***

“Ah… now you fight.”
The Avatar, The Avatar of Albion.

***

Rarity.

“And what are you supposed to be?”

“I am vengeance. I am justice. I am your death.”

***

The Everfree Forest. May 5th. Year 3 of the New Diarchy Calendar.

There was a long moment of silence after the human’s declaration. Twilight and the others were staring at him in shock - the transformation had been entirely unlike anything they'd ever seen, and the human was radiating waves of power. Twilight was at once horrified and fascinated. Nearby, Lyra’s eyes were as round as saucers, as though entire new angles of research were being drawn up in her mind as she watched this impossible being.

Celestia and Luna, for their part, seemed to remain mostly impassive. The Lunar Diarch had snorted, a look of unimpressed scorn gracing her features. Celestia’s expression was more neutral, though traced with an edge of caution as she watched the figure.

“So,” the human - this Avatar of Albion, whatever that was supposed to mean - said, his voice still resonant. “Shall we begin?”

He held his sword up one handed in a stance that could only be interpreted as a challenge. With a snort, Luna took a step forward, her horn glowing. Twilight shrank back, motioning for her friends to take cover - if they really were going to fight, it might well get… well, ugly, if that was the right word for higher beings engaging in conflict.

Celestia began pacing around the creature. He kept his sword aimed at her, though he also kept his eye on Luna. He had a small half-smile on his face.

And then they moved.

Luna’s horn flashed, a spell dashing towards him. He moved his sword, which - impossibly - caught the spell, before he deflected it back at Luna. She raised a shield and the deflected spell impacted it harmlessly. Celestia, meanwhile, launched her own spell, and the human had to hold up a hand, a golden field of energy appearing between him and her that bore the brunt of the spell’s power. He lowered his hand, and he suddenly charged at Celestia, bringing his sword to bear. In a flash, she had leapt above him, dodging the strike, before landing next to Luna. The human stopped himself, before turning, only to find Luna and Celestia sending a combined spell at him. With a slight groan of irritation, he held his sword up and caught the spell, though the force managed to knock him off balance and throw him backwards through the air - where he suddenly stopped, hanging in mid-air for a moment, before lowering to the ground, spinning his sword as he did so before moving into a guard stance.

“Interesting,” was all he said, his smile gone.

Twilight turned to Lyra, who was frantically scribbling notes in her notebook, a look of wonder on her face.

“Did you ever hear of humans being able to do this?” she hissed.

“No!” Lyra replied with wide eyes. “It's awesome! We’re learning so much from one fight!”

“We might end up learning what it's like to get smushed by one o’ them spell's they're throwin’ about,” Applejack commented grimly.

“I say we help,” Rainbow said with a snort of anger as the human blocked a spell Celestia threw at him. “We rush him, and then -”

“And then what?” Applejack asked. “Ya’ll think we can just buck him in the head ‘til he drops?”

“As opposed to what, running?” Rainbow snarled.

“Eeyup,” Applejack nodded grimly, her eyes returning to the fighting Alicorns and human. He had thrown another spell, this one barely blocked by a shield from Luna. “Ah ain't normally one fer abandonin’ anypony, but what can we do here?!”

“I agree,” Rarity said quietly. “We can’t help here. It’s not our arena.”

Rainbow growled in frustration. “What do you say Twi?”

Twilight pursed her lips. “We have to stay.”

“Twi -!” Applejack began.

“There's more to this than we know!” Twilight insisted. “That human thinks Celestia is this… ‘Solamina’, whoever that is. This is a case of -”

A spell flashed above her head - while she had been talking, the human had been deflecting more spells, his half-smile returning. Celestia and Luna had been moving to flank him, but he had remained resolutely in position, dodging or blocking everything they threw at him, throwing more spells in return.

And then, as she and Luna stood on opposite sides of the human, Celestia grinned.

“Now!” she yelled. A spell shot out from her horn that seemed to splash on an invisible wall between her and the human, before encompassing half of him. Luna shot a similar spell and its own energy splashed around, and after a moment the human was completely encased in a bubble of magic. He slowly lowered his sword, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Tricky,” Celestia said. “I don't think we’ve fought something like that in…”

“… years,” Luna finished.

Twilight frowned. The Alicorns weren't looking at the human, so they didn't see his expression change within the bubble. He was smiling.

“Celestia!” she called out. Celestia glanced up and looked at her. “Watch out!”

