Something was wrong.

It was that type of wrong, that you know, even before you opened your eyes that something had happened to utterly ruin your day. He didn’t know what yet, but he knew deep within his core that today was going to be… trying.

And then came a loud shriek from the kitchen. What ever had happened seemed to create a chain reaction of surprised shouts and screams across the house.

Oh, today was going to be one of those days.

Aspect rolled out of bed and tested his magic. And...nothing?

He opened his eyes and looked at his forehead. Oh. His horn was missing.

...Well buck. He tried shapeshifting into a unicorn, as he couldn’t feel any wings on his back...and nothing happened. He was stuck as an Earth Pony.

Not that bad, all things considered, as he had practice in Geomancy and manipulating the Earth. But...he couldn’t very well call on his Light nature like this. That...might actually be a problem.

Hopefully he’d figure out how to get around this before his head exploded.

He walked out of the room and began heading towards the screams. Something most sane ponies wouldn’t do.

The first shout came from the kitchen, but that’s not who found him first. A small colt bumped into him and he looked down. Well it was Realm but…

He had a horn.

But his wings were missing.

“...Well this is a fine pickle, isn’t it?” Aspect asked as he looked his adopted son over. “At least you have an easy outlet for your magic. You’ll likely make it through this species-swap thing in one piece.”

“I can’t paint properly without my wings!” he shouted. “I can’t use Gale King either! How am I supposed to flip up mares’ skirts if I can’t call a wind and…” he stopped and stepped back. “Ahehe… disregard that last part.”

“Noted,” Aspect replied. “Look, I get that your wings are a big part of you, but a bigger problem here is me not having a good outlet for working out my Light nature easily. Without a horn to cast magic with, it’s just going to keep building inside of me…” He intentionally let the sentence hang there.

“Bigger problem,” Realm pointed out as they walked. “If we have all ‘swapped’. Then, somepony in the house just became an alicorn! One of them could be Lyra, and the other a very emotionally unstable pregnant thestral mare.”

“Or it could be Dash, or Bon Bon,” Aspect pointed out. “Or Toola, or Twinkle. We have options as to who got that much power.”

“Is is alright to say if I’m scared?” Realm said and his eyes widened. “What if Pinkie or the Clover Clone is here!?”

“We also don’t know how far the radius of the swap is,” Aspect calmly pointed out. “It could include just this house, just a few rooms of this house, the town, or all of Equestria. Though for something that powerful, I’d expect Chaos to be involved.”

“Well, let’s go and see,” Realm said as they entered the kitchen and…

Oh, seems the alicorn went to Bon Bon…

And she was currently in the air, knocking her head against the ceiling. Her wings flapping erratically.

“How ow! Do you ah! Turn these damned things OFF!” she yelled.

“...While amusing, this isn’t what I’m looking for,” Aspect chuckled, before turning to Realm. “You help her before she starts firing lasers, I’m going to see who started this. They’ll likely be the only ones unchanged in the midst of this chaos.”

Realm was too busy rolling on the floor laughing. Laughter that soon ceased when a beam of blue energy seared a hole through several walls, Bon Bon’s new horn smoking.

“N-Noted,” Realm said as he went to wrangle the alicorn.

Aspect turned and…

“Whhheeeeeeeee!” Lyra buzzed by, her new bat wings flapping as she zipped through the house at ludicrous speeds.

“...Okay, also not Lyra’s fault,” Aspect muttered to himself as he went in the direction she came from. He also knew instinctively that if Lyra had the bat wings, then it couldn’t be Midnight’s fault...and that she would probably be the next one he ran into.

Well he was half right.

While it wasn’t Midnight’s fault, the mare was in the living room, consoling a sobbing Rainbow Dash. The ‘was a thestral, now a pegasus’ rubbing her back and looking up at Aspect. Even her fuzzy ears and cat-like eyes were now completely pony-like.

“I’m rapidly running out of ponies that could be responsible for this,” Aspect noted. “The only ones left that are here are Toola and Twinkle. Care to point me in their direction?”

“I do not know where they are,” Midnight said as Rainbow looked disdainfully at the horn on her head.

“I WANT MY WINGS BACK!” she yelled. “I DON’T WANNA BE AN EGGHEAD!”

“You don’t have to be an egghead to be a unicorn,” Aspect waved a hoof at her. “There was a whole branch of magic devoted to thinking things up, pouring will and energy behind them, and making them happen. The only problem is, Sorcery is tricky to dispel. The stronger you are, the harder it is for somepony else to undo it. So you basically have to mean it if you put energy behind it.” He tapped his chin. “There was even a martial art based around casting without even consciously thinking about it, seeing who was faster, stronger, better. There were tournaments and everything for it back in the old days. They used to either take hours as each competitor out-planned the other, or were over in a flash.”

Rainbow stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes. He could almost hear the gears in her head grind to a screeching halt, explode, then explode again.

“I’m gonna be a nerd!” she sobbed as Midnight shrugged and went back to hugging her. Well… he tried.

“So, I take it one of you is to blame for this?” Toola said sternly as she strode into the room. A long horn adorned her head and fluffy wings flicked at her sides. “It’s not a particularly funny prank young colt.”

“Not my fault, I don’t cast in my sleep,” Aspect replied, waving a hoof. “Plus I would never get rid of my ability to vent magic actively, so...by process of elimination…”

The trio of mares stared at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

“Is he like this often?” Toola deadpanned .

“Unnecessarily dramatic?” Midnight replied, still consoling Rainbow. “Yes, pretty much.”

“Take all the fun out of it why don’t you,” Aspect muttered. “Twinkle?” he asked with a raised voice. “Where are you?”

There was no response, not until one of the portraits spoke up. “I believe she is is her room,” Pansy said. “We don’t know for sure, she tossed out the portraits there into the hall.”

“Welp,” Aspect sighed. “Time to find her and at least put the portraits back up.” He began walking through the halls in search of the errant unicorn. It didn’t take long, simply find the room with a few portraits lying on the floor, his pet Manticore poking at them with a curious paw.

“Hey,” Aspect shooed her away from the portraits gently. “No, not for playing with.” He then picked the paintings up and stacked them on his back, before knocking on Twinkle’s door. “Twinkle? You in here?”

“N-no, no Twinkle here, go away please,” came the mare’s voice.

“Twinkle, I’m not angry, I promise,” Aspect said. “But I would like to at least put the portraits back up. You know how removing them from the wall disconnects them.”

“W-When I am finished,” the mare replied through the door. “I..I can fix this… Ohh….”

“Twinkle...I’m going to ask a question here,” Aspect said. “Do you even have a horn right now?”

There was a pause, before the door clicked. He nudged the door, albeit hesitantly as he entered…

Twilight Twinkle was sitting on the bed, huddled up and… yup, lacking a horn. Whatever spell that decided to play species roulette affected even the caster it seems.

“Well...you have options,” Aspect said as he began hanging up the portraits again. “We have two unicorns around here, and two Alicorns. It might be possible to instruct one of them in how to grant my fervent wish that we all return to normal before anything happens. Or, if you’d rather, we can send a message to Twilight and see if she can unravel the spell.”

“It’s my fault,” she murmured. “I somehow used my Wish Granting ability in conjunction with a polymorph spell and…” She sighed as she curled up into a ball. “Now I can’t fix it…”

“Well, like I said, you could try instructing one of the newly horned ones in how to fix it,” Aspect replied, coming over to her bed and placing a comforting hoof on her withers. “Or you could ask someone else to fix it. There’s no shame in this, it just means your Wish Granting is coming back strong. You’ll just need to learn to restrain it again after not having used it for thousands of years. Once we get this all worked out, I’m sure it’ll be a reason for celebration.”

