Having stashed the now thoroughly disheveled body in a thicket of trees, the pair of young mares approached the outer walls of the city. Or at least the quarter that remained around the main gate. During one of the former Mad King's "playdates" a large portion of the wall had been turned to cheese and subsequently melted in the rain before his chaotic aftereffects could dissipate. It was entirely possible to enter the city through the still unrepaired holes, but the Magistar had made a severe ruling on the issue, and the local guard enforced a strict discipline against those who broke it.

They made their way to the main gate unimpeded. Trade was minimal between towns, save for a few brave or foolish merchants, and it was too early yet for the farmers to make their way into town for their nightly ale. The two sisters huddled closely as they walked, both in fatigue and in fear. It was hard to brush aside thoughts of their actions, and every insignificant detail felt threatening. What was that rustling? An ambush? A trap?! Could somepony somehow have learned about the murder and informed the guards? No, just a rabbit hopping between bushes. The guard on duty eyed them as they passed. Cel raised her head slightly, and tried to meet his gaze with a small subdued smile. He scowled in response and spat in the road ahead. She dropped her head quickly, and grimaced as she made no move to avoid the gooey residue. There was no use in causing trouble.

A powerful force hit them as they entered the city of City McCityplace. (It had once held a much grander title, but ponies had quickly learned not to disagree with the Mad King when he decided to rename something. Not after he made an example of New Forever-Burnington). The outer edges of the city were uniquely recognizable. Not for the buildings or shops, as they were of the normal style and mostly consisted of pubs and poorhouses. What made the locale so identifiable was the smell. The streets were awash with the bouquets of spilled beer, rancid piss, and unwashed bodies. With underlying subtleties of decay emanating from the countless rats, roaches, and occasional jobless drifter who'd gone too many days without food or spent one too many nights in the cold. The sisters inhaled deeply and sighed as the familiarity relieved a bit of their stress. It was terrible, horrible , and foul, but it was home.

They made their way through the meandering alleys, dodging the frequent waterfalls of dirty dishwater and carefully avoiding any route which would take them too close the the wealthier parts of town. Despite the mid-afternoon sun, the overhanging buildings left the paths in an eternal twilight, making every step a cautious hunt to avoid the worst of the shadowed refuse. But Cel and Lu navigated their way quickly and efficiently, having had many years practice navigating in the gloom. Their pace picked up as they neared the far side of town, their destination virtually in sight. Suddenly, disaster struck in the form of a pegasus being chucked out of a pub's backdoor.

"And stay out!" A voice yelled from inside, "Ya filthy featherbrain..."

The pegasus grumbled a few curses as he tried and failed repeatedly to stand up in the slippery pile of garbage. Cel and Lu pressed themselves into the shadows, preferring waiting over a potential confrontation. A few moments later, a voice called down the alley from the main road it intersected with.

"Swift? Swift, you back there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he called back in a huff. "Lend me a hoof, will ya? I can't get my hoofing in this muck."

Soon, a pair of earth ponies rounded the corner that led to the main road. Both were stocky and short, with shaggy unkempt grey coats. The only real difference between them was that one was a hoof taller, and the other clearly had had his muzzle broken several times. The shorter one rushed over to help his friend up, while the taller one hung back hesitantly. The pegasus sighed in relief as he finally stood on his own.

"Thanks," he offered. He gestured to the door he'd been thrown out of. "What was that guy's problem, eh? With a wife like that *a-hic!*, you'd think he'd be used to jokes about her weight. Bloody *hic!* conehead."

The earth pony nodded in solemn agreement. "Don't I know it. He's pretty much askin' for it marrying a stick like that." He pulled a face and grimaced. "All skin n' bones without an ounce of meat on her. I jus' don't see the appeal."

The pegasus smirked. "It's them magic horns they've got. Their heads are so, so full of magic nonsense," he giggled giddily at his own uncompleted joke, "that there's no room left for common sense."