Celestia frowned, before looking at the human. He'd sheathed his sword for a moment, instead holding out both hands, and a golden glow was building up within the bubble of magic Celestia and Luna had created. Suddenly, there was a shockwave as the bubble exploded outward, slamming Luna into a tree and Celestia through the clearing. Luna, dazed, slumped to her knees. Twilight, who had barely managed to throw her own shield up in time to avoid being hurt, was shocked - she had only once seen a being fight Celestia at her own level, and that had been Queen Chrysalis after stealing enough love to overcharge herself. To see it again was disconcerting.

But what caught Twilight’s attention most was the human himself. He was knelt at the centre of what had been the bubble, surrounded by charred grass. He seemed to be recovering from his exertions, his eyes closed and a pained expression on his face. Twilight frowned - had he injured himself, or was he merely not powerful enough to use such a strike without consequences?

He looked up as Celestia landed nearby, a look of consternation on her face as he stood up, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. She watched him carefully, pacing around him to reach Luna. She glanced down at her, checking her injuries.

“A powerful assault,” he commented quietly as he stood. “And yet, not lethal. Curious that after slaying so many of my kind you should be so hesitant to slay me.”

Celestia snorted in either what was either irritation or derisive amusement, Twilight couldn't tell which.

“I’ve killed a lot of things over the centuries,” she said candidly. “But I can't say I’ve ever killed one of your kind.”

The human had his sword up and aimed it at her in challenge, but made no further move. Luna, shaking her head, stood up and returned back to Celestia’s side. She growled as she looked at the human.

“Our spell didn't work,” she said to Celestia quietly.

“No, really?” the Sun Diarch hissed. “I would never have guessed.”

“If you're lying or hiding your identity, I fail to see the point,” the human said bluntly, before either pony could say anything else. They turned to look at him. “And I don't see how you could be doing anything other than lying.”

“Your inability to see the truth is not our problem,” Luna said grimly. “You attacking us and our subjects is our problem.”

“And the fifteen million lives I fight to protect are mine, False Luna,” the human retorted. As Luna growled in rage, the figure raised his blade high in an ox-guard. “For them, I will give anything.”

Celestia frowned, glancing between Luna and the human and raising a wing to place between them.

“Sir,” she began slowly, “you must realise there is more to this than you believe. You can see that I am not trying to injure you. You have already seen that we are not acting as you expect. You are not an unreasoning savage.” At that, Luna snorted, but Celestia silenced her with a glare before looking at the human again. “Surely you must be able to see that we are not your enemy, whoever that pony may be.”

The human tilted his head. “You are the Alicorn who raises and holds the sun. There can be no mistake. You are Solamina.”

“Before today,” Celestia retorted, “I had never heard that name.”

“So you claim,” the human said, lowering his guard slightly, a frown slowly developing on his face. “Why would you lie?”

“The simple answer,” Celestia said quietly, “is that I am not.”

The human lowered his sword further. “This is too strange. There is too much about this place that I do not under-”

A sudden spell flashed, smacking into his shoulder and sending him spinning into a tree, before he crashed heavily onto the ground, apparently unconscious. There was a momentary glowing, and then in place of the armoured figure was the battered clothes. Whatever transformation the human had undergone, it had reversed.

“LUNA!” Celestia snapped, looking at her sister, whose eyes were narrowed at the prone human.

“He is a threat,” the Moon Diarch snapped. “We cannot simply stand here talking!”

“I almost had him!” Celestia growled. “He was almost convinced that we weren’t his enemy!” She sighed heavily, her anger apparently draining. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“I am sorry, sister,” Luna said quietly. “I only did what I thought was best.”

“I know,” Celestia said quietly. She looked over to Twilight. “Twilight, are you alright?”

Twilight moved from cover, her eyes wide with shock. She had seen Celestia worried, Celestia angry, and she had even seen Celestia fight against Chrysalis, but she had never seen anything quite like this fight before. It was like seeing an entirely new side of her beloved mentor, a side she wasn't sure she liked.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked again.

The purple mare nodded slowly. “I'm… ok.”

“You're not hurt, any of you?” Celestia added, looking over the others as they moved out of cover.

“Few bruises,” Applejack said shortly. “Ah reckon this human thing was a little tougher than it looked.”

