“Clairvoyance. Synesthesia. If I had to give words to the two powers that Elfin Fresh has, it’s those two. Perhaps they could be counted as one, but nopony has ever come up with a word to describe something so ridiculous, so I’ll have to make do with what’s available. In any event, this should show you just what you are going up against. Someone who can see through the veil of time and space, or rather, sense it. And with ‘it’, I mean everything: Your thoughts, your motives, your intentions… everything that will happen. I’d guess she cannot see longer than about six seconds into both directions in time, but even that is enough. You saw the effects, didn’t you?”

The six ponies and one baby dragon found themselves dead silent. Lovely Corn’s words echoed in their minds, but most of them could barely register what she was speaking. Only Twilight understood the full meaning of the two terms laid on the table, and she was horrified by the prospect of what was the result when they were combined.

“In laymare’s terms, she’ll know what you try to do, no matter how you try to hide it. But that’s not all, because that would be simply easy, now wouldn’t it?” Lovely Corn said and snickered. The dim lighting of the inn threw shadows to her face, ones which made her words even heavier. “Like I said, that clairvoyance is combined with synesthesia. She does not merely sense everything, she sees it with her senses. Flashes of lights, rows of numbers, who knows how she perceives it? Nevertheless, she has definite variation for every sensation she gains through her clairvoyance. You can understand how dangerous that is in combat? She has probably recognized all the patterns, which allow her to react properly in fraction of a second. No matter how you attack her, she is already launching a counter-attack.”

“Oh, wow. How in tarnation are we goin’ to defeat somepony like her?” Applejack asked, putting down her hat and sighing. “Ah don’t think any of us could get through her defense.”

“Simple. You must simply adapt a tactic that will fool her clairvoyance. And that is something I can teach you. Or, at least I believe I can,” Lovely Corn said and gave a sideways glance to Twilight. “Your Ms. Magician might just be the key to defeating Elfin Fresh. But… You won’t be doing that. You’ll be going against Silent Relic, alone.”

“Huh? Why?” Twilight asked, getting confused. “Wouldn’t it make more sense if I faced off against Elfin Fresh?”

“It would, but that’s just the thing. They’d be expecting it. But you know, with Silent Relic, it’s a whole other story,” Corn answered and chuckled. “You see, he is a bit of a different case from somepony with… questionable parentage, like Elfin Fresh. Silent Relic is a pure-blooded pony. A bit too pure-blooded, in fact. The Relic bloodline is a long one, dating back all the way to the founding of Equestria. Old family means old power, even if there is no magical outlet like a horn to release it. Legend gathered around the bloodline becomes bhāva over the course of time. It is the desire to further life itself, becoming something that is the ultimate aspired point of the origin of that certain bloodline. You’d know all about old families and bhāva, would you not, Ms. Sparkle?”

Under the weight of Corn’s gaze, Twilight shifted uncomfortably. The knowing expression on the older mare’s face was digging deep into her, and she tried to turn her gaze away instead of facing it. This was not the time and place for age old questions regarding magic and unicorn bloodlines.

“For Silent Relic, the bhāva of his bloodline shows up as a sort of overflowing spatial memory and its control. You could say that the state of the environment around him is not dependent on the environment itself, but from his memory of that same environment. You probably tried to attack him during your initial fight, right? He might seem incredibly tough and thick-skinned, but that is not it at all. He simply controls his view of the spatial environment around him, thus rendering all attacks meaningless,” Lovely Corn explained. “For this reason, it cannot be anypony else that faces him but one with sufficient training in magic. Physical attacks are not the way to go.”

“Well, you certainly do have a lot of information regarding our opponents, miss,” Rarity said, and raised her eyebrow. “But I must wonder: Why are you so keen on helping us? You do seem like a one who could easily get to the Fort Stronghoof by herself. So why the need to aid us?”

“If I said ‘boredom’, you wouldn’t believe me, right?” Lovely Corn asked and chuckled. “Truth is, I don’t like seeing ponies get stuck into problems that they should not have. Like the stubbornness of this village, for example. Not to mention, it’d be simply rude not to help the heroes of Equestria, right? It’s up to you girls if you believe me or not, but… hey, it’s not like my help is hurting you, right?”

“Well, you’re right about that,” Rainbow Dash grunted. “And I do want to get back those two for making me seem like a total idiot!”

“Rainbow Dash is right,” Twilight agreed. “And I certainly won’t turn away somepony’s help. But, you’ve talked a lot about the ones we are facing, but nothing about what our strategy should be.”

“I was just getting to that,” Corn said, sounding amused. “Don’t get too excited now. First, I’d like to know if you, Ms. Sparkle, have any sort of specialty when it comes to magic. Telepathy? Levitation? Alteration?”

“Well, I’m quite adept when it comes to teleporting,” Twilight said, looking downcast. “But… ever since I lost my horn, I have not tried it for understandable reasons. It is quite fine-tuned spell, and messing it up might cost me my life.”

“Well, in that case, go ahead and try it,” Lovely corn said. Twilight’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she heard that.

“What!?”

“Like I said: Go ahead and try it,” the mare continued. “If it’s your specialty, merely having your horn shattered won’t make the spell disappear. Something like that is etched so deeply into your being that it simply won’t go away. Just try to recall it. In the end, it’s not a surprising thought, is it? If I had to compare, if the ichor that gives the royalty their powers is the sun, and if the magic we use it the sunlight… well, even if you’re locked into a prison with nothing but darkness, you won’t forget how that warm light felt upon your coat. It is that memory you must invoke and actualize, bringing forth the desired result by re-enacting your dear, dear past.”

Twilight could not believe her ears. The idea that she would be able to so easily use the spell which had grown so natural to her over the years, to taste magic again through her own body, and not by the proxy of the grimoire… the thought was overwhelming. Like a baby taking its first steps, Twilight meekly stepped forward, putting aside her saddlebag where the said tome was. If Lovely Corn was truly speaking the truth, there was a chance for her to gain back an important piece of herself…

The ability to touch the flow of aether all around her. The great power that filled the world, seeping through the Horizon Boundary which separated this normal world from the divine sphere, the vast blackness above the sky itself. Unlike the earth ponies, unicorns were not naturally in harmony with the flow of élan vital through ley lines, and thus, they were solely on the mercy of the aether.

