A/N: Normally I don't have notes at the start of a chapter, but a bit of AJ's section has musical backing. It doesn't start at the very beginning and you should know when it shows it (it has lyrics) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7HSLWqiqhE

Thrown against the chair, it rocked back dangerously and Trixie flailed her hooves trying to regain her balance. Just as it was about to tip back and hit the ground though, a strong gust of wind blew it back onto all four legs almost throwing her off in the process. In fact, it would have if not for the metallic hoof pressed against her chest, no doubt bruising her in the process. For once, the showmare kept her mouth firmly shut.

"Of course you'd be the first one." With a toss of her mane, Twilight glared down at Trixie. "The most useless one of them al-"

"Hey!" So much for not talking. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is not useless."

"You're right of course. Completely and utter and totally right." Sitting down in the chair opposite her, Twilight threw her back hooves onto the table. "You're not useless. You're beyond useless. You're so useless I could replace you with thin air and that'd be more useful. Actually, no, sorry, air is pretty damn useful since we can't survive without air. If I were to turn you to ash, that ash would be more useful!"

Throughout the entire rant, Trixie just sat there with an unimpressed expression on her face. "That it? Trixie has heard better insults from dirt."

"I was not trying to insult you," replied Twilight as she rubbed her temple. "You're just... useless you know? How do I explain this... You hold the Element of Magic, but you're not linked to it."

At Trixie's quizzical expression, the purple mare continued, "Applejack's necklace is three apple, Rarity's are three diamonds, Fluttershy's are three butterflies, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The obvious implication is that the bearer's cutie mark is the gem. Now think of your tiara and the shape of the gem there. A magenta star right? Not you're cutie mark, rather it's mine. Therefore, the obvious implication is that you're not linked to it, rather I am."

Trixie could only stare at the unicorn before her in a stunned silence. The Element... wasn't hers? But the others said they needed her, that without her she couldn't defeat Nightmare Moon. She had thought she was special, that the Element chose her and that they chose her for who she was, but she was wrong. They only kept her around for what she was and what she could be. Did Dash save the Great and Powerful Trixie or did that insane pegasus save the Bearer of Magic?

No. Friends did not go doubting each other and jumping to conclusion at the slightly provocation. More importantly, they did not trust a crazy mare more than their friends. They were stuck together for the next seven days, that was plenty of time to ask them for the truth, and with AJ there, lying would be an impossibility.

"You realize such obvious tricks will not work on Trixie."

"Tricks? What are you- Oh." Twilight's head suddenly and violently greeted the desk. "Are you really this stupid or are you just doing it to mess with me?"

"Trixie fail-"

"And that's another thing!" A frown suddenly creased her brow as she gazed down at her metallic hoof. "Oh. Right!" Picking it up with her telekinesis, she jabbed it at Trixie. "You speak in... in... what's the term again for speaking in third person? Huh, what's that Celly? Oh, right! Thank you. You speak using illeisms and... Actually, I totally forgot where I was going with that."

"What."

"At any rate, you're useless, but I can't just send you straight back in as... Actually, I can send you straight back in. It's not as though Nightmare Moon will be checking up on me or anything and I am the Knight Commander now so nopony outranks me except her. Huh." Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin thoughtfully. "It's a shame the Elements of Honesty and Laughter are so weak otherwise I could teleport us straight to Nightmare Moon and blast her right now. Well that and I still don't know where Celestia is. I'm not boring you am I? I know Celly finds this interesting, but then again, she always finds my ramblings interesting."

Trixie listened to the entire thing in a stunned silence. It was one thing to be a mass murdering psychopath, but to be clinically insane on top of the? Licking her dry lips, she tried to formulate an answer, but when it came to insane ponies, any answer given was the wrong answer and not answering at all was suicide in itself. Reading a crazy pony and correctly guessing the reply they wanted was like aiming for a dartboard located on the moon – it was impossible. Taking a deep breath, Trixie opened her mouth to give a random reply, but before she could say a single word, Twilight interrupted.

"In case you're wondering I do realize Celestia is not here in the room with me and that it's just a figment of my imagination." She stuck out her left hoof. "See? If she were a solid being, I'd just have stuck my hoof through her head. The question is, if I know I'm insane and I still considered insane?"

With a sigh, Twilight stood up and with a wave of her horn, the entire wall became transparent giving them a sweeping view of the mountain range and plains before them. Away from city lights and even the smallest house, everything was so calm and peaceful. There was no war here, no battles, or death. Here there was only the eternal silence of the everlasting sky. It was not night though, instead it was day with the brilliant sun overhead. For the first time in her life, tears pricked the corners of Trixie's eyes.