“Being ageless is… most infuriating,” the mare sighed. “I don’t even know if I still have that power, or if somepony else in the house has it now.” She sat up and wiped her eyes. “So how bad is it? Which ones wound up with horns?”

“Well, Dash has a horn and is distraught about it, while Realm was demoted to Unicorn, and is also distraught about it,” Aspect informed her. “Meanwhile, Bon Bon and her mother got the full upgrade to Alicorn. So we should probably start with Realm and see if he has the wish-granting, because goodness knows Dash won’t want to think about using ‘eggheady magic’ to fix this mess.”

“Oh goodness,” Twinkle sighed as she slowly picked herself up. “I’ve made quite the mess haven’t I?”

“It’s not one that can’t be fixed,” Aspect soothed. “Tell you what. I’ll get Realm and Dash to sit still while you figure out if they can grant wishes to fix the problem. Meanwhile, I’ll send for Twilight, see if she’ll be able to help as well.”

“Alright,” the older mare sighed as she hook her head to clear it of depressing thoughts. “Let’s see if something can be done about this… and I swear, I’m quitting modern magic.”

“Or maybe you just need a modern teacher?” Aspect posed. “Twilight’s pretty well versed in all things magical.”

“She’s the one that gave me this book on it,” Twinkle said as they headed out into the hallway. “Alright, so where are your son and jailbait wife?”

“I don’t know where Realm is, but Rainbow was crying about losing her wings, she’ll be easy to find,” Aspect replied. “I’ll go round up Realm and meet you in the living —”

‘KA-Thooooooooom!’

The house trembled as it was rocked by the explosion, one coming from the living room…

“...Aaaaand that would be Dash, figuring out Sorcery and how to cast without thinking about it,” Aspect deadpanned. “I’ll go contain her, you find Realm.”

Twinkle nodded as she headed off to find the wayward unicorn. Aspect in the meantime, headed for the living room and turned the corner to… see…

Oh, he was missing a wall… good to know. Midnight was half embedded in another as Rainbow lay flat on her back, horn smoking and legs twitching. Arcane lightning crackled around the trench the blast had made… rainbow-hued lightning.

“For once, nobody was seriously hurt,” Aspect quipped as he moved to pull Midnight out of the wall first. “Just the house.”

“WHAT?” Midnight yelled at him. “I CAN’T HEAR OVER THE RINGING IN MY EARS!”

“Give it a minute,” Aspect said, knowing she couldn’t hear anyways, as he pulled her head free of the wall she was embedded in. After making sure she wasn’t injured or had anything running through her, he then turned to Dash and began rolling her over.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Rainbow cheered and laughed. “I shout a freaking RAINBOOM outta my horn! Holy butts that was cool!”

Oh dear, this did not bode well for Ponyville’s Disaster Relief Fund…

“Dash, calm down,” Aspect told her, using a hoof to keep her in place. “I thought you wanted your wings back.”

“Well yeah,” she said as she sat up. “But this is also cool. Ohh, maybe Bon will swap with me and I can have both! I’d be the first alicorn to join the Wonderbolts!”

“Oh dear,” Aspect sighed. “Look. This was a wayward shape-changing spell getting tangled up with Twinkle’s Special Talent. It’s not likely to happen again, and really, we need to get this fixed.”

“So until then, I can keep this?” Rainbow looked up at her horn. “I have to go and show Applejack! She’ll totally flip!” And with a crack of Rainbow light, the mare teleported!?

Ohhh horseapples. She was an emotion caster. Forget study, she was literally ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’ with her spells. Just like she was as a pegasus…

Also known as the perfect Still Way student. If he could get her to meditate and control her emotions, she would be a formidable unicorn for as long as this lasted. But...if she had the wish-granting ability…

Assuming that even transferred…

Then they would be hosed until she came back.

Time to call Twilight.

Okay, small problem. Twilight had gotten off at Canterlot when they’d returned from the Crystal Empire to have her horn checked. And she hadn’t returned yet.

Even Spike was in the dark, nopony had contacted him or anypony to say when the unicorn would be back.

So Aspect wrote out a short message to Celestia, detailing the situation as it had happened and why they might need Twilight’s help. Mainly because if they couldn’t get a horn back on his head, he might literally have said head explode if he couldn’t properly vent his Light aspect of his magic. He tied a dragonfire ribbon around the scroll and watched it immolate and get sent off into the air towards Canterlot, hoping that would be enough.

Before the letter bounced back, it opened at… Oh you cannot be serious!

‘You have reached the desk of HRH Princess Celestia. The Princess is currently unavailable, she will answer your {insert terms of request here} at her next earliest convenience.’

Did… did he just get her flipping voicemail?

Alright...time to pull out the big guns then.

That was what led to Aspect invading the Nightmare’s room with a slightly mad look in his eyes. He found the filly and… oh sweet merciful gods.

Of course the filly would be swapped.

The filly let out a sigh as a hyperactive Alicorn Pinkie Pie, bounced around the room, throwing some kind of party for her.

“...Well this makes things easier,” Aspect mused, reaching out and grabbing Pinkie by the withers, looking her in the eye. “Pinkie, I have an important mission for you,” he said seriously, still with that slightly mad look.

“Ohh, you look upset,” Pinkie said as a party hat appeared on his head and she seated him at the table with some cake. “Sit and eat. You two need to bond as daddy and daughter anyway. Oooh, we could add that to the list of what the party is for!”

“That would be the one-hundred and fifteenth addition she’s made,” Nightmare sighed.

“Pinkie, this is serious,” Aspect replied. “Dash just teleported over to Applejack’s place, I don’t know where Realm is, and the only one that might stand a chance at fixing this if they can’t, is stuck up in Canterlot. And Cel isn’t answering her letters. I need you to either round up everyone that had their species swapped and get them back here, or get Twilight down here pronto.”

“Aww, why so serious Aspy?” Pinkie sighed and rolled her eyes. “I mean, it’s not like this is the first disaster, and it’s nothing compared to what’s coming sooo…” She took a deep breath as Aspect felt a Harmony Song coming on.

“Pinkie,” Aspect cut her off suddenly. “Because if I don’t get a horn on my head to properly vent my Light Aspect, my head will probably explode.”

She giggled and zipped over to him, slapping a strapon horn on his head.

Why was it glowing?

Why could he cast with a fake horn!?

“I have so many questions,” Aspect muttered as he stared up at the thing. “Okay...this is a stopgap solution, but it won’t work for everyone. You can’t just strap wings to Realm, or both to Nighty here. Their magical cores are still thinking they’re alicorns, so if they can’t vent properly…”

“Kablewy!” Pinkie said, somehow making an explosion noise. “Okay, let’s go find TwiTwi then.” She grabbed him and Nightie, before pulling them through the door and…

Why were they standing in a hallway in Canterlot Castle? Why did Aspect get the feeling he’d forgotten something, and thinking about it felt like a very bad idea.

“...Pinkie, just...don’t do that again anytime soon,” he whispered in a small voice. “Let...let’s just get Twilight back home so that we can get to work on sorting out this issue.”
“Okie Doki Looooki~” she giggled as she bounced down the hall. Nightmare was awfully quiet as she clung to Aspect’s back, still shivering. She also murmured something about darkness beyond darkness and eyes…

Aspect soon lost sight of the manic alicorn. But asking a guard did help him discern Celestia’s location. Apparently she’d been out in the gardens all morning. He rounded a corner and came face-to-chest with Luna, the larger alicorn looking down at the stallion when he spilled to the floor.