Therefore, the idea of having that connection back was, for Twilight, like the idea of returning home after years spent in a cold, lightless dungeon.

Allowing herself to be immersed into the power she knew that existed, Twilight let go of her curled up connection to the aether. After losing her horn, she had passively kept any possible connections shut, allowing contact only through the channel that was the grimoire she had. Licking her lips, Twilight now reached out with the tendrils of her mind, gently calling out to the power that had been so natural part of her for so long.

“Don’t try to create it from nothing,” Lovely Corn suddenly said. “Remember it. Re-enact that memory. Starting from the scratch is bound to fail, but if you simply do what you used to…”

It was then that Twilight understood what the mare meant. It was not about applying the spell like it used to be. It was about the memory left in the world, the memory left in her existence. Just like ghosts were nothing but recordings of past beings, so were blessings simple layers of a past life momentarily put on the shoulders of a pony who received it.

And that was what she had to do know. Relive her teleportation in anything but power, and thus, call back reflection.

“Haa—“

Twilight’s exhale turned into a shout, and for a moment, there was a spark of brilliant magic that flashed in her eyes. It was the spark that hid deep in her bloodline, growing from its origin point, the Sparkle-family’s arche. And it was the spark that had caught the eye of the alicorn who governed over the celestial sphere of under the classification of “sun”.

And it was that very spark that turned into a flash of blinding light, a re-enactment of Twilight Sparkle’s testament of power.

“I did it!”

Twilight shouted her words out so loud that everyone in the inn’s hall turned to look. Just few seconds ago, she had stood near the table, all four hooves firmly against the floor. Now she looked at her friends from atop another table at the other end of the hall. Her eyes were shining with tears of joy, and her mouth moved as if she had wanted to speak out her joy, but had been unable to.

She was happier than she had ever been after that fateful, rainy night.

“Very good!” Lovely Corn said and grinned, while Twilight’s friends applauded wildly by stomping their hooves against the floor. “That is the first step of getting back what you’ve lost!”

“Oh, darling, that was simply magnifique!” Rarity shouted while wiping tears of joy. As a fellow unicorn, she had been the one to understand Twilight’s loss the best. “Congratulations, Twilight! Vouloir, c'est pouvoir.”

”Well Ah’ll be!” Applejack said while tipping her hat. “Ah think that was as mighty fine teleportation as ever! Ya haven’t gotten rusty one bit!”

“Yes,” Fluttershy agreed with tears in her eyes. “It was truly glorious.”

“Hm, that it was,” Lovely corn said, cocking an eyebrow. “But I wouldn’t exactly call that teleportation. Or apport, at least.”

The joy of Twilight’s moment of triumph died down a bit because of the ominous words. Twilight looked at Lovely Corn with a worried expression, unable to understand what she meant. While teleportation had always been the forte of the unicorn, she had never found it any different from the teleportation practiced by other unicorns. And yet, now that she saw the odd smile on the face of the older mare, she felt oddly insecure about her assumption.

“More, it is not a question of ‘where’,” Lovely Corn said slowly. “But… ‘when’, no?”

Next day, during the early hours of the suns ascension to the skies, seven ponies and one baby dragon gathered to the field deep in the mountains. This was the spot of the Element Bearers’ humiliating defeat in the hooves of the two mayors, and now it acted as the stage for their training, orchestrated by the enigmatic mare who they had met only yesterday. Needless to say, none of the six ponies exactly knew if it was a good thing or not they had gotten themselves in the situation, but nevertheless they needed some way to defeat the obstacle ahead of them.

And Lovely Corn was their best and only choice right now.

“Alright, everypony! Get your act together and wipe out those last remnants of dreams from your eyes! Today we’ll train, and I want everypony to be at the top of their game!” Lovely Corn’s commanding voice echoed in the field. “You said you wanted to defeat those mayors, but it’ll only work out if you work for it! So look sharp!”

Out of the six ponies, only Applejack was feeling ready to take on the challenges of the day, being used to such early awakenings. But the rest of them, especially Twilight and Rarity, found themselves unable to resist yawning. Because of the rude awakening by Lovely Corn, who had barged into their room at the inn and started pulling them out of their beds, Rarity had to skip putting on her make-up. Now she was doing her best to hide her face from Spike. Twilight, on the other hoof, had barely gotten any sleep because of her excitement over her teleportation, and thus, she was doubly as tired at the moment.

But those fatigued faces didn’t stop Lovely Corn from acting like a sergeant of the Royal Guard meeting the new recruits for the first time.

“Our first lesson is: Teamwork!” Corn shouted, and stomped the ground with her hoof, causing the ponies to wince. “Listening to your story about how the fight yesterday went, this is your first big problem.”

“Whaddya mean?” Dash protested, looking grumpy. “There isn’t a tighter group than us. We’re friends, thick and thin, so there’s no way we would be bad at teamwork.”

The ponies around Rainbow Dash nodded in unison, but this only made Lovely Corn grin rather mischievously. She sharply pointed at the blue pegasus with her hoof, who took a step back, expecting the mare to throw her with something.

“No doubt you’re the greatest of friends. From what I’ve seen, you would really do anything for each other. And that if anything is admirable. However, friendship is not equivalent to teamwork. The nuance of teamwork is a bit different, after all,” Lovely Corn started explaining. “Teamwork is your ability to work as a group in the thick of the battle, knowing your place and what you are trusted to do, and trusting the others to do their part. In other words, when your teamwork is top-notch, you don’t even have to look behind to see if your friend is protecting your back. You will simply know it, and thus give your complete focus to your own task. Do you understand?”

“I-in other words… do you mean, um, that we need to be able to work like a single pony, instead of six ponies who are in a group?” Fluttershy meekly asked. She was currently hiding behind Applejack because of Corn’s loud voice.

“Aye. That’s exactly it,” Corn said and nodded in satisfaction. “You need to learn to be one well-oiled machine, working in perfect unison. In a way, I guess this would be the ultimate form of harmony. And that’s what you girls are good at, right?

Lovely Corn winked at the ponies, and they giggled.

