Silence reigned for a short while, as most tried to understand what they were told, still. Until a certain elf came to a conclusion, "Now I understand. The other type of magic, not being native to Earth, which flows through the Aether Veins and supplies our world as a second source, is coming from your homeworld, Equus or more specific, Equestria. I guess the disturbance in Canterlot is the very portal that connects both our realms, right?" Luviel guessed in a serious sounding voice.

"Yes," Sunset confessed with hanging shoulders.

"I see. I would like to research this mysterious portal for myself if possible.” Before the redhead could say something, the older woman held a hand up, “Don't worry I don't plan to do anything with it. I won't touch interdimensional magic. I just would like to witness the magic of your world in action for myself." Then she noticed the younger woman's guilt-ridden body language, "Why are you looking so ashamed?" Luviel asked in surprise.

"Because... because... it's all my fault!" Sunset declared emotionally, her eyes wet. The Emerald Elf motioned her to go on.

"I-I went through the mirror when the portal opened after 30 moons again. I stole Princess Twilight's crown out of jealousy and foolish desire for revenge. A tiara that represented not only her status as a ruler, but was one of the Elements of Harmony, the Element of Magic itself. With bringing such a powerful artifact to Earth I brought great amounts of Equestrian Magic with it, too. I was selfish, greedy, power-hungry and consumed in the end by my own desires. It burned my very being and transformed me into a raging she-demon! Without a care in the world I tried to k-kill my future friends, because I was no longer a mere school bully, but a perverted version of a demon who wanted to conquer Equestria. I even brainwashed my fellow students without any remorse to get what I wanted.” She fell to her knees, finally able after all this time to venture her feelings.

Her friends weren’t really sure how to react to the sudden outburst, but Celestia kneeled in front of the fragile appearing girl and touched one of Sunset’s shoulders, “Let it all out.”

She always had the feeling that this young woman had pushed her emotions concerning the Fall Formal aside. Instead of talking about it, she tried to forget and to work around them with becoming a better person on her own way.

Tears built up in Sunset’s eyes and she looked gratefully at her former principal before she continued, “Princess Twilight and the girls were saved by the power of friendship and unleashed the full might of the Elements upon me. I guess the Element of Magic recognized its original bearer and helped, too. The point is, they saved me, showed me that there is a better way. That power alone, arrogance and pride lead down a path to complete solitude. These girls gave me a second chance in life, even when they didn't have to."

Sunset smiled warmly in the direction of her friends, they returned the gesture. Pinkie ate popcorn with one hand and had a tissue in the other to wipe the tears from her eyes, "It was hard at first, people hated me and showed me the cold shoulder, but I couldn't hold that against them.” She hissed lowly in fury at herself, “For years, I did nothing else than to bully others. I blackmailed the students of CHS when I thought they could cross me in the wrong way, created rumors to ruin someone's reputation or collected embarrassing secrets about everyone so that I always had an advantage and an ace up my sleeve in case they challenged me. All this senseless behaviour so that I could be the unopposed Queen Bee of the school. I deserved everything I received for my unexcusable deeds."

Before she could continue her self-loathing, Celestia voiced her opinion in a kind tone, "No, Sunset. Do you know why I never punished you like most people in my situations would have done it?” The Phoenix Magic user shook her head in response. The former principal laughed lightly. “Besides the point that naming demons and magic as the reasons for the destruction of school property to the authorities would have led to a reception order for me into a mental hospital for sure, there was another reason. Yes, for what you did, after all rules of logic and desires for justice, you should have been expelled from the school and forced to pay for all the damage you caused. Maybe even ending up in juvenile prison with blaming you for the caused damage someway without mentioning anything like magic as the origin.”

“W-why didn’t you? I was awful, to everybody. You had every right to punish me as hard as you wanted,” Sunset inquired quietly with lowered head.

A glint of pity appeared in the Solar Magic user’s eyes, “Yes, I could have done that. However, I didn't, because I always believed that harsh and merciless punishment alone wouldn't have been the right choice to make in your case. Since the first day I met you, my instincts told me that you had a great potential in you like I never felt it before. I wanted to believe in you, helping you to redeem yourself and to show everyone that you had changed for the better. I punished a lot of students for the behaviour they showed you, vandalism as the most prominent one, because it was wrong from them to act in such a way in the first place. Yes, I could understand that every student was very angry at you for what they had to endure, they had the right to be after everything what happened. Especially the Fall Formal.”

Luna snorted playfully at her sister and earned herself a small glare.

“Still, do as you are done by and making you feel as miserable as possible until they thought that they 'repaid' you for the past, was never the answer. I always had your back, Sunset and our past alone never defines who we are. What truly defines us are the choices we make in the present and I didn't saw any reason to doubt you nor your intentions since the Fall Formal," Celestia finished her explanation.

All present adults smiled in silent agreement with the former principal's opinion. Even Luna, who was normally for harsher methods of punishment, in opposite to her sister, had to concur and acknowledged Celestia’s point. Rarity and Fluttershy, who sat besides Sunset the whole time, squeezed slightly their friend's hands in support.

The younger amber woman looked gratefully at Celestia and her friends for being on her side, before she sighed anew, "Be that as it may, after the Fall Formal the next big incident happened during a, originally planned, musical showcase to collect enough money for the after-school-programs of CHS. Then the Sirens came, better known as the Dazzlings. They were lurked to the school by the released magic at the night of the Fall Formal, I'm sure of that. They fed off negative energy and used their magic to let even the best of friends become enemies. As a pinnacle they declared the formerly harmless event into the nowadays known Battle of the Bands to become unstoppable. In the final they were even able to summon their true forms as sirens to fight. Only with the bonds of our friendship, the help of Princess Twilight and the power of the strangely still lingering Elements, even without having the actual artifacts at our disposal, were we able to defeat the sirens and render them powerless. They solely came to Canterlot because of me in the end."

The magician glanced at human Twilight for the most part of recalling the next major event, "Both events, as you once told us, were recorded from the machines of your old lab in Crystal Prep as unknown energy patterns. The Friendship Games happened later. You built a device that should help you to detect this energy for you, magic. During the games you stole by accident the magic of every single one of us six. Cinch blackmailed and pressured you into participating in the Friendship Games for her own reputation and forced you to release the caged magic all at once. Like it happened with me, you were corrupted and transformed into Midnight Sparkle-"

"You might want to add that a sexy legend was born, Shimmer," Midnight said smugly. Twilight rolled mentally her eyes at her twins invincible ego.

"craving to understand magic in every way possible. I could harness with the help of your device the magic of the Elements our friends represented, which stood for true friendship in our case and could help you see that there was a better way. Like your counterpart once showed me." Sunset stared meaningfully at the bookworm.

"Pah! Without Spike's help I would have defeated you easily. You were never stronger than me, even with 'Friendship Magic' in yourself!" Midnight pouted. “Even though I have to admit that I didn’t want to hurt him, he’s the best dog in the whole world and our number one assistant,” the dark angel confessed to herself.

Maybe her hesitation helped Twilight to regain her senses in the end? Whatever, there was no use to think about spilled milk.

"We were together in this, so I think you mean 'us' when you talk about the Friendship Games, Midnight. But I'm happy for you that you developed such a high level of self-awareness. You truly seem to be your own person, even if we are very, very similar regardless," Twilight sincerely congratulated.

She swore she could see how the other girl blushed in the mindscape.

"The last major magical event that transpired, well, before the world as we knew it ended, was at Camp Everfree. Somehow, Equestrian magic managed to create a cave in the Everfree Forest and the seven geodes we are wearing now. It seems that they represent our own Elements in a sense, that's my guess after everything what happend at least. They gave us our powers to purify Gloriosa Daisy and to save Camp Everfree-"

"And don't forget these gorgeous outfits, Darling!" Rarity interrupted happily. Her sudden outburst gave Sunset a good scare, causing a few amused chuckles at the scene.

"Yeah, they, too. Thank you, Rarity. It was already very strange how everything changed anyway," Sunset looked at her other friends and held thoughtfully a finger up. "At first you could all only pony up-" Limestone groaned, "-because of the other Twilight's help and because of the Element of Magic I think.”

A second one followed, “Then after some time, already before the Battle of the Bands, you could do that alone by playing music instruments with enough passion and joy behind it.”

Another finger raised and Sunset stood up, walking a little around on the spot.,“During the Friendship Games you had only to show the virtue your specific Element represented and the transformation happened on its own.”

The fourth, “And lastly when we were in Camp Everfree, we all got one specific power. Applejack got great strength, I think because your Pony counterpart is an Earth Pony. Rainbow Dash became very fast, probably, because your counterpart is one of the fastest Pegasi of Equestria. Exactly like your counterpart, Fluttershy, you got the ability to speak with animals. Rarity, you can create diamond-shaped shields which looks similar to your counterpart's Cutie Mark. Twilight could suddenly levitate very well as to be expected from someone who represents the Element of Magic and finally there is Pinkie Pie..."