"It's beautiful isn't it? I recreated it by directly linking an illusion spell to a memory spells so that it would be a perfect representation of how things used to be." Stepping forward until her cheek was pressed against the cold wall, Twilight teleported Trixie out of the room.

"I miss her you know, I miss Celestia more than anything in the world," I whispered into the silence. "Everything I've done, I've done for her. Equestria needs a ruler, a strong one who can rebuild what was lost and who better than the beloved Princess? To that end, I cannot let you defeat Nightmare Moon until I have managed to ascertain the location of Princess Celestia. At the same time though, you need to be ready to take out that mad alicorn at any moment's notice. To that end, I shall help you."

Turning around, I finally came face to face with Applejack who simply replied, "Truth."

Gazing at my friend, I smiled a small, sad smile. "I wish I could say I am sorry for what I am about to do, but the truth is I am not for it needs to be done. You have been consumed by Truth and that is helping no one for Truth and Honesty are two separate things."

"Ah don-" Though her mouth continued to move, no words came out.

"No, do not speak; there is no need for words. Listen, just listen." Power laced my words, forcing Applejack to obey as she slipped into a semi conscious state where everything vanished except the purple mare before her and her words. "Consider the following: a truthful person versus an honest person, a truthful merchant versus and honest one, a truthful face versus and honest face. Many people consider Truth and Honesty to be one and the same and yet in the above examples, they are very different connotatively.

"A truthful merchant is merely one who tells the truth. An honest merchant though carries with it the ideas of having fair prices, being helpful, not trying to influence a buyers decisions and so on and so forth. Truth and Honesty are two very different things and you have managed to confuse the two, but more than that though, you've managed to be consumed by Truth. The only way for me to break you free is to break you down and make no mistake, this can be considered torture. So sleep Applejack. Sleep."

"Twilight? You do not know any spell that remotely relates though."

"You're right, I don't." Levitating the farmpony, I put her down on the table. Stroking AJ's hair, I leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead. With one last tender look at my former friend, I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "But you do."

"I don't know what you're talking about my-"

"Cut the crap. I know you're not a figment of my subconscious because you know things I don't," I snarled in reply. Though she was immaterial, my sword was still drawn and pointing at her throat. "Therefore you must be a spell cast by somepony, but more than that it is a highly complex spell and since you're not draining my power, you must be functioning off an external power source. Factor in the distances in questions since I portal around so much and the answer is that you're an alicorn of some kind. It is unlikely you're Nightmare Moon since you would have killed me already and you're unlikely to be Celestia for she would never have nudged a metal pole while I was torturing Rarity and she'd be a stronger moral compass than you've been thus far. Therefore, you must the last alicorn, the oldest alicorn, the one forgotten by history – Princess Gaia. But there's more. I'm talking about separating a pony from a Spirit, which is surprisingly similar to what your sisters did to you when they separated insanity from sanity, therefore, you would have knowledge of the spell cast. With that knowledge I can work out a sister spell from it to accomplish what needs to be done here."

There was a pause before laughter rang out. Turning my head to the right, there stood a perfect mirror copy of Cadence and for once in my life, I felt like facehoofing. It was so obvious in hindsight that I was seriously tempted to question my sanity and just how intelligent I thought I was.

"Impressive Twilight Sparkle, I caught a glimpse of your intelligence from Cadence when she visited me, but I did not expect you to figure it all out so simply from such little information. Truly impressive."

"I am Celestia's most faithful student." I jerked my head in the direction of Phantom Celestia. "You can get rid of her now, thank you very much."

Grinning, she trotted over and nuzzled her fake sister lovingly. "Whatever are you talking about? I did not create this stunning replica, you did. I merely... stole her for my own uses. Though if I had known about your Cadence, I would have just impersonated her instead."

Great. With a sigh and shake of my head, I turned my attention back to Gaia. "Are you going to tell me the spell or not?"

"What makes you think I know the spell?"

With a snarl, flames coated my blade as I swung it through her neck. Though it passed through harmlessly and she didn't even flinch, I felt better. That was until I saw her amused smile, which made me want her to blast her to pieces, and considering the amount of magic at my disposal, I could probably do so three times over. Instead, I settled for one of Nightmare Moon's ethereal blades being shoved right through her head. I could at least pretend to have sliced her head open right?