“But, I still don’t understand. Why did you want us to leave the artifacts back at the inn? They would have been a big help in this battle, right?” Twilight asked, frowning a bit.

“The reason is simple: I don’t have few months to teach you all how to control something as ridiculously powerful as those things, even if I knew how to. I could just as well play astragaloi against Princess Celestia and expect to win,” Lovely Corn answered. “The thing is, that while those artifacts are powerful, you’re still green when it comes to using them. Learning how to handle them must come naturally, and at the moment, they are barely more than crutches as to what you already know. That’s why you shouldn’t try to use them in this battle, and instead go with what you know.”

“Then, how are you going to prepare us for the task ahead?” Rarity asked. “You spoke something about a strategy you wanted to us to employ against the two mayors, did you not?”

“Aye. Now, I haven’t really ever fought against someone with something as bothersome as clairvoyance and synesthesia before, but few years ago, I did beat a mare with eyes that saw the future. Well, it was more akin to determining the future. That was one bothersome, stubborn girl. Well, that’s that, this is this.” Corn waved her hoof in front of her as if to dispel the unnecessary thoughts. “The basic idea behind defeating those who know what will happen is to create a situation where it does not matter. You could liken it to making a trap that will go off and catch you no matter what you do. Of course, just like with traps, the problem lies in actually getting the enemy into that sort of situation, since they can understand what you’re doing.”

“Ugh, sounds like a real hassle…” Rainbow Dash groaned. “What are we supposed to do, anyhow?”

“Well, discounting Ms. Magician over here, who’ll take care of Silent Relic, we’ve got…”Lovely Corn’s eyes scanned over the rest of the ponies. “Two pegasi, two earth ponies and one unicorn. More than enough to execute the basic plan. However…”

With her hoof, Lovely Corn started drawing stick-figures to the grassy ground. She drew two ponies, two pegasi, and one unicorn. Then, the mare proceeded to encircle the figures, separating the ponies into groups depending on their type. And, continuing from that, she separated the groups with two ponies with a single line, leaving all the ponies separated from each other. Cocking an eyebrow at her own drawings, Lovely Corn looked at the rest of the ponies again.

“This is the structure of my, our, strategy. You shall acts as a group, as pairs, and as individuals. All knowing their place but not knowing the purpose of their comrades. There shall be simply the trust to your friends, knowing that you won’t fail even if you concentrate only on yourself,” Corn said and grinned. “It’s different from the thoughtless charge or the simple tactics you employed earlier. This is what I was talking about earlier: Harmony as individuals.”

“So, Ah reckon ya will teach us ‘bout the harmony thing first, then teach us our own part in the strategy, huh?” Applejack guessed, to which Lovely Corn agreed with a nod.

“That’s the plan. It’ll take about ten days, I think, but at by then, you’re ready to face the mayors and win,” Corn explained. “The way I see it, it’ll take six days for you all to get the gist of what I’m trying to say. Rainbow Dash will be the last to understand. The next four days will be spend perfecting each individual strategy, but this time, Rainbow Dash shall master hers the fastest. Together, that means it’ll take ten days from this moment for you to be prepared.”

The ponies exclaimed their surprise at her assertion in their own voice, but Applejack could not join them that easily. She felt a bit unnerved by how easily the older mare read them, even understanding them well enough to give such a prediction while sounding so confident. Applejack knew that unless it would come to pass just like Lovely Corn had said, she wouldn’t have even mentioned it. And yet she did… Hers were eyes of fearsome understanding.

Ah trust her about as far as Ah can throw her, Applejack grumbled in her mind. And considerin’ Ah couldn’t probably even lift her up…

Applejack did not scorn the help of the mare, but that did not mean she was ready to completely accept what Lovely Corn told them. The way the mare moved, the way she spoke, the things she knew… Everything in the mare pointed towards someone who was more than she let on. But whether Corn was an enemy, friend or something else, that was something she could not decipher. And the thing that Applejack found most strange was the fact that something in Lovely Corn seemed rather familiar. Like seeing a mirage that reminded of a dream.

It was not the first time Applejack had felt like that, after all. The last time had been many years ago, in an old graveyard where no graves existed.

“Then, what about me?” Twilight Sparkle’s clear voice suddenly brought Applejack back from her thoughts. “What will I be doing during this time?”

“You’ll be joining the training, of course,” Lovely Corn said and snickered. “It does not matter if you’re fighting away from your friends in the end. You’re still part of the single entity you must become. It is simply your purpose to fight elsewhere.”

Suddenly, Lovely Corn reached towards the ground with her hoof and took a strange-looking thing from there. She presented it to the six ponies, who looked at it in confusion. The thing resembled a cinch, part of the harness ponies used to draw carriages, but it wasn’t just a single one. The cinch that Corn held on to was connected by the traces of the harness to a metal ring. To this single metal ring were connected five more stripped down versions of the harness. No matter how one looked at it, it looked completely useless, and would only serve to bind the ponies together without achieving anything.

“Here, put this on,” Lovely Corn said and threw the piece of equipment and Twilight and the others. “We’ll start once you’ve done so.”

It took about ten minutes for the ponies to finally get the thing on them. And after they finally had…

“…We look absolutely ridiculous,” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“For once I do have to agree with you, Dash,” Rarity said and sighed. “Standing in a circle like this…”

The six ponies were now all wearing the cinches. Because of how they were connected to the metal ring at the center, they were now all forced to stand in a circle with their haunches turned at each other. All of them felt uncomfortable because the thing severely reduced their ability to move, and they could not see each other’s faces. Twilight, who was the one looking at Lovely Corn directly, looked at the mare with a confused expression.

“Just what good is this going to do? There’s no way we can train with this on.”

“Oh, but you can,” Corn said and chuckled loudly. “Just give me a second, and I’ll put on the finishing touches.”

While the ponies still tried to get used to their sudden inability to move properly, Lovely Corn started scribbling strange symbols to the ground. She slowly walked around the group, etching one or two glyphs here and there. Twilight tried to peer at the symbols, but she could not make them out in her position. Somewhat grudgingly, she let go of the chance to learn about some magic she did not know, and allowed the mare to finisher her job. It took Corn about five minutes to prepare a ring of symbols around the ponies, and once she was finished, she hit her hoof against a stone a few times to get the attention of the group.