“Yes,” Celestia said quietly, looking the prone human over. With a gentle tug of her magic, she pulled him so he was lying on his back. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be breathing shallowly. A trickle of blood had come out of his nose. Twilight moved up to stand near her, frowning at the human in concern.

“Curious,” Luna said quietly from behind Celestia.

“What is?” Twilight asked.

The Moon Diarch glanced at Twilight, an oddly sad expression on her face. “This creature. He is… an oddity.”

“He's a human!” Lyra’s voice cut in excitedly. She trotted up, moving to stand next to Twilight with wide eyes. She began muttering to herself quietly. “Clothes made from leather suggest a predatory species. He had weapons, language, comparatively hairless skin… so many things in the cryptozoological files just got proved and disproved all at once.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “You know something of humans, my little pony?”

Lyra took a moment to realise that she was being addressed by Celestia herself, and suitably composed herself.

“Everything there is to know from the books I've found,” she replied proudly. “Uh… your highness.”

“Everything?” Celestia repeated. “Is that so?”

“Oh, yes. They're generally said to come from the North - there are stories of tribes of Horses that knew them, and their name comes up in Jorogumo, Griffon and Qilin legends, especially the Jorogumo. And their name in Kitsune legend translates to…” Lyra paused, frowning thoughtfully. “I think the exact word translates as ‘dangerous fools’, though it might just be a word for anyone they try to trick or prank.”

“Not quite,” Luna said with a slight smile of her own. “In days past, Kitsune who… ‘pranked’ one of these creatures of sufficiently high rank would find themselves lynched if they were not cautious.”

“Oh,” Lyra said, blinking. “Wow. That… wow.”

“You know a surprising amount,” Celestia congratulated the mint-green mare. “I’ve not met a scholar with such knowledge of species beyond our borders in many years.”

“I… read a lot,” Lyra said sheepishly, embarrassed by the praise from her princess.

“So you know about humans?” Twilight asked, looking up at Celestia.

The Sun Diarch looked down at her student with a slight smile. “We did. A long time ago, before much of what is considered ‘recorded history’. Something tells me this human has a stranger tale to tell than most, though.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “He… does. I think.”

“Did he reveal anything to you?” Luna asked with a frown.

Twilight took a breath. “He comes from a world where he's at war with ponies, I think.” She looked up at Celestia. “He seemed to think I was a commander in the army - and that you were leading this attack.”

Celestia raised a wry eyebrow. “Funny. You'd think I'd remember fighting a war.”

“He called you ‘Solamina’,” Luna said quietly, her normal formal tone softening slightly. “That's an old High Unicornic name, I believe, but I can't recall having ever heard it before.”

“It isn't one that's ever existed,” Celestia said quietly. “‘Astra Solamina Maxima’. The royal sun, resplendent and supreme, in feminine form. A title only one mare could have any right to.”

“But thou hast never taken such a title,” Luna said with a frown.

“No,” Celestia said quietly. “I haven't.” She scrutinised the human carefully, as though trying to divine the answers she sought from closed eyes and quiet breaths. “Twilight, did you learn much about his world?”

“Only that billions of his kind are dead,” Twilight said quietly. “Some sort of ‘barrier’…”

With as much detail as she could, Twilight went through everything the human had said to her during their conversation. She tried to be as detailed as she could, knowing anything she said might prove useful. Luna and Celestia said nothing, nodding along. Lyra, meanwhile, had whipped out a notebook and was jotting down everything. The others slowly moved out from cover, moving to stand next to Twilight as she spoke.

“… of course,” she said quietly, “I couldn't convince him. I almost had, but -”

“But he was stubborn, clearly,” Celestia said quietly. “As might any of us be when faced with one who looks so much like our enemy.”

“I don't understand,” Rainbow said quietly. “How can we be his enemy? We’ve never seen him, or anything like him…”

“There are many things in this world beyond that known by the ponies of this age,” Luna said quietly. “A long time ago, there were many creatures like this being, with their own civilisation.”

“There were?” Lyra asked, eyes almost bugging out of her skull. “What happened to them?”

Celestia shook her head. “A good question for another day. This being, though, cannot be one of them. He must have come from another world.”

Twilight frowned. “Another world? I've heard legends of -”

“Hold up,” Applejack frowned. “Another world? Ya’ll mean there’re other worlds?”

“So the theory goes,” Twilight said with a slight smile. “Legends have existed of worlds beyond our own for decades. Starswirl the Bearded even wrote on the subject.”