"Tell me already," I growled out.

"You do realize that when it was cast on me, it split me in three and that if you cast it on a mortal pony it may just kill her."

"Right now we don't stand a chance and I'm willing to bet my life that Truth would never let her go willingly and if she's not free and the Element of Honesty is bound to her, then we're screwed. Either we do nothing and hope for a miracle or we do something and just hope it'll work." Unsheathing my second swords, I wreathed it electricity and pointed it at the illusion. "So tell me or I swear I'll find out where you're hiding and beat it out of you."

Gaia cocked an eyebrow at me. "You're threatening a god?"

"I'm threatening a third of a god."

"The sin shall be on your head."

"One more will not make a difference."

"You're messing with the soul of your friend."

"I'm saving Celestia – your sister."

"You'll be killing my sister – Luna."

"We don't know that for certain."

We glared at each other over the sleeping body of my friend. As my mouth opened to argue my case further, the alicorn seemed to deflate before my eyes. She looked at me sadly, with that look of profound wisdom mothers so often had as though they knew better than everyone else before her gaze drifted down to the prone body before us. Leaning forward, she kissed AJ lightly on the forehead much like I did before brushing the sleeping mare's mane to one side.

"Repeat after me." Clearing her throat, she began speaking though with the way she was forming the words, it sounded a lot closer to singing and though I could pick up hints of modern Equestrian in the words, it was weird. It was as though I was groping for a fading dream and the harder to reached for it, the more elusive it became. Once she was finished with the first sentence, I closed my eyes and began reciting from memory.

O maio tishu twangan win gweleit

Haustu hauchren tishu weishala

Even before I had finished saying the final word, it was like a gate had opened in my mind and I knew it. I could feel the words coming into my mind, a torrent of thoughts and images and feelings that were associated with it as magic sparked over my tongue, burning the inside of my mouth. There was a breeze blowing through the room despite the entire place being magically sealed and beneath my feet, a glowing circle began expanding outwards until it was five ponies long in diameter.

Deservei anacolla

Stanahei sonyo fulya

Et staninno bai evo seleiter

Moflawa shadinya muhwalamor ladilei

Every sound that came out of my mouth echoed back with primal energy and with each passing second, forgotten symbols began appearing on the ground as though drawn by a calligraphy brush. Six pulsating lines grew out from the edges of the circle moving towards the centre, all the while branching out like tree roots. They linked and wove within one another, until they formed a circle of interlocking strands, each one a different color. At the center of it was Applejack.

Halawerl i akwilyu

Nenekhei aikyu stilyu

Et stanino bai evo steleiter

Ege zakhwai chran no cheiyu halal labelei

If anything, the light intensified and the wooden table AJ was one splintered into a million shards. But she stayed where she was, floating above the ground at the centre of the storm, not a single strand of hair was out of place. Blood filled my mouth as the magic tore through my throat and muzzle, but I kept speaking the words – I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. Anything that wasn't bolted down to the ground was slammed against the walls and apart from us and the walls, everything was disintegrated.

O maio tishu twangan win gweleit

Haustu hauchren tishu weishala

A single symbol began drawing itself below the earth pony. Six different colors, six different threads, all interwoven to form the final piece of the spell. Six Elements, six threads, six colors, one outcome. Harmony.

In an explosion of light and sound, I found magic forced through my horn and down through the entirety of my body. It was a pain beyond anything I have ever felt, even beyond that which Nightmare Moon had inflected on me. But at the same time, it was ecstasy. It felt like I had transcended my body, that those mortal shackles had been cast off and all that was left was my spirit – my soul. Then all too soon, the moment passed and I found myself back in my body, the insides of my mouth burnt to a crisp, my throat roar and a constant ringing in my ears.

A couple seconds later (though if anypony told me it was minutes or hours I would have believed them) my magic had finished healing up my wounds and the light had faded enough for me to see again. There on the ground was a rune much like the one that Celestia had placed over my magic, but it was vastly more complex and vastly more powerful. Here, standing in the centre of it all, I could feel the power radiating off it in waves, swamping my very senses. What really caught my attention though was the glowing white orb hovering above Applejack.

Before my eyes, the glowing orb separated into three. The one at the centre was AJ's soul no doubt and considering the amount of threads linking to the other two, the right one was Truth and the left was Honesty. From the looks of things, there were easily three times as many links between AJ and Truth compared to Honesty and considering the complexity of the links, separating the two would be difficult. Difficult, but not impossible. With that thought in mind, I conjured the celestial blade and pumped it with so much magic it crystallized before bursting into white and purple flames.