“Alright, that’s it,” Corn said and nodded. “I guess we can start with this. Prepare yourselves.”

With a wild grin on her face, Lovely Corn struck her front-hooves to the ground, and a bell-like sound resonated through the field. The symbols on the ground lit up, and for a moment, Twilight felt magical energies rage around the ponies. The spell was somehow familiar to her. There was something almost nostalgic about it. But before she could remember what, the actual effects of the spell started. And while marveling at them, she heard Corn sing in an ancient language.

“Gwern blaen llin, a want gysseuin. Helyc a cherdin, buant hwyr yr vydin.”

Trees sprouted from the ground like wildfire. Forming a thick and impenetrable barrier, they separated the ponies from Spike and Lovely Corn. The trunks grew into a circular formation, completely blocking the view of the rest of the hillside field. Only from above, in the hole at the center of the small forest, could the ponies see an escape to the freedom. The azure sky and the rays of the sun beckoned invitingly from the single source of light in the green and brown prison of nature. Array of runes carved into the trunks of the trees shone for a moment with green light, before quieting down and disappearing completely.

In just a matter of seconds, the six ponies had been completely trapped by a forest which had grown out of nowhere.

“That is the Caledoneighan Forest. Or a branch of it, at least. That spell is called Cad Goddeu, by the way. I thought you’d like to know that much, Ms. Sparkle,” Lovely Corn shouted from the other side.

“Cad Goddeu? Isn’t that the one that Princess Celestia uses to keep the Everfree Forest from spreading?” Twilight yelled, her eyes shining with excitement. “I can’t believe I actually got to see it being used! You’re not an amateur when it comes to spell-casting, are you?”

“Well, you could call me an 'off-chance adept', if you wanted,” the older mare chuckled. “I never intended to learn this stuff, but it just keeps falling into my brains. Anyways! On to your mission!”

The six ponies steeled themselves and started looking for a way out. It was clear that the training had to have something to do about escaping this prison grove. That much was obvious even to Pinkie Pie. But everypony knew that it could not be just that. It would have been too easy. And things were never so easy for them.

In few seconds, the ponies got their answer. At first it seemed like the trees had been just swaying in the wind, but soon it became apparent that the mighty, ancient willows and rowans were actively reaching out towards the ponies with their long branches. And from somewhere within the canopy, deep groan, not unlike the one that the umdhlebi had given, could be heard.

“Those trees are alive, and they will do anything in their power to stop you from escaping. No, let me rephrase that: They will actively try to keep you at bay, so watch out,” Lovely Corn explained. “Your task is to get out of there while wearing that harness of yours. No flying. No magic. Just coordination and pure strength.”

The six ponies trapped in the spell felt their confidence drop rapidly. The mere idea of having to wear the silly six-pronged harness was enough to make the task nearly impossible, but to do it without their special talents?

That felt just futile.

“But… but something like that is impossible!” Fluttershy shouted. “We’ll never make it!”

“Impossible? Hah!” Lovely Corn gave a bark of laughter. “That’s why I gave you six days! I won’t be easy, but I’m positive that you can make it!”

The mare then turned to look at Spike, and winked at the baby dragon.

“I guess your Princess would say something about nothing being impossible if there is just harmony,” she said. “And she’d be right.”

And so started grueling ten days for the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Every morning, they were driven out of their comfortable room at the inn by the vicious wake-up call of Lovely Corn. It was followed by a high-protein breakfast of boiled lentils and oatmel. Such a meal had no taste, but their strict training-instructor demanded them to fully commit to the task ahead. And therefore even Pinkie Pie swallowed her complaints of not being allowed to eat cupcakes, and chewed grumpily her carbohydrate-filled breakfast.

After that it was the time of their morning run. For Applejack and Rainbow Dash, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but the less physically fit members of the group found them to be a torturous experience. A jog around the perimeter of the town, on a mountain-path that twisted and turned and was full of elevations, usually left both Twilight and Fluttershy gasping for air by the end of it. And much to Rarity’s annoyance, Lovely Corn just seemed to get more energetic from the run.

Most of the days were dedicated to their strange training in the forest. At the beginning, it was nothing but hours filled with bruises and stumbling around, as the ponies found themselves completely thrown out of balance by their six-pronged harness. But as the days passed, they began to learn how to move as one, without hindering each other’s movement. They began to understand what was required of them when everything they did affected the others, and by the end of the second day, they were able to somehow dodge the attacks of the trees.

Day-by-day, they began learning the patterns of the forest. The cause and effect their own actions had to their friends became a natural thing to consider and understand. Twilight knew that if she charged forward, Fluttershy was forced to take steps back. Dash understood that no matter how much she wanted to dodge to the left, she could not do that. If she did, she would crash straight into Applejack. Pinkie’s desire to run off to act on her own was quenched, as she realized that it would simply put all her friends in danger. With the way of trial and error they honed themselves to act as one, as a single pony in perfect harmony.

And when the evening fell, and their less than satisfying dinners had been eaten, Lovely Corn took it as her job to teach the ponies the basics of hoof-to-hoof melee. She would take one pony at the time, show her how to use her body as a weapon to defend herself, and then have a sparring session with her until the pony in question would be too tired to continue. Then she would send the said pony back to the village, and call up the next trainee. By the end of it, even the steel-like older mare was sweating bullets, but it did not wipe the grin off her face. Her eyes flared occasionally, and she pushed herself to the limits simply to teach the Element Bearers to defend themselves.

The hoof-to-hoof combat was something only Applejack and Rainbow Dash had previous experience of, and thus, they were naturals when it came to it. It was not an easy task to find the balance with three legs while striking with one, or parrying an attack with your cannon or forearm. Surprisingly, Pinkie was natural when it came to this. Her fast footwork allowed her to zip around her opponent, delivering attacks with multiple hooves at the same time. But, like the leg-sweeps from Lovely Corn showed, it affected her balance dangerously. At the same time, a pony like Applejack could not be budged even with the most powerful kick, but her sturdy withers didn’t allow her to turn around fast.

