Twilight felt a light tap on her shoulder as she looked up at the coming Manehattan skyline, the sunlight's dusky light lighting up the sky with blues and purples. She glanced up at Moondancer, slightly rubbing her eyes and gently trying to keep Pinkie asleep by slowly moving out of her seat.

The train car was quiet as Twilight and Moondancer passed by each, Applejack and Rarity sleeping on top of one another, Fluttershy and Dash curled up in a corner, and the two Diamond Dogs taking each a seat of their own due to how much larger than the average pony they were.

Sliding open the train car's door and entering into the obligatory Princess car that every train in Equestria had, the two settled down to talk. Twilight personally never liked using that car due to her still getting used to being a pony who could use that privilege. Twilight saw the lines of worry all over her old friend's face, her blood red eyes pools of emotion as they sat there. The alicorn levitated a few glasses and some water over for the pair- her usual distaste for alcohol ever present.

She quietly poured the glasses and leaned back in the heavily cushioned chair and felt like a foal again.

"So Moondancer, what's on your mind?"

Moondancer tapped a hoof on the table and sighed. "A lot. If you don't want to listen I guess it's fine."

Twilight facehoofed ever so slightly. "Moon, you tapped me on the shoulder not two minutes ago, I have a terrible sleep schedule, and we both know that Manehattan is still hours away. So whatever's on your chest, I can probably spare a lot of time. Just think of it as making up for lost time."

Moondancer took a sip of her water and awkwardly shuffled in her chair. "Yeah." Moondancer looked out the window of the passing scenery, unmoving rocks and trees rushing by. They were blurs of colors, barely defined from where she was sitting but each and every one of those things had its place. Moondancer breathed slowly and lightly brushed her chest, her hooves brushing over her scars and the jewel that most likely kept her alive now. Moondancer didn't want to test that hypothesis at all, even if she couldn't completely believe everything Starlight had said "So you and. . .Pinkie. How long's that been going on?"

Twilight cocked her head, the question slightly taking her aback. "Uh, well. Let's see." Twilight brushed her hair out of her face and laid her head back on the chair, looking up at the ornate filigree that ran along the length of the car. "Probably a year? Though with how absolutely oblivious I was in the beginning, I could probably say 'the moment I walked into Ponyville' and Pinkie might agree. I actually don't know. If I had to choose though, I'd say around the time I tested her reaction to stimuli and probability games."

Moondancer smiled. "Well that's one way to get a relationship- through pure luck."

Twilight laughed. "Was that an attempt at a joke? Who are you and what have you done with Moondancer?" Twilight raised a hoof to stop her friend from responding. "I mean it was a bad joke, but as Pinkie would say 'at least there was thought put in it.' No, but seriously, you used to be the serious one in school. What happened?"

Moondancer looked down at her glass and swirled it around with a flick of her magic. " Time. Probably. I don't really get out much. Hard to really want to. I mean there's always another magical artifact to gather and collect before the enemies of Equestria do, or the new threats from outside Equestria. The Changelings. Whatever that ship was. I just don't get out much at all. So color me surprised when Twilight Sparkle comes knocking and saves the day." Moondancer pushed her glass away and rested her head on the table. "I mean you're an alicorn now and I guess I'm now alive thanks to an artifact that infects my mind with evil. It's almost a joke in itself. The whole 'you don't know what you had until it's gone' speech that Celestia gave during our graduation now seems oddly prescient."

Twilight laid a hoof on Moondancer and sighed. "I'm sorry. If this is about not sending a letter for years, I messed up."

The pitch black unicorn rolled her red eyes. "You think? I mean you left on my birthday. I don't want to say it ruined my party, but it kind of did." Moondancer huffed. "Minuette was pissed for weeks, not to mention I haven't talked to the others in far too long because I had one of my fantastic breakdowns when I blew out the candles."

Twilight cringed at the thought. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Moondancer shot her a look. "I wished you were at my party. And then my magic overloaded and took out the entire west wing of my apartment."

The purple alicorn didn't say anything for a while. "Oh." Her mind rang hollow with possible ways the conversation could turn down a better avenue. "Cool." Twilight didn't feel cool or really happy at the moment, but she just tried to fill the awkward silence with something since she really wasn't the best in these situations. Which she often realized was ironic- she was the Princess of Friendship and she was terrible at reading situations. "I mean uh, like cool in a metaphysical sense since it probably brought down the temperature in the room like multiple degrees. I mean Minuette's kind of a frigid personality when she's angry." Twilight tried to smile as she fumbled over her words, hopefully defusing a situation that almost went horrific.

Moondancer stared at Twilight for a few moments and chuckled. "I'm an idiot. I built up this whole idea of things to say to you once we got back here again and I'm lost. I mean it's not you." Moondancer paused. "It's just I made this whole idea of you coming back and being better than you were then- and now I realize how stupid I was. You're both an alicorn now, and still absolutely awful at conversations."

Twilight frowned. "I mean it's been a few years. Outside of gaining a castle and wings, it's not like I changed outright. Hard to change personality traits."

Moondancer sighed. "Yeah, but like I blew up Ironhoof for you."

Twilight stopped. "What was that?"

Moondancer stared at Twilight, realized what she said and quickly tried to shift the conversation back. "I mean I heard that you saw a-" Moondancer realized that she couldn't create some plausible alternative phrase to con Twilight into believing she misheard her. "Fuck."

