Before we start, I just have to say that all similarities to My Little Alicorn are coincidental. I didn’t even know the fic existed until I was halfway done with this chapter!

Flash landed next to me with a small plop. “What do you think that was?” he asked. He didn’t even try to act tough and hide the fear in his voice.

“Hmm, let’s see,” I mused. “Fire is a type of light. Who do you think that was?” Make no mistake, I was freaked out, too. But I couldn’t panic, so I had to put up a sarcastic front.

“But Luxa can’t be here already!” Flash cried.

“Didn’t you hear Netro’s story about how she’s extremely powerful now?” I asked.

“Well . . .” Flash started flying again. “Then we have to do something to help! Come on, we’re going to the castle!”

“Help?” I scoffed. “Do the words extremely powerful madmare mean anything to you? Luxa could probably kill us just by pointing her horn at us!” I marched down the street in the opposite direction. “You should just go back to work.”

However, it seemed we couldn’t go back to work. When we returned to the (impossibly crowded) train station, the train was already gone. “What the hell! Where’s the train?” I yelled.

“Canterlot is being evacuated,” a mare next to me explained. “The trains are being manned by the royal guards right now. The train schedule is going back to normal when this situation is contained. ” She must have noticed my engineer’s uniform, then.

I could feel Flash’s smug grin. “Oh, all right, then!” I yelled. “But I’m warning you, she’ll kill us!”

“Not if we sneak attack her, like Netro did,” the pegasus replied. “Let’s go!”

I still have no idea what possessed me to gallop after him. Well, somepony needed to make sure he didn’t get killed.

When we reached the castle, I gasped with horror. As it turned out, it wasn’t some random building but the garden that was on fire. Screaming ponies were running out. Suddenly, there was an explosion, and the front wall of the castle had a hole blown in it. Netro fell through it, awkwardly crashing to the ground.

“Uh . . . let’s hide here!” Flash pointed to a large unicorn-shaped topiary which the fire hadn’t reached yet. He jumped into it. I sighed and followed him. We peered at the courtyard through the spaces in the branches. Thankfully Flash’s and my eyes were green and brown respectively. Plant colors. If you didn’t give us a second glance, I bet you wouldn’t have noticed us.

“Remember, no talking,” I whispered to Flash. “But if you have to, be very quiet.”

“Right,” he whispered back.

And so watching from the bush, we saw the scene unfold.

Netro stood up. I was in awe that he didn’t look hurt that much. The alicorn glared at the castle, bellowing, “Going after our daughters? Come out and fight me, you coward!”

Bright light suddenly shone through the hole, and a figure leaped out and landed gracefully in front of Netro.

I gasped at the sight of the alicorn. Luxa looked so . . . different. Her mane, which had been wavy and colored pink-and blue, was spiky and colored red and black. The same went for her tail, too, and the hairs looked like scythe blades. She had been colored a light yellow, but now her fur was more of a dark grayish mustard yellow. She wore a weird spiky crown made of diamond and a tattered red cape. And most startling of all, her wings were now bat wings.

The Mare of Light laughed, the grating sound making me flinch. “Coward?” she asked. “Are you referring to me? Because as I remember it, you were the one who allowed himself to be banished to space. And I will fight you, but . . . you said yourself that I am much stronger than you.”

“It doesn’t matter!’ Netro cried, firing a blast of dark magic at his wife. Luxa just lowered her head so the blast that would have gotten her in the chest hit her crown instead. Besides the crown turning a dark color, nothing happened.

Luxa grinned savagely. “See? You can’t use magic on me. I’ll just absorb it. Give up now, and I’ll let you off easy.”

Suddenly, Celestia and Luna charged out of the castle. “You can’t, Mother!” she cried.

“WE’RE YOUR FAMILY!” Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice in an attempt to be intimidating.

“Celestia! Luna! I told you I could handle this on my own!” Netro chastised.

“Oh, trying to be noble, are you?” The spidery alicorn turned and looked to her daughters. “Hm . . . You two do have a point. Very well. I won’t kill you two or your father.” Luxa turned to Netro, the crystalline material of her crown glinting evilly. “I’ll just do THIS!” The magic stored in her crown turned a bright white, and she fired a beam at Netro. It was a shadowy — or should I say light copy of the beam he had fired at her previously.

