Celestia recounted and was certain that nearly everybody had arrived, good. And she liked what she saw, they were talking, laughing and joking around with each other, it meant that despite the past events, everyone was still in high spirits and didn't lose the will to fight.

A small smile graced her face when she took her already provided seat besides her sister. Of course there was another reason why she did it, for a little reward awaited her to use their given time effectively, Celestia ate blissfully a piece of strawberry cake.

The confectionery of Ponyville never knew what hit it. It was an one sided love at first sight.

Luna and Celestia prepared already their position. They placed a long wooden table, covered now by a few drinks and snacks. Three big chairs, provided by Granny Smith, were placed behind it in a row. Cadence would have taken the third seat, but she was still absent, because the former dean wanted to welcome back her fiancé, obviously.

"Do you know when Cady and the others will arrive?" Luna asked, but didn't receive a response.

Celestia just shrugged, enjoying her cake too much. The lunar knight rolled her eyes, her sibling was in her own world in the moment. A sweet-flavoured one.

The trio planned beforehand which points they wanted to discuss with all people present and that they positioned themselves at the entrance of the barn on purpose. It was Luna's idea in the, unlikely, case of an attack. They were sitting between the Shadowbolts and the Pie Family.

The entire barn was filled with chairs, hay bails or camping equipment, serving as opportunities to sit.

Moondancer was sitting together with the other magicless students from Camp Everfree on improvised carpets made of hay and hoped that Sunset Shimmer could help her. The inexperienced magician tried to use her Construction Magic with Twilight's help, who she asked for advice at that time, but the lavender girl didn't understand how magic really worked, either. Well, except her Arcane Magic and some common basics in order to use it. Still, it wasn't enough to help Moondancer to obtain the confidence and background knowledge to build new magic-powered devices, because she had no idea how it worked in general on a fundamental level.

The very basics.

Sure, the Constructor Magic user knew from the knowledge she received how to connect her magic with minerals and what would happen, like for diamonds or crystals. Moondancer had even ideas how to construct new devices for communication, in theory. That was exactly her problem, her awoken magic didn't cover the topic ‘magical theory 101’. Or, in her opinion: ‘magical theory for people who had no idea what magic really was and lived in a world without any form of written literature about magic 101’.

It was a working title.

How to use magic in the most effective ways, or how to build something without causing more harm than good. The former student of Crystal Prep wouldn't risk it and Sunset needed to verify her ideas first, too. There wasn't really a written instruction Moondancer could use.

In other words, she needed a teacher for theoretical magic. Sunset Shimmer was her best shot after Twilight's words. Moondancer shortly considered to ask Luviel Dawnseeker, but she didn't think that the magic of humans and elves worked in the same ways. So the elf was more a plan B.

Trixie Lulamoon, Lyra Heartstrings, Bon Bon, Octavia Melody, Vinyl Scratch, Derpy, Bulk Biceps, Flash Sentry, Snips and Snails all relaxed, waiting for the meeting to start.

"Oh, I hope the others are coming soon, the whole waiting drives me crazy. I really want know what happened in the last days," Lyra commented excitedly, "What do you think, Bonny?" she asked her best friend.

"We will find out soon, Lyra. Calm yourself," BonBon replied, clearly annoyed. Lyra was on her case since the principals informed them about the long overdue meeting.

"Trixie thinks it's about time that all secrets are about to be revealed. Trixie des-Trixie meant we deserve to know the truth. And Trixie will not go to Ponyville again, just because a certain someone managed to destroy, however she did that, our equipment to work on the fields in a short time. Right, Derpy?" Trixie glared at the unofficial queen of muffins from CHS.

The girl in question answered in an innocent and apologetic tone, "I just don't know what went wrong." Snips and Snails laughed at Trixie's following expression.

"What do you think, Moony? I heard you are all buddy-buddy with our resident bookworm. Is everything OK between you and Twilight? You once said that you were good friends," Lemon Zest asked with a smiling face.

She, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap sat on small stools to the left of Moondancer and the other students. Not the most comfortable situation, but manageable.

The girls mostly recovered from their fight with the Terrorbeast. Still, Sour Sweet's leg was bandaged after all, but the pain was near gone. Thanks to Zecora's ointments.

"Yes. We reconnected again and enjoyed to work together, but we had to face the problem that our magic only provided us with basic knowledge about our own brand of power, not magic in general. We both have no idea about basic magic theory. That is the reason we are waiting for Sunset Shimmer. She is something like our only real local expert," Moondancer answered blushingly.

It didn't happen often that she and Twilight were clueless in the same topic. Like never.

"Don't worry! It will work out for the best," Lemon encouraged.

"She is right. We could all relax and recover from our little adventures and are ready to take on the next challenge!" Indigo Zap commented supportingly. Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet nodded their heads in agreement.

"D-do you think Limestone and Pinkie are on their way with the others?" Marble queried shyly.

"Of course, Marble. Thine sisters are surely aiding the last missing team and the Sparkles to reach our location in the moment we speak," Igneous Rock stated firmly.

"I'm sure Pinkie already planned something like a 'Welcome-Back' party and can't wait to make it happen. It would be something she would do. Boulder agrees," Maud joked.

The Pies sat upon old chairs from their own camping equipment, between the former principals and the exotic trio consisting out of Cheerilee, Luviel and Zecora.

The trio, Luviel and Zecora could talk for hours about nature without a break, much to Cheerilee's dismay, were sitting upon a large hay bail.

Zecora prepared her next potion out of mojo and scrunched plants. She was truly lucky, too. Their group managed to save in their hush-hush operation everything important, plants, tonics, potions, totems and relocated it all for the shaman to Sweet Apple Acres.

The Apples, may the spirits bless their souls and grant them wisdom, provided her with an old barn she could use as her own place for the time being. It was being used as a bunk for old tools and other outdated things. The farmers decided they didn't need most of it anymore. Moondancer ‘confiscated’ a lot of these items in the ‘name of science’, as she worded it. Well, everybody started small, Zecora guessed.

"Don't play coy with me, Luviel! I know you did it," Cheerilee accused her new friend.

"I swear, Cheery! I never did anything that would have harmed you in any way," the elf replied with a mischievous smile.

"Stop calling me 'Cheery'! You took my coffee! It could only be you. Nobody else was here when we entered the barn and I left only two minutes to refill my water supply! Confess," Cheerilee demanded from her frenemie.

Nobody touched her coffee!

"Alright, I confess. Your cup was horrible. No sugar, no milk, just mediocre in its preparation and completely black. What kind of sane person would drink something like that in the first place? I did you a favor and saved you from being poisoned by a bitter tasting insult for the tongue," Luviel justified her heroic deed.

"Let me guess. Oh, yes. It was me who made this 'mediocre prepared' cup. You thief!" came the half-serious reply. This woman made it hard to stay angry at her.

"See? You just proved my point. As I already stated, what kind of 'sane' person would drink something like that? I deserve a medal for sacrificing my well-being here!" Luviel's everlasting smile never left her lips. She loved to tease the former teacher.

Cheerilee took a handful of hay and tossed it at the laughing Emerald Elf's face, giggling herself now.

They sat in the circle between the Pie- and the Apple Family, the newly founded Destiny Crusaders chatted excitedly in front of them. The matriarch sat in her signature rocker. The three crusaders and Big Mac upon small chairs.

"What are ya youngins' doin'? Ya're more excited than a rooster in a henhouse," Granny Smith inquired curiously.

"It's nothin' important, Granny. Ma' friends and I, we just found out what to do in life. As a team!" Apple Bloom expounded joyfully.

Granny Smith chuckled, "Ah. To be youn' again..." the lady of the house whispered nostalgically.

Winona barked in support of her owner.

The last group between them and the students of Camp Everfree were the Rainbooms. Or at least the half who was still waiting for the return of their remaining friends, especially Sunset's.

"I hope they are coming soon. The last two days were so boring since, you know." Rainbow Dash yawned.