Twilight breathed in. "Let me run this through my head for a moment, cause unlike my friends and, most especially Pinkie, I have to think really hard on what exactly you just said." Twilight breathed out, her voice calm and soothing, her lessons from Celestia trying to keep her voice as still as possible as she had emotions below the surface roiling like waves. "So you were the one who did all that."

Moondancer languidly nodded.

Twilight breathed in again. "And that probably caused hundreds of deaths, if not more."

Moondancer nodded.

"And you did all that for me?"

Moondancer looked up with bleary eyes.

Twilight tried to keep her emotions still. "Why?"

Moondancer almost blubbered out a halfhearted excuse but was rudely interrupted by the door sliding open and one very tired and annoyed earth pony walking in, her steps not bouncing and cheerful, her hair slightly a mess and partially falling down straight.

Pinkie took one look at the pair and sighed. "Cause she loves you Twilight. Which I had felt when I entered that place, my Pinkie Sense went all haywire for a bit trying to figure out why I felt faint hints of love that weren't the normal kind of thing I get from our friends. I mean I know all of our friends decently well, though your gender spell's been causing me a bit of a confuzzle, so having a new feeling took some getting used to." Pinkie poured herself a drink and downed it, the fruity taste and slight bitterness hinting that it must have been some alcoholic beverage.

Twilight stood stock still as she tried to figure out what exactly to say, her words stumbling over each other as she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "This totally isn't what it looks like."

The pink earth pony stretched and yawned. "Well that answers a question I both didn't ask or care about, silly. Twily, you know my business of being the most splendiferous party pony of all and that does involve a lot of fuck parties." Pinkie poked Twilight on the nose and winked. "I'm far more surprised I couldn't see this far earlier. I mean honestly Twilight you punched Shy over the whole Moondancer mess and ran halfway across Equestria to save a friend. Now I wouldn't say that you are in a romantic relationship with your evil demon friend here, but you know, crazier things happen all the time."

Moondancer's ears perked up. "You did?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "She did. And no, Twilight, that doesn't mean I completely forgive you for that. I get it, but it really hurt us for days and maybe we wouldn't have been captured if you didn't unbalance everypony beforehoof."

Twilight blushed. "I said I was sorry. Multiple times. Anyway that's guessing an alternate scenario based on a completely hypothetical situation."

Pinkie stretched to her full height and looked at Twilight. "And while I definitely don't agree with Moondancer's terrible choice of fashion sense and absolutely terrible decisions, I'm going to at least wait patiently before blowing up at her about her obsessive life choices and horrible town murder. I mean while I could make your life rather uncomfortable for the next few hours, I feel that's a Celestia thing. I mean she's the one who seems the judgy type. I mean she sent her sister to the moon for time out, she probably has to be super judgy. See? Everything's all out and fantastic. So Moondancer, I'm Pinkie and the next few hours are going to be a patented Pinkie Pie welcome party. Cause I've been planning to say hi to you for about seven days give or take a day or two, and I just want to get all this horrible stress out."

Twilight scratched her head. "What?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Seriously, for how smart both of you are, I feel like you didn't get the whole 'Conversation 101' class from the school of hard knocks." Pinkie bounced up and stood precariously on the table. "But if Professor Pinkie has to explain it- Speed dating, Twilight. Well, technically speed fucking, but Moondancer totally wants to bone and you always want to bone now so let's cut out the middlemare and totally bone."

Moondancer looked askance at Twilight. "Is she being serious?"

Twilight frowned. "Pinkie, that isn't how any of this works. I think. I mean I haven't really speed dated or any of that but that just seems wrong to me. And we've talked about this heavily. I mean you nonironically said you were, and I can't believe I'm repeating this-" Twilight sighed heavily as she tried to whisper the word. "Twilightsexual."

Pinkie stretched and lay back on the table, looking up at Twilight. "That does sound like me, yeah. But I guess I have a corollary to that."

Twilight groaned. She really shouldn't have given Pinkie a thesaurus as a gag gift. "And what is that?"

Pinkie smiled. "The Laughter Corollary. See, I know you and I have a great relationship and I get all my fun from you, but honestly you tire me out sometimes." Pinkie placed a hoof on Twilight's mouth before her bookworm could say anything. "I know, completely insane. But it's true." Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows at Twilight. "I mean the amount of mindblowing sex I get from you rivals some of my more insane parties. And I get that every single day. So sharing you with a few others might give me some free time to, I don't know, hang out with the rest of our friends and get back to event planning. I mean honestly, I'm Ponyville's premier party planner and I haven't planned Big Mac's and Caramel's future bachelor party yet. And from what's swimming around in my head and from what I've heard about Canterlot gay clubs, it's going to be so radical. And the girls keep asking me why I haven't hung out with them for a while."

Moondancer awkwardly coughed as she tried to shift into smoke and fly away as far as possible.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, be nice to Moondancer. I mean this in the most lovable way, but she's not used to, well, you and I feel like you're coming on a bit too strong."

The earth pony frowned. "Twilight, sometimes you just don't understand foreplay. But sure if you asked so nicely." Pinkie lay back and tried to fake a Rarity impression. "But if you insist, I'm being ever so generous to share a princess. Now as the less refined classes say, let's fuck."

The purple alicorn groaned. "That was terrible and also missed the point."

