I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE

Chapter 12: But I Won't Do That

Spitfire staggered under the combined weight of three mares. “Anytime now, Trixie,” she said with a grunt.

Sitting on Spitfire's back, Trixie said nothing, and just concentrated on the floating crystal before her. It shed a purple glow that slowly encompassed herself and the two earth ponies resting on top of her. When the glow faded, she touched a hoof to the cloud on which Spitfire and Cloudchaser stood, or sat in the latter's case, and found that it had a spongy give to it, but was otherwise solid enough to support her. With a smile, she levitated the unconscious Plain Sight, allowing Cheerilee to slide off her back so that she may herself slide onto the cloud from Spitfire's back.

With all the gentle care of pony moving a pyramid of crystal glasses, the showmare set the gravely wounded mare onto the cloud. Cheerilee checked her pulse and breathing, and grimaced at the wheezes and thready pulse. She looked to the others, worry written on her face. “She needs a hospital. I only know some first aid in case one of my students gets hurt. There's nothing I can do for her, especially without a kit.”

Spitfire flew to one side of the cloud, saying, “I got this. I just need one of you to direct me.”

“I'll help,” Cloudchaser said.

“Not with that wing, you're not,” Spitfire replied. The lilac mare looked to her obviously broken and defeathered wing with mournful eyes. Peeking over the edge, she said, “Trixie, you be my eyes.”

Trixie pointed to the horizon, saying, “Turn right forty-five degrees, then go straight.”

With a nod, the Wonderbolt turned the cloud to the right. “Forty-five degrees, aye.” She took a deep breath when she stopped, then said, “Everypony hold on to your butts.”

She started out slow, but quickly gained speed, heading for the lights of civilization and hopefully, help.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Luna rushed through the catacombs, desperate to find any of the missing ponies or her guards. It wasn't long before she found the first of her guards, lying on the floor, surrounded by shattered gemstones. She could hear the echoing sound of battle coming from further in, and saw a hole in the wall, that appeared to be broken in from the other side. The Princess came up to the fallen pony, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that he was still alive.

The stallion opened his eyes and moaned out, “They're... further in...” before falling back into unconsciousness.

With a nod, the night mare flew into the tunnels after casting a quick spell upon him to float him back up to the surface. Luckily, the tunnels were well lit from the glowing crystal veins throughout. It was just as well she had to fly due to her bad leg. The floor was scattered with sharp shards of crystal that would have surely cut her hooves, shod or not.

The sounds of battle grew louder until she rounded a corner, coming face-to-face with her guards fighting full-tilt with the crystal golems. Her ponies seemed to not only be holding their own, but actually advancing the skirmish line slowly. Commander Vigil saw her approach and broke off from the battle, letting the line close behind him. He stopped in front of her with a salute. “Your Highness! Are you alright? You're wounded!”

Luna shook her head at him. “Neigh, Commander. We wilt be fine, given time. Sooth, we art more concerned about thee and Lady Sparkle.”

The stallion nodded, but couldn't help but give her injured leg a wary eye. He had seen many grave injuries in his time as a guardspony, that he could recognize life altering trauma when he saw it. “As you can see, we've met with some light resistance. They're not hard to break apart, but there seems to be no end to them.”

“Hast thou seen any sign of Lady Sparkle yet?” She asked.

He shook his head sadly. “Afraid not, my Liege. We can only presume that she didn't come this way, and-” He was interrupted by a sudden silence, and he turned to see the golems had stopped moving. Several of the ponies took the initiative to smash those that they could reach. All action ceased, however, when a rumble that was more felt than heard gave everypony pause. The rumble escalated quickly into a vicious quaking, knocking several surprised soldiers off their hooves.

When the rocks began to fall from the ceiling, Luna shouted, “Gather hither, my little ponies. We shalt take thee to the surface.” When they had all gathered around her, she teleported them to the surface, just outside of the ruins. It was lucky that it happened then, because they all saw the ruins themselves begin to collapse inward, a large crater forming in the middle of them. Luna cried out, “Neigh! Sirius! Procyon!”

She flew over to the the place where she had left them lying unconscious, and watched in horror as they disappeared into the cave in. Without a thought given to herself, she dived in, dodging rocks and debris, trying to grab onto some part of them. It felt like forever before she got a clean line of sight on both of them lying amongst the boulders, and enveloped all three of them within a bubble of magical energy.

It was fortunate she did that, because the rocks kept falling, battering against her hastily erected shield in such numbers, that she couldn't maintain upward movement. Looking up, she saw to her great apprehension, the sky was already blocked by rocks and boulders, cutting her view from her precious night sky and moon.