"Ya could have helped more on the farm instead of nappin’ the whole time, Dash. Ah had to search ya everywhere and only found ya because of lucky guesses and yer snores. How in tarnation did ya manage to sleep on clouds anyway?!" Applejack wanted to know in irritation.

The athlete took a proud pose, "Three reasons. Number one: I'm awesome. Number two: My Heavens Magic makes me kind of resistant against colder temperatures and wind. Number three: Sunset once explained to me that Pegasi from her homeworld could somwhow touch clouds, so I got the idea to pony-up and tried it out for myself." Her eyes were shining, "It really worked and I swear, nothing hits the spot better than a soft, fluffy cloud," Rainbow replied, grinning.

"That doesn't explain why ya didn't work like everyone else!" the farm girl demanded to know, still.

"Well, duh! I'm not the type of person for lame and boring stuff like working on a farm. I'm more for a real challenge, so I trained my flying skills and napped in order to kill time until Sunset comes back. You should know that, AJ," Rainbow explained in a sincere tone like she just told her friend that the young Apple's hair was blond.

Stubbornness was one of Applejack's trademarks and she would prove it, "Now wait just an apple-pickin' minute! Ah-"

Rarity had enough of their bickering, "Please, calm yourselves, darlings. There is no need to contend with each other. You should celebrate something much more important than 'flying' and 'farming'."

"Hey!" the duo shouted in sync, feeling insulted.

"Like for example the fact that we could finally provide ourselves with NEW CLOTHES! Truly, luck is on our side once again and Ponyville's shopping mile was better equipped than I feared and hoped for. We can go there whenever we want." Her enthusiasm took a dent, "Well, as long as we act like ruffians and act as if we have no connection to any form of magic that is." Joy returned to the fashionista, "But I found a spa! Some twins with the names of Lotus Blossom and Aloe recently opened their new business and I tried it out, for free no less. It was simply divine!" Rarity informed her friends in maniac glee.

She already changed her outfit and wore now a moderate purple skirt with black leggings beneath it, upon the skirt was the picture of her three blue lozenge-shaped diamonds. In addtion the Duelist Magic user had white high heels, the top was sapphire blue and at last fashionable royal purple fingerless gloves.

"Let me guess, this place is called Fru-Fru-Topia," Rainbow commented dryly. Applejack chuckled.

"Rainbow Dash! That isn't a way for a lady to talk!" Rarity lectured her friend. The chromatic girl groaned, scolding herself for triggering the fashionista's ire.

Then they noticed the uncharacteristic scowl on Fluttershy's face, though before someone could comment it, she spoke up, "I-I don't like Ponyville's inhabitants, it's a place full of... meanies. There are so many people who are biased and full of hatred for anything magical. Luviel and Zecora could never take a single step into town without risking their lives and we have to act like we don't like magic, too. I-it's so unfair," she lamented in frustration.

Only her friends witnessed this small outburst and knew how the animal lover felt.

The shy girl couldn't stand their stubborn behaviour. Yes, she knew why they thought negatively about magic, especially the refugees of Canterlot had a very good reason, but that wasn't an excuse for her to be against everything and everybody connected to magic. It made her sad that the people wouldn't let kindness into their hearts instead, in fact, she felt disappointed and their continued refusal wouldn't help in the end.

"Ah reckon we'll talk about Ponyville, too," Applejack mused neutrally.

Five minutes later, the doors of the barn opened and the last missing team entered the scene, finally.

Sunny Flare ran up to her friends, who screamed out of joy and embraced their fellow Shadowbolt and leader. Winona and Spike winced at the used frequency.

Cadence greeted her aunts and took her seat at the table.

Everyone in the barn observed, amused or confused, when Sunset Shimmer tried to go forward, Pinkie Pie was clinging to her left leg with force and purpose. A few of the girls laughed. Trixie, too.

Sunset facepalmed and had slightly red tinted cheeks because of the stares, "Pinkie Pie, please. I already said that I forgive you, believe me. Nothing bad happened."

She felt mentally exhausted from her friend's antics in the moment. Pinkie apologized at least 20 times since she showed Sunset her ‘affection’.

"I found that hilarious. I never thought that Shimmer could come this close to our skin color without magic," Midnight informed her twin with a grin.

"Midnight! That is not funny! Pinkie feels already bad enough about it as it is," Twilight lectured.

The unofficial conscience crossed her arms and turned her back, or so it looked in their common mindscape, "Hmpf. It's not like they could actually hear me. Besides, you are not mom. Or what do you want to do anyway? Ground me? Make me write an essay where I have to describe how bad I was and that 'friendship is ma-supposed to help?" the dark angel tried to correct herself. Twilight noticed.

"Wait. Did you just try to stop yourself from saying that friendship is magic?" Twilight laughed mentally. She found it cute.

"Shut up, Sparky! I will never say something pathetically cheesy like that in my entire life! I have higher standards than you!" Midnight answered, annoyed.

"Limestone. What happened with Pinkie?" Maud asked in her, for others typical, monotone voice. The girl in question tensed up a little, she knew that voice. It was the ‘Why-is-our-little-sister-sad?’ voice.

Maud took the protection of her younger siblings dead serious. When Pinkie, Twilight and the others recollected shortly the major events to this day for them from their point of view, she could see a cold unholy fury in Maud's eyes when their little sister reported about the plant monster that wanted to eat her. Later after they had a short discussion with each other and before they all split up to help on the farm, she and Maud promised their sister to protect Pinkie Pie when they were near her from any form of danger.

She slowly rolled her eyes, "Nothing happened, Maud. Pinks just wanted to show her friend here how much she missed her, but hugged the girl so hard that her color changed to nearly purple. Now Pinkie feels bad about it, that's all there is," Limestone assured dryly.

"Pinkie Pie. What is when we have the party you planned later, after the meeting? I think that would be a nice change of pace. With the Apple Family's blessing of course," Celestia suggested, trying not to chuckle at Sunset's predicament.

"Ah think that's a wonderful idea, dearie. Ah'm sure we could need a little break after them topics you want to talk about," Granny Smith agreed.

"Eeyup," Big Mac shared his wisdom.

This promise worked like a charm, Pinkie released her friend's leg and smiled over both ears. "Wuhu! Finally we can party!" Her great amount of joy earned a few chuckles.

"Thanks, Ms. Celestia," Sunset said.

"I think you are celebrating too early," Sunny said from her spot.

"What are you-Waah!" The Phoenix Magic user knew she forgot something important. First she was tackled by Pinkie, then by Twilight, but there were still the others. Well, at least they buried her under a pile of bodies all at once... OK, that sounded kind of dark.

"We missed you so much, Darling!" Rarity started happily with wet eyes.

"Sugarcube, ya've to tell us what stopped ya so lon'," Applejack spoke as the second.

"I'm sure you were all awesome. Even if that is hard to accomplish without me," Rainbow joked and polished her ego at the same time.

"Oh, I hope everyone is OK. The other students, too. I didn't see them until now. Where are they?" Fluttershy asked innocently.

The question gave Shining, Sunny and Sunset a bad taste in their mouths. The bitter flavor of defeat.

The former principals already feared this possibility since the three missed students didn't return with them. Luna tried to rescue the situation for the time being. "I think we should start the meeting. Please, sit down and let us begin."

Limestone took a spot within the chair row of her family. The Sparkles with the Pies after Cloudy Quartz and Igneous Rock proposed to sit with them, because they had more than enough place to spare.

The Rainbooms returned to their original spot, now all together once more. The seven friends couldn't be happier about this fact.

Celestia cleared her throat and opened the meeting, "Alright everyone. The last two days were filled with a lot of surprises for us. I think we should start with introducing us and show, if that is the case, our magic for all to see. We are, after all, in the same boat and getting to know each other better can’t do any harm. I will begin."

The magician stood up, "My name is Celestia, or Ms. Celestia if you wish to be formal, and I have Solar Magic at my disposal. It means I can control sunlight to a certain degree and use fire- and light magic based abilities." She summoned her armor, sword and shield and let two spheres of her sunlight-like magic fly around her. The demonstration ended and she transformed back.

