I yawned widely as my arms stretched over my head, and I rubbed my eyes for a moment before forcing them open. My gaze traveled over the hardwood dresser under the window that took up most of the wall opposite the door, along with the walk-in closet that lay partially open on the wall opposite the bed. I shifted around, noticing that I still had on the clothing I was wearing last night, and grunted with the effort as I pushed into a sitting position.

“Wow, what a party.” I muttered to myself as I slipped my feet off the side of the bed, my metallic limb making a soft clank against the crystal flooring, “I can’t remember the last time I had that much punch in one sitting.”

A small detail presented itself to my tired mind, and I looked back on the bed that should have been too small for me. Yet from my perspective it looked more like a queen-sized mattress from back home instead of the tiny thing I had lain on in the hospital. My hand slid over the smooth sheets for a moment, marveling in their softness as my mind came to terms with what had happened to me.

“No going about it now,” I mused as I stood up fully, stretching my arms over my head again as my back popped in several places, “I really am on a different world ruled by candy-colored ponies.”

I walked across the room and into the bathroom, noticing that at least here there was something more akin to what the natives would use. Instead of a countertop and sink at hip level, they rested just below the middle of my thighs, meaning I would have to crouch slightly if I wanted to wash my hands. So too was the mirror hanging on the wall too short for me, only reaching to about my chest before stopping.
I rubbed a hand down my face, making a mental note to talk to Twilight about getting the furnishings in my room redone. I walked over to the toilet, which thankfully was just like the ones back home, only closer to the ground. I did my business before returning to the bedroom proper, looking around my new abode with a more critical eye.

The dresser was seemingly unneeded thanks to the large closet that held what little clothing I possessed, so I moved it over into the left corner so that I could look out the window without having to bend over the furniture. I looked through the pristine glass and saw that my window faced away from town, towards a rather dark and brooding forest that came up to the edge of town. All and all not a bad view, if you were into that wild and untamed sort of thing. I turned to look over my bed and saw that the wood seemed to have been freshly carved, if the still pristine varnish was anything to go by. That would explain why it was sized for me and not ponies, Twilight must have had it custom made so it would fit me. A warmth built in my heart at the consideration she had shown a stranger such as me, and I resolved to do something for her the first chance I got. Other than the useless dresser and the bed, the only other furniture in the room was a small table that resided next to the bed on the right side. It too was made of some kind of hardwood, and was beautifully carved with intricate vine and leaf designs along the legs and the edge of the top.

With my inspection of my space complete, I walked over to the door that led out into the castle proper and turned the brass knob with a hand. It opened without a sound and I found myself in a long hallway with many identical doorways along its entire length. I glanced at my own door and was glad to see it was labeled with a brass plaque that had my name on it. I was sure I’d never find it again if it hadn’t.

As I turned to my right, a pair of familiar shadows fell in behind me on either side. It would seem my companions were going to be sticking around for a while. I glanced at them as we made our way around the castle, getting a good look at them for the first time since the hospital.
The first of the pair was a unicorn stallion with bright red fur and steel grey for his mane and tail, highlighted by streaks of neon blue here and there. His eyes were a dark amber in color, and his armor was polished silver with dark green accents. His compatriot was a pegasus, as given by the wings folded along his flanks, with a stormy grey fur color reminisce of a cloudy sky. His mane and tail were black with a single line of darker blue running down the middle, while his eyes were the most vibrant green I had ever seen. His armor was thinner than the other guard’s, most likely to make flying easier, but still sported the silver plate and green highlights. Apparently they were part of the local guard if what Twilight said was to be believed.

“So, are you two going to introduce yourselves or am I going to have to guess?” I said without looking back, hoping to breathe some life into the non-existent conversation.

“We’re not required to interact with you,” the unicorn said, “only make sure you’re not getting into trouble and to protect you from other ponies should they get aggressive.”

“Phoo, that’s no fun.” I grumbled as I looked over my shoulder at his partner, “What about you? Going to keep the whole stoic guard persona up the entire time we’re together?”

I saw the hint of a smile grace his features as he replied, “To be honest, ma’am, you’re a bit hard to interact with. For one thing, you’re much bigger than most creatures we are familiar with, and your stunning beauty only makes it worse.”

His companion cuffed him over the head with a hoof as my eyebrow rose in interest, “Dolt! You’re not supposed to say things like that to her! We’re supposed to be unattached and observant for any threats, no more and no less.”