The pair laughed heartily at this, while the third pony chuckled along awkwardly. The sisters pushed themselves deeper into the shadows. Inter-tribal tensions were iffy at the best of times, and brazenly open tribalists rarely heralded a peaceful immediate future. Lu took a step back, hoping she and Cel could quietly rewind their path without drawing any attention to themselves. Unfortunately, walking backwards has the regrettable side effect of not being able to see where you're stepping. This is exactly what happened as her hoof landed on an old discarded bottle of mead.

The bottle shot out from under her hoof and impacted the wall, shattering explosively. The sudden shift in weight left her unsteady, and she lurched forward in a desperate attempt to regain her balance. Cel reacted instinctively, and tried to right her sister with her magic. However gravity overcame her meager magical strength and she ended up being pulled down as well. The pair fell forward, their faces landing in a patch of light right in front of the three startled stallions.

"Oi, what was that!? Who's there?" As the stallion's eyes locked on to the two smaller forms, the panicked light in them faded away. "Oh, it's just those two. For a second there I thought it might be somepony to be concerned about."

"Ugh, it's those freaks," The earth pony groaned. "What? You lookin' for a hoofout? Go on, shoo, you street rats." There was luckily no malice in his voice, more akin to the mild irritation one expresses at a troublesome stray cat.

The other earth pony, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up. "Umm... guys? I'm know I'm kinda the third wheel of your little drinking group, but could you clue me in on what the deal is? Either that unicorn wine was stronger than I thought, or those pegasi have horns"

The shorter earth pony adopted a confused expression for a moment, before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh yeah, right. Sorry brother, I forget sometimes how new you still are to the City." He gestured to the awkwardly frozen mares like one would to a mildly interesting insect, "This is what happens what you let the tribes inter-breed all willy-nilly. Either that, or what happens what the Mad King starts spreading his chaos when a mare's in heat. Or maybe somethin' else. Nopony really knows, but there they are anyway. Part unicorn, part Pegasus. They're kind of a local legend."

The taller earth pony stepped closer in interest, as he examined the girls like a caged exhibit. His smaller brother shook his head. "It's a shame really," he mused, "the worst parts of both the unicorns and the pegasi, no offence Swift, and no earth pony constitution either. No fortitude, can't fly, can't even do bloody magic tricks with those cones of theirs."

"At least we aren't stumbling through an alley, half blind with drink." Cel retorted cockily, gesturing to Swift, who was using all six limbs available to him to try and keep some semblance of balance.

"Certainly got that griffon silver tongue though..." the earth pony finished with a frown.

"You'd better watch that mouth of yours missy," the taller earth pony said, "or it's gonna land you in trouble one day."

She smirked slightly. "Better a treacherous tongue than a friend who can't hold his drink."

"Oi!" Swift suddenly yelled, gesturing wildly for his comrades to stop, "Don' let her egg you on Granite! It's jus' what she wants."

"What are you talking about?" The one which was not Granite asked, "What could this helpless homeless mare possibly gain by aggravating us?"

"Tha's exactly what she wants you to think!" He pointed an angry, shaking hoof at Cel. "I've heard the stories. I know how you operate. One 'a you get a pony talking, gets 'em all riled up and distracted. And then the other one sneaks up from behind and cuts their purse!" He spun around, fully expecting to catch Lu in the act of discreetly slicing open his saddlebags. However, the space behind him was barren save for the door he'd been thrown out of. He whipped back around. Lu, who apparently hadn't moved since being discovered except for standing up, waved cheekily. "Oh, scared of me are ye? As you should be. My lightning-fast reflexes would catch you like... like... like lightning! Krakow!" He made a quick sweeping motion with a hoof, the inertia nearly toppling him again.

Granite shook his head at his drunken companion. "Swift, I don't know where to even start with you. For one thing, none of us are even wearing saddlebags."

Swift looked at his back, apparently surprised to find a pair of wings and nothing else. "Yeah well... then maybe they'd steal something else." His eyes lit up with an idea. "Like your kidneys!"

