*Boom*

Thunder crackled through the air and woke me with a start. As I sat upright in my bed, I quickly looked around to make out where I was.

“Everything alright, sugarcube?” Applejack was sitting on the bed next to me and put a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s just a storm. It should be over by tomorrow.” I remembered the preparations we did for the storm last night and also that I completely forgot to talk about Trixie.

“Yes, everything’s fine. I was just a bit startled.” The thunder was louder than anything I had ever heard before, and I had the strong suspicion that the storm was directly above us now. “I’ve just never heard a thunderstorm so loud.” Another flash of lightning, followed by thunder, lit up the sky.

“Damn, yer right, sugarcube. That really is too loud.” She got up from the bed and threw a look out of the window from which she could see the farm. “What in tarnation?” she shouted. “Sugarcube, come quick! Ya gotta see that!” I pushed the blanket aside and joined her by the window, only to be awestruck by the sight. This was no thunderstorm; this was a cloud burst. I couldn’t see further than ten meters, and the few that I saw was just water that stood a few centimetres above the ground.

“That doesn’t look like it’s going as planned, is it?” I got no response, and as I turned around, I saw that AJ had already disappeared. Not two seconds later, her voice sounded through the house.

“Everypony out of their beds! We got a flood!” Multiple things happened at once. The door to Big Mac’s room slammed open, and the large stallion rushed out of the room, slammed against a wall, and jumped down the stairs. As Mac slammed against the wall, the door to Apple Bloom’s room opened as well, and she stepped outside in a little rain jacket and followed her brother downstairs.

As I arrived downstairs myself, I was just able to see the front door slamming shut, everyone disappearing to do god knows what. I followed them outside onto the veranda, and my hooves immediately got wet. The water was reaching up to the door already, and if it continued raining like that, it would soon be inside.

“Light, try to keep the water out of the house!” Apple Bloom ran through the water and seemed to keep the communication between everyone flowing. “Mah sister says ya can do anything as long as it stays out!” I saluted, and Apple Bloom vanished into direction of the barn. As she left my field of view, I quickly went through some spells in my head and found one that seemed to fit perfectly here. I painted the runes in my mind and began to create a drain so that the water could flow off. The biggest problem was that I couldn’t see anything below the surface and didn’t know how deep the drain should be or where exactly it was. I slowly went down the way to the road. The rain had left me soaking wet within seconds as I formed multiple large holes at the roadside to create some room for the water to go to. Lastly, I created a small dirt fence so that no one would accidently fall inside before I galloped back to the house. Much to my surprise, Rainbow Dash was standing on the veranda and seemed like she was looking for someone.

“Rainbow, what’s the matter with the weather?” A bit of panic was clear in her eyes.

“Somepony ruined the mixture for the clouds. Gah, if I get my hooves on whoever did this! I just wanted to tell you that we’re about to clear the clouds, and in around ten minutes this should all be over. Tell AJ cuz I have to go to Ponyville now. The town was hit pretty badly.” Before I could react, she flew off against the rain and the wind and disappeared in a cloud. I went down the same path that Apple Bloom took and found the hinged door that led into the cellar behind the barn. The water inside the cellar was up to my neck, and I heard some voices further back. More like a dog, I paddled my way to the source of the voices and found Big Mac, with Apple Bloom standing on his back, as he was about to lift some barrels higher onto the shelf.

“Light, you gotta help mah brother. The barrels need to get out of the water or the apples are ruined.” I just nodded and tried to lift a barrel onto my back, but it immediately rolled off and just left me behind with an aching back. Big Mac fished the barrel out of the water and put it back onto the shelf.

“Can ya drain the water?” he asked with his deep voice. Before I could answer, a loud rumbling came from the shelf before it collapsed. Big Mac was hit by some barrels, and Apple Bloom fell off his back as the water rose further with all the barrels swimming in it now. I grabbed Apple Bloom, placed her on my back, and pulled Big Mac back above the surface. He shook his head and stood up on the ground again. “Out,” he barked, and we immediately swam towards the exit.

