Ever the elegant mare among her friends, Rarity withdrew her head from the portal with grace befitting the royal alicorn princesses. Even with a figure draped in mists of white held in the teeth of her muzzle, she was able to flick her head, restoring the bounce of her mane, and trot backwards with all the grace of a dove.

Like handling the gowns and dresses of her boutique, Rarity pulled the misted figure from the portal with care. Slowly, she laid the figure on the alabaster tiled floor. Her muzzle released the misty figure allowing the unicorn to roll her neck.

She held a slight face of discomfort, though none of any serious pain. Her eyes did not water, lips did not quiver, voice did not moan, and body did not fall. Even by the standards of appearance, the mare was perfectly and marvelously pristine. Still, there appeared to be a matter of annoyance for her, as the screwing of her eyes was clue enough.

“Ya’ll alright Rare?” Applejack asked quietly next to the mare, concern lacing her voice. The unicorn nodded a few times before replying to the earth pony with a low voice.

“My… throat.” The mare wheezed with effort as her hoof reached up to touch her tender wind tunnel. “Just… a bit… sore.”

“Ah can tell,” Applejack admitted. “But nothin’ else is wrong with ya? No pain er aches?” The alabaster unicorn shook her head in reply. Clearly, she was not in favor of speaking her concerns right now. “Well that’s mighty fine,” the orange mare spoke with relief. “You go on now an’ rest yer hide, Rare. The girls and Ah can take care of tha res’.” Instead of calming the unicorn’s features, however, the earth pony’s words seemed to cause her friend to scowl.

“I… will not… sim…ply… trot a…way from… my work.” Her alabaster hoof slowly rubbed the white coat above her throat, aiming to soothe the scratchy cords far beneath her touch. “I… always… see to it… that…”

“Alrigh’, alright’,” Applejack interrupted, clearly with unease. She bit her lower lip as she watched the scowl on Rarity’s face slowly fade, returning to a far more calm, if slightly pained, expression. “Don’t go forcin’ yerself.” Her hoof waved in the air as she cajoled her friend. “Ah jus’ don’t wan’ ta see ya fall over is all.”

Instead of pained words, the white mare opted to put a thankful hoof on Applejack’s shoulder giving the farm mare a thankful smile.

“Yeah, yeah, happy mushy times all around.” The rude remark broke the pair of ponies from their embrace.

“Rainbow,” Twilight reprimanded her pegasus friend, again. This time, however, the cyan mare was prepared.

“I know, I know, rude, disrespectful, learn some patience, blah, blah, but seriously, can’t all that wait?” Her hoof was pointing towards the white-misted figure Rarity had drawn from the portal, unmoving and unfazed by the world around it. “I can think of a few things that deserve some more attention right now.” Without another word, the mare flew to the covered figure’s side, fellow ponies and warriors slowly joining around her.

“Is she always like that?” Hiccup asked the canary pegasus at his side, both watching the excited smile on the mare’s face.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy quickly disagreed. “She’s actually very kind and protective. It’s just that, oh, she can be very impatient sometimes. Please give her a chance, I’m sure you two, oh I’m sorry,” She spoke the apology as her hoof stroked the black scales of the dragon next to her, “Three of you will be great friends. Her favorite hobby is flying after all.”

“Well some common ground is good, I mean common air, sky, whatever.” The boy’s hand roughed his own hair in mild embarrassment. Fluttershy simply giggled cutely beside him.

“Miss Fluttershy?” The boy, dragon, and pegasus all turned to the voice of the dark alicorn, looking towards the latter of the three with a gaze filled with authority, but soothed by a voice of kindness. “Do you wish to aid us in releasing Lady Rarity’s find?”

It took little coaxing for the meek and timid Fluttershy to help any life in need.

She trotted close to the Princess of the Night, eyes on the misted figure laying close to the Portal of Souls. Rainbow was already looking over the figure with strained eyes, attempting to see beyond the misty veil of what the creature Rarity had pulled was. She was fruitless in her search.

“May I help, Mrs. Dash?” Jack asked the pegasus as he approached her side. The pink eyes of the mare looked up to the chocolate orbs of the robed man, asking an innocent question with an honest smile. It wasn’t something Dash was used to receiving, even from Applejack.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She spoke with as much certainty as Fluttershy had courage. Her hooves grapevined to her left, making room for the much taller stature of the man. Carefully, Jack knelt down to his knees, sitting on the ends of his feet as the mist slowly drifted around his legs, harmless as the air he breathed. His hands quickly began to free the white mist of the creature, working slow sweeps across the thick fog. With only a small moment of hesitance, watching the human work, Dash joined in.

As the now far less menacing mist began to dissipate, the form beneath began to emerge. A cloth of white surrounded its body. It was tightly wrapped, and also appeared to be thin. It was little different than the white material that hung clinging to Link, or the current state of Fawkes’ own ripped garments. That swiftly changed.

On various parts of the creature’s form hung solid sections of steel, large and solid in shape and mass. Each small section seemed oddly bright, as if unmarred by any kind of battle or age, freshly smelted from the anvil’s hammer. Some sat on the shoulders of the creature’s forelegs, some surrounding its rear hooves, and the rest hanging from its midsection, cut into foreign jagged patterns.

