...sun and stars, Jacob, what happened to you?

For once he was thankful for the disconnect from physical sensations that this place gave him. “I got in a tangle with a corrupted timberwolf. I have pictures if you want to see the slideshow.”

He projected every last picture he'd taken on his trip to and through the hotel for the Princesses. In his mind's eye, he envisioned them poring over a collection of snapshots. This... this is unlike anything I have ever seen. Sister?

This is dark magic, sister. Jacob, can you tell us anything else about what possessed this creature?

“It had some kind of ability to... corrupt things. Rot them away. Not only the other timberwolf it killed, but wood and metal as well.”

I see... and examining these notes from our adversary, I begin to wonder....

What is it, sister?

I see two shapes at once. The general locations of the runes themselves form a fairly basic runeshape that appears to be for... projection, of some sort? But as I examine each individual rune, I see that they are designed to draw other shapes within the greater one. Perhaps... containment, amplification... bah, these notes were written by a madmare!

“Containment?” he repeated. “It looked like whatever infested the wolf jumped out of the rune. And when it vanished for a while and then came back bigger and more evil-looking than before, I figured it had run off to hit up more of the runes.”

That they even still exist after all that time... even the mixture Trixie used could not have endured so long by itself. Could she have somehow imbued them with this corruptive power, allowing it to sustain itself within them, and them in turn? And if so, towards what aim?

“She just wrote something about the sun and the moon, and how all of Equestria would know her greatness when they rose.”

It does not seem that either of us have the necessary information to solve this mystery. But Twilight Sparkle will. Once you have shown her all you have learned, she will certainly be able to deduce Trixie's plan and put a stop to it.

“I'm going to see if I can't have Trixie arrested as well. It's clear she's completely gone off the deep end, and she could do something dangerous if she finds out we're moving against her.”

Indeed. Once Twilight is brought up to speed on events, she can explain the need for such to Shining Armor. Should it prove necessary, he is also aware of the codes we use, and will respond in the same manner. With luck the Royal Guard would be able to surprise Trixie and detain her without incident; without luck... we employ some of the most skilled battlemages in the lands- any resistance she offered would be quickly overwhelmed.

“I'd rather it didn't come to that. I want to keep things neat and clean. Zero problems.”

We can hope for such good fortune, but to expect it would be foalish. All contingencies should be considered.

“Don't have to tell me twice.” He considered for a moment. “Honestly, I'm not sure Trixie's entirely, or maybe even at all, in control of herself. Not from that one entry in her diary. There's a chance that whatever power she found has been corrupting her....” He paused, sorting through his thoughts as a line of logic began to appear. “In fact, that's about the only way I can imagine she would even know Story was any sort of threat to her,” he said. “Could the link between my body and Story's somehow be detectable? Or could whatever that dark energy was that infested the timberwolf have somehow influenced Trixie to view me as a threat in the past? We're already playing pretty fast and loose with causality; I certainly couldn't rule something like that out.”

There was a moment of quiet. That is absolutely not outside the boundaries of possibility, Jacob. Your link is uncommon- the normal rules of time and space have already proven malleable in your situation.

And... if she is aware of the altercation and your injuries- which will, unfortunately, carry over to Story- she may decide to strike against you when you are vulnerable. You must exercise caution when you return to Equestria, Jacob.

“I'm not too worried. I've got a friend coming to visit me in the morning. Anything that wanted to threaten me would have to go through her... and quite frankly, I'd feel sorry for anything that tried.”

A friendship you have no doubt truly earned. Another moment of silence. Jacob, before you leave this place for what looks to be the last time... thank you. You have given us true hope when all seemed lost to us. I wonder if it is even possible for us to reward you justly for all the effort and sacrifice you have made for our world and our kind.

“Just... just take care of our little ponies for me when I'm gone. That's all I want.”

...truly are you the most stalwart of defenders, Jacob. An example for all ponykind to admire.

Once more there was that feeling of being embraced, even stronger than before, and he did his best to return it. I am amazed that you do not resent us for what happened, Jacob. That we inadvertently tore you away from your world, and basically used you in order to save ourselves....

“Like a friend told me: Don't you even think that. What happened was an accident, and what you did was turn that into an opportunity to save all of us- you, your world, and me. Otherwise we'd all have ended up as fading ghosts in this place, wouldn't we?” He chuckled. “Besides... I guess I always wanted to be a hero somehow.”

Consider that wish fulfilled.

“Heh, not quite yet. Story and I still have some work to do.”

And we will let you get to it. Be safe, Jacob... and when you return home, remember us- for we will remember you.