Days after days, Lovely Corn put the six ponies past their limits, showing them just what it took to beat opponents like the two mayors. They learned all about the dangers of striking the opponent’s bones with your hooves, and how this could shatter both the bones and the hooves. They learned that a proper fighting stance was a requirement if you wanted to actually shield yourself properly, though dodging was recommended. Crippling body blows were what the ponies should aim for if they found themselves in a battle with nothing but their bodies as their weapon.

For smaller mares like Fluttershy and Twilight, Lovely Corn even taught some coraiaocht, or wither-and-knee wrestling. By grapping those areas, a smaller pony could force and pin a larger opponent easily to the ground, as long as they used the momentum of the opponent instead of trying brute force. While the names of the techniques, such as the trippett, the loose leg, the flying hobby or wither sleeper made the mares giggle, they were still very effective. After four days, Fluttershy even managed to pin Lovely Corn down to the ground with a well-placed blackguard snatch, followed by the black heel technique.

However, while all of this was going on, there was one member of the group who stayed far away from the dangerous training. Spike had wisely opted to refrain from the practice, and instead lazed around in the village, snacking on the gems that came from the caves not far away from the town. The villagers were all curious about the baby dragon, and he traded his tales of Ponyville and Canterlot for hefty baskets of emeralds and topazes.

It was during the fifth day of the training that Spike finally decided to take a break from indulging into his favorite hobbies, and actually get something done. Because of Twilight’s request, he headed up further into the mountains, to map the route ahead and see if he could pin-point Fort Stronghoof that supposedly had been built into the mountain itself, jutting out of the highest peak in a manner not unlike Canterlot did.

The path that led towards the peaks was smaller than Spike had anticipated, and he immediately realized that it could not be the path usually used for travelling to Fort Stronghoof. He wondered if it had something to do with the cloud-glider the mayors had talked about. However, it did not change the fact that the path did lead deeper into the mountains, and by walking alongside it he could at least scout ahead a bit of what they were getting themselves into by trying to get to the Fort.

I don’t think Twilight realizes it, but if the answers we find there aren’t what she expects to find… Spike sighed inside of his mind. I can tell she’s been really down after the incident with that star-cursed water-unicorn. If it turns out that Cleitus really was friend of Shining Armor, what then…?

Spike didn’t want to think of the consequences. The idea that her brother’s friend would have mutilated her in such a way would be shock to anypony. It was much easier to just think of Cleitus as a mercenary who cared about nothing but money, and was pure evil, like Discord. Life in Ponyville had been, after all, so far rather simple. Even if things didn’t turn out to be so black and white as they initially seemed, there had always been a reason. But what sort of reason would drive somepony to nearly kill their best friend, and to cut his sister’s horn off? Nothing could justify something like that.

And that was another thing Spike was afraid. That there would be nothing that would justify Twilight’s loss. If it turned out that it had simply been a whim of Cleitus the Black to cause such pain and misery to Twilight…

Spike snorted a ball of flame out of his nostrils and sat down at the roadside, near a happily gurgling spring. The more he thought, the angrier the whole affair made him.

And it was because of his angry thoughts that he did not realize a presence creeping up to him. Not until the said presence spoke.

“Oh? Another of my kin?” a sing-song voice asked from behind Spike. “This is a most pleasant surprise.”

Surprised, Spike quickly spun around, and came face-to-face with a sight he least expected. After all, it was the sort of sight he had not seen before. To him, facing the young female dragon felt oddly enough like looking at a mirror. She was not tall, yet she was definitely taller than Spike was. Her body-shape was not as round as his was, and yet Spike immediately knew that they were of the same sub-species. The female dragon’s spines were long and thin, reaching towards her back in an elegant manner.

However, in a manner very unlike other dragons that Spike had seen, this one was wearing clothes. She had a woolen cloak, a bernos, covering her lithe shoulders, and most of her body was covered by a ankle length velvet dress known as habesha kemis. The white and light green colors of the tunic-like dress pronounced the colors of the female dragon’s eyes and scales perfectly.

“My. This truly must be the work of fate. To think that I would run into you here, Scales of Glass. Has your wielder understood your purpose, at last?”

Spike wanted to answer, but something in the appearance of the young female dragon made his jaw clamp shut. Maybe it was the brilliance of her ruby-colored scales, or perhaps it was the deep dark green shine of her graceful spines. It could have been the alluring gaze of her gem-like eyes, too. He could not pinpoint a single reason, but the effect was still in place; he could not move or speak.

“Or perhaps not? You seem to not resist my presence in the slightest. So you still walk with your eyes closed shut? Such a pity,” the female dragon spoke and sighed. “Alas, such is our life. It is not until your owner can awaken your petals of lustrous light that you shall step up here with me. But fear not. For there is a way for you to grow on your own, too.”

Spike’s ears perked at the words of the dragon. While he was still scared of growing up due to the incident with his greed, he could not deny that the idea of leaving behind his small body, and growing more naturally, did sound enticing. But he could not understood how something like that could be done on his own volition, instead of simply waiting for the years to pass.

“You are venturing the Fort Stronghoof, correct?” The female dragon asked, and in daze, Spike nodded to her. A small smile crept on her face. “How fitting. When you arrive there, do take a look at the marvelous collection of texts from ancient times they have in their small library. I am certain that one book there shall catch your interest. I know that it did so with myself.”

“A… a book?” Spike asked, getting his voice finally back.

He didn’t understand. Books were Twilight’s forte, not his. He was simply a helper around the library. He was more interested in gems, Rarity, sleeping, eating, Rarity, lazing, cooking and Rarity. So what did any book have to do with him?

Then, a stray thought hit him. A realization that brought his mind back to that strange morning, before the fateful night.

“You have felt it, have you not? The energy which keeps on welling inside of you, bursting out in bouts of extreme perseverance and stamina. It is not strange at all, considering who you are. I am the same, Scales of Glass,” the female dragon said and giggled gently. “We are all but cogs in the great machine of life, after all. It is our duty to ensure the continuance of harmony, in this broken world.”

“Broken w-world? Continuance of harmony? What… what are you talking about!?” Spike finally broke through his trance with raw emotions of worry and confusion. “Who are you, anyway!?”

“My name? Oh, it is of no importance. The title I am known by is simply ‘Scales of Charm’, but… yes, there has been another name,” the female dragon said. “If you wish so, you can refer to me as Flame.”