“Why isn’t he allowed to compliment me?” I asked, trying to drag this on a bit longer, “I happen to like having boys say I look good every once and a while.”

His face shifted to a deadpan as his amber gaze met mine, “Because we are guards, which means we aren’t allowed to let our emotions interplay with our mission, no matter what the circumstances.”

I rolled my eyes as I turned around again, “Whatever you say Sergeant Stiff. I was in the armed forces once upon a time, so don’t get on my case about regulations and all that crap. I know full well the kind of bull the CO’s feed you newbies when you first sign on.” I glanced over my shoulder at him with a hard expression, “Take a little advice from someone who’s been there, don’t let the regs get in the way of enjoying your job, because life will get old really quick if you can’t enjoy what you’re doing.”

With that I made my way down to what I hoped was the dining hall, if the smell of cooking food was anything to go by. I did as any army recruit did at boot camp and followed my nose until I walked into what had to be the mess. Twilight was sitting at the head of a long table with several books and scrolls piled onto the surface before her, nearly hiding her pancakes and eggs from view as she poured over the text she had in her magic grip.

“Morning Twilight!” I called as I walked up to her, “How’s it going?”

She lifted her gaze from the tome before her and smiled brightly, “Oh, Sarah, good morning. I’m doing well at the moment. I’ve been trying to get some research done on how to make dried food that can be rehydrated with hot water.”

I remembered her comment about the stuff in my pack, “You stole the idea from my camping rations, didn’t you?”

She blushed as she averted her gaze, “Well since your belongings come from a different world I thought it would be a waste not to try and learn from them if at all possible.” She turned back to me with an adorable pout and big shimmering eyes, “You won’t take them all away from me, will you?”

I groaned as I tried not to clutch my heart because of the diabetes-level cuteness in front of me, “No I guess it won’t hurt to let you have them for a while longer. I do have one condition though,” I held up a finger as I tried to muster up a determined expression, “you have to return my phone and solar charger so I can at least have something to do in my spare time.”

Her head tilted sideways in confusion, the tome momentarily forgotten, “Which items are those? I remember there being lots of things in your pack, but I don’t know what any of them are called other than the simple things like the tent.”

I held up my fingers in a rectangular shape, “My phone is a little device about this big, with a touch screen and several buttons around the outer edge. The solar charger is the rolled-up black mat with two rectangular ports on the right edge.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up in understanding, “Oh that amazing device!” She hopped out of her chair and lifted herself up onto her hind legs, placing her forehooves on my shoulders as she looked me in the eyes, “I simply must know how it works! Technology like that could revolutionize the scientific community overnight!”

I gently took her hooves in my hands and pushed her off of me, “Sorry Twilight, but I don’t know how it works other than on the most basic level. It was designed by a big corporation that produced millions of them for everyday use. I don’t know much more than you do at this point.” I chuckled softly as a thought crossed my mind, “In all honesty you probably know more than me given how much you’ve dived into studying my things.”

Twilight’s expression fell as her ears folded against her head, and I had to remind myself that this was a sapient creature and not a puppy I had just kicked. I forced my eyes to look elsewhere for a moment while Twilight mourned the loss of opportunity. She’d get over it, eventually.

“So, what’s for breakfast?” I asked, hoping to divert her attention from her lack of knowledge concerning Earth tech, “I’m so hungry I could eat a house.”

My stomach chose that moment to voice its rather loud agreement, and my guards joined Twilight in laughing at my expense, “I’m sure Spike would be happy to make more pancakes and eggs.” Her face shifted to a look of concern as she took her seat once again, “You can eat pancakes and eggs, right?”

I nodded, “Humans can eat just about anything, although we can’t digest fiber so stuff like grass and flowers don’t do a thing for us. Some can even be quite poisonous if we’re really unlucky.”

She nodded, turning her head towards a set of double doors leading out of the room, “Spike! Bring our guest some pancakes and eggs with a large glass of orange juice!”

“Coming right up!” A young voice called back through the closed doorway, although it was too muddled for me to make out the speaker’s gender.

I took a seat on Twilight’s right as my shadows took up positions along the wall behind me. I resolved to break those two out of the regulation shackles that prevented them from interacting with me, although my thoughts were summarily derailed as the doors to the kitchen swung open, revealing a sight I would not soon forget.