"Yes, yes? What is with me? Tell me, please! What can I do!?" Pinkie demanded to know, she could just barely contain her excitement.

"You can make sprinkles explode and higher concentrated forms of sugar in general it seems if you are not careful. What tells me..."

"Yeeeeees?"

"You are just being Pinkie Pie and I have no idea," Sunset responded without a clue.

"Yippie! I knew it! But silly Shimmy, I was always me. Who else could I be? Could I be Fluttershy? I'm very good at imitating her voice for some reason, but that was it. You make no sense," Pinkie stated, smiling like a cheshire cat.

Rainbow grinned impishly, “Don’t forget that you can look into others’ heads if you use your geode. Your face was priceless when you touched Pinkie Pie!”

Sunset groaned. Some had to laugh at Pinkie's antics or at the amber magician’s misfortune. Especially the former students of CHS remembered well how she sat for hours on a bench at Camp Everfree, trying to tell herself that what she saw, in the abyss known as the party planner’s mind, wasn’t real.

With a slightly raised voice, Sunset tried to change the topic again, "Anyway... my point is that I'm convinced the reason for the magic-related incidents since the Fall Formal and increasing number of occasions where you could pony up more frequently over time was the rising concentration of magic from Equestria in the atmosphere. I-I think that I'm the reason that the world changed like it has. Equestrian magic could spread beyond CHS and Luviel confirmed that it's traceable in other countries of the planet.”

“What are ya tryin’ to say, Sugarcube?” Applejack didn’t like where this was going.

Sunset put her entire focus on the Emerald Elf, “Everything leads me to the conclusion that magic from my homeworld is responsible for awakening Earth's magic in the first place and all that only, because I wanted to become a princess. In the end I doomed and changed irreversibly so many lives with my own selfishness. Whatever I do or say, nothing could make it better or turn back time. It lays all in the past, but I'm ready to pay the consequences for my actions. Luviel, you are a Mana Weaver of your people and know most likely better by now than I do that it's all my fault, I trust in your judgement." Sunset bowed down in shame, tears were running down her cheeks.

"You trust my judgement, hmm? So be it," Luviel said neutrally, she jumped from her hay bail anew and walked calmly and purposefully to the unmoving magician.

A pregnant silence reigned over the barn except the quiet sounds of her steps.

The Crusaders were frightened and hid behind Big Mac and Granny Smith who looked with narrowed eyes at the scene in front of them.

Most were not sure what would happen next and waited or didn't want to face a, potentially, angry Emerald Elf.

Celestia, Luna and Cadence observed the woman's every movement like hawks to intervene instantly in the unlikely case she tried to harm Sunset.

Zecora and Cheerilee shared a moment of uncertainty. It would surprise them when the humorous, easy-going and intelligent scholar committed an act of violence, but they didn't know Luviel for long enough to be sure. Just in case, Zecora concentrated her mojo and was ready to protect Sunset with a Water Shield. Still, they trusted Luviel Dawnseeker's verdict, like Sunset.

Shining Armor and Sunny Flare sat at their places like springs, ready to jump into action at every second to help their new friend and group leader.

In the moment she was a few steps away from the waiting Sunset, one of the Rainbooms had enough and appeared with swirling barely visible gray wind around her body in front of her friend. Ready for a confrontation and prepared stood Rainbow Dash in the way of the Mana Weaver with a scowl.

"I don't know what you are planning, but I won't let you hurt her and you'll have to face me when you even think about it. Sunset is one of my best friends and I won't leave her hanging, understood?" Rainbow Dash threatened.

An equally serious looking Applejack summoned her outfit in the activated form of her Mammoth Aspect and stood besides Dash. Her change of eye color and the new outfit weren't new to the others, but they were not less impressed, still. She showed this outfit in her demonstration earlier when the farmer introduced herself. "Ma' family show'd ya our Apple hospitality. Be careful with what ya do next," Applejack warned.

Rarity didn't summon her outfit, but her rapier blade and watched the advancing elf, calculating, "I must say, Darling. I'm not sure what you are doing, but it won't end well for you should you decide to act like a brute," she commented with an edge in her voice.

"These sprinkles have your name written on them, sister!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a can of sprinkles in the right hand she pulled out of her hair. The girl's serious manner was only betrayed by her playful smile.

"If you don't mind... step back," Fluttershy plea-demanded. The druid stood behind Sunset.

Twilight positioned herself in the very front and spoke confidently, much to the surprise and pride of her family and Cadence, "I’m sure we can solve everything peacefully. Sunset is no danger to anyone and she saved me and everyone else two times already. But we can't undo the past, so let us talk about it."

"Sparky, I just checked her magic and I have to warn you from picking a fight with that woman. She seems to be extremely strong and rivals easily in comparison of raw power the strongest of the group at this moment," Midnight cautioned.

Spike appeared besides his owner and showed for the first time to see for everyone his true form. Bulk screamed like a girl from shock. A few, who didn't see his Dire Wolf form until now were close to do the same and Winona hid behind a bigger hay bail. He filled with his new form a good part of the inner circle and Rainbow had to step aside so that she wasn't in the way of his big body.

Lemon had another opinion entirely, "Dude! Looking good!"

For the first time since she started to walk, Luviel showed emotions, "Oh! A Dire Wolf! I didn't see one since I left my home. It's always an honor to meet one of you majestic predators," she commented with a joyful tone.

The former dog replied in his deep voice, "Heh. I know that I'm awesome-"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted at Spike for stealing her catchphrase.

"I just wanted to inform you that I will use you as my personal chew toy if you think about doing something inappropriate," the Dire Wolf warned the Mana Weaver as a matter of fact.

"He... hehe... hahaha...!" Luviel laughed hard, holding her sides from pain after a short time and nobody understood why.

After she calmed down, the Emerald Elf said, "I was never threatened before in my entire life by so many different people at the same time. By Elandrial, that was hilarious. Don’t worry guys, I won’t do something crazy." Luviel grinned challengingly at the midnight blue tall ex vice-principal, "I meant mostly you, Ms. Luna," the woman stated in a sweet tone.

Luna responded with a predatory grin of her own, "Ah. So you noticed." Celestia raised questioningly an eyebrow at her sister.

Igneous Rock looked up by chance and saw the reason for this exchange of words. "By the Philosopher's' Stone!" he declared, shocked.

The rest of the group followed his gaze and were equally stunned or astonished.

Over the group, especially over the Emerald Elf, hovered both of Luna's scimitars and at least 30 similarly large swords made of white glowing Lunar Magic. They all aimed for the head of the Mana Weaver from different angles.

"So... awesome!" Rainbow whispered very impressed in a high-pitched voice.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't do something stupid. I think I have to apologize Ms. Dawnseeker," came the added very nice sounding apology.

"Your former vice-principal is all kinds of scary," Midnight said dryly.

Twilight gave no answer, she was to busy to admire the skill Ms. Luna must have to summon so many swords at once with her magic and not even be tired at all.

"Overkill much?" Celestia mumbled only for her little sister to hear.

Luna considered that possibility before she replied smugly, "No. Not at all. I'm just this good." She snapped her fingers and in a blink of an eye, all swords, including her two real weapons, disappeared into nothingness.

"Sunset Shimmer," Luviel started and got the attention of the mentioned girl, "I listened to every detail you had to say and in the end I came to my own conclusion." She smiled warmly at the young woman, "There is nothing I could forgive you for any longer."

Sunset looked up again, "W-what do you mean?! I brought mag-"

"Yes," Luviel cut off, "I'm aware, so let me explain. My new race exists no more than three months. I think that was during your Friendship Games, right?" Sunset nodded. "See? We, like many other beings, were already on this world before you went to Camp Everfree. That means the magic of Terra started to awake much earlier than you might have thought. The question is now, how? I don't think that the magic of your homeworld didn't play a role, that simply wouldn't be true. In fact, I am sure that this, now formerly unknown, magic awoke the indigenous magic of this planet at some places and slowly fused together with it or diffused into the Aether Veins. It started a reaction that would have happened on is own one day, but much, much later in the history of this world.” She giggled disarmingly, “You can't blame yourself for something that would have happened anyway. There is no point in punishing you anymore. What was done can’t be changed. And to be honest, I was told a lot about you and witnessed Sunset Shimmer as a person on my own. I listened to your story and I'm sure that your former teacher would be very proud of you."

"Y-you think so? Even after I failed her?" Sunset inquired guiltily.

Kindness radiated from the older woman, "I know so. You learned from the mistakes of your past and saved the day and two times even the world with the help of the humans you call your friends. I must confess, I rarely witnessed a greater loyalty to a single person or thicker bonds of friendship. Nearly everyone here was ready to jump in front of you and fight me to the death as long as it meant that you could live another day. Especially your closest friends-" Luviel glanced over the Rainbooms, "would aid you without a second thought if you are in trouble to defend and support you. Every of these humans will stand by your side in even your darkest hour of need, I can feel it.”

“I-I don’t know what to say,” the Phoenix Magix user mumbled to herself.

A more serious expression adorned the elf’s features, “Sunset Shimmer. Your chosen path of redemption is admirable, but no longer necessary. Now you should live entirely in the present and work for the future instead of cursing the events of the past. Most people forgave you, at least the ones who are important to you, only you are left to do the same. It's not longer necessary to hate or to blame yourself, your past isn't important for anyone who isn't a fool. Live. Live and embrace what you have become. Stop haunting yourself, girl.”

“But didn’t you say that my homeworld’s magic played a role there? What do you mean with that?” Sunset wanted to know.

Luviel shrugged with her shoulders, “The magic of your world gave it a kick start, but that was all. The induced changes on Earth happened too fast, still. Something or someone helped to accelerate the procedure immensely. You remembered how I told you about the second anomaly I felt, right? I don't know what origin it had or what kind of energy was responsible, but the spirits of earth told us that the second disturbance, located in the center of the Celestial Sea, is guarded by the elements themselves, so I have no idea how to come closer to solving the mystery in the moment. It's much too dangerous.”

It was Zecora’s turn to be surprised, “Spirits? I didn’t know your people could communicate with the elements.”

The elf waved it off, “Oh, we don’t. We have a friendly orc clan as neighbours, with a lot of shamans, who consulted them for more informations after we asked for help in order to find the sources of the two disturbances.”

“What did they say? Has their wisdom granted thee insight?” Igneous Rock asked further, quite interested.

“The only useful information I received was that what or whoever caused this event created a gigantic maelstrom in the epicenter and the spirits got the impression that, I quote: 'An entity of greatest power escaped from its prison.' So I guess it's more a person than a magical artifact responsible for the fast awakening of the formerly slumbering magic. That being helped and gave strong pushes whenever its 'prison' became weaker. Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea what that all means, I have only clues and theories at my disposal, as do you.”

Most were disappointed at hearing that.

“You see, Sunset? That is the reason I have nothing to forgive. This 'mysterious entity' is responsible for most of what transpired on Terra the last months. And now it is free, roaming this world... maybe. I don't know," the elf concluded.

"Did the spirits of this plane told my fellow shamans a name by chance?" Zecora inquired.

"Nope! The orcs said that the spirits only tell something when they feel like it and decide for themselves what they tell you. The shamans asked for a name of said entity and became only a cryptic answer what could be translated to: 'Some answers are hidden, even from us. We may know much, but we are not all-knowing. You have to look for yourself if you want to find any answers.' Oh, but they warned us, the spirits were so nice. Pretty much said the maelstrom is surrounded by hundreds of smaller vortices, tornadoes and bad weather on the surface and we would need to find a way to reach the prison in question on another way. I don't know. Maybe there is an underwater passage or a cave? I have otherwise absolutely no clue what to do next, at all," Luviel answered, annoyed from the lack of ideas and possibilities.

That was certainly a problem. They couldn't reach the ocean floor in the middle of the sea just like that. The group, or a small team at least, needed help to reach the maelstrom, or the journey to find out the truth behind everything would come to an abrupt end. There were no more clues how to find out more about the second anomaly and what kind of being escaped, so that was the best shot.

This mysterious prison needed to be found. Finally, they had a goal to work for.

"Pff, piece of cake! Whoever broke out of the prison has already lost. Nobody messes with us without getting a rainbow to the face. We managed to come out of top every time until now, that won't be any different. I'm sure we can beat this 'entity' every time of the day with one hand behind the back, how hard can that be anyway? It's surely again a mad wannabe conqueror who thinks he could defeat us all alone. As long as we all work together we can kick whoever broke out into the next week and save the day, like we always do. We managed to save two of our friends from becoming insane, beat the sirens, saved the world and prevented Camp Everfree from becoming a spa paradise. Whoever that is will come next onto our infamous list of people who didn't know with who they were messing with. Together," Rainbow Dash ended her little speech with confidence.

Ponytail and Pegasi wings appeared on her body during her talk, thanks to her display of loyalty filled words.

A few nodded in agreement, but Sunset counted to the persons, much to her own surprise, because she normally always agreed with Rainbow Dash's speeches about facing the villain, who weren't sure if this would be as easy as the teenager made it out to be. It was just a feeling that they shouldn't underestimate this entity.

"OK. Before we talk further about our plans for the future, I think it's time to discuss the important events of the last two days. I'm sure most have something interesting to tell," Celestia started the next point on the agenda of the meeting.

"Ah guess this time we coul' start," Applejack announced plainly.

She started to tell everyone that Rainbow, Fluttershy and herself visited the horses to ensure that they were fine and that the two basilisks attacked them. Rainbow added that she tried to lure them away from the farm and only one followed before she left.

"Fluttershy, do ya want to tell the next part? Ya’re the reason Ahm still kickin’," Applejack asked out of the blue.

"W-what do ya mean?" Apple Bloom queried worriedly. Her sister never told her much about what happened this day. Only that she ‘kicked some varmin' from their property’.

"O-OK..." Fluttershy whispered, caught off-guard to some degree.

In her typical quiet and apologetic manner and some comforting hugs in between from Pinkie Pie she managed to tell her part until she managed to free Applejack with the help of her Purification spell.

"Fluttershy, that was incredible! Especially that you could even cast this spell, if it was meant for much later in your training," Sunset complimented proudly.

The shy girl blushed in embarrassment.

Apple Bloom hugged the young druid, crying, "Thank you..." she mumbled gratefully into the girl's body for saving her big sister's life.

"You are Fluttertastic!" Pinkie Pie screamed in pure joy.

"Truly impressive that you can command such a high level of healing abilities, indeed," Zecora supported warmly.

"Eep!" Too much positive attention, Fluttershy blushed up a storm.

Luna and Celestia smiled kindly at their former shy student and made a brief eye contact. Her story confirmed it, Fluttershy and Zecora were to be the medics of the group.

Applejack told her part and earned with the bit how she literally kicked the Thunderback back into the bog a few amused chuckles.

When Rainbow Dash finished with her part, Luviel looked not only disgusted, like everyone else alone from the description of the gargoyles, but for another reason entirely and furious, too. The description of the ore caused her scowl.

Indigo noticed it first, "Luviel? You look pretty mad, everything alright?" she inquired unsurely.

"No, I know that black ore. I encountered it at... demon infested places. It's called Devil's Desire. A very dangerous metal for all beings who are not connected to the realm of Tartarus. With that I mean being a demon or having demonic magic inside of you. Otherwise what Rainbow Dash saw, the poor gargoyles, that would be the result of being exposed to it for too long. Endless, tormenting mutations of body and soul. Normally it only exists in the plane of Tartarus, that means that someone must have placed it there on purpose. Someone who most likely knew the effects, but who?" The Emerald Elf was disturbed.

"Such minerals are a mockery of everything natural," Maud commented with uncharacteristic hostility in her voice.

"We should be careful from now on. When some insane idi-people are decorating the environment with this ore we have to find and hunt them down to make them stop! Sour Sweet suggested. She nearly slipped in her language proximal to the children, the Shadowbolt didn't need the adults on her case.

"I concur. We should keep our eyes and ears open to avoid the fate of the gargoyles," Luna agreed firmly.

Next was the group around Twilight. She told everything from the start to the end in all its details. Rainbow Dash nearly fell asleep.

Midnight shared the chromatic girl's opinion, "That has to be the longest tale I ever heard. I love details like every other scholar, but that was nearly material to catch up with sleep," the magical twin grumbled.

"Every detail is important for a well understood story!" Twilight defended herself. Midnight rolled her eyes.

"Well... that was a thing," Shining summed it up.

He was used to his sister's antics, so he knew when it was necessary to listen and when to think about the important things in life. The others weren't this lucky he feared.

Moondancer, in opposite to most of the audience, felt great and enjoyed the tale, absorbing every detail like a sponge. Like she always did with new informations.

"Psst. Darling, you are being rude," Rarity whispered into the ear of the nearly sleeping Rainbow Dash.

"Wh...Wha? Is it finally over?" Dash asked hopefully.

Rarity facepalmed.

"So basically, even the plants are dangerous nowadays?" Octavia repeated questioningly. Vinyl gave her friend a chipper thumbs up.

"Well, at least those three crazy girls who love flowers with a passion aren't here. They would just faint and cry 'how awful' everything is, particularly the mutated monster flowers, and scream, 'the horror! The horror!', or something like that," Sugarcoat thought bluntly.

She wondered what happened with these three anyway, it wouldn't really surprise her and she knew that sounded cruel, but it was the truth, when the trio counted to the first victims of the invasion of Canterlot with their antics. Sugarcoat had once a botany class with them in a special course at Crystal Prep last summer, it was a hobby of her to tend on her own to the gardens at home. Even when her family was rich and had a gardener, the former student prayed that her parents were fine.

"We shall report next," Luna informed curtly. It wasn't a suggestion.

"So we shall," Igneous Rock confirmed.

The Pie's informed about their search for Pinkie Pie, what let the girl in question tear up from happiness, no matter that she knew it already, from the point they tried to escape from Canterlot. Maud seemed to be the first of the entire group who defeated an elemental, many felt satisfaction to some degree that at least one of them found its end.

Cheerilee could just groan when they conversed about Ponyville. How didn't she see them? She could have sent the family to Sweet Apple Acres, sparing them from further anxiety for goodness' sake!

Limestone continued and told how they encountered the Shadow Maniac at the Ghastly Gorge and how she discovered her magic to defend Maud before Luna cut it in three.

"My timing was good, if I may so myself," Luna added, satisfied. Her sister scoffed.

"Hm... Shadow Maniacs. Can't say I know these kind of creatures," Luviel muttered under breath.

Celestia took the lead this time and told them about a demoness, this ‘Lady Alandra’, who took over the Ghastly Gorge as her domain and left them no choice than to accept her ‘offer’. Namely, the trials of combat Luna, Cadence and herself had to win in order to return to the farm with the Pies and entered their three chosen portals which led to the realm of Tartarus. Saying that everyone was shocked by the sole fact that the three had to venture into the plane of demons itself would be a huge understatement.

"What?! You had to fight in Tartarus?! And I just get sick half-dead gargoyles? How lame is that?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, annoyed.

"Rainbow? Did ya hit yer noggin the last time ya napped?" Applejack asked her rival in confusion. Why would she want to go there?

"Duh! Fighting demons in Tartarus itself has to be one of the most awesome things in history," the chromatic athlete replied like it was a fact.

"Sure Dash," Sunset commented dryly.

Celestia, Luna and Cadence recounted their trials and how they managed to escape. Luna's and Celestia's tales had the most interested audience until now. Everyone hanged on their every word, Celestia had sometimes to wait before she could continue, because Twilight, Moondancer, Sunny, Shining and Luviel wanted to solve the riddles without having the answer beforehand.

Twilight Velvet made notes this time, too. She found it very interesting how the demons constructed the trials and it inspired her for her own work.

When Cadence finished her own part over her adventure in the Chamber of Domination, many didn't know how to feel about Sombra. Yes, he was a demon, but he didn't harm her directly and was controlled by the Umbrum. Speaking of the devil, those cruel creatures of darkness were nothing any of them wanted to encounter.

Sunset felt like this name was somehow familiar, but from where? Maybe she read the name ‘Umbrum’ in one of the many books she searched through when she read in the forbidden part of the royal library in her time as Princess Celestia's student? She wasn't sure anymore, the former Unicorn ignored everything that didn't have to do with the mirror at that time.

"So you managed to return to Sweet Apple Acres. Pretty sweet, but what is with that demoness, Alandra? Isn't she too dangerous to be left alone? She could do who knows what or steal more 'interesting' souls," Lemon questioned nervously.

"It's not so easy as one might think, Lemon Zest. My people are fighting demons since at least two months now at the borders of our kingdom and we found a few interesting things out about them. For example their primary rank system to classify demons in levels of strength. The lowest rank is named 'Lesser Demon'. Then comes 'High Demon', then 'Lord Demon', followed by 'Ancient Demon', 'Archdemon' and lastly 'Royal Demon' or also known with the title of 'Damnation Seeker', if you prefer the title the demons give each other in a more militaristic form. And this Lady Alandra told you about the title, so you have an idea what 'Damnation Seeker' actually are. From what I understood and heard about this demoness, she could be a Lord Demon. You do not want to face such a foe in your current state. Believe me," Luviel informed grimly.

She had a haunted look on her face.

No more questions were asked on this topic. Zecora, Cheerilee and the Shadowbolt, except Sunny Flare, paled, because it meant that these 'Adepts of Khom' actually worshipped one of the six Royal Demons and tried to summon a Damnation Seeker to this plane.

"I think it's time to talk about your journey, Shining," Night Light motioned his son.

"I guess you are right, dad. Are you both ready, Sunny, Sunset?" His teammates nodded in defeat.

The team informed the group that they entered the White Tail Woods forest and what they encountered after hours of searching. The two corpses of Water Melody and Micro Chips.

"Poor guys," Flash said with lowered head. Many followed his example.

"What happened to them? Do you know that?" Luna inquired sadly, but with a hint of fury.

"Uhm..." Sunny looked at the trio of children and locked eyes with Granny Smith.

The matriarch understood fastly, "Do ya three want to leave the barn? It seems how these youngin' left the world ain't pretty," Granny Smith asked the unofficial Destiny Crusaders, unknown for everyone else except themselves.

They were perhaps young, but no more little children that should be sheltered in the elder woman's opinion.

"No!" came the combined answer.

Yes, after the events of Canterlot, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had to be cared for from their big sisters, because of the horrible, with screams, pain and death filled, nightmares. Scootaloo didn't leave Rainbow Dash's side for many hours non-stop. Afterwards the three decided, thanks to the help of many talks with Granny Smith and others, for themselves that they wanted to face the world in everything it had to offer. Hiding from it, closing off all senses to remain ignorant or acting like everything was alright in the moment, these weren't options they wanted to take. Especially now where they wanted to find their special talents in magic, what will most likely include danger to their knowledge anyway. They couldn't run away from the truth, no matter how hard it would be. The Destiny Crusaders were no quitters!

"OK. On yer own risk, youngin'," Granny Smith warned with a sad but proud smile.

Velvet wanted to intervene, but a short eye contact with the matriarch told her everything she needed to know. The worried mother let the matter rest. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash already talked about everything with Granny Smith and the three girls and accepted, still much to Rarity's dismay, their decision.

Sunny Flare told everyone about the giant tarantulas without wanting to go into detail, but because of Scootaloo's innocent question why it would be so horrible that spiders killed them, it had to be explained what it meant. That spiders paralyzed their victims, filled them with a liquefying acid and enzymes to let the prey's intensities and entire interior become a paste the arachnids could drink.

The images of dry, mummified husks which were left behind and tormented screams of the poor souls, having to life through the cruel procedure of getting the own organs liquified step for step until the merciful embrace of death put them out of their misery, were more than enough to create many pale faces under the audience.

She continued to explain their encounters with the spiders and how they worked together, much to the confusion of all who thought and knew that most spiders usually never hunted with others, until they found the valley where the brood lived and they encountered the matriarch of the tarantulas, Arachne.

The Shadowbolts thanked Shining Armor meanwhile for saving Sunny Flare's life at that point with his Paladin Magic. Cadence chuckled warmly at him.

"Then after a short battle, in which we got most of the spiders for good, we were caught by them after Arachne somehow managed to shot chains made of lightning at us. They blocked our use of magic as long as the prisoner wasn't stronger than her," Sunny informed dramatically.

"R-really?" a nervous Fluttershy inquired fearfully.

Shining continued with a little more enthusiasm in his voice, "Oh yes. Arachne wanted to kill us with glee, but most important was for her to let Sunset suffer, because she took out most of the brood. So she wanted to let her witness our deaths. She choose Sunny first, then, before something could happen, Sunset created a giant pillar of her fire, overpowered the giant spider's chains with ease, roasted a few spiders what caused the rest of the smaller ones to flee and summoned her own armor. Like Ms. Luna and Ms. Celestia," he answered smugly.

"Right! You didn't say anything about your magic when it was your turn to introduce yourself. I guess we all forgot about it after your superific story. Now you can you catch up with that, too. Go, Shimmy!” Pinkie cheered on her friend.

Sunset started in a joking tone. "Hello, my name should be known by now-" Polite and amused chuckles followed, "so I just show you my magic. It's named Phoenix Magic and works like this." The magician summoned in both of her palms spheres of her magic and flames upon her body which danced around the young woman in a hypnotizing manner.

"Beautiful," Marble complimented shyly.

"And this is what Shining Armor spoke about," Sunset added.

She stepped into the center of the room, called forth her armor and weapon and summoned for added effect, and to boast, she had to admit, her angelic phoenix wings.

"You look badass, sister," Vinyl voiced her opinion for the very first time. There was not much else to say.

"You have wings! Can you fly with them?" Rainbow Dash immediately wanted to know.

A new potential flying buddy was always good in her book. Besides, she couldn't let it stay like that, her friend nearly rivaled her own awesomeness in this form in front of all.

"A little bit? I would have to train with them, I think. We have to see." Sunset didn't know the first thing about flying, she thought that she was very lucky that it worked out so well for her in the fight with Arachne.

"Say no more. With these hot babies, pun intended, we will bring you into the air in no time," the chromatic teenager promised.

"Thanks, Dash," Sunset replied sincerely.

"I would like to participate in those flying lessons, too, Ms. Dash. I have wings of my own," Luna commented, grinning. The girl approved.

"So... what happened next?" Moondancer asked in suspense.

Sunset returned to her normal set of clothes and sit down again between her friends. Shining continued to recall how Sunset fought with the brood mother and then annihilated the spider with her last attack.

It impressed the Emerald Elf this time that the young woman could create an attack of this magnitude, she thought that only adults would be able to pull off such a feat.

Sunny took over again and explained that, after Sunset paid her respect with putting Sandalwood's body to rest with her flames and erasing all of Arachne's eggs from existence, they returned to their camp and waited for an unconscious Sunset Shimmer to wake up. The Shadowbolt finished with reporting about the short confrontation with the Forest Walkers.

"It was a necessary deed to destroy future threats through the matriarch's brood. These spiders were no longer a part of the natural circle and would have devoured every animal of White Tail over time and expanded beyond it afterwards. You did the right thing with eliminating as many of them as possible. I must say I'm interested into the reasons why the normally peaceful guardians of the woods blocked your path and wanted to attack you," Zecora voiced her point of view.

"Indeed. Inside the borders of Ashall and beyond, Forest Walkers are very peaceful and guardians of nature in general. They protect in my kingdom the Everblooming Forest and the Dryad Grove among other places. Something must have truly disturbed and angered them," Luviel supported the troll shaman.

Twilight looked up from her notes, "I think there is only your group left, Sugarcoat."

"Before we start. I have to tell you that we weren't only in Ponyville where we met Ms. Cheerilee, Zecora and Luviel, but later visited Camp Everfree, too. It has changed strongly for the worse and is under a... new management you might say," Indigo started sheepishly.

"What do you mean, Darling?" Rarity asked for everyone.

Zecora took the word, her eyebrows furrowed together, "I shall try to shed light upon the matter which concerns the darkest events that happened in the last time. We have a cruel enemy at our doorstep and especially Ponyville is in grave danger. The Adepts of Khom," she started with a very grim expression.

Luviel, Cheerilee and the four Shadowbolts got deep, partly hateful, scowls on their faces after the troll spoke out the name of the warlocks' sect.

The shaman informed their group about how the spirits told her that something was very wrong, that she had to build a barrier to prevent dark powers to get a hold on the citizens of Ponyville and they showed her that the four Shadowbolts had to be found in order to help her stopping the threat.

Cheerilee had now the word, "Yes. Zecora told me all about it and that I should bring them to her. The problem is, since everything started, specially after the invasion of Canterlot, everything magical was very much hated by the refugees. They declared that everything 'unnatural' and all sapient beings who were 'not human' had to be reported and dealt with. I can tell you that their plans were everything else than friendly. Luviel and Zecora had to hide themselves the whole time from the moment they entered the inner city until we left Ponyville and had to fear for their lives in case of a discovery. Then I found the four and led them to Zecora's shop."

"It's sad what loss and suffering are doing with people. So much hatred and mostly unfounded, too. Zecora and Luviel never harmed a single human in the town, but their species alone is reason enough to hunt them down for most," Cadence commented with lowered head.

"I think it's time that we talk this topic before you continue, now when it's fresh, how do we want to handle Ponyville?" Luna intervened. She was irritated by some behaviour the magician witnessed from the humans in Ponyville when she was in town yesterday to buy food and other things.

"We have to speak and somehow convince them that we are no threat. All of us. This permanent state of paranoia and hatred can't continue like this. When we explain to you what happened on our end and why the Adepts of Khom have to be fought with everything we can offer, you will understand. But for now, who wants to try to... reason with the current leaders of the town and their different groups? Who is confident enough into his or her diplomatic abilities? Zecora and me can't, our appearance alone would just add fuel to the fire," Luviel questioned curiously into the round.

"I shall," Igneous Rock Pie raised his hand first. Some were surprised, because the man didn't say much until now. Maybe he just talked when he deemed it necessary.

"I will come, too. Some may still know me and I think that might help," Cheerilee volunteered.

"Luna and I will help as well. Already as safety measures, who knows what some of them may do," Celestia stated.

The lunar knight agreed silently.

"I wish I could come with you, but I think Twilight and me will have more than enough to do with helping Moondancer tomorrow," Sunset said, giving the girls in question a smile which they returned gladly.

"I want to come, too. I think you may need a helping hand if everything goes south," Shining voiced his concern.

"I'm in!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Nobody was sure if the girl even heard that Luviel talked about having ‘diplomatic abilities’.

"A-are you sure, Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked her childhood friend.

"You do know that we need people there who are very patient and levelheaded, right?” Sunset asked the athlete amusedly.

"Of course! I will win them all over and my name is not for nothing Rainbow Patient Dash," the tomboy assured in utter confidence.

"We are so dead," Luna whispered to herself in dread.

"So our diplomatic team will consist out of Mr. Pie, Ms. Luna, Ms. Celestia, Shining Armor, Ms. Cheerilee and Rainbow Dash. Six people should be enough. As long as Rainbow Dash doesn't mess up and endangers everyone of the team," Sour Sweet voiced her opinion and received laughs and a glare.

"We have to hope for the best and believe that reason will prevail above hatred and stupidity. Without our help, the same goes for us without their cooperation, this sect will destroy us one by one. We have to work together in order to survive. I like to believe that the biggest part of Ponyville doesn't hate magic and everything and everyone connected to it, but will be able to see that we are no threat for them and work for a peaceful solution. If we push at the right places," Luviel added.

Zecora continued and explained how the four Shadowbolts and herself were driven to the borders of Camp Everfree from Cheerilee. Afterwards she described what they saw and what had become out of the once beautiful camp. A base for warlocks and demons.

She told them how they met Filthy Rich and what he said in his arrogance when he was certain that they couldn't escape, from the moment he met Punisher Vyndrak to the cruel demise of the co-directors, before their bodies were disposed of like trash. When the shaman explained what happened with their souls and about the Soul Prisons, it was possible to feel how some fought with themselves so that they wouldn't storm blindly into the direction of the adepts' outpost to take revenge.

Her listeners, but mostly everyone who was in Camp Everfree before, felt ill, sheer fury, or was completely horrified from what Zecora had explained.

"H-how could they do that to Camp Everfree?! T-to Timber and Gloriosa," Twilight whispered in defeat, devastated about what happened with Timber, that he had to suffer in such a way.

Her mother walked over to her daughter and pulled her into a warm hug.

"These monsters! They'll pay for what they did!" Rainbow Dash swore acidly.

"I think everyone has an own opinion about what to do with these... Adepts of Khom, but we should let Ms. Zecora continue," Celestia tried to reason, furious herself.

The troll shaman nodded her head in thanks and finished her tale with a detailed description of how they defeated the Terrorbeast. It didn't make them feel better, but many of the group were happy that they destroyed a very strong demon on their own. It was one demon less they had to encounter in the upcoming battle against the sect.

"I think I tell you the rest of the story. Then we can surely all agree that our next step should be to prepare ourselves against Punisher Vyndrak and the small army he will create. He will want to take Ponyville by force and every single soul within without mercy. Our preparations depend on how much time we have left before he strikes," the Emerald Elf began.

"I-I thought this meanie-no, monster, was using his disgusting prisons?" Pinkie asked with much less puffy hair.

Luviel gave a smile and told her own story. She began with giving a description where she met Vyndrak and later Filthy Rich for the very first time, but that she couldn't do anything against him at that point, because the elf needed her Spell Dagger back. Afterwards she confirmed that Khom was one of the six Royal Demons because of his title as Damnation Seeker, it created not only small amounts of despair in some hearts. She then gave a short explanation for what the dagger could be used, how she later met Cheerilee and how they together saved the souls of Timber and Gloriosa with the help of the little weapon. The elf finished her story with the bit that their team left Ponyville in the middle of the night.

"Luviel, Cheerilee, I think I speak for all of us who were in Camp Everfree when I say this: 'Thank you very much for saving the co-directors' souls'," Celestia announced in gratitude.

"That was the least I could do. Much more important is now to shatter Vyndrak and his brethren to nothingness," came the Mana Weaver’s sharp reply.

Nobody had any objections. Even the kindest and shyest two persons, Marble and Fluttershy, couldn't find it in themselves to find a word of good for these adepts and had a hard time to discover kindness in their hearts for the warlocks.

"I thank you all for coming at such a short notice, that concludes our meeting. Applejack, can you show Luna and me a nice place to chat in private, please? And you may come, too, Sunset. We wanted to discuss something with you, alone," the solar knight informed gently.

Cadence smiled knowingly, she knew that her aunts had questions on their own about something. She guessed about their counterparts.

"Ah know a good place. See ya gals, please follow me, Ms. Celestia, Ms. Luna," Applejack left the barn first, the siblings closely behind.

Sunset looked with expectations at Twilight. After feeling watched, the scholar noticed the questioning stare. She walked up to her friend with a small amount of tension.

"Y-you wanted to talk to me?" Twilight inquired nervously.

"I guess I should have seen that coming. Well, if she wants to exorcise me I hope she is ready for a tough challenge. This girl here won't move out without a fight!" Midnight declared faithfully.

"Move out? That is my body we are talking about and no real estate," Twilight said a little insulted.

"What? I'm paying for it every day I'm in here! I play nice with your friends, I help you out whenever I can, I'm sharing generously my wisdom with you and worse, I have to put up with the pink virus. Or I play magic detector for you and tell you about the power level of an opponent. I even dispose of trash, you know, burning plants, lecturing you about bad ideas. I have a very hard fulltime job here, Sparky," the dark angel lectured like a teacher.

Twilight could only groan at her twin.

"Yeah, don't worry. There's just something I noticed about the portal you made and I only want to talk to you about it. It's fine for you, right? I don't want to force you to anything. You look so... concerned," Sunset answered worriedly.

"I'm fine! Really! There is nothing I'm worried about, I was just thinking and wondering about what you want to talk about, that's all. Hehe." Twilight nearly sweated bullets.

Sunset noticed that and tried to make the Arcane Magic user relax, "Please, wait for me in my room, Twilight. I'm worried about you and I think that I can help," she stated more sternly than she had planned at first.

She had to make sure that her friend didn't do something stupid, the Phoenix Magic user trusted in Twilight's judgement, she really did, but Midnight Sparkle was very clever, too. She had to make sure that the other half of her didn't plan any longer to destroy the entire world just to achieve her goals.

The former student of Princess Celestia felt it the moment Twilight made the portals. This magic had a darker touch than her normally violet colored one. And the new color fit perfectly.

"O-OK... uhm, I will go then. See you in a bit!" Twilight hurried back to the Apple's house.

Sunset wondered about what the prin-former principals wanted to talk with her. Was it maybe a delayed conversation about their counterparts? Possible. She knew it was too good to be true that they didn't show any reaction at all to her explanations!

Luna and Celestia stood upon the hill Applejack showed them before the teenager departed to help Bic Mac and the rest of the former students who worked with him on last chores for the day. They were lucky it was the middle of summer, so the sun stood at the sky, still.

"Are we really doing this right now?" Luna asked her sister in a dry voice.

"Come on, Lulu. I think Sunset feels much better if she knows that she isn't the only one with a difficult past here," Celestia encouraged.

"I really hate it when you are right. You know that?" the lunar magician commented, annoyed.

"I know. I love you, too," replied the solar knight smugly.

"There she comes," Luna informed, trying to ignore her older sibling's trolling smile.

“Sorry, I had to talk with Twilight about something important and didn't know where Applejack brought you so I had to ask her first for directions," Sunset tried to defend herself for being tardy. She panted heavily.

"Finally. I thought you forgot about us and fell asleep somewhere," Luna joked with a small smile.

"Alright, Sunset. We wanted to talk to you about two things. The first point on the agenda are our counterparts," Celestia informed in a business-like tone.

"I knew it!" Sunset shouted in triumph, in her head.

"I will try my best to answer your questions, Princ-Ms. Celestia," Sunset corrected herself blushing. Luna snorted.

"To think that you were once the personal student of my sister's counterpart. And then you wanted to steal an ancient artifact, brainwash all your fellow students and take over Equestria," Luna summed up and looked impishly at her own sibling, "I always knew you were a dark influence, but that your students would try to overthrow and conquer... typical." She had to hold back maniac giggles.

Celestia gave her sister a deadpan.

"At least my counterpart didn't try to bring eternal night. I mean, great, that sounds like fun. Oh wait, everything is doomed to die and freeze to death, I nearly forgot. I could even bet that the pony version of you shouted something only you would come up with. Let me guess, something like: 'The night shall last... FOREVER!' Something like that, I presume," Celestia countered mockingly.

"Oh yes? As if you are soooo much better. Alone from the description Ms. Shimmer gave us I can say that your counterpart sits on an imposing position upon her throne. The rays of the sun are illuminating her from the back, nearly blinding everyone who looks at her giant figure, baths in her self-absorbed brilliance and is like: 'Oh, my benevolent subjects. My little Ponies. May our kingdom prosper in tolerance, love, harmony and friendship.' Meanwhile, your counterpart abuses her title as a princess without a shame in the world to call dibs on every cake she desires," Luna opposed with vigor.

"And I think your counterpart, especially after her long absence of 1000 years, has surely the speech pattern of Pinkie Pie's parents. 'Thous' and 'Thees' everywhere and the only thing that would have been doubled would be the amount of headaches. I believe your-"

Celestia was interrupted by Sunset Shimmer. The girl was laughing so hard that she fell to her knees. The siblings had the decency to blush.

After Sunset calmed down she said, "You both managed to describe your counterparts better than I thought," the Equestrian Unicorn in disguise had to admit with a grin.

"Sorry that you had to see that. I hope we can count on you to keep what just transpired a secret," Celestia requested hopefully.

"Promise. So, what did you want to ask about the princesses?" the young woman questioned, less nervous now after the ice-breaking start.

Luna started, "My counterpart can raise and lower the moon and walk in the dreamworld, right?" Sunset nodded. "Hm…” She thought about this bit of information. The lunar knight made her first steps concerning dream related magic. A similarity. But something didn’t feel right, “You explained why and how my counterpart drove herself mad, but weren't her subjects already thankful enough, because she took away bad dreams and made them more pleasant for the dreamer in question?"

"I think? I mean, they should, I'm not sure. From what I understood, Princess Luna's night was connected by the Ponies with evil and darkness, the unknown. So they connected her, as the ruler of the night, with evil, too, I fear. Or at least that she wasn't a good ruler or Pony as Princess Celestia to that time." Sunset shrugged lightly, "It led to the problem that nopony visited her Night Court anymore and I can understand why she felt abandoned, making her resentful in the end. Only the Thestrali were unbroken supporters of her, but as I once explained when I went over the different tribes, they lived mostly during night anyway. It is to this day pretty rare to see a Thestral during the day. They are more active under the moon in general," Sunset explained for the former vice-principal, speaking like a teacher would with a student.

Celestia and Luna were amused by this.

"I see. I can't say I'm really surprised that my counterpart reacted like she did. I can, of course, not really connect with her problems as a mortal human. If I brought the night and nearly everyone slept through it, well, I can't really fault the people for doing so. The night is the time to rest for most, after all. Now, my question for you is... d-do you think I could be corrupted, too? If I'm not careful?" Luna asked nervously.

"I don't think so. You have nothing to do with Nightmare Moon in this world or any reason to bring 'eternal night'. You know that most sleep at night, because that's how it usually works. And as long as you have your sister by your side and us others, too, you shouldn't be in any immediate danger," Sunset assured in a kind voice.

"Sunset is right. We are here for you, Lulu. I believe in you. Together we can face all odds," Celestia promised warmly. Luna got wet eyes.

"Do you want to know anything about your own counterpart, Ms. Celestia?" the former CHS student inquired patiently, trying to hide her anxiousness.

Worry was visible in the former principal's eyes, "You told us that you were her former student, but after she spoke with you less and less and stopped giving you actual material to study, you tried to learn more about the mirror on your own. When she found you in the forbidden archives, she released you as her student, believing you were too far gone for now and had to see the errors of your ways first before you could even be considered as her student again.”

“Consarn it! Look where ya’re goin’!” interrupted a certain blond haired teenager.

The trio glanced questioningly at each other before they decided to observe the scene beneath the hill they were standing upon. Now it made sense why Applejack was angry.

She stood in the centre of the mess and shook her head in resignation. Snip, Snails and Derpy sat on their bottoms, all looking sheepishly and embarrassed at the cowgirl from different positions. Damaged small tabs were laying around and their contents, Apples for the most part, were distributed everywhere. Not all fruits survived the crash, smashed leftovers proved the loss.

Luna chuckled, “It seems our former students had a little work accident.”

Celestia rolled her eyes at her sister and put her focus on Sunset again, “There is indeed something I would like to know.”

The Phoenix Magic user averted her eyes from her friend’s plight as well, “If I can answer the question, sure.”

“Princess Celestia found Twilight Sparkle and I'm confident enough i myself to think that she prepared already a 'Plan B' before Nightmare Moon would return from her banishment in the case you didn't see reason and understood what she was trying to tell you in time. That being said, Sunset, my biggest fear is now, and I want you to answer me truthfully. Did my counterpart... replace you?" Celestia asked, disheartened.