Settling down onto the rocks herself, she nuzzled the star beasts, and breathed a sigh of relief to note that they still lived. Luna winced at a sudden stab of pain, and noted that her wound had reopened, and was bleeding profusely. She staggered around, lightheaded from blood loss and exertion both physical and magical. With a grunt, she crumpled to the ground, not even noticing her magical bubble dissipating, leaving a neat dome shaped space for the three of them.

Sirius opened his eyes, looking upon the moon princess with great affection. “Oh, Milady. What have you done to yourself?”

Procyon stirred next to him. “What... has happened? The... alpha is no longer in my head.” She turned to her mate with a curious expression. “Sirius?”

The larger dog said nothing, only gazing at Luna. Finally, he stood on shaky legs, and in one gulp, swallowed her whole. Procyon looked on in shock, unable to say anything. Sirius's form became indistinct, until only a fine trace of stardust was left behind. It took a moment for Procyon to get over her shock and follow his exit, leaving their shelter to crumble behind them.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Celestia's step faltered, sending her careening into a bookshelf in Twilight's library. A few of the tomes were knocked from the shelves, raining down on the little dragon who had been sorting them as they all waited for word on the unicorn or her friends. “Ow, hey!” Spike cried out.

The alicorn brought a hoof to her head, eyes wide in shock. “No! The Nightmare!” Unable to hold her balance any longer, she slid down the side of the shelf, her legs folding underneath her.

Rushing to her side, Cadance called out to her. “Auntie! What's wrong?”

Celestia flailed about, sending both dragon and alicorn out to a safer distance before they could be kicked. She tried to regain her hooves, only to fall over again, leaving her to try to crawl towards the door. “The Nightmare has returned! I can feel it! It's-”

Cadance braved personal injury and cradled the diarch's head, trying her best to soothe her. “Ssshhh... It'll be okay, Auntie. Twilight can handle it. She's done it before, she can do it again.”

Spike looked on in fear. “You mean that Nigh-”

He was silenced by Cadance shaking her head at him, who then continued to coo at the alicorn in her hooves, trying to reassure her. It was a few tense moments that had all three of them in tears until she had finally calmed down with a couple of quiet sobs.

Celestia wiped her runny nose with a hoof. “It's gone,” she said with a sniffle. Cadance and Spike looked at her, fear stamped across their faces. “I... the Nightmare is gone. I... can't feel it anymore. Before, it was always there in the back of my mind, but now...” She looked Cadance in the eyes, tears of joy leaking from hers. “It's finally over.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

“I told you, Freaky. They looked suspicious, so I kept an eye on them as best I could.” Aura said with a ragged cough. “Unfortunately, I couldn't watch them and run my booth, and the others were far too busy.

The roan mare paced in front of the wizened, old griffoness, who was seated on a bleacher in front of Trixie's stage, mug of warm cider in her talons. “If they were suspicious enough to watch, then why didn't you come to me with your concerns? You know I would listen to anything you have to say.”

Aura sighed in defeat. “Call it an old bird's vanity. I'm not quite sure why I did that.”

Freaky stopped pacing and looked her oldest friend in the eye. They held their positions for many minutes before the Ringmaster sighed and sat down on a bleacher in front of the griffoness and fiddled with the buttons on her ringmaster's coat. Running a hoof through her unusually untidy mane, she asked, “It was one of those things, wasn't it?”

Arching an eyebrow, Aura questioned, “Those things?”

“You know, one of those things where you saw that if you hadn't acted the way you did, it would have turned out worse?” Freaky watched the old griffon calmly take a long draught of her cider and stretch out a hind leg, letting the joints pop loudly. Freaky stood and kicked a metal pail, sending it flying into the lake nearby. “Confound it, Aura! Are we ever going to be able to talk about this without all these cloak and dagger roadapples?” She sat down again with a sigh. “What can you tell me about all this?”

“Exactly what I've already told you,” Aura replied. “I honestly know nothing else about them beyond that. I don't know their real names, I don't know their motivations, I don't even know if they got what they were after.” She smiled at Freaky slyly. “I do know one other thing that I haven't told you, though.”

This time, it was Freaky's turn to arch an eyebrow. “Oh? And what's that?”

Aura nodded in a direction behind the mare. “Your aggravations for the day are not yet over.”

Freaky turned in the indicated direction to see her lover and publicity manager running up to her, a harried look on his face. She put her face into her hooves and groaned. “Oh, Celestia, why me?”

Gasping as he skidded to a halt in front of her, Public Face wheezed out, “Freaky! Freaky! You gotta come quick! The hippocampi've taken a local and won't give him back!”

“What do you mean, 'taken a local'?” Freaky asked incredulously.