Carrying a large plate of pancakes, a tall glass of orange juice, and a pitcher of what I assumed was syrup, was a little purple lizard with large green spikes sprouting from its head all the way to its tail. Its large eyes were a sharp emerald green and slit like a cat, while a single tiny fang protruded out from behind its upper lip. I also noticed that it walked on two legs, using its front claws to hold the items as it walked around Twilight and presented the steaming food to me.

“Here you go.” Its voice was discernably male now, although a very young male at that, perhaps not even a teenager if voice timbre was anything similar to home.

For a moment I simply stared at him, and in the same instant his gaze met mine, I remembered what Twilight had said concerning the other races on this world. Either my mind was playing tricks on me, or this was a very small and very cute dragon serving me breakfast.

“What?” he asked, “Do I have something on my face?” He spun around a time or two, rubbing a claw against his cheeks to try and locate the presumed blemish.

“Um, not to seem rude or anything,” I managed to say, “but are by chance, a dragon?”

He nodded, puffing out his chest in the most adorable way and flexing his arms like a body builder, “Yep, I’m Twilight’s number one assistant, Owlowiscious is number two.”

“Owlowiscious?” I asked, momentarily distracted from the real-life dragon in front of me.

“My pet owl.” Twilight clarified as she took a bite of her eggs, “he helps me run the castle during the late hours of the night. Spike can’t help me keep this place running if he falls asleep on the job.”

I nodded, although I realized something about this whole castle setup. You’d think with a royal living in a castle, there’d at least be some staff to keep the place from falling apart.

“Don’t you have servants to help you keep this place running?” I asked, “I mean, you are a princess and all that, right?”

Twilight looked a bit sheepish, and I recognized the expression she used when I had first addressed her by her title, “While I know servants and maids are common in Canterlot noble manners, and certainly within Canterlot Castle itself, I’ve just never really seen the need to have ponies clean the place for me when Spike and I can do well enough on our own. And besides,” she ruffled her wings as she cast a glance over her shoulder at them, “I’m still new to this whole princess thing, so I don’t want to make a mistake when somepony’s livelihood is on the line.”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, “New to being a princess? But aren’t you, like, twenty something?”

She nodded, seemingly unsure about where I was going with this line of questions, “Yes, I’m twenty-three. What does that have to do with anything?”

I tried to find the proper words as I spoke, “I don’t know much about your world, that much is obvious, but where I come from you’re either born into a royal family or you marry into one. If you marry into a royal family then you take on the title of prince or princess, as you are now part of that family by marriage. And royal birth goes without saying. You’re not married, at least as far as I know, so that means you had to have been born a royal. You see what I mean?”

Her eyes widened in understanding, “Oh I see. No, no, I’m not married, although my brother did marry my old foalsitter and became a prince that way, although he’s still a unicorn, not an alicorn. I became a princess when I completed a great task, solving one of the greatest magical mysteries in our history.” She flared her wings and smiled back at them with a reminisce expression on her face, “After that Princess Celestia told me I had earned my place as a princess, through completing Starswirl the Bearded’s final spell, and by discovering the true power behind my connections with the other Elements.” Her gaze moved back to me as she folded her wings against her sides, “So you see, I was born a unicorn, but through great trials and with a little spark of magic, I earned my wings and title as the Princess of Friendship.”

I leaned back in my chair, taking a moment to think her words over, “So this Princess Celestia or whoever deemed you worthy of being royalty, and used her magic to change you into an alicorn so that you could better represent the skills you used to earn your title?”

Twilight’s face scrunched up slightly, “Well, more or less, I guess that’s one way you could put it. It’s a lot more complicated than that, but I think you got the important points.”

I rubbed my temples with my finger, before drowning my cooling pancakes in syrup and devouring my food in a matter of moments, “Do you mind if I grab my phone and head out for a while? I kind of need to clear my head and think about all this magic and royalty business for a while.”

She nodded, pointing towards the door at the back of the room, “My lab is the fifth door down the second right hallway on the left. Just give a yell if you get lost and Spike will show you the way.”

I nodded, “Thanks Twilight. I just need some time to get my head screwed on straight after all this craziness.”

She smiled as I walked away, “Have a nice time. I’ll see you around lunch?”

I waved over my shoulder, “You got it.”

My shadows fell into their usual places as I made my way through the castle, although as I pushed open the doors to what I thought was Twilight’s lab, the clinking of their armor suddenly stopped. I spun around, but they had simply taken up spots on either side of the opening. I thought about making a jab at their noisy hardware, but quickly thought better of it. I turned back around to look for my stuff, and was caught off guard by the sheer mass of mysterious machinery and other doodads that littered the entire room.

