’t right know why ya asked for a best of seven but-.” He ended his sentence with a shrug.

‘Oh this ah got to see.’ AJ smiled to herself. She wouldn’t admit it, but she had more than a touch of unhealthy pride in her family when it came to various things. Mac’s strength was one of them. “Ah take it you boys are taking a break to have some fun huh?”

“Eeyup.” That was all the answer she would get as they set up for another round. Hoof locked to hoof waiting on some unseen signal they had both agreed on. When the signal passed the two struggled for a moment before the rust maned stallion’s hoof hit the table. “Two ta zip. Ya put up an effort that time though.”

The farm mare smiled to herself as she remembered that when fairs and festivals would happen her brother often would beat out every pony in town at these sort of events, he had only lost once before and that was cause he was fighting a cold at the time, and even then it was one to two in a match of three. ‘Big guy has him licked he just doesn’t know it yet.’

Round three of the seven went as the last two did though this time it took a while before Lego’s hoof hit the table; it was also the only time during this he spoke. “Alright found the pattern. It is time to put it to the test to see if it’s true.” If the mare didn’t know any better she would say he sounded like Twilight just a bit then.

When round four started the apple farmer her brother would win the set with this. Instead they hooves barely moved in Mac’s favor and it seemed he would eventually win. Suddenly the reverse happened and Mac’s hoof hit on his side.

“Nope.” Mac’s voice called out as he set up for the next round only for Lego to roll his shoulder some.

When the lighter red stallion rejoined hooves he looked at the draft pony and simply stated. “My test proved I was right, means that you can’t win now.”

Both Mac’ and AJ seemed to dislike the seeming boastful words of the pony as the unstated signal passed once more. However the results were the same though this time coming about quicker in favor of the temporary worker.

“Three to two, still match point for you. If you can throw something into the formula to mess with the outcome you can win.” Lego’s words fell onto deaf ears though as the biggest resident of Ponyville locked hooves with him causing him to sigh slightly.

The match ended the same way as the last with Mac becoming more frustrated cause it ended in half the time as before. “That’s it time ta get serious.” The pony said removing his yoke and setting it aside and getting a firm stance.

The rust mane stallion just shook his head. “You won’t win like that, in fact your just reinforcing my formula and will cause you to lose quicker. Stop and think for a moment.”

Mac didn’t listen letting his anger get to him as he locked hooves. ‘Somethin’ ain’t right here.’ AJ couldn’t help thinking. ‘It feels like he is playin’ Mac but, if so why would he tell him what he has.’

She would watch closely this time and cause of it she seen what her brother was missing. He was pushing as hard as he could against the other stallion and exhausting himself each time earlier then the last time cause of his anger. When he had run out of steam for that push he would roll his shoulder to get some relief to go for another charge but it was during that roll that spelt his defeat. With no tension in his arm Lego put all his strength into the push in his side and with Mac in mid roll he couldn’t recover since his control was no longer his.

Suddenly she recalled what she overheard Mac say when she found them as well as tad other things. ‘Best of seven, he lost the first three on purpose to find Mac’s weakness, makin’ it so when they kept going he learned more and more about it and just had to tough it out till Mac showed his weakpoint. That is…scary smart of him.’ “Well Big Mac’ seems ya met your match, something ah thought ah would never say anytime soon. Ah don’t think ya can rightly beat this pony unless ya think about what he said and how ya wrestle.”

The apple pony couldn’t believe the words he heard his sister say, but for some reason the look on her face told him he had missed something, so he just nodded and headed to the barn to finish repairing the wagon and think. “I would have preferred an six out of eleven match but your brother said he didn’t want to leave me with a hurt hoof. Six out of eleven usually is the best way to test but the best of seven is the second best.”

Looking over at the stallion who was talking half to himself and half to her she. “Wha’ did ya challenge him in the first place? Didja think ya were stronger the whole time?”

The big stallion just rolled his shoulder again and walked over to her. “No, he is stronger than me without a doubt. It was a question of technique.” This made a small amount of sense but she still tilted her head to the side with a confused look. “He took a break and bucked some apples and I noticed how he was rolling his shoulders slightly when getting into the stance before bucking. I then noticed it was the same way you buck, if so I then came to this thought, ‘Why are they bucking this way with strength?’.”

AJ didn’t like what he was insinuating before realizing something. “When did ya see me buckin’ any trees, ah just met ya today.”

All he did was point up to the hill overlooking the farm. “From dawn till noon I was up there mapping the groves I would be working on as well as other parts of the farm when I seen you working. It took me till noon to finalize my plan before I came down here to work.”

As he got up she noticed he was heading to the gate of the farm and had to ask. “Where do ya think you’re going mister?”

Looking back over his shoulder he simply stated. “Oh I finished today’s work and tomorrow’s. I will be back tomorrow to finish out the rest of the weeks work since I know my plan now.”

She just watched him walk out in stunned silence before running to Velox’s part of the orchard. Sure enough, all of the day’s work was done as well as tomorrows. “Sweet Celestia.” Was all she could say about that.

Two days later a week’s worth of bucking was done and AJ decided to give herself and Mac the day off seeing as how they were now ahead of the curve for this time of year and could relax some. Of course her day of relaxing had caught the attention of the fashionista of Ponyville demanding that she join her and Fluttershy at the spa. Being too honest for her own good and not being able to lie to her friends she was dragged to the spa where she was currently getting the most dreaded thing she could imagine: a Hooficure.

“And so you say he challenged Big Mac’ in a test of strength? What is more he beat our resident tough pony?” Rarity loved to gossip and this piece of news would catch fire quickly. “And you sure it wasn’t that Pegasus with big muscles and tiny wings, oh what is that pony’s name? I am dreadful when remembering that pony’s name. Anyways I am sure it will come to me soon enough.”

A quiet voice barely spoke up loud enough for them to hear. “B-Bulk Biceps, its Bulk Biceps Rarity.”

An overdramatic motion of her hoof over her face with the over the top voice came in response to the gentle voice of Fluttershy. “OH thank you so much deary, I feel just so awful that a pony such as mwah couldn’t remember another pony’s name like that.”

A comment was hovering right on the edge of AJ’s lips however Lotus was currently grinding away on a sharp angle to smooth it out on her hoof and she was clenching her teeth together preventing her from speaking instead she had to think it instead. ‘Ah think that is cause he isn’t to your tastes or its all of the times he says ‘YEAH!’ that make ya forget Sugarcube.’

“While I am glad he helped you with your work Applejack, I am just a tad worried for our winged friend. Three days and we have no word to know if he is doing any better.” Rarity said with a dramatic sigh and would have put her hoof over her face if not for the fact it was the one currently being worked on by Aloe.

Fluttershy was worried as well but for a different reason. “I asked Nurse Redheart if he had come by, she said she hasn’t seen him. That means he isn’t taking anything for it or if he is it might not be good for him.” Suddenly taking a panicked look she almost yelled out, well as much as her naturally quiet voice would let her. “W-what if it was a cold but now it is worse cause of it?!”

Lotus was finally done with Applejack as she moved onto Fluttershy. “Ah am sure he is fine Shy, he did say he has two brothers. So the other one is, no doubt, fixin’ him up right as rain.”

“I-I guess so.” The Pegasus of the group muttered nearly silently.

Rarity suddenly had a look to her and a slight grin was the result of whatever she was thinking about. “So tell us, is the brother of our dear Velox a looker?”

If the farm pony had been drinking anything she would have spit it out in surprise. “’Scuse me!”

That just got a dignified giggle from the Unicorn. “Oh come on and spill, was he fetching at all?” The only answer she got was a towel thrown in her direction causing her to giggle more ferociously.

Overall the spa day wasn’t all that bad and she felt more relaxed then she could remember in a good long time, though would never admit it to anypony. She also would admit, even if only to herself, that it was nice being waited on and pampered if only once in a great while.

AJ was moving to the hardware store though to see if she could get anything that would help the farm out while her mind wondered back to Rarity had asked about. ‘Sometimes ah think that mare only thinks about her knight in shining armor, almost a shame that Twi’ brother bares that name and is with a princess, almost would be worth it to see Rarity finally get her special somepony just to get her stop checking out every colt that passes by.’ Picking up a wrench and deciding they didn’t need another she moved onto another while her thoughts continued. ‘Ya Lego is big and strappin’ and real smart but that would be too much like datin’ Big Mac’ and ah just can’t think of any colt that is so similar to him like that. Ah mean they nearly have the same coat color, almost makes me wonder if Pa had a few good times that no pony knows about.’ Giving a tiny giggle at the thought of the two red coated stallions each eating an apple and saying ‘Eeyup’. ‘Besides, that colt seems like he spends too much time thinkin’ and not enough time doin’ that is why his brother is more my ty-.’

She quickly facehoofed almost hard enough to leave a mark at the sudden turn of mind when she thought that. ‘Gosh darn it Rarity, now ah am thinkin’ of that sorta thing.’ Looking at a screwdriver but not really looking AT it the mare found herself in a territory she wasn’t comfortable with. ‘Ah mean sure he’s fit and all, maybe not as strong as an Earth Pony, but he sure ponies up when its important. Look at what he did for Bloom, took away his own flight to fight that critter. He could have just backed off but didn’t. Instead he fought tooth and hoof against riskin’ his own skin to even give it a chance to scamper off.’ AJ had run into Twilight yesterday going on about the results of the ‘thing’ that Velox could do too. ‘Not sure what all Twi meant by what she said but sounds like it could end up hurtin’ him just as much as its useful.’

Picking up few items she headed over to the counter to pay for the ones she picked out. ‘While his brother has been a lot better help then him, ah do hope he gets better so he can drop back by.’ Paying the bits for the tools she stored them in her saddle bags. ‘Not ‘cause ah want to see him again but because he is an Apple family farmer even if he is just hired.’

Satisfied her thoughts and feelings were in proper order she smiled feeling better to know her feelings were just platonic. ‘Even if he does look right handsome after a hard day’s work.’ She stopped right in the middle of suddenly. ‘Where did that thought come from?’

The day after the spa found the hardworking mare looking over her trees inspecting them for bugs and other ‘critters’ that may cause harm to them, after all they were her legacy and her family’s pride and joy.

When the sound of wings on wind caught her attention she quickly looked towards the source finding Rainbow Dash and strangely a feeling of disappointment. ‘Guess he is still sick.’ “Howdy Dash, what brings ya here today?”

The weathermare seemed to look upset but not at AJ. “Well you see…I kinda forgot where Velox was camping out and was wondering if you could help me find it.” Seeing a sudden smirk coming across the farm mare’s face she quickly went to intercept that. “Nonononono, it’s not like that…I was just kinda wondering if he could teach me that thing he does. I mean if I can add that in to my martial arts training it would really give me an edge in a lot of grounded fights in competitions.”

‘Yep that’s dash for ya, always wantin’ to be the best.’ “Sure ah rememba where he is bunkin’ and since his brother helped out so much ah have some free time.” AJ found herself in a suddenly good mood as she started to trot out of the farm with the Pegasus hovering beside her.

On the way RD had found out that Velox had been sick and that his brother came by to cover for him. This of course made the winged mare even more determined to go see him to check up on him. She found the tale of him beating Big Mac’ amazing though she claimed that how he did it was too ‘Egghead’ for her, which of course AJ could tell she was lying about seeing as how intently she had listened to the details of that.

When they finally got to where AJ swore that Velox ‘bunked’ they were both surprised. “Um AJ I already looked here, there is nothing that is why I got you to show me, cause I thought maybe I was remembering wrong.”

“Not a chance Sugarcube.” The orange pony stated. “Ah remember this is where he was, see look over there.” She said pointing to a patch of dead grass. “He had that cloud parked there for so long that the grass died, though it seems like he wasn’t too keen on throwing away his trash properly.”

Rainbow picked up the piece of parchment and uncrumpled it and began to read it, AJ was going to tell her how rude it was to read another pony’s things when she heard her gasp. “Hey I would never sign off on something like that.” Dash came over to her friend and hoofed over the note. “I have to personally sign off on cloud bucking and I already checked and Velox wasn’t in any kind of loitering zone, this area is outside of Ponyville and isn’t owned so can’t be a loitering zone. I also made it so that his cloud was legit so he wouldn’t get in trouble.”

Applejack was many things, a friend, family mare, hard worker, and most of all the Element of Honesty. So when somepony lies and purposefully causes harm to one of her friends with it, to say it riles her up is an understatement. “Why that large load of horseapples.” Her eyes were closed in angry and she had slammed her hoof down with the note under it. “Dash ya said ya have to sign off on things like that right and that ya made his cloud ‘legit’?” The nod she got confirmed that. “Can ya get the papers that ya signed for them, ah think we need to take this to Twi and then Mayor Mare.”

RD couldn’t agree anymore, she was the Element of Loyalty after all and sticking up for any of her friends was always the top of that list.

When they all had met up at Twilight’s all the Elements had ended up coming after Rarity encountered AJ and Dash meeting Fluttershy, Pinkie just showed up Twilight’s cause her Pinkie sense had said she should…no pony questioned it.

“Alright girls, is this everything?” The magical pony asked looking at the note they had brought, the orders from the head weathermare’s office, as well as two written statements that Dash had gotten out of two of her employees that stated how they took a job for Filthy Rich that night to buck a ground cloud. Seems the colorful pony had overheard them talking to each other about how they should take more jobs from ‘FR’ more often.

With a nod from them she looked it over. “Well seems he has definitely overstepped his bounds, the problem is that Velox put his cloud outside Ponyville and while what he did was wrong to our friend it isn’t technically illegal since it’s not your teams job to control weather outside Ponyville. Only weather that will affect Ponyville can you actively contest before it enters Ponyville’s range.”

Spike who had been handing everypony some tea spoke up then. “So there is nothing we can do? I mean we can just let him do that can we?”

Everypony was looking to the Unicorn mage with the same question on their minds; however the look on her face was all the answer they needed even before she shook her head. “I’m afraid not everypony.”

The silence in the library was thick, so thick that apparently Pinkie was trying to cut it with a knife…literally. “What? I was wondering what silence tastes like but I need to put it on some bread or something, after all it is not healthy to eat it by itself.”

With a round of facehoof courtesy of that statement the silence was broken with a knock to the door which Spike went to answer while the six friends were trying to think of something to help their friend. “Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library do you need any kind of help umm?”

Spike was at a loss, it was a pony he didn’t know and whom only smiled at him kindly. “Yes Spike I was wondering if you would be so kind as to find me some books on zoning in Ponyville, mostly about residential areas and possible land ownership and taxation. There are a few other things too but I wrote a list before hoof so here you go.” The pony asked giving him a list.

Looking over the books Spike had to admit not many people even asked for these books, so little in fact the dragon found that he didn’t know where they were. “One moment let me go ask the Librarian.”

The golden blonde mane of the green coated Unicorn swayed as he nodded. “Sure, Twilight will know where they are for sure, I will be outside reading if you need me.” Turning around and closing the door the pony was now out of sight.

There was two steps taken before the males eyes narrowed. ‘Wait he knew my name, he knew Twilight’s name too but I don’t recognize him. Hmmm weird, better ask Twi about this.’ Walking over and waiting for the girls to calm down from their talking he inserted himself into the conversation. “Twi, there is a guy out there looking for some odd books and seemed to know us.”

A violet glow enveloped the list that he held in his claws as the book mistress looked over the list as she pulled out the books on the list and looked at her assistant with a curious glance.

“Wait you said you didn’t know him?” An affirmative nod was given to her as she was even more curious. “Where is he now?”

Walking outside she found him right where Spike said he would be, reading a hardbound book that she recognized as one of her favorites. “Oh is that Magical Focus and Theory, OH it’s even a First Edition.”

She had a moment of déjà vu as the Stallion chuckled and marked his place in the book closing it and standing up. “I would think so, you caught my brother with it when you met him. Or so he says anyways.” Holding out his hoof the smile was genuine and heartfelt from the Unicorn. “Novo Starshifter, a friend of Velox is a friend of mine.”

Taking his hoof and shaking it she couldn’t stop herself from asking as it had been on her mind ever since it was mentioned. “All is one and one is all huh?”

The smile grew as he nodded. “Indeed it’s an obvious riddle that we have the answer to all around us yet everyday pony’s forget it. When one remembers it a whole new perspective is opened and possibilities that were impossible become almost obvious. But I can’t tell you what the answer to that riddle is, only you can.”

She had to try even if he was right. “That is what he said, but was worth a shot. So how is he anyways, we all heard he was sick, is he getting enough to eat and drink. A fever can really dehydrate a pony if they aren’t careful.”

“Ya, and if he gets all dehydrated he will be like a mummy pony when he returns, or a grape or something.” Pinkie said from the door.

Seems they all were listening in and looked concerned as well as curious. “He is fine, but I suppose my brother should have been more forthcoming in his thoughts. Velox is sick, but not the cough, cough type of sick. He was so upset with a recent happening that he had to go cool off his head or he would do something foolish and he knew it.”

They all seemed to get it as Rainbow Dash spoke out. “Ya what that rich doofus did was horrible, I would have been all over him with a hi-yah of that Current thingy Velox has.”

There was a moment where angry flashed over Novo’s face before he nodded again calm. “I see you all have found out about it somehow, but yes that is the reason he isn’t around. But while we were discussing it we thought about how do we ‘stick it’ to this Rich guy. So my thought is, buy property and move in formally and build a rather nice cloud house to rub his nose in it. Either that or let Velox go ‘hi-yah’ to his foe’s…well everything.”

A round of quick giggles went through the girls and Spike as Novo took his saddle bags off his flanks. “Oh it’s just like Velox’s.” Out came the voice of Twilight.

What she was referring to was the cutie mark of the Unicorn before them. Like his brothers he had the same three part yin and yang symbol at the centerpiece of his mark with the lower right dot being the same green as his coat while the other two dots were grayed out. Surrounding his mark though wasn’t the feathers of his winged brother or the stone grooves of the thoughtful brother, but seven different gemstones all with a different color of the spectrum surrounding it.

“Mostly, though mine has some differences I am sure you can see.” The reason the stallion had put his bags down was so he could pull out a piece of coal. “But here a gift to you all since you are looking. A sort of…hint to the meaning of my riddle.” A forest green glow surrounded his horn as he levitated a piece of charcoal from his bag. “All is one, one is all.”

Everyone watched as he touched his horn to the piece of coal enveloping it in its glow before the color became too deep to see the charred wood. They saw it change shape, becoming a lot smaller before he would set it down in front of them. “Hopefully this covers the cost it takes to make me a library card.”

Rarity was the first to speak as she seen what was before them. “Is that an Emerald?”

“Transmutation magic, but at such a level is rare. I can do the same though the outcome I get is random and unpredictable.” Twilight said. It was a magic she herself could do but it took quite a lot of knowledge not only of the object that you started with, but the object you wanted to end up with as well. However her frown came when she realized she had no clue still as to what he meant.

“It is perfect.” Rarity’s voice brought Twilight out of her musing. “No flaws at all, perfectly formed and cut.”

Novo just nodded with his ever present smile. “They say Discord is in the details, but I personally think it’s worth it, especially all things considering.” The mare with gemstones on her flank looked at him expectantly as if waiting for him to explain, except all he did was smile at her.

Twilight took that moment to float the books out to him. “Of course it will, and here are your books, I will get you the card next time I see you, or hoof it to one of your brothers when I see them.”

There was a moment when green mingled with violet when Novo took over the levitation of the books and causing Twilight to gasp at the touch of his magic against hers. “Something wrong Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight blushed when asked but seeing only the curious glance from him made her realize that he didn’t know what he did. “N-no, no problem at all.”

Giving a smile he stored all but one away as he levitated the first before him. “Thank you very much, I have to be on my way now, got a few experiments to conduct as well as a lot of research. Have a wonderful day everyone.”

They watched him put his bags back on and walk away though Rarity wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste. “So Twilight darling, it seems he got a tad intimate there didn’t he.”

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about, anyways I have to get back inside and do some research, bye everypony.” She quickly rushed inside as everyone looked at Rarity.

She giggled and smiled. “When two Unicorns touch magicks like that its considered personal between a mare and stallion, VERY personal.” Putting emphasis on the last two words making everypony and Spike blush. “But judging from his actions I don’t think he saw it like that, which isn’t unusual, but it was very flirtation regardless.”

“Pfft, I don’t see what the big deal is, I mean I have seen you and Twilight levitate things back and forth before plenty of times. No need for her to go thinking things like that.” Dash spoke with a tone that said plenty in the ways of her personal perspective.

AJ however wouldn’t let this pass up. “Sugarcube it would be like if another Pegasus came up to you and rubbed his wings against your own.”

Everyone laughed as there was a sudden ‘eep’ as Dash’s wings shot out stiff causing her to fall to the ground. Well almost everyone.

“I don’t get it, what’s a wing touch or magic touch got to do with it? I mean I seen you and Twilight touch magicks before” Spike asked of them rubbing his chin with a claw.

The fashionista moved to nuzzle the dragon and smile. “We will let you know when you are older Spikey-wikey.” This of course made the dragon swoon and ignore the age comment. Rarity for sure didn’t want to explain that Twi and her’s ‘touches’ barely ever mingled like what just happened.

Novo was at the cave that he had found to set up a temporary home in. It was near the Everfree but with a few trinkets from Zecora it had been made safe to live in for now. “Well I have all the books I need to do what I need to. It would take several days to read all of them though, well at least for me. Velox can read all this quickly then I can switch back to Novo to put it all in perspective, or maybe Lego since he will think his way through it all first before taking action.”

His cutie mark changed as he was talking, the green dot fading to gray as the lower left dot became blue. When it did a glow would overtake the pony as his body deformed and reshaped itself, losing his horn and growing wings as his body became sleek and a tad smaller for efficient flying as the gemstones were replaced with feathers swirling around the mark.

“Might as well get started, bought myself a few days to read bucking as Lego and I am looking forward to seeing that smug face of Rich when he finds my cloud house making his home look pitiful, after all, nothing beats a cloud bed.” The Pegasus grinned as he spoke his thoughts out loud.

Chapter Five: Money Problems

Author's Notes:

Here is the weekly upload as promised, two chapters in week, lucky lucky.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Five: Money Problems.

Velox was rather ‘bummed’ as Rainbow Dash had put it when she spied him coming out of city hall. He had talked to the mayor about properties around Ponyville and their costs and while they weren’t as high as some other properties say around Canterlot or Manehatten they were still far beyond his income level as it was now. He had even gone around looking for extra jobs to take on around town but the few that were open were more quick fix jobs only meant to be taken a time or two.

‘I need a stroke of luck right now, come on universe you owe me, send me something, an errant flyer for something that has a high bit reward, or returning a lost pet to a wealthy owner who pays handsomely.’ He was so caught up in his thoughts that the thump of the mailbag that Derpy was carrying shocked him enough to make him slightly jump. ‘OR a vital piece of mail that will contain all the answers I need to earn the bits works.’ “Hey Derpy, I take it I got mail?”

The gray mailmare nodded with a slightly goofy, yet adorable, smile. “I don’t know where you live so I have been holding onto your mail so next time I see you I can give it to you.”

Pulling out a tied stack of letters and hoofing it to him he smiled. “Thank you Derpy, do I need to sign anything?” A quick sign off on the package later and the Pegasus had to continue her route wishing him a good day.

He wanted to quickly dig into the pile to read what all it held but…he was in the middle of the road and blocking it. “Mind moving your rump?”

Swiftly doing so, he gave a sheepish smile and said sorry to the pony as she moved on. Taking the stack by the cord in his mouth he flew over to the Golden Oaks library and walked in.

Spike and Twilight were gone for the day or so having to go meet the Princesses yesterday so the library was currently being tended to by the dark blue Pegasus giving him a place to stay for a day. ‘Least that is what Twilight said, I think she may be feeling guilty I apparently no longer have a place to sleep.’

Either way it worked out for him, he needed to be in town a couple of days while he searched out jobs and opportunities. “Anyways let’s see what we have here.”

He eventually got through the mail, most of it being junk mail, and found a few opportunities. “Alright viable courses of action…hmmm I am not good thinking about that sorta thing.”

Taking a look around he made sure the windows were unoccupied since he had already had a close call before with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Once he was sure it was all clear in the windows he did a quick sweep of the library before the glow overtook him.

In his place the form of Lego was stretching out and taking everything in before heading over to the mail. “Alright let’s take a look at each letter individually.”

The first letter was from an acquaintance he helped out find something she was looking for. ‘As well as plenty of misfortune in the process…though, she looked to be having fun during the entire time even if she was stubborn about it, plus with the whole misunderstanding at the end there I am not even sure why she wrote me a letter.’

The second letter was from Photo Finish and remembering what happened with her had Lego shuddering. ‘While it would most likely be a good source of bits I just really don’t want to have to go to her for that. I mean what it took to get the info from her about Twilight was already too much and I really REALLY don’t want to do that again.’

The last possible letter of opportunity was a mixed bag for sure. ‘The hunters guild, I swear you do one job for them and they want to keep using your plot every chance they get. Hunting a hydra, not a chance even if the pay is pretty high and would give me a big boost, besides I would have to hunt with a group and I couldn’t change cause of that.’

Lego went to lie down and started to think about the solution. It was perhaps his strong suit since he was so slow in speed and cautious when it came to chances. Novo would have jumped to an experiment as soon as he thought he had everything even skipping past double checking. Velox would have just jumped at the first thing that seemed interesting as long as it wasn’t something that was obviously horrid.

‘Why are my forms so different from each other, I am the same person no matter which I am, but I think differently, seem to absorb knowledge differently, and overall almost seem like different ponies. One of the doctors that I showed my transformation, even if I had to pay him extra to keep it a secret said that it was due to my brain changing, spitting out different chemicals or something to that nature. To confirm it he would have to have a probe in my head as I changed and I am not having something in my head as it changes shape.’ Shuddering remembering when he had a piece of metal through one of his legs from a crash as Velox then trying to shift to Novo. ‘Never again, wont shift if there is broken bones or fractures and won’t change if something is inside me when I shift either, nearly lost my leg cause of that.’

Standing up and starting to glow, he changed to Novo the green coated Unicorn form of his. ‘Ok I can think faster as Novo but now that I switched twice I should really stay as him for today unless it’s really needed.’

The shape-shifter was about to go over the letters again when there was a knock at the door. “One moment!” He called out as he went over to check out who it was.

In the doorway was five stallions all of the same color mane and coat as well as wearing armor in various types to fit with their tribe. “Are you one of the Starshifter brothers, preferable Novo or Velox?”

It was the dawn guard, Celestia’s guard, and often the one seen hauling ponies in who have done something wrong. “Spike did it.”

The guard in the lead just looked confused before he realized what the Unicorn was talking about. “OH I am sorry we are not here to arrest you, but to escort you to meet the Princess.”

For some reason that thought terrified and strangely angered him, but he quickly squashed it down as he had before. ‘Got to find out why I react like that whenever I think about coming face to face with them but another day.’ Nodding he levitated his saddle bags over to him and settled them on his flanks. “Alright then as long as I am not being detained I do not mind coming, but do you mind telling me why you are bringing me?”

The guard that was in the lead that was bringing him to a chariot drawn by a few Pegai answered the question as they walked. “Not at all. Our instructions were to bring you and your brother to the palace in Canterlot to explain in detail about the method of channeling magic that your brother had shown.”

‘Panic, Panic and run!’ Squashing the idea down quickly so as not to show that thought on his face he smiled and said simply. “My brother is not around and I am not sure where he is. He was asked by Twilight to look after the library however he had to leave town on business just before you arrived so I am watching the library right now. I have no clue where he went so you may have to settle for me.”

The guard in the lead seemed to be about to say something when a Pegai dispatch flew in and landed in front of him. “No sign of the other we are to locate Captain. Several witnesses say that the Pegasus went to the library but if you are coming out of there he must not be there.”

Nodding, the Captain spoke to the reporting guard. “That is correct, Corporal, my sergeant scanned the library with magic and only found one inside and its one of the ones we are looking for. Continue searching but the unicorn says his brother just left town before we arrived.”

The squad saluted then flew off to continue the search as the Captain went up into the chariot. “Hop aboard Mr. Starshifter.”

Canterlot was a beautiful work of art, a city of majesty hanging onto the side of the mountain as delicately as a balancing crystal figure on a stand. Buildings rose up high but never as high as the palace that lay within the city. Spires that looked to flimsily made was a testament both to art and magic as Novo had once read that the structure was as strong as any Earth Pony fort from before the unification.

Problem was Novo couldn’t see any of it as in his mind all that was running through it was. ‘Oh my gosh, they are going to murder me, they are going to dissect me, they are going to know how I tick, they are going to know the moment I stand before them that I can switch, they will think I am a changeling when I am not, banishment to the moon, banishment to the sun, wait how would I even breath or live on the last two, what if it just pain that won’t let you die, BURNING ALIVE FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!’

Years of controlling himself made it so he was neutral looking on his face even if his inner mind was screaming like a foal that dropped their toy only to have it break. On the plus side Novo wasn’t aware he was already in the hall before the throne room cause of his inner musing, though that was quickly broken when he hear the next statement.

“Novo Starshifter from Ponyville.” The announcer called out as the doors opened to the throne room letting the Unicorn spot a couple of familiar figures as well as two that shook his resolve.

Twilight Sparkle, student to the Princess of the sun seemed to have been stopped mid speech as she had the look on her face that she had when exploring a topic she found fascinating. Spike looked bored out of his mind, but it was the other two that suddenly found the guest the most interesting that made Novo want to bolt.

“Come forward my little pony, we have much to talk about.” Came the gentle voice of the Sun Princess. The pink eyes were gazing at him with love and understanding though Novo seen none of it only terror seemed to permeate his mind. The flowing aurora of hair in soft pastels of blue, green, purple, and pink seemed to be flowing on wind that wasn’t present as the pure white Alicorn stood to greet him. She was a giant, even by pony standards, at least twice the height of her student with both the wings of a Pegasus that would be envied for their span, as well as a horn that would make even the loveliest of models envious, topped off with a lovely golden sun cutie mark to set it all off.

Beside the majestic ruler stood her diminutive younger sister of the night, at least diminutive compared to her sister even though she stood a head above other ponies naturally, Princess Luna as her voice joined in the welcome. “We welcome thee Starshifter and know that we are eager to hear how one discovered such talents that young Twilight Sparkle has spoken of.”

The princess of the night was similar to her sister but in an opposite direction. She had the same flowing hair as her sister, but instead of an aurora she had the nightscape in her hair, a field of stars that seemed to match all in the sky at night. Her coat was a lovely dark blue, deeper then Novo’s coat when he was Velox. She was also an Alicorn possessing both wings and horn that would make others of the respecting tribes weep for their beauty and like her sister her mark seemed to make everything meld together. On her flank was an inky spot of black that seemed to reflect no light but absorb it except where the crescent moon that was her mark was emblazoned.

Both Alicorns wore jewelry but compared to the natural loveliness of the princess they were easily over looked, even though others would say they complemented it instead.

That was the only thought of anything good before the Pegasus found the floor rushing up to him as he fainted.

The gradient grayscale of the dream assaulted him once more as he found himself in his familiar dream. However he quickly knew it wasn’t the same dream as before, he had sound he could hear voices all around him a crowd watching the spectacle that was here. Slowly the shadows of low standing buildings could be seen in the fog but never fully seen as six figures stood before in prominence before him.

“-What do you have to say for yourself?! How do you explain this injustice, this travesty and this monstrosity you brought about?” One of the six spoke in a deep male voice.

The next voice that spoke up was female and sounded as if she had more years then others carried with her, almost elderly. “You have done this of your own free will you admitted, but why? Weren’t we perfect? Weren’t we all that were needed?”

A third voice, a sad sounding but angry male voice called out to him now. “You leave us with no choice, for the good of Equus we do this.”

Star was expecting the bright spots to appear at first but instead he found he could see the six figures clearly as they stood proudly, though he recognized none of them he did recognize an important fact as the glowing started.

Wings spread and horns ablaze the six stood there as they prepared their spell. “Alicorns?” Star wondered right before he was hit with the combined power.

“GAHH!” His hoarse voice called out as he woke up. ‘Ok that was new, but at the same time I shouldn’t have expected anything less. But why Alicorns, not like I have met any before to-’

Remembering what he was doing before he looked around and noticed he was in a room he had never seen. “How did I get here?” He asked aloud to himself as he stood up on the very cushy bed. “Ok remember what was happening before, what were you doing?” He remembered the letters, he was trying to figure out how to earn a lot of money quickly to buy some land and he had three prospects when somepony knocked on the door of the library.

“The guards…chariot ride, but where were we going again?” Then it came back to him, Canterlot, the princesses, that terror that filled him. ‘Why am I scared of the sight of them, sure they could turn me inside out in a blink or on a whim but, they are supposed to be kind and fair rulers, or naïve and weak depending on if I listen to other countries reports of them.’

The door to his room opened up and a purple horned head poked her way in. “Novo are you awake?” spying him standing on his bed she quickly tossed the door open and dove to hug him. “Oh thank goodness, the Princesses and I were so worried when you passed out like that, is everything ok?”

As always Star was uncomfortable with physical contact no matter what form he was in and quickly pulled out of the hug with a smile. “Ya I think so, I think I was just too excited to meet the Princesses that I just forgot to breath.”

The two toned mane of the Unicorn shook as she nodded and smiled. “That is what the doctors thought too, it’s not uncommon for that to happen when somepony meets the Princesses.”

“I guess it would. I hope I didn’t leave a bad impression of myself though.” ‘Unless I am looking to be banished that is, which I really don’t want.’ He thought to himself for a moment looking a bit depressed at the possibility.

Twilight just chuckled at his words and nuzzled him to help calm him, though for him it just made him stiffen up some. “Don’t worry about that, the Princesses know you didn’t mean to and are looking forward to meeting you tomorrow, they told me that if you woke up to wish you a good night.” Of course the mention of sleep made the prized student yawn. “Speaking of good night, I am going to bed too. Sweet dreams Novo.”

Walking out the door the shifting unicorn just stood there, before looking out the window. “How long was I out for, and Twilight is WAY too affectionate for her station.”

Looking out at the stars as they started to twinkle to life as the night took over the day Star was left with his thoughts. ‘Meeting the Princesses obviously affected my dreams, so no need to worry about that. Six Alicorns is easily a sign that my brain is just trying to work with what I seen during the day, I mean there is only three Alicorns, Celestia, Luna, umm Candice or something, no it was something to do with music or something. Oh it was Mi Amore Cadenza. Why did I think Candice?’ hearing the door open he smiled to himself as a tray of food was brought in. ‘Oh dinner, right, I mean Twilight did say, OH MY GOSH is that FISH!’

Sleep didn’t find Star that night except in fits and bursts since he had already got a few hours of sleep earlier as he was up all night thinking of things. The most important one was how did the Princesses know he ate meat and would that affect anything.

When he was called to the throne room he found the two Princesses there with his two friends. ‘Friends? I mean sure I guess they are but, suppose all of the Elements are my friends, well I hope they are anyways.’

For some reason he found the thought that they were his friends comforting, so much so when the Sun bringer spoke he was able to push down his fear. “Come Let us try again my little pony, we wish to speak with you today.”

Luna nodded though looked to be a tad tired as Novo walked over to them. “Of course your Highness, what can I do for you?” Bending his legs some in a bow he rose back up with a smile.

“My student has told me a few things of you and your brothers, but while we have you here, tell me, you spoke to my student of a riddle: ‘All is one and one is all.’ Is that correct?” He gave a nod though Celestia took a moment to look serious. “I take it you are a transmutation specialist as well?” Again he nodded and she sighed. “It figures one like you would come about again, though it is a great boon to ponykind it is also very dangerous. I don’t suppose you are telling ponies what the answer to your riddle is?”

“Of course not, a key to knowledge must be turned by the owners hoof and not another’s to be able to properly step through the door.” The forest green unicorn said to the Princess of the day.

Said Princess had her eyes closed for a moment before opening them and staring at him with those pink eyes. “Good, keep it that way, the answer to that riddle is only for those that should help ponykind and no one else.”

‘I know, I know.’ He thought sadly to a friend in the past and what had come of him when he shared the knowledge with him. “Don’t worry Princess, I am not in the habit of making that mistake again.”

Either she didn’t hear his meaning or choose not to press upon it, either way she continued. “Good. Now let us talk about this ‘Current’ you and your brother discovered. My student here believes that if some of the royal guard can learn it, it would help a lot in helping to guard Canterlot as well as other important dignitaries and facilities. In light of the recent invasion, failed as it was, Luna and myself have found our guard lacking in its ability to help protect my little ponies. As such we are hoping either you or your brother could help teach some of the Pegai in the guard that technique.”

Novo knew he could teach that to others but at the same time it would mean time away from Ponyville, he had a job to do with the Apples, he had to get back at Filthy Rich, he had to…’I don’t have much else tying me to there do I?’ He was about to say he would take the job but instead when he spoke, much to his own surprise he spoke other words. “Can I have time to think on it?”

Celestia seem to smile and nod towards him as she stood up and rang a small bell. “Of course Novo, take all the time you need, for now let us have breakfast. I am sure we could all use it.”

Breakfast was rather nice buffet that was brought, all kinds of fruit, melons, even a few cereals, some cakes even, but most of all the delicious smell of.

“Mmm bacon.” The moment after he said it his eyes widened and looked at the rest of his company. Celestia seemed unfazed at his comment, Luna looked in playful interest both at what he had said and towards the bacon his comment his was directed at. However Twilights and Spikes eyes looked horrified and almost haunted.

In an almost quivering voice the Unicorn spoke. “Y-you eat meat?”

Novo could swear he seen Spike’s scales turn a bit green in the purple parts and pale in green on his other color. “Ya, I do, and yes I like the taste, however I have to eat it cause my body along with my brothers don’t exactly produce protein efficiently.”

Giving a hard swallow the Element of Magic just nodded. “P-Princess may I ask how you knew about Novo needing that m-meat?”

As the food was given out to the various plates as well as a bowl of gems for Spike they all found their gaze towards the plate of bacon that Novo got along side of the rest of his breakfast. “I have Unicorns scan all visitors to see if there are any allergies or particular dietary needs since a wrong food here or there might cause harm to a dignitary.”

‘Makes sense actually, don’t want to cause an international event cause you gave some peanuts to a Griffin only to have his throat swell shut.’ Seems Twilight also understood the meaning and let it go at that.

Breakfast was eaten mostly quickly in between questions, mostly towards Novo from Twilight asking how he came about the method that he uses to transmute so easily and finely. The conversation was actually one to Novo’s liking till it was brought up short when Twilight started to suddenly gag and run off with Spike running after her saying ‘Don’t think about it Twi’.

Looking down he seen had had just taken a bite of the bacon and that was no doubt what had disturbed her. Sighing and putting the piece of flesh down, he stood up and smiled. “Mind if I get this delivered to my room to finish where I won’t disturb anypony?” Celestia hadn’t minded at all as she told him that she would see to it.

As he was leaving the royal dining hall he heard a distinct crunch and a whisper. “Lulu, you don’t need protein in your diet why are you eating it?”

It was the playful nature of the retort that made Novo calm down. “Why Celly, do you not like the taste? Tis a shame, means more for us.”

He was glad the royal ponies didn’t seem to take offense to his diet and found the teasing they had going between them slightly endearing. ‘Shows that no matter your station, or lot in life, family is family and is always there to share your burdens. I wonder if I had anypony like that.’

This left his thoughts downtrodden and morose for a while after he got back to his room. ‘Why am I so upset, this would solve my money problems, buck if I am part of the guard I could get access to the royal library and see if there is the answers I want there. So why then am I so BUCKING angry with myself?!’

He kept asking himself that for most of the day as it was nearing the time when sunset would be happening before his thoughts were broken as a knock came and the door opened without him answer in a violet glow of magic. “Novo, mind if I come in?”

“Come on in Twilight, I need something to take my mind off a few things anyways.” He said facing out towards the sky watching the blue of the heavens turn orange and almost angry looking in color.

Stepping into the room the Unicorn smiled and began talking. “Nice room.” Getting only a grunt of acknowledgement her smile wilted and turned to a look of concern. “Is everything alright?”

He wasn’t sure why but the question made him angry. “I should be alright, I will get to be a trainer of guards, buck I might even be made a knight. I will get a large commission; get a nice bit of fame, though that never really concerned me. Get access to the royal archives and library to have a wealth of knowledge at my hoof and yet each time I think of all the positives I get angry with myself and I don’t know why!”

He was nearly ready to grab something to throw and break against the wall when he felt her nuzzle at his side. “As your friend it makes me sad to see you like this, but if you think this is something that will make you happy then why shouldn’t you go for it. I mean sure change is scary and can make you upset and angry and trust me, I have been there.”

His anger vanished at what she was saying as he looked towards her as she raised her head, he had to ask. “When were you like that?”

The answer he got was brought with the biggest truest smile he had ever seen. “I was told to go to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship. I was angry at the Princess for a while till I really learned about friendship and made my best friends: Pinkie, Dash, AJ, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Without them I would have never realized what I was missing and how lonely I was.” Starting to take a step away she slowly headed to the door. “What I am saying is, sometimes change is for the best even if you are angry about it.”

And with that she was gone, the door closed and the green Unicorn was left with his thoughts. ‘Change is good huh, kind of funny actually. The pony whose name means Change in ancient equestrian is afraid of change, is that it? Guess Twilight is a true friend huh, going out of her way to comfort me like this even if we haven’t known each other that long, guess that means she will have to do without our back and forth of magicks while I am here. AJ will have to go on bucking and getting behind her on her harvest without me as Lego there. Fluttershy won’t have to worry about me killing any of her precious animals.’ His mood was getting more and more depressed as he thought about them but he didn’t stop. ‘I don’t know much about Rarity as we haven’t really hung out a lot, but I would like to, I mean hopefully she isn’t as bad as Photo Finish or Hoity Toity, I hated working for those two. There is Dash whom I really like racing with and generally talking with, I mean she knows the pleasures of a cloud bed just as much as I do. Then there is Pinkie, so energetic, she threw me that party with nothing to gain from it but smiles, plus I really want to learn how she does the things she does.’

Suddenly Novo’s eyes grew wide as his thought train came to an abrupt end. ‘I am not listing off what they will do without me, but WHY I don’t want to leave, I don’t want to leave Twilight alone to talk with no pony to understand her. I don’t want to leave AJ to work her flank off and still get behind. I want to make Fluttershy happy and forgive me about the Manticore. I want to get to know Rarity more. I want to hang with Dash more and more. Finally I want to figure out Pinkie…I don’t want to leave my friends. My friends…’

Moving to the door he quickly ran down the hall to find Twilight almost as soon as he turned. “Oh hey whats wrong, you look to be in a hurry.”

Star, never one for affection or much of a touchy feely pony quickly hugged Twilight. “Thank you. I have my answer now thanks to you and I need to tell Celestia it.”

She frowned and was about to tell him that it is ‘Princess’ Celestia but she was dragged down the hall by his hoof as he opened the door to the throne room with this forest green aura surrounding it. “Princess, sorry for interrupting you but Novo here has his answer.”

Both Luna and Celestia were in the room looking out to the sky for a moment before turning around to greet the two. “Oh can it wait a moment my little ponies, my sister and I were about to change the day to night, you can stay and watch if you wish.” The younger of the two sisters watched them as the elder spoke.

They both raised their heads up to the sky looking at the celestial body of the sun as the Princess of the day’s horn glowed right golden. The sun slowly slides into the horizon though to stutter a moment as both of the Princesses’ minds seemed to wonder for a moment before continuing. Luna following her sister’s lead did the same only raising her moon with an ethereal blue glow coming from her horn.

When they were finished they smiled to the unicorns and the day Princess spoke first. “So I take it you have an answer for me Novo?”

He nodded and took a deep breath to order his mind and calm his emotions. “Yes I have Princess. You see, honestly what you are offering me is many of the things I want, money, a title, access to knowledge from the libraries here and the archives, a chance to share knowledge that I only seem to possess. In fact I should be more excited to get this.”

Celestia would give a gentle smile as she nodded. “I am glad to hear this Novo, I will have a place prepared for you to live in at o-”

The Alicorn was interrupted, an uncommon practice that made Twilight gasp as Novo continued. “But…I am going to have to decline the offer.”

This of course made the lavender unicorn gasp again as she was about to ask why but Luna was the one to speak her mind first. “We wish to know why it is thou hast declined our most generous offer then.”

Closing his gray eyes for a moment he gathered the most prominent thoughts to the front of his mind. “Simple: I would have to live here wouldn’t I?” Seeing both of the Princesses give a nod he smiled. “That is the reason. I honestly like where I am living now, I have friends there and honestly with all my travels looking for an-adventures.” Quickly covering up his slip up, he continued. “Honestly I just would like a place to call home and enjoy life there.”

“Are you sure that is what you wish Novo Starshifter? I will most likely not come to ask this of you again. If you are sure then I only have one thing to say.” There was a moment of tension in the golden maned unicorn and a slight look of worry in his companions face. “I am proud of you my little pony.”

“Come again?” The phrase left his mouth as quickly as he thought it only to have him hold his hoofs up to his mouth to close it.

The solar pony came over and nuzzled his neck before looking square in his eyes for a moment, a moment Novo would swear that at the time she looked right into his soul. “I am proud of you, you seen your desires laid down before you all ready to be claimed, but instead you went with your heart and choose your friends. I couldn’t be any happier for you and proud you would listen to your heart more than your desires.”

Sighing and suddenly finding he had tears unshed in his eyes he dashed them away with a quick rub from his foreleg. “Thank you for understanding, I am sorry to have wasted your time.”

Celestia gave a quick nuzzle to her student as well before answering. “You haven’t wasted any of my time Novo, for when my ponies are happy that also makes me happy. I am also sure that things will work out for you in a way that will let your desires come to pass in Ponyville as much as they will here. Now my little ponies, I suggest you hurry up to the chariot pool and take the last one out for the night to get home. Surely your friends are missing you.”

Nodding quickly the shifter looked to Twilight quickly. “Lead the way, I have no clue where it is.”

Celestia watched with a smile as her prized student left with the strange Unicorn to go find Spike and head home, however, when they finally left her smile turned to a look of concern and worry that her sister picked up on. “You had seen it as well my sister?”

Celestia just nodded and looked to her sister. “Yes Lulu, that pony was most strange indeed.”

The night Princess just stared at where the two had stood before them shortly ago. “In an Alicorn’s light the Alicorn can see the shadows of destiny, we know of the one Twilight Sparkle has is a faint shadow that is slowly growing more bold, but that other pony, he cast three shadows we could see and a few of his destiny that was so faint that even we aren’t sure they were real or just a trick of light.”

Sitting down on her throne pillow she sighed. “I know, but when I looked into his eyes I didn’t see a trace of evil or malice. I just fear he may catch others in his destiny, for better or worse.”

Lego was moving towards the post office with his letter, he didn’t like that he was about to mail this but what choice did he have. ‘A couple of days in Manehatten, have Photo take the pictures of me that she wants, brush off anything she tries and just hope no pony sees them...ever.’ Lego shuddered remembering the photos he had to take to get the knowledge of Twilight and Ponyville and though he said never again, well…he needed the money.

“You must be the brother to that nice delivery colt Velox.” The voice that called to Lego instantly turned his mood sour. “I heard something happened to his little cloud and now he is camping out somewhere but no pony seems to know, must be nice to have a family of vagabonds able to camp out anywhere they wish. I just hope you don’t throw your trash around where a civilized pony will see it.”

As Lego, Star was slow to do anything, actions or thought he always liked to take the long view and gather himself, normally at least. “Excuse me, I smell something, it stinks like a…sewage drain?” The large red stallion said as he turned to Filthy Rich. “Excuse me fine sir do you know where that smell is coming from?” Taking an exaggerated sniff in the pony’s direction he carried on speaking. “I mean it smells as if you are close so I am sure you can find the proper ponies to report that too.” He left the stuttering rich pony there as he continued walking not wanting to give him the satisfaction of more words then that.

Venturing on to the post office he thought to himself once more hoping that no pony that he knew would see the photos he was going to have to take. “Darling there you are.”

The voice or Rarity stopped him at the door as he turned to see said mare walking towards him with Spike in tow. “Hey dude, I have a letter from the Princess for you and your brothers.”

Taking the parchment from the extended claw of the tiny dragon he broke the seal slowly and unraveled it and began to silently read it.

‘Dear Novo, Velox, and Lego of the Starshifter family.

With the refusal of Novo to teach the methods of ‘The Current’ to members of the royal guard, and our guards inability to find Velox to ask him, we have come to the decision that something must be done in order to protect high value targets within Equestrian territory. As such it has come to our attention that your family is in need of work in regards to earning your way as you settle down. Being the case we have decided to hire you and your brothers to guard and protect several valued members of Equestria, as such one of you must always be available to guard and protect them when needed. We say one as we know that you will have jobs when this duty isn’t called upon so we do not wish to pressure you to losing any funding you obtain from other sources. If you wish to know who it is you will be protecting they are known by many names. The Defenders of Harmony, The Six Elements, The Elements of Harmony, but it’s possible you and your brothers may know them as your friends. We wish you all well in your new duties and know you will do your best when one of you is called upon to do your duties. As such the title of Knights of Equestria will be given to you three in order to help facilitate your duties and all the protections and authority that said title gives. We hope to hear a reply in favor of acceptance from you soon so that we may inform you of your powers and protections. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.’

Lego read the re-read the letter a few times before his brain went into motion. ‘Ding, hay fries are done!’ “Spike I need your help to mail a letter in a moment, but I would like a copy of this letter made as well.” He asked while ripping up his letter to Photo Finish.

Filthy Rich, land owner, father, wealthy elite, and stuck up pony of the year sat in his chair reading the paper sipping on some high quality cider. “Oh looks to be a good year for trade, will have to talk to my business pony in Canterlot to see if he can sell off some of our stock when prices peak then buy up a few of the ones that dipped to net a tidy profit.”

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts as he yelled for his daughter to see who it was. Flipping the page of the news onwards he scoffed at seeing a rumor that another archaeological had been discovered that may prove that Alicorns were a more widely common race then today. ‘As if that could be true even if there were more in the past it doesn’t mean they were common. If they were all as powerful as the Princess then surely there would be more than just three left today. No, Alicorns are a fluke and nothing more.’

“Daddy, there was a letter delivered for you.” Diamond Tiara, apple of her father’s eye, said giving him the mentioned envelop.

“Thank you my girl.” He rubbed her head and broke the seal of the letter and started to read it.

‘Dear Filthy Rich.

It is your favorite town resident Velox writing to you. Now I know what you are thinking, why should I read what this commoner has to say to me right? Well here is where things get complicated, you see, you and I have some major beef between us and that is fine. I don’t mind if you mess with me and in turn me and my brothers enjoy doing the same to you, a mutual hatred if you would, however, when I think back to your note that mentioned my friends I have to inform you of something. If you somehow come to try to harm them or even impede my efforts to help them, well our beef, it will turn into something more legal or illegal in nature depending on what happens. So in summary, don’t even think of bucking with my friends…ever.

Signed: Sir Velox Starshifter

P.S.: If you think I am lying about the Sir part or think my brothers do not have the same title, why don’t you write to Canterlot and get somepony official to write you back. I am sure you will be pleased with what they say.’

Diamond Tiara had never heard her daddy curse as much as he did that evening.

Chapter Six: Rare Reactions and Stretching the Rainbow.

Author's Notes:

Today is a nice day where I am, but you know what, it feels slightly wrong as well...we need to fix this. BRAIN!

You could release another chapter.

That is...a good idea, for once we are on the same page, I will do that.

Of course you wouldn't listen to me, its always wait what?

Stay tuned everyone, everypony, and everything that is sentient and can read. Another chapter is incoming right after this one.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Six: Rare Reactions and Stretching the Rainbow

‘Ever wonder how your day can go from ordinary to ‘what the buck is happening?’ Well that is how I currently feel as I look at Rarity asking me to come back to her place to sign a few things, well I hope it is just that, Twilight trying to pick my brain about every single one of my abilities, and Spike looking in confusion at the happens going on.’ Sighing as the red coated stallion looked at the three he took a moment to reflect on his day.

The annoying buzzing, it had started about five minutes ago if his internal clock was right, it hasn’t stopped and he was getting ready to levitate it and slam it against something except he realized he didn’t have a horn at the moment. Getting up and shaking out his mane he realized what he woke him up out of his new cloud bed: his new alarm clock.

‘OH right bought that thing last night on a whim since I can’t see the sun in this cave.’ Moving over to it and using his wing to tap the top of it to stop the buzzing that it was giving off. Once the dreaded thing had been silenced he smiled and shook himself again before heading over to the spring deeper in the cave. ‘I hate and love this thing, so convenient for washing up in the morning but makes the cave sooo damn damp, makes it nice and cool though so that is a plus. Though that just means I have to move out before winter or I will freeze to death in here.’

After a good long wash in his crystal clear cave spring and making him come out as fresh as could be he went outside to dry off in the wind with a quick fly. ‘If I stay in the cave I will never get dry, plus with how good the spring makes me feel, no matter how damn cold the thing is, I just can’t pass up a good fly. No matter how sore or tired I am when I wake up I always feel one hundred percent once I get out of there, swear that thing is enchanted or something.’ Star chuckled at the thought. He knew a bit of something about enchanting from Novo since while he specialized in transmutation and levitation he did dabble half-heartedly in enchantment, he knew any lasting enchantment without any kind of maintenance would fade. ‘Ok let’s see, today my plans are buck at Sweet Apple Acres till noon as Lego meaning I will have to shift before then, head over to Twilight as she wanted to talk about something and I said I would give her time. Then let’s see depending on how long that takes Rainbow was asking for either Velox or Novo to teach her ‘The Current’ which as long as Novo and Twilight are around we could stop anything bad from happening. So I will have to ask Twilight about that and tell her Novo wanted to meet her to oversee that and change to Novo when no pony is looking, so two shifts, easily doable but I really hope nothing beyond that. Pinkie wants to throw Lego and Novo a party but luckily yesterday I managed to convince her to wait at least till a house was built but I want to double check just to make sure she isn’t planning a surprise party and goes looking for ‘both’ of them at the same time or all ‘three’ of us.’ Shuddering at the thought he sighed when he realized that it was nearing the time to change and head over to S.A.A.

Landing just outside the Everfree, he quickly jogged behind some trees after making sure no pony was looking. After a momentary soft lightshow the rust maned stallion shook himself out as he took a leisurely pace to his destination. On the way he saw a few ponies he recognized, Fluttershy outside her cottage as his path took him close to it, she was currently feeding some birds. Lyra and Bon-bon as he passed through town, he would often visit the confection maker’s shop when he was Lego as for some reason when he was in that form he was a pushover for sweets, similar to how Velox was a sucker when it came to spicy food and Novo for sour items. Last pony he seen before his destination was one that confused him, Time Turner just had a look about him that always made each of his forms suspicious, he was never sure why.

Heading to the barn a smile came to him as he seen the freckled mare. “Howdy.” Responding to her howdy with a nod went to grab the wagon he used. “Ever since ya told us how you sped up the buckin’ we bought more wagons to help out, one for each of us and two extra, but still ah have a feelin’ you haven’t told us everythin’ about wha’ ya do. Ah get ya said a lot of things about small things all addin’ up but ah just don’t see how it can make ya that much faster, especially cause ya say ya take more breaks then us.”

Lego sighed gently; a few days ago Applejack had confronted him about his speed saying ‘Taint natural’. He went on to explain how because she and her brother did a dozen tiny little things it wasted so much of their strength, they hadn’t believed him but he tried. He also found out that day that he wasn’t as strong as Big Mac and AJ with one hundred percent accuracy. Remembering the tug of war they had to prove their strength meant nothing since he told them it was about technique.

‘Just as stubborn as the farmers over in Appaloosa, he had a different set of problems but cause I wasn’t a farmer for so many generations doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to detail.’ Coming back to reality he just shrugged and went to grab the cart.

“Hey can ah ask ya somethin’?” Normally he wouldn’t bother turning around to answer, just making a motion to her to follow and ask, however it was her tone that made him pay attention, slightly subdued and worried. After a nod and a minute of silence she finally spit it out. “Why do ya work here now?”

He was prepared for a slew of questions everything from teach her how to buck so as not to waste as much energy, a rematch to tug of war and or to wrestle, buck a game of cards even. That…that question, of course, wasn’t on the list. “S’cuse me?”

Seeing his confusion she mistook it for something else it seemed and quickly stuttered out. “O-oh it is not like we mind it’s just…why doesn’t Velox work here anymore?”

Hearing the question out in full now he understood what she meant. “Efficiency.” The tilt of her head of course told him she needed more than that. “Before I came to help out Velox was doing about a third of what you do. Kinda not really helping if you ask me, I mean abit but not what you paid him for at all. So when I came along and improved things he kinda told me to take over since I do it better.”

The answer didn’t improve her mood like he thought it would. “Oh, so just matter of being bad at something and givin’ up.”

Lego in any form would have hated the look she gave, a mix of sadness, hopelessness, and something else he couldn’t identify which did slightly bug him. “Besides, he rather likes it this way.” He knew the response he would get even before he said that, seeing her look up sharply with a slight hurt look on her face. “Don’t get me wrong and don’t take this the wrong way, Velox would rather see you have some time to yourself. He knows how hard you work here with your family, just about all your time is taken up at the farm leaving nothing to you. Velox would rather give up something if it improved another pony’s lot by a great deal then to stubbornly continue and help only a tiny bit. So while he isn’t making money here anymore, and granted I make a lot less then what he did for all the work I do suits both him and I all the better. Means more time and bits to enjoy and improve things in you and your family’s life.”

Not wanting to talk anymore then that he grabbed the wagon and started to pull it outside, faintly as he was closing the door behind him he saw a smile on her face, faint, but there as well as a tiny voice saying ‘so it’s not cause of…’ and whatever she would have said after that wasn’t heard as the door closed.

‘Should I shift to Novo now or later, now would mean I would have to find a place to sneak off and I am already kinda late to Twilight’s, later would mean I would have to find an excuse to sneak off which shouldn’t be so bad. Buck it, I need a nice slow walk and I am already late, a few more minutes won’t hurt, and it would take longer if I shifted.’ Nodding to himself Lego moved on at his leisurely pace to the library as he promised the librarian that he would. On the way there he realized this would be the first meeting between Lego and the Unicorn, always before it was Velox and Novo that had met her. ‘Guess I will have to pay extra attention that I don’t say the wrong thing.’

It seems getting lost in one’s thoughts was the best way to kill time as he found his hoof already knocking on the door. “Twilight, I am here as requested.”

He was polite wanting to make a good ‘first’ impression with her, after all, it wasn’t every day you met somepony for the first time…again…for the third time.

When she opened the door she obviously had not expected his size as she game face to face with his chest before looking up. “Oh Hello are you Lego?” When he nodded she smiled though it was somewhat of a nervous one. “Come on in, I have closed the library for a while so we can talk, plus it’s not like most ponies come here on this day anyways, it was unofficially dubbed my day off on Wednesday.”

As he came in something caught his mind as he watched Twilight bump into a few things. ‘Suppose my size is intimidating best to reassure her.’ Giving a simple chuckle he looked at her and smiled. “No need to be nervous, I am big sure but I won’t take a nibble or something. Unless you’re sweet like candy, then you may have a problem.”

He laughed too heartily at his little joke as it made him close his eyes and thus missing the blush that Twilight had on her face. When he had finished the laugh the lavender Unicorn was already turned around to grab a few items: quills, parchment and paper, ink vials, ink remover, and a few other odds and ends.

“I was expecting Novo or Velox but it’s good to meet you finally. I must say though you weren’t what I expected. I am just glad I recognized you from your brother’s description.” The chuckle she gave was still nervous sounded even if it was genuine.

“Would it help if I said Eeyup a lot, been told me and Mac’ look alike so I suppose I could get away with an imitation.” This had the result that he wanted, causing the Unicorn to laugh and seem to melt the tension from the air. ‘She has an adorable laugh the way her voice is and how she tries to cover her mouth like that.’

With that the questions started out normal, which one of brothers was the oldest? Answer: Lego, since technically it was the form that Star had first woken up in but he didn’t say that part. What could Lego do? Besides being exceptionally strong with his refined tactile telekinesis and a decent amount of strength over all, he was very detail oriented and analytic, something that made Twilight smile and for some reason have a slight tinge of pink to her lavender coat. Next were her questions about Novo though it was mostly a recap of his transmutation and telekinesis. Velox was the last and the only question she had there was if he had helped in the discovery of ‘The Current’ to which he answered he wasn’t sure.

When he was asked for an example that he could remember of Novo’s prowess he shrugged and said. “He studies a lot to be able to transmute anything into anything else so, take a pick and he can most likely do that.”

“You said you had a refined tactile telekinesis can you give me an example of that somehow?” A simple request that was hard to fulfill with what he had on hoof.

Looking around he spotted a coffee cup that he picked up with one hoof then set it back down. “I can also do minute changes to the field on the fly so to speak.” When she asked for an example of that he had to think for a moment before an idea popped into his head. “Don’t move.” He told her simply. Walking over he placed his hoof against neck and didn’t move it, however the way he was shifting an altering the field at his hoof felt as if he was kneading her neck causing her eyes to roll up in her head and she slowly sank down to the ground despite him asking her not to move.

And this is of course how Rarity and Spike walked in, Rarity gave out a very dignified ‘Oh my.’ Before she asked a simple question that if answered would solve most things. “I hope we aren’t interrupting dear, you did tell us to drop these books off as well your repaired bed covering.”

‘Come on Twilight answer her; answer her in a way that won’t be incriminating with how you look right now.’ He pleaded to no pony in particular but the universe itself.

The answer that came was as such. “Hurblurbglerblachcurb.”

‘Buck you too universe, buck you too.’ The sigh he gave showed his disappointment at the situation but it was taken as something else by the other Unicorn in the room that wasn’t drunk on the pleasure that his hoof gave.

Taking a moment to look between Twilight and Lego then back again she said words that ignited fear in the large stallion. “This looks familiar where have I seen it before…and you look familiar as well.”

‘Oh buck, buck, buck, buck.’ “I-its cause I look like Big Mac I am sure.” He was slightly backing up from the eyes of the seamstress wanting to do whatever he could to hope she didn’t recogni-.

“OH, no it couldn’t be?!” With those words Lego nearly bolted, however he looked to the door to find a light blue glow closing it.

‘Panic mode activated, engage distraction techniques!’ “Um oh Miss Rarity did you see the curtains over there they look just dreadful.” He reasoned that being the Element of Generosity would cause her to look it over at least to assess it.

She didn’t even blink from him, only smiled. “Why I do believe I have seen a few articles with you in them, or something along those lines.”

‘Wait why does she look like that, why would she…oh she reads those magazines…OH BUCK SHE READS THOSE MAGS!’ The large pony was cursing Photo Finish for abusing his need for money a couple of years ago now and put her on the list that would give a standard response of ‘Buck you’ when they asked about something. “I-I have no clue what you are talking about.”

“Actually now that she mentions it, I think I seen you in some magazines as well, and Velox and Novo.” It was a recovered Twilight with a nodding Spike that spoke that line. “Something along the lines of fashion I believe.”

The smile on the white Unicorn’s face grew to a grin at that. “Oh my Dear Twilight, I think he is a talented pony that has been in more than just that.”

With that he then initiated Extreme Avoidance Protocol Omega. “Bailing.” He said simple and dove through a window breaking through the glass in the process.

As he was running as fast as his large slow body could carry him he distinctly heard. “Oh do come by and visit me at the Carousel Boutique, I am sure we can measure you out in fine detail for something that fits your size.”

Lego was sure his coat hid his blush pretty well normally if he got one, but anypony looking would swear he was glowing at that point.

‘-And then I am going to make sure Photo Finish and her little Playfilly magazine will get their come uppens…I am glad I didn’t say that out loud that sounded awful.’ Novo thought to himself. Taking a slight moment remember how Photo took advantage of the knowledge that she knew he could shift to model for her in his various forms then of course offering the largest form a lot of money for some risqué photos to publish in a more private venue he agreed and got a lot of travel money that helped him out for a good time. Was he proud he did it? Buck no. Did he really need those bits? Indeed he did.

“Dash, Come down I am ready to teach you now.” More to get his mind off what had happened more than anything else but there was no answer to be had. “Dash, I am going to teach you ‘The Current’ but only if you come outside.” Before coming here he had asked where she was, apparently she had been seen coming to her home to take a nap and hasn’t left yet. ‘In a too open of an area to change to fly up so, guess I have to do it the other way.’

The horn on the Unicorn’s head started to glow that forest green of his magic as several balls of metal came out of the bag. ‘Cost most of my bits when I got it so long ago but Tartarus if saddle bags that are bigger on the inside then they looked was worth it.’

The balls slowly took a darker green as he put more magic into them to transmuting them into a different shape and combining them to that of one large flat but slightly curved disk. Moving and laying upon the disk he smiled. ‘Self levitation may be beyond the power of most Unicorns, however I am not levitating myself, I am just levitating something I am laying on hehe. Suck it loopholes.’

Rising up in the air like this though did cause some stir as it had not registered to other ponies he was levitating something else and not himself, it didn’t matter though. “DASH!”

This was shouted as he had gone right through the cloud like any non-Pegai would and was in her bedroom where she was sprawled out in as many directions as she could possible go snoring up a storm.

‘Nope, not in the mood right now.’ Levitating a piece of cloud over the rainbow maned sleeping beauty he transmuted the cloud into water and let it fall on her.

She came up sputtering as if she was drowning saying something about batting down the hatches. “Alright fillies, mare up and get those port holes sealed and those…huh, what happened to the ship?”

Novo had no clue where to start with any of what she said so just ignored it. “Rainbow Dash, I thought you wanted to learn ‘The Current’, but if you want to go back to sleep I will see myself out and call it a day.”

This seemed to cause her to rapidly focus on the Unicorn talking and got to her feet quickly. “Oh of course I do, I mean it seemed so awesome and so…how are you in my home right now, I thought I locked the door.”

The answer was him just sinking through the floor with a smile. “I will give you 10 minutes to get your mind in order, should give Twilight time to find us since it’s about time for her to show up too.”

The sentence following his lowering through her floor made him laugh. “Ponyfeathers, that was cool!”

“You have to tell me the trick on how you were levitating yourself, ponies seen you do it and-” Twilight was cut off with a hoof to her muzzle from RD as she smiled.

Pulling it away a second later and waiting to see if she would continue the cyan mare chuckled. “Alright Egghead, learn the tricks later, it’s my time now, so what do I do?”

“Well for today we are going to just do some stretches.” Novo said, having done some research on how to go about this for others.

The athlete normally wouldn’t object to stretches as she knew their importance but. “All day stretches, oh come on, that is boring, sure they are important not to pull a muscle but not just them all day.”

Blinking a moment Novo had to register what she meant before chuckling. “Oh sorry I think you are thinking of muscles stretches. What we are going to do is stretch your channels and slightly direct them. If I am right this should help you have the proper amount of flow depending on how tight your channels are now. However I do want to warn you, doing this will make it hard to fly for the next couple of days.”

Never had the green pony ever seen somepony’s eyes bug out as much as Dash’s did just then. “A couple of days with trouble flying! Oh fine but this better work.”

Twilight took that time to smile and nod. “From what notes he has given me it should work easily, but it will take a few days to get you where you need to.” Seeing the look on her face Twilight cut off the question she was going to ask. “I already scanned your channels the other day when you were sleeping, I knew you would want to do this and I needed a proper reading which I gave to Novo to compare.”

The Unicorn could see how upset she was but a huff of air and she was looking at the one in charge. “So how do we do this, pull ups, wing ups, curls, what?”

This was the moment he was dreading, he had told neither of them how he was going to do this up to this point but said it would work. “Well what I have planned may seem…well intrusive, but it’s the only thing I can think of.” Seeing his blush both mares raised their eyebrows. “What I am going to do is transfer my mana directly into your body slowly but enough to put pressure on your channels, this of course will feel weird through your entire body.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t care less though when she heard her lavender magic friend gasp she turned her head sharply to her. “What, is that something bad?”

Twilight shook her head and stuttered “N-no its not, I mean for other ponies no, but for Unicorns, its ummm.” She got no further in her speech as she was just pawing at the ground now without looking.

Either ignoring it or just not getting it the flyer shrugged and turned to the instructor. “Ok so how do we do this?”

If Novo had been drinking something he would have spit it out at the turn of phrase she used. “We lay down fact to face and I place the base of my horn against your forehead where you would have a horn if you were a Unicorn. While non-Unicorns don’t have a horn to help them with magic, it doesn’t mean mana can’t flow through that spot as a gateway still.”

“Fine, but I hope you brushed your teeth.” He about flipped his shit when he heard that before she finished with. “I mean with us that close I am going to have to smell your breath for a while.”

Novo wasn’t the only one who had nearly flipped as Twilight was blushing as red as could be. “R-Right, let’s get started.”

The cyan mare laid in the grass on the clearing they had chosen for this training and watched her teacher slowly get down and face her. One more apologizing if she felt weird he slowly pressed his forehead to hers.

‘Ok, this has to be the laziest training I have ever done. Laying around and doing nothing, touching foreheads like this, has to be some kind of egghead training if they are making such a big-oh!’ Rainbow Dash was ripped from her thoughts as she felt the warmth pouring into her slowly through the contact in her forehead. ‘Well he did say it would feel weird, kinda like something warm I drank going to my stomach only instead its going all over, relaxing actually.’ She could feel her eyes slowly drifting closed and without realizing it synced up her breathing with his. ‘MMMM maybe I can get him to do this after my work outs; it is like my whole body is being rubbed all at once.’

She most likely didn’t notice her sighs growing louder or the effect it was having on her wings, slowly making them extend, though Twilight sure noticed. ‘Oh there is that knot I got the other day from doing the fantastic filly fla-oh that is nice, hehe its like his hooves are everywhere touching just right~’

All too soon it was over however as she felt the warmth slowly pull away and out of her leaving her almost cold feeling. She was shivering when she opened her eyes to see the colt’s blushing face as he backed away quickly muttering sorry a few times.

She didn’t know what he was going on about but when she tried to stand up she found her legs were limp as noodles and her wings out to her sides not obeying any command she gave them. “Huh, what?”

Twilight waved to Novo as she told him she would take it from here as she levitated a towel from her saddle bags. “Um Dash you may want this.”

Reaching up for the towel with a confused look on her face she managed to weakly grasp it. “He wasn’t joking around when he said I might not be able to fly, but it did feel really good and not weird at all.”

Blinking for a moment Twilight quietly asked. “At all, not even a tinge?” when the mare shook her head she seen the Unicorn’s eyes go wide for a moment muttering something about a matching compatibility. “Umm anyways the reason you need the towel… you see.”

When she whispered the reason in her ear several woodland critters in the Whitetail Woods ran in fear. “THE BUCK?!”

This made the next training session the next day very awkward to say the least, not just for the two training but for Twilight who had to watch the rather intimate act.

“Stop fighting your making it harder to flow into you.” The grunt that Novo gave off was matched only slightly by the grunt that RD gave off.

Twilight had been subject to her friends rant about what happened after she discovered her state and how she should have known it was feeling ‘too good’. As she went on to describe how it felt Twilight became aware she was feeling something as well.

Jealousy. ‘It is said only two Unicorns can sync so well with each other, well technically I suppose he is just syncing with Rainbow, but still, for two ponies wavelengths to be at the same biorhythm is like finding your special somepony.’

“Stop pushing back, you’re not really strong enough to do anything with it yet and you’re just making it harder for me to push in.” The wording of it was meant to be pure in intent but with how things were going, Twilight couldn’t think of it that way.

‘Oh come on, that one was on purpose I know it.’ Twilight had read about contests of strength like this in one of her rarely read bedroom romance books but to see it in the flesh was something else.

However what came next she knew was going to happen from the start, even if Dash was stubborn as a mule she just didn’t have the pressure to back up her talk this time, and thus she gave out a sound.

“Mmph.” Biting her lip and then starting to whimper as she couldn’t hold the front up any longer before sucking in a large amount of air.

Twilight couldn’t watch anymore, even if her mind wanted to examine every single part of him teaching another pony this technique, she just couldn’t anymore. ‘I never wished so hard for an experiment to end quickly.’ Another whimper came out of Dash to accent her point except a tone of pleasure came with it. ‘Oh come on, you can’t tell me you didn’t do that on purpose.’

Dash had been staying at Fluttershy’s cottage the last few days as the training continued and despite her best friend trying to get her to talk and boast about how well her training was going, she just couldn’t, well at least not till today, she had done something so embarrassing that she had to confide in somepony.

“Its…its awful Fluttershy!” blushing as she said that and grabbing a nearby pillow on the couch to cover her face with a groan. “I did something that was absolutely not cool in front of him.”

Hearing a clack of something on the coffee table in front of her, she peaked from her pillow to see a cup of tea in front of her. “Oh come now, it can’t be that bad.”

Sighing and taking the cup she sipped on it and found it did help to calm her down. “Well the training has me stretching my channels now, something to help me use magic as a Pegasus better, more manipulating weather or something.”

The pink maned Pegasus nodded to her friend and gave her a hug as she went to sip her own cup of tea. “See so far so good right, I mean you said yourself that you can feel the difference when you were kneading the cloud fluff in your comforter easily even if you feel weak right?”

Nodding with a smile she couldn’t help but see results happening already if a bit slowly. “Ya, I just wish it didn’t feel so- I mean not like its bad it’s just-I am sure he could do it another way and just-AHHH it’s so hard to explain.”

Feeling a frown come to her head she ruffled her mane only to feel Flutter sit beside her and hug her. “Take your time, I am not going anywhere to just let the words come to you.”

“Thanks Fluttershy, that is just what I needed to hear.” Taking a sip of her tea after the yellow Pegasus let go to take her own sip Dash felt the words come to her. “I mean it’s not like its bad, just when he uses his horn to touch to my forehead to push his mana into me it’s just so-.”

The crash of a tea cup was heard as well as a gasp as Rainbow felt her head turned quickly. “He’s doing what?!”

It was louder than the pro flyer could ever remember hearing her friend and what more she sounded angry. “Look its nothing special I mean he just pushes into me and ya sometimes I fight him but in the end it has to be done and it does kinda feel good, I mean that is kinda why I ca-.”

Dash was almost happy she was cut off by her friend just then before finishing what she was saying. “That, no good, rotten-.” Followed by Fluttershy flying out of her home quickly…well for her.

“Oh I think this is bad, I got to catch her quick before she does something.” Of course the moment she tried to take off her wings wouldn’t lift her, and with how weak she was feeling, running was the speed of snail at the moment. “Oh horseapples.”

Novo was having a good day today, so far Rarity had been in her boutique the past few days with a large order and couldn’t stalk him in any forms asking to find Lego or asking him to come with her.

‘I swear if there isnt a double entendre in there I am an Alicorn.’ He was on his way to Twilight’s place now hoping to talk to her about the training with Rainbow Dash. ‘Things are starting to get weird with that training, I mean I don’t really need to be there are this point, Twilight can do it without me right? Brain I am right, right?’ His brain gave a shrug as he sighed. “Well at least it will make her feel more comfortable; she looked down right down, like a nearly drowned and kicked puppy cause of yesterday.”

It was the noise she made that had made him lose his concentration yesterday, a cross between a squeak and a gasp, decidedly feminine, and one hundred and twenty percent sexy. He couldn’t shake the image of her face from his mind as he pulled back quickly leaving a nice sized portion of mana inside her. He had to quickly excuse himself both to cover up his shame that he reacted to the sudden surge of pheromones released as well as to let himself calm down while she did the same. When he came back she had the look that he had seen and he called it a day quickly at that.

He heard a commotion down the street and looked to see what the cause of it was but all he seen was a yellow and pink coloring coming down the way towards him. ‘Maybe Fluttershy knows what is up, I will ask her to see if-HERK.’

Novo found he suddenly had no motor control and all his muscles had locked up as one Fluttershy was glaring at him and speaking. “YOU!”

‘Brain report quick, what did we fuck up now? Why won’t our body move?’ His brain merely responded with. ‘I’m givin’ ‘er all she’s got captain, but she aint budgin’.’ Quickly he asked the source of the problem what was up. ‘Body what the buck?!’ Poor body was in a state where he couldn’t help anything at this point. ‘Hableflable, hasinfrasn, HERG, Error, Error, 404.’ If the Unicorn could express anything on his face now it would be confusion. ‘Da buck is a 404 error?’

“You Mister have a lot of explaining to.” The stern voice of the suddenly compelling Pegasus commanded.

‘Dude you’re busted, tell her you checked out her flank the other day and get your punishment!’ If he could glare at his brain he would right now, however with his body locked up he couldn’t even talk to her if he wanted.

The glare was getting worse in its compelling nature the closer she got. “You are going to tell me why you are forcing Rainbow Dash to do…do…THAT with you!”

His heart was pumping harder in his chest than ever before as if it too was under pressure. ‘I write this statement in good will and clean conscience, I leave all my worldly possessions-’ Hearing his brain write out its will he swore to kill it by drinking so much later.

“FLUTTERSHY!” The voice of his savoir called out, a voice he had been avoiding for a while now, but at this moment sounded of sweet angels coming to guide him to a better tomorrow. “Why on Equestria are you using ‘The Stare’ on poor Novo here?”

For his part he would have kissed Rarity’s hooves if he could move, however those eyes, those terrifying green eyes kept locked on to him. “He, he, did terrible things to Rainbow Dash, she wouldn’t know what it is but I read more than her so I know.”

A crowd was starting to gather now, well where the stare wouldn’t be aimed at least. “Surely he wouldn’t do something as terrible as to use this on him right?”

“He was forcing Rainbow Dash to Mana Meld with him!” A ripple of gasps came from many Unicorns of which there was basically only two in ponyville that was currently there, though among them was the one who had been defending him.

“HE DID WHAT?!” Suddenly a stare was given to him from Rarity as well, but its effects, if any, didn’t exist as far as Star could tell.

‘So, brain, mind writing out my will as well, I mean if you are done with yours.’ The Unicorn felt he had a good life, not one he could remember for the most part, but it had to have been good…right?

“Stop, it’s not what you think!” The voice was Twilight who was levitating a tired looking Rainbow Dash that she had found in her violet aura. “She is trying to master a technique that uses more mana then her channels can manage at once and a one way Mana Melding is the only way. I have double checked and there is nothing else that does what it does, this is also by Dash’s choice isn’t that right?”

Said weakened athlete nodded rapidly as she was set down. “Rarity, Fluttershy, Lyra, do you three really think I would be tricked into something like that or do so against my will, I mean it’s me!”

The boast seemed to work on the ponies as the crowd started to dissolve and slowly the stare that held him in place weakened till Shy turned her head away from him. He felt himself drop hard to the ground feeling weaker than anything he had ever felt before.

Feeling a set of hooves helping up he looked to see Rainbow Dash trying to help him up. “Thanks. The buck was that though, felt like if it went on a minute longer my heart would have stopped.”

A giggle was his response. “You just took ‘The Stare’ harder and longer than anything I have ever seen, pony or animal, by all rights you should have passed out. This makes you, for sure, twenty percent cooler.”

Laughing tiredly he started to droop. “Thanks I think, but I think I will nap now, sounds good.” And he went limp.

Somewhere in the distance he heard RD say. “Eh, maybe your only ten percent cooler instead.”

Twilight had laid Novo up in the spare bedroom as she let Dash explain everything to the ones who needed to understand in the library below. ‘I don’t want to be there for when she explains that last session. Bad enough I remember it, I don’t need to hear about it.’

She had a brief remembrance of the most intimate part of the training before shaking her head and running a scan on Novo. “You’re lucky you know.” She said to no pony in particular. “I have seen the Stare calm ferocious beasts into submission, yet you sat there and was just petrified instead, either it was your innate high magic pool that saved you, or your will power even if you didn’t realize you were using it. It’s why Shy was expecting you to answer her questions instead of just being frozen like that.”

Finishing up her scan and finding his reserves of mana were much lower than normal from fighting off the stare as well as physical exhaustion, from what she didn’t know, she let him rest and went downstairs.

“-when I realize what happened I turned around to look and it was everywhere.” She heard Rainbow say in a tone of voice that spoke volumes of her embarrassment.

Lyra, Rarity, and Fluttershy stood stark still mouths agape with Rarity being able to speak first. “Well you are quite the lucky mare then aren’t you?”

Dash of course was confused. “How is that lucky, I don’t want to have to stop training early cause that happens every time no matter how nice it feels.”

“You mean you don’t know Dashie?” the musical inclined pony asked her. The shake of a head said she didn’t as Lyra continued. “It means you’re in perfect sync with him, that is beyond rare! I mean the only other couple I know of beside me and Bon-Bon is Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.”

“Eww can we not talk about my brothers compatibility?” Twilight asked as she took a seat with the girls.

However it seemed while they all agreed to that, Dash was struck silent. ‘Guess she finally understands what they mean when they say synced.’

“T-Twilight, perfect sync isn’t like, Perfect Sync right?” Dash asked in a panicked tone. “Like a special somepony type perfect sync right?” When all she got was a nod the multicolored mare seemed to want to fly away but just fell over in her chair. “But he is an egghead, a cute egghead sure, but he is just doing this to teach me and it’s not like he is good looking or anything.”

Rarity couldn’t help but smile as she looked to her friend. “You realize you just called him cute out loud right?”

With eyes bugging out and hooves moving as quickly as possible she was running out the door. “I-I have to go do somethingbye!”

Twilight sighed and leaned her head down on the table as a question was asked by Dash’s oldest friend. “Twilight, couldn’t you take over for Novo and help her train, I mean surely if this keeps up Dash will be too embarrassed to continue her training that she is working so hard for…if you don’t mind me asking that is.”

Placing her hooves over her head she sighed and shook her head. “It’s not so simple as that anymore Fluttershy.” The Pegasus of the group looked at her as she explained it. “So to summarize because she has already felt her perfect sync, anypony else to try will feel wrong to her, I mean there are varying degrees sure and its possible to have more than one match but…I mean I know what to look for but can’t stop it because of how strong I am so it would be no better then what you thought Novo did to her if I were to try.”

“I will do it.” It was Rarity that spoke up. “I will help. I am not the most powerful of Unicorns like Twilight but I should be able to help with training tomorrow. Any friend would do the same I am sure.”

Twilight wasn’t sure how this would end, but the willingness to help a friend in need to reach her goals even at the discomfort of your own morals inspired her to write a new friendship lesson to her teacher that night.

Chapter Seven: Corrections are not always needed.

Author's Notes:

Much better. Today is now a great day. I hope you all enjoy...I seem to have broken brain though by agreeing with him. isnt that right brain.

*Blue screened*

Wow blue text with blue screen...blue-cep-

NO, BAD AUTHOR! *Slaps*

D-did my sense of humor just slap me?

The Alter Accords

Chapter Seven: Corrections are not always needed

It was Saturday and Velox was flying through the air relaxing, it was the first day since the stare incident and the first time the girls were going to try the training without him. He had decided to relax and not think about anything and just enjoy the day, though he did have things he wanted to do so he was lazily riding the air current over to the farm of Ponyville to see everypony there especially Apple Bloom as he wanted to check up on her and how her injuries were coming along and if they were healing ok.

‘I know I shouldn’t but every day I feel like I could have gotten to her a bit quicker, a tad sooner, and she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.’ If he had to be truthful with himself, it was part of the reason he had chosen not to be Velox as much the last few days for he knew he would dwell on it. ‘They are all me, but I think differently in each form, Lego looks at everything and tends to look at the situation more than the pony, Novo looks at some detail but not really at the consequences, he is looking already to the results of everything and wanting to see that happen. Meanwhile Velox here is about reactions, tending to think and act in the now and buck the consequences.’

Those thoughts made him think back to a conversation that he had with Photo Finish a couple of years ago as he was shifting back from Lego to Velox. “Tell me, why do you change?”

His form had settled and he shook his coat out as he looked at the accented pony. “Honestly I woke up as Lego, my second form is Novo, and Velox is the last I discovered. But if I had to choose why I prefer to stay as my Pegasus form I would have to say a couple of things. One: my other forms think too much, as such they tend to look on what we don’t have while this form likes to be in the now. Two: cloud beds…sooooo soft. Ya I do have forms that are better suited to things and will try to make the best of each situation but at the end of each day, only one can sleep on something that makes my body feel so nice.”

Starshifter couldn’t help himself and he started laughing as he landed. ‘The more things change the more they stay the same. I have a cloud bed in my cave, I will always have a cloud bed if I have my way no matter where I am at if I can.’

As he approached the farm house he smells some wonderful smells coming from it and found himself trotting a bit faster towards it. “Howdy Apple folks I came to drop in on y’all.”

There was a moment when he thought he heard running then the door calmly opened as Applejack came out of it and smiled wider then he could remember seeing her. “Howdy stranger, been a while I reckon. Come on in.”

He gave a smile and once inside found himself in a hug from a small filly that he leaned down to return the affection to. “Hey there Bloom, you are just the filly I wanted to see.”

Her eyes got huge as he said that and she just asked in a stunned voice. “R-really?”

Nodding he picked her up and settled her on his back with a smile. “Of course.” For some reason in the corner of his eyes he had seen AJ give a look then a soft smile as he did this. “So how are you holding up, everything healing ok?”

She smiled and hugged him around the neck holding and snuggling into him some the filly would nod. “Mhm, doc says ah’m real strong so ah heal up real quick.”

“Why don’t you come and join us for breakfast Sugarcube?” AJ asked slightly interrupting the moment though when his belly rumbled he decided not to debate with her.

He had met Granny Smith only a couple of times before and each time she was either asleep or seemed not to mind his presence even if she did watch him at times which slightly bugged him at times. “Come on in and dig in sunny, the least we can do is feed ya for what ya done did for our kin.”

A nod was all he could manage as he seen the layout of the breakfast, all mouthwatering in their smell, pancakes with a dab of butter on them melting with a dribble of syrup, a few apple slices around them soaking up some of the syrup enriching its flavor, a tall glass of juice, no doubt apple, some oatmeal, as well as a few other items though his eyes we already consuming his favorites.

“I guess I wouldn’t mind a bite or two.” He could hear laughter from all around him and some against his neck as he helped the filly down so he could sit down and eat.

Breakfast was…well if had asked him then and there he would have said ‘I need to expand my vocabulary to find the best word for awesome that fits this breakfast.’ Instead he was just lying down on his back, wings stretched out, and rubbing his belly. “So good.”

He found himself being cuddled up to by a small filly and found his hoof going right to her mane to pet gently before he found the world vanish as he dozed off.

“Now darling, there is no need to be nervous I am a bit out of practice when it comes to this sure, and really only have tried it a couple of time, but I will take it slow to start with alright?” Rarity asked her partner in this.

Twilight was taking notes while Rainbow nodded and lay down in the grass as before. “A-alright.”

Anypony could tell the multicolored mare was nervous about this as Rarity pressed her forehead to her friends head. “Alright here we go dear.”

The Unicorn observing and writing down her observations started noting things right away as the light blue glow appeared around the horn of the seamstress. ‘Observation one: it seems that the replacement Unicorn in charge of training has her horn aglow where the previous one could mostly go without charging his horn completely, could this be due to compatibility and sync ratios?’

Rarity was keeping a calm look on her face though Twilight could see she was having to put more effort into her work to do what was needed that and the look on Rainbow’s face. Dash looked to be uncomfortable in nearly the extreme with her face scrunched up and her ears pinned back.

‘Subject seems to be in discomfort to the reception of the new mana from another Unicorn though this process is known when somepony goes from a higher sync rate to a lower one.’ She continued her scribbling for a moment before her quill stopped in its tracks as she heard the ‘subject’ speak.

“S-stop.” It was in a low voice that Twilight barely heard. “Please, no more, stop, I don’t want this.”

The mage was about to ask her friend if she was ok when she seen something she thought she would never see from Dash ever: tears. “RARITY!”

The loud yell caused the white prim mare to pull away. “What darling I was barely doing-OH Dash are you alright?”

The mare of their concern just placed her head on the grass and wept for a good while before she found her voice again. “S-sorry I don’t know why I reacted like that, I mean it’s just a stupid experiment.”

Rarity had been hugging her the entire time as she silently cried only just now getting a hug in return. “Ponyfeathers darling, you felt it was wrong and didn’t like it was all.” The elegant pony just sighed and hugged again. “Twilight had said this might happen.”

Dash looked to her friend who had come around to hug her as well. “Yes, when a pony who is Mana Merges with another pony who is less compatible it can range from uncomfortable, to painful, and in some cases where the differences is large enough, can make them feel well…violated.”

The multitoned mare just looked away at the last one and seemed to shrink away into the hugs more. “D-darling I didn’t make you feel that way did I?” When there was no response to Rarity’s question she just hugged her tighter. “I am so terribly sorry, so so sorry. I promise to never do this again.”

Both of her friends hugged each other and started crying again as they held each other. ‘That feeling only happens in extreme cases, in sync ratios of ninety percent or more. This is bad, it means she may not be able to do this with another Unicorn at all if she ever found her special somepony as another Unicorn besides Novo. If what I suspect with her and Novo being Perfect Syncs is right then it will be impossible for her to do so unless she found herself with another that she was meant to be with.’

Twilight never voiced her thoughts aloud for now as she just let her friends cry out their hearts to feel better about what had happened here.

“So this is your clubhouse huh?” Velox asked the filly on his back who nodded. “You and your friends did a real good job building it then.”

She seemed to shrink some into his back hiding in his neck. “It was my sister’s before she gave it ta us. Ah just repaired it cause it was run down so it aint nothing special.”

“Looks good to me honestly.” He told her sincerely. “It looks brand new to me so much so I truly couldn’t tell. So you must have done a real good job.”

He could feel her practically glowing under the praise on his back “Ya thank so?” When he nodded again she yelled a giant ‘Hurray!’ to the sky.

The filly decided to let him into the club house to show it off even more as he smiled at all the hard work she put into it. ‘Who knows maybe she will get her cutie mark in this. Either that or something to do with apples maybe.’

“Um Velox?” Bloom called out, making him turn his head around to face her as best as he could considering their position. “Why don’t ya come to the farm as much, ah mean it’s just your brother that comes around now.”

He got this question from her sister as Lego so he would answer her just as honestly. “You see Bloom, your sister works very hard on her farm, as do you most likely right?” After she gave a nod he smiled. “That is why. Lego can do the job so much better than me and haven’t you seen your sister and brother more often since he started working?” She gave a frown then nodded. “I let him work in my place cause I rather lose out on a job and make others happy and give them free time to be with family then to take away that time, understand?”

“But why cant ya and him work here ta-gether?” The inquisitive filly asked him as he silently sighed.

Setting her down with a smile he gave her a hug. “Bloom right now you guys can’t really afford it, you all make enough to support the farm, repairs and such, mostly cause of how much you all grow, but the taxes for all this land, combined with the effort of maintaining it as well as harvesting all of it is disproportionate with the income from what you sell.” ‘Least for now, but if those letters I sent out come back positive it should open up some nice exporting possibilities to other towns for the Apples.’ “Now if for some reason your sister and brother could reach out to other places and sell to them, not only would it bring in more bits but it would mean there would be more of a demand for the apples and the price would go up. It would allow you to hire on more hooves, not one of mine since honestly I am terrible at it, and it would mean your family will finally be able to afford better things to help with taking care of the land here. As for why I can’t do it, it’s simple, me and my brothers are doing a couple of secret projects in the Everfree, and well its dangerous to go in alone so we always go in pairs which leaves one of us free to do whatever it is we want. Right now I am the free one.”

He felt bad lying to her like that for the last part but it was the best he could come up with, plus if she told it to her sister it wasn’t like she was lying to her. ‘Weird freaky internal lie detector, I swear if I hadn’t heard the details from Twilight how all the Element Bearers had something in their nature comparable to their Element I would have never known. That and Pinkie is a blabbermouth and spilled the secret.’

Hearing a distant call Bloom sighed and climbed back up on his back and spoke in a disheartened voice. “Seems like my sister needs us.”

“Seems so, and she seems like she is saying it loud enough for it to be important, either that or lunch. If its lunch I think my stomach thinks it’s important.” That got her to smile as he came out of the club house and winked. “Hey want to have some fun?” She gave a nod right away. “Alright then hold on.”

He launched himself into the sky with her on his back. It was awkward to be sure but he was able to make up for the lack of range on his flaps by beating them a few extra times to generate the lift needed.

The delighted laughter was all he wanted to hear as he made sure to take the scenic route back to the farm house, from in the sky he could see the farm pony in with her Stetson talking to her lavender friend. ‘Oh Twilight is here, wonder if she is looking for Novo to report on the success of Rainbow’s training. It will mean more free time for me at least and less reason to have awkward dreams.’

Landing gently he smiled to the two as they both wore frowns on their faces, definitely not a good sign. “Hey Bloom mind heading inside while I see what your sister and Twilight want?” AB also seemed to take the hint from their faces and nodded as she slowly walked into the house. Motioning for him to follow the two mares headed towards the barn.

Once there Twi spoke in a gentle tone. “Do you know about your brother and how he is teaching Dash ‘The Current’?” With a blush he found rising to his face he nodded. “I guess he really did tell you…well the thing is we were trying to avoid discomfort and had Rarity try in his place but it kind of failed spectacularly. We were hoping you could find your brother and get him to meet us at the library to help fix things.”

This had Velox concerned especially at the word of fix. “What happened?” when neither of them said anything he just got the point. “For his ears only?” He got a nod and sighed. “Means I will have to stay with Lego today so I will see you next time AJ, take care of Bloom and make sure she heals up just fine.”

“Sorry Sugarcube but this is important even if ah rather ya take some time off to see m-us ah rather Dash be helped more. Plus ya can come right back when ya find him.” She said confidently.

‘Guess I have to put AB into action sooner than I thought.’ Shaking his head he motioned to the farm house. “Not really, I told Bloom why I can’t help out and she can explain it better right now, as I best be on my way to find my bro.” taking wing outside the barn he flew off to ‘find’ Novo.

He took a good forty five minutes before he showed giving time for the illusion of being found to take place, and for AB to explain it to the mares if they asked. Novo was sour on having to change but it took a back burner to his concern for one of his friends which is why he was here.

Rarity answered the door to the library with a forced smile. “Hello Darling, Spike is out as we don’t want him around for this, so I sent him on an errand for a tad while.” The green Unicorn could understand that with Spike being too young for this as he came in.

“So, mind telling me what went wrong?” His voice came out concerned though calm as he could make it almost half afraid they might have bucked up badly.

Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly before speaking. “Well after my failed attempt to help ‘train’ Rainbow Dash as it were, Twilight scanned her and found that well her channels became clogged cause of what I did. And since you are so in tune with her channels more than either of us we were hoping you could flush it out so to speak.”

‘Makes sense, Twilight most likely flushed her out the time I left my mana in her but why couldn’t she do so this time unless Rarity really bucked up in how much she left.’ “Right, I suppose I can do that.” He was lead upstairs where Twilight was comforting a distraught RD who seemed to be sweating more than normal.

Twilight heard the hoofs on the stairs and looked and was relieved to see the pony that could help her friend staring with concern towards the bed ridden mare. “Thank goodness you are here, Rarity left some mana in-.”

Novo cut her off with a smile. “Rarity explained already, I am to give RD a nice scrub down, lather her mane up, and pretty her cute self up even more than normal.”

She knew that he was trying to lighten mood up and it somewhat worked as out of the corner of her eye she seen her friend blush bright red at being called cute causing a giggle to come from her own mouth. “Right. Rarity left her mana in some hard to reach places and I honestly don’t know enough about this to help out. So I don’t want to go in blind with my power and damage something.”

Novo bought that as he moved over to the bed and laid on it with Dash and smiled at her trying to comfort her best he could. “Um sorry about, you know, last time.”

Twilight felt bad lying to him about not being able to flush her system out, but she reasoned it wasn’t technically a lie. She could flush out the mana Rarity left, but it would practically drain Dash to where she would be bed ridden for a week at least. ‘With how close his mana is in sync with hers, it shouldn’t take much and she should recover by tomorrow.’

Rainbow though didn’t say anything about his apology just instead she looked away and muttered softly. “Um c-can you just fix this please.”

The Unicorn nodded as he placed his forehead to hers and started. Twilight observed again that his horn didn’t need to glow in order to sync up with Dash like Rarity’s had, what is more she could see her friends face relax and grow content as she started to smile. The mage hated how Dash had described Rarity’s left over mana inside her saying it felt like she needed a bath and felt dirty with it there.

‘Hopefully this helps her to feel cleansed and put her back in a good mood. Usually the left over mana that is left inside ponies isn’t a problem as its usually only Unicorns that do this and that is cause they each leave some in each other and the resulting discomfort a pony feels when its one way is cause they have more mana then their bodies know what to do with. It’s worse feeling if it’s not one with high sync as the body can’t process it to use, which I noticed happen one time when Novo left some of his mana in Dash but it was processed and filled in as if it was nearly her own. Worst case scenario is that if a pony leaves some in there it’s like a poison.’ Twilight watched as the colt that was such a match with her friend pulled away slowly.

His horn started to glow but not its normal forest green, instead it was the light blue of Rarity’s magic. “Rarity I have to say your magic tastes horrible.” He spoke in a playful tone. “Anyways I sucked out all of your mana ummm…Twilight what do I do now?”

For a moment the student of Celestia was caught up in jealousy with how Dash looked so peaceful and was gazing over at Novo that she didn’t hear him at first; when he repeated himself she smiled. “Oh just use up the excess mana, since you are a Unicorn it should be easy till all of Rarity’s left over mana is gone.”

Suddenly Novo was laughing loudly which caught all of their attentions. “Rarity your mana is fattening and Twilight is telling me to exercise it off.”

The prim mare looked slightly offended even though by her look it was clear she was faking it. “Why I never, the mana of mwah is not ‘fattening’ it is just rich in flavor and meant to be savored slowly and in portions, not like you who just gorged yourself on it.”

Dash was laughing up a storm at this and Twilight too was having a hard time controlling herself. “PFFT, please you’re just calling a hayburger a royale from Prance and expecting ponies to think it’s a delicacy.”

A ball of metal was levitated from his saddle bags as it started to change shapes rapidly which Twilight suspected was him transmuting quickly, thing was, she had honestly never seen anypony able change the shape of something so quickly before and was mesmerized by it.

She wasn’t the only one either as Rarity had stopped speaking as had Rainbow had stopped laughing. “Pretty neat right? I love changing somethings shape like this though I should say it’s not my fastest time.” Twilight just felt her mouth gape open at that. “Ya I can change it so fast I have made a dynamic version of it too.”

‘He is lying, that would be a high mage level of transmutation and as far as I read only a few ponies had ever-oh my glob!’ The small metal ball had taken the shape of a small pony and was moving, actively changing shape quickly enough to look as if it was moving seamlessly as if it was trotting. The form then of course levitated to the outstretched hoof of the pony in question as it seemed to flow and distort over his hoof becoming first a griffon’s claw, then a dragon’s, it then proceeded to flow over his body and thin out becoming as thin as spider webs that flowed across his body before ending up at his tail where it flicked and the ball reformed in the air to be caught by his green levitation aura, having seemingly burned off Rarity’s power.

“That trick took a long time to perfect, had to use it a few times to earn some bits as a traveling show pony when I was down on my luck.” The Colt told them as he put the ball away.

Twilight wanted to ask him to show her the process he had used to perfect it but her question would have to wait as some other pony spoke. “Um Novo can we…um train some more, I really didn’t get a work out from Rarity there so…”

The lavender mare just looked wide eyed at her as did Rarity. Twilight wasn’t sure if Dash knew the connotation of her statement but what she had just asked him was the equivalent of asking for sex.

“No.” All eyes turned to him at that point. Twilight nearly felt rustled at his statement for turning her down and was about to tell him off when he spoke. “You are still recovering from foreign mana inside you, best not to take any chances and have something be hurt inside you know?”

Guilt rose up quickly in her at this point as she hadn’t even considered that he was looking out for her by his refusal. “He is right Dash, you have to take a day to recover at least before you can train again.”

He shook his head at her statement making her second guess her second guess. “I mean no cause right now I have stretched her out quite abit, she still has a way to go yes but it would be best for her own mana to generate enough to fill in all the new space.”

“S-so we cant…train for a while?” She couldn’t help but smirk at how cutely Dash had asked that before shaking her head of the thought of her mind calling Dash cute.

Giving off a yawn even though it was early in the day he shook himself and looked to her. “Just some relaxing for a while, plus with how Velox goes on about it, I figured you would want to sleep on a cloud bed again soon.”

Reluctantly the Pegasus agreed even though she huffed at it. “Ya, would be nice to do that and to fly again, who knows I might be a whole lot faster with how much mana I will have.”

Heading to the stairs he nodded. “Right, now I think I will get to my own bed now to sleep off working my mana so much in such a short time. A short nap should do me.”

Rarity nodded yawning herself and Twilight knew how exhausting using fine manipulation could be in such a short amount of time, it was just as bad as using up a lot of power in a short amount of time. “Where do you sleep though?”

Dash’s question caught everypony by surprise; Twilight had never asked where Velox had moved after his bed was destroyed or had she thought of where any of the brothers slept. “That is a good question; I don’t think I have seen your place yet.”

His face became a bit nervous at the question and he shrugged. “Oh we are doing fine, got a nice little place all to ourselves where no pony bugs us.”

Rarity’s face took on a look of suspicion as he said that, though Twilight didn’t see the problem. “Darling that didn’t answer the question, it just avoided it.”

‘She is right; he didn’t answer and instead just made us focus on his condition not his location.’ Twilight’s eyes now narrowed along with Dash’s as they all stared at him.

He levitated a small ball out of his pack with a smile. “Well I could answer your question, but first a chemistry question for you Twilight. What do you get when you combine black powder, a magnesium fire striker, potassium nitrate, a metallic object, as well some sand infused with silver fulminate and stabilized with corn starch with an impact?”

Twilight not able to resist thinking about it smiled as she came up with the answer. “Oh the answer is smoke bomb!”

He just grinned and threw the ball at the ground with a poof filling the room with smoke making them all cough for a moment only to hear the distant sound of hooves and a door opening and closing.

When the smoke cleared Dash was the first to respond. “Did he just ninja his way out?” Her friends just nodded as she chuckled “Definitely twenty percent cooler.”

Novo found himself tired as he came back to his cave, he wanted to change to Velox and take a nap but he just didn’t care enough right now. “Note to self, see Zecora for more chemical supplies, need to stock up and ask her to redo whatever she did to keep the animals away from the cave, saw some droppings close and that makes me nervous.”

As he drifted to sleep he found himself thinking of things he hadn’t considered before. ‘Dash sure was cute back there all weak as a kitten, though I honestly miss the boastful version of her more.’

It’s amazing how the days pass by when you are training, bucking apples, and pretending to be doing stuff when no pony can see you, in other words many days that left him not able to do much. But as much as hated himself for doing this he had come to Twilight now to ask a favor this day.

“So I need a loan.” His request obviously had thrown her for a loop as she had a mind boggled look to her face. “I know its abit much but we are kinda running out of food supplies.” ‘Been fishing a lot more recently and even then kinda running low on bits since I only work a few days a week at the farm, damn Lego and his efficiency.’

“I don’t understand.” Was all she said and when he tried to explain again she held up her hoof. “No I mean what are you and your brothers doing with the pay you get from Celestia.” When he gave her a ‘huh?’ she sighed. “The check you get biweekly to monthly from Celestia for your guard work for the Elements?”

“What check?” It was a simple question that spoke volumes of him have no clue of what she was talking about.

Sighing she stood up and looked at him seriously. “Oh come on, you can’t honestly tell me you don’t get an envelope in the mail that…oh…you don’t have an address here anymore that anypony knows do you?” Again giving a sigh as he shook his head she dragged him to the post office where Derpy was currently sorting through the mail.

He looked at the hard working mailmare he first met when coming to town and smiled. “Hey Derpy, I was wondering, do you have any mail for me?”

The bubbly gray mare smiled and ducked behind the counter with a nice sized stack of mail. “Here you go, I don’t know where to deliver it so I just keep it here in hopes you would pick it up.”

Velox took the stack and started to sort through it to put the most important envelopes on the top before he found the one he was looking for and opening it. “Yada yada yada, for services rendered we hereby reward the Starshifter brothers the monetary value of…Um Twilight?” The Unicorn slipped up to the Pegasus to see what he was looking at. “I think there is one too many zeros in this check, I am not mistaken am I?”

She took a moment to read it before gasping. “Um we may want to send a letter to Celestia to tell her somepony made an accounting error.”

Back at the library they had sent the letter to the sun raiser via dragon fire as Twilight had made him a cup of tea. When the burp of a dragon announced that a letter had arrived, Twilight read it first thinking it was a response to something she sent a while ago since it would be too soon for a recently sent letter.

