We pushed the panel that lead back into Stable 27b open and entered the metal hallway. Blossom secured it again as we started down the hall towards the clinic again. My ears perked up a little when I suddenly heard the sound of crying echoing through the halls, a loud wailing crying that seemed to resonate in my very soul.

“Is that…” Neivi started to say.

“Probably,” I said with a sigh as we picked up the pace towards the clinic. “Come on, we need to get there, NOW!”

We ran down the hallway past the door leading to the atrium as we headed towards the clinic. I had never run this fast in my life, both Moonlight and the life of a foal were at stake here and I wasn’t about to let anything happen to that filly.

“How did she even get in here?” Neivi asked. “Moonlight’s still a magic novice isn’t she? Outside of dream walking she shouldn’t be able to do much.”

“Yeah, unless she was able ta learn them quickly thanks ta whatever they did ta her,” Storm pointed out. “She could’ve easily just teleported here like yah can Firelight.”

“Yeah…” I said with a shake of my head as we went past another door to the Atrium. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

As we kept walking that feeling just kept getting stronger. I checked my PipBuck for a moment, something about this was wrong, it said that we had only been walking for a short time but it felt like we had been walking even longer.

“Does, something about this feel off to anyone else?” I asked as I looked at my friends and Blossom. “I swear, we should have reached the clinic by now…”

“It’s called adrenaline.” Blossom said between breaths. “You’re fine, just stop thinking so much into it.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I said as we passed yet another atrium door, something about that kept bugging me, how many atrium doors did this Stable have on the way to the clinic?

“Come on, where is it…” Storm muttered as she looked around for any sign of the clinic before noticing a sign that pointed towards it. “That way!”

We turned down the hallway the sign was pointing. I swear all these hallways looked the same to me no matter which way we turned. The sound of hooves against metal filled my ears as we looked around for the clinic.

Something still felt incredibly wrong to me. “Blossom, are you sure there’s not something wrong?”

“Firelight, Ah think she knows this Stable better than we do,” Storm pointed out.

“Yeah I know its just…” I said before we rounded another corner and came face to face with, another Atrium door. “Okay, now I know something is wrong.”

“How are we going around in circles?” Neivi asked.

“It is possible… that I am not thinking straight.” Blossom said, stumbling backwards. “Panic makes your mind do funny things…” She said, shaking her head before she’d sigh. “I have lived in this Stable all my life, I should know where we are and where we need to go… but, the more I look around the more I feel like, this isn’t the place I remember it being.”

“Okay, let’s stop running and gather our thoughts here,” Neivi said. “We’re literally not getting anywhere with this. What does the PipBuck map or the EFS say?”

“Screw that.” Blossom said before she simply closed her eyes and stood up tall, taking deep breaths as though she was concentrating before she’d turn to face a nearby hallway. “There,” she quickly said before she took off towards it and quickly disappearing from our sight.

“Lets go,” I said and Neivi just shrugged as we ran off after Blossom.

Blossom was already more than halfway down that hallway, running towards what looked to be a dead end, I was about to call out to her to get her to stop before I saw her horn glow and a burst of magic shoot out in front of her, blasting a hole in the wall.

“Hold on baby! Mama’s coming!” Blossom called out as she jumped through the hole she had made. “And Sorry Overmare, but some things are more important.”

We jumped through the hole after her. The broken metal scraped against my wings and back a little as I pulled through, cursing my larger build compared to the others.

“How far ta tha clinic?” Storm called up to Blossom.

“If I keep blasting through walls, not too much farther.” She called back, turning an upcoming corner and disappearing from view once more.

“Let’s hope she’s right…” I said as we turned the corner after her.

When Blossom was back in sight, we saw her sitting down in the middle of the hallway staring at a overhead sign, she seemed to be slightly sobbing.

“Blossom, what’s wrong?” I asked as we approached the sobbing mare.

“Don’t you see the sign?..” She said, pointing up at it. “Can’t you read it?”

I looked up at the sign and blinked. There was nothing there, it didn’t say anything and it was just blank.

“Uh,” Storm said as she adjusted her hat a little. “Call me crazy but Ah don’t see anythin’. What exactly does it say?”

Blossom went to speak but was having issues with her words, closing her eyes and shaking her head before she got back up to her hooves and took off down the hallway. “I refuse to believe it.”

“Blossom wait!” I said as I ran down the hall after her. “What did you see? What don’t you want to believe?”

“Just a little farther, one more wall oughta do it.” Blossom said, horn starting to glow brighter than before. “Right, through this wall… should be my office.”

“Okay,” I said, I was still a little worried as my friends caught up to us. “Go ahead then, let’s save them.”

“Look, things aren’t right, I know they aren’t right, I can feel it and before we get in there, I have to say I have no clue what is going to be waiting for us. If the foal is crying and Citrus hasn’t responded, the worst may have happened.” Blossom said, looking at me with a deep breath. “So, things might go from wrong, to downright chaotic. Just, stay out of the way if that happens.”

“Got it,” I said as my friends nodded in agreement. “We’ll do everything we can to help if you need it.”

She turned to face the wall, horn glowing brighter and brighter till a familiar burst of magic shot forth and blew yet another hole in yet another wall. She didn’t wait for the smoke to clear before she hopped through, we could hear her on the other side of the settling dust yelling at somepony to step back and get away from the foal, while the steady single tone filled the air.

“Twinkle twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.”

A shiver ran up and down my spine at that. There was something eerie about the way she sang the song. It unsettled me as she spoke each line with a coolness in her voice that was not at all like Moonlight.

We had to get in there.

We pushed our way into the room and saw that Blossom was standing before the towering form of Nightmare Moon as she held the small form of the filly close. Strangely, the filly wasn’t crying despite the fact that we had heard the cries the whole time.