Table after table with beakers, tubes and masses of wire assaulted my vision as I worked my way through the jungle of science and magic. Finally, I popped out the other side and found myself standing in front of another large table, only this one contained items that were far more familiar to me. My camping gear had been set out and meticulously organized in terms of size and type, leaving my phone and the other electrical stuff all alone on the end. I powered up my phone and saw to my dismay that it was down to fifteen percent power.

I grumbled under my breath as I picked it up and clicked my earbuds into the port on the bottom, “Mental note, don’t let Twilight get ahold of my stuff without permission in the future.”

I slipped it into my pocket, grabbing the solar collector and power cable with my free hand as I made my way back out into the hallway. The Stoic Brothers fell in beside me as I made my way to my room, dropping off the solar charger and power cable before making my way out of the castle itself. This left us standing on the edge of town with a bright morning sun shining overhead.

I took a deep breath, “Ah, a wonderful day to take some time off.”

Without another thought I made my way through town, waving to some of the ponies who were out and about as I tried to find a place to myself. After a while I found myself standing alone on the top of a small hill just outside of town, taking in the sights under the single oak tree that called the peak home.

I nodded to myself, “This will do nicely.”

I pulled out my earbuds and plugged them into my ears, selecting my combat training playlist before spreading my feet shoulder width apart. As the music started playing I closed my eyes, envisioning myself standing in the middle of a large group of ninjas. I raised my hands in front of my chest and breathed in as my limbs climbed my body. Once my hands had reached my face, I turned my palms towards each other and pushed my arms outward, letting my breath go before I fell into a fighting stance. Keeping my eyes closed, I watched in my imagination as one of the ninjas rushed towards me from the left, and I kicked out with my leg as it came within range. I hooked my heel through where the ninja’s head would have been, transitioning into a right finger strike in front of me as I struck to my other side in a switch-kick.

As the beat of the song picked up my strikes and blocks began to flow together, the beat and rhythm dictating how and when I would move as my imaginary battle reached a fever pitch. I started throwing in stepping movements between my strikes as I moved around the hill summit, slowly adding more and more to the kata as I kept my eyes tightly shut. Before long I was leaping into rolls and backflips, throwing my legs out midair to strike opposite enemies with my feet.

All of a sudden, just as I was becoming lost in the battle dance, a rush of ice cold liquid dumped on me from above. I screamed in a high-pitched voice that I would deny ever making in public, and ripped my earbuds out as I spun to try and find my assailant. I didn’t have far to look, because a familiar cyan pegasus was hovering next to the small thundercloud that just so happened to be taking up the airspace above my head.

“What the hell, Rainbow?!” I yelled once I had gotten my voice back down where it belonged, “I was in the middle of something and you just up and decided to dump a raincloud on me?! Do you want me to kick your rainbow rump into next week?!”

Her expression morphed from her usual macho bravado into one that I didn’t immediately recognize, “Like you could even touch me. I was just trying to put out the fire that was covering your whole body!”

My eyes narrowed in a combination of suspicion and confusion, “What fire?! I’m pretty sure I would know if I was suddenly trying to turn into a flame broiled steak! You want to try and run by me something I’m going to believe?”

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to look incredulous, “I’m not lying! It was like your whole body was covered in this weird multi-colored fire. I saw you jumping and rolling around and thought you were trying to put it out!” She kicked the thunderhead and it dissipated into thin air, “I was trying to stop you from burning to death after we went through so much trouble to save you!”

I clenched my fists, feeling a heat rising up in my hands and forearms as I tried to drill holes into Rainbow’s head with my gaze, “I swear if you don’t start telling the truth I’m going to kick in your teeth and then feed you to whatever monsters you have roaming around on this crazy planet! Now tell. Me. The. TRUTH!”

Rainbow’s mouth opened as she presumably readied a retort, only for her face to freeze as her eyes traveled down from my face. She pointed with one hoof as her eyes widened in terror, “Oh crap, it’s back! Your hooves are on fire!”

I looked down and saw that my hands and lower forearms were indeed covered with what looked like ethereal red and yellow flames. I was about to start jumping and screaming for a medic when I realized that I wasn’t in pain. I took a moment as I slowly unclenched my fists, watching as the fire collected in my palms and formed twin orbs of fizzling energy. There was no pain, only a mild heat where the fire was present, and as I closed my fingers around the fire it once again enveloped my hands and lower arms in a vibrant red aura.