“Hmm, what are you doing here?” she asked as she helped him up. “Tis not like you to show up unannounced.”

“Long story short, Twinkle mixed a Polymorph and a Wish together, everyone who was in the house is a different species...except Artemis, I don’t think he changed at all,” Aspect explained. “So...I’m here to get Twilight to help figure out how to undo it before the former alicorns explode from not being able to vent their energies properly.”

“Oh dear,” she said and shook her head. “You should have sent a letter, it would have been faster than coming in person.”

“I did, Tia has voicemail set up at the moment,” the stallion explained. “I was going to use Nighty’s dreamwalking to send a message to you, but found Pinkie with a horn and wings. So I took a shortcut that I am not thinking about to get here. Where’s the prodigal unicorn, we might need her at this point.”

Luna snorted clicked her tongue. “Of course, it never occurred to you to just send me a letter…” Her voice dropped as she mumbled. “Nopony ever asks for me…” She looked back up and tilted her head. “Well, you may have wasted the trip. Come along, the pair of fools are in the garden.”

Aspect followed along as he answered her little griping. “Luna, that’s not it and you know it. My dragonfire ribbons are only enchanted to take messages to Tia. I would have used Nighty’s dreamwalking to send a message to you if she still could. I don’t love you any less than I do her, I just have less options to get in contact with you.”

“Dreamwalking would only work if I was asleep,” Luna said as she opened the doors to the gardens. “No matter, I will enchant some ribbons for you myself.” They stepped outside as the alicorn sighed. “You may be wasting your time though. Twilight Sparkle is…”

“Oh she better be well after what I pulled through to heal her with,” Aspect muttered to himself.

“Physically yes,” Luna said as she paused. Aspect could see his other daughter in the distance, laying under a tree with a purple unicorn under her wing. “But she has yet to even light her horn since then. I fear… she is not too well mentally. Whatever happened in the Crystal Empire, it has scared her. Her dreams are… also puzzling. She keeps dreaming of two dragons, one made of shadow and light… as well as a third being, a demon of fire. I cannot help, since I no longer have the Aspect of Dreams.”

“...And while Celestia coddles her student, her friends, her supports, lose contact with her. So...it falls to me to get her back in a nurturing, healthy environment for her,” Aspect sighed. “Fine. So...straight out demanding she return is out. Maybe...presenting it like a puzzle would work.”

“I leave it to you,” Luna sighed. “I have royal duties to attend to. And… take care. Celestia is being, oddly possessive for some reason.”

Aspect nodded and began walking up to the alicorn and unicorn, thinking over his approach carefully. He thought he had it...he’d just have to try it out.

Celestia’s ear flicked as she turned her head. “Oh it you father,” she said in a cool tone. “Well, what do you want? I believe I made it clear that I do not wish to be disturbed.”

“Unfortunately, an incident, also known as ‘Tuesday’ has happened back in Ponyville,” the stallion replied, taking off his fake horn for emphasis. “Twinkle mixed a Polymorph spell into one of her Wishes. While we can try to work backwards from it, Dash is apparently an emotion caster, so getting her to sit still and not blast things will be hard. And if we take too long, the Aspects of us will begin to build up mana inside of us that we can’t properly vent…”

“And you’d likely explode,” Twilight murmured. “Sorry, but I can’t help you… I, don’t even know if I can use magic anymore.”

“I am comforting her right now,” Celestia said. “Go to the school, there are plenty of bright unicorns. Luna would also help I’m sure. And Chrysalis. She has nothing better to do I imagine.”

“Would any of them be able to try and unravel the mess that is a Wish upon seeing it for the first time?” Aspect countered. “It’s old magic. It’s the same magic by which Yggdrasil alters the weave of the fabric of Fate itself. And with Twinkle not having her horn to properly demonstrate it, I can only think of one bright, exceptional unicorn that would be able to unravel this Gordian knot before it consumed us all.”

“Too bad you never explained any magic from your past, it’d be too dangerous right?” Twilight said. Her voice sounded… off. A little flat.

“You heard her, leave us,” Celestia said with a low growl.

“I don’t think so,” Aspect shook his head. “Twilight, you’ve heard the tales. The previous Magic Aspect belonged to three witches who lived up on top of a volcano, using their abilities to bring pain and misery to the ponies, because they found beauty abhorrent. I can safely say that you are nothing like them. If you want, I could teach you Sorcery. I could even loan you out their old spellbook, so you can learn what they did, so you’d know what not to do. There was even a discipline all about casting without thinking, doing without calculating, simply knowing how to fluidly move your magic. It was called the Still Way, and you’d probably be good at it. Though at the moment...Dash is better.”

Twilight turned and… why… were her eyes glossy?

“Didn’t I tell you to leave?” Celestia hissed, one of her slitted eyes glaring at him. “Stop trying to take my Twilight away from me—”

Aspect reached out and booped Celestia’s nose. “Bad Cel,” he admonished her. “You were going to get a guard or two as well as a Zebra mystic to help you learn control over your more emotional half. Latching onto Twilight right now isn’t healthy for either of you. You’re becoming domineering, controlling, dependant on Twilight when you can’t even depend on your own emotions. And you know Twilight does her best work when she’s around her friends. Why are you keeping her from them?”

Celestia held Twilight closer, the unicorn shaking her head as she looked around. “Huh? I… where am I?”

“In the gardens…” Celestia murmured. “You… fell asleep.” She pulled back her wing, though she looked hesitant to do so. “Go with father… he, he needs your help.”

“Huh?” Twilight looked hopelessly confused.

“Just...come here Twilight,” Aspect said, holding out a hoof. “And Cel? We’ll be having a talk about this. About the only thing you can do to delay it is follow through on your original plan and get your other half under control. So if I were you...I’d do that.”

The alicorn said nothing, even when Twilight tried to speak to her.

“O-Okay,” Twilight said. “Take care Princess. I’ll come and visit again after this issue is sorted alright?”

“Mm,” the alicorn nodded, before teleporting away.

“Did… Did I do something wrong?” Twilight asked. “She’s been so happy since we got back to Canterlot. What happened?”

Aspect sighed, looking for the best words to explain it. “All Aspects have the risk of having a Nightmare, if they repress their more emotional halves. Most of us never do form one. But Cel and Lulu...they’ve had to be responsible. They weren’t allowed to give into their base desires, their needs, their wants. They weren’t allowed to be themselves. Cel’s Nightmare broke out back in the Empire...and it sees you as hers. Not her student. Just hers. I think...it entranced you so that you wouldn’t want to leave.”

Twilight shivered. She… she hadn’t wanted to. The more time she spent around her mentor, the more she felt like staying here in Canterlot. She hadn’t wanted nor worried about anything. Just the kind of relaxation she’d needed after that… event.

“But… why me?” she murmured. “I’m just her student. She… she has a school full of ponies like me.”

“Because she sees you as something more than that,” Aspect said softly. “She likes you. Like one pony likes another romantically. But she’s afraid to act on it normally, because she wouldn’t want to pressure you into doing something like that. Because if she asked, you likely would see it as ‘anything for Princess Celestia’ and not even question if you wanted it at all. Which she doesn’t want, she doesn’t want your worship. Just your love, the chance for your love, to see her as something other than ‘Princess Celestia’ and just ‘Celestia’. But her nightmare...doesn’t care about that…”

Twilight just… sort of stood there, her face red as she stood ramrod straight. Her blushed aaaaall the way up to the tips of her ears.

“W-What?” she somehow managed to squeak out.