"So cool!" Snip and Snails exclaimed with stars in their eyes. The rest who didn't see the former principal in action until now was similarly impressed.

Sunset reminded it much of her former mentor, buried feelings of guilt stirred, she sighed.

After this pattern, it would go for the round of introductions.

Luna's transformation caused awe like her sister's, especially her explanation of her ability to feel dreams and nightmares and to possibly influence them, she never tried it out, caused for astonished whispering.

Rainbow Dash seemed to have dirty thoughts about this ability, because Applejack blushed after her rival in spirit whispered something into her ear on this topic.

Cadence was next. Shining, Sunset and Celestia were very interested in her ability to fight darkness itself with her White Magic. Lemon asked herself if the woman's White Magic would work in an equal manner against her Shadow Magic.

Shining Armor's demonstration of Paladin Magic led to being embarrassed by his mother, much to his shame.

"Oh Shiny! You always wanted to be Cadence's knight, now you even have a fitting magic to realise that dream," Velvet said without an ounce of hidden mean bone. She meant it and was sincerely happy for her son.

Of course, most had a good chuckle or sometimes even a laugh at his expense.

"Mom, why..." he muttered to himself. His dad patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

Twilight Velvet, Night Light, Igneous Rock, Cloudy Quartz, Marble, Pinkie Pie, Cheerilee, the newly founded Destiny Crusaders and the other students of CHS introduced themselves with name and former occupation only. Pinkie wanted to sing a song to introduce herself, she had to be stopped. Much to her dismay. They had no magic of their own to show.

The next was Zecora. She explained her connection to the spirits of earth, fire, water and wind and that mojo was basically the troll equivalent to magic. In addition that she was an expert in making potions and tonics with herbs. Fluttershy, Apple Bloom and Marble were the most interested individuals. Luviel already knew about it after a long conversation with the shaman.

The Emerald Elf introduced herself in a manner the others, who met her before in Ponyville, never heard before, because she mentioned now for the first time the name of her kingdom and what her position in her society entailed exactly, "I wish you all a good evening and may Elandrial guide your path and grant you her blessing." She smiled thinly at the questioning looks she received, "Elandrial, to put light into the matter at hand, is the Goddess of Nature in the culture of us Emerald Elves." Sounds and nods of agreement echoed through the round, "But I digress. My name is Luviel Dawnseeker, I hail from the proud kingdom known as Ashall from beyond the Lunar Ocean and my position is what we call a 'Mana Weaver'. Mana Weavers are my kind's scholars in the field of magic and we are able to feel disturbances in so called 'Aether Veins', which are distributed over this entire world, invisible for most beings in existence, providing Terra with an endless and continually regenerating source of magic."

"Sensing disturbances?" Moondancer inquired greedily.

Luviel chuckled at the teenager's inquisitive nature, "Yes. I came to the USA first and foremost, because I discovered two great disruptions of magical nature and I just had to investigate them." She gazed to the east, "One seems to be located in the widths of the Celestial Sea and the second has its epicenter right here. Somewhere in Canterlot City or around the area, I presume." Her eyes softened significantly and she lightly bowed her head in respect, “From what I understood, the city was burned down to the ground and many of its people slaughtered by elementals of fire . Please accept my deepest condolence.”

The former principals and the Rainbooms glanced shortly at each other. Sunset Shimmer was greatly worried about the last piece of information.

And still. Twilight and Moondancer wrote down notes in a nearly unnatural speed to keep up with all the new knowledge they received. The paler of the two girls borrowed paper and pencil from the always prepared Twilight, whose pencil nearly broke from used pressure because of the shock when she heard that Luviel specifically looked for the portal to Equestria.

The elf crossed her arms thoughtfully, her eyes roaming over the group, "But that is not all, we Emerald Elves found out that not only magic of our own realm supplies this world, but an unknown source from another plane entirely, too. Do you know anything about it by chance?"

Celestia wanted to say something in order to deflect, but Sunset was faster, "Y-yes. I know what this 'disturbance' in Canterlot is, and about this second source, I just hoped to keep it a secret for a little longer. Well, if it even still stands that is. I can tell you about it later when it's my turn, alright?" Everyone stared at her, some knowingly, the rest just very confused.

Luviel sighed in slight disappointment, "Very well." She accepted the girl's idea.

Limestone raised her hand next, "I am Limestone Pie and I have Warden Magic. As the name maybe suggests it a little, I'm able to support others with spells, like for example granting them for a short time extra speed, agility, strength and other things or protect them with my mostly defensive skills. I have offensive abilities, too, but not much. My strongest ability is called: The Warden's Last Stand." She sounded very proud of her mentioned ability.

"What can it do, Limey? Huh? Huh? Huh?!" Pinkie wanted to know. Her sister didn't talk about this ability of hers until this point.

"Calm down, Pinks. It drains me of my entire magic reservoirs and I'll most likely not be able to move after the use of this spell for a while, so it's kind of like a last option thing. It fills my body with the undying will to protect and preserve and grants me seven seconds immunity against nearly everything from what I understand. Of course I have no idea if there are things in the world which could ignore the spell, but in normal cases, magical and physical harm can't damage my body in the timeframe of these seven seconds. I could run through a fire with my ability on and won't be burned alive for that short time," Maud expounded smugly.

Not only a few jaws dropped at the description of such an ability. Some were a little jealous right now.

"Interesting. I didn't think that such a powerful spell existed. Even if only for a few seconds, pretty impressive, still," Cadence had to admit. Many could just nod their head at her statement.

"Hi. My name is Maud Pie," a few chuckles were heard. Most never talked with the young woman until now and didn't expect her to sound this... emotional, "I can use Stone Magic. Watch."

Maud opened a small fissure on the ground and let thorns of rock shout out of it in high speed, before she let them retreat back into the earth beneath them and closed the holes on this way, crudely.

It looked like nothing happened from her little display, except the destroyed deck boards. The Apples were highly displeased and Igneous looked like he was shortly before a seizure. But before he could demand an explanation from his normally well-mannered daughter, she said, "Don't worry. I will fix that," Maud promised.

The eldest of the four sisters let some rocks come out of the already created holes and levitated them to her side, they were encased in a light gray aura of magic. Suddenly, like with the sharpest knife, the stones were cut in exactly the size and shape of slabs and put perfectly into the formerly created openings, closing them perfectly.

"Well, color me brown and call me a horse. That's some fine work. Ah’m mighty impressed," Granny Smith complimented.

"Humans and their equine-related idioms," Sunset whispered, shaking her head in defeat. Only her friends heard her and chuckled, Applejack looked a little sheepish.

The cowgirl, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap and Sunny Flare received a lot of cheers and positive words of admiration for their abilities.

In the menatime, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo discussed quietly with each other how they could use these demonstrations to find their own special talents in magic.

Fluttershy's magic was proclaimed as the ‘most beautiful’ by Luviel and Zecora. Such sincere compliments made her feel warm, happy and nervous at the same time. She just thanked them in a low voice in the end.

But when Trixie saw how Sugarcoat could use Illusion Magic, she knew that she just had found her personal arch nemesis. It was always her dream to be a stage magician and now this fiend could use a brand of magic that should be owned by the GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie!

Twilight showed her Arcane Magic in form of her Arcane Spheres and the portal that brought her team back to the farm. People were almost euphoric about this ability, because that meant that Twilight could open portals to venture between two points.

"Ms. Sparkle, this ability of yours can help us greatly in the future," Luna commented approvingly.

"Thanks, Ms. Luna," the teenager replied humbly.

Midnight snorted, "Seriously? This is only possible because of me and everyone gives you the credit for it. That is like plagiarism on a deeper level, because we are in the same body. As your conscience, I will make you feel bad about it! Consider it your punishment," the teenager cackled madly.

"What?! You know as well as I do that we can't tell the others about you! They would just see you as something evil and try to erase you on some way. So could you please not do that?" Twilight gave her twin imagined puppy dog eyes.

"Oh no!" Midnight started in fake-fear, "You found my only weakness, puppy dog eyes! What could save me from my increasing level of guilt?! Oh, wait. I know the answer. I just don't care." She cackled anew like a maniac.