(-)

“Well, somepony's up without a fuss this morn-” First's words died in her throat as she realized the state he was in, and she reflexively reared back. “Sweet Celestia, Story, what happened to you?!” she exclaimed.

“I had a rough night,” he deadpanned. He knew he looked bad- he was sporting a lovely welt over his right eye that showed through his coat, along with a number of bruises along his sides, and his left stifle joint was swollen as an apparent carryover from his knee. He wasn't sure he'd be able to move now if he hadn't taken some hotel-provided aspirin and a nearly-scalding shower first thing out of bed. “I don't have any time to explain, First. I need your help.”

“W- with what?”

“I need to talk to Twilight Sparkle as soon as possible. It's extremely important. Will you come with me?”

She nodded despite the obvious confusion on her face. “Look, Story... if you're in trouble....”

“I might be. We all might be. I wish I could explain, but I need to talk to Twilight first. Do you have any idea where she's staying?”

“Probably in the Castle. Getting into the guest wings outside of direct invitation or Royal business might be difficult. Maybe we can find one of the other Bearers along the way to vouch for us.”

He liked how she said “us”. “First, seriously... I really appreciate this,” he told her, putting a hoof on her shoulder for a moment. “Come on. We don't have a lot of time.”

She followed him out of the building, matching the determined pace he set despite his injuries. “Story, you do understand that I'm rightfully concerned at the moment,” she told him.

“I know. Look....” He let out a sigh. “Something is going to happen at the Renewal tonight. It needs to be stopped, but I can't do it. I've been told to tell Twilight everything I know and let her come up with a solution.”

“Why Twilight? Why can't we talk to the Royal Guard, or the Princesses?”

“Because the first would get us tied up in bureaucracy or possibly arrested, and the second would take too long. Time is really of the essence, and Twilight's got the best skills for the job.”

“Okay.” She fell silent; he glanced over at her. “I expected more questions,” he told her.

“Oh, I've got plenty. But I've learned that I can trust you, and I believe you when you say you can't tell me what's going on.” She gave him a stern look. “I do want answers, though, Story. You can't just stay things like that and then expect me to not care what's going on.”

“You're smarter than that, I know. Once I'm done explaining things to Twilight, I'll tell you everything that I can... though she's going to have to have the final say on what I can talk about and what I can't.”

“This... must be something deep.” Her face took on a look of concern. “How'd you get mixed up in this, Story?”

“Completely by accident.” It felt nice to be able to tell her something completely truthful, and a slight smile crossed his face when she chuckled. “You're one accident-prone stallion, do you know that, Story?” she replied.

“My dear, you don't know the half of it.”

The best he could manage was a decent canter, no matter how much he wanted to gallop through the streets like his tail was on fire; he caught First giving him concerned glances from the corner of his eye at his occasional wince or stumble. “You're going to tell me what happened to you, too, right?” she asked.

“If I can,” was the only answer he could give her.

A flash of color caught his eye from the next street over, and he heard a familiar voice. “...so I told him, 'oh yeah? Well, your dad doesn't know a cirrus from a cumulonimbus!'.”

“...but Dash, Contrail's father is an earth pony.”

“Yeah, but I didn't know that then!”

“Dash! Derpy!” Story called out, his voice breaking a little as he pushed himself into a run. “Over here!”

The two pegasi halted and spun in midair. “Oh, hey, Story,” Dash called out. “What's the emergency? You- whoa.” She landed, staring at him incredulously as he limped up to her. “First, what'd you do to this guy?!” she exclaimed, her tone joking but her expression worried.

“I wish I knew, but he won't tell me.”

He had to pause to catch his breath. “Dash... I need to talk to Twilight. It's absolutely vital. Do you know where she is?”

“Um... nope, sorry. Rarity and Shining Armor asked before you, too. What's going on?”

“We've got a serious problem and I need to talk to her. Shining would do in a pinch, though. Do you know where he's at?”

“Last time we saw him was, uh... over on Furlong Row. He had a couple of guards with him and looked pretty serious. I didn't really think about it then, but....” She frowned. “Story, what's wrong?”

“I can't say right now. Can you two do us a favor and see if you can find him and get him to wait for us?”

“Uh, sure. Derpy, you take the north end and I'll take the south.”

“Oh, wait. I know we're on the clock, but....” Story trotted up to the grey pegasus. “Derpy... you adopted Sparkler and Dinky, didn't you?”

“Huh? Um...yeah, yeah I did, but how did you...?”