“My daughter likes you,” Aspect told her. “She has for a while. She likes you romantically, but she’s not going to act on it until you can see her as just ‘Celestia’. Not ‘Princess Celestia, She Who Leads The Ponies And Moves The Sun, For Whom I Would Do Anything.’ Just… ‘Celestia, a lonely old mare who wants someone to love, cuddle, and cherish.’ Once she gets her nightmare under control...and you can stop idolizing her...maybe then you can act on it. But I won’t force you. She won’t force you. And you certainly shouldn’t force you either.”

Twilight sat down. Hard.

“Good job, you friggen broke her,” Nightmare snarked, apparently having recovered. “Wasn’t she your only hope or something?”

“Eh, I can always ask Pinkie to take us all back to Ponyville, we can work on rebooting her there,” Aspect quipped.

“NO!” Nightmare yelled. “Travelling via that… that abomination is no longer permitted under ANY circumstance. I would sooner see this world consumed in hellfire than EVER travel like that again!”

“Well she’s our only option to getting back quickly, unless you know how to reboot a unicorn,” Aspect quipped.

Nightmare smiled. Widely.

“I-I-I-I h-hate you s-s-so m-much…” Twilight’s teeth chattered, having been drenched in ice-water before the trio flew back via chariot. Nightmare merely cackled in response, relishing in her evil ways.

“Well if you hadn’t locked up, Nighty wouldn’t have had to resort to drastic measures,” Aspect pointed out, before clicking his tongue and turning back to Canterlot. “We left AliPinkie back in the castle.”

“T-That terrifies me,” Twilight shivered again, and not from the cold. “S-So, what am I supposed t-to do to help?”

“Well, Wishes are very old magic that few ponies can have,” Aspect explained. “Though the Polymorph spell is tied up in it. If you can trace that, you’ll be able to figure out how the Wish ties into it all and maybe devise a counterspell. Hopefully before the Aspects that got swapped explode.”

“Isn’t there a counterspell already?” Twilight asked. “I can’t exactly create a brand new spell. That’s impossible.”

“There might be a counterspell for the Polymorph spell, you’d have to ask Twinkle which one she was using. As for Wishes...that’s a different subject altogether.” Aspect sighed. “I might be able to get some help for that one.”

“Well I hope so, or changing back might be impossible.” Twilight said with a groan. “Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Tuesdays?”

“You and me both,” Nightmare sighed. “Oh, also I can’t Dreamwalk. Might wanna find out if that got Swapped.”

“Wonderful,” Twilight sighed.

The list of things surprising Aspect didn’t end there. When they landed out front of his home, he was surprised to see a griffon standing there. A female one with white and brown plumage, with purple shading around her eyes.

“Gilda?” Twilight whispered. “What’s she doing here?”

“Don’t know, don’t care at the moment,” Aspect whispered back, before walking forward and clearing his throat. “Pardon me, this is private property,” he started with.

“Yeah, don’t care,” the griffon hen said. “I know that dweeb that messed up our town is here. So I’ve come to mess up his face.”

“Well he’s not here at the moment,” Aspect carefully worded. Technically true, he couldn’t formshift. “But I can get him after we resolve a problem involving magic. So if you’d like to wait inside, I can arrange that.”

“Tch, whatever,” the griffon sighed and saw Twilight. “Oh… you’re of that loser Rainbow’s friends aren’t you? Not like I care or anything.”

“T-That’s right,” Twilight said, only using Aspect as a pony shield a little.

“Look, you either obey basic morality and decency, or you can get the fuck off of my lawn,” Aspect said quite bluntly. “I’m not going to apologize for you. And if you don’t start treating my friends right, I’ll bend your talons behind your back until you cry uncle.”

“One, I’d like to see you try pony,” Gilda said with a low growl. “And two, I really don’t care after the way they treated me last time I was here. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t under duress.”

“What goes around comes around,” Aspect replied. “If you treat them nice, they’ll be nice in return. And if I hear one more word of disrespect out of you, I’ll show you why you don’t mess with old, retired veterans. Little tip, there’s a reason they’re old.”

Gilda looked him over and chuckled. “Finally, a pony with some balls,” she laughed and slapped his back. “We’ll get along just fine. Now, where’s that black griffon so I can rearrange his features a little.”

“Like I said, after,” Aspect said. “Twilight, find Twinkle, she should be trying to round up Dash and Realm. If you can help them figure out what’s going on, that’ll be just great.”

“I’ll… see what I can do,” Twilight nodded, putting distance between herself and Gilda as the hen clicked her beak.

“So… you know Dash then?” she asked, a small bite in her tone at the mention of the mare’s name. “I assume you mean Rainbow Dash.”

“There was a species-spell swap gone wrong,” Aspect replied carefully. “Currently, Dash is a hornhead...that can shoot Rainbooms from her horn and teleport on a whim. She’s an emotional caster. I wouldn’t advise messing with her just this moment.”

“Rainbow Dash… the literal ego with wings, is a freaking unicorn?” Gilda exclaimed… before falling sideways, laughing heavily. Yup… she was Dash’s friend alright.

“So listen,” Aspect said as he sat near the griffon. “I understand griffons are loyal to their friends...if they get any, what with how the empire turned out to be. So I understand, from secondhoof accounts, why you did what you did to keep Dash. But you have to understand...she’s allowed to have other friends. And while you’re in pony lands, you’re also expected to...I dunno. Follow pony customs? Like not stealing. Or screaming for no reason.”

“I dunno, it was kinda funny when the pegasus ran away crying,” Gilda snickered. “Eh, whatever. If they couldn’t handle that, no way would they handle Griffonstone right now. Whole place has gone to shit thanks to that black one and his stupid spear.”

“Fluttershy is one of Dash’s oldest friends from Cloudsdale,” Aspect said coldly. “I’m pretty sure you set her back about five years of acclimating to the town with your little display. Way to look out for your friend there.”

“Fluttershy… oh, that wimp from Flight School,” Gilda shrugged. “Well look, none of that is really important. Not when griffons are tearing up each other over that damned spear.”

“And we’ll get to that,” Aspect countered. “Look, Rainbow thinks of Ponyville as her home, and would never leave anypony here hanging. Everyone is a mild acquaintance at least. Knowing that...would you have done anything differently when you visited?”

“Yeah, avoided the party of that crazy pink pony,” Gilda muttered. “Look, I don’t care that she has other friends. She’s allowed, I’m not her mom. But… she didn’t have to forget her old ones in the process.”

The griffon frowned and turned. “I’ll be back later. And that black jerk had better be here when I do.”

“If it helps,” Aspect said before she took off, “I think Dash misses having a griffon friend that she could get along with. It’s just...she doesn’t want to have to be ashamed of you if you visit.”

Gilda paused… before continuing and flying away.

Well, that was certainly something.

Twilight’s Sparkle and Twinkle sighed as they poured over books and papers, trying to discern what went wrong, in order to try and fix it. For the last few hours, Twinkle had explained to her fellow unicorn, the in’s and out’s of her Wish Granting. As fascinating as Twilight had found it, she needed to focus on this spell first.

“Okay… so, can you remember at all what happened when you cast the spell. What exactly you were thinking about?”

“I’m trying… but I’m rather frazzled by everything,” Twinkle sighed as she rubbed her head.

“Doesn’t help that wishes are an insanely rare talent to begin with,” Aspect said as he walked in the room. “Back in the bad old days, you could find maybe one unicorn in a thousand with their talent. Majesty cheated, she used runes to grant wishes. Twinkle was the first proper wish-granter I came across. But there is another in this day and age.”

“There IS!?!” both Twilight’s echoed, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Get them here, we could use the help,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Problem with that,” Aspect raised a hoof. “He’s...rooted in place. A sentient tree that talks to who he will. I can ask for help in unraveling this, but he uses his wish-magic to make sure things keep going the way they’re supposed to. He might help...or decide that it would be best if we solved it ourselves and only gave us a clue to unraveling this mystery. I can ask, but he might decide to be...cryptic.”

“Because of course,” Sparkle sighed and put a hoof to her head. “Well… let’s see here…” She went over the notes again. “I could try recasting the spell. Keep casting it until the roulette favours us?”

“Bad idea, I’ll just ask,” Aspect muttered, closing his eyes. Well son...what advice do you have for your old man? And don’t think I don’t see your fingerprints all over this situation. Twinkle ‘suddenly’ getting her Wish magic back while mixing in a polymorph? Dash teleporting off, leaving us to rescue Twilight from Celestia’s Nightmare clutches? I’ll even bet she’s training now...all as planned, right?

“You know it’s no fun when you spell it out like that yes?” came the reply of his inanimate son. “Well, a few surprises await you.”

Such as?Aspect asked. Twilight’s never worked with Wish magic, she doesn’t know how to dispel it. I don’t want her to recast the spell until the roulette is in our favor. That could take ages with how many were affected.

“Hmm? You have her working on it?” Yggdrasil fell silent. “No no, that won’t do at all. Honestly, this is why I cannot stand trying to work around you sometimes. Fate bends around you like light around your head.”

Well then, how should we resolve the situation? The stallion asked. You know, before the angry griffon returns demanding to see Bloodfeather and I can’t produce him.

“Father, I am not a magic 8 ball. You can’t shake me and expect the answer to fall in your lap time and time again. You know that already. You would not believe the strings I had to pull to steer Magic away from you. Loyalty is already entwined, but Magic’s destiny is far beyond your own…”

Wait what?

We’ll be having words about that, later, Aspect promised. Okay, how about...who ended up with the Wish talent? Because if you say Realm, then we have a chance at getting this back to normal…

Yggdrasil sighed. “Father, the ‘species’ was swapped. Not talent. Even I cannot do such a thing. That would, as you would say, ‘tear fate a new one’.”

Huh...Good to know. And we’ll be having those words later. He opened his eyes and smiled at the mares. “Good news!” he said. “I know how to fix this!”

“I don’t like it when he smiles,” Twilight Sparkle shuddered.

“An ill omen indeed, disaster and ruin are sure to follow,” Twinkle agreed with a solemn nod.

Aspect reached up, pulled the fake horn off his head, and slapped it on Twinkle’s head. “There,” he stated. “It’s a fake, but it’ll work for this. As should be evidenced by our marks, our talents didn’t change. Our fates didn’t change. Our Aspects didn’t change. Just our species did. If you use that to work a new wish to undo your last one, it’ll all go back to normal. All we need is to get Dash and Pinkie to hold still on the mansion’s grounds, and everything will be fixed.”

“Yeah, that last part is gonna be hard,” Twilight sighed and looked at Aspect. “If I show you this, do you promise to only use this power for good, and not evil or personal gain?”

“When have I ever given you reason to doubt my integrity?” Aspect replied, holding a hoof to his chest in mock hurt.

Both Twilight’s gave him a deadpan stare, before Sparkle opened her mouth.

“Oh wow, I really wish I had a cupcake right about now…”

“I have strawberry, raspberry and TwiTwi’s personal favourite, juniper berry twist,” Pinkie said from right beside Aspect, holding a tray of cupcakes in her pink magical aura.

Aspect did not scream or panic. He might’ve jumped a little, but he overcame the urge. “Pinkie, do me a favor?” he asked, using all his self-control.

“Yeeeeessss?” Pinkie asked as Twilight ate her cupcakes. What, she actually was hungry. “What’s up?”

“Can you go get Dash and bring her here?” Aspect asked.

“Easy freezie,” she giggled as she reached into her mane and pulled the prismatic unicorn out of it.

“Huh…” Rainbow shuddered, a wide-eyed, soul crushing look in her eyes. “All these squares make a circle… all these squares make a circle…”

“Mkay, Twinkle?” Aspect turned to her with a smirk.

“Um… yes?” she replied, tearing her gaze away from the shell-shocked Rainbow.

“I wish we were back to normal,” he said calmly. But before Twinkle could respond, Twilight Sparkle spoke up.

“You know… I think I might actually be able to cobble together a spell to—”

Aspect trembled. Something, something somewhere changed. His voice hitched in his throat, before an out of control Lyra tumbled into the room, wiping out Twilight Sparkle in the process.

“Yeah… we should fix this,” Twinkle said as she focused. Her fake horn sparked… before a bright flash filled the room…

“Aww… I was actually getting used to my horn,” Rainbow said, flapping her wings a few times. “Too bad.”

“On the bright side, I have an all new discipline I could teach you,” Aspect told her as he tested his horn, proud that it was shining again. “Once you master throwing lightning that is. Once you get that down, there’s a lot of things that the Still Way can teach pegasi about emotional control. Makes coming up with new things easier.”

“Rainbow Dash and emotional control?” Bon Bon smirked, glad to be rid of her extra appendages. “That’ll be the day.”

“Heeey,” Rainbow pouted.

“Oh good… it worked,” Yggdrasil sighed. “I was almost too late on that one.”

We’re still having a talk later, mister,Aspect promised, before looking at his living room wall. Or what was left of it. He sighed, walked over to the hole, and his horn sparked again, spilling out a runic sentence. Time began to rewind, the other ponies seeing the rainbow blast through space, before the wall was unblasted, fixing itself seamlessly.

Aspect panted, before dismissing the spell. “And that is why we only get in one disaster a week,” he muttered. “Can’t do that twice.”

“Cheating Rune mages,” Twilight Twinkle grumbled, shooting a glance at Majesty’s portrait. “Well, that was resolved peacefully, aside from young Sparkle taking a Lyra to the head.”

“She’ll recover,” Aspect said. “Lyra, we’ll never know. What is normal with her anyways?”

“I’ll tell you when I find out,” Bon Bon giggled and kissed his cheek. “But unless you tell her no, she’s going to become a regular around here and you know it.”

“Well, guess we’ll just have to live with our lives being more chaotic than usual,” Aspect mused, before looking over at Dash. “C’mere, you,” he pulled her over with his magic and kissed her cheek. “An old friend wants to see you. And me, and now that we’re fixed...wanna go meet her?”

“Huh? What old friend?” Dash asked, clearly confused.

“You’ll know her when you see her,” Aspect explained. “It’s someone I’m sure you could see yourself being friends with today, if circumstances were different.”

“...You enjoy being a cryptic asshole don’t you?” Rainbow sighed as she followed him. “Well whatever, lead the way then.”

Aspect let out a little hum as he led Dash to the front door, holding it open for her before following after her. He sat on the lawn and just waited. He didn’t know when Gilda would be back...but if she were going to come back, now would be a good time.

“So uh… we’re just enjoying the lawn?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, it’s an okay lawn. Nice and soft for crashing into.”

“She’ll come back,” Aspect promised. “Though...I guess I could lay out a bit of bait.” His horn glowed...and the stallion flashed.

When the light died down, Bloodfeather was sitting there instead, serenely watching the skies.

Rainbow tried and failed not to stare at his flanks. What? They were nice flanks!

“You know,” she murred, taking a sultry tone. “Nopony is around…”

“Somebody will be,” the griffon pointed out. “I bet you ten bits the moment you start something, she’ll dive down.”

“I really hate this Murphy guy,” Rainbow pouted, sitting down and crossing her forelegs over her chest.

“Just pointing it out,” Aspect pointed out as he closed his eyes. “I mean, feel free to try, but…”

“Meh, moment’s gone,” Rainbow shrugged as she gave a few flaps of her wings. She looked at Aspect and stared, but he hadn’t opened his eyes. With a smirk… she slooowly started to inch closer.

The griffon merely held his wings out, feeling out the air as well as he could without looking at the skies. He still hadn’t opened his eyes.

Rainbow inched closer and stretched out her wing. Naughty pegasus mare. He felt her trace the tip of her primary down his flank and…

*ZZZZZAP!*

Lightning bolt to the butt.

That got Aspect to squawk and open his eyes, staring at Rainbow as his feathers all puffed up from the static charge.

She just smirked at him, her wing sparking slightly.

“What?”

“I see somepony learned the trick to holding lightning,” Aspect muttered as he began using his claws to smooth his feathers back down.

“Maaaaaybe,” she finally gave up and cackled. “You look like one of Rarity’s hats,” she howled with laughter, pointing at his puffed up body.

“Well, guess that means you’re ready for the big stuff then,” Aspect replied, working more of his feathers down.

“Maybe,” Rainbow said and looked at her wings. “I dunno. I think I wanna get better at this first. It’s not at a level I’m comfortable with.”

“Fair enough,” Aspect replied, finally getting one wing to look normal again. “It’s a delicate skill. You have to hold the edge of the lightning in your mind, otherwise it’ll slip against your control and zap you instead. And because you made it with your magic...your magic won’t really save you from it. That’s how a lot of Gale King users end up dropping out of the program. They can’t hold the edge right...and it backfires. Usually at a critical point.”

“Eesh,” Rainbow winced as she looked up. “Hey… isn’t that—”

With a shrill, eagle-like cry, Gilda dropped from the clouds like a bullet, punching Aspect square in the face with her whole weight behind the blow…

Aspect rolled with the punch, landing on his feet and spreading his wings threateningly, and it was now that Gilda realized...how much bigger he was than her. “You did not just do that,” he warned her. “You did not just sucker-punch Bloodfeather.”

“Aww, does the widdle birdy want his Mommy~” Gilda teased him in a mocking tone. “After the shit you caused!? You’re lucky I haven’t torn your damn throat out!”

Apparently intimidation through size meant little to her. Well, she certainly had balls. Or simply didn’t know him.

“Let me educate you,” Aspect said, a gust of wind coming from his body...and the winds around his house changing to come from behind him. “I forged the Jetstream, an endless river of air around the planet. I was the Aspect of Air for many years. The one who pulls the spear from the anvil will be the next one. And I created the griffons. The only reason I’m not your emperor was because I said n—”

*SMACK*

Oh she did NOT just do that again!

“Yap yap yap,” Gilda rolled her eyes. “Waaah, look at me, I make wind and play with sticks. Congrats, you’re every child ever.” She puffed out her own chest. “Thanks to you, every griffon is fighting over that damned stick of yours. They don’t care who gets hurt. It’s shiny and they want to sell it. They attack each other for even so much as looking at the damned thing!” She drew back her fist. “So I’m gonna keep punching you until you get rid of it for good.”

“I can’t,” Aspect explained. “It’s stuck there until a worthy griffon to my title pulls it from the rock. At which point, they’ll be the new Aspect of Air. And really, if you try to hit me one more time...I’ll show you what it means to be an Aspect.”

“Well, aren’t you just every other griffon ever,” she snorted. “No wonder we’re all intolerable assholes. Made in God’s image I suppose.”

Ohh, that… that cut deep.

*SMACK*

And that was Rainbow punching Gilda. “Hey, you can’t come here and talk smack about my friends again! What the buck Gilda!”

“No no, she has a point,” Aspect sighed, pulling himself together. “I was the one who left them to their own guidance. I told them great stories about wars and conquests, hoping they would become mighty warriors. Never did I imagine they would turn on the ponies. I merely thought they would strive to become the warriors of the planet, lending aid to their friends.” He gave Gilda a stinkeye. “Clearly, I thought too highly of them being able to make friends. Mayhap I should pull the spear out of the rock and start over…”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she sneered back. “What, can’t own up to your failures oh mighty god? So sorry we couldn’t follow the oh so perfect example you left for us. Oh wait...you didn’t!”

Yeah, since seeing him that day, she’d done her research. She knew exactly who Bloodfeather was. He didn’t live up to the hype in her opinion.

Aspect let out another sigh. “Because you were the first species I truly made on this planet,” he said. “Nobody is perfect. Not even me. I wanted you all to grow on your own. I wanted you to be strong. So I gave you examples of strength. I wanted you to be mighty, so I forged you from the strongest aspects of land and air. I wanted you to be my children of the wind, ready to rain down lightning and storms where they were needed, so I blessed you with a bit of my essence. That is why you can work with clouds like the pegasi. But…” He smiled up at Gilda. “‘Free will is a bitch.’ If you all wanted to grow the way you have...I couldn’t have stopped you.”

“We were strong,” she said and looked at him. “You know what, have you read a history book lately?”

“No, but I’ve heard rumors of you attacking the ponies,” Aspect replied. “Not what I hoped for, to be honest. I’d rather hoped you would learn friendship from the ponies, and could teach them military tactics. A cultural exchange. Instead…” He shook his head. “I am not mad at you all. The disappointment you feel in me? I feel that every time I consider what happened when I left. I am disappointed in myself. So much so that I once tried to die when I considered my failures in this world. But the world is more selfish than me. It wouldn’t let me go.”

Dash paused. “Wait, Gilda… you mean—?”

“I can’t remember the exact year,” she said.”It was while you ponies were fighting each other. There was a wild tornado that cropped up. We griffons couldn’t handle it. So we asked for help from a local force of pegasi. Wanna know what they said? Go ahead ‘Oh mighty God.’ Take a wild fucking guess!”

“If I could turn back time,” Aspect sighed, his wings drooping on the ground. “Fine. Your point is made. You have defeated me. Was it worth it? Do you honestly expect me to be able to do anything to fix the relations between your people and myself? I made you. I did not guide you. I could have. I might have needed to at points. But I wanted you to grow on your own. To interfere...I would have been a smothering parent, not letting you grow on your own to achieve greatness.”

“One, they didn’t help. It wasn’t on their border so they didn’t care,” Gilda said. “We lost a lot of griffons… most elderly and chicks and couldn’t evac in time. Oh, but once it crossed into Equestria? They took it out in less than five minutes if the story was right.” She scowled. “Sometimes kids need a firm claw on their behind, or they grow up to be little shits,” she said. “Everything was cool, up until a cyclops took the Idol of Boreas from us. Dunno why, but our culture went right to Tartarus after that.” She sighed and looked at him. “You said ‘worthy griffon.’ Sorry pal… I really don’t think one exists.”

“Fine, you know what,” Aspect walked forward and grabbed onto Gilda’s claw. “Dash, I’ll be right back. Just have to mimic Arabus to ride the wind to Griffonstone to stop this madness.”

“Sure,” Rainbow said and looked at him. “You sure you don’t want me to come?”

“Dash, if you came, you’d probably try to pull the spear,” Aspect deadpanned. “And because it likes you so much, you’d ruin the whole plan of Air going to a griffon.”

“Fiiiiine,” Rainbow pouted as she folded her forelegs. He could always see right through her huh.

“Who the fuck said you could hold my hand?” Gilda growled.

“Just give it a moment,” Aspect said...before the two of them vanished into air, blowing away on the breeze towards Griffonstone.

When they landed, Gilda stepped away from him, staring at him with wide eyes. “W-What was…” she shook her head and scowled. “Forget it. Not important.” She looked around as Aspect followed her gaze.

Oh geeze, Gilda wasn’t kidding. His eyes went to the spear as two older griffons cornered a younger one.

“Lil worm thinks he can pull it huh?” One flexed his claws. “Guess we should teach you the pecking order huh?”

There was a sudden shadow that fell over the scene. The two older griffons felt a large, powerful claw grip their shoulders.

“What a wonderful idea!” Aspect said way too cheerfully. “Let me see if I remember it myself...oh yes, now I’ve got it!”

He brushed his wings along their sides...delivering a brutal amount of lightning directly to their systems. “It goes me, noble griffons, with worms like you at the bottom,” he finished.

They didn’t reply, too busy being unconscious and all that.

“Yup, and he wonders where we got our violence from,” Gilda snarked as she walked closer. “But you see what I mean? Almost no griffon is daring to get close now. Some have already been killed over it.”

Aspect sighed and walked up to the spear, sitting in front of it. “Let all who wish to try their hand at freeing my spear from the rock come forward,” he declared. “It is a test to see who among you is worthy. None should have to die for the chance, for that merely means it may have been the one who will lead you back to greatness possibly being slain. Come forward, griffons, if you think yourself worthy!”

Gilda rolled her eyes. Three… two… one…

“How much does it cost?” one older griffon asked.

“Greatness? Who cares, got any bits on you? Can I sell the spear if I pull it?”

“Get off mah lawn!”

“Behold, the great griffon species,” Gilda snarked as she sat down next to him. “Are you impressed yet Oh mighty God?”

“Honestly? No. No I am not,” Aspect sighed as he hung his head. “I had such high hopes for you all,” he whispered. “You were meant to be my greatest children. The ones who would become the strongest of them all. You would have put even the Changelings to shame when they get focused on a subject. It was because of your failures that they were made, a race to seamlessly blend in with and protect the ponies from darkness. And now...now everything that has been done by me seems to be crumbling into failure.” He sighed and a single tear fell from his eye. “...Would the world have been better off if I hadn’t tried?...”

Gilda sighed.

*SMACK*

“Cch! You’re a real fucking whiner aren’t you?” she said, rubbing her fist. His stupid head was too hard. “Oh wah, my little science project failed, now I’m gonna whine and angst about it.” She narrowed her eyes. “Sorry pal, you don’t get that luxury. And ‘would the world be better off’? Are you feathering serious!?” She snarled and put a claw to his throat. “So that’s it huh? Gonna just roll over and give up. You know, I should have gotten that pony to help. At least he seemed like an alright guy. You’re just a pussy in a griffon suit!”

“I have tried to die before,” the griffon reminded her. “The world will not let me pass. It is more selfish than I am. And if you think I don’t get to whine? Your whole race, I once thought of as my precious children. To see each and every one of you reduced to this...I have to ask myself, was it wrong of me to let you live on your own? To live as free griffons? Should I have taken a thousand years out of my time to mold you into what you should have been? To ruin your development for anything but what I intended?” He shook his head. “No...free will is a right of all sentient beings. I will not deny you that. But a parent is allowed to bemoan his children...especially when none are even willing to try to step into the parent’s shoes.”

“So then you try again,” she said. “So what? Your kid gets a little unruly, so you throw ‘em out. Hope the ‘big wide world’ let’s them build character!” She didn’t even notice the tears stinging her eyes. “So what if it fucking terrified you! You… you don’t GET to do that! You don’t get to pretend it’s all your fault and turn the other cheek!” She drew her fist back, ready to punch him… before lowering it. “Forget it, you’re not worth hitting…”

“I am sorry to have disappointed you so thoroughly, then,” Aspect chuckled. “You might be the only responsible griffon left here, you know? Someone who might be able to actually whip them into shape. If only you had the authority to do that.”

“Tch! Fuck that noise,” she muttered, wiping her face with her arm. “Who cares about these losers. All they care about is bits and self worth. They can all go rot for all I care…” She stared at the spear and frowned. “Mind you… you started this crap with that…” She reached out and grabbed it. “So here!” She pulled it out and thrust it at him. “Take the stupid thing back…”

…

Every griffon around just… stared at Gilda.

The skies above Griffonstone darkened out of nowhere, lightning rumbling in the black clouds as Aspect looked at the spear, before looking at her with a smile. “Well done, my daughter,” he whispered. “Now...brace yourself. Immortality is coming, and it will not be denied.”

“W-What?” the griffon went wide-eyed. “Nonono, I don’t want this!” She tried to throw the spear away…

It just flew back into her claws.

“Sorry...you match the criteria,” Aspect told her. “You are a worthy heir to Air. And now…” he pointed upwards at the rumbling storm. “You will inherit my mantle.”

“Oh feathers,” she murmured as she slowly looked up, clutching the weapon like a teddy bear. “I knew I should have stayed in bed today…”

The lightning seemed to gather at one point in the thunderhead, and Gilda could feel the building charge beneath her…

Before the lightning slammed into her. And in that moment, the moment where she didn’t die due to an act of God, she felt something truly powerful enter her being. The lightning filled her body, permeating every cell of it, filling her with magical powers beyond comprehension.

Once the lightning cleared, in a moment that felt like an instant and too long at the same time, Gilda knew a few things for certain.

One, she was the Air now. She could feel all the air around Griffonstone, with every twitch of her feathers.

Two, she knew the spear could command the air as well as her. And that it had another form for doing so, because in her claws in that moment, she felt like she was holding lightning.

And three...that life had just gotten a lot harder.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words formed. She… she’d never felt power like this before. She couldn’t even begin to describe how it felt. She opened her wing, dust whirling around it as she commanded the wind. Even now, she had no idea how she was doing this. It was like… she just knew.

“W-What… am I…?” she murmured, clenching a fist as lightning crackled around her arm.

“The Air,” Aspect replied, bowing to her. “There is something you need to do, to prove to your people that you are worthy of leading them. Focus. Use your powers. Find the idol your people lost...and retrieve it. Only then will they acknowledge you as being worthy.”

Gilda flared her wings and took to the air. She’d barely had to put any effort into it. Flying was now as easy as breathing for her. She didn’t have to use her powers. She’d read the history books, she had a rough idea of where the Idol might be.

“There is a canyon, not far from here,” she said as Aspect joined her in the air. “But it’s too dangerous. Flying there is impossible due to all the crosswinds…”

“In time your powers will evolve into being able to handle this on your own,” Aspect told her. “But for now...use the spear. Call it by its name, and it will assist you. Gungnir already likes you, it should be child’s play to part the winds.”

She held out her claw, opening her talon as the spear appeared in a flash of lightning, her talons curling around the metal shaft as the spear thrummed with power. “Okay… that’s pretty damned cool,” she murmured as she lifted the spear. “Now what?”

“Use it to part the winds, quell them,” Aspect instructed. “Picture them dying down in your mind, then use your power to make your will reality. Force it into being through the hand wielding the spear, and it’ll be much easier on you.”

Gilda nodded, pointing the spear at the crevasse, as she closed her eyes. Then, over the course of a few minutes, the winds died out completely, a deathly silence falling over the valley.

“Did… did it work?” the griffon hen asked, opening one eye.

“You tell me,” Aspect asked with a smile. “Why don’t you go down and claim your prize?”

Gilda just nodded again, slowly making her way down to the massive gap in the earth. She felt no resistance, no harsh winds trying to slam her against the rocks. At this altitude, the wind was ever present, it never died down. How… was this even possible. Aspect was slowly following her, a smile ever present on his face as she led the way. If she could command this amount of wind now…

Five years— no, two years. And she’d probably reach for the Jetstream.

He followed her deeper, though the griffon had a head start…

Then he heard her scream. That prompted him to quickly catch up with her, alright. He put on a burst of speed to try and figure out why she was yelling…

Ooohkay, that was a very large horned skull on one of the many outcroppings. Nestled amongst a pile of bones, it was the remains of a massive cyclops, likely a beast Aspect himself would have dealt with once upon a time. Looks like in this case, gravity did the work for him.

“It’s real?” Gilda gasped, pressed up against the opposite wall to put distance between herself and it. “It wasn’t just some old legend…”

“Lots of things were assumed to be legends,” Aspect told her. “Myself, for one. But usually, the stuff that would give you nightmares, you don’t hear about anymore. Again, because of me. I have stories I could tell you…”

“M-Maybe another time yeah?” she murmured as she took a deep breath. She turned and… wait, the skeleton was reaching for something? She turned, following the direction it was grasping for…

A golden object lay nestled between two stones. Made of a gold that still gleamed brightly, not a single scratch or blemish marred its surface, even after all this time. A large pearl-like sphere was set in the center, the rest of the idol almost shaped like a curling wing.

“The… the Idol of Boreas,” Gilda said breathlessly. “It’s real…”

“Take heed,” Aspect told her. “For now, it can be a unifying symbol for your people. You can rally them behind you to make your nation whole again...but you will have to replace it. You must find something greater than it, otherwise...this may happen again, should it ever be lost or stolen.”

“Yeah…” Gilda took the Idol in her claws, staring at it. “Okay… sure.” She just… hovered there. “I don’t even know what to do next,” she admitted after a few silent moments. “What do I do? Where do I go…?”

“Take the idol above ground, show them all proof that you are their rightful leader,” Aspect urged them. “I can make a speech for you if you’d like, but you might need...lessons. In how to rule, lead, inspire. The griffons will be yours, and you have plenty of examples of what not to do. It will be up to you, to forge them into something great again.”

“How!?” Gilda suddenly yelled, flaring her wings as the wind started to pick up. Even now, he was having trouble staying still in the air. “I don’t know how to lead! How to be some… some kind of ruler! I’m… I’m just a kid who sells tasteless cakes from her cart for fucks’ sake!”

“‘The best leaders are those that do not seek the position,’” Aspect quoted to her. “Like I said, I can put you in contact with someone who can give you lessons. She has plenty of experience. You can even write letters to her from anywhere in the world, and she’ll be able to help you.”

“This is too much… I can’t do this,” she murmured, still hovering in place, though the winds had died down. “It’s imposs—”

Slap.

Aspect had pulled his punch a little, but that was still his hand backhanding her face.

“Nothing is impossible,” Aspect told her firmly. “You have my spear. You have the Idol. You could go above on your own and proclaim yourself their new Goddess, and they would have no choice but to listen to you. You are the air now. Your influence will only grow the older you become. In a matter of months, all of the Griffon lands will have no choice but to accept you as their leader...if they want to fly ever again. You have that power now.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, putting a claw to her cheek. “Y-You just slapped me…” she said plainly. Then her eyes narrowed into a smirk. “Feather you’re such a bitch. At least hit someone like you mean it.” She looked at the Idol and shrugged. “And Goddess? Fuck that noise. I’m no goddess and I don’t have your ego to proclaim myself as one.” She flared her wings again and nodded. “Right…” And with that, she rocketed out of the canyon.

It also meant her influence left with her and he had seconds before that crosswind returned. Aspect took one moment to appreciate that she’d managed to pull herself together, before following in her wake. He hung back after getting free of the canyon, though. He wanted to see how she’d go about unifying a divided kingdom.

Well that was unexpected.

“Alright you losers!” Gilda yelled as she landed and put the Idol on the stone where the Spear had been lodged. “I found this ancient thing, so I guess by our own laws, that makes me your new leader or some shit.” She sighed and shrugged. “Personally I don’t really care. You guys don’t exactly deserve to be dragged out of the shit you dug yourselves into, nor have any of you done anything good for me. Nothing’s stopping me from flying off and making a fortune with my new kickass powers.”

She summoned the spear and tapped the ground, kicking up a burst of wind. “I don’t get ANY of this. But I’m sick of seeing our home looking, and smelling like dragon shit. So I’m gonna do something about it. I’m gonna make being a griffon something to be proud of dammit!”

She lifted the spear and looked at them. “And I don’t care if you assholes don’t follow me. I’ll make this place better by myself if I have to!”

There was some murmuring amongst the crowds that had gathered, and one griffon hen stepped forward.

“I know… I haven’t been the best friend,” she said. She was a cute young thing sporting a green scarf. “But, well, can I help out?”

Gilda’s expression softened. “Sure Greta. Any more of you?”

“Memememememeeeee!” a rather excitable young one yelled, flittering around. Gilda groaned and facepalmed.

“Anyone that isn’t Gabby.”

“Meeeeeaaaaan!”

“Urgh, fiiine,” Gilda sighed as Gabby smiled brightly.

Well...this was going well. As well as it could for griffons anyways.

Still, she had a great deal of power all of a sudden. Transitioning to this was not going to be easy. He landed behind her and folded his wings up, not saying anything to her just yet. He wanted her to know that he was there and ask first. Assuming she did.

By the end, she’d gotten a few more volunteers from the crowd, but well over half had just dispersed, Aspect catching mutters of ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ and other things along those lines, most far less polite.

“Well, I guess that went better than expected,” Gilda sighed as she looked at the massive black male. “So… now what?”

“Well, you have a power base,” he indicated the volunteers with a wing. “So...I’d suggest starting with the basic issues of the city and seeing if you can’t figure out how to fix them. Food, water, shelter. If you improve the city and win them over through good deeds, they’ll be more likely to follow you. And as for you new power…” He smiled at her. “It was mine for the longest time. If you need me to teach you how it works, you know where I live these days.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Gilda murmured as she looked at the group, now talking amongst themselves. “Well… Guess I should get started right? Sooner the better and all that crap.”

“Mhm,” Aspect nodded. “I’d suggest getting some crops growing and using your new powers to help provide adequate rain to start with. If you grow enough, you could sell them to the griffons here for a boost in revenue. And if the soil isn’t good...I can provide someone who can help with that.”

“Well, who knows,” Gilda sighed as she rubbed her head. “I’m so far out of my depth here…” There was so much to do, she didn’t know what to start on first. Rebuilding? Farming for food and fresh water? Building up a defensive force?

“Just keep in mind,” Aspect bowed to her. “I have faith in you, to do what I could not.”

“Well, you are the perfect example of what not to do,” she smirked back, chuckling lightly. “Fine, I’ll figure shit out. Careful if I come back though. I bet I can punch a WHOLE lot harder with a thunderbolt behind it.”

“That you can, and let me let you in on a little secret,” Aspect smiled at her, standing up straight and leaning in to whisper. “I can shapechange.”

And with that, he flapped a few times, getting high up in the air before just melting away into a gust of wind. One she felt heading back towards Equestria.

Gilda stared after him and then shrugged. “Eh… I’ll smack him later. Right now…” She looked back at the group waiting for her. “Yeeaahh, freaking out sounds like a solid plan to start with.”

Author's Notes:

And thus we are rewarded for thinking everything would be 'okay'.

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