“What an odd uniform.” Gandalf spoke from his high position, looking over the slowly appearing form beneath the mist, aged eyes curious with wonder. “So little of the body is guarded from attack, and the steel seems far too heavy for any form of agility. It appears all around contradictory.”

“You seem to know a lot about clothes.” Rainbow Dash spoke in a teasing tone, eyes showing her intentions well. “Maybe you can sit down with Rarity one of these days and talk about how awesome frills are with buttons.” It was a good thing for every pony and warrior there Dash wasn’t the best when it came to teasing with words.

“Perhaps another time,” the gray wizard spoke with a dismissing hand. With only a small grunt and a grin as Dash took it as a victory, their eyes returned to the now nearly free creature below.

The head was now plain and easy to see, though the blonde mane that attached itself to the creature’s scalp was nearly as white as the mist that covered it. From what the hall’s occupants could see, it was long, appeared well cared for, and waved in motions like the sea. That was the first detail Twilight noted before moving onto the rest of the creature’s body, listing what she saw in her mind.

Digitized units at the end of the fore hooves, now officially recognized as hands, bare skin absent of any warm protective coat, superior muscle density in the rear legs as compared to the forelegs.

This was definitely another man. However, a few features stood out more than others.

The face was plain and easy to see, so one could notice that it was angled in very subtle curves, smooth and unmarred by stubs of hair or large cheekbones. A smaller and less angled nose sat just above the mouth. But by far the most distracting characteristic of all were the large mounds protruding from the thin tight grey garb across the man’s chest.

All these facts bundled into one solitary fact. Twilight spoke it likely she was reciting a line from a text book.

“This man is female.”

“Well it’s about time,” Dash muttered as she let her eyes fall over the creature. “We’ve been pulling out colts and stallions left and right. ‘Bout time one of us finally pulls out a mare.”

“The correct term is a woman, Mrs. Dash.” Jack spoke politely as ever from behind the pegasus, one hand raised to voice his point. Said mare only gave him a blank stare in return. “If she is female, she is a woman.”

“So… woman is the term referring to females of the species of man?” Twilight asked as she trotted closer to the white garbed samurai, earning his gaze. When their eyes met, he gave her an affirming nod. “Then what is the correct term for males of your species?”

“Men.”

“Yes, that species.” Twilight spoke in agreement. “What are males called in the species of man?”

“Men.” Neither his word nor tone changed. Twilight was slightly irked.

“I know…” She began slowly, “That your species are referred to as men, but what I’m asking is what are the males in the species of men referred to as?”

“Men.” The unicorn’s eye twitched.

“I kno-we know,” Twilight stressed as a lavender hoof motioned over her fellow ponies, “What you specifically are. We know that males and females are referred to in different ways. Now, what do you call male men.” With a serious face and deep breath, Jack spoke again.

“Men.” Twilight wanted to scream.

“As much fun as this has been to observe.” Gandalf spoke to the pair as he approached, “I feel I must intervene before someone is harmed. Twilight,” His kind voice earned the gaze of the agitated pony. “What Jack is saying in such few words, is that males of the race of men are referred to as men. The two are synonymous.”

Twilight’s muzzle made an “O” shape as her coat began to tinge red.

“Wait, so males of the species of men are… referred to as men?” Celestia looked with an equal amount of curiosity. It was not common for any one gender of a species to possess the name of the species as well. At least not in Equestria it wasn’t.

“Indeed so,” Gandalf spoke with a nod of his head, causing the tall pointed hat on his head to wave slightly in the air. “It would be a jest for me to say I know why, but such is the way of things.”

“Now that’s just boring.” Only the newest additions to the foreign warriors were surprised by the outburst of one energetic pink pony. “Calling two things by the same name? What’s so good about that? You gotta be more creative. I know! If she’s a woman,” Pinkie spoke as she pointed a pink hoof to the still motionless woman on the floor. “Then you guys can be mermen!”

“I’ll have to refuse my dear,” Gandalf returned politely, already looming over the much shorter pony. “Old habits fade only with time, and I am in no position nor mood to rush it.”

“Aw, but that’s no fun. What does it matter what time wants to do?” Pinkie Pie questioned with a tilted head and drooping lips. “If everything always stays the same, then you can never find anything to laugh about.”

“I’d take ‘er word for it.” Applejack spoke in agreement from beside Rarity, still nursing her sore and parched throat. “Tha’ mare knows how ta make any pony laugh from Manehatten ta Las Pegasus.”

“Um, yeah, about that.” Hiccup spoke up, Toothless curled around him protectively, though far calmer, on the stone floor. “Shouldn’t we wake up the woman, you know, the female man?”

“Agreed, young Hiccup.” Princess Celestia spoke with volume, “Matters of idle curiosity are best to be settled in later times.”

“But… that’s not what I-”

“It’ll only take me a moment to wake her,” Celestia spoke above the boy, turning towards the blonde woman lying still upon the floor. Her form moved in the same practiced motions they always had in the presence of others, regal and powerful with grace and function.