Public Face gasped, “I mean-”

“Never mind! I'll get to the bottom of this!” With that, she stormed past a quivering stallion, and made her way to the shore of the lake. With the water lapping up to her fetlocks, she shouted, “Scylla! Charybdis! Get your sorry tail fins out here, right now!” She stomped her hoof in emphasis, not caring about the water she splashed on herself.

It didn't take long for two equine heads to pop above the surface. The light blue one looked to the light green one, saying, “Why sister, I do believe she is upset with us!”

“Nonsense, sister! For what reason would she be upset? We've done no wrong,” the green one replied.

Freaky groaned inwardly at their verbal sparring. “Don't feed me that line, Scylla. Public Face has already told me of your new hobby. Why are you two foalnapping ponies now?”

The light green creature put a fin-like hoof to her chest in mock hurt. “Foalnapping? Why, we'd never have to resort to such measures, right sister?” she asked, looking to her sibling.

The light blue one nodded and wiped away an imaginary tear. “Indeed, sister. It's like she's implying we're unattractive. Here we are, rescuing ponies falling to their deaths, and she accuses us of heinous deeds!”

Rolling her eyes, Freaky said, “Oh, knock it off, Charybdis. What did you mean by 'rescuing ponies'? Who did you rescue?”

Charybdis smiled coyly at her. “Only our beloved, our soulmate, our husband-to-be.”

“Our?” Freaky asked with a raised eyebrow.

The blue pony pulled her sister close into a hug. “My sister and I. Whom else could I mean? There is nopony else in this tiny lake.”

Freaky brought a hoof to the bridge of her nose and pressed down. “Could you... could you please just bring him up? I need to talk to him.”

Scylla flipped her cyan and magenta stripped mane from in front of her eyes. “You have your own beloved, leave us to ours.” Charybdis added a raspberry to the conversation for good measure.

“I'm not-” she yelled before catching herself and taking a calming breath. “I'm not trying to steal him from you, I just want to talk to him. Now, bring him up here, before I add seahorse to the manticore's menu.”

“Well!” Charybdis huffed. “No need to get rude.”

They disappeared below the waves, and were gone for several minutes before returning with a bubble held up between them. Inside the bubble was a sky-blue pegasus wrapped up in bandages. As the bubble cleared the water, it popped, allowing him to take wing. He shakily flew a few hooves to land in front of Freaky. He almost saluted, but caught himself in time. “Um, nice to meet you, Ma'am. My name is High Hide. Seeing as these lovely ladies,” he looked back and the sisters who giggled and waved at him, “seem to think of you as a mother figure, I was hoping to get your permission to marry them.”

Freaky was so astonished, she sat down in the lapping water of the lake.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

A Luna composed of stars and the moon looked around in sleepy astonishment. Adrift in a sea of stars, she lazily turned over and came face-to-face with a pair of familiar, now much smaller, canines. “Sirius? Procyon? What is...”

“We had to bring you to the firmament, Milady,” Sirius replied. “You were gravely wounded, and we were buried underground for some strange reason.”

Looking to her injured leg, the Princess saw her starry form viciously torn. Where her leg should be, was only a mangled nub that trailed off into a wispy tail. “Oh, dear.”

Procyon approached, crawling on her belly and nuzzled her. “I apologize for my words and actions earlier. It's just... that thing was more than a little rough when it asserted dominance over us. I did not wish to go through such a trial again, and so, was a little... overeager to carry out his orders.”

Knowing how canines “asserted dominance”, Luna repressed a shudder as she returned the gesture. “We art sorry that We couldst not arrive sooner. We wish We could have spared thee such a low fate.”

The star beast whined and licked at her wound, sending a jolt of pain through the alicorn that quickly changed to a soothing numbness.

Luna looked down from her place in the Vault of Heaven onto Equestria, trying to find a certain group of ponies. “Hath thee seen any sign of the Elements of Harmony? Pray, be round and of glad tidings, for our sister wouldst surely lay us low were We to lose them eft.”

“I'm afraid not, Milady,” Sirius answered. “We knew the beast was after them, especially the purple one, but we didn't see any sign of them.”

The alicorn looked to Procyon, still licking the now almost fully healed leg. She flexed the muscles, causing the dog to look up at her. “Many thanks, dear Procyon,” she said with a nuzzle. “We shalt be able to walk at least, now.” With that, she stood, towering over the smaller dogs and looked down on Equestria once more. She still couldn't find any sign of Twilight, but she did spot some ponies that needed her. “Alack, We art needed below at the ruins of the castle. We shalt confer on tonight's transpirations anon.”