The beam was a concentrated blast of light, but the second it touched the dark alicorn, it completely engulfed him. Netro screamed in pain and I could smell burnt hair. We didn’t see what happened after that. The light was too bright and I had to close my eyes. It didn’t help at all. The thin skin of my eyelids only blocked out a bit of the light.

“Is it over? I can’t take it anymore!” Flash whispered like he was watching a horror movie and didn’t want to see the scary parts.

The light abated. “Yes, it’s over,” I replied. “You can look now.” Cracking my eyes open, I saw that Netro was gone. No, he wasn’t exactly gone, I observed, looking down. A black alicorn colt the size of a newborn was in his place. The singed vest that he had been wearing earlier covered him like a blanket.

His intelligence seemed intact. “How dare you!” Netro yelled in his new squeaky voice. “This is degrading and —”

“That’s the point.” Luxa cackled insanely. “Behold, the almighty Netro, god-king of Equestria! Watch how ponies tremble when he walks by! Of course, they tremble with laughter!” She demonstrated such laughter, raising her head and laughing like the madmare she was.

Somewhere to the right, a bush exploded and Celestia came flying out, her horn aimed at Luxa’s flank. Feeling the horn pierce her side, the Mare of Light magically jerked Celestia into the air. Her side tore and blood poured out, but she didn’t seem to care. “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me,” she said. “I suppose I’ll have to protect my sides more.” She turned to the wound and muttered a spell which closed it immediately.

The attack wasn’t over yet. Luna swooped out of the sky, aiming for Luxa’s crown. However, the yellow alicorn looked up and froze her in place, too. “I’ll just take you two prisoner,” she said to her immobilized daughters. “Of course, one prisoner is easier to keep track of than two, so . . .” She levitated both princesses and smashed them together! I flinched. What the hell was she thinking? Luxa was crazy, though. She had probably thought it would have done something.

Actually, it did. Luxa was now levitating not two mares but one. The mare floating in the air looked like a mixture of Celestia and Luna. She was a dark blue like Luna, but she had Celestia’s mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a combined moon and sun. “Hmm . . .” Luxa mused. “I’ll call you . . . I’ll call you Selena. Oh, I almost forgot!” Her horn glowed bright white, and Selena’s wings disappeared. I vaguely remembered somepony saying that Discord had done something like that to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

“Now you can’t fly away. I can deal with magical attacks, but I’ll get something to cover your horn soon to make sure you can’t use magic.” Luxa turned and began to walk into the castle.

Flash and I looked at each other.

“Three . . .”

“Two . . .”

“One . . .”

“NOW!”

We charged out of the bush like Celestia had done a minute ago. I wasn’t the fastest runner (hey, I have short legs!), but I kept my head down, aiming to stab Luxa in the leg or something. Flash had an easier time flying at her.

Then she turned around. “Foals!” she hissed. “This is a family matter. I’ll teach you not to eavesdrop!” Pillars of light suddenly erupted from the clouds, dropping down on us.

If I thought the light was horrible when Netro got burned, then this was unbearable. It was almost impossible to close my eyes, and it burned horribly, so horribly . . . My head was spinning and I just wanted it to stop — Nothing. The burning was over, and it was pleasantly dark. Then, there was a rush as I was teleported away.

The first thing I heard was Flash’s voice. “Oh my Celestia . . . I think we were just roasted.”

“Roast whatever you want, I’m taking a nap,” I groaned. The grass we were on was so soft . . . Celestia knows, I needed a nap, and where we were seemed to be a good place to take one.

To my left, I heard a rustling noise as Flash struggled to get up. “Sparky!” he screamed. “I . . . I can’t see!”

Pain shot through my head. I winced. “Maybe you’re not opening your eyes!” I opened my eyes and swung my head to face him. But I didn’t see anything. “NETRO HELP US!” I screamed, seeing as he was the only alicorn who wasn’t evil, imprisoned, or fused to her sister.

Somepony else next to us sighed. “Fine,” he said in a squeaky voice. The pony quickly said a spell. “My apologies if it doesn’t work right away,” he said. “My power hasn’t been fully restored yet, and it doesn’t help that that accursed Luxa turned me into this . . . not that you can see me.”

The spell slowly began to take effect. First, my head stopped throbbing. Then, the pain from my burns gradually stopped. Lastly, my eyesight came back, and with a start, I saw that we were lying in a field. In front of us was Netro the newborn colt.

“Thanks,” I said. “Now where are we?”

“We are on the outskirts of Ponyville,” Netro responded. “Now, where should we . . .”