But Twilight could have sworn, from the smile she saw in her mind, that this was possibly Midnight's way of showing affection. So that meant that her twin was annoying people she liked? Who knew.

The magician locked eyes with Sunset Shimmer, who gave her a look that clearly promised a talk in private. She was onto them! OK, maybe she just noticed that the portals were made out of the same colored magic Midnight used. The dark angel agreed.

Sour Sweet just spoke about her Emotion Magic, but she didn't want to show it because of the effects it could cause. Pinkie volunteered instantly and said that she always wanted to ‘feel silly’. Her parents and siblings weren't sure if they should allow it but decided to trust her judgement.

"Alright. Prepare yourself!" Sour's eyes changed from their original moderate indigo to white and she shot a beam of magic, in the same color, into Pinkie's chest. The girl didn't react at first, but suddenly her hair went flat, her skin became a darker shade of gray pink and she hid herself behind Maud.

"What did you do to our sister?!" Limestone demanded to know furiously.

Sour held up her hands in a surrendering motion, "There is nothing to worry about. This is what happens when I use my magic, because I can let other people feel a lot of different states of emotions, depending on the color of my eyes. The white beam represents 'fear' and the effect will stop soon, trust me. Another example is dark blue, for 'happiness', " Sour Sweet finished her explanation.

Zecora was sure she understood it correctly, "That means you used something akin 'confusion' when we encountered this terrible beast in the Everfree? Though I can't recall the coloration of your eyes."

The Emotion Magic user nodded briefly, "Yes, my eyes were royal purple when I attacked its sight and hearing."

Besides the two mentioned emotions, she had the following possibilities to choose from still. 'Red' meant 'anger', 'green' was 'envy', and 'dark blue' caused 'calmness'. Maybe she could discover more in time.

"That was fun!" Pinkie declared happily after the spell lost its temporal power.

"What are you talking about? You were all Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

The pink-haired girl in question looked with annoyance at her childhood friend, feeling a little insulted.

"I know! I was like Flutterble! Or was it Marbleshy? Anyway, I knew for myself the whole time that something was wrong and that I wasn't all sad and frowny for real, but I couldn't do ANYTHING to change what I felt. Oh! Oh! Soury, your magic would be the hit in a party game!" the hyperactive party lover expounded excitedly.

"Uh, thanks?" Sour Sweet wasn't sure how to react to that plan.

"BonBon! Do you know what that means?! You can finally party and have fun, too. You just need to get shot with a few missiles of happiness! And that all without drugs!" Lyra shouted excitedly, causing an embarrassing scene for the girl in question.

"W-what?! No!" BonBon replied angrily. She could have fun without getting shot by mind-influencing magic, thank you very much!

Celestia coughed to gain the group's attention, "I think we should proceed," she stated with an amused smile of her own at the interesting ideas around Sour's magic.

"Only Moondancer, Lemon and Sunset are left," Sugarcoat helped out.

"Oh! Me next! I'm Lemon Zest and I have... well, magic that could be seen as 'special'," Lemon started unsurely.

Except her friends and Zecora, nobody knew about her magic, she never told anyone else. The troll shaman suggested to keep quiet about it until the meeting to explain everything before misunderstandings could happen.

"Don't worry, Lemon! We got your back!" Indigo proclaimed determinedly.

Sugarcoat, Sour and Sunny, even though she didn't have a single clue what they were even talking about, supported their friend’s statement.

"Indeed. I would like to warn all present. Our young friend here has a very unique form of magic. Some would even call it 'evil', but it isn't. So keep an open mind and don't act without thinking first. Otherwise you will have to face me," Zecora warned darkly. It sent chills down the spines of most. Luna, Celestia and Sunset were even more interested now what kind of magic Lemon had.

"My magic is called Shadow Magic," Lemon revealed nervously.

She summoned four black walls made of darkness around her just in case and a Shadow Lance in her right hand.

"Eep!" screamed Fluttershy and Marble in fear at the same time and hid themselves behind Sunset and Maud.

"How fascinating, it is truly magic, consisting out of the element of darkness, but I don't feel any kind of corruption or evil intent," Luviel analyzed thoughtfully.

She could feel the ‘imprint’ used magic caused as an Emerald Elf, nefarious intentions made this imprint stronger and easier to find. There was nearly none. ‘Shadow Magic’ was harmless, Luviel concluded in her mind.

"This is incredible! I only read about stories where someone who used that kind of magic was always insane, corrupted or had the intent to conquer and destroy. You must be the first user I heard about who isn't insane in some way or was overpowered by the magic itself," Sunset marveled at Lemon.

She knew how Dark Magic felt like from her time as a she-demon and Luviel was right. Yes, Lemon's magic emitted an own aura, but it was just calm, waiting. Not wild, untamed and ready to corrupt and destroy everything like it was the case with the tainted magic the tiara granted her at the Fall Formal. When she put the Element of Magic upon her head the magic decided that she was unworthy to wield its true power and corrupted her instead. It burned the former Unicorn, quite literally in some way.

Sunset remembered the pain, how she was kicked out of her own body, trapped behind the very power she sought. Not able to communicate with the world any longer. Only her ‘demon’, her awoken and incarnated desires, ambitions and dreams developed an own existence and was in charge of her body. The pain was unbearable, she just wanted it to stop.

Luckily, Princess Twilight and her friends managed to safe her from herself at that time.

No. Lemon Zest wasn't evil in the slightest, she had control over her darkness, it seemed. Her Shadow Magic wasn't nefarious from what Sunset could judge. Everything was fine.

"I believe you. Luviel is right, your magic feels calm, tamed and not foul or dark like it tried to consume everything, including the wielder himself. You have a very rare form of magic at your disposal, Lemon. But that is all, nothing I would label as 'evil'," Sunset said confidently.

"A-are you s-sure, Sunset?" Fluttershy asked from behind her back.

The magician nodded her head in confirmation. That calmed her friend down, she would trust in Sunset's judgement, it eased the situation for their friends and the remaining people, too.

"Hm. When Ms. Dawn-I mean Luviel and Ms. Shimmer both say that your magic is fine, Ms. Zest, and there is nothing to worry about, then I will happily follow their verdict," Luna agreed, still a little cautious.

"Indeed," Celestia supported with a warm smile in the young girl's direction.

Some were still worried, but they all thought it would be better to trust into the opinions of the two persons present, who seemed to have the most experience in the field of magic.

It was Moondancer's turn.

The teenager played a little bit with a strand of her hair, "Well, my name is Moondancer and I can use Constructor Magic, it means I know how to create magi-tech, sort of, and how my magic and specific resources interact with each other." She blushed, "I am certain that I have an idea how to create new communication devices, but-"

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash shouted in excitement, pumping her fist.

"But... there is one problem. My magic never covered the basics of magical theory. So I think that my power is more something like a pioneer field, because it has to do with objects, which are partly very complicated in their creation, but need obviously the basics to be crafted and later be used in the correct way." Moondancer gazed imploringly at Sunset, "Can you help me out, Sunset? I know of your... heritage and that you have the most life experiences with magic in general. So, please?" she queried hopefully.

Twilight clapped with her hands in excitement, "That would be amazing! I tried to help Moony, but I never could do anything, because I have no idea of magical theory either. I only know how to use Arcane Magic, but that works mostly on instinct and with careful training. We could write the first book about magic on Earth! A research paper! Oh, that's so exciting!" She didn't need much time to notice how everybody looked at her in boredom, in Rainbow Dash's and Scootaloo's case, interest or amusement at her antics.

"Twily, you are adorkable like always," Cadence commented, holding back her laugher. Twilight groaned.

"Egghead stuff..." Rainbow Dash muttered to herself.

Sunset jabbed the side of her chromatic friend with an elbow and voiced her own thoughts, "Well. I do see similarities between magic of humans and Unicorns. For example that our foci are more the hands in most cases and a Unicorn has to use the horn. Or that we have similar states of magical exhaustion, just to count two examples. Yes, I will help you Moondancer," Sunset replied smilingly to her fellow scholar.