“Milady!” Sirius cried out, halting her in mid-manifestation. He looked chagrined at his outburst, but still looked her in the eye. “Do you have any idea when she might return?”

It took a moment for Luna to work out what he meant. She sighed and shook her head sadly. “We art afraid not, dear pup. We council thee to keep to thy patience.” With that, she spread her wings and faded into a swirl of moondust. Procyon looked to her mate, then nuzzled him sadly with a whine.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

“There it is!” Trixie shouted. “Three points west by northwest, down plane twelve degrees.” She silently blessed Twilight for teaching her the spell for her magical sensor, this particular one, giving her absolute range and direction sense.

Spitfire nodded. “Cheerilee, Cloudchaser, hold onto our passenger. We don't want her falling off,” she said. Not bothering to wait for their confirmation, she pushed up on the rear of the cloud, aiming it down towards the ground. Finally able to see where they were going, Spitfire peeked over the edge of the cloud, taking note of the building growing larger by the second. She could clearly see the words “Ponyville General Hospital” on the side.

The cloud came to a halt in front of the emergency room entrance, and Trixie hopped off to dash in. She ran to the night desk of the empty waiting room and shouted, “We need help! We have three injured ponies, one of them pregnant!”

Nurse Redheart immediately jumped into action, slamming a hoof onto the emergency buzzer three times before running out with the unicorn. She walked through the cloud and started taking the vitals on the most obviously wounded of the trio. It took only a few seconds before more ponies swarmed out with wheeled stretchers, working quickly to get the injured parties inside.

When Cheerilee, who had insisted on being last to be seen by the doctor, was wheeled in, Spitfire shoved the cloud away, letting it drift back into the sky. She went inside to follow them, but was stopped at an interior door along with Trixie by a large green stallion in an orderly's scrubs. “I'm sorry, Ma'am,” he was saying to Trixie, “but you can't go in to the examination rooms. Family only. Just let the doctor's do their thing. They know what they're doing.”

“Do you know to whom you are speaking, peasant?” she practically shouted. “The Great and Powerful Trixie stands before you! Quake in fear, for those who oppose her are not long for this world!”

Spitfire grabbed her shoulder and dragged her into the waiting room. “Come on, G-and-PT. Let's go wait for Twilight to show up.”

“This isn't over, plebeian foal!” she shouted before being sat down in a chair by the golden pegasus. “The Great and Powerful Trixie bows to but one mare, and you are not she!”

What followed was the longest wait of their lives as the two mares sat and worried for their herdmates. Trixie kept glancing at the clock on the wall every few seconds and biting her lower lip. She was shocked from her vigil when she felt something cover her hoof, which was currently gripping the edge of her chair like a lifeline. Looking down, she saw a golden hoof and followed it up to Spitfire's face. The Wonderbolt gave her a warm, but worried smile, then kissed her cheek. Trixie blushed, but returned the smile with one of her own, albeit, just as worried.

Their peace was shattered by a flash of light just outside. This was quickly followed by Twilight and four of her friends. Her marefriends ran up to nuzzle her. “How is she?”

Spitfire shrugged. “We don't know. They took her into the examination room and won't let us in. Something about family only.”

A determined look came over Twilight's face. “Oh, we'll see about that.” She walked up to the orderly, and didn't even bother to say anything to him. She simply encased him within a giant, magenta ball of energy and rolled him out of the way. She walked through a few steps before turning around to face her friends. “Would you girls mind waiting here? Somepony needs to talk to the Princess when Rainbow returns with her.” Turning to Trixie and Spitfire, she said, “Come on. Let's go see our fillyfriend.”

The three of them walked through the hallway, past several open doors before Twilight stopped them. Looking in, they saw Cheerilee, looking very worried, and a unicorn doctor standing next to her with his horn glowing.

They tiptoed in just as the doctor's horn stopped glowing. “I'm sorry, Miss, but we're going to have to call in a specialist for this.” He looked up to see the new arrivals. “What are you- Miss Sparkle? What are you doing here? Are you related to this mare?”

Twilight laid a hoof on the earth pony's foreleg, who looked to her with adoring eyes. “Yes. That is, we soon will be.”

The stallion pushed his glasses up his nose. “I see. I suppose it is fortuitous that you are here then. I'm doctor Code Blue. It seems that some fool has cast some powerful enchantments upon this pregnant mare, and it's having an adverse effect on the fetus.”

All the color drained from the mares' faces. “Wha-” Twilight gulped. “What do you mean, doctor? What's wrong with my baby?”

He gave her a placating gesture. “Now, remain calm. The spells haven't affected the fetus's health... yet.” He winced at the whimper coming from the audience. “But they have latched onto it in a way that I can't dispel. I was about to send for a specialist since I can't even determine which spells were used, let alone how to dismiss them. Perhaps you can shed some light on this?”