“Just wondering, were you regressed to a colt or just turned into colt form?” I asked. There is a difference, after all. If he was regressed, then he wouldn’t have a cutie mark. If he was just forced into a colt’s body, he still would. However, there was still the image of a swirling black hole on his gray flank. “Ah, all right.”

Meanwhile, Flash was thinking hard about something. “If you want a place to go, how about we go to the Ponyville library? I heard Sparky talking about a book she read there about you and Luxa.”

“It sounds as good of a place as any,” Netro said. “Let’s go. But there is a problem. How are we supposed to get through Ponyville without attracting unwanted attention? Many ponies are sure to stop by and ask about me, an alicorn.”

“Well,” Flash said proudly, “I have a plan for that.”

“This plan sucks!” I complained. We had initiated Flash’s plan, which was claiming that we were Netro’s parents.

“Hey, is that an alicorn?” someone asked.

“Yes,” I said dryly. “When a unicorn and a pegasus have a foal, there’s a very small chance it will be an alicorn.”

In that way, we passed through Ponyville and managed to get through the library.

“Which book is it again?” Flash asked me.

“The Creation of Equestria. Very original name, if I do say so myself.” I replied.

However, when we looked inside the library, we saw that the book was already being read by a very distressed Twilight Sparkle. “Come on!” she said, using magic to flip through the pages. “This book refers to a prophecy about how Luxa can be defeated. Where is it?”

“Oh!” Spike said. “My bad. I was meaning to give you this.” He handed Twilight the old parchment I had found in the book earlier in the day.

“That’s it!” the purple unicorn exclaimed. “Thank you, Spike!” She levitated the paper over to her and looked at it. “Hmm . . . that has to be the prophecy written in old runes in the bottom! Oh, where did I put that book on how to translate old runes . . .” She searched through the books on the shelves. “It’s not here! Spike, have you seen it?”

“No,” the baby dragon replied.

“Oh my gosh! Then how are we supposed to defeat Luxa . . . The Elements of Harmony will work, won’t they?”

I think Twilight was asking a rhetorical question, but Netro flew in to answer her anyways. “I beg your pardon for eavesdropping, but it won’t work.”

“Huh?” She looked at Netro like the alicorn had come in to kill her. Twilight glanced at the parchment. “Oh my! It’s King Netro!” She quickly bowed down to him. “But why are you a colt?”

“Luxa did this to me,” he replied. “As I was saying, the Elements of Harmony won’t work. Luxa has a crown that can absorb any magical attack and reflect it onto the attacker.”

“Then how are we supposed to — oh right, the prophecy! But I can’t find the guide to reading old runes!” Twilight turned to the shelves. “Oh well. I’ll have to keep looking.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Netro said. “I can read old runes. Would you mind giving me the paper?”

“Of course!” Twilight levitated the parchment over to Netro, who took control of it with his own magic.

Netro stared at the paper. “Hmm . . . Let’s see . . .

“The Mare of Light will be defeated by three

Pegasus, unicorn, and earth pony

To another land they must quest

With the items of power they will be blessed

And only then will they be able to fight

And defeat the Mare of Light.”

“Oh,” Twilight said. “So the answer this time isn’t anything like the magic of friendship.”

Netro nodded. “Yes, it’s just good old-fashioned weapons this time. I think I can handle this this time, bearer of the element of . . .”

“Magic,” the mare answered.

“Ah,” the black colt replied. “This time, I think you can have a well-deserved rest.” He must have noticed her panic when we first entered the library.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” With another bow, Twilight Sparkle disappeared up the stairs.

For a while, we just stood in the library, Netro eying us. It was unnerving to be scrutinized by a newborn colt — or rather, a god-king in the body of a newborn colt.

“What’s with the stare?” Flash asked.

“I think . . . you two may be the pegasus and unicorn in the prophecy,” Netro answered gravely.

For a while, everything was silent. Then, Flash and I started laughing. “Are you kidding?” the cream pegasus asked. “Me and Sparky? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! We’re not heroes, we’re . . . ponies who work on a train!”

Netro rolled his eyes and sighed. “Well, you’re the only leads I’ve got. How about we . . . go somewhere more secluded to talk?”

We ended up walking to Sweet Apple Acres. Not many ponies passed by that way, so we could talk freely. Netro had enough forethought to bring the parchment with him. On the way, the paper glowed and kept attaching itself to my face and Flash’s face.