Pinkie smiled. "Well I imitate Fluttershy way too well and I still don't know exactly what she'd say in that situation so I went with Rarity cause I know she gets laid." With a flourish, Pinkie slid off the table and slunk her way over to Twilight, her hips slightly swaying. "Now, Twilight can you pretty please give me a dick right now. I mean I would if I could but sadly, I am just a lowly earth pony without a horn." Pinkie sat next to Twilight, her body draped over her rather embarrassed marfriend like a shroud.

Moondancer, for her part, was matching and exceeding Twilight's embarrassment, her body shifting in and out of her umbral form unconsciously, her embarrassment etched on her face and gem, a red glow suffusing her body. Moondancer wondered briefly if that was what a blush looked like now. A whole body glow of emotion and she resented that.

Twilight sighed, feeling Pinkie grind her plush self against Twilight, the only thing separating Twilight from losing her cool and giving Pinkie exactly what she wanted was that Twilight was better than that. She had immense mental fortitude, gained from years of reading the most difficult of books and never leaving her room, even for a party. She was not going to just lay down and take Pinkie at her word.

In total, Twilight's reluctance lasted at most twenty seconds.

"Fine. I've been pent up anyway. Not cause of you, just this last week has been such a mess."

Pinkie shot Twilight a knowing look. "Of course."

Moondancer flew up to the ceiling as Pinkie strode on over to the table again and lay herself upon it. She watched with mild curiosity as Twilight started concentrating, Moondancer seeing sigils and runes all over the air as she traced out what the spell could do in her mind. She felt a tinge of excitement and something more when she realized that she could only partially make out what the spell did- her job and general distaste for the outside world made her only partially connected to the magical wing of things. Not that she wasn't deeply attuned to it, just that most of the time the spells that the university created were usually so trite and boring. It was usually more interesting to make your own cavalcade of spells.

Pinkie pointed at Moondancer and grinned. "Hey, Twilight, let's show off for your friend. Add in a typical Tuesday and Wednesday- let's not go too crazy." Twilight groaned at that. "No turning me into a giant blob again. Even though that felt so weird and cool."

Twilight added on another layer, weaving the spells together, her scientific method of magic making it far easier to cast something again the second or third time- hopefully ironing out most of the kinks. Twilight blasted Pinkie with the concoction of spells, her knowledge and Pinkie's sheer enjoyment of being a test subject making her confident in her abilities. Twilight breathed out and used her magic on Pinkie.

In a flash, Moondancer looked down and noticed there were more ponies than there were before- not to mention that all of them were undoubtedly male, their stallionhoods at full mast and far larger than any of Moondancer's hidden sex toys that she was used to. Moondancer blushed furiously as she tried to keep calm, the idea of there being stallions in the same room as her still was a heady prospect.

"Hey, Twilight." One of the Pinkies stretched out his hoof and waved.

"Why are you so cheerful?" The other Pinkie whined.

Moondancer slid down and shifted back to normal, her curiosity outweighing her need to run away, the sheer idea of there being two ponies from one seemed to break all forms of magical laws. Moondancer went into full research mode, quietly humming to herself as she slid up to and poked the two stallions.

"That tickles-" the bubbly pink stallion giggled as he was poked in the chest.

"Cool, didn't ask to be touched but sure let's have Twilight Two rub me down." The languid one sighed as he brushed hair out of his face.

Moondancer blushed as she felt a wetness start to run down her thigh as she tried to keep herself focused, her nose now realizing there was an overwhelming musk coming from these two. Which should have been impossible, since if this was a magical construct- there would have been no smell. Or at least her nightly creations of Twilights usually didn't have this kind of sheer craftsmareship. Moondancer stared at Twilight and stumbled over her hooves as she tried to run as fast to as she could to the alicorn, her mind racing with possibilities. She unfortunately took a wrong step and stumbled into Twilight's lap, her head squarely in it, her rosy blush lighting up her face in shame as she tried to get out of Twilight's crotch. "Uh, oh, okay, Twilight, how did you split Pinkie? How, it's supposed to be impossible for constructs to be so lifelike."

Twilight sighed as she watched the two Pinkies slightly bicker between each other. "Experience with the Moon Pool. And no, I'm not showing you where that thing is." Twilight slid Moondancer out of her lap and shifted, taking a drink from her water glass. "Can't just create things from nothing. Though the Moon Pool works on matter in ways I don't know enough about yet to sketch out how it breaks the conversation of mass while making constructs that think, feel, and exist beyond the life of a simple spell- I used a similar spell to copy them. So welcome to my Tuesday regimen. A therapy session."

Moondancer looked at the two Pinkies who just made faces at one another. "You can't be serious."

"Blame Sunbutt for the idea." The shorter and more curt one spoke. "I mean she did say it was for Twilight's own good. And mine, I guess. Like that isn't the biggest joke ever. Therapy sessions are so obnoxious. Like I know I'm a mess."

The larger and more masculine Pinkie lightly punched the other in the shoulder as he gave him a look. "Hush, Spice. Twilight, can you get to the point. Getting rather bored here just hearing you talk and not get your usual treatment. I mean a few minutes is now your personal record."

Moondancer raised an eyebrow. "Personal record?"

Twilight glared at the pair. "Don't ask. So where was I? Moon Pool? Ah, yes. these two." Twilight hunched over and put her face in her hooves. "Meet Sugar and Spice." Moondancer slightly chuckled at the names. "I mean they are rather silly and on the nose names, but Pinkie didn't want to name these two 'Happiness' and 'Depression'

Spice rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. "Well I tried to name myself, but this meathead here said all my ideas were too edgy."