“Starswirl did far more than write on the subject,” Luna said quietly, with a reminiscent smile of her own. “His research was… very thorough.”

“And there are other worlds,” Celestia added, “far beyond our own.”

“So… this creature is from one of these ‘other worlds’?” Rarity asked with a frown of confusion. “I’m… afraid I don't understand how that could be possible.”

Celestia and Luna shared a glance.

“Neither do I,” the Moon Diarch said quietly. “Travel between worlds was Starswirl’s dream, one he desperately desired to accomplish. Some think he did.”

“Starswirl the Bearded disappeared,” Twilight said with a frown. “You think he travelled to another world?”

“He certainly left this one,” Celestia said with a wry smile. “But that isn't important: this creature couldn't have used the same method.”

“We would have known,” Luna said quietly.

“So whaddya think we should do with it?” Rainbow asked, looking the thing up and down.

Celestia and Luna shared a glance. Twilight frowned as the two seemed to be almost having a conversation with each other.

“We have to know,” Celestia said after a moment. “Where he came from. What he's doing here. Why he thinks we’re his enemy.”

“Why does it matter?” Rainbow asked, scoffing. her amused expression faltered slightly at Celestia’s slight frown. “Uh… I mean… I’m sure it doesn't.”

“What makes you say that?” Celestia asked quietly, her expression not changing.

Rainbow swallowed nervously. “Well, with all due respect… because he's crazy.”

“‘Crazy’?” Luna repeated.

“Well yeah,” Rainbow said with a shrug, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. “He’s nuts - I mean he thinks you're somepony called ‘Solemna’, whatever that means -”

“Solamina,” Celestia corrected gently, a soft smile gracing her face. “It's ancient Unicornic. And what he says might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.”

“But how could it not be?” Rarity asked with a frown. “I mean, could he be from some ghastly future?”

“No,” Twilight said. “He said there were events that should have already happened - that we should already have seen a portal off of the coast of Manehatten.”

“There has been no such portal,” Luna said quietly. “We would have known.”

“So he's from another world,” Celestia said quietly. “A world very much like our own - but with key differences as well. Including this… Solamina.” She took a breath. “We need to know more.”

“We could invade its mind,” Luna said sternly, looking down at the unconscious human. “Take what information we need from it.”

“No,” Celestia said quietly. “That would constitute an unacceptable breach of its privacy. He isn't our enemy - not yet.”

“It declared itself so,” Luna retorted.

“Which is likely a case of mistaken identity,” Celestia countered. She looked down at it with sympathy. “He spoke of… crimes. Against his people. If faced with one who looked like our greatest enemies, in times of war and stress, would we have been slower to judge than he?”

Luna sighed and shook her head. “No. We would not.”

Celestia nodded. “There must be another way…”

“Princesses,” Twilight said quietly, “I think I know one.”

Celestia and Luna both looked at her, Luna with a slight frown and Celestia with a raised eyebrow.

“He entered my mind,” Twilight said quietly. “He was trying to interrogate me - find out what I knew. He thought I was a Commander in the Guard.”

“What happened?” Luna asked with a frown.

“He was looking for something,” Twilight said. “But during the link, I think… I think I saw parts of his history, his experiences.”

Celestia frowned, glancing at Luna. “Could they have left an imprint?”

Luna’s eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully. “Enough for a partial delve, though they may be little other than impressions and images.”

“It's a start,” Celestia said quietly. She looked to Twilight. “If this is truly in your mind, we must enter to seek it, and we must do so now before the images fade beyond recall.”

Twilight nodded. “What do I have to do?”

“I will send the two of you into a dream state, from which thou wilt be able to explore the memories this being hath left in thine mind,” Luna said quietly. “I will remain out here - send thee to the memories and try to maintain their cohesion. It will not be a pleasant experience - tis likely the images will be fragmented, incoherent. But it is all we have.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I’m ready.”

Luna looked to Celestia, who nodded, then back to Twilight.

“Very well,” she said simply. “Then sleep.”

***

… and then Twilight was somewhere else.

She felt a wave of cold air strike her face, stinging and biting, and shivered involuntarily. She looked around, and saw Celestia standing next to her, her mentor having a worried expression on her face. They were stood on a cliff, staring out at a grey sea, a faint purple glow visible on the horizon, almost like a purple sun was rising. Before either of them could say anything, however, voices drifted over to them.