"Your what?!" Every pony who was not Swift exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, yeah... I can picture exactly how they wanted it to happen." He rambled off, eyes unfocused as he concentrated all his mental power on his imagination. "Three strapping young stallions head into an alley to avoid having to thrash a barkeep who doesn't know his place. And then, a strange mare melts from the shadows. She distracts their minds with either honeyed words or gets them angry with barbed insults, and then when they least expect it, Pow! The other one comes from behind. And when the stallions wake up, if they're lucky, they find themselves in a field in the middle of nowhere without their kidneys."

The others stared at him in silence, mouths agape. Cel was offended by his portrayal of her. She may be a starving orphan, but not that starving. Nor did she think her earlier comebacks could really be considered either honeyed-words or barbed insults. If anything they were observational humor at best, her attempts to try and defuse a potentially dangerous situation through making their drunk friend the butt of the joke. Granite was surprised at how well a speech Swift had managed to craft despite being so tipsy earlier, and how morbid a turn his thoughts had taken. Granite's brother, who's name was Feldspar, was starting to think that maybe his brother's friends weren't quite a right fit for him after all. Lu was wholly consumed by how gross the idea was of touching another pony's organs, context aside.

Swift held his dramatic pose for several laudable seconds before he suddenly and completely collapsed. Granite quickly rushed to his side, while Feldspar followed after a few moments hesitation. With a grunt of effort, Granite hoisted the larger Pegasus back onto his hooves. The Pegasus continued to mumble various half formed comments as he did so. "Won't get me though... too fast...like lightning. Buck... buck silly pegacorn lights out."

Granite nodded placatingly as his led his stumbling friend back to the main road. "That's right, you'll show them next time Swift. C'mon, I know a tavern across town. A pint of hearty Earth pony ale will clear you right up. Better than that unicorn's swill at least..."

Cel and Lu sat in silence, ears pricked and alert, waiting until the coast was absolutely clear. Several minutes passed as the shock and adrenaline worked their way our of their systems, leaving them feeling drained. The situation had been remarkably lucky. The Pegasus had been too drunk to really start anything, and his friends hadn't seemed to care too much either. However, if any of them had been any soberer, or if a unicorn had been in the mix, then the encounter would likely have ended with Cel and Lu racing through the gutters and backstreets, attempting to outmaneuver ponies angry at them for anything from "sullying the proud bloodline of the 'X' tribe" to insulting their honor. Plus, any pony not from the poorer areas of the city could have possibly also called the Guard into the mix. And it was well known that the Guard and anypony considered "not a contribution to society" got along like cats and mice. Or, to be more accurate, like a large team of well-trained and coordinated tigers versus a dormouse.

Cel and Lu turned and continued back the way they came. It would be safer to take an alternative route to their destination, just in case. A few side roads later, Cel broke the silence between them. "Did you get it?"

Her sister smiled as she extended her wing to reveal a small pouch held between the feathers. "Of course. That was not an easy one though. That taller earth pony had it stashed in his tail of all places." She shook her head. "Some ponies."

"Is it much?"

"Seems they spent most of what they had on drink already. A hoofful of copper, and maybe one silver, judging by the weight of it."

"Better than nothing. That's a couple meals we won't have to scavenge or steal. Splendidly done, sister."

"Why thank you, dear sister. Always a pleasure working with you."

The two giggled at their mocking impressions of how they'd heard nobles and merchants talk when money was concerned, and then continued in comfortable companionable silence as they made their way to the place where Starswirl was currently residing.

Despite the rocky start, as far as days went, this becoming one of the better ones for Cel and Lu.

As far as days went, this was turning into a great one for Starswirl.

Soft light dappled across shelves of countless books as Starswirl's yellowish-green magic latched onto his pipe from across the room. As the light from his magic faded once pipe was in hoof, the glow of light crystals once again filled the curtained room. They were valuable items, easily five silver a piece, but simple enough to produce when one was talented enough and knew the proper spells. Or had written them.