Sunset’s eyes widened at the implications, "W-what?! No, no, no! Or at least, I hope not. I don't think so. Yes, I think that the princess first planned for me to become the Element of Magic in order to save her little sister, but she had to change her plans when it became apparent that my ambitious behaviour, arrogance and desire to become a princess got worse and worse. It was just natural to let me fall from grace, I guess. I never wanted to even try to befriend other Ponies, I saw them just as useless obstacles or eventual pawns to achieve my ultimate goal. I never had the right mindset to be fit to rule. Sadly, I noticed it much too late.”

She gave a hollow laugh. “And I'm so sorry for what I did to you. One of the reasons I bullied the students at CHS was that I wanted to show you, as my former teacher's counterpart, that I could be in charge, directly under your nose. I acted... like a petty filly. It was never your fault or the fault of the others what happened to me. It was all my doing, it all started in Equestria.”

The former principal nodded in understanding, "Still, I think my counterpart made a lot of mistakes with the treatment she gave you, she expected too much without giving any explanations for the reasons why. I may be biased because of my job, but I think that some lessons she tried to teach you would have been easier to grasp if you had more hints at that time.”

Luna gave her own input with a sly grin, “Oh sister, is the pot calling the kettle? We both know that you just love to be cryptic about some topics and expect that our students understand them on their own.”

Celestia decided to ignore her sister’s remark for the time being and continued to speak with Sunset, “And you had made enough faults of your own because of your ambitions. Your natural talent let you become prideful, from pride arised arrogance and arrogance nourished the idea that you should be a ruler to all Ponies of Equestria. Don't you think it's time for the both of you to meet and forgive on a common ground? Oh, and call me Celestia. I think you earned it." She gave a motherly smile.

"Y-you really think so?" Sunset stuttered, caught off-guard by the mere idea to meet her former mentor again. The counterpart nodded honestly. "I... I guess you are right. Thank you... Celestia." Sunset felt awkward addressing her former principal so informally. “B-but I’m not sure if I’m ready to meet the princess again!" she exclaimed worriedly, "We didn’t part on particularly good terms.”

"I think there is something you should know. To make you understand how important it is to forgive and to stop living in the past. I had already my own phase as a 'Nightmare Moon' you might say," Luna revealed with a regretful look in her eyes.

"W-what?" Sunset thought she heard wrong.

"Just listen and you will understand..."

In the Canterlot hospital laid a new patient with a broken arm and concussion. The young woman drove with a car, but without a license, through Canterlot at 6 a.m in the morning. It was clear, after the report of the officer, that said girl was very drunk in the moment the accident occured. Luckily, nobody died.

"Luna! What were you thinking?! Why did you do this?! You nearly killed yourself!" a young, 20 years old Celestia interrogated in fury.

"Because you were always more loved by everyone! I always have to hear from all sides how great you are and how I should take an example from you! How I should be like you! That's the reason I did this, dearest sister," an angry, 16 years old Luna screamed back.

"A-are you serious?!" The elder sibling felt lost.

"I mean that Cheerilee, Mayor Mare and all our other supposed to be 'friends' are hanging on your every word like it is ambrosia. And me?! I'm always left behind and do you know what's worse? You don't even see it! No matter what I do, you all see me as some little child that should stay at home and in the meantime you have all the fun!" Luna exclaimed in blind fury.

"B-but why didn't you talk to me? And how many times did you sneak out of the house like that!?" Celestia never knew!

"I lost count. 10-15 times? There were some people from my class who always went to their own club every saturday and I didn't knew them at first, but I didn't care. I found out that we had something in common and that was our mutual passion for stargazing, in opposite to a certain someone who always sleeps during the night and says no when I asked her if she wanted to watch with me. They told me how they went there every week and that they wanted to invite me. So I always took the car when you were sleeping and visited every party I could get a hold on.” The midnight blue teenager glared unforgivingly at her older sister, “At least they cared! But you are just hear to cry about the car. It's always about you! I swear I-” Celestia hugged Luna tightly, tears streaming down her eyes.

It didn't feel right for the younger sibling. Her sister was always a bastion of calmness. Rumors claimed that it was impossible to bring Celestia out of her balance. Nothing could stop her, nothing could touch her, loved by students and teachers alike. A role model, gleaming like the sun itself. So why was she crying so hard? And why did Luna feel so... guilty?

"You stupid, stupid sister. I don't give a flying fuck about the car!" The injured girl wondered if the gates of Tartarus had just opened. Celestia, the figurehead of all what was right, had just cursed. "Oh Lulu, forgive me for ignoring you, please! I will be a much better sister for you from now on and talk with the others that we will take you with us in the future, I promise. What do you say, little sister?" the young alabaster colored woman asked, almost pleading, giving her laying sibling a hand, "Do you take my hand in friendship once more?"

The injured girl tried to play it cool, her wobbling lips betrayed her, in the end, she took the offered appendage with her own, "Only when you make me my favourite food in the moment I come out of here. Hospital food is disgusting!"

The Lunar Magic user spoke softer than usual, "Do you understand now? Celestia always blamed me when we were younger and I always blamed her. We were so focused on what the other did wrong in our opinion and should improve that it needed an almost lethal car accident before we realized that we could have avoided a lot of grief and pain when we just talked with each other.”

“If you get the chance, Sunset, talk to the princess. I can promise you she is as much of a fool as you think of yourself. Give it a try, you won't regret it. Take a leap of faith and you will see." Celestia hoped that her former student took the story to heart. Especially, because Luna was always extremely embarrassed about it.

"I think I can do that. Thank you very much, Celestia, Ms. Luna" Sunset wanted to hug the women, but didn't want to risk the lunar knight's wrath.

"Only Luna is fine.” That took the amber woman certainly by surprise. “Celestia once told me your real age. I think I can allow you to let the 'Ms.' part of my name slide," the woman allowed, wearing a smug expression.

With a last tearful nod of her head, the former Unicorn made her way back. She had one, maybe two, friends who needed her now.

Twilight was waiting in Sunset's room for some time now, pacing nervously. The redhead said to her that she should wait here until Sunset finished her conversation with the former principals. What should she do? What if Sunset reacted harshly and demanded from her and Midnight to fuse together entirely? Or worse, that Midnight was to be excorcized?! Wait, could they even do that anymore?

"Calm down, Sparky. You are starting to hyperventilate, breath in and out like Cadence once taught us and relax," Midnight advised calmly.

"But-"

"No 'buts'! We both know that Shimmer wouldn't do anything without your explicit permission. It's already annoying enough that I have to say such positive things about her to defend the one who opposed me. Seriously, when I said to you that I would become your conscious I meant it more as a joke and now... look at us! I don't even get paid!" Midnight complained theatrically.

"Y-you're right. I shouldn't worry myself into a frenzy. I'm sorry Midnight," Twilight apologized.

The door opened and Sunset stepped into her room. She seemed to analyze the nervous girl before closing the door and took a spot on the bed, frowning, "Alright, spill it. I noticed that the portal from your demonstration was made out of the same magic you used as Midnight Sparkle during the Friendship Games, I felt it." She stood up and put her hand on the other scholar's shoulder, "Please, don't think you have to hide something from me. I will listen like a true friend should and won't judge before you are finished. I promise. Besides, I'm not in the position to lecture you about how you should treat your other half," Sunset assured with a comforting smile.

"See? It seems that she doesn't plan to exorcise me. No holy water," Midnight attempted to joke.

Twilight sighed and returned the eye-contact slowly, “I guess you are right, no more secrets. It all started when we fought this giant plant..." she started nervously.

The Arcane mage explained everything from the start, how Midnight pulled her into their mindscape when her levitation didn't work and what kind of deal the twins made. She then continued to report about her time when she was unconscious and Midnight took over, what the spirit's abilities were and how she managed to unleash Spike's inner magic, granting him the ability to transform into his Dire Wolf form.

"...and that's pretty much everything important there is to tell about this topic. Midnight and I share a body and she is kind of my... 'conscience', to use a fitting term to describe her position in the moment. She did nothing suspicious since we made this agreement and I believe in her. Sunset, we both learned from our mistakes, trust me," Twilight implored.

Sunset tilted her head in thoughts, "You said Midnight can take over your body in case you are not conscious. Can she do that when you are actually there, too? Would it be possible for me to talk to her directly?"

"I don't know, Midnight?" Twilight asked her twin loudly.

"I think so?" Then she nodded, "Yes, I'm sure that it will work, but only with your permission as long as you are in charge of the body. It is yours after all," the twin replied confidently.

Why wanted Shimmer to talk anyway?

"Midnight said that it should be possible," Twilight informed briefly, "How does it work exactly?" the scientist inquired, returning to her more analytical self.

The dark angel decided to reply honestly, "Well, you will switch positions with me for the time being and remain here in the mindscape as long as I'm in charge of the body for the duration of my talk with Shimmer. You can even force me to switch places with you again whenever you feel like it, so that you will be back in control. And don't think I get soft here. I just tell you about it, because I don't want to give you both any reasons to distrust me or making you believe that I would try to take over," Midnight explained, the last part with a smug grin only Twilight could see.