"Thank you! Thank you! Finally, I can start to actually use my magic then." Moondancer couldn't wait to start.

"I think some us are a little confused right now, girl. Did you just say 'magic of humans and Unicorns'?" Luviel inquired with an raised eyebrow, completely lost.

Sunset breathed deeply in and out. Now it was time to be open up to everyone, they deserved it. But still, Sunset hoped that it would end well for her and Equestria. She didn't want to risk anything. For that matter, she should write Princess Twilight about everything that transpired. The magical diary was in the room she got when they first reached Sweet Apple Acres and it remained there untouched for the entire duration of their stay until now. There were enough reasons why she had never any time to write, one situation hunted the next, but Princess Twilight needed to know about it, too. When Luviel felt the portal, then there was a chance that others could, too and surely not everybody had friendly intentions, Sunset was sure of that.

"I think there is no point in prolonging it any longer. Please bear with me, because what I'm about to tell you will sound insane, but it's the honest truth. It will explain what kind of disturbance you felt, Ms. Luviel," the Phoenix Magic user began.

"Please, only Luviel. And it's fine. I will listen to your tale, Sunset Shimmer," the Emerald Elf assured with a warm and calming smile.

"Ok, here it goes..." she muttered under breath to gain courage.

Sunset explained everything from the very beginning. That she was born as a Unicorn in the lands of Equestria on the world Equus, she told them what she knew about the Pony tribes, even the Thestrali, and then there were the Alicorns. She didn't tell any names yet, only what they represented, proclaimed princesses as a combination of the Pony tribes.

Afterwards Sunset came clean regarding her downfall, how she was the prized pupil of the ruler of Equestria and the most promising Unicorn of her time. How she started to demand things and saw herself as superior to others because of her natural talent for magic itself, what was very, very rare, even for a Unicorn. And at last, the time when Sunset demanded to be made a princess from her teacher.

"I-I had everything! And I bucked it up like a stupid little filly, because I demanded to be a princess! I proclaimed that I deserved it, that it was my right to rule besides my teacher as her equal, maybe even her superior. I was completely blinded by my own ambitions," Sunset said with a teary voice. Fluttershy hugged her.

"I see... but how were you able to reach Terra from your world?" Luviel asked in a soothing voice. She saw that this young gi-mare was in pain, haunted by her past.

Sunset told the group about the magical mirror and how that just strengthened her resolve to become a princess, because the artifcact showed her future as an Alicorn, a princess in her own right. Her teacher told her that the mirror showed the potential future of Ponies who looked into it, but when she asked more about it, her mentor told her off. Worse, piece for piece, the princess started to spend less and less time with Sunset and said that she wouldn't be ready for the next step in her studies as long as she didn't try to make friends, to be social with others of her age.

She continued the tale with her progressing desire to prove herself to the princess, that she visited the forbidden section in the royal library and read books about the darker arts of magic, ‘Dark Magic’ as it was labeled, and that she was caught one day by her mentor, who in this moment decided to dismiss her as the ruler's personal student. The Unicorn couldn't accept it, she couldn't accept that her former mentor dared to take away her future, her destiny to become a princess.

That the princess refused to tell her anything about the mirror since the day she showed it to Sunset was just more of a reason for her to work alone. It proved to her former self that she could solely count on herself to achieve her goals, nopony else.

In the moment Sunset used the word ‘nopony’ she received strange looks and had to explain ponyisms to some degree. Fluttershy, Sunny, since the camp at White Tails, Cheerilee, Sweetie Belle, Rarity and Cadence found it adorable that Ponies used such words at all.

It was a breaking point. She didn't know what the mirror really was nor where it would lead, the only information Sunset had at that time was that the mirror connected Equestria with another world every 30 moons for three days. In the moment she was caught she knew that the mirror was active, one of the very few fruits of her forbidden research. Sunset told them how she ran away from her guards after she attacked them and jumped through the mirror, reaching a new world. Earth.

"Wait! You just jumped through some magical mirror without even knowing what awaited you? You couldn't even be sure if the portal connected to a safe place and not some world where you would die or to a dark abyss or whatever else could exist!" Octavia pointed out in disbelief.

Sunset's face copied the color of her hair, "What can I say? I didn't care at that time. I was convinced that I would find my true destiny and get closer to my goal to become a princess in the other world and jumped through it," the Unicorn-turned-human admitted, embarrassed.

That earned her a few shaking heads.

"What was the name of this princess? You told me some basics about Equestria after the Fall Formal when we had a long overdue conversation, but not much more." Sunset's records were always bothering the former principal of CHS and didn't add up. Most details were hazy at best, but she thought the authorities were informed and knew why. So Celestia let the matter rest, "But now we need to know everything in order to see the greater picture and potentially understand what happened and why. Only then are we able to come to an informed and well thought out conclusio," Celestia clarified her point of view.

"Agreed," Zecora supported in a heartbeat. Most of all those present signaled the same opinion.

Of course the question about the identity of her former mentor had to come from Celestia of all people, much to Sunset's frustration. She had hoped that she could slowly lead them to the revelation of a parallel world and that some people here had immortal, celestial body moving, princesses as counterparts.

It just opened an entirely new can of worms. Or more, to use another human phrase, it would open Pandora's box. Sunset sighed in fateful acceptance. How would they react? How would especially Luna react when she knew that her Equestrian counterpart had the past of an insane megalomaniac who wanted nothing more than to bring eternal night over the world just to force the inhabitants of Equestria to appreciate her night?

It would have led to a frozen world without any sunlight. Plants like animals needed the sun to live. The young woman wondered that Nightmare Moon never thought about the fact that her greatest wish would have led to the death for everypony in the long run.

Nothing against the hard past of Princess Luna of course, but when Sunset thought about it, it sounded kind of like a tantrum of a foal, though she could relate with her own past very well and that you didn't really think clearly when you were convinced that you were wronged was no secret for her, either.

"You are right, but you won't like everything you'll hear and what I have to tell you.” Sunset shook her head in resignation, “To make you understand everything I have to explain to you one of the most famous tales of Equestrian history. Most of it started with an old mare's tale. The tale of the 'Mare in the Moon'."

Sunset started with telling everyone the basics of the tale. How there were once two Alicorn sisters and that the older sister raised the sun and brought the day, whereas the younger one raised the moon and brought the night. Both ruled in harmony for a long time as co-rulers over Equestria and protected the Ponies, their beloved subjects-

"Ha! Are you kidding? You want Trixie to believe such an impossibility?" the stage magician asked mockingly, huffing to add effect.

The Unicorn-turned-human gave the teenager a deadpan, “Trixie, I don't care if you choose to believe me or not. It's just how it works in my homeworld. I know that Earth moves around the sun and the moon around Terra, what causes day and night to occur here. However, on Equus the sun and moon have to be raised and lowered to create an alternation of day and night," Sunset replied dryly.

"I have the impression you speak the truth. Are these sisters real goddesses?" Zecora asked sincerely interested.

"Not really like most of you would imagine, they are not ‘gods’ like most people on this world view one. They are not omnipotent, nor are they much different from other Ponies. They are immortal, yes, but besides that and their powers, they eat, sleep, laugh, cry, have hobbies, quirks and behave much like normal mortals. Obviously, they are wiser than most because of their long lives and the experiences they made during the centuries. They were and are to this very day loved and partly even worshipped by the population, though the later is not something they like," Sunset expounded to prevent misunderstandings.

"I think that would answer the questions most of us had in mind for now. Go ahead, Sunset," Celestia encouraged.

The former Unicorn proceeded, embellishing the tale out with informations she knew to give her listeners a better understanding of the context, because the original didn't explain very much. Only the basics of how the Mare in the Moon came to be in a shortened and simplified version.

She told everyone about the germinating jealousy of the younger sister on the Sun Princess and her growing resentment over the years, because the Ponies of Equestria started to see the night more and more as something dark and dangerous to be feared because of the unknown which lurked in the shadows of the night. Instead they preferred and valued the older princess who brought the day. It affected the younger ruler's mind in a negative way.