With a quick ignition spell, he lit the medicinal herbs in the pipe's bowl and took a long deep breath. He let the smoke out through his nostrils, looking for a moment like a strange sort of dragon. The smoke ruffled his silvery blue goatee, misaligning the carefully combed strands. He reclined back into a cushion as the herbs helped him to recall his visions of the future. They were glimpses only, brief snatches he'd been able to steal during his preliminary experiments with time magic. He strode for a time in the depths of his mind, as his mind's eye, the fogginess of memory lifted by the herbs, replayed the scenes he had witnessed.

Two ponies, one white and one blue, ruling over a vast nation. A beautiful city, larger than any he'd ever known, built into a mountain. Monsters and villains rising up to challenge the peace, only to be struck down each time by either the might of the two ruling ponies, or their ability to rally others to their side. They flew faster than the quickest pegasus, withstood blows that would topple the hardiest Earth pony, and cast spells more powerful than a team of unicorn mages. In each vision he witnessed, the pair appeared younger and younger, as his future-viewing spells started to produce diminishing returns. He continued until he reached the final vision, one which was only months in the future when he first saw it. The two mares, who stood younger then he, so young they could barely be called adults, faced down the Mad Tyrant, Discord. Armed with six magical artifacts, a set which he knew so well, they brought low the beast that had terrorized the ponies for so long. The details regarding exactly how they defeated him were unclear , but given the magical artifacts in their possession, it was an easy conclusion to draw.

Starswirl sighed contentedly as he took another puff of his pipe, remembering not visions this time, but recent events. He recalled when he had first descended from that last high of future-vision. How he had checked his reliquary, and found that the six mysterious stones which he had acquired from a ruined unicorn city so long ago were a perfect match for those he'd seen in his vision. How, in that moment, his path had become clear.

He'd begun to search the land, seeking any rumor of those mysterious winged unicorns of immense power. For weeks, his search was fruitless. Ponies led him to freak shows, medical wards, and coin-grabbing impostors with cloth wings or wooden horns, but none were of any help. Until he found himself in a rundown inn near the western coast. There, a grizzled old farmer had vaguely recalled such creatures living in the City to the southeast. Starswirl had rushed to the City, hoping to make a covenant with the mares and prepare them for the fate that awaited them. Based on his visions, he had expected young knights, or perhaps the daughters of nobles, already wowing the populace with feats of political aptitude, strength, and speed. But the truth had been a far cry from that.

Orphans. Street rats. Hated by a few bloodline purists, at least tolerated by most, but not specifically cared for by anyone in particular.

It was better than he could have ever hoped for.

Wealthy mares of influence or iron-willed warriors of renown would have turned him away. Educated young ladies would have seen through his schemes and stratagems like a poorly woven shawl, and brazen knights would either be loyal to some cause or too muscle-headed to be guided. But meeting the real mares, the illiterate inept orphans, was like a sculptor finding the world's most perfect clay. With almost no effort, he could mold and shape them to his benefit. All it took was a few kind words and the promise of reliable food and shelter, and every word he spoke became like gospel. Within days the prophesied conquerors were as loyal as if they were his own children.

It hardly seemed very long after that when he had set them on their quest. Armed with the six relics from his vision, he emboldened their spirits with talk of fate and destiny. Of existing for a purpose and doing a service to the world. They had left in high spirits, heads held tall and ready for adventure.

That had been just over a week ago. And then, the next morning, he felt it. A wave of magic passing over the land like a river breaking it's banks. Most ponies would have ignored it, shrugging it off as an illusion or some insignificant curiosity. Perhaps a few particularly magic sensitive scholars would recognize it as a unique event worth investigating, but without direction or guidance their searches for the cause would take weeks before being abandoned altogether. But Starswirl had been ready. He had expected a sign and recognized it for what it was when it came.

It was the sign of the end of an era. The last burst of chaos magic fleeing as it's host was finally defeated.