Rainbow flew in a bit closer, apparently also realizing that I wasn’t about to burn to a crisp. She hesitantly touched my left arm with a hoof, only to pull it back with wide eyes. Not a single hair on her hoof had been burnt, nor had there been any other indication that it had done anything except contact my shirt sleeve.

“Whoa.” She managed to say as she looked between me and her hoof, “That is beyond weird.”

“You’re telling me.” I said as I experimented with the energy flowing through my body, “I’ve never done anything like this before. Have you seen something like this from a unicorn?”

She shook her head, “The only thing that comes to mind is the aura that covers a unicorn’s horn when they use magic, or the glow that covers an object when they make it move around or something. This is different. For one thing, Twilight’s magic never looked like flames when she used it.”

As my heart began to calm down and my blood stopped pounding in my ears, I watched in fascination as the aura around my arms faded until there was nothing left. For a moment I was worried I had imagined the whole thing, but at that same instant I felt a heat rising up in my chest, a heat that reminded me of the feeling that had surrounded my arms when the flames had been present.

“So, are we cool about me dumping a rainstorm on your head?” Rainbow asked sheepishly, rubbing behind her head with a hoof.

I nodded, “Yeah, sorry about blowing up on you like that.” I looked down at my hands with wonder, “I think we might want to talk to Twilight about this. If this is some new power that I got by coming to Equestria, then I need to know what it does and how it works before I accidentally hurt someone.”

As Rainbow flew along next to my head, I noticed the guards that had been waiting on the side of the hill were no longer present. So, either they hadn’t seen my little ignition and decided to take the rest of the day off, or they had seen my little firework show and were running off to report it to their superiors. Oh joy, just what I need right now.

We managed to get back to Twilight’s castle without being ambushed by overexcited guards, but I was beginning to think that my luck wasn’t going to last. As we entered the main foyer of the castle my heart plummeted. There, standing with Twilight and bearing grim faces were my two bodyguards. The unicorn was talking adamantly with Twilight while his partner stood nearby. However, their conversation came to a grinding halt as they spotted me.

In an instant, they took up combat stances between me and Twilight, “Halt!” The pegasus yelled, “You are not to step one hoof closer to the Princess until you reveal the dark arts you have been keeping hidden from us.”

I raised one eyebrow as I looked over my shoulder at Rainbow, “Is he for real? Dark arts? What kind of nonsense is that?”

She shrugged, much to the irritation of the dynamic duo. “We gave you an order,” the unicorn called out, “now reveal to us what dark magic you were performing on the hilltop before we are forced to apprehend you.”

I rolled my eyes, “First off, you guys aren’t my commanding officer, and two, I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing until after Rainbow did her best to drown me with an instant rainstorm.”

Twilight gave Rainbow a reprimanding look, and the prismatic pegasus had enough tact to look sheepish as she rubbed the back of her neck, “Yeah, I kind of though she was on fire, so I tried to put her out with a little rain. Turns out it wasn’t fire, at least not the usual stuff.”

Twilight’s eyes immediately snapped to me, “What’s she talking about Sarah? What’s this all about fire that isn’t fire?”

I looked down at my hands, wondering if it was possible to bring the fire out of my chest and to my hands again. “Well, I can try and show you. It happened my accident last time so I’m not really sure how to control it.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to remember what it felt like when I was doing my kata. First off, I was exercising, so physical movement might have something to do with it. Then again, the heat seemed to come out when I got mad at Rainbow, so maybe my mood played a part as well. I settled for something in the middle, closing my hands into fists as I brought them up to my chest. I tried to channel as much anger and frustration into my movements as I threw out first one punch and then another. I felt the heat in my chest rise but it stubbornly remained in my core. I let my air out in a rush as I opened my eyes, seeing everyone was looking at with like I had grown a second head.

I felt a blush heating my cheeks, “Well don’t give me that look. I’m trying to do this with no past experience except for an accident earlier this morning! Give me a little credit for not knowing what to do!”