It was her best chance of getting out of the hospital. Due to the storm, all the nurses and doctors were busy with new patients, and nopony was there to see her climbing out of the window in the first flow. With her cloak on her back and the picture safely stored in her bag, she stepped out into the rain and looked at Ponyville that lay in a short distance ahead of her. The wind had unroofed some buildings, and others didn’t seem like they had been able to carry the weight of their wet roofs and had collapsed. The magic that the village was emitting could only belong to one pony: Princess Celestia. She was only visible through the rain because her coat was almost glowing against the grey clouds. She thought for a moment on where she should go now. Back to her little camp in the forest? But that would mean a few days of galloping. Go to Canterlot and try to put up a show there? None of the ideas seemed promising. Helping in the village to be later showered in the thankfulness of the denizens seemed like a much better plan, and so she went down the little hill into the village.

As she reached the first houses, the sky began to clear, and she saw some pegasi pushing the clouds aside.

“Help!” she heard a young foal shout. She rushed over to one of the collapsed buildings where she approximated the call came from and shouted back.

“Talk to Trixie! Where are you?” A cry for help came out of the debris, and she began to move some planks aside with her magic. She worked quickly, and a short while later, she saw a short purple tail. Quickly, she grabbed it and pulled it out of what was once a house. The little orange-coated pegasus was flapping her wings rapidly as she hung in Trixie’s mouth.

“My mum! My mum is still down there!” Trixie dropped the little one on the ground and continued moving the debris aside, only to see another aura joining hers shortly after. She looked up and found Princess Celestia standing next to her, concentrated on finding the mother of the filly. They both dug for a while longer but eventually found the injured mare. Celestia carefully lifted her out of the debris.

“Over here! I have another casualty!” she shouted in a thundering voice, and two pegasi immediately came over with a stretcher and carried off the wounded mare and her foal into the direction of the hospital.

“I thank you, Trixie, you have done well.” She was surprised that the princess knew her name and that she was acknowledging her so openly. She had always imagined the princess to be priggish and high-flown, but her voice was saying the exact opposite.

“Trixie was glad to be able to help, your Highness.” She bowed slightly and thought about the reward that was awaiting her. A bit of food or some bits would be enough for a start.

“Then please see where you can be of further help. And please come by the town hall later. I wish to speak to you in private.” She lifted off and quickly flew into the centre of the town. Trixie was overwhelmed with joy. Not only had she saved two lives, she would also get a reward from the princess herself. She grabbed the picture out of her cloak and looked at it.

“See, Changer? Your sister finally has something going for her.” Her grin slowly turned into a frown. The conversation with this doppelgänger was still recent in her mind. He looked exactly like her brother, had the same cutie mark, even his voice was the same, yet he said that he wasn’t him. Was he really just a doppelgänger, or had something different happened to her brother? Just a year ago she stood at his grave, and now he was here like nothing ever happened, like she had never existed. Disgruntled, she stomped a hoof on the ground, splashing a few drops of mud on her face, making her just grumble even more. “I will find out what is wrong with you, Changer.”

After we got out of the cellar, which was now completely ruined along all its contents, we began the search for AJ. The rain had luckily stopped by now, and the water that had flooded the farm was slowly flowing off through the swath that I had created.

“AJ, where are you?” I was running with Apple Bloom over one of the eastern fields and tried to show as little of my worry as possible. That her sister was nowhere to be found was not a good sign. A few trees were in a tilted position, while some were completely uprooted and were now lying in the mud.

“Sis? Come on, that’s not funny. We’re gettin’ worried.” While Apple Bloom continued calling for her sister, I thought about where she might have went. What meant so much to her that she would go so far away from the house during a storm? At first I thought of the graveyard, but Big Mac went there since he wanted to inspect the damage. Besides that, there was only one thing that came to my mind…

“Zap apple!” I shouted out. “Apple Bloom, where are the zap apple trees?” She looked at me confused, but then seemed to realize where I was going with this.