"You tried to name yourself 'Lead Balloon' or something related to death." Sugar groaned.

"And you bastard named us for sugar, spice, and everything nice. How did you think I'd take being named like a foal's rhyme on a whim? Like you just go on a lark and just do what you want with no consequences." Spice glared at his very annoying other self.

"Foal games are not larks. They are spendiferous thoughts and excitement."

"My dick's an excitement that makes me feel something besides the sheer existential dread of the void."

"Well I don't have to use crude methods to bring joy to the world."

"Joy is fleeting, Ask our parents that."

Moondancer nudged Twilight. "Are you going to break them up or something cause this is getting nowhere."

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. "As I said, there's some kinks with the spell I have to iron out before truly publishing it. And partially that's because I just can't get enough data to just run through all the different stress tests by myself. I mean one Pinkie's hard enough to deal with? Try handling two who butt heads all the time."

Sugar and Spice rolled their eyes and spoke in unison. "We agree on some things. I mean our list is pretty small, but still. Twilight. Parties. The Cakes. Our-"

Spice coughed. "Well three things. One of the four we came up with was a negative agreement. Which still counts but it's not like a positive fun time."

Moondancer stared at Twilight. "Should I go somewhere else cause while I just love seeing magic, I don't really love hearing every single time your marefriend mentions how hot you are. Or how she's a walking mess."

Spice bounced over and poked Moondancer on the nose. "Now we're getting somewhere. Does hearing how awesome Twilight is at sex make you jealous? Cause I have to say yeah. Totally accurate. And if you think that's crazy, you should see Twilight as a stallion." Spice slid himself up and pulled Moondancer in close. "That dick is like a work of art. I mean it brought me feelings I didn't even know I had."

Moondancer blushed profusely, her face aglow with heat. "I'm totally not jealous"

Spice grinned. "Well then I guess then you'd be fine with my rather meaty assistant over there to just plow Twilight."

Twilight facehoofed. "Don't I have a say in this?"

The Pinkies looked at each other and giggled.

Moondancer stared, her emotions all aflutter. "Why are you two laughing Like this is awkward and weird and you're just laughing about nothing."

Sugar and Spice shrugged, speaking in unison. "We aren't going to screw. That's ridiculous for a first meeting. Not that I haven't put out like that before but it takes a special sort to do that. Come on, I keep trying to get you to open up and show some sort of emotion. Annoyance is a start, jealousy is a start. I mean I don't even know anything about you and all I have to go on is 'thinks Twilight is hot' and 'was Twilight's friend'. Well discounting the whole 'probably helped murder a town' and 'is possibly evil now'. I was testing you with my Pinkie Sense and you passed. She's pretty clean, Twilight."

Moondancer stared down at the floor, her mind awash with feelings. "This was all a test? All of that mess? Are you an- no, no, I'm cool." Moondancer breathed in and out, trying desperately to control the jewel's influence. "I mean it's not like you played me to make sure I wasn't evil. That feels fantastic." Moondancer glowered at the pair.

Twilight sighed and ended the test, the two Pinkies merging together in a mass of limbs and heads until a dazed and shook Pinkie stood in front of the two old friends. "I had to test you, Moon. Couldn't keep up the ruse, Twily, it just felt wrong."

Moondancer turned to smoke and surrounded Twilight, her anger and emotions taking the better of her. "Tell me why you thought this was even a good idea."

Twilight coughed. "I told Celestia already. She was the one that suggested this."

Moondancer breathed in and felt a wave of hatred wash over her like saltwater, bitter and drowning, as she looked at Twilight. The jewel whispered so many horrible things it could teach her with an alicorn since they were technically unable to die. She looked at Twilight's wings and imagined twisting them off while she watched. Moondancer breathed out and the jewel went away for the moment. She felt worry deep within her at her anger and she tried to focus on the moment and her feelings, centering herself in the moment just so she wouldn't do anything rash. "You're telling me you decided to test me, your very first friend, to see if I was evil. And Celestia of all ponies was perfectly hunky dory about this?"

Twilight ran her hoof through her mane. "Well it sounds like Canterlot's been rather destabilized from Starlight interacting with the population. The Princess was talking about some new cult popping up and I feel like what happened at Ironhoof, and that includes what you did, won't help things when that gets out."

Moondancer pounded her hoof on the table, the glasses jumping in relief as she glared at Twilight. "I don't care if Canterlot is having a rough time or not. That doesn't make it okay. I mean sure I did horrible and terrible things there but look at me, I have an artifact of dark magic well known to cause psychosis and overall evil placed in me by a crazy pony to keep me alive. It's like she forgot that kind of detail. You don't think I just have to look in the mirror and see how changed I am, Yeah let's just unbalance the pony who is holding unimaginable power and training to be resourceful enough and with gray enough morals to do whatever she tells me to and say 'you passed'.

Twilight looked at Pinkie who said nothing. "I mean I was going to do it when we got to Manehattan, but since you asked to catch up I wanted to-"

"To humiliate me in front of your marefriend? Whoopidy fucking do, Twilight, I'm sure feeling fantastic right now." Moondancer grabbed a nearby wine bottle and popped the top, the pop loud in the silence, and chugged it down. "But cool, I guess if we're on the whole sharing horrible feelings and everypony's here being great, I need to ask, why even do the whole 'let's make up by screwing thing' if you weren't comfortable with that cause what the fuck is that mess?"

