After Applejack’s departure, Twilight cleared her throat to speak with the rest of her friends who had chosen to stay in the room with her. “So, the fact that you all have stayed and not left like her tells me that you’re all committed to this then?” Twilight asked with a raised brow, not really doubting her friend’s loyalty, but merely confirming out loud what she already suspected.

“We’re with you, Twilight, but shouldn’t we go after her?” Pinkie replied first, her usually bounciness seemed to have subsided a bit, likely due to the circumstances that they found themselves in. These dark and trying times gave little reason to be as exuberant as she normally was.

Twilight shook her head. “There’s no need. If Applejack has her doubts, I can’t blame her for that, after all, my incompetence is what brought us here. I have failed all of you, and I’m deeply regretful of that...”

The princess lowered her head in shame. It was painful for her to admit her failures out loud, but she knew that the path to redemption started with admittance and acceptance of her mistakes.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, darling. You did your best, none of us could have predicted that Serenade would anticipate your move, shoot, she’s been far more clever than any of us gave her credit for,” Rarity chimed in with her two cents.

While it was nice to know that Rarity still had faith in Twilight, the princess herself know that she needed to do better this time around. She needed to truly execute a plan that would throw Serenade for the kind of loop that she’d never expect, the kind of plan that would really get them all back on track.

“I appreciate your kind words, but let’s save them for when we beat Serenade and take back Equestria.” Twilight looked up, trying to grow her confidence back.

“Take back Equestria? Twilight, no offense but how are we going to do that? Serenade now is stronger than Tirek even probably, and he was hard enough to defeat. How do you propose we beat a demon siren that strong with the limited magic we have left?” Starlight asked.

“As I said before, I am down, but I am not out just yet. I still have a little magic at my disposal which means I just have to use it more strategically. I have to make every move that I make count, but I do have a plan,” Twilight responded conviction in her voice and sincerity in her eyes. Starlight could tell that the mare was serious about what she was about to divulge.

“That’s our girl! Always ready! What’s the plan, Twilight? How do we give it to that demon?” Rainbow whooped as she stood up from her seat, excitement making it difficult for her to sit still.

Twilight admired her enthusiasm and nodded in her direction before turning back to the center of the table to face the entire group. “So, this next plan will be very risky.”

“I don’t really like risky...” Starlight admitted with a gulp.

“Scared money don’t make no money,” Twilight spoke with an awkward deeper voice, clearly quoting someone.

“Huh?” Rarity raised a curious brow, trying to figure out who was puppeteering Twilight.

Twilight coughed and cleared her throat. “Something that Discord always said. The point is that to get big rewards, we have to take big risks.”

“Makes sense to me.” Rainbow shrugged, already following the logic.

“I suppose so...” Rarity frowned, not particularly liking this line of thinking, but choosing to go along with it to see where it was going before speaking any kind of discontent.

“So what exactly are we risking, Twilight?” Starlight asked, a bit of trepidation in her voice.

“Ourselves. My plan will require us all to be in close proximity of Serenade as I mentioned before,” Twilight reminded.

“You mentioned sneaking back into your castle to retrieve something, right?” Rarity asked, trying to determine if she had been paying adequate attention.

Shifting her focus to the sapphire blue eyes of the fashionista, Twilight nodded. “Yes, thus why I said it will be far riskier. Remember, Serenade is likely going to be watching over the place looking for any and all kinds of clues there that she can find to help her locate me or any other secrets I may be keeping that she can exploit. Serenade is too paranoid to leave even my small bit of magic to chance, she will hunt for a way to detain me.”

“So shouldn’t you be staying back then?” Rarity blinked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I will need to use the little magic I have left to retrieve what we need.”

“Why not get Starlight to do it? She still has magic left...” Rainbow pointed out.

“She needs to stay behind...” Twilight replied.

“What? Why? She’s currently the strongest in terms of magic in this room, Twilight!” Rarity protested, placing a delicate alabaster hoof on the table.

“I’m well aware, that’s exactly why she needs to stay here...” Twilight crossed her front hooves and closed her eyes as she sat in thought.

“That makes no logical sense, shouldn’t we have her with us? We need all the advantages we can get!” Rarity stated.

Starlight stared in Twilight’s direction when the princess didn’t answer. Starlight could already read what was on Twilight’s mind; she sighed and decided she was going to have to speak up on Twilight’s behalf. “Twilight is thinking of what happens if this plan fails...”

The entire room minus Twilight all turned their attention to the unicorn, who blushed at the sudden attention of all of her friends. “Twilight wants me here to continue where she left off in the event that she gets captured by Serenade...”

“She can’t possibly be planning for such a thing... Can she?” Rarity asked, her eyes trailing over toward the mare clad in pointed armor that sat at the head of the table.

Twilight remained there with her hooves crossed and her eyes closed for at least eight more seconds before responding to Rarity’s inquiry. “I have to plan for every scenario. Serenade is, and so must I. I may not be stronger than her, but I can definitely be smarter. I have to always be thinking eight steps ahead if I want to beat her.”

Rainbow had never seen Twilight so focused before, it almost worried her that the girl would have an aneurysm or something from pushing her mind too far. She then wondered if that was a thing that could even happen.

“So what exactly are we trying to get from the castle?” Rainbow asked curiously.

“The mirror portal,” Twilight responded plainly.

Rarity squared her eyebrow, unsure of what help such a thing would be in their predicament.

“What, pray tell is the mirror going to do for us? No offense, darling, but I don’t exactly see it as useful for us at this time...” Rarity admitted.

Twilight shook her head. “There is untapped power that Serenade has yet to be aware of. On top of this, we have to get that mirror before she discovers what it can do and what it is capable of.”

“Why?” Rainbow blinked, not quite following.

“Are you afraid she’ll go to the human world to cause trouble there too?” Fluttershy finally spoke up, meekly albeit.

“Well, that and there is another reality that no one wants to consider...” Twilight frowned.

“Which is?” Rainbow leaned in with the rest of the girls, clearly intrigued by whatever Twilight was proposing.

“The reality is that I saw quite extensively in Adagio’s trial what the human weapon known as a ‘gun’ was capable of. It ripped holes in that poor girl like nothing, At the rate that some of them launch projectiles, I’m not even confident magic would be sufficient in defending against them...” Twilight grimaced as she remembered the gory details of the trial. Pictures of Shimmer’s body still haunting her slightly. The fact that the girl had dragged herself so far after being hit was remarkable.

“Yeah, so?” Rainbow shrugged, not sure how this detail connected.

“So, if Serenade figures out that the portal goes to the human world, she could come back with many of those things...” Twilight informed.

Rarity blinked and shuddered. “Oh... I suppose I see your point now, that would be bad.”

Twilight nodded. “The worse part is that apparently, humans have far worse weapons than that. I did some research the last time I visited after the trial...”

“Why did you go back after the trial?” Rainbow asked.

“To pay my respects to Shimmer, I visited her gravesite,” Twilight explained.

Satisfied with that explanation, Rainbow silenced herself.

“Anyway, humans have bombs that can blow up large areas with little effort, poisonous gas that can choke you to death, machines that throw flames in every direction, and something called a nuclear warhead.” Twilight placed a hoof on her chin hoping she was remembering how to pronounce the name correctly.

“What’s a nu-cle-air warhard?” Pinkie stumbled on her wording and spit a bit trying to pronounce the name.

“Nuclear warhead, Pinkie; and it’s apparently referred to as a weapon of mass destruction. A weapon that unleashes devastating radiation, fire, and death. Their destructive force is measured in something called ‘megatons’, it’s all very complicated though...” Twilight rubbed her neck, not really prepared for an impromptu physics lesson on human weaponry.

“If Serenade were to get her hooves on something like that, what kind of damage would we...” Rarity trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish her own sentence.

Letting out a sigh, Twilight shook her head and looked at the table in front of her. “Just one of those things dropped on Canterlot... Would level the entire city. Everything, gone, likely no survivors either.”

“Sweet Luna...” Rainbow was practically breathless.

Twilight nodded. “We can’t allow that to happen.”

“No kidding, so what’s the plan, Twilight?” Rainbow nodded.

Clearing her throat, Twilight re-composed herself. “Right, so as I was saying, there’s going to be some risks involved here. We will need all hooves on deck to infiltrate the castle. We’ll break into teams to get past certain checkpoints but also to watch each other’s backs.”

“Where is the mirror located?” Rarity asked.

“I have it locked in a place in the basement, somewhere where Serenade likely won’t think to look, it’s a special passage that requires knowledge of how to open it. She wouldn’t see it in her naked vision.” Twilight grinned, a bit grateful that she had the sense to hide the portal in the event that something like this happened, and Spike had the audacity to imply she was being overly paranoid.

“So we’ll need everypony to help distract the guards and potentially Serenade so I can get the mirror, teleport it to a safe location and then we rendezvous and I can teleport us all out.” Twilight explained.

Rainbow Dash blinked, a bit unsure about that plan. “Are you sure you have enough magic left to teleport us all and the mirror?”

Twilight nodded. “During my training with Discord, I mastered how to reduce the cost of spells on my magic reserves and body. Spells such as teleporting are still a challenge over long distances, but if I set a relay spell here prior to going it will make the cost of energy on myself far lower.”

“That’s brilliant!” Rarity praised.

“Thank you, now, I should warn you all again; this plan is going to be dangerous, we may not all come back from this...” Twilight frowned.

Rainbow shook her head and offered her hoof in the center of the table as she flapped her mighty wings to life her body off the ground. “All for one, and one for all, right?”

Not being outdone, Rarity leaned in over the table and placed her hoof atop of Rainbow’s. “If we don’t stop Serenade, it will be very bad for the fashion industry. Jumpsuits are totally not in.”

Pinkie hopped on top of the table itself and copied the gesture of her friends, shoving a pink hoof on top of the pile with perhaps a little too much energy. “Let’s kick some siren booty!”

Fluttershy gently flew in and offered her canary hoof with a nod. “We can’t let her go unchallenged, right?”

Seeing the resolve and determination of her friends gave Twilight hope that she might be able to pull this plan off. With a smile, she nodded and reached forward placing her own hoof atop of the pile. “Then we’re in it together.”

“For Equestria!” They all yelled in unison before lifting their hooves and returning to their seats.

Chuckles and laughter filled the room for a brief few moments. Once it had subsided, Twilight cleared her throat to speak again. “Alright, let’s go over the floor plans a few times so we can plot our entry points.”

It took a good hour or so before Twilight’s briefing ended, though it felt like much longer for Rarity, who wanted to go meet up with Applejack before she left. The mare had set out to leave the group but was taking her time before her complete departure. Rarity was hoping to make an excuse to rush out to go and speak with the farmer prior but could find no time to break away to do so. Still, she had to know what was going on and if the mare was heading to a safe place.

Catching her breath after running down the large stairwell in the facility, Rarity composed herself and tried to look as ladylike as Applejack knew her to be before engaging the farm-mare standing at the entrance with a square eyebrow of pure confusion.

Rarity cleared her throat and trotted over daintily, trying to keep her composure as she did so. Once reaching Applejack, she shot her a concerned smile. “Applejack, darling, are you certain you want to do this?”

Applejack nodded and tilted her hat with her hoof. “Pretty darn sure. ‘Ah ain’t interested in a suicide mission. Look, clearly Twilight has lost her edge, ‘Ah mean ‘Ah never really liked the idea of bettin’ on Discord and look how that ended up?”

“You can hardly blame the failure of Twilight’s plan on Discord, darling...” Rarity frowned, hoping that Applejack would listen to reason and for once that stubbornness in the mare would not cloud her judgment.

The orange coated mare just shook her head. “Don’t matter. Twilight learned how t’be cocky from him.”

“That’s not what happened and you know it, Applejack. Twilight was more than careful, and she went out of her way to try and avoid a direct confrontation with Serenade. If she were cocky, she’d have suggested a head-on fight with the monster!” Rarity pointed out.

In Rarity’s mind, her logic was sound, but clearly, that isn’t what it came off as to the stubborn farmer. “And antagonizin’ her by sending her messages mocking her dead sister ain’t cocky?”

“Twilight is far from cocky!” Rainbow Dash’s voice could be heard from up the stairwell interrupting their conversation.

Rarity sighed, hoping she could address the issue with Applejack by herself, but it apparently couldn’t be helped. Rainbow Dash raced down at top speed and hovered there flapping her wings lightly as she crossed her hooves and gave Applejack the stink eye for daring to suggest that Twilight had overstepped.

Applejack just sneered at the mare and scoffed. “Then explain how she lost.”

“Serenade is extra crafty, but Twilight has a backup plan!” Rainbow defended her friend.

“Yeah, and what is stoppin’ that plan from goin’ the same as the first? This ain’t a rodeo, this is real life. If this plan fails, we could all end up Serenade’s personal slaves, or dead, or worse...” Applejack shuddered at those last words, her memory still pulling her back to the horrifying visions that Serenade had shown her.

Was it possible? Could she be turned into a demon so easily by the demon siren? Applejack didn’t want to find out. She didn’t want to even be close to the possibility of that ever happening. The last thing she wanted was to even consider such a thing.

“Applejack, dear, Twilight wouldn’t suggest such a risky plan if she didn’t have the situation under control...” Rarity frowned, though she knew from Twilight’s words back in the briefing that she wasn’t completely confident that her new strategy would conquer the siren, but at that moment, Applejack needed to hear reassurance and not more doubt.

It was odd to Rarity to hear Applejack so filled with doubt, especially of their friend. In the past, Applejack had bet on Twilight over and over with almost blind faith, and yet now she behaved as someone whose faith had been horribly shaken. Sure, Twilight’s plan didn’t work out, but Twilight had failed in the past and Applejack hadn’t merely given up on her.

The more Rarity thought about it, the stranger the entire ordeal seemed. Applejack was behaving almost out of character for herself; there had to be more to what was going on than what appeared.

“Applejack, you have to give Twilight a chance...” Rarity offered her friend a smile.

Applejack just shot her back an annoyed expression. “Already gave her one, she blew it. Now ‘Ah have to go my own path, rather than bet on crazy plans of putting myself directly in front of enemy’s line o’ fire.”

“Where will you even go?” Rarity blinked.

“Probably Appleloosa. ‘Ah’m sure my cousin out that way could use my help more than this place does...” She smiled as thoughts of her cousin filled her mind.

Rarity could hardly believe what she was hearing. “That’s crazy, Applejack, we need you here!”

“Twilight said if ‘Ah ain’t committed then it’s better that ‘Ah leave...” Applejack shrugged.

“She only said that so you wouldn’t feel bad about leaving!” Rarity protested, stamping a hoof on the ground, a bit embarrassed about how annoyed she herself was getting at Applejack’s demeanor.

Rainbow just floated next to the two observing, not quite sure of what to make of all of this.

“Applejack, this is crazy!” Rarity stated.

“Crazy is bettin’ everything on a stupid mirror,” Applejack retorted with a snarl.

“You know that’s not what’s happening, Applejack!” Rarity said.

“Don’t care. ‘Ah’m outta here anyway. If ya’ need me, or y’all come to your senses, you’ll know where to find me.” Applejack tipped her hat before leaving through the entryway, leaving the two mares standing in shock and confusion.

Rainbow coughed as Applejack left and looked over at Rarity with an annoyed expression. “Man, her loyalty clearly just disappeared, didn’t it?”

Rarity’s eyes were focused, however, on the doorway where Applejack once stood as she just processed what had happened before them. It wasn’t like Applejack to be so standoffish with her, Rainbow Dash, sure, but not her.

Blinking, Rarity tried to piece it all together.

Applejack had been in a coma for some time after Serenade’s attack on her, and after waking up, she hadn’t exactly been herself; Rarity was starting to get a clearer picture.

“Right, Rarity?” Rainbow repeated, hoping to get a response from her friend that appeared lost in space.

Barely hearing her, Rarity shook her head as she continued to stare at the doorway, the details starting to paint a picture to her.

“I don’t think that’s it at all, darling.” Rarity’s voice came off as rather distant and empty, like she was barely all there, but it was mostly because she was still processing thoughts as she answered.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow lowered herself to hear Rarity better.

“I think she’s scared.”

“Applejack? Scared? Scared of what?” Rainbow chuckled. “Nothing scares Applejack, and you know that.”

“Clearly something did. She wouldn’t act like that otherwise. I think something that Serenade did made Applejack realize how real this all is, and she can’t handle it.” Rarity frowned.

“What do you think she saw when she was put in that coma?” Rainbow questioned.

Truthfully, Rarity didn’t want to know, she didn’t even want to think about it. She was content with being blissfully ignorant to whatever troubled Applejack, but at the same time, she was beyond curious.

“I don’t know, Rainbow Dash, but whatever it was, it was more than likely, absolutely horrifying if it has even Applejack running scared...” Rarity said, not daring to try and imagine what unspeakable horrors Serenade could subject somepony to.

Twilight let out a heavy sigh as she looked over some notes sprawled out on her desk regarding her castle’s layout. She needed to study virtually every single passageway, every route to every room; the mare needed to know the place inside and out to the point where the chance of Serenade being more informed on her castle than her was at absolute zero. The risks of her plan required her not to make any mistakes; she needed to factor in everything that could possibly happen or her friends could wind up seriously hurt.

She had studied these maps at least eight times in the past hour alone, making various notes on the scrolls about possible plans of action that she could take.

A tap on her door caused her to grunt a response to signal entry to who stood there.

Sure enough, Rarity was waiting to greet the princess as the door opened and closed behind her. The off-white unicorn stepped gracefully into Twilight’s lair, smiling softly at her friend who was clearly hard at work.

“Twilight, darling... I wanted to talk to you about Applejack.” Rarity forced the words out.

Twilight didn’t even look up from her maps. “There’s nothing to discuss. Applejack doesn’t feel completely committed to this, and I have no qualms with that. She needs to do what makes sense to her, and I hold no ill will toward her for it.”

“That... Wasn’t what I wanted to discuss...” Rarity bit her lip.

Rarity’s trepidation wasn’t enough to distract Twilight fully from her work as she multitasked. “What’s troubling, you, Rarity?” She asked as she scribbled another note on her maps.

“It’s just... I’ve known Applejack for years...” Rarity was cut off by Twilight.

“As have all of us. I still remember when I met her, I never ate so much pie in a single sitting in my entire life.” Twilight smiled lightly as the memory of her first encounter with the apple orchard worker filled her mind. She recalled not being able to say no to the soft puppy dog eyes of her adorable younger sibling and ended up forcing herself to eat more than her fair share of confectionary delights.

Spike, given his large appetite, however, was more than content to chow down.

Twilight thought about it for a brief moment when she was on the topic of food and realized she had lost some weight. All the stress, training, and poor personal care had left her a good ten or twenty pounds lighter. She mentally reminded herself that she needed to get back on top of eating properly and taking care of herself.

“Yes, well in my entire time knowing her, I’ve never known Applejack to be...” Rarity paused, placing a hoof to her chin trying to think of the word.

“Scared?” Twilight replied, still distracted by her notes.

“Yes... How did you know?” Rarity blinked, a bit astonished that anypony had picked up on it beside her.

Placing her quill down on the table, Twilight finally met the mare’s eyes. “I know what fear feels like, Rarity. I could sense it on Applejack too. Do you think I’m not scared to face Serenade? Discord sacrificed himself to save me, and I’m terrified that I won’t be able to rescue him and repay the favor...”

“Discord and you really have a unique bond now, don’t you?” Rarity asked with intrigue.

Twilight closed her eyes trying to think of how to word the relationship that she and her new mentor had. It wasn’t like what she had with Celestia, it was different, something she couldn’t even put into words. He was frustrating, cheeky and all around a trouble maker, but she could always sense that he was concerned for her even if he didn’t show it. They had the sort of connection that didn’t require them to speak their thoughts, she knew what he was thinking and he likely knew what she was thinking.

She missed his guidance, she had come to rely on it in the past few months in place of Celestia’s.

“He... Well, I don’t know. I wish I could explain it, but he pushed me to achieve something I never thought possible, and I’m very grateful to him. He’s definitely an oddball and a trouble maker, but his heart is in the right place...” Twilight said, hoping her explanation was enough.

A warm smile crossed Rarity’s face as she nodded. “Well then we can’t just sit here while he’s being held by that monster can we?”

Twilight nodded but felt it necessary to speak up about something that was bothering her. “Rarity... I have to confess... I’m not completely sure that we can come out of this unscathed...”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I’m going to do my best, but I fear that... Serenade might just be too strong and crafty. We have one shot at this, and if it doesn’t work, it may be up to Starlight to clean up my mistakes...”

Stepping forward, Rarity came around Twilight’s desk and grabbed the mare in her front hooves, forcing her to face her. “Twilight Sparkle, you’re the Princess of Friendship, you’ve overcome so much in such a short time. We’re going to stop Serenade, rescue Discord and the others and we’re going to do it with your help.”

Twilight sighed and found herself chuckling at Rarity’s confidence. “Whenever I doubt myself, it’s at least comforting to know that my friends are there to quell my fears...”

“It’s what friends are for, darling.” Rarity winked.

Serenade sat bored on her throne in the former Princess of Friendship’s castle. It was rewarding to know that she had conquered so much that now she had multiple castles to choose from to take a load off and relax. It was the gem of her victory over Twilight, though there was still work to be done, Twilight was still out there with some magic left, and Serenade needed to change that fact.

Looking over a book she had taken from Twilight’s personal library, she scoffed and snarled at the words she was reading.

As if on cue, Arax, her most trusted servant arrived bowing his head before the mare sitting at her throne, a tiara sitting atop of her head that was poorly aligned, clearly she had only been trying it on to add insult to injury toward Twilight Sparkle.

Approaching his master, she waved a dismissive hoof. “Master,” he began.

“At ease, Arax...” She yawned.

Arax perked up and gave a half-hearted smile that made the fangs hanging from her upper jaw present in an awkward manner that only worked to make the changeling seem more sinister.

“Master-“ he tried to start again but was interrupted by the siren.

“Can you believe this nonsense? Listen to this: ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I learned that sometimes friendship means compromise and not always getting your way’, what a load of manure...” Serenade mocked.

Arax blinked, unsure of what book she was reading. “What is that?” He asked.

“Some kind of friendship journal that Twilight Sparkle kept with her annoying little friends, honestly it’s more or less a guide on how to be a pathetic weakling and rely on others who will likely stab you in the back the moment it tickles their fancy.” Serenade tossed the book aside haphazardly.

“Sounds useless.” Arax shrugged.

“Indeed, though that’s why I trust you, Arax. You understand the need for efficiency and keeping relationships strictly mutually beneficial. Friends are just leeches, parasites that bring the strong down so that they can feed off of them because they lack the power to do anything for themselves...” Serenade lectured.

The changeling blinked, a bit surprised to hear such words from even Serenade. It sounded like she was speaking from personal experience, and he was tempted to press the matter to find out more, but better judgment won out in the end and he chose to leave that door closed.

“Master, not to interject, but sadly we have not been able to locate where Twilight Sparkle or her entourage is hiding. She’s managed to elude us somehow, we suspect she’s located somewhere that we can’t track, though of course with her lowered magic levels, it will be harder to flag down her magic emissions,” Arax explained.

Serenade scoffed, not particularly good at handling bad news that came her way. “Well, you’ll just have to keep trying until we find her, I’m not leaving that bitch out there completely unchecked. I want her found, and then brought to me.” Serenade scowled.

“Master, just curious... What do you plan on doing when you have all of the magic in Equestria?” Arax rose a brow.

“An excellent question; for once I’m not being bombarded with useless nonsense!” Serenade laughed as she came to a stand and flicked her hoof, making a projection of the planet appear before them.

“With that much magic, I can achieve the kind of status that a Goddess would have, and then all of the mortals in the world will bow down to me, they will submit to me and beg for mercy...” Serenade was practically drooling thinking about it, “Only, I won’t be offering mercy... Once I have all of that power, I’ll make them all suffer, we will forge a new world where the weak pathetic mortals are only kept as slaves and servants to the immortals, and all of my followers shall be rewarded for their loyalty by becoming immortals themselves.”

Arax smirked lightly at that last bit. His one goal, the reason why he followed everything that Serenade said and did, even if he didn’t always agree with her attitude was to achieve that promise of immortality. Serenade had the means to get it, and he had a desire for it, and that meant that the two would need to work together. He swore his loyalty to the siren some time ago for that reason.

“I wouldn’t worry about Twilight Sparkle, master. Eventually, she will be forced to come out of hiding, and then the remainder of her power will belong to you as well.” Arax reassured.

Serenade rolled her eyes and waved her hoof. “There’s no doubt of that. Twilight has only bought herself a small amount of time, nothing that will save her in the long run for sure...”

Mental training was only part of Twilight’s time with Discord, there was also a physical aspect, requiring her to push her body to the very limits of what it could do. Ascension had opened new doors for her, she finally understood how to maximize the potential of her magic through mastering her horn, but Discord hoped to show her how to maximize more through mastering her body.

The test he had prepared this time around was one that Twilight had attempted at least eight times now, but each time ended in failure.

The structure of the test was simple, the objection: do not get burned. On a basic level, it sounded and appeared exceptionally easy, but the complicated part came when Discord revealed where the fire would be, on her body itself.

Magic flames would ignite her and try to burn her, but her only protection was a full body casing made out of water. The only two catches were that she had to produce the water from the air itself, and she had to concentrate to hold the protection on herself as long as possible as the fire surrounded her.

It sounded easy at first, but Twilight had come to learn how difficult it truly was. The task required perfect concentration on every single part of her body, it required discipline that even she lacked.

The mare was determined to pull it off this time, to set a new record, eight minutes without getting burned.

Twilight’s mind remained clear even as Discord offered numerous distractions in the way of noises, flailing his hands about, trying to strike up a conversation and even making lewd suggestions at the mare. He was completely relentless, as he always was in trying everything he could to break her concentration, and given his title as the Spirit of Chaos, he needed no help in being extremely distracting.

“The other day I was going through your things at your childhood home, and did you know that your mother keeps inappropriate photos of herself locked in her dresser drawer?” Discord asked as he poofed some photos with their backs to Twilight.

She blushed but kept her mind focused on the water shield around her. She couldn’t allow herself to fall for the obvious trick.

“This one is particularly saucy... I think your mother would make an excellent exotic dancer, you know that? I think many thirsty stallions would pay big money to see her saunter on over to shake that thing she calls a rear in their face... This is good stuff...” Discord teased as he thumbed through photos.

It was too much, Twilight blinked and looked over trying to get a look at the photos and sure enough, the spell failed, causing the fire to singe her fur lightly before it disappeared. She yelped in light pain and tumbled backward onto her haunches, catching herself before completely falling over. “Where did you get those!?”

Discord turned the photos around to reveal that in his paw were actually pictures of himself wearing a wig that resembled her mother’s haircut making ridiculous poses that Twilight assumed were supposed to be “erotic”, but he was doing such a bad joke it was hard to imagine them as such.

“You scared me half to death...” Twilight blushed and looked away.

“What’s wrong? Afraid that I am scoping peaks at your mother’s private garden so to speak?” Discord smirked as he teased the mare.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t put it past you...”

Discord placed his claw on his chest and made a mock offended expression. “Me? I would never do anything so... Perverted. I am an upstanding and model citizen, I’ll have you know! I am president of the PTA on my block!”

“First of all, you live in an alternate dimension of complete chaos with no neighbors, secondly you need kids to be a member of the PTA...” Twilight raised a brow as she called out his bluff.

He grumbled and shrugged as she busted him in his obvious lie, though admittedly, he wasn’t trying that hard to fool the princess before him. They were forced to be together for some time now and it was likely months longer before they would be released from the training area, so he tried to get his fun in where he could.

Twilight frowned as she put her mind back on her training, frustrated that she still struggled with this particular test. “Why can’t I get this one?”

Discord sighed and shook his head. “If you have to ask, then you’re asking the wrong questions...”

“I don’t get it.” Twilight tilted her head.

“Oh my nerdy friend, it’s clear that you still need to spend more time with Uncle Discord. It’ll become clear soon enough if you do that.” He winked mischievously.

“We don’t have all the time in the world, Discord. Who knows what’s going on out there...” Twilight reminded.

Poofing a sponge and a bucket of soapy water into his mitts, Discord floated down to Twilight’s level and rolled his eyes as he dipped it into the water, offering to clean the soot that now covered Twilight. She flinched away at first but decided to let it happen, as it would be some time before she got a proper bath.

As the draconequus scrubbed the dirty fur, he laughed lightly to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Twilight asked, peeking over her shoulder at him.

“Seeing you struggle to understand magic I suppose is a bit ironic to me...” Discord commented.

Twilight looked forward again and frowned. She was a tad ashamed of the fact that she was struggling to understand what he was trying to teach her. “I guess I’ve had it so easy for so long that this is foreign to me. I’m used to just understanding magic with ease, sure I always practiced and worked at it, but I’ve always been a fast learner, so when I come across something that I can’t get right out of the gate, it frustrates me...”

“And that frustration causes you to do poorly and thus you don’t get it even more, and thus the perfectly self-fulfilling prophecy is met.” Discord summarized.

She hated it when he could tie things up so easily and elegantly, especially when it meant that he had her figured out.

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it...” Twilight sighed.

“You needn’t worry, Princess. No matter what you accomplish or don’t accomplish in here, you have an armada of friends out there who will ensure you are not left high and dry,” he replied.

Twilight smirked, seeing an opportunity to be cheeky with him for a change. “Does that include you?”

The draconequus let out a long exasperated sigh before setting the sponge aside and examining her work before stepping back with a content nod. “If you are expecting me to say something sappy and vomit inducing, then you are clearly mistaking me for Spike.”

Twilight chuckled and shook her head before turning around and facing her teacher. “Either way, I suppose we should take a break and then get back to work?”

“Sounds like a marvelous idea.” He grinned.

Trotting through the dark under tunnels of Twilight’s Castle, Rainbow Dash tried to focus on where they were going as she shined the light on her helmet ahead, though it was getting more and more difficult with Rarity’s constant complaining behind her. She had to turn around over and over reminding Rarity that they need to be quiet if they didn’t want to get caught, but she seemed to be constantly forgetting that part.

“Why couldn’t they get someone else to go through these tunnels? They smell like swamp water down here!” Rarity whined.

Rainbow stopped in her tracked and turned around to face the unicorn. Rarity’s mane was starting to lose some of its normal bounce after being exposed to the damp air, and the sweat that was building up on her from carrying the saddlebag she had wasn’t helping. Rainbow had a similar one with supplies that Twilight had provided.

“You’re the most observant of all of us thanks to your eye for gems, so if anypony can spot guards before they see us it’s you. Now, please try and keep quiet or Serenade won’t even have time to catch you because I’ll strangle you long before then!” Rainbow growled in annoyance before turning back ahead to continue their journey, her eyes glued to a map in her hooves that Twilight had made notes upon.

Rarity didn’t press it, but instead kept a steady trot behind her floating friend and giving a snarky “no need to be so brutish about it...”

Checking her map, Rainbow looked ahead seeing a ladder that led up. Landing on the ground, Rainbow studied the map. She traced where they had entered with her hoof all the way to where they currently stood. Nodding with content, Rainbow rolled up the map and stuffed it into her saddlebag. “I am pretty sure this is the place.”

“So the security room of Twilight’s castle where the guards use the scrying orbs to keep watch of the halls has a secret entrance from down here?” Rarity blinked.

Rainbow shrugged. “To be fair, Twilight didn’t build the castle, but this was probably put in place as some kind of escape route for them in the event that things ever went bad inside the castle.”

Rarity decided that the logic being presented to her made some sense, so there was no need to question it further.

“So, we go in, and take out the guards and before they have a chance to alert Serenade that we’re here, right?” Rarity asked, hoping she remembered the entire plan.

Rainbow facehoofed before rubbing her face and rolling her eyes. “And then we break that first set of clay tablets that Twilight gave us. They are supposed to send a magical alert to Pinkie and Fluttershy who then will make their move. We wait exactly eight minutes and then we head to the rendezvous point.”

“And if we get caught or spotted, we break the other tablet that lets Twilight know we’ve been compromised, right?” Rarity asked, the rest of the plan starting to come back to her.

Truthfully, the mare was still distracted with thoughts of Applejack. She wondered if the farmer was okay and if she had made it to Appleloosa alright.

“Right, now let’s do this, okay?” Rainbow smirked before heading toward the ladder.

Rarity followed behind her as Rainbow made her way up. Rainbow peaked through the grate that was covered by a large floor tile that she lifted gently. Scrying about the room with her eyes, she could see two stallions keeping a close watch on several magical orbs in the room, orbs being used to monitor the entire castle.

Rainbow stared for a few minutes to confirm that there was in fact only two guards present.

The pegasus looked down at Rarity and tapped her own forehead twice, using the previously agreed upon signal to tell Rarity that two guards were present. Rarity nodded in understanding before watching Rainbow open the hatch and silently slip into the room.

Rarity followed soon after and the two carefully approached a guard on either side from behind. Once both of them were synchronized, the nodded to each other and gave a mighty crack on the skull to the two guards, staggering both and making them tumble to the ground. Reaching into their bags, both retrieved some strong industrial strength tape that was intended to bind and detain them now unconscious guards.

Rainbow got a little excessive with the table, making her guard look more like a mummy when she was done, causing a bit of a chuckle from Rarity.

“That was easier than I thought...” Rainbow laughed.

“Let’s not get cocky...” Rarity reminded.

“Yeah, yeah, just break the tablet...” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Nodding back at the boastful pegasus, Rarity reached into her bag and retrieved the tablet, cracking it on the ground, hoping that everything else went as smoothly for the others.

Pinkie Pie bounced along, as usual, however, she was being slightly lighter in her step than normal as she and Fluttershy carefully made their way through the holes in the security plan for the castle. While Serenade may have had countless guards patrolling, what she didn’t know about was all the numerous passages in the castle that would allow one to go about unseen or noticed.

Twilight had drawn the two of them a map that would take them through many of the secret hallways and doors in the castle to bring them as close as possible to the mirror chamber. While no particular tunnel led directly to it, the closer they could place Twilight to that place, the better.