“Over here, Light.” She galloped as quickly as her little hooves could carry her through the mud, and I was right next to her. “Behind that hill over there are the zap apple fields.” We ran up the hill, which I only managed to do on the second try since I slipped on the mud and slid down again. The fields looked like a battlefield. Most trees had lost their branches, and many were either in a tilted position or uprooted and lied on the ground. I heard a sigh from Apple Bloom. I knew that the zap apples were the pride of their family.

“AJ, are you here?” No response again. We slid down the hill and slowly went over the field. Again and again we called her name and looked into every direction for a clue. We went over the field multiple times, but there was no sign of her to be found.

“Light, come quick!” Apple Bloom must have found something, so I rushed over to her. She stood in front of a tree that had fallen over and pulled something out of the mud. A Stetson.

“Step aside, Apple Bloom!” I almost yelled at her, and she quickly made way for me. I pushed some branches aside and then I saw her. AJ was buried under the tree crown, halfway buried in the mud and unconscious.

“Sis!” Apple Bloom screamed and tried to wake up her sister, but she only got a groan in reply.

“Quick, get Big Mac. He can help us.” Apple Bloom didn’t react. “Go, now!” I snapped at her, and this time she obeyed. She let go of her sister and staggered away through the mud. I tried to free AJ from the branches as best as I could and began to dig her out of the mud, which eventually led to her opening her eyes again.

“Sugarcube? Ah didn’t think ya’d be into mud masks,” she said with a faint smile. Humour always was a good sign.

“Are you alright, AJ? Do you feel anything?” The tree was lying on her back, and I was afraid of the damage it might have caused.

“Unfortunately, yes…” Her face flinched from the pain as I took the last branches off her. A tree not far away from us could no longer hold itself in the ground and fell over next to us. The mud began to run down the hill, and more trees were getting into a dangerous position.

“I think we should get going soon…” I gathered a bit of magic and tried to turn the tree into cotton, but nothing happened. The second try was not any more successful.

“Sugarcube, these are zap apple trees. Magic ain’t gonna work on them.” I looked around, but there was no sign of Big Mac and Apple Bloom, and I didn’t like the trees around us tilting even further. If I couldn’t transform the tree, levitating was still an option. I knew the runes and thought about the piece of wood that I had managed to send through the ceiling of my apartment back then. Quickly, I felt the magic leaving my body, but I kept up the spell. The tree was surrounded by my white light and began to shake slightly.

“Come… on… just… a…” Even with my limited magical power, it must have been possible to move this stupid little tree, damn it! I gathered all the magic that I could find in me, but it wasn’t enough, and I felt that my power was at its end. It felt like my whole body was sucked dry, including the pain. But there was still something left. In all the black that I saw with my closed eyes, there was this blue glowing ball. Whatever it was, it had to serve as a source. I opened my eyes, and with the new power source, I saw the tree slowly lifting off the ground and eventually flying a few meters above the ground, now in a blue light, not my usual white one. I ran to AJ, bit on to her hoof, and pulled her out from under the tree. She stood back up and went a few meters to the side before I cut off the spell. The tree smashed back into the mud, covering both of us in it.

“Everything… alright?” I asked while panting. AJ just nodded, and we slowly started walking back together to the farm but immediately slipped on the mud.

“Sis!” Big Mac came over the same hill that I had taken earlier and slid down to us. He rushed over to his sister and put her onto his back. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“Just a tree that no longer wanted to stand straight. Light had freed me, but Ah think that mah ribs got hurt.” She snorted and cast a sad look over the field.

“Don’t worry, sis, we’ll fix that,” the big red stallion assured her. “We’ve survived worse.” Slowly, we all trotted back to the farm together. As we reached the house, Big Mac placed his sister on the couch in the living room. “Thanks for freeing her.”

“No problem, Big Mac, you know how much she means to me.” He just nodded.

“But how did ya lift that tree?” That was still a mystery to me.

“I don’t know, I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but I haven’t really understood magic so far.” He shook his head again. “Are you going to carry AJ to the hospital now?”

