To the East of Ponyville, on a gravel road, stood a shack meant to be a checkpoint to the town. At the post, a stallion in Royal Guard armor snored into a pool of drool. Something slammed against the wall by the window, jerking the Guard awake. He turned to glare at the disturbance but instead gawked at what he saw.

In front of him were three griffons, the one directly in front of him built like a fortress with brown fur and white feathers across his upper body, the griffon's clawed fist resting on the wall next to the Guard's window white he glared with yellow eyes.

"Uh... can I help you, sir?"

"Oh, you'll have to excuse him," said the second griffon, moving up to the window, "he's just tired from hauling our stuff for the last few days without a break."

This griffon sported a white coat of fur with yellow feathers, her eyes a light cyan.

"We're just moving into this lovely little town today and we were hoping to get in before the festival was over!" she said.

"Oh, you mean the Summer Sun Celebration?" The Guard said. "I'm sorry, but I think it's already over by now."

The large griffon grunted before slapping his passport on the window's edge.

"Well that's okay, I'm sure there will be more in the future! Let's not get grumpy! Besides, we shouldn't try to ruin this for our little Bale!"

The Guard looked behind them to see a very small griffon child sitting on top of a somewhat rusted wagon. He sported an entirely grey coat of fur and feathers with green eyes.

"Alright, I'll get you three written in," he said grabbing a quill.

As the older griffons and Guard worked out the papers for their travel, Bale was transfixed on a flying ball of pink. It had giant blue eyes and was irritatingly buzzing all around the cart for the past few minutes. Glaring at the strange insect, Bale flexed his right claw and swiped in its direction. His talons glowed a myriad of colors before the space between him and his target seemed to collapse.

The parasprite was yanked out of the air before Bale swiped at it again. The air distorted for a fraction of a second before the bug vanished.

\\\\\\//////

"Ah'm 'bout plum tuckered out," Applejack yawned, wiping her brow. "Big Mac?"

"Eeyup?" the red stallion said.

"Can ya get Apple Bloom? Ah'm gonna check on Granny Smith."

"Eeyup."

Big Mac checked around the dulled celebration, peering through the crowds for his youngest sister. The towering stallion caught a glimpse of his sister's pink bow and made his way towards her. Just as he heard Apple Bloom's tone change, he found her shouting at two other fillies.

"And I'm telling you I know what I saw!" she said.

"Apple Bloom!" Big Mac said. "Ain't no reason ta shout at other ponies."

"Yeah, listen to your brother, Blank-flank," the pink filly said with a fiendish smile.

Apple Bloom grit her teeth in frustration for a moment before she flinched back. Hanging her head low, she turned and walked up to her brother.

"That's right, go ahead and leave," Diamond Tiara said.

Big Mac shook his head while he put Apple Bloom on his back. As she adjusted to the space behind his shoulders, she let out a sigh before speaking.

"Big Mac?"

"Eeyup?"

"Did... did you see the fight earlier? Between Nightmare Moon and Prince Platinum?"

"Eeyup."

Big Mac doubted there had been a pony who missed it, seeing Princess Celestia's fostered heir hold off the Mare in the Moon not being something that one could easily look away from.

"Okay, but... did you see the thing that was floating around him?"

The question floored Big Mac.

"Ya mean those rocks he threw?"

"No, I mean that... weird, white thing that looked just like him. It was punching Nightmare Moon's magic out of the air and it kept on disappearing a lot?"

Big Mac could very clearly remember the fight. All he saw was just the Prince using magic to pick up and throw things. There hadn't been another figure that looked like Platinum at all.

"Nope."

"But... it... it kinda looked like..." Apple Bloom took a deep breath. "It kinda looked like... m-my imaginary friend?"

Big Mac sighed.

"Apple Bloom, we talked 'bout this. You're too old ta have an imaginary friend."

"I know you and Applejack keep saying that, but it's always there! Whenever I break a toy or some part of the house, she always comes back and fixes it! And whenever I have a nightmare she's there to hold me, and-"

"Apple Bloom," Big Mac said flatly, "just go to sleep. Ya need ta rest."

Apple Bloom let out a whinny of defeat as she snuggled herself into her brother's fur. Laying her head on its side, she saw a large fracture in the back of Mac's yoke. She reached a hoof out towards it, and around her foreleg manifested a peach-colored hoof wrapped in green metal. When it made contact with the yoke, the fracture sealed itself shut. She curled her hoof under herself again before seeing the forelegs wrap around her once more.