Duskfall trudged wearily into the palace. She was flanked by everyone sans Celestia. Even Harmonia was happily holding genetic material from all the Elements as she entered the palace she created. How Harmonia had managed that, Duskfall wasn’t sure and she had seen it happen!

“Welcome back!” Spike chirped from the table room. The group entered it and Spike’s eyes were quickly drawn to the new addition.

“I’m going to guess this is the Tree?” If looks were capable of killing, Harmonia would be taking a dirt nap.

“Spike…” Duskfall started, but Spike walked right up to Harmonia.

“You killed my sister. I will never forgive you,” Spike stalked out of the room before anyone could stop him.

“Probably better he got that off his chest before he saw Duskfall’s flanks,” Rainbow quipped.

“I fear I will be suffering the fate of becoming his snack for a little while,” Harmonia mused, causing much blushing and wing boners.

“Choice of words!” Rarity squealed.

“What is wrong with what I said?” Harmonia asked blankly.

Duskfall snorted. She had flirted with the idea on the ride from Canterlot, but now it was official. Harmonia was the group’s Yuki Nagato. Although, that made her wonder if Harmonia knew a version of Yuki. That would be a question for another time. For now, there was a more important question staring her in the face.

“So, Harmonia, what’s the deal with that table?” Duskfall asked. Was it her imagination or did Harmonia seem embarrassed?

“It is a direct link and physical manifestation of a fragment of my consciousness. I intended to use it as a means of directing yourself and the Element Bearers as I saw fit to enforce Harmony across the land. As the Tree of Harmony, one of my abilities is observing the Weave of Fate. It gives me insight into things that are going on all across Equuis. For example,” The table sprang to life with the image of Equestria and then zoomed in on Manehatten, “There is a young couple who just broke up due to an argument. It is sad to see young love die out like that, but it ultimately won’t affect the rest of Equestria. So I wouldn’t have notified you of it, as it would’ve been a terrible waste of resources.”

The map zoomed in on a rural town called Oakvale on the eastern coast of Equestria.

“Here there is a mother and daughter having a bitter argument. It is possible that this argument spirals completely out of control and eventually drags the rest of the town into the bickering, but the chances of that is only .0943% and even in the worst case scenario it would never leave the city limits and die down in a few months,” Harmonia shrugged, “Clearly not a wise use of your time either.”

The map zoomed in on Canterlot next.

“Here there is a father/daughter team that has just opened a restaurant. In a month or two, it will have a 67% chance of breaking the horrible monopoly Restaurant Row has on Canterlot cuisine. IF they can be made to see that bits often follow passion, given enough time. I would have likely sent Lau- Pinkamena and Rarity to assist them in a month’s time. Pinkamena for her passion for life in general and Rarity for her head for business and people skills,” Harmonia mentioned.

“Why would you care about Restaurant Row? I agree the food is terrible, but surely a Greater Spirit would have more important things to worry about?” Luna asked.

“Dear Luna, have you ever heard the expression ‘the quickest way to a stallion’s heart is through his stomach’? It is true of almost all creatures that a good meal will improve their mood. A happy stomach leads to a happier heart which in turn leads to a more positive environment for all. It may seem minor, but every small thing helps. Even if my motivations for potentially sending Pinkamena and Rarity there in the future are drastically different from what they would have been a few days ago, the end results and goals are the same,” Harmonia explained. Duskfall nodded in agreement.

“Human scientists have studied such things. Bacteria that live in a human’s gut can play a huge role in a human’s general mood and can even go so far as to affect mental health. I have no idea if that’s true for ponies or not but it is an interesting thing to note,” Duskfall remarked.

“It is not as true for ponies as it is for humans. A pony’s natural magic tends to mute the effect of similar bacteria found in their own digestive tracts,” Harmonia noted, “That isn’t to say there is no effect at all, however.”

“Wow! That’s super cool that you want to help ponies succeed and be happier!” Pinkie chirped. Harmonia scoffed.