In light of this monumental success, Starswirl had decided to celebrate. It was the same way he had celebrated after he wrote his first original spell. And his third. And his thirtieth. And after he got a deal on a new cloak. And when he'd found a silver coin on the ground last week.

Starswirl was drawn out of his musings by the sound of a soft moan to his left. Pulling back the blanket with his magic, he gave the shamrock cutie mark he found there a quick tap with the end of his pipe. The mare it was attached to yelped as she awoke fully and dropped down from the euphoric high she'd been slowly recovering from. Starswirl smirked as he remarked, "I take it that was rather good for you then?"

The mare shook herself quickly to dispel the remaining fog from her mind, before smiling genially in his direction. "As always, Master Starswirl." She stood up, leaving the older unicorn reclining on the bed alone. A quick general purpose cleaning spell returned her disheveled mane and coat to their pristine mint and snowy colors and condition. Starswirl took another puff as he admired the lights gleaming off her refreshed coat. "Now then," she turned back to face him, her cordial smile replaced with a thin line; a clear sign that the pleasure of business and progressed to the inevitable business of pleasure. "Regarding my fee..."

Starswirl waved it off. "Put it on my tab. Bell knows I'm good for it."

The mare shook her head. "I'm sorry, but Madam Bell specifically told me that you aren't allowed any more credit until you come by her office to settle your outstanding balance. She'll accept no less than coin or items of equivalent value until the debt is settled."

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Clever mare, she'd come prepared. "Fine, whatever. How much do I owe?"

"Thirteen silver."

Starswirl grimaced. It was a not insignificant amount. Nearly a week's wages for a moderately skilled craftspony. He'd hoped to be able to extend his credit a little longer, at least until his association with the heroes who defeated Discord began to pay dividends. Coin was a bit tight at the moment, having to feed three mouths instead of one, but that did not mean he lacked resources. His eyes cast about the room and alighted on the crystals which were still providing ambient lighting. With little effort, he pulled several from their places about the room and passed them to the mare. "There. Five illumination crystals. Satisfied?"

She smiled ever so slightly. "Perfectly," she replied as she began to head for the door. "As always, Madam Bell thanks you for your patronage and-"

But her words were cut off by a loud knocking on the door. "Starswirl!" A voice cried out. "Starswirl, we're back! We finished that thing you wanted us to do! But... ah... things didn't totally go exactly to plan and we kind of need your help."

"Maybe we should just go in?" A second voice added. "He could be using his pipe again, and he's pretty much dead to the world once he goes on one of his 'vision quests'." The voice was quickly followed by the sound of a rock being moved, which itself was followed by the distinctive noise of someone fumbling to get a key into a lock.

All this happened very quickly. As the door began to inch open, Starswirl swore, jumped up, crossed over to the door, and slammed it the rest of the way open. The speakers on the other side were revealed to be two young mares, blue and white of coat. They had leapt back from the suddenly opened door and landed on the cobblestones below. They cowered slightly under Starswirl's withering gaze. "How many times have I told you girls, do not enter on your own?! How many times now?" he roared, causing the girls to cower even more. Taking a keen note of their reaction, the unicorn forced himself to calm down. He sighed deeply. "I apologize, you caught me at a difficult time. But I tell you these things for your own good. Yes I could be 'on a vision quest' as you phrased it, but at any given time I could also be deeply involved in a highly reactive magical experiment."

"We're sorry Mr. Starswirl, it's just that we-" Cel tried to interject.

"No excuses. You girls need to learn. I don't give you instructions just because I like hearing myself talk. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Came two mumbled replies.

"What was that?"

"Yes sir!" This time their replies were crisp and clear.

Starswirl's frown broke down into a genuine smile. "Splendid. Now that that unpleasantness is out of the way, why don't you two come inside? I'm sure you're very tired and have much to tell me." Stick, then the carrot. He reminded himself. Rebuke then comfort, that's the way to do it for effective long term learning. He held the door open for the two of them to enter, but a forgotten figure blocked the way from within.