Flame. The name was fitting. Her deep red scales did look like they were on fire when the sunlight hit them. But even that strange beauty could no longer hold Spike’s overflowing emotions at bay. He simply had to see the image of a certain white unicorn to push back the stupefying effect of the female dragon’s presence.

“So, what do you want, anyway? Just to spout all sorts of cryptic phrases?” Spike asked, folding his arms. “If not, then what’s the deal?”

Flame looked somewhat surprised at the sudden change in the attitude of the baby dragon, but then she reverted to her calm demeanor with a help of another, tranquil giggle. Spike frowned at the way Flame acted, as it started to make him feel more annoyed than enchanted anymore.

“Well, a simple warning now that we have met like this, Scales of Glass,” Flame told him. “I assure you, I mean no harm. To the contrary, I am trying to help you and your owner as much as I can.”

“Don’t call Twilight that!” Spike shouted, taking a step forward. “She’s my friend, not some sort of owner! No, more than that… she’s… she’s my sister! A dear member of my family in Ponyville!”

Now Flame truly found herself speechless. The words of the purple dragon caused her retreat a bit, with a look of pure surprise on her face. Slowly, it turned into one of strange solemnness, mixed with a hint of admiration. Spike started slightly regretting his outburst. He had expected another chuckle, but definitely not this.

“My, I apologize. It was not my intention to insult you,” Flame finally said, after the silence. “But, yes… I revise my words. To see you two hold each other so dear makes me very, very glad. I can only wish my owner and I would share such a bond. Then, for correcting me, allow me to present you with another warning.”

Those words were followed by an expression that Spike could only describe as “deadly serious” on the female dragon’s face. He gulped, bracing himself.

“There seems to be somepony who wants to remove us from existence. A hunter, if you will,” Flame said. “A white mare, Holy Earth, hunts us dragons while wielding the most terrible of weapons. The one meant solely for slaying our kind. Even if I do not dare to name it… You know, do you not? Deep in your soul.”

Spike shivered. Although he had no idea just what sort of weapon Flame was talking about, something in his memories stirred. It was an image of a white surface, stretching for what seemed like an eternity, gleaming in the night as dragons roared in fear. Primal emotions he did not even know he had took over the baby dragon, as he clutched his head in fear. He saw destruction, he saw death, he saw that which all dragons feared from the very moment of their birth. Something which had been given no other purpose of existence than to slay dragons, a fearsome tool carried by those who dragons would forever curse in their legends.

And, beyond all that, he saw something else. A memory so deep within him, it felt like a delusion. The shape of flames and smoke through a thick curtain. The silhouette of a murderer walking amongst the breeding grounds, bringing forth a rain of blood in her wake. The cry of someone too dear for him to remember.

It was a nightmare. A nightmare he should not have been able to remember.

“… Ah? Eh?”

Spike was startled awake from his memories by a passing gust of wind. Tears had former in the corners of his eyes, and now they finally fell to the ground, even though he could not understand the reason. Whatever he had seen in the dark corners of his mind was now fading away, too fast for him to grasp a hold of. He brought his hands to his face, quickly drying up the tears in confusion.

“Why was I… crying?” Spike whispered to himself, while raising his gaze to look at Flame again.

But he found no one there. The ruby-colored dragon had disappeared, leaving behind only the happily streaming spring. Spike blinked, unsure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but the female dragon was definitely gone. There was no trace of her, not even clawprints on the ground.

Utterly exhausted, Spike sat on the ground, trying to understand what had just happened. And to decide, whether or not he should tell about this to his friends.

And so, ten days passed. Each day was full of sweat, blood and tears of six ponies pushing themselves to their limits and beyond for the sake of victory. But even those days did end, and each day brought forth fruits of experience. Training to work as a single entity, training in hoof-to-hoof combat, training when it came to their own individual strategies… the group had endured it all just to win today.

Thus, finally, came the day of the rematch against Elfin Fresh and Silent Relic.

“Hmh? You girls came without your artifacts this time? Quite a bold move,” Elfin Fresh commented when she saw the Element Bearers. “I can’t say I’m disappointed, though. Surprise is the spice of life, ain’t it?”

“Mm,” Silent Relic added. “Not bad at all.”

“Yahoo, you idiot-couple. We meet again,” Lovely Corn greeted the two as she stepped out from the shadows. “How’s it going?”

“—You. How come I’m not surprised?” Elfin said and cackled. “Not only did you humiliate us few years back, but now you appear with these heroes of Equestria? Let me guess: You trained them so that they could defeat us?”

“That I did,” Corn answered and grinned. “It’s a bit like cheating, but the difference is that when it comes to you two, all sorts of cheating can be counted only as legitimate forms of combat. So it’s alright, isn’t it?”

“Hmh, I suppose it’s okay. I didn’t want to keep the Bearers here just because I’m a mean pony,” Elfin Fresh said. “Though I suppose that does not change the fact that I’m more than a bit mean.”

Twilight followed the conversations between the two mares with her jaw slightly open. Of course, it did make sense to her that they knew each other. However, to see them talk to each other in such a way was really something to behold. The mares glared at each other like worst enemies, yet smiles never left their lips. It seemed like a strange mix between friendship and rivalry, something that brought to the unicorn’s mind a certain stage-magician that had visited Ponyville the previous year. If Trixie had remained in Ponyville, she and Twilight might have perhaps looked like that…

“A’ight, a’ight. Let’s get this show on the road, then. You aren’t allowed to interfere, you stalk-muncher,” Elfin suddenly announced with a loud voice.

“Of course not. I’m here only to look the fruits of my labor.” Lovely Corn moved to the side, staying far away from the actual battleground. Spike quickly followed her.

“Now, you six…” Elfin Fresh turned to look at the group of friends. “I guess you already know all about my “Future Census” or my hubby’s “Plain Site”, in that case?”

Twilight giggled a bit when she heard the names.

“To obtain information about ponies or what you use to experience the world with… A region of reality or a concept of stillness, and a location or what you use your eyes for… That play with pronunciation reminds me of only thing,” Twilight said and cocked an eyebrow at Elfin Fresh. “You wouldn’t happen to share blood with the Cervidae?”

