It was several hours later when there was a knock on the door, causing the individuals inside to pause. One was the captain of the crystal empire guards and the royal consort of the empress with a shield cutie mark, another was the former student of the princess of friendship and ex mayor of a town in a distant corner of Equestria, another was an assistant to the princess of friendship, one was a pink mare cleaning a window with a question mark for a cutie mark, one was a reformed healthy changeling, and the last was the lavender princess’s newest guest, who looked up from the papers she’d been working on, detailing the diagrams and analytic notes on the thaumatic blanketing array she had been transcribing from memory. She was surprised at how much she could remember of it, since such things were not her expertise. But then again, relying on her considerable knowledge from her experiments from the war had proven more than useful in patching in what she was missing along with the thaumatical knowledge that these ponies had. Despite the fantasy-sounding nature of all the books she had read so far, and especially some parts that she just knew wouldn’t have been possible back in her own world, there was a scientific undertone she could appreciate and was finding quite interesting.

“Ah, they’re here,” Shining Armor said, pushing himself away from the desk he was working at with Pharynx letting out a sigh as his horns dimmed before he faceplanted onto the desk.

“Who is here?” Starlight asked. Spliced had to admit that despite their difficulties with one another, Starlight had proven to be an excellent researcher, and despite her being a unicorn and not a Pure, Spliced could have easily seen her receiving a scholarship to the university Spliced herself had once attended.

“Hello there sugarcubes,” Applejack said as she entered, followed by four other familiar mares. “Shining Armor, nice to see you again,” she added as she nodded in his direction.

“What are you all doing here?” Spliced asked, pushing herself up from her seat.

“Well, Scoots got a letter about a doc to help her with her wings,” Rainbow Dash said as she landed next to Spliced. “So she’s here with her aunts to see a Doctor Snuggles and some other doctors he works with about some procedure. And of course I wasn’t going to stay away for something that’s that important to her.”

“Ah, I see,” Spliced, looking off to the side. “I hope that everything goes well for her.”

“All of us do, darling,” Rarity said as she looked around the room. “We also heard that you have an unusual guest here as well, a windigo of all things.”

“I hope they’re not scary,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Snöflinga is not scary per se but…” Shining said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Vilka är ni fem?” a voice asked suddenly, and Spliced looked up to see Snöflinga at the door, Sunburst right behind him.

Everypony looked at Spike, who translated. “He’s asking who you all are,” he told them, and there was a round of understanding nods. “Hold on, I’ll explain.” Then he turned to Snöflinga and began speaking in the windigo’s native tongue, including a series of gestures towards the others, getting nods in return. When he had finished, Snöflinga nodded back. Then, Sunburst gave Snöflinga a nudge of the shoulder with the windigo sighing and muttering something in his own language before stopping and looking at Spike.

“I’ve heard worse, and no, I’m not translating that,” he replied with Rarity giving Snöflinga a look now, but he pretended not to notice.

“I Snöflinga,” he grumbled. “It nice meet you five pony - gah, det här är så attans dumt!”

“I know it’s hard,” Sunburst said as he placed a hoof on Snöflinga’s shoulder. “But you’re getting it, and you’ve been at it only a few hours.”

“Ja,” Snöflinga said before looking at Rainbow Dash who was staring at his flanks. “Can help you?”

“Can I help you, Snöflinga,” Sunburst said with Snöflinga groaning loudly.

“Can I help you, Rainbow Dash?” the windigo asked with a distinctly snide tone, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the others. Luckily, Rainbow Dash chose to ignore it.

“I thought windigos didn’t have hindlegs, that they just floated,” she said poking his flank, only for him to slap her hoof away. “Hey!”

Spike quickly translated her comment to Snöflinga while Applejack did her best to calm down Rainbow Dash.

“Självklart har vi bakben,” Snöflinga said disgustedly. “Vi är inte som de där Sirenerna – dumma fiskar,” he grumbled. “De försvinner när jag flyger men jag mår inte tillräckligt bra just nu för att flyga.”

“Så du gillar inte de där tre du heller va?” Spike said to him. “Jag klandrar dig inte.”

“Vilka tre pratar du om? Det finns en hel ocean av dem.” Snöflinga replied with a snort.

“Twilight och jag mötte några som förvisats genom en portal för länge sedan och höll på att försöka ta över den andra världen,” Spike told him. “Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk. Och de är maktlösa nu.”

“Jag tänkte säga att det inte låter ett dugg vettigt men jag kommer ju från det förflutna så jag är inte rätt person att uttala mig,” Snöflinga said distractedly. “Dessutom, du borde tala om för dem vad vi pratar om. De ger oss skumma blickar.”