“That's not important.” He shook his head. “I just wanted to tell you, in case I don't get a chance to later... the fact that you took in two fillies who needed a home just out of love? That makes you one of the sweetest and most awesome individuals I've ever been lucky enough to meet.” He leaned in and gave her a light kiss on her cheek. “Don't ever let the world change you, okay?”

He didn't give her a chance to respond before he rushed off towards Furlong row, but he could hear the short conversation that followed between the two pegasi. “...so, um, not that I'm complaining, because it's totally awesome that he said that to you, but... where'd that come from?”

“I... I don't know! But I'm really glad that he said it!”

Pain was shooting up from Story's injured sides and swollen leg joint, but he ignored it as best as he could and kept pushing himself to go faster. “Story!” First exclaimed. “I know what you're doing!”

“I suppose that makes one of us!”

“Whatever it is that's happening, you don't think you're going to survive it!”

“What-?”

“I've seen this before. You're trying to 'wrap things up', aren't you?” She halted in place, and he almost stumbled trying to copy the maneuver. “Ponies who think their lives are almost over become determined to say and do all the things they've wanted to but never did. Story, you need to tell me what's-”

At that moment, he did the one thing he could think of to explain to her how he felt.

He kissed her.

It was a light kiss, but it had a definite effect on First, as he saw a range of emotions cross her face- confusion, shock, even joy. She was trembling when he finally pulled away. “First,” he said quietly, “it's not like that. Well... it sort of is, but not how you think. I promise you- I swear- that I'll tell you all that I can. I owe it to you.” He put a hoof under her jaw, raising her head so that he could look her directly in the eyes. “I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am that I've got you with me on this. I just need you to bear with me until I can talk to Twilight. Okay?”

She stared at him, slack-jawed, for a moment, then collected herself and nodded. “Whatever's going on, Story... I've got your flank.”

“You're a sweetheart.” He gave her a smile before resuming the trek towards Furlong Row.

He was absolutely thrilled to find the white-coated stallion standing next to Dash and Derpy- until he saw the angry expression he and the guards at his sides had. “Story?” he questioned when the pair got close to them. “I think you and I need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do.” He was almost shivering from the exertion he'd put into running, and his body was aching all over, but he forced himself to carry on. “First things first... your Princess wishes you the most glorious sunrise next morn.”

There was a flicker of shock across the Captain's face, but that was his only reaction. “I'm listening.”

“I need to talk to your sister as soon as possible. We're facing a serious danger that's set to strike during the Renewal tonight, and I have information about it that she might be able to use to stop it.”

“I wish I could make that happen. Walk with us.”

Story felt his heart sink as he moved along with the others. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy, he thought, as Shining led them into an out-of-the-way spot before turning to look at him and speaking the last three words he wanted to hear at the moment.

“Twilight is missing.”

“Oh, of course, everything was going much too well.” He sighed.

Shining's expression hardened. “Story, you had better explain yourself. If you know what's going on....”

Being on the receiving end of this pony's legitimate hostility was not a pleasant thing, and he found himself swallowing nervously. “I think I might. The first thing we need to do is find a mare named Trixie Lulamoon.”

“Trixie?” Dash repeated. “As in, the so-called 'Great and Powerful' Trixie?”

“Yeah, that's her. I take it you were in Ponyville when whatever happened went down?”

“Hay yeah, I was. She got her flank magically handed to her by Twilight and galloped out of town like a panicked filly. But you're not saying she foalnapped Twi, are you? Because Trixie can't hold a candle to her when it comes to magic.”

“Maybe that used to be the case.” Story turned to Shining. “Captain, you should send somepony to check out where she's staying. Golden Trails Inn, room 713.”

“Never mind 'send'. We're going there right now.” He glanced over Story's battered form. “Can you make it?”

“Yeah. Let's go.”

Despite his bravado, the run to the inn was borderline agonizing for Story, and it was only through willpower he hadn't known he had that he reached the building with the others. Seven flights of stairs was too much to ask of him, though, so he, First and Derpy stayed in the lobby while the others went up to look. First insisted on looking Story's wounds over while they waited. “Dear Celestia, Story, what did you do to yourself?” she murmured.

“I wrestled with a timberwolf.”

Her jaw and Derpy's both dropped. “You what...?” First breathed. She looked like she wanted to comment further, but a woosh of air cut her off; Rainbow Dash came swooping out of the stairwell with a haunted look on her face. “Whoa,” she said quietly, ruffling her wings for a moment. “So that's what Crazytown looks like.”

He had to resist commenting on just how much he agreed with her. “Was Trixie there?” he asked.