I huffed as I closed my eyes again, noting with some surprise that the fire in my chest had gotten a lot stronger. I wondered if my embarrassment had fueled this new power, so I focused on the most embarrassing moment in my entire life. As the image of my past self walking into the men’s bathroom at boot camp flashed through my mind, I could feel the fire in my chest and my cheeks growing stronger by the second. Finally, I let out an echoing yell, punching outward with all my strength. I opened my eyes as everyone gasped, only for my own eyes to widen in shock at what I was seeing. Instead of the cherry red flames that had been there before, my right hand and forearm were now covered in hot pink flames that danced and flashed with patches of white every so often.

I opened my hand and brought my arm back to my body, looking over my arm with fascination. I brought my other hand up to my arm and cupped my palm like I was catching water. The flames were slowly drawn off my arm and coalesced into a ball in my other hand, much like when I had concentrated on the red flames back on the hill.

At this point Twilight was standing directly in front of me, much to the shock of the two guards, “This is amazing! I’ve never seen anything like this before!” She glanced up at me cautiously, “Can I touch it?”

I nodded, lowering my hand to her level with the ball of energy still floating above my palm, “Go ahead. Rainbow touched it before and it didn’t do a thing to her.”

Twilight slowly lifted her hoof off the floor, as if hesitant to trust my words. Ever so slowly she moved her hoof closer to the ball of softly flickering energy, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She shut her eyes tight and shoved her hoof into the ball, holding a cringe for several seconds until she seemed to realize there was no pain. She opened her eyes and looked back at her hoof, which was now resting within the ball of energy, causing it to distort around her leg like a mass of clay.

Her eyes widened in amazement as she slowly moved her hoof through my energy, “This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It feels kind of like magic, but at the same time different from any magic I’ve read about or interacted with in the past.” She looked up at me, her question of why present in her gaze even before she spoke, “What did you do to discover this ability?”

I closed my hand, actually feeling the heat of this energy flow back up my arm and into my core, “I don’t know. I was just performing some combat exercises and the next thing I know Rainbow’s soaking me with water, claiming I’m on fire. I have no idea what’s going on. I thought you might have the answer.”

Twilight spared her cyan friend a mild glare before turning back to me, “Well I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’m pretty sure there’s nothing on this in my books. Oh, I know!” Her eyes lit up with excitement as she spun around to face the interior of the castle, “We can ask Princess Celestia! She’s bound to have encountered something like this before. Spike! We need to send a letter to Princess Celestia!”

“Coming!” Was the reply that echoed from far away.

Twilight spun around and leveled her gaze with mine, “You’re absolutely sure you never had this ability before coming to Equestria?”

I nodded, “First time I’ve been able to spontaneously create flames from my body. As far as I know, no human has ever had this ability.”

Twilight nodded, “Then this has to be something to do with the magical energies of Equis. Your new ability must be some kind of reaction between your body and the natural energy in the atmosphere, food and water you’ve been exposed to after your arrival.”

“Princess,” Guard with Horn asked as he and his partner walked up, “are you certain it’s alright trusting her on her word alone? She could be hiding some dark powers from us that could pose a threat to you or Equestria at large.”

Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike came waddling out of the far corridor, “I’m sure Nova Burst. If Sarah had any kind of malicious intent, I’m sure she would have acted by now. Given her size and this new power, if she really wanted to take over Equestria, don’t you think she would have done so by now?”

He nodded begrudging agreement, cutting off Guard with Wings’ comment with a quick glow of his horn. The pegasus’ mouth snapped shut as his bottom jaw glowed the same amber as the newly named Nova Burst’s horn. He rubbed his mouth with one hoof as his partner released him, choosing instead to glower at me rather than speak.

“So, *huff*, what do you need, *huff*, to send to Princess Celestia, *huff*, with such urgency?” He managed to force out between gasps. Poor little guy, he works so hard to keep this place running and he also has to act as messenger boy. Talk about a rough childhood.

Twilight either didn’t notice her assistant’s state, or ignored it as she spoke, “Spike, take a letter please.” Spike nodded, pulling a scroll and quill from seemingly nowhere as he readied for Twilight to speak.

Twilight cleared her throat before beginning, “Dear Princess Celestia. Sarah has been settling in well here in Ponyville. Pinkie threw her a welcome party and everything. However, this morning she discovered a new power, one that I am unfamiliar with, and I was hoping you could shed your wisdom on the situation.” She paused for a moment so Spike could catch up, “This new power seems to be produced by Sarah’s body, and takes the form of ethereal flames when she conducts the energy through her body or when she manipulates it outside of her body. She had a slight scare with Rainbow Dash upon discovering this new ability, but other than some wet clothing there was no harm done. I eagerly await your reply, with the hopes that you can shed some light on this mystery. Your humble friend, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twi-light, Spar-kle.” Spike echoed as he finished the letter with a flourish, “Is that everything Twilight?”