“My motives were not nearly as pure as you are suggesting. I simply desired Harmony for Harmony’s sake. I had taken to viewing mortals as little more than numbers in a calculation. I don’t know when exactly I started to think like that, but it happened so slowly that I didn’t notice until Discord very forcefully shoved my face into the fact,” Harmonia fluffed her wings awkwardly.

“So…you can see tha future or somethin?” Applejack asked.

“Not exactly, it is more akin to pattern recognition taken to an extreme. The future itself is eternally in motion until the exact moment it becomes the present and once that moment fades into the past, it isn’t a solid as many believe. However, with the Weave of Fate, ones who can comprehend certain planes of existence can see the…habits of the Concepts that help create the past, present, and future. It is a crude way of putting it, but the best I can do. Using the knowledge of these habits, I can tell the likelihood of certain events coming to pass. However, there are a number of X factors that make this little more than a glorified guessing game. Free Will and the interference of high level entities being chief among them, but Lady Luck is far and away the most likely to disrupt any potential future at the last second,” Harmonia explained.

Before any more questions could be asked, the doors burst open to reveal Lyra and Bonnie.

“We heard you were back and… who the fuck is the new Alicorn?” Lyra rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

“I’d like to know that too, but there is a more important question here,” Bonnie said with forced calm.

“Really? What?” Lyra asked her marefriend.

“WHAT IN TARTARUS HAPPENED TO YOU DUSK?!” So much for trying to remain calm. Lyra’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as she followed Bonnie’s gaze and saw Duskfall’s blank flanks.

“Oh, you know, nothing major. I misplaced Twilight’s Cutie Mark and when I found it the silly thing went and shattered! Imagine that! Ha ha ha!” It was not the most ideal situation for people to find out, but Twilighting here wouldn’t help anything, even if it would feel really good. Duskfall bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood. The few strands of her mane that had popped out of place smoothed back down.

“I- you- did Tirek steal your magic?!” Bonnie demanded to know.

“No. If I didn’t beat his face in if he escaped to try such a stunt, Discord would certainly take a chunk out of his hide,” Duskfall said seriously.

“She wasn’t kidding about Twilight’s Cutie Mark shattering, it was quite disturbing, truth be told,” Rarity shuttered.

“Twilight’s Cutie Mark was forcibly disconnected from Duskfall’s Soul, taking some of her Soul with it. The same happened to the rest of the Elements, but they got their Cutie Marks back. Unfortunately, Duskfall’s Soul is not Twilight’s, so Twilight’s Cutie Mark was incompatible, thus leading to her current state,” Harmonia explained.

“Don’t think you guys are off the hook about the new Alicorn,” Lyra remarked.

“She’s a temporary avatar of the Tree of Harmony she’ll be using until she can create a flesh and blood body to host her consciousness. Call her Harmonia. Anyway, I’m fine. I absolutely wasn’t fine when it happened, but I’m fine now,” Duskfall insisted.

“You lost one of the only connections to your originals and you’re ‘fine’?” Lyra asked skeptically. Bonnie nailed Lyra in the ribs for her insensitivity. Duskfall felt a fresh twinge of pain in her Heart. She forced it away. Twilight had years of learning how to cope with her own freak outs. Something Duskfall wished to take advantage of at the moment. Using the breathing technique Cadence had shown Twilight, Duskfall steadied her Heart.

“This just means I’ll be spending more time with the Crusaders…yay!” Duskfall tried to joke. Bon Bon and Lyra looked at each other. They trotted over to Duskfall together.

“I’m sure it can’t replace what you’ve lost,” Bonnie began as she pressed her forehead against Duskfall’s.

“But we’re sure you’ll have your own Cutie Mark in no time. You’re a smart filly, you’ll figure it out,” Lyra comforted as she rubbed up against Duskfall’s side. Dusk was surprised by the contact of the two mares, but didn’t find it unpleasant so saw no need to extract herself.