The bottom dropped out on Twilight's world. “I- I- I- I was the origin of those spells.”

“What?” the doctor yelled. “Miss Sparkle, surely you realized the dangers of using magic on fetuses this early in development!”

“I had no choice!” Twilight yelled back. “It was that, or lose both of them! I tried to work the spell so that it would affect the baby as little as possible, but I was working under pressure! I couldn't... I...” The unicorn collapsed halfway onto the bed, weeping into Cheerilee's foreleg.

Code Blue sighed. “I suppose you did what you could, and what you felt was right. Being that I wasn't there, I can hardly fault you when I don't know the whole story.” He grabbed a box of tissues and hoofed it over to her. “I apologize. Could you tell me exactly which spells were used on her?”

Twilight loudly blew her nose. “Well..” she began nervously, “there was a t- t- teleport.” The doctor's eyes widened. “Followed by another, much farther away.” They grew wider still. “Then a modified cloudwalking spell.” The stallion swallowed nervously. “I'm not sure what, if anything was cast on her before we rescued her, though.”

The doctor sat down heavily in a chair behind him. “Hoo-boy. This... is a lot more complicated than I had thought. We're going to have to send for somepony from the Magical Mishaps department of the medical academy.”

The lavender unicorn slammed a hoof down onto the bed with a muffled thump. “No! There's no time! As we speak, the spells could be doing irreparable harm to my filly! I'll do it!”

“Miss Sparkle, I know you're very capable, but this is something we need to leave to the experts,” Doctor Blue replied.

“With all due respect, doctor,” Twilight said sternly, “I am the expert on magic. I don't mean to brag, but I have made it my life's work to understand magic in all it's forms. Now back off! I'm a scientist!”

Twilight closed her eyes and her sensor made another appearance, this time glowing with a golden light. She turned to Cheerilee, basking in the warm glow of love she could now sense being sent her way from the teacher. She turned her gaze to the womb, where the vortices of magical spells had anchored themselves. Her Cloudwalking spell was still active and direly close the the baby's still forming magical core. She recognized the damage her hasty teleportation spells had wrought, but sighed with relief to note that they were easily repaired. What had her worried was a black bit of magic attached to the baby's soul.

It was clearly not anything that Twilight or Trixie had cast, which only left one possible origin. Nightmare... I won't let you take our baby away. She is ours, not the vessel for your rebirth. It took her a few moments of examination from all sides to determine just what she was dealing with. Looks like a Soul Anchor. I've never seen one attached this strongly before. This... is going to be tricky.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the radiance of a powerful being. Turning to look behind her, Twilight saw what could only be Celestia. The figure was a pony and the sun, simultaneously. Her mane and tail trailed off to join with the sun, and the sun's prominences roiled out to form the alicorn. It was dizzying trying to figure out where one ended and the other started, or even which was the most prominent. The librarian's mind whirled with the possibilities of existing as two separate entities at the same time such as these. No, that's not quite right. Celestia is the sun and the sun is Celestia. It's like...

Further consideration was stymied by the heavenly voice that had guided Twilight throughout most of her life. “Twilight, are you alright?”

Even with just those four words, Twilight was almost stunned with the amount of love they carried. Love and... sadness? “Yes, I'm fine, Princess. I was just trying to see what I can do to fix the damage these spells did to our foal.” She silently promised herself to talk to her mentor later about what she's just seen.

Celestia's form exploded in brilliance as she cast a spell, causing the unicorn to shield her sensor. When the dazzling effect had passed, a similar sensor glowed in front of the Princess's face. The alicorn looked down on the earth pony and gasped quietly. “A Soul Anchor? Is it...” She didn't have the courage to give voice to her fear.

Twilight nodded, grim determination etched into her features. “It is, but I won't let anything hurt our child.” Her face softened just a little. “But I could sure use a hoof here. I may be well versed in many forms of magic, but having an expert in biomancy and psychomancy, or better yet, animancy would be of inestimable help. I'd even take a necromancer, right now.”

Nodding, the alicorn stepped up next to her protégé and closely examined the small life fighting for survival. “Oh dear. It seems to have infused itself down to the fourth harmonic level.”

“I know,” Twilight replied. “I was going to try prying it loose with a Psyche Extraction spell, but it will go better with your eyes to guide me.” Celestia just nodded and they got to work. Under her mentor's guidance, the unicorn cast her spell, locking firmly onto the parasite spell so that it could not worm its way further in while they worked. With gentle care and a surgeon's touch, they slowly peeled away each tendril that had so cruelly latched on.