However, when she stood above the still woman, all her features froze.

“Link.” The alabaster monarch called gently as she stared down at the figure. For the ponies and warriors that could see, the eyes of the princess were undeniably harder. “Please prepare yourself.”

The green clad warrior gave a look of curiosity as he approached, heavy boots moving across the floor as he drew his sword and shield by Celestia’s side. The action did not go unquestioned.

“Princess Celestia, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked her mentor with a voice caught between curiosity and worry, pitched higher than the usual chords of her throat. Though the gaze of Celestia did not turn, she addressed the young unicorn nonetheless.

“I have only now noticed the item upon this woman’s back.” She spoke as her golden hoof motioned towards the figure again. “One that near rivals the size of her already tall form.” Twilight’s lavender eyes moved from her ruler to the motionless woman. It was hard for any details to be seen around the female’s back, her head and chest facing upwards towards the rafters of the room.

However, looking over the blonde’s shoulder, she saw a hilt far larger, though little different, than the blade Link bore. It was only when she looked past the woman’s waist that she saw the end of the blade emerge, barren of any sheath and sharper than the end of the unicorn’s own horn. It was a terrifyingly large weapon.

Before Twilight, or anypony for that matter, could voice their concerns, the princess’s horn descended upon the woman, lighting her already bright garb with the ethereal light. She held a hoof to her eyes as the familiar magic of her mentor temporarily blinded the room.

The unicorn could not fathom the strength and concentration the magic must require, yet Celestia was beginning to cast it with only mild forethought. But then again, she was the Princess of Equestria and Twilight was only her student. It made sense that the teacher should be more skilled than the student.

She felt the light begin to dim throughout the room, no doubt forcing the magic into the still body of the blonde woman. Twilight lowered her hoof to see the light magic of her mentor receding into the uniform of the blonde, fading from view of the occupants of the room.

All eyes watched the woman on the tile floor, as still now as she was before the magic had entered her. Not a leg twitched or muscle moved. Celestia paced backwards only a few trots, readying herself for whatever affect her magic may now have caused. Link also readied himself, crouching behind his shield with sword poised for attack. The stance made Twilight bite her lip. But before she could voice a complaint to the green clad hero, she froze.

The woman gave a light gasp.

The unicorn’s vision returned to the woman, gaze aimed and eyes wide as she lay upon the floor. Twilight blinked to focus her vision… only to see the woman already standing.

Fast… she was very fast.

But that detail was left alone as she looked at the woman’s face, observing the only part of her that was kept from their voyeurism as the blonde slept. Her eyes, or more specifically, the color of them.

The woman’s eyes were the purest silver.

They looked across the room’s occupants, staring at each warrior and pony with quick, but noticeable, pauses. Her blonde mane waved slightly with every turn of her head. Her lips were parted only slightly, breath moving in and out of the airway. She held no emotion in her eyes, only cold contemplation.

But her lips began to move. Slightly, oddly, moving in a motion that no amount of fatigue or stress could cause. There was only one reason for lips to be moving the way that the woman’s were. She was forming words. Simply, she was muttering to herself.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t hear you?” Celestia spoke the question without consult. It earned the gaze of the woman immediately.

She didn’t speak, she didn’t nod or shake her head, and she didn’t do anything except a single action.

She drew her blade.

Instantly, Link put himself before Princess Celestia, blue gaze focused coldly on the blonde woman in front of him. His fist balled against the hilt of his sword, twisting the blade behind its shield. To the princess he guarded, it appeared as if he were getting ready to strike.

The woman must have seen it. She must have thought the same thing. It was the only reason for her actions. There was no other reason to excuse what she did next.

The woman charged Link.

In a flash not even Dash could see, the woman’s large blade impacted Link’s shield.

The green clad hero let out a gasp of surprise as he was forced to his knees, both arms needed to keep the blade from slipping past his guard. The woman looked down at him coldly, standing in a position meant for battle, the blade in only one of her hands.  The other was held calmly by her side. To the warriors who watched on, the message was clear.

This woman was toying with Link.

Jack unsheathed his blade, running towards the green warrior’s side to help, but was stopped when the Hero of Time gave a forceful cry. He pushed himself to his feet, repelling the woman from him. A moment of surprise flashed across her eyes, but it was quickly lost as she jumped back.

“You’re stronger than you look.” Her tone as cold as the rocky stones atop the Crystal Mountains. “The Organization must have trained you well.” Were they in a conversation not needing weapons, the ponies may have expressed confusion. But, now they showed actions ranging from anger to fear.

Fluttershy pulled herself next to Pinkie Pie behind Fawkes, the tall Super Mutant holding a hammer the size of a pony in his hands. Toothless pulled Hiccup close to him, the boy doing nothing to repel the action. Gandalf drew his blade from between the princesses, readying himself for battle. Twilight lit her horn, readying the most powerful shield spells she could remember, anything her older brother had passed on to her during his many training sessions. Rainbow Dash was in the air, no doubt staying away from the woman whose speed rivaled her own. Link was the first among them to begin an attack.