She nodded and he rolled the scroll up before holding it in front of his snout. For a moment I was confused until he took a deep breath and burned the scroll to ash with a gout of green flames. The ashes whipped through the air and out a nearby open window, vanishing into the sky in seconds. I turned back to Twilight, about to ask what that had been, when Spike got a weird expression on his face. He held his chest like he had heart burn before he let out a loud belch, the flames coalescing into a scroll much like the previous one, only this time secured with a red ribbon and golden seal.

“Wow, talk about instant messaging.” I joked as Twilight grabbed the scroll with her magic, bringing it up to her eyes as it unrolled.

“Dear Twilight,” she read aloud, “while it is good to hear that Sarah is getting along well in Ponyville, this new ability brings back memories of a lost art that has not been used by ponies for the last several centuries. I think it would be best if Sarah showed my sister and I this new ability in person, tomorrow if at all possible. I wish for you to make all due haste, but do not worry. While this power may be old and very powerful, it will not cause any harm to you or anypony else that comes into contact with it. Safe travels my once faithful student, and I will see you at the castle.”

She dropped the scroll with wide eyes, her gaze slightly unfocused as she looked at me. I got the feeling we were about to have a Twilight Freak Moment, and I saw Rainbow taking cover behind one of the doors leading out of the foyer. Even the guards, who probably didn’t know Twilight as well as Rainbow, ducked for cover behind the staircase that led to the second floor. I watched in slightly disturbed fascination as Twilight’s mane began to frazzle one hair at a time. Her grin grew bigger by the second and her eyes began to take on a slightly manic look as she began to giggle. At this point I figured it was now or never, so I did the unthinkable.

I walked up and slapped her in the face.

The silence that followed was so still you could hear a pin drop, and for a moment I thought I had just signed my own death warrant. Yet as Twilight lifted a hoof to touch the growing red spot on her cheek, she let out a sigh that sounded more like relief than anything else.

“Thank you, Sarah,” she said softly as she straightened her mane and cleared her throat, “I was getting a bit out of hoof when I was thinking about what this new power could mean for you, and for us. I’m sorry,” she hung her head and tucked her tail between her legs, “that was out of line for me to worry you like that.”

“Oh come on Twilight,” Rainbow said as she flew back into the room, “it wouldn’t be you if you didn’t freak out at least a little bit.”

I nodded, kneeling down to wrap the alicorn up in a firm hug, “It’s not a problem Twilight. We still like you even when you get a bit crazy.” I pulled back to look her in the face with a serious expression, “Just try and not blow us up if you freak out again, alright?”

She nodded, rubbing her forelegs together as she made yet another adorable face up at me, “I’ll try not to go too nuts when we talk about things like this in the future. Pinkie Promise.”

I glanced at my fingers, wondering how a creature with hooves could make a pinkie promise, before dismissing it as unimportant. We had a trip to plan, and from what little I knew of Equestria, visiting Princess Celestia was not going to be a simple little day trip. Twilight aside, visiting with royalty when you used to march with the grunts is a sure-fire way to make a mess of things. Royalty or not, I hoped this Celestia had a dry sense of humor, or else this was going to go south very quickly.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I am officially so far beyond on a roll that I'm drag racing through the Badlands with a rocket-powered sled that can break the sound barrier three times while still staying on the ground. FOUR CHAPTERS IN A WEEK?!?!?!? What in the hay is going on with me?! Normally I get two or three chapters done in a two or three week period and then I go off cycle for a month or more. This is absolutely crazy!

Alright, *huff* mental freak moment over with and taken care of. Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the book so far. I know I certainly am. Here is a little bonus material for all of my faithful readers, Sarah's Combat Playlist!!! Brought to you by yours truly.
Thunderstruck by AC/DC
Fallen Angels by Black Veil Brides
Get off My Back by Bryan Adams
Mz. Hyde by Halestorm (explicit)
War Child by Hollywood Undead (VERY explicit)
Danger Zone by Jonathan Young
Dangerous by Shaman's Harvest (explicit)
Superhero by Simon Curtis
Undefeated by Skillet
The Devil's Bleeding Crown by Volbeat

Hope you like my music choices, and I'll see you all next chapter
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.