“Nope.” I gave him a questioning look as he continued talking. “It’s only her ribs, n’ they will heal. We have to save the money, especially now with the damage to the farm. Fluttershy will have a look at her later and fix her up.” Now it was me who wanted to slap Big Mac, but I simply went upstairs into the bedroom, got the moneybag out of my carrier, went downstairs, and put roughly around two thousand bits on the table.

“That should be enough for the best treatment and for the bill for Trixie.” I saw that he wanted to say something, but he just nodded again and picked up his sister from the couch. “Where is Apple Bloom?” I hadn’t seen her since I sent her to get Big Mac.

“On her way to the school.” I completely forgot the school over all the chaos.
“Big Mac, I think AJ is in good han… hooves. I have to get to the school quickly.” He shot me a questioning look. “I’ll explain it to you later.” I ran out of the house and slid down the path to the road. AJ would get treated in the hospital, and her brother would be with her, but that blue ball was still haunting my mind. But I had to ignore it for now and focus on my job. I had no idea what was going on in Ponyville, but bringing the foals to safety sounded like a good plan.

As I reached the outskirts of the town, I saw that the damage was greater than expected, with some buildings having collapsed under the weight of their wet straw roofs while others had completely lost theirs. But I also saw many ponies had already begun to repair the damage, and there didn’t seem to be a panic, much to my relief. The school came into sight, and it luckily didn’t seem to have taken any major damage. Most of the playground equipment was covered in mud, and the swing didn’t seem to be completely fixed into the ground as before, but that was nothing that couldn’t easily be fixed.

“Apple Bloom, have you seen Blue Light?” I heard Cheerilee’s voice coming out of the little building.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee. He was helping to clean up the chaos on the farm this morning.” I coughed slightly before all eyes turned to me. I saw Sweetie Belle trying to hold in laughter along with many of the other foals. Cheerilee left the room and took me a few steps away from the door.

“Morning, Light. Is everything alright with Applejack?”

“As far as I can tell, maybe some broken ribs. Big Mac is bringing her to the hospital, but it’s nothing serious,” I assured her.

“Very good. I was a bit worried after what Apple Bloom told me.” She let out a sigh of relief. “But let’s come back to a closer problem. Don’t you think it would have been a good idea to take a shower first?” I looked down at me and noticed that I was still covered in mud. A bit of magic that I had regained by now and the mud immediately hardened and crumbled off my coat as I shook myself. “I see that is no longer needed. So, are you ready?”

“Ready as I can be…” I didn’t get any further since Cheerilee obviously took that as a yes. She went back into the classroom and turned to the foals.

“So, kids, as I have already told you, I have a surprise for you today. As you just saw, Prince Blue Light is here, and I’m happy to tell you that he will be your new math teacher. So let’s give a welcome for him.” As she finished her little speech, I entered the little room again and stepped next to Cheerilee at the blackboard. The foals stomped their hooves on the ground and then waited for me to say something.

“Hello, my name is Blue Light, and like Miss Cheerilee just told you, I will teach you math. I hope that we will have a lot of fun together and that I can teach you a few things. Any questions?” My time as a youtuber was now proving its worth. Speaking in front of an audience could quickly make you nervous.

“Uhm… Mister Light? Where did all the mud go?” a young colt in the front row asked.

“Could you tell me your name, please?”

“Featherweight, sir,” he replied. I noted the camera around his neck and some memories about a certain episode came to my mind.

“I licked it off like a cat,” I said with a grin and let my tongue wander over the coat at my leg. The class grimaced, but Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and some others laughed. “Any more questions?” A young pony with a bright pink coat and diadem on her head raised her hoof. Cheerilee pushed a list that was lying on the desk closer to me, and I saw that it was a class list. On it was a picture of every student, their name, and cutie mark if available. But for this special foal, I didn’t need the list. “Yes, Diamond Tiara, right?”

“Correct, sir, I just wanted to know if you are really the son of Princess Celestia.” Her voice sounded as posh as I had remembered.