He drove his blade towards the woman, tip aimed for one of her muscular thighs. It was quickly deflected as her large claymore batted his much smaller metal sword away. It was only the instincts of his past training that saved him, his shield held up to his right side as he attempted his blow. For the next moment, he felt the woman’s blade impact the outside of his Mirror Shield, sending the Hero of Time into a defensive roll.

The silver eyes watched his movements for a moment, but then stopped with a bounce of her hair. She heard something. In fact, every member of the room had.

“HYAAAH!”

The woman’s eyes looked up to see a man in white falling down to her, blade held above his head in preparation for a strike. She raised her own blade to meet his.

CLANG!

The two swords met with a fierce blow. Jack hit the ground behind the woman after the impact, spinning on his wooden sandals the moment he could. His own blade was readied for the blows the woman began to deliver. When they came, he matched them with his own. The woman’s strikes slowly grew faster and faster, attempting to overpower the man she fought. But Jack did not relent.

Their swords danced against one another at speeds only a few could follow. The solid metal of the blades began to mix into a fluid liquid suspended in the air, sparking with every movement that it made. Many of the ponies and warriors were forced to hold their hooves and hands to their ears. Jack’s fast blade strokes began to strain his muscles, sweat pouring from his form with every spark that filled the air. The woman, however, appeared no more tired than the moment before she attacked Link.

The torment of noise ended with a solid clang.

Jack stumbled back as his blade arm was twisted, hit in a way he did not prepare for. The woman was just before him, claymore raised above her head and preparing herself for a blow against the samurai.

Luna never gave her a chance.

“CEASE THOU ACTIONS!” A hauntingly familiar voice roared as wind pushed against those unfortunate enough to be within its path. The frenzied woman raised her blade to protect herself as the onslaught of words hit her. “SHEATH THINE BLADE OR SUFFER PUNISHMENT”

The blonde quickly let her sword drop as the force left, leaving her with an expression less of shock, but more of anger and curiosity. Resentment. But just as Celestia was preparing herself for another dance of her blade, she was surprised to hear speech instead.

“Odd, a monster begging for mercy as they attack.”

To Celestia, the Elements, and the warriors around her, the words felt more like an accusation than anything else. To Luna, the words carried an insult she hated to hear. Her wings flared violently, horn beginning to glow. Something dangerous was about to occur, that much was certain.

But a disaster was avoided.

Before the woman could swing her blade or Luna could unleash her magic, Celestia surrounded the blonde in her ethereal hued magic. A look of shock appeared on her face for only a moment. When the large claymore in her hand was ripped from her grip, shock turned to anger. When the warriors around her made their presence known, with drawn swords, staves, and hammers, her anger became more controlled, but it by no means vanished.

Link and Jack stood side by side, each of their swords aimed at the woman who demonstrated so readily her ability to cause harm. Fawkes stood in front of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, his large stature hiding all but the faintest traces of the ponies behind his legs. Between Celestia and Luna, Gandalf stood in a stance that betrayed his age, sword held in one hand and staff glowing lightly in the other. Toothless growled fiercely as his tail curled around Hiccup, holding the boy close.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood side by side now, their horns and wings flared with the duty and desire to protect those around them. Violence was not something they enjoyed committing, but it was an act they would perform if so they were threatened. Applejack held back a catatonic Rarity, the unicorn watching the blonde woman with blank eyes and a mortified twist in her lips. She did not voice a word, but to the apple farmer, her concern was as clear as the apples on her trees.

Unarmed and surrounded by warriors near her skill and creatures with magic she could not trace, Teresa scowled in anger, silver eyes casting a gaze no duller than her stolen sword to every life that stood around her. The muscles beneath her white garb tensed, armor shifting as she rolled her arms. She was defenseless and trapped, but she was not going to surrender.

“Enough.” Celestia spoke with flared wings. She stood at her tallest with her magic surrounding her, blinding all eyes that gazed upon, even the silver orbs of the woman who so readily attacked them. Immediately, she had the woman’s complete attention.

“I know not who you are,” She spoke in a cold tone, strong with authority, but threatening with irons. “And I know even less of where you are from. But we are not any foes you once had.” Though her words spoke of peace, neither the warriors nor the blonde woman relaxed.

“Then what are you?” Her voice was bitter, angry. Celestia felt much the same. But she could not show it, not without authority. She was the Princess of the Day. She had to be better than those who challenged her.

“I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria.” She waited only a moment, letting the blonde woman judge her words. “As I have said, I know nothing of where you come from. If by some chance we remind you of foes you faced before, we apologize. However,” Her form grew brighter as she allowed the barest of her magic to surround her. “As we hold no wish to harm you, I ask you to refrain from harming us.”

She did not respond, not immediately. Instead, her silver eyes traced every member of the room. From the few ponies who had the strength and will to fight her, to the many warriors that had armed themselves around her, and of course, the two royal princesses standing tall and regal before her.

But something slowly changed. Her eyes once careful and calculating widened. Her movements became sharper, more sporadic. The blonde mane on her head began to whip as her head turned from one figure to the next, looking at each of them with some growing emotion they could not easily name.