Sunset explained how the Princess of the Night pleaded at one point to let the moon only be a while longer on the horizon so that their subjects could see the true beauty of her work, but the older sister refused every single request of such nature. Worse, she ignored her sibilng's growing tendencies to be more isolated or that the Night Princess didn't even open the Night Court at times. It wasn't a loss for the Ponies either, because nopony came and visited the court during the night anyway. The elder ruler just dismissed everything as a ‘childish phase’ that would be over soon enough.

The Phoenix Magic user informed them that the Alicorn of the Sun never forgave herself for what happened afterwards and made herself responsible in the end for the upcoming events, because she didn't listen or completely dismissed her little sister's plight. She had basked so much in the adoration of her Ponies, the foolishness of a young mare. The fame she received had turned her head, so that she was blind to the truth right in front of her very eyes.

Or so it was once explained to her from Princess Celestia herself.

“When being over 4000 years old to that time could be considered young," Sunset thought ironically.

The younger sibling meddled with dark arts and fell prey to the Nightmare Forces. They corrupted and twisted her very being in the end. She couldn't even accept it anymore in this state of mind that most Ponies of Equestria slept during the night, as it was in their nature, or that their world needed the sun to make living on it possible. Nightmare Moon was born.

A great battle followed between the siblings. The bringer of the night declared that there could only be one true princess and that only one of them should rule over Equestria. So she challenged her elder sister for the throne. Most parts of the castle were destroyed in process during the confrontation and many innocent lives were lost in the crossfire, because two powerful Alicorns clashed.

The older sister didn't want to hurt her only family too badly, she held back. An almost deadly mistake from her side. The corrupted Nightmare Moon knew no such restrictions and assaulted her sibling without any mercy or remorse. Severely injured, the elder princess was forced to use a mighty weapon of their kingdom, which was normally only used to defend, never to attack. Six magical artifacts that could normally never be used from one being alone, because one had to embody a special virtue to use the representing artifact. Furthermore, the Element Bearer had to be connected through bounds of friendship with other wielders in order to have access to the Elements' full potential.

Laugher, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness and Magic, the Elements of Harmony. In sheer desperation, the princess of the sun had to abuse the elements and overpowered them with her will and magic to banish Nightmare into the Moon for the next 1000 years to protect Equestria from a gruesome fate. As penalty for what she did, the elements punished the mare and cut off their link with the older sister, permanently.

But nothing could be a worse punishment than to know that she was responsible for banishing her own family for the next 1000 years into the very moon her sibling loved and held dearly. The legend of the Mare in the Moon was created.

Sunset's audience was fascinated by the story, even Trixie who tried to look unimpressed, without success, but a few snickers were heard. For example when Sunset used ponyisms like ‘anypony’ or ‘everypony’ or when she illuminated the concept of the Elements of Harmony and how they essentially worked. Moreover the magician explained what they could do, in what kind of situations they were used and where the Elements were coming from.

For obvious reasons she didn't tell anything about the effects they had on herself and how they had influenced her.

In the moment Sunset mentioned the name of Nightmare Moon, she looked briefly at the human versions of the princesses of Equestria and noticed, to her great confusion, that they looked deeply shocked at her direction. Did the name 'Nightmare Moon' mean something to them? How was that possible? She was sure that the former vice-principal couldn't have had any magic related incident like her counterpart, so why?

Limestone worded her opinion in her own way unique way, "So let me get this straight. You Ponies have six magical artifacts from some mysterious magical crystal tree which represent some virtues and they shoot a literal 'beam of friendship' at every opponent the bearers see as a threat? And these 'Elements of Harmony' can 'purify', 'banish', or 'turn to stone' even the most strongest and evil beings or safe someone from any form of corruption?" she asked with a twitching eye.

"Uh, yes?" Sunset replied unsurely.

"Are you kidding me?! These 'Elements' sound like some deus ex machina tools straight out of a cartoon! I mean, come on! You seriously wanna tell me that you ponies just shoot with friendship around you when something dangerous happens to save the day? Every time? I call shenanigans!" Limestone exclaimed, annoyed.

The girl wasn't angry about it per say, but she rarely heard anything more ridiculous in her life.

"I must confess, I wouldn't use Limestone's choice of words, but that kind of 'problem solving' does sound a little like something you would only know from a saturday morning show for children," Velvet commented with a polite smile. Some people nodded their heads in support for the former speakers.

Shining laughed at his mother's words and shared his own, "From what I heard about you Ponies and now these Elements you sound like cute-looking, friendship-loving critters straight out of a little girl's dream. Next you are telling us that you like it to break out into random musical numbers," he joked.

"Is Shining serious? We witnessed more musical numbers since the Friendship Games than in all of our years before combined. Even you do that on occasions, Sparky," Midnight said with a deadpan.

Twilight chuckled quietly, embarrassed, it was true.

Sunset refused to answer, having slightly red cheeks, because it hit much too close to home and thought defensively, "Are you serious? Here on the human world people break out into 'random musical numbers', too. Even Cinch had one at the end of the Friendship Games for Celestia's sake! And she's more the exact opposite of someone who would like such things... But the girl didn't want to argue this topic openly anyway, it wasn't important.

Then again, it wouldn't really surprise her when Cinch had made a specific rule at Crystal Prep which said something like, "The initiation of a flash mob and other kinds of musical numbers are forbidden!"

The magician continued for all to hear, "What you forget is that emotions and even virtues play an important role, too and are partly responsible for how effective spells play out in the end. They are a part of magic. For example people who are corrupted by magic gain strength by fueling their spells with fear and hatred. That being said, in Equestria 'love' and 'friendship' are indeed literal useable forces which can be harnessed in forms of power," Sunset answered calmly.

"Ms. Shimmer is right. My magic works similar. My emotions for others, mostly my love for everyone dear to me, can fuel my White Magic with more energy if necessary and strengthen my spells," Cadence supported the young magician after she awoke from her shocked state.

She didn't expected that her aunty's old guild name or at least a part of it would be connected in Sunset's world to such a dark event.

"Indeed. I saw more than enough situations where the tides of battle were turned in the last moment because of faith, determination, compassion, loyalty, love or other emotions and displays of strong character traits. Raw power alone is not always a guarantor for winning a fight of magic. Victory from the brink of defeat can definitely occur if your conviction is strong enough to defy the odds," Luviel agreed, nodding.

He chuckled in embarrassment, “I guess you are right. I'm sorry for joking about your people in such a manner, Sunset," Shining Armor apologized. The redhead smiled in acknowledgement.

"It's fine. I know that Ponies act much more dovish than most. Let's just move on," Sunset assured kindly.

"Besides, from what I understood we used our own Elements in several situations to Pony-up and saved the day. I think that our bond with each other was able in the past to generate such power was extremely awesome in its own right. We totally kicked the Siren's butts and saved Camp Everfree!" Rainbow Dash informed energetically, trying to sound optimistic although the co-directors of the camp were found dead in the chimera's cave.

This time she remembered not to mention Sunset’s and Twilight's ‘episodes’. The Rainbooms, Spike, the other students from the Camp and the former principals of CHS smiled in agreement. Even if very unconvincing. They were thinking about what Sunset said, still.

Zecora, Cheerilee, Luviel and the Shadowbolts winced strongly at that statement, Lemon and Cheerilee looked down sadly. They still had to inform everyone in progress of this meeting about everything that transpired in Ponyville and Camp Everfree. Most importantly, about the Adepts of Khom and what they did there.

"You said these Alicorn princesses were immortal and that your former mentor would be a princess, too. So... is this Princess of the Sun the mentioned ruler you studied under?" Twilight asked. She didn't know who the former mentor was, like the rest of the girls, yet.