I had asked what was going on and Netro explained that it was enchanted to locate the heroes once the prophecy was spoken aloud. So there was no doubt about it that Sparky and I were the pegasus and unicorn in the prophecy.

We had sat down in a grassy area. “So, what are your special talents?” Netro asked.

I sighed. “Driving trains.” I shifted my flank so he could see my cutie mark of an engine car. “I got this after I first tried to drive the magic-powered train. It’s nothing much.”

“And yours, Flash Fire? That cutie mark of a fireball seems abstract.”

“I can fly like a meteor!” Flash boasted. “But that’s nothing compared to Rainbow Dash. Seriously! You should see her fly! Especially when she does that Sonic Rainboom . . .”

I waved a hoof in his face. “Earth to fancolt.”

“Hey!” he yelled. “I was just saying!”

“Yeah, whatever,” I replied. “Now, who do you think is the earth pony?”

“I don’t know,” Netro replied. “But the parchment will reveal it. Sooner or later. Even if we have to walk through all of Equestria —”

“Except Cloudsdale. Earth ponies, remember?” Flash pointed out.

“Then we can use the train!” I realized. “Hey, this won’t be as hard as I thought —” Suddenly, I yawned. All the excitement of the day was making me tired. “I’m taking a nap, guys. Wake me up if something interesting happens, ‘k?” I rolled on one side and went to sleep.

It couldn’t have been long when Netro started poking me in the side with his horn. It was still a little nub, so it didn’t hurt. “Huh?” I asked, sitting up.

“The parchment,” Flash said. Looking at it, I noticed it was hovering in the air. There was no colored magic field around it, so it couldn’t have been a unicorn messing with us.

The parchment quickly flew away. “After it!” I yelled, lunging after the paper. Flash flew along, and Netro . . . Netro had to leap on my back. The colt was surprisingly heavy, and I staggered as I tried to follow the paper. It moved slowly, though, and we had no trouble catching up to it when it did attach to somepony’s face.

“Sorry!” I called out when I saw the big red stallion that was the parchment’s target. “It’s the wind! The breeze must have acted up and blew the old parchment we were studying in your face.” I levitated the paper out of his face and saw that it was Big Macintosh, one of the members of the Apple Family that owned Sweet Apple Acres. Well, he was an earth pony.

“Why did you tell him that?” Netro whispered harshly. “There’s no need to lie to him, he’s one of the heroes!” The alicorn jumped on my head.

“Augh!” I exclaimed in surprise. “Warn me if you’re going to do that, would you?”

“Sorry,” he whispered back. “Excuse me, sir. I don’t know what she was talking about, as the parchment landed on your face for a specific reason. A reason that is too sensitive to discuss here. Do you have time to take a break for a bit and following us to a place where we can talk without the fear of anyone listening in?”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh replied.

We led him to the glade we had been resting in earlier. When we had settled down, Netro’s voice suddenly echoed in our minds. Excellent! I can still use telepathy in this form.

He explained all that had happened — from when he had come down from space for the first time to the present day — and then explained the prophecy, even reading it out loud (well, out loud in telepathy). Netro concluded by saying that the three ponies he had gathered with him were the three heroes.

Big Macintosh hadn’t spoken once through all that. “Do you believe him?” I asked.

“Nnope,” he replied.

“Well, neither did we!” Flash said. “I mean, how likely is that? Maybe Netro’s desperate for ponies that can help him!”

“I am not!” Netro retorted. “The parchment has spoken, and you three must go on the quest whether you doubt it or not, and that is final!” A bolt of lightning crashed down dangerously close to us.

“Now that I’ve got your attention,” Netro said, “I think we should go over what we are going to bring with us.”

I looked through my house, searching for what Netro had recommended for us to bring. He said we needed food, money, medical supplies, thick blankets, and weapons. And he had also requested that somepony bring candles or incense, but he hadn’t explained why. “The rest is up to you,” he had said.

I took out my biggest pair of saddlebags and put in all the food I could find in my house, a first-aid kit, my wallet, a thick quilt my mother had given me, and some candles I found lying around. Weapons . . . Now, those were hard to find. I ended up packing some kitchen knives. The rest was up to me. But I had no idea what to bring.

I just stood in front of the door for a while. I was the unicorn of the group. That meant I was responsible for everything magical. However, I didn’t know much magic besides focusing my energy into an area, levitating things, and teleporting, which I had trouble with. I needed something that could help me with advanced magic.