“Nope. The Captain's got one of his guards going through all her stuff while the other goes for reinforcements. I think he's taking this really seriously.”

“He should. Trixie is out of her mind, and there's no telling what she might do if she's got Twilight.”

“We've gathered that.” Shining followed his words out of the stairwell. “How she could've overpowered somepony as magically skilled as my sister is beyond me....”

“She's amplified her power somehow,” Story interrupted. “Something she discovered at some point in the past, a kind of corruption-based magic.”

“Corruption?” First repeated. “Can you explain things to the non-unicorns?”

“Remember what you saw on the back of the stone that almost skewered me? That. Same thing that made that scaffold fall. She also painted those shapes that your reports called 'graffiti', Captain- they're actually parts of an enormous runeshape.”

She gaped at him in a mixture of horror and fury as Shining frowned. “How did you know about those shapes?” he demanded. “Nopony outside the Guards was told about that.”

“I can't really go into it right now. As soon as I can talk to Twilight, she and I will be able to explain things.”

“Well, that's the difficult part, isn't it?” Shining sighed. “What exactly is Trixie doing this for, do you know?”

“It has something to do with the Renewal ceremony, that's the best I can say. Is there any way the ceremony can be postponed?”

Shining shook his head. “That's not possible. The ceremony may be pomp and circumstance, but the Renewal itself is vital; hold it off for too long and it's possible that the Princesses could actually lose their link with the sun and moon.”

“Yeah, I figured that was too easy a solution.” He sighed, thinking for a moment. “I can't believe Trixie is teleporting any kind of significant distance, even with this new power she's holding, so it's likely Twilight's still somewhere in the city. Where's the most likely place Trixie would want to hide her?”

The Captain's eyebrows furrowed. “I can think of one place, but it depends on how well Trixie knows the city.”

“Let's assume she's well-educated.”

“Then she may know about the gem caverns beneath the city. It's where the Changeling Queen hid Twilight and Cadence during the coup attempt; the crystals reflect and distort magic, so Twily wouldn't be able to teleport out or signal for help easily.”

“It's our best shot, I think.”

“I have to agree. You stay here, and-”

“No.” Story raised a hoof. “I need to come with you. Twilight needs the information I've got as soon as possible.”

“And if he's going, I'm going.” First stepped forward. “Somebody needs to keep this colt out of trouble.” She gave him a quick wink. “Besides, I'm a trained paramedic, and if this Trixie is as crazy as you say then Twilight might be injured.”

“And I can... um.” Derpy scratched at the back of her head. “Relay messages really fast?”

“I'll handle that, Derpy.” Dash grinned. “You should go keep an eye on Sparkler and Dinky. We've got this angle covered.”

“Uh... okay, if you're sure.” The grey pegasus actually looked relieved at that. “Hey, Story? Thanks for what you said. I don't hear that a lot.”

“Well, you ought to, but I can't fix how ponies think.” He smiled at her, and she returned it with a brilliant grin before taking off. Shining gave him a dubious look. “Are you sure you're going to be able to manage this?” the larger unicorn asked. “You already look like you're on your last hooves.”

“I don't have a choice.” He met the Captain's gaze with his own, as solid as he could manage. After a moment, Shining nodded. “Alright then,” he said. “I'll organize a carriage to the mine entrance, but it'll all be on-hoof from there. Let's move, ponies.”

(-)

“How old are these caverns, anyway?” First asked quietly, looking around.

The crystals embedded far up in the cave roof glittered in the light of Story's illumination spell. Maintaining the spell was not helping his headache any, but he insisted on going to the effort rather than having Shining do it- if things came down to a confrontation with Trixie, he wanted the Captain as fresh for combat as possible. “They're at least a few hundred years old,” Shining answered. “They were mined to help support Canterlot's economy when it was still a growing settlement- interestingly enough, it looked like somepony had begun the process already a long while before that, but then abandoned it for some reason. The mines were decommissioned once arcanocite deposits were discovered in a hooffull of areas nearby.”

“Hey... hold up.” Dash pointed a hoof. “You see that? Story, aim your light there on the ground.”

He did so. The pegasus had spotted a faint hoofprint in a patch of soil. “It's fresh,” Shining declared. “Can't be more than a few hours old. I think we're on the right track.” His horn glowed, and the hoofprint flashed white for a moment- and then more spectral hoofprints began to appear in a line after it, stretching off into the darkness. “Tracking spell,” the Captain said with the barest trace of a smile, even as he led the group ahead. “Ponies all leave imprints of their inherent magic when they move. Typically the tracks are overwhelmed by the flows of ambient magic in a matter of minutes- but down here the arcane currents are so still, it's like tracking scents in a windless cave.”