Sunset nodded sadly and a little ashamed, what she hoped nobody noticed, "Yes, she had to banish her little sister to the moon for 1000 years, but a few years ago she returned on the longest day of the thousandth year at the 1000th summer solstice, like it was predicted in the old mare's tale. Six mares worked together, proved themselves worthy this day and managed to awake the slumbering Elements of Harmony as a result. They ventured into the Equestrian version of the Everfree Forest, overcame all challenges and became the new bearers in the ancient Castle of the Two Sisters-"

"Why 'ancient Castle of the Two Sisters'? Did this princess leave her former home or what?" Sugarcoat interrupted neutrally.

"Yes, after she banished her sister Cel-the princess grieved about the loss of her sibling and decided to leave their former castle because of the bad memories connected to this place, especially the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Her former home in the Everfree Forest was abandoned and the Ponies founded the new capital of Equestria in the center of the kingdom... Canterlot. The seat of power to this day," Sunset replied, preparing herself for the incoming awkwardness.

Every listener, who didn't know about the parallel world situation which Equus and Terra shared, gave Sunset a lost stare like she was crazy. The Phoenix Magic user ignored it masterfully.

"There is something else I don't understand, Darling. When the Elements of Harmony are so important to Equestria, why did your ruler leave them behind in her old castle in the first place? Was she never worried that someone or should I say somepony-" Sunset pouted adorably, "-could steal the artifacts so that they would be lost for your society? I'm just not sure, wouldn't it have been much more intelligent to take them with her, instead of leaving them behind to collect dust in the next 1000 years in a dangerous muddy forest? She wasn't able to use them anymore, that I understand, but couldn't she have hidden them somewhere in Canterlot and wait until new potential Element Bearers came around?" Rarity commented in wonder.

It felt like a hole of logic for her, as a fan of good romance- and romance detective books, she couldn't ignore such an obvious faux pas from the princess. Did she cast protection spells to make them theft proofed? Didn't she want to see the Elements anymore, because they reminded her too much of her lost sister? The tragedy!

Instead of Sunset, Celestia answered this time, "I think the reason why the princess did that was that, as Sunset already explained, the new bearers of the Elements had to prove themselves worthy first of the very virtue they could potentially represent. So she left the Elements behind to ensure for one that nobody knew about them. 1000 years are a long time, after all, and I'm sure, like Nightmare Moon, the Elements were reduced in their importance to a myth, nothing more. In addition, the princess surely left the Elements alone in the castle on purpose without telling any of her subjects about it to ensure that, as you already mentioned, Rarity, nobody would get the idea to steal them for selfish reasons." She glanced knowingly at Sunset, "I would have done the same in her stead."

The Equestrian was certain by now that the former principal knew.

Luviel stood up from her artificial seat, drawing everybody's attention, "There was another hazard. By keeping the very artifacts close to her, which posed the greatest threat to the ruler's little sister, she risked the lives of her subjects on this way once more, like it happened in their first battle prior. A fight in the new capital would have started, with unknown consequences. By keeping the Elements of Harmony far away from any civilization, deep in the Everfree Forest, she made sure that no innocent lives were endangered when Nightmare Moon returns, at least for the time being."

Celestia locked eyes with the former Unicorn, an unreadable expression graced her face. It made Sunset nervous, because she noticed how the solar knight emphasized some words, like she already had an idea about who the younger magician was talking about and just waited patiently, like her former mentor did in some of their lessons, for Sunset to come forward on her own, "Am I correct with my assumptions, Sunset?" having the unsettling smile, still.

Worries confirmed.

"I-I think? I never asked why she did what she did and I don't think other Ponies have, either. I guess everypony just believed in her and that the princess knew what she was doing," Sunset replied blushingly, because she felt stupid that she never asked Princess Celestia nor Princess Twilight these questions.

No giggles this time because of her speech pattern, good.

"I still have problems to imagine you as a small unicorn. I have to admit everything you told us of your society until now sounds so... wondrously," BonBon confessed.

"The whole world goes down the drain and your worldview is shattered by being informed about the existence of another world with colorful magical talking ponies? Your priorities are amazing, girl. Which sane person would worry about deadly predators or fire elementals, if the danger of cute looking equines is knocking on the door, right?" Sour Sweet commented in amusement. BonBon grumbled and Lyra pat her best friend on the back as a sign of condolence.

"Soury is right! It could be much worse, right Flash?" Pinkie Pie asked the blue-haired teenager with a big grin.

"W-what are you talking about, Pinkie?" Flash asked, baffled.

"I mean, duh! You were first together with Shimmy, who is in fact a unicorn and broke up with her later on, because she was a MeanMoodyPants, having her special days 24/7 before the Fall Formal-"

"Hey!" Sunset exclaimed with glowing cheeks.

"Then you got the hots for pony Twi, who is always in Equestria, obviously. So you fell two times for ponies, but never for a human. You must have the worst luck in existence, or that is all planned and your kink. No judging. I mean maaaaybe you like it exotic and ‘wild’.” Pinkie laughed, “Get it? Because they are actual ponies and-"

"OK, OK, I get it! Sunset gave me already the advice at Camp Everfree that I should forget the other Twilight. I guess it just never got through to me or I didn't want to accept it that she was actually a pony princess from another world," Flash explained awkwardly.

Derpy patted his shoulder in a comforting manner, like always.

Rainbow, Indigo, Lemon, Scootaloo and Limestone had to contain themselves, because Pinkie Pie had set up Flash in a completely innocent tone and chipper attitude. Most of the rest just smiled politely, because they were used to the girl's antics.

"And I'm told that I would be the blunt one," she whispered dryly. Nobody heard her.

"I think it is time to ask the most important question. What are you talking about? Another Twilight Sparkle? Another Everfree Forest? Another Canterlot? What do you mean?" Night Light asked, very interested and a little frustrated to be left out of the loop.

They all looked at Sunset for an explanation once more, the other Rainbooms more apologetic, but they trusted their friend in this case to do it on her own. Despite their own knowledge in this matter.

Sunset took a deep breath and delivered.

She told them about how Terra and Equus were actually parallel worlds, mirrors of each other. How every, or at least most, cities, lands and persons, no matter if human or something else by now, had with a very high chance a counterpart somewhere on Sunset's homeworld. It followed a brief description of the Element Bearers of Equestria, how they were the Pony counterparts of Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, what tribe they belonged to and how they purified the Princess of the Night from her corruption as Nightmare Moon so that the Royal Sisters may rule together once more.

Afterwards she explained the concept of a Cutie Mark... Sunset didn't understand at all why so many found the name funny. It was just how they were called.

Most people questioned immediately how their own counterpart looked like, but Sunset couldn't satisfy the curiosity of the Shadowbolts, Cheerilee or a few of her fellow students, because she never met one of them in her time in Equestria or found it out. She didn't question Princess Twilight either in one of her letters, so that counted as a reason, too.

"So the Great and Powerful Trixie is a most talented unicorn? No surprise there. I'm sure my counterpart is one of the most magical Unicorns of all time!" Trixie boasted arrogantly.

"Not really," Sunset thought in boredom.

The last what she heard was that Twilight's newest student, Starlight Glimmer, befriended the Pony version of Trixie. Sunset found it very amusing how the princess was annoyed and complained a lot that Starlight did more things with Trixie in the last time instead of with Twilight and her friends. The Alicorn called it a: ‘Disruption of a healthy student-teacher-relationship in the most important phase’.

Well, even the infamous Princess of Friendship could be jealous it seemed.

"I have to admit. This Starlight Glimmer sounds like a very strong Unicorn. I mean she managed to finish Starswirl's time travel spell to stop Rainbow Dash from performing her first Sonic Rainboom as a filly. That's not shabby at all. Maybe she's interested one day in a one on one match against me," Sunset thought gleefully. She was maybe ‘redeemed’ now, but enjoyed a good challenge in form of a sparring match every time of the day.

They, Princess Twilight and Sunset, didn't update each other since a long time, now that the former Unicorn thought about it. Hopefully was everything alright in Equestria. Well, she was sure that the situation there was much better than here on Terra.

It surprised Sunset that Luna and Celestia didn't say anything on that topic, they just... accepted it? Yes, they locked shortly eyes with each other from what the magician saw and nothing more happened. How odd.