"I... I suppose I'll be taking my leave then. If you'll excuse me." The mint maned mare from earlier commented.

"Oh, um, hello." Cel offered in surprise, not used to seeing anypony else in Starswirl's wagon. "Who are you?"

"Me? I am..." the mare drifted off, her focus stolen by the unique combination of appendages in her presence.

"...my research assistant!" Starswirl finished before the mare could find her tongue again. "Yes, that is definitely all that she is. She is my research assistant who was helping me conduct research on an experiment. Isn't that right, Ms. Assistant?"

She snapped out of her stupor enough to shoot the heavily indebted unicorn a sly smile. "Oh there was definitely some experimenting..." she teased.

"AND with that!" Starswirl announced, suddenly very eager to see her off, "I think you had better be on your way. Thank you for your assistance today." The mare silenced herself, and carefully navigated down the few stairs to the street. As she left, she turned back for a moment, unable to resist one final remark.

"And I'll make sure to tell Madam Bell about you coming to settle your tab."

"Yes, Ms. Bell, who loans out research assistants who really should know when to stop talking if they want to retain their repeat customers!" He shot back.

She blanched, realizing she may have toed the line a little too closely. Composing herself, she continued down the street until she turned a corner and disappeared from sight. The three ponies by the door watched her go. After several seconds of long awkward silence, Cel decided it was time to speak up. "So then... that was-"

"A research assistant and that's all and that's it, end of discussion!" His tone brooked no argument. The wizard turned with a flourish and reentered his domicile. After a quick confusing glance between sisters, they followed him in.

Starswirl crossed the room in a huff, muttering under his breath. With a quick flash of magic he yanked open the curtains, allowing the sun to fully illuminate the room through the single window. It was a decently large room, big enough to hold four or five ponies comfortably, and maybe twice that cramped. Despite this the room seemed half its size due sheer amount of things packed into it. Bundles of dried herbs and other strange ingredients hung from the rafters, as well as whatever miscellaneous objects couldn't find a home on the room's limited furniture. It was a multipurpose room, with subsections loosely defined by their function. The area beneath the window was the "kitchen" by dint of the large wooden bucket set beneath it, loosely containing three mismatching sets of cheap cutlery. The bed took up most of the back wall and was surrounded by inset bookshelves on two sides. Starswirl gave the bed a kick, and it folded up and into the remaining wall, revealing yet another bookshelf on its underside, the contents held in place by thin wooden bars. He returned to the front of the room and unlatched a small hinge on the front wall. Its restrain removed, a board unfolded from the wall to become the room's dining table cum research area cum parlor. Grabbing a small stool from the rafters, Starswirl sat down with a sigh. With a wave of his hoof, he indicated for the sisters to sit as well. Sliding out another panel from the wall created a bench that just barely fit the pair of them on the side of the table opposite from Starswirl.

The group sat in silence for a moment. Starswirl stared at the girls over steepled hooves, while they squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze, waiting for permission to start. Eventually, the silence broke.

"I can tell that you were successful in your quest," Starswirl began, his expression softening. "I felt a wave of magic indicating the Mad King's defeat. Congratulations. You've done a great service for ponies everywhere."

Cel smiled awkwardly. "T-Thank you, Starswirl. Yes, we did defeat him... but things weren't exactly as smooth as you said they'd be."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? Did he put up much resistance? I would have thought that the Elements of Harmony should have defeated him in one blow."

"Oh they defeated him in one blow alright..." Lu muttered, her face down-turned as she hid beneath her bangs and the thoughts she'd been carefully avoiding for hours started to come back.

"I don't understand," Starswirl replied with a shake of his head. "If the Elements worked and defeated him, then why do you seem so disheartened? If anything, this should be a time for celebrating."

"If anything, they worked... too well?" Cel offered tentatively.