“Officially yes, but she is not my biological mother. She adopted me. For a more precise answer, I would have to look into the files myself.” I had no idea if there was something like a birth certificate for me. Another thing for Silver to do. Cheerilee had stood behind the desk quietly the whole time and watched how I interacted with the class, but now she coughed slightly, which I interpreted as a sign to start with the lesson. I tapped into my new power source and let the class list levitate in front of my face and began to check the attendance.

“Scootaloo?” No reply. “Has any of you seen Scootaloo today?” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof.

“I saw that her house was destroyed, and I think she was helping her mother rebuild it.” I let a pen levitate over from the desk and noted her absence.

“So, what was the last thing you did in math?” Again many hooves shot into the air. “Yes, Silver Spoon?”

“We have started with fractions, sir.” I began to write a few exercises at the blackboard, and the class began to solve them in their notebooks.

She had been strolling through the town for a while now, and somehow it gave her a feeling of satisfaction to see the town that had ill-treated her suffer now themselves. At the same time, she felt guilty for thinking like that. They had deserved a little punishment, but this disaster was a bit too much. Most of the citizens were busy with the clean up or rebuilding their homes, and only a few seemed to tend to their normal jobs. Where did the princess want to meet with her? She came across the town hall, but if she had been there, there would have been a larger crowd instead of just a line of ponies who wanted to hand in their damage reports. Trixie thought it would be best to use a little search spell. Her talent was magic, and as such, it was an easy task for her to analyse the magic of others or find the source of a spell. Since the princess had used levitation magic in her presence, she stored her aura in her head. Slowly but steadily, the trace was leading her to a large tree that stood near the town hall and a sign that read ‘Golden Oaks Library’ next to it.

“Hello, anypony here?” She entered the tree house and threw a look around. No matter where her eyes fell, she saw books. The circular room had a small couch and pedestal with a bust on it stood in the middle of it.

“Hello, how may I— What do you want, Trixie?” Twilight Sparkle came down the stairs and threw a look at her that clearly said that she wasn’t wanted here.

“Trixie isn’t here because of you, and honestly, if Trixie knew this was your library, she wouldn’t have entered in the first place. Trixie is here because she wishes to speak with Princess Celestia, or rather her Highness has asked to speak with Trixie.” Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, and Trixie just snorted. It was obvious that Twilight Sparkle wasn’t easily convinced that the Princess had ordered Trixie here.

“Princess, Trixie is here and says that you wanted to speak with her,” she shouted upstairs into her private room, or at least that was what Trixie assumed.

“Let her in, Twilight. I have some important things to talk to her about.” Twilight just sighed and offered Trixie a seat on the couch.

“Do you want some tea, Trixie?” The hard work earlier had indeed left her thirsty.

“Trixie would much appreciate that.” That, and that her rival would serve it to her. Just as Twilight disappeared in the kitchen, the princess came down the stairs. She looked exhausted, and her aura had grown weaker since she had seen her the last time.

“Hello, Trixie, I am happy to see that you have accepted my invitation.” The regent stepped in front of the couch and smiled. Trixie reacted immediately by jumping off the couch and bowing before her.

“It is an honour for Trixie, your Highness.” The Princess of the Sun sat down next to the coach, as it was a bit too small for her, and Trixie sat down again as well.

“I have to thank you again, Trixie, for you have done a great deed today.” She just nodded to agree with princess. “But that is not why I have ordered you here. This storm was unfortunately not an unexpected accident. No, it is about the search for your brother. My son, who you have met as Blue Light, and Twilight Sparkle have already discussed some theories. Thanks to your help, we are a great deal closer to finding the origin of all this. That is why I would like to talk about something concerning you and Light.” Before Trixie could ask what it was, a dark flash of light appeared in the room, and Princess Luna stood right next to them.

“Tia, we have found it.” She didn’t seem to notice that Trixie was in the room. “We have found the world of Blue Light, but we have to be swift if he is to visit it.”

Author's Notes:

One chapter now...

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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