“… you're sure about this?” a familiar voice was asking.

“No,” another voice - recognisable as the human’s - responded. “But we don't have a choice.”

“Where are we?” Twilight asked, turning around to look for the source of the voice.

“A memory,” Celestia replied quietly. She frowned, taking a step forward -

***

- and then they were stood on a metal deck. Twilight lurched, off balance, trying to stay on her hooves even as the world around her was shifting. She looked around in surprise - the deck was that of a ship of some sort, it had to be. A great tower of sorts jutted from the deck, and humans - they had to be humans - were running across the deck, carrying more of the strange metal weapons that the first human had.

“Soldiers?” Twilight asked aloud.

Most of them wore green camouflage-pattern fatigues, and they were heading to one side of the deck. Twilight turned to look - only to see a great pink wall of what could only be magic looking over them, not more than a few hundred metres from where they were.

“What in the name of…?” Celestia muttered from beside her. “That -”

***

They were stood in a street, tall buildings made from steel and concrete towering either side of them. More of these human soldiers were dashing about, as a figure glowing with energy stood at their head. A chant could be heard, echoing through the streets.

“Albion! Albion! Albion!”

***

Rain fell on the roof of the shack, adding to the horrific din of the battle outside. Twilight looked around - a yellow Earth Pony in oversized clothes was laying on the floor of the shack, and a small wooden door was open, blowing in the wind. Twilight moved first, exiting the shack, and Celestia moved to follow her.

Two figures could be seen fighting a few metres away, though the blustering wind and rain meant that the two mares could not make the figures distinctly out. One of them had to be the human in his transformed state - the sword and the cloak were visible, as were the lines of the armour he wore. The other was a Unicorn mare, dressed in some sort of armour and wielding a sword of her own, possibly a rapier. The two were duelling, their blades streaks of silver against the darkened sky… and then the rapier was knocking out of the Unicorn’s magical grip just as the human’s sword decapitated her.

The sword flew, before landing right at Twilight’s feet. She blinked in shock, before looking up at the human. He was stood, apparently taking a moment to acknowledge his victory. Lightning flashed, and Twilight thought she saw a familiar white coat and purple mane on the body -

***

- and then Celestia and Twilight were stood on a pier, flanked by tall cliffs, as a host of humans and ponies fought. Pony soldiers in what looked like ivory Royal Guard armour were fighting less armoured ponies and humans. As they watched, a lighthouse started to collapse, slamming into a beach below the pier and crushing landing chariots and the ponies in them.

As Twilight and Celestia watched, one human charged past them, raising his weapon and firing at a squadron of incoming Pegasi in what looked like armoured Wonderbolt uniforms -

***

- just as a spell flew above Twilight’s head, forcing her to look behind her as the spell impacted into another giant concrete building. She looked up at the sky. As what could only have been some sort of war-Zeppelin, albeit one bigger than any she had ever heard of, floated slowly above her head. At its front was an immense golden statue of an angry rearing Celestia and wisps of thunderheads clung to the bottom of the gondola.

“This…” she said quietly. “This is insane.”

“Are these images familiar?” Celestia asked.

Twilight studied the Zeppelin as it flew overhead, her eyes catching sight of Pegasi darting hither and thither, most of them dressed in Wonderbolt uniforms or Royal Guard armour but more than a few dressed in some sort of colour coded shirts. A name drifted from her lips.

“Harmonious Order,” she said quietly. “The first super-Zeppelin.”

Celestia frowned, but before she could say anything -

***

- they were in a meeting hall, more of the human and pony soldiers surrounding them as the human - unmistakably the same one - marched onto a stage and lifted up three pony manes. Three very familiar pony manes. Twilight took a step toward the stage, her eyes narrowing…

***

“… I should have been here,” the human’s voice drifted past her ear. She was stood in a dark, rainy field. She glanced up at Celestia, who looked down at her with a frown of consternation.

“The memories are fragmentary,” she said quietly. “I don't think -”

“It wasn't your fault, David,” that familiar mare’s voice spoke again. Twilight frowned, and she and Celestia turned to see the hooded figure of the human kneeling in front of a funeral pyre. A mare - her features indistinct in the darkness - was stood next to him, and he reached out a hand to place it on her shoulder, whether to comfort her or seek comfort, Twilight couldn't tell.

“How many more are we going to lose?” the human asked softly.