“You’re a clever mare, aren’t you?” Elfin Fresh said with a grin. “I like that. Maybe I’ll tell you if you manage to beat us.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Silence descended after Twilight had spoken. No more words were needed. For a moment, the crackling tension between the ponies grew stronger and stronger, ready to burst out in a form of a fast-paced combat. And just like that, it was released. There was a flutter of wings and something soared to the sky, scared by the aura of the ponies. A sharp cry of a wandering eagle up in the sky acted as the bell that started the fight.

Five ponies charged straight forward, towards Elfin Fresh, while Twilight jumped to the right, to the path of Silent Relic. The unicorn grinned widely and ran forward, preparing the memory of her magic which she had honed through the past ten days. Allowing the familiar sensation to take hold of her, Twilight released her teleportation, appearing above the stallion in a flash of light. There was a moment of shock in Relic’s eyes as the leg of the mare came crashing down to his back. However, his ability held, and even Twilight realized she had not caused damage at all. The state of the spatial memory around Silent Relic remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, Elfin Fresh had found trouble of her own. Before she even realized it, a pink flash was behind her. Giving out a surprised curse, the older mare barely dodged Pinkie’s lightning-fast kick, and her hoof merely grazed Elfin’s snout. Grabbing the extended leg with her own, Elfin spun around from her crouched position, sending Pinkie into a wild flight backwards. However, that was not enough. With frightening ease, the pink earth pony bounced back to her hooves, smiling widely.

A brilliant color lit up in Elfin Fresh’s vision. Automatically, she dodged to the left, rolling out of the way of Applejack’s furious kick. Without her ability, that donkey kick would have probably made her see stars. Elfin rose up quickly, trying to deliver a front-leg hit to the face of Applejack. But, another flash of light made her quickly jump to the left. Pinkie, utilizing her unearthly speed, had charged from behind and delivered a jumping attack that nearly hit Elfin. The older mare cursed again, jumping up from her dodge and bringing her hind legs down like a pendulum, aiming at Pinkie’s crest. But the earth pony had disappeared already, and this careless move brought Elfin straight to Applejack’s ambush. The wide-brimmed hat flapped in the wind as Applejack charged forward.

It took all of Elfin Fresh’s speed to dodge the dangerous charge. And in her haste, she neglected to watch her surroundings. Before she even realized, wind started picking up around her. Gale took the form of a funnel, trapping Elfin inside of a small tornado. However, this merely made the mare smile. She recognized the rainbow color of the wind. This was work of Rainbow Dash, and she could see clearly what the blue pegasus was trying to do. However, it would be simple for Elfin Fresh to break out of the tornado-trap. The wing-power of a single pegasus could not create such a strong that it would hold someone like her down.

Suddenly, another flash of intent took form in Elfin Fresh’s vision, and she understood. The intents had been separate, so for a moment, she had thought them to be one and the same. But now, she saw them start to separate. A rainbow-colored smudge and a light yellow one dominated her senses. Two different ponies, same goal, in total harmony.

If somepony from Cloudsdale had seen what happened, they wouldn’t have believed their eyes. Two pegasi, striking their wings with enough force to create small gusts of wind that spread into every direction, climbed up to the combined might of over a hundred wing-power. Rainbow Dash, with sweat streaking from her face, went beyond of what she had thought possible only with her armor, and achieved circulation speeds that were nearly enough to perform a Sonic Rainboom. But more surprising was Fluttershy, whose determined face showed that she was not about to lose to her friend. Even though her body was less trained than Dash’s, she still nearly matched her. Only once before, during the desperate chase when Discord had returned, had Fluttershy achieved such speeds. But she was ready to do it, for the sake of her friends.

Seeing that display of speed, Elfin Fresh finally knew what was going on. It had been a trap laid by multiple intents that never once crossed paths. Nopony knew what the others were doing, but trusted them to do what was needed.

So this is what you trained them to at, you stalk-muncher! Elfin Fresh thought and cursed Lovely Corn in her mind. ‘Cheating’, my flank! This is nothing as cute as that. This is transcending what is taught to the Canterlot Royal Guard!

However, the mare was far from defeated. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash might have trapped her inside an incredibly powerful tornado, but that did not mean they had defeated her. As long as Elfin stayed away from the edges of the tornado, she could simply wait till the pegasi got tired, and then return to the battle. In fact, this allowed her to rest before taking on Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

Or so she thought. For right at that moment, a bring flash of magic right above her illuminated the morning sky.

“En Garde, Madam!”

Rarity’s battle-cry echoed in the field and drowned even the roar of the wind momentarily. Having been thrown up by the leg-powers of Applejack, the unicorn descended upon Elfin Fresh like a falcon, her horn glowing with brilliant blue color. Rarity had used her magic to coat her horn with a face-centered cubic crystal shield, creating a blade that could withstand even the mightiest of blows.

With no space to maneuver, Elfin had no choice but to take the full brunt of Rarity’s attack. With the gravity and the full force of the unicorn’s body weight behind it, the strike split apart the ground beneath Elfin’s hooves. She gritted her teeth together as she tried to stop Rarity’s attack with her front hooves, but the simply force of it pushed her towards the ground. Seeing that her surprise attack had not completely defeated the enemy, Rarity jumped backwards, landing to the same small space inside the tornado.

For a split-second, the narrowed eyes of the two mares locked their stares. Then the tension was released into a whirlwind melee that made the tornado around them pale in comparison.

Inside the wind-prison, the greatest asset of Elfin Fresh was neutralized. Even if she knew where Rarity’s attacks came from, she could not dodge them. If she did, she would be immediately caught in the wind. Therefore, she was forced to defend and counter-attack as the white unicorn relentlessly fell upon her, delivering strikes with pin-point accuracy. While Elfin’s style of fighting could have been called “sharp” or “fast”, there was only one word that could be used to describe Rarity’s style: “Elegant”. And it was for that precise reason that Elfin Fresh was on the losing end.

Grace and elegance in perfect harmony. Movement as calm and beguiling as flowing river. Strikes that sought out the weak points in the mare’s defense with unerring accuracy. Eyes that saw and understood everything there was to be understood about Elfin Fresh’s physique. While the older mare instantly knew the information she needed, Rarity could do something far brilliant: her eyes, trained to understand flaws and perfection through years of being a cloths-designer, went beyond knowing.

Understanding your opponent. That was Rarity’s greatest strength.

Whirlwind melee turned into a one-sided beat-down. Rarity’s horn struck like a stinger of a bee, utilizing every moment of weakness that Elfin Fresh showed. And every hit that struck the older mare brought her closer to defeat. Her wounded body could no longer keep up with the information her abilities granted her, and her defenses were failing. She saw nothing but the brilliant shining horn that cut into her with each strike.

It all ended with a flash of blue light, and the image of diamond saber embedding itself into the mind of Elfin Fresh. Rarity brought down her horn in a large arc, cutting down her opponent with the finishing blow.

“Pudding!”

Silent Relic, who had been so far keeping Twilight at bay, yelled out the name of his wife when he felt him fall. His eyes narrowing in haste, he went from defensive to offensive, and allowed his mind to form a picture of a new terrain in his mind. While he was not an unicorn, his bloodline was a long one, and the great powers of his ancestors were a part of him. Roaring like a wounded animal, he struck his front-hooves against the ground, and commanded the space around him to match his image of it.

And the terrain did. Around Twilight Sparkle, the earth tore itself up and wrapped around the confused unicorn. The tower of dirt and stone rose high up in the air, to the heights that challenged the mountains themselves. The huge building made straight out of the soil was bigger than the great towers of Canterlot Castle, and it caught the attention of every pony in the area.

“Don’t worry, pudding! I’m coming to save you!” Silent Relic said, having trapped his enemy.

“Oh? Are you sure you can afford to leave your opponent just like that?” Lovely Corn commented from the sidelines, with a smug smile on her face. She seemed awfully unimpressed by the towering sight of the earth-prison.

“That thing is the greatest memory of my ancestors: Krialon. The pyramid-tower that is designed as the greatest prison in the world. Its walls do not allow bypassing, and so the only way ponies can escape it is by getting to the end of the labyrinth that it houses,” Silent Relic explained with a stoic expression. “It cannot be cheated in any way, and it would take hundreds of years for anypony to defeat the labyrinth. Therefore, the ones trapped inside it can only get out when I so allow. Twilight Sparkle will not be joining this battle any more, even if she uses her famous teleportation.”

“Huh? You actually knew Ms. Sparkle can teleport?” Lovely Corn asked, her eyebrows raised. “You sure did your homework.”

“It is my job as a mayor,” Silent Relic answered. “And with that information, I was able to see that I had the perfect counter for her. There is no way for her to get out of Krial—“

The stallion’s words were drowned by the roaring laughter of Lovely Corn. She bent backwards, laughing her heart out as if Relic’s words had been the greatest joke the mare had heard in a long, long time. It took Corn almost fifteen seconds to finally calm down, and even then, she still had to wipe tears from her eyes. With amused, merciless grin, she looked straight at the stallion and raised her front-leg. Her hoof pointed straight at Relic, accusingly.

“Silent Relic! You’ve just made a huge mistake!”

“Mistake?” the stallion asked confusedly, taking a step back. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, perhaps not a mistake. An ‘oversight’ would fit the case far better,” Lovely Corn continued and chuckled. “For you see, that would be the case if Twilight Sparkle was just anypony. However, she is the protégé of Princess Celestia, and a natural talent when it comes to magic. No, her talent itself is magic! Don’t go judging her by the rules of our own natural laws! What she does is not something as simple as teleportation; she has made even something like that a complicated process which seems to defy everything we know about magic!”

With every word Lovely Corn said, Silent Relic’s eyes grew wider and wider, and he started sweating bullets.

“Twilight Sparkle has tapped into the innermost element of magic: She is playing with time itself!” Corn announced. “She does not simply take herself and put herself somewhere when she teleports. No, she moves normally, just like any other mare. But! With her magic, she literally destroys the time it takes her to achieve that feat! Whether it’s crossing a hill or running down the stairs, she can take the time it would take her to do that and make it into nothing! If I had to describe it, it is much closer to time travel than teleportation! She is warping the very fabric of this world itself!”

Lovely Corn’s eyes gleamed with promise of victory as she shouted her final words at Silent Relic, knowing that the end of the battle was upon them.

“Twilight Sparkle is the enemy of all the common sense that we unicorns have applied to magic! Silent Relic, you should have shut her into a box of steel with no way out! No, even that would have been meaningless. She could have simply dug her way out in few thousand years!” Lovely Corn said and gave a bark of laugh. “Hah! You’ve brought forth your own doom! The doom I foresaw the moment I saw the insane things that unicorn could do with her magic!”

There was an explosion of purple magic, one that ripped apart the sky above Silent Relic. He looked up, and saw the form of Twilight Sparkle descend upon him while shouting for victory. Desperately, the stallion focused all of his power in preserving the state of the space around him, but to no avail. Before he even could react to it, Twilight had transported him into the air by one well-placed, inverted warp.

For those who looked at what happened next, it seemed like a shower of stars rained upon the form of Silent Relic.

Twilight Sparkle, cutting down the process of jumping in the air and striking at Silent Relic, turned at what would have taken days into a single moment. Thousands upon thousands of mirror images of the unicorn appeared from all sides in flashes of bright purple light, becoming a sphere of destruction that existed only around Silent Relic. Kick after kick connected to the skin of the stallion, and his preserved image of the surrounding world started to crack. No matter how much the space tried to fight against the effect of the time, it could never win. Even with the dulled power of Twilight’s attacks, when there were as many of them as there were stars in the night sky, it was possible to defeat Silent Relic.

What had started as a surprise attack turned into few seconds of continuous strikes. One second held within itself a destroyed eternity. Twilight Sparkle’s roar of defiance could be heard all the way down at the village. Utilizing every bit of her magical power, she unleashed tens of thousands of attack on Silent Relic, all at once.

It sounded like a millions of swallows, all crying out as a choir of victory.

And from that sound, Twilight Sparkle came up with the name for this spell. It was the rebirth of the legend she had read about in the grimoire of Star Swirl the Bearded.

This spell was Tsubame Gaeshi – The Swallow-Reversal Cut.

And it was what ended the greatest battle fought in the village of Ross-on-Welara.