The former dean didn't hold back though and voiced her opinion about her counterpart, "Shining and I are married and we have a d-daughter?! And we are rulers of an entire empire?! That's ridiculous! Shining could maybe organize military or police if he puts his heart into it and I'm good in babysitting, with teenagers and can handle adults, if necessary, too. But ruling an own kingdom?! There is NO way we could do something like that!" Alone the thought of having to survive and maneuver through the cruelest battlefield of existence known as politics created a queasy feeling in Cadence.

"Wait! That means I'm an aunt! Well, technically my counterpart is, but still! I'm an aunt, I'm an aunt, I'm an aunt..." Twilight was shocked and excited at the same time. Repeating the last part like a mantra.

"We are aunts... that sounds so strange when I say it out loud," Midnight added thoughtfully.

"I wish our Shiny would finally find the courage to ask officially for Cadence's hand in marriage," Velvet commented, a little envious that Night and she weren't grandparents already like their counterparts. Her husband only chuckled.

"Geesh. Was I reacting like this, too?" Shining asked his former teammates.

"Yes," came the simultaneous reply from Sunny Flare and Sunset with a deadpan.

"I don't know why humans have to make such a fuse out of simple mating," Spike muttered dryly.

Winona supported the talking dog with her own barks and other sounds.

"I know, right? Finally someone who understands me," Spike replied with a smile.

"Oh... my..." Fluttershy commented with a red head, understanding every ‘word’ of Winona.

In situations like this the shy girl wouldn't mind if she wasn't able to communicate perfectly with animals.

"So the other Pie Family has an own rock farm? That's interesting. I wonder what kind of minerals Equestria has," Maud said curiously.

"Did ya hear? This 'Cutie Mark' sounds like a big deal for them ponies. It's kinda like their special talent in life like magic for us humans now," Apple Bloom whispered to her fellow Destiny Crusaders in interest.

"Yeah. What's the big deal? It sounds like every pony will find this Cutie Mark in life when the time is right anyway. It's like a law or something," Scootaloo agreed, not really getting it.

"I'm sure our counterparts have already their Cutie Marks since a long time. They are not difficult to discover, just try hard enough and you get your magical flank tattoo. We humans have it much harder, we have to be in the right situation, in the right emotional state and at the right place," Sweetie Belle lamented.

"And who would want to have only one talent anyway? It sounds like your possible job later in life depends only on how your Cutie Mark looks like. How lame is that?" Scootaloo added. Still uninterested.

The Crusaders were all sure that a Pony's Cutie Mark was easy to find and that it wasn't worth the effort to worry about it in the end of the day. Nothing special at all.

"Interesting..." Luviel started inquisitorially. "So everyone has a potential counterpart, but I guess the identity of our parallel-self was more orientated to our former human form. What basically says that every person who was transformed into a new species by the magic of Earth most likely won't wear the same name now like it is the case in your homeworld, I presume?"

"That is possible. Of course I can't know that for sure, but the chance is very high. On Equus are races like Ponies of all tribes, yaks, buffalos, Gryphons, minotaurs, Changelings, horses from Saddle Arabia, donkeys, dragons, Diamond Dogs, to name a few possibilities," Sunset answered. Rubbing unsurely with a hand the back of her head.

Lemon raised a hand.

"Yes?" the redhead questioned.

"Is it an insult for donkeys if you say something with 'ass' in it?" Lemon asked honestly interested.

Her fellow Shadowbolts and most others looked at her in irritation. Why would she want to know something like that?

"Uhm, yes? You shouldn't say anything in that regard or idioms like: 'Stubborn as a mule.' They'll feel offended by saying such things," Sunset answered, slightly weirded out by Lemon's question.

She once said mentioned idiom herself in Equestria and suddenly appeared a donkey behind her out of nowhere and demanded that she should apologize for saying it. The magician could have sworn that this donkey wasn't there before.

"What? Seriously? That question came just into my mind after you mentioned donkeys and it was more meant as a joke, because I thought that would be completely ridiculous if especially donkeys would react in such a manner. But thanks for answering me, still," Lemon said, laughing.

"Are there more sapient animals, Sunset?" Fluttershy inquired quietly.

"Hmm. I just remember cows. They were sapient, too." Everyone stared at her. "What?"

Rainbow Dash replied, "Err, how does it work if you want to milk them? Are they just staying around? Or are they shouting: 'Fresh milk! Right from the udder!' I mean you ponies create sweets, too, right?” She added mentally, “However that is possible without hands,” and continued loudly, “So you would need milk and milk comes mostly from cows.

"Rainbow Dash! You could use a more ladylike choice of words for describing such a... sensitive topic," Rarity scolded her chromatic friend.

"Honestly? I have no idea. I have never cared much from where the milk came from and I won't ask the next cow I come across, thank you very much," Sunset replied slightly disgusted.

She wasn't sure if she would like the answer and Rainbow's created images in her head didn't make it better.

"Questionable topics aside. Ms. Shimmer, you said that every single one of us should have a counterpart in your world. Doesn't that mean that this world here should have, in theory, its own 'Sunset Shimmer'?" Luna wanted to know, arms crossed.

"Yes? I think so at least. I never found my human counterpart” For what she was glad for, because it wouldn't have ended well if her ambitious old-self had met her, “or heard anything about another Sunset Shimmer for that matter. Maybe she lives somewhere else?" the Phoenix Magic user stated.

Luna nodded. "I understand. Then I have to ask you about my counterpart-"

Sunset feared that Luna would make the connection. She had Lunar Magic, Celestia Solar Magic, she told both about a mirror world, how everyone here had, most likely, a Pony counterpart there and then how the princesses of Equestria raised and lowered the sun and moon. Not the most difficult connection to make.

"Can it be that this 'Nightmare Moon', who was purified and is now once more the co-ruler with her big sister, was in reality 'Princess Luna'?" asked the lunar knight in an ‘I-know-the-truth’ kind of tone.

Inded, Sunset was right with her assumption.

"And that the Princess of the Sun, your former mentor and the other co-ruler of Equestria, is known as 'Princess Celestia'?" added the former principal of CHS her own question.

Sunset sighed deeply, "Yes. Yes, you are both right. The immortal co-rulers and Alicorn princesses of Equestria for at least 5000 years by now, except when her little sister was banished to the moon for 1000 years by the Elements of Harmony, are Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun and bringer of the day and Princess Luna, Princess of the Moon, guardian of dreams and bringer of the night."

"I see," Celestia stated simply with a half-smile. Luna nodded slowly her head in acknowledgement of this new bit of information and moved on with a neutral expression.

Wait. Was that it? They just were told that their counterparts were two of the most important and powerful beings of Equestrian history, most humans would describe them as gods, and they didn't show any emotions? No reactions? No anger, despair or sadness from the former vice-principal, because it was her own counterpart who nearly committed genocide on Equus with bringing eternal night? Or Celestia, because the princess banished her own sister to the moon? Nothing at all?

The former Unicorn felt greatly disappointed.

Sunset wasn't the only one who was very surprised by the cool behaviour of the siblings as an immediate response. It should normally be kind of a big deal when you were told that your alter ego was in another world an immortal entity that raised the celestial bodies, or not? Cadence looked confusedly at her aunts, but then understood what they planned, probably.

"Icecold those two. And I thought Sunny Flare is supposed to be the Ice Magic user here," Midnight joked.

"I must confess I expected a more emotional reaction as well. Somehow I'm disappointed," Twilight agreed with the dark angel's comment with her own scientific conclusion.

But far stranger for her was how everybody simply accepted Sunset's origin. Why didn't they freak out? Why didn't anybody call her friend a liar? Was she the only person who ever doubted Sunset's honesty?! She was a terrible friend!

"Sparky! Shut up!" Midnight roared in sheer annoyance.

Why did her nerdy twin always had to be such a sissy?

Author's Notes:

Greetings my avid readers!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

So the bomb was dropped. The resulting explosion was Pony-shaped and everybody died, the end. No wait, that isn't Fallout Equestria...

Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned!