Time had passed, Aspect was unsure as to how much exactly. All he really knew when he recovered was that he was cuddling not one but two mares. The events that had led up to it came flooding back, and he sighed happily, nuzzling each mare in turn.

It had been a remarkably short time, he would muse, that he went from ‘wanderer’ to ‘Resident of Ponyville’ to ‘Stallion in a herd relationship.’ Yggdrasil was probably laughing his ass off if he could see this.

“I don’t need to ‘see’ it to laugh O’ Promiscuous Father of mine~”

“Yeah, you probably felt the tapestry of Fate changing the...what time is it?...what day is it?...Think I pushed myself too hard there.”

“Oh? Hmm, Tuesday? I don’t have a calendar here? Hard to tell the changing of the days when you’re in an underground cave.” Ohh, Yggdrasil was snippy today.

“Just tell me that there’s nothing going on today that I’ll have to see to. The Hydra and Cockatrice were bad enough for a ‘sleepy little town.’” Aspect nuzzled both mares softly, wanting to test how awake they were.

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Yggdrasil chuckled. “I’ll let her do it.”

Then came a furious knocking at his door.

“Bloody,” Aspect muttered to himself as he sharply shook both Bon Bon and Dash. “Wake up, visitors, and I think something is going on.” He left them with that hanging over their heads as he eased himself out and walked towards the front door.

He’d rapidly learned that Ponyville was not as quiet as it’d been presented to him. Especially with the pink one in residence. When he opened the door, Twilight stood there, her eyes wide.

“Aspect!” she said in a panicked tone. “I have some terrible news!”

“What is it?” he asked, now quite sure he’d missed his coffee and that it was turning out to be a bad decision.

“I uh… I think your house is… haunted!” Twilight exclaimed. “I heard something shuffling around but couldn’t see anything… and there’s this incessant jingling noise. Like, chains or something!”

“...Twilight, did you also take into account the two hundred Pictomancy pictures I have in my house?” Aspect replied in a deadpan tone. “It was probably one of them playing a prank on you.”

“Picto…” Twilight’s eyes widened and her horn lit up with a voice amplification. “REALM!!!”

“Son of a Diamond Dog, it wasn’t me!” they heard from inside the house. “Keep the she-witch away from me!”

“This house keeps getting weirder and... weird...er…” Twilight trailed off as Rainbow draped herself over him.

“Hey~” she hummed kissing his cheek.

“...I’m out,” Twilight said flatly and walked down the hall, disappearing from sight.

“So I’m thinking you, Bon Bon, breakfast at Sugarcube corner, give her a morning off and get the pain of meeting Pinkie after this out of the way all at once,” Aspect laid out his plan for the pegasus mare. “Sound good to you?”

“Mmmm, I could eat,” Rainbow nodded as she slid off of him and onto the floor, before she started doing wingups. “Still, exercise like that yesterday… was it yesterday? I could use a little pick me up.”

“Argeeeeeeaaaahhhh~” Bon Bon yawned and stretched, her legs giving a loud crack. “I can’t believe I fell asleep like that…”

“Yeah, I’d been being normal for you, but I’m abusing my magic somewhat fierce with the both of you in my life,” Aspect replied, nuzzling Bon Bon before continuing. “So. How does breakfast at Sugarcube Corner sound to you?”

“Mmm, sounds good, I’m waaay too tired to cook—”

“Kyyaaaaaaaaa!!!”

“What the buck was that?” Bon Bon blinked.

“That sounded like Twilight,” Rainbow answered.

“Well, let’s go over the list,” Aspect recited. “She doesn’t know about the doors or what they do, and the chains are too sturdy to simply be magiced open, so it’s likely not that. And she can’t have gotten into my saddlebags, as they’re right here, so it’s likely not that. So...I don’t know what it is she ran into, as all the dangerous stuff hasn’t been unpacked.”

Rainbow sighed and got up, following the sound of the voice.

When they found the unicorn…

Twilight bouncing happily around a bearded unicorn, the bells on his hat jingling with every thump her hooves made on the floor.

“OhmigoshOhmigoshOhmigoshOhmigoshOhmigoshOhmigosh! It’s you! It’s really, really you! Starswirl the Bearded! Oh. My. CELESTIIAAA~”

“She’s been saying that for about five minutes now,” Starswirl said over the unicorn to Aspect. “It’s like she doesn’t register the fact that I’m a painted pony.”

“Do you?” Aspect riposted. “Besides the drawbacks that all painted ponies suffer from, you and your original were constantly in the library, learning everything together and developing new spells.”

“...Point, and I still don’t have anything my original came up with after that tiff in the castle the sisters suffered,” Starswirl muttered. “I want to keep up the work of developing new spells and theories and I’m stuck with nothing.”

“I can help!” Twilight said excitedly, her nose pressed against his. “With your knowledge and my magic! We could revolutionize Equestria!”

“Keep in mind, there are some things that are meant to stay a secret,” Starswirl said, before looking pointedly at Aspect.

“Of course Master Starswirl!” Twilight sat back on her rump, her tail wagging like an excited puppy. “What should we do first? Enhanced teleportation? Interdimensional Travel?” She gasped as she got to her favourite one. “Advanced Metaphysics!?”

“Interdimensional Travel is actually a sore subject, for reasons you might learn later, and there’s really no benefit to poking around the substructure of the universe while you have a ticking bomb of magical potential sitting behind you,” Starswirl snorted. “One wayward experiment and he might lose control of the magic he’s keeping in reserve.”

“I said I’m looking,” Aspect whined. “It’s not easy finding noble vessels. Ponies apparently abused the knowledge they had once. I’m cautious now.”

“Tia did a good job with finding Bearers,” Starswirl riposted.

“I’m pretty sure Yggdrasil had a bigger hand in that than just she did,” Aspect pointed out. “Look, I’ll look into getting some of it distributed soon, okay?”

The Starswirl was blinded by a golden flash, and once he blinked the spots from his eyes, he saw two magenta orbs staring down at him.

“Starswirl…” Celestia said flatly. “You wouldn’t be tricking my little student into becoming a crotchety old hermit like you now… would you?”

“She’s all but begged to study at my hooves,” Starswirl said, before tapping his horn with a hoof. “Besides, I’m just a painted pony. No magic to trick anyone to do anything. Though she has brought up a field of study I might actually pursue...once I get some notes the original left behind, of course. Until then, I’m just another resident of the house.”

“Princess?” Twilight looked up at the alicorn.

“Twilight,” Celestia nuzzled her. “Starswirl is a bad influence. Especially after coffee. Now, would you mind fetching your friends? There’s a few things I wish to discuss.”

“I...but...Starswirl!”

“Isn’t going anywhere, he’ll still be here and just as grumpy when you return,” Celestia smiled. Twilight sighed and nodded, trotting out of the door to go and find the others.

“Honestly, did you have to be like that?” Starswirl huffed. “There’s little I can do besides the equation side of things. Really I’m more of a glorified lab assistant.”

“I do not need you turning the Element of Magic into a shut in… again,” Celestia sighed. “But, I suppose there’s little harm in you studying with her. Just… remember she’s a third of your age.”

“Ma’am, I am offended again,” Starswirl grumbled to her. “The original, I assume, is long dead. I’m just a painted copy. I have little interest in things that aren’t magical research.”

“I’ll be telling Twilight to keep her lab supplies at head height,” Celestia said with a roll of her eyes. “I still remember how you and Realm purposefully kept Clover’s on the highest shelves…”

“Once again, that was not me,” Starswirl the painted pointed out. “I was probably running the math in the background. Why do I get blamed for all the things the original did?”

“Because you’re here, and Realm painted you… and I know Realm,” Celestia said and turned to Aspect. “I have to return to Canterlot for a moment. Blueblood is trying to pass a bill that will let him build a golden statue of himself in the city proper.”

“If there’s one standard from Dream Valley that should apply to something like that, it’s that one of anything golden is likely cursed,” Aspect agreed, nuzzling Celestia. “What do you want me to tell the others when Twilight gathers them?”

“Take them to meet Mother, I’ll only be an hour or two at most.”

“Just enough time for us to get breakfast at Sugarcube Corner,” Aspect pointed out. “Heck, I think we’ll do that. We’ll all get breakfast, I’ll pay for it, and then we can make our way back here.”

“Sounds good,” Dash said and saw somepony from the corner of her eye. An impressive armoured pegasus mare in one of the paintings, a confident smirk on her face. “Hey Aspect, who’s this old mare?”

“Ap,” Aspect said, quickly leading Dash away. “You didn’t say it right. So just—”

“Old! That soft piece of flank just called me old?!” Hurricane barked from her portrait. “I will have you know I was the commander of Pegasopolis when it was founded! Aspect here learned the Gale King from my hooves, and it wasn’t easy! I’m Commander freakin’ Hurricane for a reason, you two-bit knock off! He might’ve said that the others could throw around storms, yeah? I made hurricanes!”

“Pfft, I buck hurricanes in the face!” Rainbow snorted. “I’m the best Young Flyer winner, fastest pegasus in Equestria! The Element of Loyalty and I can do a Sonic Rainboom! In my sleep! I’m Rainbow freakin’ Dash! So yeah Grandma! I could fly circles around your bony butt!”

“No, no, and no,” Aspect said, interposing himself between the two egos, one bound by paint and one not. “We are not doing this. Hurricane, you will stay in your portrait. Dash, you go catch up to Twilight and tell her our plans for breakfast. I am not spending all morning listening to the two greatest egos of two ages duke it out over who had the biggest metaphorical dick.”

“Nope, that would be you~” Rainbow said lewdly and kissed him right in front of everypony, before flying away with a loud cackle.

“Damn, that mare finally got what I was after all those years ago?” Hurricane catcalled from her portrait.

“I...what?” Aspect asked, blinking.

“Well duh!” Hurricane replied, rolling her eyes. “Why do you think I corrupted your little adopted son? Trying to send a message to you!”

“...And suddenly things make too much and not enough sense at the same time.” Aspect screwed his eyes shut and shook his head to try and clear it. “Nope, didn’t work. Okay, I’m just gonna...go.”

With that he decided to walk all the way to Sugarcube Corner. He didn’t trust himself to fly just yet. He had a lot of...distracting things on his mind.

Most notably flanks, but that was a standard these days.

By the time he got there, Bon Bon having caught up after wondering just how many mares were crushing on her stallion. They’d found that Twilight, Rainbow and the others had gathered there also, sans Rarity and Spike.

“Aspy!” Pinkie giggled and ambushed him in a hug the second he walked in. “OHmygosh! Dashie told me the news!”

“You forced me!” the pegasus called out… whyyyyy was she hogtied with licorice straps? Why did Pinkie have licorice straps?

“Soooo, do I get to throw you a ‘Congrats you’re in a sexy herd’ party?” Pinkie bounced.

“Does every occasion necessitate a party with you?” Aspect asked somewhat foolishly.

“Well duh!” Pinkie sighed like that was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Uhh, could somepony please untie me!!” Rainbow thrashed in her delicious bondage.

“You could just eat it,” Aspect pointed out.

“Eat licorice?” Rainbow made a face. “Urrhh, gross!”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she released the pegasus, Bon Bon making a note to buy some… similar items at some point.

“Okay so,” Aspect spoke up. “First stop today, everypony gets breakfast on me. Then when Rarity and Spike show up, we head back to my place to introduce you all to somepony. And those that have met her, please be silent about who it is the others are going to meet.”

Rainbow pouted and folded her legs. Well, she hadn’t met the mare either, none of them aside from Bon Bon and Pinkie had.

Then the door burst open as a very out-of-breath Spike ran inside.

“Well there’s one,” Aspect mused aloud. “Hey Spike, where’s Rar-”

“Aaaah!” Spike suddenly shouted, his chest heaving with each breath. “Rarity... woods... jewels... dogs... hole... taken... Save her!!”

“...Okay, breathe, and try again,” Aspect replied, holding up a hoof. “I need details, Spike.”

Pinkie gave him a glass of water which he gulped down. “Ahh, thanks,” he nodded. “Okay, I… Rarity and I were in the woods looking for jewels when these creepy guys showed up.”

“Creepy guys?” Twilight blinked.

“They called themselves the Diamond Dogs,” Spike explained, before his panicked expression returned. “They grabbed Rarity and disappeared down a hole in the ground!”

Aspect growled. Actually growled. His mane, which was grey before, gained a steely tint to it. “Spike, get on,” he told the drake. “You’re going to lead me there, and then I am going to deal with this.”

“A-Aspect?” Bon Bon blinked. She’d never seen him so angry before.

“They took her because she can locate gems,” Spike said as he climbed up. “I… wasn’t strong enough…”

“Don’t worry,” Aspect replied to Spike’s worrying. “You’ll grow eventually. Then you’ll be the defender Ponykind needs. I promise you. But for now...would you like to see me at work?”

“Sure!” Spike nodded, before Bon Bon walked up next to him.

“Aspect, let me come. I can help—”

“I know you’re a Geomancer,” Aspect told her. “But I’m not putting any other ponies in danger if I can avoid it. Especially ponies I care about.” He turned to the gathering of ponies and sighed. “But I get the feeling that if I go, you all are going to follow me no matter what.”

“Rarity’s our friend,” Applejack nodded. “Wild griffons couldn’t keep us away!”

“One look at my awesomeness, those mutts will run for the hills,” Rainbow smirked.

“Fine, follow if you want,” Aspect returned, looking back at the drake riding him. “Lead us there, Spike.”

“Right, that way!” Spike pointed and the group charged off to save their fancy friend.

By the time they arrived at the stony field where Spike and Rarity had been searching, it was pocketed with dozens upon dozens of holes.

“Holy moly that’s a lotta holeys!” Pinkie exclaimed. “How are we supposed to find Rarity in all this?”

“Spike, get off of me,” Aspect told the drake. “I have no idea how much of Crunch’s power might carry over, and I’m not eager to find out too late that I have everything he did.”

“Huh? Ohhkay?” he said as he climbed down. Twilight had approached one of the holes and looked down.

“Hello?”

The answer she got was a pile of dirt to the face as it erupted like a geyser, filling the hole in seconds. Aspect snorted and flared his wings, before there was a flash around his form.

When it cleared, he’d become a simple Earth Pony...and the grey in his mane was bleeding into his coat.

“Whoa!” Rainbow jumped over the sudden transformation. Even as he did, the holes started filling two and three at a time. It would be only minutes before they were all full.

“Hurry and find a hole!” Twilight yelled as everypony split up. Aspect snorted as he started channeling the Aspect of Earth more fully through himself. Over the years, Crunch’s influence had become that of a good dog. The transformation finished, and the stallion was now completely slate grey as he stared at one hole in particular.

“Knock knock,” he said in a low tone, before stamping a hoof on the ground, changing the simple earth to stone in a second.

“Aspect! We’re trying to get IN!” Twilight yelled. “Not seal the holes up even more!”

“On the contrary, this helps,” Aspect pointed out. “How are they going to seal the holes up with dirt, if I turn the dirt to stone first?”

His answer came as the stone started to crack and crumble. To the Diamond Dogs, stone wasn’t a deterrent, just a minor hindrance.

“Okay, now I’m mad,” Aspect narrowed his eyes, actually snorting steam.

“We have to save her,” Spike moaned. “But we can’t muscle through all this.”

“LIke hay we can’t!” Rainbow said as she flew straight up, before angling down and went screaming towards a hole. A dirt geyser rushed up to meet her and the two collided… and it seemed like Rainbow was pushing it back, but she ran out of puff before they did, her body exhausted from yesterday as she was sent flying back, landing roughly at Aspect’s hooves.

“Uuuhhh, did I win coach?” she asked, her eyes swirling.

“Right,” Aspect snorted again. “Time to end this. Hey Bon Bon? What can a grandmaster of Mountain Root do? Humor me.”

“...” Bon Bon stared at him in silence. “Everypony? Please move away, Aspect is about to do something stupid.”

That was apparently reason enough for everyone to run back to where she was standing.

Aspect rolled his eyes. Fine. They wanted dramatics? They wanted him being stupid? He’d give it to them. He reared up and shouted out a one-liner.

“I AM THE EARTH!”

When he impacted the ground…it split, cracking wide open in front of him in a mostly straight fashion. He was sure he heard yelping, as a large cave underneath was opened up.

Every pony and dragon present just stared, their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open.

“Come on, we have a mare to save,” Aspect urged the others as he began trotting down into the cave.

“R-Right…” Twilight gulped and followed the utterly terrifying stallion into the dark depths. But as she descended into the cave, her breathing started to quicken as her eyes widened, glancing around frantically.

Aspect was the first to notice that Twilight was now hyperventilating, looking like Nightmare Moon herself was coming after her soul.

“Hey, calm down,” Aspect said to her. “Deep breaths. As long as I’m here, you don’t have anything to worry about. I’ll make sure nothing hurts you.”

“No…..nononononono! I… I won’t…” Twilight trotted in place, getting even more worked up. “Not again, I won’t go back there again!!”

“What the heck is she talking about?” Rainbow blinked. “I’ve never seen Twi freak like this before.”

“She had a run in with a cockatrice,” Aspect sighed, deducing why she would suddenly be afraid of him. “Twilight. I swear to you. On my honor. I would never hurt a pony, or let one stay stuck as a statue. Honest.”

Twilight’s breathing lessened slightly, and then Spike hugged her leg.

“Hey, Aspect’s cool okay?” he said softly. “We’re gonna save Rarity, then we’ll all go home and I’ll make you your favourite tea.”

Twilight shuddered, but didn’t look Aspect in the eyes as she leaned down to nuzzle Spike. “Okay… I think I’m better. Thanks Spike…” With a pause, she looked up at the grey earth stallion. “Aspect… I’m sorry—”

“We’ll have time to talk about how I got the power I have later,” Aspect cut in. “We have to save Rarity.” He muttered something about ‘deplorable descendants’ before turning and leading the charge into the cave once again.

“I think I made him mad,” Twilight sighed quietly as she started walking. Bon Bon nuzzled her, before trotting ahead to catch up with Aspect.

“Okay, what was that all about?” she asked him in a stern tone. “Why are you so irritated?”

“Because I knew what the Diamond Dogs once were,” Aspect growled. “To see them fallen so tears at me. They were good once. They had a kingdom, once.”

“You’ve never heard of Diamondia?” Bon Bon blinked. “I was more surprised to hear about Dogs this far out of their kingdom… if that’s what you’d call it. Well, they have a castle I suppose…”

“I’ll make a note to visit it at a later date,” Aspect responded as they entered a larger cavern. “Okay, we’re here in the Dog’s den.”

The labyrinth of caves and caverns spread out as far as the eye could see.

“All these caves… how are we going to find Rarity in all of this?” Twilight said despondently.

“There has to be a way to narrow it down,” Rainbow tacked on.

“Spike, why did they take Rarity again?” Aspect prodded the drake verbally.

“To find gems for them,” Spike said. “Do you think, maybe they took her to the place that would have the most gems to mine?”

“It’s a better plan than just trying to split the place open and find her that way,” Aspect explained. “Now all we need is a way to find gems ourselves…”

“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed. “Rarity showed me her gem finding spell once…” Her horn shone as she started to focus.

“Can… you really learn a spell after seeing it just once?” Bon Bon whispered to Aspect.

“I can’t, and I’m mostly a sorceror by trade,” Aspect said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight had the focus and senses for such a thing, though.”

There was a ‘pop’ as Twilight’s horn took a steady glow, and hundreds of transparent gems started shining from within the earth.

“Well, lead the way Twilight,” Aspect chuckled, bowing his head to her in deference. Twilight just blushed as the followed the most densely populated route of jewels.

After a little while of walking, they emerged into a large cavern. Several more tunnels split off from it as a large hole was open in the ceiling.

“Why am I expecting a giant spider?” Bon Bon muttered under her breath.

“I hunted those for sport a thousand years ago,” Aspect quipped. “Something about how having a pony-eating spider around didn’t make the ponies feel safe.”

“You hunted them?” Fluttershy sounded appalled. “Poor spiders…”

“They ate villages,” Aspect returned. “It was either curb the population, or lose ponies to them. I’ve always picked ponies before.”

“Well, have you ever tried talking to them?” Fluttershy replied as Twilight started to cast the gem spell again.

“I was never blessed with the ability to understand animals, or other creatures,” Aspect sighed sadly. “Diplomacy was never my strong suit. I was called to be the sword. The diplomat...left. Ages ago.”

“Are you talking about Written?” Bon Bon asked. But before he could respond, several shadows dropped from the ceiling, landing on the backs of the mares. Near a dozen armoured Diamond Dogs looped rope muzzle around them, grinning maliciously.

“More workhorses!” one chuckled.

Aspect glowered. Not only did they not consider him a threat or good enough to be taken, they’d tried to take ponies he cared about.

He set about rectifying that. With the smallest application of will, the dogs nearest him were ringed with suddenly appearing, and very sharp stalagmites that erupted out of the ground. He’d carefully excluded the mares from his display, lest they panic. Like Twilight might if he suddenly surrounded her with stone again.

“Hoh, doggies. If you can take this bull by the horns, you better be ready for a ride.” Applejack chuckled. “Come on, ponies! Kick 'em up, kick 'em out. Buck 'em up, buck 'em down.”

Every mare smirked as they started bucking, the dogs doing very poorly in hanging on. Bon Bon merely tapped her hoof on the ground, a rock flying up and striking her foul-smelling passenger on the head, knocking him off.

The dogs that Aspect trapped were trying to dig their way through the stone bars, to shred the pony that put them there. Aspect shook his head and tapped a hoof against the floor, sending more stalagmites to appear and brush against...sensitive areas.

Yeah, it was fighting dirty, but it got the job done. Especially if they realized how sharp his tools were. The dogs froze in place, whimpering slightly as their compatriots were tossed around like ragdolls.

Those mares were surprisingly strong, the armoured mutts were tossed aside like dolls, crashing hard against the walls.

“See,” Aspect cooed to the dogs. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. Not entirely. So long as you stay in your bars, you’re safe from them. Ponies can’t dig through stone.” He’d retracted his added stalagmites to make their cages more comfortable. “Now. Be good dogs and stay. Or else I’ll have to do worse.”

They whimpered more and sat down, sitting very, very still.

Spike jumped up onto Twilight’s back and grabbed her impromptu reins. “Hi-Ho Twilight! I’m coming to save you Rarity!”

Twilight paused and turned to look at him. “Seriously?”

“Oh come on,” Spike pleaded. “Just give me this?” The mare rolled her eyes and reared up, whinnying as she charged down the hall she could hear some sudden shouting from.

Bon Bon shook her own reins free and stared at Aspect. “Don’t even think about it…”

“Wasn’t,” Aspect quipped, before following after Twilight. “Now let’s see how intelligent the dogs are.” He had hopes that they were smart. They had been wearing armor and responded quite well to his threats. Maybe they wouldn’t have done something monumentally stupid.

Twilight literally ran headfirst into the door, knocking it clean off of it’s hinges as she charged inside. When Aspect caught up…

Rarity sitting on a large stone slab, sipping water as a half dozen dogs pulled some carts laden with gems. Two more were fanning her with giant leaves as another massaged her hooves.

“...While I can say I wasn’t expecting this, this doesn’t excuse them in the slightest,” Aspect growled, still focusing on his anger. Apparently, this pack of dogs lacked a strong Alpha figure. That might be the only reason she was still unmarred.

“More ponies?” a little brown dog with slobbery jowls, a black jacket and a diamond-studded collar asked. “Finally! We can let this whiny—” An indignant snort from Rarity. “—I-I mean, this lovely pony go! Dogs! GET THEM!”

“Aspect?” Bon Bon smirked. “Get them.”

Aspect nodded and stepped in front of the mares. The tension in the room was thick as he looked at all the dogs. They were left with one question. What could one pony do to stop them all? The followup to that one was obvious. Did any of them want to find out?

The first two charged him, lowering their spears at him and howling.

“So what’s the plan?” Bon Bon asked, charging a Geo spell.

The dogs got about halfway across the chamber before they both ran into suddenly-appearing pillars of stone. At the speeds the dogs had been going, they bonked their heads quite hard against the appearing obstacle. It was rather comical really, their sudden charge becoming a sudden stop.

“Aspect, darling,” Rarity sighed. “There is no need for such violence…”

“Aarrgghh! ENOUGH!” a grey dog in a red vest yelled as he slapped Rarity’s rump quite hard. “You will work and so will they! GET THEM!”

Aspect growled.

Aspect saw red.

Aspect reared up and slammed his forehooves into the ground, causing the chamber to shake as stalagmites and stalactites appeared between the ponies and the dogs. They disappeared, then reappeared again, closer to the dogs...almost as if a giant beast of stone was chomping its way through the earth towards the mutts.

Rarity shrieked, being close to said dogs as she tried to back away, but the wall behind her said otherwise.

“Aspect! Wait!” Twilight yelled.

The jaws crunched closer and closer, before stopping just an inch from touching anyone. Aspect walked up behind the stone construct he had made and glowered at the dogs. “I. Am. The earth,” he growled to the mutts. “Release. The pony. NOW!”

The one in the red vest whimpered and nodded as Rarity ran towards her friends, but Aspect noted she gave him a wide berth.

“Are you alright?” Bon Bon asked softly, placing a hoof on his withers.

“I will be,” Aspect replied, not taking his eyes off the dogs. “Bon Bon, could you lead them out of here please? I don’t want them to see what I’m about to do.” Catching their shocked gazes, he sighed and shook his head. “I’m not going to hurt the dogs. But I think I’ve done enough damage to our friends for one day.”

Bon Bon sighed, but nodded her head. “Very well, I’ll see to it…”

“Please, don’t hurt dogs!” one whimpered and pointed to several carts of gems. “T-Take them, all of them. Just don’t hurt dogs anymore!”

“Oh no, I am not going to hurt you,” Aspect replied with a smile that was just a touch too wide. “No. Then it would be over quickly. I’m going to let you all decide your own doom once my friends are safely out of your mines.”

“Aspect, what are you going to do?” Fluttershy asked him. “Yes, they hurt Rarity, but violence is not the answer. I’m sure they are very sorry…”

“Yes! Yes!” the one in the red nodded enthusiastically. “Dogs very sorry. Dogs never touch a pony again!”

“See, I would love to believe that,” Aspect returned. “I really would. But I’m reminded of a saying I heard once, long ago. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’” The barb delivered, the grey pony turned to the butter pegasus. “No, I won’t hurt them. I’ll just tell them a few stories. Maybe then they’ll have a bit more respect for ponies.”

“Stories?” Rainbow blinked. “What kind of stories?”

“Ah’m still tryin’ ta figger out why Rarity had ‘em under her hoof…”

“Pony makes loud whining noises,” a taller dog whimpered. “Very loud noises…”

Applejack nodded. “Yup, tha’ makes sense.”

“Hey!” Rarity stomped a hoof.

“Right, go on, get out of here,” Aspect urged the other ponies with a hoof. “I’ll be along once I’m done with the dogs. Maybe today will turn out well for once.” He turned to glare at the one with the vest. “Though I doubt it.”

“I will not let you hurt them Aspect,” Fluttershy warned, but Bon Bon put a hoof to her chest.

“It’s alright, he said he won’t, so he won’t. You have my word okay?” she smiled. “Come on, let’s get Rarity home. I’m sure she could do with a good cup of tea.”

Eventually, the mares relented and left the caverns, though rarity was still allowed to take a few carts of gems.

“Right,” Aspect stated, looking at the dogs. “Is there a place where you all typically gather for like...meetings or meals? Because I want to talk to everyone in this den at once. I’m only going to tell you the stories once. And if any of you interrupt with anything that is not a good question, I will not be pleased.”

“You… you won’t hurt dogs?” the red-vested one asked.

“Let me put it like this,” Aspect returned. “I could very well just force this mine open until I found the room I’m looking for, and dragged you all there via my power. But I just promised I wouldn’t hurt you. Granted, I’m still a bit miffed at you all for what you did. That’s why I’m going to ask you a very important question after I tell you the stories. And for your sake, you all better have a good answer.”

The dogs looked at one another. They nodded and the larger one bowed his head. “We will obey Alpha. Follow us.”

Aspect hummed as he followed the dogs through the tunnels. Hey, in one day he’d gone from ‘in a single relationship’ to ‘Herd relationship’ and ‘Alpha of a Diamond Dog mine.’ Things could hardly be better at this point.

As it turns out, there weren’t many Dogs in this mine. Aside from the three that had taken Rarity, introduced as Rover, Fido and Spot. There were also the dozen or so armoured Dogs that had jumped them in the mine, and a single pup, barely higher than Aspect’s chest. He was very different to the others, having a longer coat and colourings similar to a Germane Shepard.

“Is this everyone?” Aspect asked the dogs, looking around the cave.

“This is all dogs,” Rover nodded “We are… not many in number.”

“Fine,” Aspect said, rolling his eyes. “You’re still numerous enough to cause the ponies trouble.” He stamped a hoof and raised himself up on a little platform of stone, to make sure all the dogs remembered the important fact. That he was the earth. The ones he trapped the the stone cage flinched more than the others.

The pup just stared at him.

“All right,” Aspect told the dogs. “Storytime. These are very old stories. I will be surprised if you all know anything about these stories. And they’re all true. I should know.” He paused for dramatic effect. “I was there for them.”

All the dogs looked at one another, but none raised their opinions.

Except for one.

“Why?” the pup asked, causing the older ones to start panicking. “Why should we listen to a bully like you?”

“Because when anything bullies the ponies,” Aspect replied, “I take offense to that. I do not like it when the ponies are hurt at all. And these dogs have done that. And would have kept doing it.”

“So what about when ponies hurt us?” he replied. “Are we supposed to lie down and take it?”

Aspect blinked.

Aspect smiled.

Aspect lowered his platform down to the ground level and smirked at the pup. “I like you,” he said aloud. “You ask the right questions.”

“And you didn’t answer,” the pup said. “We get driven out by ponies. They take our gems. We have no magic, no flying… So, what do we do?”

“Do not anger the Earth Alpha!” Rover snapped. “He will kill us all for your insolence!”

“Actually, you know what,” Aspect said, sitting on his haunches in front of the pup. “I like this little one. He’s smart. He notices a problem and asks me how to fix it.” He smiled at the small Diamond Dog. “Do you have a name I can call you by? Can’t just say ‘you’ all the time.”

“I do not have one,” he said. “Mother died before giving one. I am simply Pup.”

“Well pup, it’s still storytime, and all the other dogs can gather around and listen. And if you come up with anything you want to ask me during the story, feel free,” Aspect told the small dog, before nodding at all the others. “Gather ‘round and listen. And maybe you’ll understand why dogs have it so rough, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to answer your question from earlier.”

Pup just folded his arms, but remained silent as the other dogs sighed at him not being angry, sitting in a circle and waited for him to begin.

“Once upon a time, when the world was young,” Aspect weaved his tale, “There was a magical fountain. Not too far from here, actually. Anyone and everyone who drank from the fountain was given power untold and life unending. But all the creatures that found the fountain had wickedness in their hearts and desired the world for themselves. In that age, the ponies lived in another land, called Dream Valley. It was a place of plenty, a veritable utopia where food and water were everywhere for them. And that made it easy for the monsters to find them and torment them. Every night the monsters brought misery to the ponies, the ponies would call out, cry out, pray for someone to come and save them. The world itself listened...and brought forward two champions for the ponies. Arriving over the rainbow was the great diplomat, she who could convince any foes to work together. The fabled human known as Megan Williams.”

“What is… human?” Rover asked.

“Sounds weak,” Fido nodded.

“Normally you would be right, but a human’s greatest asset is not its claws, because it doesn’t have any. Or its fangs, because they can’t chew through gems like dragons. But it's brain. They can out-think almost any creature except a dragon. Give them one hour to think about a situation, they’ll come up with a solution if they can,” Aspect told the dogs. “The second champion the world brought forward was a sword against the darkness. Someone who could slay the monsters and take their power from them.” He paused before smiling. “It brought forward me. I drank from the fountain and took the sword it offered me, and used it to make the world a better place. Unlike the others, I only drank a sip from the fountain. Just enough to make me immortal, not enough to grant me any extra powers beyond the ability to wield the sword that could slay my fellow immortals.”

“You killed Gods?” one Dog asked. “Why?”

“Because my first friend in this world was a pony,” Aspect replied. “She led me back to Dream Valley and taught me everything I would need to know to avoid danger in this world. She and I settled down in a small, hidden valley from the rest of the ponies. And when she gave birth to the Sun and Moon in pony form, she and I raised them as well as we could. So when something happened that threatened the little fillies that called me dad, despite the fact that I was not their father...I took offense to that.”

The Dogs trembled, they had seen his ‘offense’ up close and personal.

“I see no sword,” Pup asked. “What makes this story true?”

“One of the monsters that threatened the ponies, once, was a mighty hound made of stone,” Aspect continued. “Crunch. The Rockdog. He didn’t like things that were softer than him. He didn’t like it so much, that he started turning other things to stone. Plants. Animals. Ponies. Everything turned to stone when he touched it.” He paused, before raising a hoof and a small pillar of stone that appeared underneath it, before lowering it and sending the stone back into the ground. “What do you suppose happened to him?”

“You killed him?” Pup guessed. “And stole his power?”

“He was meant to be the Aspect of the Earth itself, but his heart was twisted,” Aspect sighed. “The problem had nearly been solved without me having to use my sword, but at the last, Crunch tried to turn Megan to stone to avert his fate. So I slew him. For thousands of years, the Aspect of the Earth has been housed within me. I have done...what I can. But I am old, and cannot be everywhere at once. It needs to be rehoused, in someone that will not misuse its power.”

“So what does that have to do with us?” Pup asked. The olders had given up trying to stop him, he talked more than a pony.

“Once, ages ago,” Aspect smiled at the dogs. “There was a kingdom called Grundleland. It was filled with canine-like creatures who enjoyed mining.” He sighed and shook his head. “And then the great kingdom-destroying plague was called. The Smooze. It covers all things with a slime that hardens, encasing all beneath its shell. And if you get any splashed on yourself, you become depressed. Some Grundles escaped, though. And they came to warn the ponies about this plague...but too late. The witches of Mount Gloom had called it forward upon the ponies of the valley. Eventually, though, because it was not perfected, the ponies found a way to beat it back to the volcano and save the valley. In thanks, the ponies did their best for the Grundles, because they had tried to help. The Grundles rebuilt Grundleland after it had been cleaned up of the Smooze.” He looked around at the dogs and smiled again. “I see so much of them in you now.”

“Grundles…” Pup tilted his head. This sounded so… weird, yet what surprised him more was that somehow he knew that this stallion wasn’t lying.

“So what does Alpha want?” Rover asked him. “Story was boring, and didn’t tell anything.”

Pup shook his head. It told everything.

“You need somedog to become this ‘Aspect of Earth’.”

“Exactly,” Aspect nodded. “But it’s been so long since I saw a Grundle...or what they became, evidently. I don’t know if there are any good ones out there. I can’t do everything the true, proper Aspect of Earth is meant to do. I can’t, because I’m also holding onto the Aspect of the Air, and he’s much more rowdy than what’s left of Crunch. So I am sad to say I’ve been...neglecting it. But if there is...one good dog. One dog that won’t use the power of the Earth itself to fight and enslave ponies to work for him...then I could pass on the power.”

“Well, you made it clear you don’t like the dogs here,” Pup said as he mulled over the conversation. “Wait…”

Aspect smiled down at the pup, wondering if he got it. “How would you like to be important?” Aspect softly asked.

Pup’s eyes widened. “I… I can’t… I’m just, a pup! Nodog important. I’m not strong, or brave, I can’t even dig all that well.”

“Is true, Pup is useless,” Rover nodded.

“Worse than pony,” Fido agreed.

“Shut up before he kills us,” Spot sighed.

“A small, weak dog, is perfect for this,” Aspect said, holding up a hoof and calling a stone into it. “Because you will respect your power when you get it. You will understand what it is like for those that do not have your level of power, and not abuse it. Here is a taste of what you will be able to do.”

With that, the rock in the stallion’s hoof...turned into a glittering diamond.

All the dogs stared with wide eyes. He just… created a gem? Pony could find them, this one could make them!

“They’re totally about to jump you,” Pup deadpanned. Aspect sighed and called up a small ring of stalagmites around him and the pup, reminding them that he still was the Earth itself and all that meant. That kept the dogs still.

“So, why me?” Pup asked him. “And what will I do after?”

“Why you, that’s a good question,” Aspect mulled it over. “Well, I need to give it to someone that has a deep connection to the earth. Otherwise the transfer won’t work. I want to give it to someone that’s good and pure, and hasn’t harmed a pony before. Because otherwise, if they did attack my home, my adopted children...well. I failed them once before. I won’t allow fighting between the very forces of the world. That’s my role, to keep the balance. But why you, out of all the dogs here?” The stallion smiled at the pup. “Because I have every faith that if you had the chance to make the world a better place for the dogs, without doing more than forcibly turning ponies away, you would do it. If I gave you the power, can you tell me right now, that you would abuse it? Can you imagine any situation where, if you had the ability to make more gems for the dogs, that you would harm a pony, force them to dig gems up for you?”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Pup replied and the others nodded.

“It’s true, Pup pouted when we took whiny pony.”

“Because Pup’s mother was a—”

“SSSHHHH!” Pup hissed at him.

“As for what you’ll do after,” Aspect continued as though he hadn’t heard. “Well, I have a home just on the outskirts of the nearby pony village. You seem like the intelligent sort, I wouldn’t mind a visit every now and then. The town even has a library, a collection of books, of knowledge. When you eventually grow into your power, you will be a force to be reckoned with. I have no doubt that if you wanted, you could do anything when the time comes. You could go back to the kingdom of Diamond Dogs and rule it. You could just stay here with this small den and remake them, to be kind and highly advanced. Or you could just fade away, become a myth that other dogs seek out. The choice will really be yours. What I’m offering you...is the freedom to make whatever choice you want. Do you accept?”

“I…” Pup didn’t know… until Rover spoke up.

“Pup is no longer welcome here,” he said. The others soon caught on and nodded.

“Pup is weak, not a real Dog,” Spot said.

“Take Pup away, we Dogs will be better off until he is stronger,” Fido folded his arms.

“Very well,” Aspect rumbled. “But I want two promises from you dogs. Do you understand? The first. You shall not ever again force a pony to work for you like a slave, or treat them cruelly. You may ask if they want to work for you, and you must treat them fairly, and pay them some gems that they help you haul. If you ever again harm a pony, I will know.”

The Dogs vehemently nodded their heads.

“The second promise,” Aspect continued. “If you ever need gems and cannot find any in your tunnels, one of you will visit the pup and bring a load of rocks for him to turn into gems. This way, you don’t run out of what you need, and he still has some interaction with his own kind. I will not be so cruel as to deny him that if that is what he seeks.”

They looked at Pup and after a moment, nodded again.

“So… you want me to go?” Pup asked them.

“Become better,” Rover said.

“Become stronger,” Fido agreed.

“Show us the way…” Spot tacked on.

“Before I take him back, though,” Aspect replied, holding up a hoof. “You all will witness this. Young pup? Take my hoof. Take your destiny.”

“That sounds really cheesy,” Pup deadpanned as he took the offered appendage.

Lights surrounded Aspect as the grey that had taken over his coat started bleeding out of him, heading for the offered hoof. Swirls of light and color surrounded the two, and leapt off the pony, and surrounded the young Diamond Dog. The young pup felt a great pressure as something intangible bore down on him, before his ears popped, as though he’d gone up a great mountain. What felt like a massive amount of power now filled his tiny frame, and the pony had gone back to being a white stallion with a grey mane and tail. There was a flash of light, and the stallion was now a pegasus pony, who shook his wings and smiled at the pup.

“Haven’t done that in a few hundred years,” the stallion sighed. “Feels good to get another one off of my chest.”

“I feel… weird,” Pup murmured as he keeled over, placing his paws on the ground. “Tingly… It’s a little uncomfortable… but…”

“That’s just your magic settling in, you’ve never had it before,” Aspect soothed. “Try it out. Think of something you want to have happen, and force that tingly feeling out of you. Like this cage of stone. Imagine it gone, then force it to happen. It’ll help you get used to it.”

The dog nodded and closed his eyes. He wanted this cage gone. He wanted to be free. And it was in the way!

The cage didn’t so much collapse, as it exploded, sending shards of stone everywhere. The other dogs yelped and ducked under the table as the stone flew with enough force to become embedded in the walls.

Pup opened one eye and looked around. “Ahh eheheh, oops?”

“Just a little too much force on that one,” Aspect chuckled. “It’s okay, I know how that goes. Getting fancy new powers you’ve never had before can overwhelm someone. We’ll train you up, make sure you don’t accidentally put any eyes out when you try to carve out a tunnel before we let you loose. For now…” The stallion kneeled down in front of the pup, offering his back. “Climb on. You can ride me and direct me out of the mines.”

He nodded, and paused. “That’s weird,” he murmured. “I can feel them? I think? The pony mares. They’re waiting outside but… how do I know that?”

“Dogs,” Aspect said towards the table. “What did I keep saying when we clashed?”

“You are Earth?” Rover asked, really hoping that was right.

“Correct. Now,” Aspect rejoined, pointing a hoof at the pup. “You are the Earth. You’re connected to it. Your power will only grow, with time. It’s not surprising to me at all that you can sense the mares.”

“Okay… this is new,” he murmured as he walked alongside the stallion. Something said to him that he needed his paws on the ground for a while, his feet tingling with each step. “Um, this way,” he nodded, walking down one pathway.

“Let’s go reassure the ponies that I haven’t hurt any dog,” Aspect said, pausing at the edge of the chamber and looking back. “Remember. Be good while we’re gone,” he called back to the other dogs.

They all nodded, remaining quiet until he’d left.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Twilight asked as she and the girls waited around the entrance.

“Do you think he hurt any of them?” Fluttershy added on. “I mean, I know what he said but…”

“Yeah, Aspect was pretty scary down there,” Pinkie agreed. “I should have made him Pinkie Promise…”

There was movement from the shadows of the entrance. It wasn’t long before it resolved itself into the form of Aspect, now in his pegasus guise once again, and a small pup of a Diamond Dog that was walking along next to him.

“Hey mares,” Aspect greeted them, before pulling the pup close with a wing. “Meet Pup. He’s the new Aspect of Earth.”

Pup blinked as all seven mares stared at him.

“Aspect?” Pinkie said slowly, her grin widening. “You know what this means…”

“Let him get used to the town first, and vice versa,” Aspect stipulated. “The job of the Earth Aspect has basically been left to lie for centuries. He’ll have his work cut out for him once he grows into it.”

“This is gonna be hard isn’t it?” Pup groaned.

“Rock solid?” Rainbow smirked.

“Now now, no need to throw stones,” Bon Bon tacked on.

“Those puns are lower than dirt,” Twilight added.

“And I’m sorry to say, pup, that it only gets worse from here,” Aspect sighed dramatically. “Don’t worry, though. You can grow up to be better than them.”

“Shouldn’t be hard, the bar isn’t set very high,” he smirked, wiping the grins off of Rainbow’s and Bon Bon’s faces.

“So if he’s an Aspect,” Twilight pointed out. “Does that make him your son now?”

“Some of the Aspects I based off of other creatures,” Aspect admitted. “Some of them I gave form to from nothing more than the magic of what makes an Aspect an Aspect. I let the magic shape their forms. Pup, though, had a life, a history, before me. I’ll not take that from him. I gave him the power of an Aspect, but he doesn’t have to call me anything he’s not comfortable with.”

“Well, I suppose you’re my Teacher at the very least,” Pup pointed out. Bon Bon smirked, being called Teacher was one of Aspect’s triggers. These mares would likely witness Happy Aspect now.

“I can deal with being a teacher,” Aspect chirped happily. “Gods, but I need a day planner for all my other classes going on,” he mused. “Then again, with someone new to look after in my home, I suppose all my plans would go right out the window.”

“You need a schedule!?” Purple filled his vision, Twilight’s nose pressed against his as she all but led a full assault against his personal space. It fell instantly to the Twilight Imperium. “I can help you with that!” She looked waaay too happy about this.

“I really just need something I can carry around to remind me of when I’m teaching a class,” Aspect replied, backing up a touch. To no avail. “The nature of teaching a new Aspect, as well as just how full my house tends to be on a day-to-day basis, means I can’t actually plan my days. But I would like something to write in to remind me when I’m teaching the foals, the Wonderbolts...you know. Surely you understand.”

“Your life is pretty chaotic huh?” Rainbow chuckled, putting a wing over his back.

“I prefer crazy and random,” Aspect rejoined, before sighing. “And Tia said this was such a sleepy little town…”

“Everypony in this town is crazy,” Twilight replied with a long suffering sigh. “Come on, let’s get home.”

“Indeed, I have dresses to make for Sapphire Shores!” Rarity squealed with delight. “Time is money so let’s move. Mush!”

“Meanwhile, Pup and I will be heading to my place,” Aspect replied, nosing Pup and gesturing to his back. “C’mon, get on. It’d be faster if I carried you.”

“Oh, alright,” he said and climbed up.

“You know,” Rainbow smirked. “I’m even faster~”

“You have a friend to help out,” Aspect pointed at the several carts of gems. “Fortunately, there seem to be just enough for all of you. Bon Bon, how about we get Pup settled back at home?”

“Sure,” Bon Bon smiled as Rainbow stared with an open jaw at being ditched like that.

“W-Well! I’m not gonna do that wing thing you like then!” she shouted, making Fluttershy blush profusely for some reason.

“She totally will,” Bon Bon smirked as they walked, leaving the raging pegasus behind.

“And this,” Aspect told the pup riding him, “Is my home. My daughter gave it to me to keep me in one place for longer than a few years. I think it’s working.”

“Whoa! I’ve never seen such a huge house,” Pup exclaimed with more than a hint of wonderment. “You really live here? Are you royalty or something?”

Bon Bon giggled, and Aspect shook his head. “Nah,” the stallion replied to the pup. “I mean, I probably could totally upset the political schemes in Equestria. But I won’t. Tia’s been working hard on getting it serviceable. All I do is...suggest things.”

“Yes, he’d rather restructure our government one piece at a time,” Bon Bon mused. “Aspect… something’s… off.”

And now that she’d pointed it out, his house did seem oddly… quiet.

“...Pinkie?” He ventured to Bon Bon. “I’m getting a better feel for how she works. She’s done this before. I would not be surprised if she was in there, ready to throw a party for Pup. Despite the fact that I asked her to wait until Pup and the town were used to each other.”

“Yeah, but… you have a house full of painted ponies as well,” Bon Bon pointed out again.

“And a colt that has a dirty mouth, and...well, quite a lot of ponies, actually, and a few non-ponies,” Aspect added on before sighing. “I get that they’ve missed me, but surely they have things they have to do as well. I don’t want them to put me before the world.”

“You really don’t get how friends work huh?” Bon Bon nudged him with her flank. “Who knows, maybe it’s just quiet…” Going in that house made her nervous… mostly because she still hadn’t met Written yet. She was supposed to yesterday, then… things got in the way.

“Okay, let’s go over the list of scenarios,” Aspect replied, listing them. “Option A. There’s a gathering in my home. Either a party, or my other kids, have showed up because of Pup. Which is stress I don’t want to put on him until he’s ready.”

“And Option B, it’s nothing and everyone is taking a nap or something,” Bon Bon said flatly. Though she knew it was most likely A…

“Still, either way. Pup?” Aspect looked at the small Diamond Dog riding him. “Brace thyself. My family is...weird. And the ponies of Ponyville barely beat them in terms of sanity.”

“Um… is it too late to go back home?” Pup gulped, holding onto Aspect tighter.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe from the ponies,” Aspect chuckled. “But there could either be a small or a large amount beyond those doors.” With that, the stallion took a deep breath, walked up to the doors, and pushed them open.

Only to be greeted with an empty room. Nothing. Zip, zero, zilch.

No Pinkie.

No party.

Even the paintings were blank.

“...I’m almost offended,” Aspect blinked. “Well. Okay. I won’t look at this twice. Let’s see how long our luck holds out, eh Pup? Oh, and by the way,” Aspect continued, walking deeper into the house in search of an empty room. “You’re going to need a new name. One that fits who you are. Who you’re going to be. I’ll let you pick it, but I reserve the right to refuse anything too silly.”

“So… Crushinator or Mega Dog is out?” he said, though his grin held a small amount of snark.

“Look at you, snarking already,” Aspect cooed as they walked through the still eerily empty house. Maybe this room was unoccupied? He didn’t recall seeing anyone using it. “You’ll get along very well with the other Aspects of the world.” He nudged the door open.

Luna, Pyroclastia and Neptune were waiting there, all staring at him as he opened the door.

“Oh,” Aspect sighed. “I was wondering where you all were. I’m surprised more of you aren’t here, to be honest.”

“Celestia is still in Canterlot,” Luna sighed. “The nobles are being… difficult.”

“I imagine they bloody would be if they were being stripped of the power they were used to,” Aspect snorted.

‘The others are giving us space to meet the new Aspect,’ Pyro trilled as she looked over the Diamond Dog. ‘Kind of… small, isn’t he?’

“He’s still young,” the stallion replied to the phoenix. “He’ll grow into his power. Kind of like how you did. I remember when you were robin-sized, you know.”

‘I recall no such thing,’ Pyro puffed out her chest.

“Hmm, so another elemental it seems,” Neptune chuckled. “Verily, well met Young Pup, I am Neptune, Aspect of Water and King of the Seaponies. This puffed up turkey is Pyroclastia, Aspect of Fire and Mother of the Phoenix’s. Princess Luna here is the Aspect of Dreams.”

Luna nodded her head as the young dog hid behind Aspect’s wing. Aspect chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle the small Diamond Dog. “Hey. It’s okay. They’ve all been where you are,” he soothed. “They’ve all been fresh to the whole Aspect thing. They’re just curious. This hasn’t happened for an age. And the last one I made isn’t exactly social for some reason.”

‘Chrysalis?’ Pyro chirruped. ‘I think her Hive is out in the Badlands somewhere.’

“Mmhmm,” Aspect nodded, before nuzzling Pup again. “Go on. Go say hi to them. I promise they’re nice.”

Pup nodded and stepped forwards to greet them. “I… um… I’m Pup… I’m, the Aspect of Earth I guess?”

The others stared… but Luna was the first to act. She leapt at him and pulled him into a patented Luna-Hug. “He’s so adorable!!”

“Gak! Can’t… help….” Pup gasped.

“Fortunately, you are immortal, so you will survive Luna’s hugging,” Aspect calmly said from just out of range. “I doubt many other things could. You might be stuck in there for a bit.”

“Aack!” Pup groaned. How was this his life!

Bon Bon had left Aspect to do his Aspect things. In the meantime, she had an ancient alicorn mare to find. Time to get this load of awkwardness out of the way, once and for all.

The main problem was finding said mare in this huge house. She looked up at one of the blank paintings and cleared her throat.

“Ahem… Excuse me?” she asked it, feeling rather silly talking to a painting. “Hello?”

It took a moment...that actually seemed to stretch on for a while. But eventually somepony wandered into the frame. “Oh, hello,” Private Pansy said, approaching it and looking at Bon Bon. “Um. Did you...not, get the news?”

Bon Bon blinked as she looked at the mare. “...Fluttershy?”

“No, I’m Private Pansy,” the pegasus replied, softly shaking her head once. “Um...anyways. Realm and Written Script have organized a small party in the drawing room. He’s painting refreshments for us. We don’t actually need them, but it’s nice of him.”

“Oh,” Bon Bon replied. “I needed to speak to Miss Written, but if she’s busy… I guess it doesn’t matter.”

“Is it terribly important?” Pansy asked. “Does it have something to do with Aspect? Hurricane said something about him to me...I’m sorry, I mean Commander Hurricane, she gets so upset if I don’t use her rank…”

“O-Oh, well yes, it is…” Bon Bon said. “It’s not terribly important, I mean… it’s just…” Her blush was growing even worse.

“You just wait right here,” Pansy smiled at her. “I’ll go tell her where you are and you two can sort this out. When it comes to Aspect, she almost always takes an interest.” And with that, the yellow pegasus was gone, appearing in another picture further down the hall and walking towards the drawing room.

“I, no, wait!” Bon Bon groaned. Her nerves were getting the better of her as she toyed with the idea of running for it. What the hay was she thinking!? Oh right, to get this out of the way so Aspect wouldn’t have to worry. “Well, good job Bon Bon, you’re likely going to cause even more trouble for him now,” she paced in a small circle, muttering to herself.

It took a minute, but eventually that familiar alicorn showed up in the painting, shaking her head to let her hair down for a moment. “I do like the others, but sometimes I like to hear myself think as well,” the mare muttered as she looked out of the painting. “Oh hello there. You’re...that mare Aspect told me about.”

Unfortunately, Bon Bon was still in the middle of her self-deprecating spiral and didn’t notice her. Written sighed. Sometimes there was a distinct disadvantage to not being able to jump out of the painting. This was one of those times. All she could do was sit and wait to be noticed now.

Bon Bon glanced up, hoping Pansy had come back saying she couldn’t find… “Oh, hello Miss Written… Miss Written!?” Bon Bon jumped back with a yelp.

“Hello again dear,” Written said with a soft smile. “I remember you from when I got restored. You’re miss...Bon Bon, right? Aspect hasn’t said much about you, but what he has said has been praise.”

“O-Oh… he did?” Bon Bon blinked, calming down a touch. “Well, that’s nice of him.”

“Namely, he’s said that you’re the one that actually got him interested in ponies like that,” Written continued, before smirking at the mare. “Something I never got. Lucky you~”

Bon Bon blushed from the tips of her ears to the tips of her hooves as she stood there, mouth open in shock. She knew!? “O-Oh… I… ah…”

“In fact, I think you might have stolen one of the oldest virginities on the planet,” Written continued. “Only my daughter’s remain in the running.”

Oh Celestia, what should she say?

“I um… I’m… sorry?” she blinked, before facehooving. Yeah… that was probably in her top ten list of stupidest things ever.

“Oh don’t be,” Written waved her off. “I know I’m just a copy of the real thing, but I still want only one thing for my family. For them to be happy. And the light in his eyes when he talked about you? That’s all I wanted to see after I passed.”

“He… likes me that much?” Bon Bon asked.

“The only other thing that even got a spark of happiness to fly across his face in all the years I was gone was teaching foals,” Written nodded sagely. “He especially liked it when Realm recovered enough to be taught the Gale King and Pictomancy. I think he was starting to see the lure of being a father before...well.”

“So… you really don’t mind?” Bon Bon almost whispered. “That… well I’m his marefriend… well, one of them anyway.”

“That, is an interesting development,” Written mused. “It wasn’t unheard of...but as long as you both make him happy, then that’s all I want to see. It’s not healthy to be alone as long as he has been. It’s not right. He might not be a pony underneath, but nobody should be deprived of social contact.”

“Ohh, right, Rainbow doesn’t know that yet,” Bon Bon mused. Well, that should be fun. “Ahh, I had this big speech planned out, but now I’m so lost…” Written was so kind and nice, not at all like she’d imagined her to be.

“Let me just ask you a few questions then,” Written replied. “Do you promise to do your best to make him happy?”

“Of course,” Bon Bon nodded. “I just wish I knew how to calm him when he gets angry… you should have seen him in the mines today. He nearly killed a group of Diamond Dogs.”

“Ah, well, he might have forgotten the trick,” Written said with a shrug of her wings.

“Trick?” Bon Bon pressed.

“If he started getting really mad, he used to have this thing he did,” Written elaborated. “Something to calm him down and make him think rationally even in the worst of situations. ‘Tia and Lulu don’t need a raging barbarian for a father figure.’”

Bon Bon blinked before wincing. “Ohh, right in the Guilt. Yeah… he loves the hay outta those girls.”

“Mmhmm, because the first thing they would do whenever he came back?” Written chuckled. “They may have loved my stories, but daddy’s stories were about real life monsters.”

“Ahh, well I can see Luna- er, Princess Luna loving those,” Bon Bon chuckled. “So, what other questions do you have for me?”

“Do you promise to be truthful to him?” Written asked the mare.

Bon Bon… winced at that one. “There… might be something I haven’t told him. A secret I haven’t told anypony,” she admitted. “It’s just, I can’t afford to. It’s… safer that way. For me and for them.”

“Dear, might I remind you you are getting involved with the one that was meant to be the fulcrum of the world’s forces,” Written informed the candy mare. “The re-balancer in case things fell into disarray. He who wields a sword that can kill literally anything. If you were looking for safe, you wouldn’t have gotten involved with him.”

Oh damn, she had a point there. But to be fair, she didn’t know half that stuff before she got involved. “Can, you meet me in Aspect’s room? I’ll fetch him and we’ll… talk.”

“I already am away from the party, what’s one more thing before I return?” Written asked with a smirk before she walked down the hall. Bon Bon gulped and went to fetch Aspect. This… wasn’t going to be fun.

Aspect had left Pup to the tender mercies of the other Aspects. Sooner or later they’d get tired of embarrassing the newest member of the club and would relent on giving him all the hugs and headrubs. Besides, Bon Bon had said she had something important to tell him, and that she wanted to tell him in his room for some reason.

So the stallion had dutifully followed after her, wondering what it could be that she wanted to talk about. It was only when they arrived that he realized he wasn’t the only one in the room.

“Hello dear,” Written said from the wall.

“Okay, now I’m concerned,” Aspect replied with a raised eyebrow. “The past and the present are teaming up on me. It was bad enough when the present got back-up.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Written tittered, before gaining a serious expression. “Bon Bon apparently has something she wants to tell you.”

“It’s… about my job,” Bon Bon said, now sounding not quite as enthusiastic.

“You make candy,” Aspect returned, nonplussed. “What’s...so serious about that?”

“Not… that job,’ Bon Bon winced. “My other job… the one where I work for Princess Celestia… as a Monster Hunter…”

“...She made a pony. Do the things. I did.” Aspect replied in a deadpan voice.

“She asked a group of ponies to help make Equestria a peaceful place to live,” Bon Bon corrected him. “Where do you think I, a plain old candy maker, learned something like Geomancy?”

“Or became well traveled enough to learn about half the things you did,” Aspect mused, connecting a few dots. “...Well I’m suddenly seeing less reasons to object to it, if she prepared you well enough beforehand for the things you would be encountering.”

“And considering the fact that he already slew most of the great evils of the world,” Written pointed out. “It wouldn’t be nearly as bad for you as it was for us in Dream Valley.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Bon Bon shuddered. “Anyway, my real name is Sweetie Drops, Agent Sweetie Drops. Head of the Monster Hunter organisation. For security reasons, I can’t name the others…” She still missed Palico and Rathalos. “My last mission was capturing the Bugbear, a horrid fusion beast left behind by Discord.”

“That absolute fucker,” Aspect hissed. “It took me ages to learn the magic to clean up the chaos he left behind when he last reigned. It’s a secret I can’t share, really. Reality might unravel if the wrong ponies learn it.” His expression softened as he looked at Bon Bon. “And...you had to deal with something he left behind? I am so sorry I missed something.”

“It’s fine… but,” Bon Bon sighed. “The Bugbear has an eidetic memory and an insatiable desire for revenge, if he ever gets out of Tartarus… well, guess which lucky mare is first on his list?”

“He’ll have to go through me, I promise,” Aspect nodded firmly. “Though I think I might first try the diplomatic approach. Just so Fluttershy wouldn’t yell at me. My method might actually work on him. It did on most of the chaotic things I met.”

“Well, as long as you don’t get stung,” Bon Bon said. “He’s rather fond of paralysis bolts shot from his tail… then, eating the insides of his victims. Imagine a polar bear, a wasp and a spider rolled into one. Then give it earth pony strength and pegasus speed.”

“Yikes,” Aspect shuddered. “Yeah, I think I might need to use my method to even get close.”

“He’s rather close-lipped about whatever that secret of his is,” Written added. “He’s not even told me what it is.”

“I’m being quite literal when I say that if too many ponies know, terrible things could happen,” Aspect pouted.

“I understand,” Bon Bon nodded. “Now look, not even Lyra knows this. The less that knows the better.”

“Got it, and hey, now I know why you won’t let me call you Sweetie,” Aspect rejoined. “Even if you are.”

“I… shut up!” Bon Bon blushed and pouted.

“In more than one way,” the stallion all but purred.

“Aahhh Writtennnn~ Tell him to stop!” Bon Bon whined, getting that delicious full-body blush again.

“Sorry dear, but this is a side of him I’ve never seen before,” the painted alicorn chuckled. “You’re on your own.”

“Traitor!” Bon Bon pouted and glared at Aspect. “Don’t. You. Dare—”

“My sweet candy mare,” Aspect purred, before walking up and rubbing himself against her like a cat. “You really need to relax~” The last word was uttered with the last syllable being drawn out. Bon Bon shuddered and Aspect could swear he saw steam coming from her ears before she swooned and passed out.

“I like her,” Written spoke up. “Hard when she needs to be, soft when it matters. The perfect counterpart to you, the old warhorse. When do I get to meet the other one?”

“When she decides to show up,” Aspect returned, before struggling to lift Bon Bon onto the bed so she’d be comfortable. “Crud...that’s right. Can’t cheat like that anymore.”

It took him a minute, but eventually Bon Bon’s luscious flanks were on the bed. Hmm. Go help out Pup, or go looking for Rainbow so Bon Bon could wake up to a show? Decisions…

In Canterlot, Celestia groaned as she saw the last of the former Nobles escorted from her halls. That… that had been a headache that even the stiffest drink couldn’t hope to cure. Plus that magic she’d sensed from Ponyville… something had happened and her father was the cause.

“Time to go see what he blew up this time,” Celestia sighed. Maybe she should tease Twilight a little. That always made her smile.

Canterlot Gardens, a place of peace and tranquility.

And yet, a disembodied voice chuckled. The time was drawing near and he couldn’t wait!

“Soon Christopher… We’ll get to play again~”

Author's Notes:

I'm not late! I just got caught up in something.

Meet Pup. He'll be around for a while as well.

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