When she looked back to Celestia, however, the emotion was clearer than her sun on a cloudless day.

Worry.

“Clare.” The woman whispered, silver eyes wide and desperate as she looked across the occupants of the room. Confusion swiftly followed the mention of the name.

“Is that your name?” Celestia spoke with a strong voice, deep in tone and vibrating with force. “Are you called Clare?” Desperate eyes met her own. The breath of the blonde warrior was quick and broken, jagged like a shattered blade.

“No.” She spoke as quick as her claymore could fly. “I’m Teresa. Clare is the young child I travel with. Where is she?” She spoke assuming the occupants of the room found her in a gorge, lost and beaten. She spoke as if the girl was separated from her by only walls and vision. She spoke as if this mysterious girl was nearby.

She spoke as if she were still alive.

“You say we are not enemies.” she continued, the desperation being forced from her words, but not enough to be forgotten. “I do not know how I came here, but you must have seen the child with me. She wears a dress of red with long hair of autumn leaves. “

Princess Celestia was no fool or foal to the emotions of her ponies, nor was she ignorant to the pain of mourning and loss. So many of her subjects had been taken from her through the merciless hooves of death or the unstoppable trots of time. It was never a thing to become accustomed to. Neither the action of losing those close to you, or comforting those who had suffered the loss.

The only act she loathed more than comforting those who had suffered the loss was delivering the message herself. It was rare, ill common, but still something she had to weather when all other voices had faded or the courage of other ponies had failed. As a leader, as a monarch, she always had to carry the final hoof in offering assurances or announcing tragic events.

It was never easy.

Even now, after centuries of practice, millennia spent alone in her immortality, Celestia knew neither words nor definite action to deliver the horrendous message she was about to convey.

This was not Link or Fawkes, who came prepared or with little regret. This was not Gandalf, who only awoke with only confusion. This most definitely was not Jack, who found this event no different than many others in his life. It was most certainly not like Hiccup or his pet dragon Toothless, who had, in the very least, each other in their demise.

This woman, Teresa, had many reasons to live, and none of them were with her.

Celestia felt her throat swell. Only practice kept her from attempting to swallow the imaginary ball or release a shivering sigh. This was going to be painful, for all parties present.

“Miss Teresa,” she spoke with a tone only slightly warmer, but with force unhindered. “You are the only woman in our presence. There is no Clare, neither in this room nor throughout my lands.” Lowering her wings only slightly, dropping her tone only moderately, Celestia finished.

“You came into this land alone.” And now the most hated words were forced to be born.

“You came into my land through death.”

The silenced pierced her heart worse than anything she had witnessed that day.

Teresa did nothing. She stared forward without vision, looking at something no occupant of the room could see. Her once stiff muscles loosened, her limbs going limp by her sides. The defensive air dissipated in a manner little different than the white mist that once covered her. Slowly drifting into nothing, leaving behind only the true form of the creature beneath.

The stone cracked as she fell to her knees, metal boots embedding themselves into the tiles. The warriors and ponies tensed for only a moment, but Teresa did not move again. Like a statue fashioned in dyes of color, she was perfectly still. She did not cry, sob, scream, shout, or even move.

She was catatonic.

“Teresa.” Celestia spoke in a voice she could decide upon. Half of her wished to be comforting in this time of clear grieving, the other making her power still known and clear. The silver claymore was kept high against the wall and far away.

“Teresa.” She called again, taking small trots forward. The woman still did not stir.

Plip

If the alicorn hadn’t had seen it, she wouldn’t have noticed it.

Tears.

Tears slowly pattered across the cracked white tile beneath Teresa’s legs, wetting the ground with their volume. Before the warriors were speechless from her skill, now they were silent for her sorrow.

“Are you sure?” No sorrow was kept from her words, any restraint from the torture she felt. “Please, tell me you’re unsure. Tell… tell me Clare can be here... please.” The answer was obvious and plain to the Princess of the Day, but she still found herself unable to speak a truth in what would doubtlessly be a cold tone.

“Is… Clare your daughter?” A question with a question, it was a twist in conversations she disliked to hear, but she disliked these conversations even more. The blonde warrior shook her head slightly.

“No. She’s a child I found, I… I gave up everything to protect her.” The words did nothing to soothe either princess or warrior.

“You were protecting her.” Many eyes turned to see the bearer of the voice, lowered jaws accompanying wide eyes. They watched the skittish pegasus, who only moments before was behind Fawkes cowering in fear, approaching the weeping woman with her own wet eyes. Teresa slowly raised her gaze to look upon the canary pegasus, seeing neither fear or hatred in those deep cerulean eyes.

All the silver-eyes warrior saw was sorrow.

“Y-You… died for her.” Fluttershy stood just before the white garbed woman, the silver eyes of the warrior staring back into the mournful blue orbs with trembling force. “I’m… I-I’m so sorry.”

Without any hesitation, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around the blonde, pulling herself into the nape of the woman’s neck. More than a few warriors tensed at the action, prepared for the blonde woman to act slightly more than violently. Celestia and Luna found their breath caught in their throat.