"Can I switch with you at will, too? Or can only you do it?" Twilight asked her twin in their mind, this time out of sincere scientific interest.

Midnight shrugged with her shoulders, "I don't know. Maybe? You would have to try it out," she answered truthfully.

"OK, Sunset. It can be done, wait a second," Twilight informed her friend.

"Wait! We don't know if that works!" Midnight said warningly.

Why did Shimmer look at her like that? Oh.

"Are you Midnight Sparkle?" Sunset wanted to know. A serious expression graced her face.

"It worked! OK, I have to admit it feels very strange to become a magical spirit in the moment, talking about 'out-of-body experience', right?” Twilight giggled in excitement, “Amazing! It is so completely different to see my mind from within now in comparison from all the occasions you summoned me here! You even created and decorated yourself an own home here. Wait... is that Captain Smarty Pants? Oh my gosh, how cute!" Twilight couldn't contain herself.

Midnight blushed in the face, confusing Sunset.

The teen noticed, "W-what? Sparky is just very excited and doesn't know what she is talking about." Awkward silence. "So, you wanted to talk, Shimmer?" Midnight questioned, trying to sound bored, but she couldn't keep herself from showing curiosity in front of the girl.

"Hey!" Twilight exclaimed with puffy cheeks.

The Phoenix Magic user chuckled knowingly, "Don't worry. I made peace with my 'evil side', too. I just wanted to meet you in person to make myself a picture from you. Tell me, Midnight, what are your plans for the future? Or do you really want to make me believe that playing the role of 'Twilight's conscience' is everything you ever want to do in life? There has to be more," Sunset elucidated.

Midnight gave the young woman in front of her a mischievous smile, "What? Are you worried about your friend? That I will always be stuck at her side, even in her most intimate moments and participate in voyeurism of the most personal level?" Sunset and Twilight both blushed, but calmed down after a few moments.

With a sincere and convinced tone both stated at the same time, "I wouldn't put it past you. I wouldn't put it past you." Now it was Midnight's turn to flush madly, not prepared that her jab would be returned instantly.

"Gross! I'm not some pervert! For your information. I can very well ignore when something happens here in the outside world and do my own thing, I can choose. I just didn't do that until now. Or rarely. For example, I don't need to witness how Sparky does her private businesses. Thank you very much! It's boring and the real world is much more interesting." She huffed indignantly, "But to answer your question seriously this time, I will manage. It's not like I can have my own body or something like that," Midnight confessed sourly.

"Midnight..." Twilight felt bad for the dark angel.

"I'm not only worried about my friend. I'm worried about you, too," Sunset admitted with a sincere smile.

"What?" Midnight queried in disbelief, crossing her arms in distrust. She was sure she heard the young woman wrong.

"From what Twilight told me and from what I see and feel in this moment, you are no longer some mad and power-hungry being anymore, who wishes to destroy the entire world and erase all life in extension, just to satisfy your thirst for knowledge in the arts of magic. You don't have to force yourself to become friends with others, but I just wanted to tell you that you're not alone. You have Twilight and now me, too. I'm sure when we explain everything in peace and quiet the others will forgive you for what happened in the past and see that you are actually much nicer than you might want to believe," Sunset answered caringly.

"D-don't think I suddenly want to be a part of your little group because of some nice words. It doesn't work like that! I appreciate your worries, Shimmer, but I will decide for myself if I want to be all buddy-buddy with you or not. Understood?" Midnight demanded to clarify.

"Don't be so stubborn! Making friends is not so bad as you think it is. Join the dark side, we have books!... T-that's clearly Pinkie Pie's dark influence! We both know I'm not like that. Am I going crazy? Fast, ask me something difficult!" Twilight shouted in panic.

"Nope! I won't let you live that down, sorry Sparky. And you are not crazier as usual, don't worry," Midnight replied in their head.

"Thanks, I guess?" the scientist mumbled in uncertainty.

"You will come around, I'm sure of it. But I won't tell anybody about you as long as that won't be necessary, so that you can do everything at your own pace. I even Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye," Sunset promised, finishing the motions for the pact.

"Are you kidding me? What is a ‘Pinkie Promise’? Why should I trust you suddenly only because you made these embarrassing movements?" The magical twin felt like talking to a toddler all of the sudden.

"To be honest? I don't know, I think it's a little silly, too. I just did it, because it came into my mind and I thought it would fit the situation. The girls said I could never break a Pinkie Promise or I would lose a friend-"

"FOREVER!" Pinkie Pie shouted in a for her very uncharacteristic dead serious voice after she opened the doors of the wardrobe, however that was possible, and scared the daylights out of the others.

Luckily for the household, Twilight's screams of terror were only witnessed by Midnight, who was wondering. Was it possible to go deaf from a voice in your own head? It was certainly worth a thought.

"Pinkie Pie! What in Luna's mane were you doing in the wardrobe?!" Sunset asked forcefully.

"Well, duh! To make a dramatic entrance of course!" Pinkie replied in a ‘isn't-that-obvious’ kind of voice.

"I can already feel how my neurons are dying alone from listening to the words you are saying," Midnight commented dryly.

"Silly Midnight, that makes no sense! Yes, I kind of heard your conversation, sorry. But don't worry, I won't tell a soul about you, even if I think you should totally do that. I'm sure you could be best friends with Sour Sweet, she is bipolar, too. Believe me when I say that we will have tons of fun at the party! Now, good night!" Pinkie Pie assured happily before she left the room with a spring in her step.

"I... but... she... and then... wardrobe... no door... sanity... what?" Midnight hoped her twin wouldn't get a conniption.

"I think that is enough for today. Tomorrow we have to help Moondancer with her ideas for whatever she wants to construct. So as long as you don't want to watch me changing out of my clothes you can go. And it was nice to meet you, Midnight." Sunset declared the day for finished.

She was tired.

"Twilight is pretty out of it because of your friend. So I think I will gladly stand here and look how you strip off your clothes," Midnight replied, grinning. She hoped that this comment would let Twilight snap out of it.

"Maybe she waited there already before Midnight and I came into the room? But why?! Or perhaps she thought it would be funny to scare us. Wait! Halloween was only in a few months. But what if-" It was worth a shot.

The magical spirit put her focus back on Sunset, "Well, that didn't work. Do you have an idea how-uhhhhh..."

Midnight couldn't continue, the presented view was much to distracting. In front of her stood Sunset Shimmer without a care in the world, in her birth suit.

"I could have sworn I put my pajama onto the bed... hm? Oh, you are probably wondering why I'm naked. Sorry, I thought it wouldn't matter to you, because, well, you are a girl, too," Sunset defended herself, slightly embarrassed, facing the other teen and offering Midnight the full view for free.

"How can she be blessed with such a killer body as a supposed-to-be horse!? That’s so not fair!" Midnight ranted jealousy.

Sunset groaned exhaustedly, "Look, Midnight. In the moment I came to this world I got maybe the body of a female human with everything it entails, much to my frustration. However, I came from a world of magical talking Ponies where I was a Unicorn. We normally don't wear any clothes in Equestria and it's just how it is. I mean, if Pegasi fly above you, you can see, in theory, pretty much everything, but nopony cares for such things. Catching a glimpse of somepony's nether regions is just something that happens on occasions, a tail doesn't cover a Pony's backside in every single situation, you know?" The former Unicorn had at least an apologetic smile.

She never developed this insanely strong feeling of shame or the desire to hide her body like normal humans always did. She simply wore clothes, because it got really cold otherwise and it was expected by her from human society.

Sunset found her pyjama and finally covered her generously endowed chest, "Again, sorry if I made you uncomfortable, that wasn't my intention at all." Midnight continued to stare silently, cheeks colored. "Well... we will see us tomorrow then when we help Moondancer. Good night."

"G-good night," Midnight responded simply.

She left Sunset's room, closed the door behind her much too fast and stood around like a lost puppy, trying to process the pictures.

"OK. OK... in... and out... I'm fine again. Sorry, I'm sure you and Sunset tried to snap me out of it, but I didn't react. I will apologize to her tomorrow for my rude behaviour. And I see you left the room! So, did I miss anything of importance? Midnight? Are you... huh?" Twilight felt lost, why was she suddenly in charge of the body again?

"Are you alright? Did you both had a disagreement?" Twilight asked worriedly. No response.

After a few seconds the lavender teenager had enough from her twin's lack of reaction and started to walk to her own assigned room, not understanding why Midnight didn't answer. In fact, the dark angel didn't say a word until the next morning, much to the irritation of a certain scholar.

Author's Notes:

Greetings my avid readers!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

The Adepts know Fluttershy's name! That being said, praise the sun!

Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned!