By the time Aspect found Sombra, it was… honestly where he least expected it. He’d first searched by hoof, before Bon Bon helpfully pointed out he could just search for Sombra’s unique magic.

The time to facehoof over his hindsight would come later.

Right now?

He had to process the fact the the dreaded King of Darkness was sitting in Fluttershy’s living room, having what appeared to be a tea party with her.

“Okay, what?” Aspect blinked. “I mean, really. How do you go from what you were to having a tea party?”

“To be fair,” his deep, baritone voice said. “The tea is quite good.”

“Oh, hello Aspect,” Fluttershy smiled as she fluttered into the room, carrying a tray of fresh biscuits. “Have you come to join us too?”

“I was just...concerned,” Aspect replied carefully. “You have the king of shadows unbound in your house, and we’ve yet to impart upon him the emotions the Umbrum lacked. I was concerned for you, Fluttershy.”

“I wouldn’t say he lacked emotions,” Fluttershy said. “More like… he didn’t know how to express them.” She smiled as she pat Sombra’s hoof. “It’s been an informative day.”

“Indeed,” Sombra nodded. “Were you aware that the earlier emotion we had to convey was concern or worry? A rather novel emotion. Not sure if I am overly fond of it however.”

“Huh…” Okay, that was...new. The Sombra he knew wasn’t like this. The Sombra he’d fought against had been a madman and a tyrant. What had changed? “Well, if you’re sure you have this in hand…” Aspect’s voice trailed off as he continued to process this change.

Sombra stood up. “Should you wish it, I shall return to the holding cell.”

“I’ve learned a lot,” Fluttershy said, getting between them. “What happened in the Crystal Empire, it was all due to the whispers that the Umbrum inflicted him with, and the loss of control of his Aspect.”

“Indeed, when that creature slayed all the Umbrum, their incessant chatter finally stopped.” He looked at his iron-clad hoof. “Besides, I am well aware of the atrocities I have caused. The curse I placed upon the empire. And I doubt that shall be forgiven…”

Aspect sighed before shaking his head. “One of these days,” he promised, “I’ll install you as the actual Aspect of Darkness. There’s only one obstacle to that, and that is the office is occupied. But it is important that things be...balanced. Air to Earth. Fire to Water. Light...to shadow. If the world is unbalanced, then it corrects itself. I would rather have one that I can trust in the office. But you have to show me that you can be trusted, too.”

“For what it counts, I no longer wish for the Empire… besides, you and I both know that I would lose that fight, especially with the Sun Princess’s new power. I can only think of two… perhaps three that would still be a threat.”

“Oh, there are plenty of threats, even to those that embody one of the non-elemental powers like ourselves,” Aspect chuckled. “That’s why I started training the younger generation in the fine, old artes again.”

“Ah yes, those three little Chaos mages,” Sombra said and shook his head. “The next thing you know, Discord will train them personally.”

“Discord is still a...sore topic,” Aspect replied. “He still won’t remember who he was, but I remember him and what he meant to me.”

Sombra looked at Fluttershy and tilted his head.

“Sentimental,” she smiled.

“Ah.” The dark stallion nodded as he suddenly lifted his head. “Curious… I thought I was the only dark mage here. Why do I sense another in the middle of town?”

“Aaand of course,” Aspect deadpanned. “Is it Tuesday? It must be Tuesday, that’s the only explanation for everything going wrong.” He sighed. “Right. Time to figure this out. Dark magic rarely leads to anything good. I’ve yet to see anything that didn’t warp the mind, raise the dead, or feast on the blood of innocents come from dark magic.”

“A-Actually it’s Thursday,” Fluttershy corrected him. “Oh, but it can be Tuesday… if you like…”

“Shall we go and see what it is?” Sombra asked. “I am curious.”

“Let’s find out what’s going on,” Aspect agreed. Time to stop whatever this was before it got out of hand.

On the way there, a filly Nightmare Moon caught up with him. “Now listen,” she said as she walked with them. “Can you make me a promise?”

“Depends, what about?” Aspect asked as they kept heading towards the center.

“That whatever happens next is not my fault okay?”

“Nighty, what do you know?” Aspect asked in a tone of voice that said he wasn’t putting up with any double-talk today.

“Okay okay, so I might have made a few items way back when… or, convinced Luna to make them. One of them was an amulet that could bestow a normal pony with the magic of an alicorn. The plan was to mass produce them and create an army of super mages… only there was a teeeensy downside to boosting magic to that level.”

“Oh gee, could it possibly be that making them based on dark magic meant that something got lost along the way?” Aspect snarked.

“Yes well… so it had the unfortunate side-effect of sending the wearer crazy,” she muttered as they looked up… was that a massive fish bowl covering the city like some kind of shield?

“...Nighty, if we don’t destroy this thing, you’re grounded for a week,” Aspect promised. “How do we combat it?”

“Well that’s the thing,” she said with a wince. “Only the wearer can remove it. If you try to force it, their magic will tear them apart from the inside out. Very messy.”

“...Because of course,” Aspect sighed. “Okay, so we need to figure out who’s wearing it and get them to take it off—”

“Aaaaahhhahahahahahaaha!” a blue-coated mare cackled loudly, lightning flashing in the background as she stood in the center of town. Mayor Mare was locked inside a giant gold birdcage, while a few ponies were still looking shocked. The mare smirked as her crimson eyes looked around. “With the ‘Great’ Twilight Sparkle vanquished, nopony will stand in my way,” she giggled.

“Found it,” Nightmare said helpfully, pointing at her.

“I get the feeling talking to her won’t help, so...time for me to do what I do best,” Aspect replied, humming a little tune. The magic of the world caught onto it and began making a musical number happen...just according to Aspect’s plans.

“Hey!” he called out to the mare. “You think you can just walk in and take over? Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do any magic better than you.”

“Oh?” the mare turned and looked at him with a smile. “Another challenger steps up. Well, I’ll have you know that the Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t taking requests right now. She has a little podunk town to rule over.”

“Oh really?” Aspect smirked at her. “Afraid to put your money where your mouth is? I’ll even make a wager with you. You win, I’ll teach you artes not even Sparkle knows. Fail...and I’ll have that amulet from you. Unless you’re a coward.”

“Trixie is no coward!” she yelled at him, her horn sparking. He could definitely sense she was dangerous. And then he was pulled back into the crowd by a blue aura, coming face to face with Rarity.

“Hey Aspect,” Dash said as he was confronted with that little circle of… why did Pinkie Pie have no mouth?

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me,” Aspect told them, “But she literally can’t beat me. And the only way to get the amulet off of her is to get her to take it off herself. It’ll be ten minutes, tops. Alicorn magic or no, she won’t be able to keep going at the levels I intend to run at.”

“She involves innocents,” Rainbow pointed out, especially Pinkie. “She already ran those two colts through enough Age magic to let them spend several lives. If you start, then how much of Ponyville will be left?”

“Simple,” Aspect replied with a smirk. “I’ll involve my transformation magic. I’d like to see her turn into an Elder Dragon.”

They all just stared at him.

Rainbow sighed. “Fine… be my guest then.”

Aspect emerged from the crowd and dusted himself off dramatically. “Sorry,” he said to Trixie. “My friends were just concerned that I would involve some innocent bystanders, like a certain stage magician has. It’s one thing when you’re doing simple parlor magic, it’s quite another when you drastically alter the beings of your fans.” If there was any of the old Trixie left in there, hopefully she was hearing his words. “So, how about I start?” he asked. “I’ll do a trick and you’ll see if you can match it.”

“Hm, sure… be my guest,” she said as she looked him over. “If you win, I’ll do as you say… If I win…” she smirked. “Well, I could use a handsome pet like you~”

“That’s IT. I’m kicking her teeth in!” Rainbow roared, only to be held back by Applejack and Rarity.

“Now, where was I?” Aspect hummed, the beat from before coming back. “Ah yes. Anything you can do, I can do better~”

Then he flashed into his Alicorn form. “I can do anything better than you~”

She took a step back. “An illusion to make yourself look like an alicorn… no, that’s not it…”

‘He’s dangerous.’

‘Very dangerous.’

‘But he’s smug.’

‘Confident.’

‘Use it.’

“Okay,” Trixie mused. “So, let’s see what you can do then Mister Alicorn.”

“Oh, what I can do is a myriad of things~” Aspect hummed, holding up a hoof. “With a single hoof, I can make a star, or cause one to shine brighter from afar~”

There, glowing on his hoof, was a small, dense lightsource comparable to the sun. It grew brighter and brighter and brighter and-

Aspect raised his horn and caused the star to shoot off, through the dome, into the sky above. “Not sure it replaces the one I took, but that’s a trick that’s in my Light book~”

“Interesting,” she said as she watched the star glow in the distance. She lit up her horn and…

The night sky vanished. A blanket of pure blackness washing over the sky. “Oops, no more stars.”

“Hmm, not bad,” Aspect mused...before his form became blindingly bright. He seemed to be made of light. “Then again, I have so many forms to use too~ Light Incarnate can brighten up any night sky, wouldn’t you say?”

And from the black veil, little pinpoints of light started to glow through them. “Oh look, they came out for one of their own,” Aspect cooed.

“Tch…” Trixie clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Trixie thinks you are annoying. Very well. My turn.” She looked him over and tapped her chin. “Size altering magic. A difficult spell, easy to screw up, since one must make sure all their bits and pieces grow and shrink accordingly. Prove to Trixie you can do both ends of the scale and she will concede defeat to you.”

“Oh, but why not have fun with this?” Aspect cooed to her. “It wouldn’t be very interesting if I just shrank or grew and became a smaller or larger pony. Plus if I was silly enough to shrink around you right now, you might just stick me in a jar to keep me as your pet, like you called me earlier! I want…” his eyes travelled over to Pinkie and smirked. “A Pinkie Promise that you won’t do anything like that, you devious mare you.”

Trixie seemed to pause for a moment. Her eye twitched as she smiled. “Very well. Trixie… ‘Pinkie Promises’ that she will not put you in a jar.”

“Cross your heart, hope to fly,” Aspect replied, making the motions, “Stick a cupcake in your eye. And you’d better mean it. A Pinkie Promise might as well be a Geas, with how zealously one mare makes sure they’re followed.” He mused to himself, seemingly, “Never did test the limits of Earth Pony Strange Magic…” He then looked at her. “Or do you concede that I’m trickier than you thought to subdue?”

Trixie rolled her eyes and went through the ridiculous motions. “Hardly, Trixie thinks you cannot do as you say.”

“For my first trick,” Aspect replied, holding his hooves up dramatically, before flashing into a much smaller form.

When they looked for him, the bystanders found a little Breezie flapping its wings where he’d been standing, roughly.

“I see,” Trixie smiled, before she closed a tiny box around him. One made of magic nullifying Etherite. “And look, it’s not a jar, so I have broken no promise either.” She smirked as she tucked it inside her cloak.

Then the box rattled in her cloak. Rattled dangerously, in fact. When Trixie looked at it, she swore it was bulging. But that was impossible, he couldn’t use magic in there!

“W-Well now…” Trixie sweated slightly. “Now that that bothersome stallion is out of the way I shall—”

The box exploded.

And standing over Trixie, keeping her pinned to the ground with a single claw, was a simply massive dragon. “And how do you like part two?” he grumbled down to her, looking her in the eyes with ones that seemed to be made of fire and death.

“T-That’s impossible…” she squeaked. “How…?”

“You should never go up against a natural shapechanger, dear,” Aspect chuckled down to her. “The only way you’re cutting me off from altering my magical core is to put me in the Dead Zone.”

“Okay.”

Wait what?

*pop*

He found himself teleported, now standing in an area with a checkerboard pattern ground, the land warped and twisted and… oh sonofabitch!

It would take him days to find the edge enough to teleport out. Not even Aspect magic could help him here.

Frick… Well, the town still had his kids… Celestia… Chrys… alis…

Oh dear, Chryssie would not hold back against her. Especially when she learned where she’d sent him.

For now...well, he might as well follow that school of flying fish. Water would help. As far as he knew, if the water was on the ground, he’d be able to follow it back out of this land.

Honestly, this place wasn’t so bad… despite having no magic whatsoever. It also meant he was stuck in his default human form too. Walking on two legs was… slow.

He eventually found the source of liquid that the fish dove in.

Chocolate milk. Oddly enough, still cold and fresh.

Well, he was thirsty anyways. So he had some for himself and...okay, that was not milk. That was distinctly soda.

...Well, it made a good landmark if nothing else. He could follow the river out and eventually find the edge of this place. It was… disturbingly like when Discord ruled Equestria. Only here, his Chaos magic was allowed to run rampant without his supervision.

“This is an interesting place,” a voice said, startling him. Most due to the fact he really wasn’t expecting it.

That woman, the Umbrum weapon. She was leaning against a tree, eating an apple that seemed to have a watermelon center.

“Chaos once ruled here,” Christopher replied carefully. “But he broke it in such a way that it cannot be fixed. No magic works here, nothing can or will change about this place. All his other leftovers, I returned to normal. This, this place cannot be salvaged.”

“Well, seems you are wrong for once,” she said as she stood up. “And, it seems I have the advantage here. I could probably even defeat you…” She raised a hand as some power swirled. Ooh, right. She had every Aspect, including Chaos.

“Resorting to bringing me low with the environment to gain an unfair advantage?” Christopher raised an eyebrow. “There’s a reason I don’t have Chaos.”

“I’d call it a tactical advantage,” she said and lowered her hand. “But no, defeating you at any less than your full might would be pointless.” She looked around. “I came here to better understand the Aspect. Perhaps learn to control it. I have been… less than successful.”

“The only one who could teach you about Chaos is locked in stone, because he abused his power,” Christopher carefully replied. “Until he learns how to get along, he will remain in such a state.”

“So I have heard,” she said as she looked him over. Her crimson eyes flashing curiously. “I have learned a great many things actually. But nothing that has brought me closer to the power I’ll need to defeat you.” She looked at him. “You’d not fight me seriously anyway, would you? Not like when you fought the Chaos and Darkness Aspects.”

“I very nearly was serious with a natural mimic, who thought he could mimic my powers,” Christopher replied. “One that had grown to the size of a dragon, with power to match. He thought he could wield the stars themselves...so I got...angry. When he threatened the bystanders, I unleashed the other half of my new power.” He held up a hand, before turning it over. “There is only light...because that is where there is no shadow. My other half is an angry thing, and now he has his own power to draw on. The power of a black hole.”

“Curious,” she mused, not really understanding half of that. “But, why are you here? You are powerless, so it doesn’t make much sense.”

“I was trying to get someone to remove a dark artifact from herself, and she thought she could trap me,” Christopher sighed. “Then I told her the only way to cut off a natural shapeshifter from his magical core would be to send them here...so she did.”

“Well, guess you’ll keep your mouth shut next time hm?” she mused as she sighed. “Well, shall we go then?”

“We?” Chris asked with a raised eyebrow. “You can leave at any time, apparently. Granted, you might not end up where you want to, but with Chaos in you, this place is little more than an amusement park to you. Why would you choose to accompany me on my stumbling outside of this blighted land?”

“Because I can do this,” she said and swiped her hand, the scenery shifted like a book turning a page, and they found themselves at the edge of the tainted land. “Interesting no? Discovered that one by accident.”

“You are an...interesting creature,” Aspect replied carefully. “Should you ever learn mastery of Chaos, then you might even be a worthy foe. But I doubt you’ll find what you seek, truly, from him, should he ever be free.”

“I shall do as I have been for now,” she said as she drew her sword and pointed it at him. “Mark my words however, I will defeat you. Completely and utterly.”

“I have no doubt about it,” Aspect replied as he began to walk to the edge. “However, there’s a reason you won’t learn it on your own, and a reason you might not learn it from him.”

“And why’s that?” she asked, lowering her sword.

“The same reason why I don’t have Chaos,” Aspect replied. “He’s my brother, though he doesn’t remember it. It’s why I couldn’t kill him. He’s just as devious as I am. Knowing him, there are only rules around Chaos Magic if it amused him to install them.”

“Interesting, a family bond makes you fight harder hm.” She mused on that, before teleporting away, leaving the human be again.

Once Chris finally was free of the tainted land, he sighed happily as he felt his magic return. He assumed his alicorn form and vanished in a flash of light.

Now...to find Ponyville again…

By the time he returned… Um, what?

Twilight was sighing as she floated the Alicorn Amulet into a box, one that Zecora was holding.

“You’re back,” Rainbow tackled him. “Where did you go?”

“She put me in the Dead Zone,” Aspect grumbled as he assumed his unicorn form. “And I met our little runaway friend while I was there. She’s trying to understand Chaos magic, because of course she has it.”

Then he looked up as a second Rainbow Dash was looking at him. Wait, two adorable Dashies?

“Dash, I was unaware you had a twin sister,” Aspect noted aloud.

“Huh, oh uh… well,” Dash chuckled as the other one blushed cutely. “Not… exactly.”

The second one pulled off the rainbow wig, revealing a disguised Fluttershy.

“...Okay, at least I learned before I pulled your double in for a kiss,” Aspect replied casually.

And that made Fluttershy blush even brighter at the thought, and the real Rainbow punch his shoulder.

Eventually, Aspect found out that Twilight defeated Trixie not through raw power, but sleight of hoof and illusions. She tricked the mare into thinking Twilight possessed an even more powerful amulet, which was just a rock.

“Aww, why did the zebra get my toy?” Nightmare pouted.

“Because she can be trusted to not use it,” Aspect replied to her, petting the filly. “Zebra magic runs counter to dark magic, so she’ll never hear its whispers.”

“Rassafrassen zebras,” she grumbled as Aspect also noticed a distinct lack of blue unicorn mare.

“Yeah, she ran off after we got the amulet,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “So who knows. Another day another drama. All in all… it was kinda boring.”

“I’ll take boring over her being smart,” Aspect grumbled. “Well, let’s turn in for the night.”

“Yeah I guess,” Rainbow shrugged as she looked at Fluttershy. “I’m pretty hot huh…?”

Fluttershy rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well I need a shower to wash off this dye. And…”

“Mmmppphhff!” Pinkie gave a muffled yell. Oh, she still had no mouth. Something a quick spell from Twilight soon rectified.

“Well, all’s well that ends well,” Aspect summed up. “Everyone learned a valuable lesson. I for one learned to keep my mouth shut around inventive, tricksy mares that are corrupted by a dark artifact.”

“That too,” Rainbow said. Also, they’d dressed up Fluttershy a lot today. Weird. Oh well~

Twilight finished things up with Zecora before…

“So um?” Sweetie Belle spoke up. “How come nopony just stopped her with Sorcery?”

“Because Dark Magic doesn’t play by the rules,” Aspect replied. “Also, if she didn’t take it off herself, her own magic would have started tearing her apart.” Aspect looked over to Nightmare before looking back at Sweetie. “The pony who made it had a very twisted mind, at the time.”

“Oh bite me,” Nightmare said with a snort.

“Well let’s go home,” Rainbow yawned. “I’m beat.”

“I can agree to that,” Aspect said. “All in favor?”

Most of the ponies present, aka, half the town raised their hooves. Clean up could wait until tomorrow at least. Mayor Mare in particular was exhausted. After the group broke up, Aspect headed home with Rainbow and Nightmare in tow…

Only to find a familiar unicorn on his lawn, staring down at the grass.

“Trixie,” Aspect said levelly. “I don’t blame you for what you did with the amulet on. Once you put it on, you were under its power, and your actions were not your own. For that, you are blameless. It was using you to get what it wanted. You were just its puppet on a string.”

She let out a long sigh and looked up. “Even so…” she said quietly. “Trixie believes she must apologise. She must have put you through something awful. All in the name of one-upping Spark-er… Twilight,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Will you accept Trixie’s most profound apologies?”

“Like I said, you don’t have to apologize for what you did with the amulet on,” Aspect countered. “Hell, it could be argued that part of the blame lies on my shoulders, for giving you loopholes, or the information you needed to best me. Granted, I couldn’t have known that you had that much power, but one should never assume anything with a dark magic artifact. Mine’s the fault for my own troubles.”

“No, this one is all on Trixie,” she said and sighed. “Trixie allowed herself to be overcome with anger at the results of her previous actions here in Ponyville. Regardless, Trixie shall endeavour to make it up to those she has wronged.”

“The only thing I truly blame you for,” Aspect agreed, “Is putting the amulet on in the first place. I mean, seriously. Did nobody teach you basic Dark Magic detection?”

“No… however, Trixie’s mind was not in a good place when she bought the Amulet in the first place,” she said.

“Besides, I made the thing immune to detection,” Nightmare shrugged.

“Not helping,” Aspect hissed to the filly. “Well,” he said to the magician, “Come on in. Maybe I can help you.”

“Help how?” the unicorn asked, her head tilting slightly.

“You’re a magician, right?” Aspect pointed to the mark on her flank. “Well, I have a friend that has access to a whole world’s worth of magic tricks...maybe she can inspire you.”

“That… sounds far too nice for somepony like Trixie,” she said as she stood up. “Trixie thinks she should just leave…”

“Trixie,” Aspect stopped her with a hoof, “Stay for dinner. Let us help you get over what the amulet did to you, and help you become a famous magician again. It’s only right. You’re in a bad spot, right? Ponies help their friends. It’s just what we do. And while we’ve only just met, under less than optimal circumstances...I’d like to make sure that you have a running start when you hit the ground.”

“That is far more than what Trixie deserves…”

“Oh just give it up,” Rainbow sighed. “He’s like a dog with a bone. He won’t drop this no matter what so come on…” she started nudging the protesting mare inside the house, Nightmare shrugging and following behind.

“Plus, aren’t you curious to see what sort of magic tricks I can dig up for you to learn from?” Aspect teased her. “Or rather, my friend. I don’t think she’ll be thrilled to be woken up at this hour of the night though. So we’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning or afternoon.”

“Fine… the Begrudgingly Apprehensive Trixie will allow you the honor of housing her tonight,” she murmured. At least it would beat sleeping by the side of the road again.

“We still have plenty of rooms, so no worries there,” Aspect chirped up. “And Bon’s cooking is to die for~”

“Just try and avoid this horndog,” Rainbow mused and nudged Aspect with her wing. “Else he’ll be under your tail before you know what’s going on.”

“W-What!?” Trixie blushed brightly.

“I would not!” Aspect retorted. “I have plenty of mares, thank you.”

“Uhuh, what about the Spa Twins?” Rainbow smirked as she trotted into the kitchen. “Or Lyra?”

“What about Lyra?” the minty mare asked as she flopped onto Aspect’s back, nibbling his ear. “Hiya studmuffin.”

“Hello horny,” Aspect joked back.

“See Bonnie, he gets my jokes,” she smiled and slid off of him, kissing his lips lightly.

“Y-Your marefriend?” Trixie asked, hiding behind him.

“Ack!” Lyra gasped. “Ohnoes! Aspy’s gonna replace me with another horny pony!”

“Okay, Lyra, stop scaring the poor mare,” Aspect said, beeping the minty mare’s nose. He then turned to Trixie. “I have something of a...unique relationship,” he explained. “In that there are four mares currently in one with me at the same time.”

Trixie seemed to have frozen as she processed that.

“Hehehe, I like her, she’s funny,” Lyra giggled as she trotted away to hug Bon Bon.

“So, I hear some trouble went down again,” the earth pony said from where was situated at the stove. “What happened?”

“Tuesdayitis on a Thursday,” Aspect summed up. “Someone got ahold of a cloaked dark magical artifact and used it to cause all sorts of trouble. It’s been fixed though.”

“Well, good to hear,” Bon Bon said with a nod. “I’m making vegetable stew tonight. So, why don’t you get our new guest settled and then we’ll eat.”

“Oooh, yummy stew,” Aspect hummed as he pecked Bon Bon on the cheek. “Come on Trixie, let’s get you a place at the table.”

“I meant show her to a room first,” Bon Bon shook her head. “Stew will still be a few minutes.”

“Oh fine, if I must,” Aspect swooned dramatically. “I shall return to the tender embrace of your lovely foodstuffs in due time.”

“Drama queen,” Bon Bon rolled her eyes, whipping his flank with her tail, before Trixie let out a small scream.

“T-That painting moved!” she yelped, pointing at the painting containing Hurricane. “T-Trixie swore it did!”

Aspect walked over to her and sat next to her, before studying the picture of Hurricane. “Hmm,” he mock observed. “A painting done of a Unification-era warmare. Seems highly unlikely,” he continued. “Unless of course you know the trick.”

“A-A trick?” Trixie blinked, clearly confused. “What kind of trick makes a painting move?”

“Simple,” Aspect smiled. “Just this. Call her an old mare.”

“Well obviously,” Trixie snorted. “If she is Pre-Unification then she is positively ancient.”

“Who are you calling an old mare?” Hurricane asked.

“Yeeeep!” Trixie yelped as she hid behind Aspect.

“You’re never going to tire of that, are you?” Bon Bon deadpanned.

“Not when some ponies go to great lengths to insult me!” Hurricane replied as she looked at the newcomer. “Ooh, fresh blood!” she cackled madly. “Oh, the rest are going to love this! All new pony to spook!”

“Trixie thanks you for your hospitality, but Trixie will be going now…” she murmured as she made for the door at a hurried pace.

“Oh sit down,” Aspect said, easily floating her over and pushing on her rump to get her to sit. “It’s not haunted. It’s just an old art that nobody practices anymore.”

“Pictomancy… at least get the name right dad,” Realm grumbled as he walked into the room. He looked at Trixie and blinked. “Can I paint you?”

“....wat?” Trixie blinked.

“This is my son Realm,” Aspect replied, giving the colt a headrub. “He’s the foremost practitioner of Pictomancy. He’s also Art, or will be when he grows into it. When he asks if he can paint you, he’s being quite serious about how he views you.”

“You… wish to paint Trixie?” the mare blinked.

“I like painting any pretty mare really. You happen to make for an interesting subject. And a break from my usual muses.”

Trixie nodded and then smiled. “Well naturally, you recognise Trixie’s greatness. Very well, you shall have the honor of painting her.”

Realm smiled. All too easy~

“So, let’s find you a room,” Aspect replied, nudging Trixie. “Oh, and don’t mind the paintings. They can talk and follow you around, but they’re harmless. They’re more like...echoes of what once was. Memories trapped in paint. Ones I wouldn’t trade for anything, true, but that doesn’t change what they are.”

“Huh…” Trixie contemplated as she looked around at the walls. Seeing the paintings move and even talk to one another was… interesting. They eventually found a room, one across from Twinkle’s. Speaking of, the mare was oddly absent at the moment.

“Well, this should do you for a nice bed,” Aspect said, opening the door to be sure. “All we have to do is get you back here when dinner’s done.”

“Trixie still thinks you are wasting your time on her,” she murmured. “All you are doing is leaving me even more in debt with you.”

“As long as you make the most of your life when we turn you loose again, I’ll call it a win,” Aspect replied. “Now, let’s head to dinner. It’s bound to be delicious.”

Then she kissed his cheek and blushed. “You are far too nice to ponies that do not deserve it,” she murmured.

Aspect shook his head a bit to clear it before answering. “If we only reserved kindness for those that had earned it, it would be a far crueller one, indeed,” the stallion replied.

“Trixie supposes you are right,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “Alright, let us see if your boasts about this mare’s cooking are true.”

The stallion merely smiled at her as they entered the dining hall again.

“So, how shall Trixie pose for your painting?” the mare asked as she looked around Realm’s room. “She has never done anything like this before.”

“Whatever comes natural to you,” the colt said as he set up his easel. “I need more practice with non-magical paint, so I’ll be using that. Oh! And make sure you can hold the pose for a while. It takes some time to actually paint somepony with non-magical paints.”

“Well, Trixie does not know,” she said, looking at some of his other work. “You painted Twilight Sparkle?” she asked, looking at the one of her draped across the chaise lounge. “Trixie did not think that she would do something so… risque.”

“It’s amazing what ponies will do if you ask,” Realm replied as he waited for her to strike a pose. He’d also conveniently left out how he’d asked her to assume that pose. Let her assume things on her own.

“L-Lewd,” she chuckled as she looked around. “Mind you, Trixie is much prettier than her, her painting will look a million times better!”

“Well, we’ll have to see,” the colt replied. “Once you feel comfortable, assume any pose you wish.”

“Hmm, what to do,” she mused and then lay on the couch, her tail barely covering her modesty. She drooped her eyes into a half-lid gaze as she stared at the colt. “Well~?”

“...I can work with that,” he squeaked out, his wings half-erect at the sight.

“Hmhmhm, Trixie is much better than Twilight no?” she teased him, licking her lips slowly.

“I can’t argue with that,” Realm replied as he started working on her painting. It would be a lot faster if he didn’t have to fight his wings every step of the way.

“Is something wrong~?” Trixie chuckled. “You look a little red there colt~”

“I’m fine!” Realm squeaked out. This...was not going to be a simple painting, was it?

Judging by the look in the mare’s eyes...probably not.

Author's Notes:

The last chapter we have pre-written. I put a capper on it and called it good.

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