Slowly, as if the action was entirely new, Teresa raised her arms. The strong appendages curled around the canary pegasus, pulling the kind soul closer. Her silver eyes were lost in the pink mane of the Element, her gaze hidden from those around her.

The soft cries of her pain were not.

Many of the warriors turned away, knowing well from experience the paths of mourning. Intruding upon the delicate scene would do little good. The youngest of the ponies, unaccustomed to the kind of sorrow they watched overtake the woman, shied away with lowered ears and curled legs. Luna and Celestia were the only of the Equine race to understand the pain of mourning, and the care one had to take when comforting a soul enduring it. Fluttershy was the pony already offering the wounded warrior all the care she could give. The princesses were not needed.

Twilight turned her attention back to the Portal of Souls, no longer looking at it with the mixed sensations of joy and possibility, but now nervous disdain. Of the many warriors they had pulled forth, of the many lives that had been brought back from the dead, this woman, Teresa, was the first to truly break from the experience. Taken from lives that depended on her, forced away from a child she loved… The unicorn swallowed a ball in her throat.

“It’s necessary,” she muttered to herself. “The princesses agree, my friends agree because… because Discord won’t care who he hurts.” Twilight spoke to herself every reason for their use of Discord’s once twisted device. “H-He’ll destroy Equestria, twist it and break it. Now, he may even move on to other worlds.”

Lavender eyes looked to the warriors who now set themselves apart from the sensitive scene in the hall’s center. Link was writing out phrases between Jack and Applejack. Rarity leaning on the farm pony for support, no doubt from the inability to believe she had pulled forth a warrior so broken.

Celestia spoke with Gandalf, out of earshot and with her ears against the golden frame of her crown. Gandalf leaned hard on his staff, the rim of his sharp hat pulled over his eyes. Pinkie Pie sat on the shoulder of Fawkes, who had taken to sitting on the ground again, no doubt from discomfort from his large stature. The pink earth pony was calmer than Twilight could say she had ever seen her before, and it unnerved her.

Hiccup and Toothless stood near Luna, the boy rubbing his small hands over the dragon’s scales in a gesture both found comforting, or so the continuation of the action portrayed. The Princess of the Night spoke lightly to both of them, in a voice that Hiccup’s nervous glances showed was near entering her Royal Canterlot phase.

Dash was the only pony alone.

Her pink eyes were focused on the mourning pair in the room, watching with flexed wings as her foalhood friend and the blonde woman hugged one another in tears. Their sobs were not audible, even to Twilight’s sharp senses, but the image was damning alone.

Dash was the only pony of the Elements who had yet to use the Portal… Maybe… Dash would want to use the portal now.

Twilight approached the pegasus with slow trots, mind working as her body moved. Every scenario of how her cyan friend would react to the news played through her mind. Eagerness, denial, dismissal, maybe even the actions of anger would take over Rainbow. She was a hot-head in the calmest of scenarios, and after what they had witnessed, been witnessing, a sound mind was not the highest of Twilight’s predictions.

When she stood just beside the mare, she waited for Dash to react, to say something, acknowledge her presence. But she didn’t, she continued to stare ahead at the weeping Teresa and Fluttershy, catatonic.

“Dash,” Twilight lightly spoke to her friend, poking her with a hoof.

The pegasus nearly hit the rafters.

“Whoa!” She let out in a quiet cry, looking over Twilight with something between agitation and fear. “What was that for?” The unicorn didn’t speak. Instead, she merely pointed her hoof towards the Portal of Souls, still shifting across the stone floor. The white mist of the portal had never looked so menacing before.

“Oh…” Dash spoke simply. “Okay… alright…” Not a response Twilight was expecting.

“Rainbow, are you okay?” she asked as she put a leg around the mare. She held back a gasp as her hoof made contact. The pegasus was physically shivering.

“No… I… I’m okay, but…” Her pink eyes looked to the hunched form of the only female they had pulled from the Portal of Souls, hunched over the Element of Kindness with small tremors of sorrow. Fluttershy, in the warrior’s grasp, cried as well, wrapping her wings around the thinly white garbed woman. It was a mournful and pitiful sight.

“I know,” Twilight agreed, looking from the unfortunate scene to the cyan mare. “I know. That was hard for all of us to see, but-” Her pegasus friend instantly cut her off.

“That’s not it.” Dash spoke quickly, taking a breath before she continued. “I-I know that stuff happens. My dad… he held me like that when mom passed away. That stuff happens I know, trust me, really trust me, I know. But that’s not what gets me.” Her pink eyes fell back to the white vortex before her. In her eyes, Twilight didn’t see the usual confidence, the overwhelming sense of pride. Instead, all she saw was the emotion she hated to see most of all in the cyan mare.

Doubt.

“W-What if I pull something like that out?” she questioned, head already beginning to shake back and forth. “What if the next thing I pull out starts crying because it didn’t want to die. What if I ruin some pony’s life like that? How can I do that to anypony? T-That would be awful, uncool. Hay, I wouldn’t even be any better than Discord!”