“We couldn't do that before?” Dash wondered.

“It's not the easiest spell, and without a known location to cast it on... well, imagine trying to wrangle clouds blindfolded.”

“Ohhh.” The pegasus blushed. “Sorry. I should've figured you know what you're doing.”

Their pace picked up, with Shining recasting the spell every time the trail started to fade. Story was sweating despite the cool air of the caverns, panting heavily and letting out soft grunts every time some particular step put a little too much strain on a sore part of his body. And yet the urge to collapse isn't nearly as strong as the urge to ask “are we there yet”, he chuckled to himself.

The Captain abruptly came to a halt, raising a hoof, and the rest of the group assembled around him; he motioned for silence, then signaled for two of the four guards accompanying them to take positions ahead. It took a moment for Story to hear over the pounding of his heart the reason he'd stopped: An all-too-familiar voice.

“...they will all see my power! All of them! Nopony will ever laugh at me again, do you hear me, Sparkle?! Nopony!”

There was a soft thud and a weak cry. The urge to charge in and slam-tackle Trixie into the dirt was overwhelming, but between her amplified magic and his terrible physical state at the moment, he'd probably offer all the resistance of a newborn kitten. As the group carefully approached, the position the voices were coming from became clear- a wide chamber of stone, with four roughly symmetrical pillars supporting the roof; clumps of rubble, long-abandoned mining equipment and other workplace detritus lay scattered around. In the center of the chamber stood the same white-maned unicorn mare from the audience, standing over a lavender form on the ground. “Twilight,” Shining breathed.

“We need to take Trixie down,” Story whispered back. “Quick blast, knock her out.”

“Negative. This place is warded, I can feel it. An attack spell could just alert her or bring the whole place down on our heads.”

“Then what do we do?”

“I'll confront her. Swift Wind, Needlepoint-” this was directed towards the two guards still at his side- “take point at the southwest and northeast spires there. Dash, I want-”

“I know you're here.” The voice boomed around them, echoing back and forth through the canyons. Trixie and Twilight had both vanished from the center of the chamber. “Sneaky little foals. But you assumed my trail was left accidentally, and that I had no way of knowing you were coming.”

“Trixie Lulamoon!” Shining called out. “I am Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard! By authority of the Princesses, you are under arrest! Show yourself and submit!”

“Oh, so very not likely. Though I do have a few... grievances I want to air. So step into my parlor, Captain... and do bring your friends; I have a few words for them too....”

pwomf

In the space of a single heartbeat, everything changed around him. Now he was in the middle of the chamber, laying flat on his belly, with some kind of force holding him down; he could move nothing below his neck. A quick look around showed him that everyone else in the group had ended up the same way; Shining Armor and Needlepoint had metallic rings of some kind stuck on the bases of their horns, and by the way they were grimacing and writhing, the rings were doing bad things to them. A quick glance upward showed that he hadn't been given one of his own. Thank heavens for microscopic miracles.

“What's going on?!” First demanded, struggling against whatever was restraining her. “Let us go, you nag!”

“Such language.” Trixie stepped out from behind a row of rusted lockers. “Young mare, you really should learn to respect your betters.”

“Yeah, buck that.” First scowled, but Trixie had already lost interest in her, turning instead towards Shining Armor and Needlepoint. “Oh, I do so apologize for the thaumatic restraint rings, Captain and friend,” the unicorn drawled, practically dripping false conviviality. “They are... crude, but quite effective.”

“But I don't get the pretty jewelry?” Story couldn't help but quip.

Trixie's head jerked towards him as if yanked by an invisible rope. “You,” she snarled her face contorting into a mask of hatred. “If it isn't the pretender, the puppeteer. Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Interfering.”

“Oh, so you know what I am,” Story said, meeting her gaze evenly. “I figured as much.”

“How nice of you to at least credit me to be more observant than these foals.” Trixie's expression didn't change. “And the reason you don't get a ring is because I needed two of them to restrain Miss Sparkle's... admittedly prodigious magical reserves. The restraints are neither cheap nor easily found.” A predatorial smile crossed her face. “And it's not as if you pose any real sort of threat to me. The magical skills of that body you wear like a costume are paltry at best. You are as much a threat to me as a termite is to a titan!”

“Right.” He let out an aggravated sigh. “Do you have any idea what you're doing, Trixie? Do you know what you're going to unleash?”

“Unleash?” she scoffed. “The only thing I will 'unleash', you foalish alien, is proof of my greatness for all of Equus to see! Every last miserable form of life on this sorry world will witness my cutie mark emblazoned upon the sun and moon from now until the end of time!”

“Your- your cutie m-” He couldn't help it; he burst into laughter. “All this because you want to show off to every-”

There was a brief sensation of being lifted, then of flying backwards, and then he slammed into a wooden bench that shattered on impact. He let out a cry of pain as he tumbled across the stone floor. “DO NOT LAUGH AT ME!” Trixie roared, her eyes darkening- literally; it looked like shadows were coating them. Her horn flared, and Story lifted off of the ground again. “Nopony will ever laugh at me again! The name of the Great and Powerful Trixie will strike fear and awe in the hearts of all!”

“This... this isn't what you want, Trixie.” Even speaking hurt now, but he persevered. “I read your diary. You didn't want this- whatever you learned, whatever you absorbed, it's overtaken you. We need you to-”

wooosh THUD

This time he hit something metallic, and felt something snap in his chest. He yowled in pain, clutching at his barrel with his forelegs, his vision dark red around the edges. “SHUT UP!” Trixie roared. “Just. Shut. UP!”

“Story? Story!” First called out. “What have you done to him, you overstuffed- ow!”

“I can disassemble every last one of you, one at a time. Why do you seek to anger me?!” Trixie's face twisted in fury. “I subdued even Celestia's own student; you will understand that I am not to be trifled with!”

“There's... there's no way you could've beaten her in a fair contest.” Shining was gritting his teeth, staring at Trixie despite the obvious pain he was in. “Give this up, Trixie. Do you think the Princesses will simply let you walk away from this if you succeed?”

“It doesn't matter! The world needs to respect me! It must respect me!”

“Fear... isn't respect.” Story fought his way to his hooves, and spat out something that looked suspiciously like blood. “Trixie....” He swayed as he walked forward. “I have... one thing to say to you. And you're going to look me in the eyes when I do.”

“Is that so?” The blue mare trotted towards him casually, her horn glowing with pure-black magic as she approached. “Tell me, my good creature from another world, just what is it you have to tell me?”

He waited until she was standing before him, her eyes locked onto his and her mouth bent in a cruel grin. Then he let out a slow breath, lowered his head and closed his eyes.

“Smile for the birdie.”

flash

Trixie let out a decidedly unvillainous screech as she stumbled back, forelegs rubbing desperately at her face. “My eyes! I'm blind!” she screamed. Story didn't waste time- he galloped up to Shining as quickly as he could with a broken rib, set his forehooves on the larger pony's side, then dipped his head, clamped his teeth against the ring set on the Captain's horn, and pulled.

Immediately, Shining's horn flared. The row of lockers Story had slammed into rose up, quickly arced through the air and slammed down onto Trixie's form. “Story, remove the ring from Needlepoint's horn! I'll get Twilight!”

He could see that the others were getting to their hooves; apparently Trixie's spell over them had broken along with the lockers Shining had dropped on her back. The unicorn guard looked a bit dazed at what was going on- but perked up once Story yanked the ring from his horn. “Good work!” he exclaimed. “Now get to safety and let us handle things.”

“Not so fast!” The lockers lifted up again, flew through the air almost too quickly to see. Needlepoint tried to form a magical barrier to protect himself, but the massive projectile smashed through it and rammed into him, sending him tumbling backwards.

“Corporal!” Swift Wind called out. “Captain, one down!”

“Don't worry, I got this!” Dash immediately took to the air and streaked towards the still-kneeling Trixie, both forehooves aimed to slam into the unicorn's face.

thwump

Something black and jagged lashed out from Trixie's horn, slamming into Dash and blasting her backwards into a collection of waste bins. “Insolent foal,” Trixie snarled, her voice sounding even more sinister than before. “Must I kill the lot of you to get you out of my-”

She was cut off by a sphere of bright violet magic driving itself into her side, exploding on impact and enveloping her in the blast. Shining raised his head. “There, now will you submit to arrest for-”

kzzzrrrak

Another bolt of black magic screeched its way out of the smoke cloud. Shining immediately put up a shield around himself to block the attack- but it splattered against his magical field like ink, and began to eat away at it as though it were some form of acid. Trapped within his own shield spell, unable to dismiss it without letting that dark magic seep onto him, all he could do was continuously reinforce the spell to protect himself.

“Captain!” Swift Wind took to the air, twisting around several blasts from Trixie and pulling a steep dive, leveling out to attack her from the side. But at the last moment, she simply vanished, teleporting away; the guard began to pull himself into a tight turn- only to slam into a returning Rainbow Dash, who had been trying her own similar maneuver. The two pegasi spun out of control and crashed into the hard stone floor of the cavern.