***

NO MORE.

The words had been burnt into a pillar of white marble stood on a burning field, the wreckage of a Zeppelin - the same super-Zeppelin they had seen before - visible behind it. The human was stood in front of the pillar, an auburn-maned Pegasus mare on one side of him and a stallion with a red coat and a long, grey-streaked brown mane on his other side.

“No more,” the stallion said, his voice gravelly and grim. He turned -

***

- and once again Celestia and Twilight were stood in a city, as Zeppelins and Pegasi flew above them. The sound of something not unlike thunder raged in the distance. And Twilight found herself feeling the need, almost absurdly, to cover her ears. Celestia frowned as she looked up at the sky, and then seemed almost startled as humans charged past her, their weapons blazing with harsh cracking sounds as they moved to hold a barricade, hundreds of Guardsponies in that same ivory armour advancing under cover of spell barrage and shields.

Celestia snorted in anger as she spread her wings and took off. Twilight wondered what the Princess thought she might see from above. For herself, Twilight charged for the barricade, following the memory-soldiers as they reached the hastily-erected, shambolic construction. She looked around, and to her surprise saw a familiar face or two - here a mare from Canterlot, there a stallion she'd seen in Appleloosa. The humans were faceless - dressed in patchy armour and fatigues, their faces covered by masks with giant red goggles.

Spells impacted along the barricade, knocking soldiers back and blasting ponies and humans alike to pieces. Twilight flinched at the image as the memory-blood splattered over her.

***

- and then she was surrounded by flames. She could feel the unbearable heat as the fire washed over her. Deafening screams came from behind her and she turned just in time to catch the molten remains of a human soldier collapse and burn down to blackened bone covered in twisted rubber and metal.

The flames disappeared, allowing Twilight to stagger as the phantom pains of the fire overwhelmed her. She tottered over, crashing to the floor, her head swimming. As the flames dissipated she saw a huge golden statue carved in the shape of Princess Celestia march forward. It radiated the same unbearable heat as the flames and she saw licks of fire coming from its metallic maw. The same fires seemed to also make up its mane, tail and wings as well that fanned out as if trying to reach her.

Twilight tried to crawl away, her body still struggling to overcome the horrible sensations of the false memory pain.

Suddenly a familiar pair of golden shod hooves slammed into the ground in front of her. Twilight looked up to see the real Celestia’s face look down at her in shock and concern.

“Twilight!” the Princess said, “We need to get away from this -”

***

“… place!”

And now they were stood in a small room. The same yellow Earth Pony stallion they had seen earlier was stood next to the human, both of them with their backs to the two mares.

“You alright?” the pony asked quietly, his voice tinged with an unfamiliar accent.

“No,” the human said quietly. “But then, ‘all right’ is a luxury.”

“I guess,” the pony said quietly. He looked up at the human, revealing the side of a grim face. “So. D’you really want to do this?”

The human said nothing for a long moment, and the pony sighed, before turning and walking pat Celestia and Twilight to the back of the room. They got a glimpse of a coat and a sour expression, but nothing more. The human didn't move.

“So,” the pony said after a moment. “You realise you're on your own once you're there. No chance of reinforcement.”

“Understood,” the human said quietly.

“You also realise that if you don't succeed, we’re projecting our primary strategic positions being overrun in about two days,” the pony added.

“Also understood,” the human said quietly, his voice timeless. “If I haven't done it by then I'll be dead.”

“He says with such concern,” the pony grumbled. “You'd think we were talking about the sodding weather.”

“Angsting about things I can't change is stupid,” the human said bluntly. “I have to go. There's no other choice.”

“You want to say goodbye to everyone first?” the pony asked. “I know Lyra -”

“No,” the human cut him off. “No. I - I can't. This… this is hard enough.”

The pony nodded. “I understand.”

He grabbed a small piece of what looked like chalk, before trotting back to the human and starting to draw a circle around him. Twilight and Celestia exchanged glances.

“What's going on?” Twilight asked her mentor. She wasn't quite following what was going on.

Celestia narrowed her eyes as the yellow Earth Pony finished drawing his circle around the human and began mumbling under his breath.

“I believe,” she said quietly, “that we’re witnessing a magic spell of some sort.”

“I've never seen one like this,” Twilight said quietly. “Certainly not from an Earth Pony.”