Pinkie quietly piped up. "That wasn't my idea really. Pinkie Pie Parties are technically only valid and truthful if everypony in the venue is consenting and depending on the planned party- of age, therefore peer pressure and awkward avoidance would void the offer. The offer stands but I think it's going to be another time for me. The mood of the room is just not a good feeling right now."

Twilight stared at Pinkie. "Why do you sound like a lawyer?"

"What? I have a degree in Partyology, of course I have to keep up to date on consent and laws like that if I host a party. If something went wrong, I'd be technically liable for stuff. I don't do stuff like this in half measures, even if the backend stuff like laws and stuff is so boring." Pinkie sat down and stared demurely at the pitch black unicorn. "So, Moondancer, I'm sorry about that."

Moondancer sighed and tossed the bottle away, the glass bottle rolling down the train car. " Thanks. I'll think about your offer. I mean at least one pony was reasonable. Even if it wasn't the pony I expected it from. Look, Twilight, I'm tired, I just confessed actual feelings for the first time in years, and it seems like I got tricked into a pop quiz of goodness. I'm going to go up to the roof and vent and I won't stop you from coming up and reminiscing- like I wanted." Moondancer opened the window near her just enough so she could fit her gem through and shifted into her umbral form and flew away, the chill October air greeting her cooling emotions.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow.

Twilight facehoofed as she tried to not look at Pinkie. "And this is why you're the party planner and I'm the princess."

Pinkie waved a hoof.

"And next time, don't rope you into things you already said wouldn't work."

Pinkie placed a large hoof on his marefriend. "That's it. And Twilight?"

Twilight's ears perked up.

"If it gets to it somehow, though I highly doubt it, you two can do the fun stuff we were setting up- for real. Cause I wasn't lying, she does have strong feelings about you." Pinkie lightly kissed Twilight. "But I'm not being a part of it unless you two come to an agreement or she comes to it herself. You can't rush these things, Twilight. And you can't use love as a test of goodness."

"Celestia-" Twilight stammered.

Pinkie's eyes grew cross. "Sometimes has really bad ideas. I mean seriously, I don't know how you didn't have red flags going off about her permission when you're a princess and can just say she's under your care or guidance or something. Something better than this." Pinkie shook his head and leaned back on the couch. "I love you, but sometimes you're just too good at following advice."

Moondancer breathed in the chilly air, the week away had brought the chill but manageable temperatures of late autumn into the brisk nightly temperatures of early winter, her fur standing on end to keep herself warm after the week in a slightly more southerly, and far more arid place. She sighed inwardly at the thought of seeing what pegasi saw all the time, their connection to the weather and clouds- and wings- giving them an edge on just being able to see the big picture. Or at least a picture that Moondancer wasn't in currently. She rubbed her chest and traced the bump of the jewel, its facets and cuts etched within her skin, scarring lodging it firmly in her chest, the emotional mood swings already telling her of the sheer symbiotic relationship the magic connection had to be brewing deep wg ithin her, the tendrils of dark magic twisting her emotions into a angry stew of reaction and pain.

It wasn't completely unfounded though. She just worried over a lot of things ever since the whole going to die and being kidnapped thing had worn off and while she'd love to continue her duties of being Canterlot's resident archmage, she had reality to contend with. The sheer fact of the matter being that she would be looked at askance by the large portion of Canterlotians as having blood red eyes and a change in fur from creamy yellow white into pitch black would raise red flags. Moondancer could easily see the welcome back party turn into a fearful riot as she took the stage, the screams of terrified ponies echoing through the hall.

It wasn't an odd thing. From what she could remember from the few parties Celestia had ordered her to go to, ponies still looked at the Princess of the Night like Nightmare Moon was a second away from taking over. Then there was the widely talked about report on the Crystal Empire, and sadly the reappearance of the Empire had one conspicuous interloper that looked eerily like Moondancer did now.

Moondancer groaned at the thought of the Canterlot papers just having an absolute field day about her being either related to Sombra or being possessed by him or some other whackadoo idea that she would have to take years to dismantle and dissuade fears about.

"Shit. My life's just going to be absolutely fantastic when I get back."

A chuckle came from her side as hooves touched down on the metal of the train. "Well I can relate."

Moondancer rolled her eyes. "Twilight."

The purple alicorn awkwardly moved, her limbs used to an unmoving surface, or at least being inside a train. Deciding that the best course of action was to just get down and sit then try and talk to Moondancer while worrying about falling off a train, she sat and looked at Moondancer, weighing each possible word she could say to her. "Well I mean I don't know about your situation and how that'd pan out, but seriously for months after I got these wings, every newspaper thought I had died and come back to life through some weird Princess plot. Which sounds completely bonkers."

Moondancer rolled on her side and looked at Twilight. "So did you? Die, I mean."

Twilight shrugged. "I don't think so. Though I got to see my life flash before my eyes as I talked to Celestia about my accomplishments, so if you want to argue semantics over if I died and got my soul placed into a similar looking alicorn body as a prize, we could do that to pass the time."

Moondancer shook her head. "No. I guess I did though. Die. I mean I don't have your fancy story about going to some awesome place and seeing my life and all that, but I remember the moment before I died and the moment after. Add the pain of being impaled through my chest and all I felt was like I woke up from a nap. A decidedly awful nap. So sue me for being rather pissed off about your whole charade back there. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, coming from you."

Twilight cringed as she tried to think back on whatever she did in the past just in case. "Why?"

Moondancer coldly laughed. "Nothing. Just surprised you'd save me. I mean you spent years in Ponyville living your best life while you forgot about all of us in Canterlot. I mean you could have seen me any time you wanted whenever you saved the day in the city. Or at least talked to Minuette. I mean she has an entire list of friends in Ponyville and sees you around town and I bet you never spoke to her at all."

Twilight thought back. Maybe Minuette was there. The dentist did look like one of her old friends and she wondered why she never talked to her. If it was who Moondancer was talking about then she saw her yearly for teeth cleanings and yet she just had blocked it out. Her life was just too hectic and possibly things ended too abruptly to even think about her old friends. Twilight groaned at the thought, realizing that the moment she walked into Ponyville she had been inundated by friends and problems for so long that maybe she just let the memory fester away in her mind and die.

"I have no excuse for that. I mean I could say I've saved the world six or seven times but that doesn't mean it was right. And being an alicorn doesn't mean that I can't be called out when I messed up."

Moondancer sulked and said nothing.

Twilight looked up at the moon and sighed. "Being the Princess of Friendship doesn't mean I'm the best friend possible. I probably focused too hard on books and let my friendships wither away, I didn't tell anypony I knew that I was being sent away. And that includes my family cause Cadance told me after the mess of the wedding that she had to ask Celestia about where I was. Even after I got all my new friends, I did things that hurt them. This week and everything that happened with Starlight tells me I have problems I have to work with. Stress. Anger. Fear. Love. Even after years I still see myself as this pony that doesn't understand why others do the things they do." Twilight got up and stretched her wings. "I don't know what your confession of feelings means for us, but it was nice to see you again, Moony, and you gave me things to think about."

Moondancer could hear Twilight's steps start fading away, the hooves on metal clopping into the distance. Moondancer grumbled as she tried to weigh her feelings of betrayal and her feelings for Twilight, her brain awash in conflicting emotion. Taking a deep breath, Moondancer spoke.

"Wait."

Applejack heard Twilight somehow outside the window of the train as she stirred awake in the darkness. Her eyes tired and her body cramped in the train seat, pushed to the absolute corner, her face on the window as Rarity stretched out and took the prime real estate that she so desperately wanted. Her body hadn't felt the kicks of a child deep within her but her changed mood and more careful feelings about safety and worry tinged hr mind. She praised Celestia that she hadn't been fully wracked by morning sickness, though the thought of certain foods still kept her on her hooves with the quesy stomach that she had to now contend with every day.

She looked out into the coming darkness, mountains and little hovels passing by like fleeting blades of grass, each moment a snapshot of time that would possibly never come again, her thoughts racing with feelings as she traced Rarity's face with an orange hoof, her touch light enough to have the fashionable unicorn not wake up.

"What will I ever do with you?"

She sighed as she felt conflicting feelings towards the unicorn. Sometimes she could feel the highest of highs with her, the thought of being together in some random hayloft just talking about each other's day each swapping stories of things that kept each other like a coiled rattlesnake, the anger right below the surface, as they talked about an annoying family moment that in hindsight was perfectly okay, or a customer that presumed too much about fashion.

The little things.

Applejack laughed, her chuckle low and husky as she took off her hat and laid it on the unicorn she loved enough to look past most of her issues. The dramatic perfectionist that went into hysterics over a hair being out of place, being so focused on what others think that she couldn't be tethered into reality at times. Applejack remembered a few times when she had to force Rarity to eat to not starve herself during one of her business orders. That didn't happen much anymore, though the expansion of her business made the unicorn have this nervous twitch whenever she thought Applejack wasn't looking.

She was the Element of Honesty- not like she could miss the bags under her marefriend's eyes covered by makeup or Applejack finding her slumped over her desk nowadays.

She kept Rarity focused on reality and sometimes carried her to bed.

Rarity, for her part, never mentioned why she woke up in her bed on those days.

Applejack lightly brushed Rarity's purple locks, feeling knots that usually weren't there, the mare's sheer focus on respectability usually keeping her hair coiffed and pressed just in case there was a business offer.

The orange earth pony sighed as she rubbed her stomach and wondered at the life growing inside her, the idea of there being another Apple growing like a seed because of Rarity. She wondered what she would tell the little one years from now, the idea of even trying to explain how they were created in a fit of passion and coincidence of a lot of things. Twilight's spell, Rarity's rare day off from work, Applejack's need.

She wasn't completely blameless, but she also wasn't completely at fault. Maybe this was what her own mother felt when she learned she'd have Big Mac or maybe she was perfectly happy knowing she'd be a part of the family. Applejack didn't know much about her mother, the rare comment from Granny, an even rarer picture, and whispers of her on the lips of ponies when they talked about how similar Applejack and her mother were in spirit and how proud she'd be of her.

Applejack looked up at the moon and rested her head on the glass, her daily thoughts spilling out in her nightly talk to something ethereal and beyond herself. "Wonder what you think of me. I mean Granny tells me that you're up there looking down, but I don't know. I mean I feel you in the leaves and the sun shining down, but it's not the same as hearing your voice or feeling the touch of a guiding hoof. And I can't just tell Granny about my predicament, that would positively crush her spirit."

Applejack wiped away a tear as she lay back and tried to stretch her limbs, her body heavy and exhausted. "But that's just me. Big Mac and Applebloom are doing well. Even if Big Mac's doing things that Granny probably doesn't like, what with her traditional ways, he's happy and all. Even if I don't really see what he does in that Caramel. And Applebloom's growing like a weed. She's doing fine and looks just like her old man." Applejack caught herself as she felt emotion well up in her. Rarity pushed against her as she tried to get comfortable, the unicorn's head in the crook of her shoulder. Applejack slyly grinned and wished she had a camera or something to remember this moment, the sheer image of Rarity being at rest and not being awakened at the touch of a hoof so rare that she had to pinch herself just to check if she wasn't imagining it.

Applejack lay her head back.Everything wasn't perfect and she'd have a talk with Rarity soon about her overly protective and suffocating nature, but things were okay. Better than they could be and that's all that mattered now. Applejack yawned. "Hope you and dad are doing well up there."

The train passed through Manehattan, the wheels clacking in time, constant, never faltering as it swept through small towns that would only wake up for a Wonderbolts performance or some holiday- these towns like Dodge Junction on their own time and speed. Rainbow felt the wind pass through her hair as she stared out the window, unable to truly sleep. Not that she didn't try, far from it. Just that the noise that Twilight had made and the thoughts all still swimming in her head keeping her there in the moment and away from the cozy dreamland.

Though the seats on her borrowed body sure didn't help since Fluttershy's body naturally just took up more of a seat than she was expecting, and the sheer uncomfortable nature of having to deal with the new confines of a surprisingly claustrophobic inducing feeling in her chest while Fluttershy was sitting just fine and dandy on her head. Dash grumbled. "I'm not going to ever joke about how Fluttershy is larger than life ever again cause this is wrecking my back." Dash put a yellow hoof on her spine and eased back gently wishing that there was a pillow of some kind that made her slightly less like she was in a coffin.

She listened to Rarity and Applejack snore and wished that she was just there. Asleep.

She saw the light of the moon drape across her like a blanket as it let its light bathe her in its cool air, the October air prickling the yellow feathers on her wings to stand on end as she lightly preened herself, only grabbing feathers she could reach in this compromising position with her teeth and yanking out the ones that where too damaged or torn. Spitting out each feather quietly kept her mind focused and away from what kept her dreams all confusing and strange.

Every time she closed her eyes now, she could see a faint shadow of the spell Starlight used in her peripheral vision, lanky limbs and multicolored hair, the foal just sitting there staring at her smiling, a sound of bells just there ringing in her ears as she looked and looked, etching the face of nothing.

It wasn't real. The spell told her it wasn't.

She wondered if she was going soft, the idea of lingering on something like that probably told her enough of her mental state. It was just some lingering effects of the spell that would pass and just bring her back to normal, her life resuming like it usually did after one of these things. They saved the day.

And yet as she blinked, she could see the mare the spell and her mind made up. Just there smiling.

Dash took a breath as she tried to put her mind off of it. She tried to psyche herself up as she tried to think of things that would keep her awesome self in check. She quietly repeated them as she tried to keep her eyes wide open. "Daring Do, the Wonderbolts, Rainbooms, strength contests, cider, Tank, Fluttershy" She trailed off as she blinked and saw the image again.

She sighed. She desperately tried to keep her mind away from accepting what she had felt when she was yanked away from the nightmare. She felt two conflicting emotions- happiness due to the fact that the dream was a never ending nightmare, dreams within dreams, each more strange and abstract than the last.

And sadness for being yanked away from a very brief glimpse of what she wanted from the future. It wasn't like she was unhappy about her life, far from it, but the fact of the matter was that she had a great marefriend, her dream, a decent job, a house and pet, friends that cared for her.

And yet she still felt like there was something missing.

She blinked again and heard the faint calliope sounds that rang through her childhood, the melody of the circus burnt ever so deeply in her brain that she could feel her heartbeat provide a rhythmic back beat in her chest. She wondered where the circus was now, the idea of a decade and a half of time blurring her memories ever so slightly. Not enough to let them fade, but the distance of time brought a sheen of nostalgia over her as she breathed in the phantom smells of popcorn and candy, the sounds of animals gathered from around the world and one firm ringleader conducting it all like a well oiled machine.

Dash felt a tiny hoof on hers. She didn't dare look to ruin the moment. She could smell Fluttershy's sweet smell as she turned back to the circus, her attention fully focused on the spectacle of the show.

Dash mumbled about foals in her sleep as she fell asleep, the good dream bringing her peaceful slumber as she swore she could hear the beating of nearby wings, and a quiet laugh as the moon slowly set, the sun beginning to switch places as the train rolled into Canterlot.

Twilight wiped away a tear as she saw the sun rise, the rays bathing her in warmth that felt like Celestia was right there looking down on her. She smiled and laid back on the train, her eyelids heavy from days and hours of restless sleep and having a heart to heart with Moondancer. "Looks like we talked the night away."

Moondancer shrugged. "Guess when you put two introverts into a messy situation, they can talk about anything." The umbral unicorn sighed. "Still doesn't mean I forgive you, but if I can be in the same room as you- that is a start."

Twilight gingerly put her hoof out. "Yeah, let's start over." Twilight grinned. "My name's Twilight. Current Princess of Friendship, previous student of Princess Celestia, and a really inconsistent friend."

Moondancer rolled her eyes. "You're actually doing this?" Moondancer groaned. "Fine. My name's Moondancer, current archmage of Canterlot, raging ball of hate, and I hate being outside."

The two stared at each other and laughed.

Twilight got up and flexed her wings. "I'm sorry, Moony. I'd offer you to come visit in Ponyville whenever you want." Twilight paused and thought. "Wait, what day is it?"

Moondancer shrugged. "How should I know? I think it's the 28th, but with how messed up the last week has been, I have no clue anymore."

Twilight's eyes lit up. "You have free time during Nightmare Night? Cause I have a great idea."

Moondancer ran her hooves through her mane. "I really don't know. I mean after the whole Ironhoof mess and what with tonight I really have to think of a few things." Moondancer kicked a hoof. "Mainly that I really hate change and if I decided to leave, I really wouldn't know where I'd stay or do for work. But I could probably take time off for it."

Twilight clapped her hooves together. "Sounds like a plan." Twilight would have said more, but the town of Canterlot came into full view. Twilight briefly hugged Moondancer- who awkwardly wrapped her hooves around the alicorn- and felt the umbral unicorn slip away, the jewel lingering briefly in her left forehoof until distance pulled it away from her. The wisp of black smoke that snaked its way towards Canterlot was the only thing that would have marred the picture of an unusually warm day for the end of October.

As the train finally snaked its way towards the final leg towards Ponyville, she sat and watched that image become smaller and smaller, until Canterlot was just a brief dot on the horizon.

She was just glad that things were going back to normal.

"Here's your mail, archmage." The crystal pony mailstallion pulled out a few parcels and a few letters out of his cart, the golden ribbons and gaudy paper telling Sunburst exactly who it was from. The weekly adult letter from his rapidly aging mother- if any of her letters were to be believed.

Though whenever he took a train to Sire's Hollow, she looked to be the epitome of perfect health and usually gave him seven plans to Sunday about his future.

He set down his copy of Clover the Clever's Magical Arcanum, graciously borrowed from the Crystal Empire Library, careful not to crease or damage the book in any way due to it being both an ancient relic out of time and also just a fantastic read. The whole Empire was. Books that were only mentioned in sources were now being found in houses all around- the fact of the matter being that having an entire land pop back into constant talks with Equestria after a thousand years of nothing was just a whole new kind of exciting for a scholar such as himself.

"Thank you." Sunburst awkwardly nodded, his voice high pitched and slightly nervous from just speaking out loud, his usual methods being completely focused on magic and the theoretical applications of it. He didn't really get many visitors. "Here's a few denarii." Sunburst levitated out the Empire's own currency, the silver coins glinting in the sun. He didn't know why the Empire just used the bit system- probably some tradition was keeping them from switching.

The mailstallion bowed and cantered away, carefully balancing the coins on his cap.

Sunburst had a very odd feeling that he just overpaid for mail as he closed the door, the sheer fact of his assignment as the archmage for the Empire being only a few months old by this point, and his overall focus on work made picking up what the difference between the bronze, silver, and gold system that the Empire had for coins as too taxing for his mind.

Though with how the Princess of Love paid him for his magic services for the Royal Family as a whole, it wasn't like losing a few denarii was detrimental in his research.

He shrugged and tossed yet another present from his well meaning but overbearing mother into the pile, his horn lighting up gold as he wrote up a standard letter home. He put in the standard platitudes, with just enough variation and weekly happenings to not make it seem like he was not being a dutiful son. With a light flourish, he signed his name and gently placed his seal onto the paper. He never liked doing that. It felt fraudulent at times since he didn't completely see what Cadance had seen in his thesis and resume to choose him with Celestia's blessing as the first archmage of the Empire. It was a huge job and his nerves sometimes got the best of him.

He finally turned to see what the next letter contained, the idea of their being somepony that would even send him a letter that wasn't his mother was foreign to him.

He carefully scanned it briefly for any hexes, curses, or poisons with a few rudimentary spells that every archmage was supposed to learn due to their higher status and political power within Equestria. A slight hassle to be sure, but he'd rather be alive than dead.

Finding nothing, he opened it, the stationery of Princess Celestia with its gold leaf and red ink stared back at him. Which was strange since he didn't expect the monthly report until next week, but as he saw with his own two bespectacled eyes, it did have Equestria's new royal seal of a lunar eclipse to show the diarchy in shorthoofed language and it also had her personal assistant's writing style and signature beneath.

It was a legitimate letter from Celestia.

He gulped as he tried to straighten his cloak, the idea of Celestia sending a personal letter to him worrying him immensely. He took a breath and slowly read the letter. And then he read it again. And once again just to make sure what he was reading.

Dropping the letter to the floor, he stumbled over to his trunk of personal belongings, the trunk old and worn with time. He slowly opened the chest and pulled out a small golden journal and turned it to the final page.

He looked down and saw the choppy hoofwriting of a filly he used to know very well.

"I promise, Burst, that I will make your dream of a happy Equestria come true. It's such a good dream. When you get your cutie mark, I bet you'll be the best unicorn ever. Your friend, Star.

Starburst looked up at the ceiling and felt ill as he felt butterflies in his stomach as he slowly began to think of how to pack the bare essentials in order to take a journey outside of his doorway. He had to fix whatever was going on.