It was painstaking and tedious work, and they couldn't afford to tear their attention away from their task for fear of losing the child altogether. Each time a tendril was pried loose, Celestia would burn it away with a micro burst of astral energy, one of the few things that seemed to be able to hurt it. When at last, the final bit of the Soul Anchor spell had been separated from the soul, Celestia readied a blast to rid the world of this taint forever; but her hoof was stayed by her Faithful Student. “Twilight?”

“I... I think we can put this to better use than simply destroying it, don't you?”

The pleading tone and hurt in Twilight's voice gripped her heart with an icy squeeze. With a sigh, the Princess nodded. “I know just where to put it.” She shone, not as she did when casting magic, but with a more primal light coming more from the sun side of her being. The bit of magic lightened in color going from inky black all through the spectrum until it glowed a bright yellow, then disappeared.

They turned their attention to the tiny, wounded soul before them, and grimaced at the damage the spell had wrought. Weakened by all the magics placed upon it, the poor, weak thing had been crushed and squeezed, until it was just a mangled, twisted mass. Tears came to Twilight's eyes and she looked up at the one pony she trusted to make everything right with the world.

Celestia smiled down at her favored pony. “I can help, but there may be... lingering effects.”

“Will she be... healthy?” Twilight asked.

With a wry smile, the Princess replied, “I think you'll be surprised at how... robust her constitution will be.”

Twilight looked to Cheerilee, who had been laying back throughout the procedure, radiating her love and concern. “Cheery?”

The teacher nodded her assent. “We have to give her every chance we can.” She looked to her herdmates. “Right?”

Trixie and Spitfire were holding each other, giving each other strength in a way that even they were unaware of. Twilight and Celestia could see the way they fed one another affection, each bolstering the other's flagging strength, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts. That strength fed into every pony in the room, but the connection was strongest with Twilight and Cheerilee. The librarian was almost overwhelmed by the intensity of love coming from them, and would have staggered, had she not been leaning against the hospital bed where Cheerilee lay. Years from now, when she was feeling down, or lonely; she would think back to this cherished moment, and know that she was part of something truly great.

The two mares nodded their approval, and the luminosity of their feelings doubled. Twilight was almost overcome by the feeling welling up in her chest, so she turned to Celestia, and nodded. She watched as Celestia magically pinched off a tiny piece of her own soul, and floated it over to the baby, encasing hers with the bit of celestial star stuff. The weak, shriveled soul absorbed the newest addition like a sponge soaking up water. There was a moment of tense waiting, and then the baby's soul slowly started expanding, becoming fuller, and attained a sheen like well-polished gold.

After that, it was a simple matter for Twilight to repair the damage to her magical core as well as the bonds between it and the baby's soul and body; then dispel the Cloudwalking spell. Allowing the sensor to return to the visible spectrum of light, she looked around the room at the ponies who had come to mean so much to her. All three of her fillyfriends tackled her into a hug as Celestia nuzzled her from above.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

As the early morning sunbeam traversed the room, it fell on the white alicorn humming to herself as she meticulously arranged the flowers in a vase. Plain Sight recognized it as the favorite foalhood song of a certain Ponyville librarian. She looked to Celestia and croaked out, “Did she ever tell you why she loves that song so much?”

Celestia turned to her with a knowing smile. “It's a little hard to miss the significance of singing 'You are my Sunshine' to the Princess of the sun.” She levitated a glass of water with a straw over to her, giving a sip of much need moisture to her parched throat. “How are you feeling?”

“Like roadapples,” she replied without thinking. As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized to whom she was speaking, and slapped a hoof over her mouth. “Pardon my Fancy,” she apologized.

Running a hoof through the spy's mane, she smiled. “In the many millennia I have lived, I think I've heard that one once or twice. Believe me, my royal ears remain unsullied.”

Plain Sight blushed and sunk further into her bed. “So...” She cast about for a less uncomfortable subject. “What happened to...”

“The Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony, this time for good,” Celestia answered. “I believe it will never bother Equestria again.”

“So, it was the Nightmare? What was it possessing? And what happened to it?” the gray mare asked.

Celestia floated a daffodil over to the patient, who took it gladly and munched on it. “Twilight says that she took care of that as well. She has a few other things she says she need to be done, but wants to wait until Cheerilee is settled back home.”

“Oh.” The disappointment in that single word was enough to cause the Princess to arch an eyebrow at her. “I... I suppose you'll be wanting my resignation as soon as possible for this fiasco.”

“Actually,” Celestia said with a grin. “I was hoping you'd stay on as Twilight's chief guardian. After fifteen years, you know her best, and can predict what she's likely to do.”