Before Celestia could reply, a soft light began glowing from the chalk circle. Twilight stepped back, eyes widening. The yellow pony looked up to the human.

“Good luck, Dave,” he said.

“You too, John,” the human replied.

There was a flare of light…

***

… and Twilight opened her eyes to see the concerned face of Pinkie Pie stood over her.

“You ok?” she asked, holding out - of all things - a cup of coffee.

“Where'd you get that?” Twilight asked, having a drink of the coffee.

“I always store instant coffee around in case of coffee-emergencies,” Pinkie said gravely. “And this has all the makings of the mother of all coffee emergencies.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah. A little.”

“Fascinating,” she heard the familiar tones of Celestia’s voice say quietly. She and Pinkie both turned to see Celestia sat by the human, regarding the unconscious being thoughtfully. Fluttershy was also there, dabbing a small cloth on his head with a frown of concern.

“He’s fine,” she was saying to Celestia softly, “but I think there's more wrong with him than just whatever Princess Luna hit him with. It might be a good idea to have a Doctor look him over at Canterlot?”

Celestia nodded absently at that. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”

“Are you alright, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“His memories,” Celestia said softly, not looking at her. “They were… even in that fragmented state, there was such a rage attached to them… and a sorrow…”

“What happened?” Rarity asked, a frown on her face.

Twilight glanced over at her. The image of a fight between this human and a mare with a white coat and purple mane flashed through her head.

Ignore it, she thought to herself. Worry about it later.

“We saw the memories this human transferred into Twilight’s mind,” Celestia said quietly. “Memories of… memories of a conflict. With ponies. Just as he implied.”

“Another world where ponies are aggressors?” Luna said, raising an eyebrow. “Where you are an aggressor, sister? It scarcely seems possible.”

“And yet,” Celestia said quietly. “That may be what we are faced with right now.”

Luna scowled. “If that is so… what do we do?”

Celestia looked lost in thought for a moment, as though pondering the question. Twilight had never seen her mentor look so uncertain: not during the Sombra crisis, the wedding, the return of Discord…

“This is all so exciting!” a voice said quietly from behind Twilight. She turned to see Lyra scribbling away in her notes.

“How can you be taking notes at a time like this?!” Rarity hissed at the mint-green mare. “We’re in the middle of a crisis!”

“That is a human!” Lyra pointed out. “Crisis or not, this is the pinnacle of any cryptozoologist’s work! I have to record everything for later study!”

Rarity sighed heavily. “But -!”

“It's a good idea to keep notes,” Twilight interrupted. “We don't know what's going to happen next - keeping notes might help us make important decisions later.”

Lyra gestured triumphantly at Twilight. “See?!”

Applejack was stood further from the two, a pensive look on her face. Twilight approached her.

“You ok?” she asked. The Earth Pony didn't reply. “AJ?”

“This is crazy talk,” Applejack said quietly. “Some kinda creature from another world? It's like somethin’ from a story.”

“The same could have been said of the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight pointed out with a wry smile. “And yet here we are.”

Applejack nodded without smiling. “Ah guess yer right about that. We just need ta keep an open mind.” She scowled. “All the same, Ah don't like this at all.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Twilight said quietly. She turned to look at Celestia, who was nodding to herself.

“Alright,” the Diarch said. “Twilight, you and the other Element bearers - and Miss Heartstrings - will make preparations to come to Canterlot as soon as you can.”

Twilight, somewhat surprised by this, nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

Celestia turned to Luna. “You and I will take this human back to Canterlot. We will examine him and then, if and when he awakens, we will speak with him. Only then will we be able to determine a course of action.”

Luna nodded slowly. “As you say, sister.”

Celestia turned to Twilight, her expression grave.

“I don't know what is going to happen next,” the Princess said quietly. “I honestly can't even begin to imagine. What I do know is that the following days are likely to test all of us.”

Twilight drew herself up, almost standing at attention. Behind her, the others also stood tall, each of them looking as grave as Celestia - even Fluttershy looked grim-faced.

“We won't fail you,” Twilight said grimly.

“Yeah,” Rainbow added. “We’ll be ready for anything.”

The others added their own chorus of affirmatives to that, and Celestia smiled.

“I know whatever happens, I can count on all of you,” she said quietly. “We shall speak soon.”

She went over to Luna, and a moment later the two of them - and the human - disappeared in a flash of light.

“Right,” Twilight said. “We’d best get packing.”

***