"Oh, for sun and stars sake, we killed him!" Lu exclaimed, finally raising her head to show the water gathering at the corners of her eyes. "We hit him with those rocks of yours and he went down like a sack of moldy potatoes!" She sobbed quietly into her mane as her sister lent a comforting wing.

Starswirl sat in shock, his mouth agape. Killed him? Killed the Mad King? The Lord of Chaos? Impossible... simply impossible. The Elements were meant to purify, they shouldn't've even had the capacity to kill! Even putting that aside, what of his visions? The future sight spell could only show immutable events, scenes from future history which were invariably fated to occur. How could things have gone wrong? The wizard got up slowly, leaving the softly shuddering sisters, and crossed the room to the bookshelf. Scanning the titles, he quickly found what he was looking for. A thickly bound tome, entitled Book of Answers: Vol. I, authored by himself. He brought the surprisingly lightweight book back to the table and set it down. Opening the cover revealed a hollow space where pages should have been, from which Starswirl removed a finely crafted wineskin. Popping out the cork with his teeth, he took a long draw of its contents. After a moment, he pulled it away with a slight gasp and cough. "There now," he announced, still coughing a little from the strong drink, "I think you had better tell me the whole story."

"So... so *urp*... to sum it all up..." Starswirl swayed alarmingly as he spoke, the half full bottle of Book of Answers: Vol. IV waving about in his unfocused magic. "You took the wrong gate out of the City. Wandered around for a w-week before stumbling, by chance, into Discord's vicinity. Threw valuable artifacts at him. Rolled him around in the mud. And drag- *hic* dragged his body all the way back for me to de-*hic* to deal wi-*hic* ugh... to clean up your mess?"

The girls nodded, ashamed, but relieved for the truth to out in the open. Starswirl clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was a conundrum. On one hoof, the two young mares before him did manage to successfully defeat Discord, just as the visions had foretold. On the other hoof, they did it in the absolute most ill-prepared and roundabout way conceivable. And thus, the contradiction. The visions had not shown a dead Discord, and yet somehow that absurdity managed to happen. An event so world-changing in nature surely would have been revealed in his visions. After all, everything the visions showed were absolute certainties, set in stone. Set in stone. Set in stone...

The gleam of inspiration entered Starswirl's eyes. As a knowing smile began to grow on his face, minor looks of fear grew on the two mares in front of him. They may not have lived with Starswirl for any great length of time, but it didn't take long to learn to recognize the signs of the wizard getting an idea. And although Starswirl swore to having his greatest ideas whilst a little inebriated, such ideas often toed the line between genius and madness.

"Girrrlllzzz..." he slurred, drawing out the sound in an unsettling sing-songy fashion. "Where did you say you left *urp* you left his body again?"

"In- in the forest outside the West gate." Cel replied, a little trepidatiously.

"Under some leaves behind a rock that looked like a toppled castle tower." Lu added for clarification.

"Ta." he replied as he began charging a spell. Wisps of magic floated through the air as the corona around his horn grew brighter and brighter. "You girls sit tight for a bit. I have an idea that just might turn this situation around." He winked, and with a flash of chartreuse light, teleported away.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, but since this idea has spiraled away from the "oneshot-villain-of-the-week" I originally planned on, I decided to do a bit of world and back-story building. Plus, I had to keep rewriting this chapter since it kept turning waay too dark for a comedy tag. But, I think I've managed to elevate their societal status from "serial-killer-who-got-away-on-a-technicality" to about an Aladdin~esque level.

Don't worry though, the comedy will return in full force once we start to see some new villains popping up, and I have unique interactions planned out for at least four already, though there will be a few time-skips to make the short interactions fit into a larger world.

As a bonus comedy tidbit for you all, I was looking up old-timey words for "being drunk" and found a phrase most peculiar which I don't think anyone has capitalized yet: "to have an applejack gait."

Here's looking forward to next time, when we'll learn what Starswirl's plan is, and how it fits in with turning two street rats into beloved Princesses.

Ciao