“Lyra. Bon Bon. A word. Outside. Now,” Rarity sounded extremely upset about something, but for the life of her, Duskfall couldn’t figure out what it was as Rarity, in a surprising display of magical strength, carried both mares out the door with her.

“What on Equuis was that all about?! Teasing Duskfall like that, how could you do such a thing?! Especially at a time like this!” Rarity didn’t snarl. Ladies didn’t snarl. Lyra and Bonnie might argue that point though.

“We weren’t teasing her,” Bonnie protested mildly.

“WEREN’T TEASING HER?! Oh, well excuse me for the mistake! Then what do you call rubbing up against her like that?! Darling, you have to remember who her originals were! Tom, a human who had no idea the nuances of pony body language and Twilight Sparkle, repressed mare extraordinaire. Dusk isn’t equipped to handle such shameless, meaningless flirting!” Rarity ranted.

“It wasn’t meaningless, Rarity,” Lyra said plainly. Rarity looked shocked.

“I beg your pardon?” She asked.

“We know most conventional means of showing affection would end in disaster with Tom and Twilight informing her worldview. We have to be as direct as possible, but still give her a chance to learn. If we just walked up to her and said ‘hey, you wanna be our marefriend’ she could miss a valuable lesson,” Bonnie remarked.

“Well, she’s already asked us to teach her about sex, so I’m not entirely sure what Bonnie’s getting at, but yeah. We wanted to see how she responded to romantic affection before spilling the beans,” Rarity’s brain short circuited. She could practically smell the burning fuses in her neocortex.

“WHAT?!” Rarity finally shouted.

“Duskfall came to us a day or two before you left on your mission. She asked us to teach her about physical relationships. Lyra and I agreed she needed more than that. Seeing Twilight’s Cutie Mark has been destroyed, that only reaffirms my resolve. What Duskfall needs, more than simply friends, is someone, or in this case someones, to fill that part of her that craves a real, romantic relationship. As you said, Twilight repressed herself like no other and I can’t imagine it was easy for Tom to suddenly be trapped in the body of a mare while surrounded by a completely alien species. Duskfall needs this Rarity and I don’t know anyone else who could give it to her. Do you?” Bonnie pointedly asked.

Rarity didn’t know what shocked her more. That Duskfall had asked for lessons on sex? That Lyra and Bon Bon, the two famous for being absolutely devoted to each other, would willingly make their couple a trio? That Rarity thought they were right and Duskfall would indeed benefit immensely from a real romance? It was all so confusing and suddenly Rarity felt a strong desire for a nap.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you are right. I can’t think of anyone else who could better guide Duskfall through her first romance. I would if I could, but alas, I only have eyes for stallions and Duskfall deserves better than someone whose Heart isn’t in it. I know you will, but I find it needful to say it out loud just for my own state of mind, but please be careful with her. You didn’t hear her after Twilight’s Cutie Mark shattered right before her eyes. Duskfall is…extremely fragile right now,” Rarity warned.

“We will be as gentle and slow as we can be,” Lyra promised.

“And as strong and sure as we need to be,” Bonnie said with conviction. Lyra nodded along with her marefriend’s words. Rarity was surprised by them, but when she turned them over in her head, her Heart suddenly felt more at ease.

“Thank you, both of you. Words can’t express how grateful I am for your generosity,” Rarity smiled at the pair.

“We ain’t doing this just for the sake of generosity,” Lyra snarked. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

“What my sweetheart means is we wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t what we both wanted. It doesn’t hurt that Duskfall is so adorable I could eat her up with a spoon~” Bonnie smirked. Rarity just arched an eyebrow at them before leading them back inside the palace.

Author's Notes:

I didn't mean for this to take up the whole chapter, but here we are. A little bit of world building, a little bit of fluff, and suddenly I have 2.2k words.

Next chapter the CMC finds out Duskfall's new status as a blank flank and Duskfall receives a gift from The Doctor.