“But I-”

“When dealing with the Elements of Harmony,” the diarch interrupted, “I've found that disasters seem to follow them like a shadow.” She looked out the window, watching a robin flit from branch to branch on a tree just outside. “The best the rest of us can do is to hold on and hope for the best.” She turned back to the mare. “And of course, love and believe in them.”

The spy digested this advice for a moment. “I... I'd still like a little time off. I've got some thinking to do, and... I think that putting a little space between she and I for a bit might do me some good. Give me some breathing space and time to get my head back in the game.”

Celestia nodded. “Take as much time as you need.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

The timberwolf cautiously approached the forest edge, nervous about leaving its safety, especially considering its ultimate destination. She looked down at the bundle within the basket held in her teeth and sighed. She took a look around the cleared land and winced at all the stumps. It didn't take her long to spot the one she was looking for; the ax jutting from it at an acute angle made it hard to miss.

Normally, she wouldn't dare approach such a weapon, but the orders she was given by the near celestial being could not be refused. She cautiously slunk up to the stump and placed the basket next to it. When the weapon didn't leap to strike her down, she breathed a sigh of relief. Further into the clearing, she spotted the structure that was to be the new home for the bundle, and she shivered.

The rising sun shone down on the valley, clearly outlining the smoke coming from the chimney as the ponies who lived within the cabin began their day. The timberwolf gave one last gentle lick of her leafy tongue to the bundle, before deliberately jostling it with a paw, and dashing off into the forest again, leaving the bundle to wail as babies are wont to do when their rest is disturbed.

Once safely within the shade of the trees, she turned to watch as the crying attracted the attention of the pony couple, who ran out to the crying bundle in surprise. The female pegasus picked it up and cooed in wonderment, while the earth pony mare looked around for what could have left it. “Oh, Timberline! Isn't he beautiful?”

Timberline looked to the gray diamond dog pup in her wife's forelegs and scratched her head. “Well, yeah, he's cute and all, but where'd he come from, Whistler?”

The pegasus looked up at her with a smirk. “Does it matter? Now we can have a family like we've always wanted.”

The earth mare followed Whistler as she flew the pup to their cabin, and shook her head. “A gift from Celestia, huh? I can live with that.”

The timberwolf gave a lonely howl as she left, promising to return often.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

“Yah sure, you want to do this, sugarcube? Ah mean, they did try to hurt yah pretty bad,” Applejack asked for what felt like the millionth time.

Twilight nodded again. “Yes, I'm quite sure Applejack. Celestia knows, I don't need this on my conscience too.”

Rarity placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “What Applejack means, darling, is that we just want to make sure they never try to hurt you like they did, ever again. We're worried about you, Twilight.”

“I know,” she replied. “But I was so angry, that I did something that even just seconds after doing it, it started eating away at me. I can't leave it like this. This is the kind of thing that can consume you from the inside.”

The rest of her friends nod, and they all walked into the abandoned mine. It doesn't take them long to arrive at the room full of statues, currently being guarded by a group of pegasi royal guardsponies. Immediately, Twilight is overwhelmed with guilt, but swallowed it down. She breathed in deeply, and cast the spell to reverse her transmogrification.

Almost instantaneously, five minotaurs and two griffons stood where the seven statues were once. As one, they breathed in deeply like a drowning pony breaking the surface. They collapsed to the floor of the cavern, and looked to the purple unicorn standing before them. Even though she stood no taller than the knee of the smallest minotaur, she seemed to loom over them like a giant. The hard glint in her eyes may be real, or it may be imagined, but for them, that's enough.

“I have decided to be lenient with you. A single day has passed since your petrification, but I believe that's enough for you to realize what an eternity would be like.” She paced in front of them like a matron in front of naughty children. “That is, of course, assuming you aren't placed somewhere, where erosion can add to the torment.” She let that sink in, and Ava gulped audibly.

“Now, I am inclined to let it go, as long as I can extract a promise that you reform your ways, but that's not really in my hooves, anymore.” Twilight gestured to the guards surrounding each of them with a hoof. “It seems you have committed several dire crimes while here in Equestria; crimes for which, you must answer. The Princess is willing to go easier on you, should you repent, not to me, but to her. I beg you to avail yourself of this... option. You do not want to spend the rest of your lives doing hard labor. I'm sure that mining is enough to crush a griffon's soul, or a minotaur's for that matter.”

She turned her back to them and walked away, letting the guards close in on the perpetrators. “As far as I'm concerned, as long as we never meet again, this matter is closed.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Twilight walked into the library, leaned against the door as it shut, and sighed as she slid down it. Almost before she hit the floor, Trixie was right next to her with a cup of steaming tea. “Welcome home.”