Trixie let out a sigh of satisfaction. “Well, now that that business is concluded....”

thwack

A wooden chair shattered across the back of Trixie's head. The impact hardly budged her, leaving her reeling more in surprise than pain. “What the... how dare you.”

Story grasped a rock the size of his head in his magic, prepared to make a follow-up attack- but it fell back to the ground when Trixie's aura surrounded him, jerking him up off of his hooves and pulling him towards her. “Is there some sort of trait for your species where you just don't know when to stay down?” Trixie snarled at him as she brought him up to her. “We'll see if you're so defiant when I squash your body down to the size of an orange.” She smirked. “But before I do that, do you have any last words? And don't bother with your little light trick again.”

“Last words? Yeah.” He glanced away for a moment, then back to her, and employed his last-ditch gambit. “You're a carbon kid with a sinister diagram.”

“Ah, yes, well... what?” He almost fell from her grasp as confusion crossed her face.

thump

That moment of distraction was all First needed to charge in. Her rear hooves struck Trixie in the side of her ribcage, sending her flying across the cavern. Story hit the ground in a heap- and First was at his side immediately. “Story!” she exclaimed. “Talk to me, sweetie. Are you alright?”

“...define 'alright'.” He tried to stand, failed, and she slid her head under his neck to help support him.

“Oh, isn't that just precious.” Trixie stood in front of the pillar of rock she'd slammed into, still looking none the worse for wear. “I'll tell you what- I'll be merciful and destroy both of you together. No anguished hearts left in mourning!”

Story braced himself, ready to unleash everything he had in a last desperate attempt at survival, even knowing he didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. Then another familiar voice let him know that he didn't need to worry about it.

“No you won't, Trixie. You won't be ending any lives today.”

“Sparkle.” As hateful as Trixie's voice had been towards him, Story was only glad to not have had that level of venom directed at him. He turned to see Twilight standing in the center of the cavern, looking almost as beaten up as him but seemingly ignoring her wounds. “I've already put you down once, Sparkle,” Trixie spat out. “Don't think I can't do it again.”

“You ambushed me coming out of the restroom, Trixie. You don't have the element of surprise this time.”

“I don't need it!” The blue unicorn lowered her head, launching a beam of her dark magic at Twilight- only to have the other mare's horn glow, and the attack dissipate harmlessly less than halfway there. “You won't defeat me again, Sparkle!” Trixie screamed, throwing herself into a pell-mell rush towards her adversary, lines of unnaturally dark magical energy streaking from her horn- each strike either fading before even reaching Twilight or being deflected away. “I'll KILL you!”

With a growl that had no business coming out of a pony, Trixie threw herself at Twilight, forelegs radiating the same kind of dark magic as her horn, aiming to bring them down on Twilight's head. But in a flash of violet light, Twilight vanished- and Trixie hit the steel container she'd been standing in front of head-first, hard enough to leave a dent and two hoof-shaped marks of corrosion.

As the blue unicorn staggered away, Twilight reappeared right behind her. “Now, First!” she called out.

First Response practically dove onto Trixie's back, tackling her into the ground, and wrapped her forelegs around the unicorn's neck. “Holf fhill!” she demanded, yanking Trixie's head backwards- and then sliding the restraint ring she had clenched between her teeth onto the other mare's horn.

Trixie screamed. Her anguished cry echoed through the caverns, piercing Story's ears and making him grimace, only in part from the way it spiked his headache. First rolled free of Trixie as the unicorn writhed on the ground, clutching at her horn, unable to remove the ring herself. First returned to Story's side as Twilight rushed up to her rival. “Stop fighting it, Trixie!” Twilight urged. “You're only harming yourself!”

“Sparkle-” Trixie snarled, before another scream tore its way through her throat. “No- no... help me! Twilight!”

“Trixie-?!”

“Get it out of me! Celestia's mercy, please! It's destroying me!”

Her voice had changed, striking a sense of deja vu in Story's mind, until he finally remembered where he'd heard it- in that dream-premonition-memory he'd seen when he'd napped, the last voice he remembered hearing before everything had been destroyed. “...so sorry, this isn't what I meant to happen!” “Twilight! That's the real Trixie!” he called out. “The ring must be interfering with whatever's been controlling her!”

“Of course!” Twilight rushed up to Trixie's side. “Trixie... I can free you of whatever's corrupted you, but you have to let me! You have to trust me!”

The ring upon Trixie's horn was beginning to smoke. “Anything!” she wailed. “Anything! Do whatever you must before it consumes me!”

Twilight's horn began to glow- gently at first, but getting brighter by the second, until Story and First both had to look away. Then there was a deep sound, like some universe-spanning bass string being plucked, and the light faded. Story looked up to see the ring that had been on Trixie's horn now floating just above her head, as a wreath of shadows- exactly like what he'd seen on the corrupted timberwolf- flickered across it; Twilight was obviously straining, magic streaming from her horn as her arcane field pressed against the shadows. Gradually, she won the battle, and the darkness sank into the restraint ring and faded away.

Trixie's eyes opened, looked up at Twilight. “Thank you,” she whispered, before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

Twilight dragged the ruined lockers towards her, then concentrated. In a flash of light, the half-destroyed chests became a thick metal box with sturdy hinges and a strong-looking clasp; the ring floated into the box, and the lid closed with a final-sounding click.

And then the box dropped to the ground, along with Twilight as she fell to her knees.

“Twily!” The corruptive magic faded from Shining's shield spell, and he immediately galloped to his sister's side, lifting her head. “Twilight, talk to me! Are you okay?”

“Just... just exhausted. I need a minute.” She shook her head slowly. “Is everypony alright?”

There had thankfully been no fatalities- Trixie was still alive, but catatonic- though Needlepoint had come away almost as badly as Story; the impact from the locker had dislocated his jaw and broken a scapula, and it was obvious that if he hadn't acted to protect himself the blow would have probably killed him. The two other guards had been trapped outside of the cavern by a shield spell and were unhurt, and Dash and Swift had only suffered some bruises to their bodies and egos. “I'm really sorry about that,” Dash apologized to the guard. “I was trying to cut past you. I didn't think you'd be able to make that sharp a turn wearing all that armor.” She grinned. “I gotta admit, it was pretty impressive.”

Swift actually blushed. “Well, there's a reason I almost made the Wonderbolts second-string team,” he answered.

“You did? Cool! Tell me about it sometime!”

“That'll have to be later,” Twilight interrupted. “Shiny... how did you all know to look for me here? And what are Story and First doing here?”

“Maybe you'd better ask Story,” Shining replied. “He's been avoiding telling us anything until he gets to talk to you.”

Twilight blinked, then turned her gaze to Story. “Story? What's going on?”

He sighed. “Okay. Starting off- your Princess wishes you the most glorious sunrise next morn.”

Twilight's shocked reaction was much less subtle than her brother's had been. “I... I see. You have my attention.”

“Good.” He managed a smile. “I have all the information you should need to understand what's going on, Twilight. But there's one problem... it's all in here-” he tapped his head with a hoof- “and it would take me far too long to explain and draw. I was told you have a memory-recall spell.”

“Y- yes, I do.”

“I was told that you need to use that spell on me- with a neuromantic link.”

The unicorn gasped. “Are you sure that's what you were told? Story, if I did that I'd be effectively reading your mind- all of it. Your mind would be an open book to me; every memory you have would be accessible.”

“Yeah, I know. It's necessary, Twilight. I'm sure of it.”

She seemed to consider that for a moment. “If you're certain, Story. But for this I need your assent- your complete and unreserved consent- or your psyche will reject the spell. Can you give me that?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, not breaking his gaze. “You have that, Twilight. Do what you need to do.”

“Alright, then.” Slowly, Twilight approached him; at his side, First gently stroked his neck with her hoof. “Story, are you sure you're up for this?” she asked.

He nodded, giving her a smile. “It's all for the best, First. And I want to tell you what's going on.”

“Don't you worry about me. I'll wait for however long is needed. Your safety means more.”

“It'll be okay, First,” Twilight assured her. “There's nothing harmful about the spell, though it may be a little... disconcerting. Are you ready, Story?”

Again he nodded. “Let's do this.”

With one final glance to be sure, Twilight leaned forward and touched her horn to his. Almost immediately he felt her presence in his mind- like an unexpected guest in his most private retreat. But he felt no sense of violation, even as he sensed her reading through his memories, cataloging them; her presence was that of a trusted friend, not an unwelcome invader.

He wasn't sure exactly how long the process took, though when he felt Twilight's mind leave his own, First was still lightly caressing his neck. He watched a range of emotions flicker across Twilight's face, from confusion to fear to shock to understanding, before she looked up at him and gave him a small but heartfelt smile.

And then she spoke the two words he never expected to hear from the mouth of a living pony.

“Hello, Jacob.”