"Stop!" She was suddenly before me with her wings outstretched. "That is her soul you're dealing with; you cannot just take a sword to it and slash it away! Doing could cause severe damage to her functionality."

"But we don't need her be able to function," whispered Phantom Celestia into my ear. "All we need is for her to be able to channel the Element of Honesty. We don't need Applejack; all we need is the Element."

"I don't need AJ; all I need is for her to act as a conduit for the Element. She can be a vegetable for all I care." I stared Gaia straight in the eye and with a single thought, tore the projection to shreds. "Now be gone and don't come back!"

Lifting the blade into the air, I cut down with all my might. A wall of pure sound slammed into me as my friend screamed out in pain, her body twisting and turning as her veins pulsed red through her skin. The whites of her eyes turned red and blood vessels popped, but still I kept the blade imbedded in her soul. When those links did not break though, I opened the floodgates to my magic causing the flames to grow in intensity as my eyes turned pure white, casting light onto the pony before me.

With the increase in magic, the screaming finally stopped as her body's nerves were overloaded. Her body twitched and thrashed as random nerve pulses were fired off and I had no doubt in my mind that with enough time and patience, I could figure out how to control her body like a puppet. Within the minute of accessing all of my magic, the tendrils were turned to ash. Dispelling my blade, Applejack flopped back down into her prone position though her mane stuck to her body from all the sweat rather than flowing free like before.

Grasping the multitude of threads, they wiggled and thrashed in my grasp, but I simply dragged them over to Honesty and welded them together with magic. Lots and lots and lots of magic. Underneath me, she tossed and turned as though stuck in some nightmare. No screaming though and for that, I was thankful. By the time I was done, all that lay before me was a charred orb linked to AJ's soul by light strands of light that had hair thin pink fibers stitching them together. More than that though, parts of it were stained a light pink from me forcing it all together.

Smiling sadly, I let go of all the magic and the orbs before me faded out of existence while AJ gently drifted onto the ground. Gathering her up in my weak magic, I gave her a tender nuzzle before carrying her out of the room and when I entered the room with the rest of my friends, each and every single last one of them was glaring at me as though I had just killed their pet kitten or something. Geez, it's not as though I killed or tortured her.

"I have nothing to say to a monster like you," said Rarity with a finality reminiscent of Celestia.

"Really now, I'm a monster?" Leaning forward, Twilight gave her my best predatory grin. "Tell me, why am I monster? Have you not killed as many ponies as I? What makes you so different from me?"

"The fact that I don't relish in their death and that I do not enjoy fighting unlike you. Nor have I ever, or will ever, torture a pony unlike you."

"You really think that of me? Of little ol' bookworm Twilight? I'm hurt Rarity, I'm so very, very hurt. I thought you were the Bearer of Generosity, how about being a bit generous with doubt or trust or loyalty? I don't relish in killing ponies, nor do I relish in torture."

Tilting her head up, Twilight nuzzled the thin air lovingly before turning back to Rarity. "The closest description you can give to me is desensitized or uncaring. I simply no longer care about what actions I have to take as long as those actions get me closer to finding Celestia and bringing her back."

"Killing a pony is always wrong!"

With a giggle, Twilight nodded her head to some unspoken comment. "It is indeed. What I'm going to assume you mean is that killing another pony is always wrong except in cases such as self-defense, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The thing is though, that's only one morality system and the one I'm using is based off utilitarianism except instead of trying to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, I'm maximizing the chances to getting Celestia back. It's simply a different morality system, that's all."

"This is what everything's about isn't it?" Realization dawned on Rarity's face and much to her annoyance; Twilight hid her laughter behind a hoof. "Since the beginning, everything you've done is to get Princess Celestia back. Get closer to Nightmare Moon so that you can find out where the Princess is stashed, then to rescue her."

Leaning back in her seat, the purple mare clapped her hooves together. "And somepony finally gets it."

"Then why won't you help us? Free us and we cou-"

"Are you truly that stupid?" All of a sudden, the fierceness was back. "Currently only Nightmare Moon and I know the location of this place. The fact that I showed Nightwish this place and told him to rescue you already puts me in a very bad position. I'll tell you what I told Applejack, you're my friends, but Celestia is more important. I'm willing to help, but get in my way and I'll take you out."