“Visst.” Spike turned to the others. “Yes, he has hind legs; they only go away when he’s flying, but he isn’t recovered enough to do that yet. And apparently he doesn’t much like Sirens like the ones Twilight and I went to help Sunset with. Also, there were a lot more in his time, so we should probably see if they’re still out there.”

“How do we know he is a windigo, anyways,” Rainbow Dash said with a frown. “He could just be a blank flank, after all.”

“Besides the fact that his entire physical structure is completely atypical for ponies?” Spliced said.

“Hey, my family has everything in it, from ponies suffering from gigantism or dwarfism, to some being born as nox ponies or horned pegasi and so on. This,” Rainbow Dash said, waving a hoof at his face. “Doesn’t convince me.”

Spliced sighed. “Trust me, I know windigos - not perfectly, but enough to recognize one, especially considering I was hooves-deep in his innards when we were helping him get better. He’s definitely a windigo.” She noticed Fluttershy blanche at her comment, and Rarity nuzzling the other mare to calm her. Then she turned to Spike. “And what are these Sirens you mentioned, anyway?”

“Think seaponies, but nastier,” Spike told her. “They feed on negative emotions like windigos do, but they also have this hypnotic music ability to control others. I thought there were only the three of ‘em that we’d beaten until Snöflinga said otherwise.”

Starlight looked confused. “When was this?”

“After Twilight got her castle, but before we met you the first time,” Spike told her.

“Ah.”

Snöflinga was looking annoyed again, so Spike turned back to him and started speaking, with the windigo nodding as he was filled in. Then he turned to Rainbow Dash with the temperatures beginning to plummet. “Vill du ha bevis för att jag är en windigo? Här är ditt bevis!” With that, he opened his jaws and blew an icy gust at her forehooves.

“Ack!” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings hurriedly, but found her hooves had already been frozen to her chest “Dude! Not cool! Pun totally intended!”

“That ain’t right sugarcube; why ya go do that?” Applejack asked, giving the windigo a look.

“I’d guess it’s due in part to how Snöflinga is like,” Sunburst said, holding his hoof to his chest. “Also that he literally thrives on conflict means something like that would make him healthier. Although he should know better, right Snöflinga?” he asked the windigo, who sighed loudly at this reprimand.

“Jag borde förmodligen spara på krafterna tills jag är helt återställd,” he grumbled, rubbing his bandaged right foreleg.

“Um, I’m not sure what you just said, but could somepony thaw me out?” Rainbow Dash asked, wiggling her forehooves slightly. “This stuff’s colder than what they make at the weather factory!”

Starlight nodded and got up, pressing her glowing horn to Rainbow Dash’s chest. For a moment, she concentrated. Then her eyes widened. “It’s not working!”

“Well of course nothing will happen,” Sunburst said. “If windigo magic was that easy to dispel, then the founders would have never needed to find the Fires of Friendship.”

Snöflinga gave a sigh, and his body language drooped as his friends were mentioned. He was then nudged by Sunburst with the windigo sighing louder and holding out his left hoof. He then pressed it on Rainbow Dash’s hooves and the ice began to defrost. “Good?” he asked her, his accent bleeding through.

“Yeah,” Dash said, holding her legs away from her chest and glanced at him. “Thanks…”

“You welcome,” he said stiffly before moving to an empty chair and sitting down.

“So you say he is from the past?” Rarity asked as she peered at Snöflinga.

“Yes; apparently he personally knew the founders,” Starlight said, causing them to look at Snöflinga in surprise. “And a lot of what we knew is not actually accurate, according to him.”

“Yeah right, like he knew the-” Rainbow Dash jumped backwards as Snöflinga glared at her and clearly was about lunge at her if not for Starlight reacting quickly to hold back the windigo. “What the hey-gah!” She squirmed as Applejack was using her hat to smack the pegasus.

“Ya mind not annoying the windigo? Ah’d like to leave here without frostbite,” Applejack lectured her friend. “Starlight, he goin’ to stay calm now?”

“Yeah, he’s good,” Starlight said with Snöflinga sitting back down and glaring at Rainbow Dash. “Want to explain why you just did that?”

Spike quickly translated the question with Snöflinga snorting loudly.

“Det har du inte med att göra,” he snapped aggressively. “Så snart jag känner mig bra nog kommer jag ta er ponnyer till grottan för att bevisa att jag har rätt.”

“He says that it’s none of your business and that once he is good, he will help the expedition team reach the cave,” Spike translated again. “He really seems to be annoyed by it; more than normal. Snöflinga, har du något emot–”

There was a sudden flash as Twilight teleported into the room.

“Twilight!” her friends called out only for Starlight to create a shield separating everypony from the alicorn with concern in her eyes.

Standing next to her, Spike held a letter in his claws, with his mouth smoking as he prepared to send it off.

Looking at Spike, Twilight said “The world is quiet here.” before looking at Starlight and saying “The celery stalks at midnight.”

Both of them let out a sigh, with Starlight dropping the shield and Spike putting out the fire in his mouth.

“Um, care to explain all of that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I would like to know where you went off without so much as a letter,” Rarity said.

“In a moment,” Twilight said before looking at the others in the room. “I’m sorry but this is for their ears only; Shining, Cadance will explain what she learned to you in private. Everypony else will need to leave.”

Spliced snorted as she stood upright and looked at Snöflinga. “Come,” she said briskly with obvious hoof gestures. “I believe it is time for your hourly checkup, anyways,”

Snöflinga rolled his eyes again and muttered the same insulting string of words at her but made his way out with the rest of the stallions close behind and Spliced at the very back, the green mare shutting the door as she left.

With a deep happy sigh, Twilight moved to hug her friends tightly. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, looking at each of them. “We were worried that we wouldn’t be able to come back.”

“Why’s that, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“It’s due in part to what we,” Twilight moved her hoof in a circle to indicate her closest friends. “Are. During my time with the princesses in the Valley of Alicorns, I learned a fair deal about the universe but one thing special I learned is that there can only be one type of us in one dimension at a time unless they are invited.”

“Um, what do you mean ‘we’?” Fluttershy asked hesitantly.

“Right, I haven’t explained that yet,” Twilight said sheepishly. “What I learned is that for every one of these dimensions, there are Powers that act as the source for what they are named after in that dimension. For example, Celestia in our dimension, and what from she told me in almost every other dimension that she is in except for those she is a stallion or another pony, is called the Lady of Day. It is because of her that daytime actually happens, part of her Duty and her Role is to raise the sun. For us, we are the Lady of Honesty, Lady of Loyalty, Lady of Laughter, Lady of Kindness, Lady of Generosity and Lady of Magic-” Twilight paused and looked at Fluttershy. “And no, you do not need to worry about fulfilling any special Role or Duty; just being you is all you need to do. Anything more would be non genuine and actually count against it.”

“Makes sense,” Applejack said. “We did become get them elements for being them - overdoing them never did work for us.”

“In addition, we are also the subset Power of Harmony, with our Opposite being Discord, Lord of Disharmony. Both are extremely powerful and a good reason to why we tend to not get along with him beyond conflicting character traits,” Twilight said.

“Our opposite?” Rarity asked.

“Opposite,” Twilight corrected Rarity, the capital letter obvious in her tone. “Our joint one; we each have one that balances our own Power; they’re Lies, Oathbreaking, Sorrow, Cruelty, Self-centeredness and Technology,” Twilight soured on the last word. “Some of them can work well with each other; as both Luna and Celestia are technically Opposites of each other but they couldn't function without each other. Others… not so much.”

“Like?”

“War and Peace, and no, it’s not War who is the normally aggressive one,” Twilight told them. “War is what you’d expect while Peace on the other hoof would do whatever it can to ensure there is peace by sending minions of its own to ensure that war will not break out. Including killing those who would be prone to starting wars.” Everypony and Spike winced at that.

“Anyway,” Twilight continued, “I also found out that there are certain events that happen in every dimension, just not in the same way whatsoever. Some events that happen no matter what are the banishment of an individual for a thousand years, which is the amount of time that a Power requires to fully heal, incidently, six friends forming the Power of Harmony, and a smattering of other key events. Such as Discord’s escape.” Twilight sounded even more upset at this.

“What’s wrong?” Spike asked.

“Celestia told me why she was never concerned about him and I cannot say I agree with her methods,” she said, causing several eyes to widen at her words as they were all keenly aware of how much she still idolized her former mentor. “She had gone to other dimensions for training in the past and had seen and learned the pattern of the draconequus that was the Lord or Lady of Disharmony in those dimensions. After their first banishment, he or she would escape some time after the individual from the moon did, and go after the Elements of Harmony. He would succeed in flipping all but one of them, and that one would prove the key to taming them later on. After that Lord or Lady of Disharmony was sealed again, Celestia knew that when she released him into the custody of the Elements, the one they couldn’t trick into betraying their element would be able to form a bond of friendship with them and thus they’d go back into their prison willingly, and then prove vital to defeating Tirek or whatever his female name is when they escaped from Tartarus.” Twilight took a moment to pause and catch her breath only for Rarity to gasp.

“You mean there are worlds where he and I are close friends?” she asked.

“They knew the truth of Applejack’s words when she told them that their attempt to betray their friendship, they knew that they were breaking the bounds of loyalty with Rainbow Dash, they knew that their careless cruelty with their jests was upsetting Pinkie, they knew that their self-centeredness was threatening the endless generosity and goodwill of Rarity and they were hurting their first friend with Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “From what she was told this strategy works almost flawlessly all the time and that was why she was never concerned about our Discord at all.”

“What about if it is you, Twilight?” Pinkie asked with Twilight blushing at the question.

“From what I was told, if he managed to flip all of the Elements, he and that dimension’s Magic would end up together… as,” and here Twilight mumbled the words, her face heating up even more.

“As what darling,” Rarity pried.

“As coltfriend and marefriend at first and after Tirek, they get married,” she blushed, holding her hoofs to her face. “I don’t know how that happens as I cannot see myself ever ending up with him.” She then sighed and shook her head. “But while I am glad that Celestia was able to deal with Discord without any real danger, the fact she had manipulated him so thoroughly is unsettling and unpleasant, although those who belong to Order are able to do this kind of long scale manipulation.” She paused again for a moment, before continuing.

“This isn’t an exact science, though,” Twilight warned them. “As there are a lot of multidimensions, some things and sometimes these events will not happen. Princess Celestia didn’t see the wedding invasion happening in the other worlds she went to, so she wasn’t expecting and preparing for it.”

“So what does this mean,” Starlight asked.

‘It means absolutely nothing really for us; just a somewhat more complete picture of everything,” Twilight said with a sigh. “I am still putting it all together honestly, but it did tell us something about Spliced.”

“What do you mean?” Starlight asked, obviously intrigued.

“That she isn’t a Power; she couldn’t have come into our dimension if she is one as all of ours are filled, and Powers can only come in if they’re invited or if that position is open,” Twilight told them. “And since Luna couldn’t go to her world, they have to have a Lord or Lady of Night or Dreams active… And even if they did, it would be risky as it would leave us without one, leaving it open for another one to slip in.”

“That’s why you had us remember a password and prepare a letter to Discord, in case it was an alternate instead of the you that we know,” Spike realized.

“Yes; he would have been given full carte blanche to do whatever he thought was needed to get rid of them,” Twilight said.

“When you say full carte blanche, you mean…” Rarity trailed off.

“Anything he thought would work, no matter whatever horrors he unleashed, would be forgiven.” Twilight looked grim. “It’s a last resort option in case of emergencies, but in this case, we deemed it necessary.” Then she looked at Fluttershy. “But, given his connection to you, we also knew he’d do everything he could to avoid doing any harm to this world and all its residents - he’d be focusing his power on dealing with the intruder, but avoiding causing any random destruction at the same time.”

“Ah’m sorry sugarcube,” Applejack said shaking her head. “Ah understand why Celestia did what she did but Ah can’t accept how she went about it; it’s just-”

“A completely dishonest thing to do that abuses the loyalty of a friend for self-centered reasons that mock the friendship you built up and is also cruel to the individual and risking everything?” Twilight asked, hitting home to every point. “Exactly. And believe me, I’m not happy with her right now.”

There was a chorus of winces, and some worried looks.

“So, what does this mean for the two of you?” Rainbow Dash finally asked. “I mean, being as close as you were.”

“It means that it’s best if I avoid speaking with her until I’m suitably calmed down,” Twilight said. “Which may take a while. Though I’m not the only one who’s irked at her - Luna still thinks Cadance and I should have been told about all this a lot sooner.” She took a deep breath. “Still, this leaves us with a mystery. Namely, as far as we can tell, Spliced is… unique. We haven’t seen or heard anything about her in any of the dimensions we looked in…” She took a deep breath for a moment. “Going by what I’ve observed of her, it’s clear she’s an actual pony and not something else in disguise, but there’s obviously something odd about her situation, and that worries us.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Spike asked. “Just keep on like we have been?”

“Exactly,” Twilight said before shaking her head. “For all we know, we could be wrong and she could just be a random pony that has nothing significant about her in the rest of the multiverse, but I can’t help but feel there’s something more to this whole situation. For now though, we just treat her like any other pony, and try to be her friends.”

“I still don’t trust her,” Starlight said, more to herself than to anypony in the room.

“That’s good,” Twilight said. “She is still a complete unknown to all of us, including the one Celestia that we meet through the Valley of Alicorns, who we were told is the wisest of the Celestias out there. Spliced Genome is still a war criminal and we cannot ignore that. We will try to be her friend but if anypony finds out what she did, you have to tell me immediately, even if she made you swear a Pinkie Promise - and yes, she knows about those and how serious they are,” she told Pinkie.

Everypony stiffened at that, and looked at Pinkie Pie who looked sage at the moment. “For something this important, Twilight, I can allow one break of a Pinkie Promise.”

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight before looking at her friends. “Any more questions?”

“Yeah, what is the Valley of Alicorns?” Rainbow Dash asked with Twilight smiling and beginning to explain everything that it was.