“Celestia, this is impossible!” I complained, stepping forward. My right hoof hit something rectangular and heavy. At first, I thought it was a brick. That was stupid. Why would I have a random brick in my house? Looking down, I saw that I had kicked the copy of The Advanced Guide to Magic and Spellcasting my parents had given me. My parents had hoped I would be a great magician who would go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Didn’t happen. Let’s just say they were extremely pissed when I came home with a cutie mark of a train. Since I sucked at magic, I never used the book. I just kept it around for kicks.

The book seemed useful on the quest, though. I levitated it into my saddlebags. Then, I used my magic to levitate the bags onto me and fasten the strap. That bag was heavy. But I needed all the stuff in it, so I tried to bear it without whining. Now that I was fully prepared, I could go out and meet up with everypony else who was going on that crazy quest.

When I stepped outside, Flash, Netro, and Big Mac were already there. Netro in particular was glaring at me. Uh-oh. Guess I took too long packing everything. I apologized quickly before sizing everypony up.

Flash was wearing the wing bracers he used when he was about to go flying for a long time. The pegasus was still wearing Netro’s neon orange shutter shades. He was sparsely packed, and his small saddlebags looked pretty empty. Typical of him. We would probably have to share supplies with him. Then again, we would probably have to pool all our supplies together.

On the other hoof, Big Mac seemed like he had enough supplies for everypony in his large saddlebags. In addition, he had a rope tied to his tail. I knew he was pretty strong, but I couldn’t help but wonder how he could carry all that stuff. And it didn’t look like it was causing him problems, either. Then again, I had seen him pull big carts.

“What’s in your bag?” Netro asked, looking at the bag I had put my book in. “It doesn’t look like you can carry it.”

“True, but it does look like I need it,” I replied, levitating the book out of my saddlebags. “It’s a copy of The Advanced Guide to Magic and Spellcasting. But yeah, it is causing me problems.” It was probably pretty rude of me, but I wanted to ask Big Mac if he would carry the book for me. “Hey Big Mac — is it okay if I call you that?”

“Eeyup.”

“Anyways, do you have any room in your saddlebags for this book? I need it, but it’s pretty hard to carry, and —”

“Sparky, that is extremely rude,” Netro scolded. “But do you have any room in your saddlebags to carry me?” I gasped. That hypocrite!

“Eeyup.” Celestia, did that stallion say anything else besides “Nnope”?

One of the bags was half-full of apples, and there was enough room for the colt. Clutching his vest in his teeth, he flew inside and nestled down into the piles of fruit, draping the vest over him. I had to admit, he looked kind of cute with his head hanging out like that. But that Netro was still a selfish hypocrite.

“Selfish —” I began, but Netro just glared at me. All I ended up saying was, “You better not eat all those apples. They’re provisions for this stupid quest.”

“Now, I’m not selfish. If you let me walk or fly, I’ll just be a burden,” Netro explained. “In this form, I have limited endurance. And you don’t need that book. I can teach you essential spells.”

“But . . .” I began. “But I suck at magic! All I use magic for is levitating things and powering the train’s engine!”

The black alicorn stared at me thoughtfully. “Then, I suppose some preparation will be useful. To the glade! Did anypony bring the candles or incense I requested?”

“I did,” I told him. “They’re in my saddlebags.” But first, I had to get rid of that book. I magically flung it into my house, wincing when I heard the sound of something fragile breaking. Then, I took the candles out and showed them to Netro.

“Excellent!” the colt cried. He tapped Big Mac with his hoof. “To the glade!” he ordered like he was the — wait, he was the king. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t acting like a brat.

“What are we doing?” I asked, walking after him.

“Helping you,” Netro said. “I’m going to try to see how much magic you’re capable of doing so I can gauge how much I’ll need to assist you. Besides, we need to be fully rested for our journey.”

“You’re right,” I said grudgingly. “As always.” I really didn’t get why I didn’t respect Netro anymore. Well . . . maybe because it was so ridiculous that the king of Equestria was a newborn colt. But he was still the king, so I made an effort to be nicer to him so he wouldn’t order me executed or anything. “And thanks in advance for attempting to teach me magic,” I added with a little of my old pre-Luxa and Netro sarcasm.

“So . . . what are you doing?”

We had returned to the small glade near Sweet Apple Acres. A blanket had been spread out in the approximate center of the clearing. Four of my candles formed a square on the blanket, and in the middle of it sat Netro, his eyes shut.

The black alicorn cracked open one blue eye before answering my question. “I am meditating. Clearing your mind helps you harness your magical energy more effectively, you know.” I didn’t know that. Then again, I didn’t care for that chakras-and-flow-of-energy spiritual crap. Netro patted the spot next to him. “Come and join me, my dear.”

Yes, a little colt had called me ‘my dear’. Stifling a laugh, I stepped over the candles and sat down next to him. The candles smelled nice and made me drowsy, but besides that, nothing happened. “So . . . what am I supposed to be doing?” I asked.

Netro sighed. “Just close your eyes and clear your mind. Try to reach out to the energy around you.”

Closing my eyes would probably just make me fall asleep, but I did what the alicorn said. He certainly knew more about magic than I did.

I waited . . .

And waited . . .

And waited . . .

Nothing was happening. Just when I was about to open my eyes and scream at Netro for being crazy, I felt a strange feeling in my horn. I really didn’t know how to describe it, but it was the feeling I got whenever I was using magic.

Without opening my eyes, I nudged Netro. “I felt something,” I said.

“Wonderful!” he replied. “Now your mind is more open for magical abilities. Now, I want to see how much magic you can do. Try levitating something large. Try levitating . . . Big Macintosh.”

“Are you kidding me?!” I shouted. “My brain will probably blow up if I try levitating him!”

The black colt groaned. “I said ‘try levitating Big Macintosh’, not ‘magically launch Big Macintosh into space’. I just want to see if you can do it.”

“And I can’t do it!” I exclaimed. “How many times do I have to tell you that I suck at magic? You have more magical ability than I do in colt form!” It was true. Netro had healed and teleported us, and when I tried to teleport myself, I almost threw up.

“You’ll never know until you try,” Netro advised. I hated that phrase! My parents had always used it when trying to get me to do some spectacular display of magic, which was pretty much what Netro was trying to get me to do.

“Ugh!” I yelled. “Fine, I’ll do it, if you’ll just get off my case!” I stood up, searching for Big Mac so I could get it over with. He was sitting near the trees, talking with Flash. Since I was so pissed, I didn’t feel like warning him. I probably wouldn’t even be able to lift him, anyways. Then again, the meditation seemed like it actually helped.

Nah, that’s stupid, I decided. Meditation was a whole bunch of spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Sighing, I decided to try levitation.

Flash screamed like a filly when he saw his companion being enveloped in a sky blue magical field. “Calm down!” I snapped. “This is magical training!” Flash gulped and nodded without saying anything, and I silently thanked Celestia for that.

Let me tell you, levitating Big Mac was almost impossible. As soon as I got him off the ground, my head started throbbing. “Can I stop now?” I asked Netro.

“No, keep going unless you think ‘your brain’s gonna blow up’ as you put it,” he replied. “You’re actually doing a good job at levitating somebody twice your height and weight.”

I snorted. A colt had no right to be making fun of my height, even if he was a god and the king of Equestria. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, King Netro.”

“Actually, I am no more of a king than you are. Luxa has taken over, and she doesn’t seem like she wants to share her regained power.” He huffed and stamped his hoof petulantly, making him seem even more coltlike. “And anyways, all the power has been passed on to my daughters . . . er, daughter now.”

“Oh,” I said. Then, I turned my attention back to levitating Big Mac. I was able to get him half a foot off the ground, but I couldn’t keep him steady. The red stallion (actually, my magical aura made him look pretty purple to me) jerked wildly in the air. I was surprised he didn’t hurl from how much I was shaking him around. My head still hurt, but somehow, I was able to keep him in the air. Then, the pressure in my skull became unbearable, and I thought my brain was going to blow up, so I released the spell. Poor Big Mac was smashed face-first into the ground. Flash gasped.

“Was that necessary?” he asked.

“Yeah!” I answered. Sure, Flash was my best friend, but bothering him was just so damn fun. “Didn’t you hear me or Netro? We were practicing magic and he wanted me to levitate the heaviest thing possible. Or were you too busy listening to Big Mac? Not that he says much anyways.”

Flash got to his hooves and spread his wings. “Well, you —”

Netro cleared his throat, making us turn to him. “If I may interrupt,” he began, “it would do well if you two didn’t argue. Our quest hasn’t even begun yet!”

“Sparky started it!” Flash whined. “If she had just told me yes, it was necessary, and left it at that, then we wouldn’t be arguing in the first place!”

“You’re kidding!” I yelled. “You were the one who asked if it was necessary for me to levitate Big Mac, and it was! Netro made me do it!” Wait, if Netro made me do it, then that meant . . . “So this is Netro’s fault!”

The pegasus’ green eyes lit up. “Yeah . . . you do have a point. Blame Netro for this!”

The black alicorn looked bewildered. “Wha — You can’t blame me! I basically created Equestria! You have no right to —”

“Doesn’t mean you didn’t make us argue,” Flash Fire said triumphantly. “Hey, what do you think, Big Mac?”

We looked over at the earth pony. He was still recovering from being smashed into the ground. “. . . Wha?”

“Never mind,” I said.

To that, Netro agreed vehemently. “Yes, never mind. Sparky, you are not exceptionally talented at magic.” So in other words, I was right. I did suck at magic. “But if there is one thing you are good at, you can sustain your magic for long periods of time, which is why you are suited for driving the train.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard that before,” I said. “That would happen to be why I have a cutie mark of a train.”

“Well, some magic is better than no magic at all,” Netro said. “Then again, I am a uniciorn, so . . .”

I didn’t let him finish. “Thanks for making me feel better,” I hissed.

The alicorn’s blue eyes widened. “No, I’m not saying I don’t want you on this quest — the parchment has chosen after all — but . . . your ability for sustaining your magic is sure to be useful. Let’s see . . . can you levitate yourself?”

“Sure,” I said. I managed to lift myself a few feet off the ground and even move around in the air some. Well, maybe being small wasn’t that bad . . .

Touching down on the blanket, I looked at Netro expectantly. He seemed to be deep in thought. “Well, that’s good. In case we ever need to fly, three out of the four members of our quest are capable of flight — or levitation, in your case.”

“Wait,” Flash cut in. “Four? Netro, are you coming with us? Not that I don’t want you around. I’m just curious!”

“I am,” Netro said. “I won’t be much help in a fight since I tire easily, but I’ve already demonstrated healing abilities, which are sure to be useful on our dangerous journey. And besides, I am extremely knowledgeable because of my extremely long life, even if at least half of it was spent in space. If you ever need any exposition, ask me and I’ll provide you with all the information you need.”

“Good idea,” I said. “So, now that we know that I can use some magic and we’re done meditating, are we going to go now?”

“Yes, we are.” Netro blew out the candles. I levitated them into my saddlebags, making sure there was no liquid wax on them.

“Uh . . . where are we supposed to go?” Flash asked. “Oh, by the way, I’m folding up this blanket.” Netro and I stepped off it so he could do so. Amused, we watched as Flash tried folding it with his hooves. “It would be so much easier if I could use magic!” he groaned. If he was trying to get Netro or me to help, it wasn’t working. But at any rate, he managed to fold it into a fairly neat square. “Here you go, Big Mac,” Flash said, picking up the blanket and placing it in the stallion’s saddlebags for hin.

I smirked. “Aw, come on, Flash. Don’t treat him like a foal. I’m sure getting smashed into the ground didn’t take that much out of him . . .”

Flash chose to ignore me. Instead, he repeated his question of where we were supposed to go again.

“Hmm . . .” Netro shut his eyes. “The parchment says that we must go to another land to seek the items of power, whatever they are. Strange, I haven’t heard of them before. They must have been made after I was banished to space.”

Another land? As far as I could tell, all the other lands were across the ocean. “Does that mean we’re going across the sea?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Flash said. “Hey, how close is the ocean again? Wait, I have a map! One second!” He pulled a piece of paper out of his saddlebags and spread it out on the grass. “We are here,” he said, putting his hoof down on the paper.

“No, here,” Big Macintosh corrected, pointing to a different spot on the map.

“Whatever!” the flustered pegasus retorted. “But anyways, if we’re here, then the fastest route to the ocean is . . . through Everfree Forest!”

“Everfree Forest?!” I exclaimed. “That place is full of dangerous monsters!”

“Not as dangerous as Luxa,” Netro commented sadly. “We should be able to handle them, and if we can’t, I’ll just teleport us out and we’ll go around the forest.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said.

“Then let’s get on with it!” Flash exclaimed.

That’s the end of the “prologue”. If you’re familiar with Paper Mario, then next chapter’s going to be a Selena intermission! Yes, I know Selena is the name of a moon goddess. But whatever. Selena’s kind of a mix of Celestia and Luna, so that’s why I chose the name.