Rarity's jaw hit the ground as she stared at the mad mare before her. Trixie had commented that Twilight was insane, but sitting here, watching her former friend threaten them then chat with the empty air beside her was chilling. She didn't want to believe it, but with the evidence right there before her eyes, it was impossible to ignore.

After a couple minutes of watching Twilight talk to herself, nuzzle the air, hug the air and some other things to do with thin air beside her, Rarity politely cleared her throat. "So darling, why have you called me into this... quaint... room of yours for anyways?"

"Huh?" Her ears perked up and she tilted her head to the side. "There was something I was meant to rant at you about. Now what was it? Wait, are you certain? Seriously? Beauty of all things? Ooooooh, right, her cutie mark, gotcha. So... Rarity... about beauty..."

With a groan, the white mare buried her face in her hooves. "Really? Are we still going on about this? I've found beauty in fighting and I hate it. Congratulations Twilight Sparkle, you have officially made me start doubting myself. Happy? I fail to see how this even remotely relates to getting Princess Celestia back."

For once, Twilight looked sheepish as she replied in a small voice, "Well it's got more to do with fighting Nightmare Moon when the time comes. You already know about the cutie mark and how it affects spell casting and so by finding beauty in war you've essentially made it so that you can fight those working under Nightmare Moon. So... er... not really that important to taking her down, but sorta important? Truthfully I expected you to just realize that you're fighting for beauty and that'd be enough."

"What." Multiple thoughts flashed through Rarity's mind at what Twilight had said and none of them were very lady like or appropriate for high society. "Let me get this straight, you put me through Tartarus just to make me more powerful so I can kill more ponies? ARE YOU INSANE!?"

Twilight looked at Rarity as though she was an idiot. "Yes."

Lunging forward, Rarity went straight for Twilight's throat, but before she could even get within five feet, purple magic surrounded her entire body. Before Rarity stood her captor with a disappointed expression on her face. Turning her head to the side, Twilight nodded once before looking down at Rarity once more with a sad smile.

"Why? Aren't we friends?" whispered the purple mare.

"We were friends, but the Twilight Sparkle I knew no longer exists. You are a mockery of your former self and deserve to be put down. You wanted me to find beauty in war? Well I've found it and with that knowledge, I'm going to end you. You are a monster and it'd be a blessing for Princess Celestia to never see you like this or find out the pony you've become. You are a disgrace."

"You're... you're leaving me?" Eyes wide and shaking, Twilight stumbled backwards onto her backside.

"Leaving you? You make it sound as though we were dating. No, I am not 'leaving you', I'm going to destroy you."

"You're... you're leaving me." Tears leaked down her cheeks as she turned to the right. "Everypony always ends up leaving me. You won't leave me right? You won't get stolen again right? You'll always be mine?"

After a couple seconds of silence, the smile that graced Twilight's face was like the sun coming up. Leaping up onto her hind hooves, she wrapped her arms around the thin air, somehow managing to stay up right while doing so, all the while squealing in joy like a little school filly. "Thank you! You're the best! I love you Princess."

There was something disconcerting about seeing Twilight sitting there with a Pinkie-esque smile on her face. If Fluttershy didn't know better, she'd have assumed Twilight had gotten a date or something since that was the exact same expression Rarity got when daydreaming about her Prince. In the two hours they had been together, Twilight had not said a single word and without her disguise, all Fluttershy could do was hide behind her pink mane. Sure, every so often Twilight would giggle or say something, but it never felt as though it was being directed at her. Truth be told, it felt like how things used to be – her being ignored while everyone else did their own thing.

Fluttershy hated that feeling, but what else could she do? Without her disguise, it felt like she was naked and the feeling of the clammy air flowing over her body without that magical barrier there sent fear through her body. She felt so exposed, so open, so... so... so much like a prey. She hated this feeling, but no matter how much she wished for the opposite, she knew there was no changing this. Even if she wanted to speak out, the fear was like chains that kept her mouth shut, her eyes down, and her opinions to herself. Without her disguise, she was nothing.

Useless.

She hated being useless, she wanted to help out, to be there for everypony and be useful. But the last time she tried to be helpful she had lost her wing and that left her even more useless than before. A pegasus who couldn't fly. Might as well be born an earth pony – not that earth ponies were bad or lesser than any other race, of course not. Still, she might as well chop off the other wing and try to pass as an earthy pony. At least it'd mean less mocking from ponies for being a useless flier. Or scared of heights. Or scared of going fast. Or-

No. Bad. Stop thinking like that. Fluttershy pressed her forehead against the cold wooden table as she wrapped her wing around herself. Even if it was true. She was useless. A useless pegasus, a useless general, a useless daughter. Ponies had been placed under her care and what did she do? Killed them that's what! Slit their throats in the middle of the night and set their bodies alight. One hundred and seventy six ponies in total – or was it one hundred and ninety six? There had been so many, so many names and faces that she could no longer keep track of them. A nurse was meant to save ponies not kill them!

But it was all for Dawn. For Equestria and Princess Celestia. It had to be done.

At least that's what she always told herself. Back when she still had her disguise, when she could look in the mirror and see another pony, it was enough. Back then, she could pretend it was some other pony – somepony that didn't have yellow fur and a pink mane and three butterflies for a cutie mark. Back then she could sleep at night.

Rarity had told her about Twilight's grand scheme to get close to Nightmare Moon in order to free Princess Celestia. There was some logic in there, but considering everything Twilight had done, it was a very twisted and warped logic. At the same time though, Fluttershy couldn't help feel a degree of kinship or understanding with the mad mare and now that she was here, facing her friend, she couldn't help, but notice the bags under Twilight's eyes or the way her coat seemed dull. It looked as though she hadn't been able recently and that only fueled the fire within Fluttershy. Maybe, just maybe, Twilight was exactly like her – forced to make decisions no pony should ever have to make and maybe Twilight regretted them as much as Fluttershy did. More importantly, maybe her unicorn friend had some super secret special way of coping and at this point, Fluttershy was willing to do anything to stop the nightmares.

Those eyes. All those eyes. And the swirling cutie marks in the background coupled with hollow, half-eaten faces. Just thinking about them made her limbs lock in place and if it weren't for the chair she was sitting in, she would have collapsed onto the ground.

Now, if only she had the courage to open her mouth and ask that one simple question. Or even to say hello.

With a sigh, Twilight finally turned her attention to the pegasus. "We'll try again tomorrow, but if this continues I'm will be forced to take drastic action like I did for Applejack. You're my friend Fluttershy and I seriously don't want to do that, but I'm starting to doubt your ability to function as an Element Bearer if you can't even function without your disguise."

Something in her words sent chills down Fluttershy's back, but she meekly nodded and slipped off her chair like a good girl. Following behind Twilight just like she'd been raised, the yellow pony did not say anything or try to fight as she was lead back into her cell where everyone else was. Maybe next time she'd get the courage to speak up.

Maybe.

"How are they doing doc?"

"That wasn't funny when the gryphon said it and it's still not funny now." Cadence looked up with a growl as she brushed a lock of mane out of her eyes. "And still not good. The blood from Gilda helped, but it's still very much touch and go. We won't know for certain until tomorrow and if things aren't going great there's nothing more we can do. Taking more blood will kill Gilda and there's no guarantee Dash would live either. The only piece of good news is that there's no internal bleeding and we finally managed to patch up that major gash on her leg."

"She has to live," said Shining.

"No."

"But I-"

"No. I know what you were going with this and my answer is no." Shining scrambled back as Cadence turned her wrath on him. "And if I hear any more talk or even the barest hint of thought revolving around sacrificing Gilda to save Dash, I will personally take them to Tartarus and personally judge them. Got that?"

Nodding his head so fast it was a blur, Shining replied, "Yes dear."

"Good boy." Reaching down, Cadence ruffled his hair playfully before settling back down next to Dash.

"Dude, your marefriend is scary," whispered the pegasus beside him.

"You say that as though it's a bad thing," replied Shining with a grin.

"I heard that!" yelled Cadence over her shoulder.

Both males winced, but shared a secret smile. Before anything else could be said there, a massive explosion rocked the ruin sending everypony to the ground and dislodging rubble. Scrambling onto his hooves, a second explosion knocked down the opposite wall as three ponies were flung through the air. If it weren't for Shining Armor, there was no doubt they'd have crashed into the wall and broken their backs.

"It's Nightmare's Pet!" yelled a distorted voice from outside.

The effect was immediately, a wave of fear and hopelessness descended on the everypony present. Shining had no idea who they were talking about, but he did know that he was the commanding officer and that meant keeping moral up. More than that though, he had graduated top of his class and few could match him in a sparring match – magical or physical.

"It's Knight Commander to you, you worthless cur!"

Eyes widening, Shining lost concentration on the spells he had on standby at the sound of Twilight's voice. In that split second, there was a flash of light and acting on pure instinct, he teleported over and pushed the attacking pony back with a shield. Immediately there was over a dozen shockwaves and spell clashed with spell. Even with the shield up, Shining struggled to stay on his hooves and he could feel the barrier buckling under the extreme pressure. Add on the constant swirling dust and it was impossible to see who was attacking, but he had recognized the voice correctly then...

No, he didn't want to think about that possibility.

"Twilight Sparkle! Stop this instantly or I shall tell your parents."

"Cadence?" Immediately all the magic bled out of the area. "Cadence!"

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake," sung Twilight though Cadence could only stare at the mare before her in shock.

Shining couldn't help feeling the sense of dread he felt as he watched them. Just the sight of Twilight covered in blood, with a metallic right foreleg and entire body covered in scars made his heart die inside. He was her big brother, he was meant to be there to protect her from the things that went bump in the night, but there she was. If anything, it looked as though she had been tortured, but that was an impossibility.

Out the corner of his eye, he caught an arrow flying towards his baby sister.

"Twilight!"

Without even turning her head, the arrow was blasted out of the sky and a second later, she was before the colt who fired it with her sword at his throat.

"Try that again and I will end you." She swept her gaze over the entire field and snorted at all the leveled weapons and prepared spells. "I suggest putting down your weapons because if I fight breaks out, I will win and I won't show any mercy."

"Twilight?" Shining took a nervous step forward, trying to find a trace of his sister in the mare before him.

"Hey BBBFF long time no see, how's Cadence doing? Proposed yet?" Though her voice had taken on the lighter tone that he remembered from his childhood, her body and expression did not waver for a second. Neither did her sword. "I wish I could stay longer, but I just came to check up on Rainbow. Was meant to do it earlier, but I forgot and if it weren't for Celestia I probably wouldn't have remembered."

"Celestia?" Cadence's wings shifted anxiously. "She's safe? You've found her?"

"Not yet, but I will. She's always with me you know, she'll never leave me." Giggling softly, she blew her mane out of her eyes. "You might want to start moving towards the Everfree Ranges. That's where the remnants from the Everfree base are gathering."

"Why should be trust Nightmare Moon's pet?" growled a gryphon. "Maybe you just want to gather us all together and take us out all at once."

A blink later, a dagger was lodged in the wall beside his head.

"First of all, if I wanted to kill you, you'd all be dead already. Secondly, divide and conquer is the best solution for small groups are easy to take out. Thirdly, you've got the Bearer of Loyalty right there and she's worth more than any of you. If I take her out, Nightmare Moon would give me an even higher position if that were possible. Next time think before you speak or someone may just cut out that tongue of yours."

Shining and Cadence shared a look of concern. This was not the filly they remembered; this was not the bookworm nor the obsessive-compulsive mare. This was a totally different pony, one that he hoped was a changling or some sick spell Nightmare Moon had used. Though his emotions told him this was his sister, his experience told him this was an experienced warrior who knew her limits and abilities, and posed an extreme danger to Cadence. This was a high priority target that needed to be taken out swiftly and immediately. Add on the reactions from those around them and he knew everyone present considered her a monster.

"Anyways," continued Twilight cheerfully, "I see everything's in order and will be leaving now. Don't worry about the others; I've got them safe and sound in custody."

A portal suddenly opened beneath her and she vanished with a cheerful wave. Before they vanished entirely though, Twilight turned her head to the side and said, "Hey Celly, how about some ice cream once we get back to Canterlot?"

That night, Shining Amor and Cadence would spend the night wrapped in each other's hooves as they sobbed their eyes out.

We stared at each other in silence. On one side of the refurbished room was Pinkie and on the other side, sitting down at the table with a nice hot steaming cup of coffee was me. Every so often, she'd make a strangled noise and her head was snap to the side, but other than that, no other sounds entered or left the room. My magic was currently too low from dealing with AJ to pull off any complicated mind magic so I couldn't just sit her down and glue her mind back together.

"So Pinkie-"

Head snapping over, her hair fell straight and a feral growl came from her muzzle, "You! I should rend you limb from limb and bathe in your- Saliva? No Pinkie, not saliva. Well what else would you want to bathe your friends in? Friend? What kind of friend tortures Applejack!? Torture? She was screaming from that super scary movie... though I suppose that did have torture in there. Right, you did the whole memory splicing thing again – sometimes I forget how stupid you are."

"Memory splicing?"

"Yes. Memory splicing – at least that's what I call it. The idiot that I share a mind with does it whenever something bad happens. She copies the memory over to me while erasing it from her mind and then from that, a second false memory emerges. In this case, watching a horror movie."

Truth be told, I wasn't sure what had been more disconcerting – watching them arguing with themselves or listening to Pinkamina talk while the rest of their body was busy pouting at the accusations. Nightwish's memory told me she was slightly off, but this far? I thought it was just a case of split personality disorder, but this went far beyond anything I had read about in my books. This was full-blown crazy.

"Any ideas?" I asked Celestia.

"Considering the physical metamorphoses that occurs when they switch personalities, I have no doubt strong magic occurred during their conception. Two possibilities exist before us: the first is that original personality was split in two while the second is that one of them is the true Pinkie and whatever caused the split gave birth to the second personality. From the description of the 'memory splicing' it seems as though the second is more viable."

"That when she split her memory she gave rise to a second personality?"

"Hey! You calling me fake?" Though her hooves flailed in the air in an attempt to hit me, her legs kept her where she stood.

"We seriously need to figure a way for us to communicate without requiring me to speak," I muttered under my breath.

"Agreed my most faithful student."

"Any suggestions as to how we fix thing?"

"Lecture her on the true meaning of Laughter?"

My gaze returned to the squabbling mare, watching as her hair bounced between being completely straight and super curly as she argued with herself. At one point, she even tried to punch herself only to miss at the last possible second every single time. And of course, in typical Pinkie fashion, she was laughing her head off at the futile attempts and was making a game out of it.

"I would do that if I truly knew what Laughter was. Everything I read was just mere philosophical speculation on what it could mean, and the only thing they agreed on was that it was more than just being happy and laughing at everything."

"Well there you go my faithful student."

"What do you mean by that?" Resisting the urge to facehoof, I looked at Celestia. "You know I hate it when you do that."

"But you have to admit, it is effective." She cast a concerned gaze at me. "Perhaps some rest would do you good."

I gave her the flattest look I could manage before turning my attention back to Pinkie. Taking the time to cast my anti-sleep deprivation spell, it was like a fog was lifted from my eyes and for the nth time that day I had to resist the urge to slam my head into a wall, floor, solid object or my hoof. It was amazing what a well-timed spell could do.

"Like kill a pony."

"Or ten," I added with a shrug.

"Or twenty!" yelled Pinkie before her hoof found its way into her mouth.

"That is it!" Grabbing Pinkie-Pinkamina, I slammed her against the wall and bound her with my magic. "You and your stupid answers are seriously starting to get on my nerves. You want to know something Pinkie Pie? Laughter was never and will never be about laughing and joy. The Element of Laughter is not – and I repeat, not – about being happy all the time and laughing at everything, and it will never be about that! It is about... about..."

My mind searched desperately for something, anything to say and in my semi-sleep deprived state, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "It's about hope! It's about being swallowed by darkness, but still seeing the light at the end. It's about being tortured and yet still able to laugh at jokes. It's about being able to go through war and remember it all, but still find those bright splotches within the darkness."

My blade materialized beside me as I tilted her head up with its tip so she was staring me straight in the eye. She gazed back defiantly and in them, I could see Pinkamina's determination and attitude even as her body was that of Pinkies – cowering beneath my magic. Reflected in her eyes I could see my pure white ones and when I next spoke, electricity sparked off my tongue.

"I see it now and I understand. The Element of Laughter is more than just laughter, more than just hope." Leaning in close, my magical aura danced out to crawl along her body. "You are not the Element of Laughter for you cannot see the light. You hide from your past and pretend it doesn't exist, that each nightmare you've suffered was just a dream from which you will awaken. You. Are. Wrong. You will accept the truth of your existence, of your past and of Pinkamina."

With each word, I spoke, magic gathered in my horn. I don't know where it came from or how I knew the spell I was casting, but they came to me, filling my mind with words and symbols from another time. Leaning in close, I touched my horn to her forehead and began whispering so softly that I couldn't hear my own words. Whatever I was doing though seemed to be working for her eyes closed and my magic began spreading over her fur. Despite being low on magic, something told me that stopping now with the spell half done would be a terrible thing so I kept going. Even as the world around me turned dark and faded from my vision, I kept pumping magic into the spell, following that little voice inside my head.

I was going to fix Pinkie even if that meant cracking her open like an egg.