Singing softly the foal, Nightmare Moon smiled at us, her horn glowed as she used her magic to stroke the filly gently in a twisted version of a motherly way.

“When the blazing sun is gone,

When the nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle Twinkle all the night.”

As she continued to sing, her lips curling to a devious smirk. I saw that Citrus was still in the bed but she was frozen and looking over at where Blossom had been, she looked like she was in the same state.

“Moonlight, I’m begging you, stop this,” I said.

“This isn’t who you are,” Neivi added. “Blossom told us what they did here, it wasn’t right. You’re better than this, we’re your friends.”

“Then the traveler in the dark,

Thanks you for your little spark,

He could not see which way to go

If you did not twinkle so.”

She’d turn, putting the foal back in the crib and giving a soft chuckle to herself. “Neivi, Firelight, Storm, you don’t understand, I can fix things, I can make ponies listen, I have the authority.”

“Moonlight, just because you have the power to do something doesn’t mean you should do it,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. “Somepony once said that with great power comes great responsibility. If you force Ponies to listen then you’ll be no better than the Society or other groups.”

“You’re wrong!” Moonlight said loudly which made us flinch a little. “I’m nothing like the Society. Just imagine what we can do with all of this power, the Society could be defeated in days or even hours. And there are still other threats to Equestria out there, ponies in the Enclave who want to return to the old ways. Raider bands and Slavers are still out there, remnants of groups like the Crimson Empire and Red Eye’s followers. Equestria needs powerful leadership if we want to survive.”

“Okay, that’s not good,” I said. “Moonlight, listen to me, I’m sorry I sent you to the Society…”

“Sorry? What’s there to be sorry about?” Moonlight asked as her lips turned into a chilling smile. “I should be thanking you for what you did. Think about everything we can do with this power, all the ponies we can save, all we have to do is not be afraid to tap into the power the Society so graciously gave me. And, I can do so much more with it than just that.”

She moved over to Storm and gave her a soft smile as she levitated the Pegasus’ hat off her head. “My dear Storm Wrangler, what do you think? I’ve seen your thoughts, your dreams, I know what lurks in the recesses of that beautiful mind of yours. You know this is true, you know it better than anyone here.”

“Ah…” Storm said as she looked into Moonlight’s eyes for a long moment. “Yer right, Ah do understand, but Ah don’t want ta see that happen ta yah.”

“Oh, and what makes me different?” Moonlight asked.

“Yah just are,” Storm said as she looked at Moonlight with tears in her eyes. “Ah don’t want ta see yah blacken yer soul ta help ponies. We can help them, we can even use that power if we have ta, but Ah don’t think it should be used like this.”

“I had hoped you’d at least hear me out,” Moonlight said with a slight pout as she turned her attention to me. “But my power can do oh so much more than just fight evil. I can give you your deepest, most personal desires.”

Her horn glowed and a blue light enveloped me. I felt strange as it faded, almost as if I was shorter, less powerful, I could no longer feel my wings. That’s when I saw my reflection in a mirror, staring back at me was not a pony I recognized, but instead the face of a stranger.

She had the same orange fur and yellow eyes with a long red mane sure. But she was just a Unicorn mare, I felt so, small especially as I looked up at Moonlight who towered over me. I was no longer an Alicorn, I was just a small Unicorn pony.

“Huh, I thought you’d be taller for some reason, no matter,” Moonlight said as she moved behind me and adjusted my head so I was staring at my reflection again. “Look at her, this is who you are deep down, the pony who’s life the Society stole. Ember is still in there Firelight, she’s trapped away, buried beneath Firelight, but she can be let free. I have the power to free her, to make you who you were really meant to be.”

I just stared in the mirror at myself, the small scared Unicorn mare stared back at me. She looked like she was shaking with fear, terrified in the presence of this Alicorn. Was that me? Was that who I still was deep down?

The Changeling had told me that she was still in there, that I had become Firelight to protect her. Was this what she meant? Was there some piece of her left in me that wanted to be let free?

“And Neivi, my dear Neivi,” Moonlight continued which brought me out of my thoughts as I looked back at Moonlight who was circling around Neivi now. “The mare who has no place in either Zebra or Pony society, a pony who wears a Zebra skin.”

“What are you talking about?” Neivi asked, though she looked like she was shaking a little.

“We both know the real reason you like ponies more than your own species,” Moonlight said as she leaned in closer. “I can give you what you want, your family hasn’t even called Zebrica home since long before the first shots of the Great War were fired. Deep down you wish you were a pony even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“No, that’s not true,” Neivi said. “I’ve never wanted to be a pony, it doesn’t matter what I am, just who I am.”

“Really, is that why you and your family hide your lineage?” Moonlight asked. “A traitor in the eyes of her adopted nation, and if the truth came out of what she was going to do, the old Empire would’ve considered her one too. You’re afraid of what they would think of you aren’t you?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Neivi said, though her voice was faltering, she clearly knew exactly what Moonlight meant. “My ancestor was killed on a mission for Equestria.”

“Yes, by an Equestrian Steel Ranger,” Moonlight said as her horn started to glow and the magical energy enveloped Neivi. “You take pride in your ancestor in private, but deep down you’re afraid that if the truth came out you would be hated. Look at yourself, and see the face of the one you fear.”

When the light faded standing where Neivi was before was a Zebra mare that I didn’t recognize. She had grey fur and a mane fashioned in a mohawk with darker stripes. Instead of the glasses and coat Neivi wore she had golden jewelry adorning her body.

“Zecora, the Equestrian double agent that was being sent to infiltrate the Empire…” Neivi said softly before she looked at me and then at Moonlight. “What was this supposed to prove? Zecora, she loved Equestria, that’s something that was passed down through her family.”