Instead she just gasped and hoofed it over to Velox. “Dear Starshifter brothers.” he read out loud. “There is a correct amount of zeros in the check you all have been sent, after all you three are guarding perhaps Equestrias most valued ponies and as such compensation is due in equal amounts to that service. We appreciate the concern in that we made a mistake but we once again assure that it is the proper amount. Also we will be giving this payment in double but only once a month from now on as this was the first payment to help you three get settled into your stations in Ponyville. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.”

Not sure what to say at this point he merely looked to the student of the Alicorn who just sent the response. “We can get your check cashed at the local bank in town, follow me.”

Twilight could see that he hated the bank after they seen how much he was being paid and had to open up an account to hold it they became ‘too’ nice and friendly. It was creepy and they found themselves leaving as quickly as possible before taking out some bits from the account for spending during the week.

“How is Dash doing Twilight?” The Pegasus asked of the brainy unicorn as they headed back to the library. “I know Novo stopped her training and it’s been a few days.”

Twilight didn’t want to think about it, Dash had become surly and short-tempered after a couple of days and it was only getting worse. “I don’t think she likes being on down time to recover, it’s worse than when she was in the hospital and couldn’t fly.” She had the suspicion though that it wasn’t for that reason she became surly but didn’t voice it out loud. ‘I know stallions have that thing where if they go without their partner and…intimate relations for a while they get into a sour mood but I didn’t think it happened to mares…well till now.’ She giggled for a moment into her hoof when he wasn’t looking. ‘Would be nice if those two got together, but I don’t want them to get together only for that reason. That and they really haven’t spent much time together besides training what if they aren’t compatible except in sync rates?’

While Twilight’s thoughts were spiraling more and more into ‘what if’s’ they had arrived back at the library which she discovered by running into the door. “Ouch that looked like it hurt, you ok there Twilight?”

She was about to say she is fine when two of her friends found her as well and had seen what had happened. “Twilight, that isn’t how you knock on a door, plus it’s your own door, unless you somehow cast that time leap spell again and are waiting for yourself to answer it.”

Twilight turned to see Pinkie Pie bouncing in place looking excited and hoofing over an envelope for each of them while Rarity her mane styled and immaculate was watching them. “I am alright Pinkie and no I was just lost in thought and didn’t see the door.”

Pinkie’s large grin of a smile was heartwarming. “Oh you silly filly, that is why I keep a map for my mind so I never get lost.”

Everypony there took a moment to absorb what she had just said but understanding is one of those things a pony gave up on when coming to know Pinkie after a while. “Anyways Darling.” Rarity said as she levitated a few of things to Velox. “While its nice seeing you out and about I came to give Velox a gift as well as some for his brothers.”

Twilight noticed Velox looking at Rarity funny for a moment before looking at the items, they were saddlebags all done up to be personalized for each of the brothers, more than the center piece of their marks it was the outlining theme she put on each. For Velox it was a feather motif, Novo’s had a rainbow of gems, and Lego’s had his stone groves.

“Rarity I can’t accept these for myself or my brothers and before you ask it’s for a few reasons.” The Pegasus sighed for a moment before going over them. “One: we really haven’t interacted much so I don’t think I deserve the gift, I can’t speak for my brothers, but Lego looked to be spooked when your name comes up, I have a feeling why but won’t say for…obvious reasons.” Twilight wondered what he was talking about but noticed Rarity blushing up a storm. “Two: this bag has seen as much travel as I have…it’s an old friend that is comfortable and I am not sure I could get rid of. Three: this bag is enchanted as a bag that has more space on the inside then the outside.”

Her blush having gone down but not away Rarity managed a polite cough before smiling. “Then don’t think of it as a gift but as an apology to your brother, I acted like a foolish filly in the way I acted and when I look back to it I realized just how terrible I acted towards him. I made these cause I noticed that you and your brothers use the same bag, not ones that look the same but the same bag so I figured I would make one for each of you. You don’t have to use those all the time, but it surely might be easier if you all had your own to rely on when the others were using that one.”

All eyes were on Velox now as he looked at the bags and smiled, Twilight was happy he accepted the gift however she seen Pinkie Pie frown as she seen his smile. “Thanks I am sure we will make good use of them though the one that usually comes to town wears this bag so if you’re looking to see us modeling the chances are it’s when you aren’t looking.”

Another blush came to the seamstress’ face as she pawed at the ground sheepishly with a hoof. “While I wouldn’t mind a model that has modeled for Photo Finish I wouldn’t want to take up your time.”

They all saw him shudder visibly before he looked at her. “Trust me, I am not proud of that and neither is my brothers, especially Lego. We all really needed the money at the time; she offered us some good bits for little work so we took it. Never again though, modeling for her was just terrible.”

“Thank you dear, well I must be off, hopefully you and Pinkie can settle on a day. Au rivoir.” With that the white unicorn left them all to their own devices, which was now the envelope they held.

“So, is it another party Pinkie?” With that she nodded to the two toned maned unicorn. “Whose it for?”

“Why it is for Waffles and Coffee.” The two ponies were looking at her and just blinked at hearing that. “Lego and Novo, you see Lego is a type of waffle and Novo is a coffee company so I thought, those are perfect nicknames for them just like I am nicknaming Velox, Puddles, cause he leaves puddles when he does that current thingie.”

After that was said no pony could stop laughing.

Lego walked home, he had split from Twilight and Pinkie earlier and changed to his current form since it was easier to carry supplies with all of his strength, that and Lego was the one that was most likely to remember all what they needed. Right now though he was absolutely looking forward to his home and bed to get some well deserved rest.

Checking the area outside, after he heard a bush rustle nearby, he was pleased to see that whatever Zecora had done was working. He wasn’t seeing any new droppings around his cave, though he hoped it meant it was working. He trusted Zecora and had come across so many like her in Zebrica that knew what they were doing even if how they did it seemed bizarre. “Never question a good thing or you might find it leaves you when you need it the most.”

An old nag’s tale for sure but one that he often found worked against him the most when he least wanted it to. Heading into the cave he moved to place his saddle bags down and grab a striker from it to light some candles that he bought to replace the ones that had burned down. “Let there be light.” He said to himself out of habit when he was alone. “I really need to buy some land to build a house on…maybe not entirely out of clouds but the bed one-hundred percent has to be a cloud bed. There is just no other way to sleep.”

Yawning he considered calling it a night there and then but he had a bit of writing to do. One of the duties he quickly found out he had to do, which he neglected before hoof, though was let off the hook for not knowing, was write the weekly report to her Royal Highness Princess Celestia.

“Dear Princess.” He spoke out loud to himself as if to better help his thoughts flow. “This is my weekly report on the Element Bearers, so far nothing odd or strange seems to be up with them, even though I have heard some strange stories every now and then. Twilight is diligent in her studies even if Novo and even Lego sometimes swear she has a dozen new questions for them each minute of the day. I usually get by through shrugs and such so I don’t know why they have to explain things. Rarity is nice, almost too nice, just today she gave me and my brothers some new saddle bags which I gave them later, and while they are very nice, the main one we use has a particularly useful and expensive enchantment that is very much needed for us. Fluttershy I think still doesn’t forgive us for what we had to do to save little Apple Bloom that day and I often find her looking away from me. She talks to Lego and Novo easily enough though so that is good.”

Dipping his quill in the ink well to refresh the black substance he continued. “Applejack has been getting more and more free time to spend with her family since Lego drops by, his methodology has really helped them out though their stubborn nature won’t let them correct a few small things which could add up to be a good sized helping to their efforts. Rainbow Dash is currently taking a break from her training with Novo, he says everything is going as planned and I believe him. Twilight has said though, that Dash has grown restless and temperamental with her lack of training as advised by Novo. Though she swears this is normal as it happened when she had a hospital stay before. Finally Pinkie is….Pinkie. I still have no clue how she does the things she does but the three of us intend to find out. The girls all say we are crazy for trying and Twilight advises for our sanity we just let it go. Nope, sorry, but it is not our style.”

He once more dipped his quill into the inkpot to finish up the letter. “In summery all the girls are doing great, nothing seems to be wrong and Ponyville, despite the rumors and past evidence, is really peaceful. I, myself, am thinking of buying a home, something I have not had, nor has my brothers had, for as long time now. We wish you a wonderful day, or evening depending on when you read this letter and give our best wishes to your sister as well. Signed Velox Starshifter.”

Smiling to himself Lego stood up and stretched. “I am glad I don’t let Velox write these things, he would just go, ‘alls good’ and just send that.” Giving a tired yawn he decided he would change then blow out the candles to call it a night.

The universe decided tonight was the night to take something from him though for what he thought earlier when he was examining the work Zecora did and wondering about it.

As he finished changing he heard a distinctive noise and turned quickly to face the pink pony who had just gasped at seeing him change. “Oh buck.”

Chapter Eight: Confiding in a friend.

Author's Notes:

Err huh, wait we are posting a chapter now? but its not yet time

Shhh Shh brain its ok, sleep sleep.

Wait why do you have a pillow behind your back?

Huh no reason...Anyways I am crazy but because of a bout of inspiration I have been on a writing spree and have written up a few more chapters ahead of normal. So I said to myself

"Hey Self."

"Sup you lovely author you?"

"I am going to release some extra chapters"

So I gave myself a thumbs up.

ZZZZZZzzzz....

Did you just fall asleep during my story?

The Alter Accords

Chapter Eight: Confiding in a friend

“Pinkie I can explain, please let me explain.” Velox hastily asked of the pink party pony that had just caught him redhoofed changing from one form to the next.

Pinkie Pie, a normally upbeat pony who had a smile for everypony or dragon or griffon or really anything, stood in shook her mane had deflated as she just stared at him. “This is why your smiles are fake. I thought you just didn’t like certain things and didn’t want to hurt anypony’s feelings but…but…”

Velox wanted to say something, anything to her but he didn’t get a chance as she had turned around and started bolting into the woods. The shapeshifter wanted to be scared about his secret but found himself unable to as he realized that one of his friends just ran into one of the most dangerous places he had ever seen, alone and at night.

“PINKIE!” he quickly winged it outside to look for her but didn’t see her. The thought to just stay in the cave that she would find her own way crossed his mind for about half a second before he took flight. “Pinkie it’s dangerous out here, please I don’t care if you tell your friends I just rather you be safe then-.”

The universe, once more wanting to kick a pony while he is down did so for its seeming amusement, as a blood curdling scream was heard nearby followed by a loud boom of artillery of some type.

Velox found the pink pony running through the woods followed by something that blended into the trees he could see through. Occasionally Pinkie would turn and pull her cannon out of nowhere to fire at what was after her.

Quickly he pressed through the trees, ignoring the cuts he got by ignoring the branches he had to pass through to get to the forest floor. “Pinkie I am here to hel-”

Pinkie Pie, a pony who specialized in popping out of places and surprising other ponies found herself on the other end, combined with stretched nerves, a discovery that shocked her, and frightened for her life while running away from dangerous creatures did what came naturally: she fired her cannon.

Everything swam in the pegasus’ vision as he felt a tree had broken his impromptu launch thanks to the massive amounts of stuff just shot at him. ‘Vision not good, hurting all over, pretty sure I may have broke-oh wait blood in my mouth…buck.’

The howls came and chilled the blood that was flowing in his veins and it appeared to have done the same to the party pony as she went from scared and concerned for the pony she just shot, to scared again about what was chasing her. “Oh no the Timberwolves are getting closer.”

Pulling up some knowledge he had learned as Novo he remembered that they hunted in packs like regular wolves but were made of wood and magic, with little way to actually put them down at all unless via fire and a few other methods. Trying to stand up he found his breath coming hard through him and causing searing pain to try to bring him to the land of darkness and sleep, he wasn’t flying that was for sure.

‘Cant change to Novo if something is broken, might just kill me if it’s in something important.’ “Pinkie, Run.” He said as he was brushing off confetti and other objects that had slammed into him a moment ago.

Pinkie was still in shook and just looked quickly to him, luckily in the darkness of night she couldn’t see how badly he was hurt. “Wha-but the wolves.”

“Pinkie its fine, I got them, just get out of here, I will fly away once I know your far enough away they won’t chase, GO please, I don’t want my friends being hurt if I can help it.” He smiled for her, one from his heart as he meant what he said.

He wasn’t sure but he thought he seen her hair poof up a tiny bit which he thought was strange. “O-okay.” She started to run as he coughed a hacking cough making her slow for a moment. “Are you sure you will be ok?”

Currently he was trying to suppress a cough so he just nodded again and tried to smile for her. It seemed to do the trick as she ran off as he started to gather his mana and surround himself with water.

‘Ok, my guess is when they come at me, I will be able to use this for about a few minutes before I completely collapse, transforming twice in a day plus something in me is not right…actually I will be surprised if I make a minute. But no regrets, I could use level two of the current but I think that would kill me right away with how I am now, besides…my vows, I won’t ever use that again for myself.’

The glowing green eyes appeared out of the darkness of the woods. Wolves, huge in size nearly twice as big as himself, appeared in his vision, blurred as it was. He counted nearly all six before he had to stop as the first one lunged. He sharpened the water on his wing and used it with a well placed thrust of his body to turn his wing into a makeshift blade cutting into the wood of the wolf splintering it to pieces rather easily.

“Not so tough are you buckers…oh right regeneration.” His statement came as he watched the wolf putting itself back together fixing the cut he had given it.

The second wolf lunged now and he had to move quickly out of the way with a whoosh of water, however when he stopped he found himself spitting up a lot of blood and found himself weakening. ‘Ok moving like this is bad, really bad, have to stick with counterattacks movement is digging things into me inside.’

Using his wings and sometimes his tail and hooves to defend himself he kept in place more or less and kept cutting down the wolves as they lunged at him. The wolves were getting faster though, well at least it seemed that way to him but he was just slowing down. Claws were landing hits, teeth finding holds on him for a scant second sinking down into him before the head was popped off with a hit of his hooves or even a shot of water itself.

His back was against the wall now, actually it was a tree, and he knew he had maybe one or two more shots in him before ‘The Current’ faded completely. Wolves wouldn’t attack him from behind as with his back was against the tree for protection, however he knew this was it he knew this protection wouldn’t do him any good as it was and it would only-

Quickly deciding he turned his body rapidly and sliced at the tree with a bladed wing at an angle. The tree fell and he could barely roll out of the way, but it had worked, he got all of the wolves with it.

Collapsing onto the ground in a puddle he found he was having a hard time staying awake now but at least he wouldn’t be eate-. “Regeneration is horseapples.”

The wolves were pulling themselves back together slowly but surely and Velox had no strength left. “At least I was a good friend in the end.”

He passed out just as one of the wolves leapt at him.

‘His smile was fake, it was so fake there wasn’t anything more fake then that fakeness.’ It kept running through Pinkie’s head, the last smile she had seen him give her. ‘I asked if he was ok and he smiled a fake smile, he is hurt but he can fly away right I mean even, oh wait he was starting to glow, which means he can’t fly now.’ Pink pony lungs were burning from how fast she was running, and while she was an earth pony she was far from being the most fit. ‘I promise to cut down to a hundred cupcakes a day I just need to find somepony to help him. I don’t want him to die, he is my friend, a friend I didn’t want to listen to and ended up shooting cause he scared me after I ran from him like a filly.’

She seen light in the distance at first she wondered who would have a light on in this forest when she remembered. “ZECORA, HELP!”

She wasn’t alone it seemed as she came out in a hurry with a Lavender pony and an orange one. “What seems to be the trouble my friend, who seems like something is coming to an end.”

“Ya Sugarcube what has got ya so riled up.” AJ had been here with Twilight researching on some apple tree friendly ways to remove and keep bugs from eating up her trees before calling it a day.

“Velox is fighting Timberwolves and he is hurt!” she shouted out of breath and pointing back the way she had ran from before collapsing onto her belly passing out from the exertion.

AJ was running full tilt in the direction that Pinkie had pointed leaving behind her lavender companion, her normally bright orange coat paled in color when she had heard what Pinkie said. ‘No, no, no, no, this aint suppose to happen, he saved Bloom easily he can take those things down no problem. But Pinkie said he was hurt.’

The farm pony was normally much quicker and fit then the baker was, even if she had the habit of popping up randomly and one time kept up in speed with Rainbow Dash flying at full speed which was strange but she didn’t seem able to do so again, so she quickly spotted a tree falling in the distance and ran towards it. She seen the Pegasus pass out muttering something as one of the wolves jumped towards him. Intercepting the wolf with a shoulder check she launched it over the downed tree and into another tree to be splattered into firewood, which promptly started to reform.

“Ok you varmints ah aint gonna let you lay one claw on this here Pegasus you got that!” AJ meant it more than anything she had ever meant before that. She proved it too, bucking to pieces each of them a few dozen times before she was panting from the exertion, normally she held her strength in check for bucking trees, but seeing her friend passed out and bleeding more and more as the puddle of water he was in turned more and more red made the level headed mare lose control and want to break these things in half. She did that plenty to be sure only to have them regenerate again and again.

“Come on I-I can keep this up all night.” Boastful and proud she didn’t want to admit she was over exerting herself and quickly running on dry.

It was worse when she stumbled after the buck of one of the wolves and found her side suddenly screaming at her as fire traced over it. The wolf had gotten a good swipe at her but only cause some minor superficial damage, least she hoped it was only superficial, not that it didn’t hurt though.

She was about to buck him to pieces for that when she caught sight of another wolf leaping at her, she knew she was too slow to get that one though it didn’t stop her from trying to turn to do so.

Only to have the wolf burst apart in fire as behind him stood Twilight Sparkle, mage unicorn extraordinaire horn ablaze with power. “Thanks for holding them off Applejack I got them now.” Blast after concussive blast rang out as each one of the wolves found themselves burnt to pieces, except for the lone one that ran away with its tail between its legs.

Twilight came over to where AJ was looking over the downed Pegasus with worry etched on her face. “He’s going to be ok, right Twi?”

Casting a diagnostic spell on him she found out the extent of his wounds. “Oh no.” she said quietly. “We have to get him to Ponyville hospital now. Huddle up.”

AJ did so as quickly as she could against her friend and the bloody coat of Velox as a bright flash of violet light had them at the hospital quicker than anything possible. “Doctor we have several deep lacerations on the patient as well as internal bleeding, broken ribs, and a pierced lung.”

Hearing the wounds being listed off as a doctor came over and looked him over, she found herself soon racing down the hall with the wounded, now pale, pony on a gurney. “Y-you’re going to be just fine Sugar, just fine, just hang in there and don’t let me-us lose you ok?”

When the doctors told her and Twilight she had to stay there as they headed into emergency surgery she felt her eyes watering up as the doors closed.

It had been a few days since the attack, Twilight and her friends had all been worried, but after a few scares the first couple of days the doctor said he would should be fine though may need more time to heal cause of the extent of his injuries. All of the Elements had found themselves visiting when he was cleared to have them all taking turns by his bed and saying a few things when they did so. Well all but two ponies.

The first was the blonde earth pony that had fought off the wolves buying Twilight enough time to get to him. She had needed a few stitches of her own when she got to see a doctor but nothing that was threatening to her health. Her sister had even made the comment that now they both had battle scars to show off, though it didn’t make her any happier despite Bloom’s attempt to do so. Every time she visited the downed pony, all she seen was his possible death in her hooves that night as each of the tubes that helped him breathe and keep him healthy hissed or beeped.

Her friends had found her with her head at his neck silently crying more than once and each time they had to make her leave when she was like that.

The other pony was worse than then her though. Pinkie Pie had said nothing to any of them since the incident, instead visiting nearly all hours she could except when she had to work for the Cakes. She didn’t cry, she didn’t smile, she didn’t speak at all and her friends were worried about her.

With how much she was around him it was no wonder she was the one there when he woke up.

His body hurt all over, more pain then he could actively remember feeling all at once at any time, but what was more was the thing in his throat. Gagging at the tube as he woke up he heard somepony call out for the doctor or nurses or anypony to come help.

‘Ok so in the hospital, makes sense with how I feel and the thing in my throat a tube chances are, but how did I get here?’ Velox was having a hard time making sense of the last day or so he could remember. It didn’t help his recollection that a unicorn doctor had come in and was magically levitating a tube out of his throat. After a bout of gagging had passed where he was sure if he had anything in his stomach it would have been violently launched across the room he heard the doc speak to him again.

“Hello do you know why you are here?” The beige pony had asked him. When he shook his head the doc used that to levitate a quick to write on a chart. “Do you remember your name?”

Star was about to answer him when he remembered he couldn’t recall what form he was in right now. “Starshifter.” Hoping that would appease the doctor.

“I will need your full name.” The brown maned pony physician asked simply.

‘Quick body check, too weak to tell if I am Lego, use magic…nope, quick twitch my wings.’ Feeling those appendages twitch for a moment he smiled. “Velox. Velox Starshifter.”

The doctor seemed happy with the answer and wrote something down. “I am Doctor Horse, I will be your primary recovery physician, do you remember how you were hurt.”

“Can’t really remember the last day or so actually.” The Pegasus commented a bit sadly always hating to lose more of his life to that darkness that he couldn’t see past.

Another mark on the chart the doc sighed and spoke. “Well from what I have heard you were out trying to defend your friend at the risk of your life, from what you ask, a small pack of Timberwolves.”

The doctor was going over the lists of injuries that he had sustained and for some reason each time he listed a new one a flash of the battle or chase had come across his mind though he couldn’t identify the pony he was helping, fragmented yes but there. “I am not really a detail person doc, mind just giving me an overview of how bad it was or is?”

Horse just looked at him for a moment before coming to a decision. “You were brought in by two of your friends, once here we had to take you into surgery where you flat lined three times on the table. We almost didn’t think you would make it the third time but we barely managed to get your heart started again.” If Star hadn’t already been in need of blood he would have paled further instead it just made him dizzy to know how close it had been. “Once out of surgery we had to defibrillate you once in your room but since then you have recovered nicely. Since you showed up it’s been nearly a week where you have been unconscious.”

‘A week and four deaths or near ones at least, well he said I was protecting a friend, so if I had to go out at least it was for a friend.’ He heard the doctor finishing up with what he was going to be in for rehabilitation and he sighed. “I don’t suppose plenty of juice, wing ups, and bed rest will work will it?”

That got a chuckle from the doc before he shook his head. “You had some deep lacerations, we had to knit some of the muscles back together with magic and it will take a week at least even with magic for them to heal properly at that point it will be two weeks of you taking it easy and you will have lost some muscle definition.”

The doc then went on to tell him of a series of exercise he can do easily right now till the muscles knitted properly that wouldn’t put strain on them and make it a lot easier for him to get back into working shape. When the doc levitated a pager to his face he read it then he then excused himself and left.

Star sighed and was trying to reconstruct what had happened in his mind when the door opened and in poked an eye behind a dark pink straight mane. “Pinkie?” When she nodded he smiled glad somepony was there to see him. “Come on in Pinkie, I am fine, abit weak but I should live.”

Her hair poofed out some and she gained some of her color back and quickly went over to him to give him a gentle hug not wanting to hurt him. “I was so worried, you got so hurt from the Timberwolves and the ribs being broken and I am so sorry.”

Running a hoof through her mane he smiled to her. “Don’t worry Pinkie it wasn’t your fault.” She was about to protest though it seemed Velox never seen it. “Doc said I was protecting a friend, don’t remember much of what happened and who it was I was protecting, but buck not a bad way to go if I had to choose.”

“Y-you don’t remember what happened?” He shook his head and seen Pinkie bite lip before her tears welled up and she pressed her face into his chest making him wince some. “I am soo sorry.”

A chuckle was her response and he hugged her. “Don’t worry, though I am guessing it was you I was protecting?” Feeling her nod he gave her another hug. “Then I don’t mind the injuries at all, a pony that makes everypony smile the best they can and who brings laughter to all, who wouldn’t want to protect that.”

“But it’s my fault!” Pinkie just about screamed at him before quieting down. He was about to say it wasn’t but she continued. “I followed you after you gave another fake smile, I wanted to find out why so bad then I saw you change and I panicked-.”

He wanted to hear the rest of what she was saying but his head gave a throb and he was suddenly watching that nights events play out again unknowingly mimicking Pinkies retelling in the background. “Oh ya all that did happened didn’t it?”

“I-I will make it up to you I promise, I cross my heart-.” a hoof to her mouth shut her up.

Making sure he wasn’t speaking any more he smiled and pulled it back. “Pinkie you don’t have to make it up to me, honestly you are my friend, even if I knew beforehoof what I do now, I would have still gone in and experienced it the same way. After all you are safe right?”

Star was confused now because as soon as he said that she bust loose with a new wave of crying that he couldn’t stop no matter how many hugs and pats on the head he gave. So he decided to let this one ride out and just comfort her as best she could.

Pinkie was sleeping now, she had cried for nearly two hours before just passing out. Apparently that was just enough time for others to get word he was awake and start flowing in to see him. The first who came was Rarity promising to make some better gowns for him to wear to brighten up his time here. Fluttershy came next and gave him a big hug that surprised him, and slightly hurt before promising to bring some things that should help him heal up quickly as well as some fresh fish, having learned about his dietary needs.

The thought of fresh fish made his stomach growl a few times before she had left. Dash came by next and boasted how she wish she knew about the fight so she could have given those wolves a once over before promising to help get him fit again in no time.

“I heard you were up.” Came the voice of the most magical unicorn in Equestria. “Spike sends these to you.” She levitated a stack of books in with her as she smiled.

“He didn’t really did he?” seeing her look a tad bit sheepish he laughed before wincing. “No problem Twilight, I don’t seem to be going anywhere for a while so a good read isn’t too bad.”

Setting them down nearby on a desk she smiled and nodded apparently agreeing. “That’s right. I am sorry though.” He was about to ask for what when she told him. “We had Zecora look all over the Everfree and couldn’t find your brothers to tell them you are hurt.”

He thought he felt Pinkie twitch in her sleep so he just petted her a few times to calm her before he spoke. “Ya, they said they think they were on to something so would be gone for a while, knowing them they will most likely show up when I am just about done healing, telling me I am healing too slow.”

Twilight laughed though for some reason he felt wet on his chest as she did and before he could see to why Twilight turned away. “Anyways I have to go to Canterlot for a few days so I am glad I got to see you before I left; now I should go Applejack is waiting for her turn to visit.”

As she left with a wave Star looked down to see Pinkie crying in her sleep he was about to wake her from her nightmare when the farm pony came in, not wearing her hat and seeming to have not gotten much sleep lately judging by the bags under her eyes. “Look boss I know I have been skipping out on work but trust me I have a good excuse, a dog ate my everything.”

She didn’t take too well to his joke and just caught him up in a hug crying. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” Was all she could save over and over again and weakly beat on his arm with a hoof.

For nearly an hour that is how their visit went before she had to make the excuse to get back to the farm, this left him and Pinkie alone now. “How can you stand it?”

Pinkie’s voice from his chest made him jump slightly. “You’re awake?”

Feeling a wet nod he asked her for how long? “Since Twilight came in. How can you stand to lie to everypony?”

He leaned back and started staring off into nothing as the pink pony raised her blue eyes to look at him. “You deserve the truth Pinkie after what I put you through.”

“After what you put me through, but what about what I-” A hoof to her mouth silenced her.

“Pinkie, I know this is going to be hard but mind if you wait till after I am done to ask questions?” Eventually she gave him a nod and he smiled. “Ok, where to begin…”

My first memories were of darkness, it was suffocating and I couldn’t breathe. I don’t remember how long I was there as time had no meaning but then I remember the sound of rocks breaking then bits and pieces of memory with me stumbling through a forest. If you asked me where I was before that I couldn’t tell you but my first memories were of five years ago being helped by a pony who wanted nothing but to make sure I was ok.

“Hey, are you alright?” The kind soft voice asked, I didn’t know this though, as I could barely understand her at the time. It would take a good while before I would, nearly a year of learning to speak again, and walk properly, and just generally everything. By the time I could understand her I realized I was an earth pony with a red coat who seemed to want to analyze and gather as much info as possible. It also could because I had no memories before that but it became who he was. That is the pony who would lately be named Lego, but till then I was just Starshifter, the name given to me by the mare who saved me: Cascade Nights.

Cascade was a unicorn who was cast out of her home for the color of her coat and mane, being completely black on both, but her cutie mark was one of the most lovely I have seen. It was cloak made of the aurora wrapped around a star that shared every color of the spectrum. It was her that told me a story.

“Once upon a time, there was a mare who was rivals with our princess now, she would raise the moon and place the stars every night. But she dare not moved them, for each star is the destiny of a pony and she dare not change any of them for fear of changing a pony’s life. That is why each pony has a set destiny that no matter how much they fight against will end up claiming them in the end, it’s just their choice how well to accept it or not.”

I hated that story. In the end I hated the thought of my destiny being fixed that I couldn’t change it. If I couldn’t change it that may mean I would never find out who I was before I lost my memory, it might mean I would never know my family that I might have lost, it would mean losing part of my life that I would never remember living. Most of all it took choice from me, the choice to know I am going down a stupid path and go down it anyways as it was my choice to make regardless and should always be my choice.

When I told her this she just smiled and said. “I guess that makes you a Starshifter then.” And the name stuck.

Nearly half a year passed when I discovered how true my name was. We were going through a canyon at the time with her wagon, her home and I suppose mine too at the time. However this canyon was close to her home and some locals found out about the two of us passing through, so they decided to throw rocks from the top of the canyon onto us.

This of course caused a land slide that buried us alive. Cascade was hit in the head with a large rock and was knocked unconscious while I tried my best to keep a pocket of air for us both to survive using my body and its strength.

I never got to even wake her up to tell her bye, she just bled out in front of me with her horn broken off and a good part of her head crushed in from the rock. It was her death that made me change as I asked myself if I couldn’t stop one pony, one that I cared for so much, from dying how could I change my own destiny. I yelled out in the small pocket my back was keeping supported. “I want to change!”

And I did. I felt my cutie mark change and with it I followed becoming the green unicorn that I would later name Novo, which means ‘Change’ in old Equestrian, similar to how Lego means ‘To Gather’.

I don’t know why I knew what the riddle ‘All is one and one is all’ ok that is a lie, I do cause of my change but I can’t tell you what it means. Anyways I suddenly knew what I could do and I changed the rock covering me into a solid tunnel with supports. I wish I could have been badass and walked right up it then and there to see the ponies who buried us, but that much magic after just becoming a unicorn wiped me out and I passed out.

Three months passed as I was just wondering aimlessly at that point, no reason to go anywhere in particular. I think I was a bum for a good amount of that time as I remember ponies tossing bits at me occasionally till I learned how to change metals into other metals and charcoal into gems. I hate doing that but you have to do what you have to do sometimes.

It was at the end of those three months that another event happened; it is a rather dark one that I am kinda ashamed to admit…I tried to kill myself.

Star stopped his story for a moment when he heard Pinkie gasp and pet her head. “Obviously I didn’t cause I wouldn’t be here now, so remember that ok?”

Once she settled down he continued.

I came across the gorge that Cascade had died in and where my first rebirth took place. I was in a dark place with no direction in life and no goals, I was alone and friendless and every day I wondered why couldn’t she live and not me. I am sad to say I let the darkness take hold of me as I jumped down the canyon cliff with the intent to end my own life.

On the way down though I couldn’t help remembering Cascade and our time together and most importantly one of the things she told me. “If you truly do live up to your name, maybe you can change my destiny as well, and others for the better. I would love to see you fly up and move the stars themselves for ponies, but first you have to do it for yourself.”

I realized my goal then, I had to recover my memories and become my name. When I opened my eyes the canyon’s floor was rapidly approaching and I realized I didn’t want this anymore.

“No, no, please no, I have to change the stars, I have to remember, I have to FLY!” As I shouted that out to the canyon I felt the familiar sensation when I first was reborn as Novo only this time I lost a horn and grew wings. I had finally freed myself from my darkness and I was given wings to express that freedom with, the ability to manipulate weather to at least make nights peaceful for other ponies and most of all I was given life once more. From then I could shift willingly and instead of just randomly like I had sometime did before that. So I ended up naming the new Pegasus form as Velox, which means ‘Swift’ or ‘Rapid’ in old Equestrian, sometime later when it was needed.

Since then I have been traveling and earning money as best I can, studying to understand myself more with my new perspectives and to find my lost memories.

“So in other words you can say I was born five years ago with no memories, but I truly started living three years ago.” He petted the pink pony’s head who was crying again. “Since then I have come to realize that many ponies do not understand that I am a pony too just like them, so I stopped shifting in front of them and even gave names to my forms so that if somepony met more than one of my forms they had something to call them.” He sighed gently and then chuckled. “They are all me and I am all them, but because I change shape, it messes with my brain, making things think differently and making me slightly act different, so in a way they are their own ponies too but really only parts of me. Cause of that it’s easier for other ponies to believe we are brothers.”

“Is that why you came to Ponyville?” Turning his head from the ceiling to the pony on his chest he nodded. “I had heard you first talked to Derpy and that she said you were looking for Twilight.”

“Ya.” It was the simple answer. “It was why I came here originally, my thoughts were if there was anyone, pony, griffon, dragon, anything that could help me find answers, it would be the Element of Magic.”

Pinkie smiled and gave him a hug. “That means you were meant to be friends with us.” He just gave her a hug before she pulled back and looked curious, though he did notice her mane had become fully poofy again. “Then why didn’t you tell Twi about your ability?”

“I wanted to, but during my journey the best answer I got to how I do what I can do was changeling magic or something to do with changelings.” Pinkie’s eyes widened and he smiled. “Ya and I happened to show up right before you all got back from the wedding where it was invaded by changelings. I happened to overhear Twilight and how she wanted nothing to do with anything changeling after that and well, to make the Element of Magic mad, well I am pretty sure she would have obliterated me at the time.” Laying back and suddenly finding himself tired from the long day of visits and getting his story off his chest he closed his eyes. “I would love to tell her now, but…honestly if I did there are so many trusting ponies whose friendship I would lose. I mean, I almost lost yours. Imagine me telling AJ or Dash this, The Elements of Honesty and Loyalty.”

He felt Pinkie now patting his mane soothingly and heard her voice. “Well at least you have one you know is still your friend.”

‘Ya…ya I do.’ With that he found that thought soothing him to a sleep that he really needed.

When he was finally dismissed from the hospital he tried going home to his cave only to have all of his friends tell him nope. Apparently while Pinkie was content to keep his secret for now, she hadn’t kept where he lived a secret…or was it Zecora, he never got that story straight. In the end he had six volunteers to bunk with.

That didn’t last long though as they cut down on whom could do it. AJ was out even if she did have the room, she and her family couldn’t stay around to make sure he was ok with Lego being gone and them having to work heartily now. Rarity was just as busy with her work so she was also eliminated for the same reason. Dash was considered for a good while but with how weak he was they didn’t want to chance him falling from her cloud house and not being able to rescue himself, so she was out. Pinkie was very insistent for a while and even brought them to the Cakes to ask, but was quickly reminded right before they could agree about the foals they had to take care of, which means they couldn’t take care of them and him at the same time.

In the end it came down to Twilight and Fluttershy and initially the Pegasus had won…least till Angel, an overprotective psycho of a bunny drop kicked him and promptly showed him who was boss and only got a light scalding as punishment.

“Stupid, bucked up, bunny bastard.” Velox said rubbing his chest as it was still healing, while Twilight levitated his stuff to the library. Luckily if Twilight heard him she said nothing. “Thanks for letting me stay here Twilight, I promise not to be too much of an inconvenience. I tend to heal quickly anyways and-”

She interrupted him as she sat his stuff in the spare room she had tucked away to the side of the library. “It’s no trouble at all Velox, you’re my friend and it’s the least I can do.” She also hoofed over a letter. “The princess wishes you well by the way.”

He found himself nervous as he opened the letter.

‘Dear Velox.

We have heard of your recent injuries in the line of defense of one of the elements. We are glad to know that you are truly the knight we thought you would be and have defended an element nearly at the cost of your life.’

He had to swallow bit when he recalled what the doc had said about nearly four times.

‘It is both mine and my sister’s wish you take some time off to relax. We have heard your brothers are away doing research and as such don’t know about your predicament. Your report was sent for you when it was found by Pinkie Pie to let us know that as always one never can predict these things so it was out of your control to not be able to defend the Elements right now. However when you are finally well we would like you to come to Canterlot to receive a reward for your duties and for going above and beyond them.

‘Signed: Princess Celestia.

P.S. Luna has gotten into the habit of eating bacon…I blame you for this.’

“Spike did it.” Of course said dragon heard that.

“What did I do?” With that he started laughing out loud.

Princess Celestia, ruler of the day, the sun guard and lover of cake was spending her lunch eating her favorite butter cream confection when Luna, her sister, Princess of the night, guardian of the moon and stars, and now lover of bacon, came in and started binge eating.

“Sister, I do not think that is going to be good for your figure if you keep that up.” Celestia told her as she took a large bite of cake.

Luna only glared at her and was about to mention the cake she always was eating but instead decided to take the high road. “My dearest sister, I find myself and my Night Guard unable catch the perpetrator of these most heinous of crimes.”

Celestia was a peace loving pony and it hurt her to think anypony could be a mass murderer. However that is what they had on their hooves as once a night for the last few days, right around the time she sent her knight his letter, there was a murder that were all done in the same way too. “And are you sure it’s the same one?”

The dawn bringer already knew it was but had to ask just to keep hope alive. “The victim’s profile is on the par for the pattern, a Pegasus in a predominately unicorn city. Cut nearly cleanly in half after the perpetrator removed one of their wings, then he or she drenches the victim in water to wash away any evidence that they left or at least in the attempt to.”

That last bit caught the ruler’s attention. “So you have a clue?”

She nodded as she levitated a dark blue feather to her sister. “It’s another Pegasus that is doing this.”

Celestia just had a horrifying thought. ‘Water at the scene, cut cleanly in half, dark blue feather…oh no.’

Luna could see the look on her sisters face as she paled. “Celly what is it?”

“We can’t let my student know of this. She would surely try to get involved in it.” The older sister spoke no longer eating her cake.

Luna smiled and chuckled. “Don’t worry I believe she is currently taking care of the injured Velo-oh I see what you mean.”

The white Alicorn stood up and started to pace to think. “Who would want to frame Velox though. Let’s just hope that with him being injured that he won’t find reason to come to Canterlot.”

In a puff of ash and green fire a letter appeared before the ruler. “Dear Princess.” She read outloud hoping to get some good news from her student. “This is Velox, I have talked to my doctor and he says a trip to Canterlot won’t bother my recovery, so as by the time you read this me and the girls are on our way to come visit like you asked. Hope to see you soon: Velox Starshifter.”

Luna caught Celestia looking up from the letter as they both said it at the same time. “Oh buck.”

Chapter Nine: Murder and Guilt.

Author's Notes:

MUHAHAHA as I said I am crazy another extra chapter today, enjoy. If I crank out alot more chapters that arent published I will release more chapters early like these two, but till Wednesday enjoy.

Can I go back to sleep now.

NO! you sleep when you are a doctor!

But I don't go to a medical school.

Then you will never sleep.

Psycho.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Nine: Murder and Guilt

The train ride was rather soothing even if everypony and Spike was excitedly chatting, Velox found himself often nodding off for minutes at a time. Something about the lazy and rhythmic thumping and the rumble was soothing to him, most likely reminding him of a more excited version of the wagon home he shared with a mare so many years ago. As such it was a hip bump that slowly brought him out of his stupor as he heard the girls talking.

“-nothing by it, just tryin’ to wake em up.” All the girls were smirking, except AJ, Spike was looking confused and the mare who was the exception was blushing.

“I-I’m awake now.” It was said with a yawn and a shake to his body to get it moving again. He gave a wince as he felt some of his healing muscles protest as well as a twinge of pain from his still healing ribs.

He found himself suddenly being helped and supported by AJ, an action he found her doing a lot lately and normally would have bothered him, only he found himself being soothed by the mares scent, a combination of a honest working mare with an underlying scent of apples and…something slightly spicy at times that he couldn’t identify.

“Easy there Sugar, ya are still walkin’ off that beatin’ ya took.” The freckled mare said to him and while normally he would have been content to just lean on her and enjoy that scent she pleasantly radiated he seen some poofy hair slightly deflate and had to correct that.

Straightening himself up, he gave a smile and pushed out his chest and wings. “Na I don’t need help right now. Just need some fresh air to get into me and I will be right as rain, or a puddle whichever is better.”

The use of his new nickname that Pinkie had given him had perked her right up returning her poofy state which no one noticed had vanished since the eyes were on him at the moment. With that they all grabbed their bags with smiles and continued off of the train.

Twilight, being the stickler for schedules and charts she was, pulled out one of those said lists and began talking to the others. “Alright everypony, I have written out a nice list for us to go down that should let us all get to and see things in Canterlot we want to see, along with some extra time in case of emergencies or if something nice comes along.”

Everypony and Spike groaned at the except for Velox. “Nice Twilight, I haven’t been to Canterlot before so it is kinda nice to have a tour guide and tour schedule already made for this.” He blinked when they all groaned again at his words. “What?”

The first step though was to visit the palace and get settled in since they all had rooms reserved for them at all times, well except Velox but Twilight had mentioned if it’s a problem one of the girls could share a room with another and he and Spike could take their room. While he didn’t want to be an inconvenience more then he already was, the pegasus couldn’t find any way around it if it came to it.

Velox was lazily looking around the palace as they had gone through the main gate since last time he was here as Novo he had been in a rush plus he had a lot on his mind so he couldn’t take in the beauty of the place. It really was amazing in a lot of ways, but for some reason something kept nagging at his mind, so much so that it raised the fur at the back of his neck in worry.

“Twilight, why is everypony looking at RD, Flutter, and me all strangely.” It was a simple question he was sure there was an explanation for that would make the fur on his neck settle down.

However the look on the lavender pony’s face kept the fur at his neck up. “I don’t know, that is strange though, I wonder if something is going on that we don’t know about.”

‘Dang I wish I was Novo or Lego right now, they are better at reading others then Velox is.’ The ponies that all looked at them strangely also gave them a wide birth as they settled into their rooms. “So now we head to the throne to say hi to the Princesses right?” With a nod Twilight showed them the line of writing on her list that confirmed that with a grin. “Alright then, let’s not keep them waiting.”

On the way to the throne room the looks they got turned from nervous to suspicious and it nearly made Velox want to tackle one down and ask them ‘The buck is the problem!’. ‘Maybe Day and Night can help us here; they have to know what is going on to make everypony jumpy like this.’

The guards had almost denied them entry to the throne room when they had noticed it was Twilight who was in the lead of the group. “Awfully jumping aint they Sugar.”

AJ said quietly to him, for some reason he didn’t know she had started dropping the cube part when talking to him. “No kidding, just about ready to jump out of their skin if we so much as blink the wrong way…I don’t suppose that the Princesses would be mad if I-”

He had to drop that line of thinking as the doors to the throne room opened and there sat the twin rulers of Equestria, though to be fair it was really only one sitting the other was half dozing as she wasn’t used to being up at the day time. “Greetings my little ponies, it is so good to see you all.” When they all greeted her with Princess and Luna the same way she smiled. “We are all friends here so you don’t always have to greet me as a Princess. You can refer to me casually if you all wish.”

None of them wished it though it seems as they each in turn said ‘Yes Princess.’ Well not all of them. “Ok Sunbutt.”

All eyes turned to Velox as he said that, most with a gasp, a few guards leveling their spears at him, but most of all was the glinting laughter in the two Princesses eyes. “Oh that is rich, Sunbutt.” Luna said loudly causing a mass look of confusion that they weren’t angry or offended.

Celestia, now Sunbutt, looked to her sister with mirth in her smile. “You realize sister dear, that if I am Sunbutt, that makes you Moonbutt.”

This of course caused all the ponies that had gasped at him, to gasp now at her, while the guards were completely confounded on what to do. “To be fair Sunbutt, she always displayed her moon openly so it’s no surprise.”

Apparently with the rulers playing into the joke it helped to play into it as well as Dash and Pinkie just burst out laughing hearing that. The laughter seemed to be infectious as well soon all ponies of all stations were soon laughing.

Sadly it wasn’t to last as a messenger ran into the throne room and hoofed over a scroll to Luna who sobered up quickly and showed it to her sister. “I am sorry my little ponies but this will have to be the end of our visit, while I normally wouldn’t say this to avoid causing a panic, I would take it as a personal favor if you all stayed inside the palace grounds during your visit.”

With that they were escorted out of the room and back to their quarters.

Twilight was trying to redo her schedule for the evening, with Spike’s help of course, so that they could get just as much in within the palace grounds as outwards. Fluttershy was out in the animal gardens trying, or retrying as he was told, to friend the animals. Rarity was content in the palace as she got to go around and rub noses with some of the more fancy ponies that came there, well almost all of them, but he understood why after a quick meeting with a stuck up Blueblood, a meeting he was sure that if he had to do more than once he would strangle that stuck up stallion.

This left a quartet of ponies from the group that was not taking their captivity well. “Soooo boring.” The cyan flyer said, normally the others would try to cheer her up but considering most of the group right now agreed with her they just voiced similar opinions.

“Darn tootin, ah mean if ah would have known we would be pinned in like this ah would have just stayed homed and bucked more.” Applejack had her hat off and as she had thrown it to the ground in a huff.

Pinkie Pie wasn’t fairing to much better as at one point the group seen her actually bouncing up a wall, there were no questions hurled towards the pink pony but one dark blue Pegasus did hit his head against a wall. “Twilight can I see the old schedule?” Twilight was too busy to respond, mostly muttering to herself as she levitated the outdated time table to him. “Ok well I know what I am doing.” Taking the paper he smiled and looked to his other bored friends. “Care to join?”

Pinkie had stopped bouncing wherever she was at before and appeared in front of him. “But didn’t the princess say to say in the palace grounds?”

RD came to sadly agree with her. “Ya, she said not to go out.”

“No she didn’t.” The smirk on his face was wide. “She said she would take it as a personal favor, and while we should, it’s not right to have our vacation interrupted I think.”

AJ had her hoof to her chin. “We did drop our plans to come here to relax.”

The flier who had been getting stronger hovered for a moment with a smile, seems her grumpy attitude was slightly relieved hearing this. “You are right, I mean I could be training or something.”

“I thought you were on break from training Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie stated evenly only for her friend to huff.

“Exactly we all need this, and if nothing else we will only go out for an hour or so, can’t get into much trouble by that point right?” Velox asked them, but unfortunately the universe was listening and it loved to prove ponies wrong like this.

Velox sat in jail with a bandage around his head where a growing knot was forming making his head throb in the most unpleasant of ways. Blood was all over him as he had not been allowed to wash as of yet, worse yet the blood wasn’t his own.

“You say you are innocent when we caught you redhoofed, the blood of your victim was all over you when the guard found you. What is more the victim is still alive, when she comes to we will find out just what sort of sick bastard you are. But then again I am sure when she comes to she will tell us how right we were to arrest you.” The royal guard member told him even as he kicked him in the gut causing all the air in his lungs to leave him. “I seen you with the Element Bearers, I bet the rainbow one or the model was your next target, getting all close to them so they wouldn’t suspect you, I heard them trying to defend you, you seem to have them all wrapped around your hoof you disgusting worm.”

A hoof came down on the spot between his wings causing him to nearly squeal out in pain and he felt it again and a third time before the stallion was pulled away by another identical guardsman. “Hey pal take it easy.” The heavy hoofed guard walked away muttering as his friend came over to help Velox up. “Look buddy, we caught you redhoofed, even with the bearers trying to back you up, you went missing before they found you long enough to do what you did to her. I am not saying you are guilty, but right now everything is pointing at you so even if you were to try to defend yourself you are just making it works. Best to confess and try to get a better deal for prison cause how it looks right now you are going to be banished to Tartarus.”

Velox knew what was going on, standard good guard bad, guard policy to get him to confess but he wouldn’t, because he wasn’t guilty. The silent treatment he gave them just cause the two to switch out, which would be the regular thing for nearly an hour before they had to leave.

They gave him a warning that he wasn’t to tell who done this and he would have chuckled if it didn’t hurt to do so. ‘You all look the same in that enchanted armor you assholes, couldn’t pick you out of a crowd if I wanted.’ They must have known about his injuries prior as they had stayed away from his broken ribs, but not anything else.

Closing his eyes he would remember what had happened to lead up to this. RD, Pinkie, and Applejack all went to a bar with him to down some drinks. For Dash and AJ it turned into a competition that decidedly neither of them won forcing himself and Pinkie to start carrying them back to the palace half passed out.

It was then that things turned sour as they were approaching the last turn to head to the palace he heard something and asked Pinkie to watch AJ who had elected to hang on him while rambling drunkenly something about lassos and the barn to him that he couldn’t make heads or tails of cause of how slurred it was and how she would often just randomly stop talking and picked it up later as if she never stopped.

Heading down an alleyway he thought he heard a muffled scream and he bolted down it coming around a dumpster he found a hooded figured standing over the downed figure of a mare who was passed out and badly cut up. “The Buck do you think you are doing?!”

The smile that came from under the hood of the garbed pony was a nasty yellow that gleamed sickly. “Well, well, well, you are the last pony I thought would catch me first, though maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.” The voice was gravelly and harsh sounding as if it came from a throat that ate too much gravel in its lifetime, or smoked from a pipe way too much. “But don’t worry, I won’t attack you at least not till I finish up my goal. It’s the least I can do to prove who I am.”

Velox was about to stop him when fog seemed to form around him and he vanished from sight. He went to check on the mare and found she was still alive but bleeding badly. The thought that he should go get help came and left almost as quickly as the wooden end of the spear that hit the back of his head knocking him out.

‘None of it makes sense, he seemed to recognize me for sure but I have never heard his voice EVER.’ Shaking his head to clear his thoughts proved to be the wrong move as it would make his vision swim in a way that he was sure he would pass out if he hadn’t stopped.

He would later get treatment from a unicorn helping out his injuries and even healing his ribs up a bit more than they were to the point that the unicorn said that ‘A few more of these and you will be completely fit to stand trial.’

That worried him as no pony had come to talk to him since the beating and if the healer was talking of a trial it meant he was the prime suspect and the one whom was thought to have done this and they had enough evidence to prove it.

The only visitors he would get was the following day after he had been nearly healed to full almost wishing there were more unicorns like that one to go around to heal ponies. “We wish to know the truth Velox, are you the one who is doing these most vile of acts.”

It was the Princess of the Night; she was with two others he couldn’t see thanks to them being in shadows. “Princess, I won’t lie, I have killed before, I have done so when lost to my own self but I can tell you I didn’t do this. I don’t know who did this but they seem to know me which worries me to no end.”

The pony of the moon looked to her left and she received a nod, looking to her right she also got a nod. “You are telling the truth, but tis unfortunate because the evidence won’t believe you and thus your piers won’t believe you when you go to trial.”

Velox stood up to that and nearly shouted. “What evidence, all the guard that hit me seen me checking on the mare before I was about to go get help.”

She shook her head and sighed. “There is more than just that.” He was about to ask her when she instead told him. “This atrocity had been happening for the last few days, and coincidently right around when you were released from the hospital. What is more there is a dark blue feather that was left at the scene of one of the attacks that matches your coloration. As it stands right now there is more evidence, mostly circumstantial but it will all still point to you, especially once your abilities come to light.”

Twilight was robed and hidden in the shadows with her truth spell active was to Luna’s left, AJ with her innate ability to tell if somepony is lying was robed and on the right in the shadows. So far as Twilight could tell he was telling the truth, he wasn’t the one responsible though she knew that, though it did disturb her to know that he had killed a pony before. She watched with her friend as the Princess asked him several things and talked about what was going to happen, Velox couldn’t see it from where he was but she could, AJ was shedding tears as Luna had told them even if he is found to be not lying the evidence was staggering and he would most likely find himself in Tartarus.

“My abilities?” She heard her friend ask from behind the bars of his cell.

Luna would nod. “At the crime scene there appeared to be attempts to wash the body of the victims each time, as such it leaves a lot of water behind, along with the lacerations your Current skill will most likely come to light and-”

“Wait…you said water all over?” when she nodded for now ignoring his interruption he frowned and muttered something that Twilight barely heard as ‘-can’t be right.’ “Was there anything else strange about the victims?”

The unicorn could understand his need to know wanting to try to solve the problems and prove his own innocence from here but it wouldn’t work like that for him she thought. “Yes, besides ending the attack with cutting the victim in two-” the words nearly made Twilight gag as she imagined it. “The murderer would also attack only pegai and remove one of their wings, always on the right side.”

The shocked look on Velox’s face concerned her and she was about to get something for him to throw up in as she noticed his coat pale in color all over. “No…” She would watch as he shook his head and seemed to suddenly go mad and shout. “NO!” he would glare at the princess with a look of pure fury that she had never seen him hold before even when she had teleported at the end of his fight with the Manticore. “You have to let me out Princess. You have to let me out right now!”

They were all startled at this sudden change in their friend. “We cannot let you out Velox we am sorry. Come along my servants we need to report to my sister what we have learned and let him calm himself.”

Twilight left with Applejack right beside him, just as shocked listening to him yell out loudly to let him out though as they walked out neither saw Luna’s horn glowing.

‘I have to get out, I can’t let this bucker keep doing this.’ He looked out the window of his cell and seen it was starting to head towards evening, sun was to set soon and he knew he had to act now. ‘Thank you unicorn guy I never got the name of.’ He thought as he shifted to Novo and looked at the bars of the window. ‘Should be just enough room for me to squeeze through as Novo, not Velox though with his wings and definitely not Lego.’ His horn would glow green as did the bars for a moment before they were turned to iron dust and he hopped up to start to squeeze through.

He was nearly through the bars when he heard the clop of hooves coming down the hall and right as he landed on the outside he heard the voice of the brutal guard shout out. “The prisoner has escaped, THE PRISONER HAS ESCAPED!”

It wouldn’t look good by a long shot for sure but he didn’t care. This was more important than his own life, this was more important than going to jail. This was about keeping a promise he made long ago.

Starshifter was in his Pegasus form and he was traveling through an area that brought so many bad memories to his mind that he had to stop sometimes and just let his emotions out, letting the tears of loss flow through him and outwards. He couldn’t stop himself, he had to visit the scene as he always did whenever he came to the canyon.

Finding the pile of rubble still in place he smiled as he went down the rock tunnel he had made those years ago. “Hey Cascade, I am back and still searching, but no luck. I think I am going to have to go overseas to get any hints, I could go to Canterlot but again the thought of Celestia there gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason.” Star was looking at a grave he had made for her after he had transformed into his unicorn form the first time. Bringing out some flowers he always managed to get even if he had no plans to stop by he laid them on her tombstone and began to gather up the cleaning supplies to clean it off. “I miss you, but in a way since your words are always with me, I always have you looking out for me.”

He had just about finished when he heard clopping coming down the tunnel even as he summoned his Current to surround himself with water. He was still angry beyond believe at those who had done this and had imagined himself more often than not doing to them as was done to him and Cascade but worse.

It was a dark blue Pegasus that appeared carrying flowers in his mouth and tears in his eyes though those eyes became filled with fear as he seen Star. “Who are you? Why are you at my sister’s grave!”

The rage that had been building up inside him slowly vanished when hearing that. “Sister? You knew Cascade?”

The Pegasus wiped his eyes and moved to set the flowers down on the grave though looked surprised to see it was cleaned and fresh flowers there before his. “I take it you also knew Cas?”

Star gave a nod and soon they were retelling how they both knew the darken mare. Star told the pony how Cascade had rescued him and taught him things after he had lost his memory. How he was on the search for it currently and how he was there with Cascade Night’s during her last moments.

The dark blue Pegasus with a lighter blue mane smiled and was glad somepony had made his sister laugh and was there so she wasn’t alone. The Pegasus had a five point star on his flank that had a multitude of four star point chains wrapped around it. He had revealed he was also traveling to know more about the world.

They had stood at the grave for two days talking and reminiscing about the one lost that they had become great friends so much so that Star did something he didn’t do anymore. He shifted in front of him letting him know his secret. He tried to teach him how to shift but it turned out only Star could do such a thing, so in the end it came down to being able only to teach him one thing.

They were on the road and had stopped for that day when it came up. “I call it ‘The Current’.”

Novo was searching the city now, he knew where ‘he’ would go right before he would search for his next victim. “Someplace overlooking the city to get a lay of the land, normally a cloud would do but…ya I don’t think he can do that anymore. Either that or an observatory to see the stars.”

The unicorn would think for a moment and decided to ask about the observatory first, thinking if it was elevated enough it might serve both purposes. He came across so many snobby unicorns that didn’t want to give him the time of day and he was getting tired of it. The thought to lift one up to get answers out nearly come to fruition till he got a rather nice couple that was walking together.

“Oh of course, my daughter used to go there at night to look up at the stars, though its not really visited anymore.” The mare with a gray coat and a lavender and white mane told him. “Dear mind giving him the directions?”

The Stallion just smiled and his horn gave a glow as he pulled out a quill and parchment. “Here you go, I hope this helps.”

He bowed to both of them something he didn’t like to do but considering the importance of this he felt it was appropriate. “You two have no clue how much this helps.”

They smiled and waved off the bow as they told him it was no problem at all as he walked away. “What a nice colt dear, think we should try to set him up with Twilight?”

The blue coated stallion shrugged causing his dark blue mane to rustle. “I am not much of a match maker dear you know that.”

Novo was already out of hearing range though and focused on where he was going to hear that though.

Velox as he was now named just had come from the latest photo shoot from Photo Finish, something he was hating more and more as it kept happening. Though luckily she had to go back to Manehatten for now but told him that they would continue next time he was there. Something he told himself wouldn’t happen no matter how much he needed the bits.

“Hey S-” his voice rose to call to the cabin he walked towards from the quant village only to find the place had been torn up. “Oh no.”

Running outside he started calling out for his friend and somepony he considered a brother. Worry was coming stronger and stronger as he took to the sky to find him before spotting him in a clearing surrounded by other ponies.

“I won’t let you get away with what you have done you bastard!” came the voice of the larger stallion as he rushed him.

The Pegasus though was using the Current and easily dodged him with a smile. “I didn’t do anything your daughter didn’t want to happen, you should tell her to stop teasing and playing hard to get though if she really didn’t want it.”

Another pony rushed at him from the side only to be dodged. “Want it? Want it! You raped her!”

Velox nearly lost a beat and dropped a few feat in the air as he listened to this thinking it couldn’t be right.

“So what if I did?” the ground plummeted towards till Star managed to remember to flap his wings again finding tears in his eyes hearing his ‘brother’ mention his own guilt. “We both had fun, she got what was coming to her for teasing, and what is the problem I mean I am strong, it’s our right to take who we want if we are strong.”

Velox couldn’t believe his ears, his soft hearted kind brother, the one who wanted to be stronger to help out, was no abusing what was taught to him. It sickened him to know it was his fault that he did this, what was worse, he should have seen the attitude change, but somehow he didn’t, either he had hid it well or Velox was just blind to it.

“But since you all think you are stronger than me and look to cause me harm, here is some taste of true power.” The light blue maned Pegasus flapped his wings hard sending out a shotgun blast of water pellets that hit the ponies in the sides hard enough to draw blood as they fell to the ground.

This broke something inside Velox as he dove to the ground and tackled his brother, his student, and his friend and started to pummel him with hooves. “How could you?!”

Velox chest hurt as he got hit with two hardened water balls that pushed him off. “Star you shame me, after all I did nothing that she didn’t want. Are you going to believe them over me?”

“You shot them!” He found himself shouting. “They are family trying to protect their own, and I HEARD you admit what you did. They have a right to want to beat the ever living shit from you!”

The Pegasus he was furious at stood up and gathered more water as his look turned angry. “You are just like them Starshifter, you are just like my sister, and you are just like the village, ignorant of the world, you think your way is the correct way even when shown otherwise. You gave me the tools to show others my path and I will do so by becoming the strongest Pegasus in the world, stronger in magic then even unicorns with this current.”

Velox had tears in his eyes as his brother had been so corrupted he had forgotten he was taught that for protection. Gathering up his own Current he coated himself in water. “Then you will be the first star I shift ever my friend, I will end this path of yours and show you another, or one of us will die today.”

“Then if that is the case I will end your path and I will be the Starshifter!” the pony charged as he yelled out in anger.

Novo had switched out and was now Velox once more, he didn’t care that he had to fly past a patrol and gave them the slip as he headed towards his destination, all that mattered was who was waiting for him. ‘I will stop you like I did then, even if I die this time instead of you.’

Velox stood over the downed Pegasus as he panted they had battled for a good while ending up near the cliff edge that was overlooking a nearby forest, a tourist spot the village had set up to attract ponies to their town even if it rarely worked.. “You lost, you couldn’t hold your Current nearly half as long as me even if you consider the time you spent with the villagers back there. I am stronger and I am telling you, stop this now before I have to do something permanent.”

There were tears in his eyes and it was what made him react slow to the buck of the back legs that the former brother gave him knocking him back before taking flight, now able to do so thanks to the current no longer being active. “I will never give up my path, I will grow stronger then you, I will kill any who try to stop me, and you can’t stop me, I am a faster flyer then you and you know it hahahaha.”

The ironic part was he was right, Velox was slower in flying compared to him but it didn’t matter. “This was to be your next lesson but I guess you will never know it.” He said nearly silently to himself as he used the current to launch upwards into the air, using it as a spring board to send him hurtling above the pony that was flying away and no longer looking at his backside.

He turned in the air too late after hearing a whoosh before the bladed wing came down and took his own right wing off at the first joint.

A look of disbelief crossed his face even as the blood tumbled between them in a long string. “Why?”

The look of betrayal was kept on that face for too long even as the body came down through the trees below the long drop. “Good bye-.”

“Star Bound.” Velox called out to the hooded figure overlooking the city in his robes.

Turning and pulling off his hood that same yellowish smile gleamed at him. “Hey there brother, I see you finally remember me.” Came the same gravelly voice as before. “I have missed you and was hurt you didn’t remember it was me, after all you took something so precious from me and left me to die.”

Bound held out his stump of a wing on one side and smiled. “I left you to die because you were out of your mind, seeing you hear now means I should have looked for your body to make sure you wouldn’t live, but I couldn’t bear the thought of my brother’s dead body and that I had caused it.”

There was anger in the violet eyes of the former student as he shouted. “Brother? Brother?! A brother would have understood my goal and my drive, a brother wouldn’t have cut off my wing and let me drop hundreds of feet to the forest below where the rocks nearly crushed my throat.” The Pegasus would pull his cloak down some to show the scares on his throat. “But its ok I forgive you my brother, cause if you hadn’t done what you did that day I wouldn’t have realized what being a Starshifter was all about. Now, I am a Starshifter.” Pointing down to Canterlot below he smiled even as the sounds ponies rapidly coming up the pathway caught their ears. “These ponies don’t know how good they have it, the privileged ones, the unicorns who think they are better, they rejoice cause they think this ‘killer’ only targets pegai, but that is what I want them to think, for soon I will make sure to hit them all, showing them that even with their precious magic they are no use against the strongest Starshifter in the world. After all its what you taught me that day, for when you end the path and life of a pony that you shift their star. So I will make sure the night sky will soon be devoid of all stars that shine less then my own!”

Rainbow Dash with her friends along with plenty of guards had arrived and was hearing the two ponies talk. One she knew was her friend and the brother of her teacher, least till the training went further. The other was the voice of a pony she had never heard before, a pony whose voice sounded like a cheese grater.

The guards, herself, and her friends, heard the voice confess its guilt as they came closer and closer to the top of the pathway. ‘Yes Velox is clear and free with that!’

Dash though simply even as the talking continued. “-So I will make sure the night sky will soon be devoid of all stars that shine less then my own!”

No pony there thought that was good sounding as they came to the top to see Velox staring down the pony with light blue mane and a coat similar in color to their friend’s. “Stop right there dirtbag!”

One of the guards stated only to get the sound of pellets hitting him quickly and dropping down and spurting a few times before he was dead. “See my brother, I have become a lot stronger than ever before.”

Dash was stunned, she had seen Velox use the current to kill the manticore but seeing a pony dead from it was another thing. “Dash, I want you to know something, I did teach somepony before and this is where his path led him.”

The cyan Pegasus looked up from the dead pony to her friend to see him looking at her with concern. “But-but-”

He shook his head. “This is what he is doing with it, when I taught it to him I told him, it was meant to be used in self defense, to never harm another unless they mean you harm, and to never take a life unless it was your last choice.”

She watched as the moisture gathered on his coat as he activated his own current. “Not very fast are we there brother.”

Dash didn’t like how this pony called him brother. ‘If Velox is telling the truth then they knew each other before sure, but brothers?’

“Though I am surprised you took such a weak looking mare as your new student, maybe its her flank, it does look rather firm, I wouldn’t mind a ride for sure.” He smirked and caught the punch of the hoof that Velox threw at him “Did I hit a nerve there or are you remembering the past, how I don’t mind mares who tease?”

Velox gave a yell of rage as he threw another punch and another as Bound kept catching them and tossing them aside. Everypony watched as the whooshing started and the dark blue Pegasus seem to vanish as he rapidly moved from one point to another only to be intercepted each time as the one winged Pegasus caught him each time.

“So fast.” Came one of the voices of the guards, watching the display with wide eyed amazement and horror look on their faces each not able to believe anything could move that fast.

Bound just laughed hearing that. “Its cause I have spent every waking moment perfecting my art in the current for the last few years. My ‘Master’ here only uses it when he needs to and is woefully outclassed now.”

To prove his point he started doing the same maneuvers that Velox had just tried, only much faster landing nearly every punch before throwing him down before them bleeding from multiple cuts from how quick the hooves had bite into his coat. “Ya you’re definitely good, and you definitely have mastered this form better than I have.”

Bound smiled a type of smile of surprise and of genuine pleasure hearing that. “Well thanks Star, good to hear you finally admit I am better, but now it has come down to reparations for damages dealt, which wing should I take?”

He was standing up just as Dash was about to jump in when she heard the pony talk about removing wings, she wasn’t going to let a friend go at this alone. “I said this form you have mastered, doesn’t mean you have mastered the current, Tartarus I haven’t either, but I have discovered more of its secrets then you.” Standing up firmly on the ground now he looked towards Dash and smiled. “Dash, if you ever get to this point in your training, with or without me, you must follow these rules. Never use what you are about to see for yourself or for your own gain.” She watched as something seemed to happen, the blue glow that always took him when he was using the current was brightening. “Never use this to harm another living thing.” The glow started to spread to the water making it turn white and a little hard to see. “And only use it on another thing, living or not, if they intend to harm others, these are the rules of ‘The Current’ at level two.”

Both Dash, Twilight, and even Bound spoke at the same time. “Level tw-”

Only to be cut off as a flash of lightning blinded their vision. When it cleared all those watching gasped as replacing the dark blue Pegasus covered in water was now a Pegasus who was glowing so brightly they appeared white, lighting covering their body as if it was a second skin occasionally arcing off towards the ground.

“This is Level Two of ‘The Current.’ Level one is Aqua Form, one point five the intermediate step is Cloud Form, and finally when getting to Level two you achieve Lightning Form.” The pony took a step forward towards the murderer as his face was completely neutral.

The murderer’s voice was far from calm and his face showed it, looking nearly terrified mixed with anger. “How did you do that, I couldn’t even do that and I tried. I tried to go further to condense the water to a later that could form clouds but couldn’t ever do so, so I thought it was impossible!” the look of horror on his face vanished as pure rage over took it. “It’s a lie. A LIE!”

A wing beat later and a storm of pellets shot at Velox at high speed, only to pop before they even got to him as the lightning arced to it of its own will. “You can’t win anymore Star Bound, it’s over.”

Bound didn’t want it to end, he shot up into the air using the water as a spring board like he had seen at the last moments all those years ago. “You won’t catch me this time Starshifter, I can fly without my wings and I don’t-”

Velox just vanished from sight with the sound of static and a slight hollow boom being left behind and Bound felt heat in his face as his body lost control of itself and impacted the ground. Because he couldn’t control his body anymore the current vanished from him even as he stared up in amazement in the sky. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were the first to see the look and look up where to he was looking.

In the air, wings beating and making the air crackle with lightning was Velox flying! “You can’t run, you can’t over power me, you can’t win. Surrender and live Bound.”

Bound’s body was calming down as he looked over at the lightning covered pony with horror. “I am a Starshifter now, I can’t lose to you, I am stronger I am better I am-”

His eyes rolled up into the back of his head as the hoof of the farm mare struck him. “Ah reckon that everypony was tired of hearing that as well?”

Smiles came all around as a small bit of laughter only for it to stop when hearing living lightning step back onto the ground. “I hope you don’t mind tying him up and his wings, I can’t do it right now without electrocuting him.”

His friends all came over to him as the guards did their job. “That was AWESOME!” the Cyan mare said excitedly. “You were all whoosh whoosh, though he countered then you went kerzap and he got all scared and try to jump away with his tail between his legs, then you were all, oh no you don’t, and there was that low boom thing and you were punching him in the face and were all like ‘I am badass stay down’.”

All her friends were laughing at Dash as she punched the air with her hooves rapidly though Twilight couldn’t keep silent. “So you can do this with the current, how come you didn’t say so before, I would have loved to test it.”

Velox gave a small smile as she said that. “You heard me talk to Dash before I used it, I put rules on when I can use this, plus the side effects are kinda killer.”

Twilight was in full interrogation mode though so she started to ask right away. “But it cant be that bad, I mean you were flying, meaning you did something to negate the side effects of drawing from other aspects of your Pegasus magic, I mean if can replicate that in oth-”

“Twilight, do you know how to restart a heart?” He asked suddenly which broke her out of her thoughts with a worried look.

“Yes I started learning about all that when you were in the hospital and your heart stopped, I wanted to be prepared in case it stopped while you are staying in the library.” She said with a smile proud of her accomplishment.

He gave a sigh of relief, which in that form sounded like static, followed by a small smile. “Good I really didn’t want to die today.”

She was about to ask what he meant when Dash suddenly got a feeling that something bad was about to happen. She was right, the lightning as quick as it came flashed brightly and was gone, leaving a collapsing Velox with his blue coat hitting the ground hard with no heartbeat.

Pinkie Pie screamed as she seen that and so had Applejack as Twilight quickly went to work trying to restart his heart.

Chapter Ten: A myriad of discovery and loss.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Ten: A myriad of discovery and loss.

The trial went on a few days later when Velox was strong enough to testify, it was a formality as several guards had heard the confession as well as the Element Bearers but that was beside the point. The trial was for the ponies, to put a face to the killer and to have closure.

The one he had failed to kill did in fact reveal it was him saying many things that she had seen his one wing, his yellowed teeth, and his voice all of which was easily confirmed by a simple lie detection spell. Velox himself had told his side, how he was the one who taught Star Bound the Current in the first place and how some of this was his fault for not seeing the darkness that was in him. Some ponies blamed him in the end but not enough to really call for his arrest. Next came the guards and the girls to tell what they had heard, each separated so they couldn’t hear the others tell how they heard it so prove that they were telling the truth, not that anypony doubted the Elements at all.

In the end when they were wheeling Star Bound away, who was tied up in a straight jacket as well as a muzzle, Velox locked eyes with him, and he knew that his former brother and student hated him with every bit of his being; surprisingly Velox was hurt by it not physically but emotionally. He still was recovering from his use of Level Two but his friends were keeping a close eye on him.

“Guilty, as such the sentence will now be decided by our Princesses.” The Judge had read off the jury’s verdict loudly before stepping aside to let the Princess of the Day and the Princess of the Night take center stage.

Both of the ethereal maned Alicorns stood silent for a moment before in a clear voice they both spoke. “We sentence the guilty to Tartarus, the length of which is life with no chance of redemption.”

Velox had to close his eyes as he couldn’t look at anything right now. ‘Goodbye my brother, I hate you for what you did, for what you would do, and for how you would do it, but you were my brother and I mourn for what you are going to live through from this day forward.’

Besides at the trial the dark blue Pegasus barely said anything to his friends, he didn’t trust his voice at all nor did he think he could find the right words for his thoughts, so he instead just stayed silent. Twilight was the first to try to talk to him along with Dash and AJ, surprisingly Pinkie didn’t all she did was hug him gently and let him stay silent.

Twilight had asked how Level Two worked while Dash wanted to know when she could learn it. The farm pony though just looked at him and asked a simple question, one that Twilight and Dash were both curious to learn the answer to as well.

“Did ya know your heart would stop when ya did that lightnin’ thing?” The clear green eyes held worry in them, something he always liked about the mare and it hurt to see them nearly break with tears when he nodded. “You’re a right fool.” She simply said as she turned and stormed off.

Both the lavender and cyan ponies stood there slightly amazed and worried as the former asked. “So you knew it could kill you when you did it?” When he nodded she herself got tears in her eyes. “Why?”

He looked at the nearly crying unicorn and simply said. “One for many.” When the answer seemed to confuse her he continued on with those words. “My life for the lives of all the ponies and other species he would have gone to kill. If sacrificing my own meant he wouldn’t kill again it would mean I saved many others at the cost of mine. One for many.”

Dash couldn’t seem to find her voice and Twilight just looked horrified at the thought. “That…that is wrong. I mean couldn’t you just I don’t know, beat him with Level One?”

The shake of a head told her that he couldn’t. Bound was right when he had become a master, well at least of that form, and Velox had no chance to win at that. He couldn’t have made bullets that hard or launch them as quick, he couldn’t make fog like Bound, and he couldn’t form or manifest the current as quickly as Bound seemed too naturally and instinctively be able to do. The truth was, Star found himself bested in every way that night except that he could take it farther.

It would be a couple of days before things were settled down enough for Twilight to talk to him again, apparently being both the Element Bearer for magic and Celestia’s student was hard work or at least she made it out to be. Pinkie often came to visit him and hug him and a few times listening to him blurt out emotions and thoughts at random after she told him to ‘go ahead and tell me anything you needs to I Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony else’. He believed her too, since the time when he woke up in the hospital she had been a constant support to him and he was grateful.

The orange coated friend though was absent from visiting him, to which Pinkie told him. “She is working some stuff out, she isn’t sure how she should feel about you, I mean with knowing you would die when using that stuff.” The last part was said hastily but he ignored it, not really in the mindset to really care or pay attention to intently.

Fluttershy came by for a visit with a few birds she managed to befriend to sing him a nice little song, some of which he could swear he heard some other pony singing another part down the hall to. ‘Weird natural song magic, glad it’s never affected me.’

His future cyan trainee came by and he started to tell her some things to start self exercises to help learn the Current. “Your channels should be open enough to try it, Bound was lucky that he had large channels naturally, just never enough mana to pump into them, he had the opposite problem basically as you. He had to train his mana to be large while you have to train your channels to be large so technically you should be able to learn easily once you can pump enough mana through you.”

It apparently solved one of hers as well as Twilight’s questions as she said she had forgotten to ask that of him for Twi. He also asked her to promise not to try those exercise without Twilight around in case she did something wrong, to which she agreed to readily.

Rarity was next and that was most likely the most embarrassing of visits as he wasn’t really paying attention to his own looks or his hygiene at this point in his state. In the end cause of his weakened state he had been forced to get a bath and was scrubbed down by the white mare. He was glad it was over with only a few comments on how she wouldn’t have been surprised if he also appeared in the same magazines that Lego had, much to his hate his face betrayed him with a furious blush.

As it was when he would next see Twilight it was when they were all called to the throne room of the twin rulers of Equestria. They had all gathered before the throne room and were silently talking all wondering what the Princesses wanted with them. Twilight thought it might be a recap or maybe to formalize some kind of Current training or defensive corps. Rarity thought they might want to punish Velox for the teaching of it to somepony that ended up using it wrong, to which both Rainbow and Applejack shook their head saying the Princesses wouldn’t do that. Fluttershy was pretty silent and only gave a meep as Pinkie enthusiastically assumed it was to throw a party in Velox’s honor for beating the baddie. Spikes only contribution to the discussion was asking Pinkie did she think they would include gems for the party.

The doors parted before Velox could even add his own thoughts, which right now weren’t in a happy place. “Welcome my little ponies, come on in and take a seat, we have much to discuss.”

Celestia’s voice called out to them beckoning them to enter as they had seen a table and some food set out for them. “We know that Twilight Sparkle and the rest of you have been all running around doing important work lately and have not had a chance to decompress, We bid thee to enter and relax while we talk of matters.”

For some reason Luna’s royal tone didn’t sit well with him though the others seemed to take it in stride. He had heard it before but thought she did it for meetings and such, Pinkie slipped up to him and told him that was she talked nearly all the time.

While there was a nice spread of food there he found the others slightly uncomfortable at his meat eating habits, something he was sourly missing in his diet lately and was glad for. Fluttershy had kept her promise to get him some fish but it was few and far between, mostly he suspected she was too kind hearted to catch them. Dash sat ok with it mostly; though choose not to look in his direction when he got to that part of the meal. Twilight and Spike didn’t look at him during the meal at all, though AJ watched him throughout was a tad weird or disconcerting if he was being truthful, mostly cause of how often he found her eyes in him as if she was afraid to look away from him.

Fluttershy had seen him eat fish before so didn’t care and neither did Pinkie, Rarity had taken a look while he was pulling the meat from a fish and got a little green and politely excused herself for a tad bit, coming back around the time the meal was done.

“My little ponies, if you are all done eating I would like to talk with you all.” She said looking to them all with her ethereal mane blowing in the none-existent wind. “For now though some of my questions are for Velox. I wish to know all you can tell me of The Current and its variations.”

He had a feeling it would come sooner or later, mostly at the hooves of Twilight but it was fine to answer now. “Level One is about condensing the moisture in the air into water which forms around your body to use in various ways, from a spring board for movement to projectiles if you can launch them fast enough. However this process diverts magic from a pegasus’ flight and a few other areas.” Seeing all eyes focused on him and seeing them mostly understanding he continued. “The next level which when I discovered it I thought to be Level Two is really only level one point five, or one and a half. Its condensing the moisture to your body then pumping more mana into it then before and essentially making clouds.”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof which Velox acknowledge to let her ask the question. “But wouldn’t cloud suit or armor or what not be kinda stupid, I mean only a Pegasus can manipulate it so it would be worthless.”

The dark blue shape-shifter smiled as it was something he thought himself a long time ago. “Kinda, the thing is if you can change the water to clouds at that level you’re sustaining the effort with so much Pegasus magic that any pony can touch them even none living things as well, making them a highly defensive armor that soaks up impacts like a sponge, but problem is you can’t really move around quickly in it.”

Twilight was making a few notes with a quill and paper while Luna and Celestia seemed to be concentrating to make mental notes to put down later. “That is why you couldn’t use it against Bound right, the high output would not only strain your channels and your well but you would gain no offensive capabilities and with the piercing power of his bullets an impact resistant armor isn’t really helpful.”

“Got it in one Twilight.” A smile came to his face at how quickly she got it. “Level Two, the full and true version is a bit harder to do.” Taking a breath he knew this would get more long winded then it was before. “You see the next level is taking those clouds and perpetually stimulate them while condensing them and lacing them into your own coat and mane. In a way merging yourself with it however to do this requires both a lot of concentration as well as mana, you literally have to learn how to stop up your well and keep manipulating clouds at the same time. Least that is the first step.”

“What is the next step?” Of course the excited tone of Dash said she was really looking forward to knowing.

He looked down at his plate as he sighed. “As you condense the clouds down and lace them to yourself you have to do so with only residual mana as your stopping up your well completely at the time.” A gasp from Twilight as well as both Princesses told him they knew how dangerous that was. “It’s a temporary measure that is meant to put pressure on the well itself, you see your well hates not outputting and will increase its own flow to remove blockages. Its why ponies get into pain when another pony leaves mana inside them, the channels are blocked and the well hates that so it continues to pump mana through to clean it out not caring if it damages anything along the way.”

“Oh so that is why…” Dash didn’t say anything further as her blush said it all.

“So what you do is keep pressure on the well till the cloud is laced, you have to do this within moments to a minute before you will find the clouds vanish or your well unplugs itself and that isn’t fun at all.” He gave a shudder as well as seeing both unicorns and both Princesses do the same. “So when you have what you need set up and finally uncork your well, so much mana pours out of it that it stimulates the clouds laced into your coat so that its constantly giving off lightning, and since its all over you and causes-.”

Twilight interrupted with a gasp. “That is insane and very dangerous.” Everyone looked to her except the Princesses who seemed to know what was going to be said. “You create a self perpetuating cycle that will continuously pull from your well regardless of how much it’s putting out, forcing it to keep up the supply till there is nothing left or you burn out. Its why there are no ability loss in that technique is cause you are overclocking your own system beyond what it can do to make it work.”

“Twi, Sugarcube, ah rightly don’t know what ya are goin’ on about, can ya just tone it down so we can understand?” AJ the ever simple and practical one, never one for big words and theory’s said.

The mage sighed and took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts. “It means it forcefully takes till there is nothing left and without magic a pony…” The all seem to get that.

“That is why I usually shut it off before that happens.” The downcast looks to everyone turned back to him with a hopefully look which he shook his head to. “That in of itself is a problem Pegai are naturally resistant to lightning storms yes, but when your body becomes the storm and suddenly you cut the power off, it all strikes down on you at once. It…tends to stop the heart at worst and at best just leave you sizzling, though more often than not except the worst to happen.”

“Have you tried working the details out to make it safer to use?” Celestia asked in a soft tone of voice, having been silent till that point. “If it could be contained and controlled in a more stable way surely it would be a great boon to all pony kind.”

“I myself have only managed to do it two and a half times now.” Velox told them closing his eyes. “The first time I got the lightning to start but only stayed around for half a second before I realized that I have to stop up the well for it to work. The second time I nearly killed myself and others, and the last time…well everypony here was there.” Suddenly Velox looked beyond everypony there remembering what it’s like inside Level Two. “I wish I could stay like that honestly I do, the world is black and white as if the only light source is what you give it, everything moves only as fast as you want it as you become lightning itself, fast as light, faster than thought, but the cost is so high for only a few moments there even if to you it feels like forever. I stared at Bound for what felt like a year that night, taking in all his features before I struck him down out of the air. I was able to focus lightning to hit each drop of water as he shot it at me as if they were stuck in mid air. The amount of power you have in that form is…”

What ever he was going to say never left his mouth as he just sat there for a good while remembering it. “Kinda sounds like the opposite of a Sonic Rainboom.” The flyer told them all. “I mean ya there feels like a moment when the whole world stops right as you pop through but in the end everything accelerates beyond your understanding in a split second till the world is moving so quick it turns a gray color and you are the only source of color. Though with the Rainboom you don’t die…well unless you ram yourself into the ground but that is with any flying I think.”

That got a round of chuckles from everyone that even made Velox smile. The subject was changed as Twilight was asked about the state of affairs regarding talking to some of the guards to make sure there was no lasting unease about Velox’s presence, something of which he didn’t know was a problem at all. Turns out since he was arrested at one point ponies couldn’t seem to get that out of their mind, coupled with the fact he technically broke out and even taught the killer how to kill made them all skittish and very anxious, so Twilight and Spike were going around talking about him to ease the tension.

Dash had been out flying getting some exercise since she was cleared to do so and was even picking up a few tricks since she had to go slower than normal, though it was rapidly changing each day. Turns out the mana she was producing was nearly as much as normal before her training started so she was quickly almost as fast as she once was and only getting faster.

Pinkie had been going around raising spirits with impromptu parties to make everypony enjoy themselves despite the deaths. Fluttershy and Rarity was a weird team up making some suggestions to some of the decor which apparently Fluttershy was rather talented in. Applejack was the one who was going around helping the guards out in physical training, running and lifting mostly as her natural farm work made her on part or better than all the soldiers at the palace.

“It makes me glad that my little ponies are working so hard for others, I am very proud of you all.” Came the kind voice of the ruler of the sun and half of Equestria. “But unfortunately my time grows short and I would like to speak with Velox here alone with my sister.”

“I haven’t done anything to offend have I Princess?” He was nervous for sure, but he couldn’t remember anything he might have done to upset anypony…except maybe break out, he did kinda do that. ‘Brain chances of that being the problem?’ When his brain reported that it was a fifty percent chance he cursed in his mind.

When the door closed Celestia took a deep breath and spoke. “Both me and my sister wish to know why it is that you and Novo are the same pony?”

Velox’s eyes went wide as he heard the question and felt the blood drain from his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about princess.”

The giant horn on the Alicorn lit up at that as she sighed. “You cannot lie to me right now my little pony, I wish to know how it is you can transform like you do, are you truly a pony at all?”

‘Melting down in three, two, one, HERBLERMASBLAMYAP.’ Velox didn’t blame his brain at all for its reaction; he wished he could do the same but couldn’t. “I-I am a pony Princess, one who has no memory beyond a little over five years ago, as for how I can change, well, that was why I went to Ponyville in the first place, as well as all around the world.” The Princesses sat patiently while listening on how he was Novo and Lego as well as Velox that they were all him and at the same time his brain worked differently so in a way they weren’t. He told them about waking up with no memories and having to be taught by Cascade, how she died and he first transformed. He told them that he had been all over the world and the only thing that any doctor or magic expert would say it that it seemed similar to changeling magic. “In the end, that is why I choose not to say anything to Twilight or anypony till Pinkie when I woke up from being hurt.”

Luna was the first to speak while Celestia took it all in. “We find this power hard to imagine, but Our scrying spell is what alerted Us to it the night you changed to Novo and broke out. As such We seen it with Our own eyes so we know it to be true. What do you think we should do on this matter sister?”

Celestia had been quiet for a long long while now as she had listened and considered the problem. “We do nothing sister. It doesn’t change that he is the Element Bearer’s guard, only that there are one of him instead of three.” Looking up at the Pegasus now she smiled sadly. “I am also sorry that we cannot think of anything that would cause memory loss like you have to such a degree, nor can I think of anything that would cause your fantastical transformative powers. Truly your missing memories are the key to it no doubt as it would be unlikely to not have this potential before your loss. However we wish to ask. If the Elements and their Bearers were in trouble, would you transform to handle it no matter what pony seen?”

“Of course, if it came down to Lego or Novo being better, I would switch to them in a heartbeat even if it meant I lost all my friends for deceiving them.” He said it sadly but meant every word.

Nodding to his answer the day ruler also smiled sadly. “That is your burden then, you can choose to tell them any time but given what all has happened if you do you fear you will lose them. I cannot say if that will happen or not but I can only tell you that Twilight and her friends have big hearts and I believe that they could still be your friend if they knew.”

“I will most likely tell them…one day just I think it is too soon. We have all only known each other a short time.” The Pegasus told her simply lacking much energy in his speech. “Maybe in a year or more or unless I am forced to, I rather it be when I choose.”

Celestia could see how heavy the words were as well as the fact of the new knowledge he had gained today, that there was no pony, no mage, no anything who would help him. “That is all the questions I had for you, I know you must be tired from today so if I think of anything else I will send somepony for you.”

Tired…yes he was so tired. He nodded and just stepped out the door looking for his room to rest.

There had been no more meetings, no more questions, and no more energy to be had for Velox. His friends were worried about him on the way to Ponyville as well as the first few days back and he tried his best to reassure them he was fine, but he wasn’t. He found himself lost and conflicted his thoughts a jumble and he found he was beginning to hate himself for it and it all came to a head one day in Ponyville.

Velox was in his cave having to leave behind the tree house of the librarian who he was temporarily staying with. He like Twilight and didn’t want to throw and break any of her precious books which is why he was here. He was currently breaking and re-breaking his desk till it was a pile of firewood that couldn’t even be identified as the corpse of the desk.

“I am reacting to much to this, I…I need to think about it and not as Velox.” He said to himself in a matter of fact town. “Lego wouldn’t do anything about this, he would just consider all options and I would most likely be here for a week not moving…guess it is Novo to deal with this.”

Transforming into his unicorn form he smiled for a moment feeling the presence of the familiar magic able to be channeled through his horn. A simple spell later and his desk was as good as new as he did one thing he had been wanting to do for a while. He dove right into his cold spring to refresh himself.

Coming up and sputtering slightly he smiled a sad smile. “That is what I need to do, I need to get away and talk to the one person who will know what I should do.”

Writing a quick note to the others telling them that Velox was with Lego and that he was going to be away from Ponyville for a few days, he put it into his saddle bags. ‘Who to give it to, somepony who won’t try to stop me, somepony that will understand my need to get away for a few days.’

He found that pony rather quickly, or rather she found him. “Hey long time no see!” Rainbow Dash said hovering close to him after a small dive to him. “I take it your back from your research stuff? You check on Velox right, he was pretty down about the Bound thing.”

A simple nod was her answer. “Ya, he also told me about his private conversation with the Princesses and honestly it…has me lost as well as Lego and Velox. All of us are unsure what to do but Lego has decided research is the best, Velox wants to do something to get his mind off it, but I…I think I need to go talk to somepony that I know to get my priorities straight.” Levitating the note from his bags he gave it to her. “Tell the others not to worry, I will be back in a few days but I…I just really need to talk to this pony.”

With that he turned away from her and left going to the train station as Dash sat there and read the note.

Mustang Valley is a simple town of only a few hundred or so and a town that Novo hated but had to go through to reach his destination. “I will pass through quick then I should be good.”

“Be good for what?” Came the tomboyish voice that nearly made him jump out of his coat.

Looking over at the top of the train he saw Dash just sitting there. “Huh, what, why, how?”

She just chuckled and smiled. “I am not going to let a friend go somewhere alone when he is lost, I mean it’s like asking me not to try to do awesome tricks with a broken wing, it’s not going to happen no matter how much I want it to.” Hopping down from the top she hovered in front of him. “So where we off to?”

It was too late to tell her to go home, no doubt she had already decided that she was going to do this, and with her ability to fly she could literally follow him anywhere. “We are going down into Bronco Gorge on the former walking path there.”

She smiled and puffed out her chest at remembering something. “Oh I heard about that, it was supposed to be an old Wonderbolt training area about a dozen years ago for its tight curves and turns as well as narrow space.”

Her boastful attitude was just what he needed right now to bring about a smile till that smile was wiped from his face. “Look at that weird mare, that can’t be natural.”

It was a young stallion maybe a few years younger than the two of them, that is if Novo guessed his age right at least, along with a few others. “You sure dats a mare, I unno kinda looks like a colt if you ask me.”

“She aint got no right to be here though with her strange attitude.” Came the voice of the third.

Apparently Dash had heard them and was about to go talk to them when she found herself in the grip of telekinesis. “Trust me, you don’t want to do that.”

“But-” she wanted to argue he could tell but got a look in her eye as she turned her head and huffed. “Fine they aren’t worth it, but it’s cause they aren’t awesome enough to give words too.”

Another smile came as he released her and started walking towards a path he knew would lead them out of town and down a path to the gorge. Along the way though, the cyan companion seemed to keep looking in his direction with a worried look and it was finally starting to get on his nerves.

“Go ahead and ask Dash, I know you have something on your mind.” Novo didn’t care anymore he just wanted to answer her question and get back to his thoughts.

There was a moment where she bit her lip and seemed to want to back out but ended up giving a giant gulp before saying it. “Who is Cascade Nights?” His legs stopped moving as his body stiffened. “I remember you mentioning her at the trial and have been wondering since you seemed like it was important to talk about her.”

“She is who I am here to see.” It was all the answer he could give her through his chocked up voice box.

The competitive and brash Pegasus was silent for a good hour after that, half way between looking to say something else and crying? That last part he was never sure about but he thought he seen tears in her eyes a few times but attributed to the dusty floor of the gorge.

“Is..is she your special somepony?” The green unicorn shook his blonde mane at her and for some reason he heard her sigh in relief.

Walking forward the ground was starting to get rocky and unstable. “Once upon a time she could have been, but…well I never did get to find out. Also watch your footing you need to be care…oh wait your flying never mind, it’s just me that needs to watch where I step then.”

The look she gave him when he mentioned that she could have been was never seen as he was looking down at the ground before him as she flew above it. “Looks like there was a land slide here a few years ago, hope no pony was hurt.”

The unicorn couldn’t stop the tears from hearing that question, he couldn’t answer her but he couldn’t look at her or he wouldn’t be able to stop himself and he needed to go forward.

“Oh hey somepony built a tunnel up ahead.” Her voice was above him as she hovered now pointing in the direction. “We can use that to-hey are you ok?”

His tears had become stronger the closer he came and he was afraid to voice himself now with being so close. He kept hearing his companion talk to him asking him if he was ok as he went down the tunnel.

Dash was more than worried for her friend. She had never seen him this upset and she could feel her own emotions rising up as well, something she didn’t like feeling.

“Look something is bothering you, I know it is, come on and just tell me.” The tomcolt asked almost demanding as they came to an end in the tunnel. “Guess they didn’t finish the tunnel, it’s a perfect chance to stop and-.”

She didn’t get to finish as his horn lit up and touched the wall slightly changing it making a vertical slit in it which he simply placed his hoof against and pushed, making the wall swing open like twin doors.

“Or not…did you know this was here?” Rainbow Dash smiled as she got an answer from him this time with a nod. “Oh neat do you know who made this tunnel or something?”

“You could say that.” Came a voice that nearly broke her heart with how sad it was. She couldn’t find her voice anymore hearing that afraid it may break her own as well.

Not one to admit it openly but the Element Bearer of loyalty was a lot more empathic then she let on, a tad on the dense at times sure but she hurt when her friends hurt and right now she felt as if her heart was breaking for more than one reason.

When the tunnel leveled out to a small room she could see a few things, moss was glowing lighting area up in a soft green glow. A wagon was set inside the area looking just big enough for one maybe two ponies from what she guessed, having seen one of similar design before when that showmare had come to Ponyville.

“Hey Cas, good to see you again.” She heard his voice call as she rapidly turned towards him expecting him to be looking at somepony, instead she only seen him levitating a bouquet of flowers and gently set them down before something.

Rainbow came over to check things out with a smile thinking she was going to be greeting a new pony. “Hey who are you talking to?” She was even more confused as she seen him pulling out cleaning supplies from his bags before she finally got close enough to see.

Novo was polishing a smooth tombstone with a few words written on it: Here lies Cascade Nights. “It’s been a couple of years since I last visited huh.” She couldn’t talk, the lump in her throat was nearly choking her now and forced her to only listen. “So last time I seen you I told you I was heading overseas. Went to Prance, then Germaneigh, Roansha was cold and I caught a cold that delayed me for a week but overall none of them gave me any leads.”

‘Leads for what? I remember Velox telling the kids that one time we played dodge ball that he traveled along way from Equestria but still. Does that mean his brothers went to those same places with him, and looking for what?’ She stayed silent as he continued.

“Saddle Arabia had no answer even if the lead did say the same things I heard before, Tai-Whinny had nothing as well, and pointed me to Cant-o. I came from there back to Equestria and luckily I heard a lead there, but had to rush to Manehatten. I still dislike Photo Finish but she led me to a place where, though I didn’t get answers, did led me to the ones who could give them to me: Celestia and Luna.” His tone was becoming increasingly heartbreaking even as he tried to sound upbeat for talking to the grave. “Celestia…”

Dash could feel tears running down her muzzle as his voice broke, nearly wanting to go hug him to at least relieve herself of the pain she was feeling. ‘I didn’t know he was hurting so much, what did the Princess say to Velox that would do this?’

“Celestia…” He broke again before Dash seen the tears flowing freely now. “She said that she didn’t know, that she had never heard of anything like this and didn’t know any way to get my memories back that even her student wouldn’t know. It was the last chance I had, it means there is no where left to look, I am sorry I just…I can’t do this anymore! I can’t keep looking for empty leads, when I know there is no more for me to look for.”

This was it for her, she watched as he collapsed before the grave and started crying. She quickly went over to him and hugged him and nuzzled him as quickly as she could sharing his pain and his tears.

The mare felt him turn towards her and look at her. “I, We have no memories Dash. Velox, Lego, and I have no memories from before about five and a half years now. We have been everywhere, not only asking police stations if anypony has heard of us hoping beyond hope that somepony has put out a search for us, that we have left somepony important behind but…nothing. There is no one, pony, griffon, dragon, anything that knows who we are. We are so alone, and most of all we failed to keep a promise to Cascade.”

Dash wasn’t as able to pick up lies as AJ was but she could tell that he wasn’t telling her everything, and that was fine with her. With how much pain she could feel from him right now, she was slightly sad she hadn’t been able to feel Lego’s or Velox’s pain about this subject.

“We were supposed to be starshifters, ponies who would go around and help others change their destinies, it was our promise to Cascade we would get our memories back and do this, not just for ourselves but for her and others. Bound ruined that name by trying to end stars without changing them, but in the end we are all bound aren’t we?!” He rested his head against her neck and just simply mumbled quietly while wetting her neck with his tears. “We aren’t a shifter at all, we are just a star…a star bound like all the others and can’t move. I…I can’t keep this name anymore, I am just Star now.”

Dash wasn’t sure if she did this on purpose or if it was subconsciously but she pressed her forehead against the base of his horn and lightly pressed her mana into him in a slow trickle to be soothing. “It’s alright, it’s alright, it doesn’t matter if you shift stars or not, you brighten up the sky for others and sometimes that is enough. Just be a bright star and lighten up the night for everypony.”

She could feel him relax and slowly fall asleep in her hooves even as his mana pressed lightly into her as if to hold onto that comfort she was given, though she herself wasn’t able to sleep, instead she was silently crying still, doing so that he didn’t have to anymore, that and she came to a realization. “Didn’t ever think that this would happen at least for me, Twilight had a better chance, Rarity and Fluttershy for sure but me…that is a shock.”

On the train ride home Novo explained how the canyon had fell on them and he had to restrain Dash from flying out the window to punch some face of the town they were leaving. “It’s over and done with, you can’t change the past, only remember it so as to try to not make the same mistakes.”

He felt Dash place her neck against his own and no longer try to stop her. Honestly he didn’t want to, it felt nice and her comfort he found comforted himself as well. ‘Doesn’t help she smells so nice as well, the scent of clouds, sky, and rain as if she were the air itself personified, free spirited and willing to go anywhere she wishes. As well as…spicy? Why does that smell familiar yet different.’

He couldn’t remember where he had smelt the scent before but he didn’t care at the moment. Just having somepony to lean against and soak in their warmth was comforting to him. Pinkie may have been his friend and confidant right now, whose hugs were really nice but…if he had to choose he would pick Dash’s hugs and presence every time

“This is nice.” He heard her say as if speaking for them both. “I am not much of a cuddler but this isn’t bad, not as good as a cloud bed mind you, but close.”

That last part seemed to be improvised quickly but it made him smile. “I will take your word for it, but ya, this is nice.”

He felt her place her forehead at the base of his horn and while it made him blush feeling her press her mana into him he knew it was for comfort like at the bottom of the gorge and he welcomed it pressing a bit of his own back. He didn’t care what it meant for others to meld like this, that it was supposed to be intimate but he considered the fact that she was willing to do this to comfort him even more sacred and precious then what other ponies did with it and couldn’t care less how they perceived it.

“I think I will tell my brothers your recommendation.” Keeping his eyes closed as he heard her give a small sound of curiosity. “Bright Star sounds like a good name.”

He opened his eyes to see her looking at his with surprise wings half raised no doubt for the same reason. “R-really?”

Nodding and pressing against her a bit more he smiled. “Ya, I think I like that name.”

Her smile lit up his life but it came to an end when they heard that they were about to stop at Ponyville causing them to pull back. However as they did both Novo and Dash noticed something. A small luminescent string connected their foreheads for a moment before vanishing.

“That was strange, what was it?” She asked him for him to only shrug as he didn’t know and rubbing her wings some which he guessed was due to them being cramped in a small cabin for nearly a day while riding back to Ponyville.

“Residual mana perhaps? I don’t feel anything wrong so its most likely not important.” Pressing his forehead back against her to share his mana with her, which she joined in for, just for another moment he sighed and pulled away along with her. “Hope you are not in too much trouble for taking three days off to follow me.”

She waved her hoof at that with a smile. “Na Thunderlane is covering for me since he owed me for not busting him for that thing I caught him doing.”

Raising an eyebrow he simply asked. “That thing?”

Rainbow just chuckled and told him about it. He would never look at Thunderlane the same ever again.

Darkness was a bound everywhere, so dark that it seemed to drain the light from the area. If anypony were around they would hear a soft raspy breathing as if it was filled with dust and very weak, struggling to draw in breath. Through the darkness two eyes slowly opened revealing their ruby red color. “It will be mine again.” Echoed from the darkness before the eyes closed and the voice went back to sleep for now, the breaths slowing down but no longer stopping as it had before.

Author's Notes:

I am going to put my authors note here at the bottom, Anyone willing to voice their opinions tell me, Top or bottom.

Ummm.

What is it brain?

Switch your thinking to dirty mode and you will see what is wrong with what you said.

.....oh.....ummm...What I meant was. Do you all like it when I put the authors notes at the top or bottom...I made this awkward didnt it?

Yes...yes you did

Chapter Eleven: Closeness.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Eleven: Closeness.

Novo told them all, he told them he had no memories beyond a little over five years ago, that he and his brothers had been searching for answers, magic, anything to get those memories back. He told them Celestia said there was nothing she could do and how that was their last chance, how Velox had ‘told’ Novo and Lego and how he went to see Cascades grave. And that was all he told them. He didn’t tell him his other secret, for now that was between him and Pinkie.

Another thing that did come up was his name change, he told them his name and his brothers would be changing to Bright Star instead of Starshifter as soon as he could tell the others what his thoughts and concerns were. Twilight had said she would still look to see if there was anything she could find but he told her it was ok.

“I think me and my brothers should start living life in the now and for tomorrow instead of searching for the past.” A smile came from him as he said that a weight no longer hanging on him as he released himself from the search. “I think its better this way, though I don’t think we will stop searching the Everfree, its kinda fun exploring it.”

It was technically only a half lie, from the exploring he had done before that first manticore attack it was fun, though again it was only a half truth too. Something he knew as he seen a weird look come from AJ’s face.

Most of all came his announcement he was finally going to buy a plot of land and had decided on where it would be. “I was thinking of buying the piece of land between Ponyville and the Everfree. It’s out of the way but not close enough to the forest to be a problem, plus I can get Zecora to come and set some things up to doubly make sure that nothing from there becomes a problem. Now the thing is…do any of you know a good construction pony to help me out?”

Twilight nodded as well as had AJ both of them having need for building at one point or another, Twilight hiring ponies to come rebuild what she explodes by accident at times, AJ mostly being a DIY pony and volunteering herself to help out.

“I-I will help out.” Everypony there was surprised to hear Dash say that. “I mean it should be some good strength training and plus I designed my own house, even if it’s just made up of clouds.”

A few of her friends were about to question her when Novo called out. “Great idea, I actually have some idea for some enchantments, I am not the best with them, a bit of dabbling so I will require both Rarity’s help and Twilights for this but, I had an idea for sheets and pillow cases with enchantments on them to hold clouds and would let any pony that touches it manipulate them as if they had the cloud walking spell. It would let anypony be able to sleep on them and I am tired of Velox saying how ‘wonderful a cloud bed is’ and I want to know as well. I actually think I have some designs here for it in my bag one moment.”

Dash was watching him grab some papers from his bag and couldn’t help but blush as a thought came to her mind. A thought of them placed side by side sleeping on a cloud bed and occasionally a nice soft k-

“Wha’cha thinkin’ about so hard there Sugarcube, especially iffin its causin’ ya to smile like that and that color to your cheeks?” Her farm friend asked her quietly startling her out of her thoughts.

Looking around quickly she noticed it was only just AJ that had noticed as everypony else was looking to Novo as he explained his idea with Rarity and Twilight occasionally correcting him. “N-no reason.” She stammered blushing brighter now that she was caught.

The freckled mare just smiled brighter and nearly made her turn her coat red with what she said next. “I think ya and Novo there have gotten awfully close since ya both done vanished like y’all did. Somethin’ happened didn’t it?”

Her eyes went wide as her blush went full take over bringing her cyan to purple for a moment then to red as she stuttered. “N-n-n-n-no.” that didn’t stop her mind from remembering the sweet moment they shared sharing mana that felt so…right to her. “A-anyway shouldn’t we be paying attention to this?”

That just got a chuckle from the Stetson wearing mare. “Sure thing Sugarcube. Sure thing.”

The next couple of days were hectic and annoying as it turned out that the crown owned the property outside of Ponyville which surprised everypony. Not that it was owned by the crown but because the pony that brought it up was one Filthy Rich.

“So Ponyville can’t sell you the land even if we wanted to.” He told them with a smirk to his face that spoke volumes of his dislike not only for the pony in question but the elements as well. “It is considered a natural treasure the Everfree and the property around it is part of it, which is why Ponyville doesn’t own it, and why I took a kindness to Velox before since I COULD have had him arrested before he was a knight for loitering on royal property, but I was too kind back then I see now.”

Novo was the one with the party this time and he was grinding his teeth in frustration. “Then I suppose I can’t buy property there huh, maybe I will grab something inside Ponyville then.”