“Dash!” The mare turned her head sharply to see the powerful gaze of her unicorn friend, lavender eyes burning into her own pink orbs. “Never, ever, compare yourself to that monster.” She spoke with a tone Dash had never heard her use before, ever. Not even when she accused Chrysalis of impersonating Cadence.

“You are by far the bravest, most loyal, pony I have ever met. If you think for a moment that anything you do will make ponies suffer, you’re wrong. You’re more careful than Fluttershy when it comes to other ponies.”

“I did parade myself around that one time,” Dash muttered more to herself than Twilight, hoof kicking at the white tiling beneath her.

“Yeah, one time, you got a little big headed, but guess what?” The pegasus just waited. “You were doing it while helping other ponies. You bragged, but you never bullied. You boasted, but you never demeaned. Dash,” Twilight was close to her now. Really close… “You are one of the most selfless ponies in Equestria, and yes, the fastest as well.” She watched the ghost of a smile drift over the pegasus’s face.

“But… what do I do?” The words may have been pitiful, but the tone… Dash was just unsure. Twilight pressed on.

“Just… think of racing,” the unicorn spoke again, pushing for her friend to leave behind the thoughts of Teresa and Fluttershy. She could worry later, but right now, she had to focus about using the portal. It wasn’t the kind of tool to be used on a whim. Pinkie Pie aside.

“Remember how you fly fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom? Remember how that feels?” She saw the fire returning to Dash’s eyes. “Keep that in your mind, let that feeling give you strength. Remember what it feels like to have forty g’s of force pushing against your body as you pull out of a dive, recall the thrill of having other ponies cheer for you.” She pushed her hoof against the pegasus’s chest, making her point.

Dash was nodding her head in agreement. It was working.

“Rainbow, you can do this.”

“Yeah, yeah I can!” The mare cheered as she beat her wings, lifting herself into the air. “Yeah, I can totally use this thing. I’ll pull out some pony so awesome that... that…” She stalled.

“Uh… that they won’t need to prove how awesome they are!” Twilight watched on, giggling at the antics of her friend.

“I believe you Dash,” she supplied, watching the pegasus land again on her four hooves, facing the Portal of Souls with the familiar fire in her pink eyes, bright and kindled by her confidence.

‘Twilight is right.’ Rainbow reminded herself, staring into the mist as her mind began to work. ‘Racing is the one thing I have to think of. It’s what I live for. It’s all that I am! When I race, I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m alive! I’m more worried than I am at any other moment in my life!’

Wait… That wasn’t right.

‘Afraid?’ The word was foreign to the mind of the pegasus, but it was by no means or stretch of any boundaries a welcome term. ‘No, I’m not afraid. Not at all. There’s no way that I am. I’m just nervous enough to fail.’

There it was again.

Dash angrily shook her head, rainbow mane flipping back and forth against her in a futile attempt to dislodge the thoughts. A curious Twilight watched patiently from her side.

‘Okay… not racing then… now what?’ A million and one ideas flew through her mind at speeds she loved to experience. Flying, racing, wings, clouds, sleeping, Daring Do, Cloudsdale, Twilight Sparkle. Head shake.

‘No, wait.’ The pegasus stopped herself mid head swing. ‘I was onto something there. It’s not just Twilight. It’s everyone! Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, all  of them. When I’m with them… I’m happy.’ It didn’t require and shouting declaration, a powerful swing of her body, or even an inner boast to herself. All Rainbow Dash needed to think about were her friends, each and everyone of them around her, already happy and smiling.

‘I just need my friends.’ She concluded with an almost joyful sense of bliss. ‘All I need are the ponies who believe in me.’

With a breath of air, Dash sank her head into the Portal of Souls.

Begin

“It’s an awesome sky.”

The words were spoken through bloody lips.

His body was broken beneath him. Legs bent at odd angles, arms twisted beyond repair, and a rusty liquid leaking from wounds marring his entire form. It was a horrible kind of pain. The kind you couldn’t ignore. It wasn’t like mourning a passing friend, like leaving a long time home, it was the kind of pain a single glance of the eyes could remind you existed. If he looked down at his shattered form for even a moment, the pain would return in force.

So he watched the sky as he let his mind wander to things he didn’t know.

“I wonder how Tails is doing.” He spoke with a wandering mind, his lips already growing numb. “Knuckles, too. I bet Amy and Cream are playing another game with dolls.” He tried to laugh, he really did. But instead, he just coughed blood. Blood reminded him of his wounds, and the wound reminded him of pain.

He felt the pain quickly.

“No, the real question is Blaze.” Blue lids shut themselves slowly before opening again, careful of the thick red liquid hovering over his vision. If he blinked too fast, he would blind himself with his blood.

“That crazy cat is probably sitting in front of Sol Emeralds still. Maybe entertaining the Silver, but probably not.” Instead of laughing he gave a small sigh, avoiding the blood slowly pooling in his lungs.

“How did I get here again?” The answer was more than obvious, at least to his yet to be damaged mind, but any thought was better than the reminder of the wounds littering his body like snow on a mountain top. His mouth moved awkwardly as he recalled the events.