“Do you think that Twilight can beat Serenade if she runs into her again?” Pinkie asked curiously.

Fluttershy grimaced at that thought, not wanting to answer or even think about that scenario, but she mustered up enough willpower to give a poor and unconvincing lie to Pinkie Pie. “I’m sure Twilight would be fine...”

It was hard to tell if Pinkie believed it or not, but she seemed content enough to carry on as if nothing had happened.

Both mares stop for a moment as they feel a vibration in their bags. Each reaching inside, they locate the source, a set of square clay tablets with immaculate looking rubies in the center that were now shining and vibrating. “That’s the signal, Rainbow and Rarity got the security down, that’s good...” Fluttershy smiled lightly.

Pinkie blew a raspberry and waved a hoof. “I knew they would, those two are amazing and they’d never let us down!”

Fluttershy could hardly argue with that point.

Fluttershy gave another once over of the map and noted that their next point would require them to exit the secret tunnel and cross the open halls and make a break for another tunnel hidden in a closet.

Gulping, Fluttershy came to a part of the wall that showed a window that was obviously some kind of one way mirror where you could only see through it on the side they were on. She surveyed the halls and noted that not a single guard was in sight. She nodded at Pinkie before the two made a break for the exit.

At top speed, the two galloped across the hallway to an old closet and shut the door behind themselves as Fluttershy panted, Pinkie, however, seemed completely unchanged by the entire ordeal.

“That was fun!” Pinkie giggled.

“I disagree...” Fluttershy frowned.

Pinkie reached into her bag and retrieved the teleport tablet that Twilight had prepared. Placing the tablet on the ground, the two stood back and waited.

Sure enough, right on cue, Twilight Sparkle herself appeared where the tablet was. She grinned at her friends and nodded. Her plan of using pre-prepared tablets to teleport from A to B was working flawlessly thus far. Teleporting via using magically infused tablets was far less draining on magic as the determined place to teleport to was more definitive than just a mental concept.

Twilight thanked herself for paying attention in her classes as a filly to where she was able to put the knowledge to good use. Magic had many unique ways of being manipulated through physical objects and enchantments, it was merely a matter of how clever the pony utilizing them was.

Fluttershy and Pinkie gave a salute (albeit weak on Fluttershy’s part) before Twilight waved her hoof at them. “Nice work, girls. Now, go rendezvous with Rainbow and Rarity at the agreed point. Starlight can focus a teleport spell to get all of you out of here.”

Unfortunately for Twilight, relaying a teleport of many ponies at once was still fairly complex, but could be done so long as they were all close together, had a teleport tablet and a unicorn somewhere else had a matching tablet to focus their spell with. It was a bit more complex than teleporting one’s self though, so Twilight needed to rely on Starlight to do it.

“Good luck, Twilight...” Fluttershy nodded before the two girls ran off, heading back toward the passageway that they had just left.

With hasty hoofwork, the two girls trailed back down the path they arrived through, coming to a large opening inside the winding passageways only to stop dead in their tracks when they noticed on three sides of the intersection that the two ponies had come to were guards waiting for them, all of which staring directly at them.

They both turned around and sure enough, another two guards were now standing behind them. They backed up into the center of the intersection completely surrounded.

In a panic, Fluttershy stuck her wing into her saddlebag, pulled their panic tablet out and smashed it onto the ground, hoping the distress call would be answered soon enough by Rainbow and Rarity.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity were a good few meters back into the secret underground passage that brought them into the castle when they felt their bags vibrate. Both looked inside and thanks to the lights that they carried on their heads could see that the tablet with Fluttershy and Pinkie’s cutie mark was vibrating and flashing.

“Shit! They got Fluttershy and Pinkie! We have to go get them!” Rainbow turned around and started toward the ladder that they had just left behind before Rarity grabbed her tail to stop her.

“Rainbow, they’ll just get us too if we go back! Twilight can handle it!” Rarity insisted.

Pulling herself, free, Rainbow scoffed. “I don’t know about you, but I have too much loyalty to my friends, and I’m not abandoning them!”

“You’re not abandoning them, Twilight will take care of it, we can count on her...” Rarity frowned at Rainbow’s insistence.

“Look, for all we know, Twilight needs our help too! We have to go back and help our friends!” Rainbow demanded.

Rarity realized there was no reasoning with her, so instead, she sighed and nodded in agreement. “Alright, but let’s hurry.”

The two mares raced as fast as their hooves would carry them, all the way back to the ladder, quickly they scaled it, opened the grate to the security room and when they looked up, what they saw standing there made the both of them break into a cold sweat.

Long black tendrils flailed about with a life of their own, long wavy blonde mane hung from a gorgeous young face while vicious looking eyes stared the two down. The siren’s amulet around her neck shined in the low light of the room. “Hey there, I’m afraid this is a no trespassing zone...” Serenade smirked.

“Fucking shit...” Rainbow simply said.

I swear to god, I am not writing them as shippy intentionally!

Also, next week in the finale for Act V!