Dash hated seeing him like this and worst of all she hated Filthy Rich for antagonizing him like this as well. “Ya it can’t be too hard right?”

The grin of the rich pony was one that she didn’t like and by the movements of her friend they didn’t either. “Unfortunately I am not looking to sell at the moment.”

The girls and Novo all blinked at the same time before Twilight spoke up. “What do you mean you are not looking to sell? The bank owns the property in Ponyville.”

He raised his hoof and gave a tisk, tisk, before smiling an oily sort of grin. “You see you would have been right before, however I recently acquired all the rest of the land in Ponyville and I am the one who reserves the right to sell to whom I please. I am sad to say I do not think Mr. Starshifter-”

“Its Bright Star now.” He growled to the beige pony.

“Right.” Rich just shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “Mr. Bright Star doesn’t look like the type that can be trusted with property so I am afraid I am not inclined to sell to him.”

Dash had to be held back by AJ when hearing that as she wanted to pummel the pony in front of them. “AJ let go I am going to beat his face in for saying that.”

The farm mare, stronger easily then the Pegasus was having a hard time holding her. “Calm down RD, look how well Novo is taking it.”

Looking over she smiled for a moment seeing him doing so well till a dark feeling ran through her that wasn’t her own. “No…no he isn’t.”

She isn’t sure why she said it but she knew it was true, more true as she heard him mumbling something. “-transmutation states that the law of Conservation of mass and that the law of natural providence must be followed or risk rebound. Alchemist must not use pony for transmutation as it is affront to the natural order as such pony transmutation is the worst one can do.”

The rest of his friends must have heard him as well as the rainbow maned mare heard Twilight speak. “Those are the Laws of Alchemy that bind what transmutation can do, why is he speaking it though.”

They all watched him turn away shaking as his horn started to glow a fierce forest green. They watched as he looked towards a few trees that were in the area before they were all forced to take to the ground as the trees exploded. When they looked to where the trees were they found giant gemstones that were steaming.

“Trees are mostly made of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur, I had to release a lot of the last five and the residuals in it but using what I could I could make those.” The gems then broke down into much more manageable parts and stacked themselves, well more like piled, in front of Rarity and Spike. “Take what you want from that you two. I am sorry about the trees, but I rather them take the hit then me focusing my magic on…him.”

“Wow.” Came most of the voices as they realized he had just turned three nice sized trees into a pile of gems though Spike and Rarity seemed to be more excited about the pile while Twilight stood there with wide eyes.

“Woo wee that is some fancy magicking ya did there.” AJ said with an impressed tone.

Dash found herself both agreeing and for some reason proud of the stallion. “No kidding, I mean I heard Twilight said she turned a pony to a plant before but-”

Novo turned quickly looked scared. “Wait what?!”

The lavender pony, for her part, looked embarrassed and shuffled her hoof against the ground. “I was just a filly and I had an uncontrolled burst of magic at which later gave me my cutie mark, every pony came out fine though and no pony was hurt. In the end it was how I hatched Spike here. The Princess even made sure that everypony was fine and there was no lasting effects, saying it happened sometimes.”

Wide eyed looking back from Spike to the mare who said it in the first place, he stalked off muttering. “Bucking rule breaking ponies and their stupid rule altering magicks that shouldn’t be possible.”

They all walked off wondering what he was talking about forgetting about the pony they were just arguing with as he was shaking with fear. “I think I may need to reconsider who I should sell with if for my own health.”

Lego was the one who finally found a work around. Giving a substantial amount of money to the Cakes he asked them to help him out. So a few days later they had purchased a double sized plot of land from Rich who didn’t have a problem with them at all. They then gave him half which he smiled at and gave them a hug.

“I know the shop is abit small for both of you, the twins and Pinkie so I figured for the help you gave me brother, which he agrees with, when he first came to Ponyville that you should have a home of your own and maybe give Pinkie the rooms upstairs while you build a home that you can raise your foals in.”

I practically bankrupted him for now but it was worth it for their tears of happiness and the hugs they had given him thanking him and promising him and his brothers free treats whenever they came by the shop, which for Lego made all the money he had spent completely worth it.

Novo had been sticking around Ponyville more often lately and when his friends asked he said it was cause so he could help design the home that was going to be built. Dash wasn’t upset in the least for this and had often found reasons to go find him, such a reason now was that they were attending a happy new home party thrown by Pinkie at Sugarcube Corner.

There was punch everywhere and a lot more cider then normal thanks to AJ whom agreed that the Cakes had really needed this and it was worth celebrating. There were games all over both for adults and foals alike that were being enjoyed and normally Dash would be more than happy to play them.

Instead she was sitting next to the blonde maned unicorn sipping cider. “That was a good thing your brother did.” She said moving slightly over to where her flank was just barely touching his own flank cutie mark to cutie mark causing a bit of a blush to her face.

Taking a sip of his own cider he smiled and nodded. “Ya, I mean we all agreed, had to consider we share a bank account, but even if we all had our own accounts it still wouldn’t have mattered, we would have all donated some.”

Another sip of her cider for courage for what she was about to before Dash started speaking. “Hey Novo.” She said causing him to look at her while taking a swig of his own drink. “I was wondering if you weren’t doing anything if you would like to go-”

“Howdy partners.” Came the suddenly very annoying, to Dash at the moment, voice of the farm mare as she tossed another bottle of cider away. “Ah take it ya two are enjoying yourselves.” Motioning with a hoof to the number of empty bottles in front of each of them.

Rarity had also walked up with her mostly though to keep an eye out for the mare whom was drinking a bit harder then she should only to stop and look at both of them with a curious glint in her eye. “Dear Applejack we really shouldn’t be bothering them if they are wanting some of alone time, I mean look at them, they are touching marks after all.”

The cyan mare was blushing up a storm as she jerked her body away from him now having been caught while Novo seemed confused. “What does touching marks have to do with anything?”

Silently Dash was half glad and half upset he said that. “Why dear don’t you know the significance of such a thing?”

“Lack of memories Rarity.” He said tapping his head with his hoof. “Plus honestly I didn’t even realize I was that close, sorry for that Dash.”

She was still blushing when she seen him get up and wobble slightly making her realize that perhaps they had sat there longer then she thought. “Haha its alright partner, normally when a stallion or mare does that it means some rather-” she took a moment to look around searching for any young ears. “That the two are rather close and maybe looking to buck each other.”

AJ hiccupped while Rarity gave a gasp at her friend being so blunt, Rainbow gave no answer but her wings did by popping up with a loud POMF sound. “Oh sorry Dash didn’t mean to do something so embarrassing like that hic.” Came the voice of Novo as she started to the door. “Anyways I think I had one too many so I am heading back to home to sleep this off, bye everypony.”

As he waved to everypony Dash just covered her head from the embarrassment as Rarity dragged AJ off to do something similar. “Come on darling I think you need to do the same before you embarrass anypony else with that type of talk.”

The farm pony was just about through the door when Dash heard her say. “Wha-it is not like ah didn’t tell the truth, ah mean look at her wings!”

Opening her eyes rapidly and turning her head she realized her wings were at full extension and rapidly tried to bring them down with gentle but rapid rubbing. After she had managed to get her wings down she did try to hang with Pinkie and have some fun but more and more as the minutes went by she found her mind wondering back gently to the train ride home that happened nearly a week ago now.

“What’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” the voice of her friend pulled her out of the happier thought. “You seem to be a million bajillion miles away.”

‘Pinkie is like my best friend, I mean if I told her what would she think, would she keep it a secret, would she make fun of me, no she wouldn’t do that right?’ Gathering up her courage she realized she had to tell somepony if nothing else then to relieve some of the pressure from her mind. “Pinkie…I like somepony.”

“Of course you do silly filly.” Rainbow Dash almost spit out her cider and was going to ask how she knew. “I mean you are like totally cool so of course you like a lot of ponies.”

Dash couldn’t help but smile both at her friend and the complement. “I kinda meant in the other way Pinkie, in the only one pony type of way.”

She watched as Pinkie was looking at her and opened her mouth to say something but stopped, she then closed her mouth and took a good hard look at her before gasping out loud. “Oh. MY. GLOB! Dashie who is it, come on tell me, tell me. I bet it is that Thunderlane isn’t it. I heard you two got real close one day but no pony seems to know why. Oh maybe it’s Soarin, I seen you two dancing at the wedding but I didn’t want to assume and-.”

Sticking her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth as she was getting louder and louder. “Pinkie, its not them and can you lower your voice some please?” The party pony pulled her hoof across her mouth in a zipping motion. “Look I like…I-I like-” it was harder to say then she thought, if she couldn’t even tell her best friend how would she tell the one that mattered. “I like Novo.”

Dash had seen many things in her lifetime, Nightmare Moon, Discord, Bug Ponies, and a myriad of various other things, but seeing Pinkie’s eyes grow wide with stars in them, literal stars, and a grin she was sure couldn’t be natural, is scared her. “No, WAY!”

A hoof flew to the ponies mouth quickly, or at least Dash thought she had put one there. Instead she felt herself being pulled upstairs at a pace she thought should have dislocated her should at the least.

When they had finally got up stairs Pinkie then let loose the most girly squeal she had heard from her every. “Oh Dashie tell me how it happened, tell me tell me, tell me please.”

That was a question she honestly wasn’t sure of herself, she wanted to say the first moment she seen him but she didn’t think that was true. “I think…I think it was when he levitated himself up to my cloud house somehow. He just kinda was there in my room and woke me up with water. At first I thought he was using the cloud walking spell but then he just mysteriously sank into the floor I thought it was really cool. I think then it started.”

For a moment Pinkie looked serious. “You sure it wasn’t during that melding thing you do for training is it?”

Dash gave a mighty blush she was sure could roast a marshmallow but shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong that is nice, and feels great, but that isn’t why. Pleasure is fine and all but I really do like him. I mean he is abit of an egghead like Twilight but he can do cool things with his eggheadyness unlike Twilight. I mean there was this smoke bomb thing he did, the trans-transmootation or whatever its called, I mean he did some neat things with that. The levitating thing, and he is really nice.”

“Whats his favorite flavor of food?” Pinkie suddenly asked her.

Not seeing what the problem was she answered. “I noticed he likes sour things or tangy things. Why?” ‘Wait how do I know that?’

She heard her friend gasp loudly and hug her. “Then it is true you do like him.” All the cyan could say was ‘huh what?’ to that. “It means you watch him and notice what he likes and doesn’t like, it is even better cause you didn’t realize you were doing it.”

Feeling her eyes grow wide she realize she had been watching him for a while now as she could recall a lot of times he went into Bon-Bon’s shop and came out with sour candies. Remembering he shared some of them with foals he met, she remembered how he drank lemonade like it was the best thing in the world, she could also remember a dozen more small memories of no importance at all where she would watch him from her cloud she ‘happened’ to be on in view of him when he was in town, and most of all, she realized she treasured each of those memories. It really hit home how far she liked the stallion; no it was more than that.

“O-oh.” She could feel her heart flutter as her friend gazed up at her in the bone crushing hug.

“Dashie you ok, Da-” As Pinkie looked at her, Rainbow got the feeling she saw a lot more then she needed to making her look at her wide eyed. “Its…more than that isn’t it.”

Dash felt more than knew that the question was more of a statement before blushing lightly and nodding. “Yeah, I think so.”

Being set down Pinkie had one more question for her it seemed. “Where do you feel it more?”

If that was asked of anypony else at the moment or even before then Dash would have joked about it or even gotten the answer wrong, but, she knew the answer. “Here, right here.” Holding up a hoof to where her heart is. “That feeling, it comes from here I am sure.”

Feeling the hoof of her friend over her own she looked up to see her smile and joined it with her own. “Then it’s the right feeling, you need to tell him ok? Pinkie Promise me.”

This was a promise she knew she would keep and had no intention of ever breaking it. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Getting another bone crushing hug was one of the last things she did before heading home, well besides grabbing a few ciders for the road.

That night was a hot, it was summer after all, and Dash was sweating even in her cloud house. It didn’t help she couldn’t get to sleep either often remembering the feelings Pinkie had helped her realize was keeping her up as they kept playing out in her mind.

“I get it I like him, you don’t have to keep torturing me about it brain!” Huffing and getting up from her bed she decided to take a shower since she was sweaty anyways and hoping that cooling down will help her get to sleep as well. Turning on the water with a kick to a cloud she smiled as the cool water flowed over her body matting her coat down. ‘Hmm this might be a good time to try out what Velox told me a while ago, it hasn’t worked before but he did recommend places with a lot of moisture.’

Closing her eyes she focused on the feeling she had come to easily recognize as her mana and the flow through her channels. She wouldn’t admit it to anypony, but her mind did wonder for a good while remembering how her channels became as wide and extensive as they were now and because of that had to quickly move her hoof from more private areas to start concentrating again.

‘Alright he said focus on the feeling of my mana, bring it out and let it flow to the very ends of the channels as if it were going to pour out into my coat and up until it reached my wings and down every feather.’ Feeling a slight tingling in her wings she couldn’t help but instinctively flap them as if she were getting rid of the numb feeling when a wing fell asleep from a long nap. Hearing his voice in her head she continued. ‘Now imagine the moisture as nothing but a cloud around you, weather to manipulate and command, to move around like you would during your job normally.’ She did and she felt a weight on her wings but ignored it for now as she continued. ‘Finally you need to use your mana to attach to the moisture you gather to make it a part of you, that part is always the hardest.’

He wasn’t lying as well as she could feel sweat starting to bead up on her even through the running water before she let out a breath and had to stop and opened her eyes.

In that moment though she was surprised beyond belief, the water that was running on her wasn’t going into the drain, instead she knew it was attached to her…for a second before it released with a great splash that soaked her bathroom. “I did it? I DID IT!” She tried to give a little hop of joy but felt suddenly wobbly. “Oh wow, hehe guess I will have to work on that.” She felt drained but the same way she did after practicing for the Wonderbolts or when practicing her martial arts.

Getting out and drying off she gave a look to the mirror and smiled before heading to her room. Then back to the bathroom again to pose a few times wondering if there was a good pose to use to attract the colt of her eyes. Shaking her head she went back to bed with a smile and finally got to sleep.

Yawning and looking down at the bed roll blanket he had laid on was displeasing. “Too drunk to change last night I guess.” Shaking himself off he chuckled as he actually had three beds in his cave. “Cloud, blanket roll, and straw beds for each of me. Straw for Lego cause his body is big and tough enough to ignore the scratchy straw, blanket for Novo here cause he rather sleep on the bed roll then on itchy straw, and cloud for Velox cause…buck ya, best bed of all and only he can sleep on it.”

Deciding to go out for a stretch before changing to Velox he smiled at seeing it was a clear day, just as he was about to change a voice called out to him stopping him before the switch. “Novo!”

Looking around he didn’t see anything but heard the whistling towards him before hitting him and rolling up in him. “Hi Dash.”

He groaned out as she ignored him. “I did it Novo!” The unicorn for his part mumbled a ‘what’ before he felt her untangle herself from him and stand before him. “Watch!”

The question of what he was watching for quickly died out as he watched her concentrate hard on something. She would start flapping her wings slowly and for some reason he was getting a sense of déjà vu. Ever so slowly he saw it though, the beading of water forming on her wings slowly creating a bubble, but not quite making the suit that comes with perfecting the Current.

She gasped and opened her eyes causing the water to fall off her. “Dang it, I can’t shape it right and attach it.”

Her sentence didn’t matter though, he was beyond happy for her as it took three times as long for Bound to even get that far with channels that would support it. “You did great Dash, I am so proud of you.”

The look she gave him when hearing that was one that melted his heart, her smiled stretched as wide as it could and her eyes were sparkling just wonderfully as she ran up to him and hugged him. “Thank you for teaching me.”

He felt her nuzzling his neck gently and couldn’t help but return the gesture as he whispered gently. “I just helped you prepare, Velox taught you.”

Pulling back from him he seen her giggle some as well as heard it before she did the gesture that he would privately admit he loved, she placed her forehead against the base of his horn and pressed a soothing amount of mana into him. He loved this, it wasn’t sexual, it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be two friends comforting and soothing one another.

However all good things change, sometimes for the better and sometimes not and for a moment Novo thought it was the latter. They had their eyes locked and all was still and silent in the world, it was just them there and he would never understand himself and why he did it, but he pressed more mana into her without even asking her.

Seeing her eyes widen and a small gasp escape her lips he thought he royally bucked up and was about to pull his mana back, except it was his turn to gasp as she pushed back. When they were comforting each other like they had before both of them would leave an opening for the other so that they could both press forward with their mana while receiving at the same time, which made the feelings they were both experiencing now even more wonderful.

Eyes locked they watched each other, breathing heavily, panting, and taking the air the other just gave out into their lungs. He wasn’t sure who started it but they both slowly started rocking very gently back and forth legs locked so they wouldn’t fall. The wonderful feeling was all over, he could literally feel Dash everywhere in him and he in turn could feel all of Dash with his mana, it was that feeling that made time irrelevant, it didn’t exist in this moment and it certainly wouldn’t have mattered if it had, they were both lost in each other at the moment, in this feeling.

Out of the corners of his eyes he became distinctly aware of cyan wings appearing in his vision extending out to full display further providing cover for both of them to make this moment just with them. Part of his mind, deep, deep back that he couldn’t hear registered that his own body was responding, sparks starting to come from his horn and his other extremity extending. It didn’t matter, all that did matter was the feeling, of both of them together.

Good things come to an end though as he could feel both his stream of mana and her own feel as if they merged into one stream where he couldn’t feel it going or coming, just existing. As the streams merged he watched as Rainbow’s eyes flutter and shut tightly before she gave the cutest and most sexy noise he had ever heard her give, and he knew he was the only one to ever hear it like this. The sound and look made his own eyes closed as euphoria spread through him even as the distant sound of a heavy liquid hit the grass below him.

No time, or all the time passed before he was able to use his brain to think of anything, he would never be sure how long it was. “D-Dash, did we, did we just-.”

He waved his hoof in a sort of rolling gesture that didn’t make any sense but she seemed to get what he was saying. “Kinda ya-” The feeling of ashamed washed through him and he was about to say he was sorry when he felt a pair of soft lips pressing against his own. “Don’t applogize, it was wonderful and honestly I have liked you for a while.” Her biting her bottom lip was adorable to him and he found himself tasting her lips again as she took a moment to respond.

“I think I have as well. Sorry we couldn’t have a date properly before something like this.” For some reason the kisses kept coming as he said that and he didn’t mind each interruption at all.

Dash, for her part, was making small pleased noises for each on. “True, but we can make up for that soon right?” Feeling him nod she gave him one last kiss before pulling back.

That is when they both seen it again, that ethereal strand connecting their foreheads. “There it is again.” Novo spoke as he brought a hoof up to touch it only for it to pass through it. “Wonder what it is.”

The colors that made it up were of the entire spectrum though it seemed to be heavily leaning towards the green in the spectrum, but all colors were represented. “Looks neat whatever it is.” Looking over to him now and ignoring…whatever it was for now she smiled and her eyes darted down with a grin. “So both horns spark huh, though one leaves evidence.”

He first looked up to where his horn was still giving off the occasional spark from the experience and it only took him a moment to realize what she meant by his ‘other horn’ when he seen her eyes dart down between his legs. “Oh umm…ya I mean-”

His blush and lack of words seem to be funny to her as she giggled and hid it behind a hoof before coming up to kiss him again. “I don’t mind at all, just shows I did a good job hehe.”

Kissing back he smiled and leaned his neck against hers. “You are adorable and cute you know that?”

The Pegasus of his affection gave of a cute eep and stepped back. “C-come on you don’t mean that, I mean I am overly muscled I don’t got any bounce in my flanks or plot, my hair is always a mess, I am abit of a tomcolt and-”

Not wanting to hear another word he silenced her with another kiss this one more then innocent as he sucked on one of her lips. “I think you are beautiful and lovely my spectrum.”

He wasn’t sure where the nickname came from but it felt right and apparently made her blush harshly but lean against him to nuzzle. “Thank you. Though we should get to the work zone if we are going to help.”

She was right, he had planned on getting a good fly in but this was just as good, though there was one more problem. “We may want to get a bath first, I mean if you take a good whiff I think even a foal could tell something happened.”

The sight of her nose twitching for a moment made her nod. “I guess so.” He heard her mumble something though. ‘even if I like the smell.’ “Don’t you have a spring in your cave?”

He was about to answer her with a simple nod but she had a look in her eyes, one that mares gave stallions since the beginning of time, that made him gulp and nod. “Y-ya I do, it is cold though.”

Her hoof pulling him quickly came with a warning or more like a promise. “Good it means we will have to keep each other warm.”

One and a half baths later, a half cause they got dirty before the first was finished and had to start over again, the two found themselves more than quite a bit happy with how the day was going, often walking closer to each other than normal and touching their marks together. Anypony that had eyes could tell something had changed between them with the looks and the touches that were seen except for the two that were doing it, they didn’t seem to notice at all.

One thing they did notice is if their foreheads got within a foot or so of each other that the weird ethereal string thing would reappear. They both said they would ask Twilight what it was another time for now it was time for work.

Ponies were too busy moving wood or other materials to really see them approach so when they were finally noticed they were already split up and helping out where they could. “Hey Novo, good to see you and Rainbow Dash too.”

It was head of the planning and organization department for the building a.k.a. Twilight Sparkle wearing a hard hat. “S’up Twilight.”

She smiled and bounced over to him with an excited Pinkie though for some reason Pinkie gave a weird look to him before gasping. “I have to find Rainbow Dash!” and in a puff of smoke she vanished.

Both Twilight and Novo gave look to each other and shrugged before they began discussing the plans for the two buildings.

Dash was whistling happily, mostly for remembering this morning, while she worked helping to fly up a piece of wood that would be a structural beam as a couple of earth pony workers that were hired secured it to the foundation. “RAINBOW DASH!”

It was the voice of Pinkie that shouted for her and brought her to the present as she couldn’t help but smile at her friend. “What’s up Pinkie, something wrong?”

Dash seen the pink party mare stare at her for a moment, the same stare that she was sure seen right up to her soul and her thoughts and immediately she blushed hard knowing somehow she could see it, see him, and see this morning. “You, me, talk, now!”

She couldn’t resist at all finding Pinkie somehow next to her up on the top of the beam then the town blurring as she was pulled along to Pinkie’s room in Sugarcube Corner. “P-Pinkie what’s going on, why did you bring me here.”

“Spill those beans now missy.” The way that those eyes were peering deeper and deeper into Dash made her back up till she felt Pinkie’s bed against her.

Gulping nervously she just laughed. “I-I think we should get back to helping everypony.”

Pinkie just stepped up to her and those eyes seemed to be gazing right into the events of this morning making Dash blush more and more. “What did you two do this morning? You are smiling like Gummy in the punch bowl and so is Novo, I also seen you two walk in about the same time, or maybe it was at the same time, I was paying attention to something else at the time.”

Her throat was dry and she was looking left and right for a way out only to see Pinkie stand up on her hind hoofs and hold out her front ones to bar her way. “I-I confessed ok!”

The blush felt like it had gotten twice as hot as she said that but she was glad she did since it would get Pinkie off her back. “And?”

“H-he felt the same.” The cyan mare felt like she was falling into a pit and trying to get a hoofhold on the walls only to find them slick and couldn’t happen.

“AND?” Those blue eyes seemed to bore right through her forcing her to confess.

There was no escaping Pinkie so Dash to her heated face confessed all that they had did this morning. “And if felt great, perfect and I don’t regret any of it Pinkie. I would do it again in a heartbeat and did in the spring. OK there I admitted all of it, are you happy now?”

Dash was halfway between crying and blushing enough to make her coat permanently turn red. “Yes.” The warm voice of her friend caused her to look up just as she hugged her gently. “Yes I am, so very, very happy you two found each other. Novo and his brothers have had a hard life alone, they need somepony like you and your life has been abit lonely as well so the fact you two are happy together is the bestest thing in the world.”

The hug went on for a while before Pinkie had to ruin it. “So how big is he?”

“Pinkie, we haven’t done THAT yet!” Rainbow’s face went beyond red to another color of the spectrum that couldn’t be named as Pinkie just giggled in her pinkie way. “Well I did kinda see how big cause how excited he got after the first time.”

Somewhere else Novo’s ears were ringing badly and for some reason he felt a blush come to his face.

AJ was unhappy about the letter Derpy had just delivered to her. “Just cause we are doing better here and he aint means we have to just drop everythin’ to come help. Well he is family so ah suppose ah have to. Granny, Bloom and Mac’ can all stay to make sure nothin’ happen.”

She approached everypony to tell them the news, for some reason Novo and RD were off to the side and she caught a few words like “-How about Saturday?” For him to nod in agreement.

“Everypony can ah have your attention?” With that all her friends came over and gave her their ears. “Ah have to leave for a few days to go help some kin in Appleloosa. Seems a couple of their farm hoofs came down sick and they are back stuffed on buckin’. Sorry ah can’t stick around to help finish the buildin’ everypony.”

She saw Novo talking to Twilight for a moment as she turned around before hearing the rest of her friends talk. “Well I mean we kinda are in the way of the professionals here, plus taking abit of a holiday away might not be so bad.” She heard Novo say and turn around quickly to see all her friends nodding. “I am sure I can convince Lego to join up while I go help Velox out in the Everfree.”

AJ could feel tears welling up in her eyes as the others started to give their own excuses, Spike wanting to see the Buffalos again, Twilight wanting to learn more about them, Rarity wanting to check up on western fashion, Pinkie thinking it will just be plain fun, Fluttershy giving a quiet nod saying ‘that she would have to find a sitter for a few days’ and Dash boosting that she couldn’t let her friend do it all alone.

Wiping the tears from her eyes she smiled to them. “Ya girls and guys are the best darn friends a pony could ask for.” For a moment she seen Dash and Novo whispering saying ‘another time this is important’ before she remembered to ask him something. “Um Novo?”

Turning and slightly blushing for some reason. “Y-ya?”

It was now or never. “I think we will need another flier instead, mind asking Velox to join us instead of Lego?”

Tilting his head before nodding he smiled. “Sure, you know best.” AJ smiled as the trip now wouldn’t be a total loss.

Its strength was growing more in and more in the darkness, its muscles slowly moving and working out the cramps of its long sleep. It was still bound in sleep under this dreadful prison of ice but it knew it wouldn’t last, a few days, weeks, maybe even a month but that was all that was left. “Now all I need to do is remember my name, when I remember that my power will reawaken and this seal shall break, then…then the Empire will be mine once more and nothing those twice damned Alicorn’s can do will be able to stop me.”

Author's Notes:

Since I dont really know the results of the last chapters question cause I post two chapters at a time, the question still remains top or bottom...with the Author's notes I mean.

Nice save.

Brain I am going to watch so much day time talk shows later if you dont shut it.

I will be good, promise, just not the talk again please not that.

That's a good brain.

Chapter Twelve: Two Minds Equal Trice the Confusion.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twelve: Two Minds Equal Trice the Confusion.

A part of Velox hated this, he wanted to be over there as Novo with Dash right now cuddling up to her and enjoying everything about her, but the weird part was most of him at this moment didn’t think that way. The rest of his mind saw it more like he saw other couples that was Novo’s fillyfriend, not his own. The worst part is that had Velox in a mostly deep state of thought, unusually for him since while for the most part he considered all his forms part of himself, this was the first time that didn’t feel right. It was even worse because Velox was the form least able to handle that type of thought being more a stallion of action.

It also didn’t help that Pinkie would give him a wink when no pony was looking. ‘Need to make it a point to talk to Pinkie about this, I don’t think I have ever felt like this, it feels weird and I don’t like feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.’

He got up and went to grab something from the trolley that was moving along the train somewhere hoping that would help. “Want to talk about it?”

Pinkie Pie could be really silent when she wanted to, which was confusing when you considered she was THE party pony. “Sorta.” Looking around and opening a door to an empty room he waited for her to come in. “I feel weird Pinkie.”

“Is it about what you and Dashie did?” This of course surprised him and he felt his wings pop open suddenly. “She told me so don’t think I was mind reading, though that would be fun knowing all the things ponies were thinking, but at the same time weird cause that means there would be no surprises ever, which is a bad thing.”

‘Of course Dash told her, they are best friends after all, which makes this harder.’ “Pinkie.” He thought for a moment trying to do his best in this form to put words properly in their place. “Novo loves Dash.” He could see the pink pony about to pop and he hated what he was about to do. “I don’t though.”

The wide eyes of the pink pony focused on him and seemed to only say one word. “What?”

Sighing as he knew he would get that reaction. “Me as in Velox, doesn’t love her, Novo loves her though. This is weird because they are both supposed to be me, but now it’s the first time ever when a part of me isn’t. My brain works differently in each form I told you that right?” When she nodded he continued. “That is the problem, the part of my brain that likes her is only there when Novo is out, my part of the brain doesn’t feel the same and it’s…AHHH!”

He felt her hug him gently and pet his violet mane gently. “Shhh its ok, I know it’s hard but, I am sure it will work out.”

“I feel like I have a stranger in my own skin, I have his memories and experiences but when I remember them in another form it feels like it happened to another pony. It wasn’t that far from the mark before but I always considered my other forms experiences my own as well but now…it’s not.” He wanted to yell, he wanted to cry, but most of all, he just wanted to do nothing and let it pass.

“Star.” Pinkie asked him, using part of his new last name now. “Do you feel like Novo is changing in a way that makes him not a part of you anymore?” He wanted to say yes, he felt like it was a no though, but most of all he just didn’t know. “It may be time to let each of your forms be their own ponies. Maybe they don’t need to be you anymore and you need to let go and let them be them.”

Was that it? Was he starting to become three different ponies, if so that would mean whoever ‘he’ was the part that was the collective of all of them, should die? He just didn’t know. He wasn’t sure he would ever know, but it doesn’t mean his collective would fade.

“Maybe I should try then.” He said silently to the gentle petting of Pinkie.

Velox stepped off the train with everypony else and found a stallion there waiting for him, and he felt himself instantly frown. ‘Appleloosa, Apple, Braeburn…ya I should have put this together before, why did you fail me brain?’

Everypony including Velox covered their ears as the stallion took in a breath. “Welcome everypony ta AAAAA-pple-LOO-sa!!!” Then the friendly smile went off his face when looked over to the neutral faced Pegasus. “Velox…what brings ya here?”

He felt the looks of his friends and the questions on their minds but choose to ignore it. “Came here at the request of your kin folk to help out. You and I may have our differences, especially my brother and you, but I am here to help, you can either accept that or we can have it out just to get it out of the way right now.”

Braeburn gritted his teeth as if he was about to take him up on that offer when Applejack came between them. “Hold it right there. What has both of ya chompin’ at the bit to go at each other?”

“Him and his know it all kin tried ta tell us how ta buck our apples. They aren’t even farmers and so they had no right ta tell us anythin’.” Glaring at the Pegasus in question as he received the glare right back at him in kind.

“My brothers and I were trying to help you before you hurt your back, AGAIN. It’s not about farmers or how many generations you have been one. It’s about common sense to not repeat the same mistakes over and over again expecting different results; some ponies use that as the very definition of insanity!” The girls all watched as the two butted heads…literally. Out of the corner of his eye though he seen AJ looking at both of them with a look of both disappointment and of sadness that he couldn’t look at anymore and turned both from her and the annoying loudmouth of a stallion. “Anyways it doesn’t matter what is going on between us, I am here to help AJ out not you. You can I can stand at the opposite ends of the fields and work to complete this just fine.”

“Fine with me, just make sure if your brothers come around to give them the same warning.” The look he felt at his back was a glare; he could see it clearly in his mind as if he was looking at it directly. “Anyways.” The hat wearing stallion said in a much more positive tone. “Ah welcome y’all to my home and orchard. Ah hope that ya don’t look unkindly about my display there ta some…ponies.”

Everypony was uncomfortable at the moment but decided to be polite to the farmer as he led them to the orchard. “Are ya two going to be able to get along?”

He wasn’t surprised it was AJ who came along and asked this and honestly she had a right to be worried. “No we aren’t. But as long as we don’t interact we should be fine.”

“What really is the problem with y’all?” The question was valid and she had the right to know, but at the same time he really didn’t want to talk about it.

Looking over to her he smiled and chuckled. “It’s nothing, just something stupid is all. It happens to everypony sometimes.”

He kept moving forward but noticed that she lagged behind. “Ya are lyin’. Why?”

One mental kick to himself later, mostly for forgetting who he tried to fib to, before he would sigh and try again. “AJ I rather you think of your family and kin kindly, so I rather not say. Blame me and my brothers instead.”

He wasn’t sure what her answer was or how she took it as he kept moving forward almost silently hating his nature to bear the things like that rather than just be a selfish pony and tell her what was the problem to put him in a good light.

‘Wait why would I need to be put into a good light?’ He felt the answer was in his brain but at the same time he felt like something hid it from him.

“Now lookie here Braeburn, ah don’t care about no excuse like that, it’s done plain wrong and ya know it!” What the freckled farm mare was yelling about was sleeping conditions that Braeburn gave them.

“Ah told ya Jackie, that ah wasn’t expectin’ another with y’all and taint right ta make one of y’all bunk with a feller like him.” Braeburn had showed them all the extra rooms and while he was right about the lack of space, he also conveniently forgot about Spike being male it seemed as well.

“AJ its ok, I will find a cloud to sleep on, kinda would prefer that anyways.” Seems the excuse worked as everypony nodded and put away their things. Except Applejack who stood there for a moment looking at him.

Dash smiled and patted Velox on the back and chuckled. “If you find an extra cloud let me know, mattress’s are all right but nothing beats a cloud any day.”

Giving Dash a bro-hoof after she raised her own up first he smiled. “Sure thing.” But for a moment he thought he heard a growl in the distance. “Anypony else hear that?”

Dash and AJ both looked around and shook their heads. “Didn’t hear nothing Sugar.”

“Ya what AJ sa-wait why are you always calling him Sugar instead of Sugarcube like the rest of us?” He heard Dash ask in the distance as he went to look for the source of the sound.

Whatever her answer was he never heard it as he came outside and found nothing, no source, no animal, no pony, no clouds either. Sighing to himself he took flight and went in search of a good place to bunk for the night.

‘Forgot this area tends to have no clouds cause of the dry heat.’ He was just glad he always carried camping supplies like a tent and bedroll in his bags. ‘I love you magical bags of holding.’

He remembered why he hated camping as Velox, his body had become too used to the soft clouds which is why he often made Lego of Novo do the sleeping if it was hard ground.

‘But noooo, I have to stay as Velox in case Dash or Twilight pops up and finds my tent, can’t have them wondering why Lego is here when he wasn’t on the train.’ Grumbling to his self softly he went to stretch his wings and felt a harsh pop that made him gasp. ‘Buck that isn’t good, I hope that, knot, cramp, whatever it is in my wings works itself out or today is going to be a son of a diamond dog.’

Turns out he was happy he made camp not too far from the orchard as flying back wasn’t an option right now for him so he had to hoof it back. Breakfast was decent, as long as you ignored that the rest of the group had normal food and he had to settle for either undercooked or way, way overcooked.

He said nothing though and ate without complaint as he did remind himself that he wasn’t here for him; he was here because AJ asked him to be here. ‘Still don’t understand why, last time I was here Lego was the best one to do anything, he was the one that should have come, but that would have ended nearly the same way with Braeburn except Lego would have shrugged and not cared.’

Work was assigned pretty simply, AJ, Twilight using her magic, and Dash would be on bucking detail, or pulling in the case of Unicorn and her magic. Rarity and Spike was on counting detail along with Fluttershy. Pinkie was in charge of refreshments and keeping everypony hydrated. His job was a simple one; he was to haul the apples, tools, and anything else to and from where they were to where they needed to go. Honestly he was glad he didn’t have to fly to do that.

It was hard sweaty work for sure and he was glad Pinkie would be delivering lemonade, wasn’t his favorite but he would take it for sure right now. Instead a frowning Braeburn came over with his drink.

“Ah don’t like how Jackie talks about ya.” The farm stallion said. “She thinks mighty highly of ya and your brothers, even tells me that it is how they improved their farmin’ cause of y’all. Ah say hogwash.”

Honestly he could care less about what the yellowish coated stallion was saying he just wanted that glass of cooling liquid. “That is good, everypony is entitled to believe what they want not matter if it’s right or wrong.”

The narrowing of the pony’s eyes alerted him to something about to happen as the grip on the glass vanished and it fell. “Opps, ya knocked it out of my hoof.”

Well that is what he started to say by a diving catch secured the glass. “Don’t worry I am sure you were just a butterhooves I got you covered.” He quickly downed the glass before the pony could do anything else. “Thank ya kindly for ya generosity.” Velox said mimicking the accent he had heard so much around the Apple clan.

Apparently the hat wearing pony didn’t take kindly as Velox wanted as he suddenly felt his face hurting and the ground meeting him. “Don’t ya EVER dare makin’ fun of the Apple accent.”

Getting up and wiping down his mouth he gave a quick spit to clear most of the blood out of his mouth before looking up at him. “First off, I wasn’t making fun of you at all, I was actually trying to show you that all ponies are the same regardless of accent but take it how you want. Second-” Suddenly with a burst of speed he slammed the native Appleloosen to the tree nearby. “If you, EVER, hit me again, I will make all the times you bucked up your own back seem like a splinter got it?”

The farm pony just pushed him away with a huff not saying a word. Sad to say that Velox had to find Pinkie a few times after that as no more drinks were ever delivered to him.

The next day was worse, the train had broken down and being a good citizen he was, Braeburn volunteered help to be given hauling parts around for them, no need to say it but Braeburn is an ass as the help he volunteered was Velox’s back in the matter. Because they assumed they were getting an earth pony to haul things he only got things done at half the speed and cause of that was berated and spat on a few times only for Braeburn to visit at some point so he could hear it as well and dish out his own brand of justice to help him get a move on.

Velox didn’t take kindly to the whip he brought and the he-yaw’s and the occasional mush’s. He had just about had enough when AJ happened to show up and he made a show of helping the Pegasus out.

“Hey there Jackie. What brings ya out here?” The question was a rather stupid one as she had a tray of drinks and snacks for the both of them on her back.

Setting it down, the freckled apple pony smiled. “Thought ya both might have worked up a sweat and could use some refreshments.” Braeburn got his share and moved away as Velox went to get his share Applejack gasped. “What in tarnation happened to ya Velox, ya eye is done black and blue.”

“Things like this happen on farm work, I am sure you know that.” It technically wasn’t a lie, but he wasn’t talking about his own situation either. “Anyways thanks for the snack, really helps out a lot.”

Forgetting for a moment about his eye she smiled and pawed at the ground with her hoof. “Aw thank nothing of it Sugar. Ah’m just glad to see ya two getting along.”

“Ya we are getting along all right.” ‘In the wagon and hauling things, mostly distance wise.’ Adding that part in his mind technically made the statement true and he was hoping it was enough to fool AJ. He never got to know as Braeburn called for him to get back to work. “See ya later AJ.”

“Yeah…see ya.” The bye sounded somewhat sad to Velox but he didn’t have time to check as he had to get back hauling things.

That night he hurt all over mostly for pulling things that should have taken at least an earth pony, if not two, to haul around by himself. The other part came from his black eye slowly healing up, as well as the lash from the whip he got when Braeburn got to free with his mush’s. He got him back for it though as the wagon was empty at the time and Velox had thrown up the part he was pulling which caused the cart to turn over and dump the ass on his ass.

In the end it didn’t solve anything, he knew tomorrow would be worse than before and his patience was starting to get thin for what Braeburn was doing. “Just a few more days, not doing this for him doing it for AJ, no matter how much I want to beat his face in.”

Collapsing onto his bed roll in the tent he started to close his eyes when he heard somepony calling for him. ‘Really right now, come on I earned my rest.’ The voice didn’t go away as he heard a ‘knock’ on the tent flap. “Come in.” He said in a tone of defeat that he wasn’t going to get to relax just yet.

“Sorry ‘bout intrudin’ like this but ya looked ragged and is that a whip mark?” He turned to hear the shocked voice of the one mare he didn’t want to see him like this. “Oh Sugar…”

Standing up was a chore to him but worth it. “AJ don’t be like that, it is not anypony’s fault.” Normally he would make an excuse on where he got it but he was just too tired to do so. “A few more days of this and we can go home, your family will have gotten the help they need and I won’t have to look at somepony in particular again.”

Seeing tears in her eyes he was about to try to reassure her some more when he found his body aching in her grip as she suddenly hugged him. “It’s my fault ah am so sorry, its cause of me that Braeburn is like this. He is too overprotective of kin and thinks ya are going to hurt me.”

He forced himself to hug her back no matter how much fire seemed to be running through him right now. “AJ it’s not your fault, him and my family haven’t gotten along at all, I don’t think that will change any time soon and honestly if it wasn’t for you asking me I wouldn’t be here. Speaking of here, how is everypony, I haven’t been able to see any of them at all lately so I have no clue.”

The change of subject didn’t seem to work as he only felt her tears increase more against his neck where she had her face buried. “Lay down.”

“S’cuse me?” The sudden request had caught him off guard but he was sure it wasn’t how it sounded like.

“Ah said lay down, ah’m going to work ya over good so ya don’t hurt so much.” She said clearly this time with no chance for mistaking it.

“S’cuse me?!” He looked left and right expecting Mac’ or Braeburn to come in at that moment hearing him being propositioned. “AJ I mean you are cute and lovely and all but I don’t think you need to be doing that to make up for things that happened.”

For her part she just looked confused before blushing. “What do ya mean; ah mean a massage helps everybody relax so they don’t hurt as much.”

“Oh you mean…I thought…never mind.” Feeling his own blush rise up to his assumptions he momentarily kicked himself before sighing. “Actually ya, a massage actually is sounding wonderful right now.”

Laying down on his stomach now and stretching out all his limbs he felt farm pony sit down on his legs straddling them before her hooves started putting pressure on his shoulders. “Ah still don’t know what ya mean but…do ya really mean that, the cute and lovely parts ah mean.”

He wanted to respond right away but she was already hitting spots that left him breathless, so when he could answer the tone of his voice kept changing from the spots being hit. “Ya, I mEAN you are a fantastic POny that I am sure GETS a lot of attention from many stALlions all telling you the same.”

Her hooves slowed for a moment as they got to his wings and he winced and gasped loudly. “T-thank ya.” She said quietly almost too soft for him to hear. “But ah don’t get all the sweet talkin’s like ya think. Most stallions think ah am too bulky and focused on my farm to really make a good fillyfriend.” The sound of a loud pop caught both of their attention. “Are ya ok?”

The pop had come from his wings and normally it would have been as painful as it sounded, except in this case. “Ahhh right there.”

The tension in his wings left, the part that had cause them hurt left and only replaced with a wonderful warmth of blood flow that promised that while he would be sore he was on the road to healing. She said nothing after that but she did start humming a tune in a rather surprisingly wonderful song voice that he didn’t know she had.

“That was lovely.” He said as she was finishing up his back.

She smiled though he couldn’t see it. “Thank ya, I aint no massage pony like Aloe or Lotus but ah think ah do good work.”

He turned his head to smile up at her. “I mean your singing voice, it was lovely.”

The orange coat became more infused with red then he could remember seeing on her at any point. “Y-ya don’t have to lie like that, ah know my voice ain’t nothing special.”

“Applejack look at me.” She did as he asked and looked into his own gray eyes as he looked into her green ones from over his shoulder. “I thought your singing voice was breathtaking and that is the truth.”

She had pulled down her hat to cover her eyes after he said that and in a way he made her even cuter then before. “Ok roll over time to get your front.”

“Wait what?” He didn’t really have a choice as he felt himself being flipped onto his back and her setting down atop of him. If Braeburn had come in at this moment he would have demanded Velox make an honest mare out of Applejack cause of the way they were positioned. “AJ you don’t have to do my front the back was more than enough.”

She seemed to ignore him as her hooves ran along his barrel slowly and not at all like a massage should be only occasionally pressing in to work a muscle. ‘Get her off of you now.’

He heard the distant part of his mind tell him and honestly he was about to listen to it when he felt her hips move in a way that wasn’t for a normal massage. “A-Applejack?”

Again she ignored him slowly rocking back and forth using her hips to massage a different type of muscle that he was one hundred percent sure she shouldn’t be touching. “L-let me do this for you Velox.”

The emotions riding through her voice were so varied he couldn’t pick out which they were. “AJ, you have done more than enough, you don’t have to do this to make me happy, just knowing you care enough about me to try to make me feel nice is more than enough.”

He thought he got through to her as she lifted her hat up enough to look into her eyes when she increased the pressure on the lower rubbing. “Then let me do this for me.” Leaning down she did something he would have never thought she would have done, then again he never thought she would be grinding against him now but still. He felt her lips press against his own passionately and even part of her tongue press forward into his mouth looking for his own.

When she broke the kiss she started to grind faster. “AJ?”

She was taking longer and longer strokes having more and more of that particular muscle to rub as it extended, what was more he knew he wasn’t the only one in the tent feeling good as the soothing warmth coating it said so. “Ah like ya, a lot Velox. Ya saved Bloom, ya tried your darnedest to help out the farm and even went so far as to give up your own job to your brother so he could do it better. Ah seen how true your heart is when ya put yourself on the line to save Pinkie and it nearly broke my own heart to see ya hurt. When ah see ya hurt ah hurt. When ah see ya happy ah’m happy. Ah…Ah love ya.”

‘Don’t you bucking say it, DON’T YOU BUCKING SAY IT!’ He wasn’t sure why he heard that voice, it didn’t even sound like his brain normally would and he didn’t care as he was going to answer truthfully to the special lie detecting mare on top of him. “I love you too AJ.” He felt a slight rush and a scream in his mind as something withdrew to leave him alone but he paid it no mind, the only thing that mattered was the mare on him right now and her happiness.

He drew her close with his arms wrapped around her as he started to move his own body now with hers. “N-no more than this ok Sugar, ah’m not ready for that.”

Nodding to her request as honestly he didn’t think he was ready either for that. He wanted to know more about the mare before he did something that honestly you couldn’t take back once done, even if Novo did something like that with Rainbow Dash with that mana thing they did.

There was no more talking after that, only the two of them so close they shared one breath as they had their hips angled just enough to rub their most intimate of places against one another. Time vanished for them both as they occasionally took one another’s breath more directly with a kiss, tasting each other’s saliva and wrestling with another’s tongues.

Normally he knew the farm pony to be extremely competitive but when his own tongue sought out hers he found her obeying its demands rather demurely and to know he did that to her turned him on even more. Rolling them both over till she was now on the bottom with her Stetson falling off her head to reveal her lovely pleasure ridden face.

For a moment after he felt himself atop of her he thought he may have went too far, instead he felt her legs, all four of them, wrap around him and continue her grinding now pulling him down to kiss her gently.

The pace they had going lasted for a while before he became aware of her moving quicker and quicker then suddenly biting down on his neck as he felt her shudder against him. He knew that she had achieved her release as her deep and loud moan where she was biting at his neck told him so.

That moan seemed to vibrate all through him and made him follow right after her and pressing down onto her as his member pulsed and fired his essence to be trapped between them.

The two found themselves wrapped in each other’s embrace for a good while, to them it seemed like no time had passed but yet years might have gone by at the same time. What brought him back to the thinking world was a pair of soft lips upon his own that he returned the gesture to.

The lovely emerald coloration of those eyes was sparkling just for him and he knew it. “Hey there Sugar.”

A smile popped up on his face to match her own as he kissed her again. “Hey.”

They laid there for a little while more before she slowly motioned for him to get off her and that is when they discovered the mess. “Oh…ah guess ya let me have it didn’t ya?”

She said it so casually that he himself was blushing for her while she smirked, it was at that point he realized that her competitive nature was still there and while she may act demure in some ways she will look to compete with him in others.

Seeing her victory with his blush she looked at him for a moment in the eyes and rubbed her hoof in the mess before licking it off. He wasn’t sure but he could swear he never seen anything more erotic then that, so much so warmth was slowly coating his face around his muzzle.

“Ah think ya sprung a leak there fella’.” Her face was still plastered with mirth as she watched him raise a hoof to his snout and pull it back to discover blood. “And here ah thought that only happened in stories.”

Raising his head up to help stem the blood flow, he had finally found his voice as he looked around. “There is a river about thirty minutes from here. I think we can wash up there.”

He felt her body heat press up against him as she whispered in his ear. “What if ah don’t want to wash up? What if ah like this smell?”

A dizzy spell washed through him as Velox placed one hoof down to balance himself. “Umm, ahh, err…”

The giggle he heard was both adorable and damn sexy as she rubbed his back. “Fine if we must, but ah get to wash ya. Ah am sure you can return the favor.”

‘Blood levels failing captain, we are losing too much and too much is being diverted, abort, abort, abort!’ As had become a bit of a habit he told his brain off and lead the way to the river.

Mist was covering everywhere, it was dark enough that he knew he was in that place with only black in white but could barely see any of the bright white coloration to distinguish figures at all. Slowly he came to a large individual; the darkness muted his coat so he couldn’t tell who it was…at least at first.

“You done bucked up.” The deep rich voice was one that was hard to place, mostly because he had never heard it from outside his own head before.

Blinking for a moment he looked at him harder. “Lego.” Getting a nod as an answer he smiled. “Oh I am dreaming that is good.”

“No…you’re not but yes you are at the same time.” He looked around slowly then back to the pony. “I haven’t quite figured it out but what you did tonight caused a rift…we aren’t a single pony anymore.”

He was about to ask him what he meant when he seen him take three deliberate steps back. “Why are you backing-.”

“MOTHERBUCKER!” He heard called to him and felt something crash into his side. “It is all your fault, ALL YOUR FAULT!”

The pummeling of hooves was felt against him, not very strong but fury empowered them enough where he had to kick to get the pony off, a pony with a voice he knew. “Novo?”

He watched the muted colors of the pony take up a fighting stance as he growled. “You don’t get to call me by my name you backstabbing horseapple!”

Velox was easily the most agile of the three and was able to move out of every attempt his other self tried to attack or tackle with. “What’s your problem?”

The pony was still growling but that isn’t what surprised him, it was the tears running down his face tears he could tell were of a great sadness. “Now she will hate me, she will leave me, the best thing to happen to me will leave and it’s YOUR FAULT!”

Having enough of that Velox swiftly dodged again but this time tackled the unicorn down. “What do you mean?”

The disheartened transmutation specialist struggled for a good while before giving up. “Dash…she will hate me cause you used OUR body to cheat on her with Applejack.”

His grip weakened when those words hit cause it meant the same in reverse as it did this way. “Applejack will leave me cause of what happened with Dash…”

Throwing off the Pegasus Novo was wiping his tears as he nodded. “Now you get it. I pulled away when you did that, I wanted to at least be able to tell Dash I wasn’t a part of it when you did. Doesn’t matter, I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but in the last few months more ponies have been discovering our powers out or we have been getting more and more hurt then normal…our friends are going to find out eventually and when they do…”

Velox could feel his world crashing down on him. He was in his mind when they did what they did with Dash; he was part of it; however Novo shied away when he and AJ had their evening together. How could he look at her with a straight face and say anything anymore.

Neither Velox nor Novo had an answer for this problem and it was then Lego stepped up. “You two take a back seat, Tomorrow I am taking over and I am going to stay in our body for a while now. You two will think about things in the back of our mind till you figure something out. Novo, this is just another example of ‘All is one and one is all for us’ except now we all are the body and the body is all of us in a different sense than before. Velox I know you are an action pony so you will throw ideas at Novo while he thinks them mostly through like always. At night you will give your ideas to me to look at completely. Deal everypony?”

There was no better plan then that at the moment so both unicorn and Pegasus agreed with the earth pony except for one thing. “I don’t think you should switch yet, they would get suspicious if you showed up so switch once we get back to Ponyville and it should only be another day or so before we head home.”

Finally they all agreed and Velox would keep the body for now and they all hoped the wrong thing wouldn’t be said in the next day or so.

Early the next morning AJ snuck back to the farm house after giving him a quick kiss and a promise not to do ant PDA, public displays of attention, while anypony could see, especially Braeburn as she hadn’t want to make his time worse. So for now they agreed to keep it friendly once again which worked best in Velox’s mind and the other two agreed.

‘No hanky panky anymore with anypony for all of us got it?’ Came the cold calculating voice of the earth pony persona from within.

He could feel the nod of the unicorn then a sudden smile. ‘Good news is we don’t have to talk to our brain anymore.’

The sound of a high-hoof was in his mind suddenly as he smiled. ‘I think when we get back to Ponyville we need to take a day or so off and go see Celestia and Luna, they should have an idea how to make this right. Till then…we need to talk to somepony or someone.’

There was a moment of silence as he was flying back to the farm when the sun was just coming over the horizon. “Pinkie?”

Both voices in his head answered. ‘Pinkie.’

They ignored all other ponies on the farm from the sky, though there was a moment hesitation when Velox spotted his farm mare talking to Rarity for a reason or another, something about her hair from the gestures he could see, however he was looking for- “There she is!”

Surprisingly Pinkie was alone in the field as he came and swooped down to talk to her. “Hey there Puddles.”

He smiled at the nickname and made him feel momentarily better. “Pinkie, I think I am insane now.”

The smack upside his head was more auditory then physical as he felt Novo smack him. ‘Really…that is how you explain it to her…ok.’

The perpetual pink party pony of perkiness just tilted her head and raised her hoof to her mouth before giving out a single. “huh?”

‘Let me out, I will explain.’ He shook his head at hearing Novo wanting out before looking to her.

“Remember on the train how I freaked out, saying it was like I was a stranger in my own skin and how Novo didn’t feel the same as me?” Seeing her nod he smiled and sighed in relief. “Well now its true.”

He could almost see the gears turning in her head. “So…you really are three ponies now? OH does that mean I get to throw you two more parties?”

Two thuds of face hoofing was heard in his mind at that followed by a real one in reality. “Pinkie, Novo and Lego split from my mind, they are now their own voices and personalities not a part of me or me a part of them.”

“So what you’re saying is.” Velox and the rest almost knew exactly what she was going to say and was hoping she wouldn’t. “I do get to throw you two more parties.”

‘Called it.’ The clinking of bits as they exchanged hooves was loud in his head and he briefly wondered how they had money in his head before shaking the thought away.

“Pinkie this is serious, I did something that I really need to talk to some pony about and-” He heard ponies start to come to his area and sighed. “and I won’t be able to tell you now. Hey everypony!”

“Ready for another hard day of work partner?” Called the voice of his farm mare.

He nodded and he heard a growl in his head when he felt his heart flutter for a moment. ‘I will personally rip your dick off if you do anything.’ Novo practically shouted in his mind

‘Wouldn’t you be ripping your own off if you did that.’ Lego, ever the voice of reason, told him in a matter of fact tone.

The growl no longer focused on Velox but on the other sibling. ‘Not the point.’

Ignoring the spectators in his mind he smiled at her and nodded. “Ya, I am. I got the best sleep of my life last night and I am raring to go.”

He saw a small smile appear on the freckled face and strangely on the face of the prim mare beside her. ‘Explore why that is later, right now the quicker we do work the faster the day will end and the faster we can go home then to Celestia to sort this out even more.’

It was a good plan and it worked really well till a part from an expensive pulley and loading system that helped load and box up the apples broke. Braeburn took the part out and put it in a wagon to haul, well for Velox to haul, and headed down to the store for a replacement part.

“Mush, He-YAW.” The voice called emphasized by the crack of a whip.

‘Either of you two wish there was a dark alley to be found where no pony would find his body?’ When he felt nods of the two in his head he couldn’t help but smile knowing that they may be different now but some things were the same.

When they got to the machinist’s and engineer’s store, Braeburn unhooked him from the cart and told him to go inside. “Ask for a P-Twenty Two, Series Eight loader part. When he asks the section tell him One-O-Three.”

He was wishing this day was over; it was going good today till that part busted. AJ had been delivering the drinks to him instead of Braeburn, he had been left along by the stallion for the most part, and best of all with the problems with his wings worked out, every step didn’t bother him anymore.

“Howdy there pardner, care ta browse our wares or are ya lookin’ for somethin’ specific like?” The shop pony asked him as he came over to the counter.

Velox nodded and smiled as friendly as possible. “I am looking for a P-Twenty Two, Series Eight loader part and its section is One-Zero-Three.”

“One-ought-Three ya say?” When the Pegasus nodded to him again he smiled. “Ah think ah have that somewhere, now to freakin’ find the part in the back haha, give me a moment kiddo.”

Five minutes had passed and he could see hear rummaging around in the back and out front. ‘Wait what is happening out front?’ His other personas didn’t answer, they only gave a sense of curiosity as he headed toward the door.

Outside he heard what sounded like a hoof hitting flesh and a couple of deep voices. “It is your ‘machines’ like this that are an affront to all which is good and natural pony.”

“It is an abomination that the chief shouldn’t have allowed.” Came the other deep voice. “Maybe with this other ponies will either both learn and accept the truth path of nature or they will leave.”

Another sound of hoof against flesh and a grunt of pain as Velox came out to see Braeburn on the ground. ‘We could just leave him here, would be just punishment to him for all the horseapples he has given us…but AJ would be upset at us…crap not even dating and I am whipped.’ Which the other two in his head agreed with in multiple ways to that thought.

“That is enough you two p-oh sorry Buffalo.” He turned just in time to see the assailants were two large, about two maybe three times the size of him, buffalo that were currently looking smug and upset. Smug over the beating they gave the stallion and upset that they had been interrupted. ‘Well in for a bit, in for bullion right?’

“Another pony come to learn our ways, or maybe he is looking to defend his lover there.” The insult the buffalo gave seemed to tickle them both as they laughed as they watched Velox check on the unconscious pony. “Go on give him a kiss maybe that will wake him up.”

‘Lego you are better at first aid does he look ok?’ A couple of moments would go by with Lego guiding him on what to check for before giving him the ok that he was fun, just beat up. “Well he is fine it seems, just knocked out.”

The sound of a buffalo coming up behind him. “Look at this pony, I bet he takes it from that hat wearing one bet he is worried that he won’t get it up again after that beating we gave him and he didn’t even fight back.”

‘And you got what you needed, he just admitted to beating him which means he hit first. DO IT!’ For once all three agreed that this was what needed to happen. With the buffalo right behind him like he was and laughing he wasn’t prepare for an apple bucking to his face. There was the satisfying crunch of jaw breaking as the buffalo was tossed back.

“Bastard you will pay for that.” Velox barely had time to recover from his buck before he was rammed hard from the buffalo. There was a moment he was secretly glad buffalo had such small horns or that might have killed him, still didn’t feel too good though and it did cause a nice gash in his side.

Velox stood and started to gather his mana to start using the current…except. ‘You are in a dry desert region…there is no moisture in the air to use.’ The calculating voice of Lego told him to which he responded. ‘Oh….well buck me.’

Meanwhile that darkness had slowly gathered more of its power, but it lacked the one thing to truly get itself going. “My name….what is my name, I must remember to break the seal.”

“Maybe I can help with that?” Ruby red eyes focused on the source of the sound.

A hiss was given to the voice from the darkness. “And what would I have to pay for this ‘help’?”

A chuckle heard as the figure slowly came closer revealing a silhouette to the darkness. “Nothing, just in the time it will take for you to gather your power to attack, think about some counter measures not only to Celestia and Luna, but the other Princess: Cadence as well as the Elements of Harmony.”

The darkness seemed to pulse around before the eyes opened again to settle on the figure. “And…that is all?” With a nod the darkness knew why it told him this. “Fine, I accept on the condition you tell me about all these enemies I will have to prepare for.”

A wide grin in the darkness revealing pointed fangs was seen. “I will tell you all I know Sombra.”

Author's Notes:

Today is that day, new chapter day. As always another chapter should be uploaded quickly after this one.

Ok no interruptions from brain today...did I finally kill him with those shots last night?

(Edit: Well looks like I wasn't quite in my right mind when I last edited this chapter. As such I just updated it, new words a sentence or two here or there, and some punctuation and grammar fixes as well as various spelling errors correct)

Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky Timing.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky Timing.

Celestia was beside herself, the message had just come in and it worried her to no end, which is why she called her captain of the guard and her niece before her now.

Shining Armor, captain and now prince, came before her first with his wife only a step behind him. “What is wrong Princess?” The unicorn stallion was a pure white color with a two toned blue mane with a dedication to protect ponies that Celestia admired and couldn’t think of anypony else she would have allowed to be with Cadence other then the knight captain before her.

Standing beside him was her lovely niece, the embodiment of love and the Princess of it as well. “Aunty please tell us, what is so important to send us that message.”

The light pink Alicorn mare had asked her, as her yellow, magenta, and purple mane covered one eye and had her tail twitching. “As you read in my message, the fate of Equestria is on the line here, that is because The Crystal Empire has returned.”

Both of the ponies before her gasped in shock at the news. “B-but that means.”

Celestia nodded to the smaller Princess. “Yes, it means Sombra will be returning as well, that is why I am sending you two and a small contingent of guards to the empire to secure it before he has gathered enough power to hold it himself. Your group will defend and hold your birthright Cadence till I can send help your way.”

Both ponies bent their knees in a bow and said ‘Yes Princess.’

She watched them both leave as she started to write a letter to her student. “Dear Twilight Sparkle.”

‘Options guys?’ Novo and Lego were no help at all as Velox dodged the tackle this time gritting his teeth as the pain from the gash in his side protested. ‘Also how bad is that?’

‘Couple of stitches and you should be good, nothing terribly wrong, it will be sore for abit though, a couple of days for sure even with magic to heal it.’ Lego commented.

The buffalo stopped short on his next charge and used his front hoof to hit Velox on the nose. “Got you, you little fly.”

Backing up and holding his nose Velox gritted even as his red life liquid dripped to the ground. ‘I just wish there was some moisture around.’ Drip ‘Then I would kick this guys flank.’ Drip ‘Wait.’ Looking down to his nose and then to his gash he stared at them for a moment before he heard the voice inside him.

‘All is one, one is all of course! USE IT!’ Novo practically shouted from inside him as the current welled up and gathered the blood that had been leaked to the ground.

Anypony watching this would think it was a morbid sight, seeing blood flow towards the wing of the Pegasus, of course this included the buffalo that was still awake. “Witchcraft!”

The blood was just enough to coat the wing and turn it into a blade. “Nope, but then again you don’t care what I nor anypony has to say do you?” The buffalo charged as Velox side stepped him and used the bladed wing to drag a long score across his side, not deep enough to be fatal but deep enough that he would need a lot of stitches.

“AHHH!” The giant bison called out as he dropped holding his side.

Velox moved the blood from his wing to press against his open wound now to stop further blood flow, he almost wished he thought of this in the woods that night he saved Pinkie but…oh well lesson learned. “Stay down, you really don’t want to rip that open further.” Walking into the store he called to the clerk. “Would you mind calling for authorities to clean up two buffalos that attacked Braeburn Apple? I have to get him home to treat his wounds. Tell them Knight Bright Star authorized it.”

The store owner came out in a rush looking to see what happened. Star put Braeburn in the cart and started to carry both it and him back home. Over the course of the walk he discovered that blood was much harder to manage then water as he had to keep it moving or it would coagulate and harden to the point he couldn’t manipulate anymore. While it did cause his wound to seal up nicely he wanted to study it more, or at least Novo and Lego did even if the drain was tiring.

By the time he got the cart back to the farm Braeburn was awake. “So, ya are a knight of Equestria huh?”

He had stopped using the current a while ago but it didn’t mean he wasn’t tired from it. “Ya, my job is to protect your cousin and her friends, it’s also my brothers job as well. Also how long were you awake for?”

He couldn’t turn his head to see the stallion but the silence rang out for a while. “About when ya got that gash on your side. Though ah was in and out of it. Thanks for saving me though.”

Sighing for a moment he decided Braeburn needed to hear the truth. “I didn’t save you, I saved AJ’s family which happened to be you. I won’t lie, I like AJ a lot and it would hurt her more than anything to know that I let a member of her family get wailed on without at least trying to help. So again I didn’t save you, I saved AJ and her kin.”

Everypony was doing their job and as such didn’t see the two of them return as Velox put the cart back in the barn. “Ah am good to get home…Ah want to say sorry, ya and ah may not see eye ta eye, but like Jackie said, ya are a good pony and ah am sorry for how ah have been treatin’ ya.”

Velox waved his hoof as if to dismiss it, but truth was he didn’t trust himself not to back talk him. Leaving the apple kin to his own walk Velox started to head to his tent, he didn’t care if the pony was upset at him, he was hurting, he was starting to get dizzy and needed some rest.

When he got to his tent about thirty or so minutes later he lay down and he passed out as soon as he touched his bed roll.

“Get up Sugar we have to get to Canterlot.” The sweet voice of his farm mare came with the world of pain as she rubbed him to wake him up making him gasp for air. Slowly waking up and seeing it was dark, something he was grateful for as it meant AJ couldn’t see his unwashed state. “Twilight and Spike already caught a train and the next one is about to leave soon. Celestia needs us there ASAP.”

“Ok ok, I get it, I will pack my stuff up quickly.” The Pegasus said to her as he started packing the insides of the tent up.

Hearing the tent flap rustle as she left he did hear her call out to him from out there. “Also ya might want to wash up on the ride over, your coat is sticky.”

Everypony had gotten on the train as quickly as possible, it was dark and the lights in the train were dimmed since it was early morning and the sun had not yet risen and some pony’s on the train were sleeping between stops. Pinkie was jumping around with a smile on her face saying ‘they should throw Twilight a party when they get there for celebrating her passing her test’. Rarity was going on how she wanted to see more of Canterlot fashion.

“I just hope the test isn’t super important, I mean why would the Princess call us too?” The barely heard voice of the meek Pegasus spoke to them.

AJ watched as Velox excused himself to go wash up, for a moment the farm pony admired his form but realized he was walking a tad funny and was about to ask him when Dash spoke up. “OH you think maybe she invited the Wonderbolts there as well?”

The farm pony chuckled and waved her hoof to them. “Why would the Princess call for the Wonderbolts if it is Twi’s test?”

Dash looked disappointed for a moment but by the look on her face the freckled southern mare knew she had a comeback. “I don’t know, maybe it’s the same reason you were eating cherry candy for, I mean it’s all over your hoof.”

She had no clue what she was talking about but when she looked down at her hoof it was covered in a sticky red substance. “Huh where did that done come from?”

“It doesn’t matter its candy!” Pinkie exclaimed before grabbing her hoof and giving it a giant lick.

She was just about to laugh at the pony’s antics when she seen her shoot away from her hoof and was quickly wiping her mouth. “What’s wrong Sugarcube, not the brand of candy ya like?”

AJ and everypony’s laughter stopped when Pinkie looked up with a face that said a thousand words but only uttered a few from her mouth. “It’s blood.”

Rarity came over with her hoofkerchief to wipe away the substance from her hoof. “There is a good bit of it on the other hoof too it seems.” The fashionista said after checking the other appendage. “You really need to let us know if you are hurt deary, though I don’t see any cuts or anything so you should be fine.”

All the other girls agreed quickly as she looked at her hoofs. “But ah didn’t hurt myself, ah mean the only thing that was sticky was Velox’s coat.”

Comprehension came to each of the girls nearly at the same time as Fluttershy spoke first. “Braeburn did say he and Velox got into a fight with some buffalos but that he wasn’t too badly hurt.”

Dash looked angry at this. “But he didn’t tell us how bad Velox was hurt, come on we have to find him.”

Moving a needle around with only your mouth and hoof was hard but he had finally finished as he tied off the end of the thread and cutting it off with a bite. He was sweating now as he grabbed a washcloth to wipe down his brow and folded his wings back up.

‘Nice and hidden under my wing, I don’t think anypony will be able to tell unless they know what to look for. I think.’ His other voices told him he knew that wouldn’t hold water as when he lifted up his wing it was quite obvious he had stitched himself up. Grabbing a couple of painkillers he had left over from the Timberwolves he took them to dull the pain as he stepped out of the wash closet.

He was nearly run over by his friends as they were just coming around the corner and gave him a worried look. “There you are!”

Fluttershy was the first to barge through the group and started to look him over. “Where is it?”

“What are you talking about Fluttershy?” He didn’t like to see his friends worrying like this but it’s not like he knew what to say at the moment or knew even what they were looking for.

AJ came over and pointed her hoof. “It should be on his side somewhere that is where ah moved him to wake him up.”

Well it didn’t take a wizard to figure out what they were looking for now and he was about to show them when Fluttershy lifted up his wing first and gasped. “Oh my.”

“Girls its fine, I already took care of it, should heal up good as new.” His voice wasn’t really heard though as both Rarity and Fluttershy was looking over his work.

“Not bad, but clearly amateur.” Said the proper acting mare. “But he is right, it should be fine.” The yellow and pink Pegasus also agreed as she looked them over.

He smiled to them all as they all gave him a concerned look. “See, I am fine.”

The farm mare his heart seemed to beat for came close and hugged him. “Don’t keep these things to yourself Sugar, Ah hurt when ya hurt remember.”

“Ya I know, that is why I didn’t want to tell you.” They both seemed to forget they had company as he felt her lips press against his much to his surprise as many gasps were heard, the loudest being Pinkie’s.

“Woah, when did this start!” Dash called out loudly.

AJ, however, wasn’t as cornered as Velox was feeling many feelings of guilt now that didn’t emanate from him. “Go ahead and tell them AJ, Pinkie mind helping me pack my first aid kit up?”

As he predicted they all practically dragged Applejack back to the cabin as both Pinkie and himself went into the wash room. “How could you?”

“Pinkie this is what I was trying to say before. I am Velox now, Novo is Novo, and Lego is Lego…we are all separate now, not of one mind. Novo is in love with Dash and I am in love with Applejack, it is what caused us to separate.” The look of betrayal on her face slowly changed to one of sadness as she understood. “Now I have to share my body with somepony who wants to give it to his special somepony while he has to watch as I do the same. In the end, I know they are going to find out and when they do, both of them will think they were lied to and betrayed…There is no happy ending for me in this nor Novo.”

“You need to tell them, tell them before they find out themselves.” Her voice was chocked with sadness and tears. “If you do, you might at least keep them as friends. Tell them after Twilight’s test ok?”

The fact that the perky party pony was looking at that as the bright side meant he truly was bucked here. “Ya, I promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?” she asked looking at him seriously. He recited the poem of a promise and she gave him a hug. “I will still be your friend no matter what, I Pinkie Promise.” She then proceeded to recite the poem herself.

Gathering up their emotions to put on a good face they left the wash room and went to the cabin were everypony was gathered, where he heard the tail end of the conversation. “Oh come on, you just kissed, you wouldn’t be blushing as hard as you are if that was all.”

“I agree dear, you confessed and kissed, with how you are acting and your eyes moving this way and that I hardly believe that myself.” Rarity said before turning to see him and Pinkie returning. “Ah, there you are, come you need to tell us the truth on what happened between you and dear Applejack here.”

He didn’t need to look at the mare to know that she was pleading with him not to say anything. “Alright.” He couldn’t help but smile at her gasp. “AJ came to me and confessed, then she kissed me, I was a bad kisser so she is kinda covering for me.” The look on her face turned at once to a grateful look as she sighed. “Now girls if you don’t mind, I took some medication and it is kinda making me drowsy so I am going to doze till we get to Canterlot.”

Finding a nice place to lay down he closed his eyes hoping they wouldn’t disturb him even if he wasn’t going to take a nap. Feeling his seat move he felt the press of somepony against him which, when he opened his eyes, found the orange mare next to him before a few voices of ‘awww’ came from their friends. Weirdly with her body heat and the painkilling effects he did find himself dozing and soon got a few winks before their upcoming event.

They were now riding towards the Crystal Empire, a place for Equestria that was lost long ago Twilight told them, a thousand years ago more or less. While he didn’t doubt the words of Celestia or even Twilight, he just found it hard to believe a thousand years could go by for a kingdom to just have vanished till now.

Thankfully her retelling of what her test was, if in a vague way was to save the empire by helping her brother and Princess Cadence, was a nice distraction as it left AJ and him alone in peace.

Looking outside and realizing snow was everywhere everypony was worried…except Velox. “I love snow.”

Rarity however was unpacking scarves for herself and offering any to ponies which they all took one of a complementing color or one that matched their coat color. “I don’t get why you would like the snow deary, it is just dreadful and the moisture can just ruin a well done mane like my own.”

Shaking himself off, he smiled and looked towards his student. “Dash, what is the rule about moisture and weather for the current?”

It took her a moment with her chin on her head before her eyes lit up. “The more there is the stronger it is.”

“Bingo. Whatever we face here means we face it when I am at my strongest, even better as I see a snowstorm star-.” There was a roar in the background; this time he wasn’t the only one who heard it. “-ting, so ya, what was that?”

The train shook for a moment before it started to rapidly grind to a halt which made the mare in charge widen her eyes. “But we aren’t at the empire yet!”

The conductor of the train came out yelling loudly and rapidly heading for the door. “A shadow, a large shadow is coming after us!”

Everypony rushed outside to see it was true; a large shadow was rapidly rushing towards them. “We aren’t that far from where we have to be, start hoofing it!”

They all started running at Velox’s call, much to his sides hatred, as it protested each step. It was only thanks to Twilight healing him up as best she could during the train ride over that it wasn’t debilitating at the least…just annoying.

Turning back he could see the shadow gaining on them, at this pace it was a matter of a minute at best before it overtook them. “Keep running everypony, I will catch up!”

His friends momentarily called out to him but didn’t stop as they seen him start to glow the dark blue that was a sure sign of what was to come.

In the wind as he gathered his strength Velox was sure he heard a voice. “Crystal Slaves, Elements, Stop, I rule.”

Out of the dark came two ruby colored eyes and a horn as a face took hold. “Not sure what you are, but your one ugly sonva-” Before he could finish that sentence Sombra roared at him. “That’s right here I am COME AT ME!” With that Velox unleashed the current causing the snow to suddenly spout from his body and around him to create a vortex.

With a flap of his wings he sent the vortex at the dark king whose smoke was wrapped up in it riding it for a while till it and his smoke dispersed. Velox had used up all the power of his current in one go and couldn’t move right away but he did slowly start to walk away after a minute or two only to hear the hissing in the wind.

“You dare.” It called as he turned to see the smoke reforming into the wall of shadow once more.

‘Seriously?!’ He thought for a moment before his inner selves told him to fly. Taking flight he quickly outpaced the shadow even if he felt like he was running on empty, it was a good thing too as he seen his friends meeting up with another pony wearing a scarf and a snow visor.

They turned to see him and the shadow surging towards them. “Move your plots NOW!”

They did just that, starting to run quickly towards the domed city he could see in the distance. He would have found it rather lovely if not for running for his life.

The shadow would take them he could see it; there was nothing to stop it now. “SHINY!”

Twilight called as it seemed Shining Armor was going to take a stand, Velox knew this was a bad idea and it was his job to protect his friends so he made a worse choice by landing in front of the Unicorn captain. “GO!”

Summoning the current quicker than he had ever before, he was determined to disperse this shadowy wall of darkness again even as he could hear his friends shouting at him as Shining Armor rejoined them and they weren’t the only ones. ‘DON’T DO IT!’

He couldn’t stop now ignoring all the voices both outwards and inwards he felt blood quickly starting to run down his nose as he overtaxed himself to create another vortex.

Twilight watched as her friend was glowing a brilliant dark blue before a water spout of snow, a snow spout as it were, quickly rose up from the snow around him and was shot forth to break up the cloud that was Sombra the evil crystal king in a display that left her in wonder.

She was happy that Shiny wasn’t hurt but the feeling quickly faded as she seen the pony that had just saved them collapse into the snow not moving. Using her magic she quickly grabbed hold of him and started to levitate him as she ran to the bubble with everypony.

Once inside the barrier she set him down as they all asked if he was alright. “One second let me look.” Using a spell to read his vitals and check his condition she was worried till the results came back. “He just used too much power all at once; he should be fine with some rest.”

She watched as Applejack picked him up and set him on her back with tears in her eyes. “Why do ya have to do these things?”

Twilight was the only one close enough to hear her say this, she had been told on the train ride over that they were together now but that display really sent it home for her and once more she felt that pang of jealousy she once felt for Dash when watching her and Novo syncing up together during their training.

On the way to the crystal palace and almost seeming to zone out, no longer hearing the ‘cool’ ‘pretty’ ‘fabulous’ and other complements her friends gave to the city. ‘Shiny and Cadence are together, AJ and Velox are together, if I didn’t know better I would say Novo and Dash were together, but she is more into the brash types I think so I don’t think she would go for that. My friends are happy and I just keep finding myself wishing I had somepony in my life too, maybe I will ask Cadence when the test is over for some advice.’

Sombra wasn’t happy, he had been thwarted in his attempt both on the elements early on and of the prince and he was currently destroying the cave he had retreated to. “You didn’t tell me there would be a Pegasus with snow magic to stop me!”

The figure that was assisting the dark king politely bowed. “It was…unforeseen your majesty. However my agents are now in the city and will try to either speed up the decay of the barrier or at least dispose of the elements.”

“NO!” The mad king called out to him. “Tell them to capture the Elements and that annoying Pegasus. I have heard that the Elements are all mares of substance and beauty, and a king will need a harem so why not them. As for the Pegasus, I want to deal with him personally.”

The figure bowed gracefully to the shadow pony. “As you wish, so it shall be.”

Velox woke up the next day feeling like a sack that had been thrown around a few times before stuffed into a cramp spot. Looking outside he found there was some kind of fair going on as he stretched and went to look for information on what was happening and if everypony was ok.

He got lucky in his random choosing of halls to go with as he came to the throne room where an Alicorn and Twilight’s brother stood together their horns touching as they mixed their magic. “I am not interrupting anything am I?”

The blue maned unicorn came over and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “No, I am just using my own spell to reinforce Cadence’s spell, my shields aren’t effective against him but when I combine them with Cadence I can at least take some of the pressure off her, which is good cause she isn’t doing too well holding the shield up.”

He assumed that the shield that they were talking about was the bubble they had passed through. “That is good.”

Feeling hooves wrap around him he was caught up in a hug by the Alicorn of love as well as her smile. “Thank you so much, if you hadn’t saved Shining Armor I don’t know what I would do.” He wanted to wave it off by he couldn’t move his anything at the moment with her hugging him. “I mean not including the possibility that my Shining would have been taken from me, the least that might have happened was Sombra cursing him to not be able to use his magic, if that happened I think the shield would have failed by now.”

He was let go after one last squeeze before she smiled. “No thanks are needed, I am sure Shining Armor here was going to do nearly the same thing for the rest of us to let us get into the bubble isn’t that right.” Giving a nod he smiled. “So I just stepped in for him is all, thank him for doing something not me. Plus it is not good for a guy to watch his wife hug another stallion so strongly.”

That caused her to giggle, a bell like noise that fit perfectly with the Alicorn, before she coughed into her hoof. “Yes of course, anyways I wish to tell you that currently your friends are holding the fair trying to come up with another way to keep Sombra out.”

“Sombra?” He wanted to say Novo read a book mentioning him a while ago but when Novo’s voice in his head just tells him it was reference in a book detailing how to defend against dark magic that was it.

Shining Armor took this chance to explain for his wife. “He is an evil king that made the Crystal Empire vanish a thousand years ago. The Princesses turned him into a shadow and imprisoned him in ice, but now that the Empire is back.”

Velox got the point. “Mr. Shadow comes back with it.” Both of the royals nodded in agreement. “Alright so what does a fair have to do with this?”

Rarity was doing her best to weave straw into festival hats and was doing a good job of it too. So much so she finally got to take a break as no ponies were coming to her stall just now.

“Finally I can take a breather.” Or so she thought as she set her head to the counter.

“Miss?” lifting her head up to hear the young voice she found a young crystal pony looking at her.

Rarity couldn’t help but feel the little thing was so adorable with her gradient colored mane and large eyes. “Yes is it that I can do for you?”

“I heard you knew how to sow, I was wondering if you would help me fix up my scarf, it is caught on a nail in the alleyway over there and I don’t want to pull it anymore so it doesn’t rip.” Hearing about a young filly’s scarf being so mangled caused the unicorns sense of generosity to flare up as well as her fashion sense.

Giving her the widest smile she could Rarity nodded. “Of course, show me the way.”

When they came to the alleyway the scarf was way up in the air beyond the crystal ponies reach, but not for the magic of the unicorn. “Thank you Miss.”

The young filly from behind her called out as Rarity took a good look at the scarf. “You have good taste in scarves, I had packed one just like this in my own suitcase, it is a shame it was lost when our train was stopped on the way here.” Pulling out her sewing kit she started to mend the article of clothing. “I mean its rather amazing, you were all gone a thousand years and yet here is a…”

Rarity realized the setup too late as the filly jumped onto her back and pressed a sickly sweet smelling rag to her mouth and nose forcing her to breath in deeply. “I know, a modern scarf in a thousand year old city, such a surprise isn’t it?” the young filly’s voice was no longer sweet but menacing sounding as Rarity succumbed to the drug in the rag and passed out.

Dash watched sadly as her friend went flying after the joust match, she wanted to show off some more than that but beggars cant be choosers when trying to save an empire right she thought to herself. Running over to where she spotted Fluttershy land then vanish into the hay pile.

The Pegasus came out spitting hay from her mouth as Dash smiled. “See that wasn’t so bad.”

“I suppose.” The meek friend of hers said. “I just wish it wasn’t so violent. Do we really have to do this?”

“Of course we do.” The rainbow pony boasted hitting her jousting armor. “We have to buy time for Twilight and keep the spirits of the crystal ponies up, plus I like showing off how awesome I am.”

At that moment a crystal pony bumped into Dash and spilled her drink all on the top of the helmet soaking her mane. “Oh I am so sorry here take off the helmet and let’s get you a towel to dry off?”

Dash did as the crystal pony asked, and while she was miffed that the pony had run into her while she stood still, she was making it right by helping out. “Sure, it’s not a problem. Just hurry up so we can get back to jousting.”

The pony ran off to grab a towel while the shy pony started talking again. “I do hope we can help all the ponies here, I would just feel awful if something happened.”

While she was boastful and confident Rainbow did agree that would be bad as the crystal pony came back with the towel and started to dry off her mane. “Ya no kidding, anyways after my mane is dry you need to get ready for the joust…hey where is your armor?”

The yellow pony looked over herself for a moment and just grinned. “Oh I knew I forgot to add something to this.”

Dash was about to ask about Shy’s tone of voice changing as well as what happened to her armor when the sweet smell of the towel got to her. “Hey what are you do-.” And she passed out.

Pinkie Pie was in her jester outfit blowing on her flugal horn that she had ‘acquired’ when no pony was watching her. ‘Hehe that will show Dash not to underestimate Pinkamena Diane Pie.’

Right about that time as she was bouncing along a pony ran into her and spilled a drink on her hat and mane. “Oh I am sorry here let me-”

Before the pony could offer to help Pinkie just stuck part of her hoof in her mouth and blew into it causing a popping sound as her hat flew off and her mane burst out dry as her hat now was. “No need I got it.”

Bouncing off to her next destination, she heard the pony just whisper. “Wait, how?”

Pinkie was now moving to where she was supposed to start juggling and once there she stood up on her hind legs and started to balance on a ball while throwing colorful balls into the air.

Applejack was doing her darnedest to keep the curious Earth Ponies from the fake heart and she was starting to worry that she wouldn’t be able to keep this up.

Luckily her problems were solved as Rainbow Dash ran up to her with a giant smile on her face. “Applejack, Twilight found it, hurry, we need you to carry it back!”

Quickly telling a crystal pony to vamoose she started to run behind her colorful friend though for some reason she felt like something was off, something she couldn’t put her hoof on.

She found all her friends in a house where the heart was hiding. The heart was really big, twice as big as herself, and she could see why they needed her help. “Here Applejack I created a potion that should increase your strength, I mean even you can’t lift this by yourself.” AJ watched as the unicorn alchemist poured the contents of the potion onto a rag. “Just have to breath this in deeply, you might feel dizzy at first but then everything will work out for the best.”

Quickly taking the rag she breathed in the sticky sweet smell. “Ah don’t feel so good, are you sure this will be for the best?”

Twilight’s smile just grew as she watched AJ tip over passing out. “Of course it is for the best, but for us.”

Twilight and Spike were searching around the castle under statuettes, under rugs, and under tables as Spike watched his friend becoming more and more desperate to pass her test and save all the crystal ponies.

“Are you sure I can’t help Twilight?” Her number one assistant asked of her. Only for her to reply with the same answer as before of ‘not a claw’.

It was getting the point where he was sure she wouldn’t ever think of the answer but when he seen AJ come up with a smile he knew something good was about to happen. “TWI! We done found it!”

“Really? But how?” she asked incredulity. “I mean it was supposed to be my test you weren’t supposed to find it.”

For a moment Spike thought he saw the farm pony’s face scrunch up for a moment before she smiled. “I know that is why we haven’t touched it we are waiting for you, follow me!”

Spike felt himself levitated onto his roommate’s back as she galloped after the mare leading her deep down into the basements of the palace. “This doesn’t look like a nice place.”

The dragon worried out loud looking at all the bars passing them by. “Right, no pony in their right mind would come here, come on you all need to hurry.”

Spike could feel the spines on the back of his neck raise up they stopped in front of a cell. “AJ what happened to your accent?”

The mare opened her mouth for a moment before she growled. “I knew I forgot something, NOW!”

The solid crystal cell was opened and Spike felt himself tossed in to land on his head beside other ponies he recognized as he watched a few random crystal ponies jump on twilight and attach something around her neck before she too was tossed in.

She stood up and he knew she was about to let them have it when her look of concentration failed and she just looked surprised. “Surprised, they are made from the same anti-magic crystals below Canterlot, with that collar on, you can’t use magic, and only a unicorn or a horned magic user can remove them.”

Spike was wondering what was going on but he didn’t have to wonder long as a voice called out beside him. “What in tarnation is going on here?”

Looking at the farm pony that was getting up beside him and to the one outside the cell door he realized why she didn’t have an accent now. “No way.”

Twilight realized it too and called out to the fake AJ before them. “How did you get past Cadence’s barrier?”

The pony just laughed evilly. “Last time she caught us by surprise when she tossed us out, but really come on now.” Green flames covered the fake earth pony as her coat was replaced with black chitin, legs with holes in them, wings that were missing parts, and half formed horns. “We eat love; a barrier of love can’t keep us out.”

The changelings were starting to get mad now; this was the eight attempt to capture the pink pony as she thwarted their attempts every time. Last time the changeling tried to make her hold too many things so he could put the rag to her face, except he swore that she grew an extra two sets of appendages to hold all the items.

What was more he was forced to babysit the newbie on this mission who was…now not at his side and going up to the pink pony in disguise. “Oh no.”

As he approached he watched plainly as his partner held up the rag and asked. “Does this smell funny to you?”

Without missing a beat he was about to snatch the rag from him when the pink pony took it and inhaled deeply. “Now that you mention it, it kind of do-” and she fell over passed out.

His partner looked at him with a grin while he himself just looked at the two of them. “Did that seriously just happen?”

The disguised bug pony just shrugged “Don’t question it.”

‘Ok so the Crystal Heart is some important defensive artifact or magic or item or something that helps protect the Crystal Empire.’ Velox mentally recalled and went down the check list.

‘Right, it is activated and powered by the love of the crystal ponies here, kinda like an amplifier for spells.’ Novo said inside of his head listing off the next part of the list.

Lego finished it up with his own thought. ‘Which is why Twilight and Spike are searching for it and the rest are keeping up the spirits of the ponies with the fair, kinda would be useless to have an amp with no power going to it from their love if they aren’t feeling the love right?’

He nodded as he was looking for the lavender mare in question to help her out; he had nearly been all around the castle and was about to head outside when he spotted them all. “There you all are, I have come to help out.”

Dash came over and nuzzled him against his neck as did AJ and to say he was weirded out was an understatement. “Hey just the big guy we wanted to see, we were hoping you could help us with something.”

He was about to back up and say what when Novo screamed out in his head. ‘That isn’t Dash, her eyes are Rose colored, kinda like magenta.’

Taking a moment to look at the Dash in question he seen her eyes were more of a pink than anything else and thus he did as his instincts called out to him and decked her in the face. “You have the wrong eye color, they are a magenta and Dash likes somepony else and wouldn’t hang on me like that. Who the buck are you?!”

‘Dash’ wiped her mouth as she growled and ‘AJ’ smiled. “Guess you aren’t as good as copying as you said Facsimile.”

The ‘Pegasus’ smiled and rubbed her hoof over her face and as she did Velox felt a sense of dread as the eyes changed to the right color. “At least I can copy an accent Dup.”

He wasn’t sure what was going on but suddenly a green sickly glow seemed to come from each of their foreheads where a horn would be for those that didn’t have one and he felt himself being held. “What’s going on?!”

The fake Dash came over and held up a rag to his face as she spoke to the others. “Still I could have sworn I felt the fillyfoaler maned Pegasus’ love flow to him. Oh well.”

The rag smelt too sweet and soon he felt darkness claim his mind.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since his capture at the hooves of the fakes but he could hear their voices around him as he slowly came around. “Is he gonna be alright Twi?”

‘Wait, the fake couldn’t imitate her accent but she said others could, test time.’ Velox would like to admit it was his plan but sadly it was Lego guiding him.

“AJ, if that is you whisper into my ear how you really confessed.” He knew it might be cruel but there were only two ponies who knew the answer to that question.

Opening his eyes he looked around to his ‘friends’ as ‘Twilight’ nodded. “Go ahead, he must have encountered them as well and that is why we all did the same to each other at the beginning when we woke up as well.”

Watching with tenseness in his body ready to spring into action in case it was a trap, he watched her near him. However when she started to recount the part where she was straddling him while he was on his back his face couldn’t take anymore and he pulled away.

“Ok, ok it’s you.” She was also blushing as he looked around at his friends. “And you vouch for them that they are the real ones as well?” When she nodded again he sighed. “Ok then what were those fake you’s?”

Twilight sighed and placed her head against the wall, that is where he seen she was wearing something. “They were changelings pretending to be other ponies, if you thought we were fakes chances are that means they were running around as us.”

Velox could feel the hair at the back of his neck stand up when she mentioned them. “Ok so now that we know that, let’s bust down the door and go kick some flank.”

“We would love to Sugar but that door and the walls are pretty darn sturdy, ah don’t think even Big Mac’ could bust them down.” He was starting to worry as he seen his friends getting down about that.

Looking to Twilight he smiled. “Just blow the door down, unleash some magic and vaporize that flimsy thing.”

The mage mare just tapped her collar. “This makes it so unicorns can’t use magic.” Turning for a moment he could see Rarity also wore one. “And only unicorn magic can unlock it. I am afraid not only will I not pass the test, but Sombra and the Changelings will take the Crystal Empire and spread darkness all through Equestria, unless you can cut through the walls?” he looked at the crystal and with a quick reference of crystal from Novo within him he knew the answer and just shook his head to confirm he couldn’t. “That’s it then, my brother, Cadence, all of us, and the crystal ponies will fall to Sombra then the rest of Equestria…we failed.”

The sad looks of all his friends were unbearable this couldn’t be how things were supposed to go, he couldn’t let this happen…but he couldn’t change anything.

Change.

Standing up and swallowing hard and with agreement from the other personas he knew what had to be done. “I know how to get us out of this, well sorta.”

That got everypony’s attention even as he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. “Really? So we can still save everypony?”

He nodded again and closed his eyes. “Hey Pinkie.”

As he turned to look at her he noticed that her tail was twitching as well as a few other funky things going on with her. “No…please don’t do it. My Pinkie sense is telling me it’s going to be bad.”

He went over to give her a hug as the tears started to roll down his eyes. “What’s going on pal?”

Dash’s words were ignored as Velox continued to talk to Pinkie. “I am a bad friend Pinkie, I have to break my promise. I am sorry, but I rather lose my friends then my friends lose their lives.”

Everypony heard him, he was about to break a Pinkie Promise. “Hey there partner, ya can’t go and break a Pinkie Promise, ya will lose friends if ya do.”

Turning to her with tears running down his face he just smiled. “I know.” As he began to glow white.

Author's Notes:

Hmmm still no word from my brain, getting kinda worried...if anyone hears from my brain be sure to let me know.

On another note...cliff hangers suck, makes me wonder why I do it.

cause you are a sadistic bas-

BRAIN BUDDY!

(Edit: Did some editorial things to this chapter, added a sentence here or there, grammar and spelling fixes, and a few other things.)

Chapter Fourteen: Truth and Loss.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Fourteen: Truth and Loss.

The moment when you tell a young filly the Tooth Fairy isn’t real. The moment when you tell a young colt that Saddle Claus is made up. The moment you show your friends you aren’t who they thought you were by changing right in front of them, they were all the same reaction. It all added up to the same thing for each of those things: shock, sadness, and the loss of trust and innocence.

All his friends watched as his wings changed in the light absorbed into him as his body became slightly less muscular and a horn sprouted from his head. The light faded and all that was left was a forest green coat, a blonde mane, and not Velox.

“Novo?” The quaking voice of Dash asked of him. “What, how, when?”

Turning and still with tears running down his face Novo looked at her and gave a sad smile before turning to Twilight. “I am going to get this off you and Rarity then change the cell door so we can leave.”

Twilight however was backing up from him. “But, you, how, are you a changeling?”

All his friends backed up from him except Pinkie and Dash, the latter of whom was now crying openly. “Is that it, you were a changeling, you came to do all those…things with me and make me…”

It broke his heart to hear her say those things and it seemed others started catching on quickly. “Velox…was that fake too? Was it all a ruse?!”

Velox inside Novo added his own tears to the one still streaming down his face as his horn started to glow. It was with hurt in his heart he seen Twilight try to shield herself with her hooves as his magic streamed out towards the collar.

The collar, accepting the magic of a unicorn, unlocked and dropped off her neck, he then went to the door and looked to Twilight. “Twilight you should be able to remove Rarity’s collar while I get the door.”

She just gave a silent nod as she went over to her friend to remove the collar. His horn glowed as it covered the door making the hinges vanish, well more merge with the frame then anything, and the door collapse forward. He didn’t move after the door was opened instead letting his friends go first, except not all of them went out quickly.

Feeling a punch in his gut as he collapsed he looked to see an angry tear streaked face of Dash walk by. “I hate you.”

The words hurt as much as the next once. “Ah can’t believe ah fell for somepony like ya. Ya ain’t not even worth a kick.”

He stayed there silently as he felt a pair of hooves try to help him up. “Pinkie leave that scumbag there, we have to find the Crystal Heart.”

Pinkie looked to her best friend with tears of her own in her eyes not able to believe that Dash would say that. “Sorry Star.”

Leaving him there she followed her friends out of the dungeon.

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there wallowing in his despair but he eventually found himself raising up and heading out as well. One thought was keeping the otherwise emotionally dead pony going, the thought to help his friends.

His first thoughts were to go to follow them to try to find the heart, but honestly he didn’t know where they went, so he changed his course to the throne room to talk to Cadence and Shining Armor.

“Excuse me you two, didn’t mean to interrupt but I was wondering if you-” He wasn’t sure what he was seeing at the moment, but he looked around the room and seen Cadence and Shining Armor fighting against Shining Armor and Cadence, while the latter two were teamed up with Cadence and Shining Armor with another Shining Armor and Cadence in reserve.

All ponies turned towards him in shock and two with hopeful eyes. ‘Those are the real ones.’ Lego called out from his inner world.

“You changelings really know how to irritate somepony you know that? But you picked the wrong avenue to do so with me.” Walking calmly towards the truthful pair of royalty he watched as the fakes rushed towards him. “In a Kingdom of Crystals you challenge a pony whom has crystals in his cutie mark, well the world won’t miss stupidity.”

That didn’t stop the ponies even as his horned started to glow. The first pair that got close to found the floor below them transmuted to form several crystal spikes that impaled them right through and no area was safe, heart, brain, lungs, all were pierced on the deadly implements. The second group tried to cast spells at him only to find those same spikes breaking down and flying towards them in a whirlwind of razor edges and blades that cut them to pieces leaving the evidence of their existence with entrails and flesh strewn about. The last group tried to change to their normal selves to fly out the window only to find saws made of crystals cutting them in half with efficient brutality, so much so that everypony still alive could see the looks of shock on their faces as they each seen their other halves fall away as they did.

He went over to the royals and bowed his head. “Sir Novo Bright Star at your service.”

Shining Armor, a captain who has fought before had seen death before so recovered the quickest. “Thank you Sir Knight and well met.”

“How could you?!” Cadence asked him eyes full of tears. “Those ponies even if they were creatures that ate love will now never have the chance to know true love. What did they do to you?”

Shiny tried to calm his wife as the transmutation pony just looked at her with dead eyes. “They made me kill myself and took my heart from me.”

In her distraction from the shock of that statement her magic failed for a moment causing the barrier to lower just enough for Sombra to stick his head in with his horn glowing darkly but not for long as the barrier came back up causing the Unicorn king to lose part of his horn when the barrier cut it off.

Seeing this, Star looked to where the horn piece of the king fell. “I wonder what happens when you cut a piece of shadow…” For some reason he knew he should be cautious however during that walk up to the throne room he knew that had something broke inside him, he knew what it was, but now that it was broken he just, couldn’t care anymore. There was nothing but curiosity now, nothing but knowledge for him.

He felt a hoof on his shoulder as he was trying to leave and he turned to see Cadence there. “You’re hurt.”

Looking over himself for a moment he could see no sign of injury. “You are mistaken. I am fine. Now I have to go check that out.”

Shining Armor watched Cadence watch the unicorn leave and he could tell her heart hurt just from her face, he could tell it was a great amount of pain like she felt only a few times before. She looked over to him he watched her hoof move to her chest.

“Sweet heart.” Her knight moved quickly over to her embracing her in his arms. “He had so much love in him before I could feel it, there was a great amount and now…there is nothing but pain, something happened, something that hurt that pony to make him like that.” She started to cry against him as he held her. “I thought he was just a callous and cold killer, but I looked harder with my talent and he meant what he said, he had to kill off his love against his will, why would any pony do that?”

Shining Armor knew the answer; the problem was he knew how his wife was going to react to it. “If what you say is true, then I think I know why.” His wife looked up at him in hope and he felt horrible he was about to use the one thing that was a part of her to destroy it. “Love made him do it.” He saw it, the pain and the horror of that statement that took over in that moment. “If Sombra told me right now to destroy myself to save you, I would and I wouldn’t think twice to do so, because you are my everything.”

It was all the knight could do to hold her now.

On the way to the specimen site he had caught glimpses of the ponies he had saved at the cost of himself, a flash of cyan overhead, a fleeting look of yellow, running orange, white and purple that was gone before he finished turning his head, but most of all was the sad look when him and the Pink pony locked eyes. For some reason he felt as if he should cry when she gazed at him with emotion on her face but he couldn’t do so.

He had a job to do and couldn’t afford to do that. Their safety and the safety of all the crystal ponies are what matters now, nothing else. Emotions, his own safety, his limits, and his mind, not a single bit of it mattered if Sombra was going to win, and he was ready to sacrifice what little he had left.

It took a good half hour to walk to the edge of the bubble, he knew he could fly but he didn’t want to waste energy on a transformation, in retrospect he was not sure if his choice was the correct one. “Bubbling dark energy that is spreading and consuming other crystals near it…Lego, Velox, thoughts.”

‘I know little of dark magicks so I have nothing to contribute.’ Came the Pegasus from within.

Lego was silent for a good bit as Novo felt him watch through his eyes. ‘It seems to be almost a dark transmutation, of which you are the specialist, your judgment is top priority and as such I will only add supplemental knowledge where it applies.’

A part of Novo wanted to remark how dry Lego’s already dry voice had become, even more so as it matched Velox’s and now his own in its intensity. “I see, alright then, it’s a type of corrupting transmutation, and since it seems to react in a negative fashion against the bubble that the Princess has erected I suppose it as a destabilizing or apathy type of magic, chaos to destabilize harmonic. Hate to love.”

‘Break it down then, even if it’s just broken it shouldn’t radiate as much if it’s in smaller pieces.’ Velox called to him without the fire it normally would have.

“Alright then.” The green glow of his horn had very little saturation of color in it almost gray as he aimed it at the crystals. “Let’s get to work.”

“Come on Dash I am telling you, he and Velox share the same body but are two different ponies.” Pinkie told the flier as she landed for a break grabbing a water bottle to drink quickly, she and the others had been flying and searching for the changelings only to have been told they were recently dealt with.

“He betrayed us Pinkie, he used me, used me to get his jollies and now…” She could see Dash choke up as the words never came though plenty of tears shown unshed in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter, what he did to me is nothing, however cheating on me and AJ by using us…no, there is no forgiving that.”

It had been nearly the same answer she had gotten from the working mare except add lies to the speech as well. “Dash, Novo does love you but Velox loves AJ, he didn’t cheat its-”

“It’s cause he is two ponies? Yeah right, I bet he just told you that so he could have a chance to hop onto your saddle as well.” Dash had heard enough. “If you want to be his friend fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when he bucks you and doesn’t care anymore.”

With that and a sonic rainboom later she was gone even as her tail and leg was twitching. “Rainbow, you didn’t see his eyes, he cares for you and AJ so much its killing him, you have to see that or you may lose him.”

Twilight had overcome the door of her deepest fears; she was heading up the spiral, or was it down, with Spike on her back. She would have normally found this fun but her thoughts were disturbed. She had watched him change form before them, becoming another pony. Had he been that pony and the other all along, what would Lego think, maybe he knew, maybe he was those two as well.

Feeling the stairs vanish from below her she quickly reverse the gravity spell and landed on her hooves. “We are here Spike. There it is, the Crystal Heart. We have to hurry the barrier is weakening.”

Looking outside she could see the sky change rapidly from sky blue to dusty red in flickers as she hurried to the platform where the heart was. Spike hadn’t gotten a chance to jump off her back as she stepped on the platform and the alarm spell that was on it went off. Sombra could hear this but thanks to the weakening of the barrier he didn’t need to be inside the barrier to trap them, using his dark magic he connected to the trap to seal the pony and her assistant up but knocking the Heart out of the barrier of dark crystals and out of their reach.

Looking all around them Twilight panicked. “Oh no, I was too busy thinking about Vel-Nov-Star that I wasn’t paying attention and rushed right in. How foolish can I be?”

She tried to teleport both her and Spike out of the trap only for it to suck them back in. “Twi, what are we going to do?”

Twilight didn’t know, she couldn’t teleport them out and she didn’t know how to defuse the trap safely, if only somepony was on the outside they could take the heart to Cadence.

A memory came to her just then it was during one of her visits to Velox while he was in the hospital right after Pinkie and the Timberwolves incident.

“How are you holding up, I came to see if you needed any replacement books.” She had asked him with a smile on his face even as he still had many tubes stuck in various places on him.

Reaching over to see some of the books she brought she seen him wince and rushed to help him only to be waved off with a chuckle. “It’s ok Twilight, all in all it’s worth it.”

“How can you say that? You almost died and yet you are laughing as if you got a great present.” She was genuinely concerned for his mental health when she seen him laugh at that.

He got a faraway look on his face. “Somepony once told me, ‘The past is history, the future a mystery, but right now is a gift, its why it’s called the present.’ Problem is I like to share my presents and with no friends to share with, well my gift goes to waste. My pain right now, means I have friends to share with later, so some pain now means happiness later as long as my friends are ok.”

That smile brightened up her day and she felt like she understood him a bit better on that day.

That nice memory was ruined suddenly as it came with a realization and an image from her recent past, the look of a crying stallion Pegasus then a unicorn followed by the hurtful looks and words they had given him. “Oh no, what have we done?”

“What’s wrong Twilight?” her number one assistant asked worried.

Looking around she knew there was no safe way to disarm this trap. “Spike it’s going to be up to you, after I free us, I won’t have much magic left so you have to get the crystal to Cadence no matter what.”

She was already charging up her horn with power even as the dragon’s eyes grew wide. “But Twilight, this is your test.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore; there are things more important than that now, it’s up to you Spike.” With that she released the charge in her horn with a shockwave that shattered the crystals and shorted out the plate below them leaving her drained and unable to hold herself up anymore. “Go.”

Cadence had passed out in his hooves. The emotional drain that she had just experienced was too much and it took what strength she had left from her causing her to drop the barrier as the captain watched the darkness attacking something at the edge of where the barrier was. Whatever it was it didn’t put up a very good fight as it only took a minute before whatever it was had stopped moving and the darkness took it.

Sombra was now moving towards them only to growl loudly when everypony heard the next words. “I have it, I have the heart!”

Dash, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all on a balcony as they heard the dragon call out. “I have it, I have the heart!” However they all felt helpless when they saw the dark crystals rapidly approaching the palace.

“No, I won’t let us go down like this.” Dash called out as she started to flap her wings, prismatic energy starting to form on them. “I hate the jerk but he taught me how to do this and I am going to use it.”

She had been practicing on her down time at the Appaloosan farm and was getting better at it, it took some time to form and didn’t always work, but she could get Level one to work for her.

This time was no exception as the water formed a tight seal around her wings as she smiled. “Hold still ugly, I got something for ya.”

Flapping her wings a few times to get a steady rhythm going, she then launched them forward one last time and released parts of the current sending out a buck shot of pellets at the smoke pony.

Sombra took form for a moment with a smile as he pulled something from the shadows to use as a shield.

This scene would be the source of many nightmares to come for Dash as her perceived great victory and awesomeness came with rapid meaty thuds and blood splatter as the evil king used the green unicorn he had defeated at the edge of the bubble to shield himself and block the bullets.

Dash couldn’t remember every screaming as loud as she was before then.

Spike had jumped and was falling with the heart only to be caught by Sombra in his magic. “Yes, finally this empire and the world will be mine.”

The raspy hissing voice spoke and sent shivers down the dragon as he gulped and feared the worse. “I think I read that in a Daring Do book, thought it was abit generic then and that hasn’t changed.”

Spike looked over to see in an aura of magic that also held him, held their former friend blooded with many holes in his back. “Oh Celestia, Novo what happened?”

Sombra laughed evilly as he pointed to the prismatic mare whose wings dripped water. “She shot at me with some kind of water magic and this unicorn was kind enough to be the king’s shield.”

He felt sick knowing that Dash had did that even by accident and it was only made worse by the dual laughing…wait dual?

Novo was laughing with him as tears streamed down his face. “I guess you find it funny my shield, to know another pony’s magic will cause your downfall, it’s ok though she is one of the elements and part of my future harem.”

The blonde unicorn just shook his head. “No, no, it’s not that.”

“Oh do tell what is so funny before I cast my spell to end this futile resistance.” The smug gravel like voice demanded of him.

Novo ending his chuckling smiled at him. “It’s just funny cause her bleeding me will let me bleed you.”

Sombra barely had time to look surprised before the blood running out of the transmuter took on a glow and became iron spikes shooting up into the king. “What sorcery is this?”

The question was answered as his grip on his magic vanished and all three of them fell towards the ground with the echoing taunt of the one who stabbed him calling out. “Its transmutation, and there is a lot of iron in blood.”

Spike couldn’t believe he had seen a smile on the ponies face as they both fell with the heart.

Twilight had managed to come down to where her friends were just as she watched Novo stab Sombra with his own blood, she had picked up her pace as she knew something bad had happened earlier when she heard Rainbow Dash scream, however it wasn’t easy when running nearly on the Mana Zero Condition.

‘No casting till I gather some more strength, casting on MZC can kill a pony if they do too much.’ She watched as her assistant fell along with her friend. ‘No, I don’t have the strength to catch them!’

She didn’t have to as Cadence had flown forward quickly to catch Spike on her back, the heart and Novo in her magic before landing on the fake crystal heart Twilight and her friends had made crushing it and setting down her passengers as a pony in the crowd remarked that the crystal princess had returned.

“Yes, the Crystal Heart as returned.” Cadence spoke to the crowd not in a loud voice, but in a voice that with no doubt they could all hear. “Use the light and love inside you to ensure that King Sombra does not.”

Twilight from her place up on the palace watched as she sent the heart to its resting place where they had put the fake heart up for display for all the crystal ponies to bow to. When each of them did she could see that their bodies became like jewels, faceted and Rarity’s dream of sparkly.

With the roads starting to glow she could hear the surprise in the shadow king’s voice. “No, stop!”

With amazement she watched as the magic suddenly surged from the streets below all towards the Heart. What resulted was a spectacular display of power that shattered each shadow jewel it encounter as well as illuminating every pony it touched giving them all a crystal sheen even if they weren’t already one. It also styled her hair and others hair for some reason she didn’t quite know.

Most of all and perhaps the most satisfying was that as it reached Sombra, she watched it melt his shadows, destroy his armor to pieces and send his horn flying, or what was left of it as it overtook him all before shooting a brilliant beam of energy into the air creating an aurora of colors that matched the colors in Cadence’s mane.

She felt energized from all the positive love energy that had surged through her that she teleported right down to hug Spike and Cadence. Well that was her thought except there was one pony whom wasn’t currently a crystal, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing.

“Oh no, Novo what’s wrong.” She ran asking both the downed pony and the Princess over him.

Cadence face took on a somber tone as she looked at her sister in law. “Twilight…he is hurt bad and his mana is nearly gone.”

“But, the heart, I was nearly out of mana too then it went WHOOSH and I felt all powered up again when I started to look like this.” She could hear the clopping of hooves and somehow without looking she knew her friends had joined her.

Cadence looked to the pony whom was between them and a tear rolled down her face. “The heart amplifies love Twilight, it reflects the heart. Filled with pure goodness it will give energy while it will destroy a heart that holds evil in it. However a heart filled with pain isn’t good or evil, it’s just hurting and so it didn’t do anything for him. I am sorry Twilight.”

She felt a ripple go through her as Cadence said that. It was not the ‘I am sorry that I took the last cookie’, it wasn’t the ‘I am sorry that I used up all your ink for a letter’, nor was it ‘sorry of not arriving to a test on time’. It was the sorry with no buts, just a sorry to not have anything else to say or do.

“H-hey Pinkie.” The voice was weak as if it was tired and it belonged to Novo.

Pinkie moving quickly came over but all the ponies there came closer. “Hey Puddles, or is it Coffee right now?”

“Did I help out everypony? I can’t really see, I think Sombra cursed my eyes, everything is kinda dark right now hehe.” They knew he wasn’t lying as his eyes couldn’t seem to focus at all on anything.

Pinkie gave a rapid nod as tears rained down off her face onto him. “Y-yeah, you did. You gave that meany a good one two with those spears.”

“Good. Hey Pinkie.” When she gave a noise that said she was listening as she didn’t trust her voice. “I don’t think I can play the hero anymore. I have nothing left to give to save others. Our body is shot, our mind is split into three, our heart is broken and gone. I…I am just tired, I think I am going to take a small power nap, recharge and hope I find more to give to save others, I need to change their stars, I am a Starshifter after…after…”

They all stood there for a moment before Twilight’s heart started beating rapidly as she understood what it was she was seeing and said it almost afraid if by saying it out loud it would make it truly real. “He isn’t breathing.”

Pinkie broke down crying as did Fluttershy and Rarity. Cadence went to the embrace of her husband who had followed the girls down, and Spike stood there as if what he was seeing wasn’t really happening.

Dash rushed over and started to rubbing at the unicorn’s body even as the color was rapidly washing from his coat to be replaced with a uniform gray a sure sign that a pony was dying. “No…no no no no, you can’t do this, you can’t just be a hero and die like this after giving a speech like that, it’s not fair, come on.”

“Rainbow Dash, he has no magic in him anymore, and he can’t even breathe on his own.” Twilight couldn’t bear to tell her that he wasn’t coming back, she could only tell her what was happening in that way to try to distance her own emotions from what was happening.

Moving to pull her away she felt her hoof slapped away. “NO! If he doesn’t have any mana I will give him some. If he can’t breathe then somepony can breathe for him. AJ you know CPR right?”

Twilight was about to tell her to stop that there was nothing she could do when she seen Applejack move over and start to perform the procedure as she pressed her forehead to the base of his right below his horn. “Dash stop.”

“Twilight you know healing magic right, heal up his wounds, we can still save him, please!” The unicorn wanted to believe in Dash, she wanted to believe they could save him, even if the science told her otherwise.

Moving over to him her horn started to glow as she started to close each wound one by one as she could hear her orange earth pony friend counting with each press of her hooves against the barrel of their friend. Long seconds came when she was just breathing in to fill his lungs before another round of counting and pumping.

Dash was still connected to his forehead pumping what mana she could into him, but Twilight could see the rapid well of tears as time moved on and no sign of the pony making a recovery.

Cadence came over while they were all busy and saw it, something that no other pony was paying attention to. “Rainbow Dash what is that?”

The cyan mare had pulled her head back as all her friends looked at her and they could see it now: that prismatic thread. “T-this, Novo and I were going to ask T-Twilight but.”

“A Love Line!” Twilight called out before looking to Princess. “Cadence!”

Her horn was already shining with her power. “Right.” Dash was about to ask what was going on when the beam of energy from Cadence struck the line and sent a jolt of pure love into her, well it didn’t really, instead it just reminded her of the love she already had and something else.

She could feel all of Novo’s love as well burning through the pain that she and the others had caused.

All of the those gathered felt and seen the Heart give off another pulse as a wave of energy rushed through them all, and the downed pony before them. As it did not only did his wounds vanish, but his color was restored as he took on crystal sheen.

“He’s breathin’!” Came the voice of Applejack as all of them looked to see the barrel expanding and contracting as Novo steadily and easily was breathing.

Both Dash and AJ collapsed onto the pony that had just barely survived releasing tears as they both thanked Celestia, Luna, and Cadence that he hadn’t left them.

With Bright Star in the condition he was in, even if he was healthy and out of the woods of danger, was determined by his friends to be in no condition to travel, and honestly he had no say in it considering he had not awaken yet. So when time came to head back to Canterlot to report on the progress Spike had sent the message that they couldn’t as the protector Knight was hurt and couldn’t travel.

This of course prompted a momentous occasion as all three rulers and Princesses would gather when Spike had delivered up the letter that Celestia and Luna were personally coming up north to see them.

When they had arrived and after the customary greetings, Twilight was pulled to the side and into a separate room to learn the results of her test. Luna asked where the sleeping knight was and was led to Novo’s room. After a few minutes had passed she called in Pinkie Pie and Cadence and that was the last anyone had seen of them.

When Twilight had finally come out explaining she had passed her test, the grip of song magic had caught them and even drug Pinkie from where she was before to randomly pop up like only she could to join in.

“Turns out you were prepared for this!~” The ponies sang out loudly. They were all hugging each other dearly before they noticed the solar ruler smiling and giggling at them.

“That was very touching my little ponies, but I believe my sister is ready for us in our sleeping companion’s chambers.” Her voice, while calm and soothing, did immediately get their attention.

As they arrived they looked over both of the remaining Princesses who were standing near the bed of the sleeping unicorn. Celestia took her place next to her fellow rulers before looking over all those gathered and closing the door.

When all the ponies were motioned to take a seat they did before at least the Sun raiser spoke. “My little ponies, my sister Luna was charged with determining if Bright Star here was a danger to anypony, as such I had her come to his room to read his dreams and thoughts as well as through them to his past, everything she can if you would. She also called in others to talk to and to understand him better; we will all listen as she tells us what we need to know. Luna if you would.”

Celestia moved from what would be center stage if it was a play to let the Moon Alicorn start. “It seems what we have been told is only the partial truth my ponies. Velox, Novo, and Lego are all one pony.” There were a few gasps and almost a few looks of betrayal but that was quickly silenced. “Or at least they were. Sometime recently something happened to split Bright Star’s mind into three, I could recount what it is, but…it is a personal matter between him and another pony and it wouldn’t be right to share something of, ahem, that nature.”

Seeing a moment of uncomfortable silence Cadence levitated a glass of water over to her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you Cadence.” Sipping the water she set down the glass before she continued. “Back to what was being said. From what I can see in the memories he does possess or rather remembers, little over five years ago the earth pony that would later be known as Lego would wake up, confused and with no memory of where he was or who he was. The history of this pony is as you know it up till Cascade Nights death, it was at that moment that the pain of her loss caused Lego to change and for the form which later would be Novo to come to existence as he knew it.” The story continued covering some of the pony’s travels as well as his attempted suicide before his final change.

They all heard the recount of how he was searching all over the world for a way both to recover his memories and to explain how it was he could change as he did. Not every bit was covered by when the time to mention Ponyville popped up not a single pony missed the connection, though one spoke up quicker than the others.

“He was looking for help and was afraid to share because he thought we would hate him for being something similar to a changeling?” Twilight was the one who spoke up about the connection first, solidifying all their responses with a gasp.

Luna gave a solemn nod with a look of sadness to her face. “This pony here before us has walked a road of loneliness and solitude after being ostracized and forced to cast those he thought family and friends away as they sought to harm or use him. If he was an Alicorn I would say he would have likely become another Nightmare moon if not being as strong willed as he was and driven to be the starshifter Cascade Nights told him he was to be.”

Rarity was the next to speak. “A lot of little things are starting to make sense, why he only had one bag, why there was only ever one of them at a time ever seen, why they always seemed to have a good amount of knowledge about the other, but most of all have the same kind but distant feeling to them.” The ponies in the room nodded in agreement as she continued. “It was also as if he was still searching for something, something he was missing by didn’t know where to look. I noticed it a few times when he seemed to be looking a million miles away or lost in thought. I thought: here is a pony who was trying to plan out his next fashion show, metaphorically speaking of course.”

There was a round of giggles as they all got the meaning even if it was put in away only Rarity would have come up with. “So the time came when my sister and I learned of his transformative powers when he had been locked up in jail as Velox, I had cast a scrying spell as myself Applejack and Twilight Sparkle left the area. It viewed everything that happened as he changed to free himself to go face his old friend.”

“Star is a pony who takes what he says and means it; especially with regards that he would rather himself be hurt if it means his friends or others will be ok.” Pinkie was the one who called this out causing Dash and AJ to both look away. “It was why he got hurt in the Everfree. I had been sneaking around and seen him change, he could have left me there in the forest to be eaten but instead did his best to save me, even after I, after I…” Pinkie was tearing up and they all seen her mane flatten and dull. “Even after I shot him with my cannon when he surprised me.”

That was part of the tale none of them had heard up until now, in fact none of them ever knew how he had gotten the chest injuries and broken ribs except when he would say: ‘Got it in the fight.’

The elements all gathered around the pink party pony and hugged her, hating to see her like this. “When he woke up, at first he didn’t remember who he was rescuing, but he said, he didn’t remember much of what happened but he didn’t think it was a bad way to go if he had to pick. Then when I was telling him I was sorry he started to remember when I told him the truth, he still forgave me! I shot him and hurt him and he still forgave me and told me even knowing he wouldn’t have changed anything if it meant I was safe.”

“From what both Pinkie has told us that was confided in her as well as Cadence in her talent for reading love, we have determined that there are three ponies residing in one body now, so that is the truth.” Looking over to the bedridden pony she frowned. “But his heart was broken twice over and his spirit is no longer what it was. His body is healed but it’s those shattered pieces of his hearts that are keeping him asleep.” Luna sighed and looked over to Cadence to take over the speech.

Cadence’s horn started to glow as a soft rose light filled the room and various threads were all sent out from everypony to others. “Each of those threads are a type of love, from family love, to friendship, to even romantic and true love. Each color represents each type. Family is blue, Friendship is green, and romantic is red, while true love is white. However hate is represented in black.”

All the ponies and Spike even looked at all the various connections, even if Spike tried to hide the red thread that connected his chest to the fashionista, who didn’t seem to notice. Instead all eyes were on the shifter pony on the bed and the lines that came from him.

There were many lines coming from him, most of them were the green of friendship leading to each of the ponies there even the princesses themselves if but in a weaker form. However there were two bright white threads that connected from him to the Pegasus and the earth pony whom everyone in the room was looking to.

Both of their eyes were wide as they seen it, however the white wasn’t exactly stable. Neither was any of the most of their threads. Pinkie Pie’s thread was the only friendship thread that was a steady green, the others of the elements threads green were flecked with black as it ran through them, the same could be said for the true love threads of the two ponies it was connected to.

“Princess, w-what does this mean?” The farm pony had to ask as she touched the thread connecting to her as parts of the black ran through it.

Cadence came over to her and pointed at the thread. “Look, do you see how there is black flecks in the thread?” When she nodded Cadence continued. “It means hate is creeping into the love. It’s coming from both ends and if it’s not removed will remove the thread eventually as hate will do for any love.” They all watched as the Princess of Love closed her eyes and gulped heavily. “When Novo came to the throne room, he killed the changelings attempting to assassinate Shiny and I.”

“WHAT?!” Was called by nearly everypony even Celestia though Luna didn’t as it seems she was told about it in her investigation.

“It’s true. Changelings were working with Sombra for some reason and were attempting to either kill or knock me out so Sombra could get in; we aren’t sure which it was.” Cadence came over to look at the sleeping pony with sadness in her eyes. “He killed them with no emotion in his heart or at least that is what I thought. I called him cruel and asked him why he did it. He told me that the changelings made him commit suicide and that they took his heart. He was right too, I sensed in him such a great well of love but it was completely destroyed with pain and suffering, the likes I have never felt before.” Petting the blonde mane she looked over to the two who had his love. “The only time I have ever seen that is when a pony lost their true love to death, I have never felt a pony have two true loves even if he was two ponies in mind, it didn’t matter, their combined suffering was…there is no words for what it was and it’s still there. It’s what is tainting his end of the connection, but it’s not the only source.”

Both AJ and Dash turned their heads away as did the other three ponies and Spike. “You all feel betrayed and lied to.” Came Luna’s voice to which they nodded. “You all feel as if he purposefully kept this from you to hurt you.” Again they nodded. “You resent him for not telling you and feel as if he should pay some of that back in his own suffering?” They started to nod but stopped shocked that they wanted to nod. “I felt that way too, right before I became Nightmare Moon. I couldn’t let go of my feelings of jealousy and felt as if my sister left me to fade away. I was hurt and tired of being hurt, I could have withdrawn into myself and told no pony of my secrets and feelings and kept a mask on but instead I lashed out.” Looking at each of them as she spoke she finished with one important sentence. “What you are feeling now, is what Bright Star has most likely felt each and every day of his life since he has woken up with no memory, except he keeps it inside instead and where yours is focused on him, his feelings are at everything.”

Twilight rose up and looked towards the three princesses “So what do we do?”

Celestia looked towards each of them as they sought the answer of her words. “You all must learn to forgive, both yourselves and others. If you wish to free the black stain of hate from your friendships with him and restore the love to its pure state, you must forgive, you must forgive yourself, you must forgive him, and you have to help him realize that he also must forgive.”

Author's Notes:

This was a rather emotional chapter I would say. Not going to lie, as I was writing it I remembered some painful memories of my own and I think they may have embedded themselves into the writing a bit might just be me thinking that though.

*Sniffs* I-I need some ice cream

Brain....I will bring the spoons.

Chapter Fifteen: Love Line and Awakening.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Fifteen: Love Line and Awakening.

Eventually the day came that they had to come back, and while Star had still not awaken they were going to bring him back to Ponyville so that he could at least be home when he awoken. While this made everyone of the group happy he was coming home, feelings of guilt and betrayal still coursed through them, but at least now they had understanding to temper it.

However before they were to leave there were some very important questions that needed answering and two mares had to know the answers and that is why they first came to their friend to ask. “Twi.” Began the accented pony out of the two. “Ah been meanin’ to ask and so has Dash here.”

“Have not!” The cyan flier exclaimed even as she blushed.

“But…” It was hard for her to say as one part of her wanted to know, however the other part was afraid of what it meant as well. “What is a Love Line?”

The instant she asked AJ knew she didn’t like where it was going already as the student of Celestia started to turn red in the face. “W-well you, you see.” Her head turned left and right quickly before she smiled. “IthinkIhearThePrincesscallingmeaskCadenceokbye!” and with a pop of violet energy she vanished as she teleported.

Dash looked towards her friend then and they both knew what had to be done. “Throne room?”

“Throne room.” Replied the working mare.

It had been bugging both of them for a while now, whatever the Love Line was it had been key to saving the shifting pony and AJ had to know, both why it could save him, and why Dash was connected to it. Both of which the mare in question wanted to know as well.

It took a while to get to the throne room and a bit longer as Cadence was in a meeting with some crystal ponies but eventually she was free. “Princess we need to talk to you in private.”

The Princess of Love opened her mouth as if to say something only to stare at those two for a moment before nodding. “I suppose you both do, follow me.” Getting up off the throne and heading out through a nearby door Cadence told a waiting crystal pony to hold off her meetings for an hour. They eventually found themselves in the Princesses royal chambers as she sat down on a chair and motioned for them to sit as well.

She waited for a few minutes till finally one of them spoke. “Princess…” It was Dash who spoke, the brasher of the two ponies. “What is a Love Line?”

The gaze she leveled at both of them was one that couldn’t be read easily, not even by the living lie detector. “If I tell you this, you have to promise that it will not change anything.”

The farm mare gulped but nodded, she had to know if not for herself then so she can help Velox out somehow if he needed it. “I promise.”

“I promise, I gotta know, why it is connected to me and what it is even.” Dash rubbed at her head where it connected to her before.

Standing up the Princess motioned for both of them to come closer and peer into the mirror on her stand. “You see.” Her horn started to glow and shoot towards the mirror, but instead of reflecting or shattering the mirror, it made it ripple as simple figures appeared on the surface. “There is a thing called Sync between all objects and ponies. A good example of a high Sync Ratio is you girls and your connection to the Elements. However they are just objects and there is only so much that can be attributed between them. However if somepony becomes extremely connected to a object, even a none magical one, they can give it power, sometimes minor power, sometimes not. There are some books in the forbidden archives that are magical because they never left Starswirl’s side and he synced with them.”

The girls watched as a pony was holding objects and their aura went into the object till it started to emit an aura itself. “There is a theory that objects can even gain a soul if there is enough sync and aura to complete it, or even a transfer of the soul if it were to be abused.” Again the girls watched as the mock pony in the mirror pushed something into the orb that was the example and dropped dead before its face appeared on the orb.

“So the Elements might have been made like that?” Dash seemed to follow it though so did AJ and it seem to be what Cadence hinted at.

She shook her head. “Some unicorns thought that but the magic that they are made of seem to be something else.” The figure and object vanished to be replaced by a pink pony and a blue pony. “Now there are syncing with ponies and other living things. Here it is much different and more varied.” The two ponies were shown to nuzzle each other. “When two ponies with strong feelings for each other spend years with each other, a small Love Line will form. Love Lines are also called other things, A Trans Thread and Connection Cord are two other examples.” The ponies now had a thread connecting between them.

The orange work-a-holic couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. “But Dash and Ve-ah mean Novo haven’t really been together for years like that. Does that mean it is somethin’ else?”

Her peripheral vision told her that Rainbow had also nodded to that. “Normally yes you would be right, however I learned a lot about the activities that Bright Star has been up to from Luna as she needed to tell me them so I could help her when she was looking through his memories. I still think he will be mad about that.” Getting back to her example she looked one more time to the girls. “Are you sure you want to know, the next parts start getting to the parts where ponies can’t un-hear these things.” When they nodded she sighed and said she had warned them.

The mirror started moving again as the two ponies started to kiss and touch foreheads. “Now normal ponies even ones who become special someponies, they don’t don’t always have high sync rates, in fact most sync rates for special someponies are lower then what you would think.” A number came up for the normal pair in the mirror. “For ‘normal’ pairs, the sync ratio is just barely above fifty percent, and usually never goes higher then seventy. Though not to say those numbers can’t be improved and are not to say only those with high sync rates with each other can be special someponies, it is just when it is that high they are drawn together eventually. So far are you with me you two?”

“Yeah, so far so good Princess.” AJ told her silently wondering what her own sync rate with a certain Pegasus would be.

Nodding as well Dash smiled. “I kinda learned abit about that from my training.”

“I suppose you did.” Cadence gave a knowing smile that made the brash pony blush fiercely. This time the figures changed being replaced with a cyan colored figure and a green one. “Now in the case of a couple with a rare high sync rate the time which a bond can form is much much less. There are also ways to speed it up further in the case of unicorns which does produce interesting results when preformed.”

AJ looked over as she heard a noise to her friend with her wings fully extended and her face as well as her neck and parts of her body were turning red. “D-do you need to cover w-what unicorns do?”

With a nod from Cadence, Dash covered her head with her hooves. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of Rainbow Dash, it’s considered a very personal thing.”

“J-just get on with it.” She said slowly uncovering her head to continue watching.

“Alright.” With that they all watched the figures in the mirror touch foreheads again this time their cheeks growing red as their auras were made visible. “The way unicorns do this-” Both figures in the mirror grew a horn now. “Is that they go through a process in which the unicorn sends some of their own mana, something that is unique to each pony, into the willing pony. This is called Mana Merging or Mana Melding. However most of the time this only happens with two unicorns as they can deal with an overflow of mana by either a random expelling of magic through their horns, something often seen as sparks, or by casting a spell.” The figure on the mirror started to send sparks from its horn.

“Oh is that why he-.” Dash cut herself off with that by stuffing her own mouth with a hoof.

Cadence couldn’t help but smile and for some reason that made AJ frown. “However when a unicorn is sending their mana into a none-unicorn well they have no way of getting rid of it, and it can often hurt a pony or even stretch their mana channels out, even rupturing them if not careful. This can cause some serious side effects like the loss of that tribes unique traits, in a case of a Pegasus flight, weather manipulation and more, with earth ponies it could be their connection to the ground and nature itself or even their physical attributes.” The figure that was cyan lost their horn and then collapsed seeming to shrink and go gray.

“I-I didn’t know that.” AJ was getting tired of being out of the loop as Dash said another statement that made no sense without context.

The mirror refreshed and there was the green unicorn and the cyan pony again. “Now, in the case of bad natural sync rates, a unicorn doing this with another pony it can cause all kind of side effects, from minor discomfort to the feeling of a pony forcing themselves on them. At which point they should stop as it can mentally scar the pony or ponies involved.” The flier said nothing and only just nodded this time. Cadence just raised her eyebrow at this but continued. “This can be made to feel worse if one pony comes from a melding with a higher sync rate to a lower one.”

Gulping Dash barely was heard as she said. “Yeah it does.”

“We will have to talk about that later Rainbow Dash but for now-” Turning back to the mirror. “Now the feeling that is instilled in ponies with moderate to high sync ratios are rather…nice, the higher the rate the better it feels. Some unicorns have adopted this practice to include in the bed room to enhance the mutual pleasure.” The blush on Dash went from the really red on her face and neck to full body at this and AJ was starting to understand what was happening. “None unicorns can even learn to push their mana into their partner with practice and the act of any two ponies doing this creates a loop of in and out mana if they both choose to accept their partner’s energy. It is called Circuiting and this of course creates a sort of out of control reaction between the two ponies that is really hard to make them stop if they start it.”

AJ turned quickly to her friend whose wings were practically vibrating as they couldn’t spread any wider. “Rainbow Dash.”

Dash turned to look at her friend with eyes that were remembering things she had experienced and was looking back at her with the answer written all over her face. “If the sync ratios are very high it can be the same intensity as being intimate with your special somepony without even physically touching one another except at the foreheads…isn’t that right Dash.”

“RD ya didn’t.” AJ couldn’t believe this she had to wonder when this happened, it couldn’t have been on Braeburn’s ranch so did that make her the other mare in this.

Dash broke down and covered her head while she lay down on the crystal floor. “Yes, yes I Mana Merged with Novo, at first it was cause my mana channels were too small to do the current so we started doing that, then I found out what it was doing to me and fought it every time but, I didn’t want to fight it either, its…its…”

The mirror had stopped with the images for now as Cadence asked bluntly. “Did you Circuit with Novo at any point?”

The Prismatic mare was still hiding under her hooves as she nodded. “A few times. The first time was when I followed him to Cascade’s grave. He was so lost and sad and crying, I don’t know why by I pressed my forehead to him and sent a tiny bit of my mana into him and he did the same. It was so nice and comforting and it felt…right, it was only for comfort then.”

Cadence raised her eyebrow at that. “This may seem…weird but I need you to describe what it felt like the next few dozen times you circuited with him.”

“Few dozen!” AJ exclaimed at this looking at Dash suddenly in a new light.

“No, we haven’t even done it that many times; at most I think we did it five times maybe up to seven.” Dash exclaimed waving her hooves at both of them.

Cadence’s eyes however went wide at what she said “What, you are saying you have only done it about six times give or take?”

“Ya, once at the grave for comfort, then again on the train for comfort. Then when I got part of the current right we comforted each other…” Dash started trailing off again and started to tap her hooves together suspiciously.

“Dash this is important.” Cadence told her with a look said that she had to tell her.

Gulping Dash had no more cyan left in her face and most of her upper body as the red of embarrassment took over. “Then that last time, he just…he kinda sent more than normal into me. It felt…felt just great and I…pushed back harder into him.” For a moment they watched the Pegasus wrap her hooves around herself and close her eyes. When they opened she had a look of a mare no longer there. “It was beyond words, it felt…perfect. There was even one point at the end when our streams came together as one that-”

“WHAT?!” The Princess of Love exclaimed interrupting what apparently was a flashback to the athlete as her hooves went to her forehead as if to hide arousal that might have spontaneously sprang from there. “Dash, tell me, truthfully, you felt your mana and his merge into one source, not two?”

For some reason Dash started giggling as her eyes went far away. “Yeah, it was great, happened quicker the second time and we both had to get out the spring to finish up or we would have gone boneless, though that happened anyways.”

“Rainbow Dash I need you to stay still for a moment while remembering that feeling.” The multi-hued mane of the pony for a moment took an almost ethereal look as her eyes glowed as she looked towards the chromatic Pegasus. No sooner had she done that then it faded and she looked at the pony with a look of profound respect. “Wow.”

Blinking at the words, though Dash was still out of it, it became AJ’s job to break her own silence to ask. “Somethin’ wrong Princess?”

“You are lucky Rainbow Dash.” The mare in question gave a ‘huh’ as she finally came around to the world. “No Applejack, nothing is wrong. I am just surprised; usually it takes years for a pair of unicorns to achieve a Total Unity like Dash has experience.” When both of none Alicorn ponies in the room tilted their heads Cadence explained. “Total Unity is a special type of Circuiting that only those with years with a partner or an insanely high sync ratio, which I just check that Rainbow Dash has with Novo almost a perfect ratio actually, it’s where both streams of magic form one stream that is almost a new entity of magic in of itself but more rather a perfect merging of mana that is rarely seen and is a dream of many unicorns around Equestria.”

AJ swallowed hard not wanting to say the next part as she knew what it would mean for herself. “Does…does that mean that Dash and Star were meant for each other?”

There was a moment when everypony in the room held their breath except the princess herself. “Chances are, even without them merging, they would have been drawn to each other enough to date most likely.”

The farm pony felt like her heart was breaking. ‘They were meant for each other, no if’s an’s or but’s about it.’

“But onto the Love Line. Love Lines are the magical manifestations of the true love threads I showed you when Star’s past was explained to everypony. The only difference is that because of the merging of magic, the love between the two ponies can physically manifest and be seen where they were connecting with magic.” The former foal sitter looked over to where AJ looked miserable but was looking up with a tiny shred of hope. “It means that the only difference between you two and the two you love is Dash has magically given it form.”

Tipping her hat in front of her eyes, she didn’t want the others to see her shed any tears of joy. ‘Thank Celestia, it means ah am just as meant for my beau as much as RD is.’

“In this case it worked out for the best as that connection made real with magic allowed me to use my own talent to amply the love between Novo and Dash enough to banish the darkness surrounding his love so the Crystal Heart could heal him and reenergize him.” Standing up and stretching now Cadence looked towards her balcony where the sun was streaming in. “However, while he is better now, those lines of love that connect you two to his various hearts, they are in trouble of breaking. Right now they are very fragile, but some of the stronger I have seen in a long while. If either of you wish to continue being in his life and heart, I suggest you two work something out between you both. If you can’t, neither of you will end up in his heart at best and only end up as friends again.”

Both of the mares had the same thought at the same time as they asked. “And at worst?”

Sighing and no looking at either of them she said it. “At worst he will come to completely hate you two, and you two will come to completely hate him with no chance for friendship at all.”

The train ride home was uneventful, nothing exciting happened, no changelings jumping out of corners, no dark crystals jutting out to harm them, not shadows wanting to overtake and rule them, no conversations either. Not a single member of their group spoke as they all had the same thing on their minds: forgiveness.

For Twilight, she had already made up her mind to help out Star in whatever he needed from now on. ‘No pony should be alone for as long as he was, hurt so many times, living with a constant reminder that he wasn’t like other ponies. No I am going to make it up to him, I will show him that Pinkie isn’t his only friend and I hope he forgives me.’

As was her nature she was already writing a list of possible things to earn forgiveness and having Spike double check it of which the assistant was actually eager to do as he also felt the need to seek forgiveness since the pony had not really hurt him all that much as Spike had liked all the forms he had met. He really didn’t see much of a reason not to just keep going on as he had since now they really were three different ponies, he still felt bad he didn’t speak up for him in the cell though.

The only problem now for Twilight at least, was waiting for him to wake up, till then she decided to do some research. ‘The Princess may know the answer to his problem but doesn’t know she knows, maybe it’s something simple that is mixed with other things, or maybe it’s something complicated seen in a new way, either way, I am going to look for a way to cure his memory problems and answer why he can change. I just need to get back to the library to start.’

Rarity was having a different sort of problem, it was both simple but complicated and it wasn’t just a single problem either. She was more than willing to admit Star was a good looking stallion in any of his forms and that was part of the problem in that two of his forms had chosen Applejack and Rainbow Dash. She found herself questioning herself because her thoughts kept coming back to a simple question: why them and not her?

She loved her friends more than anything in the world, but the green eyed monster kept coming back to remind her that she was more lovely then both of them, that she was better kept then them both as well, not to mention she actually put time into her looks where as they seemed to wake up every morning and just come out like they did.

Chewing on her hoof her thoughts continued to war in her mind. ‘Come on Rarity, don’t be like that, sure Velox is admirably brave, Novo is distinguished, and Lego is-.’ For a moment her thoughts became impure as she had remembered her secret magazines with the candid pictures he had taken for money. ‘-is a gentlecolt and highly intellectual. So why did the first two pick the ones who don’t even try, what did they do, is it cause they-NO RARITY do not lower yourself to those thoughts these are your friends.’

However the thoughts wouldn’t leave her mind so easily.

Fluttershy’s guilt was manifesting itself into more of a self loathing sense of hate for her own self with each major encounter between the versions of the pony in question and herself. ‘There was the manticore, oh how I am sure that my words had brought guilt to him, I could have easily said something or even done something to make him feel a little less bad, but I didn’t cause I wanted him to know how horrible it was to take the life of a forest creature.’

Placing her hooves over her head practically trying to hide from herself her mind didn’t let up. ‘Then there was when I accused him of forcing himself on Rainbow Dash. I used The Stare on him with no possible chance to even consider his side of the story. Even when he was cleared of the suspicion I still didn’t trust him, I kept away from him and tried only to be polite.’

The worst incident came when they had all seen his reveal, where she just ignored him and once again thought the worse. ‘The thought he had tricked Dash into doing things with him, and then AJ too if the looks she was giving him was any indication, made me wish I had done what Rainbow Dash had done. With how bad I have treated him he must absolutely hate me; I know I do for what I did.’

Applejack thoughts were more somber then the others cause unfortunately the Element of Honesty was just that, honest with herself. It came down to one simple statement that she didn’t know how to answer: could she share Star with Dash even if the minds were different, it was still the same body.

Having to grow up with siblings without her parents, practically raising Apple Bloom, running a farm, and helping Granny Smith in her elderly age she had little time to herself much less in the way of possessions. She was used to sharing everything in her life with everypony else.

‘But not this, ah don’t want to share my special somepony with somepony else, ain’t fair. Ah shouldn’t have to share this with another pony, but Dash…Dash said ‘that’ to me, ah mean it’s an option and there are plenty of ponies that do that. But…ah don’t want to share.’ If any other pony could hear her thoughts it wouldn’t make any sense or it would have been something for a sordid book that she admittedly checked out sometimes from the library before Twilight had come to Ponyville and became the librarian.

She had to order those books now special order and she made sure no pony would ever see her reading them; those were for late night when all other ponies were in bed so none would suspect her of enjoying those. After all it was where her idea to be a cowpony and ‘ride’ Velox had come from.

It was also on her mind to look to those books to help come up with ideas to help make him forgive her for the way she treated him, the guilt of that was almost as bad as the thoughts to share him.

‘Maybe ah should try that thing from The Bronco and the Bride, but it would mean…it would mean.’ If embarrassment could take physical form AJ would have steam coming out of her ears at the thought going through her head.

Rainbow Dash, a pony of confidence found herself wavering between overconfidence in that she could make it up to her coltfriend, which she was now thinking of him in such a way in her head, and going to extreme depression if somehow she bucked it up and he left her.

‘I hit him back at the Crystal Cell, maybe he doesn’t want me cause of that, what if he hates violent ponies, I mean-’ Shaking her head and trying to bring some of her amazing awesomeness back she smiles and looks out the window of her room. ‘Na he is a cool pony, at least five percent less cool then me, but that makes him at least twenty to a hundred and twenty percent cooler than most ponies. Maybe when we make up we can…’ POMF was the sound in the room as her wings shot out in full extension as she quickly tried to rub them calm again. ‘Damn Pegasus instincts.’ As she was rubbing her wings calm she slow the strokes and imagined another pony touching them, the one that was in her heart. ‘I don’t want to lose him, not many ponies take interest in me, the ones that do are just jackasses wanting a piece of tail to hit and quit. I know I am not the best looking mare or the prettiest, I mean look at Rarity or Fluttershy…maybe he will want one of them instead of me.’

There was a moment where she could feel tears bubbling up in her eyes as she imagined him walking off with Fluttershy and merging with her with a blissful look to both of them. She would tap her hooves against the sides of her face to snap herself back to reality and to wipe away those images.

“Come on Dash, mare up, if you don’t act he will leave you so just be the awesome pony you are and it should work out.” Flexing her wings one at a time cause of the small cabin she was in, she looked at her feathers and thought long and hard about something. ‘Should I give him a Primary…isn’t that too soon?’

Sighing softly she wondered if AJ had thought about what she said. “It does solve some things if she agreed.”

As for Pinkie, she was happy to know that Star had no hard feelings towards her and as such she was already trying to think of ways for her other friends to wipe their lines clean. ‘Well first step is a part of course, a ‘welcome back to Ponyville you three in one pony you’ party. Maybe I should add ‘forgiveness to all ponies’ in the banner too, but that might be too much. Oh I also got to get treats for everypony, let’s see, Puddles likes spicy, Waffles likes sweet things, Coffee likes sour stuff, OH I should get some of those pastries Dash likes the sweet and sour ones, that should cover three ponies all at once, Pinkie you are a genius!’ She thought to herself now as she started to try to think up ways to have fun with everypony.

If one had to sum up what Pinkie was doing it would be simply: Pinkie was Pinkieing.

The ponies of Ponyville were both shocked to find the resident knight pony hurt, but even more shocked when Twilight and the others told them who the brothers all really wore. They had come to this decision while talking to the Princesses that if Star wanted to live in Ponyville the ponies there would have to know. It was also up to them if he/they were to stay.

Twilight had no doubt the ponies of Ponyville would choose for him to stay but in order to keep it all fair she had decided on a ballot so no pony could influence another. She was glad for the idea of the blind ballot especially after Filthy Rich started to open his mouth stating things about freaks and to think of the foals. Since it was to become a hidden ballot she thought for sure that would stop Filthy Rich from trying to sway the ponies…she was wrong.

She had overheard ponies talk, but never actually caught it in the act, that Filthy Rich was buying the votes left and right of the more influential ponies first. Apple Bloom had told her sister that she had overheard Silver Spoon say her parents were going to get paid by Mr. Rich for throwing the freak out of town. As such it was her friends and her own job to inform the ponies of what he has done and how he has helped others even if it hurt himself. They were all pitching enthusiastically Twilight thought. She was amazed to see how hard all the girls were working though she wasn’t surprised at the same time; they were working for a friend after all.

It was nearly a week and Novo still had not woken up yet but it was the day of the ballot, the girls and Rich had all been working without resting for the week and needless to say she was nervous. Her mind was looking at it similar to how she looked at a test, but this one was of friendship and how well the ponies could trust him. She was one of the first to throw her vote in for the day and unfortunately that was both great that it was over for her, but horrible as now she had the rest of the day to worry about the results.

She knew how the others were feeling as throughout the week they had all expressed their concerns at one point or another, though for the most part she felt that a lot of the reasons her friends gave were the ones on the bottom of the list or near it for their priorities

‘Though then again, they might just be afraid to voice their real concerns.’ Was Twilight’s thought on why they were only telling her those particular ones.

At the end of the day Mayor Mare took the boxes into her office to count them telling them she will be back shortly. Shortly cause there wasn’t all that many to count since only the adults could actually vote and Ponyville was a small town.

Dinner was finished for mostly everypony when the Mayor called them all to town hall to read off the votes. The girls had all met up outside the hall and what Twilight observed of her friends was mixed. Applejack looked tired and from the leaves and branches in her hair Twilight had guessed she worked entirely without a break till now. Dash’s eyes were puffy and red as if she had been crying the whole time. Fluttershy had a look of abject misery to her, something which Rarity seemed to share but the source of it seemed directed at something else that Twilight couldn’t name. Pinkie Pie was bouncing and she seemed energetic and sure it would work out, but Twilight could see that there wasn’t as much puff to her hair as normal.

Finally Spike, he was a lot easier to read in that he basically told her how he felt. “I hope he gets to stay, I would hate to lose a friend.”

Giving him a quick hug Twilight felt the same way. “Me too Spike, me too.”

Heading inside finally all the ponies settled down before the Mayor came out with a white board that was flipped around to where they couldn’t see it. “Ladies and Gentlecolts, I have called everypony here to tell you the results of the town wide vote on the matter of whether to keep one Velox, Novo, and Lego Bright Star as part of our town or if he/they should be expelled.”

The Magic Bearer could hear the crowd gossiping and sadly she heard a lot more Anti-Star voices then she would have thought, so did her friend as they all looked unsure with reactions raging from shock, to a deflating of mane, to a hat being tipped over their face, or even unshed tears.

“Now, all the votes have been counted, and I would like to take a moment for the turnout of towns pony’s that have-” Sadly whatever she was going to say was interrupted.

The pony who interrupted her was the pompous leader of the Anti-Star movement. “Mayor Mare, While I don’t want to sound rude can we possibly move on to the results, it is late and most of us have children we have to prepare and worry about in case that monster stays in this town.”

Twilight had just enough time to restrain the cyan and orange mares that were just about to get up and tell him off and with a quick whisper she hoped to get the point across. “Don’t do that; if you fight him it may just prove his point.”

Dash and AJ didn’t look happy but it did keep them from doing something they may regret. “Well I suppose it is late and I haven’t had dinner yet cause of the vote so here is the results everypony.” The group held their breath as the gray civic pony flipped the board around for all to see. “It’s sixty four percent to thirty six in favor of our resident knight to keep living in Ponyville.”

All the girls shouted in cheer and was hugging each other as did many other ponies, surprisingly amongst them Twilight could see the Cakes, Lyra and Bon-bon, Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Derpy, and a strange and weird pink fluff pony that seemed to sputter with her tongue, as well as many others of the town.

Of course amongst the cheer she heard the one most opposed to this stand up and shout. “This is an outrage; I will have your office for this!” With that Rich stormed off with his supporters leaving the rest to rejoice in peace.

This feeling was nothing new, the sense of displacement, of floating, of watching. The grayscale of this world he knew he was in his dreams, but he wasn’t alone this time, and strangely at the same time he was. Lego, Novo, and Velox all could see each other through their own perspectives and the others at the same time.

“Ok this is weird/strange/interesting.” Came the voices at the same time as if spoken by one pony with multiple voices. “Any clues what is going on this time?” Since they all said it they knew that none of them knew.

“Ahh ---- there you are.” It was an elderly voice, the same one that he/they had heard before in a previous dream only this time it was friendly. “We know you are not used to how things work yet so do not worry we will teach you slowly.”

The brothers were about to ask who were they talking to when the grayscale changed; slowly gaining color and they found themselves in a city. Buildings everywhere of all shapes and sizes became visible, from the magnificent to the humble but most of all were the inhabitants of the city: Alicorns.

Not just one or two, not even a half dozen, but every single pony was an Alicorn, but something was wrong, something he/they couldn’t quiet place. They put it to the back of their minds for now as they followed the voice given flesh. She was an Alicorn, no surprise there as in this freaky dream everypony was an Alicorn so they decided to just play along and let their brain and dream interpret things as it will. The Alicorn leading them was a gradient going from gray to yellow in her coat, as well as her mane and tail as if it was from old age. Strange on many accounts as they didn’t know if Alicorns could age or not and two it would mean at one point all color on her was the same as butter. The strange thing was when he/they tried to look at her cutie mark it was as if the dream warped reality so that they could never get a clear look and their eyes fell on something else that seemed to have drawn their eyes.

“Alright everyone should be in this building.” She said as she had stopped in front of a rather modest looking cottage even if it was set apart from every other building in the village. “Or I suppose the vernacular is everypony now, either way I do hope you get along with them. My name is ---- it’s nice to meet you.”

The elderly pony’s voice had cut out again and it was starting to annoy Velox more than the others but he knew it was just a dream and he had no control over it.

“I do hope you get along with *Beep* he can be such a stuffy one but his *Beep* is in the right place with his actions.” The elderly sounding Alicorn told them. “Just watch out for *Beep* it can really come out of no *Beep* to get you. So as long as *Beep* you should be *Beep* understand?”

He didn’t but he didn’t need to as he knew what was going on now. She was opening the door and that confirmed it for him as the light behind the door encompassed everything and he knew the dream was ending.

The feeling of opening your eyes from a dream where you felt like you were already awake was always a strange one for any pony, mostly it was coming from one perceived reality to another and adjusting ones thinking that was the most troubling. For Star he didn’t have as much of a problem adjusting so much so as organizing his minds to line up with one another.

‘Ok this looks familiar.’ Velox told them all from inside.

Lego was felt nodding as he pointed out a slight stain on the corner of the room as if something was slung up there but not able to be cleaned completely. ‘Looks like we are in our room in the Ponyville hospital.’

“Which must mean, something had to have happened to put us in here. It is time for a recap guys.” Novo told them as they started to think about what happened.

They retraced what the last things they could remember were and this was the order they started: Braeburn, the asshole. Applejack, paused for Velox to remember their night together. Twilight being called to Canterlot for some kind of test. Then there was the train right to…the…Crystal…

None of them got to finish that thought as tears suddenly were streaming down his face as it all came crashing back into them. The change, the hurt, the loss, the leaving, and finally they were alone. His life had ended there as had his hearts even if Lego had not got his heart broken romantically it had been broken at the loss of his friends.

“Should have let nature take its course, we could have died a hero and been left without the pain that dead hearts being carried around in our chest will cause.” There were no answers from his other selves but there was a sense of agreement in what he said.

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there listening to the heart monitor and the drip of an iv while tears continued to be shed but eventually the doctor came in to check on him. “OH you are awake, that is good news.”

It was Doctor Horse the same doc who had treated him all that time ago. “Hey Doc.”

The greeting was without feeling as the Doc smiled over to him. “Glad you remember me, anyways I am here to check on you, we were all worried you wouldn’t wake up but I am glad to see you up. It means I will also get to check how the new magical muscle stimulation techniques worked on you. Hopefully it means you won’t need even a minute of physical therapy and if so we can use it on other patients.”

‘Talk of therapy means we have been here a while. Hope that spell or technique or whatever works.’ Novo watched as the doc was reading the charts on him and other things, flexing some of his muscles when asked but during that Lego brought up a good point that Novo had to ask. “Um doc I don’t mean to be rude but we have never met, you met my brother but not me.”

The beige doc smiled but it trailed off as he coughed. “Right you don’t know do you? There was a vote the other day on whether to let you stay or kick you from Ponyville. Just so you know, I voted for you to stay.”

Something was wrong, so wrong he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Why would you need to do something like that, I haven’t done anything wrong I don’t think.”

Tapping the weird hammer thing on his joints to test his reflexes, the doc stopped and sighed as he looked up at his patient. “Look, Novo, Lego, Velox, whatever you want to call yourself in each of your forms-” Novo’s eyes were going wide at that. “-we were told everything, how you are all three ponies in one body for some reason or another. How you can switch between them at will or something. While it is hard to believe it does make some sense, especially to me now that I have looked over you and see scars from surgeries under your coat that I did for Velox.”

The room was suddenly cold, or it felt that way as Novo was suddenly shivering. ‘Everypony know, everypony know, oh no, they are going to freak out, they are going to-wait, he said they voted…oh…I have to leave after I am finished being checked out I guess.’ Giving a hard swallow as his throat was dry he nodded. “Right I understand now doc, I will pack my things and leave as soon as you dismiss me.”

The sudden laughter slightly irritated him and he glared at the medical pony. “You got it all wrong my boy, you were voted to stay by a good margin I must say too. By almost twice the amount who wanted you to leave after the smear campaign against you by THAT pony the Mayor told everypony you were allowed to stay.”

All three of his minds were stunned by that news and for once since their separation the body spoke in a voice that they all shared. “They will let me stay?”

Horse stood up and smiled. “Yes my boy, which means that as soon as I sign you out in a few minutes I suspect you will be getting a nice welcome home party by our resident party planner.”

This time there were tears in his eyes not from sadness for once, but of joy. “I’m home.”

Author's Notes:

The second chapter of the week. Sorry if there was alot of exposition in this chapter but it was one where alot of things needed to be said.

*Is eating ice cream*

Brain are you still sad about last chapter? We posted that what five minutes ago, its in the past move on.

Fine you don't get to have any of it with me,

Hey now don't be rash here I mean just cause I don't sympathize doesn't mean GIVE ME THE ICE CREAM!

Chapter Sixteen: A New Start and The Road to Forgiveness.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Sixteen: A New Start and The Road to Forgiveness.

When asked about why Star was still at the hospital, as Lego as well, he would have gave the answer that he was gathering some public sentiment and news about what had been happening while he was out. It was a lie but it’s what he would have told others he was doing. Truth was he and his personas were scared and not just of one thing but too many to count.

The big ones were obvious; he was terrified of all the ponies suddenly knowing his secret. The second was another obvious one; it was he was scared he would run into one of the six that were his friends. Sure he had been told they were working hard to convince other ponies to allow him to stay, but he was afraid that when he looked them in the eye that the friendship, and in some cases more, would be absent.

So it came down to the last obvious reason, one that was terrifying beyond belief and something he honestly had never experienced before. He had a home to go to. While the girls and he had gone to help Braeburn, then to the Crystal Empire, then while he was again out like a light for the time till now, they had finished both the Cake’s home as well as his own.

The logical mind of Lego was the one that finally told the other two to let him take over when they refused to do anything but stay in the lobby of the hospital, however in the end he was ‘gathering info’ as he put it.

‘What happened to you taking us out of here?’ Velox called from the corridors of their mind. ‘You told us ‘listen you two I will do what it takes to get us out of here, stop your bitching and let me have a go’…I may have paraphrased that.’

In defiance Lego stood up and started to head towards the exit only to hear his two companions yelling out not to be hasty. ‘Quiet, while I may not have lost as much as you two, it doesn’t mean I don’t hurt as well. As such I asked myself a question, one you two need to ask yourselves and find the answer to. Are you willing to sit there and let nothing happen, or are you willing to get up and take a step forward no matter how much pain awaits if it means for once in our lives we can have a home.’ There was a moment where the other two were about to say something in the positive but for some reason Lego had to continue. ‘Besides I am not the one being a scared little pony quaking in my horseshoes.’

Novo took offense to that quietly however Velox was telling him to come in there and say that to his mental face. With the fire back in their furnaces he knew they felt better as they were calming down since while they weren’t linked together anymore didn’t mean they couldn’t feel what the others felt, if only through concentration. Something Lego was getting pretty good at as well mapping out the corridors of their mind.

It was starting to feel better even when he seen his favorite pink pony bouncing around. “Hey Pinkie!” ‘I am glad I know for sure she is my friend.’

Pinkie quickly bounced over and smiled. “Hey there, having fun yet? Oh my name is Pinkie, what’s yours?”

“Not yet Pinkie I just got out of the-wait what did you say?” Lego asked confused and a smidge hurt at her question.

The pink pony just started bouncing away saying ‘fun’ over and over again. Lego felt his emotions rising, wanting to say something politely to her or yell at her maybe even ask if something was wrong but his questions were thrown away as a bigger one came into view as he seen something that was both shocking and, honestly, a little frightening.

His eyes widened suddenly when he seen it. “Why-” The bouncing. “-are there-” The calls of fun. “-multiple-” The chaos. “-Pinkie Pie’s?”

Dozens or more of the happy go lucky pony were seen everywhere he turned, there was one messing with Rose, another two chasing Lyra and Bon-Bon, there was even a stack of Pinkies bouncing atop one another in a weird tower formation that he was sure was impossible by the laws of nature in how it was shaped as well as the fact they were all jumping randomly and it actually still holding.

“Hi who are you?” A Pinkie greeted him. He was going to answer when two more popped up asking the same question.

Thinking quickly, something that Lego wasn’t known for normally, he pointed his hoof in a direction and said. “Look a distraction!”

All the Pinkies that were talking to him looked where he pointed, a few even popped up from potted plants and bushes too small to physically hold ponies to look.

Making a break for it he decided on something obvious. ‘Have to find the real Pinkie, either Twilight did something or Pinkie….Pinkie’ed all over the place…Note to self: reexamine the term to identify when Pinkie is doing Pinkie things.’

It took nearly an hour but he finally found a pattern to the Pinkie’s something that both amazed him that he could find and the fact that they had one at all. ‘None of them know who we are, so we keep asking Pinkies till one of them answers correct. That should be the real one.’

Simple in theory but considering the whirl of chaos, energy, and pink movement everywhere he was pretty sure it was going to be annoying to say the least, not to mention time consuming.

“I don’t know.” Came the first few Pinkies giving an honest answer.

“Oh OH you are are are…Big Mac’?” was the second most common answer.

“Pfft pfft pfft.” Came another answer that only made him realize it wasn’t just a Pinkie Pie imitation with overgrown hair.

“Sorry thought you were somepony else Miss?” Lego asked only to be given a series of raspberries he could somehow understand. “Fluffle Puff got it. I won’t make that mistake again. Have a good day.” As he was walking away he thought he saw a butterfly carry her off. ‘Velox, Novo are we sure that wasn’t a Pinkie Pie that was just weird?’

No answer was given from his inner personas except that it was ‘his theory, he should chase it’.

He went to take a rest at a nearby table in front of a Café when he seen another Pinkie Pie sitting there looking depressed so he had to ask. “I don’t suppose you know who I am?”

She looked over to him for a moment before collapsing her head back on the table. “I do, but why are you asking, did you lose your memory again Star?”

“I didn’t thin-” He suddenly hugged her as he realized what she said. “FINALLY! Been looking all over for you Pinkie. What is going on with all the Pinkies?”

She looked up at him from the hug a bit surprised. “What do you mean, how do you know I am not a fake, even I am not sure.”

He poked her nose and smiled. “Cause I know my friends a tiny bit I would think…all things considered.” Lego felt his smile start to drop as he shook his head. “That still didn’t answer my question.”

Sighing she poked her hoof into the ground and began to tell him. “Well I was planning parties and fun for everypony a few days ago when I realized that it’s really hard, I might even miss some. Then with the elections going on I got even further behind, so today when Dash was at the lake and Applejack was raising her barn I didn’t want to miss any of the fun, so remembering the legend of the mirror pool Nana Pie told me, I went to make more of myself but they don’t know a whole lot and just want fun and bounce around not listening to anything and only making things worse.”

The mind of Lego was an analytical one, he seen the problem in this and gave her a hug. “Thank you Pinkie, I am glad you found it and not me.” When she gave him a blank look he just smiled wider. “If it was me that found it, I would have tried to split myself from this body so we could each have our own lives…but if those are only copies and can’t really do much then there was no chance for me to do that. If Novo or Velox had found it, they would have tried a few times regardless and from what you told me, the copies are born with the desire for fun cause you wanted to experience it with your friends. Meaning the copies of Velox or Novo would keep making copies trying to make it work over and over again ad infinitum.”

She smiled a bit but the depression seemed to retake her as she slumped down onto the table and mumbled. “I will be sure to tell the real Pinkie Pie that you thanked her then when I see her.”

Frowning for a moment he wished he had his saddle bags. “Pinkie, do you have a piece of paper and something to write with?” The party pooped pony pulled out a piece of paper and a crayon for him to write with. “Thank you very much.” It took him a minute to write the letter but he smiled and eventually folded it up and wrote on it: Open when there is only one Pinkie left. “Pinkie I want you to keep this, when Twilight, Celestia, or whoever finally solves this, I want you to open that up ok?”

Mumbling out an ‘Okey Dokey Lokey’ she put the paper into her mane. Giving her one last hug he left her alone, rounding the corner not witnessing Dash take off with the Pinkie.

He got to the house that was built next to the Cakes, a two story wooden structure that looked sturdier then most of the buildings in Ponyville, built with many conveniences that the buildings didn’t have since it was of newer design. Rain gutters made of metal that he knew wouldn’t rust, a kitchen inside that was sure to be stocked so he wouldn’t need to buy anything but food, one and a half baths, a basement for studies and some experiments he had plans for, and he hoped a cloud bed along with a regular bed, or at least the suggestion of enchanted fabrics to let anypony rest on clouds.

Only one minor problem Lego faced. “So…how do we get in there, I don’t have a key.”

“I’m me, I’m me, I’M ME!” Pinkie exclaimed as she jumped in the air happy to be the last Pinkie standing. It had been tough for her to watch paint dry but it had been worth it to her just to know she was going to stay with her friends. “Or am I?” This prompted her to search all over touching herself as she quickly had a doubt about her authenticity. “Ya, I am pretty sure I am me, huh what’s this?”

Pulling out the note she had forgotten about she heard the others coming around to see what it was. “What’s that Pinkie?”

Twilight spotted the crayon writing on the folded up piece of paper that read: Open when there is only one Pinkie left. “It’s from Lego.” All the ponies gasped not knowing he was up as she smiled and nodded. “He was talking to me but honestly I wasn’t paying much attention, was kinda down at the time and not my normal Pinkie self.”

Feeling a hoof pat her shoulder she looked to spot AJ there. “S’all right Sugarcube, anyways why don’t’-cha go ahead and open ‘er up.”

Feeling everypony crowd around tighter she unfolded the paper and read aloud what it held. “Pinkie, if you are reading this that means you are the last one standing with whatever Twilight, Celestia, or whoever solved the Pinkie clone problem did. Know that I knew you were the real one; there is only one Pinkie who is my best friend. It hurt to see you depressed like you were but I know you will come out on top…if for some reason the others made a mistake and another Pinkie besides the one I talked to is reading this give it to Twilight. Twilight, somepony bucked up, go get the real Pinkie back right now. Signed: Star.”

Pinkie had tears in her eyes as she read the words to everypony, she could feel them running down her face as she turned to hug her friends as no words could describing the feeling she had then.

They were all heading to Star’s house knowing he would be there wanting to check out his new home. Everypony was excited to see him now that he was up all for different reasons. Some personal, some wanting forgiveness, some wanting to hug there friend, but all were glad he was up and home.

“Look there is a note on the door.” Dash called out to the others having seen the note with her excellent eyesight. Zipping over she took it and came back to read it to everypony. “Relocated to my/our cave home as I/we don’t have the keys to get inside and didn’t want to break in. Contact Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, or Rarity to know how to get in contact with me/us and or to have them come deliver the key to me/us. Signed: Star.”

Of course this led them to the Everfree right away wanting to see him, Pinkie leading the way of course bouncing even more than normal which they were all happy about after finding the real one.

“Hello my dear friends of Ponyville.” Zecora called out as she came out from behind a tree her saddlebags full of Mushrooms of all kinds. “I am glad I could spot you all coming over that hill.” She pulled out a few mushrooms and gave them to each of the six. “Take this shrooms and rub them upon, or the creatures of the Everfree will be here anon.”

They all took one and started to as she asked, well most. “Do we have to dear, these mushrooms are rather fragrant.” Rarity asked taking a sniff of the pungent fungus.

The Zebra gave a nod and smiled. “It most certainly is pony of fashion, as I rather you smell bad then have a creature attack you out of a lack of my compassion.”

Making a face the fashionista did as she was told rubbing it all over. “I am going to need a long scented bath after this.”

While she was fussing over her fragrance Twilight looked to the Zebra wanting to know something. “Did you happen to see Star come around here?”

The stripped equine nodded with a smile. “I seen our shapeshifting friend earlier heading towards his cave, I gave him a mushroom just like I did for you to give him a save.”

“Thank you Zecora.” The magus said with a nod of appreciation.

Giving a quick shift to her bags Zecora started to talk off. “I wish you a good day, and I hope that to see you all again I must say.”

They kept going towards the cave and Rarity scrunched up her nose as they got to the sunken hole of a cave. “Do any of you smell that?”

“I think it is that.” The hovering Pegasus said as she pointed to the chopped up mushroom at the cave entrance.

Fluttershy had taken a hoofkerchief that Rarity was passing out to any that wanted it. “It looks like he chopped up the mushroom at the entrance to the cave, I guess to keep the animals away.”

“Also looks like he was pullin’ up a lot of grass I reckon’.” Applejack told them pointing to a good sized patch of grass missing here and there. “Wonder why that is.”

“Let’s find out!” Pinkie shouted loudly as she bounced into the cave with a smile on her face. “Star, are you in there?”

A grumble came from inside and a shuffle as they all seen the red pony come out and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Hey Pinkie what’s u-.”

Twilight watched as his eyes widened and he seemed to gulp as he seen that they were all there. “Hey Star, we heard you were up and wanted to talk to you, though I guess we should call you Lego when you are like that huh.”

“Y-ya. We are all separate ponies now even if we are all in the same body, kinda weird I know. I can only think that in the terms of mental health having three separate personalities can’t be a good thing but its working out fine for us right now.” There was a moment when Twilight thought he suddenly zoned out before he chuckled. “Novo and Velox wanted me to tell you they said hi.”

The mention of the other two that were a part of him made all the ponies slightly uncomfortable except Twilight who found the thought amazing. “Wait, are you saying all three of you are aware of the others and can talk to one another in your own mind?” With a nod of his head, and a look she missed, she squealed at the knowledge. “This is amazing. Tell me, do you all agree on who is in control or is one of you more dominant then the others and takes control?”

Twilight missed another look he gave her as he sighed and turned his head and looked away from her and the rest. “The one who is in control determines everything, he has to give up his position and let another take control for us to shift to that form, but then it means the one who takes the place is now the dominant one. As such it’s a matter of trust and relenting. However we can only shift a few times a day as shifting does cause some strain to our body. Twice is ok, three times tends to leave us in an exhausted state. Four…we don’t talk about four times ever.”

“I would love to test some things, get some readings while you change for your body, your mana levels, your channels, your brain waves, your-.” Twilight got a hoof shoved in her mouth from Pinkie of all ponies. “Oh sorry.”

Turning around he gave them all a smile. “Its fine Twilight, don’t worry about it.”

“Lego.” The suddenly worried party pony said. “Don’t do that please. You can tell us what is wrong.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what was going on as his smiled dropped as he looked towards Pinkie. “Sorry it is just…” Taking a breath Lego let it go slowly. “It is just, all three of us know we hurt you all and don’t want to step on any hooves.”

She knew she was missing something between their exchanges but she didn’t know what it was, what’s more with all that has happened she decided not to look further into it…for now. “It’s alright Lego, you are fine, I mean the reason we came here was to see how you are, oh and to give you the key to your home.” levitating the key in her violet aura she gave it over to him. “I kept it for you until you woke up.”

Putting the key in his mane for now he nodded and came out of the cave more into the daylight causing Rarity to gasp. “Goodness gracious, what are those ghastly stains in your coat?”

This put Lego in the spotlight as everypony looked at him to see he did indeed have many green stains on his coat. “Most likely from the grass bed I made, not much but better then a hard floor of a cave.”

“You simply must let me help you rid yourself of those awful things.” Rarity offered him no doubt thinking of herself in those same circumstances.

Holding up a hoof though he waved her off. “No thanks Rarity, as generous as the offer is, I rather scrub my own coat.”

All of her friends gave a giggle at seeing her blush as he said that. “I-I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It is ok Rarity, I knew what you meant. Anyways I was going to go fishing after I woke up so I will be heading to the lake.” Twilight was disappointed when she heard that but decided that it was for his diet as he did need the protein and very little was most likely given to him while he was unconscious as most of the medical facilities in Ponyville weren’t meant to handle protein eaters. “We will see you all later.”

They watched him as he headed out of the cave and towards where thought assumed a river was. “I will catch you all later as well, there was something I wanted to ask him so I will meet you all back at Ponyville.”

Once more they watched a friend headed off as Twilight smiled to the girls. “See girls, he isn’t upset at us.”

“Why are you upset at them?” Pinkie asked as they got to the lake. It was obvious that Lego didn’t want to be around them as he had no fishing gear at all at the lake nor did he bring any with him.

Sighing as he knew he couldn’t hide it from her he just gazed out onto the lake. “Pinkie I wonder, besides my own smile, how many of their smiles were fake?” Seeing her wince he knew the answer. “Exactly. I may not be the best when reading another pony, but even I could tell most of them were straining themselves.”

“Its cause they are scared Lego.” The pony defended her friends. “Except Twilight, she really was being honest.”

“Ya, she was.” He knew he put too much extra into those words as he seen Pinkie turn her head quickly in his direction out of the corner of his eyes. “Pinkie, she is so excited to examine me, so excited to see something new, she is happy for an opportunity.”

The sight of Pinkie biting her lip meant he was on to it. “Ya Twilight gets like that, but she gets like that for a lot of things. I mean she tried to examine my Pinkie sense too but it doesn’t mean we still aren’t friends.”

He took a moment to listen to the others inside his head but they were just as doubtful as he, he really wanted to believe but wasn’t sure if he could especially as every time he wants to all the betrayed looks from the cell return from his memory to super impose themselves onto his friends. “Maybe.”

“Maybe my flank.” Pinkie told him with a smile. “I know I am right this time. Besides Applejack and Rainbow Dash miss your other sides, I am sure they want to see them.”

He paid close attention to those particular faces earlier when he had mentioned Novo and Velox’s greetings, something which they protested in his head that they didn’t say at that time. Didn’t matter though, the looks everypony gave was more than enough to prove the point and that point was nothing would be the same, the trust that was there was gone and he wasn’t sure it would come back to help his other sides.

“Pinkie, I want honesty from you, not for me, not for you, but for Velox and Novo.” He turned and looked her right in the eyes. “Do you honestly think a relationship will work for two ponies inside one body with two others? Can you honestly say that Rainbow Dash or Applejack will agree to share a body, to share the trust that the ones they love are with another and be ok with that? That the trust they placed into the pony they care for will return as strong as before they knew about us?”

Pinkie opened her mouth to say something, Lego watched, Velox and Novo watched from inside as well, they watched and watched but all gave a sigh when she closed her mouth and spoke. “I don’t know. I wish I could say yes to you three, but I watched as all the others were hurt when you changed.” He was about to get up and walk away as she continued. “But I was also there when your story was told, they all want to make it up to you, honest! Does that mean Velox and Novo will have what they had before, I don’t know, but it doesn’t mean it has ended as of yet.”

Lego wanted to say something anything but in the end he sighed and closed his eyes and stared at his other two personas. “Well it is up to you two…is she right, do you want it to end?”

Velox stood up and shook his head. “I don’t want it to; it’s just…just…”

Novo seemed to understand what he was saying and finished for him. “We don’t want to hurt anymore Lego.”

“Yeah.” The Pegasus said in a downtrodden tone. “We both love who we love but, the looks on their faces…it hurts so much Lego, I am tired of my heart dying in my chest.”

The earth pony looked at them and asked again. “So you are letting it end?”

They were both silent and Lego started to turn and was about to exit when he was given an answer. “No. I am not letting me and AJ end like this. But…I won’t lie either, I am not going to be going full blast into it just in case.” Lego was impressed, as of the three of them he was the most gung ho about anything. “I just…I don’t want to end up screwing things up, so I am going to go slow and earn AJ’s love and trust back, or at least give it my all and hope we end up as friends at the very least.”

Lego watched as Velox was surprised by a sudden hug from his brother. “Thank you Velox, I kinda needed to hear that myself. I feel the same way just about Dash. Slow and steady wins the race right?”

Leaving his mind he turned and gave his best friend a hug. “They aren’t going to let it end like this Pinkie, they are going to continue, just…slowly.”

He felt her hug him back and smile almost ear to ear as he said that. “Good to hear Waffles, now what say we get you home and start planning your official three in one party?”

Wincing upon hearing that, he shook his head. “Pinkie as much as I would like that, I don’t want a party.” Her gasping prompted him to explain himself. “Pinkie, when I got some paper and a quill from the Cakes they told me by how much I got to stay in the town with the votes. While mid sixties is a good margin, there is still a third of the town that didn’t want it. So I want other ponies to get used to things first ok?”

“That isn’t the only reason is it?” It was a question for sure but one he knew she had the answer to even before he spoke it.

Sighing he looked to the lake again and threw a rock as best he could causing it to skip a few times over its crystal smooth surface. “We are afraid Pinkie, all of us. Our dearest friends were hurt by us and they saw it directly, other ponies are going to want to see us change to and I have a feeling they won’t react much differently even if they know already. While it may not be logically true that it will happen since they are prepared for it, I-we all still worry about that and we just want a home even if it’s only for a little while.”

“Alright.” The pink pony told him. “I would ask as many ponies to come as possible and that would mean that there might be party poopers there.” Thinking a moment she smiled. “Maybe when you get a.bit more confident we can throw some small parties that will get bigger and bigger till you have your official one. How does that sound?”

He wanted to say no, he wanted to disagree and not have one ever but the look on his friends face was too much. “As long as you let me decide when I am ready for the first small party, then sure.”

Feeling a hug come his way he responded with his own hug. He and his other minds were very happy Pinkie was still their friend at this moment.

The next few days for them were challenging, first came actually trying to shop, especially to fill his pantry. Most of the shop keeps were actually very nice and understanding, the few that weren’t well, he had to pretty much either pay extra or shop at other stands for the ingredients that he couldn’t obtain or find different ingredients to replace them. Novo had a fit when he learned one of the lead up’s to the Pinkie Clones was Pinkie running into Twilight while she was attempting some transmutation. That wasn’t the part that threw him into a craze, it was learning that when Twilight got startled by Pinkie, her spell diverted and hit a bird turning it into a citrus-avian hybrid with no side effects whatsoever. Needless to say Novo refused to come out into the open after that muttering in the back of his brother’s mind about a certain rule breaking unicorn.

Lego was uncomfortable around Rarity as she was trying to get them all to come over at one point or another so that she could take their measurements for clothing she wanted to make them. He politely declined the offers each time claiming that if they changed while dressed up, it would ruin her work. She bought that thankfully though it wasn’t close to the real reason, honestly they were all still nervous around their friends and Rarity wanting to measure him was bringing flashbacks to Lego about Photo Finish.

Velox was enjoying flying again though would often run into Dash during those flights asking how they were and if Novo was doing ok. While hesitant at first Velox found talking to the prismatic mare easier than others as they were alike in many ways. When asked if he could switch Velox was about to agree but was stopped by Novo saying he wasn’t quite ready yet leaving Velox to make the excuse that today was ‘his’ day. Novo felt bad about that as he watched from inside their mind as Dash looked crushed for a quick second then tried to brush it off by saying ‘it was no big deal’.

Encounters with the rest of their friends were different then the last few. Twilight seemed like she was reading a lot more though when they came around she asked if they would stay around to run a few tests. For the most part they could talk themselves out of those but had to give up a few blood samples and mouth swabs to actually excusing themselves. Pinkie was a delight always to see often giving them hugs and sharing treats she always seemed to have, and always the flavor each of the brothers enjoyed most. Spike seemed to always be a bro to the three and was honestly quite easy to start forgiving as he was being so helpful to them.

It was the last two of their major friends that were troubling them: Applejack and Fluttershy. They hadn’t seen hid nor hair of either of them, which was strange, as they would still head to work as Lego after Big Mac’ came around asking when he was going to come back to helping out Sweet Apple Acres. Flutteryshy seemed like the world’s best stealth artist as there were times when they could swear that one of them heard her voice right before turning the corner only to see no pony there. It was rather saddening for Velox as he had asked Lego if they could switch out if they seen AJ, to which he said yes, only never actually seeing her.

In the end all three found themselves in their minds discussing what to do. First on their agenda was talking to all their friends.

“We can’t keep hiding and avoiding some of them. We have to tell them what is on our minds.” Velox said his feathers ruffling in the mindscape that Lego had made into a recreation of the lake in the Everfree.

The unicorn of the three shook his head. “I’m sorry, I am trying but every time I see Dash I want to but when we talk to her, she seems off.”

The biggest pony of the three agreed with a lazy nod. “She does seem…anxious but it might just because she is nervous talking to us and extension you.”

“You are going to have to face her sometime Novo.” Said the preening Pegasus, why he needed to do that in their mind none of them knew. “If you don’t I think it’s going to end up worse for you. It is why I am trying to find AJ and have asked you both to let me take over if we see her…but…I guess she doesn’t want to see me.”

Both the brothers looked at the blue pony, both figuratively and literally. They both knew he was taking the missing farm mare hard but they both understood. It would be a coincidence if she was gone or busy, but they never seen her at work when working there. They often hear of their friends running into her, and most of all there was one time when they could have sworn she abandoned her apple cart to hide from them as they found it unattended. Lego promptly took over it selling to any pony that would buy from them but it did sadly have an effect on the cart’s business.

“Do…do you think she hates me?” The Pegasus asked them with tears in his eyes only to get no answer from them. Wiping them away he chuckled dejectedly. “Shouldn’t really be a surprise, she is a wonderful sweet mare who’s heart I broke. I am the lowest of the low.”

They both wanted to say something to comfort him, but neither knew the words. That and it was making Novo think of his own problems with Dash, he was basically avoiding her like Applejack was to Velox, if this was how he was feeling Dash must have it just as bad…right?

“Hey Lego, I think I am going to walk around tomorrow you don’t mind do you?” Lego turned to his green brother with a brow raised before shaking his head.

“Go right ahead. I may not know what you are thinking but it doesn’t mean I can’t feel the cogs turning. After all I am better with our mind then both of you right now just because of how much I explore and categorize.” The red earth pony said with a smile to him. “I will keep Velox company and try to help him out…actually…” He turned to Velox with a smile. “Did you know you have private room in our head?”

“I have a room in our head?” The sniffling pony asked curiously. “Wait, we have rooms period?”

Lego rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “I will give you a tour if you like or just show you your room.”

“I would like that.” Both Velox and Novo said which caused them all to chuckle.

Lego turned to them with a smile. “When I am in here whoever is with me I will start teaching out to explore, should help me a bit as well since I want to know it all, that and I have found some locked rooms I don’t know how to open. Who knows maybe those doors have our missing memories.”

That sounded worthwhile to all of them and so they agreed.

Novo was flying solo today, Lego was teaching Velox about their mind so he told Novo that they weren’t observing so they couldn’t provide back up, almost like the good ol’ days when they were all one being.

‘Ok I prepared for this day, I know what I am going to do, and I know what I have to do. Ok first time to lure Pinkie to talk to her as she would know where Dash is.’ Opening up his fridge he pulled out a muffin and a cupcake. ‘Don’t kill me Pinkie and I am sorry.’ Taking a bite from each he put on his best smile and spoke. “Mmm muffins sure are better the cupcakes.”

He started to sweat as he heard the heavy sounds of hoof beats running down the road, he knew this would end badly so he already had precautions he just hoped she read the sign he was holding up in his magic.

“WHAT?!” The irate voice of the pink party pony called out to his home as she rushed through the door and inside to the kitchen. “How can you say muffins are better then-” He was rapidly tapping the sign he was hiding behind wanting her to read it. “Sorry Pinkie it was a joke, but I wanted to talk to you in private and I kinda wanted to prank you as well.” Pinkie said reading the sign out loud. Glaring at him she grabbed him and shook him in her hoofs. “NEVER JOKE ABOUT CUPCAKES!” He felt his eyes swirling around in his head and his forest green coat turning to a sickly shade of green even as she sat him down with a giggle. “So what can I do for you Coffee?”

Novo tried to speak but felt the bites of the sweets come back up on him, thanks to the shaking from a moment ago, as he pulled a nearby trashcan to him to empty his stomach.

Pinkie just giggled and smiled. “Must have been the muffin you ate.”

‘Mental note to self…make sure I never say that phrase again.’ Smiling at the mental reminder he added. ‘Addendum: make sure Velox does it.’

While that was all in good fun he had managed to talk to Pinkie eventually after his stomach settled. She had told him that she was ‘hanging around the north east-ish end of town’ somewhere between the library, clock tower, and the school. Novo knew the spot she was talking about as it was one of Dash’s favorite spots, easy flying distance to find Scootaloo, though he never met her himself, easy distance to Twilight, and only a short flight from the library to Sugarcube Corner for a snack break.

He was mentally starting to sweat as he got closer and closer, even having to stop when he seen a lone cloud that no doubt could support a Pegasus in a cloudless sky. Gulping and finding his legs becoming shaky as he approached seeing a rainbow colored tail trapped off one of the edges of the weather formation he knew he had come to the right place.

Closing his eyes he started to talk to himself in his mind. ‘Ok, you can do this, you can do this, confidence, confidence, you got this…I think.’ Taking in a deep breath to calm himself he pulled off a piece of the cloud with his magic and changed it to water holding it over where he assumed the Pegasus was. “Well, here goes everything.”

Letting the small ball of water go there was a faint splashing in the distance that quickly was followed up by sputtering and a loud ‘HEY!’ as Dash quickly stood up and started looking around. “Alright who is the wise pony who woke me from my-” Novo was waving at her and could see her eyes grow big at spotting him.

He was starting to get nervous as she silently flew down quickly and landed in front of him. “S’up Dash, came to see how you were do-.” He didn’t get a chance to say anything at all as he was cut off when her lips pressed against his though he was too stunned at the sudden turn of events to kiss back.

She quickly broke the kiss and started to nuzzle him eagerly and whispered. “Hey, long time no see.”

He felt the emotions welling up in him as he just simply leaned down to nuzzle her back closing his eyes so the tears of happiness wouldn’t spill down his face. “Ya, sorry about that.”

Snow flurries were constant in this region and honestly Egnach hated the cold. “Professor Adapt has a great assignment for me, I am the only one who can do it. Oversee your fellow changelings in the digging. Bah all lies to get me out of his way to steal my work. However once I am done here and I can bring the artifact back to the Princess, no no no I need to stop saying that its Queen now, once I bring it back to the Queen I can get rid of that old codger.” Egnach was currently in the form of an earth pony with a shovel along with dozens of other changelings. “Queen Pupa will reward me like no other, not even Chrysalis when she was feeling generous will reward me like she will.”

Seeing a pony head pop up from the corner he heard a voice. “Egnach you really need to stop talking to yourself, the others already thing you have problems. Plus its best not to mention the former Queen at all if you remember.”

Egnach remembered, they all remembered. The last changeling to mention the former Queen Chrysalis had been executed by other changelings who sucked him dry. He didn’t mind the former Queen, she was a good ruler but too ambitious for her own good.

‘That is why Pupa took over, true she was looking for an excuse for a long time but when Chrysalis came back defeated and weak from the failed takeover of Canterlot the coup had almost been too easy. Now that old beetle is wondering the lands cut off from the hive and the hive mind and will most likely die off.’ Egnach shuddered as that was one of the worst punishments possible to be cut off from the hive mind, so bad he didn’t want to think about it.

A ‘tink’ sound came from his shovel as he looked down to see what he struck. Wiping off the snow he quickly smiled and reverted to his natural form and used his magic to lift the severed horn up to show the others. “I found it, I FOUND IT!” The base of the horn was black that slowly changed to an angry red near the tip though looked to have seen better days. “Alright Changelings, form up, we leave back to the hive, we have it. We have the horn of Sombra!” Egnach smiled as he knew the Pr-Queen would be happy with this.

Author's Notes:

Hello all, it is that time time again except there is a slight problem.

There is only one chapter today.

I was trying to break it to them easy brain how could you.

Never tip toe around a possibly bad topic, just rip it off like a band-aid

Maybe, but I also wanted to tell them why. The reason there is only one chapter is honestly this, been having a really bad case of writers block and have been slowly chiseling it away to make progress, as such writing has been slower going then normal.

As such I will keep track of all the weeks there was only one release and some time in the future may release a bunch all at once to make up for it. or an extra long chapter or something.

I noticed you put may in there, it implies you might not.

SHUT UP BRAIN! I-I mean I fully intend to keep that promise...now.

And my work here is done.

You, Me, so much alcohol, so much brain damage!

Chapter Seventeen: Is it a Date or Disaster?

The Alter Accords

Chapter Seventeen: Is it a Date or Disaster?

Novo had been on cloud nine since he confronted, there was only a few apologies exchanged then a lot of lip locking. It didn’t even bother him that his brothers had come back and were making comments in his head. Velox was still in a slump and Lego was happy teaching him about their mind so Novo was left to his own self for a few days of which him and Dash were constantly with each other.

True they were both over doing it a tad bit but considering everything that he went through he thought he deserved this and honestly if Rainbow was anything like Velox was currently when he was avoiding her then he wanted to make it up to her as well.

It was during one of those moments when they were spending time together that the Rarity and the most notorious group of three fillies caught them locking lips.

“EWW!” The Cutie Mark Crusaders all managed to exclaim at once which caused the two to refrain from any more PDA at the moment.

Rarity walked up and smiled at the two as she flipped a lock of her mane from her face. “I know you told us that you two made up Rainbow Dash but I must say I didn’t think you two would be that open with it.”

“Rainbow Dash do you really like that stallion? I mean he can’t even fly!” It was the voice of the small Pegasus filly that asked it.

From the deep orange coat and the magenta mane and purple eyes he knew this to be Scootaloo. “Oh come on Squirt, he is a lot cooler then you think, I personally have seen him do some awesome things, plus, he can fly…sorta.”

The noogie that Dash gave her was adorable as she closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. “But he doesn’t have wings.”

“Aww come on Scoots, Novo and his brothers are cool ponies, Ah mean Velox is cooler then Novo but ah’m sure that they are all cool.” Bloom told her friend and inwardly he could feel a flinch at the accent from Velox before the mental sound of him locking himself in his room was heard.

Levitating a few of his metal balls out of his bags he smiled as the girls all watched what he was doing out of the corners of their eyes even as they continued talking. “I think Apple Bloom is right Scootaloo, I hear some of the things my sister and her friends talk about him…them about. They are all good things too.”

The voice of Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s little sister, an almost little copy of her sister except with a mane of pink and lavender that ended in curls that seemed to be more natural than the ones her sister had as well as her innocent green eyes. He smiled as he started to combine the balls and stretch them out making the form he was doing hallow as he molded it to size.

“Ya kid listen to your friends, he is a pretty awesome pony even if he doesn’t have wings. Of course-” Dash flexed her wings out and he knew she was about to boast as he put his plan into action setting the object behind Dash now and had it copy her movements. “-he isn’t as awesome as me, but then again no pony is, am I right?” Her eyes were closed so she had no idea that both the CMC and Rarity were open mouthed at what they were seeing going on behind her. “What why are you girls so quiet?” Opening her eyes she seen they were gaping at something and of course mistook what they were gaping at. “I know I am awesome but you guys don’t have to-”

“Rainbow Dash, look behind you.” Said the fan girl of Dash’s as she was wide eyed and pointing her hoof at what she was seeing.

Doing as she said the prismatic mare came face to face with a monochrome copy of her that was mimicking her exact movements. “What the hay?!” She said in shock and took to the air in a hover only to be copied by the metal Dash as it took to the air, albeit assisted with a green glow.

Seeing the green glow she turned to the one responsible and glared at him only for Novo to start chuckling. “What?”

Setting down he knew she wouldn’t accept that obviously fake innocence of his as she turned to inspect the metal Dash that was copying her. “Not bad, not bad, but you forgot my, oh wait no you didn’t.” she was about to say cutie mark as she turned to the side only to see it there as well only in gray scale.

“That is so cool!” All three of the fillies said at once causing Dash to turn back towards them.

Of course this is what Novo was waiting for as he started to make the metal Pegasus stick out her tongue pull down her eyelid and other foalish stunts. “See you three, he is cool.” Dash of course was wondering why the three were laughing at her for as Novo had such a good grip on fluid transmutation that the metal moving wasn’t making a sound. “What do I have something on my coat?” This was it, he couldn’t stop himself and had metal Dash come over and point to her coat. “Oh thanks I-” she got not further as she was looking down where the hoof was pointing it came up and tapped her nose.

The CMC and Novo burst out laughing as she got caught with one of the oldest tricks in the book; even Rarity was giving a chuckle. “I-I can’t believe you-you haha.”

The blush on Dash’s cheeks was really bright but she just smiled him even as he was holding his sides. “Ya, ya, laugh it up, I just didn’t except that kind of lame trick from somepony as awesome looking as myself.” She said pointing to the metal copy. “You realize that this means I will get you back right?”

He was getting his laughter under control as he nodded with a grin. “So worth it.” Coming up to her and nuzzling her, he gave a whisper to her that he thought was just low enough for only her to hear. “But then again, you always are worth it.”

Her blush skyrocketed as her wings extended out fully as the three foals were sticking out their tongues and pointing their hoofs to them in a gagging motion, while Rarity was fanning herself with tears in her eyes. “Oh that was just lovely.”

Quickly pulling his head back he was wide eyed and blushing up a storm. “You heard that?”

“Everypony heard that gag inducing line.” Scootaloo said making another gagging motion. “Rainbow Dash you’re not going to be suckered by that cheesy line right?”

The eyes were on the prismatic maned mare as she was still blushing fiercely and luckily too young to know what those extended wings of hers meant. “I, well, um.” She gave a gulp as she was looking around at them all.

Deciding to bite the bit for her Novo came to the rescue. “Ya that was a cheesy line, I mean even cool pony’s can say things like that and be awesome. But I suppose I am not at Dash’s level of cool yet since you all thought it was cheesy.”

“Heck right you aren’t.” The tiny winged Pegasus said crossing her forelegs against her barrel.

Rainbow had recovered enough of herself to respond with her usual confidence. “In all honesty though it’s not fair to compare another pony to me that is just asking for them to fall short am I right squirt?” Giving her a hug which got her giggling and nodding Novo watched as Dash gave him a grateful look and a smile. “Anyways I was just going to grab something from my cloud house and come back, I will be right back.” However she was stopped by Rarity with a single word of ‘wings’.

Looking back at her still stiff appendages she looked irritated at that. “I got it Dash.” The green unicorn told her as metal Dash morphed and flattened into a metal disk, though some excess came off in some metal balls that went back into his pack.

Stepping onto it he heard Scootaloo again say. “Oh come on you can’t seriously think I believe that you can…”

She was cut off as he jaw dropped as he rose with the disk heading up to the cloud house as he distinctly heard Dash say. “Cool right?”

“Sooo cool.” Came the response from the filly.

Rainbow Dash watched as Novo ascended to her home in the clouds. Normally she wouldn’t have her home where it was today but a resident of Ponyville asked if she could move it there for a few days to cool down their home with some shade. Dash was just smiling as her biggest fan watched her coltfriend disappear into the cloud home from the bottom.

“Hey Dash?” The Squirt said no longer bouncing on her hooves.

Seeing her start to nudge the ground with a hoof the tomcolt of a mare just smiled. “What is it Squirt?”

Dash watched as the small filly looked first at her then at the cloud house where Novo had vanished. “Is he your special somepony?”

The question got the entire groups attention as Rainbow suddenly found four pairs of eyes looking at her, to which she didn’t flinch. “I would like to think so.”

“What do ya mean think?” The bow wearing filly asked in a curious tone.

“Well…” This part however she didn’t want to voice the real reason behind it out loud instead making an excuse. “Cause we haven’t even gone on a date. Not really sure where we should go too.”

They all seemed to buy it as Rarity smirked and came over to her touching her mane. “Well darling if you are going to go anytime soon you and I really should do up your mane, some makeup is a must, maybe even find you a wonderful dress to wear that-”

“Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there Rarity. I don’t think I am cut out for a dress even makeup is abit much. I mean I might take you up on helping with my mane but till everything is sorted out there shouldn’t be any plans right?” Honestly she disliked even dressing up at all and was considering making it some kind of picnic instead to some restaurant or another.

Rarity wasn’t done with what she was saying; Dash could see it in her eyes. Luckily what she was going to say was cut off with Novo shouting down at them that he had her saddle bags. He stepped off the disk even as it started to turn back into balls of metal as he floated her backs over to her settling them where they needed to be.

She went to nuzzle him gently closing her eyes and smiling when he returned the gesture. “Thanks Novo.”

She felt his breath at her ear as he whispered something to her. “No problem My Spectrum.”

She knew she was the only one that heard that as there was no awwing or gagging sounds, though it didn’t help her blush any less at the nickname as the stiffness returned to her wings and they had just gone down too. “R-right. Well I need to get to work, I hate they called me in for a meeting but…when I get back you think maybe we can do something?”

She watched as he rubbed his chin with his hoof as he was thinking. “Sure, you will be getting back what in two days?” She gave him a nod and smiled. “Then how about a date when you get back?”

Her eyes widen as she heard that not expecting it so soon and she also knew that it was heard as a girly Rarity squeal of joy came with it. “S-sure, you pick the place ok?” Placing a quick kiss to his lips she turned and started to gallop off as her stiff wings wouldn’t allow her to fly.

“See you then.” She heard him call out to her.

Her heart was beating quickly; she wasn’t ready for a date so soon, she wanted to be a better fillyfriend to him first before that time. ‘What am I going to do? I haven’t made what I did right yet, I have to think of something. I mean we could merge after the date but what if he wouldn’t want to, plus it is embarrassing and I couldn’t exactly say I wanted to. I mean the two times we did do it, first time was kinda spontaneous and the second was…well not as spontaneous but still from the heat of the moment.’

Feeling her wings get back in order she took off from her run and a rainboom later was zipping to Cloudsdale from her meeting. All the while contemplating what she could and couldn’t do for and after that date to prove she was a good fillyfriend.

Novo watched as Dash galloped off; smiling inwardly as he knew the stiff wings she had made it so she couldn’t fly. “So darling.” He heard the pure white mare beside him say. “Tell us, where do you plan to take our flier hmm?”

Blinking at her he chuckled. “Honestly a picnic by the lake. Originally I had made those plans when I was still one pony but they should still do I think.”

He watched the prim mare tap her chin in thought as she finally nodded to herself. “Hmm yes the simplistic approach would work best on Rainbow Dash, she isn’t one for fancy restaurants and the like, but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t count them out.”

“Ya Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be caught anywhere near one of those stuck up places.” The Fanfilly said in agreement with the mare of the group.

Bloom looked up in thought as she spoke aloud. “Ah don’t know, Ah mean ah am not much of a fancy pony either but ah would like it if my special somepony took me somewhere nice.”

Sweetie Belle seemed to agree with her but Novo was asked something by his brother and had to let it out. “Hey Bloom, do you mind if I ask you abit of a personal question?”

Bloom seemed to smile and nod. “Sure.”

He sighed and had to ask as his brother watched from inside his mind. “Is Applejack avoiding Velox? Well all of us really but Velox in particular?”

The filly, whom was before happy to talk to him, suddenly had a sudden sad look on her face. “Ah don’t know, ah asked her before when ah seen her run away when Lego came for buckin’ but she seemed not to want to talk about it.”

Novo felt the waves of sadness rolling off his brother in his mind as he walked back into his mind chamber and locked it, in reality though he just ruffled the filly’s mane and smiled. “It is alright Bloom, I technically lied to a lot of ponies so I understand if she hates us.”

“Surely you don’t believe that Novo?” Rarity asked him and he could hear the concern in her voice. “Sure she might have been upset but she does care for him and you all.”

“It’s ok Rarity we kinda have it figured out already.” He told her before sighing gently. “She is the most honest mare the three of us know, if she is avoiding us it means that if she seen us she would honestly say what was on her mind, which no doubt is not pleasant judging by how much she goes out to avoid us.” Putting on his best smile to hide his sadness he turned to them. “Anyways I should be going, got to drop by Quills and Sofas to pick up some writing essentials, I still have reports to give the Princesses after all.”

The farm house door was being practically bashed in with the harsh knocking that AJ felt was inappropriate for a social call as the voice outside her home was calling out to her. “Applejack come out here, we need to talk.”

She had finished up bucking early today so she had been taking a nice nap when the banging started and she wasn’t happy about it at all. “What is it Rarity?” she said with a tad harsher then she meant. “Sorry ‘bout that, ya just caught me when ah was nappin’ is all.” As Rarity came in she took note of three missing fillies she knew that Rarity was supposed to watch today. “Where are the crusaders?”

The look the purple maned mare gave her was one of disappointment and she didn’t know why. “I sent them to the clubhouse so you and I could have a discussion.” The orange farmer was about to ask about what when Rarity told her. “It is about your treatment of Velox and his brothers.”

By instinct alone AJ felt herself back up as her eyes widened in shock. “I-I don’t rightly know what your t-talkin’ ‘bout.”

“Really?” Rarity asked as she let one thin eyebrow rise up. “Well not only have I heard from Novo, but Apple Bloom as well about how you are avoiding the Pegasus and his brothers. Lego still works here; whenever one of them drops by or he comes to work you are nowhere to be seen. When one of them comes even close you run away and avoid him.”

“T-that is because-” Though she never got to say what it was as Rarity stomped her hoof down in outrage.

“So you admit it!” Rarity rarely got truly upset about things like this and Applejack knew it, sure she may throw a hissy fit about some fashion disaster or another but not this unless it was really important. “Do you know how lucky you are? You have a stallion that is not only willing to sacrifice himself for others like a noble knight that he is, but one that is absolutely in love with you. Do you know how he is feeling right now? How all the brothers are feeling right now?” The cowpony couldn’t even move or say anything from the shock of Rarity talking to her like this. “They think you hate them. I could see how bad it was for Novo to come to that thought but imagine what Velox is feeling inside their mind.”

AJ continued to back up now as Rarity came forward. “They think ah what?”

She felt the hooficured limp poke her in as she couldn’t back up anymore thanks to the couch that she had backed up into. “They think you hate them. Then again I can easily see how they think that with you doing everything in your power to never see them again. You have no clue how lucky you are to even have his love in the first place. Honestly if you don’t want to see them again the least you should do is tell them so. Maybe then they can grieve for their brother’s broken heart as well as their lost friendship and being to try to find some happiness like m-” Applejack saw the look of shock in her friends eyes as they widen even though she had no clue what she was going to say, obviously though, it was going to be something upsetting if it caused that kind of reaction. “I-I am sorry, I have to go.”

Applejack just watched as the pony ran out of the farm house as she just sat her rear down on the floor. “But, why would he think ah hate him, it should be him that hates me.”

Rarity had made it back to her boutique and was in her private room crying into her fainting couch at what had just happened. ‘I can’t believe myself. I only meant to go over there to talk some sense into that pony and ended up nearly revealing my own insecurities.’ Part of her mind started to say that she was in the right for wanting a pony that was clearly wrong for the other when she shook her head. ‘No, I mustn’t think like that, Velox and Applejack were wonderful together.’ That same jealous part of her mind whispered to her that she had just said ‘were’ as in past tense. ‘I mean still are, she just needs to pony up and fix this. Velox and his brothers have been looking for her obviously so it is not for lack of him trying.’ That whisper started again but she crushed it right away. ‘I would not make a better marefriend then Applejack for him no matter how well I would treat him.’ However this time when the whispers came she couldn’t stop herself form thinking of the idea. ‘True, if she doesn’t want him what IS to stop me from trying…?’

Pinkie was laughing up a storm at Novo right now, and why shouldn’t she? Twilight had somehow managed to convince him to change for her while he was hooked up to more wires then Frankenpony’s Monster.

“Remind me again why exactly I am doing this?” He couldn’t help but ask as Twilight had notes already being taken down for his base readings.

She looked up from the readings with a smile. “Well I figure if I can get readings on all you and your brother’s forms and while you are changing, I might figure out how you’re doing what you do, understanding the how helps to figure out the why a lot of the times.”

Novo figured she was just doing this to learn something new but honestly if she could figure it out it worked for them as well. “Fine, let me know when you are done taking in those readings and PINKIE IT’S NOT THAT FUNNY!”

Pinkie was still laughing but she did manage to get out her words. “Y-you look l-like an electronic m-mummy. W-who dares to d-disturb my t-t-t-t-Drop the bass….TOMB!”

He could feel his right eye twitching as she explained why she was laughing even as Twilight told him he could change. “By the way Twilight, Velox won’t be showing up.”

As he began to glow he heard her ask him. “Oh why is that?”

His body shining with a white light as the horn was pulled inside his head as his body grew and gained much mass and muscles. “It is because he is heartbroken.” Lego said as the light vanished revealing his red coat.

“Heartbroken? Did something happen between him and Applejack?” Pinkie asked no longer laughing and looking at him with concern.

Shaking his head as Twilight was getting the readings from his change and his form. “No and that is the problem. She seems like she is trying her hardest to avoid us completely.”

Pinkie just tilted her head and smiled. “That doesn’t sound like her, I am sure she has just been busy and hasn’t had time.”

“Apple Bloom already confirmed to us yesterday that she has been avoiding us.” Lego told her without much emotion even as Twilight caught up in her experiments was tuning out the conversation and asking him to change again. “Alright Twilight, last change as Novo doesn’t want to be too exhausted as he has to go to Rarity to get fitted as well as make some reservations.”

Twilight just nodded her head while staring intently at her machines ignoring the stallion and his sigh as he seen how absorbed she was. ‘Just ignore it, let her get her find and if she gets anything for us then all the better, just have to keep telling myself that.’

Lego started to glow as he heard Pinkie start to speak again. “Fitted for what? Also what are the reservations for?”

There were a few seconds of a pause as Lego didn’t answer but Novo instead. “Well my plans were originally to take Dash to a picnic for a date but…something the Cutie Mark Crusaders said made me change my mind.” Novo told her as he shook off the transformation. “So I need something alright to wear and I need to make the reservations.”

Pinkie was tilting her head when he told her his plans and he somehow knew exactly what was going through her mind. “But Dash really isn’t a fancy pony; I think she would be a lot happier with just a picnic.”

He nodded and smiled to her. “I think so too but there is another reason I am putting this together. Dash doesn’t have much confidence in her appearance so I want to show her that she can be as lovely as anypony else. I am going to make our first date something for her to remember.”

Novo had his eyes nowhere in particular just staring off into space as he was gathering his thoughts till he felt something press against him and turned to see Pinkie hugging him. “That sounds lovely and I hope everything goes well.”

He returned the hug as he heard Twilight talking. “OK I guess I have enough data for now, if Velox is ever ok enough to come out come see me again so I can take readings for him as well.”

Giving a nod to her he waved towards Pinkie as he went to get everything set up for his date. ‘Ok need to go set up the reservations as well as needing to talk to-.’

The fitting for Rarity had not been so bad; she was surprisingly professional and told him that his suit would be ready in time for his date. She had offered to give it to him though he refused a few times till she brought up how it was so make up for how she treated him in the Crystal Empire, not completely of course but just a tad bit. After she said that he couldn’t refuse and just accepted it politely.

Truthfully Novo and Lego agreed they could see she really meant her apology and was tempted to completely forgive her but there was just a small hesitation from them and they decided they would wait for Velox to agree before they did. For now she was no longer on the avoid list. Rarity did try to ask him about his plans for Dash however he just smiled and told her that it was a surprise.

Overall he was happy. He had sent the letter off via dragon fire, he had talking to the technicians and he had made the reservations. Dash would get back tomorrow and he would tell her that the date was the next day and where it would be. She of course would be disappointed but he would send her to Rarity, whom he hoped wouldn’t be too bad about things, and then he would take her to the restaurant and show her that not a single mare there was more beautiful than her. He was smiling so much that he didn’t even care as it was starting to rain as he headed to his home.

A figure in a robe was heading into a shop out of the rain. Normally anypony would wonder why anypony would go into this antique shop but the robed pony came here based on a tip. The dinging of a bell that rang for all who entered announced to the shop owner that he had a customer on this dreary day.

“Hello there, what can I do for you; we have some interesting curios as well as some lovely vases.” The glasses wearing pony said only to be caught off guard when the pony just pointed to something behind him, particularly a glass case on display behind him. “Oh that, that is called the Alicorn Amulet and it’s a very power item indeed, said to instill in the wearing power beyond imagining, however such a thing comes at a cost to the-.” The customer must have assumed he meant price as they dropped a large sack of bits before him. “Well now, that will certainly cover it.” Truth was it more then covered it since it was a cursed item and he couldn’t for the life of him sell it to anypony who knew about it. “Will that be gift wrapped or will you be wearing it out?” He saw the massive smile in the dark of the hood that signaled that they were pleased to hear his words.

Rainbow Dash was not currently enjoying herself. She got back from a long boring meeting for all the weather managers in the area, barely had time to relax when she ran into Novo and he told her the plans for their date at Le Pâturage. Now she was in Rarity’s shop the day of the date and she was doing her best to get the mare ‘presentable’.

“Rarity do I really need all this makeup?” Dash complained and whined at the same time, though the latter she would never admit. “I mean sure it’s a fancy-smancy place, but I don’t think anypony expects me to look good no matter what you do.” The truth actually made her feel depressed and mumble the next part. “I mean I will never look as good as the other mares, they have shape to them, I am just pure muscle, no bounce to my flank and look at my mane no matter what you do it will always look like a tomcolt manecut.”

“Nonsense dear, why when I am done with you I suspect that Novo won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.” The proper socialite told her as she was currently spritzing her mane while levitating a brush to help lay her mane to a wonderful style for what was to come. “Plus I have already made your dress; I modeled it after your gala dress only less formal.” When her mane was done she started to pull out the makeup. “Now hold still, I am not going to add too much, only enough to enhance your natural beauty.”

The rainbow maned flyer just gave a puff of air at the last part. “Rarity if you only put enough to enhance my natural beauty then I will still be plain as there is nothing to enhance.”

Rarity didn’t say a word and Dash took that as it meant she was concentrating on applying the makeup mostly around her eyes as well as a touch here and there to her cheeks and to her lips. “There we go; now let us get you in your dress so you can look at the effect all together.”

The dress even to Dash’s eyes was a work of art. It was of the same style and colors for the skirt as her gala dress only half as long letting it be more for casual wear and showing off her fetlocks for her hind legs as well as the fact the material was different, being a touch see through as if looking through water as well as giving a wonderful sparkling when looking through it. The necklace for the grapes had been replaced with a necklace with seven crystals each of a different color of the rainbow, while her shoes replaced grapes at least for coloration bringing a lovely deep purple as her shoes instead of the gold they once were. Finally there was a ribbon that Rarity explained would be braided into her mane separating each of the colors as it came through them and ending up tying up her mane with a clasp at the end, the ribbon being a pure white to match the white gold clasp at the end.

“Rarity, I think that might be too nice looking for me to wear.” The now nervous mare said rubbing at the ground while thinking of all the ponies looking at her and commenting that the dress was too good for her, even Novo’s face came to mind.

The dress was grabbed in a light blue aura as Rarity brought it over and started to help her friend get dressed. “Rainbow Dash, trust me, this is what I do, now lift your hooves up so I can get these on you.”

It took a little while to get her fully dressed and her mane braided with the ribbon and clasp at the end. However even Dash had to admit when looking into the mirror that she didn’t look half bad, though not good enough to be all made up like she was. She turned from side to side looking at the dress and gave a smile seeing the effect it had on light going through it.

“I take it you like it dear?” Rarity said to which even Dash could tell she wanted a complement.

Her response was giving the white fashionista a quick hug. “Thanks Rarity, it must have been tough even making me look half this nice.”

Rarity sighed and looked at her. “Dear you really need to open your eyes, you may not have the same kind of beauty you see others having but you have your own, you need to learn to recognize it.”

“Yeah, yeah, anyway I guess we just wait for Novo to show up now right?” As soon as she was done saying that there was a knock on the door which the hostess of the boutique went to answer. “Hmm I wish I had Wonderbolt tickets.” Seeing no tickets appear either she tapped her hoof against the floor. “Darn.”

Dash could hear Rarity talking to somepony and when the voice responded she knew who it was and was instantly nervous. That was when she took him in and she could feel her cheeks blushing as she did so as well as her wings rising. He was dress rather simply in a black tux with a forest green bow tie both in a rather new style that could no doubt be Rarity’s influence. However that isn’t what set it apart. What did is that it somehow seemed to be made of crystal as it was sparkling and shining whenever the light hit it just right giving it almost a glow.

The athlete would be the first to admit, with his mane groomed and showing up in a suit like that it did him well. “That’s…wow.” She then looked to see that his own eyes were wide as he seemed to be staring at her, making her grow somewhat self conscious. “I know I am not much to look at but Rarity did her-.”

“Lovely.” His voice cut her off as she just stared at him blankly. “You are the loveliest mare I have ever seen.”

The blush from before that she had gotten from taking in his appearance became one of embarrassment as she couldn’t stop the goofy grin that seemed to hop up onto her face. “N-no need to exaggerate I know I am not the best looking mare out there.”

She had turned her head away from him as she spoke so didn’t see him come up till she felt him nuzzle her. “To me you are.”

Rainbow couldn’t help but give a giggle and nuzzle him back. “That was so cheesy I think we should get some nachos for it.”

When she pulled back she noticed he had a smile on his face and winked at her. “Why do we need nachos when you already ate up the cheese?” She just rolled her eyes as he started to walk with her to the door. “Shall we?”

While she was nervous about the dinner she felt that she was no longer nervous with how she looked. “Ya, I am.”

On the way they talked about what she did while she was gone having to go to the weather office in Cloudsdale and how they had to give the report on how they had been managing the weather as well as submit the next three months for weather in advanced so there wasn’t any scheduling conflicts.

“Ouch, I am glad my job is protecting you six then, so much less paperwork.” They both laughed at that.

Dash smiled and continued on that thought. “Hey if you want we can do each other’s job for a week and see how it goes.”

She watched as he shook his head. “No wings remember, and I don’t feel like using my disk all that much, besides with how often you take a nap I feel like I would forget to wake up at the right times.”

They got to the restaurant just as they were finishing up laughing from that one as Novo asked if they had their table available. “I am sorry sir but I see no reservation under your name, are you sure you made one?”

She could see him blink and tilt his head. “I am sure; I talked with Maitre D, the owner, about a reservation two days ago.”

They both watched as the pony behind the counter looked over the list again and shook his head. “I am sorry I see no such mention in here. If you would like, you can wait for a table.”

“Guess we don’t have a choice, sorry about this Dash.” She could tell that he felt awful about this and nuzzled him to make him feel better.

It was nearly an hour before Maitre D, a fancy unicorn pony in a full tux, came out looking to have been finishing up his shift and did a double take when he seen them. “Ahh friend Novo what are you doing here? I thought you had ze reservation.”

Dash felt alittle insulted as here was the pony that was supposed to write down the reservation itself asking them why they weren’t inside. “It’s cause someponies don’t keep their-.”

“It’s alright Dash.” Rainbow was a little miffed that he interrupted her but she forgave him as she was about to say something mean to the pony before them. “Seems there was a mix up D, my reservation wasn’t on the list for tonight and we have been waiting for a table to open up.”

Frowning, the pony from Prance looked at them and then back to the entrance of his restaurant. “Follow moi.” They did so and he looked towards the pony overseeing the reservations. “Excuse moi I need to check somezing.” The pony who had told them they didn’t have a reservation was looking at his boss then back to them quickly before paling and backing away making Dash more than a bit suspicious. After a few moments a frowning D looked to them and bowed his head. “It seems somepony has removed your name from ze list, though zere was only one pony on zis duty tonight and I will see that he is surely punished for zis.” Glaring at the pony he turned to them picking up a few menus. “If you would follow moi we can get you seated at once.”

The inside of the restaurant was very nicely done up, with a soft traditional string band playing soft music in the background and even a small dance area for couples to slow dance in. there were tables with white cloth covering them and padded seats as well as read faux-leather booths that had a privacy curtain though it was see through to discourage any naughty shenanigans

Seems the table that he had reserved was still available to them, a nice private booth. “Thank you D, sorry for the trouble it caused you.”

Dash felt the same way as Novo did tossing in her own apology as he waved his hoof. “No no no, zis is my fault for not training my staff properly. As such I will stick around a bit longer to make sure nothing goes wrong, in fact I will be sitting over there.”

The athlete smiled and nodded. “Thank you D, you are a good guy.”

D just smiled and went his own way as a waiter brought out some bread sticks and asked them for what they wanted to drink. “I will have a hard Lemonade.”

“And I will have some hard cider.” Rainbow Dash said as she looked over the menu. “Sweet Apple Acres if you can.”

The waiter left and she scooted over in the booth next to Novo resting her head against him. “Besides the hour wait this is a rather nice place.”

She felt his head rest atop of hers and she couldn’t help but smile. “I wanted to make our first date one to remember. Next time we can go on a picnic or something, but I wanted you to remember this one above all the others that we will go on in the future.”

Not sure how long they were like that, she only knew it was till the waiter came back with their drinks that she realized she didn’t know what to order. “Umm, I can’t read any of this.”

Most of it was in Prench and she didn’t speak that, somepony like Rarity might, maybe an egghead like Twilight but she didn’t. “I think you will like the Barigoule of Spring Vegetables, its crisp spring veggies paired with a flavorful vanilla broth.”

That sounded really good to her and with a growl from her stomach she had to agree. “Sure sounds great.”

“And for you sir?” The waiter asked in a way that almost made Dash wonder if he was in a hurry.

“The Trout Meunière Amandine if you would.” The mare was surprised with how well he pronounced the dish almost like he knew the language.

As the waiter left she had to ask. “How do you know what any of this is?” pointing her hoof to the menu.

“Oh, I may or may not be able to speak and read most languages cause of my travels. For some reason I can pick them up rather easy and learn them quick enough that it’s never really bothered me to be somewhere else. Or rather it would be Lego who learned them since we were all one at the time.”

Dash was impressed; she didn’t know that, though she supposed it made sense. “What was your dish, you seemed to know what mine was so what does yours have in it?”

He smiled and chuckled. “It is fried trout in a brown butter sauce. Sorry I know meat kinda upsets you, but it looked great.”

True while normally it would upset her she didn’t want to ruin the date and she did promise to be a better fillyfriend so she would ignore the meat eating if she had to. “Its fine, like I said I understand other Pegasus eating fish so it’s not as bad as beef or pork would be.”

She seen him smile and told herself that it would be worth it every time to see him happy like that, though that smile did vanish when he took a sip of his drink while she took a nice long gulp of the cider so when she asked he shrugged. “Nothing, just not as good as I thought it would be.”

When she offered to share her own cider with him she waved his hoof off and took another sip of his drink. “Tell me about some of the places you have seen, I remember hearing abit about it when you came to talk to the school as Velox, though you were one pony then right?” He gave a nod though didn’t seem unhappy about being reminded of that.

He was finishing up telling her about Germaneigh when the waiter came back with their food, and Dash’s nose was in heaven with how good it smelt. Tasting the veggies they were perfectly done and the vanilla had her taste buds swimming.

‘No doubt the fancy smancy place was worth it for something like this, though the real reason it is worth it is cause of him.’ As she thought about him she looked to see him sighing and pushing his plate away with a sigh. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing just for some reason I am no longer feeling that hungry is all, guess the tension of the day and leading up to the date took that from me.” He was lying; she knew it because she had been hearing his stomach give various growls as he was talking about his journey.

She was about to call him on it when D had silently came up. “Is everything ok?”

Novo waved his hoof saying nothing, but Dash wouldn’t have it. “He says he isn’t hungry but I have been hearing his stomach growling while we were talking.”

D just looked to the dish and used his magic to levitate a piece of the fish up with a fork before gasping. “WHAT IS ZIS?!”

This caused many of the other customers as well as Dash herself to look at him with shock at his rage. He started to bark a few loud things towards the back and the kitchen staff was before them in a hurry.

“Which one of you were on ze fish duty today?” Two ponies paled though all of the staff pointed to one in particular. “What is zis?”

The paling earth pony was just looking at the dish and puffed out his chest. “It is undercooked fish sir.”

“Explain, explain to moi right now why it is that you served ZIS to our patrons. Zis would send him to ze hospital.” All of the ponies were now watching the confrontation even if they didn’t want to admit it.

The chef for all his professionalism suddenly sneered and looked towards Novo. “I will not serve this mutant changeling any food that our patrons pay for; he will get what he deserves though I suppose undercooked fish is a step up from trash, so he should consider himself lucky.”

D just snatched the chef’s hat off of his head making the pony look at him with shock. “Get out, you are fired!” The former chef just spit in the direction of Novo as he left, with D looking towards the other chef’s. “Let zis be a lesson to you all. Our patrons are all equal, Pony, Changeling, Griffon, Minotaur, it doesn’t matter. Zis will not happy again or I will make sure you end up like your former co-verker. Do I may my-self clear?”

All of the chef’s nodded and stood up straight. “Yes Maitre D!”

After he dismissed them to go cook a proper dish D turned towards them both. “I am so sorry about zis. I will make sure it never happens again. As such tonight your meals are on ze house.”

Dash had been feeling good since that horseapple of chef got what was coming to him. “Thanks D, one last thing though.” Novo looked to her as she seemed to be up to something. “Can you check his drink too?”

Novo gave her a look that said she wished she wouldn’t but D was already using a spare straw to dip into the drink to taste. “Zis is mostly water…what did you order?”

Sighing he told him. “It was supposed to be a Hard Lemonade. I didn’t really want to make a big ruckus.”

Dash was about to ask him why when she seen him glance towards her and she knew, he didn’t want to ruin the date. “I see I will go mix it myself one moment.”

Novo turned to her now and she could see he felt horrible. “I am sorry my Spectrum. I wanted to make this date special and memorable but it seems it is just a disaster.”

At the use of that special name he gave to her she felt her heart flutter and felt as bad as he did before moving close to nuzzle him. “Hey it is not your fault; it’s the fault of ponies that have a grudge when they shouldn’t.” Before he could respond she leaned up to give him a tender kiss. “Now why don’t you help me with this till yours gets here. I may have a bite of that fish if it is as good as this.” Not that she actually would enjoy that bite though.

They were heading outside with Novo chuckling and Dash blushing up a storm. “I thought you said you didn’t like fish.”

She ended up eating more than half of the fish without realizing it, complementing how tasty the dish was the whole time. “Well if it is prepared like that I suppose it is good, anyways where are we heading?”

All he did was wink as they continued to walk to the outskirts of Ponyville. When they got there she noticed a single pony that was waiting for them though she was told to wait on the top of the hill where there was a blanket for them both. She watched as the two of them talk before the pony in a work apron ran off to somewhere she couldn’t see from this point of the hill.

“Sorry about that, but it should be starting in a moment.” He told her simply and she was about to ask what he was talking about when she heard it. A distinct whistling sound punctuated with a loud boom in the sky.

Fireworks and a lot of them too and every hue she could imagine. Being the showboating mare that she was she loved fireworks and their display, looking up in awe of it all. They came in different patterns too, some in regular bursts, some that popped multiple times as if they were sizzling, and even a few that took the shapes of things, like feathers or horns, even a wing or two.

The finally was awesome though to her as she had watched the entire thing in silence, something she rarely ever did, as the end was something familiar but different. A firework version of her rainboom with her cutie mark at the center of it. “With you always flying at the speeds you do, I don’t think you have ever truly seen how lovely what you do is and even if this is a pale imitation I wanted you to see it.”

As she heard that she felt her eyes going wide, and tears forming in them for some reason. ‘He took to a place he wanted me to remember, telling me I was the loveliest mare he had seen. He was willing to try to hide how terrible they were treating him if it meant I had that memory, and he set up this show all for me.’ She couldn’t stop herself from tackling him down and nuzzling him while she let out tears of joy.

Seems he mistook what was happening though. “Oh um sorry did I mess up, hmm was the cloud not the right size or-.”

He was silenced with a fierce kiss that Dash knew left her breathless and judging from his panting when she broke it did the same. “No you big goof, it was perfect. Just no pony has ever done anything like this for me ever.”

She buried her head in his neck as she felt him kiss her forehead. “That is a shame my Spectrum. You are one of the most loyal, most selfless, most gorgeous mares I know and deserve to have all the stars in the sky if I could get them for you. However, it is all for one reason above all the others.” She looked up at him when he was silent for a moment; it seemed he was waiting for that to look into her rose colored eyes with his gray ones. “It is cause I love you.”

Her eyes grew wider as tears came again into them, she never moved but the Love Line between them appeared brightly as she slowly closed the gap to kiss him and whisper her own feelings. “I love you too.” She knew she meant it more than any other time before too.

Author's Notes:

Another single chapter of which I am sorry for. Writer's block is a b***h some....wait was I just censored? BRAIN EXPLAIN!

Sorry under new management.

Excuse me?

The Brain works for me now.

*Gasp* Conscience what are you doing here?

I am here to make life less fun for you.

CURSE YOU CONSCIENCE!!!!!

Chapter Eighteen: Secrets of The Past and Duels.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Eighteen: Secrets of The Past and Duels.

The girls were all happy after they seen the impromptu show last night in the sky, well at least most of them were. Applejack was nowhere to be seen as the rest of the girls headed over to Star’s place wanting to know how his date went.

“Do you think she liked it? I mean it was obviously for her after all.” Twilight asked the girls.

Rarity just tossed her head and flipped her mane into its proper place with a smile. “Of course she loved it; Dash loves those kinds of showy displays.”

“Oh do you think she got all smoochie with him?” Pinkie said bouncing in place as they were almost at his door.

“I-I don’t think it is polite to ask that Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy said barely heard by the group.

Knocking on the door Twilight just smiled. “I am sure they had a great time.”

The door eventually opened with a tired and wet looking Novo coming to the door “Hello can I-oh hey girls, what brings you all here?”

Twilight just giggled at seeing him wiping the sleep from his eyes. “You must be tired from your date last night if you slept till noon.”

Giving a brief smile he joined in on the giggling with a chuckle of his own. “Y-ya I am, just got out of the shower too.”

Rarity started to walk into the door and into his living room. “Oh you must do tell us what it is you did.” With the rest of the girls following her though when they did Novo seemed to start getting nervous.

“Um girls, mind if I wake up some before-.” But Pinkie was already heading to the kitchen yelling out she would make coffee for him.

Sitting down on his couch all the girls smiled looking up at his nervous face. “Now now dear, don’t be shy and give us all the details.”

He was going to say when he woke up some more but he found Pinkie already giving him a cup of coffee, mixed in such a way that he was surprised that it wasn’t so bitter. “Mmm nice, Pinkie I will want to know how you got this flavor after this. Normally I don’t like coffee but this is rather good.”

So he began telling them how the date went, how at first it was a disaster as their reservation had ‘vanished’. Next came when D showed up and helped them out, something that they all agreed was a great thing to do and to go see the restaurant themselves one day for such good service. He chuckled when they said service and continued onto how he was served a watered down drink as him and Dash talked about where he had visited.

Rarity practically swooned after learning he could speak and understand Prench and even went on to squeal giddily with knowing that he had actually been to Prance. Twilight was taking notes on how the date went as well on what he knew when he came to the part about the undercooked trout making them all look confused except for Fluttershy and Twilight who gasped.

“What is wrong with undercooked fish?” The purple maned pony asked her friends while Pinkie had a thoughtful look on her face.

Pinkie spoke up as if she had solved it. “Is it cause it doesn’t taste as good? I mean if you don’t bake cupcakes long enough they just remain as batter and can give somepony a belly ache.”

Shaking her head, Twilight looked over to Novo. “You didn’t eat any of it right?” When he shook his head she sighed in relief. “Good, for anypony who doesn’t know, eating undercooked fish can lead to some very serious complications, salmonella being one of them, food poisoning, and over all just other problems that can be serious.”

Pinkie and Rarity gasped though they all seemed to calm down when Novo told them the rest, how D had come by and checked it out after Dash had spoke up. How he called the chefs out and fired the one who did it, on purpose he added cause he didn’t like Novo. After words the meal went off without a hitch and D oversaw everything even as Dash and he shared both their meals and how she actually enjoyed fish.

“After that, we went to the hill where I had hired a few pyrotechnic specialists to put on a fireworks show for us. We sat on the blanket I put out before and enjoyed the show.” Twilight knew it, she knew that it was for them when she had seen the finally. It was at that point they all heard creaking from upstairs and Novo’s eyes went wide. “Anyways you girls need to head out so I can get ready for the-.”

“Novo who are you talking to?” The voice was tired sounding but easily recognizable to Twilight and her friends. “I thought you were going to stay in bed a bit long-.”

They all watched as Rainbow Dash had come down the stairs wiping the sleep from her eyes before she stood shocked at seeing her friends there. However that wasn’t all that made all the ponies there go wide eyed, it was the smell coming off of Dash as all at once they looked back from her, to Novo who was blushing, back to her as her wings were suddenly stiff and a huge blush on her face.

Twilight understood now why they didn’t smell it on Novo when he answered as he had just gotten out of the shower. “Rainbow Dash, Novo, did you two…”

She couldn’t bring herself to complete that sentence as everypony felt their face light up. “And I think you girls need to go now, sorry to be rude but-” they all felt themselves levitating and brought out of the door. “-thank you for visiting.”

Outside the door they all looked to each other than to the closed door then back to each other before their shock was broken by the party pony. “Guess they did more than smoochies.”

“PINKIE!” They all cried out at the same time.

Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, afraid of nothing, and lover of Daring Do books, was suddenly surrounded by her friends in the library as they all looked at her expectantly. They had caught her almost five minutes after she had showered and left Novo’s place and were looking for answers on why she was there…even if the smell she had gave off when they first saw her told them all they needed to know.

“W-we had dinner and then watched the fireworks show that is all.” She was looking left and right and she knew they didn’t buy that as she was looking for a way out.

“Dash.” They all said as one.

Sighing and thinking back to yesterday night she told them. “Fine, when the show ended I felt so much love for Novo I told him how I felt after he already told me he did all this cause he loved me. He seemed happy to let it end there as we got back to his place giving me a kiss goodnight and closed the door. But I wasn’t ready to let it end, so I may have flown up to his window and surprised him, by waiting for him up there after taking off my dress.”

Rainbow Dash had never felt more embarrassed then she had right then telling her friends what she did. “And then?”

It was Rarity who asked but they were all on the edge of their seats. “Then well…” The moment she started to remember it she couldn’t keep a smile off her face as the feel of his body against hers, of his breath and hers mixing as one, the passion, her own cries mixing with his pleased grunts right as they both achieved the moment when they were one pony. “W-we made love.”

She was suddenly hugged from all sides as her friends all gave sounds of excitement. She wasn’t sure why they were hugging her but for some reason it made her feel nice. Eventually though they broke up the touching moment and no doubt they wanted to ask for some details, except that Spike just walked into the library.

Spike was looking over some letters as he looked up to them all. “Hey everyone, Twilight we got a letter from your Mom and Dad in Canterlot, something from Cadence and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire, and finally a weird letter that doesn’t say who it is from.”

Twilight levitated all the letters over to herself and started to read them while Spike seen Rarity and went over to her. “Anyways I have to get going everypony. Was supposed to be my day off but I was woken up and now that I am up I might as well train.”

There was plenty of giggling before she zoomed away.

‘Dear Twilight.’ The letter started. ‘We have been keeping up with your exploits and any time you are in the papers we have clipped the article as we couldn’t be more proud of you and your friends.’ Twilight loved hearing from her parents. ‘We are doing well; your father is worried about you though with that one stallion in Ponyville who is a changeling or something similar.’ She didn’t like hearing that as it really wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge outside of Ponyville, but she supposed gossip will spread. The rest of the letter was how they were doing and about random happenings in Canterlot.

The next letter was from Shiny and Cadence and she loved hearing how the crystal ponies were getting along. Though they did mention it was hard getting them used to some of the things now similar to what Princess Luna was going through only for the whole Empire. She was also excited to hear that they were going to copy some books and send them her way to add to her collection which she was thrilled about.

Finally was the mysterious letter. ‘Dear Twilight Sparkle, I regret to inform you that I may have done something horrible. It seems I sold a cursed item to somepony that I caught saying they wanted revenge on you. I was blinded by money and am truly sorry but without that money my shop would have closed. I regret what happened and I hope that nothing happens that is irreparable.’

Twilight didn’t like how that sounded though now she was thinking about who would want revenge on her, she didn’t think she crossed anypony that badly. This of course led her to start panicking about all the ponies she might have hurt unknowingly.

“Twilight what is wrong, here breathe!” Spike said having seen her panic attack, handed over a bag for her to breathe in. She took it and started to rapidly breathe in and out rapidly expanding and compressing the bag till her nerves leveled out.

Smiling she gave the bag back to him. “Thanks Spike.”

“No problem, but what was that about?” He asked only to be given the letter to read. “Weird I don’t think you have made many ponies made, I mean the only ones I can think of off the top of my head is Discord and the queen of the changelings.”

Twilight was about to ask if he could think of any others when he burped out a green flame that turned into a scroll. “Oh what does Princess Celestia want?”

Spike came over and chuckled. “Maybe it’s another test.” His chuckling died out when he seen the serious look on her face. “What is it Twilight?”

“Spike, tell the others I am leaving for Canterlot, right away and I will be back in a few days.” She said moving upstairs to pack her things. ‘This can’t be true, she wouldn’t walk right up and surrender herself like that. It has to be a trick.’

Velox was out and about, he was giving it one last try, though he knew already how it would end. This time though he was flying higher than normal so he wouldn’t be spotted.

‘Don’t do this Velox, it’s really only hurting yourself.’ Novo said from within their mind. ‘I like AJ too, not in the same way you do, but if you do this it will break your heart.’

Lego was silent as Velox just looked down at the ground of Sweet Apple Acres looking for the mare that was breaking his heart. “I have to, if I don’t try at least once more then I will hate myself. If she avoids me this time…maybe I will just hang back in our head and try to fade away or something. I mean the only reason we are all here is cause we loved two mares.”

Settling on a cloud he waited, and waited. He had gotten up early just for this before the sun rose, before anypony woke up cause he knew that if he came winging in any later she might have seen him and vanished on him. The sun started to rise, giving off lovely violets, reds, oranges and more before turning golden, and though he didn’t want to admit it a part of him was thinking this might be the last sun rise he will watch before vanishing if Applejack rejected him, though the other part of him held out hope.

His heart started beating quickly as he saw her, followed by the ache. Velox missed her so much that just seeing her was like a cool drink of water in a desert, until the sandstorm of uncertainty came and started to bury him again. He waited longer then he wanted to though for a one reason, to engrave in his heart her image just in case this didn’t work, that and to make sure she was well into the field so if she did run she couldn’t hide before he caught her.

Making a silent freefall he wouldn’t open his wings till he was ready to start after her. Problem was he didn’t take into account one thing, the position of his cloud verses where the sun had risen to. He had seen his mistake too late though, as his shadow ran over the mare he was going to causing her to look up.

The wide eyed look she gave him when her eyes locked onto him gave him the answer he was looking for though even though his mind was still made to try. Flaring out his wings as he watched her take off towards the nearest shelter of the barn he tried his best to get to her, but no luck, she was just too fast.

He came skidding to a halt in front of the barn doors only seconds after she had shut herself in there. “AJ…please…just tell me.” ‘Tell me why you hate me.’

“Ah’m sorry Velox…Ah just cain’t.” Her voice sounded so strong to him that he knew that she had a firm grasp on her reasons, so much so that it finally caused those last unshed tears to drop off his muzzle.

“Ok.” He said that without emotion at all and those were his last words as he did something he shouldn’t have been able to do. He threw Lego into the pilot’s seat as he changed without permission.

Lego was confused as all hell when he appeared in front of the barn door, usually when they changed the one in control had to relent before the other took control. ‘I will have to look into this later; right now I need to move from the barn so as not to cause any more grief to Velox.’

She could hear him out there waiting she was surprised that he nearly got the drop on her and ran harder then she had ever had before, her heart nearly popping out of her chest.

“AJ…please…just tell me.” She could hear the emotions in his voice, it wasn’t of hate, it wasn’t of malice, it was of pain and sorrow and that made what she was going to do that much harder.

Taking in a deep breath to steady herself and mustering up as much courage as she could, she made her voice sound as steady as possible. “Ah’m sorry Velox…Ah just cain’t.” ‘Ah’m sorry Sugar, this is for the best. Ah cain’t force myself to share ya even if ya are different ponies, it’s still the same body. Plus it’s not fair to make anypony share their special somepony, so just go to Rainbow Dash and be happy…for me.’

“Ok.” The way he said it, she wanted to hear something in that tone, what she wasn’t sure, but hearing nothing at all tested her resolve not to just rush out there and change her mind. She had to be strong and closed her eyes missing the light of transformation as she curled up trying not to cry.

‘This is for the best of everypony…right?’ For once, The Element of Honesty wasn’t sure if she was lying to herself or not.

A robed figure was marching towards Ponyville; a smile could be seen beneath the robe as well as a red glow that is before she threw back the hood of the robe she smiled. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will have her revenge Twilight Sparkle; she has obtained a new power that will make sure all will know she is the greatest and most powerful unicorn that no pony will dare laugh at again.”

“You really need to stop talking about yourself in the third person like that.” Trixie turned to see who it was only to smile as she seen a familiar face.

She could only chuckle as her horn started to glow. “You were on my list to find eventually but seeing as you are here, The Great and Powerful Trixie will show you her power Starshifter.”

She watched as the Earth Pony glared at her and readied a fighting stance. “Bring it you whorse, this is for that hex you put on me.”

Twilight had arrived at Canterlot and to her surprise had been expected seeing as guards were waiting to take her to the palace as soon as she arrived. She wasn’t too surprised after she gave it some thought though seeing as what the letter said. The path to the palace was one she could have walked in her sleep which gave her a lot of time to think and think she did.

‘Why would SHE just show up and surrender like that. It has to be some kind of trap or scheme to take control of Canterlot. OH maybe she is the pony that the letter warned me of, it has to be. It just means I have be on guard and alert and-.’ The world kept moving without her, even when she was lost in her own little world.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Came a distance voice she would have recognized if not for being lost in her thoughts.

‘-make sure I can quickly cast any counter spells or at least some shielding spells to neutralize what it is she will try.’ Twilight wasn’t even aware she had stopped moving and was in front of the ones who called her to the unicorn city and the palace itself.

“Sister, are you sure she is ok? Maybe We should do something to awaken her.” Another voice said sounding formal and concerned.

Instead there was just a giggle and a wink only the other saw. “Watch my sister. Ahem.” A brief glow happened as a spell was cast and something appeared in front of Twilight. “OH NO, the rare first edition of Star Swirl’s memoirs is burning!”

Faster than anypony could blink Twilight had instantly come out of her thoughts and had teleported a bucket of water to extinguish the burning illusion of a book in front of her. “NO, SAVE THE BOOKS!” When she seen the books were still burning and no heat was being produced she heard her teacher giggling as she let out a simple what.

“Sorry about that my most faithful student but it was the only way to bring your mind to current affairs, namely our ‘guest’ as it were.” Celestia spoke motherly to her before making the illusion vanish.

Nodding and moving to give the ruler a nuzzle she smiled. “Of course Princess, I am sorry that I let my mind wonder.” The smile that was on her face slowly vanished and was replaced with a frown as she got into the proper frame of mind for what was to come. “Do you know why she came here and surrendered, I can’t help but think it’s a trap or a trick of some type.”

The sun raiser just shook her head as her horn glowed before a popping sound was heard by both of them as the obvious sign of teleportation. “I have asked her my own questions but I thought it may be best that you ask her yourself.” Twilight found herself face to face with one of the ponies she would admit she hated. “My faithful student Twilight Sparkle, this is Chrysalis former Queen of the changelings.”

Applejack was mindlessly bucking apples, truth be told her heart wasn’t in it. After the surprise encounter with Velox she stayed in the barn for a good hour crying before deciding she had to get to work. She reared back and struck the trunk of her next target and listened for the sound of objects thudding into the baskets she had placed.

‘Velox, ah care for ya but ah just don’t have the heart to share ya.’ The apple mare placed the baskets down and reared back and struck another tree. ‘Dash even went so far as to suggest herding.’ Logically she knew herding wasn’t a bad idea, many herds were around cause of the massive gender ratio difference but problem was one simple thing. ‘Ma and Pa always said, that if ya love a stallion and a stallion loves you with all their heart, then ya don’t need no others with ya. Ah won’t sit by and throw away my parents teachins.’

“Applejack.” She heard her granny call out to her. “Why in tarnation are ya buckin that bare tree fer?”

AJ turned to look at the tree she had been bucking and bucking to no avail to get apples from to see it was indeed bare, she had been in a patch that had already been harvested. “Sorry Granny, my mind just was wanderin’ is all.”

The old green mare came over and smacked the farm mare’s nose. “Don’t ya give me that younging. Ah been toleratin’ yur rushin’ off and hidin’ yurself whenever that changin’ stallion comes by. Ah also saw and heard ya two this mornin’ and ah am right disappointed in ya Applejack.”

Still rubbing her nose AJ looked to head of the Apple Clan with a frown. “What are ya goin’ on about Granny, that stallion is with Rainbow Dash t’ain’t right to go with him like that.”

She watched as the look on Granny Smith’s face changed from a look of disappointment to one of sadness. “Ah see yur still goin’ on about what yur folks told ya before their passin’. Did ya ever wonder why they told ya that?”

She shook her head. “Ah don’t need to wonder Granny, it is obvious cause they were meant for each other and needed no other dang stallion or mare with them.”

Granny shook her head and motioned for her to follow her. Follow she did to walking upstairs and into the old mare’s room. She watched as Granny struggled to reach for a book on the top shelf of her bookcase.

“Let me get that for ya Granny.” AJ told her only to be smacked away with a grumpy ‘Ah got ‘er’.

When at last Granny got the book down she went to sit on her bed. “This is our family photo album where ah put all mah pictures of ya youngins.” Flipping a few pages she smiles as she comes to some recent years ones. “Ya recognize this feller?” It was a small foal that had a red mane and orange body.

AJ smiled and nodded. “It is Pa as a foal, darn cute he was for sure.”

Granny flipped a page or two which Applejack could see as many of the family as they were growing up till she came to a stop. “What about this pretty filly at his side there?”

This time it was a picture of her father grown up a bright red apple with a yellow spot on it and next to him was the picture of beauty that was her mother. A lovely mare was by his side that had a love of apples that rivaled the clan itself with a dark pink mane with a green body and breath taking golden orange colored eyes. Her cutie mark was a lovely apple that was three quarters whole with a slice missing showing a pink interior.

“Ma, they look real young there, must have just gotten together ah reckon.” She sniffed a bit starting to miss them a lot.

Turning the page AJ watched as her Granny pulled out another photo hidden behind one of her parents; this one had a picture of her father and at each of his sides: her mother and another mare she had never seen before. “This was Kanzi’s herd. Yur Pa was in a herd Applejack and these two were his wives.”

Applejack couldn’t believe it, she would have called her granny a liar if not for the fact her ability to sense those things. “But how come ah never heard about this before?”

The mare in the photo was lovely and even if AJ refused to look at her for long. “Santana here was a lovely mare it broke yur Ma and Pa’s heart when she passed, they done burned all their photos with her in it cause they couldn’t stand ta be reminded of what they done lost. A stubborn and firey one she was too, didn’t know when to give up and darn loved apples ta death. Yur a lot like her ya know that, but then that a’int no surprise considerin’.”

“Considerin’ what?” She watched as Granny just started to laugh.

Calming down some Granny pointed to the picture. “Really deary? Why don’t-cha take a good hard look at the mare.”

Leaning in close she looked at the photo as she was told. ‘What is so special about this that Ma and Pa would tell me never to get into a herd for? Ah sure she is pretty, those blonde braids are rather fetchin’ kinda makes me wonder if ah could do that with my mane. Those dark freckles are nice too on her muzzle gives an accent that ah am sure drew in Pa for sure. She even has the same hat as Pa and Ma and with her orange coat heck she could even be my sist…’ The notion started to take hold of her as she started to really look at the picture now. ‘No can’t be, same mane color, same coat color, the only differences is her cutie mark is three apples held together by a single green leaf and her eyes are a darker shade then…then mine.’

“Ah can see by yur face that ya see it don’t-cha.” She looked up to Granny as she asked her that. “Yur not wrong either. Applejack, Santana is yurs and McIntosh’s mother. She died right after givin’ birth to ya from a rare sickness that she couldn’t fight off from bein’ weak after the delivery.”

The hard working family mare looked towards her Granny scanning and rescanning her face and body for any signs of a lie but could only tear up when she seen neither. “But Big Mac never said anythin’, and what about Bloom?”

Putting the picture back in its secret spot she closed the album and looked to her granddaughter. “Big Mac promised yur Pa and Airlie that he wouldn’t. As for Bloom she is Airlie’s daughter and yur half sister. Least by blood, but do ya think any different knowing now?”

She felt insulted and more than a tad bit of rage towards her Granny for even asking that. “Bloom is my sister, no matter what, why would you even ask that Granny?”

“Then it doesn’t matter who yur mothers were huh?” AJ started to shake her head but stopped as she went wide eyed. “Do ya get it now ya stubborn mule, they are both yur mothers, Mac’s mothers, and Bloom’s mothers. It hurt them so much that when one of them passed it nearly broke their hearts, now are ya goin ta let yur own heart go the same way without a fight?”

The moment the question was finished was the moment her hooves were flying. The orchard was forgotten, her work for today was forgotten, the lesson her folks taught her was forgotten but for an important reason. She knew now what they were saying was not that they needed only themselves but were trying to spare her from any heartache in case her loved ones passed.

She found the door to the home of the changing pony and was rapidly knocking on it. “Velox, Novo, Lego, any of ya in there?” There was no answer though. She tried again and again only with the same results only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

“Hey there Applejack, what’s wrong?” Turning to see who spoke she found Pinkie Pie right behind her. “If you’re looking for Velox, finally I might add, he isn’t here.”

“D-do you know where he is?” AJ was still a little out of breath from the rapid pace she set to get over here from Sweet Apple Acres.

“Sorry haven’t seen him yet today, why what is-.” However before Pinkie was finished saying whatever it was her body started to twitch, first it was her right ear, then her tail. Next she started to twist her left forehoof into the ground as if to itch it, followed finally by a full body wave of a shiver. “Ut oh, that isn’t good.”

Applejack was worried, she often seen the Pinkie sense in action and have come to understand it somewhat in that the more actions or the more violent they were, the worse of what was to come. “What is it Pinkie Pie?”

For a moment Pinkie said nothing as her head was down as if thinking about the combination before her head came up and her eyes wide. “We need to get to the square quickly.”

It took them a moment but as they got there they met up with the others except that Rarity was running towards them in an outfit that even AJ could tell was horrendous. “She’s a mad mare I tell you, a mad mare. I mean just look at these colors, they clash so horrible and this style of clothing isn’t in season.”

“Who’s a made mare Sugarcube?” she asked the prim mare only for her to be pointed in the direction that the crowd was and at the center juggling several towns’ ponies was none other than a mare they all knew. “Trixie, what brings ya back here, ah thought Twilight done kicked your flank hard enough as it was.”

Center stage Trixie was looking at them, apparently she was watching Rarity flee when they caught her. “Oh if it isn’t the welcoming committee, but no Twilight Sparkle I see. She must have been scared off when she heard The Great and Powerful Trixie was here to challenge her.”

Something was off about Trixie this time that Applejack couldn’t put her hoof on. “Twi would never do that, she had some business to take care of in Canterlot.”

“PFF likely story, but for now it will have to do. After all The Great and Powerful Trixie is in a good mood after subduing an enemy of hers and making him submit to her after so long isn’t that right servant.” A clop of her hooves together made a beat up looking Lego appear in front of them all with a flash of light. “Go on servant bow before your mistress.”

All the girls gasped as it looked like he struggled with himself for a moment before bowing before her. “What’s going on here Lego?”

Trixie looked up to see that Dash had said the question to which she smiled and moved over to ground Lego’s face in the dirt as he seemed to be shivering. “The Great and Powerful Trixie has had a long standing grudge with this pony and when she found him outside of Ponyville she thanked her good fortunes that she could also cross him off her list. Now this miserable spawn of a changeling here serves The Great and Powerful Trixie. Isn’t that right, what did she call you, Lego?”

The shiver came again as he just ground his teeth. “Buck you.”

“Aww don’t be that way Lego, Starshifter, or whatever you call yourself now.” Trixie seemed to smile as a couple of shivers ran through him.

AJ was angrily staring at the former showmare as she used a hoof to lift his face up and whisper something to him. “QUIT IT!”

The farm mare tried to charge her only to find herself running the other way after a flash. “Oh please do you really think The Great and Powerful Trixie would be so foolhardy to let you finish your charge? However she does applaud your effort. Lego if she or any other pony tries that again give them a taste of their own medicine.”

AJ was just about to do that again when Lego called out to her. “Please don’t, she has control of my body if you do try it again my body will defend her.”

She could hear Fluttershy whispering to Spike telling him to send a letter to Twilight. “Cain’t you fight it?”

Lego just shook his head. “I have been trying, the most I do is stall for half a second before I can’t anymore.”

“Exactly.” Trixie said stepping forward. “Nopony can stop The Great and Powerful Trixie when she gives a command. Watch, Lego why don’t you show these mares one of your other forms, I bet they would be surprised to see you change.”

Lego seemed to be shaking but ended up closing his eyes and starting to glow before the red became green and the muscle mass was replaced with a horn. When all was said in done Novo was standing there looking defeated with a guilty look on his face.

AJ could hear the gnashing of teeth and could see it was coming from an angry and red faced Rainbow Dash. “Do you all see now, this changeling has been among you all this time, he has lied to you and told you things that aren’t true, I bet he even spun that lie about his brothers or some such.”

“We already knew about Novo and his changing ability you WHORSE!” Dash exclaimed. “We know and accept him.”

That seemed to hit a nerve as it was obvious Trixie wanted a hostile reaction to his open display of shifting. “No matter The Great and Powerful Trixie will find other ways of punishing this stallion for the crimes he has committed.”

“I have had enough of this!” Dash moved in to give a flying tackle to the powerful unicorn only be tackled down as Novo jumped up and pulled her down to the ground.

Novo seemed to have tears in his eyes as he looked down to a surprised Rainbow. “I am sorry my Spectrum, I can’t stop myself.”

“’My Spectrum?’ oh does somepony have a sweet spot for this mare?” The showmare said with a grin. “Why don’t you show everypony how much you care for this mare, give her a kiss.”

Novo seemed to be struggling with himself even giving a tear off before Dash spoke placing a hoof at his cheek. “Novo, it’s ok, I don’t mind showing others I care for you.” He seemed to be shivering for a moment but before he could do anything she reached up and kissed him before his body seemed to relax.

Trixie didn’t seem to care for this response. “THAT’S ENOUGH! Now toss her away after giving her a few hooves to the stomach that should satisfy the likes of you.”

Novo’s eyes widened before his hoof drew back. “NO!” his horn started to glow as he suddenly seemed to be thrown off her by several feet. “You can control my body but not my mind, and with my mind is my magic. Let’s see how you-”

“Change back to Lego right now.” Trixie said seemed to have already been caught off from the fact his magic could work without her permission gave the command that would cut off that option.

Before he could complete whatever spell he was going to do Lego was back in the drivers see at his red coat seemed to dull slightly and his panting could be heard. He looked strangely drained and his eyes seemed slightly unfocused for a second before they locked onto Trixie. The empowered mare smiled as she had outsmarted him and went back to her impromptu stage.

“Lego, come guard me till The Great and Powerful Trixie’s opponent arrives. Then she will have somepony to really entertain her besides a murderer.” She seemed to throw that out there.

“TRIXIE! I told you I tried my best and as for him well he isn’t dead!”Lego shouted though the rest of the group seemed confused.

It was strangely Fluttershy who spoke up first. “What is she talking about Lego?”

The illusionist just gave a sneer of a smile of those who think they have one over somepony they truly hate. “Oh don’t you know? This ‘pony’ killed both my sister and brother.”

AJ looked towards Star as he seemed to look tired. “Trixie, I tried my best to save your sister, if I had moved we both would have died.”

“That is a load of horseapples and you know it!” She screamed at him. “You created that tunnel to save yourself after she was going cold, you only wanted to save yourself! And what of my brother, you cut him down right out of the sky.”

Applejack wasn’t the smartest mare but things were adding up rather quickly, that and when the third person talking mare suddenly was saying ‘my’ it helped to drive home the point, and she wasn’t the only as Fluttershy was also tearing up, though it seemed Dash hadn’t realized it yet and neither had a strangely quiet Pinkie Pie. “Trixie, your brother was insane, he enjoyed kil-”

“QUIET!” Lego had to be quiet from her order. “My sister paid for her kindness when she took you in fed you and gave you a place to sleep even when she could barely do it for herself. Then my brother trusts you and even travels with you when you two find each other only to be betrayed and be cut out of the sky by your traitorous ways!”

Seems that Dash finally connected the dots as well as she was the one who voiced out loud what they all had been thinking before. “Lego, she can’t be. Is she saying what I think she is saying?”

Lego nodded and sighed. “Trixie Lulumoon, is the youngest sister to Star Bound and Cascade Nights.”

A.K. Yearling, aka Daring Do, had just finished her quest. She had beaten Dr. Caballeron to this hidden temple, through a crazy journey across two continents and through more cities then she could remember at the moment, though she was sure that she would remember when writing it up for her new book that would come out of this particular adventure.

Coming up to the hidden chest she couldn’t keep her excitement to herself. “Finally, the hidden treasure that has been stored in ‘The Ancient Tomb of Lost Civilization’ oh that is a good title got to write that down.” Pulling out a notebook she wrote down that title with a smile. “Alright let’s see what this is.”

Opening the sealed chest that was the only thing in this room she smiled as an ancient book came into view, perfectly preserved. She couldn’t help herself and opened up the book only to find out it was completely written in Ancient Equestrian, a dead language. Sure there were words they used from the language however it was the grammar and sentence structure of the language that made it so no one, pony, dragon, griffon or otherwise understood its fully written form.

Sighing Daring stowed away the book in a bag that would keep it preserved while she took it back to a university for study. “Well may not be a breath through discovery but it should be a good museum piece.” Pulling out some charcoal sticks and some paper she smiled. “Now I need to take some rubbings to bring back, after all its not every day you find a tomb with Alicorns all over it that isn’t related to the two sisters.”

Author's Notes:

*Flips the bird to some of the writers block* HAHA take that you piece of shi-
*Sees several more blocks*
Well...Touché world, touché.

Chapter Nineteen: Amulet and Ambition Vs Talent and Friendship.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Nineteen: Amulet and Ambition Vs Talent and Friendship.

The soft hum of magic was in the air as Twilight used a Transcribe Spell on her quill, parchment, and inkwell so that she could fully concentrate on this task. Giving a few test words and sounds voice she checked to see if the spell was operating correctly, seeing that it was she removed the test paper and tossed it away into a nearby trash can.

Holding up her hoof she gave a soft cough to clear her throat before starting. “This is Twilight Sparkle, resident of Ponyville, personal student to Celestia, and holder and wielder of the Element of Magic, interviewing the prisoner currently locked away in high security under Celestia’s word.” Looking to the bug pony she continued. “Prisoner, if you will, please state your name and occupation for the record.”

Chrysalis just rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance but pulled herself into a dignified stance before speaking. “I am Chrysalis, a Changeling of the royal caste and my former occupation was Queen of my hive. However I am currently exiled and cannot return under penalty of death from Pu-ahem Queen Pupa.”

Giving a moment for the spell to catch up Twilight continued. “Tell the record, why were you exiled and why is it there is a new Queen and about the new queen.”

Chrysalis looked a little more downtrodden then before, something that even Twilight felt bad about. “I had failed to secure a source of magical sustenance for my hive, the takeover of Canterlot for those that do not remember. So my troops defeated, we had escaped the clutches of the guard, not that they are very good at what they do.” Chrysalis smirked at Twilight’s agitated face. “It was a long trek, so long in fact that only half of my troops remind with me at the end, the other half either completely abandoned myself and the hive, or died as they ran out of magic to sustain them.” Twilight looked less angry hearing about the death as she knew no pony deserved to starve to death no matter who or what they were. “When my troops and I had come home, somehow word had spread ahead of us of the failure, most likely from our spy lines. As such Pupa, former Princess and my daughter, along with some of my more...ambitious scientist and nobles decided to side with her and consolidate their power in the hive making her the new Queen, though I am not sure if she truly holds the power or if she is just a figure head.”

“Y-your own daughter did this?” Twilight couldn’t believe what she heard. ‘What kind of daughter would do that, it would be like if…I don’t know if I kicked mom out of the kitchen to take over the cooking.’

Nodding sadly the ex-Queen continued. “My troops had to vow loyality to the new regime, if they didn’t, they were exiled on the spot, and those that tried to speak up about the travesty that she was committed were executed in the main court for all to see.” Chrysalis sighed for a moment at the loss of those loyal to her. “I was given the same option more or less, the only difference is my choices were exile or execution, there was no chance for me to swear loyalty, not that I would. I choose to leave, however I still maintain contact with the hive via some of my spies, and what they tell me is disturbing.” Shuddering for a moment she regained herself and continued. “Pupa is…a whorse, plain and simple, she wants power, she wants riches, she wants to be worshiped and taken care of. If she somehow things somepony isn’t doing their best to give her the adoration she deserves she punishes them. I had often come back to her room to find the guards about to, or having just finished, executing a servant in the palace just because they had bumped into her, or failed to apologize ‘sincerely’ enough for her. She is a monster, and I blame myself for being too caught up in the magical food shortage to correct her behavior.”

Twilight didn’t want to ask but she had to, both to satisfy her own curiosity and to state it for the record. “What are some of the things you have heard?”

The bug pony shuddered and had to close her eyes, let ponies say what they wanted about her but she did have a heart about certain things. “They are making do on the magical food front.” Twilight was about to give a snarky comeback about how new leadership worked versus what she did when Chrysalis continued. “The nobles and soldiers are pulling workers and civilians up to the castle, feeding them love poison then draining then harvesting them for food. Already a tenth of the hives population has been scarified this way. It is sickening, barbaric, and cruel beyond belief. I do not think my daughter would have come up with it herself, but I believe I know who did.”

The unicorn was in shock, she couldn’t believe what she heard, but she had to, Celestia herself said all the cells were lined with truth magic to make the prisoners here tell nothing but the truth. “That’s horrific. What sort of pony would do that?”

“It was the professor no doubt.” Chrysalis told her. Twilight wanted to ask her who that was but she volunteered the information without resistance. “He was our leading magical and scientific mind. I would dare say if was born a pony he would be greater than your Star Swirl. Well a cruel and vindictive version of him at least. Professor Adapt is brilliant to a degree that made me worried that he may seek power from me one day, turns out I suppose I was right in my suspicions. He seeks power, knowledge, and recognition more than any pony I have seen in a few hundred years.”

Magic, knowledge and even what Twilight knew didn’t stop her from asking a normally taboo thing of a mare. “How old are you?”

Chrysalis just looked at her for a moment “Really Twilight Sparkle, really? I thought your manners were better than that.” The unicorn momentarily looked ashamed of herself before getting a sort of answer. “I just became Queen of my hive when Celestia and Luna defeated Discord.”

Twilight was shocked and amazed at this revelation, she was about to reach for a quill and parchment when she realized that it was taken care of. “Ahem thank you for answering that and I do apologize for the rude question. So why did you surrender?”

“Simple, there are two reasons.” The exile told her. “The first is the guards came across me as I was traveling somewhere I thought would be safe, the guards came across me as I was traveling, and I knew if I resisted I would be killed for what I have done, so I surrendered. The second reason, defending myself would kill me when that happened, I was magically starving so even if I wanted to I couldn’t have defended myself. I didn’t even have enough strength to assume a disguise; otherwise they never would have found me.”

The magic student was about to ask her about where she was traveling but for some reason the look of hurt and suffering on Chrysalis’ face made her change her question at the last moment. “Who were you going to see?”

There was a look of fear and shock on the bug pony’s face before it became anger. “I refuse to answer any further questions.” With that she went to the back of her cell to lie down.

For a moment Twilight considered trying to ask more questions but knew she wouldn’t get any further. Canceling the Transcription Spell, she gathered up her supplies and the exchange and headed upstairs to give her report to the Princess.

The Princess herself was in the middle of dinner it seemed. “Ahh Twilight, I didn’t expect you to be done so soon. I hope Chrysalis has been forthcoming for her answers to your questions?”

Nodding and being motioned to take a seat and have dinner herself Twilight levitated the papers over to her mentor and teacher as she dug into what was there while the Princess ordered more food. For a good while there was silence as Celestia was reading the transcript and Twilight was eating, the shuffling of paper and the omnomming of food the only sounds that were heard.

Finally after the initial pangs of hunger that Twilight didn’t realize she had were sated she had to ask a question that was bothering her. “How is Chrysalis being fed?”

There was a frown on Celestia’s face that quickly vanished when she realized that she was being watched, it was so quick Twilight even thought she may have been mistaken. “I myself have been feeding her, though it seems that Changelings do not need much food, they only need a magical feeding maybe once to twice a week, though I suspect its closer to two to three if they used their abilities regularly.”

This brought a frown to the students face as she spoke. “How can you do that, stand it I mean?”

“Twilight.” The Princess spoke in that tone that told Twilight she was about to tell her a truth she needed to know. “The feeding process of a Changeling isn’t painful, it is the opposite actually, when a Changeling feeds they cause a feed back of that love the pony holds to be remembered and felt again, making it so during the feeding all that is felt is remembered love for somepony. Plus if she isn’t fed that would be the same as if a pony drained all their magic from their system, it would cause their mana well to shut down and kill them.”

Twilight managed to look properly ashamed for a moment before looking up to her mentor. “Celestia, she mentioned she was trying to head to a safe place. Do you think there is a place in Equestria that would let her do that? Also it seemed she was heading to somepony as well, do you think there are other Changelings hiding out in Equestria?”

This time the look on her teachers face was clear, it was one of contemplation and of uncertainty. “I do, the path we intercepted her on was clear. She was heading to a small town, more of a village or a hamlet really that houses a small number of ponies.”

Twilight felt a sense of relief at that. “Oh good for a moment there I thought we didn’t know where she was heading. Now we can search this small town and find the Changeling in hiding.”

“Twilight…” Celestia called to her student as she started to build up on a rant.

“Then all we have to do is ask why that town would be a safe place, and what the plans are when Chrysalis arrived and-” Twilight wanted to continue but was stopped as she felt a wing drape over her.

“Twilight.” The Princess said a look of sadness on her face. “The place she was heading was Ponyville.”

The unicorn’s eyes went wide with her shock. “That means…”

The Alicorn just nodded slowly. “Yes, there is a Changeling in Ponyville.”

“Princess I have to-” Before she could ask to head back home to find out who it is, there was a distinctive green fired ash floating before Celestia that quickly turned into a scroll. “Is that from Spike?”

Celestia opened up the scroll smiling. “I do so love reading the friendship reports from you and your fr-” Her smile changed to a worried expression. “Twilight it is for you. I will prepare a chariot for you to return to Ponyville.”

Taking the scroll in her magic she began to read it to herself. ‘Twilight, Trixie has come back, she is more powerful than ever and is controlling Star no one can seem to do anything we need you back now Twi.’ Closing up the scroll she looked towards where the chariot pool was. “I am on my way Spike.”

Lego sighed at his friends not cause they couldn’t do anything to help him, but because they were trying despite what they wanted to do not helping, which was getting him to move from in front of the door of which Trixie was sleeping just behind. It didn’t help that he had three times had to get out of their grasp cause of the compulsion that Trixie had put on him.

“I am telling you all, no matter how many times you pull me away I have to come back here, the geas that she has casted on me makes it impossible for me to disobey.” He told them again for the seventh time as he walked back to the spot the stage mare had pointed to. “Trust me, I really don’t want to be here, but the penalties for disobeying a geas are not really all that enjoyable.”

“Dear, it can’t be all that bad, do you really want to obey her Lego?” Rarity had asked of him.

He shuddered for a moment and tasted copper and went to open his mouth, however the instant he opened his mouth his throat constricted, he really did want to tell them, but those under a geas cannot tell them what it he was told to do, nor could he tell them what the penalty was. ‘Plus would you really want to tell them? It would make them feel bad for the few times they got you to move from the spot? Not to mention that other thing.’

‘A slave geas and a hex are nothing new that we haven’t lived through, it’s just this time the hex is more thought out.’ Lego mused to his other self that was currently up and about.

When Trixie had quickly overpowered him in his earth pony form, Lego quickly found him, and by extension his brothers, bound with the slave geas to Trixie not to mention as a nice twisted bonus she put a stronger version of the name hex on him.

‘Each time any creature says a name we recognize it causes us real pain, and the twist is we are unable to communicate that we are hexed in this way, nor can we tell any being that we are being harmed by names we recognize.’ The unicorn had explained again to him. ‘Doesn’t matter the exhaustion from changing three times today as well as battling, the hex damage, and the geas damage from when we are moved, I honestly don’t know if our body can take that much more before it just gives.’

It was true; Lego knew, even with his body with the most stamina of the three, that he was running on fumes and if it wasn’t for the geas constantly making him obey Trixie he would have passed out.

“Lego?” The red earth pony was brought out of his musings by a worried voice of a certain farm mare.

He gave her a curious look and he wouldn’t lie, it took a tad bit for him not to give her a cold look for the hurt she was putting Velox through. “What is it Applejack?”

Her hoof would shuffle around on the ground for a moment, anypony around, which only was he and five of the elements currently, could tell that she was nervous about something. “Can ah talk to Velox?”

Lego felt his mask slip only for a fraction of a second to one of intense cold; luckily it seemed no pony noticed before he sighed. “Sorry Applejack I can’t.”

The orange mare looked surprised as did a few of her friends. “Why, in tarnation, not?”

For a moment he contemplated telling her about his limits again but he couldn’t, he didn’t want to as this was the mare that had hurt his brother and by an extension part of himself and thus he found himself using a rarely used emotion in most of ponykind: spite. “Cause he is leaving Applejack.” It got the reaction he wanted, that wide eyed fear that made a tiny part of him upset with at his self but not enough to matter right now. “Because of what you told him he feels he has nothing left, he has no desire to be an individual anymore and has retreated to his own corridor in our mind to fade away, he won’t even talk to us. When he does, honestly I may not be that far behind, I play the middle pony and voice of reason for these two. However he isn’t merging, he is vanishing, which means that when I merge back he will be gone, there will be no aspect of him left and chances are our merged form will be a different pony then what you all met before, a combination of myself and Novo.”

The spite had ran itself out nearly after the first sentence, both because of the look on the pony’s face before him as well as the fact that he didn’t realize how unhappy he was about how it was going to turn out. “No…”

It was the only word that left the apple mare before her legs went out from under her and she hit the ground belly first with tears in her eyes. Honestly she wasn’t the only one; the others had tears in their eyes as well hearing about the split pony’s future merger.

‘Better start paying attention, I hear a pony’s hooves clopping up in a gallop to our right.’ Novo alerted him just in time for him to see Twilight come swooping in for a hug.

“Thank Celestia you are all right.” Twilight said, Spike right on her metaphorical heels. For a moment Lego thought that Twilight maybe held on for a second too long but mused it must have been a trick of his mind as she let go and looked towards everyone. “Is everypony alright? I already checked to see if Spike was ok but what about you all?”

The sad tears from earlier turned to happy ones as the magic element had joined them, well most of the tears. “Quite alright/I’m okie dokie loki/Of course/I’m alright/…Ah’m ok sugarcube.”

Lego shrugged as it was the best he could do to say no without being stopped. “Alright what is going on, how did you get Lego out of Trixie’s control?”

Twilight’s questions were simple to answer, the first being a recap of how the show mare ran into Lego on the road to Ponyville, lost when they fought and was put under her control, followed by showing up and showing up other ponies. The fight that happened after that forced the five other elements to fight Lego and Novo, though the part that made Twilight frown was the fact that Novo and Lego’s mind is under their control. They didn’t mention the conversation that Lego shared with them about vanishing, though he suspected that they would when Ponyville wasn’t in trouble.

“So your mind is your own, but you are forced to do as she asks.” The unicorn mage asked of him only for him to nod. “Tell me, you can’t disobey, or can you but there is a punishment.” Inwardly he smiled though his face showed pain as when he tried to tell her she hit it on the head the pain closed his voice. “Lego its ok you don’t have to tell me. You are under a geas, which means you have no choice but to obey her or you are punished and if I am guessing the punishment is pain. A Slave Geas.”

Rarity took this moment to chime in. “If I recall my lessons in magic and history, weren’t the use of Geas’ outlawed and the one that pulls up the worst punishment the one you mentioned: The Slave Geas?”

Twilight nodded quickly though her face was one of great sadness at this misuse of both ponies and magic. “Yes cause it forces the its cast on to obey the one who casted it for their life or till they are release, or they will die from the pain when they aren’t doing as they asked. It is a horrible spell.”

A gasp came from the quiet Fluttershy as she seemed to realize something. “That means when we were pulling you away from your spot here it caused you pain?”

He wanted to tell them yes, but was unable to, instead he had to settle for a shrug. “Maybe.”

“He can’t talk about it Fluttershy, a Slave Geas prevents the one who has it from telling others that he has it and that he is punished, it was made sure slaves couldn’t get help from others to free them.” Twilight turned to Lego and quickly cast a diagnostic spell and cringed at what she found. “We need to remove that spell from you soon, as well as get you to a hospital; you have some minor internal bleeding not life threatening right now but it could be if left untreated.”

Ignoring the gasps of his friends he kept his attention on Twilight. “Sadly we can’t worry about that now. Right now we have to worry about Trixie, once she wakes up and knows you’re here she will wreck everything for her rematch with you, and with that amulet she is pretty unstoppable right now.”

“Amulet?” The curiosity was clearly heard but Lego couldn’t afford to get her distracted right now.

“Twilight, for now head to the library, I know you have a lot of research books there.” Lego made sure to look her in the eyes and give her the most serious look he could. “Right now we have no clue how that thing works, as such I can give you no advice, for all we know that thing could destroy the world, or is just a relic from days past. Find out what it is and how to stop it…besides, it is not like I am going anywhere. Now go, quickly!”

He watched as all of his friends ran away to the library and the earth pony could hear a sigh inside his head. ‘Research that will take a few hours at least, what do you make our chances is of actually living to see another day?’

‘Sorry, Velox is the one who is the hopeful one, I am the realist.’ He told his inner unicorn.

Another sigh and a cough could be heard in the back. ‘I would suggest trying to keep the pain from your mind as much as you can so you can focus on figuring something out, it’s what you are good at. I just wish…nothing never mind.’

Fluttershy, quiet and…well shy. However she was one of the more observant of her friends, she just never spoke up about what she observed a lot of the time. Now though she felt she must, she absolutely had to-

“Fluttershy mind moving for a moment I need to look at the bookcase behind you.” Came the boyish voice of the young dragon surprising her out of her thoughts and making her jump with a squeak.

-wait at least five more minutes before talking with her friend with what was on her mind. ‘Come on Fluttershy, you can do this, it is very important and something no other pony seems to see.’

The soft spoken Pegasus noticed it because she was very empathic to others, she could feel when they were happy or sad, she knew that Applejack was hurting beyond belief right now and she really wanted to talk to her about it. Then there was the Star problem, she had noticed it several times since Trixie had come to town with Star in tow. Something wasn’t right, every time his name was called something happened to him and it wasn’t right.

‘Oh I wish Angel-bunny was here, I could tell him what I need to and he could help me make up my mind on who to talk to first, oh what would he say.’ Fluttershy’s imagination went back to her modest cottage, it was filled with animals and there was Angel on the table tapping his foot and squeaking and chittering at her impatiently. ‘Oh Angel-bunny is right, I have to take care of what I can now and worry about the rest later. Right now I can talk to Applejack and help soothe her mind.’

Speaking of orange farm mare, she was nowhere in the main lobby of the tree but then knew the mare, Fluttershy knew where she was. Walking outside and around the tree towards the thicker part away from the lobby she found her, on her belly head resting on her arms and tears running down her face.

“Do you want to talk about it? That is if it is alright with you?” Fluttershy made her voice quieter than normal, a marvel of a feat considering how normally tiny her voice could already become.

She watched as AJ was surprised for a moment and tried to wipe her tears but it was pretty obvious that they kept coming and wouldn’t stop. “Ah…ah…ah killed ‘em Shy.”

Anytime the words kills or death would be muttered the Pegasus would squeak and try to hide normally, and while the first did happen she held her ground as she needed to know what her friend meant. “I, I am sorry. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Sitting down next to the cowmare she put a wing over her for comfort. “Lego said that Velox was tryin’ to fade away that he had no reason to exist anymore. If he stops existin’ isn’t that the same as dyin’? If so that means the reason he is dyin’ is cause of me. It is the same as me killin’ him.”

Here it was, the moment Fluttershy knew if she said the wrong thing it would mean she would fail her friend, a thought that was nearly as scary as an adult dragon, but then…hadn’t she faced that as well? “I-it just means that you have to save him right? I mean if you think it’s your fault that it’s happening this way; it means you have to save him.”

Gulping after finishing that sentence the Pegasus was shaking on the inside, hoping that she didn’t say the wrong thing so when Applejack suddenly got up she squeaked and hid behind her mane. “You’re right Shy. Like any good cowpony worth her bits she has to buck up and get back in there.” Giving the yellow pony a great big powerful hug she smiled. “Thank you Shy, you are a great friend.”

Squeaking again but this time from her smile widening, Fluttershy hugged her friend back, feeling that warmth whenever she helped out her friends. “It is no trouble at all, um partner.” With that bit of humor it got them both to enjoy a good laugh.

Twilight had found the book...sort of. Really Spike had found it and had identified the item that Trixie was wearing but currently she was reading through it. “Hmm girls get over here, I think this passage sums it up pretty nicely.” Waiting for her friends to gather she waited for Fluttershy and Applejack who seemed to take the longest, she thought they may have been searching down or upstairs but no matter since they were there now. “Alright it says here ‘The Alicorn Amulet is an artifact that bestows upon its wearer untold powers that can rival any unicorns. However the more that one uses it the more they are slowly corrupted by its negative influences.’ It also goes on to say that ‘Because of a magical locking device only the one who is wearing it may remove it and that none other may remove it by force as long as that being is alive’.”

The voices of all her friends faded out quickly, Twilight knew they were talking about possible ways to overcome and remove the amulet but Twilight had to focus, focus was the key here and Lego himself said they needed to think about this and know more. “I don’t think we can do this ourselves.”

With that all ponies turned to her though it was the non-pony that spoke up. “What do you mean Twi, you are the strongest unicorn around. I mean you are Celestia’s student after all.”

She shook her head quickly. “While that is true Spike, she holds out friend’s life in her hooves, we can’t just go in there without a plan at least. We need something to give us an edge; we need to think not like a unicorn but…that’s it!”

Right away she was galloping out of her home and library with the others right behind her and calling out asking where they were heading.

They got there rather quickly, though more than a few times did Twilight have to shake the thoughts of her cursed friend. She had thought about him during the whole time being brought back by the Pegasus drawn chariot, though strangely and something she would have to think about later was the fact it was only about his earth pony form. She kept thinking about how if something were to happen to him how she wouldn’t get to talk to him anymore, pick his brain, have meaningful conversations, stare at his fl-

Thankfully her thoughts didn’t get any further than that, of which she was glad and told herself it was just because she was lonely when two of her friends had already gotten themselves with his other personalities.

Knocking on the door Zecora greeted them cheerfully like she always does when any of her friends or herself drops by to visit. “Ahh my good friends, come inside my hut and the safety it extends.” As they all went inside she started to brew up some tea for all of them. “So what brings you all here today, though judging from the looks on your faces it seems to be dismay.”

Twilight and the others told her what was going on in town and was finishing up when she was pouring tea for all of them. “Hmm this problem certainly vexing, with that mares hexing.” Sipping at her tea slowly she thought and thought and thought some more till she had an idea. “Lego was right, in that you shouldn’t attempt a head on fight. Certainly the amulet has given the show mare the edge, and if you fight you will only find yourself backed onto a ledge. At least in a fair and one on one brawl, however that isn’t the only way to do things if you recall.”

Twilight wouldn’t lie, it was enchanting to hear Zecora talk, she could do it for hours and it seemed she had that result for any pony but however she was lost now. “What do you mean?”

Zecora showed Twilight her near empty cup. “When it comes to a fair fight, the only thing you have to fear is the others bite. However in this exchange what you have to fear isn’t your own strife, but our friend’s precious life.” Rubbing her hoof over the tea she made sure to watch the zebra as she did so, not noticing the light glow her hooves, stripes, and mark gave before pulling her hoof away. “While magic can do wondrous things such as this, if you fight this Trixie this way your opportunity you will surely miss. What needs to happen here is trickery and guile, for that was once the show mare’s style.”

Twilight’s eyes as she thought. “I think I have an idea of what you are talking about, but I am going to need help.” Turning to her friends she smiled. “Girls I need you to go get your family and friends and meet me back here as quickly as you can.”

‘Any luck getting in contact with Velox?’ The earth pony asked of his other part.

He could feel the unicorn give a shake of his head. ‘Sorry I knock and knock and knock and it’s like he isn’t even there, I may as well be knocking on an empty room for all the response I am getting.’

‘Horseapples, was hoping we could all brainstorm together but, honestly I can’t think of anything that would-’ From inside he could hear a yawn and the hum of magic. ‘Time is up it seems, Trixie is awake…we are absolutely doomed to be with this family forever aren’t we?’

His other side gave no answer as the hum of magic increased and the door opened. “Ahh hello my slave Trixie sees that no pony tried to come in that means you did a passing job. Now what to do to pass the time, hmm maybe I should pay those friends of Twilight Sparkles a visit, wouldn’t she be surprised to find them all in various states thanks to her neglect. Although with the sun going down like it is she might not be able to see them in the darkness…Trixie should make it so they glow in the dark that will fix the problem.”

As she started to use her magic Lego was paying close attention to her amulet trying to think of some way to stop her even going so far as to ask Novo if he had any ideas, to which he had none. However with her right in front of him with her back to him, he had to do something.

Making his move however was the wrong one the instant he tried to dive at her he was caught in midair with a rather evil sounding giggle. “Ahh I see you still have the will to try to disobey me.” Something was wrong here, her tone had changed and he didn’t like how slightly sultry her voice was, nor the hoof running along his chest. “I think maybe I am starting to see what my sister might have seen, after I defeat Twilight Sparkle I may just keep you as a nice pet to help me…relax each and every day or maybe even right now before Sparkle gets back.”

The normally silent voice that was his mind itself started to shriek at Lego. ‘Bad touch, bad touch, bad touch!’

“Trixie!” Came the voice of a certain unicorn wearing a gaudy necklace.

“You have some rotten timing Sparkle/Thank Celestia on your timing Twilight!” Said both the show mare and the shifter at the same time.

“I have come to challenge you to a duel, if you are as powerful as you claim then prove it.” The voice of a confident Twi stated loudly. “If you win the one on one I will serve you, However if I win you will release Star and not bother anypony else again.”

Luckily for Lego he was dropped from the telekinesis just as Twilight called his name making a wave of pain flow through him that was hidden by his drop. “The Great and Powerful Trixie accepts these terms.”

Trixie started to turn towards Lego as if she planned to use him until two voices called out. “Trixie Trixie, use us Great and Powerful Trixie.”

Lego remembered them as two of the young colts in the school but didn’t remember their names. “Fine, as you wish.” The red glow intensified as she zapped them, and when the smoke cleared Novo was calling out all kinds of fouls in his head about stupid rule breaking unicorns everywhere. The smoke had cleared and there stood a foal and an old nag of two ponies that were once the young colts.

Looking to Twilight he could see her confidence wane for a moment before it came back. “That is nothing; any of the highest level unicorns can do that, watch.”

What proceeded was best left for Novo to describe as ‘BULLSHIT!’. Twilight kept flashing her magic changing various ponies from old to young, to making them play ten instruments to even changing their gender which had Novo flipping tables in their head that Lego didn’t know was there.

Trixie’s confidence seemed to vanish as she had an astonished look on her face. “How are you doing that, it’s impossible.”

‘No, bucking, KIDDING!’ Shouted Novo from inside his head almost loud enough to make him want to cover his ears.

Twilight just pointed to the gaudy gold and green necklace she was wearing. “It’s all thanks to this charm that Zecora gave me. I heard about your own Alicorn Amulet amplifying your powers, and if it’s ok for you to cheat, why not boost my own chances.”

‘Oh wait something is wrong here, isn’t that the door stop from Zecora’s place?’ Lego told his irate brother who was too upset to listen.

“Hey!” Twilight called out as a red glow snatched the amulet.

Trixie had taken the amulet and was smiling. “If I wear this I will be the most powerful unicorn in the world, even the Princesses won’t be able to-” For a moment it seemed as if she was going to take off the Amulet to replace it with that but the red glow instead intensified. “No…Trixie doesn’t need this junk, she has all the power she needs right here!” with that the amulet that she had taken from Twilight shattered as if it was a hunk of junk.

“Uh oh.” Came a few voices from around Twilight.

The unicorn in question quickly looked to where the voice came from looking shocked as Trixie started to levitate all the ponies out from their hiding spots. “I see, you thought to trick the Great and Powerful Trixie with cheap tricks? Fine, I will accept that as a…certain level of magic but not let’s get on to the real deal!”

Novo warned Lego in his head what was happening as a glow started to build up around the show mare’s horn. “TWILIGHT!”

The lavender mare seemed to recognize the spell as well as she summoned up her strongest shield just in time as the heavy ray of energy hit it. For a brief moment it looked as if the ray would do nothing to the bubble that Twilight had erected around herself, till it started to crack and buckle before finally shatter and tossing a now exhausted Twilight to the ground.

Trixie started to go over to her and smile the red in her eyes started to almost solidify even on her horn the glow was staining her horn its own red coloration. “Can you do anything else Sparkle?” With a groan Twilight just raised her head only for a few sparks to come off her horn before she collapsed again. “That is too bad, looks like I win, unless somepony else wants to challenge me?”

There was no answer, even among her friends who were suspended in the air even if they struggled with the levitation keeping them up; well there was no answer that can be heard at least. ‘Switch with me, it’s my turn.’

Lego’s eyes widen as he heard the voice. ‘Velox where have you been, we have been knocking on your door forever, why didn’t you answer?’

For a moment there was confusion in Velox as he simply answered. ‘I have been doing as you advised and exploring our head, a lot of shit out there and it’s how I found the control override, sorry about that by the way Lego, I will share it with you both later but for now move it’s my turn.’

‘Hold on there, how did you get out, I have been standing at your door forever.’ Novo asked quickly as Lego was just letting him take over.

As his form shifted and he could feel things ripping inside him, not only from being injured before switching, but for the fact it was his fourth shift of the day. ‘I just used the back door to my room. I mean just cause I am really depressed doesn’t mean I am not going to move around, thought you two knew me better than that.’

‘There is a back door?’ Came both Novo and Lego’s voice.

“Hey Great and Powerful showboat!” Velox called right away, ignoring a lot of the more…painful feelings inside and outside of him even having to close his right eye as blood was leaking from it like tears.

Trixie turned to hear the new voice and seen Velox. “Ahh I see you switched again, I have to say this form is quite athletic it seems maybe we should get back to-”

“I have a magic I know you can’t use, its Pegasus only.” Velox called only to get warnings from his brothers that he ignored. ‘Brothers, trust me, I am going to need that trust in a moment but please, just…trust me.’

The blue coated unicorn scoffed and smiled. “Oh please, tell Trixie of this spell and she will perform it.”

Velox then began to describe the current both the first and second forms of it. “If you can do that, right here, right now to its fullest, I will admit you are the strongest and submit to you willing, however if you cannot that means you will let me go as well as my friends.”

Laughing Velox watched as the glow surrounded Trixie as moisture started to gather rapidly. ‘Velox you just gave her a big weapon, what are you-’

‘TRUST ME!’ Velox told them again even as the water changed in a stroke of red lightning. “Well Trixie you did it, problem is now I have won.”

The red glowing form of Trixie looked suspicious at him. “What do you mean?”

“The second version of the Current is a double edged sword. It gives a lot of power speed and reaction time, however it consumes more than a lot of mana from its user, not only that but if you stop using it, the recoil will stop your heart…its over Trixie, you will soon burn up all your power as you have no way to channel the magic out of you now.”

Velox got warnings in his head just as Trixie chuckled. “You must be the dumb form if you think that, did you forget Trixie is a unicorn?” as she said that the lightning began to fade as it all started to ball up at the tip of her horn. “You know, for trying to kill the Great and Powerful Trixie, she thinks you should be destroyed yourself, and Trixie was so looking forward to using you in her bedroom. Good bye you fool.”

With that she let loose a beam of destructive power as Velox smirked. “NOW!” he shouted both inside his head and out loud extending his wings.

The beam struck and there was a plume of smoke from where it had struck, his friends who were watching cried out as he was seemingly struck down…only to gasp as the smoke cleared and he was in the current for his lightning form as well as it tracing back up to strike Trixie’s horn.

“What are you doing? How are you doing it?” Trixie said shaking her head as if somehow to stop him from doing whatever it was he was doing.

Velox could feel his body rejecting itself for what he was doing, but it didn’t matter. “Simple, you used lightning as a conduit there for your magic, level two absorbs lightning and uses it from the air, since you attached it to your magic however we are now connected, however it’s all in your horn while mine is all over. Mine will drain you dry and I suspect it will drain that amulet first. However if you want to life remove the Amulet and I will stop this.”

His brothers in his mind were screaming as well as his own voice inside his head as their body rejected the feel of Trixie’s magic that it was absorbing, he could already feel some of his channels popping and bursting.

Trixie was also screaming as her magic was leaving her, well the artificial power first, the red glow from her magic slowly fading. “I-I…what am I doing, why am I doing it. No…I don’t want this!” Trixie called out loudly as she tore off the Alicorn amulet.

Velox stopped pulling from her and smiled as he looked over his body, the red glow from the Alicorn amulet infused in his own lightning from how much power he had absorbed. He had so much power in him at this moment both from what he absorbed and the combined powers of his brothers his eyes were glowing.

‘Velox release the magic, release it!’ Called out Novo as he was gritting his teeth in their mind which Lego agreed with him.

Problem was they didn’t know the truth. “Sorry, but I already tried, there is just too much magic for me to get a hold of normally. At least as I am now, so something has to give…I am going to miss cloud beds though.”

He couldn’t stop the magic but he could direct it to certain places inside him to release. “Lego…you’re in charge now. I need you both to survive and…take care of AJ for me.”

With that Velox exploded in a flash of red lightning, sending feathers everywhere.

End of the first arc.

Author's Notes:

With this chapter comes the end of the first arc everyone. I hope you all enjoyed it up to this point. I am going to be taking a break from writing to recover my creative juices and slowly work on the start of the next arc. I have ideas and I know what I want to do, however...knowing and doing are two different things. So I hope you will all give me the time to think and create some nice future chapters for you all.

Wow you were strangely nice about this...you ok?

Yep, I am just really satisfied with how this chapter turned out and I hope all my readers are as well. Till next time See you space cowboys.

Wrong show.

FUUUUUUUUUU-

Chapter Twenty: The Diaries Part One.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty: The Diaries Part One.

Twilight sighed as she closed the door to her room having to hate dealing with the nobles but such is life when one is the personal student of Celestia, she just wished they would leave her alone right now all things considering.

‘They all wish to get to know me, only for the reason they think that it can get them closer to the Princess.’ Twilight thought as she went up to her bed and prepared to plop down on it with clear mental exhaustion on her face. ‘At least it isn’t like before where they wanted me away from the Princess because my family is lesser nobility and they thought I wasn’t ‘worthy’ to be the Princess’s student. Ever since I became the Bearer for Magic most of their attitudes have changed but now it’s mostly them just kissing my plot.’

The lavender unicorn rolled over on her bed and took a look to the shelf within reach that carried a lot of books she liked to read to help her sleep. “Let’s see: Razor Wing and Jewelette, not really in the mood for tragedy and romance. The Unification of Tribes, while history is nice I feel it won’t help me sleep. The Diary of Twilight Sparkle…wait what?”

Pulling the book off the shelf she seen it was indeed her old diary. Opening it up to a random page she smiled as she read it: ‘Dear Diary. Today I moved into the castle as the Princess wants to teach me by making me her personal student. ME! I can’t believe it. I will be able to learn all kinds of new magic techniques and spells, I will be able to be around the Princess all the time, read all kinds of….OH MY CELESTIA so many books I can read that won’t be available anywhere else! *SQUEEEEEEEE!* hehe I had to write that as I made the noise when I realized that…I wonder if I spelt Squee right…I will have to find a dictionary later to check and see.’

Twilight smiled at her younger self, sure she wasn’t for writing every day, but the diary had made her feel better when she needed to get something off her mind, a good example of that was the rest of the entry. ‘The only thing I think I don’t like about me moving to the castle is that I won’t be able to see my family anymore, well I will but I mean every day. Sure I will miss mom’s homemade cookies and hugs, Dad’s goofy stories and his tickling, even if I tell him I am too old for them, and Shiny, I will miss my B.B.B.F.F., that stands for Big Brother Best Friend Forever Diary so make sure to remember that. I hope that they will all take care of themselves, I have to be brave for them because it’s not every day that a filly is made into the personal student of Celestia.’

The unicorn smiled to herself sadly as she could see the tear stains from where her filly self had started to cry as she wrote that. ‘I really did miss my family back then, but now that I think about it, I started to feel a lot better after I wrote that…or it could have been the fact I balled like a foal after that…maybe that is what I need.’

Being who she was, Twilight had more than her fair share of blank books to take notes in that was given to her by her teacher as she was younger, selecting one of them, lavender in color of course, she took in a deep break and started to write in it.

“Dear Diary, well the new one at least, your predecessor is full and I can’t fit any more entries into it. Anyways I suppose the reason I am writing to you now is cause a lot has happened lately and I really need to get it off my mind…I suppose I should start from a week ago.” Twilight dipped her quill into the ink pot she was levitating as she took a deep breath.

Twilight was cheering internally as she seen Velox sucking up the electro converted mana, he was basically robbing Trixie of her power since she had linked it directly to her own pool, which is standard for unicorns casting a spell. Part of the reason why unicorns have to study so hard in order to know when to cut something off and why fillies and foals during their early years when spontaneous magic can occur isn’t at risk since they usually only used magic in a burst.

Trixie must have also realized this as the red glow from her eyes vanished and she quickly tore off the Alicorn Amulet releasing all of those she had in her telekinesis and letting them land, albeit a tad bit hard, on the ground. All of her friends and herself included were cheering at this, though for some reason it looked like Velox didn’t hear them.

Twilight was slowly stopping her cheer as something in the back of her mind was telling her that something was off. ‘He looks so calm and serene, he should look happy he won, I mean once he gets rid of all the excess magic he…’ The exemplary mage realized what was wrong and it caused her eyes to widen quickly. “He can’t release the mana he took.”

She must have said it just above a whisper as Rarity over heard her. “What do you mean darling?”

“He is a Pegasus he can’t release the mana he took from her, and it was a lot if what I felt about that beam was right.” Twilight was looking over at Velox who was glowing red from the infused mana from the amulet in both his lightning and at his eyes. She watched in horror as she could see the red dim from parts of his body and was focusing on others, mainly his wings. “Oh no, if he does that he will-!”

She never got to voice her thoughts any further as all of them were rocked back from the shockwave that was the explosion where Velox once stood. The explosion was so loud she thought her eardrums had been busted as everything sounded muffled when she stood back up and looked at the crater that was left behind, not very large but enough that she couldn’t see if Velox was in it or not. What startled her into action was a feather floating into her vision the same color as Velox’s wings.

Running up upon it she distantly heard the muffled hoofsteps and wing flaps of her friends and others coming up to check on the Pegasus shape shifter as well only to be shocked at what they found. She heard somepony hit the ground in a dead faint, she assumed it was Rarity, another was getting violently sick, another was praying to Celestia at what they say, but the other reactions she could hear were gasps and dead silence. To be honest she herself was close to losing all contents of her stomach at what she saw.

In the crater was a lot of blood to start, covering most of the Pegasus who seemed dead to the world if not actually dead, it was only the shallow rises and falls of his barrel that let Twilight know that he was still even alive. However the cuts and contusions as well as burns that was all over him didn’t even come close to the three most horrid of injuries. The least of the most gruesome injuries seemed to be his left eye at first she thought maybe the explosion had gouged it out but the almost jelly like viscous remains against the side of his face suggested something similar to it just melting.

The second major injury was ones that she had read about in medical journals and various other medical books, ones that had ended a lot of careers and dreams for many a Pegasus…both of Velox’s wings were completely gone. There was no bone structure left, no feathers, just two small nubs where the wings must have been blown off from. Knowing how fragile wings were both in structure and for medical healing, Twilight knew that even if they found his wings it wouldn’t change that there was nothing that could be done for them, he was just lucky the tendons seemed to have retracted into his body and sealed off the veins in his wings or he would have bleed out even before they had reached him.

The last and most severe was one that made her question if her friend would even live or not was simple: why was his insides on the outside? Down in the crater it looked as if somepony he eviscerated him spilling out a lot of his intestine. It was a sight that would haunt Twilight and cause Luna to have to intercede on her behalf in the dream realm more than once in the upcoming weeks as she would remember every color, the purples of the actual organs, the pinks of the blood covered flesh, the blues of the veins and more that those organs seemed to have, the slickness that coated them all and more.

Speaking of Luna, she was suddenly there, Twilight hadn’t heard her as she was still hearing things muffled and it was only cause of the royal Canterlot voice that she even understood Luna. “We are going to teleport him to Canterlot for treatment, anypony whose wish it is to be there for him use our chariot to come to the hospital.” With a flash of midnight blue, both she and the injured stallion were gone.

Her friends and herself had taken Luna up on her offer and took her personal chariot back to Canterlot and looking around her she knew her friends shared her concern as they were all squashed together, except Rainbow who decided to fly to make room in the large, yet not large enough, chariot. It was Celestia who greeted them and managed to reverse the hearing damage they all had suffered claiming it was only temporary anyways and all ponies who had suffered it in Ponyville should be fine in the morning.

However even with that good news, came the bad news as she had to give it after both Rainbow Dash and Applejack asked her how Star was doing. “My little ponies, I will not lie to you, just from the initial examinations of him his chances of surviving are…low. Even if he does live life for him after this will be much different.”

Twilight had to stop writing her tears were staining the page at remembering a week ago. Though she wasn’t sure if this made her feel any better she did feel the weight of being able to tell somepony even if that somepony was a diary. “I think I will send some blank books to my friends so they too can do this. If nothing else it will help in a small way by giving them an outlet.”

She found six more books, one for Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Writing a quick note to each of them, she decided to wrap them up now and give them to the mail pony to deliver so it would reach her friends in the morning.

“I will write more tomorrow, for now I think I should just get some sleep once I get back…hopefully I won’t bother Princess Luna again tonight.” Twilight said as she went out of her room to deliver the books.

Rainbow Dash was hard at work, which was unlike her if anypony were asked. For her though, her favorite pastime of catching a nap between working and practicing was now one of her most hated things she could think of as with those naps came the nightmares that had caused her to more than once wake up screaming and accidently bucking the cloud she was on. Her bosses at Cloudsdale, however, would praise her new work ethic and not care while her co-workers were getting rather worried as any as the bags under her eyes were growing larger and darker.

The events from the evening kept playing over and over in her dreams and every time she felt if she just flew faster, reacted quicker, done…anything better, she could have stopped what happened. Often it was Luna who came to her rescue from the nightmares that were plaguing her but Luna was not always available at all times to help her, so really it was only when she slept at night that it wasn’t as bad. It was her afternoon naps that were removed completely to keep her from having to relive the memories more and more.

“Rainbow Dash, Delivery.” Dash turned to the voice just as she kicked another cloud into vapor to see a gray coated mail mare that was Derpy, looking off in a direction as well as looking at her.

In her mouth was a decent sized object, though from its shape Rainbow Dash felt a moment of joy when she thought it was a new Daring Do book. “Thanks Derpy.” Was all Dash told her as the happy go lucky mail mare flapped away. Looking around quickly Dash sat on the fluff to open the package and stare at a plain looking cyan book with a note attached to it.

“Dear Rainbow Dash. I recently found an old diary journal of mine. Reading through it some I remembered how nice it was to talk to somepony to get my feelings out there, well it just so happens that somepony was just my journal. So finding a new blank book I started a new one since recent events have been bugging me. I made me feel better slightly too at least share my thoughts in this way so I am sending a blank book to you and the others in the hopes that you will find it just as therapeutic. Signed: Twilight Sparkle.” After reading the note again Dash thought it wasn’t such a bad idea, and looking at the time of day it would be about the time she took a nap so she zipped back home instead.

“I am just tired of the nightmares, not like I am doing this for fun or anything.” Dash mumbled to herself as she set it down at the desk she used to coordinate the weather schedule to Cloudsdale, something she didn’t want others to know so as not to think of her as an egghead since she was just doing her job. Grabbing a pencil in her mouth she started.

“Dear Journal, not sure what to write in you, heck not sure why I am even doing this but if Twilight thinks it will help it can’t hurt to try right?” Dash could feel herself remembering the emotions of that evening now as she wrote.

It had gone from super awesome to totally not cool in less than a half second for Dash. She was sitting there in the hold of the levitation of that showboat as she watched her friend, and roommate to her special somepony, taking all the zapping beam thing that was given to him and more forcing Trixie to take off her Amulet from what Dash guessed was the sheer awesome that it was. Trixie looked like she had been utterly exhausted by the beam too as she was unable to get up after that and even passing out making Dash give a silent ‘yes’ to herself with a hoof pump.

She was just about to brag to the others how awesome it was when she overheard Twilight and Rarity talking. “He is a Pegasus he can’t release the mana he took from her, and it was a lot if what I felt about that beam was right.” While not the brightest mare it was only though she herself had gone through mana stretching that she realized he may get sick from absorbing that mana into him at least she thought it would only be that. Dash looked back over to Velox, he had the look that she felt was on her face when she caught an air current and could fly forever, a look that said he was ok with things, even as the glow that was miscolored thanks to absorbing that whorse’s mana focused onto other parts.

Dash was feeling smug in that her teacher and friend took her down and thought to herself. ‘Ya you showed her alright, will have to get you to teach me that some da-’

That thought was interrupted as she heard Twilight sounding frightened. “Oh no, if he does that he will-!”

The prismatic flyer didn’t have to wonder about what her friend was going to say when a loud boom and shock wave bowled her over as well as the other ponies watching. Getting up was slow, at least for her as she felt groggy as if she crashed a tiny bit too hard.

“Twilight what the hay just happened?” As she said it though she could tell her hearing wasn’t right everything sounding muffled as if she had cotton jammed in her ears. Instead she decided to look at where the shockwave came from.

It was a rather impressive crater even if she had to say so. Whatever made it must have landed hard was her first guesses only to see Twilight starting to run towards it.

‘What is she running over there for? I mean the only thing that was in that direction was Vel…’ She didn’t even finish her though as her blood ran cold and she was in the air quickly moving to catch up to the magic user of the group.

Rainbow Dash, high speed stunt and flying mare, fastest Pegasus in Equestria if not Equis itself, future member of the Wonderbolts, and all her other self proclaimed titles did not in any way prepare her for what she was about to see. Because of her own pride in the particular appendages her first instinct was to look at the injuries of the wings on any pony that had them, what she saw caused her to instantly become sick and start to vomit.

‘Oh my gosh, there is nothing left! Sure I thought some feathers might be gone, even some bone damage, but…nothing. No Basal or Terminal Phalanx, no Metacarpus, no Radius, nothing. Even the Carcoid looks like it was broken and torn in half on both of them.’ The stunt mare wasn’t the smartest pony and would gladly admit that to anypony who asked, however if it was one thing she did know besides stunts, speed, and weather, was wings. ‘If his muscles didn’t contract from how his tendon pulled back his would have died from blood loss.’ Deciding to risk looking at him again, she was able to look at his other injuries and got equally sick once again. Not even noticing when Luna came up, only hearing her voice telling them all she was taking Velox to be helped.

All of them went to the chariot to pile in, except Dash herself who was going to fly so they had enough room in the vehicle to get off the ground. It was a weird experience to be nearly deaf while flying, the howling of the wind that soothing feeling for the flyer became something else, a dull roar that seemed almost as if it was heralding something ominous to come. This all translated into Dash’s head as ‘not right’.

The trip there was made with the same dull thuds as everything else she could hear but the Princess had met them when they landed. The Princess then solved their hearing problem with a healing spell so now everything was sounding once more normal.

“How is Velox, Princess?” Rainbow asked as soon as her hearing had returned making the soft flaps of her wings music to her ears.

Applejack had also pulled forward to ask the same thing. “Ya, ah mean he was lookin’ a right wreck when Princess Luna took him. Will he be alright?”

The look on Celestia’s face made RD settle on the ground with its serious look. “My little ponies, I will not lie to you, just from the initial examinations of him his chances of surviving are…low. Even if he does live life for him after this will be much different.”

In the distance she could hear some of her friends sniffling and letting tears go but they were getting further away in her ears as the prismatic mare asked and focused on her next question. “But he will be fine right Princess, I mean you have the best docs here in Canterlot, it won’t be long before he is up and flying again, just watch.”

The bravado didn’t last as the serious look on the sun matriarch’s face became one of sadness. “Rainbow Dash, while if he does survive from this he will not be doing what you asked. His wings are totally unrecoverable and he will be living the rest of his life as a grounded Pegasus while in that form.”

The book made a thump against the wall of fluff as Dash threw it across the room, tears flowing down her face as she remembered the Princess telling her that. “It’s not fair; he protected everypony he shouldn’t have to suffer like that.” The thing about cloud homes is that they are pretty soundproof with all the fluff padding but still some residents would claim to have heard a muffled scream of rage and sorrow that day.

Applejack was having a fitful sleep under an apple tree when she was rudely shook awake, though she was grateful for it so as not to suffer from the nightmares they carried. The dark rings under her eyes told of her lack of sleep and it was only when she bucked one too many trees while working the orchard that she would pass out and get some sleep, though it usually came with more of those horrifying accusing nightmares.

“Trouble sleepin’?” Came the deep voice of her brother. She would only nod not finding enough energy to voice a response only for Mac to give her something from his pack.

“What’s this?” She managed to ask in her exhaustion. The big lug just shrugged and walked away though not without looking back once more to shake his head when looking at his sister opening the package.

Inside was a plain looking orange book with a note attached. “Dear Applejack.” The note was from Twilight telling her that she found an old diary and started to write again making her feel a smidge better about things and suggested she try the same.

‘Why would ah write in a book about my feelin’s. Ah have my family, though ah don’t want to trouble them. Big Mac’ and Granny are surely worryin’ about me. Bloom wouldn’t understand and ah don’t want to trouble my friends either…hmm maybe Twi is onto somethin’ here.’ The apple mare thought to herself as she decided to take a break from bucking as she wasn’t honestly doing much as it was right now.

Getting up into her room she managed to find a pencil to write with and took a deep breath before starting to put her words to paper that also surprisingly had her accent in the words. “Dear diary. Ah don’t know what to do. Every night, every dream is about that night. It is drivin’ me crazy and ah know ah am worryin’ my family. Ah just want to get some good sleep but every time my dream reminds me. It reminds me: you could have done somethin’.”

She started to remember that night but shook her head, was no need to recall that night when she lived it over and over again night and day as it was. The explosion that shocked and deafened everypony, the discovery of her special somepony looking like he had been gored by a raging bull, the darkness that came from her fainting, something that honestly surprised her to this day a week later that it happened, not once but twice. She barely woke up in time and it seemed no pony noticed as they all rushed over towards Luna’s chariot to go to the hospital in Canterlot where she learned later that Velox was taken.

The bad news just got worse and she remembers being comforted by her friends when she learned that if Velox lived he wouldn’t be flying ever again. She remembered crying only once before hard like that when her parents passed away and though she had promised there she was letting it all cause she couldn’t contain it all, burdening her friends with her tears and feelings. She wasn’t sure how long she was crying but she knew that she spent the night and the next day.

He had come out of surgery after nearly twenty four hours of it. The Doctors had said they did all they could for now and if he lived he would need more surgeries in the future to correct a lot of things but the next seventy two hours they said would be the signs if he would make it or not.

“It was defiantly something for sure.” Applejack said.

Two days after Velox had come out of surgery did something indeed come up that they weren’t expecting. Twilight had called them all together as a chariot was once more waiting to take them directly to the Canterlot hospital this time. Worry was eating away at her the entire time as they flew. Everypony had made time to come and secretly she was happy about that as she knew if she was alone she may not have been able to keep her tears at bay.

Immediately she knew something was wrong when they got to the hospital, all the ponies were tense, they all looked like something was going to jump out at them and what was more they all looked relieved to see them come in. A nurse came up to Twilight and told her that she would show them the way as they all trotted to the I.C.U. to see their friend. Once there what they saw surprised all and would right away something was happening that it shouldn’t be.

First off Celestia and Luna were in the room their horns glowing and surrounding Velox, who looked to be on death’s door. His coat was faded out like she had seen it in the crystal kingdom, bandages stained with blood around his middle and what was left of his wings as well as the bandage around his eye. What was off about the whole thing though was the red hue that seemed to be fighting back against the Princess’ magic.

Well it didn’t last much longer after they had arrived but the look on the rulers of day and night’s face said they had been at it a long while if the sweat dripping from them was an indicator. Some of the deathly gray vanished from the pony’s coat though still looked to be very unwell. Though secretly AJ was happy as she looked at him and the look on his face was calmer then when they had seen the Princess’ using their magic.

“What is going on Princess?” It was Twilight who had asked and that brought everypony’s attention to the pony that had answers.

Sighing and grabbing a drink first from a nearby picture of water Celestia took a moment to compose herself before speaking. “It seems there was more than meets the eye at work here my little ponies. Something had been bothering me since Velox had come here to receive his treatment but I couldn’t figure out why. It was actually my sister who pointed out that he still may have lingering traces of Trixie’s magic left in his system that may hamper his healing. Turns out she was both wrong and right at the same time.”

Luna had taken the same time to compose herself as her sister though only chose that moment to speak. “When we arrived and had scanned him for lingering traces of foreign energy we found out he had been cursed several times over and then alerted our sister.” Twilight started to speak up about that but Luna shook her head. “It wasn’t the curse of the slave like you had spoke of Twilight Sparkle. We had found three separate curses placed on him, though one was a hex that had just been elevated to the power of a curse via the Alicorn amulet as well as a newly forming curse.”

AJ felt as if her eyes would burst out at any moment hearing about that only to be stopped by Celestia continuing on with the explanation. “The first curse was as you said, A Slave Geas. That was the first one we removed as it was one that was the top most layer and the least buried in his being. The second was a name hex that he was unable to speak of similar to the geas. Anyone, pony or otherwise, that called him by a name he recognized as his own would cause him an extreme amount of pain and harm.”

Bile rose up in her throat as AJ heard that and instantly recalled the times when she had called out his name to have a look flash across his face. ‘He held it in so we wouldn’t worry about him.’ Immediately following the feeling of disgust came one of anger like she had never felt before and the image of a particular showmare laughing when she called out his name and caused him to shiver made her want to go to whatever cell she whorse was in and beat her within an inch of her life just for Twilight to heal her so she could do it again and again.

She was snapped out of her rather unfriendly thoughts as once more Luna spoke up. “We removed that one as well, however the last is a type of curse we barely recognize at its fundamental levels and even our sister is unversed in its role.” Both of the Alicorns suddenly looked tired and worried. “It was also the deepest curse embedded in his being, having its tendrils already hooked into his mana well.”

Her head snapped over to Twilight who gasped and had tears fill her eyes, worrying the farmer even more. “I-in his well?”

Luna nodded but it seemed that Twilight was the only one who understood so she explained. “Every pony has a Mana well as you may or may not know my little ponies. That sends mana throughout their bodies. It is very similar to how your heart works; pumping blood through your body letting you live. However if a poison were to work its way into your blood stream it can spread through your entire body potentially killing you depending on the degree of the poison. A curse can do the same thing, and this curse was doing something similar, but not killing him outright.”

Applejack opened her mouth to say something only to find no words coming out instead it was Fluttershy who asked the question she wanted to. “W-what was it trying to do?”

Sighing for a moment Luna turned away to look at the injured stallion as Celestia spoke for her. “Curses can do many things if they enter your well, as well as any foreign being that can infiltrate into the mana well. In the end for this curse, he would have become similar to ponies you all have met before: Another Nightmare Moon or another Sombra.” She momentarily had an image in her mind of a fanged Velox whose eyes were no longer kind or loving but fierce and cruel come to her mind before she banished it. “We suspect he gained this last curse almost willingly as he absorbed the corrupted powers of Trixie while she was under the amulet’s influences. However cause of the nature which he did this and the mysterious nature of the amulet itself we are unable to know what it truly is or how to completely cure it even if we could.”

It felt as if somepony had suddenly stepped on her heart and was keeping it from beating at that last part. “W-what?”

Twilight looked to her friends sadly wiping some tears away from her eyes. “Any pony that has a curse get to their well has the curse for the rest of their lives as it now is a part of their very being. It will no doubt choke out his own mana for its own keeping him very weak for the rest of his days.”

“She is correct, though we did manage to cast a spell upon our pony that would make sure that what we couldn’t remove of the curse wouldn’t spread out of control.” Wiping a weary hoof over her eyes Celestia continued. “It also means he will never fully recover if he does from those wounds.”

“Applejack, where are you?” It was the voice of her sister calling out for her. The farm mare would wipe away some tears she had shed during her writing and actually smiled.

“One moment ah will be right down in a jiffy.” She called out to her little sister. ‘Twi was right, ah do feel better getting’ that out there.’ That night her dreams were calmer and she finally got a decent rest for the first time since the incident.

Rarity was doing fine in her work, so fine in fact that even when she made a mistake she found a way to make it work. Not that she would admit to anypony that she was making mistakes at all. Indeed, when she miss-stitched something, or added a color that didn’t quite match her set she turned it around making those mistakes the main feature of a whole new line of work that she knew would be all the rage.

While she did appreciate Twilight’s rather…Twilight like gift, she was far too busy to even think about what had happened to their protector knight. Indeed for whatever reason she couldn’t fathom she had more inspiration than ever before going so far as to ask poor meek Fluttershy to help come over and model them for her so she could see how her work flowed.

“A-are you sure that you want me to w-wear this?” Came the voice of her friend from behind the curtain.

Rarity flipped her mane even if no pony was looking to look just that much more fabulous. “Why of course dear, I do need to see how they move to see if the lines are just right.”

Fluttershy came right out and stood next to the ponykins that held the other dresses that the fashionista had made. “I am not so sure about this stitching Rarity, they seem rather…I don’t know but they don’t feel right.”

“Nonsense dear, embellishments such as these will be all the rage when my work is displayed.” The designer said with a smile. “Now can you move a little to the left to catch the light just right?” Fluttershy did and Rarity was pleased. The blues accented by the light purples and pinks were just perfect. Even the red streaks along the inside on the undercarriage were placed just right for the work of art not to mention the embellishing stitching along the sides and near the top by her wings just made the whole thing scream high fashion.

“I don’t know they just look a tad in the darker theme to me, just the feeling I get.” As Fluttershy tried to politely various things to her friend a shadow passed from an errant cloud outside catching one of the ribbons from the undercarriage just as the bobby pin that held it up let one end loose.

Suddenly the shop was much darker and colder to Rarity. No longer was sweet Fluttershy there trying to talk trade with her, but a certain broken Pegasus. His remaining eye was looking at her accusingly as his bloody stumps of wings twitched as if pain and not from the nerves that the yellow and pink Pegasus who had been standing there was.

The ribbon of fabric had been transformed no longer a piece of her dress but the Pegasus intestines hanging down and dragging against the floor that suddenly felt too dirty. “This is all I mean to you isn’t it Rarity?”

Rarity could feel herself backing up in fear from the stallion that was staring at her accusingly. “No, I would nev-”

“Rarity, do not give me those horseapples. You wanted me cause you knew I had been in magazines before, you wanted to use me, to parade me around making me do what I hate. How about now? Do you feel better knowing you are using every bit of me like this.” To emphasis a point he held up the rope of the slippery entrails before letting it go to hit the ground with a wet splat as he continued forward.

“No please, I didn’t, I am sorry. I am sorry I just got caught up in such a pony here in Ponyville I, I-.” The pure white mare was cut off before she can go any further as the bloody pony grabbed her shoulders.

“Really, so all those advances, those dirty thoughts to use me, to measure me a bit to close were they all just made up then?” She wasn’t sure how he knew of those thoughts when she had them after she discovered that one of his forms was in Playmare but it didn’t matter. “Look at your hooves you are no better than Trixie, at least she was honest about using me.”

Looking down now she had seen that her pearly white coat was splotched here and there with crimson, especially at her hooves. “N-No it’s not true, no, NOOOO!!!” Curling up into a ball on the ground and closing her eyes away from the sight, she never heard or felt it was Fluttershy calling out to her trying to snap her out of it.

“Dear Diary.” Fluttershy started. “I am not sure what happened with Rarity today, she had wanted me to come to her shop to try on some of her new ideas. Sure I was nervous but I do like fashion a lot, and it feels nice to talk about the ins and outs with Rarity even if I am not as talented as her.” Dipping the pin into the ink well gently she continued. “At first she acted ok making me put it on and stand in the light, then as I was holding up one of the ribbons telling her it came undone I looked up to see her frightened of me. I went to go give her a hug and to ask what was wrong when she suddenly screamed out no. I was so frightened I left the shop in tears. Later I went back to return the dress to Rarity as I didn’t have a chance to take it off when I rushed out and to apologize for taking it like that without permission when I spotted a crowd outside of the Boutique.”

Fluttershy had just got her courage back to return the ‘stolen’ dress. She was nervous and was hoping that Rarity had not been that angry with her running out like she had. Her fears weren’t alleviated at all as when she seen the boutique it was surrounded by ponies near the front entrance. She was worried about her friend and that something had happened and was about to ask what was wrong when luck would have her overhear a pony speaking of just that.

“Did you hear what is going on?” Came the voice of the first random pony.

The second pony with a more feminine voice spoke up. “No, but it has to be serious for her to be doing that.”

The sound of a crash from inside followed by a yell was quick but short following the sound of something tearing. “Ya no kidding, seems she really blew a stack and is destroying all her fabrics and works that she had been working on. I wonder what caused it?”

Fluttershy needed to hear no more, she knew it was her fault for taking the dress so she quickly and as silently as she could flew around the back and through a window to avoid being seen by the crowd. ‘I have to return the dress so Rarity isn’t mad anymore. I just hope she isn’t too mad at me for it.’

Downstairs was a wreck, there was no other way to describe it. Usually when Rarity gets on one of her benders there would be fabric all over the place, but usually it was from where she didn’t clean up from cutting a piece or they were ideas that never came to be. This…this was pure destruction, the deliberate ripping and tearing of all her fabric and works into useless ribbons and scrap.

With a pair of scissors in her magical grasp right in the center of all of the carnage was a teary eyed Rarity tears coming down nearly in waterfalls off her face as she was attacking another of the newly made lineup. As she attacked it she started to scream more and more sometimes even closing her eyes as she did so. It sounded like she was yelling something but Fluttershy couldn’t understand it as it all blurred together with the rest of the yelling.

“Rarity?” Fluttershy wonder who called out to her friend when she realized it was her own voice.

She regretted it almost instantly as she had gotten too close to Rarity who whipped around quickly and cutting the Pegasus along the cheek. “What do you-.” Fluttershy was holding her cheek as she felt the pain and letting out a few tears as she heard destructive fashionista speak. “Oh dear Celestia what have I done?”

“I am sorry, I am sorry.” It was all the Pegasus could get out as she was hugged fiercely.

Feeling tears against her she looked up to see Rarity with her eyes closed crying against her. “No, I should be sorry darling; I am a terrible friend to everypony I don’t deserve to have any friends much less ones like you and the other girls.”

“Dear Diary, I am not sure why Rarity was saying those things at first, but she told me she was feeling guilty for trying to use Velox, Lego, and Novo for their fashion reputation. Then when I was wearing the dress earlier it seems she had a flash back mixed with a bit of a delusion…I told her that I really couldn’t help her with that and that it may be best to talk to somepony. She told me she might just use that book that Twilight got her and that is when I remembered you.” Taking a moment she sighed and continued writing. “But Rarity should feel guilty for that, I mean I seen that something was wrong with Star when somepony mentioned his name but I didn’t have the courage to speak up about it…I am the terrible pony.”

Pinkie Pie sighed as she threw away another set of burnt cupcakes. Her sense of timing seemed to be off and she was second guessing herself for mixtures as well getting more than a few complaints from customers at Sugarcube Corner. More than once recently she had even told off a customer only to apologize after when she realized what she had done. Pinkie knew the source of her frustration and problems, and it stemmed from the fact she couldn’t help any pony even if she wanted to.

She realized her problem just the other day, which was a couple of days after they got back from when Velox had his curses removed…well most of them.

Ponies were still adjusting to life after the attack and Pinkie, being who she was aka the primer pink party pony of Ponyville, was doing her best to throw shindigs that were lifting everypony’s spirits. For the most part it was working too, the only problem being, it was working for everypony, but herself and her friends.

She had been sulking silently and writing occasionally in that diary book that Twilight had sent her but honestly it wasn’t helping at least she didn’t think it was. She was out and about trying to occupy her time and help a pony cheer up when the twitching started. She started to look around as she deciphered the code her body was giving her.

On a ladder nearby was Lyra, the musician pony whose coat was a nice minty color, a harp, well a lyre actually, cutie mark on her flank, and her mane was cyan color with white streaks in it, with a nice wrap up of nice golden eyes that Pinkie knew Lyra’s marefriend, Bonbon, loved. Pinkie started to move fast now as she recognized the signals, pulling out a trampoline from a nearby bush that she had stashed just for emergencies.

The rung under the mare’s hoof gave way and she toppled backwards right onto the trampoline and then onto the ground after, somewhat bruised but a lot better then what could have been.

“Oomph. Ouch my flank.” Lyra looked over with a smile to Pinkie which the pink pony gave back ten-fold. “Thanks Pinkie, that could have been bad for me.”

“Don’t thank me you silly-filly, it was my Pinkie sense that helped you.” Pinkie said bouncing in place.

Giving a giggle the mint mare just smiled and stood back up. “Thank you Pinkie sense, I might have gotten really hurt if not for you. Hopefully you keep helping out ponies like me so we don’t get hurt anymore. Now I have to take this ladder to get repaired by Hard Ware see you around Pinkie.”

Lyra hadn’t seen it but Pinkie had stopped bouncing and was wide eyed as a thought occurred to her. ‘But if my Pinkie sense tells me about bad things happening…why had it not helped me to keep Star safe?’

It had been that question that had been plaguing the bubblegum colored pony since then. It would sneak up when she was mixing, baking, even planning and/or conducting parties. There was no time or place when it didn’t intrude on her thoughts. As a result if anypony looked they would see that some of the bounce was lost from both her step and mane. No matter what, no matter when everytime she thought of that same question that she had asked herself that day she kept coming back to one result.

‘What good is my Pinkie sense if it doesn’t help my friends when they need it the most?’ As usual there was no answer given.

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone, I hope your holidays were good ones. If yes then awesome, if no....ummm cookie?

Why a cookie how is that helping?

SHUT UP BRAIN NO ONE ASKED YOU! Anyways, I just wanted to let you all know, that while this is the first chapter of the new arc do not expect me to keep to my weekly uploads like before mostly because....well...my muse isn't working right now

Basically his inspiration isn't working so his creativity isnt sparking.

What did I just say brain?

That no one asked m-

That no one asked you that is right. Anyways I will try to update as frequently as I can but...ya, I have to go find a bug net now to catch my muse. Not letting her get away again.

Why a bug net?

So she won't buzz off again.

Bu-dum-tis

Chapter Twenty One: The Diaries Part Two.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty One: The Diaries Part Two.

It had been a month and a half nearly since Velox had been hospitalized, and despite what some of her subjects would say, Celestia always had time for personal things such as friends and the concerns of specific ponies, even if that time wasn’t very often. Stepping to a march she had long since perfected as her regal march she felt the bows of most ponies before catching them out of the corners of her eyes. Finding the doctor she was looking for she smiled to him and found as before he told her everything she wanted to know based on the last few visits she had made.

“Hello Princess Celestia, I take it you are here to check on the patient?” she simple smiled to the doctor as he started to speak some more. “He is recovering rather quickly, we are surprised. Even with the healing spells we give him his body is still recovering at a remarkable pace…even with his diminished constitution.”

She blinked at that, she had often read the reports these last few weeks about his numerous injuries, even ones he sustained from places beyond their boarders and they all seemed to say the same things. “How quickly would you say he is recovering?”

Doctor Suture looked down at the charts and seemed to be making a few calculations. “About I would say three to four times the normal rate of a normal pony. Then again from a lot of the reports I have looked over about his physiology his shape changing properties as well as his fine manipulation of mana it almost makes sense.” Celestia knew the theory as well but had her doubts even as the doc explained it to her. “Its cause his body is being saturated at a higher rate than normal ponies even ones that do more than him or have stronger wells.”

‘That is where the problem lies; his well is barely producing any healthy mana from his pool now thanks to the curse that has embedded itself inside of his well.’ Celestia let the doctor go on about how it was a testament to pony fortitude before she smiled and dismissed him. Walking into the room she felt herself choke up at the sight of the pony before her. While his stomach wound no longer bled on a daily basis it still had to be changed regularly from the fluids that often seeped out staining the bandages yellow.

Luckily all the other surgeries he had to go through were a lot minor then the one that had repaired his belly, the one on his eye being the most extensive having to clean it out, make sure certain nerve endings weren’t exposed and cutting back on bits of ‘dangling’ flesh. She had nearly slapped the pony who said that off hoofed remark though from the looks she gave and his quick departure she figured that she got the message through to the mare.

The other surgery on his wing stubs was the ones with least problems; it was just rounding off various parts that were roughly removed from his body from the explosion. Even now looking at his back she didn’t see the need for bandages. Mostly cause she was not seeing the stubs at all.

“Huh?” Moving closer to the pony she still seen no stubs at all and instead started to notice small differences. “Taller seemingly more built then the other no horn, is this Lego?” Running a quick scan over the pony she found it was an earth pony before her, even if the gray of the sickly coat said this pony wasn’t getting enough mana in his system it was definitely him, after all his cutie mark said it- “Wait where is his cutie mark?” For a moment she thought she may have entered the wrong room but looking over the injuries she noticed that they matched up scar for scar and stitch for stitch…there was even two long visible scars along the ponies back where wings would have grown out.

A cold feeling washed over her as she lit up her horn and her eyes grew wide at what she was looking at and sent a magical signal to her sister hoping it would wake her up. A tale tell pop of teleportation and the familiar presence of her sister soon filled the room.

“What is it my sister I was having a peaceful dream.” Luna said with a yawn and holding up a hoof to her muzzle. Celestia said nothing as she kept her horn glowing and just pointed to what she was looking at. “What is it Celly I do not see the prob-.” She knew her sister seen it now as she felt her magic rising and pushed herself into the mind of the comatose stallion. A few minutes later Luna returned with a worried look. “I can’t find Velox.”

Princess Pupa, or rather Queen Pupa as she was sitting on the Queen’s throne, smiled as another subject had come to visit her this day bringing her gifts that it had found during its mining. While normally she wouldn’t care about such things she made it a point to show she would let all of her subjects be able to visit sometimes on a whim. She loved when they prostrated themselves for her though she supposed to herself that this has been enough for today.

“Leave us, we are tired and will be off to our own amusements this day.” She would smile as the drone was taken away as she got up and headed to her chambers. It wasn’t particularly late but she wanted to admire herself some more before having to speak with her scientists.

Getting into her room, the former queen had decorated it to her taste…that was changed five minutes after her ascension. The room was now decorated in a violet and purple coloration to complement her mane and wings, after all she was a queen class Changeling and had been born with her mane this color, a color which started out as a deep purple and became a gradient into that bright violet at the tips of her mane and tail. She had always known other nymphs in the hive were jealous of her looks being so drastically different than the normal and she smiled looking into her reflections Pink eyes.

Sighing she puckered her muzzle and winked at her reflection. “Only a Queen can look as perfect as you my reflection. I was destined for greatness such as this.”

Her eyes however caught something in the dim light of her room that had been set on her desk. She knew it was the reports from the scientists, though she secretly hoped it was a love letter from her favorite scientist. She started to read it though she got somewhat through it before she sighed and started to skim the report. “Adapt why is it you only tell me your feelings when we are together. I do not care if the study of the horn is progressing, I just wish for you to tell me your feelings.” Sighing once more she decided to alleviate her crushed hopes of a love letter by calling in her maid.

Said maid was scared and bruised missing parts of her wings other than the normal and the holes in her legs were more rough than normal. “Y-your majesty?”

Pupa could feel the terror coming off the female drone and she loved it, while she couldn’t feed off it like love she did enjoy it in other ways. “Its time to play my maid, so what shall we do today? Shall we work on your tail, maybe clip it a few inches, I have to say though I am dreadful with scissors so I may nick something here or there.”

The terror of the maid increased as Pupa started to pull out her ‘toys’ followed by a few whimpers of helplessness that excited Pupa in a way that she only felt for a certain Changeling scientist.

Adapt licked his lip as he looked at the results of the test that was just completed. “It had taken quiet a lot of time but the results are fascinating wouldn’t you say?” The question went unanswered. “Yes yes, of course. Sombra the fool, delved too deep into the darkness and it corrupted him, but the effects it scarred him with are beyond incredible. It absorbs mana from the very air empowering its former owner to levels beyond what a normal unicorn would be able to wield, I would say even to a lesser extent an Alicorn if presented with a mana rich environment, what is more it turns that same mana it absorbed into a corrupted form able to change it to its own for better manipulation, astounding wouldn’t you say?”

The lab coat of the scientist shuffled as he moved from the read out to the horn and stared at it. For a moment he just looked and looked before smiling. His unruly black mane would sweep in front of his glasses as he went over to a nearby black board and started to draw on it.

“Oh that is a brilliant idea, what if we cannot only increase its efficiency but somehow channel it into a non pony source, maybe a changeling…no no wait that would corrupt them, we would need, need something, something like, OH yes a machine a machine would do it wonderfully, I must start designing it now. Thank you for the idea, I will be sure to credit you in my memoirs.” Licking his lips once more, Adapt started to erase some of what he drew and started to redraw the calculations on it. Still no one was there.

Egnach was upset, the princess had thought he was some kind of mining drone and had just turned him away after he presented his work to her. It was a combination of metals that he had found if melted together just right were even stronger then steel, he tried to show the results to Adapt but the crazy old jackass was still just as insane as ever once he started getting involved in a project, he would even kick all others out and start talking to himself. What was more during some of the initial tests the Professor even choose others to help with the experiment. Egnach may not have been the toughest drone in the hive but he was one of the smartest, even the other scientist had told him so. So when he found out others were helping the professor on a project that should have been shared with him, he hated it.

‘Sure the ones chosen to help him came back charred messes but that doesn’t excuse the secrecy that he keeps-’ a few of the gofers were running around carrying copies of the professor’s latest ideas here and there. Using his magic he took hold of one of the drones and took the copy he had from him. “Go get another copy, this one is mine.” The drone quickly left as Egnach looked over the notes of the latest batpony-shit crazy design the old coot had concocted this time. ‘Let’s see, conversion ratios, storage buffers, that crazy bastard. But then again if it works in small scale testing it would mean a lot of things for the hive…better keep a better eye on him just in case though.’

The air was getting colder and colder and the days shorter and shorter in Equestria and thus it meant the time for tricks was getting less and less for Rainbow Dash. She was currently sweating off her daily routine of her stunts, both refining a couple but not quiet reinventing them, and getting the stunts more accurate and quicker. She was now onto her next bit of her training, it had helped her calm down in the last month to really devote herself to learning and refining what ‘he’ taught her.

Focusing on her wings and the flow of her channels she could feel the current gathering. She had been practicing more and more to perfect this and she was proud to say she thought she had it down pat; just at this point it was speed of gathering that was slow for her. The water soon flowed all over her body, however as it was getting cooler and cooler it was becoming harder and harder to manipulate the water in the air as it was starting to become frost at times. What was more she could feel herself rapidly losing temperature when doing this.

‘I feel like there should be something I can do that makes it so I don’t frost over or catch hippothermia…hippo…no it was called hypno…wait no that is when you are being hypnotized. Hyperthermia, no that was when things are excited, ya if on…ly.’ For once in her life the result of her lack of education gave Rainbow Dash a brilliant idea. One she would pay for when she started to rapidly vibrating the water only for it to heat up to give her a few small burns. However she knew she was onto something even as Twilight was berating her for her carelessness.

Twilight watched Dash leave her library and while she was happy her friend wasn’t hurt, she found that feeling rise up inside her again and it spurred thoughts she felt she shouldn’t think. ‘Why am I jealous that Dash has something that he gave her even if it was technique while I have nothing?’ She had only come home to Ponyville cause of Spike and the others, that and Celestia ordered her to go home.

More and more she found herself worried about the three ponies that shared one body the part that made her guilty though was she found herself more and more just wishing one particular one was saved more than the others. Nearly every time as well she would come to hit her head against a solid surface to berate herself for thinking such a thing. That didn’t stop her from thinking about the times Lego came into the library to get a new book for himself or his brothers as well as catch him and discuss what he learned in them.

She found she liked his way of thinking, looking at the entire thing before even trying to look for a result or a conclusion, a kind of tempered version of what she herself did, except for the part about not thinking about conclusions before having all the information. She chuckled to herself when one of their conversations helped her solve a problem she was having learning a new spell.

‘He may not be the most knowledgeable about magic, but what he does know he knows thoroughly. I wish just once I could get him in my lab so we can really get into it.’ All at once her mind pictured something not what she intended and made herself flush bright red. ‘That is not what I meant not at all, even if I-NO, no buts.’

“What are you all red about Twi?” It was her number one assistant. “I mean the only time I seen any pony get that red was with Rainbow Dash and Novo, or Applejack and Velox that and then they started giggling weirdly….Hey Twilight you think he will get to come home soon? I mean he was really nice and I would like to get to know him better, I mean he was always nice to me, sometimes he would sneak me some gems he made. They were pretty good too even if they do have a weird taste.”

Twilight only really heard half of the question though as she went even more red then before. ‘No I am not like Rainbow or Applejack right? Sure I find Lego physically attractive as well as mentally stimulating. We get along nicely have similar interest in learning things. I could talk to him for hours on end about nothing really; hear him talk about what he knows for hours on end as well. Just stare at him and find myself calmer then before and…and I would miss him more than any of my friends if he was gone.’ Breathing deeply she knew she had her answer then, the one she said she would solve later, the one she said wasn’t really what it could be.

Without even meaning to she answered Spikes question. “I just have to hope he gets better so he can come home doesn’t matter when as Ponyville will always be his home.”

Applejack was having a great day, great week, great two weeks. The reason, a lot of big fancy smancy traders from all over were sending her positive reviews about her apples. From what Big Mac had told her about the letters he got about a month ago was that a few traders had been interested in shipping their apples everywhere around Equestria they just wanted a small sample batch.

Well two weeks ago the orders started coming back, first one or two, then a half dozen. Now investments were coming all in, Applejack and her family now had the money to improve the farm, hire more workers so they wouldn’t have to break their backs and work from dawn to dusk nearly every day, even add in more acres to the farm to produce more for all the shipments. Her dream of having Sweet Apple Acres apples everywhere in Equestria was coming true.

She had even sent out thank you letters to each of those that signed on to help trade and just got through reading the first one. The second one was even better saying how he would never be able to eat another apple from the local places again after tasting S.A.A. apples. She was now reading the third one in very high spirits.

‘Dear Miss Applejack of the Apple clan and lead caretaker and owner of Sweet Apple Acres. I have to say I am very impressed with your product and what is more impressed with your attitude. You didn’t have to send a letter to me expressing your heart filled thanks at all but it shows that I was lead to the right mare to do trade with. Heck honestly when I got a letter from an old associate of mine I thought he was fibbing with how delicious your apples were.’ That was the first she heard of somepony recommending them but she was happy all the same and kept reading. ‘My father always told me the best things often come from unlikely sources, and just like the stallion’s work ethic and knack for getting things done, I find he comes through for me when I need him again without even him knowing, even if he also told many other traders about your orchard I can’t really blame him. So if you ever see my associate tell him he has my thanks once more for pulling my flank out of the fire. I suppose I should mention his name too so you know him, he is a blue Pegasus by the name of Velox Starshifter. Give him my best if you meet him and I look forward to working with you Miss Apple.’

The letter was shaking in her hoof grip till it fell with wet drops rapidly forming on it. “It was him that did this for us. Then again he was always sayin’ somethin’ like he would rather help us out more than help himself out.” She started to chuckle loudly at that more and more till they slowly turned into sobs and her head hit the table. ‘Why, why did ah treat him like that, there has never been a more true stallion then him. Please just get better, ah don’t think ah can lose another that means so much to me.’

Pinkie Pie was in a better mood than normal. She was walking Gummy her pet alligator, though by walk she really meant he was poking from her mane and looking off in two separate directions while absentmindedly chewing on the fluffy cotton candy looking curls. Gummy always had a way of making her better, especially after the last few times she had talked to him.

“You are such a wise alligator you know that Gummy?” Pinkie told him as she bounced through town, everypony ignoring the sight as they were so used to it. “I shouldn’t worry about things that I can’t control, my job is to just make sure to do my best every time. If that means my Pinkie sense helps, then yay, if not it means I will try to do my best so it doesn’t end up very badly. That is just a new Pinkie Promise I make to myself.” Making the motions with her hooves she smiled. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cup cake in my eye.” To most it was just Pinkie being Pinkie. To Pinkie though it was the start of a whole new chapter of helping her friends to make sure that she starts to recognize her Pinkie sense quicker, sharper, to make sure that when it does come on, she lets everypony know what it means right away. ‘I promise, there will not be another incident like the one with Star if I can help it.’

With the feeling of something wet on her head she looked up at Gummy. “If you were hungry Gummy you should have said so instead of drooling…at least I hope that is drool.” Reaching up to feel what it was she was happy to see her hoof come back with saliva.

Fluttershy was humming a wordless tune as she hovered from place to place dusting. Surprisingly all her animal friends were here helping, surprising why? Because this wasn’t her home is why. Since the incident with Rarity she silently said she would help out more to be more assertive, so she as loudly as she could, she asks the cakes in the loudest whisper she could if she could take care of Star’s home till he came back.

Thankfully before she could run off they agreed and let her have the keys knowing she would take good care of things. The first day had been horrible, all her animal friends had seen her come home covered from mane to tail in a layer of dust and coughing. From that day on all her animals even Angel-bunny came with, though the latter always seem to complain and slack off.

With all her friends cleaning the house never really took that long, though she looked around and would often realize it was because he didn’t own much. “Do you suppose we should help decorate things for him?” she asked some of her companions only for them to give various growls, tweets, grunts, and other sounds but to her translated to a positive noise. “Hmm how should we do things…oh I know, maybe I can invite everypony over for tea and we can talk about it. Make it a surprise for when Star comes home.”

She packed up all her cleaning supplies and made sure no feather or fur was left behind as she hummed all the way back to her cottage.

Business had been slow this past month then again after her ‘small’ breakdown she knew that it was little wonder why. Since then she had taken up Fluttershy’s advice and was seeing a professional about things. While over all she didn’t agree with the mare, Doctor Frontal Lobe had already helped out her.

Seems not only was Rarity suffering from a small form of P.T.S.D. from seeing Velox being injured to rescue them while she was unable to do anything, but she was also repressing a lot of her guilt about not only trying to force Star to do things like model for her, but also of her friends. The doctor had said she consciously wasn’t aware of it but deep down she knew, it was what caused her generosity to be so high towards complete strangers at times, and while that was a good thing, she could go overboard with it.

“Self control, awareness, and moderation. Those are the three things I must work on. I must not lose who I am but I must not let my guilt rule who I am, I will do what I want and give what I want.” Rarity said to herself as she heard a voice from nearby.

“Zat is right dearie, zat is how all arteests live zere lives.” She had heard that voice before and as she turned Rarity was mentally squealing as she seen the pomp and posh Photo Finish in her doorway. “I have come to see ze illustrious Rarity for her glamour works of art.”

Giving a bow to the fellow artist she smiled and was giddy inside, though outside she was calm. “Of course, I would gladly show you anything I have.”

The next few hours came and went with Photo Finish taking in each piece that the mare showed her giving critic where needed and praises where it was true. However the overall theme that Photo gave off was that she wasn’t terribly impressed with all her works of art.

“Are you sure zere is nothing else to show? After all while all zis is nice and would get you featured, it vouldnt send you to ze stars and back in ze fashion world.” Looking at the pieces she had shown off Rarity knew she was right, these all were half finished works to make up for her lost line that she destroyed recently.

Smiling and nodding. “I have some things from last season I can show off but this season isn’t quite ready as I had a bit of a setback recently. Let me go find you something that will show off my skill better then these pieces.”

As the proper mare opened up the curtain to the back though she heard Photo Finish call out to her. “Vait, vhat is zat?”

Looking around she only saw one piece on a ponykin that wasn’t stored…it was the dress that Fluttershy had ran out with that day she broke down, a piece she hadn’t destroyed and now kept as a reminder of her promises to herself and her new dedication. “Sorry Miss Finish, but that piece is not for display or replication. It is a failure to myself and to others as I stole the design from something I saw.”

While not a lie, she couldn’t help but see the guilt hallucination Velox every time she gazed at the piece. “So vhat?”

“Excuse me?” Rarity asked in astonishment.

“I said so vhat?” Photo Finish said pulling down her glasses. “Ze little ponies are meant to help those truly great such as us to grow greater and greater for ze masses to admire and adore. If you stole the piece, so vhat, as long as you are not caught it doesn’t matter. I mean look at the pony who recommended me to you.” Photo went on as she looked around. “I had a studio similar to zis cause I was forced to downgrade after a failed run. So vhen a stallion shows up I learned he had a special trick, so I featured him in a lot of magazines and paid him subpar as he needed ze bits. I even got a bunch of ze candids for Playmare, zat bought me a nice carriage.”

Rarity looked at the mare with open shock on her face; she was describing somepony she was sure she knew. “Was his name Starshifter?”

With a pfft sound and a wave of a hoof the pompous mare shook off the name. “Who cares, he vas just a nice little piece of meat for me to use to step up. Though I must say I do keep some of his photos that I never published for…private uses hehe.”

Looking at the mare in front of her Rarity knew what she was looking at. It wasn’t a disgusting mare, nor was it a fashion idol…it was herself in a few years if she kept up like she was to her friends and everypony.

“So get out zat little outfit and strut its stuff, from what I can see its sure to be a vinner. So that pony that you stole it from should be inspired by zis.” Rarity watched as Photo looked at the piece with what she now recognized as greed. In front of her was a mare who had no generosity at all in her and not somepony she would ever trust with any of her work.

“I am sorry Miss Photo Finish, but as I said that piece isn’t for show, though I will have you know I do have it copyrighted so if I find any pieces similar to it even by a stitch you can bet your bottom bit I will come calling. Now as for any other work, I do not mind showing you, but I find that your lack of ethics a problem for me so I am afraid we will not be able to work out anything in the form of a business partnership. So I wish you adieu and I hope your new line is made by your hooves and not stolen from another’s.” Rarity had a moment of pleasure as she seen the look of incredibly on Finish’s face as she was just turned away that as the door closed on her she never uttered a peep.

Rarity never felt as great as she had that day than any other that she could remember in recent times.

Flipping to the next page in her studies, the showmare couldn’t believe what was happening. She should be in a dungeon or Tartarus not in the royal library studying magical techniques to increase ones power as the new student of Princess Luna. Trixie couldn’t even believe it when she was let out after many interviews and reports she had to give to guards and the Princesses themselves.

Was she grateful to not be locked up, yes and no. Trixie would be the first to admit that she often dreamed of something liked this happening, going to the castle in Canterlot and recognized for her gifts. Did she want it cause of the blood of another on her hooves, absolutely not. She dislikes Twilight Sparkle and hated having no home anymore cause of the Ursa Minor destroying it. Did she want to harm Sparkle over that not at all.

She wanted to humiliate her like she herself felt, which is why she sought out the Alicorn Amulet in the first place. She was overconfident, she didn’t think a curse could affect her at all and without her even realizing it at all, humiliation lead to enslavement of another one she disliked, hated even. Starshifter was a pony she hated even if part of her knew her sister’s death wasn’t his fault, even less so when she learned the truth of her brother’s actions while in Canterlot.

While the Law stated that any who was under a curse was not responsible for their actions, it didn’t alleviate Trixie’s guilt at all. Even the excitement of a Princess recognizing her knowledge of magic as one of the greatest wasn’t high on her list from the guilt she felt from the reason her brilliance came to light. It was one of the reasons why now in her spare time Trixie was studying the books of healing, a subclass of magic she never got into before.

“Trixie Promises, no I promise, I will make it up to those whose blood is on my hooves, I will not become that…monster again. I will learn more and more to save others from monsters like that. Like what I once was, both before I put the amulet on, and after.” Trixie never saw Luna watching her from the shadows with a smile on her face, nor would she ever know it was for that determination as well as her knowledge that she was chosen as the newest Student of a Princess.

Trixie did however think she heard a voice tell her something. “You have so many more lessons to learn Trixie, but we are sure you will learn them.”

Luna smiled as she went back to her room and raised the moon while somewhere in the castle her sister was lowering the sun. Soon it would be time for night court and she needed to get ready. The proclamation of her newest student was tonight, even if the ponies at her night court were only the more dedicated to her and some of the least influential ponies in Canterlot.

Basically commoners, but that is exactly how Luna liked it. She was also learning of problems that Celestia would never learn of as she was being beset by her more…pompous subjects during her court. It would be these same subjects whom would represent the majority and be the most understanding of her choice of students.

“What better mare to understand the power of redemption them myself. It can be a powerful force for good if a willing soul wants to repent, thus I would be sourly lacking in my abilities if I didn’t recognize such a soul within reach.” While that part was true it wasn’t the sole reason Luna had made such a choice to take Trixie as her student. “Her knowledge in the arcane is vast, rivaling my sisters student and my friend Twilight Sparkle’s who was formally trained versus this mare who wasn’t. The promise and talent she shows can easily grow more and more if given the chance, for the Alicorn Amulet only supplies the boost in power, but not the knowledge of the spells. All that had come from Trixie herself.”

Yes, Luna knew this was the right choice, she knew, deep in her heart, that this would change something in the future, something important.

Celestia had retired to her room and was once more looking over the book an archeologist had recovered from an ancient ruin. It was a most valuable book from the little known Alicorn Era that only a few beings in Equestria even had knowledge of. In fact Celestia herself could name off all the beings she knew of that could even say they knew that it exists much less was around to see it.

Sadly she was only one of them that knew it existed as she was born nearly at the end of that era along with her sister a short time later. The only beings she could say with positive assurance that were alive during that time were Discord, Tirek, and Grogar. The first was incased in stone, the second was locked away in Tartarus, and the third had been banished long ago to the dark realms by the ancient Alicorns of Harmony.

“Or at least I think that is what this book is saying. I just wish I knew more of Ancient Equestrian to really say or not.” Closing the ancient text with a sigh she knew more knowledge of her race lay within but lost to her as she couldn’t understand even a tenth of what was being said. “Why did it have to be in a dead language. I am the foremost authority on Ancient Equestrian and even I can’t make heads or tails of this.”

Setting aside the painful and fruitless deciphering of the book she took up quill and parchment to draft a letter to send to her faithful student in the morning with some good news and some bad news. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student.”

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student.” Twilight read proudly at the mail that came that morning. “I trust you and all your friends are doing well, I know recent times have been hard on all of your spirits but I do write to bring you news both of the good and bad kind. It has been nearly two months now since Bright Star has been hospitalized and the doctors can safely say he will survive and recover somewhat. While it may not be to the form he once was it is still good news I believe. As such as of the day of this arrives, the Canterlot Hospital is preparing to move him to Ponyville to continue his treatment so that he may recover there.”

Internally Chibi-Twilight was doing flips of joy and excitement to pass this good news on to everypony. However as Spike pointed out, as she stopped reading it out loud to both him and herself, there was more to read.

Giving a sheepish smile Twilight continued. “However the bad news is this, as you know if there is significant damage to a pony its possible for them to lose their special talents and to a more serious degree, their mark. Because of the damage done to his body, mind, and spirit, as well as his mana channels, he has lost his cutie mark. What that means, I do not know as I do not know for sure what his mark meant in the first place, but you and your friends should be aware of that. There is also the problem of his missing personality, when we scanned him we were unable to find the personality called Velox within his mind. That doesn’t mean he has vanished, it just means that he is missing as I can personally attest that most of his shadow of fate still remains. It should also be noted he is in his earth pony form as he somehow changed while unconscious and while in the hospital. The injuries remain so we are unsure how that came to be or why.”

Twilight wasn’t sure what that last bit meant but the rest of the letter described to her the list of things she would need to know in case she needed to help with his treatments or rehabilitation when he and if he woke up. “Well Spike it seems we have good news to deliver to everypony. We get to see Star everyday now and won’t have to make trips to Canterlot to see him.”

The baby dragon gave a fist pump with a yes as he heard that and started to go grab things to get ready, no doubt making a get well soon card if Twilight judged the glue and other craft supplies correctly.

Egnach couldn’t believe he had gotten pulled for this mission. A Canterlot mission so soon after the failure was unthinkable for most changelings…not Adapt. ‘Oh no not Professor Adapt, he absolutely needs something from Canterlot and just can’t get a proper sample himself. I know I wanted to be more involved in his project but this is beyond risky.’ Egnach was currently disguised as a pompous unicorn in a city full of them. ‘After all if you want to hide a tree, you go to the forest.’

Over and over again the changeling would try to figure out why he was sent here, but all he was given was the name of the sample he needed to acquire. Ducking into a nearby closet he changed once more with green fire coating him, coming out as an earth pony. He could have changed his gender but he never did that unless he had to.

Heading to the nearby station he waited till the ponies at the station were called away. Quickly ducking behind it he changed to look like one of them, this time he had to change to a mare to copy the looks of one of them. Looking to the nearby cabinet he started to rifle through them looking for the file that told him where to go.

“Hey there sweetie working hard as usually I see.” Egnach nearly jumped out of his disguise when the voice was right at his ear as well as an overly familiar hoof touching his flank. “You know, I know you get off on a break soon, so I was wondering if you would like to duck into the supply closet for some fun sweetie, after all we haven’t really had time at home cause of our work schedules.”

Egnach was not a strong drone by any stretch of the imagination, but the love the stallion was giving off for the mare he that he was disguised as currently gave him a great boost as he took all that the stallion gave. But then again it may have been a bad thing as he took too much causing the pony to faint away. Looking around quickly the drone opened a cupboard and stuffed the unconscious pony in as best he could before shivering at the feeling he got before.

‘That is why I hate changing genders, or any form not my own, you are susceptible to that forms instincts, emotions, and more. Just need to get this done then I can get home.’ Going back to his search he found that he was just one folder off when he got distracted.

Heading to the door he opened it to find a doctor there taking a sample of blood from a badly bandaged and unconscious gray earth pony stallion and smiling. “Ahh nurse just in time. Take this blood sample down to the lab so we can put it on record.”

The mare that Egnach was disguised as had a sweet smile it seemed as the doctor never suspected anything as she took sample with her hoof and put it away in her bags, or rather his bags. Heading quickly out of the room he would find a closet to change into disguise with and smile.

“Well, that was rather easy. Who said all Canterlot unicorns were snobs. That one certainly made my job a cinch. The blood of one Bright Star, formerly known as Starshifter acquired.” Egnach said as he made sure that the sample was properly in place in the special part of his bag that would preserve it. “And thanks to that loving stallion I have more than enough juice to last me a good while too though I won’t report that so I don’t have to give to the love reserves. Promotion here I come.”

Author's Notes:

Ahh part two of the start of the second arc. Feels good to get this out only problem is this is all I have written so far as I still haven't caught my muse. I think my net is too small.

Or it has as many holes in it as your brain does *flies off*

I WOULD MURDER YOU IF I DIDN'T NEED YOU, YOU STUPID MUSE!

Chapter Twenty Two: New Limitations.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Two: New Limitations.

Beep, beep.

‘Velox release the magic, release it!’ He heard Novo calling out to his other self from inside their mind to the one currently with wings and engulfed in the high voltage energy that was crackling and growing.

Beep, beep, beep.

‘Sorry, but I already tried, there is just too much magic for me to get a hold of normally. At least as I am now, so something has to give…I am going to miss cloud beds though.’ Terror was filling him up as he realized what was going on and that realization only scared him further, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

He felt the energy being redirected inside their body, the flows of which if not done right would ruin their entire being killing them. ‘Lego…you’re in charge now. I need you both to survive and…take care of AJ for me.’

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

It was building too quickly, he watched and felt the energy stop flowing, caught in many of their channels, some of them being very important. If he let it go now it would mean not only would the Pegasus never fly again, but basically be a earth pony for the damage it would do to not only his channels but all of their channels.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.

“NO DON’T DO IT!” Lego screamed both in his mind and out loud as his body only was able to move slightly forward. His chest was hurting badly, no not his chest, his whole body as if he hadn’t moved properly in a long long time.

Before he could even take stock of his surroundings or even think to look for that matter, the heart rate must have been in dangerous levels as teams of nurses and doctors came rushing in a cart of needles and defibrillation paddles. So distraught by memories that Lego tried to back away from the ponies who were saying things, though he himself couldn’t understand them in his state of panic. The subconscious of his mind noted that they were sticking a needle into what looked like an I.V. tube. The same subconscious also started to take over more and more as the conscious mind and body started to be subdued by the effects of whatever drug was now being filtered into the body.

It would be a few hours before Lego groggily woke up and thankfully this time since his mind was rather on the slow side from being drugged he could take in his surroundings and finally take stock. “Oh…hospital, makes sense.” He took note of the heart monitor that was connected to his barrel via wires and pads. I.V. tubes were hooked into his left foreleg. The uncomfortable feeling down below he recognized as a urethra tube meaning he was here for a while.

‘Hey Lego, seems like we are finally awake. How long do you think it has been?’ The distinctive voice in his head would have made any other pony think he was crazy but for him it was normal.

‘Novo, I have no clue, how are you and Velox taking things though?’ Lego thought back into his mind at the voice.

Novo responded pretty easily and laid back. ‘I am taking it pretty well I suppose but we must have been heavily under as I just woke up as well. Been searching for Velox but no sign of him as of yet though he is still likely sleeping if I had to take a guess.’ The unicorn persona just gave a mental shrug and chuckle. ‘Mostly I am just glad to be alive. I am sure you felt how the mana was moving in us before...well I am guessing the thing, an overload by the looks of things, which sent us here. On second thought I am going to wake Velox up, he might be depressed on how that turned out as last I felt we lost his wings…speaking of how are you out right now?’

Lego had no clue as to how he had switched out either only that he was out. He barely got to mentally express that as he was trying to get up only to find he could barely pick himself up.

“Ahh I see you are up now.” Lego would have jumped as the pony had snuck up on them while he was thinking about his current strength but he found he didn’t have the energy to do so, it taking nearly all he had to rise up at all at this point. “With your panic attack the drugs we gave you should have kept you out for a bit longer normally. Oh well I am Doctor Suture, the surgeon who worked on you and even transferred over to Ponyville to keep watch of you…that and to write a case study on you if you sign off later or I will just erase your name from everything so it’s all anonymous if you would like.”

Normally this would be one of the things he would be strictly against however the princess’ and even his friends knew his secret so the answer came easier then he would have expected. “I do not mind.”

“Great this will make for an excellent case study of what ponies go through during their recoveries in extreme cases of mana burning.” The doc told him almost excitedly but only caused Lego to have his eyes go wide.

“E-excuse me doctor but did you say mana burn? As in the thing that can cause many problems in ponies ranging from: shortened lifespan, loss of marks, special talents and more?” It was one of the warnings they had gotten when they were one pony when Velox first went to the second level of the current and released it warning that such a thing could happen. Naturally Lego was delegated to studying it to see how bad it was and not just take the word of the doctor at the time to learn about it.

Suture adjusted his clip board but didn’t look at it. “Yes that is correct…I take it you are familiar with the condition then?” a nod was the answer to the doc as he sighed. “I suppose then I should tell you what damage was done and some of the life style changes you will have to observe.”

‘That isn’t all Lego.’ Novo called out from inside his head. ‘Velox is missing, his room was open and I can’t find any trace of him.’

The day wouldn’t get much better for Lego he discovered when the doc started talking about his conditions.

Lego was looking outside his window now. He had a rather nice view of Ponyville from his window and was currently watching all the leaves fall down as ponies ran with numbers on their bodies. The running of the leaves he had found out from Twilight during one of her visits that had become a regular thing with all his friends. It seemed the running of the leaves was an Earth Pony tradition in which they shook all the leaves from the trees to make way for winter.

‘The turning of fall to winter, kind of ironic considered how much the doctor’s speculate how much of our lifespan was cut off.’ Lego spoke to the other persona present in his head as Velox was still missing. ‘It may be a rough guess but if it’s true then…wow plus we don’t exactly know how old we are to begin with to even come close to calculating our remaining time.’

‘You realize you are being too down about this, I mean you aren’t the one trapped in our head.’ The Unicorn spoke back to the outer pony. ‘Sure it sucks to live life for only what we can only guess is maybe a few more years, have to wear a false eye, be physically weak for many things that would be normal for others. We can’t even change out to share the burden but we are still here and we should look forward to every day there is another day…least I think that is what Velox would say.’

Lego wasn’t sure if their brother was dead or alive if his room in their mind would vanish with him or stay as he may have been absorbed, but regardless it had been a month since they awoke and no sign of the upbeat hot head of the brothers.

‘True, he would say something like that wouldn’t he? Even mentally backhoof me across the head for saying it.’ Standing up he looked at the time, while he might have no longer had his strength of hoof or body he still had his strength of mind and his mental prowess including internal clock. “Well its nearly time for physical training, we better get ready for more dropped objects.”

Waking up once more to Twilight talking to him he gave a sheepish chuckle to her as she spoke. “Sorry about that, the blankets and sweater that Rarity made is too comfy plus you caught me right after therapy.”

The lavender unicorn gave off a small chuckle at having him apologize like that. “It is fine trust me, it is just one of my friends nodding off to one of my explanations of magic like normal happens more than you would think.”

“True, they are long winded and boring.” He remarked pretending to be serious only for a fraction of a second before they were both laughing only to be interrupted by something wet landing on his nose. “Huh.” natural instincts said for him to wipe at it but instead he looked at it for a moment. “Snowflake?” Looking around he realized he was outside. “What how?”

When he looked over to the scarf wearing unicorn he noticed for the first time her horn was glowing and that she was walking along side of the wheelchair she currently had been pushing. “You may have been a sleep for a bit longer then you think, so I thought some fresh air could do you some good…the doctor may or may not have agreed.”

Lego wasn’t sure how shocked he should be or for which reason: Twilight Sparkle disobeying a medical professional or her sneaking something away from somewhere else. “My my Miss Sparkle, I didn’t take you as the rebellious type. I can only imagine what the nurses and doctors looked like as you absconded with me yelling ‘No pony tells Twilight Sparkle what she can or can’t do’.”

‘Especially the laws of physics, evil law breaking unicorn.’ Remarked the transmutation specialist that lived in his head.

Despite not being able to hear the rant that was currently going on in his mind Twilight laughed at the imagery that was conjured by the other pony. “Oh please I am not that dramatic.”

Smiling as she had just played right into his hoof as he gave a cough to answer her. “Mare-do-well.” Ending the quick name with a cough though this time of the real variety, he stopped her from helping as he got himself under control. “I am fine.”

Novo shook his head at those words. ‘We really should tell them. They may know most of what our injuries but keeping the lifespan things from them is…wrong.’

Lego knew Novo was right but ignored him for now as the mare that tried to help was blushing, his goal the entire time since he had been told by Pinkie Pie. “So you heard about that huh?” Giving a nod he watched her speak of her time as the Mysterious Mare-do-well.

‘You are also going to have to tell her how you feel, don’t think I haven’t noticed it.’ The unicorn in his mind spoke once more. ‘Look I get it, you have hit it off with her since nearly day one, you both like to talk about similar things, and you practically turn sluggish even for you when we used to check out a book just so you could talk to her. Don’t think I haven’t also noticed how you look forward to each day she visits. It’s like a love sick puppy, and don’t you dare tell me it isn’t that easy, MAKE IT THAT EASY…least one of us can have a normal relationship.’

Lego sighed as he wasn’t wrong. Any day that Rainbow Dash had come to visit he always had to act as the middle pony to tell her any thoughts of Novo’s. He really didn’t want to recall any day so far since he had told them they couldn’t change and Velox’s vanishing act on how AJ’s face got when she came by to see them. Asking him for any word on if they had found their missing brother before leaving only an apple behind for each visit when he told her that they haven’t yet found him, not that he blamed her as Lego was starting to doubt their brother being alive as well.

Back to the subject at hoof Novo was right, if he was going to tell her he had to be honest. “Twilight there is something I need to tell you.”

Twilight only gave a ‘hmm’ as a response as her horn was opening the door to her library. “What is it?”

While he didn’t notice they had come up to the library he did notice all his friends inside swapping stories with a banner that read ‘Happy Hearth’s Warming’. “Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

He was very happy to have her hug, though it was diminished when the voice in his head was felt shaking its head.

It was his first day out of the hospital and while he was happy about that he was now really tired from the party Pinkie threw him in his house that now came with a lot of new decorations courtesy of Fluttershy. He didn’t mind all the new stuff as he and his brothers really didn’t have all that much to his name it’s was just they had never settled in one place long enough to get much of anything. Grabbing a cup from one of the shelves he remarked to himself that with the new retirement fund that he was getting from Celestia, while not as much as his old paycheck, was more than enough to live comfortably with.

The sound of ceramic breaking brought his mind back to what he was doing as he sighed. “Most of my money will be going to replacing everything I break, or buying cheap plastic cups that are light.”

While his muscles had recuperated enough to send him home his magic had not improved any and he could still barely hold anything. Finding that out Applejack had spent some time redecorating his home with the help of her sister to better fit with that in mind. Grabbing another cup this time more carefully he went over to the fridge, a newer model that had a frost enchantment placed on it to keep it cool and poured him a glass of lemonade which he barely got to the table in time without spilling.

Placing a straw in it to sip he enjoyed the taste sour and tangy taste of the lemonade. The happy face was all too quickly replaced with one of sadness as tears flowed down his muzzle.

“Damn it.” He spoke quietly to himself as he hit the table not even rattling it with his strength. “Damn it.” He muttered again looking at his hoof, the one that dropped the other cup earlier. “I can barely do anything myself anymore…maybe I should have took the doctor up on the offer for a nurse to drop by every day.”

Finishing his lemonade without giving an audible answer to that he grabbed a broom to start sweeping up the mess he had made. Nearly an hour later with sweat pouring off him he had cleaned up the mess he caused only cursing a few times as he had gotten used to his weakness during physical therapy. Looking to the calendar he noticed Winter Wrap up marked on it for tomorrow.

He had gone into the hospital in summer and it was now about to be spring. “Seven months that hospital has been my home, weird that it has been the longest I have stayed anywhere. Novo what do you think?”

Novo didn’t answer him. Lego had forgotten he was on another of his journeys through their head to find Velox and just for discovery. It had been something more and more often the unicorn had been doing since he couldn’t do anything else, Lego couldn’t blame him either for it.

“Ya I know, no words can really describe it.” Lego chuckled to himself. “Welp today has been a long day and I am going to call it a day.” As he got to the stairs Lego choked back a sob as he got into the special seat on the railing. It had been enchanted with a levitation spell to help get him up and down the stairs. Heading to his room he went first to the bathroom. “I will shower in the morning, I really don’t want to have to deal with that problem and its difficulties right now…but I do have to deal with this.”

Fumbling for a moment he reached up and pulled out the glass eye. It was a near perfect replica of his former eye before he put it in its special wash and would leave it there to soak for the night. The next few moments were spent with the special care of the socket that was left washing his hooves before of course, running some warm water, he knew from the nurses that normally boiling water would need to come first but the water of Ponyville was specially clean so there was no need for that. After dabbing a cotton ball in the water and cleaning his eyelid to make sure there was no sign of infection as well. Next he pulled out the cup that held his eye and washed it before putting it back.

While they did recommend sleeping with his eye in he didn’t feel right with doing so as he headed to bed wearing a protective eye patch. In the morning he knew he would have to clean it again to make sure nothing happened, but he just wasn’t ready to live with the fake with him twenty four seven.

“Good night Novo, you too Velox.” The pony said without much emotion in his voice as he went to sleep.

“-go” He heard a voice call for him. “-ego.” The voice seemed to get closer that time only for wave it off.

“Go away Pinkie, I am not a waffle.” He still had misgivings about that nickname from her but for some reason he couldn’t place how right it felt.

He felt somepony shaking him as his eyes came open “Lego, oh thank goodness you are alright.” His eyes, well eye, focused on Fluttershy as she looked to be nervous about something and was taking away a cotton ball covered in red from his head. “I will have to tell Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel to come apologize later for the rocks they threw at you. They forgot it was Winter Wrap Up today so I am sure once they realize it they will feel bad.”

Lego started to laugh as he recalled what happened. He had offered to help during Winter Wrap Up and they put him on animal team so all he had to do was go around and talk to animals waking them up and coaxing them out for spring. Simple right? Simple wrong.

His first group of animals had been some birds that had just flown back and he was trying to put their nest up high into the branches where they wanted it only to not be able to climb up to get there. In the end another team member did it. The second attempt came with a burrow coaxing a family of bunnies out, they were relatives of Angel-Bunny and took after him it seemed running him off like he had committed a crime. The third and last attempt came at him with the task of waking up a pair of squirrels. He couldn’t climb the tree so he had to yell. That didn’t go over well as they started to throw nuts at him, so when he threw a snow ball at them, one of which didn’t get close, they thought to up the ante as well by throwing small rocks to get him to run off.

They didn’t know how weak he was though as he remembered the first rock hitting him right between the eyes making him dizzy. The second rock he didn’t remember at all though he thought he heard a ‘thunk’ as his body met snow right as he passed out.

Fluttershy wasn’t joining in on his laughter instead watched him with worry and he knew why. He could feel the tears stinging in the cold of the air threatening to freeze before the timid Pegasus hugged him giving him comforting words.

A couple of weeks passed since the closing of spring and it was a new time for Lego a time when he was experiencing something new, yet it was also something old, celebrated for years and years and now it was back again.

Adjusting his suit as best he could he sighed to his friends. “Sorry about almost missing the train everypony.”

“T’ain’t nothing to say sorry ‘bout partner. Everypony needs help now and then.” Applejack said in her country drawl and for some reason it would always tug at something in Lego’s memory as if it was a feeling he had long forgot, really he only started noticing recently but he remembered it struck him as odd the first time he heard it as well. She was wearing a rather nice dress that was made to mimic the look of denim but not the feel being primarily green and brown with a apple motif. Being plenty mobile yet not restrictive to her limbs it fit her perfectly.

Rarity was nodding to that sentiment. “Exactly darling, if we saw it as troublesome we would have said something. Besides you have been down and out for too long and need to liven up a bit and where best to do that then the most glamorous event of the year.” The prim mare had an ensemble of pink and yellow jewels intermitted here and there among the design with the accessories of a shawl and a tiara to complement it.

“Exactly, we need to turn that frowny face to an upside down frowny face.” There was a moment when it seemed Pinkie Pie had twisted her head upside down but between a blink and the next it was gone making Lego wonder if he had imagined it. Her dress consisted of many swirling colors, blue and white for the torso part that went into a lollipop and candy corn motif before turning completely pink for the dress, playful yet functional.

Fluttershy nodded and opened her mouth to say something only to be cut off by her oldest friend, but biggest loudmouth of the group. “Yeah big guy, I mean Rarity did pretty good with your new colors.” For the most part it had been hard for Lego to look at the brash pony of multi-toned hues as she was wearing something similar to the date she and Velox had so long ago that Lego felt the pain that the Pegasus had in her eyes even if she never mentioned.

He looked down to himself once more, he was wearing a black and white tux with the standard white of the inner shirts replaced by a red that was his old coat coloration lined with a indigo trim and forest green trim as well. ‘All three of our colors here for all of us.’ Was his thoughts as he straightened up his bow tie once more and wiggled in the seat feeling the comforting feel of the extra long coat tells to hide his new blank flank from the nobles.

“Besides our resident bookworm can’t keep her eyes off ya you stud you.” Dash told him and nudge his ribs with her elbow.

There is a moment in every beings life in which they did a spit take without actually drinking, this was that time, just lucky for him he didn’t have any liquid in his mouth to spit. “Wait what?”

“R-Rainbow Dash!” Twilight cried out. She didn’t deny what she was accused of but made the rest of the trip making up excuses that ranged from absurd to cute and finally to what could only be described by all present company as adorakable.

It was true though if it wasn’t for his body getting wrapped up in his tux in a way that made his friends wait at the train station longer then needed before they finally came to find him nearly ready to chew his way out they helped get him straightened up and off to the gala. “I still do not understand why the Princess’ sent a ticket for me. I mean a lot of important Earth ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi are going to be there. I said that the right way right Rarity?”

The Unicorn nodded as he had been informed during one of the visits both from Twilight and Rarity that the way he said Pegai was the old way to say it from times past a rather very formal tone that is rarely used now.

Fluttershy was the first one out, her billowy green and blue dress flowing out behind her as if it were leaves and water made to fabric itself. Various butterflies dotted her clothing as well as flowers showing off both her cutie mark in a different way and her love for nature all made more apparent by the way there were flowers throughout her mane.

As they were walking Lego got the distinctive tingle at the back of his neck that made him sigh as he slowly started to tune out the start of the Music of Harmony that he knew was coming. While he didn’t mind others singing with it he did mind the fact they all seemed to spill out secrets and such at times that once everypony in the musical was done they all seemed to forget they sang in the first place. It had become such a bother that he actively tried a few experiments a few times during his travels to incite the start of it so he could learn about it more but in the end he couldn’t and he eventually started to learn to tune it out.

Before it was all over he watched the girls dance in the ball room for a bit as their song came to an end. “I take it you are not emotional enough to be caught up in the Music of Harmony?”

While he should have been surprised he found he wasn’t as he shook his head. “’Fraid not Sunbutt. The Music of Harmony has never affected me so I have learned to tune it out so as not to listen in on other pony’s secrets.”

The majestic ruler that symbolized the sun just chuckled and set her book down. “Well it is good to meet another pony who shares that trait. I myself as well as my sister find we cannot be affected by it unless we wish to be. Though I think it is time for me to go greet the elements as the song is coming to an end till I get another moment I will talk to you then my knight.”

“Former knight, Sunbutt. Ya next time for sure.” He watched pastel maned Alicorn walk off with her pastel filled dress with mostly pinks in it walk to his friends. As she walked off he remembered the book she left and was about to yell at her that she forgot it only she was already mid conversation with the others. “Oh well, wonder what she was reading.” Looking at the title he chuckled at the text “’The True Tales of the Sextuple and The Missing Alicorns Elements. As written by scribe Terra Cotta.’ Sounds interesting.”

Twilight was enjoying herself, dancing talking to her friends, eating nice food without the gala becoming a disaster zone. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had come down to join them, though it was only them and her friends at that point as all other ponies made more than enough room for the royal pair and the Elements the unicorn decided she needed a break and came over to visit the Stallion they had brought to cheer up but had only noticed his absence when it was just them on the dance floor.

She found him sitting off to the side sitting in a strange posture that strangely reminded her of Lyra reading a book that seemed rather old. “Hey there Lego, why are you sitting all by yourself?”

Closing the book he smiled as he sat it down, she liked his smile. “Sorry got caught up in an interesting read; I can see why Sunbutt was reading it.”

The most faithful student looked aghast for a moment before remembering the moment they had met. “Of course you would continue to call her that.”

Taking up a seat next to him she smiled enjoying the time it was just the two of them though it didn’t last long as the song ended and he spoke. “Seems your teacher is coming to get you. Hope you did well on your test.”

There was half a second where Twilight had a mini panic attack as she thought she had forgot a test when she seen his smirk. “Oh haha very funny. You wouldn’t be so calm if Princess Celestia gave you a test and you thought you might have failed it.”

There was a moment of pain that flashed over his face that made her teasing freeze up into a pit of cold as he responded. “She did and I failed, I was supposed to protect all of the elements with my brothers, I couldn’t pull my weight though and Velox paid the price by taking on too much.” As quick as the pain in his voice came it vanished as he took a chipper tone that seemed too much even for him. “Hey there Sunbutt, back already. Let me guess, couldn’t find anypony your size to tango with? ”

Bringing a hoof up to her mouth her teacher just giggled a bit and smiled. “Why Lego, I am a grown mare, I can find stallions all I wish to tango with.”

Twilight noticed she had missed a joke as Lego started coughing on his drink when she said that as well as missed the grin that quickly vanished on her mentor’s face as she tilted her head. “I agree. The Princess is graceful enough of a partner that even the most inexperienced of Colts could dance with her and look noble.”

She wasn’t sure why Lego was coughing so hard now nor why the Princess seemed to not be able to stop giggling, but she could tell it was because of what she said bringing a flush to her face before she felt the Sun rulers wing over her. “Oh Twilight never change.” After the tender moment she noticed her book was here and gasped “OH I can’t believe I forgot this here. I should have teleported it back to my room right away.”

Suddenly Twilight got that giddy feeling when she knew a rare piece of literature was around. “Oh is it some kind of rare book that is hard to come by.” She said levitating it around to her before frowning. “Oh it’s in Ancient Equestrian, just about the only language I don’t know.”

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Lego’s ears swivel and a frown cross his face though her attention was more on her teacher. “I know how you feel my most faithful student. I myself am running into a road block as I only understand about every tenth word spoken in here. I know there is a relationship between the words acies and oca but the words are too different to decipher.”

“Battle line and coast line.” The lavender mage heard the voice beside her say as she turned to look at Lego. “Respectively for acies and oca I mean.”

The corners of her eyes once more caught the sight of a pony, in this case the Princess, looking at another with canted ears in their direction. “Hmm seems you have been keeping some knowledge from me Lego. I wasn’t aware you know bits and pieces of Ancient Equestrian. Perhaps sometime you can write down a list of the words you know and send it to me here to further help me translate the book here.”

Pieces suddenly came together in Twilight’s mind quickly. Lego looking at the book, Lego, Velox, Novo. ‘No couldn’t be.’

“Sorry Princess, Cascade Nights couldn’t learn the language anymore then I tried to teach it to anyone else, pony or otherwise.” There was a moment of silence between the three as something seemed to pass before the moment was broken. “I mean if you want I can translate the book for you if you rather that happened?”

Twilight had rarely seen her teacher look amazed at anything, in fact there was only a hoofful of times she could remember at all and those ranked very small indeed. “H-how much of the book can you read? You said you it was an interesting read when I came over to you.”

Without a blink of either doubt or hesitation he spoke. “All of it.”

“WHAT!?!” Came the royal Canterlot voice but not from Luna, but from sun raiser herself. A moment of silence came over the party as she quickly assured the ponies gathered that nothing was wrong, though it did attract the attention of the other royal sister and the element bearers.

Luna was the first to speak. “What troubles you sister?”

“Oh oh oh, did somepony take your last slice of cake that you were saving especially for last.” Pinkie spoke up quickly.

Twilight knowing her teachers fondness for the dessert gave a giggle as she seen Celestia’s eyes dart to the dessert tray briefly before she coughed. “No my little pony, that isn’t it.” Briefly Twilight swore she heard the distinctive pop of a teleportation spell and a pompous voice speak about a cake vanishing before her voice continued. “It seems our dear friend Lego here claims he can read this book. A book that has many famous scholars, myself included, cannot and with no possible translator to decipher it known. While I do not doubt his capabilities, it’s just hard to think some pony can come from nowhere with a complete understanding of a language that even I cannot understand completely.”

The mage of the elements nodded as she understood the feeling as when she was learning languages she had sought out all the court scholars to see if any could teach her the language only to find only a smattering of random words they each knew as it seemed even the Princess, the top most authority of the subject, couldn’t teach her reliably about it.

However some pony seemed to find a challenge in her voice as he pointed to the cover of book. “It reads: ‘The True Tales of the Sextuple and The Missing Alicorns Elements.’ With its author being one Terra Cotta.” Flipping open the first page to the gaping mouths of the princesses he continued. “I remember the glory days, the days when there was no earth, no sky, and no magic feeling separated-’ there is more of course but I figured this would give you a good judge if I can read this or not Princess.”

Celestia was speechless, her mouth was opening and closing as if she was trying to say words but nothing came out. Twilight could count how many times she had seen that look on the Princess’ face: Zero.

Luna took the initiative in this and spoke for her, but surprisingly her voice was laced with more emotion then Twilight could ever remember hearing save for when she was reunited with her sister back on the summer sun celebration so long ago. “C-Can you tell us once more the name of the author who penned this book?”

“Sure.” Lego said flipping back to the front of the book “As written by scribe Terra Cotta.’ is the exact wording. Why is he famous?”

The night Princess seemed to gulp back something as she spoke and almost had trouble with the words themselves. “We suppose you could say that.”

The pastel Princess had found her voice and surprised them all with what she spoke next. “Yes we do. Terra Cotta was our father.”

“Hmm neat.” Lego said ruining the moment of surprise.

Professor Adapt, lead scientist to royalty and mad genius was happy about how things were coming. He had managed to sweet talk the Prin-Queen into moving the hive to a more suitable location during one of their ‘sweet talking’ sessions. He always felt he needed a shower after those for having to both use the potion on himself to fake love and make it believable and cause of what they did.

“Sacrifices in the name of advancing is always the way.” He spoke to himself before nodding at his own self’s response. “Yes yes I know, if this plan goes the way it is supposed to go, we won’t need that selfish brat much longer. With all the mineral, crystal, and gem rich deposits in this mountain we won’t need to import many resources at all and can go totally undetected, even better cause of how deliciously close we are to the pony’s who helped cast out the last monarch. It is always fantastic to have such a nice food source so close.”

Looking over to his right he found his assistant, he forgets his name currently not that it mattered, bringing over lunch for him. It was a nice looking young mare that seemed to be well hypnotized. “Ahh thank you my boy for bringing me this. Now you may leave while I eat. Always best to think after a full stomach then we can really get down to business.”

Egnach was furious at the doctor, he barely acknowledged him as little more than a drone that came to deliver lunch. Did he know what was needed to get that meal for him that he demanded to be fresh…no yet Egnach had did it with skill and finesse like always. It was only thanks to the sample he brought back with such haste that he had been allowed to come to this site at all.

‘If I read the reports right, that blood had a unique property to transform mana into other sources, from Pegasus to Earth Pony, Unicorn to Pegasus and so forth. If he is combining that with his horn research it may be possible for him to create a steady food source for all Changelings just with ambient magic but…no, that isn’t what he is working on if I judge his plans right. Why would he need all the resonant crystals and gems for, those are usually for ultra high density storage of mana or enchantments.’ Egnach while he admitted was brilliant, handsome, talented, and all around better than most other Changelings knew that his intellect paled when it came to the scientist that he was currently the primary assistant of.

In the distance he could hear scream of the young mare he had brought as lunch come awake. ‘I swear that if I didn’t know any better he fed more on terror then love as he would always make sure they come awake after he had taken hold of their love link to start forcefully draining them.’ Egnach was disgusted. He himself had found a formula and a way to breed Changelings to eat something other than love but when he found the first few nymphs of the pod he secretly tested on turn mad he got rid of his research.

For some reason a song came to his mind as he started to chuckle remembering his failed experiment fondly. ‘Love, love, love, love, loooove. Love loooove. Makes the world go round.’

Author's Notes:

*Muffled noises of someone captured and struggling*

So I finally caught my muse...she isn't happy about it.

*Muffled curses*

Ya ya love you too muse-y. Anyways with this I am trying to write more. life is making it difficult so be patient with me and the chapters will come out when they...well come out. Not going to lie. I only did a once over of this chapter cause those of you that I know like the story I have kept waiting too long. Feel free to point any errors out and I will get to it as best I can.

Brain is back...what did I miss...why is there a concept of motivation tied up in the back?

Chapter Twenty Three: The Tale.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Three: The Tale.

After the discovery of his rather unique expertise in the field of language as it were. Lego was called to come and stay in Canterlot for a time to prove that he could actually read what he said he could. He wouldn’t lie…he hated the idea, he hated the idea of coming to the city of snobs and mingling with them more then he hated the current jackasses he had just left arguing about if the meaning of the word water he gave them was right or wrong.

‘Buck they are hard headed, worse than dragons as at least dragons can tell if someone, anyone of any species was lying to them. Or at least eat them if they thought it was that way. Those ‘scholars’ will keep barking and arguing till the end of time if you told them even a small thing that was contrary to their beliefs.’ Lego sighed bitterly as in the end it didn’t matter if they believed him. He already knew Celestia did and that was why he was currently writing out the translation of the book by her father.

As he got to his room he wasn’t all surprised to find somepony already there sipping a cup of tea. “Hello Sunbutt. How is your afternoon so far?”

The co-ruler of Equestria gave a small bit of laughter from behind her tea cup that was floating in her magical grasp before setting it down and looking at him. “As well as it could be I suppose. Many of your translations are coming through from the academy and I have to say it has been enlightening to learn some of these new words, or rather old ones that have been lost to time.”

Not able to help himself he smiled hearing that, not because the scholars were letting his translations through, though at a trickle it seems, but that he was helping others. It was something he was very unfamiliar with lately even to himself. Pouring himself a cup of tea which he was surprised at himself that he only spilled some before filling it up half way he made his way over to Celestia and sat himself down, though for a moment he thought he seen the Princess frowning but it was only there for a moment.

Hearing a sip from the other side of the table the princess continued speaking as he sipped from his own cup. “Alicorns grow at a different rate than normal as such my father was already used to the new languages, which is what he taught Luna and I the most, and only had a chance to briefly teach us some of the old language.” The book was on the table, the same book her father wrote that was just about as old as the Princess herself. “I do not suppose I could trouble you to find if you have translated anymore of the text then before could I.”

Lego got up with a chuckle setting down the tea up and making his way upstairs, he hated these stairs but they were good exercise. There was a sound of ruffling papers and other things as he gathered up what he had so far and set it in the saddle bags to help carry it downstairs. Going downstairs was always a worse of a challenge then going up and it was usually why he slept downstairs on the couch provided.

“I am back, and yes I have some of the translation here in this copy. Go ahead and take it, I made a few extras both in literal translations and ones with a more modern syntax like the one here.” Nodding to the bound papers he felt the slight weight of them leave in a golden glow as Celestia took them.

“I know I have said this before Lego, but I am really grateful to your work here. Though I am still curious as to how you knew the language in the first place.” He smiled and shrugged to give the Princess her answer. “Oh well, if you ever remember let me or Luna know, we would be most interested in-” a flash of a scroll in midnight blue came before her before it was taken hold of in her magic. Giving it a quick glance she sighed. “I must leave; one of the nobles is giving Luna a hard time and is telling her that I have said things that honestly I do not remember promising.”

Giving her a smile he waved her off. “Go on Sunbutt, family first.” she gave a grateful smile and vanished with the bound papers he gave her. “Well it’s nice to know my efforts are appreciated if nothing else I suppo-.”

A coughing fit interrupted him as he spoke aloud to his home. Quickly grabbing hold of a paper towel nearby in the kitchen he held it to his mouth as the wet raking of air came and went. He wadded up the tissue quickly after seeing what had splattered in it, it was happening more and more lately. Tossing it to the garbage can he went to the couch and decided to call it a day and hope he could work on some of the book in the morning.

A city of magic users might have been feared elsewhere but this one knew the truth, he knew that they were mostly pompous individuals that could barely lift up eating utensils, let alone defend themselves. Did he need to stalk this mare he watched from the rooftops? No but he wanted to and he could, that was the point, nopony could stop him. His ruby colored eyes followed her as she took the wrong move tonight and went down a dark alleyway; no doubt it was a shortcut of some type.

Stretching out his wings he glided down towards the alley, oh how he loved this freedom, it was addicting and he would relish every moment of the time he had. He watched the trot she had in her step, her sense of purpose where she had one, her nose uplifted to the air: A noble.

He was arrogant as well landing right in front of her only separated by a few feet. “Such a nice night isn’t it?” The fear wasn’t there, she didn’t fear him instead she waved her hoof haughtily in front of her in a shooing motion. It made the moment he grinned that much more fulfilling as his pearly white fangs gleamed in the pale light of the moon, it was also just enough light to see her superior attitude melt away and a look of fear slowly spreading over her features: so lovely.

He lunged at her and had to quickly dodge to the side as she unleashed a stun spell. Still unused to moving his wings it clipped one, not enough to stun it but it did rip a few feathers from it which he was slightly upset about. Though it was a few feathers to him it was a nice big hole in his wing for her.

She must have thought she caused him damage, thought she gained the upperhoof: his laughter silenced that as a black ooze seemed to ooze into the spot where the hole was, both closing it up and making new feathers. True fear was on her face and finally she let out a scream and a second as he rushed her while she was too terrified to cast.

A shortcut was what this mare sought, something to cut the time from one place to another, and a dark alleyway to use it with. Cliché as it was to meet one’s end here, he found some pleasure in it as he watched the life drain from her eyes. One bite, one tug and her throat was gone with blood splattering all over him and the ground.

Spitting the piece of her larynx out that he held in his fang he started chuckling as the dark ooze absorbed the blood that had splattered on him. Each night he tested his limits, each night he found he was growing stronger. This was his first kill, but not his last.

Celestia was worried about her knight, even if he insisted he was a former knight now. She hated watching him struggle to do things that normal ponies took for granted, that and what else she had discovered in his home while waiting for him to get there. Sadly though, even with advanced magic and medicine there wasn’t anything they could do for his condition to help him any.

Shaking her head she tried to think of other subjects, speaking of she now had the chance to giggle over the reaction of the noble that she had surprised. She had teleported right behind him as he was in the middle of saying ‘-however Princess Celestia has commanded-’ she had loved placing a wing over him and asking him the obvious question. ‘What was it I commanded my little pony?’

She was rather amazed at how fast the pony could run away considering he was easily twice the weight a pony his should have been. It had done well to temper the attitudes of the others it seemed as a lot of them had left at that point, though Luna didn’t mind as she had told her sister that they had come in with said stallion to complain.

Any day she could help her sister out was a good one, though she had made a point of issuing a fine to the stallion as he had told a lie with her word as truth. That was something that was technically illegal and could be caused for imprisonment or beheading, though Celestia had not been forced to do that in centuries.

Lying down upon her bed she had been about to call it a night finally when she seen the bundle of white paper she had set there. Lighting a candle she smiled as she took hold of the pages in her magic. She had been waiting for this as she had opened it up to the first page after the title.

I remember the glory days, the days when there was no earth, no sky, and no magic feeling separated from one another. The paradise that was woven by the chosen Alicorns was no more. Now were days when the Alicorn race will slowly die out and nothing can be done for it. However to know of what is to come isn’t my forte, it is recording what has happened that I am good at. As such to whoever may find this know that the words here are only what I have witnessed, be they the full truth I won’t know nor should anypony know. My name is Terra Cotta and this is the truth as I know it as well as why there are now only six chosen and not eleven.

I have been a scribe for more years then I can count at times; as such it came to be a surprise to me when I found myself called upon by the chosen. The chosen as the name implies are those who are chosen by the great mother herself to guide all of the Alicorns to prosperity and each had a duty that was to be fulfilled. Each one had come to being in an order, though none can claim to be as old as Premier Legerdemain.

He was the tallest and oldest of them all, being the most powerful as well as he was the Alicorn of Magic itself. His coat was a deep royal purple, almost black with its depth, as his coat spoke of his regal nature so did his mane. It was a deep blue that pulsed with light at times giving off light each time, it was so commented that as his mane pulsed the book that was the symbol on his flank changed as well though always having the six pointed star that represented the search for magic.

It was he whom had called me in this day. His kind voice had been heard many a times by me when he had given a speech but this was the first time that I had heard it when it wasn’t spoken with magical augmentation so that all in a crowd could hear.

“Ahh Terra Cotta, I have heard of you and I am pleased to meet you. As you know I am Premier Legerdemain leader of the chosen. Though feel free to shorten my name to either one of those words for the sake of simplicity.” I remember him being taller than me, imposing in nature from a distance, but now that he was up close, I saw him as something I had never thought to see him as: Another Alicorn like myself. “I suppose you are wondering why I have called you here. It seems my last scribe has chosen to no longer try to write down what is needed and has vanished. Last I heard she decided to fly north just because she could, or she was bored, though I tend to agree with the latter statement. So as it stands, I have heard you are dedicated and are one of the best at recording word for word and action for action things that happen around you is that correct?”

I nodded and pulled out my book showing him my writing instrument which must have surprised him as he was surely expecting paper. No I write in stone sheet a thin piece of stone enchanted to withstand the passages of time and were really only used for permanent records. I told him that since my special talent was manipulation of rocks and minerals I could write down in stone sheet as fast if not faster than in paper. He seemed pleased and I was hired then and there.

I was so excited to have been hired that I didn’t see the mare that had arrived and almost ran into her if not for the fact that she held out a metallic rod to stop me from doing so. To my shock I was staring at the cream colored coat of another Alicorn that was known to all. Looking up further I could see a smile gracing her lips playfully as her closed eyes let her truly be identified as the one and only blind Alicorn of Generosity herself: Abundant Charity.

“Such a nice colt you have found Prem.” She said as she moved past me as if she knew where I was the whole time, her white mane shimmered as if it had crushed diamonds in it, waving ethereal like her compatriot. Of the chosen she was said to have been the loveliest of them all. Her symbol was also one that spoke of her nature perfectly, hooves extended out to relay friendship. If I had been a weaker stallion, as well as single, I might have been tempted to be one of the very large number that has tried to court her.

Premier looked to her as she came in with a chuckle. “He is new, I am sure he will get used to it eventually.” The pulsing maned Alicorn took a seat nearby and waited for his companion to do the same. “What brings you here this time Charity?”

The smile that was on her face slowly vanished before gave a sigh. “Dreamer was arguing with another Alicorn today.”

“More nonsense I take it?” Primer asked of her only to get her nod for an answer. “He needs to learn that Alicorns do not need to change if we are already happy.”

I had heard about this, it seemed that one of the chosen: Hopeful Dreamer, often was found arguing and even shouting at times at other Alicorns wanting them to change their ways or something along those lines. Or at least that is what I thought back then. Hopeful Dreamer was the seventh of the chosen to come about and represented, but what else, hope.

Charity sighed again and looked to her leader and spoke more candidly then I think she meant to with me there, though she may have forgotten about me at that point. “Something needs to be done, we need to all gather and talk to him and ask him why he wants our Alicorns to change. I would like to understand his reasoning as no one should be this adamant about something unless they truly believed in it.”

“No pony you mean Charity.” I personally don’t know why he corrected her there though no one did sound a bit strange. “As for a gathering, maybe you are right. For now as long as he is shouting and just arguing in general though nothing needs to come of it. If he starts abusing his station as a chosen though that is when we will step in. After all we all have our quirks; he could just be quirky and see something that is perfectly fine but in his mind isn’t.”

I personally wished it had been so as well. The meeting ended there and I was dismissed and told of the next time I would be needed. I couldn’t wait to tell Caeli Cor* that I had been accepted by the chosen as their scribe, it would make a really nice third date ice breaker.

Celestia blinked back a few misty tears that suddenly flowed to her eyes. ‘Mother, I haven’t heard your name in so long that I had nearly forgotten it.’ At the bottom of the page she noticed what the asterix was for as she then learned the name of her mother in modern day equestrian. ‘Hmm, it is Sky’s Heart. That is fitting for mother.’ Thinking about what she had read so far her mind came to a few thoughts of her own as her state of mind slowly drifted into slumber. Mostly that if Terra Cotta was shorter than the chosen, they must have been massive. Celestia liked to think she gained her height from her father and Luna their mother’s size.

Celestia’s last thoughts that night were of her mother’s pale rose colored coat and lavender mane.

First Lieutenant Cold Irons watched as the Princess of the Night was approaching. He had not wanted her to be called on but the circumstances were unusual where not only had it stumped him and others but his higher ups as well.

“Salutations Lieutenant please entreat us to why you have called us here.” The midnight blue Alicorn asked in the third person, something he thought was rather cute though would never say it out loud because of protocol.

The guard pony just sighed and ran his hoof through his enchanted mane that was the color of all the other Lunar Guard. “Sometime earlier this evening a murder occurred.” He would not have noticed the slight change of her face had he not been looking carefully as how she managed to wipe all traces of emotion from it. “The victim was a local noble of very minor rank. Seems her herd was gaining some reputation around Canterlot and she was out hobnobbing with others.”

“Please, spare us the details of her status for now and explain what has happened here.” Luna cut him off before he could continue to explain the professions of said victim’s herd.

The Lunar Guard just coughed into his hoof before turning his head. “Well the victim seemed to be taking a shortcut when she was accosted by a Pegasus who…if I am to believe the signs, bit out her throat. The problem is it looks like it was done solo yet there are signs that are getting mixed and implying more than one without any other signs.” He looked up to the Princess who had the same neutral look as before except it seemed to have a question in it, one that was easy to read: would you continue? “That isn’t all but I will get back to it. The reason some of the Guard think it may have been two is the two pieces of evidence, one the bite marks…they are fanged.”

There it was a change in the mask, a slight frown that vanished completely before she spoke up. “Signs of a Pegasus and fangs, surely you do not suspect a Thestral?”

Giving a sigh he held out his hoof and gave it a roll. “That is one of the theories yet I do not believe it. Mostly because there are also feathers from a black Pegasus at the scene, however there is no Pegasus in residence in Canterlot with a black coloration that matches which is why my colleagues are thinking two assailants. There is also the other matter.”

Raising an eyebrow at him he said nothing but led her into the alleyway. In the alleyway he knew she saw the guards being treated by high level unicorns as they got to the source of the problem and he heard her hiss.

On the ground were several black feathers, no doubt from the perpetrator of the act, except they were half melted and seemed to be made of some type of dark ooze. “Dark magic. Lieutenant, We take it the magicians treating the others have been treating them for magic poisoning as well?” Irons gave a nod and watched as her horn started to glow, that and every other pony in the alleyway was watching as well as she zapped the feathers from existence. “We are sorry but We cannot leave them here lest some other pony trod upon them and be tainted. Lieutenant you have our permission to treat any scene like this one as a quarantine zone but notify either myself or my sister when it happens.”

Giving a nod Cold Irons started giving the orders as he watched the Princess walk away, he didn’t want to tell her but there was one other theory one he didn’t want to say so as not to upset her. The third theory that it was Nightmare Moon who was doing these things, but he was sworn to protect his Princesses from all harm, even if it was just a bit of verbal harm.

Celestia had called him in for a reason today and as such he had brought more of his translated notes to give her, something he had not done for a week since he last gave her some, but there was just one problem: he was out of breath from the stairs and was currently taking a break on the bench at the top.

‘Novo, you back yet?’ There was no answer. ‘Buck, get back soon I know looking for our brother takes top priority but…never mind you can’t hear me anyways.’ Lego was lonely, simple as that, he had not heard from either brother of his for a while and while it was worrying he doesn’t feel any different hoping that confirmed they had not merged back with him.

“Excuse me, but loitering around the royal palace is a punishable offense, please remove yourself at once.” Lego looked over to see a white coated stallion looking down on him with his nose raised up in the air. The very air around the blonde maned pony seemed to be as stuffy as him and had Lego been in good health he would have been tempted to remark about it, however he wasn’t.

“Sorry about that, I was a bit winded from the climb; I will be on my way to my meeting now.” Lego said standing up despite the protests of his body, he doubt he would get much more done today at this rate of exhaustion.

“You are heading the wrong way, the exit to the castle is that way. Please leave and make sure you do not touch anything with your filthy hooves peasant.” Lego couldn’t believe what he was hearing from the pompous, arrogant…who did he think he is.

Giving an internal smile he looked over to him and spoke calmly. “Ahh I suppose so, I guess when I am locked up for missing a royal meeting I was summoned to, by Princess Celestia no less, I will have to give the Guard my best description of you, friend.”

He knew this noble jackass had heard him stretch out certain words in that sentence such as the Sunbutt’s name and title, as well as the word friend of course all this made him do was scoff. “As if somepony such as you would get summoned, but fine, I will escort you to the royal chambers just so I may see you get turned away then I shall have you arrested for using the word of the Princess in falsehood.”

The sickly body of Lego was protesting with each step that he had to keep up with the semi-trotting noble no doubt done on purpose if the glances of the grin on his face whenever he let out a cough was evident enough. The guards at the throne room opened the door for them both though it seemed the Princesses were discussing matters that they didn’t want others to hear as all conversation stopped when the door was opened.

“Auntie, I have brought this one here as he claimed to have a meeting with you. I apologize for the interruption.” Mr. Compass Rose spoke with as much false subservience in his voice as possible, or at least it seemed that way to Lego. “I am sure it is false and as such I will remove him at-”

“Ahh Lego come forward please we have much to discuss.” Celestia spoke over the fawning snob. “And thank you very much Prince Blueblood, I am sorry if it was an inconvenience.”

“-once and make sure to, what? I mean, of course Auntie it is the duty of those of royal blood to help others. Now I shall take my leave.” Blueblood claimed with the unspoken words of ‘before I make myself look more foolish’ added to the end…at least in Lego’s mind.

Making sure the royal heel was gone he turned back to Celestia and raised an eyebrow. “Auntie?”

The royal white pony just giggled into her hoof and smiled at him. “There are many greats implied in there.”

He was about to make a comment on how many greats there was in there but a coughing fit interrupted him making him pull out a hoofkerchief that he had started to carry around recently.

“Are thou alright Sir Lego?” Came the voice of the Night Princess in concern or at least it sounded that way as his eyes were closed from the intense coughing.

When the coughing was done he looked at the rag as he pulled it from his face and cringed, he had pushed himself more then he should have keeping up with the royal pain in the backside earlier. Quickly crumpling the rag up so that the Solar and Lunar pair wouldn’t see, he smiled and put it back in his saddle bags though he thought he saw something flash over Celestia’s face.

He waved his hoof and smiled wanting not to make them worry. “I am fine, it happens sometimes cause of my condition.”

“If thou are sure then We are glad to see thee recovering well.” Luna stated though Celestia seemed to want to say something but was interrupted when a guard came in.

The guard saluted and spoke loudly. “The train from Ponyville have arrived your majesties. The Elements will be escorted to the palace momentarily.”

Lego watched as Celestia dismissed the guard with some kind words and chuckles lightly and again asks her in a single word. “Elements?”

Giving a sheepish grin she rubbed her hoof across her other leg. “I may have called them here to give them a task and I may have forgotten as I have been caught up in a few things, one of which is namely your translation of our father’s book.”

“Ahh yes, We have found the read of your translations to be quite informative so far on the Elemental Alicorns. Though We are unsettled by the one known as Hopeful Dreamer.” Luna remarked which made both himself and Celestia as well curious and Luna slightly embarrassed it seems. “He just…reminds us of ourselves…before our fall.”

Lego knew what she was talking about as the first part of the translations he gave to Celestia had mostly described the confrontations between the Alicorn of magic and him. “I know what you mean, he is the Alicorn of Hope and the seventh to appear yet he seems more angry at the Alicorns then anything else. Especially in the parts I have brought you today.”

The stallion reached into his saddle bags and brought out the copies to give to the Princesses only for them to be levitated from his hold with golden light. “I am not going to lie to you Lego; I am most interested in seeing how this plays out.”

Giving her a chuckle he nodded. “I know what you mean, your father may have been a scribe but his work reads out like a novel. He was really talented.” Looking at the excited faces of both the Princesses he let out a yawn. “Well if you don’t mind I think I will take a small nap while waiting for my friends to arrive…if you do not mind Princesses, it should also give you both a few minutes to read some of the notes there too.”

It was less than a moment later with their permission that they both had their noses in the notes while he had been given use of one of the royal pillows to doze on.

Premier Legerdemain walked down the street with myself at his side and as well as another of the Alicorns who was flapping her wings lightly and moving forward. “Premier, we really ought to forgive him, we all have our places and he feels that his representation is nearly gone.”

The pulsing mane didn’t even move as Legerdemain looked to his fellow Alicorn, whom had a striking blue coat with her transparent mane looking to be made of glass. “Clear Absolve, yes we all do have our elements which we represent, of which you are doing a fine job trying to forgive others, but his is Hope for buck’s sake. How is his not at an all time high with everything in perfect harmony?”

Clear Absolve was the ninth Alicorn to appear and represented Forgiveness, her symbol was a white blazing phoenix rising from the ashes, and I thought it was rather fitting for a pony who gave second chances. “I don’t think he sees it that way Premier.”

“You can call me Prem, Clear, I do not mind at all.” Over the last few years of my interactions and being Premier’s scribe I had found that I was able to read my employer’s emotions rather well and it was obvious that the Alicorn of magic had a romantic interest in his fellow chosen Alicorn.

Clearly flustered at that she waved off the thought. “I am sorry but I couldn’t, you are our leader and should deserve the respect that comes with it.”

Legerdemain was about to say something when a flash of magic from nearby the town caused everything to turn an off white for a moment before it cleared up bringing with it the Alicorn’s frustration. “It seems our comrade is letting off steam…again. Let us go deal with him. Come Clear Absolve, Terra Cotta let us go deal with this once more.”

Taking flight I had to push myself a bit harder than normal to keep up with the larger wings of the chosen till Clear noticed myself falling behind and slowed which in turn made my employer slow his pace as well, for which I was thankful for. It took a few minutes to get out of the town but when we came to the nearby forest the flash of lights playing off the crystals nearly blinded me for a moment. Part of the forest had been turned to crystal and seemed to originate from a clearing.

Landing in the clearing it was obvious who had done it, his black hooves and fetlocks turned dark grey then light grey before finally turning white near the top of his body and head. His mane looked to be made of liquid silver, fitting as Hope had often been described as a silver lining by some. The symbol of the Alicorn was a silver thread in a circle surrounding a single silver heart.

“Hopeful Dreamer, it is my hope that you can explain yourself.” There it was another of those emotions I had learned to read off Premier, he didn’t like Dreamer it seemed, either for the trouble that his fellow chosen caused or for some other reason I have not been able to learn, but it was obvious.

Giving a snort the Alicorn of hope turned and looked at each of us with his molten silver eyes that seemed to cool slightly as he took a breath. “You hope…right, at this point you would be one of the rare ones who do.” Giving a sigh he looked around to the crystals he had made and spoke some more. “Alicorns don’t hope Premier, they are content, and as such there is no need to hope when you have everything you need in the world. Alicorns are content that is not the same as hope.”

Premier scoffed at that and then started to chuckle. “They do not hope? Of course they do and it is because they are content that they do so. When you have no fear of things to harm you, no fear of being without food and shelter, you are free to dream and think of what you may do with your free time.”

I know that is what I did with Caeli Cor, at times she was all I could hope for and dream of. “Take it.” I was broken out of my thoughts when I noticed the silvery glow of levitation in front of me, it was holding a crystal that shimmered and shined in a rainbow hue. “Go on, I am sure that it will help you fulfill your hopes.”

I widened my eyes, it was the first time something like that had happened, he had read my hopes just from looking at me. That would be the first time I realized just how close each of the chosen were to their elements. It was also the first time I started to doubt the truth of my employer’s words that ponies were hopeful because they were content.

A loud laughter brought me back to attention as I had taken the crystal into my telekinetic grasp. “See, our ponies dream and hope all the time you had just proven that you are wrong here and now. So grow up Dreamer, stop sulking cause of what you THINK you believe because it isn’t the truth.”

Without another word Legerdemain left with a quick teleport spell leaving a scorch mark behind on the crystallized ground. “I am so sorry Dreamer, please forgive him.”

With that Clear Absolve took flight as did I, but I clearly heard the next words as surely as anything else. “Yeah, forgiveness, that isn’t something that will be given to me.”

I thought I saw Clear Absolve look quickly to me to see if I heard it however something told me to keep a blank look on my face which seemed to pacify and calm the Alicorn of forgiveness.

“Turn the page sister, We wish to read mo-” Luna didn’t get to finish that thought as the doors to the chamber opened and in walked six mares and one small dragon, all of whom she considered her friends. “Ahh welcome Element bearers and friends one and all.”

She watched as each of them bowed as they walked over to them Twilight herself giving an affectionate nuzzle to Celestia herself. “How are you and your friends doing my most faithful student?”

“We are doing good Princess. Though we are all curious as to why you called us to Canterlot, is something wrong?” Twilight asked of her teacher though for some reason Luna couldn’t help but find the worried look of the student as adorable with how she acted around her sister.

“Ya Princess, Ah don’t mean to sound suspicious but ya’ll don’t really call us all to the castle unless somethin’ is happenin’.” The southern drawl of the element of honesty, while charming, spoke the truth even if she didn’t know it.

“Does it have to do with Lego sleeping on the princess’ pillow? OH is he the new royal consort?” The bouncing pink mare asked as she pointed to the pillow behind the princesses that held the still sleeping stallion. Luna briefly wondered how tired he was to be able to sleep through all of the talking in the echoing throne room.

The Princess of the Night heard several of the elements speak up at once. “Lego?” Was the word spoken though it seemed Twilight herself had spoken it a little more loudly then the rest, which the Princess of Dreams couldn’t help but grin at. She never spoke about the personal dreams she had come across and governed as some were of a more personal nature then others. Especially the type that the lavender coated unicorn had about the red coated, though now grey and sickly, stallion.

All of the elements voices must have woken him up as he slowly stirred as they all went over to greet. “Oh hey everypony, it is good to see you all again.”

Luna and her sister had a good laugh at the sound of his oomph as he was hugged by them all and started to catch up to them, though Celestia pulled her sister aside to speak to her. “My sister you are better at the royal mask then myself, tell me, do you think we should tell Twilight and her friends about Lego?”

This had been something she had thought of doing many times and each time the pain in her heart held her tongue. “Tis not our place to tell them sister, Lego is aware of his limits which he is approaching and is trying his best to live ignoring them. He doesn’t want to burden others with it nor does he wish to see them sad when thinking of him. He wishes to live without them seeing his tombstone.”

“How long do you think he has left?” The Solar monarch asked seriously.

Luna shook her head. “With the remnants of the curse choking off his mana well, his general health, especially seeing the blood in his hoofkerchief, maybe a few months left, less than a year though for sure before his body gives out.”

The sisters were silent once more for a bit before it was time for another question, one that Luna knew was coming. “How is the investigation coming?”

Sighing, the blue Alicorn shook her head. “It isn’t. Whoever is doing it though is getting bolder, the time between killings is growing shorter and shorter and the scenes are getting bloodier each time we find one. What is more is that the use of dark magicks are becoming more apparent as with this last attack he killed one of my Lunar Guard a lieutenant of mine named Cold Irons.”

“I am so sorry Lulu, was he a good pony?” Her sister asked of her.

She gave a nod. “Yes he was, he was hiding the fact many in the guard think it is I as Nightmare Moon who is doing these crimes. Though it was with his sacrifice he has managed to clear my name. Not only did he manage to spill the blood of his assailant, dark and foul blood that it was, tainted not only with dark magicks but easily shown as not mine when I had marked myself to show the guard I bled as other ponies. Crimson, not black and foul such as the one who has done these things and it is my vow to catch and deliver justice to this one who would dare take from our ponies such a valuable thing as safety.”

Again a moment of silence before Luna could feel her sister’s wing over her in comfort. “We both will Lulu.” Luna couldn’t help but nuzzle up into her sister for a moment sharing in the affection. “It seems our guests are nearly done, let us call for some lunch then we will tell them of our plans.”

Gathering herself once more to get into a more elegant way of speaking the smaller Alicorn nodded. “Of course let us give our ponies a feast of a lunch to prepare them for the hardship to come.”

The Solar Princess nodded. “Reforming Discord will be no easy task but I believe that they can do it.”

Novo sighed in frustration, he wouldn’t say he was lost but he was definitely not sure of where he was currently. He had found some interesting memories that were sealed up that he couldn’t access and had spent a good amount of time trying to open the doors and locks that kept them sealed, to no avail. However there were many chains on the doors, some of which even led away to other memories creating a series of locks he knew would all tumble if he could find the core memory that held them all back.

“Except following all the chains has gotten me lost when they started crisscrossing over each other.” Novo spoke aloud to himself. “AHH come on I know I didn’t come this way before yet there is a familiar door with that same stupid black goo over it.”

The door as if in response to him opened up showing no light from inside. Though a voice could be heard, it seemed to groan for a moment and it sparked more hope in Novo then he had felt in a long time. Not even thinking he ran right into the room as he looked up to something he would never thought he would see, at least like it was.

There hung Velox ropes of the goo seem to have all of his limbs locked and seemed to have spider webbed all over his body. “Hang on brother I will get you down quickly.”

The dark blue coat of the Pegasus stirred with a breath before he opened his gray eyes looking down. “Hey there Novo, long time no see…I really wish I could have warned you but he kinda keeps me drained down here.”

Novo’s eyebrow raised as he heard that. “Drained? Keeps? Wait warn?”

The door that Novo had ran through in the mindscape to come in there closed with a wet thud as ooze filtered to cover the door. “Ya, again sorry I couldn’t warn you.”

With that ropes lashed out entangling Novo despite his best efforts even as he screamed out he could hear a voice. “Oh how wonderful, now I have the second piece and it’s a unicorn. Oh how I can’t wait to play with Canterlot in this form.”

“Who are you, what do you want?” Novo called out to the black abyss that surrounded him.

It only chuckled at him sinisterly. “Oh don’t worry, you, Velox, and I will have a lot of time to talk about that, though I must say, I am looking forward to your screams as I drain you.”

Novo was about to ask what he meant when the ropes started to spider web out onto his coat, digging into his skin and burrowing into him. All he could manage to do was scream.

Author's Notes:

Ahh another chapter done. Sorry this one took so long, I was writing out the story that Terra Cotta has written on the side and using that as a reference to put into the story piece by piece where needed. Choosing said pieces is sometimes hard. There were also errors when writing that I had to correct so things would be how they should be and not with a huge gaping hole of logic.

You say logic when you are applying it to magical talking ponies and Princesses?

Don't you?

...This is why I don't try to use logic with you.

Cause I win all the time against you.

Yeah sure lets go with that.

Chapter Twenty Four: The Decline.

Author's Notes:

This is the first of three uploads in a row that I am doing as I felt they all belonged together and to be read one after the other. I apologize for the long delay for these but I have been working hard on them, as well as various other reasons and excuses why there weren't here earlier.

I sincerely hope you enjoy them.
-Equinox Starshifter

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Four: The Decline.

The Unicorn guard stood there as Lego was having a coughing fit which only abated after he had grossly coughed up a chunk of…well he would rather not say. Moving to wash his hooves off and throw the crimson hunk of gunk away he sighed before gathering up his findings.

“Sorry for the long wait. It is getting harder and harder to move around.” The dull gray Earth Pony told the guard who remained motionless as its brethren. “I wonder if this is what being old is like, to the age where you watch grandfoals and possibly great grandfoals running around. Too bad I won’t get to see that but oh well.” Shaking his head for a moment he turned to the guard. “Sorry again, didn’t mean to be melodramatic. I am ready.”

The guard pony moved closer before lighting up his horn as the sound of dislocated air filled the space where they were. Their destination was once more the palace of the diarchy specifically the waiting room in front of the throne room. The sick pony was told to wait by the guard as he went to inform the sisters that had had arrived safely.

Safety, strange that is what caused this now frequent service to be provided. He had managed to miss one of the scheduled appointments with the sisters by a few hours, only to be found by the guards later passed out and weak. Celestia then lectured him about keeping quiet about how bad his condition was becoming now that he couldn’t even walk to the palace anymore. True they said they were worried afraid he might have been accosted and from what he was reading in the paper about the serial murderer that very well could have happened.

Lego didn’t have time to worry about the past any longer though the guard came back and motioned for him to approach. Sunbutt seemed happy to see him arrive on time for once and safely though Lego could see the worry behind her mask. With how much he had been seeing them he had gotten a tiny look behind the mask she wore.

‘Time to start again, I don’t need to but it I don’t try I feel like I will succumb to it quicker.’ Smiling to the sisters he spoke “I have the latest chapters for your majesties as well as the multitude of translations. I am curious as to know if all of my work is helping out in other text and scrolls from the past.”

A quick dodge of a question thrown in there as he seen the looks on their faces with his chipper attitude but it worked. “Indeed it has my Knight.” Celestia spoke up. “There are a few works that we have found that were once praised for masterpieces of ancient literature now nothing more than a chore list of some pony long past. I actually wish I was making up that one but it is the truth.”

The smile he had placed on his face felt more real now as he got joy from hearing that. Motioning to open his bags he found that it was being taken care of for him with an equal of luminous gold and lustrous blue. Floating over to the monarchs he was getting ready to bow and leave when he was stopped with the voice of one of them.

“Sir Lego, we would like to ask that you stay, we have called in a specialist to see if there is anything that can be done to alleviate any pain you might be feeling everyday or any complications of your lungs.” It was Celestia that had said it but hearing the ‘we’ she spoke he knew that it was on both of the princesses’ minds apparently. His last scare must have been more worrisome then he thought.

Giving a bit of a bow and a nod he smiled up to them. “Sure, it is the least I can do since you both gave me a nice free trip here and back to my home when I’m done.”

A bell was rung and a maid came to escort him away. It was going to be a long day, but honestly he was just happy to move around and not be stuck inside today. Honestly it was embarrassing enough to have to be teleported to the palace but since then they had made sure that a pony came to deliver food for him as well as cook meals. He was officially an invalid and he hated it every time that pony came over with a smile on her face to help.

Walking down the hall looking at the cheerful maid he found himself resenting a lot of happiness in general lately and he knew he shouldn’t. His thoughts and fantasies that made him smile more often than not was putting those ponies in their place by showing them up, showing off his strength…that he no longer had. It was often in those depressing thoughts that he found his fantasies taking on a darker turn to the point where it disgusted him to have them.

‘I thought I would live many, many more years before I became the grumpy old pony that told kids to get off his yard but…I suppose this is what it is like for them.’ The feeling of sadness that usually accompanied those thoughts had long been used up and now Lego only felt emptiness inside, he knew he had come to accept his fate when he stopped feeling it.

It was another of those meetings, ones where nothing really interesting was happening and as such the chosen instead had ‘chosen’ to gossip. Oh that is good I am leaving that in, anyways the gossip had turned from many subjects good and bad. For good, my new little girl was so adorable even if she was a hoofful and how my wife kept claiming she took after me. For bad, the missing chosen: Hopeful Dreamer.

“It has been almost two years now since he had vanished claiming he needed to go ‘see’ the world and the state it rested in.” Came the voice Graceful Gift. I had rarely ever had a chance to talk to her but she seemed like a mare that would do anything for those she counted as a friend. Her black luxurious coat seemed to enhance whatever light hit it rather than suck it up as did her flowing teal mane that reminded me of a river me and my wife seen on our honeymoon to the continent of the south. Her green eyes spoke out loud of her conviction more than her symbol did of her nature as the Alicorn of Sacrifice and the Tenth of the order: A white offering bowl with a green flame burning inside of it.

The leader of the chosen sat there passively letting the others talk since he didn’t seem to have any advice or opinion he wanted to share, though it was my suspicion that he enjoyed the missing Alicorn being away. A loud banging of a hoof brought me back to examining the Alicorns at the table as the next one was my least favorite but only because of his loud and boastful nature.

“If you are so worried about our missing ally then should we not head out and search for him. Why I remember this one winter I was flying back here only to encounter a freak blizzard over the ocean forcing me to land on an island. The blizzard lasted for five days and nights as I was braving the harshest elements known to Alicorn-kind!” The mane of the stallion, Ardent Bravery the Alicorn of courage, looked to have been spun from dusk’s light in its orange hue as he boasted about his venture on the island matched only by his brilliant youthful eyes the color of rubies. He had jumped onto the table and kicked at invisible enemies showing off his dark brown coat as well as his symbol which was an eye framed by a lightning bolt. Which he claimed was because he had the courage to look at even forces of nature and move past any fear an Alicorn could suffer.

The next to offer their voice was one who only spoke the truth as he represented Honesty as the third to be of the chosen. “While that is a proper idea, the problem I see is, do we want him back?” I wish I could say that there were a few gasps, but really it was closer to only a couple as he held up a hoof to continue. “I know, but honestly, he has been causing nothing but trouble lately with his crusade of keeping hope alive even though we all know it is well and plenty alive.” The deep voiced stallion known as Sincere Integrity had gotten a lot of nods to this making his own join causing his mane of orange and reds like a living fire to bob to the motions only marred, or enhanced depending on whom you asked, with stripes of cyan creating a rather contrasting image of his coat which was the color of burnished and polished gold. He was remarked as the king of honesty by many Alicorns as his symbol was that of a crown made of tree roots.

There was a cough in the room and everypony went silent as the eldest looking Alicorn in the room spoke. “The question is really are we his colleagues, friends, allies, or enemies. While we may not be his friends we are certainly not his enemies I don’t believe.” Her coat seemed to pale and gray as it got closer to her head and fore-hooves then her tail from the yellow of spun sunlight that is was near the rear, only for the coloration to reverse for her mane and tail as it went from yellow to gray near the ends. “That leaves us as his colleagues and allies and as such it is not even an option to be glad he is gone, but to wish for him to return to us and a healthy fashion.” Kindness was Magnificent Compassion’s calling and she embraced it well, melting even surly hearts with a gentle touch. This was displayed rather prominently on her with her symbol of a four leaf clover made of hearts instead of the actual leaves.

Tap, tap, tap came the sound of a hoof on the table drawing everypony’s attention once more to another, this time to Inner Jubilation, the mute Alicorn of Laughter whom held out her ‘speaking sign’. “Maggie is right.” Flip to the other side. “We shouldn’t wish him to never return.” Flip again. “We want him to come back to laugh, cry, and be all together with the rest of us just like before.” Again flips her sign once more to a side that had writing on it. “Even if he is a sourpuss who doesn’t seem to want to talk to anypony anymore.”

As long as I have lived I have never been able to figure out how she works that sign and I don’t think anypony ever will, that is the magic of laughter and how it can come from anywhere, anytime, and anyplace even if you least expect it. Her symbol was a heart with a smile on it, said to be the one that best represents all of the chosen in its simplicity, all of which is made even more stark compared to her completely white body against her flowing pink mane that had sugar sprinkled throughout it and made of sugar. Or at least that is what she claimed not that I have ever wanted to take a taste no matter how many times I had forgotten my lunch with Caeli Cor.

Legerdemain stood and spoke as if to end the meeting. “Many of you had made good points this day and I will think about it. However I cannot promise to send Alicorns just to find him since it was he who left us. It was his choice to leave his duties behind and do whatever it is that he is doing. So as of right now if he comes back he will have to explain himself dearly or we may have to think about the possibility of expelling him from the chosen.”

Gasps of shock and outrage were heard from many in the room and while I want to say there was more shock then there really was, it seemed many knew of the leader’s disposition towards the wayward chosen.

“HOW COULD YOU?!” There was only one voice among all of the chosen with the commanding tone that was present now, the voice of loyalty itself: True Devotion. “Where is your sense of fellowship leader? How could you even think to abandon one of our own over something like a trip?” True was the leader of the guards and the Alicorns that had made sure to capture any trouble makers or dispose of monsters when they strayed too close. “I myself have gone out for years before on a crusade to kill off the dreaded Windigos though I am still in the opinion that some may still exist to this day.” Shaking her head causing her stripped mane of cold iron and cobalt to ripple as her bronze coloration on her body tensed. “Never mind that, the point is we are all allies we stand together as one even if we are not all here.” The fierce symbol that this Alicorn sported was also the same one that was the symbol of the guards themselves: A silver and gold with two lightning bolts behind it.

For a moment there was a slight fire in our leader’s eyes before it vanished making me often wonder if I imagined it that day. “Regardless you were on an important mission, Dreamer is out who knows where with no contact from him in this entire time. You sent letters with messangers. Even Ardent sends letters regularly when he goes off globetrotting. All we got from HIM is a letter telling us not to look for him and that he has gone ‘soul searching’ for hope in both him and in others. No check ins since then no nothing.” There came a ‘but’ from a soft voice only for Legerdemain to stamp his hoof down. “SILENCE! That is all I will hear about this subject, end of discussion.”

The voice he had silenced was Clear Absolve only to give a soft apology as she quickly excused herself from the room. Pain and regret was clearly shown over my employers face for a moment so strong it almost made me feel them myself before he rose up dismissing all the Alicorn’s in the room.

I wouldn’t let this continue, this being why there was a rift between my employer and Hopeful Dreamer. There was only one who would be able to tell me, one who would answer anything given of him truthfully.

“Excuse me Lord Integrity; there is something I need to ask you, something important.” This was it, if I spoke wrong or if he didn’t want to answer, it could very well cost me my job and with Celestia growing up I need all the money I can get to make sure her future is as bright as the sun itself.

Celestia had to stop for a moment as she was choked up with her feelings. “If only you knew father what your little girl would grow up into and what she represented you will know that her future was as bright as the sun indeed.”

Turning over the page to the next translated script she was surprised when it wasn’t more translations, but something in modern Equish. Something recent. Something…sad.

‘I, Lego Bright Star, of sound mind and sound body, do so swear that this is my final will and testament.’ Her voice cracked as she read that in her head. ‘Lego has made out a will and judging by the stamp it was notarized by one of the visitors that help to prep meals for him. Does he really believe his end is coming soon? Or is he just preparing for the worst. Then again he had been hiding how badly he had been doing at home, the condition of his lungs and other things, maybe it is worse than we all think? Even more surprising is that among all the things he is giving out the biggest things are going to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight herself. Applejack and Rainbow Dash I can understand but why Twilight, unless there is something my student has not told me.’

Not able to stop herself, she set the papers down and after a bright flash, found herself at the specialists office and knocking on the door. After a moment the doctor opened up the door and kneels immediately.

“Rise, my little pony, I came to check on how everything was going with your patient.” She told her in her best calming voice.

“Y-yes your m-majesty, it’s just I wasn’t expecting you to come here to hear the findings yourself even if the tests aren’t back yet.” She was very young, judging by how she stuttered or maybe highly nervous, but highly praised which is the reason why Celestia had called her over in the first place.

Raising an eyebrow at what she said she asked. “Oh if the tests aren’t back yet how is it you have findings? Or are these an educated guess?” Celestia had only been teasing but when the pony winced and looked sad a cold pit formed in her stomach. “What is it Doctor Respite.”

She only licked her lips for a moment before she spoke some words that were as final as they were conclusive. “Even without the tests, the basics which I took from him were rather unfortunate. The best we will be able to do is make his final days and possible weeks as comfortable as possible. I am not sure how long but-”

The sun raiser, bringing of the dawn, and setter of the sun had heard that speech too many times in her lifetime to listen to how it ended. She knew that Lego was dying and soon.

“Ahh, nighttime what a wonderful time you are even with the wonderful weather you bring this day.” Came the voice of a stallion as he rode the air currents above the downpour. “So nice and delightful especially with that full moon overhead making Canterlot to seem like a wonderful safe place to live in its comforting glow…lets change that.” With a laugh and the folding of his wings he swooped down to land upon a rooftop ignoring the rain as it soaked him threw. He would glide from rooftop to rooftop as he was searching for his victim of the night.

“Oh you are making this too easy my little prey.” He said as he spotted his next target, wearing what looked like a waterproof cloak complete with a hood and judging from its make very high class. “Another noble gets there wish to be put upon the Canterlot news paper, oh how I love to make wishes come true.”

Swooping down into the alleyway in front of the stallion he gave the same smirk to him as all the others. “Hello there friend. I am hoping that I can help you out this evening.”

The stallion seemed calm for whatever reason even here in an alleyway like he was. “Oh, I could always use a bit of help, I am looking for somepony and I am wondering if you could help me.”

The hairs on the back of his neck was sticking up now, there we being watched, he didn’t like this at all but was too confident to stop. “Sure, but first I need help from you, you see I am a painter and this alleyway is my project, so I am wondering if you can contribute to it.” His grin grew this was what he was waiting for as his fangs became visible.

“Oh? Should I go get you some supplies to help with your painting?” The calm voice of the stallion said with confidence.

Giving into his laughter even at the expense of ignoring his instincts he spoke up. “No, no, no, I am sure your blood is the right shade of red for this.” Getting ready to launch at him he felt hesitation just long enough for the stallion to throw off his cloak. Or rather her cloak.

Before him standing in all her glory was the Princess of the Night herself with a rather angry look to her face. “Finally we have found thee, criminal.” Lighting her horn suddenly there were guards everywhere in the alleyway. “And we will bring thee to justice. Surrender and no harm will come to thou.”

Danger, he was out numbered. He was overpowered and out matched. He was…excited. All the guards in the alleyway suddenly looked unnerved as he started laughing in a rising pitch more and more and he loved the look on their faces.

“Oh that is just too good Princess. However I am going to have to decline your offer for a tryst in your bed sheets this day. You see, while you would make lovely paint for this alleyway, I find I can’t do my best work with anypony watching except the fading light of my victim’s eyes. So for now-” He gave a stamp of his hoof and mist rose up rapidly. “-I will have to reschedule for a later date. Tata till next time my precious paint.” Moving quickly through the fog he made he did what was now natural to him as shouts of confusion were heard.

“Thou shall not escape thine punishment!” Out came the Royal Canterlot Voice as it blew back the cloud of fog with both its volume and a bit of magic from Luna’s glowing horn.

He loved the sound of rage in her voice when she discovered that he wasn’t there, made all the more lovely as he watched the struggle to hold back profanities fail from his hiding spot. He continued to watch till the bunch dispersed their Princess first leaving with a flash of a teleport. Levitating a cup of tea up from its resting place the killer took a sip and smiled.

“Ahh such lovely tea, I am glad I got to taste it while watching a wonderful show. Oh, my sincerest apologizes to my hosts. I really didn’t give you the common courtesy that I should have when I let myself in.” He turned and bowed his horned head to the two in the room. “Such a shame that I couldn’t do a proper job but I really wanted to see how that played out over there and well, one doesn’t just seep into your home and expect one not to scream. Well, anyways, Tata and thank you for showing me your lovely home.”

The killer left out the front door as if he owned the place, leaving the couple that he left behind still skewered upon rods as he whistled an unsettling tune.

The nights after the killer was spotted Luna, being a rather surprisingly good artist managed to paint him for the guards to keep a look out for with a warning. Do not engage without getting proper word out. He had managed to slip away not only from just herself, but an entire regiment of her guards at night no less. The night vision of the Thestrals were second only to herself and the night vision enhancement on her guards armor who weren’t of that linage made them comparable to the bat pony’s vision. Even then he had not only used a smoke screen that he made from water but managed to slip away undetected.

It was possible that Velox’s former friend had taught others the ways of the current then they thought, or possibly, and more likely, it was just a Pegasus who had abnormal control over weather. Either way, she had sent some ponies to Tartarus to double check the grounded pony was still there, which he was. Though he refused to speak if he had indeed taught anypony else his ways.

With all of this going on now Luna now had to sit with her sister in the counsel room explaining why there was going to be a curfew set in place, much to the bickering of the nobles.

“This is outrageous just because some individuals are getting hunted down doesn’t mean it should affect all of us.” One noble with a monocle said to the others.

“I agree.” came the voice of a nasally mare. “We should be able to go out any time we wish in defiance of this lower life that preys on others.” The weirdest thing was Luna felt that opinion wasn’t exactly wrong, if just not worded right.

A scoff was heard next. “Why should we even care if this killer is taking down minor nobles and random ponies, maybe we should in fact congratulate him on weeding out the riffraff?”

A moment of silence ran through the room, not only because of the insanely stupid thing that noble just said, but because the glare coming off of the Princess of the sun should have melted him. Quickly excusing himself he departed from the room in haste after realizing the huge Faux Pas he had committed. There was hope in Luna’s heart that the scum of a pony would move out of Canterlot after that display. A pony could dream couldn’t they? The discussion continued for another hour with only one other pony leaving and its cause Blueblood got bored he said.

“Then it is decided.” Celestia said tapping her gavel to its home on her desk. “A curfew will be set into place and only a pass from myself or Luna is given to ponies allowed to wave that restriction but only if a reasonable excuse is given.”

The dark blue Alicorn groaned internally as now there would be many nobles clamoring for a pass that she would have to hear their ‘sob’ stories over. In the end though she would doubt she would give more than a dozen or so to anypony not on active duty at night. Luna was so caught up in her musings of what a ‘good’ story might be to give out a pass that it took Celestia a second call of her name to get her back to reality.

“Oh we are sorry sister, what is it thou wished?” Luna spoke gently seeing they were alone. Her sister only giggled and looked at her with playful eyes before the younger sister rolled her eyes and smiled. “I am sorry sister, what is it you wanted?”

“I don’t know why you keep insisting you talk like that sister dear.” The sun raiser asked of her. “You speak modern Equish fluently now and don’t need to keep up the act.”

Throwing her mane back dramatically in a show that Rarity herself would find masterful the Alicorn of the night smirked and remarked. “I do have a reputation to maintain and will slowly show my subjects of my progress to show that anypony can improve themselves with time as long as they keep trying.” Slowly looking over to her sister she giggled and went to nuzzle her “Besides it is fun.”

Giving out a giggle from behind her hoof before returning the nuzzle Celestia stretched out and asked her sister. “Have you read the latest translation of our father’s book?” After giving her sister a nod the subject continued. “I find it rather amusing that Premier let some of the others go look for Dreamer.”

“That is only because Clear asked him to let them. Though that didn’t stop him from being shocked that she went to join the others and speak out against it, not that it did any good.” Luna sighed and looked at her sister. “I know this tale is supposed to be what happened to the other Alicorns but I find myself excited each time we get another chapter. What is more I feel as if some kind of conclusion is about to happen, even though from what Sir Bright Star has stated that the book is only about halfway done maybe a bit more than that.”

She watched her older sister nod and seemed to think about her next words. “Indeed the fact that Hopeful Dreamer of hope is being searched for by Ardent Bravery of Courage, Clear Absolve of Forgiveness, Graceful Gift of Sacrifice, and Resolute Choice of Determination all of the Alicorn chosen that are the representative of the missing elements are all going worries me. I worry that the next chapter will state their downfall at the hooves of Dreamer and the remaining Alicorns will have to do something drastic.”

Luna had not considered that at all and had to ask the question on her mind. “What makes you think that sister?”

Giving a sigh as they both knew this from first hoof experience, something they didn’t like to do but was sometimes needed. “The winners write history my sister, and we only know of Magic, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Kindness. Where are the others, why are they missing, it is because their marks in time were removed from the history books no doubt.”

It made too much sense to disregard out of hoof and may indeed be what occurred. “Well I am not giving up, I am hoping for a happy ending.” There was a smile seen on her sister’s face before it was wiped away with the next thought that came from Luna’s mouth. “Though it does beg to question, if there are six physical manifestations of the elements, where are the other five? Or were the six elements created by the six Alicorns they represented as a tool or weapon?”

No answers were given to either Alicorn at that time but they both hoped the book held the answers to those questions.

The loud noise grew stronger and stronger slowly waking him up from his nap. More and more his head rose off the couch where he had fallen asleep wondering what the noise was only to find it coming from the door. Sighing and standing up took more time then he wished it would before he called out that he was coming.

Seeing it was day time he had no worries about the killer if it was him, even if it was what could, Lego have done to stop him. “Yes who is-mmph.”

Lego had only opened the door for a half second before his mouth was stuffed with a sweet sugary treat that he knew only came from one pony. “Hey there Waffles, I figured you might be a lazy bones of a pony so I got you that treat to help get you moving with lots of energy!”

The gray pony just rolled his eyes as other voices were heard calling to Pinkie Pie. “Gosh darn it Pinkie, give a pony some warning before you stuff things in their mouths, what if he choked?”

Pinkie gasped loudly. “Or spit it out in shock?!”

That got a laugh out of everypony present as Lego opened the door completely, the next gasp was from the ponies there seeing his current state. He had lost a lot of weight since he has last saw them for sure and his coloration was even more of the dull gray then last time but he didn’t think he looked that bad.

“Look I know I didn’t put on my face today but no need to look so shocked everypony, surely you seen Rarity without her makeup on.” His joke didn’t go over too well. “Would you all like to come in?” With a few nods he let them in and closed the door behind only to be stopped by a claw. “Ummm…what?”

The surprise in his voice came as the claw was attached to nothing, though a creature of mix matched parts and proportions reached out from behind him and took it only to screw it on his leg arm like it was machinery. “So sorry there, sometimes I just would lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my shoulders. I am just lucky Spike had to babysit the animals for Fluttershy or I couldn’t have come on this trip so easily to see wonderful Canterlot.” As if to demonstrate his head came off and he rolled it from one arm to another like a ball.

Whatever this thing was it had two mismatched horns, a single sharp tooth in his muzzle, a goatee like…well a goat, a claw off what looked like either a griffon or an eagle and the other being a lion or some other big cat, a cloven hoofed food and one with claws and was green. Not to mention the myriad of other things his body length itself was made of.

Something in his head was nagging at him, that he should know what and who this was yet for the life of him he couldn’t think of who- “Discord, be nice. Lego isn’t used to you yet and he is sick, take it easy on him ok?”

The voice of Fluttershy came and seemed to stop Discord in his tracks. Discord, the same chaotic avatar that wrecked havoc on Ponyville not even that long ago, the same one that was an evil ruler over ponies in the distant past, right there in his home.

“Hmm…neat.” Inside though, he was half shouting at himself that he should be worried, while the other half said that he should get some snacks for the tea he was going to have to make. “Anyways everypony…and…honestly not sure what you qualify as Discord but I think part of you is a pony so that counts for that, stay here and I will go make the tea.”

He went into the kitchen and was slowly getting the things he needed out onto the table to organize as his stove started to heat up and carefully setting the pot of water onto it only to drop it with a clang, or at least it would have if the pink party pony of Ponyville had not caught it when she did before setting it on the stove. “Lego, is everything ok? Twilight is saying you shouldn’t look this bad and that you should have stabilized. The doctors said you would so why do you look so bad?”

He wanted to lie, he wanted to joke it off and tell her that it was cause he was living a more scholarly life, he wanted to say anything but the truth. Sadly he had promised he wouldn’t lie to her anymore especially after that incident in the cave, even though he had let others lie for him.

“I have been letting others tell you a truth that doesn’t exist Pinkie. While it is not me lying they are lying for me.” He closed his eye before turning to look at her with the remaining one and spoke. “Truth is I am going to die Pinkie and soon if my declining health is a sign. Days, maybe weeks, but I won’t make another fall for sure. I doubt I will even make it half way through the summer.”

A gasp again rang out in the kitchen though this time not from the pink pony but the lavender one that came to see if she could help judging from the tea bags in her magic that had just fallen to the ground. “Wha-what? But I thought, I thought that the doctor said you were a Stable type and not a Choking type.”

Lego watched as tears were running down her face, a face he didn’t want to see cry ever and seeing them do so, made his own water in return. “Yeah, I asked the doctor only to tell the Princesses’ the full extent. I am a declining Choking type that uses up more mana then my body can now produce. I am going to die Twilight, I am sorry I didn’t tell you but-”

He never got to tell her why as she bolted out of the kitchen door and judging by the slam of his front door farther than that. Sitting at the kitchen table he let his tears flow, ones he thought he ran out of but found a fresh supply of when it concerned that particular mare. His other friends came in quickly to see what was up asking for an explanation to what happened. He had seen Pinkie look to him briefly before he nodded and decided to let her tell them what was discussed.

AJ spoke up first asking the question he knew she would ask. “Y-your lyin’ to us right pardner?” He only shook his head before he watched fresh tears burst from her eyes as well as she buried her head in Rarity’s neck.

“But, like there is a cure right, some kind of egghead treatment you can do to pull back right. It is not like you are giving up or something right?” Rainbow Dash always the brash one and fighter of the group asked with almost as tender a voice as Fluttershy might have spoke with.

Shaking his head he watched her eyes also get misty. “It is terminal Dash. There is no cure or treatment, it continues till the pony who has it can’t.”

For the second time that day a pony left his house in a rush, only this one went out a window instead to be followed rather quickly by her best friend and supposedly weak flyer.

Hearing the door again open and close and no longer seeing Rarity or AJ Lego sighed. “Pinkie, can you see to it that everypony is alright?” Giving a nod she left, her mane flatter then he had seen it in a long long time. He was not alone however as there was still one presence left. “I don’t suppose you could help me could you Discord?” He asked of the multipart being of chaos as if making a deal with a demon. Sadly he only received a pat on the back.

“Sorry old chap, while I can honestly say I have done some despicable things in my time, I have never killed anypony before. Chaos can’t really help here plus even if it could I don’t think your body could handle it in your condition.” Weirdly he expected the Draconequus to be sarcastic, rude, or even mean about it, but hearing the rather normal and strangely sympathetic voice he sighed again.

“You can’t blame me for trying.” Lego said with a defeated chuckle only to receive another pat on the back before Discord was just gone. “The most powerful forces of Equestria, Celestia, Luna, even Discord cannot help…this is really it isn’t it?”

The streets of Canterlot blurred from both the speed she was running at as well as her tears. She couldn’t believe what she heard, she just couldn’t. This had to have been some kind of mistake or lab error and she had to see The Princess right now to make her make the doctors rerun the tests. If not she would do them herself. “He was supposed to be a Stable type, he wasn’t supposed to die for saving us, he was supposed to continue being our friend, my friend, my…” she couldn’t get the rest out as the palace scenery, something she was always amazed at even when she practically lived there for her lessons, blurred by using muscle memory to find her way where she needed.

Two guards tried to block her way though she barely registered that they were teleported away in a purple hue before she burst open the throne room doors. “Princess, Princess please!”

The out of breath and tear streaked face of the most faithful student was cause enough for the solar sentinel to close day court and tell everypony to leave for the day. “What is wrong Twi-”

She never got anymore words out as she found herself comforting a crying unicorn. “Lego, Lego said, he said-”

Twilight could only sob not baring able to say it as she felt wings wrapping around her gently. Twilight wanted to hear her teacher say words of comfort, something to help, spill some kind of secret treatment to her that might work. She wanted to hear anything but what the Princess actually said.

“Twilight, I am so sorry.” The words cause the lavender mage to pull back and look up to her teacher, a mare just like herself as she too had tears in her eyes.

She had to ask, she had to have hope, she had to…to…to “The tests, are…are wrong right? They can’t be right if they said he is a declining type, please Princess tell me they are wrong!”

She watched as Celestia, Alicorn of the sun, swallowed down a lump in her throat as she spoke. “S-sometimes bad things happen to good ponies my student. Sometimes things that can’t be undone, things that…that…lead to them dying young. Lego is one example of a pony like that.” She could feel it. she could feel her heart breaking apart. “I have asked a specialist and she confirmed it herself. No matter what we wish, no matter what we want, Lego’s condition won’t leave. He is a declining type that only has a very small amount of precious time left.”

She doesn’t remember doing it, but she was later told by Celestia that she let out one of the most heart-rending cries she had ever heard. That was how her friends had found her, and they knew as well that Celestia had told them that there was nothing to be done just by the look and hopeless cries of their friend. They all knew then that Lego was going to die.

Chapter Twenty Five: Corruption.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Five: Corruption.

Right away after the reveal if his limited time, Lego suddenly started to see his friends a lot more. At least one of them every other day would hop on a train to come see how he was and spend time with him. When it kept going after a week though he started to wonder who was paying for this thinking the girls really didn’t have the bits to spend like this just to come see him. He was right too and he found out it was the Princesses after one conversation with Twilight.

To be honest, he didn’t mind at all, he just enjoyed seeing everypony when they could. “You know, I rarely go upstairs Rarity, you really don’t have to decorate up there since I don’t see it.” A scoff was all he got. True he had one of those chairs attached to the stairs now at the insistence of Twilight to the Princesses, but he still rarely used it.

“Darling, just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean a guest might now. What if one of the girls or I wish to stay the night or have a slumber party?” The voice of the prim mare came from upstairs.

Lego lifted a hoof to say something but nothing came to mind. “Alright you have good point.”

A light laughter could be heard from upstairs as he said that. “Of course, all my points are good. Now do you prefer a nice aquamarine to complement this wonderfully dark blue lace to really make it pop or would you prefer something more towards twilight.”

He opened his mouth before he could stop to think about what he would say. “Without a doubt in my mind, that it should be Twilight.”

He watched with a grin the pristine white mare stick her head out to look at him. “Oh really? What an interesting choice.”

It took him a moment to realize what she was implying. “What, I mean the color not um…just do it how you like.”

Lego left to the couch and to the journal to continue the translation. However he stopped to look at his glass of water seeing for a moment his reflection.

‘Weird, usually my mind is sharper than that. I should have been able to say something, anything.’ Giving a gulp he closed his eyes for a moment to think. ‘Maybe my health is starting to affect my mind?’ Opening his eyes and reaching for the glass of water he pulled his hoof back quickly at what he saw in his reflection. ‘What was that?!’ Looking closer he looked at his real eye for only a moment to see nothing was wrong. ‘Must have just been my imagination.’ For just a moment, he swore his sclera had turned black.

Shaking his head out of his stupor he got to work on the translation. It was really getting juicy now as it seemed reports were coming into the chosen about something last chapters that he sent to the Princesses.

Another year has gone by and only letters from the roaming chosen. The remaining Alicorn leaders were getting antsy if I was to judge the situation right, but then again, because I had a foal to raise, I could no longer be at every meeting. However I did manage to talk to the other scribe and what she told me was that reports of missing Alicorn villagers were coming in more and more. The buildings and structures themselves seemed fine but all the other Alicorns of those villages swear that a strange Alicorn had come asking if they were truly happy with how things were only to discover the next day that some of those that were had asked vanished.

No doubt it was cause of this they were worried. Legerdemain obviously had his suspicions but couldn’t state them openly without causing the other chosen to worry. The problem is, cause of his lack of control over his emotions recently most likely that I believe to be caused by the missing Clear Absolve who was with the others, that he didn’t need to tell the others of his suspicions to make them understood what he thought. He thought it was the doing of Hopeful Dreamer.

It was only by happenstance that I happened to be on duty when the report of another village being visited and Alicorns missing did all of the remaining chosen took flight, with me of course to record things for posterity. The flight had taken a few days and it was at that moment I was glad I was allowed to take time to pack and tell my wife where I was heading. When the seven of us had arrived we found the villagers outside waiting for us and judging from how many there were it would only be about maybe three fourths of the village or a bit less than that.

“We have heard of your troubles and came to investigate properly. Would any of you happen to be the leader of this village?” Premier asked as his pulsing mane followed his gaze as it swept the village.

An Alicorn took a step forward but seemed far younger then what I expected of a leader. “I guess that would be me since our village leader was one of the Alicorns that vanished.”

Taking a step forward to the side of the Alicorn of magic, Sincere Integrity looked towards the stallion and spoke. “Tell us, since the strange Alicorn came to everypony at one point or another, you should remember what they look like. Please describe them.”

For a moment the stallion seemed to pale at the voice of honesty before nodding and gulping. “Y-yes well he was taller than any Alicorn in the village by at least a head if not more. His coat was a gradient of black and white going from one to the other as it rose from his hooves and his mane looked to be made of some kind of liquid metal. Platinum or silver or even a white gold it was hard to tell with his eyes being the same color. I don’t know why but when he spoke it seemed sad at the same time of being determined.”

Inner Jubilation moved next to the others and held up her speaking sign. “Did he look like this” Flipping the sign over was a drawing of Hopeful Dreamer which caused the stallion to nod.

“That is him, wow you must have already got him or something to have a sketch like that.” The Alicorn sighed with a relief as did the others of the village.

Legerdemain however was seething. “I see, I was right all along. He never belonged with us. What we need to do now is-”

All words were halted as a flash so bright it blinded the entire village including myself and the chosen swept us by. It was a good half hour before the glow receded as if a wave going back out to see…it wasn’t light, it was magic.

The soldier among us took the reins and pointed to where the light was vanishing. “FOLLOW IT!” True Devotion took flight as she shouted this only to be quickly followed by the rest of us though none of the villagers chose to follow. I suppose in the end that was for the best as what happened next is still hard to bear sometimes.

From the air it looked as if we had found the culprit, Hopeful Dream right in the middle of a bunch of Alicorns, however something was wrong. All the Alicorns seemed too small and things were off about them as well but from this distance it was hard to tell. As we got closer and closer though the change was a lot more apparent, the Alicorns, or should I say what was the Alicorns, stood in pairs of threes, each one only having a horn, or wings, or neither. Some looked upset, others looked pleased by whatever had happened, but either way it seemed as if Dreamer had visited more villages then what was thought.

Landing in the clearing we came face to face with the rogue Alicorn whom, for what it was worth, was a lot smaller then when I last seen him. Either from the massive amount of magic he had just used or from the lack of hope I never did figure out.

“Hello Friends.” Came the pleased but tired voice of the Alicorn of hope. Before anything more could be said the sounds of more wings were heard as the remaining Alicorns that had went in search of him returned. At the time I was just happy to see them, but in retrospect it was too convenient.

“Premier Legerdemain what are you doing here?” The voice of Clear Absolve was rather tired as if she had just traveled a long ways without rest.

For his previous anger that was held inside the Alicorn, it just as quickly left when her presence was back. “Clear, we have just caught Dreamer in an act of…I am not even sure what to call it.”

However not everypony could be so calm, and it was with shouting that True Devotion showed he was the most upset about this. “Hopeful Dreamer What do you have to say for yourself?! How do you explain this injustice, this travesty and this monstrosity you brought about? You have done something to these Alicorns to pervert their forms, to change them and make them lesser then they were. Did you hope to gain something from making our Alicorns suffer in these mutated forms?”

For his part the silver maned Alicorn just laughed at him. “Yep I did. I did all of this myself. I found Alicorns that were unhappy, unmotivated by their own admittance and took them away. It was here that I ‘mutated’ them as you have just put it. I made them lesser, made them vulnerable. I split each of them into three parts, their physical prowess along with their connection to the very planet itself, weather and flight, finally knowledge and magic. I separated these three things from each of them and made them each into a pony representing these things. Terrans, Pegai, and Unicorns. From now on these ponies will live day to day relying on each other to progress. They will seek how to better themselves and become more then they are. They will truly live and will truly hope and dream from now on.”

I was so caught up in his tale at the time I never looked at the reactions of the others till it was over. Legerdemain was sad, I was always confused about this one but later found out why. Legerdemain was sad at a pony so lost from their calling one that he had once called brother not matter how much he didn’t get along with to do this. His sadness seemed to be matched by the Alicorns of Courage, Laughter, Forgiveness, Determination, and most of all Sacrifice. Honesty was disgusted with Generosity being as shocked as I was. Kindness was crying with how upset she was and Loyalty was fuming.

However it was Generosity who spoke up next from her shock, her elderly voice seeming to be on the verge of breaking down. “You have done this of your own free will you admitted, but why? Weren’t we perfect? Weren’t we all that were needed?”

She got a sad look from the Alicorn of Hope as he nodded. “Yes, Alicorns are basically perfect. That was the problem. With no flaws, no need to rely on others, the need to trust in and give trust to others, as well as the magic to do and summon anything that was needed there was nothing to hope or dream for with the exception of fleeting fantasies. Alicorns live till we die, as such the need to find comfort in others is as rare as hope was. Only your scribe over there is one of the only examples in all of Equus I could find of one looking to find the rest of themselves in another.”

Premier rose his head up and lit up his horn. “Be that as it may I will right what you have wronged.” Each of the separated Alicorns started to glow for a moment and move towards their missing pieces and pressed up against each other only for the magic to quickly shatter as Dreamer just chuckled sadly. “What have you done?”

The Alicorn most representing hope just looked at him. “You can’t fuse separate ponies together Prem.”

“What are you talking about; I only see pieces of a whole here!” I had never seen my employer like this but what was said next was the reason why.

For once Dreamer smiled something of a genuine smile. “I have finally bested you in magic my brother. You see, the moment I separated our Alicorns into the current species they are, their thoughts also started to change to match their new bodies, this of course was by design and of the ponies themselves accords. Meaning each of them are now their own ponies and separate beings. You can’t merge separate beings.”

Sad and angry all at once, Premier looked to the five fellow Alicorns that had come with him. “Since myself and five others of the chosen were here to witness this, it is up to us to determine your fate. My brothers and sisters lend me your strength.” With that the four other Alicorns that had joined us near the start gasped and looked to have something to say.

Hopeful Dreamer held out a hoof and shook his head. “No, he is right; it is their job to determine my fate.”

Six Alicorns started to glow in a bright light as they focused their powers together. “You leave us with no choice, for the good of Equus we do this.” Once more the sound of anger and sadness mixed into Legerdemain’s voice as he continued to speak. “Using the spell you just invented we too will use this for what we perceive is the good of Equus. Hopeful Dreamer, we hereby separate you into two, we will remove the part of you that thought this was in anyway good or just to mutilate our Alicorns like this, that should leave the pure essence of yourself behind.”

Stepping up closer to them Dreamer smiled and nodded. “I accept my fate. I may not be myself to guide my ponies here but I know that by working together, they will do just fine. Ten thousand Alicorns stood here only to become thirty thousand of my ponies. They will live, they will thrive, and they will hope. So my last request is that you leave them to be and let them judge for themselves what is just and true.”

I watched as the leader of the chosen nodded only once before he shot out the six beams of color that mingled in harmony. As they hit Hopeful I watched as tears streamed down his face, though I could tell they weren’t of pain or suffering. They were of joy as shown by the smile on his face.

The smile vanished suddenly as the coloring of the Alicorn inverted, black was white on him and his molten silver mane became obsidian now as something of a shadow was ripped off him and landed with a splat behind him.

All six of the Alicorns that had judged him landed from the use of their power as did the one who received the effect. Clear Absolve, I seen working some kind of magic and sealing the goop that had come off of Dreamer in a large piece of amber.

“How do you feel Dreamer?” Magnificent Compassion spoke gently to the changed Alicorn.

There was a moment where all that the Alicorn would do was to breathe deeply and exhale. “Like my true self, freed from the gross and perverted feelings that held me back. No longer will I need to be afraid, be scared. I know my place and I know my element now.”

With a smile on seven out of the eleven Chosen there I still found myself unsettled and I wasn’t sure why. With a glow of horns magic enveloped us and took us back to the capital. Leaving behind the new ponies to live for themselves as was requested.

I wish to say that this was a happy ending, but sadly that is when the nightmare truly started.

Celestia stared at her sister after they had both read that last page and gulped down the air. “Did, our ponies get created by an Alicorn from Alicorns and weren’t just born?”

Her sister just looked at her and nodded “It seems so. Ten thousand Alicorns became the beginnings of pony kind. It explains how one such as Cadence could ascend if all ponies hailed from Alicorn kind like this suggests.”

It was indeed food for thought the only problem was, they didn’t get to have their dessert as a guard pony came in after knocking. “Your majesties I am sorry to interrupt but it seems that more victims are being found. Since your curfew victims are now being found in their homes. What is worse is that some ponies are filing missing equine reports more and more. At first we didn’t think they were connected but the numbers keep rising.”

Celestia was just contemplating on what to do as her sister ground her teeth after telling the guard to send them the reports. As he left the older sister of the two had to reprimand the younger as she started to spout off curses long since forgotten.

“We know you are upset Lulu but you have to calm down. If you get in a rage you may miss clues that could lead us straight to the killer himself.” Her tone was meant to be helpful but it only seemed to irritate her sister.

Luna turned on her sister with a look of fury as well as sadness as tears streaked down muzzle. “Are you saying I can’t handle this task as I am too emotional? That I worry about our ponies too much, that you could do better sister?!”

“Sister, you know I didn’t mean it like that.” The pastel princess said as the look on Luna’s face turned from a mix of fury and sadness to just sadness.

Lunging towards her sister and burying her face in her neck she let her eyes and tears say what she couldn’t, say that she wished she could stop the killer and end this terror spree. Celestia knew how much she resented herself for not capturing the killer on that fateful night.

The rulers of day and night, sun and moon, Alicorns of light and dark, were feeling as helpless as the citizens they protected though they wouldn’t give up. Not by a long shot.

“Mmm, delicious.” Lego muttered into his ice cream cone.

Today it was Pinkie and AJ that was with him, and part for the course of the pink party pony, she suggested they get a sweet treat. While that in of itself sounded great, such a walk away to get the treat would have been too much for the sickly pony. Walking back in the summer heat wasn’t an option either. It was then they pulled out a wheelchair he had been given from the hospital so long ago. While that did put a somber mood to the trip it seemed to vanish as they got a hold of the treat.

“Righty roo. This ice cream is scrump-diddly-umptious. I might have to try to get the recipe from him.” The voice of his friend sounded for a moment farther than it really was. Lego had a moment where he struggled to even hear pinkie before things came back into focus.

AJ though wasn’t fooled it seemed as she had been looking at him it seemed and her face showed worry. “You all right there pardner?”

“Yeah, just tired I guess.” He went back to tasting his cone only to find it half melted. “Huh when did that happen?”

Pinkie and Applejack exchanged a look towards him before the country pony continued. “Sugarcube you were staring off into the distance for a good five minutes or so.”

That had been happening more and more to him recently, more and more time lost and feeling more and more tired by the day. The doctors he had talked to last time said that when his time was running out those things like might happen. That he would just feel weak one day and during a nap or when he was resting he would be…

“It is ok you two, I am fine. Well as fine as I can be I suppose.” Tossing the rest of his cone away he found that his appetite was gone now anyways. “This was a great idea and I really did enjoy it. The most fun I have had in a while.”

Pinkie came over to give him a gentle hug, wrapping her hooves around his barrel and give a light squeeze that he returned.

It was a perfect moment, the best moment as he opened his mouth and clamped down on her throat gripping and pulling back as he took that part of her with him. The moment her blood hit his face did he feel truly alive.

With a start Lego jerked himself out of…whatever that was to see Pinkie still hugging him and as fine as can be. “You ok?”

Feeling a bit of a cold sweat he nodded “Y-yeah, just nodded off for a bit there in your coat. Sorry about that.”

Giving a giggle she just smiled and waved it off. “Don’t worry about it, a mane as fluffy as mine puts Gummy to sleep all the time. At least you didn’t drool on me.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that only to cough a few times. It was not that bad thanks to the pain medication he got from the specialist. “Anyways we should get back. I have a bit more translating to do before I am done for today.”

“Alright sugarcube but after we drop ya off we hav’ta git ourselves.” The cowpony said to his nod.

The house had been redecorated in the last few weeks, thanks to the efforts of Rarity mostly, but the rest had helped as well. Because he slept more often on the couch then his own bed a blanket hoof-knitted by Fluttershy herself was there for him. He always found things like that too be too comfortable and often found himself dozing off in it. Such was this time. Waving goodbye to his friends he settled down on the couch.

“Today was really a nice day.” Lego muttered to himself while getting comfortable. His eye slowly becoming glassy as he yawned showing how tired he was feeling. “I hope I can have many more of them.”

‘So do we brother, but we can’t hold him back anymore.’ The voice in his head startled him half awake but he felt like he was swimming now drowning almost as the sclera of his eye became black. He jumped up and tried to struggle with is body, knocking over a desk with a lamp, a few chairs, and other various knickknacks on shelves that he somehow climbed up to reach all the while ripping out what looked like black chunks of fur off of him. Like the time when he was shoved out of the metaphorical driver seat of their mind, he found himself being dragged away again only to awaken in his mind covered in thick tar like black gunk.

“Where am I?” Lego called out startled as well as worried. Was he having a nightmare? Was his brain dying from lack of oxygen?

A chuckle from his left caught his attention as it was a voice he knew so well. “Sorry bro, but you are a victim just like us now. We have tried so hard to hold him back from taking you but he has grown stronger and stronger from taking ours and your strength from our mana well.”

The pegasus brother he had though lost was hanging on the wall next to him. That thick black gunk strong out all over him and…pressing into him at the same time.

“We gave it a good run though, all things considered.” The voice to his right was another lost voice that had gone missing months ago. “Though I think you had it the worst of us Lego, having to be out constantly with our body in that shape must have been worse on you. Sorry we couldn’t have shared the burden.”

Novo, both his brothers found managed to bring tears to his eyes of happiness despite the pain he felt lacing through his mind made body.

Wishing he could wipe away the tears and at the same time not he asked. “So what now?”

“Now, you get to stay here and just barely understand what I do while I have my own body. Now the problem I am facing is how to make your body perfect now that I have all three of you. Oh well not like I will feel the pain.” The mysterious voice told them as pain lanced through them.

Today was her day, today was the day Twilight Sparkle told a certain pony how she felt. She didn’t care about his health, she didn’t care about if he shared any of those feelings or not. She cared only to tell him while she could, to not let a missed opportunity go by and wish she had shared those feelings another day. What caused this suddenly spring of courage, a letter back from her old foalsitter that had explained her feelings and his condition to her.

The letter had been nicely written, perfectly aligned, and practically babble for all of what Twilight had wrote quickly so she didn’t have time to second guess what she had written before sending it. So to say the letter came back with lots of laughter at the start was an understatement, but it did come back with the advice she needed.

She had a key to his home; they all did so they could come and go to check on him. Taking this like a grown mare, she calmly opened the door, went inside and explained her feelings to him.

Or rather that is what she wished happened; instead the door was flung open as Twilight rather loudly shouted. “Lego I have to tell you I like you a lot!”

Face blushing crimson even through her fur she waited with closed eyes for a response. She never got one. Instead as she opened her eyes she looked around to see a scene from a nightmare.

“Twilight I heard that from the carriage, should I still stay in here?” Twilight never heard the voice of her number one assistant. Instead all she could hear moments later was some mare screaming as if bloody murder had been committed. “Twilight snap out of it what is wrong?”

It was only with those words did she realize the scream had been coming from her. “Spike go get the Princess, I think something has happened to Lego!” Spike went off right away, using the carriage they had originally planned to use for a tour of Canterlot with Lego to be put to use in a rush job to the palace.

Twilight didn’t want to touch anything but seeing things broken tossed away and…was that black gunk. ‘No that can’t be, that would be the sign that the…oh please Celestia no!’

The unicorn woke up to Celestia shaking her awake as Luna and the guard was searching the place. “Are you alright my student?”

As seemed like it had become a habit in the last weeks Twilight found her face pressed against her mentor’s fur as she cried out. “Please tell me it isn’t what I think it is!”

Luna had come back and looked at them both with sad eyes; however Twilight never saw that, she only heard her voice. “The black fur that was melting is consistent with the dark magic infesting the killer though testing will need to be conducted. However there is little doubt that the killer was here. There are also signs of a struggle and it looks like Lego has been removed from the premises.”

The glow is what Twilight first seen as she turned to look at Luna. The Princess of the night was holding a bundle of papers written in neat hoofwriting as well as loose papers and a book that looked familiar. “What is that?”

Luna sighed and looked at the things she carried. “This-” She lifted the bundle up. “-is the latest translations that Lego was working on as well as some of the direct translations here in these.” She motioned once more towards the loose papers before motioning at last to the book. “And finally here is the journal itself that we left in his safekeeping. While it is of no consolation, at least the killer didn’t destroy his work.”

The student knew this was important to the sisters, she knew that secrets upon secrets lost to time was in those words. A precious book, ones that she loved to care for and look after all her life while reading them herself and yet-

“I don’t give a buck about a book Luna; I just want to find Lego safe and sound!” She could only see the shocked but sad look on her friend’s face as she said that. What she couldn’t see was the look on her mentor’s face that was one of shock that she had said something about not caring about books. The tear filled eyes were overflowing as Twilight went on a tirade of words that all amounted to one thing: We have to find Lego.

Celestia pulled her student back into a hug as Twilight started to cry against her once more pouring her heart out that felt like it was breaking. Twilight was a smart mare, she had often had thoughts and ideas of what she thought she would feel like if something happened to one of her friends, her family, and those she cared about, but none of it came close to her predictions. She thought she might be able to handle the emotions that would pour out of her at those times handle it with logic and reason. Not even close. That was the exact reason that Celestia had to put her to bed early that day as she had cried herself to exhaustion when no evidence of Lego could be found and the gunk came back as positive for dark magic.

All of Twilight’s friends had come to Canterlot soon after the discovery of the missing sick stallion to offer support, help, or just comfort to their friend whom could only nod and not speak as she had already worn her throat hoarse from her crying. Twilight wanted to say she heard each promise and word they gave to her but most of it was a blur to her. Every day the sun had come up it seemed to banish less and less of the darkness night held and the world felt as if it was less bright and had less hope each day when the pony that took a piece of her heart with her wasn’t found.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were in similar spots as Twilight however whatever pain they may have been harboring instead turned to determination as they volunteered to go on patrols at night so that the culprit was caught. Pinkie Pie wasn’t seen at all, the news of what had happened caused Pinkie to vanish with almost a look of hatred on her face only for Pinkie to come back during the day looking exhausted to take some rest only to eat when she woke and went back out as night hit. Rarity was comforting Spike who was growing worried over Twilight’s attitude and lack of appetite. Fluttershy surprisingly had sent out word to all of the Canterlot animals to help keep a look out for Lego and the pony that had done this.

Each day no word of either pony came back except that seemingly he had struck again and either ponies were found dead or missing. So it was decided on the seventh day after the missing Lego that Martial Law was called into effect. Full Equestrian Military might was called in to patrol and start searching for the culprit. To say such a thing caused a stir throughout Equestria was an understatement as Martial Law had only been called on a hoofful of times in Equestrian history. News of this went over the world itself and no doubt that would cause its own worries and problems at another day. Still, now there were armed guards patrolling the streets day and night. The curfew from before was now strictly enforced with military backing and most whom were caught were held for questioning till they were released later.

It was a dark time in Canterlot two days after the Law was put into effect and only one pony was enjoying the challenge, the same pony whom had bested one of the sisters of the throne and whose art would continue. Speaking of his art, he was looking in on a home now. A single mother and father in a single story home complete with attic, so no herd in this home, a young filly in her room playing with her dolls and an older sister that was currently about to score a touchdown if his hoofball term was correct. Neither his host nor he had much knowledge for the sport so if it was wrong he never knew. It didn’t matter either as he glided silently over to the open window.

The noises from outside the closet was so scary, her hooves were shaking under her where her mother had told her to hide. The voices of her mom and dad were so loud when they were arguing with the black pony that had arrived in her older sister’s room where her sister and her colt friend were making strange noises before. Those noises had stopped suddenly and the black stallion had come out. Her mother had run to her room and told her to hide in the closet till they said it was safe.

There came the sounds of screaming soon as two thuds followed with a wet and squishy sounding splat. The silence scared her more than anything as neither her mother nor father came to get her. Deciding to disobey her mother’s orders the little filly snuck out of her hiding spot in the closet and came to her door. The sight of what the dark colored pony and what he was doing would forever scar the little girl whom ran for the hills as she jumped out her window. The stallion was too preoccupied with what he was doing and never noticed.

He looked down at the hurt and unconscious ponies; he never out right killed any of his victims anymore and instead let them bleed out from what he did as he used their blood to paint lovely works of art on the walls and floor. “I do love how long you all will take to bleed out, I really am getting better at this. I should get at least a day or more out of you all. Now then let us talk while I work. I really should think of a name for myself. I was thinking of following a certain pony’s idea and using ancient Equestrian for my name. So I came to the conclusion that since I am the ‘scourge’ of this city I should translate that. That comes out to Plaga, I rather like the sound of that don’t you?”

No pony answered the newly named stallion as he shrugged. “Everypony is a critic.” Looking over at the wall he was painting on he started to hum to himself and think of what next should he draw when his stomach growled. “Guess I should wash up and get something to eat first.”

He had washed up and had a nice daffodil sandwich prepared when the door was blown inwards causing him to stand up quickly and look at whom had just did so.

“You are under arrest!” Came the shouting voices of several different mares one of whom he both loved and hated to see again.

Plaga put his meal down and stood up to look over at the Princess of the night. “Ahh Luna, so good to see you again.”

Luna wasn’t in the mood to talk though as she fired a bolt of pure arcane energy at him taking him in the chest. He started to get up and chuckle as cause of his source of power something like that wouldn’t harm-

Pain lanced through his body suddenly as he let out a loud curse and he looked down to the bubbling and hissing spot where the blast had hit him. “What did you do?!”

His anger must have been clear as the princess of the night almost smirked. “It was a Purity Pulse. A type of offensive spell meant to eat away at dark magic like what you use. Though I didn’t think your use of such magic had saturated your being so thoroughly. I must assume that it was extremely painful for you. Though then again not so much as what you put others through.”

Standing up he let his anger get the best of him as he threw his wings open and forward sending a few of his feathers at all the mares and Luna that had come into the home. To his shock and disappointment none of them hit Luna though a few of the guard ponies did take a hit.

“Careful your highness you see those feathers will grow and eat away at them inch by inch if you don’t get them healed. Better run off or you may get hit as well.” Plaga smirked as he gained the upper hoof only for Luna to start laughing and send another blast at him which he dodged this time as the magic hit and shattered something behind him.

Luna motioned with her head over to the guards. “Don’t worry about them.” Said guards were brushing off the melted feathers from their armor and exposed parts as if they were laminated and the gunk couldn’t adhere to them. “these were guards I hoof chosen to bring with me after you, all having armor enchanted to resist dark magic and repel corruption such as what you may spread and often leave behind at all your crime scenes.” Taking on a more serious look as Plaga grew more worried she continued. “You are hereby charged with numerous counts of murder, unlawful disobedience, kidnapping, treason-”

“Kidnapping?” He asked curiously, he had never taken anypony thus far so there should be no reason for those charges to come up. The debris from the blast must have also cause some lacerations as he felt something pool at the back of his hind hooves.

He was answered not by the princess but instead by one of the guardsmares that were with her as she took off her helmet. “We want our friend back!”

The helmet coming off meant the illusionary enchantment of the armor also faded, leaving not the dark coat of a thestral-blooded guard, but instead the pink coat and pink poofy mane of a regular earth pony. One he knew from observing from his host.

Pinkie Pie stood there with anger in her eyes staring at him as she continued. “Give Lego back!”

Luna held out a hoof in front of the pink mare as she spoke. “Him and all the others you had taken. It will not alleviate your sentence at all but it will make sure you at least come away with a clean conscience.”

“Well sorry to inform you but I don’t take prisoners.” Plaga said as he was looking for a way out only to see out of the corner of his eyes what had really been hit as well as what was pooling around his back hooves. All of this made him smirk as a horribly terrible idea formed in his mind that he loved. “Well not normally at least. I have only ever taken one prisoner whom I usually keep close at hoof in case princess killjoy there ever ruined my fun. Now I have a puzzle for you, it only has one right answer for you all.”

He loved seeing the guards and Princess suddenly become uneasy at his tone of voice. “What are you planning?”

The dark pegasus laughed before looking at them. “These ponies are still alive, as is the prisoner I took. If you want to save them I suggest you make the right choice.”

“What do you mean, we have you cornered, all you can do is surr-” The Alicorn started as Plaga cut her off.

Shaking his head he smiled. “Such a small force so here is your puzzle.” He stomped his hooves into the spreading water causing fog to burst into the room. “Chase me and condemn the ponies here and in the attic to die or-.” The sound of a window breaking could be heard letting the fog also billow out into the air as he was sure there were ponies surrounding the area all as the sounds of hooves scrambled on the wooden floor. “Save them and let me go, tick tock Princess.”

He made the fog extra thick and as such he himself had a hard time seeing where he was going but eventually made it up the stairs and silently opened and closed the attic. Grinning to himself for his idea he pulled in all of the dark coating covering the body as he reverted it to its base form of a sickly white pony.

“Oh the fun I will have.” He muttered and ran forward to knock himself out quickly against one of the support beams.

Luna was sure they had the pony only for her blast from early to come and bite her in the flank. If she had not missed and hit the sink in the kitchen he would have had no water to use for that much fog all at once. She could hear her guards running around and into each other creating all kinds of bumps and thuds in her ears. Regardless it was either chase after him or take the hurt ponies to the medical professionals that could save.

“All pegasi use your wings to blow away the fog and quickly, we have injured to see to.” As ordered the fog was soon blown away though it did take a few moments as she looked over to others. “Send a runner out to get physicians here right away.” Pointing to the last group she gave the last order, just in case he didn’t leave. “Search the house from top to bottom in case he went into hiding to throw us off. If he escaped outside surely the guards out there are already hot on his trail if he has not been caught already.”

All of the guards were seeing to their job except the three that came forward towards her, Pinkie and two others. “Buck this sucks, we had him right there.” Came the gruff voice of Rainbow Dash under the helmet.

Beside her another mare took off her helmet to reveal blonde locks of her mane and a naturally orange coat. “Tar’nation Ah agree with RD here Princess. We should have had him.”

The Princess of Dreams hung her head low and sighed. “It would be my fault where blame is to be had. I gave him his escape when I hit the wash basin in the kitchen. If not for me then we would have gotten him. He was trapped with no way out.”

Her friends started to move towards her to give her comfort, something at this point she would have welcomed freely except. “Princess, we have located another victim upstairs in the attic, he looks to have sustained a head injury and is out cold.” Luna was about to tell him to see to the stallion but he continued. “What is more is that the stallion matches up to the description of a missing pony.”

For the first time since the killer started to roam the streets, Luna felt hope and she could tell she wasn’t alone as her friends all quickly followed after the guard.

Author's Notes:

Do not forget to leave feed back to let me know how these chapters do, it is much appreciated.

Chapter Twenty Six: Truth.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Six: Truth.

Lego’s injuries were almost completely healed and it was told to her that he was awake and responsive only after two days from when he was found. The only reason Twilight wasn’t there herself was that the last week had seen her barely sleeping and with news Lego was found, relatively, unharmed that she would get some well needed sleep.

The alarm spell was still ringing in her ears as she listened to the doctor as she mentally scalded herself. ‘Sixteen hours is a bit much even if I haven’t gotten rest lately. I still should have rested properly, what would the Princess think if she knew I slept so long like that?’

While going over the list of Lego’s injuries, Twilight never seen nor heard the princess she had been thinking of walking up behind her also listening to the list, even if she had already heard it before. “The question though is he awake and fit to see visitors?”

The purple unicorn nearly jumped out of her coat at her teacher’s voice. “Princess!” Forgetting where she was Twilight found herself nuzzling against her teacher before remembering they weren’t alone. “S-sorry.”

Blushing hard enough to show through her coat Twilight felt incredibly embarrassed until she felt her teacher nuzzle her back. “It is alright my most faithful student; it has been a trying time for us all.”

Breaking the embrace after a moment the doctor told them that Lego was indeed awake and could receive visitors. Inside the white stallion was sitting up in his bed, head wrapped up from his injury but seemed fine even if he had an iv hooked up to his leg.

Breaking into a smile that she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to, Twilight practically galloped over to him. “Lego!”

She knew she surprised him as it took a moment to register the hooves around him in a hug before she felt him contribute to the hug. “Hey there Twilight. Guess I was missed huh?”

Twilight was happy he was back, happy he was alright, happy that he wasn’t dead, so that is why she knew the tears matting the coat of the sickly stallion weren’t of sadness. “We were all so worried about you. We had thought the killer had gotten you.”

Feeling a shrug as she pulled out of the hug she heard him chuckle before seeing him smile. “Guess I was lucky. He kept me alive because he knew I was friends with royalty. I knew knowing the princess would pay off eventually.” Giving another chuckle he looked over to the door way and smiled giving a wave. “Princess Celestia.”

The princess smiled and moved closer to the bed. “No nickname this time Lego?”

For a moment Twilight thought she seen something cross the pony’s face before it was gone with a shrug. “No thanks, I think I have outgrown that. Got to start giving ponies the respect they deserve.”

“Shame.” The solar ruler said with a bit of a sad look to her face. “It had been a long time since I had a nickname from somepony other then my sister.” Moving back over to the door she gave her trademark smile that she gave when all came to visit her in the throne room. “Well, now that I see you are on the road to recovery I have to get back to work. I will try to visit more often and plan for more time for each visit but it may be a while before I can, rest well Lego.”

“And you as well Princess Celestia.” Waved the bed bound pony.

The door closed and there was now this awkward silence as Twilight closed her eyes and thought to herself. ‘Ok Twilight you can do this. You were brave enough to say it on the day you went to go visit him when he was taken, you are brave enough to do so now. Ok here we go. Going to say it now. On the count of three, one, two, three. And now. Here is where I will say it. Right-’

“Twilight is something wro-.” Lego never got to finish that sentence as Twilight cut him off right then and there.

“I REALLY, REALLY LIKE YOU!” Twilight felt her face flush to the color of Big Mac’s coat as she had her eyes closed from her announcement never seeing the look on the pony’s face before her.

Feeling a hoof on her shoulder she opened her eyes to see Lego smiling at her gently a smile that made her heart flutter more then she had ever thought it could. “Do you really mean that Twilight?”

Nodding her head rapidly she had to stop as she had gotten lightheaded from holding her breath. “Yes!” she said taking a deep breath to calm herself.

“Well Twilight, there has been something I have wanted to tell you for a while myself.” The fluttering was back and stronger than ever, it was also in her stomach as her head swam even more.

‘D-does he feel the same way? Is that what this is, does he feel just like me? I…I think I am going to pass out so hurry and say it so I can breathe.’ Twilight was having her moment as the lips of Lego started to move and he spoke.

“Help.” Twilight had to take a moment to process what he had just said for a moment she seen confusion and surprise overtake the object of her affections face before it passed. “I mean, thank you for your help. You have supported me so much and helped me do so many things and be better than I could without you. You are the thing in my life that makes life worth going on and I can’t picture my life without you. Help.” Shaking his head for a moment again before he spoke she felt his eyes looking straight into hers. “I mean continue to help me be better in my life.”

‘He feels the same way! HE FEELS THE SAME WAY! And he is also leaning closer…is…is he going for a…I mean I don’t mine but I-I don’t think I am ready I-I am closing my eyes, wait I am closing my eyes?!’ While her mind was running a million miles a minute her body was responding, leaning closer while her eyes were closed. She could feel his breath now so close to that touch she felt she needed.

“Medication time.” Only for the moment to be ruined by the nurse coming in to hoof over his medication. “Oh dear I am not interrupting am I?”

Twilight could only sigh and pull back, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest and as much as she would have loved to tell the nurse differently, she knew that the medication was needed for a full recovery. “N-no, just I had something in my eye. But he got it so I should go now, ok bye!”

Her horn glowing she heard the pop of her teleportation spell as she was instantly back in her room in the castle. “AHHH!” The voice of Spike shouted at her sudden entrance. “Oh it is just you Twilight. You would think I would be used to that by now but every now and then WOOOOOOAH does it catch me off guard.”

Twilight heard none of that as she just flopped over into her bed and covered her head. ‘Something in my eye, something in my eye really? I couldn’t come up with something better, or even the truth? Ahhh he must think I am a little filly that can’t handle that sort of attention. What if he changes his mind cause of that? What if he regrets the words he told me? Or what if he doesn’t even want to be my friend anymore?’

Spike watched as his older sister figure went into one of her normal spirals of thought as he watched her writhe and roll under the pillows and blankets mumbling to herself. “I will get some tea.”

Lego waved to the nurse with a smile as she left before looking at his medication. “New preventative measures in case of dark magic poisoning. Little late on that isn’t it?” getting up he took the small cup of pills and washed them down the bathroom sink. Looking up into the mirror he grinned for a moment before stopping. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your little stunt there you three. I am not sure how you got that much control at all to do what you did but don’t worry; the pain you are feeling now surely will teach you your place.” The mental screaming of the brothers warmed Plaga’s heart, if he had one of his own that is.

Heading back to the bed he started to think to himself. ‘Step one: infiltration complete. Now cause of my immersion into their little group, I won’t be able to do my normal art routine but, once all the steps in my plan come together, I will have six new masterpieces all to behold by everypony. Maybe eight if I play it right.’

‘We won’t let you.’ Plaga frowned at the voice, it was the first one he captured in this body, the pegasus Velox.

His wasn’t the only voice that joined in either. ‘All you can do is torture us, we will never break, and you will never kill us.’ This one was the second voice, the unicorn Novo. He liked all the knowledge that one had for the taking, though he still preferred the form of the pegasus for mobility.

“Oh, and how can you be so sure?” Plaga smiled as he spoke out loud to them, for he knew they could hear that.

‘Oh I figured that out within a few minutes of you capturing me.’ The Scourge of Canterlot frowned at the voice of the last one the earth pony Lego, he was smart, smart enough to make him nervous that he might figure out what was wrong with himself before he captured him. He didn’t though and Plaga won. ‘The reason you won’t is cause you can’t. If you could kill us without suffering any consequences then you would have killed my brothers long before capturing me. The fact that they as well as myself are still alive shows you can’t access our knowledge or our forms if we are dead.’

Plaga clicked his teeth together in annoyance as that was exactly why he feared that pony, a sharp and analytical mind was the worst match and it has always been. ‘No matter, you all fall to realize I have been at this for a long, long time. The Alicorn Amulet has always functioned this way, and since I am the essence of such I work the same way. I have captured many unicorns, earth ponies, and even pegasus while being passed around for power. Few ever escape and it’s really only because I couldn’t influence them totally at the start. However thanks to you three I found that I no longer need such a container.’

The faux pony sat straight up in his bed as the idea came to him and with it laughter. “Oh, I can’t believe I never thought of that idea before, oh thank you brothers for this conversation it was most inspiring.” He let his thoughts run allowed in his head so that the three could hear it and immediately angry retorts and promises to stop him came. It was music to his ears.

It had been a week since she had visited him, too embarrassed by the last get together to see him, and slightly afraid as her fears that she held as a result of her display still ran through her mind. However he was getting out of the hospital today with a clean, well clean in the relative sense considering his condition, bill of health. With that the princesses had invited the element bearers and the lucky stallion that was alive to lunch. Twilight was nervous as she was the first one to get to the dining hall that the sisters used, in her mind she was trying to think of responses to anything that would be said by the one whom held such a large spot in her heart everything from normal greetings and answers to simple questions like ‘how is your lunch’ to the more heavy hitting ones that she honestly hoped wouldn’t be asked.

Luna was the first to arrive followed shortly by Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity while not directly helping in most of the investigation was helping to design some enchanted fabrics, now that Spike was no longer worrying about Twilight, that would be worn under the soldiers armor to both give a bit of extra protection, help against chaffing , and to give just a bit of extra protection against heat and cold weather conditions. Fluttershy still was only getting bits and pieces of info for the princess and while the killer had not struck since the night that Lego was found the critters around Canterlot had not reported seeing him leave nor and fog to cover his escape. This meant he was still in Canterlot no doubt biding his time.

Speaking of Spike, he was the next to flow into the dining hall along with Applejack. Twilight was still surprised that she along with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were allowed to accompany Luna along with her mission to hunt down the killer. When she had questioned her friends they gave various replies but all was assured by the princess herself that they were tested to see if they were fit. AJ was allowed in because of her more than satisfactory physical physic as well as some impressive moves that she claimed she learned “in order ta keep them critters from the Everfree from eattin’ the apples”. She was still not sure if she meant the apples from the orchard or her family, either way it was enough.

Spike lazily laid his head down and was taking a few extra moments to catch up on his sleep as he was being used more and more lately to keep Twilight appraised of the situation. Another one who was getting sleep was Rainbow Dash, of which Pinkie Pie was currently towing into the room with a rope attached to drag her and the cloud she was sleeping on towards everypony. The purple mage now had another itch in her mind while remembering why she was let on to the team that Luna had.

Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were let on for their various skills. Besides being a very quick and able scout of the air, Rainbow had been trained in weather that would help clear up any fog the killer tried to use against them. Not only that but she was surprised that the multi-hued pony was an accomplished and master martial artist of several forms. Then came Pinkie, she was sure before hoof that the pink party pony was farthest from being able to go to the front lines like that…till the explanation came. For her abilities of prediction which could help stop ambushes, to her surprisingly fitness prowess that was nearly to the level of Applejack, to her Pinkie-ness to do things other ponies couldn’t figure out, and finally all those years of work with a party cannon made her an artillery specialist. Who knew?

All in all the fact that seemingly all her friends were helping in some way while she herself, one of the most accomplished mages in Equestria, student of Princess Celestia, and bearer of the Element of Magic itself all turned those accomplishments back on her as she stood on the side lines a mess unable to help. ‘Why couldn’t I do what Rainbow, Applejack, or Pinkie did? I am sure I could of help and not be such a completely worthless side lines pony who-PRONKING! The word I was looking for was pronking. That is the movement Pinkie does with the bouncing. Now…what was I thinking of again?’

Before she could find the tracks that her train of thought had derailed on the stallion whose sight made her heart beat faster was rolled into the dining area in a wheelchair that had a familiar golden aura around it whose royal owner followed behind right after. “Sorry we are late everypony. I had to go make sure that Lego was truly cleared for leave and I am happy to say he got a clean bill of health.”

She was sure that she was glowing at the sight of the stallion in the wheelchair for a moment before remembering the last time they had met and she had teleported away. Feeling suddenly very shy she looked to go take her seat before having to say something to buy herself some time. However when his chair rolled up next to her she couldn’t fight the blush that rose up in her cheeks when he smiled at her.

“So how are ya partner?” Applejack asked of the stallion first when their orders had been taken. “Recovery goin’ well enough for ya?”

Giving her a nod and a smile he lifted up a leg and flexed it. “Fit as a noodle.” That got a couple of chuckles from everypony. “How about you Applejack?”

The farm mare opened up her mouth to say something before stopping as if to think. “Doing really well Ah suppose. The contracts to move our apples to other places are really helpin’ the farm out. I was hopin’ that one day Velox would come back in your head so that Ah could thank him. Ah don’t suppose ya have and clues do ya?”

Taking a sip of water before causally speaking Lego looked at her as he spoke. “I tend not to think of them anymore honestly.”

Twilight almost gasped at hearing that though Applejack did for sure even Rainbow Dash, who had woken up to eat, and Pinkie Pie did. “How could ya not think of your family?”

There was a moment of silence as she looked at the face of the weak stallion. A moment where she thought she no longer seen the caring face of the one she felt such intense feelings for and instead a cold calculating eyes.

Taking another sip of the water he once more spoke calmly. “Simple, if I were to think of them it would cause me to think of if they have dissolved into my subconscious with no physical body and mental changes to associate with them which was what caused our initial split up into three separate personalities to come from in the first place. In other words my lack of ability to change makes me wonder if my mind and body could even support them anymore.”

The silence in the room could be cut with a knife and force once, even the energetic Pinkie Pie didn’t try. Instead she just got up and left the hall followed quickly by two others.

“S-sorry, Ah just need a moment to myself.” AJ said quickly running out following the pink party pony.

Nodding Rainbow Dash also spoke up. “Y-yeah be right back maybe.” Before quickly zooming straight out of the hall in a chromatic blur.

“I hope I didn’t offend them. I try not to think of things like that as it can be upsetting and getting emotional can weaken my immune system with stress.” The worried looking monochromatic pony told them.

Twilight though wasn’t feeling right anymore, something was off but she couldn’t think of what it was at the moment. Instead seeing the look on the stallion’s face made her shake her thoughts away for the time.

Speaking in a cheerful voice she said loud enough for everypony to hear. “I am sure they are just worried over their loved ones and friends. It’s a lot to take in when you see somepony you love hurt and in the hospital let alone just gone with no trace.”

The last bit felt more personal as she had just gotten back the object of her affection after him vanishing like he did. “Sorry, maybe I should have said something different then.”

Before any of the ponies gathered could say anything, the princess of the sun decided to stand up. “I am sure that it will be ok, however since they are dining guests I will go check on them while our food is being prepared.”

Twilight watched her teacher and mentor leave the room, wondering if she too was upset though she couldn’t tell behind the princess mask that the ruler of the sun was wearing. Though that in of itself didn’t make the purple mare any more assured as the doors closed behind her.

The dining room behind her Celestia quickly sought out the ponies that had departed not a moment ago. Searching high and low she couldn’t find hide nor hair of any of them. Instead it wasn’t her who found them but a servant who had seen them heading to the gardens. Quickly making her way to them she managed to find them only because she heard the sniffling…and the current topic being discussed.

“-sit right with me Dash. Somethin’ about how he said it so coldly just rang wrong Ah tell ya.” It was the voice of the orange bearer of honesty that spoke. “Ah remember him always speakin’ fondly and longingly about his brothers and to hear him talk like that just, it is just plain wrong Ah tell ya.”

The sniffling got stronger for a moment before another voice spoke up. “She isn’t wrong you know. When he smiled at us all back there…I got chills.” It was the subdued voice of the element of laughter, somewhat odd in contracting to her personality. “I have seen all of them smile false smiles before but never like that. That was the smile that somepony uses to deceive somepony else and it is just wrong.”

Celestia could tell where this conversation was heading and she had her own opinion, but before she could reveal herself to the ponies the last missing pony voiced their concern. “No kidding. I have talked to all of them as well and not a single one would act like that. Velox saved Apple Bloom and Pinkie at his own risk. Novo taught me something that he felt shouldn’t passed on cause he believed in me even though it proved to bite him in the flank before with his friend as well as fight off Changelings at the Crystal Empire. Lego, while the more silent type, is still a part of them and did his best and was a good pony. He should share the same loyalty as they did but as he said that even I could tell it was with a two faced tone. No pony like who we know would turn on their friends and family like that to the point of giving up.”

The Princess couldn’t agree more with the bearer of Loyalty and stepped into the place where they were talking, a small section around a tree in one of the more secluded spots of the garden. “I concur my little ponies. That pony there may or may be Lego; it is unknown at this time. My own experiences with the three brothers in the past have been very playful and uplifting even though he himself was having a hard time during some of the visits. He never wanted to show his pain to others nor let others learn of it and more often resorting to changing the subject of dismissing the idea of something wrong. This cool explanation was neither playful nor anything of the sort that he has done in the past.” It had started off with him no longer wanting to use the nickname for her which she dismissed at the time, but slowly she began seeing other things. “Whoever this pony is, if they aren’t Lego, then they seem to know enough about him to duplicate most of his mannerisms. However if it is Lego, we have to consider that whatever trauma he faced during the hooves of the killer might have left some scars on his psyche which may or may not heal over time.” The Alicorn stopped for a moment to consider psychological damage as she didn’t know what he may have went through during that week to do so. “Regardless, we don’t know what is going on and all we can do for now is watch and see if anything else is wrong. You all must remember that Lego has experiences not just one situation that many ponies never will go through, but several. The latest being his illness and now his kidnapping. We can’t be sure if this is a result to him reacting to what happened during his week captured or not. We don’t anything right now without getting a read on him.”

“So what ya are saying is that for now it could just be a think from disguised as him or Lego reactin’ all weirdly to the stuff that happened to him?” Sweet Apple Acres own hard working summarized pretty well. Seeing the nod from the princess herself Applejack stood up and brushed herself off quickly. “Well then, Ah suppose it should be our job to see if it really is him or not. If not that pony has some explainin’ to do.”

Pinkie was the next to speak up, in agreement with her friend. “Yeah, and if it is Waffles then we need to make sure that he gets all the super duper comfort he needs to get back to normal.”

“Indeed. Now if we would get close I can teleport us all back to the hall. Our food should be ready by now so I hope you are all hungry.” Celestia told them as two of the three mares moved close. “Rainbow Dash are you alright?”

Shaking her head quickly tears were still running down her face from her eyes. “No. I am not. I try to act all cool and put up a brave front but it hurts so much sometimes and I don’t know why. Sometimes there are days especially in the last few months when the pain is almost so real, and in my dreams I can hear Novo screaming out in pain sometimes calling out for me. So when he said he didn’t care it was almost as if I could hear Novo screaming even louder.”

Celestia had been around for many, many years, governing for the betterment of her ponies. It was sometimes easy to forget that one would experience so much pain when they lost someone and it sometimes caught her off guard. To see Rainbow Dash in that state all she could do was go over to her and wrap her wings around the pegasus in a comforting hug. They stood like that for a while, the Alicorn of the sun letting the fastest pegasus get all the tears out she needed.

Using a quick drying spell once she was done she made sure all ponies were available to head back to lunch. With a nod from each of them her horn lit up in its golden glow as she briefly hoped that she was wrong in her assumptions that this was another impersonator and that if it was Lego, he would go back to being himself.

Getting to the room he was assigned was a pain and the flank, needing somepony to help him while he could walk needed to keep his cover from being blown. He had nearly blown it he thought when the three mares from lunch ran out. Whatever the big hearted princess of the sun had said to them though made them all stick to him even more fiercely.

‘Ponies and their affection, it would make me sick if I didn’t love seeing that emotion turned around for those that love the hosts I take over. Speaking of-’ “Hey Twilight?” Plaga called out to the nearby Unicorn who was with her friends helping him to his room.

She must have been in her own thoughts as her head came up and her eyes focused quickly. “Huh, what is it is Lego?”

Waving a hoof around to everypony he smiled. “Not that I am being rude, but I really don’t need all of our friends helping me to get into bed, kind of makes me feel bad as well. Mind if it was just you and me? Plus we don’t really need six ponies and a baby dragon to put one stallion to bed no matter how sickly he is.” If he was going to put his plan into action he needed her alone.

Looking over to her friends she nodded and smiled. “Sure, I got this everypony go ahead and go back.” Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike seemed to take that pretty well, even if the latter didn’t like being called a baby from before. However Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie hesitated. “It’s alright girls. I will be fine. I should have no problems levitating him around. I mean if I can levitate an Ursa Minor then I am sure I can levitate Lego.”

The three hesitated a moment longer before leaving, Plaga remembered that two of those were lovers of two of the personalities he had captured while the third was the supposed best friend. ‘Guess it is just natural for ponies to sob over loved ones, even ones they know will never come back. Well at least I know that haha.’

Once inside Twilight quickly went around arranging the room only to be stopped after a few minutes. “Twilight, do you mind if we talk?”

Said pony jumped for a moment before moving over hesitantly to the stallion. “I-I am sorry, I didn’t mean to run away that one time and if you hate me for that I am sorry and-”

She was shushed with a hoof to her lips. “Actually I was hoping if you didn’t mind if you would like to continue where we left off before being interrupted?”

He could see her blush and honestly he loved it, he decided that he may even keep her around, or at least her body, since if his plan went forward and worked like he thought it would, she would be another victim to his hold. Plaga awaited an answer but all he got was babble he didn’t understand a long string of words explanations theory’s and some math thrown in. He wasn’t even sure what she was talking about so again he pressed his hoof to her lips to quiet her.

“Twilight, don’t think about it, if it feels right do it.” To show her, he started leaning forward towards her. For a moment he thought that his plan would fail but smiled in his mind when he seen her close her eyes and lean forward herself. He was an inch away as a black substance covered his lips. ‘Yes! Twilight your body will be mine as well!!!’

‘NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!’ Three voices shouted inside his head loud enough to give him a headache and a sudden throb in his head. The pain from the throb and its suddenness made him pull his head away for a moment in a wince and miss his primary target, the lips of the unicorn and instead hit her nose.

‘Damn you three, I will teach you your place once again!’ Setting about some mental tortures their screams were still loud enough to continue his headache going but now at least it pleased him to hear them screaming. “Sorry about that, must still be weaker than I thought.”

Twilight quickly wiped away her nose but never nosed the black substance going into it. “It’s ok I at least know that I didn’t mess up. That has been bothering me since I left so it’s a big weight off my shoulders.” She reached up to hug the stallion before levitating him over to the bed and setting him down. “I will come to visit more often and maybe…we can try to do that last bit right.” Her hoof was playing around in the carpet drawing circles as the blush on her face went down her neck as there was no more room on her face for that much red.

“I look forward to it.” Giving her a smile and wave Plaga watched as she left before turning his thoughts inwards towards the screaming. ‘You three! I am about done tolerating your meddling. She is mine now, it will actually be slower and more painful this way so in a way I am glad but you will not interfere anymore do you got that?!’ The screams only got louder and while Plaga was sure they would try again he smiled in that at least he got to enjoy himself.

Pinkie Pie and Luna were at Rainbow Dash’s room worried looking over at the mare on the bed sweating and moaning as if in pain. “So you are saying you both were coming back to your room, yours being next to hers, and suddenly she collapsed in pain and passed out?”

Pinkie looked at the lunar Alicorn with a worried look. “Mhm you were the first one I found. What is wrong with her?”

Luna’s horn started to glow as she pushed her magic into it and out, letting it flow over the pegasus before her as she frowned at what she found. “She is in a magically induced sleep, self imposed it looks like.”

The normally hyper pony beside her looked confused. “But Dashie can’t use any spells like Twilight or Rarity.”

Running a comforting wing over her subject and friend she smiled. “Any pony can do this, it is part of our survival instincts. You see when something magically traumatizes a pony suddenly with intense force, their body’s natural magic will recoil to wrap around themselves to protect them. So whatever did this to Rainbow Dash started out magical in nature so should be easy for me to track, but only after the element of Loyalty awakes.” Pinkie was about to speak again when Luna cut her off. “And seeing as I serve to help all ponies dream better, it is only natural I walk into her dreams to help guide her back to the land of the waking.”

Luna made herself comfortable as she started to let her magic envelop herself Pinkie was amazed as the glow seemed to die away for a moment but for sure she still felt the magic there. “Wow, it’s like it just blended into everything, neat. I wonder if I could do something like that if I tried.”

The ruler of night faintly heard those words as already her consciousness was leaving her body and into the domain where dreams all connected: her domain. Looking around she found a few doors already active as some ponies were taking naps and such so it didn’t take too long for her to find the door with the cloud and three-toned thunderbolt.

Pressing her horn to the door she already knew beforehoof that the bearer was having a nightmare and some intense emotions would be felt. However she wasn’t prepared for the jolt of actual pain and raw emotions that filled her at that moment knocking her back and onto the dream ground.

“What was that?!” Luna shouted to herself, having not felt something like that in a long time, where she couldn’t rightly remember right now but no time. “Alright this is going to be painful but for my friends I will endure all pain and all agony if it means I can keep them safe from whatever troubles I have the power to alleviate.”

Pressing forward she pressed her horn once more to the door this time prepared for what was to come. The pain and agony made her grit her teeth as she used her magic to force the door open, normally this would be done gently and silently however this time she threw the door open to wade into the room. Inside it was pitch black, screams of two sources could be heard, one of which she knew right away as her friend and the owner of the dream. The other was a voice she had not heard in many months. Quickly running towards the sources she came to find Rainbow Dash clasping her hooves at her sides wings wrapped around herself as protectively as possible.

However she wasn’t alone, almost as if superimposed upon her form was a forest green coated and yellow maned unicorn. “Novo?”

Dash must have heard her though as she looked up at the princess tears streaming down her face. “Luna please it hurts so much, make it stop.”

Quickly running over to her the dark colored Alicorn quickly pressed her horn to the forehead of the pegasus and started to use her magic to stop whatever it was that was attacking the pegasus, except she couldn’t find the source, as if it was being transmitted from somewhere else. When she tried to use magic to cut off the transmission she found that whatever it was that was transmitting it to her was so intertwined with Dash’s own magic she couldn’t untangle it. Instead all she could do was place a block in the pegasus’ mind and magic that stopped her from receiving the transmission. While dangerous to have for an extended period of time, it would at least stop the pain. Right away the pegasus collapsed asleep and her dream was the dream of those exhausted from a day, in other words she didn’t dream at all and soon Luna found herself back in front of the doorway to the subconscious of the pony she had just helped.

Waking back up in her body Luna looked around to see Pinkie Pie returning with a washrag to place upon the forehead of her friend. “Ah that is a good idea, keep that up and I will return shortly. I must consult with some specialists before I can help her any further.”

Teleporting quickly Luna found herself outside the magical studies labs, specifically the enchantment labs. “Whatever is plaguing my friend, they should know.”

Heading inside there were many scientists all working on something or other. She was still unsure of a lot of discoveries made since her exile but surely somepony here would know what to do.

“Ahh, Princess Luna are you here to marvel at what we are doing again?” The voice was from the head scientist a mare known simply as Eureka. Her thick goggles covered her eyes and she refused to take them off, same with the pure white lab coat she always wore so Luna only ever caught the colors of the coat of this pony that were peaking out, that said it was a light blue with a red fiery mane.

Luna did indeed come here often trying to better herself with understanding the modern world, and normally that is what she would be doing here now, except she was looking for answers and had no time for curiously. “I am afraid not most esteemed Eureka. I came to inquire you about some anomaly I have found in a pony.”

“Sure, what do you need me to think ‘bout today?” The scientist pony asked of the royal Alicorn.

The Alicorn of dreams and the night slowly and patiently started to describe the symptoms of the cyan pegasus, though she was asked many questions and interrupted repeated for clarification on certain facts. The questioning took about an hour but finally it seemed they had narrowed it down.

Currently the earth pony scientist was looking through a book having remembered something about a case like that before. “Ahh here it is. It sounds like your pegasus is suffering from Acute Trans Thread Feedback Syndrom. Meaning she has formed a Trans Thread, with somepony who is not doing so well right now, maybe injured or something else.”

She was sure she heard that word before. “I am sorry what is a Trans Thread?”

Eureka smiled and chuckled. “I believe it is also called a Love Line or Connection Cord in some circles. Ponies that share an aura usually lovers tend to-”

Her eyes went wide as she heard the names and remembered what they meant. “I have to go.” And with that she teleported out of the lab heading back to the room of Rainbow Dash.

Luna wasn’t the only one having trouble it seemed as Celestia had just barely missed her sister in the castle while being searched for by ponies. Twilight had collapsed and was running a very high fever. She was found by a maid who quickly took her to the Royal Physician right away before calling for Celestia.

Coming into the room she seen her student with her eyes screwed shut in pain but awake. “I am here my student, do not worry we will find out what is the cause of your pain.”

Twilight opened her eyes for a moment to give a relieved smile but had to quickly shut them again as a convulsion took her. Celestia quickly ordered the doctor to secure her while she ran a scan of her body and magical pathways to see what was wrong. The scan of the body showed many things, but none of which would cause this, while the scan of the pathways though.

“How?!” Celestia gasped as she found it, a mass of dark magic slowly inching its way towards her mana well. Quickly charging her horn she struck, luckily the source wasn’t too far in but with how it was moving it seemed alive. It was no match for her magic though which quickly removed the small mass of energy before it could do any real damage and cleansed what she couldn’t remove from her system. Right away there was a change in her student who seemed to calm. “There there Twilight, it is ok. However you and I will have to talk now. What was infecting you was a small piece of dark magic. I need to know how it was that this came to be inside you.”

“What? I-I don’t know. I mean I was feeling fine not too long ago, you saw me at lunch.” Twilight said shaking clearly afraid of why it was dark magic was found inside of her. However before Celestia could ask another question Twilight gasped as she looked at something. “THAT was what was inside of me?” Seeing where her student was looking she nodded and again was interrupted before she could speak. “That looks like the stuff the killer leaves behind.”

The Alicorn ruler opened her mouth to say something however she stopped and quickly looked over to the mass in her grip. “You may be right. I will be back Twilight, for now just rest and try to recall everything you have done last few hours, this mass was moving slow and couldn’t have been inside you for very long.” With a pop she appeared in the lab that specialized in the research of dark magic and its repulsion. Standing there was the pony she came to see and smiled. “Ahh Eureka just who I wanted to see.”

“Oh?” The earth pony scientist said as she looked over to the princess “First Luna in a different department and now you, I sure am popular today. So what can I help your solarness with today?”

‘Luna was here too? Never mind that, questions for later.’ “Yes, I would like you to run an analysis on this sample please.” She told the science pony as she carefully set the sample in a beaker for the pony. “I have had others test things like this before but you are the expert and this was in my student so I personally would like this handled by you.”

“Of course Princess.” She said giving a bit of a salute before running off. “Since this is obviously dark magical residue it shouldn’t be that hard to identify matching data, an hour at most, but most likely sooner.”

Now it was just a waiting game, one she hoped she didn’t lose.

“Wake up my little pony, wake up. I need your help.” A voice was calling to Rainbow Dash compelling her to wake up. She didn’t want to, she loved her naps. “Wake up Rainbow Dash, I need your help, it is about Novo.”

This caused Dash to spring up wings at the ready as she beheld Luna in a dark void surrounding the two. “What, where are we Luna, and what was that about Novo?”

Luna looked to be a bit sad as she looked at her but hide it away quickly. “I believe I have a way for us to speak to him or at least find him.”

Dash felt hope spring alive in her quickly and her wings trembled in excitement. “Alright let’s do it then, though that doesn’t explain where we are.”

“It is not so simple Rainbow Dash.” The Alicorn of dreams explained. “First off we are in the dream realm, you are asleep. Second I have found the reason you are experiencing the pain you felt all this time. You are having a reaction to the pain being caused to Novo wherever he is. It is because you are linked to him so deeply that you feel his pain.”

Her heart trembled just like her wings. “H-he is in pain? Then we got to go rescue him!”

“Again it isn’t so simple.” A comforting wing was placed around her as Luna spoke. “I have put a block inside kind of similar to a seal to prevent you from feeling the pain he feels. However if we are to find him, I have to remove that seal and you will once again feel that pain. I wouldn’t normally ask this of any pony except that I am-”

“What are you waiting for, hurry up, we have to find him!” Dash cut the princess off. “I don’t care what kind of pain it will cause me, if it means we can bring him back then let’s go.”

She saw Luna sigh and close her eyes as her horn lit up. “I am sorry for the pain then my friend.”

The pegasus was about to tell her not to worry when it hit her all at once, making her cry out in pain for a moment before she gritted her teeth. “Ready when you are.”

Luna’s glow enveloped them both before the scenery shifted and changed. They now found themselves inside a corridor lined with doors that led to rooms. Rainbow was about to ask where they should go when she noticed it. A thread that was connected to her forehead, one she recognized and was pointing in a direction. Right away she was flying in the direction and she could hear Luna right on her hooves. However more and more she ignored the pain as worry took over. The corridor was being covered in black tendrils that seemed familiar but at the same time her mind wasn’t looking to compare it to anything.

Instead she found herself stopped in front of a door covered in the stuff. “Princess, whatever this stuff is it is blocking the way to this room, he is in there, I can feel it!”

Luna was silent though she did charge her horn and blasted the door apart to get inside. They both rushed in and gasped at what they seen. Strung up and covered in the black mass were three ponies, all of whom were familiar as if they had shown up after all the months of missing.

“Novo, Velox, Lego, what is going on here. Never mind I will get you all down.” Dash shouted out loud and quickly started to move.

“NO!” Shouted the voice of the one she cared about most in the world. “You can’t do that my spectrum, you shouldn’t even be here. If he catches you here he will do to you what he did to all of us.”

“Rainbow Dash we need to leave now, I feel a dark presence coming. We need to escape now lest we be trapped here as well.” Said the royal Alicorn as Dash was being pulled away by her.

“We will be back to free you, from whoever did this. So hold on!” The chromatic mare told them as tears ran down her eyes.

All she got was a shake of the head. “We are lost my spectrum, the one who has us it the killer of Canterlot, he calls himself Plaga now. You must not fight him; he is dangerous he has our p-.”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off as Luna and Rainbow Dash found themselves back to the void of dreams. “Luna, you heard that as well right?” A grim nod was all the answer she needed. “I am not leaving our friends like that. It’s time to confront ‘Lego’.”

“Not yet, we need to let others know so he doesn’t escape. Let us first wake up and relay the message and our call to battle.” Luna told her as her horn lit up once more.

Celestia couldn’t believe what she had heard from Eureka, not only had the sample matched perfectly with the killer’s sample but another dark magic sample she never even considered to look to match: Lego’s. Even more startling was the message she had just gotten from her sister claiming that the killer was in control of the body of the brothers.

“Princess, are you sure you know what you are doing?” Twilight asked nervously as she carried an ornate box with her. “What if you are wrong?”

Celestia had explained to her what she had planned but honestly, if things didn’t work out then she would have no choice but to protect her ponies even if it meant the death of another. “You have to have hope my student, sometimes it is even more powerful then the elements as long as you keep that in your heart.” Celestia herself wished it was that simple as it usually never was.

Slowly down and down they went heading to the training area where the guards usually were practicing spells, fortified under Canterlot to provide protection from errant blasts thanks to the enchantments placed upon the walls. Before her the others had already gathers, a few soldiers were practicing spells as well for cover. Her eyes took hold of each of the element bearers that have gathered as well as the ‘guest of honor’ himself.

“Looks like we are all here. Shall we get this demonstration underway?” The pretenses they had used to call everypony here was for a display of the new anti-killer tactics and spells.

She could see ‘Lego’ studying the display carefully and she knew why. Behind her she heard her student open the box and distributed what was held inside.

Luna came up beside her sister and nodded before the solar ruler spoke. “I see you are interested in the display Lego.”

Giving a nod and smile he didn’t look away from it. “Indeed, when you are captured by the one who hurt you, it feels good to see what measures will protect others from something similar.”

“Oh, are you sure?” She asked of him causing him to turn around and look at her, then his eyes widened at what he saw. The glow of the diarchy faded and they both find themselves in their armor, covered head to hoof in either gold or silver color armor while the element bearers themselves had on their elements. “Are you sure it’s not because you have taken over the body of our friend and are using him to do your deeds, Plaga the Alicorn Amulet?”

No pony moved, the soldier’s that had been called down were not taking their positions around the subject. “I see, and here I thought I played the role I was given so well, though I wonder how it is you learned my name.”

The stallion stood up making everypony there tense up as the voice was no longer what belonged to Lego. “You did indeed, never once did I think to check to match the corruption inside Lego that I thought had been made dormant to the killers. However when went to go heal Twilight I found she was infect with the same residue you give off.”

He gave a shrug as Luna herself also started to speak. “Not only that by the reason we know your name is thanks to Rainbow Dash. Her link with Novo, the unicorn whom you have captured let us enter his mind to find where you were keeping him, where he told us who you are and your name.”

The white pony before them clicked his teeth as he stretched. “I see, I will have to punish him later extra for that once I deal with all of you.” When he looked at them they all felt a cold chill rise up when they saw his eyes go black and the black gunk flow out of his skin covering him and reshaping the body to its own purpose of a dark coated Pegasus. However before it was complete it made some subtle changes, now instead of the shape he deemed all his own, he now looked like Velox except with the same black color scheme as before. “I must say Princess you really, really shouldn’t have done this. After all I have three captives in my head, don’t want to hurt them do you?”

His answer came in the form of a bright beam from Celestia’s horn that he barely managed to dodge. “Does that answer your question?”

The muscles in his jaw could be seen tensing as he growled in anger. “Damn, and here I was hoping the princesses had a soft spot for their friend. Oh well, we do this the hard way.” He began to flap his wings a tell tale sign he was using the current and trying to gather moisture. “Huh, what is this?”

Luna smiled as she waved a hoof around “This room is kept in idea conditions to train in, we don’t want moisture around to case a lightning spell to go awry. There is very little here for your perverse version of The Current to grab hold of here monster.”

Giving a shrug the scourge changed his plan, and his body. “I suppose then I have to rethink things then.” With almost a wet sucking sound the body reshaped again this time no wings were present only a horn. “How is thi-”

He never got to finish the sentence as a cyan blur tackled him to the ground, her element around her neck jingling, before each hoof started to pummel him. “Don’t you dare use his body like that!”

“Dash please stop!” The voice that came from the pony was no longer Plaga’s instead it was Novo’s. “Stop please you are hurting me!”

Hearing her loves voice after so long caused her to hesitate. “I-I didn’t mean t-.”

Her hesitation would cost her as she was blasted off of him with a spell. “Damn, I haven’t used this form nearly as much as I should, he can’t really output a lot of magic. Oh well, I have plenty to spare from what I siphoned off of them.” Once more Plaga spoke in his own voice. “However his knowledge of transmutation is really, really impressive, here let me show you just how much he knows.”

Twilight managed to teleport Rainbow away as the spot where she was laying started to glow. Just in time too as spikes made up of the materials the floor was constructed as jutted up from the ground. Celestia was surprised to say the least, the floor was enchanted so that it couldn’t be easily manipulated like that, if Plaga using second hoof knowledge that he got from Novo could do that, she was silently amazed at the potential of the real owner of the knowledge.

However now was not the time for that. “Soldiers, Net formation!”

The unicorn guards called here quickly teleported into position, five each to each side of the body snatching pony. Their horns lit up as webbing shot out of each of them to connect to the horn of another pony whom was using the same spell. This created essentially a magically thread based net that settled over the faux unicorn.

“Ha, as if I would let something like this stop…stop.” However his boasting was halted for a moment his horn glowed only to have the lines of webbing siphon off the power before it could complete a spell. “Fine, be that way, but I saved the best for last.” Changing again this time to the toned and muscular form that at one time Lego had possessed. “This pony was very interesting, a pacifist mostly that would let his brothers do most of the work in fighting. Yet he is the most powerful fighter among them and he is scared of that power.” Plaga struck out with a hoof and did…something. All they knew is it somehow ripped a hole in the net letting him free.

Celestia felt like she should recognize what it was that happened, however she didn’t need to: Luna knew. “Telekinetic Spike!”

Plaga rushed forward as Luna rushed to meet him to save the guards only to have each of the hooves meet before suddenly they were both propelled backwards. “Not bad Princess you met mine with equal force stopping us from both getting hurt.”

Celestia was worried though Luna was still out of practice from her exile. Luna had been the one to come up with the Telekinetic Spike during the war against Discord. It was a powerful manifestation of earth pony prowess with their hooves and the control of the telekinetic field that all ponies controlled there. Any pony could learn it true but only earth ponies had the power to truly make it their own. What it did was create a strong and sudden sharp surge of the telekinetic field from their hoof that would lance forward a small distance of anywhere of a few inches to a foot from the hoof. Because of the sudden strong burst of telekinesis it tended to stab or shatter anything it came in contact with and was usually a fatal move to be used against a living opponent. One had to have a fine control over not only their field, but of their magic as well.

“Which Lego and his brothers were always exhibiting fine control over themselves.” The princess said out loud. “Luna be careful.”

She couldn’t see her sisters face but she could sense her smile. “Do not worry, I may be rusty as they say, but I am still a master compared to this novice!” Suddenly she reared up and stood on her hind legs before thrusting her hooves forward.

It was good to see her sister in her element as she was the stronger battle oriented of them both, however seeing the dark earth pony stand up and matching her for blows was worrying. If it was Luna before her banishment she would have no doubt literally beat him with one hoof tied behind her back, instead she looked to be strug-oh wait he is being pushed back now.

“You are good I admit, however I can’t tell that you aren’t used to that body and are only mimicking another, an amateur mimicking a master if you will. If it was the real Lego and he truly has these skills then I would have welcomed the fight, however.” The blows that Luna was throwing suddenly became stronger throwing the stallion back before she landed on all fours. “Actual experience wins out over you. All I had to do is press more and more and you couldn’t keep your concentration and your spike broke. No doubt your legs are now numb to say the least, similar to when a unicorn feels spell feedback.”

All that she got was laughter from the stallion as he stood back up on three legs, favoring the front right one. “Fine fine, you win. I literally have nothing I can do to stop you…or maybe I do. It was something I was considering even if it tears this body apart, but I won’t be captured, I won’t be confined, and I will not be ruled by the likes of you!”

Whatever it was he was trying it was obvious that it wasn’t working, more than once black ooze popped and squirted out of his hide before closing back up.

Rainbow Dash however was waking up now as Celestia started to use her power to form a dome of sealing around the faux pony. “Make him stop, it’s hurting Novo!”

“I cannot Rainbow Dash. If I drop the dome the corruption he is leaking out could spill out to all of us. The guards as well as myself and Luna are protected but you six and spike are not. I cannot risk him infect you all.” Celestia said gritting her teeth before mumbling out her next words. “Even if I have to stop him once and for all.”

Rainbow Dash nearly rushed forward to stop her as the glow in her horn increased. “Stop!” It was not Dash who said that to Celestia, but instead Twilight to Dash. “We must trust the princess, we have to have hope that all will turn out ok.”

“Yes darling, the princess wouldn’t hurt our friend, so we have to hope that she knows what she is doing.” Rarity spoke up as well.

Fluttershy was the next to speak. “Y-yeah I mean she has all kinds of wonderful animal friends who says she sacrifices time out of her day to make sure they all are ok, just like all the ponies. She will find a way to help, just believe and hope Rainbow Dash.” The pony went back to hiding behind her mane though as she continue. “If-if you don’t mind that is.”

“Ah reckon Ah have to hope as well if Twi believes.” The country pony said as she lowered her hat off her head.

Pinkie nodded and smiled. “That is right it is Princess Celestia she has never failed to do the right thing. So hope and believe.”

Celestia was straining, her spell was about to give and if she couldn’t contain him she would have to collapse the seal exploding it and all that was inside. She didn’t want to tell her ponies that as it would destroy them and their faith in her. However she would rather that happen then their lives be forfeit and it was looking like there would be no other options. Musting up the will and power, she started.

Twilight watched both her mentor struggling magically and Rainbow Dash emotionally before it all came to a head. “Alright then. I put my hope on the princess to bring back our friend.”

‘Hope huh, alright then.’ The Unicorn blinked hearing the voice in her mind suddenly. She was about to say something when she felt her body being filled up with power overflowing it and there was only a few times when she ever felt that before.

“Girls!” she gasped as she knew they too were rising. “The Elements are responding; quick lets use them before anything worse can happen.”

The purples mage heard Celestia gasp out as her surprise caused her seal to fail and shatter. “The Elements of Harmony?” Twilight knew why her mentor was surprised as she recalled the conversation along the way to the training area.

“Princess, even if we bring the elements they won’t work.” Twilight had told her.

The Princess didn’t even look at her before nodding. “I know. Your worry over your friend will cause you all to hesitate, cause you to doubt and I know that no harmony can be achieved with such conflicting emotions and reasoning. You are to bring the elements there more as a…bluff of sorts to threaten him with. This is one case that the Elements could heal but not when the users are out of synch with each other over the target.”

So why was it the elements were working and what more why did it feel like she didn’t summon the power but it came on its own. No matter, with the power flowing out into her all she could do was direct it with her friends now and their target was certain loose oozing mass of dark corrupting magic.

Plaga was concentrating so hard to complete his transformation or die trying he never saw the beam of harmony coming for him till it was nearly on him. “Oh Buck!”

The beam swept over him and whatever it was doing couldn’t be seen behind the pillar of white that became of him where he stood. The light was blinding in its intensity but soon died out. All that was left was two bodies, one a familiar white stallion. The other was a mass of goo that seemed to want to stand up on its own.

As well as could speak. “I won’t give up, I won’t be defeated by six girls who can’t do anything themselves without magical artifacts. I won’t-.”

“Can it, as they say now a days.” Luna told him created a glass bubble around him containing the blob. “Sister, check on the unconscious one.”

While Twilight could tell a headache was threatening to split her mentor’s skull from the feedback of the broken seal, she persevered and ran a scan over him. “Ahh.” She said with a smile and looked over to them all. “He is in good health, better than before for sure. While I do not think he will ever recover to before I do not think his life will be shortened now. That must have come as a result of what Plaga was doing to him.”

All of the exhausted friends went to the downed earth pony stallion glad to see that he was safe and sound even if he wasn’t back to his normal self. They also wondered what this meant for Velox and Novo who were still in his head.

Author's Notes:

This is the halfway point of the second arc of my fanfic. How is everyone and everypony enjoying it? Do not worry I plan to have 3-4 arcs to this story so its not done or close to it yet so rest assured more answers will come just as more questions will be asked. Brain does that make me evil?

Out to lunch

What...how...why...where is my lunch?

Chapter Twenty Seven: In Our Dreams.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Seven: In Our Dreams.

Celestia sighed gently on her throne. Another hard day of governing and guiding her ponies was behind her and soon it would be her sister’s turn for her court. It had been quite a time in the month since the defeat of Plaga; she had been reassuring her ponies that the dark magic user had been defeated, but because of his use of said magic his body became unstable and reduced to a goo that was being held so that it couldn’t taint anything. A mass funeral was held for all the victims of the scourge of Canterlot and she knew that it weighed heavily on the conscious of Lego and his brothers, whom visited the mural left for the victims.

Speaking of Lego and his brothers, they were doing much better in their recovery. They had a week where they were sleeping off the effects that Plaga and the elements had caused in them but after that they showed no negative effects. In fact their health improved like Celestia had thought it might with Plaga no longer siphoning off their life force and magic. A second opinion from a specialist proved that theory as fact and that Lego should gain normal mobility and function back to his body with therapy. While that didn’t mean they would regain their changing ability, cutie marks, or coat colors, it did mean they were no longer on a timer for their life span; they would be able to live out full life spans, albeit with maybe ten or so years cut off the end but not a significantly limited time like before.

The best part of this was the fact communications were restored between Lego and his brothers, Velox and Novo, though they couldn’t take over the body to control, but at least they could get Lego to relay their thoughts. This fact got positive responses from the elements in Ponyville, who was often writing them to see how they were. Though with the recent changes in Ponyville, as well as all of Equestria honestly, the elements had been too busy to visit. Celestia had been waiting in anticipation for that visit just to see the look on Lego’s face when he came to see why they had not been able to visit. Though if her sister and her student had their way that visit may come sooner, which would be perfect if the way they had come up with works properly.

‘Hmmm my sister isn’t due to wake for some time yet so now I am left with the question of…what to do?’ The Alicorn thought to herself as the echo of her teleportation faded from her room. “Too early for a piece of cake, even if that does sound good. Too late for brunch, so I can’t eat a mango or cantaloupe. I suppose I could read, but there isn’t anything interesting that I haven’t read bef-OH!” Quickly moving around and shuffling through papers and documents she came across the thing she wanted; a stack of papers. “AHA! The hunt for the killer took up so much of my time and attention that I had forgotten about you. Let me see what other secrets you can provide answers to.”

Sitting down and pouring herself a cup of tea she looked over the papers that were left behind when they had thought Lego had been taken. Celestia made a mental note to hoof the book back over to him to finish translating once his therapy was more or less complete.

“There they go again. That is the fourth time this week and we are only half way through it.” Came the voice to my left, I do not remember the name of this Alicorn but I do remember the worried look in their eyes.

This had started becoming more and more common as True Devotion and her troops were sent out to deal with emerging monsters. Creatures unlike any that had been seen before. It took many, many years to calm most of the wildlife before when the chosen arrived but never before had monsters like these had been seen. Creatures looking as if they were smashed together and left to wonder the world mixed up, misshapen, and more often than not with terrifying gifts ranging from stingers filled with a debilitating poison, to fire breath. These creatures with seemingly little sentience were little more than animals, sometimes even less than that.

It is because of this that True Devotion had called in her troops and were going around exterminating them where found, except now there was a new problem; they were breeding. Before it seemed as if these creatures were just cobbled together out of boredom from another Alicorn’s magic only now it seemed as if whoever was doing this had perfected the molds they were working with as all of their creations were viable. Spreading in areas where Alicorns didn’t want to tread and thriving there, swamps, deep forests, marshes, canyons, deserts, wastelands, and more.

A menace was spreading. As such I had been to a few meetings just to overhear the Chosen talking about what it is they should be doing before agreeing with the plans of wiping out nests where found. Alicorns had already tried to tame these beasts before but they seemed to have no interest at all almost as if they had been commanded to attack on sight with how hostile they had been when spotted.

When not discussing the possible menace that was taking over the lands outer edges though, the topic usually changed to the ‘Ponies’ that were created a few years ago. Three Tribes: Earth Ponies formerly the Terrains, Pegasus or Pegai for short, and Unicorns. Seems they had separated themselves from each other and were entering a separatist’s mentality, to keep each tribe to themselves. Then again it is no surprise that this would happen considering what the Chosen had done. They promised they wouldn’t interfere with them yet they had, they were asked to in fact. Many of them couldn’t handle remembering their pasts now that they knew they couldn’t go back so had asked the Chosen to alter and change their memories making them forget they were ever Alicorns to begin with.

The Chosen had no problems with this at all because most of them had said they were appalled by their creation, even Dreamer had spoken up against them. It seemed the black and white Alicorn of Hope had become more…assertive then he used to be, speaking up more often in counsel meetings that he attended. Speaking of Dreamer, he used to seem close to many of the Chosen before his reform but now seemed to keep all of them at a respectful distance, none could blame him either, if you were blasted and torn apart from part of your very essence then it would surely earn your respect of them if nothing else. The other thing is that, since his claim to have beaten Premier Legerdemain with the creation of ponies he has claimed that he wants to devote more of his time and study to bettering himself in solitude, none of the Chosen apposed this and in fact thought it was a good idea.

He claimed he wanted to better himself; to make sure a mistake like before would never happen. He claimed he wanted to make things better, to bring about the fruition of his element. He claimed that he was learning what he needed to do to make sure that all of Alicorn kind knew of his contribution and would speak of the day he comes out with the perfect thing to donate to all of Alicorn kind. He was right, I just wish he wasn’t.

My little Celestia had just left with her mother who was already very swollen with our next foal; I couldn’t wait to meet her which shouldn’t be too long from now. However the meeting that I will never forget came to pass. The Chosen was dissolving.

“What do you mean you are leaving the Chosen?!” It was me and my employer Legerdemain along with four others: Ardent Bravery, Clear Absolve, Graceful Gift, and Resolute Choice.

It was Absolve that spoke for the four that were there and what she said always left me with a sense of amazement for what they had kept hidden. “We are leaving for self imposed exhale as we had helped Dreamer with the ritual to make the Alicorns into ponies.”

Premier’s eyes widened beyond what I thought possible as his mouth opened and closed many times before just asking the simple question. “What?”

“We had been watching Dreamer and he has been right about his theory. If there is a lack of an element that we represent in our Alicorns then we lose power and eventually fade. We watched and tested him ourselves over the years and his power had dropped considerably to below that of a normal Alicorn.” The voice of Resolute said. “He theorized that he would fade within another few years or even just die. He wasn’t the only one either, I myself had noticed a similar decline during those years and it wasn’t just me either.”

Each of the four there nodded and agreed as Graceful took up the speech. “We came to the conclusion with Dreamer that there needed to be something out there that reflected our needs. He said that with the creation of ponies that our needs would be met but they aren’t. As such we are going out there to create our own races, not separating Alicorns into something else though; we will each make our own from scratch. Since you tore apart Dreamer for his conviction we are placing ourselves away from the council so that no punishment may come to us since we are not doing anything to Alicorns.”

“This is madness; you would abandon us to chase after the delusions of a mad pony?” The Alicorn of magic shouted. “You would leave your duties that the mother above all gave to us?”

“Yes.” It was the gentle and soft spoken Clear who spoke once more. “None of us are needed here, you six have proven yourselves more than capable to rule and guide without us. Dreamer is…no longer himself, whatever it was that was done to him made him into something else, no longer the Alicorn he once was and that protected us from punishment by taking the responsibility himself. It is because of this and for the guilt that we should have shared in his punishment that we leave. To atone for what we did, as well as to carry out his wishes, to create something that will help us to live as well as something that will benefit the world. We believe this is our mission that the mother gave us and that she would approve of where our hearts are taking us. As such we wished to tell you of the territories we will inhabit as well as the races we will create.”

Bravery spoke first with a smile. “I will be moving to the east, beyond the heavy mountains to the harsh terrain and wilderness beyond. I will be creating beasts that can stand on too legs, the horns and hooves of a bull but the torso of a primate who will show no fear and have great strength of body and will. I will call them Minotaurs.”

Resolute Choice followed up his example as she spoke. “I will be seeking out the rocky islands and gem filled mountains, creating a reptilian creature with wings and magic of their own and will let nature show me how it comes out in good time. Their determination to fulfill their goals will be second to none: I will call them: Dragons.”

Premier had his mouth gaped opened at what he heard as Graceful was the next to voice her direction. “To the south, the wastes and deserts where my kind will flourish, though it is our hope that one day we may come and exchange pleasantries with the other races as once my race is fully evolved, they will need other races to depend on to sacrifice something freely to them, Love. However because of their true nature and how some may not want to sacrifice for them I will give them the ability to blend in with others. Thus I will call them Changelings.”

The Alicorn of magic looked to the last his heart in his eyes as if saying not to do this even as she spoke. “And I will go north to the cold mountains, to make a race of avian hybrids with the pride of a lion and the grace of an eagle. There pride will lead them to many mistakes but their grace will surely allow them to forgive each other for when it steps too far out of line. Wings like a pegasus or Alicorn with similar ability to manipulate weather if not in such a great degree. I name them Griffons.”

Clear Absolve’s voice faded from the room as silence took over. “Fine, go.” Were the only words that Premier spoke before making a dismissive motion with his hoof. Each Alicorn left one by one though Clear seemed to linger at the doorway longer than the others before she too vanished.

“Sir?” I asked when he had not spoken for nearly ten minutes. Looking at the leader of the Chosen while it was just us, I couldn’t help but want to ask as it had been on my mind for some time. “If they had told you it was all of them when you found out, would you have done the same to them as you did to Dreamer?”

“Yes. Yes I would have. However, that is neither here nor there. They have chosen their punishment, as such I will go about striking their names from the records and as such no longer will they ever be mentioned do you understand Terra Cotta?” I gave an affirmative answer. “Good.”

“Sir?” I asked once more as there was one last thing I had to ask. “Whatever did you do with the stuff you took from Dreamer?”

I could see the look on his face, there was a moment he considered disregarding my question outright, to this day I don’t know why he didn’t. “It is in my private lab underneath a forest that grows abundantly thanks to the magic that comes off me when I create spells and such.”

The next question came out of mouth before I even thought it through fully. “Could you put it back together with Dreamer if you wanted?”

The stagnant silence was thick, so thick at that moment I thought to teleport away from it, thankfully it didn’t last long. “No. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t, two or more beings born from the same entity cannot be put together after separation. At least not without corruption or overlapping of personalities which may result in the deletion or partial erasure of one or more of the personalities that were created as a result of the separation that originally occurred. I learned that from Dreamer if you remember. Besides it was the spell he created that resulted in his separation, the purest essence of him is what is left.”

“But was it right?” I was pushing me luck, I knew it. I couldn’t help myself though it was as if I had to know.

“I stand by my decision.” My employer told me. I may not be the smartest stallion ever, but even I noticed that he never answered my question.

Not much in quantity for this translation it seemed but then again Lego had been interrupted before he continued so he was to be expected. However her mind was now concerned with the information contained within. ‘If this is true, that means virtually every single sapient species known. Minotaurs, Changelings, Dragons, Griffons, Ponies. Diamond dogs aren’t a part of that equation but then again they were originally a monster race that became civilized. Zebra’s could be a variant of ponies as could the Crystal ponies, Saddle Arabians, and Seaponies…well maybe not them, but still. The felines again are the same as the Diamond Dogs in that they evolved that way. So that would account for every race.’

So engrossed in her thoughts as she was she missed the distinctive sound of teleportation. “Good afternoon Tia!”

“AHHH!” Celestia yelled as she fell out of bed with a shuffle of hooves moving but gaining no traction. “Oh it is just you Lulu. Sorry I was…caught up in thinking about things. Also you are up early; I didn’t think you would show up so soon.”

The lunar Alicorn just shrugged and smiled. “So what were you thinking about?”

All the princess did was hoof over the documents for her to read and when she was done there was silence for a good minute or two. “I can see why your thoughts would be far away. A lot of this is hard to take in but we can’t dispute any of it, but it all makes sense in its own way.”

The older sister of the two was confused about this even going so far as to slightly tilt her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Sitting on her haunches the night time guardian looked at her sister with a smile. “All of the races mentioned have some form of magic. Dragons have it mixed with their bodies and flames, Changelings have their own brand of spells fueled by emotions as well as their mimicking abilities.” So far Celestia was nodding understanding where she was going. “Minotaurs have the passive magic in their bodies that almost make them like earth ponies, and Griffons have similar abilities as pegasi yet again they tend to have magic embedded in their bodies.” Looking at her sister Luna spoke up even louder. “All of them are contained magical creatures, as in most of their magic is in their bodies. Four supreme Alicorns who disliked the absolute power that Alicorns wielded would want a way to contain the powers of the race they made so they didn’t fall into the same follies as the race they left. However all of the powers diverged from Alicorn power.”

Celestia thought about that for a moment and she agreed with nearly all of it. “Ok, Dragons I can see, except their fire. Griffons I agree completely along with Minotaurs in how they operate. Changelings though, I can’t see that Lulu.”

Luna grinned; it was the type of smug grin all little sisters give to their older ones when they find themselves out thinking the other. “Oh but I can explain those as well. We ourselves came up with how to manipulate dragon fire as if it were a spell finding the basis of it similar to unicorn spells already. If the fire was based off magic that Alicorns have, and unicorns came from Alicorns…”

Face hoofing rather hard Celestia groaned at that. “Means that it was just a base formula we could have found on our own if we thought of it but built into them.”

Nodding in satisfaction Luna continued. “Now as for the Changelings, look no further than our dear niece.” The solar princess almost got upset at that only for Luna to hold up a hoof to stop her. “Let me finish Tia. Her power amplifies love and helps others to connect with what is already there. She also has powerful shields that use love in their matrices. That is a type of Emotomancy is it not? However what we do not consider is that she may only be a novice Emotomancer compared to a Changeling who had their affinity to such a magic built into them as they were created. Surely the Alicorns of the past knew much, much more about such techniques then us today who only have hoof-me-down scraps of knowledge. As before their bodies also have magic built into them for changing, the basis of which is transmutation of a much more advanced nature then what we have now.”

The pastel princess of the sun could dispute none of that; all of it seemed like viable answers to questions that could no longer be answered. That is what stung her the most, that the questions that were answered with the translations brought another dozen she thought would never be answered.

No matter, shaking her head from her more serious questions for now, she looked to her sister. “So sister, how is your student’s project coming along?”

This only caused the dark coated Alicorn to smile as her horn lit up teleporting in two boxes. “They are done, though they need to be calibrated she said. The users of these are to wear them for at least six hours none stop before wearing them to bed the first night. After that it is just a matter of putting them on before sleep. I am rather impressed with Trixie’s knowledge and how quickly she was able to put this together, though she said it was imperfect and that she plans to refine the model so it can be worn instantly or at least cut the calibration time to a single hour or less.”

The two boxes were opened and inside were ten circlets well eleven with the place for the last one empty. “Why so many?”

Celestia watched as one was floated up and placed on her head followed by her sister wearing one. “Of course we are going to be using them as well. That is two, Lego will be wearing one making three, plus six for the elements and one for Spike making that makes ten.”

“And the last?” She asked while adjusting the circlet to be more comfortable on her head.

Luna ears folded for a moment before going back to normal. “Trixie said she wished to apologize to everypony for her past actions.”

Even she winced at that knowing it may not go as Trixie wished, but there was always hope. ‘Hope, that is what created our little ponies. Hope was what was changed after being deemed wrong. It makes me wonder if any pony knows what hope really is anymore or if we are only going off the notion that we thought was supposed to be hope.’

Lighting up her horn the Diarchy prepared their letter. “Let us make a copy of the instructions for Twilight and her friends but let us not tell them who all will be inside the dream. Let them just think it is just us with a new device that needs testing.” Though Celestia wanted to be playful Luna winced making her older sister sigh. “You already sent them instructions didn’t you?”

Looking abashed Luna turned her head away. “I may have already made a copy and sent it to them out of excitement so they already know who all will be involved.”

Separating the boxes up the seven meant for Ponyville was sent off via dragon fire along stomach medication in case the package upset the tiny dragon’s digestive system on the other side. Both sisters were about to leave when Celestia stopped her sister with a question.

“What happens if we can’t escape the effects of the Oneiro Circlets Lulu?” The older sister asked a bit concerned only to get a cocky grin.

“Dear sister.” Luna began. “This is my realm we are talking about, trust in me.” She said before vanishing.

The tricolored mane of the sun Alicorn flew in the breeze as a smile came over her face. “I always have and always will sister.”

Laying back in his hospital bed Lego looked out the window. It had been a tough day of rehabilitation and while he was still having trouble walking any amount of distance, it was more than before Plaga had taken him over. In the end that alone made him proud of his progress. Soon he might be back to walking to his old place and to the palace again, though till then the diarchy had insisted he stay at the hospital till he was well enough to travel at least that distance and back on his own without worry.

Speaking of the princesses Lego looked in the mirror across his room. On his head stood circlet that looked to be made of braided gold and silver bands, yet he could find no way in which they were two separate pieces, all of that completed with a dark blue stone placed in it that rested on his forehead. Oneiromancy was not a subject he was at all knowledgeable about but if he had to peg anypony as an expert it would be the Princess of Dreams herself so no doubt the Oneiro Circlets would work.

Yawning he looked back to his bed and rested his head on the pillows. “So, if this is right, then we are going to go to some kind of dreamscape right?”

‘It’s what Luna said would happen.’ Novo called to him, said voice was so welcoming to hear after its long absence, but none more so then the next voice that was heard.

‘Trust in Moonbutt. She knows what she is doing, though yes I am worried too since it was Trixie that made these.’ Velox spoke in their mind which all the brothers could agree was a worry. ‘Still, if Moonbutt vouches for her that she has changed, we have to give her a shot. If nothing else it is what Cascade would want.’

None of them would argue that point ever. Cascade and Trixie were sisters, the latter being the younger sister of the two. Cascade was the pony that came to their minds first and foremost about family though she was quickly finding herself in good company with several other mares.

“Plus, Twilight is all about friendship, so we should give her another chance. Even though those chances have come back and bitten us in our flanks in the past and it may do so again in the future.” Lego said out loud wincing remembering the name curse they had been subjected to twice now.

‘You just want to give Twilight more of a reason to play smoochy face with you the next time you see her.’ Lego could hear the grin in Velox’s voice no doubt making up for lost time in teasing his brother.

Novo was smirking as well and stifling laughter as he joined in. ‘Mhm I mean we already know how she feels and she seems to have felt that way for a long while, well before Plaga took us over completely. So while we know you have those doubts in your head don’t you dare think of them. I will kick your flank hard myself. Wait, I am weakest of us, Velox you do it.’

‘Like I need an excuse to wipe the floor with him.’ He had missed this it was so nice to hear even if it was all about teasing him. Of course it was with those thoughts that he managed to drift off as the blue gem on the circlet started to glow.

The first thing that Lego was aware of was the breeze. It was soft, warm, and smelled of flowers, grass under his hooves and trees all around; it was very pleasant and had him closing his eyes to enjoy. The second thing he was aware of was the fact he wasn’t alone wherever it was he was.

“I had forgotten how much bigger you are then me.” The voice caused Lego’s eyes to quickly snap open and look to his right. A shorter unicorn stood there whose coat was the same green as the forest leaves around them and golden yellow mane that reminded him of a sunny day.

The sounds of feathers rustling came from his left and a groan of a stretch making his eyes water as he looked in that direction. “Forget how big he is, I forgot how nice wings feel. At least I can enjoy them somewhere if never again.” The Pegasus that spoke was in the middle of inspecting his dark blue wings the same color as his coat that complemented violet mane.

“You both look great.” He told them, his voice nearly choking up with how happy he was. Moving to rub his eyes he stopped and looked at his leg.

“Seems we are as we remember ourselves in the past here and not as we are now Lego.” Novo told him as he too started to stretch his legs. “Big with a rusty mane and dark red coat just as I remember you.”

A familiar voice spoke up interrupting the brotherly moment. “Indeed you do strike an impressive figure.” The sound and sight of door opening out of thin air before them caught them by surprise as Luna stepped through. “It seems my student has done some impressive work.” Luna’s eyes sparkled for a moment before she came and hugged each of them. “It is good to see each of you, though it is rather disorienting to see all three of you at the same time.”

“Lego, you really are big, I mean not as big as Big Mac, but when standing next to Moonbutt you look normal.” He was told from above as Velox was stretching his wings in the air.

The sound of Luna giggling made them all start to laugh as well before she gathered her composure. “We should get moving the others are waiting.”

All three of the brothers stopped and looked at her. “Others?” Spoke all three voices at once at the same time. “When you gave me the circlet you didn’t tell me others were involved.”

They spied a smirk play across the Alicorn’s muzzle for a moment as she turned away from them. “Did I forget to mention that? How silly of me. However we are wasting time, so follow me.”

Luna went through the door she had entered from and beckoned with a wing for the three of them to follow. As they passed through the door they found themselves in a corridor that seemed to be made purely of the night sky wrapped around in a tunnel that they were being led down.

“So who else did you give circlets to and why didn’t you tell u-” Velox cut himself off and was staring wide eyed when he heard voices.

“-ya look like that Twi’ Ah mean why aren’t ya, ya know? Ah am sure he won’t judge ya none for it.” The familiar southern drawl spoke out loud to which it was responded to.

“I am just not comfortable with it just yet Applejack. I mean it hasn’t been so long since the spell was reversed and that happened.” Lego smiled hearing the voice as he would have guessed about who was given circlets.

Looking to Luna he smiled. “I am guessing at least six to seven ponies are waiting for us down this corridor?”

Turning down the path they soon came to a door which Luna smiled at. “Let’s go in so you can see shall we?” Opening up the door the princess stepped through it. “Hello my friends. We have arrived.”

Inside was a place much like where Lego and the others had woken up to, the only difference here was nine sets of eyes: Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Celestia, and finally Trixie.

Welp, it was nine sets of eyes right before one set vanished in a multihued trail before tackling Novo to the ground and holding him there in a lip lock. “Guess she missed him.” Velox said chuckling only to go wide eyed when a lasso looped around him and pulled him to the Stetson wearing pony and only stopping when they were nose to nose he gave a grin spoke. “First pinning me down and now tying me up. I think somepony has a fetish.”

All of the ponies gathered, minus Novo and Rainbow Dash, looked at the pair of which only the apple mare was blushing heavily. “Shut up why don’t ya?” That was all she said before the two of them kissed.

It warmed Lego’s heart to see the two of them reunited with their special someponies that was before he turned to see Twilight walking up to him looking nervous as he felt watching her come up to him. “H-hey there.”

He watched as the purple unicorn rubbed her hoof into the dreamscapes grass. “Hi.” It was at a volume that came close to Fluttershy’s even if the yellow pegasus still had her beat. “It is good seeing you like you used to be. I mean not that I don’t like seeing you normally, but I mean that it is great to see you healthy, not that you aren’t healthy now just not as healthy as before which is to say that…I mean…”

She trailed off cause slowly but surely Lego was laughing not able to stop himself with how adorable she was acting. “It’s ok Twilight. I understand completely. It’s good seeing me in the red again instead of in the white that I am used to.” He told her while looking at one of his legs

“I meant what I said before.” She told him suddenly bringing him out of his observations looking up at her to see her becoming as red as his coat. “About liking you.”

The sounds of all his friends stopped, even the wet sounds of lips locked together as Lego came up to lean down and nuzzle the mage. “Even if he responded for me, Plaga told you of my feelings for you already. They had not changed and you don’t have to worry. I feel the same way about you Twilight Sparkle.”

Some part of his mind registered the awws of his friends; some part of him was embarrassed. Mostly though he was just feeling the return of the nuzzles he was giving to Twilight as she rubbed back.

“This calls for a PARTY!” Pinkie shouted loudly causing an echo to go through the clearing in the forest before suddenly there were tables filled with snacks, punch, cake, party favors and more.

“How…oh wait a dream right.” Spike said before smiling and suddenly he was taller than Celestia and looked to have muscles on his muscles as well as a cape on his back before he took off into the air. “Aww yeah!”

“I wish I could fly like that.” The mare next to him said with a sigh.

Lego chuckled and waved a hoof at the dragon in the air. “Well you can.”

There was a shocked look on Twilight’s face as he said that making him wonder why it was such a shock. “I-I can’t fly, I mean I would need wings and I don’t have those.”

“But it’s just a dream Twilight. You can do and be anything here, so adding some wings shouldn’t be hard if you really want to fly.” He told her gently with a smile.

There was a moment where relief washed away the shock and fear on her face as she gave a sigh. “Oh, I thought you meant…never mind but yes you are right, but I am happy where I am, right next to you.”

If this was his normal body the blush he had would be easily seen, instead he was glad for his old colors in the dream to hide it and just nuzzled up to Twilight.

It was touching while it lasted only for a cough to interrupt it as Lego, Velox, and Novo all looked towards the blue unicorn mare with silver and light blue mane as she looked down at the ground. “Trixie…Trixie. No, I wanted to apologize to each of you for what I put you through. I held a grudge that was misguided and wrong and made you pay a price no pony should pay. It doesn’t matter if I was being controlled by the Amulet or not it is still my fault.”

Lego wasn’t sure what to say and all the ponies there were staring at Trixie, seems he wasn’t the only one as Novo was silent as well. “Been there done that, no need to apologize.” It was Velox who said it as his wing waved it off. “I was captured by Plaga the essence of the amulet and forced to do lots of things that he wanted. It’s no different for you so while you may feel guilt, it’s not your fault and you don’t need to apologize for that.”

He knew better though, he knew that all three of them felt so much guilt for what was done using their body. Velox was doing this to make the mare feel better about what had happened without a second though.

Nodding he smiled to Trixie as well. “Velox said it best but I do agree.”

“Same.” Novo said still on the ground under Rainbow Dash as it seems he understood what went on as well. “Just as long as you don’t try to murder us in the future we forgive you.”

The show mare wiped away tears as they started to flow from her eyes thanking each of them over and over again. It was on that happy note that the dream party started.

Lego found himself talking with Luna and Celestia about the translations and what they had read so far, getting into a rather in detail theories about what had happened in the past as well as guesses on what else was written in the book.

Fluttershy was with Twilight for a while and seemed to have been asking softly about the way she looked though Lego couldn’t hear what they said so he assumed it was to do with why she had not changed how she looked in the dream or something along those lines.

Luna eventually found herself talking to Rarity who was wondering if the dreamscape could be used as a workshop idea since ideas could be brought out in full force here. The Princess had surprisingly been agreeable with that and was even offering suggestions and ideas to the seamstress.

Rainbow Dash left Novo’s side long enough to visit Velox telling him about her progress with the current as Pinkie showed up and the subject became about pranks and the like.

With Novo alone Twilight went to pick his brain about some of his magicks, Lego thought this was the funniest interaction of the night as finally after so long could Novo let loose and started to recount how many times she had broken the laws of physics with her magic and certain transmutations though it did spark a rather interesting debate about quantum fields interacting with theoretical shape retention of all objects that all objects were aware even if they didn’t possess a mind or brain to be aware of with.

Spike eventually got to hang out with Velox and Novo recounting tales and just having a generally good time with each other spending some quality guy time, which he passed on. Why? Simple as he was currently leaning against Twilight as she nuzzled him and he nuzzled her. He was content with things even if Pinkie was getting everypony up to play games every now and then. He was actually glad this was a dream as with how Celestia was enjoying the cake it should have ran out ages ago.

He caught another snippet of conversation as his brother and Applejack walked close enough. “Ah wanted to thank ya.”

The rope of the lasso had been removed from around him as they walked close with a wing over the mare’s back. “You’re welcome…now what are you thanking me for exactly?”

A shoulder bump came and rocked him back a few steps before he went back beside her. “All the good words ya put out to places. A lot of ponies sent out deals to us, so much so that Sweet Apple Acres now has plenty of farm hooves to work it all and plenty of bits comin’ in our way.”

It was rather funny to see Velox get embarrassed by that as he looked away rubbing at the back of his neck chuckling. “Nah, that was all that much, just sent out a few letters is all, it was you who hooked them in with a good product.” All that got for him was a soft part of lips against his in a touching and tender moment.

Another rather funny moment came when Rainbow Dash spoke to Novo’s ear too soft for any pony to hear but made him blush so red Big Mac’ would have been impressed. “Luna, is there a way for us to make small enclosed off rooms if we wanted to talk privately with other ponies?”

The princess of dreams looked to Rainbow Dash as she asked that and nodded with a smile. “Of course, just open up the door and imagine it leading to a room is all.”

Dash just grinned at that and turned away letting her tail play against Novo’s nose gently as she spoke. “This way lover colt.”

For a moment the unicorn didn’t move before starting to quickly trot after here. “Yes my spectrum.”

Pinkie Pie gave some wolf whistles to that as did Velox. “Ride em Cowpony!” He shouted to them as they vanished behind the door.

That was until a lasso wrapped itself around him and started pulling him to the door. “Nope, that is mah job.”

Velox’s eyes grew wide as AJ pulled at him only for him to sputter out loud. “Wait what?” If he said anything more Lego never heard as the door closed behind them. Then again, he wouldn’t have heard it anyways from how loud he was laughing at that moment.

“I wouldn’t laugh if I was you.” Twilight told him gently against his neck.

His laughter calming down but only to a chuckle he asked. “Oh and why not?”

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Cause if they have good dreams then whose body reacts to it?”

It only took a second for him to realize what she meant. “That is going to be an awkward conversation to have with the nurse in the morning about why the sheets need to be changed.”

Author's Notes:

You all didn't think I would leave Velox and Novo hanging without some way of communicating to the others did you all? That is why I made the Oneiro Circlets. Now we will get to see alot more moments between some of our favorite couples.

You may want to make what you said a spoiler

Ahh good idea brain. I knew I kept you around for some reason.

Are you sure it is not because I am vital for sustainable life?

Na, I don't need a brain to think good.

It is moments like this that people wonder why I take vacations and wonder off. What I want to know is without me around during those times: How do you function?!

Surprisingly well actually.

...

Chapter Twenty Eight: Faults of The Past.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Eight: Faults of The Past.

Putting the last thing in his bags Lego looked over the place, nothing was forgotten, nothing was misplaced. It was finally time. It had taken another two months for his recovery to be complete but here he was, at his home packing up preparing to move.

‘Goodbye.’ Lego thought to the house that he lived in for so many months as he locked the door.

The white pony had a carriage waiting for him as he went down the walkway from the house, several bags already having been put into the transport, all ready to take him to the palace to deliver the final transcripts of the journal. It was something he was honestly not looking forward to.

‘It will give her and Luna answers at the least.’ Novo called to him from his mind. ‘It may not be what they want but it is closure.’

Lego didn’t like it and he knew Novo didn’t either. ‘Just wish you both would have let me get caught up with it before you spoiled the ending.’ While Velox was moping about not being able to read it all the way through before they finished.

“You had plenty of time, but because we are often wearing this.” Lego tapped the Oneiro Circlet. “You find your time taken up by the naps that Rainbow Dash takes so you can dream teach her the Current.”

The unicorn brother in their mind started to suddenly laugh. ‘Not to mention that Applejack is now starting to take small naps for breaks where he visits her doing who knows what.’

‘HA! Like you don’t do the same with Dash when I am not teaching her, though then again you are teaching her other things aren’t you?’ The pegasus jabbed at his brother before the two of them started a scuffle in their own mind.

It had been by luck that Lego had been wearing the circlet when one of those two were sleeping and found that Velox and Novo could access them. It was also for that very reason that there was now an unspoken rule that all fun time activities were to only be held at night; it was a day that he would never live down to the nurses at the hospital. The infighting was over as they finally got to the palace and with each step Lego was finding his thoughts returning to what he was about to give to the princesses.

“Ahh Lego, it is good to see you again.” The Sun princess’ voice brought him out of his thoughts as he had unconsciously made his way to the throne room. “I am glad you stopped by so I can say goodbye to you.”

He was surprised when the princess gave him a hug which he found himself returning quicker then he would have thought. “Yeah, I came to deliver a going away present.” The stallion pulled out several packets and the stone booklet looking to the princess. “My translation is finished.”

A golden glow overtook all the items as Celestia went wide eyed. “Thank you; you have no clue what this means to me and my sister.”

“Celestia-” The earth pony couldn’t get a word in edgewise as the Alicorn kept gushing about answers to riddles and mysteries and more. In the end he was finding himself leaving the throne room as Celestia was about to go have lunch.

The pastel Alicorn surprised him though by what she said. “Thank you again my friend.”

It hurt his heart to hear that. “I am sorry.” He said before quickly leaving out the door leaving a confused princess alone.

Celestia had found her sister waiting for her in the dining room to take lunch as the older sister held up the packets. “Lulu, the final translations!”

The tea that Luna had been sipping was splattered everywhere as she looked wide eyed at her sister. “Truly?!”

Quickly both sat down next to each other to start reading clearly excited about finally having answers to many questions this book had brought; well they did make sure to take time to order lunch and snacks to be brought in, after all they were going to be here for a while, and reschedule all meetings for today to another time. Finally they would get to read all of their father’s words.

If you ever wonder how the start of the end of the world might look like, some would say Tartarus’ fire raining down on all, others would say it ends with everything freezing, a small few would even pin it down to something so small that you couldn’t even comprehend that it started it all.

“HELP ME!!!!!” The mare screamed at the top of her lungs before she started to glow and fall. She hit the ground as three separate ponies all of them looking confused and asking each other who they were.

For me, I know the start of the end came a few years back. Then again, I might be the only one now that even remembers. This phenomenon had been occurring the last few weeks causing Alicorns of all types to fear one another as a sickness of some type was sweeping over all causing first weakness, then aching before finally the final split of an Alicorn. No Alicorn knew how to stop it, not even the remaining Chosen, which was what the next meeting was about.

“Why can’t we get a hold of Dreamer? This is obviously a result of him tamping with things again.” True Devotion yelled out at the top of her lungs as she threw her helmet down to the ground. “I bet he is even behind the monsters suddenly springing up.”

Sincere Integrity spoke up after that shaking his head. “Now calm down Devotion. We do not know for sure that this is his fault, nor the other things. For all we know some pony from the new tribes developed this spell after figuring out their origins as Alicorns.”

Premier nodded to that though kept a solemn face. “Sincere is right, plus I have scanned the magic behind the first transformation spell and it was stable. This magic is a virus more or less spreading out of control and as far as I can determine none are immune except for us and juveniles which only leave Terra Cotta’s daughter since not many have felt the need to procreate. There is also the fact that this magical signature isn’t Dreamer’s, it is similar but not quite the same. I think somepony may have figured out how to replicate the spell more than likely but couldn’t stabilize it.”

The sound of parchment moving was heard as all looked over to Inner Jubilation as she wrote which Sincere spoke for the mute Alicorn. “So we need to find the one who started this and get him to confess and give us the antidote correct?”

The Alicorn of Magic nodded and looked to the others. “Sounds like the best bet for now. Abundant Charity have you heard anything that could give us a lead?”

At first it seemed like the Alicorn who had diamond dust for a mane was going to say no, but she changed her mind. “There is something, but I was going to save it for when we talked more about the monster infestation.” While it was true that the virus was a big problem, it wasn’t claiming as many lives as rapidly as the monsters and creatures that have appeared so all eyes were now on the blind Alicorn. “Many have come to me claiming to have seen shooting stars.”

“Charity now is not the time for superstition that creatures from other worlds have come to ours.” Devotion told her.

Charity just smiled. “If I am allowed to finish, I was going to say this. Normally I wouldn’t have paid any attention to it at all. The thing that caught my attention is that the stars aren’t falling to earth but being launched up from it at an arch as if something was hurling them.” I have to admit; even I was intrigued now by the news of this. “Whatever is causing these reverse star falls, or ascents as I think they should be called, seems to be coming from the mountains and no Alicorn can seem to get to the mountains without being turned around and finding themselves confused afterwards. So none can tell me where it was they were being launched from only a general location.”

“Our path for now is clear. Let us solve the stars problem and then we can move on to more pressing business of stopping this virus. Right now the virus is slow to act and hasn’t claimed many victims; just enough for us to know it isn’t going to stop simply by running its course leaving us plenty of time to solve it before it deals irreparable harm to the Alicorn race.” A pulse of power went through Legerdemain’s mane as he said that. “Charity and Sincere, please gather up maps and eyewitness accounts for general localization and time frames for which this event occurs.” Those two immediately took off Sincere in front with the blind Alicorn using magic to detect where her partner was. “Jubilation and Devotion, gather up a small force of troops and supplies, we may be gone for a bit to deal with this and it will be good to have extra hooves to help out.” Devotion saluted with Jubilation mimicking her with a silent giggle.

This just left three Alicorns in the meeting hall: myself, Premier, and Magnificent Compassion. “Do you really think this is the best, to ignore this virus in favor of the monsters possible origins?”

“Yes.” The leader of the chosen told her. “I do honestly. The monsters are claiming many lives forever silencing them and sending them to be reincarnated. The virus however is only splitting an Alicorn and while it may be cruel, I like death is worse.”

The elderly looking Alicorn nodded and left without a word though the direction of her flight looked to have been going to catch up to Jubilation to help with the prep for the journey. “Come Terra.” My employer spoke quickly as we suddenly were teleported.

Where I found myself was in the secret location of his lab which he mentioned before though at the time I didn’t know it. “Where are we?”

Premier seemed to ignore me for a bit as he looked over some things which left me with nothing to do but wander around. I got to see many things, books, beakers, spell circles and more before something caught my attention. Nothing had prepared me for looking at the amber orb on a pedestal where a gray liquid sat motionless inside. It was the evil essence that was pulled from Dreamer during his punishment. Before it was lively and active, bubbling, moving around and squirming, now though, it looked lifeless.

“It became like that not too long ago.” My employer nearly scared me out of my coat as I jumped before holding a wing to my barrel to feel my beating heart. “Sorry.” He gave a surprisingly soft chuckle. “Yes I know you keep wondering why I don’t just destroy this but…I can’t bring myself to destroy my brother, even if it is only a part of him that was evil and misguided. Plus, it had a soul.”

“Had?” I don’t know why but that disturbed me more than anything in my life.

Legerdemain never looked at me, always staring at the orb. “Yes, when it was active it had a soul, it’s what kept animating the goo. However, recently the soul moved on, leaving the mass alive and intact. I don’t like that. Souls that depart the body usually do so with the intent of death, yet this one didn’t die. I suspect that it’s the Chosen Alicorn status that keeps it from doing so, but I have no clue for how long that will remain. All in all this means a few things.” I was going to ask him what they meant but he volunteered the information to me without me having to. “One, it means the soul left to possess another body leaving behind the husk to rot, which as a Chosen it won’t. Two, it means that the goo was no longer compatible with the soul so it separated, which again would mean death if it was a normal body. Last and the more meaningful of them is that the soul entered the reincarnation cycle, which is bad.”

Like so many times in my life, this was another moment where I spoke before I thought, it was just lucky it turned out ok. “I don’t get it, how is that bad?”

“It means that the body will want it’s soul back and can pull at it any time since they are linked. Meaning if the owner of this soul is currently alive, but somehow gets weakened or distraught, this goo body could forcibly pull the soul out and return it more than likely killing the old body in the process. There is also the fact since the soul left this body before it may end up becoming a cycle of death pulling at reincarnated bodies ending them well before their time.” The silence in the cave was palpable now as I dreaded living a life where my soul could be ripped out at anytime to inhabit a body that would push it back into the reincarnation cycle. It would be as if something had murdered me each and every time.

Premier looked up suddenly as his horn glowed as a letter popped into existence and giving it to me to read. “The others are returning, we should do the same it says.”

With a flash we were back, though the visit to that hidden place would stay on my mind through most of the prep of the trip.

All of the remaining Chosen, except Dreamer as he still couldn’t be located, a company of troops numbering at a hundred and fifty, and myself were all ready for the trip as we made camp outside the village that spotted the ascending stars. The troops were nervous as when we had come in there were massive numbers of monsters spotted in the mountains. Singularly they didn’t possess that much power, but with that many they could swarm the village at any time. Because of that they were to be order to stay behind to protect the place.

“You don’t have to come with us Terra. You have a young filly that is growing up and a foal on the way.” Devotion told me with a note of concern. I would say it was strange coming from her, but I always secretly suspected she was fond of children.

“Maybe.” I told her. “But if I don’t come to record what happens, who would?” She chuckled and went on her way to make her final preps but her question was one I has asked myself plenty of times. Looking down past my slate gray coat I stared at my symbol, a petrified feather. A symbol of my scribing destiny and affinity for the earth, maybe it was that mark that was leading me onwards to do this, or maybe I just wanted to feel important. I don’t know and I still don’t to this day.

In the end, I chose to go with them, and I chose to write all these words in this book in the hopes others can learn from this.

“Is that it?” Devotion asked of us as she pointed a cave. We had been flying around for nearly a week now, coming back to camp to eat and sleep when needed.

Premier gave a nod and started swooping down towards it. “Yes, I feel something dark and sinister coming from there. With the barrier no longer trying to hinder us I can clearly sense it.”

It was this morning that Premier finally figured out why we kept getting turned around. A subtle but powerful enchantment had been cast over the area to dull the sense and make the internal compass of an Alicorn turn away from the area where the cave itself was located.

Landing on the outer edge of the cave as it was located somewhat upwards on the mountain we all made sure that we were ok. “The enchantment on this cave was so subtle even I didn’t realize it was here. If not for you Charity I don’t think I would have found it.”

Charity being blind meant she often used her magic to help guide her around and it was only because she often followed the others that she didn’t figure it out till today. “Well it was cause I was thinking of something and was distracted that I noticed you all shifting where you were going. I rely so much on my magic for direction instead of my internal compass that I never noticed the enchantment steering you all away till I forgot to follow you all.”

“Well in the end, all that matters is you are the one to thank for this.” Though she couldn’t see it she must have felt the eyes on her as she blushed when everypony smiled at her.

Looking at the cave entrance, it was now easy to see how Premier found it, even I could sense something wrong and off about this entrance, as well as welcoming which was the strange thing. “Welp looks like we are expected because this is obviously a trap.” Sincere told us which we call agreed with.

Devotion wasn’t one to stand around though as she confidently walked forward. “What are we waiting for? We are the Chosen, unless it is some kind of cosmic being that even our mother can’t handle then surely we are overkill for all the power we hold here.”

The battle ready Alicorn turned towards the cave only to quickly duck out of the way as something sped by, another ascending star. The only problem was as it passed even I could sense the sheer power of it and the miasmic taste of malice on it.

“WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?!” Sincere cursed loudly. “I have felt a lot of negative emotions from the monsters before but never something like that.”

Premier’s horn was already alight before he gave a ‘tsk’ sound. “It’s already out of range; I can’t shoot it from here.”

The sounds of hooves came again as Devotion got up and continued to the cave. “Well we can worry about that one later, let us find and deal with the one responsible for it now though.”

They all nodded and slowly started forward, that is when the feeling of dread started to fill me. This cave was wrong, not only was it filled with the same miasma that surrounded the star that just shot by but it seemed…more corrupt, more primordial then the egg. If the egg had been malice then this was pure evil.

“This cave isn’t natural.” The voice of Charity spoke as her wings brushed the walls. “It was carved with magic. Not only that but-” She stamped her hoof down suddenly. “The cave isn’t that big and opens up to a large hallow region not too far from here and we aren’t alone.”

My mane stood on end at that statement and the fact that the closer we got to the hallowed out area the thicker and more evil the feelings of dread and pure the concentrated evil became. The feelings of walking into a place of pure perversion were so strong I felt like I was being chocked, fairing only a bit worse than the Chosen themselves it seemed. It was to the point now where the feelings were taking physical forms of a dark smoky fog at our hooves all before entering the main cavern.

The dread I had been feeling nearly seized my heart as several members of the Chosen gasped or growled out loud. “You!”

Devotions yelled at the Alicorn laying down on the dias at the back of the cavern whom wore a smile on his face. “Yes me.”

There was no doubt by the voice that the Alicorn was none other than Hopeful Dreamer himself. “You are behind every monster in the lands?!”

The Alicorn stood up and seemed…big, bigger than normal. “Oh that and so much more.” He told them as he flapped his wings as if stretching stirring up the fog below us. “The little virus that has been separating the Alicorns is also my doing.”

Premier growled suddenly loudly and angrier then I have ever seen him before at this. “Why, I thought we had saved and fixed you my brother, why do you do this?!”

The smirk that came from the Alicorn gave me goose bumps just then as he started to chuckle before flat out laughing. “Oh that is too rich. You still think I am your brother, little Hopeful Dreamer? It is just too funny. No no no, you killed that little foal the day I was born.”

Nearly all of the members of the Chosen recoiled as if slapped when he said that. “What nonsense are you talking about demon?!”

“Oh Devotion, so quick to name call and blame. Well you should only blame yourself for this one.” The obsidian maned Alicorn stated. “I was born the day you killed Hopeful Dreamer, Alicorn of Hope, and completely devoted to the Alicorns and the ideas of the Chosen. I was created the day that he stopped being himself and became me. I was created the day you separated him from me.”

“Horseapples!” Exclaimed Legerdemain angrily. “We used our power to separate the foul corrupt form from his pure self.”

The Alicorn before us just grinned then and felt my eyes go wide in fear. “You did.”

My voice was barely a whisper but I know they all heard me as ‘Dreamer’ nodded. “He is right. Here before you stands the corrupt form himself, the form you let go and mistakenly sealed the good part. Some Chosen you turned out to be. I must thank you though, with how you mentally assaulted us, you thought his love for the Alicorns, his race, and the new ponies was corrupt and that in turn caused him to lose his form since that was dubbed ‘evil’. Because of that I got his body, his power, his mind, and everything to do with as I will.”

The Alicorn of Magic himself flared his wings as his horn lit up. “Then I need to make amends for my mistake and return my brother to his body!” I don’t what was worse, how fierce Premier was looking right now, or the fact that he had tears running down his face as he was doing so.

The other Chosen all flared their wings as well ready to join their leader. “Oh I have no doubt you can beat me, though it won’t matter. I have already set too many plans into motion for you to stop me even if I were to die here now, which I won’t.” Stepping down the dais now his wing swept over his flank and I seen his symbol change. Whereas Dreamers mark was a silver heart surrounded by a silver thread making a ring, this one was of a black heart looking to be strangled by a golden thread. “My name is Despair and I represent my element of which I have taken my name from. Though you may beat me here and now, the despair that the Alicorns feel cause of the virus sweeping the lands empowers me so I will hurt you all dearly before this is over. All of you Chosen will know of and feel my element all before you are killed by me. Oh and make no mistake, I have already won.”

I would have loved to recount for ages to come that I seen the battle with my own eyes, except I didn’t. The first blast that came from Despair met with a blast that came from Premier creating a shockwave that threw me against the rocks knocking me out. I can only tell of what I saw when I managed to come to and that was the results of the battle.

On the ground lay the beaten form of Despair still smirking as the Chosen all stood around him battle worn and ragged. “It is over Despair, you have lost.”

The beaten and blooded black and white Alicorn just chuckled as his body seemed to be turning to black ash and flying up into the air. “Oh, but I won even before we fought. You see, when I was stretching and airing out my feathers, I was really spreading a chemical I laced in them with the fog in the ground. Each of them separate have no power, but together, they make something I spent the last few years developing. A poison meant strictly for you chosen, with no antidote and no way of fighting it off. It will eat at you all slowly till you all expire. While me myself? I will live on for I found a way to condense my soul to a purified state and continue my existence. I only wish I could have fought better, but I had spent too much of my power in finishing my proudest accomplishment which I sent off just as you arrived. Farewell my creators. Oh and when you see my little egg that I launched hatch and fully grown, and he comes to greet you. Tell him his name.”

My mane was standing on edge again at this, a poison for the chosen, an egg, and a purified and condensed soul. The Alicorn vanished and all that was left was a solid black orb that hovered there.

From the orb came the voice of Despair. “His name is-” Suddenly the orb flew off crashing through the top of the cavern and into the air, but his voice lingered in cavern. “-Discord.”

Right after the voice of Despair left the cavern started to cave in from the damage that the soul leaving did, as well as from the battle. Quickly we teleported out and away to watch the mountaintop sink into itself as it filled the hole it had.

“He wasn’t lying.” Sincere told us as his horn was glowing. “There is something in us now that I can’t seem to purge.”

One by one each of the Chosen’s horns glowed only to fizzle and sputter out including Premier’s. “He is right. He has won even though he lost his body.” The bitter and hopeless way that my employer said that sentence scared me more than anything else this day. “If I can’t find a way to purge it then we will lose our loves, slowly, just as he planned.”

Devotion slammed her hoof into the ground hard then. “We walked right into his trap too. Not only that, now there is his ‘son’ out there. If the evil that egg radiated was any indication then he will be just as bad, this Discord.”

We soon teleported in silence as none had anything to add at this point. I would love to say that everything worked out as planned, that Premier found a cure, but I can’t. Instead I find myself being led by flight to the secret lab of my former employer.

It had been a few years since that battle and now the Alicorn race had dwindled to only a few hundred. There was no cure, no salvation coming. Our time was over. As we landed Premier stumbled and crashed into the forest floor and I had to help him up.

“Thank you my friend.” His voice, once vibrant and full of life and power, was now as weak and dull as his mane. No longer pulsing, no longer vibrant, but limp and without any power what so ever. “I suppose this is our punishment huh? We took something beautiful and though it perverse. We ignored the troubles of our brothers and sisters and chose to instead focus on our own concerns. Terra, do you know I have recently taken to watching the ponies my brother has created?”

My magic was helping him along as I shook my head. “I had not.”

Premier smiled in a sad way letting out a few tears. “They are beautiful. They are so full of life, dreams, and hope. Truly had I taken time I would see that these ponies represent all of the Chosen elements. They are generous though can be selfish. They are kind though can act cruel at times. Laugh and cry, be loyal or betray. Lie or tell the kindest of truths.” Slowly his horn lit up as the secret cave entrance was revealed to me. The cave it seemed had been changed from when I last seen it. No longer were there notes and experiments, instead just a large cavern empty except for five other Alicorns. “They can act so courageous against odds or as cowardly as mice. They can forgive and have learned to spite others as well as learned of sacrifice and withhold. They have been filled with a determination to continue but I have seen some fall into weakness easily as well.”

“They seem wonderful my friend.” I told him as he slowly walked out of my reach to join his fellow Alicorns. The four remaining Chosen having gone into hiding after their departure left the Alicorns with none to lead them.

Giving a nod as he turned towards me and holding out a hoof he smiled. “They hope and dream, and they despair and are filled with nightmares. Truly his ponies are the most harmonious and chaotic creatures ever seen on this world.” He smiled bigger and bigger as he closed his eyes. “And they are greater than any Alicorn could ever hope to be. That is why we have made a decision.”

My heart was sinking, something was up and I didn’t like it. “What are you saying?”

“The last few years I have been not looking for an antidote at all, Despair has bested me on that. Instead I looked for a way to condense our souls like he has done so that we may in some way be there in case our Ali-no our ponies need us. I leave you with one last job from my friend.”

His horn was already glowing as were the others. “What is it?”

“Tell the ponies in stories and legends where to find us. We will become guiding beacons of power to shield them should they ever need us. We will give our power to any who display our elements for the right reasons. We will become harmony itself and only through harmony may ponies or any individual wield our power.” The forms of the Chosen glowed till they were white now and a flash had blinded me. “Tell others of The Elements of Harmony and if for some reason my brother somehow comes back to his goo body, of which I have made sure to hide away. Tell him I am beyond sorry.”

When my eyes cleared up I could only see a glowing crystal tree with several branches all extending and bearing what looked like round fruit like orbs from five of them with another orb like fruit where they converged to the trunk of the tree.

I laid there for hours crying and crying. My friends and the leaders of all Alicorn kind had just vanished in front of me. They were to give me one job, a job I didn’t have the chance or the heart to tell them I might not complete.

A coughing fit came over me before I left the cave and a moment of weakness before I gathered my strength and teleported home. I write this with a smile as I look at the sleeping forms of my wife, my daughters Celestia and Luna. These are my last notes and journals that I will ever make. Sadly it will be up to Caeli Cor to guide my daughters and help find them a mentor. Both of us are sick with the virus and soon will be as the others, her later then I. I am just lucky and happy to have known my family and glad that Celestia and Luna are immune for they have not reached maturity. They may end up being the last Alicorns in existence and I hope that I have taught them enough to read my journal. The last few years a wave of new language came over the Alicorns and they had mostly been raised on that instead of the old tongue.

At this point the journals writing has a different set of hoofwriting in it as if somepony were adding their own notes to it.

It has taken me a long time to learn how my husband used to write in this journal but finally I can write slowly in it. I have taught my girls as much as possible but I have to leave them in the hooves of a dear friend of mine that I have come to know in the pony lands. His name is in the new dialect but I believe it is Starswirl and he has agreed to look after my girls. They are sad and crying right now, Luna is too young to understand but she knows that something is happening to her mother and doesn’t want it to. Girls, should you ever read this, I hope you have had a good life up till now; I will be hiding this in one of the old buildings of the Alicorns. Your Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we are so proud of whatever it is you choose to do. Remember to live by all the elements: Magic, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty, Loyalty, Hope, Courage, Forgiveness, Sacrifice, and Determination. And to never give in to Despair.

-Caeli Cor.

Celestia could feel how wet her mane had become as Luna had pressed her face into it. The princess slowly set the paper down and laid her head on the dining room table as her own tears started to flow. She was never a stranger to the burden of knowledge or power, a burden of legacy and a burden of leadership. However this burden was so personal, so heavy that it tested her resolve and strength and she found she could barely stand it.

‘The answers I wanted and sought the answers that I would have given nearly everything for before feel so hollow now.’ The sun ruler thought solemnly to herself. ‘My race all brought down by a mistake so foolish that one couldn’t just accept a sibling’s problems. Then again it might be that exact reason that it feels hollow. I made the same mistake with Luna and only through the intervention of the elements had I stopped it. Had the elements sensed what happened and helped me? Is that why they banished my sister on a timer instead of just ripping her apart like they had Dreamer? For that matter why only turn Discord, whom is the SON of Despair into a statue? Every time the elements have been used, every time, they have chosen to do something to protect, but never to destroy. Is there lingering feelings of the Chosen inside of them still? Is that why things are like the way they are now? If so why did it separate Plaga from Lego like it had? The results always seem to be consistent in their inconsistency.’

“Are you alright my sister?” Luna’s voice is what brought her out of her thoughts as she looked up to her. “You seem to be upset as much as I am but you are so silent.”

Celestia nodded and told her of her thoughts, not wanting to hide anything from her only family at this moment. “Do you see why I question it all? The only time that the elements have ever done the same thing is in regards to discord when he was resealed. Even then they released him. Does this mean the elements are aware on some level? The journal says they are but with how inconsistent they are I have to question it.”

“Tia, sometimes you can’t analyze something, especially when we do not fully understand it. Regardless I am just happy to have you here with me and know that we were too young to catch the virus. We have always been and always will be sisters and though our mother and father aren’t around anymore I have all the family I need right here.” The wings of the Alicorn of the night hugged her sister as both felt fresh tears roll down their face, these of happiness.

The sack of bits exchanged hooves as the doors opened. Down down down did the small part of ponies go as they carried something with them in a large sack.

“Now, you are sure, these are the real deal?” Said the first pony as green flame wrapped around him to reveal his Changeling nature. “If you are lying to us then I will let the Queen know of your treachery.”

The hooded pony just laughed at Egnach and just waved it off. “We both know the real power in the hive isn’t the Queen, but your employer.”

Egnach didn’t like this pony, but so far he had been most helpful in the list of names for them to search and capture for food sources, and most helpful in getting around the guards by relaying their patterns and schedules so he had no choice but to leave him be. “Hold your tongue; we are just here for what you promised and this better not be a trap.”

The Changeling watched as a glow came from under the hood of the pony as the door they stopped at opened. “Not many know of the seal on this and nopony knows I know of it. So you will never be found out and the items you wish are just inside, though I suggest you take nothing else since you didn’t bring replacements.”

Inside was a vault of countless items deemed too powerful or strong to let normal ponies have, but this didn’t stop the small party from looking even if they wouldn’t touch any of them. No their prize was in the latest holding areas. The first item was inside a small case which was quickly unlocked showing off the cracked ruby inside the piece of jewelry. Retrieving the fake and setting it back in place, the case was close.

“One down, now show us where the other is.” Egnach told the pony who started to walk down the hall. “The Professor really wants to examine this one.” He told the pony whom opened a door to reveal a large amber orb filled with a dark goo.

“Oh, you aren’t the princesses. I didn’t expect to get any other visitors down here besides them.” The goo spoke to them. “Then again, a Changeling isn’t something that should be here. This makes me very very curious.”

The sack was opened and inside was an identical orb of amber filled with dark goo that soon replaced the original. “You now work for us and will be grateful that we are moving you away from this place.”

Plaga just chuckled as he was stowed into the sack. “You have no complaints from me. Oh look I recognize that, thinking of trying to reunite me with my old home are you? No thanks, I am happy being a semi-stable liquid goo thank you very much.”

“Quiet.” The Changeling told him. “If you don’t want to be sent back here you will keep quiet.” When no sound came from the sack they closed it up. “Our job is done here. The rest of your payment will come to you in a month over small indiscreet payments. Just like the other times you have helped us.”

He knew the pony was smiling and could feel his emotions of satisfaction at this as they climbed out of the vault letting the hooded pony reseal it all up. Donning his disguise again Egnach left the supposedly secure area with his team.

The only thing on his mind though was no the mystery pony, but his employer. ‘What is Professor Adapt planning?’

Lego thanked the porter ponies as they went off to take his things to his house. He was excited to be back in Ponyville with his friends, which was why he wanted to surprise them all by telling them he wouldn’t be back till a few days from now.

‘So who first? Pinkie? Rarity? Dash?’ Novo asked of his brothers with a teasing tone. ‘Applejack or Fluttershy?’

The mental eye roll of Velox came with the actual one of Lego. ‘Come on we both know who he is looking most forward to seeing.’

Even if it was teasing, it was true, which was why Lego was now currently making a bee-line towards the Golden Oaks Library. While having dreamscape visits were all nice and all, he missed the real thing, and though it pained him sometimes to think that his brothers couldn’t enjoy the same thing, it was overshadowed currently by the fact that he was within moments of actually getting it.

None of the girls had managed to pay him an actual visit in the hospital at all the last few months having become very busy and while he was sad to hear it. It wouldn’t matter for much longer. Bringing his hoof to the door he knocked on it loudly.

“Twilight can you get that, I am busy in the kitchen!” The voice of the number one assistance called out.

“Fine, but only cause it smells good.” Lego’s heart fluttered a bit on hearing her voice and he found himself suddenly so excited he was practically nervous. The door opened and there stood everything he was looking forward to…and more. “Hello how can I-”

Both Twilight and Lego’s eyes went wide as Twilight’s feathers got ruffled both metaphorically and literally.

This seemed to be punctuated by the simple statement of Velox inside the brothers mind. ‘Huh…neat.’

Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. Technically it was done and ready to be posted right after Thanksgiving, though unedited, but some irl emergencies kinda shook my nerves and left me a mess for a few days unable to edit the chapter as I didn't want to make huge mistakes with it. After that I got sick, got better-ish, then another emergency that shook me and I got sick again. I am mostly better and have edited the chapter. Here it is and hope you enjoy.

Chapter Twenty Nine: Returning Home.

The Alter Accords

Chapter Twenty Nine: Returning Home.

“So that ended up as a failure. Now what?” The small winged pegasus filly asked of her two companions with a bit of a forlorn and slightly annoyed look on her face. “We didn’t get our cutie marks in digging a hole to the other side of the world.”

The unicorn filly of the three winced as she rubbed her other foreleg with her hoof. “Yeah, it also didn’t help we had to stop cause somepony fell in the hole we were digging and hurt themselves.”

“Ya, Ah’ reckon that we didn’t do too well when we tried to explain either.” The apple farming earth pony finished up for them making them all wince at the explanation then subsequent chewing out they had gotten.

Sweetie Belle sighed and looked at her fellow crusaders and simply asked. “Now what? The hole was supposed to take us all day but we barely have done anything.”

“I know right?” Scootaloo said as her wings fidgeted. “If we knew we would have to stop so early we should have planned for other things.”

“But we didn’t know.” Apple Bloom said with a bit of a sad note in her voice. “We could always go back to the clubhouse and try to think of other things to do.”

“Last time we did that digging the hole was all we came up with after the entire day was used.” The orange and magenta filly said as she plopped on the ground. “Why do the grownups have to stop our plans like this? I am sure we could have gotten to the other side of the world if we tried hard enough.”

“Oh I have got it!” Sweetie Belle shouted to her friends. “How about, Cutie Mark Crusaders: Guard Patrol.”

“We did that remember?” The apple filly told her. “We ran into pack of Timberwolves fighting Steven Magnet.”

“Oh yeah.” The curly maned filly said. “I wonder why they were fighting?”

Apple Bloom curled her tail up against herself subconsciously right against her chimera wound. “It don’t matter none. Ah think we were pretty dumb to go out like that.”

Her friends could tell that she just went along with them both for that adventure as the mental scars from her attack still haunted her it seems. “Sorry AB, we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable like that.”

“Yeah, that was pretty dumb of us for forgetting about your fears like that.” The two fillies went and nuzzled their friend whom returned the affection gently back to them. “You are a great friend to put up with us like that.”

“T-thanks you two.” Giving a bit of a sniffle from how touching their feelings where she wrapped her forelegs around them both hugging them. “Ya’ll are the bestest friends a pony could ever want.”

“What about Twist?” The would-be flyer said and they all looked at her. “I mean she is our friend too right?” Looking suddenly bright she smiled. “We should get her to come have fun with us, the more the merrier right?”

All three smiled at that. “You’re right. I mean she already has her cutie mark but that doesn’t mean she can’t crusade with us right?”

“Ah think she can, we will have to look inta that later.” Bloom said wiping away her tears at last now that no new ones were appearing. “We should go say hi at least and see how she is doin’.”

Slowly they all got up from their seated position and started to move towards town a question came to Sweetie Belle’s mind. “We haven’t seen Twist in a while have we? What has she has been up to I wonder?”

“Well she shouldn’t be that much different even if we haven’t talked to her in a bit.” Scootaloo said with confidence.

“Oh right, I forgot that Twist used to live in the orphanage with you. Was she always like she is even back then?” The unicorn filly asked of her friend.

The pegasus nodded with a smile. “Pretty much though much more shy then now. Then again she is still pretty shy. Then again part of that is probably the fact she didn’t have glasses back then. That was before she had her lisp…now that I think about it I don’t remember when she got the lisp.”

“Well we are almost there we can ask her when we see her.” Bloom told them while pointing at the house.

The house was like every other house in Ponyville for the most part, straw roof, wood exterior with paint that made it look more like a darker wood like cherry. There was also a side building much smaller that the girls don’t remember seeing there the last time they had visited. Being the brave one of the group Scootaloo knocked on the door without a moment’s hesitation.

For a bit the crusaders were not sure if anypony was home or not till slowly Twist opened the door looking rather run down. “Oh hi everypony. Howth it going?”

“Oh wow you look horrible.” Scootaloo spoke her thoughts out loud.

“Scootaloo!” The proper unicorn filly said. “Rarity told me to always tell a mare how beautiful she looks even if she does look and I quote ‘dreadful’. It’s rude to tell Twist she looks awful.” Turning to Twist she gave a sort of sheepish smile. “It is true though, you do look terrible, sorry.”

Apple Bloom moved forward towards the earth pony and asked. “What happened?”

“Ith nothing really.” Twist said with her noticeable lisp. “My parents went out of town tho I am home alone. Ith just I think I caught a cold.” She told them giving an exaggerated sniff.

“Sorry to hear that.” Scootaloo told her feeling genuinely sorry and rubbing one of her forelegs with the other hoof. “We were wondering if you wanted to go crusading with us, but if you’re not feeling well its fine.”

Twist cocked her head gently to one side confused about what she heard “Cruthading? But I have my cutie mark already, tho I thought I couldn’t.”

“Oh fooey, you are our friend so why cain’t ya?” Bloom said before drawing her into a hug. “Friends don’t care about thin’s like that.”

“Exactly!” Scootaloo exclaimed with enthusiasm. “You just need the drive to do the extreme, to seek out things no other pony will to-”

Scootaloo found her muzzle clamped shut by the hooves of Sweetie Belle as she giggled. “What Scootaloo means to say is that you just have to want to be there with your friends and to help.”

Having those hooves removed from the orange filly’s mouth, said filly just rubbed the ground and grumbled. “I was getting to that part.”

“Are you thure? I mean I am thick tho I don’t want to be a bother.” Twist told them as she looked down and gave a sniffle.

The look of surprise on her face was worth it to all of the fillies as Twist suddenly found herself in a group hug. “We only mind if you don’t hurry up.” Bloom gave a wink as she told her that.

Leaving the doorway of her home, she made sure it was closed up before following her friends. As they got to their clubhouse though, it was the same story as before though this time with papers of failed ideas surrounding them.

“What are we going to do?” The pegasus filly asked the rest.

“What about Cutie Mark Crusaders veterinarians?” Apple Bloom asked. “We go to Fluttershy and see if she needs help.”

Shaking her head the white coated filly of the group spoke up. “We can’t not after the Cockatrice event.”

“Oh right.” The yellow coated filly said.

Just then Scootaloo jumped up and started to speak. “What if we build a giant ramp then we can-”

“Tree sap.” Was all Sweetie said to her friend causing her to wince in remembering that event. “What if we were investigators?”

“We tried that remember.” Scootaloo once more spoke up. “It would have been nice but nothing mysterious is going on to investigate. Which considering the monster attacks and all that, you would think there would be.”

“That could work.” All three of the crusaders looked towards their friend as she grew a bit shy.

Moving over to give her another hug which brightened up the filly Bloom asked her. “What do ya mean it could work?”

Smiling widely Twist would move to the window and point. “The houth down the threet from me hath ponies moving thuff into it. We could investigate who ith moving in?”

“AHHHH YEAH!” All three fillies jumped up and gave a high hoof to each other. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Investigators.”

Scootaloo looked over to their right and smiled. “Why aren’t you over here with us Twist? You get to join in as well.”

Bounding over with a big smile on her face she rose up and put her hoof with the others. “Cutie Mark Cruthaders Invethtigatorth!”

As they arrived, looking at the building in question from a distance they saw several ponies carrying boxes and furniture. “They are robbing the place!”

Bloom face hoofed at this statement from Scootaloo. Honestly a year ago she would have made the statement but having your life nearly be over cause you didn’t take one moment to look at what was around you does make a pony develop some habits.

“Scoots look at them.” She told her friend. “Why in tarnation would they be wearin’ uniforms?”

The pegasus looked stumped for a moment before smiling. “They are in their disguises obviously.”

Unfortunately for her she wasn’t the only one now looking at the subjects of their investigations closely. “Then why does it say ‘Sure Footed Moving Company on their uniforms?’ Also why are they putting stuff INTO the building? Wouldn’t robbers be taking things out of the building?”

Backed into a verbal corner all the filly could say was. “Maybe they are reverse robbers…kinda like Robin Hoof? You know steal from the rich give to the poor, maybe that pony was poor and who am I kidding.”

“I wonder who uthed to live there?” The purple glasses wearing earth pony asked. “I haven’t theen anypony living there for a while.”

“Wait just one gosh darned minute.” Bloom said rising up out of the bushes they were hiding in. “That is Mr. Bright Star’s home!”

With the filly rushing off towards the home her friends were close behind her. They all knew of the crush the filly had on the pegasus Velox after he rescued her, and they also knew how hard it was on her when he vanished. It made Sweetie Belle more than a bit jealous because afterwards her friend seemed to have a maturity about her that wasn’t there before. Then again sometimes she felt like she was just imagining it.

Scootaloo wasn’t so much jealous as she was sad, she had liked Velox and Novo, both were very cool ponies, Novo even more so as he had been dating her idol Rainbow Dash. When she found out that Velox had vanished and that Novo was now trapped in the head of Lego, it hurt a lot though none more so then Dash herself whom she had caught several times crying to herself in a tree or in a meadow when the young filly had ‘found’ her several times.

However every pony was happy again when they found out that not only Velox was back but so was Novo after he had vanished for a bit as well. Not only that but Lego no longer seemed to be as sick to which they all felt happy about.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twist all managed to get to their friend just as the earth pony in charge of the movers had just finished saying something, though they had missed it. However judging from the look on Apple Bloom’s face it was something big.

The unicorn filly stopped in front of her friend and shook her out of her stupor. “What is it AB?”

“He is back.” Turning to all her friends she smiled and grabbed them in a big hug. “Lego has moved back to Ponyville!”

All four fillies cheered and did a bit of a dance before Scootaloo gave a nudge to Twist. “Seems like you are no longer sick. Guess you just needed some fresh air huh.”

For a moment Scootaloo thought she saw something on Twist’s face before she just smiled and giggled. “Gueth you are right. Thith wath jutht what I needed.”

“Oh, my, GOSH!” The purple and pink maned filly exclaimed. “We need to go tell Twilight.”

Right away all of the fillies started to run towards the library, the only problem was it seems they weren’t the only ones there as four mares seemed to be looking into one of the windows for the lobby of the library.

“Sister?/Rainbow Dash/Big Sis?/Pinkie Pie?” Sweetie, Scoots, AB, and Twist all called out at once.

All four mares turned hearing those voices though one spoke up among them. “No pony is going to say hi to Fluttershy?”

Each filly looked towards the mares in front of them from Rainbow Dash who had spoke to them to the next before finding the timid pegasus hiding behind the group. “Hello everypony.”

“What is everypony doin’ here?” Bloom asked of the fully grown mares that they had caught peeping.

Applejack looked slightly ashamed and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. Fluttershy was already hidden behind the others so they couldn’t tell how she reacted. Pinkie Pie was bouncing and giggling to herself. Rarity looked mildly embarrassed. It was Dash’s reaction that was the most different though.

Grabbing Scoots in her hooves she lifted her up to peep as well. “Lego came back early.”

Squirming a bit to get comfortable, though overall enjoying being held like this, Scootaloo looked up at her hero and tilted her head. “We know, we just found the movers bringing its stuff back to his house and was on our way to tell Twilight when we seen all of you hanging around a window to the library.”

It seems the other older sisters had each picked up a filly, with Twist being picked up by Pinkie Pie, and was bringing them to watch as well. “Well you see darlings; Twilight here has been very shy about her new ascended status and hasn’t exactly told her beau about it even in our night time escapades.”

“So she has been lyin’ to him?” Bloom asked with a bit of a frown. “That ain’t right.”

“Well she was goin’ to tell him when he moved back at his welcome back party, but-” Before Applejack could finish Pinkie Pie finished for her.

With a bounce that jostled the earth pony in her grip a bit she smiled. “But he went and surprised us. It was only because I was taking a nap that I found out as I went to visit Puddles in his dream and found him laughing at his brothers ranting about Twilight being an Alicorn. So I left him a gift woke up and got the others.”

“I can’t hear them though.” Twist said as her eyes were swirling around in her head for a bit. “I wonder what they are talking about.”

Lego was rubbing at his temples now as Twilight had finished up her tale. It had been a dozey of one that he had to ask her to repeat certain parts. Though now he had all the information he needed as he looked up at the pony whom held such a large piece of his heart.

“Alright, so let me get this straight.” He started to say to a nervous Twilight. “Celestia sent you a book.” To which Twilight nodded. “After deciphering it you found it belonged to Starswirl The Bearded himself and it was an unfinished spell.” This got an affirmative ‘mhm’ from the mare in question. “So not knowing what it did you cast it and switched our friends marks around changing their destinies.” The Alicorn looked a bit down at that but once more nodded. “But you managed to fix it by finishing the spell and returned everypony to normal and then you vanished and was met by Sunbutt herself who turned you to an Alicorn?”

“Why do you always call her that? Also yes.” Twilight said puffing out her cheeks a bit to the nickname of her teacher. “So what do you think?”

“Because it’s funny and I can.” Standing up and stretching having been sitting there for quite some time Lego just started to laugh. “Yeah that makes perfect sense.”

‘HORSE APPLES!’ Novo exclaimed inside their head. ‘That makes absolutely no sense. We have met plenty of unicorns who have made up spells and techniques and none of them are Alicorns. Tartarus, we made up The Current as a group and we aren’t an Alicorn. TWILIGHT BREAKS ALL THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND MAGIC!!!!!’

The crunching of popcorn could be heard as well as laugher from the pegasus of the trio as he as lounging on a mental chair eating said popcorn. ‘Velox, where did you get the popcorn?’

The pegasus brother responded to his in control earth pony self with a simple explanation. ‘Pinkie Pie.’

They all thought better then to question that. “Well it makes sense for you Twilight. Not to the rest of the world or its laws as Novo keeps telling me, but for you makes perfect sense.”

The pegasus and earth pony both shared a chuckle to the anguished scream of their unicorn sibling. “So you don’t hate me?”

“Hate you? For what?” Lego asked her with a confused look on his face.

Twilight simply spread out her wings. “Well I have wings now, I am a Princess though I don’t know over what, I am taller now, a weigh more, I have more magic, and-”

While the purple Alicorn was having her slight breakdown Lego came up with the simplest solution and kissed her stopping her in her tracks. “Twilight, I could never hate you.”

The blushing face of the former unicorn was beyond adorable, so was her stammering; however there was now howling laugher in Lego’s head. ‘Laid it on a bit too smooth there brother didn’t you?’ Lego was about to question why when the formerly ranting unicorn in his head started to laugh as well.

Looking over the unicorn of his dreams he found his view blocked by two large win- “Twilight umm. Your wings.”

Looking at him then back to her wings she tilted her head a bit. “hmm usually that only happens in the mornings after I visit you. I wonder what causes that.”

The laughing in his head just went beyond laughter at that point as he face hoofed. “T-Twilight you can’t be serious.”

“I wonder if it is a blood flow problem.” Gasping she went and started running in a circle trying to look at her stiff wings better. “Maybe it’s something wrong with them, maybe they were made wrong!”

Sitting down on his rump Lego sighed. “Twilight, there is nothing wrong with you.”

Calming down slightly the Alicorn looked at him with another curious look. “Then what is wrong with my wings?”

“Awww, they look so sweet together.” Sweetie Belle said with a lilt to her voice.

Nodding and dabbing at her eyes a bit Rarity agreed with her sister. “Indeed, it is good to see them getting along especially as she had been dreading this conversation.”

“Oh they are getting along alright.” Dash chuckled a bit and smirked. “Check out her wings.”

“Oh my.” Fluttershy spoke up as she went to cover her eyes. She wasn’t far behind as the young ones of the group found themselves likewise blinded by the ones holding them.

Squirming to see the pegasus filly didn’t much care for being left out of the know. “I don’t get it, what is up with her wings?”

“I will tell you when you are older Squirt.” Her hero told him.

Giggling louder than before, Pinkie had a smirk of her own on her face. “Looks like Twilight it getting that talk now though.”

The ones who could see all looked in to see Lego mimicking rising wings with his hooves out to his side as Twilight’s face got deeper and deeper coloration to it as she was told what it meant before she herself covered her own face.

“I might have to teach her more about being a pegasus then I thought if this is the case before she decides to just start giving ponies feathers.” Mused the athlete.

This only cause the yellow pegasus hiding behind her hooves to peek out and mutter a simple. “Oh my.”

Patting her on the back Lego chuckled just a bit to her groan of embarrassment. “It’s alright Twilight. You are taking it better than I did when I was a single persona and had it happen to me in Velox’s form.”

Looking up at him she peeked from under her hooves. “Really? How did it go for you?”

There was a small flashback to a beige pegasus sauntering ahead of him as he was Velox her tail sweeping back and forth cause of the heat inadvertently giving him flashes of things usually hidden behind said tail came to mind. She had turned around and seen his wings stretched out wide, blushed, and then proceeded to have her hoof meet his muzzle.

Rubbing the spot where she had decked him he chuckled. “Not well.” There was two sympathetic hisses of pain in his head as they all recalled that. “Regardless young or old, every pegasus has a moment like that and well, you are partly pegasus now.”

Her wings were now mostly down, having calmed down thanks to her embarrassment and Lego’s comfort. “T-thanks. I am glad the others weren’t around to see that. They haven’t really ever done that in public as far as I can tell and hopefully I can keep it that way.” A grumble in her stomach made the relief she felt vanish as she groaned and sank down. “This new body is almost too much trouble.”

Being a curious pony as he was Lego couldn’t stop himself from asking “How so?”

Looking up Twilight sighed again and sat up. “Well I am bigger, so not only did I have to change my id to reflect that, which thankfully the Princesses helped smooth over, but I weigh more and need more food.” At the mention of food her belly grumbled again. “Also little known fact is that Alicorns need protein in their diets more so then before. So now I have to eat meat substitutes and they taste so awful. I thought about cooking some of Spike’s meat that he has been getting, but I just can’t do it. What is more every time he decides to cook it, I feel my mouth watering and all I can think of is Fluttershy’s animals looking at me with horror in their eyes.”

“Want me to cook you something?” Lego volunteered which got a confused look on Twilight’s face. “Did you forget I have to eat meat as well because dietary concerns.”

“Oh right, I am soooo sorry. I didn’t even think of how you must deal with it.” The Alicorn apologized as she went to hug him. “How do you take knowing you have to eat meat to survive.”

Patting her on her back, though staying away from her wings he chuckled. “Twilight, let me ask you something. Do you friends know of your needs?” When she nodded he continued. “Great, it means they don’t care. A lot of Fluttershy’s animals are meat eaters as well. I am very sure she is more then used to the idea, not only that but if it’s an Alicorn trait that means Sunbutt and Moonbutt also have that issue, as well as Cadence. Do you think any less of them for having to eat this way? What about Spike, dragons in general, Griffons, Minotaurs, or ponies with special needs like me? Do you think any less of those them or their species for having needs like that?”

Shaking her head she wiped at her eyes and smiled up at him. “Your right. I don’t view them any different at all.”

Bringing up his hoof to boop her nose he smiles. “Then look at the mare in the mirror and feel the same way. Now let me go see what Spike has in the freezer and if any of it can be defrosted quickly for me to cook for you.”

Moving into the kitchen and for a moment Lego thought he heard movement but looked around and didn’t see anything. Reaching up to open the freezer he reached up to grab a few pieces of the preserved flesh only for Twilight to reach up as well.

“I-I want to get over this. I don’t want to think about the wrong things I have been thinking about it anymore. I eat meat now yes, but that doesn’t change who I am.” Twilight told him looking at him in the eyes.

He smiled at the confidence in her eyes. Problem was some ice was dripping onto the floor as both of them held up the packaged meat, this became more of a problem as Twilight took a step forward and had her hoof placed directly on top of it.

“W-WOAH!!!” She yelled out stumbling forward.

Letting go of the package Lego scrambled to wrap his hooves around her. “I got you!” Except for one problem in that she had the momentum and leverage in her fall now. “Never mind!”

The both landed with an oomph with Twilight atop of the white stallion. “Ow, are you all right?”

The stallion chuckled a bit. “Bruised in a few places, but otherwise fine.”

“Sorry about that let me just get off of-EEP!” The squeak sound came from the fact of Twilight’s position of which she just now realized she was in.

She had landed atop of him and had somehow managed to move her legs to either side of him. As she had started to move off him it caused certain things to move in a rather interesting way. The fall had placed her most sensitive parts on top of his and moving only accented that as they lined up more directly as she sat up more. Needless to say this caused her to move to lie back down atop of him.

“Twilight, as nice as it is to have you on top, the meat is under me and is cold as well as pressing into me in uncomfortable ways.” Lego mentioned to the shocked look on her face.

Shaking her head rapidly as her wings had fully flared out again. “I-I can’t move, I am on top of your-”

“I know Twilight, I felt that too.” The stallion said, color rising on his own face. “Problem is, either we can take care of the meat under me, or the meat under you.”

The earth pony felt her move her face to his neck nuzzling it some to hide away from him…or at least he thought. “W-what if I wanted the s-second option.” A barely audible and muffled voice came out of his neck.

“Well then we would-” all voices in his head had stopped, even his own as he realized exactly what Twilight had just said. “S-say again?”

She said nothing, however she didn’t need to as the slight movement of her hips was enough to speak for her. This caused him to gasp loudly feeling the movement and more than a bit more of embarrassment as there was more of him to rub now thanks to that.

It wasn’t to be however as he wasn’t the only one to gasp at this. “What was that?” Twilight asked of him looking around now.

“I don’t know but it sounded like it came from-” He spotted it at the same time as Twilight. Well not so much an ‘it’ as a ‘them’. In the window were five very shocked looking mares covering the eyes of four fillies all while wearing blushes on their faces.

They weren’t the only ones as Twilight covered her face while whispering. “This is not happening.” Over and over again while Lego’s own face was almost now similar to his old coat coloration.

Twilight scrambled off of him quickly giving the girls more than an eyeful as he quickly rolled over to hide himself. “Twilight I think you should bring your friends inside and politely discuss why it’s not polite to peep!”

His shout was enough for the girls to hear through the windows as each of them managed to giggle loudly at the predicament. The fillies at that point were ushered off to much disappointment from many of them though each of them wore a different face when they were looking at the pair now. Sweetie Belle had one of those looks of those seeing a romance before her, Scootaloo had look of somepony who gagged at seeing public affection, Twist looked rather satisfied with herself for some reason, and Apple Bloom was blushing up a storm and wouldn’t look any of them in the eye.

The older mares had a slightly different reaction when it was just the seven of them. Well more along the lines of six as he was in the kitchen cooking to keep away from certain pesky questions and looks. Rarity had a smug look on her face of one who had just read one of those tabloids and read a very juicy story. Pinkie Pie was ecstatic claiming they should have a special somepony party which was rejected giving that many would ask how they made their relationship known. Fluttershy still was red in the face with her back against something to prevent her wings from shooting up with constant ‘oh my’s being tossed around.

However while it was overall positive the last two mares had a more subdued approach. Applejack couldn’t help but muse to the night inside the tent in Appaloosa with Velox. Rainbow Dash was also similarly thinking but not just to one moment but multiple, her training with Novo, the night after the date, and just all the moments they had. While it was nice that they could visit in their dreams for both of the athletic mares it just wasn’t the same.

Celestia, The Solar Alicorn, Bringer of Dawn, Eater of Cakes was walking down into the dungeons with her sister the Lunar Alicorn, Guardian of Dreams, The Moonlit Mare, The Nighttime Prankster, otherwise known as Luna. It was a conversation long coming since the final revelations of both the journal and to see how much the Changelings really knew about their heritage.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Luna asked of her sister. “Knowing her she will not give this information for free. What will you be willing to give her sister?”

“I have a few ideas, though one I think she will want no matter what questions we want answers to.” The white Alicorn told her. “However right now we need to see if she is willing to speak with us at all.”

The guards to the more secure levels saluted but stood still. “Passwords your Majesties.”

It had been something they had all agreed to very recently. While there was anti-Changeling Enchantments in place around these parts, it still may not stop them, so as of last week they had started to distribute codes and the like to various individuals.

“Vanilla Cake.” Said the Alicorn of Light and Sunshine.

“Moonlight Waltz.” The Mover of the Moon spoke up with her own code.

The stallion guarding the gates stood there for a moment before he too spoke up. “Lilac Lilly Lollipop.”

“Wrong.” Luna told him as all three smiled. They had made sure that the guards code was always three things though the real answer was a hidden fourth that came after.

“Correct.” A simple statement of correct was the password. The Diarchy felt that anypony told they had it wrong might try to rearrange the order of words, or even make up another afterwards. With the statement of correct being the true password it was so simple they felt it wouldn’t be possible to have it guessed.

As they passed a few cells of individuals though most of them being empty they came to the holding cell they wanted. “Chrysalis we would like to ask you a few questions.”

The bug pony moved to stand and stretch before looking at her visitors. “What do you wish to know this time. I have practically revealed all that I know to you and cannot think of anything else to tell you.”

“What we wish to know this time is more along the lines of history.” Said the midnight blue Alicorn. “We wish to know what you know of the first Changelings.”

The former queen narrowed her eyes suddenly. “What I know of the first Changelings is sacred and not for others to hear. It is only to be passed down to my successor when I am ready to step down.”

Celestia looked suddenly a tad sad and shook her head. “I am afraid then the knowledge will be lost as you have been usurped and have no pony to pass down that knowledge now.”

Chrysalis’ black shell caught the light of the nearby torches as she lowered her head. “Maybe you are right, though I deserve something for this information.” Giving a sigh after the Solar Alicorn nodded and taking a moment to look up towards the diarch she simply sounded defeated. “The first Changeling gave birth to all the others, it was her love for her species that allowed them to live. However it was because she was too willing to give her love that she ended up dying as a result. More and more Changelings were being ostracized by outside forces for looking too different and the fact that we hid ourselves only made it that much worse. Love was hard to come by and our first Queen gave all of her love to her children, which also sapped her life force. It serves as a lesson to all Changelings, do not share, you will only kill yourselves and serve to disable the ones you wish to help by not allowing them to learn to fend for themselves. We also learned that we will never be accepted except by our own mother except now she is no more so we will be accepted by no one. No Griffon, no Minotaur, and No Pony.”

Both the sun and moon representatives were shocked to hear what had befallen the Alicorn as well as the lessons that it had caused the Changelings to adopt as fact, but maybe they were. Celestia herself knows she never tried to make peace with the Changelings feeling they were irredeemable.

Sighing to herself she realized this was partially her fault. “That is a shame, but what is more do you know where the Alicorn that made you is buried?”

It seems the shock of the fate of one of the Chosen had caused Celestia to say more then she meant to, but even more so was the reaction of Chrysalis who looked wide eyed. “I will tell you nothing more.”

All the royal members looked at each other for a moment, they all knew that the other now knew but knew that nothing would bring that info out. “Very well. It is time for the reward. You will need a disguise and you will be wearing a horn nullifier so you cannot use your magic after you change.

Her friends had left now and she was left alone to eat the cooked meat that Lego had cooked. At first she hesitated her old self saying it was wrong, however when the first bite was tasted, she found she couldn’t control herself cause of the flavor. Distantly she could hear the earth pony chuckling at her reaction, but then again she was too caught up in the food to care.

‘The faux substitute is nowhere near this good.’ She mused in her head humming to herself pleased at the taste. ‘Is it because it is the real thing and my body knows the difference? Is it how he cooked it? Or maybe it’s the fact that since most ponies do not eat meat they aren’t sure how the synthetic meat is supposed to taste?’

In the end it didn’t matter as her belly got full and she felt for once satisfied after eating the protein, something that the substitute never left her feeling. “I know right, nothing like getting the right food in you to make you happy with the world.” He chuckled saying that, gathering up the plates both of them had used and carrying them away.

“No joking.” Twilight told him. “For the longest time I had been considering taking up Rarity’s offer.”

“What offer?” Lego called out from the kitchen where he was currently doing the dishes.

Groaning a bit as she didn’t want to move, however she did want to help out, the purple Alicorn carried herself to the kitchen. “Rarity has been seeing a pony about her problems for a while now. She thought that with my problems I should see her as well. I looked up Doctor Frontal Lobe’s history and she comes highly recommended but I was just so embarrassed.”

Twilight didn’t see that for a moment Lego had stopped washing though when he failed to continue that is when she nudged him. “Sorry, just, yeah she is very good.”

His tone wasn’t of somepony agreeing just to agree, it was one of first hoof experience. “Have you been to see her?”

Putting up a plate to dry on the strainer he nodded as he worked on the other. “Yeah. I had to see her when I was going through grief counseling for my impending death at the time. More so after I was freed from Plaga as I was allowed to witness what he had done. It wasn’t much when I was taken over, but Novo and Velox, especially Velox, had seen so much and was unable to stop it. We all have nightmares now of those times.”

The mare’s ears canted back in sadness as she went to nuzzle her coltfriend and hug him gently. “I am so sorry to hear that. I wish there was something I could do to help.”

Wrapping a soapy hoof around her he smiled. “You already do help. Though that wasn’t all that we discussed with Dr. Lobe. We found out that through hypnosis that Velox or Novo could come out; problem is our body wants to automatically change with it and it can’t take the strain. Dr. Lobe theorized that it wouldn’t matter since we are all shards of one original personality each carrying different aspects and memories of the original, but the problem is…even like this we don’t want to be rejoined.”

“Is it because of how Velox and Novo feel about Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” The concerned sounded mage asked gently to which she got a nod. “Oh.”

Giving a chuckle he moved his muzzle to kiss her forehead just below her horn but not touching it. “Its cause of how I also feel for you. Anyways while that is the most Major factor the problem is we feel as if we will lose who we are if we go back to one personality. What makes each of us, well us, will be lost and we feel we may lose what makes us love you girls, or what makes you girls love us. We know it’s a bit selfish, tying you girls to my broken body, only allowing you to experience your loves through dreams, but…for some of us, it’s all they have.” Turning to Twilight she could see unshed tears in his eyes. “I am lucky, and I shouldn’t be, but I am the one who got control after Velox was taken over. We aren’t sure why that is but because of that I am the one who has a body that I can share with the one I love. I feel guilty over that fact but at the same time I am so grateful.”

Twilight couldn’t help herself and leaned forward to gently kiss him to which he responded just as softly. “Thank you for telling me that. I agree with your feelings though. I know I myself couldn’t handle having more than one pony after my body and what is worse they are after it because you share it with others. However I am happy that you are here with me. I thought I had lost you when I came to your home after Plaga took you over. I was distraught and I felt as if my heart was dunked in ice water. You are here now though and that is what matters. That may be selfish of me to ask as well but I know that things will work out in the end. I believe it will.”

Giving her a chuckle and nuzzled her gently though she could hear his words as he whispered them. “I wish we could believe the same.”

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone and everypony. Sorry that this chapter took so long but it is here now. The moment I got done finishing looking over my first edit I had to send it out to you guys. As such it may be a bit rougher then normal but there needed to be more of this story out there as soon as possible.

For those that have stuck with me for so long I thank you so much. Also I am trying to break up the shifts in perspective a bit more with line breaks and I hope that helps some of you whom have had trouble in the past.

Chapter Thirty: You Daring Don’t Say?

The Alter Accords

Chapter Thirty: You Daring Don’t Say?

The adjustment back home had gone rather well. It had been a surprise to see how much his home had been kept up with Fluttershy and her animal’s help. When he went to go thank her in pony all she could manage was a bashful blush and say it was the least she could do to help him. Regardless he had still given her a present: A solution that was animal friendly and would help clean up various stains and messes. When asked where he got it he explained to the animal loving pegasus that he was the retained all the chemical knowledge that his original self had, though it was shared along with Novo.

The farm mare of Velox’s heart came by one day, finally it seemed that she had a bit of time to sit down and tell him how grateful she was. True while she had said this in their dreams before this time it came with a tour of the new Sweet Apple Acres. S.A.A. had more than a few acres added to it since they all had last seen, it as well as many ponies he had never met before all of whom were new farm hooves to help with the bucking. Her apples were going all over Equestria and with the right spells, some companies had managed to preserve them for longer for travel outside of the pony nation.

Rarity had come to apologize to Lego himself saying she had no right to do many of the things she had done to him nor objectify him as she had done in the past. As such he had a full wardrobe in his house when he had moved in. The only part that was a bit awkward is when she confessed to having some of his ‘magazines’ in her home and offered to give them to him so that he could do with them as he wished. Needless to say he let her keep them.

Ponyville’s resident pink pronking party pony was doing her job and had thrown a heck of a party once things had settled in for him, and as such he had so much left over cake in his home that he wouldn’t need sweets for at least another month. That wasn’t all, Pinkie had revealed that she would like help with something, focusing her Pinkie sense. Normally Lego would have loved to do that but instead just shook his head.

“Why?” The tri-pony’s best friend had asked simply with more than a bit of a pout.

His answer was a simple hug before he started to tell her. “I have no clue how your Pinkie sense works. I could give you lessons on how to focus, but honestly Pinkie. You are the best Pinkie when you are yourself. Its good you wish to improve something but are you sure that focusing too much on your sense might impair it? For all we know your Pinkie Sense runs on instinct and trying to focus and tame it too much might destroy it completely.” Sitting down and offering her a slice of his left over cake, which she destroyed in a horror scene that will not be retold he continued to tell her. “In the end Pinkie, what you want is not focus. Instead what you want is reaction time. You yourself already know all the signs of your sense right?”

“Yepperrooni.” The puffy pink bundle told him. “No pony knows my Pinkie sense like I do.”

Nodding and smiling he booped her nose. “Exactly, you are already the fastest one to recognize things. If something new pops up, then I would say write it down a few times till you memorize it. If you are having problems remembering all your signs maybe keep a book or something. Write them all down, and every so often re-read it so that they are always fresh in your mind.”

The meeting ended with a wonderful hug from her as she smiled a bounced away as well as leaving Lego with a good feeling about that. What wasn’t a good feeling is how Twilight had become a recluse. Celestia had finally sent her a copy of the transcript of the translated journal and suddenly the purple mare felt she had to cross section every mention of Alicorn she could find to see if there were any previous hints of this discovery that could have been available to anypony without the journal. Needless to say this cut down on the times he could enjoy her company and while it let him get back into some of his hobbies it wasn’t the same. Luckily though, it seemed as if Pinkie Pie would be using the library for a party which brought Twilight out of her seclusion as she wanted to be a good host.

Last but not least was Rainbow Dash. For a while after he had come home, she wanted to show him something but sadly schedule conflicts of setting up his home, making time for his marefriend as well as her own work schedule meant there was no time. Correction, there would have been time if she had not gone on a reading binge anticipating the new Daring Do book. Novo didn’t help any as at night during their time together he helped her act out the books in their dreamscapes.

It all came to a head when the party was in full swing and Rainbow Dash had finally made her way to the party. “Haven’t you heard Rainbow Dash?” The cyan mare just had a confused look on her face as her Alicorn friend asked her that. “The book has been delayed another for another two months.”

“Two months!” The speedster just collapsed and covered her head with her wings. “I don’t think I will be able to last another two months.”

“I can vouch for that.” Fluttershy said as she walked over to her friends. “I don’t think Rainbow Dash can wait that long.”

“All things considered, it’s pretty normal for her.” Lego mused out loud, though it seemed as if his friends heard that.

Nodding in agreement Twilight patted her friend sympathetically on the back. “A.K. Yearling has been known to be delayed before. Then again this time the publisher said that it was delayed cause of personal distractions.”

Lego as well as his brothers all laughed, though only the former was heard by his friends whom all looked at him. “Oh sorry didn’t mean to laugh there.”

“Yeah yeah, yuk it up.” Dash lamented to her friends. “While you do, I have to suffer without more Daring Do. I mean if I could I would go help make sure that A.K. Yearling had no distractions so she could work as fast as possible and-” Suddenly her eyes shined brightly and her wings snapped open in excitement as she turned to Twilight. “If a certain somepony knows where she lives I can do just that.”

“I don’t know Rainbow Dash, I mean she might work better if we leave her to her privacy and it would be rude to-” However she was cut off with both puppy dog eyes and a trembling lip.

“Please Twilight.” The multi-hued maned pegasus pleaded. “What if we all go so we can help out together?”

Sighing and giving the pegasus a hug Twilight reached her verdict. “Fine, but if we impact her life we leave right away.”

‘Wait, wait, wait.’ Velox said inside of his brother’s head. ‘They are going to A.K. Yearlings place?’

‘Oh this won’t end well.’ Novo spoke as well to which the earth pony in charge nodded his head.

“Alright everypony we will leave tomorrow, everypony get a good night’s rest and we will all head out to see if we can help the author with her problems.” Twilight’s enthusiasm caught around even as Lego and his brothers were making a mental list.

“Wow the author of those Daring Do books sure lives way out in the middle of nowhere.” The southern accent of the farm pony told the others as they marched through the woods. “Why in the world would anypony want to live way out here?”

Twilight seemed to have the answer to that as she smiled and kept walking even as she spoke. “Well A.K. Yearling is said to value privacy as it lets her write without distraction or complications.”

“I don’t know darlings.” Rarity spoke up with a tone of voice slightly on edge. “But that cottage looks like it has sure seen its fair share of complications to me.”

The girls gasped as Lego narrowed his eyes taking a look at the scene. As they all ran over and inside he heard his friends talking but looked around ignoring them for now in favor of collecting as much information from the crime scene as he could. Well he tried except his friends were all touching and moving things which did ruin the purpose of his analyzing.

“My word.” Everypony turned at the voice and there stood a beige pony wearing thick red glasses a purple shawl as well as a bland matte gray hat with an off white piece of ribbon around it. “What have you ponies done to my home?”

Lego watched as the hermit author looked at each one of them in turn only to dismiss them after she did so and started combing through the remains of her home. ‘I see, though that makes sense that she wouldn’t.’

‘No kidding all things considered.’ The unicorn brother replied with a bit of a sigh. ‘I mean would you?’

‘Good point.’ Velox chimed in there with his own question. ‘Should we tell her then?’

They decided to hold off for now as the dismissive author pulled a golden ring out of the hidden compartment of a book. “Good, it’s safe.” Quickly tucking it under her shawl Yearling was about to say something when the look on Rainbow Dash’s face stopped her.

‘Oh please no My Spectrum. Don’t do it.’ The sound of a face meeting hoof echoed in their head as Novo said that.

“So, now that we have helped you solve that problem, what say we help speed among other things.” The very subtle hint was accompanied with also a very subtle push of a nearby typewriter towards the author. Well subtle if you only shouted it with a megaphone which everypony in the room caught on to. “Hehe, did I mention I am also a huge fan?”

Twilight took that as her queue to drag Dash away as her friends followed. “Yearling.” Lego called to her for her to turn.

“Look just leave with your friends, I don’t need any more distractions.” The tone of her voice left no room for arguments.

Giving a sigh and looking to her he would slowly head out to his friends. As he got to them there was suddenly a disturbance in the house. His friends were all standing around a window all watching what was happening.

It was at this point they got the shock of their lives as the author threw her shawl along with her hat and glasses at her enemies. “A.K. Yearling is DARING DO?!”

Lego watched as they all were taken back by the discovery as well as what was admittedly an awesome fight as the beige archeologist with her dark green shirt and pith hat took on the others. “Shouldn’t we do something?” Sadly alerting his friends was about all he could do, he knew his current self wasn’t up to the task of fighting…maybe a distraction but not fighting. Not anymore.

He had expected his friends to run in there, use magic, flight or something to even the odds, however what he got, besides Pinkie Pie saying ‘weeee’ to some of the action, was. “Daring Do look out!”

The shout from Rainbow Dash was more of a distraction than anything else which of course resulted in the adventurer getting captured. “Caballeron, I should have known.”

The pony she was referring to narrowed his green eyes at her and shouted. “That is DOCTOR Caballeron to you.” The earth pony whose coat looked the color of dried mud smiled. “Many thanks to you my dear Daring Do. As you have no doubt guessed, when we had searched your abode before our search came out rather disappointing.” Caballeron spoke to her in his Sponish. “As such again receive my thanks for finding this lovely ring for us.”

Standing up Daring Do fell right after she got up as in the fight it seemed that one of the henchponies had dislocated her right foreleg. “You won’t get away with this Caballeron.”

The evil doctor’s narrowed as he once more corrected her. “I said that is DOCTOR Caballeron to you.”

As if making a commentary he watched Dash move over to Twilight. “That is Caballeron, he was from Daring Do and the Razor of Dreams. He wanted to partner with Daring Do but she refused as she already had a couple of ponies with her.”

Lego sighed and while his marefriend and the marefriend of his brother gushed over the fact that Daring Do was real he watched the exchange as the Doctor picked up the gold ring and twirled it around his hoof. “Let me guess.” Daring Do spoke up, standing up as best she could. “You are going to give that to Ahuizotl so that his hold on the fortress of Talacon so that he may reign over the valley for eight centuries as foretold by the prophecies.”

‘Doubtful, that has never been Caballeron’s motives.’ Spoke Lego in his mind to his brothers whom both agreed.

“Close.” The Doctor told her. “I plan to sell it to him, and with the money I make I will then go into retirement and live the rest of my days out in luxury.”

“You FOOL!” Daring Do shouted in a dramatic call. “If you do this you are dooming the valley to eight centuries of unrelenting heat!”

Tossing the ring over his head to rest around his neck Caballeron started to prance off. “To market henchponies!”

After the ponies left and Daring Do once more tried to stand and fail it was Fluttershy who spoke up. “Um shouldn’t we go and help her?”

“That was what I said earlier.” However for now it seemed that he was to be ignored as they all headed in to watch the archeologist slam her shoulder into the railing of her stairs to pop it back into place.

“Daring Do are you alright?” The quick to the races pegasus asked as she reached out her hoof to help her hero.

Her hoof was slapped away without regard. “I don’t need your help.”

Flying off everypony watched the great formerly fantasy book heroine fade from sight. “We have to go help her!”

Opening his mouth, he was about to give his opinion when Twilight cut him off. “But you heard her, she said she works alone.”

Giving a face hoof to the situation, he watched as his marefriend started to nerd out, admittedly in an adorable way, with Dash as they spoke of several things and artifacts from the DD books before Dash seemed to win the argument. “You have to admit, Rainbow Dash makes a good point.”

Another face hoof at Pinkie Pie for that one as it only reinforced the mares need to go help her idol. “We have to help Daring Do retrieve the ring for safekeeping before it’s too late!”

‘Brothers, status report, how do you think this is going to end?’ Lego called out to the recesses of his mind.

Novo was the first to respond in this situation. ‘Well if we all go to help, it will put our numbers and strengths much higher than the enemies.’

‘You are both wrong and you know it.’ Velox told them with exasperation. ‘This is Double D we are talking about, how does everything end up with her?’

It seems as if the girls had come to a conclusion only for Dash to fly off quickly with a shout of. “I am coming Daring Do.”

“That is not a plan!” Twilight called after her friends retreating form.

‘Oh right, yeah this is going to end badly, it always does. Admittedly fun, but it always is bad.’ The gray colored earth pony said.

By the time they had caught up to Dash the next day they found her sitting looking dejected with her ears folded back and her wings drooping. “Thank goodness we found you Rainbow Dash. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Seeing her like this broke Novo’s heart. “Right here.” His hurt only increased as she held her hooves over her heart. “Daring Do had the ring and would have gotten away if not for me. I messed everything up and now she and the ring have been taken to the fortress.”

“She wasn’t always like this.” Lego mused to himself as he prepared himself for what was to come not noticing Fluttershy’s ear twitched as he said that. “I wonder what changed her.”

The speedster continued being hard on herself telling everypony that she should have stayed out of it. ‘Lego, I have never asked for anything since we have become trapped but you KNOW my request now.’

Indeed he did and while Rainbow Dash may not have been his love, she was his friend and seeing her hurt like that troubled him. Marching off while everypony was trying to comfort her, he knew they would cheer her up and get her back to her old self; however, he had something to do now.

Twilight watched her fellow Element fly off as she and the girls looked around. “Alright, lets head over to the fortress right away to back her up. She will most likely need a distraction to help her rescue Daring Do.” However of their party something was wrong. “Where is Lego?”

Each of her friends looked around and it seemed as if they had lost track of him just like they had. “Oh no, what if some varmint snatched him up when we weren’t lookin’?”

The Alicorn started to book it towards to fortress in a gallop all of them worried now not only for their fellow Element of Harmony but now their friend as well. The fortress came into view, looking like a massive pyramid connected to other small pyramids all made of a time worn golden brown stone. Normally Twilight would have loved to have examined this modern marvel except she was more concerned with the cloud of smoke by the stairs of the entrance.

“Ok I don’t think that is normal girls.” The smarticorn said as the smoke was clearing and they observed several types of felines ranging from exotic big cats like a cheetah, to a simple house cat all rolling around acting weird.

There was a sound of sniffing in the air as Rarity came closer. “Wait a minute; I know this smell, where have I smelt it before.”

She wasn’t the only one taking a sniff as Fluttershy moved close and watched one of the felines. “Oh, this is catnip.”

Running her hoof over some of the residue, the Element of Magic herself just looked curious. “Wait, so somepony used some kind of smoke screen made of catnip?”

Suddenly Pinkie Pie pronked over excited as could be. “Oh OH, I know this type of powder. It’s the same type Novo used when he used his vanishing act on us when he showed us he was good at transmuting things.”

It snapped into place for Twilight now. “No…you don’t think?”

“Sugarcube think about who we are talking about here.” Applejack told her only for them to all nod and run inside.

Putting his hoof back down he smiled as he watched another group of cats go all loopy to his catnip bomb. “When dealing with Double D, her two biggest problems are always Ahuizotl and Caballeron.”

‘You mean DOCTOR Caballeron.’ Velox mocked inside their head.

“Right right, I honestly never cared.” Lego told his brother though smiled as he went even further into the fortress. With how deep he was in the fortress he could hear many ponies getting closer and closer as he walked, meaning he was near the heart.

‘Huh, there is something I didn’t think we would see again.’ The transmutation specialist said as they stared at Ahuizotl as he held the ring up high.

‘BEHIND US!’ Velox quickly warned hearing a rush of many hooves, prompting Lego to reach into his bag to prepare himself.

“There you are!” Only for him to sigh in relief as it was Twilight and the others. “Where were you and why did you run off?”

“Long story, but short answer is that Novo is more than a bit ticked off at seeing Dash as she was cause of all this.” Turning towards the weird ancient amalgam he pointed to the pedestal. “For now, answers later, right now we have to stop that!”

Everypony nodded at that as they all rushed in. “Hold it right there Awwy-wuddever your name is.”

Ahuizotl looked to his tribal henchponies and told them. “Quickly, place the Ring!”

With that they all rushed in and seeing Pinkie Pie securing the ring Lego went about his business. “Ok you all need to go.”

He told the tribal looking ponies that had been rhythmically beating the end of their spears into the ground until now. While he didn’t attract all of them cause of the others, he did get more than a hoofful of his own as he smiled.

Pulling a small round ball out of his pack he bowed. “Now you see me.” With that he threw it to the ground causing a massive puff of smoke to cover him as well as the other ponies as they ran through it. “Now you're sleepy.”

He told them simply from inside the cloud as there were a few noises of pain before the cloud cleared. Each of the tribal ponies had a small dart sticking from various places on their bodies.

“You really shouldn’t rely just on your eyes when you can’t see, just a bad way to go about things.” The analytical pony told the tranquilized henchponies. “But hopefully your friends will learn from your mistakes.” He told them as another group was rushing him.

“If we can remove the ring at the bottom, the whole fortress will collapse.” She heard Daring Do tell her. Dash and her had escaped and while at the same time she didn’t exactly seem friendly, she wasn’t hostile anymore either.

“Right.” Dash told her seriously, the earlier pep talk from her friends had reminded her just how awesome she was and she would be bucked if she didn’t live up to that. Out of the corner of her eyes though she seen something she didn’t like. “Oh no.”

While lifting up another ring she saw the weird ancient creature run towards Lego. “You will stop disabling my men right this instant.”

The exchange had also seemed to catch the attention of Daring Do as they both struggled to lift the next ring. “Yeah, not going to happen you Chimera Creep.”

Rainbow Dash was looking at Ahuizotl as the exchange happened and seen the look of incredibility on his face. “Only one pony has ever dared to call me that.”

“No way, it couldn’t be.” Came a barely hushed whisper from Dash’s doppelganger.

Pulling out another smoke bomb he threw it to the ground quickly. “As I remember correctly you couldn’t hit me back then either, let’s see if that has changed at all!”

The monkey dog feline creature jumped and rushed through the smoke before roaring out as he felt a weight on his back coming out of the smoke. “Get off me you pathetic pony!”

It was obvious that he was gripping onto the neck and holding onto the back of the strange amalgam with all his might as it bucked around. “You were always one to lose sight of things when you were upset.” Looking over to the pair he shouted. “Anytime now Dash and Double D.”

“It IS you!” The fastest flier in Equestria really wanted to know what Daring Do meant by that, but now was not the time as Daring Do looked over to her and told her. “You can flap too you know.” Beating her wings faster and faster the last ring was coming off now and the fortress started to shake. “My plan was to get captured all this time but I didn’t account for how HEAVY these rings were.” Daring told her as she struggled. “I suppose it’s great to have some help every now and then.”

The smile that Daring Do showed her made her heart flutter with happiness cause her hero had acknowledge her, but right now they had a job to finish. The fortress was shaking more and more as Ahuizotl bucked Lego off his back. “No, STOP HER!”

The henchponies that were still awake found themselves suddenly enveloped in smoke and couldn’t find their way as this bought time for Daring Do and Rainbow Dash to remove the ring and start flying off. “Ponies you need to run, this place is coming down.”

The henchponies gathered up their fallen and asleep comrades and took off quickly as did her friends and all ran out as quickly as possible. Though some ponies as well, as the monstrous villain, stood in the fortress as it was collapsing trying to retrieve the rings. The latter of those gave one last jump to attempt to snatch the base ring from the pegasus before they flew too far way only to come up short.

In the distance as the rubble was setting Dash smiled as she heard the distant call of. “CURSE YOU DARING DO, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!!!”

The sound of the base ring shattering was just as satisfying, though not so much more then the next words Rainbow Dash heard. “I couldn’t have done this without you Rainbow Dash.”

There was a hoof offered for a shake but she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to give her hero a hug, which was returned only after a slight hesitation, there was just one small question on her mind. “How do you know Lego? I mean you acted like you recognized him.”

Pulling away from the hug Daring Do looked at Rainbow Dash before looking to the group heading their way. “I will explain in a moment, first though.” Dash quickly followed after her idol as she landed before the gray earth pony. “Hello Star, didn’t recognize you, new form?”

Everypony gasped at the casual nature that the archeologist just spoke to their friend. “Sorta, long story.”

“Wait a minute.” Came a confused sounding Twilight. “Do you two know each other? Wait that means you knew that A.K. Yearling was Daring Do!”

He would only chuckle at the mare as he simply said. “Would you have believed me if I told you I actually knew a fictional book character?”

Holding up her hoof as if she was going to counter that statement, Twilight instead shook her head and lowered her hoof back down to the ground. “Good point.”

Both ponies just nodded and Dash felt like her mind had just exploded with the information. “Back a few years ago this pony here was one of my partners when I still had a team. His form changing came in real handy in a lot of situations. Though you eventually ran out on the team.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she had just heard; she really wanted him to dismiss her claims. “Yeah I did.” His confirmation hurt her a little bit she wouldn’t lie. “But you knew that I wouldn’t be sticking around forever. I told you that I was going to go search for somepony or someone who knew of my past.”

“Well after you left the team broke up, and after that I decided I wouldn’t need a team for my adventures.” Daring Do said with a slight bit of anger in her voice.

“Wait, so the team of five ponies you had in the third book?” Twilight asked looking to Lego.

“Yeah, three of them are based on just me in my different forms. Well more or less. I am still upset you included the scene of you punching me in the face.” Lego glared at her rubbing his cheek.

For her part Daring Do managed to blush and look at him angrily. “You were looking under my tail!”

Lego seemed to get angry as well. “You were switching it back and forth in front of me and since you were leading the way through tall grass where did you expect me to look?!”

“It was hot in the jungle and I was trying to cool myself off.” Suddenly the two were butting heads.

“Yeah it was hot, but that wasn’t why you were swishing your tail.” Growled Lego as he pressed his forehead back against her. “You were in estrus that month and failed to tell anypony till your pheromones were all over the place.”

As they were pushing back and forth the pith helmet fell off of the explorer. “I was not, and that still doesn’t excuse your wing boner or the staring.”

For a moment both ponies growled at each other before suddenly smiling and hugging one another. “It’s good to see you again Double D.”

“You too big guy. So are you going to explain the whole gray pony thing?” She asked as Dash scooted closer to Twilight.

“Um am I missing something?” She asked her smarter friend. “Are Lego and the rest friends with Daring Do and have we been dating ACTUAL Daring Do characters?!”

Twilight nodded a bit stupefied herself. “It seems so.” She said simply as she watched her friend get hugged by a teary eyed Daring Do as it seems she heard what had happened.

As they headed back over the gathered ponies all looked at the two. “Sorry about that everypony. Been holding a bit of a grudge against this guy for a while now.” She said poking a hoof into the side of the earth pony “It’s good to have that resolved, anyways I have a book to finish, I will see you all later.” Daring Do started to fly off but stopped and came back. “Hey, if you ever want to team up again, let me know. You know how to get in touch with me. The next place I am going to is an Ancient Alicorn Temple, and with you being my good luck charm if we team up it should be simple. Anyways think about it.”

With that she flew off and suddenly they all surrounded their friend. “You are going to tell us, EVERYTHING.” Dash told him with bright shiny eyes, as did Twilight who just nodded in excitement.

“Yes Darling, it really shows how little we know about you when things like this turn up suddenly.” Rarity told him as a matter of fact tone.

However it was the freckled face and cowboy hat that made him sweat more than anything. “I just wanna know if anything happened between y’all. I mean it sounds like Velox and her were more familiar with each other cause of that flashing.”

Coughing a bit he smiled. “Nothing happened AJ, even if she kinda did try at some point.”

He realized that was a mistake to say as soon as he said it. “Excuse me.”

“Like I said she was in estrus, she wouldn’t put that in the book of course nor the fact she came to my tent one night. Mine as in when I was one pony mine, not mine as in…you get what I mean.” He said a bit nervously as AJ got a look in her eye. “At that time I was still figuring out some of the finer points of my body in some aspects and with how strong she came on, she frightened me at the time.”

“And if she came to you now?” AJ asked.

“AJ, I am three ponies now. I am happily in love with Twilight, Velox is happily in love with you, and Dash knows how much Novo loves her seeing as what they have done before.” All three mares blushed in happiness though Dash blushed harder than most remembering certain activities.

“Well that is good to know, wouldn’t do to expand your herd out too much too quickly.” The posh voice of the seamstress said making everypony’s eyes pop out. “What? Aren’t you all in a herd? I could have sworn I overheard Applejack and Rainbow Dash talking about it in the past.”

Dash looked towards Twilight, Applejack and the rest before chuckling. “I mean we were discussing it at one point but that was before…” The mood of the group changed as she said that remembering the changes that had happened over the past year.

Suddenly the pegasus felt a hug and she turned to see it was the stallion in question. “Its fine Dash, we all have come to accept how we are now.” He said pulling back and poking his faux eye. “I am just surprised I did so well against all those ponies back there with just smoke bombs and tranq darts. Life has been hard, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t go on and all three of us are trying to live as best we can.” Shaking off the feeling of moroseness that had settled over everypony he smiled. “So I hope you all enjoyed your Daring Do adventure.”

They all smiled with Dash flying up to do flips in the air. “Sure did and I can’t wait to do another when you tell her that we would love to join her.”

“Say what now?” Lego asked as the smile on his face slipped.

Nodding and giving him a hug. “Yes please Lego, I want to see the temple of the Ancient Alicorns.”

Hearing that he suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap with how she was looking at him as well as the others. “I don’t get to say no do I?”

Dash blushed a bit as she seen Twilight press her lips to his. “Nope, but at least you will have fun with all of us while doing it.”

Rainbow Dash then got to see a rather, well she would say gross, fact about Lego. When he rolled his eyes, because of the fake being like it was, it didn’t roll as much creating a very large disconnect.

“Um Lego, your eye.” Fluttershy quietly spoke to him.

Twilight looked over to him as he hummed in curiosity. “Hold still.” As he did so the mage used her magic to slowly turn it back to place where it was looking straight ahead. “There we go. Now, how do we contact Daring Do again?”

Egnach wasn’t happy with this turn of events. He had been called to the throne room to be assigned a special assignment, or so he thought. Rumors had been spreading and from what he had overheard many times among the professors lab, the rumors were actually even more ambitious then many would believe. So imagine his surprise that instead of being offered a position in the operation he was instead delegated to selecting the team himself.

‘This is unfair. I have done so much for this operation while others have done nothing at all.’ The Changeling fumed in his room throwing a few items across the way. ‘Instead they treat me as a clerk, a secretary, a go to ‘ling!’ Growling and hissing as his rage consumed him more and more he started to yell his thoughts instead, though he was thankful later for soundproof rooms cause of that. “I am an infiltrator! A Spy! A master of changing and covert ops. A genius level intellect in both the lab and ideas. Yet I am delegated to a simple paper work DRONE!!!!”

Breathing heavily as his rage was slowly tempering off as he remembered Queen Pupa’s words. “Egnach, we are trusting you with this assignment. We wish you to select the most efficient and talented hunter leader for this mission. We do not wish for this to fail.”

‘That is right, the Queen herself has asked this of me. I shouldn’t look at this as busy work, but an opportunity to grow my status in the hive.’ Standing up and moving out of his room he continued that train of thought picking up the file he had been given and walking out of his room. ‘She needs the most efficient hunter for this job and I know just who to pick. He may be cruel but when it comes to talent for hunting, there is no ‘ling better at setting up traps and ambushes then him.’ Before he went down towards the hunter’s quarters he stopped by one of the food halls to obtain some nectar. Gulping it down with a smile feeling the love infused treat fill him with energy he continued down towards the ‘Nest’ as it was dubbed.

The reason for this was this part of the hive was purposefully constructed for the hunters by request to make it full of traps to help hone the skills of those that came in. True the barracks where he was going had no traps but the further you went in, the more training you got as a hunter. That is why he stood before the door he did. There was only one hunter who could single mindedly obtain his goal and has never failed before.

Knocking loudly he heard a grumble come from inside as the door opened to reveal a huge Changeling standing behind it. “What do you want infiltrator?”

“The Queen has sent me here to inform you, Menad, of your next mission as well as to provide you with information on the targets, the locations, and the tools you are going to be provided with.” Egnach told him.

The Changeling known as Menad opened the door wider. “Come in, what does the Queen wish of me?”

Sliding the folder towards the large ‘ling the small spy simply told him. “Your mission will come in three folds. First off your primary objective is that you are to obtain those six items you see on the first page of your report. Then priority two, you are to capture or convince the targets on the second page through the eight and make them take you to the location on page nine. There you are to obtain all data you can as well as secure the site if possible. If you cannot then you are to take what you can and report back.”

“And these…targets. What can I and can’t I do to them?” Menad asked with almost a cruel sounding voice as he smiled.

“No harm is to befall them that cannot be repaired. That includes mental damage. They will be needed fully intact for the mission.” Egnach slowly covered his mouth as he said the next parts as he didn’t like the taste of what he was about to say. “However after the mission is done, you are to bring back the six items and as for the targets.” Sighing again as he hated what he was about to say. “They are yours to do with as you please.”

The disgusting grin on the large bug ponies face grew more and more revolting as he heard that. “Excellent. I will gather my team at once.”

“Good, remember this is for the Queen. Fail and you will know no end to your suffering.” The infiltrator told him as he stood up and walked off leaving the pictures of the ponies that were his targets to him.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter out quick? You must be thinking EQUINOX YOU MAD MAN/PONY!

I do not think anyone or anypony is thinking that.

SHUT UP BRAIN YOU DOWN OWN ME!

I didn't make any comment about owning-

I cannot be controlled, I am a wild and free spirit of-

*Sighs* Ok everyone and everypony he is going to be like that all day so I would like to thank you for continuing to read this story and hope you enjoy. I did my best to get this out to you as quick as possible despite SOME interference from others. *Glares at his self*

Yeah and then I will make sure everyone knows that I am DOCTOR EQUINOX STARSHIFTER the most brilliant and wait you aren't listening to me anymore are you?