“That’s right, I was running.” What he didn’t have the energy to say was what he was running for. It wasn’t a usual run through the Green Hills, or an agility test through Diamond Zone. No. It was something, needless to say, more life threatening.

To be exact, it was to catch someone threatening other lives.

There was no connection between him and the life in danger, nothing but hearing a plea for help. But that’s what he did. It was one of the many things he lived for. He was given a gift at birth and he used it anyway he could. It just turned out that one of those ways was to help others.

So at speeds few could fathom, he gave chase with a life hanging in the balance.

“Running at the speed of sound,” he tried to sing a jingle at the familiar memory of his speed. Between his broken bones and the blood collecting in the back of his throat, it didn’t quite carry the same catchiness as when he heard it before. “ Oh well.”

Honestly, he thought the perpetrator was going to be his age old foe, Dr. Robotnik. There was almost nothing that the mad scientist wouldn’t try and pull for the hopes of luring the blue blur towards whatever the next death trap he had conjured was. So it could be said he was reasonably surprised when instead of a large man on a hovercraft, he saw a purple weasel.

But that’s what it was.

His name was Nack, as he never forget a name, and he knew that the weasel was working for someone else. He never did have the smarts or courage to pull something illegal off with his own ideas.  Maybe he was working for Dr. Robotnik, maybe someone else, it didn’t really matter.

All that mattered was that he had kidnapped a young child from his home, a rabbit no older than five, and was speeding away on a hovercraft with a velocity that most people would need a jet to keep up with.

He wasn’t most people, and he certainly didn’t need a vehicle of any kind.

He had his two legs, moving at speeds that strained the sound barrier. Eyes on the child wailing in fear and the weasel trying with little success to lose him. A weasel throwing profanities left and right during the entire ordeal.

“Man, it is hard to imagine Nack without swearing.” He felt another chuckle beginning to grow in his chest. He opted to swallow a ball of his copper tasting liquid instead, squelching the spontaneous reaction immediately.

For a time, he didn’t speak again, he just let his mind wander back to the chase.

It was through the Green Hills, a place he loved to run through almost twice daily. Plenty of natural obstacles, a few tricks hidden in the rockwork, and lots of wildlife to see in every passing. However, he didn’t have the time to admire the view.

Nack had the young male rabbit in his claws, pushing his hovercraft to the highest speeds as he tried fruitlessly to escape the blue blur beneath him. The look of fright on his face was evident, but the fear was more than clear in his actions. It bode little well for his hostage.

‘Kind of regret that kind of thinking now.’ He thought absently as the memory continued to play in his mind.

He had taken a chance to save the hostage and render Nack harmless. It went smoothly in his mind. Run up the next incoming hill, ball up with his spikes extended as he met the trajectory of the incoming craft, impale himself in the metal, climb up, then knock Nack out while he was either oblivious or stunned. If he could count on himself for one thing, it was his reaction time.

It didn’t pay off this time.

“Really though, I guess I should have given that weasel more credit.” Another footnote to the memoir of his still playing mind.

He had successfully made it onboard the craft, and he had climbed up to see the weasel and hostage face to face.

But Nack was neither stunned nor oblivious to his presence. He had a gun drawn, armed, and pointing at the blue hedgehog with skill all knew he possessed. He always did have a knack for killing things.

The first shot hit just above his collarbone, severing several choice arterioles. The next only skimmed the hedgehog’s side, spinning from the first shot and attempting to avoid the next.

Unfortunately, it forced him to topple from the speeding craft.

Falling was nothing new. Planes, helicopters, aerial platforms, sky forts, even clouds. He had walked and fallen from all of them before. But then, there was always a way to land. Tails may have been there, ready to catch him in his own aircraft, or maybe a canopy of trees with thick leaves and branches to fall on.

This time, he only had the solid earth, meeting him mercilessly at speeds he used to enjoy.

Honestly, really honestly, he wished he could have blacked out on impact. Falling was nothing really new to him. Run across enough terrain in your life and you’ll find one or two slippery substances. A few scrapes, scraps, maybe a broken limb if he was unlucky. But this… was so much worse.

“And here I am.” He concluded the memory of his story, staring back into the sky with eyes nearly empty. “What a waste.” Yet he didn’t regret it, not even now. It wasn’t something he could easily explain, or sum up in a few sentences, but he had tried to before.

But how can you summarize the morals of your life so easily? Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Be a good hedgehog. Those were too broad and open to interpretation, as Shadow had so easily showed through his own actions, with guns. Really, it came down to a metaphor, an example of when all of your morals, all of your goals, all of your dreams, could be summarized in one exact instance. He was finally able to find his.

He would rather die failing to save a life with the help of his friends than walk away peaceful alone.

“Mission accomplished,” he laughed, and coughed, on the phrase. “Or nearly.”

It wasn’t long before his vision began to blur, the shape of the clouds above becoming harder to distinguish, the shades of blue blending together.

“Guess it’s time.” He let his eyes drift shut, filling his vision with darkness. “Well…” He whispered absently, hoping some curious ear listening to the wind would hear his final request.

“Let’s do it again sometime.”

Sonic the Hedgehog was no more.

END

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