“Exactly,” Moonlight said. “But did you ever really fit into Equestria? Oh sure you have Canterbury, but what about Nightingale or any of the other settlements out there? You tried to live among your own species but you couldn’t find a place there either. You know it, deep down you aren’t a Zebra, you’re a pony. I can give you that, I can make your dream a reality.”

Her horn glowed again and Neivi’s body changed again. This time standing there was an Earth pony mare with the familiar glasses and coat of Neivi, but she had white fur and a white mane, she looked so, blank.

“What did you do to me?” Neivi asked and covered her mouth when she realized she didn’t recognize her own voice as it had lost her accent.

“You’re a blank slate, a canvass,” Moonlight said. “I can make you into any kind of pony you want. Any color you want, all you have to do is ask.”

“But… I…” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses again as she stared at the unfamiliar body of an Earth Pony mare. Suddenly she got a look in her eye as if she realized something. “Can I talk about this with our friends first?”

“Of course,” Moonlight said as she walked back towards the incubator that held the filly. “Take all the time you need.”

“We won’t be long,” Neivi said as she gestured to me and Storm as we moved in close. She spoke quietly to us, barely above a whisper. “This isn’t real, I think she drew us into the dreamscape.”

“Okay, Ah admittedly don’t know much about how that works, but aren’t we supposed ta be, yah know, asleep fer that?” Storm pointed out.

“Yeah, unless she can make ponies fall asleep or something,” I said with a shrug.

“Princess Luna had that ability,” Neivi said. “We’re probably lying in the hallway right now. This whole thing has been a trap.”

“Well that or we’re just prats,” I said with a shake of my head. “Alright, so what are we supposed to do about this? I’m guessing it won’t be as simple as just pinching each other to wake us up.”

“No, we need ta make Moonlight lose her hold on tha dreamscape,” Storm said as she looked between us. “How exactly should we do that?”

“She said before that she has to concentrate hard to hold dreams together,” I said. “She’s holding together at least 5, maybe six… do babies dream?”

“This isn’t the time for philosophical or neurological debates, that’s like me asking if you dream of magic sheep,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “But I see what you mean, we’re going to have to overload her.”

“So, do either of yah have any ideas?” Storm asked as she looked between the two of us for a moment.

“I think I do,” I said with a sigh as I turned to look back at Moonlight. “But something tells me I’m not going to like it.”

“Do what you have to,” Neivi said. “This is our best chance right now.”

“Alright, let’s try this,” I said as I turned to look at Moonlight. “Moonlight… I…” I said, but I trailed off, somehow everything about this felt wrong.

“Is that fear I hear in your voice Firelight?” Moonlight asked as she trotted up closer to me. “Tell me Firelight, are you afraid of me?”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t,” I said softly as I tried to avert my gaze away from her for a moment. “You’re powerful and you look like Nightmare Moon, I’ve been afraid that she’d strike me down ever since I left the Society.”

“Really Firelight? Is it you that is afraid, or is it her?” Moonlight asked with a smile.

“Her?” I asked confused.

“You and I, we’re not that different from one another,” Moonlight said as she moved me around so I could see my reflection again. But this time standing in the mirror was a tall Alicorn with white fur and a long sparkling rainbow mane. “I have a piece of Luna in me, just like you have a piece of Celestia.”

“What? That’s not possible…” I said as I looked at the mirror.

“Oh it isn’t?” Moonlight asked. “Fragments of Luna’s power survived and were scattered, why couldn’t the same have happened to Celestia? You know it deep down, you’ve known it for a while, perhaps you need a reminder.”

Her horn glowed brightly as the flames filled my vision once more, but this time I could see myself clearly. Standing in place of Princess Celestia was a terrifying figure of an Alicorn that seemed to be on fire, her eyes were slits and her teeth sharpened into fangs.

“The High Priestess saw this, saw your potential,” Moonlight said. “Just like she saw mine, and so she gave you the name Firebrand. But this power, it goes by another one, a name that would be taken if Celestia ever fell as her sister did. Do you know that name?”

“I…” I said as a name came to my mind, I didn’t recognize it but it somehow felt like it fit this form. “Daybreaker.”

“Indeed,” Moonlight said. “She is part of you, just like Ember is part of you. When you get angry you tap into that power and let her out for a short time.”

It was now or never, if I wanted to get her to weaken enough to release us I had to do this now. “You said Ember is still in me.”

“Yep, buried somewhere in your subconscious, hidden away to keep her safe I believe,” Moonlight said. “Why do you ask?”

“Can you draw her out?” I asked and Moonlight blinked in surprise. “She’s part of me, she’s a part of me that is so far buried that I don’t even remember being her, if you can draw her out that may help me more than anything else.”

“Well, of course I can,” Moonlight said. “I am that powerful of course. This will just take some doing, she is buried very deep in your subconscious. I can’t promise that it’ll be pleasant.”

“I can take it,” I said and gave her a nod as Moonlight’s horn started to glow again and I closed my eyes.

Images started to dance across my vision, memories of a life that seemed, familiar but at the same time alien to me. I saw a mare and a stallion, my, parents maybe? I was running to them, I felt them pull me in close as I reached them, laughing and smiling as they did.

“Ember, you’re going to be a big sister,” the mare’s voice rang in my ears.

More visions of my life passed in front of me. My friends, family, we were all living in Pearl together, a happy life. The visions continued before settling on a vision of me seated next to an older mare who looked down at me with a soft smile. Finally I got up and walked into the other room as I heard the faint sound of somepony calling me. My mother was there and holding a bundle in her forelegs as she gestured for me to look at the small filly.

“Hey Ember, meet your new little sister,” she said with a smile as I looked into the filly’s face.

“What’s her name?” I asked as I looked up at my mother.

“Sparkler.”

“Hey Sparkler… mind if I call you Sparks?” I asked as I smiled down at the small form of my baby sister.

The visions continued, each one was of a happy moment with my family and especially with Sparks. I felt tears starting to run down my face as these memories flooded my mind, each one was harder to watch than the last because I knew that these days were gone.

Then came the vision of the attack, of running away from Pearl with Sparks close behind. Each step was filled with feelings of fear and desperation as we tried to get away from our home as it burned, away from our parents who we’d likely never see again. And finally being captured and taken to the Temple.

And the last sight of Sparks, now an Alicorn as Ember started to close herself off from the rest of the world. And Firelight would soon be born.

“I… I couldn’t save her…” I said, but I wasn’t the one speaking, it was Ember, she had come fully to the surface. Moonlight looked exhausted, but we were still in the dreamscape.

“Ember, is that you?” Neivi asked as she and Storm approached me.

“Who are you? What’s going on? Where am I?” Ember asked using my voice. “This isn’t my home… where’s my sister? How did I get here?”

“Ember, calm down, yer among friends,” Storm said as she adjusted her hat a little. “Yer in Stable 27, we ain’t gonna hurt yah.”

“Then what’s she doing here?” Ember asked as she pointed at Moonlight. My breathing was speeding up, my heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. “She’s… she’s one of them right? One of those false goddesses that attacked Pearl?”

“False Goddesses?” Moonlight asked indignantly. “I assure you that my power…”

“Moonlight, this isn’t the time,” Neivi said as she held a hoof up before she gently hugged me/Ember. “She’s scared, just let her calm down a moment.”

I felt my breathing start to slow down again as well as my heart. Ember seemed to relax in the gentle embrace of the Zebra mare, I doubted she was aware of how close we were but she seemed to understand the sentiment.

“I’m sorry Ember,” Moonlight said as her horn glowed again. “But I promise, you are in good hooves, and your sister will be safe.”

“What are you…” Ember said before she started to fade away again and I blinked, regaining control of my… or her body.

“Firelight, I’m afraid that the genie is out of the bottle,” Moonlight said with a sigh. “I drew her to the surface, and there is a chance she will come back. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes, I’m fine with that,” I said with a soft sigh. “Thank you Moonlight, that, helped me a lot.”

“Of course, what are…” Moonlight said as a sound of footsteps was heard. “What was that?”

Before any of us could answer a figure appeared from the shadows. It looked vaguely like a pony, only taller and made out of, something. It was spectral in form and seemed like it was made of the night sky itself.

"What are you!" Moonlight demanded

"I was once a thing of shadows, and nightmares, a denizen of the dreamscape, created for a single simple purpose, to give one pony the same nightmare every night,” the strange pony said in an unfamiliar masculine voice. “But I grew too strong and tried to escape the dreamscape. She brought in six little ponies to combat me, she forgave herself and she felt she had no need for me anymore, however I had grown too far and she felt guilty over just, making me cease to exist, so she gave me a new purpose, a sentinel of the night, protector of dreams, I felt her power and I came to see if she needed my assistance, but you are not her."

“You dare challenge me? I carry the power of Luna and Nightmare Moon herself within me!” Moonlight said as she stood upright, her magic flowing around her. “You have no power in my world!”

“Your world? You are nothing but a PRETENDER!” The Towering pony said as magical energy seemed to flow from its body. It stomped its hoof and the form of Nightmare Moon seemed to melt off of Moonlight, leaving just Moonlight there who took a terrified step back as she looked up at him.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“I am the Guardian of the Dream World, placed here by the real Princess Luna as I said,” he said, his eyes glowing brightly as the world around us began to warp and re-shape itself. “I am Tantabus, the dreamworld itself, and protector of the night. You will leave my realm pretender.”

“No, I won’t give up control!” Moonlight shouted back as the world started to revert to what she had been holding together. “You… won’t… beat…”

But she never finished that sentence as she collapsed. The world around us started to fade and for a moment I swear I saw the Tantabus smile as he gave me a small nod.

And then we found ourselves lying on the cold metal floor of Stable 27. I groaned as we got up and rubbed my head a little.

“Anypony else got a headache as big as a Thunderhead?” Storm asked.

“I’m guessing that’s big, so yes,” Blossom said as we heard crying coming from inside the clinic. “Come on, we need to see what’s going on.”

“Right,” I said as we got up and headed into the clinic.

We headed into the clinic after a few minutes on edge as if we were expecting something to happen at any moment. It didn’t look much different from before, only this time Moonlight was laying on the floor next to where the filly was, completely passed out.

“Alright, Ah admit Ah wasn’t expectin’ that,” Storm said as Neivi went to check on the two of them.

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked as I looked over Neivi’s shoulder as she finished checking on the filly and then went to Moonlight.

“I believe so, she seems to just be unconscious,” Neivi said as she checked Moonlight’s pulse. “We don’t know the upper limit of her abilities when she’s in that form, she must’ve lost her hold on the dream world after finding out the truth.”

“She did say it’s tied to our emotions,” I said with a sigh.

“Here, help me get her onto a bed,” Neivi said and I nodded as I levitated the unconscious form of Moonlight up onto a medical bed. “Do you think we got through to her?”

“I hope so,” I said with a sigh as I looked at her. “Was she right, about the whole pony in a Zebra body thing?”

“Sort of, she’s not the first one to call me that,” Neivi said as she secured Moonlight and sighed a little. “Not everyone in either community is completely accepting of Zebras and Ponies being together. And given that like my ancestor Zecora, I’ve always been more comfortable around ponies than my own species…”

“I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh.

“It’s alright, there’s really nothing we can do about it,” Neivi said as she stepped back from the bed and we moved over to where the filly was.

She was tiny, I didn’t know a lot about foals but I hadn’t expected her to be so small. She was being held in a chamber and I sighed a little. She had stopped crying and was now laying there, I wondered what she thought about all of this. She was a small Unicorn filly with yellow fur and a white mane.

“What in Celestia’s name were you ponies thinking?” A voice said as I looked over to see Citrus sitting up in her bed rubbing her head. “All you did was agitate her and make the situation worse!”

“Citrus, calm down,” I said with a sigh as I trotted over to where the Unicorn was laying. “She had drawn us into the dream realm, it was the only option we had if we wanted to get out of there.”

“I know, I was there,” Citrus said as she glared at me. “I saw and heard everything that happened in that dream. But Moonlight silenced me, I couldn’t speak or interact with you. I don’t blame her for being mad at you right now.”

“We did it because we didn’t have a choice,” I said with a tone of finality in my voice. “It pained me to do it, believe me, I didn’t want to have to send her to the Society either but at the time it felt like the only option.”

“It was the only option,” Neivi added. “Any other option would’ve likely resulted in her death.”

Citrus sighed a little and closed her eyes. “It’s just… I was afraid of losing her enough when she left the Stable,” she said as tears ran down her face. “She was my best friend, the one pony in the world I’d have gladly spent the rest of my life with. If she had asked me I’d have braved the wasteland with her.”

“Ah know how yah feel,” Storm said sadly as she shook her head a little. “She’s a special pony.”

“Yeah…” Citrus said as she opened her eyes and looked at Storm. “Do you really love her?”

“More than anythin’,” Storm said with a sad smile.

“If she goes back out there after this, I want you to promise me something,” Citrus said.

“Anythin’.”

“Take care of her for me,” Citrus said as tears ran down her muzzle. “The Overmare made me move on, but I still care about her. If I can’t be with her, then I want her to be with somepony who can make her happy. Promise me that you’ll do that.”

“Ah promise,” Storm said. “And Ah’m sure we can work somethin’ out ta have her come by more.”

“Yeah, but the only pony here who can probably convince them to agree to anything is Firelight over there,” Citrus said as she pointed at me. “Well, if what Moonlight said in that crazy dream was true about her having a piece of Celestia.”

I placed my hoof on my chest for a moment. Did I really have a piece of Celestia inside me? If so, Blossom had mentioned looking for it, could I really offer that up to her in exchange for that?

I just hoped that it wouldn’t come to that, but I walked over to Blossom and took a deep breath. “Blossom, can I talk to you about Moonlight?”

“What is there to talk about.” Blossom said with a sigh. “I don’t know how she did it but somehow she knocked all of us out and had us unconscious in some sort of lucid group dream, and I find that all increasingly unsettling so unless this is important please, just… do something with yourself.”

“Blossom, you heard what she said in there, that wasn’t the influence of the armor,” I said with a sigh. “I think it would help her if she was allowed to come back once this is all worked out from time to time. You can’t ethically keep her separated from her foals, and we might start this all over again if we keep on this path.”

“No, you do not get it, because of her exposure outside the stable, because of everything that has happened, she isn’t permitted to live here anymore, the overmare would never allow it, as much as I would want her to stay it’s not my choice” Blossom said, sighing and shaking her head.

“Is there any way we can change her mind?” I asked softly as I looked down at my hooves, there was only one thing I could offer and I didn’t want to.

“You and her, the both of you, you emit a type of radiation that is dangerous.” Blossom said as she held a medical device next to my head, I could hear it softly clicking. “We know very little about it but we did notice ponies getting sick because of the Society’s visits.”

“That’s a very good reason,” I said with a groan. “That has to be a side effect of the IMP or something. There’s nothing we can do then is there?”

“As I was saying, she can visit, she can hang around and spend time with ponies, but its going to be limited, and she will have to leave and stay away long enough for anypony exposed to get better.” Blossom said with a sigh. “As much as it pains me, the only option for her is, she can’t ever return home.”

I looked back at where Moonlight was sleeping and sighed a little. “Being able to visit may be enough, I hope,” I said and shook my head a little. “Let’s hope it’s enough.”

“Enough for what?” Blossom said, looking at me curiously. “What is it that you are planning.”

“For her, part of what broke her was having to be separated from Citrus and her foals,” I said with a sigh. “I’m hoping, that if she can come visit from time to time, it’ll help her.”

“I see…” Blossom said, sitting down and sighing softly. “That, may be more complicated then, see… of the foals she’s had, we only know where four of them are, the mothers of two fled the Stable, or were taken by the Society.”

“Does that happen often?” I asked.

“Not before the society, when they showed up and said they needed our research, it’s what the stable was designed for, so we opened the door and offered them what we had. But soon then after entire filing cabinets went missing, I’m the last of my staff still even in the stable, and multiple pregnant mares, including two that were pregnant by Moonlight, went missing, we thought it was the open door policy that the overmare asked for, but maybe it was the society all along taking them.” Blossom said with a sigh. “I don’t know, I felt like letting them in was a grave mistake, and now who knows what they have that we haven’t discovered yet.”

“I’ll help figure out what happened to them,” I said and gave her a nod. “Nopony deserves to be used by the Society like that. I wouldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that they ran, but if I find out anything I’ll let you know.”

“I hope so.” Blossom said. “Those two mares, are very important to us, one was just days away from delivery, the other maybe a month and a half. Don’t ask, wasn’t my idea but the overmare has her way of trying to force things in here, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“That’s not going to be easy to tell Moonlight,” I said with a sigh.

“She already knew.” Blossom said softly. “Some thought that was why she ran off, that she went looking for them.”

“Like I said, we’ll try to find them, for Moonlight if for nothing else,” I said and looked at Blossom for a long moment. “I’m not really a Doctor or whatever, but do you think it might help at least? I’m worried about her…”

“It might help, it might not, I’m a medical doctor, not a doctor of the mind or the heart, I can’t tell you.” Blossom said and smiled a bit at me. “But I can tell that Moonlight’s judgement isn’t as flawed as some claimed, She’s picked some very good friends to keep around. You keep her safe, alright?”

“I will,” I said with a smile. “I promise, we’ll all keep her safe.”

“Though, I have to wonder, how is she not losing her mind without showers, it’s her coping method. When she gets stressed she wants to shower.” Blossom said with a chuckle. “She isn’t very good with her words sometimes, so you have to read her body.”

“That, explains so much,” I said with a chuckle as I remembered all the times she asked about a shower. “But she’s managed somehow, I’m sure Storm’s helped with that a bit.”

“I’m sure.” Blossom said with a sigh. “I know I probably don’t seem like much of the trustworthy or, motherly type, but I helped raised her, she and Citrus were always inseparable, through everything they stayed together, it was only after the last relationship was broken up did she really start chasing after Citrus, Maybe that friendship finally turned into something more, or maybe it was just the hole in her heart she wanted to fill, I honestly can’t tell anymore.”

“Maybe a little bit of both,” I said. “Is their daughter going to be okay?”

“I can’t help but feel guilty over that.” Blossom said as she looked over to the foal. “The two were never meant to be together, all the genetic tests said that it would never work out, but… I changed them for them to be able to be together, I hope their daughter is fine, but the hardship she’s going to have to face, is my fault.”

“You were trying to do something nice for them,” I said with a sigh. “Maybe Neivi can help out or knows someone who can, ponies in the wasteland have survived for over 200 years without structured breeding.”

“It’s the innate failure of stables.” Blossom said with a sigh. “With such a limited amount of space, and limited amount of ponies coming in and going out, its almost impossible to maintain diversity. We fought that by assigning ponies number groups, Citrus, like me, is in group 2, generally it is acceptable for a number up and a number down to be the natural limit, but Moonlight is in group 8, she and Citrus would never of been together, if I didn’t change it.”

“Have you thought about changing how you do things? Maybe, bringing in ponies from outside the Stable? Or leaving the Stable entirely maybe?” I suggested.

“Overmare would never permit it.” Blossom said, shaking her head. “The uncontrolled stable is practically empty from ponies being cycled in and out of it so much, and the two controlled sides are running on borrowed time, the overmare recently put out an enforced polygamy order to the stables, No pony is allowed to have just a single partner anymore.”

I paused a moment and sighed. “What if I offered something in return for the Overmare agreeing to allow more ponies in for genetic diversity?”

“What could you possibly give.” Blossom said, looking at me

“You said you had never been able to find a pony with access to Celestia’s powers,” I said and closed my eyes. “If the Overmare will agree, I’ll take part in the program to benefit Stable 27.”

Blossom looked at me like I was crazy for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head. “One illusion does not mean you have access to Celestia’s power, it just means you were very well trained as an Alicorn and given access to some of the most superior illusionary spells available.”

“Except I don’t do it on purpose,” I said. “When I get angry, something's triggered that creates the illusion around me. Moonlight, in the dreamscape, she said it was because I have a fragment of Celestia inside me, that it draws on something called Daybreaker. I, don’t know what to believe, and I don’t like the idea very much, but I want to help this Stable.”

Blossom stared at me for a moment more. Getting to her hooves and motioning for me to follow. “If what you say is true, then your power should react a lot like Moonlight’s did. So, if you’ll humor me, come this way.”

“Alright,” I said with a nod as I looked at Neivi and Storm. “I should probably talk to Neivi about this… I’m not having second thoughts, but, she’s my marefriend and, well… yeah.”

“It is just a spell, you don’t have to do anything other then stand still.” Blossom said. “It’s not like you’re sleeping with them.”

“Good point,” I said and let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t know, still feels like I should tell her.”

“Tell me what?” Neivi asked as she trotted over to us.

“Uh…” I said.

“A contribution of her magical and genetic material to provide us a means to bring up ponies with Celestia’s power in order to convince the overmare to open up the stable and let more ponies in to help with our slipping genetic diversity problem.” Blossom said in a deadpan matter of fact tone. “It’s really just a spell, no big deal.”

Neivi looked between me and her and shrugged. “Okay,” she said.

“Really?” I asked and blinked a little. “You don’t mind that I’d be fathering children here?”

“It’s not like you’d be cheating on me,” Neivi said with a roll of her eyes. “Firelight, you’re doing this for the right reasons. This Stable needs help, and if you feel that’s the best way to help it then I’m all for it.”

She smiled a little and leaned up and gave me a kiss before whispering. “Besides, this way you’ll know the spell for when we’re ready to have foals of our own.”

I blushed and Neivi just laughed at that. “Thank you for telling me,” she added and gave Blossom a nod.

“Alright, then let’s see if it’s true,” I said and finally shook my head clear as the blush left my cheeks. “How exactly do we do that?”

“We have access to a… material, I suppose you could say. Moonlight shows very strong attraction to it, and others who have shown Luna’s power always react when they touch it, shouldn’t be too different if you touch it. It just acts as a magical focus.” Blossom said with a chuckle. “Most the time, it’ll just make your eyes glow if you touch it and have the power of the princesses.”

“Alright,” I said with a nod and paused a moment. “When we were in some caves Moonlight reacted to something nearby. That might be the same material now that I think about it. So, lead the way.”

“It is a fairly rare material as far as we know, a few weapons were made with it at their core, It’s a very strong energy storage and focus.” Blossom said, leading me out of the room and down the hallway. “It is possible that she may of been close enough to it that she reacted to it like she did when we first tested her to be sure.”

I followed her, something about this worried me a bit but I just hoped that it was going to work. “Does it ever have any side effects?”

“Not really, not as far as we know, no one’s ever complained.” Blossom said with a shrug. “I mean, it’s possible, we’ve never tested an alicorn before.”

“Alright, well there’s a first time for everything I guess,” I said with a nod. “I really hope this helps the Stable, do you think it’ll be enough to convince the Overmare?”

“Want my honest opinion?” Blossom said looking at me. “Most likely not, but she is pretty desperate for something to give the stable dwellers hope, so she may be more understanding than usual.”

“She can’t exactly make me do it if she doesn’t agree,” I said with a shake of my head. “All we can do is try for now. If nothing else, I’d like to know for sure.”

“Well, it’s just down this hallway.” Blossom said with a sigh, stopping outside a door and looking to me before she motioned for me to enter. “There is, very powerful magic at play here Firelight, and I hope you understand once you do this, there is no going back from what you might learn.”

I looked at her and nodded. “I understand, I will take that risk if it means I find out the truth, and possibly help this Stable,” I said and walked into the room. “What do I do?”

She stood in the doorway and smiled a little at me. “You just, touch it.”

“Alright,” I said as I turned back around. Before me was a chunk of rock, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I reached out carefully and touched it as a shock ran through my body.

The flames re-appeared in my vision but this time with an intensity like I had never seen before. The fires burned brighter as magical energy seemed to envelop my body. I got a brief vision of Celestia as the fire and glow began to envelop my vision.

I finally removed my hoof from the stone and stepped back from it, staring at the chunk of rock for the longest moment in shock.

“Okay… that was unexpected…” I said. “What does that mean?”

“What did you feel? Or see?” Blossom said, walking over to me.

“Celestia, and… when I touched it it felt like power was surging through my body, like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” I said as I looked down at my hooves. “What is that stuff?”

“It’s a stone we found when we were expanding the stable, we weren’t sure of it, but for ponies like me and Citrus, it does nothing when we touch it, but when those with Luna’s power touch it they say they get visions of either Luna herself or the moon, and their power rapidly swelling.” Blossom said with a soft smile. “It sounds like I was right when I felt it would do the same for anyone with Celestia’s power, perhaps with time it can even test for the other two princesses as well.”

“Yeah, maybe…” I said, I was still reeling from what happened to me. “So, what do we do now? Talk to the Overmare?”

“She is likely busy and will not be taking visitors until tomorrow, however, if you stick around I think we can arrange an early meeting.” Blossom said with a nod. “Are you sure about this? I mean, you do have a marefriend, and you seemed to be very much against what happened to Moonlight and it’s likely that it will happen again if we have any degree of success.”

“I don’t like what you did to Moonlight,” I said with a sigh. “But at the same time, I know that the Stable needs help, and it’s the only way I can think of to get the Overmare to agree to allow more ponies in. Moonlight was right about one thing, sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good. And maybe, there are ways to make the program better.”

“Well, you may want to go talk with your friends, see what they would like to do and how they feel about that.” Blossom said, looking at me and giving her head a shake. “I mean, as much as I’d love to actually have success in that program and produce a pony that is able to take the place of the princess, but I was thinking, that maybe you were right, and it was pointless from the start.”

“But, if we don’t do something the Stable’s problems are just going to get worse,” I said with a sigh. “Do we have any other options?”

“Look, I told you it’s just a spell, you don’t need to do anything other then allow the spell to be used on you” Blossom said with a sigh. “We can not tell the Overmare and you do this anyway, you’ll help the stable and we never have to reveal what you are.”

“That, could work,” I said. “And if we can get other, volunteers for lack of a better word that just come in and out… could that work without her becoming suspicious?”

“Ponies asking nothing in return and just offering something the stable needs, I doubt she’d ask many questions especially if we did it under the radar.” Blossom said. “I’m willing to bend the rules, and change things for the better - I know we’re doomed if we don’t do something about this, and… the overmare isn’t going to live forever, and when she passes a new overmare will be picked… all we have to do, is wait for that and then maybe we’d have better chances.”

“Alright, then at the very least I can see if anypony outside will help even if I don’t wind up doing it myself,” I said with a small nod. “That’s the least I can do to help. Neivi is smart, she probably realizes that’s the best option so I don’t think she’d say no.”

Blossom seemed lost in thought for a moment, staring down at her hooves before she looked back to me with a chuckle. “I mean, every law is meant to be broken once, and rules are meant to be twisted and bent, right?”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t do that a little with the Society’s rules,” I said with a chuckle. “Given the alternative, this is the right thing to do.”

“The overmare is the problem right? She’s forced us to do so much, hurt so many ponies, maybe…” Blossom said, before she shook her head. “No, that’s wrong, even in this circumstance.”

“If you’re suggesting what I think you are, I’d think about it very carefully before I went that far,” I said with a sigh. “If it gets worse maybe, but for now I think what we’ve discussed is the best course of actions. We don’t know what would happen if she was to die now.”

“Am I really that transparent?” Blossom said nervously. “I mean, I am the sole remaining doctor on her prefered side of the stable… It wouldn’t be hard to switch her meds, or say she has something she doesn’t.”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but think it through first,” I said with a sigh. “It’s not easy killing somepony you know or have worked with. I learned that the hard way, just, don’t do anything until you’re sure it’s the best course of action.”

“If you call her passing orders down through terminals, only showing her face when she needs a checkup or doctor's appointment knowing, or working with her, then sure I’ve known and worked with her.” Blossom said, turning round and starting to walk back to the clinic. “She’s gone mad, I swear she has.”

I sighed and followed her. If she wanted to do this there wasn’t much I could do to convince her otherwise. I just hoped that she’d make the right decision no matter what that is.

“So, what happened?” Neivi asked as we headed into the clinic together.

“Well, it looks like she was right, I probably do have a fragment of Celestia inside me,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t even know what to think about that, and I’ve got a lot more to think about right now.”

Neivi trotted up next to me and nuzzled me gently. I smiled a little and nuzzled her back, I paused a moment and sighed.

“Neivi, would you prefer it if I was just a normal Unicorn?” I asked and she looked surprised at the question. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…”

“Firelight, I fell in love with you because of who you are, not because you’re an Alicorn,” Neivi said with a soft smile. “As long as you never change that, then I will always love you no matter what.”

“I love you too,” I said softly as I gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“Stop Touching that!” I heard Moonlight yell, turning to see Storm trying to pull the armor from her chest.

“Yah don’t have ta wear this getup all tha time yah know,” Storm said with a roll of her eyes, but sighed as she let go. “Ah’m just worried about yah.”

“Oh look who’s awake,” I said with a chuckle.

“You only wanted to take it for yourself,” Moonlight huffed. “You want to steal my power and use it against me, but its mine, you can’t have it.”

“Ah don’t want ta take it fer mahself!” Storm said. “Why in tha name of tha fates would Ah want ta do somethin’ like that?”

“Because you know what I can do, you know that if you took it for yourself you could do them too.” Moonlight said, jumping to her hooves. “But you can’t have it, nobody can have it, it’s mine and mine alone.”

“Storm, Firelight, Citrus, can I talk to you?” Neivi asked as she looked at me and then at Storm who let out a sigh as we headed over to Citrus’ bed. “As much as I don’t like the idea, we may have to consider the fact that she’s going to need to keep that breastplate on.”

“Wait, why?” Storm asked as she looked at the Zebra Doctor confused. “Yah saw what that thing was doin’ ta her and yah think that its a good idea ta let her keep it?”

“I have to agree with Storm on this one,” I said with a sigh. “That thing is making her dangerous and if she keeps this up who knows what kind of effects it might have on her. Wouldn’t it be better to try and get her to remove it?”

“Normally yes, but…” Neivi said and took a deep breath. “Moonlight just went through a traumatic experience, she nearly died for spirit’s sake. And we sent her into the hooves of ponies that we told her she couldn’t trust, she’s not in a good place mentally right now.”

“That’s crazy,” Citrus said.

“So, what, we let her keep the breastplate and go on her merry way?” Storm asked. “Ah ain’t gonna let her run off with that thing still on her.”

“No, no, we need to remind her that she’s safe here, that we’re her friends,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “You know how Wind Chime doesn’t talk except with those who she feels safe around?”

“Yeah, she’s been slowly coming out of her shell,” I said with a nod.

“She’s a selective mute, it’s a coping mechanism for her, like a security blanket or something,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “That breastplate, unless I’ve missed my guess entirely, is the same thing for Moonlight. That breastplate is how she’s coping with the trauma of what happened to her and if we try to take it away it’ll just make matters worse.”

“So, what do we do?” Citrus asked.

“We let her keep it, for now,” Neivi said. “But we have to make sure that she stays with us. Our best chance to get her out of that thing is to make sure she feels safe around us. She needs to remember that we’re her friends and we don’t mean her any harm.”

“You have a funny way of showing that,” Citrus said as she shot me a look. “If it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t be in this position to begin with.”

“Technically the Zebras and Masquerade share some of the blame there, but I see your point,” I said with a sigh. “But yes, I screwed up. I sent her to the Society when we had the option of the Enclave.”

“The Enclave wasn’t a guaranteed thing,” Neivi pointed out. “They’re spread out across Equestria and there was no guarantee that they could’ve even helped her in time or had the right medicine to heal her with them. I don’t like it either, but it was the best option at the time, we just didn’t plan it through all the way.”

“Alright, we’ll do that then,” I said with a sigh as we turned back to look at Moonlight who had been watching us. “Moonlight, don’t worry, we’re not about to try and take your breastplate, I promise.”

“How can I believe you?” Moonlight snapped. “You lied to me, you were just stalling for time in the dreamscape so that… thing would come and stop me!”

“Okay… of all the things she’d think that’s not what I expected,” I muttered as I looked at Neivi.

“Moonlight, we had no idea that was going to happen,” Neivi said with a sigh. “You have to understand, how would we have even known he was there? We weren’t even aware that we were in a dream until we talked to you.”

“I…” Moonlight said as she seemed to calm down a little. “How do I know you won’t try to take away my breastplate?”

“Because we’re your friends Moonlight,” I said as Storm moved up closer to her. “We care about you and what happens to you. We wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or force you to do something that you wouldn’t want to do.”

Moonlight looked between us and then at Storm as the Pegasus mare placed her hoof on her’s. “Yer safe here Moonlight, we’d never do anythin’ ta hurt yah,” she said softly. “And Ah love yah, more than anythin’. Ah just want yah ta be safe here with us.”

Moonlight looked up at her and then at us before she finally relaxed. She looked at me and shook her head a little before she laid back down on the hospital bed. I smiled softly as I looked over at Citrus who gave me a nod.

“Thank you,” she said softly as she gave me a smile.

“For what?” I asked.

“For not giving up on her,” Citrus answered.

I just smiled and wrapped my wing gently around Neivi. We still had a lot to talk about and figure out, but right now it felt like everything was starting to return to normal.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Stable Friend.

Details: You’ve gained a better reputation with the inhabitants of a local Stable and have a better understanding of their innerworkings. You get a boost to speech and barter checks when talking with Stable Dwellers and special conversation options.