They kissed each other on the cheek, and Twilight let her magical aura mingle with the showmare's as she accepted the drink. “Good to be home.” They both shivered as their auras interwove and caressed each other. Twilight looked around the empty room, asking, “Where's the others?”

“Spitfire is getting Cheerilee settled in to the bed upstairs,” Trixie replied.

“And Spike?”

“He said something about helping the Crusaders,” Trixie said with a smirk. “Again.”

The librarian returned the smirk. “I wonder which one it is he likes.” She thought about it for just a second before answering herself. “Probably Sweetie Belle. She looks too much like Rarity, I think.”

Trixie helped her to stand up again and kissed a blushing Twilight's hoof before releasing it. “Personally, I think he'll take after you a lot more than that.”

“Meaning?”

Turning away, Trixie let her tail wrap around Twilight's neck and slowly drag away as she walked off. “Meaning, ponies who look up to their siblings-slash-mother figures as much as he does, tend to, ah, 'carry on the family traditions', as it were.”

Twilight spit out the tea in her mouth, barely missing the azure mare before her. Trixie, for her part, scampered off upstairs, laughing gaily, just ahead of a sputtering Twilight. Lavender caught up to azure just as they reached the door to their bedroom, and they tumbled in, and rolling on the floor laughing, until they came to a rest, Twilight pinning Trixie to the floor.

“Well you seem to be in a better mood, Hon.” Spitfire meandered over to them, smiling wide. Her lips met Twilight's in a kiss that lingered so long, that Trixie had to remind them of their positions with a polite cough. The Wonderbolt bent down and gave her a quick tooth inspection with her tongue as well. “Sorry, didn't mean to leave you out of it.”

“That's not exactly what Trixie meant,” she said, “but gesture appreciated.”

Cheerilee sat up in bed and watched them from the upper level. “I take it then, that things went well?”

She received a reluctant nod from Twilight. “About as well as can be expected. They're the Princess's problem now.”

“And what about...” The teacher petered off, hesitant to mention his name.

“Rover?” Twilight asked. She received a nod in return. “The Princess said she was fine with what we did. She thinks, like we do, that giving him a second chance to grow up among ponies may be what he really needs. She promised to check up on him now and again.” She walked the steps to the upper level, never taking her eyes off of the mare; Trixie and Spitfire close behind. She reached the top and reached over to hold her hoof. “How are you feeling?”

Cheerilee smiled at her with smoldering eyes. “Hale and hearty, and ready to show my appreciation for my three brave knights.” She grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled her into a kiss that left the other mare draped across her. That little bit of effort was all that was needed to signal their audience to climb onto the smallish bed.

Twilight pulled back, but each word was punctuated by another kiss. “Wait,” kiss “I'll” kiss “make” kiss “the bed” kiss “bigger.” kiss. Twilight's horn glowed, encompassing the whole bed, and slowly, it grew large enough for all four of them to sleep side-by-side; or any other activities they might like to try.

Trixie and Spitfire each took one of Cheerilee's nipples in their mouths, licking and nibbling at the little nubbins of flesh. The teacher moaned into Twilight's mouth and spread her hind legs wider, giving them all the access they might require. Twilight separated from her lover's mouth so that she might shower her face with quick, darting kisses and nips before settling on one ear and happily chewing on it gently so that they may all hear her delightful moans.

Azure lips met gold as both tried to be first to the maroon lips they bordered. Tongues came out as they took turns licking Cheerilee's outer lips, taking an occasional dive to her center in order to extract some nectar. When both of their mouths had gotten their fill, they pulled back and held the mare's hind legs up. “She's ready for you, Milady,” Trixie said with false modesty.

Twilight looked down and grinned. “I think we'll forgo the magic penis for now, ladies. However, there is something I've been dying to try for years now.” She walked around the helpless damsel below her and sat down at the “V”. Motioning for them to spread the legs more apart than up, Twilight scooted forward, one leg slipping under Cheerilee's, while her other she laid over, until their marehoods touched, eliciting a hiss of pleasure from them both.

With agonizing slowness, Twilight began moving up and down, alternating with a side-to-side motion and pushing against her then pulling away. She discovered that if she managed it just right, their clits, those precious bundles of pleasure and nerves would sometimes slip into each other's slits, dragging along the slick folds. Each time that happened, their vision would white out completely as their entire universe became the pleasure they gave one another.

Their partners were hardly idle, and stopped kissing each other, so they might start licking at the feast of love before them. They didn't even bother to take turns anymore, greedily lapping up what they could, even going so far as to steal the nectar from each other's tongues.

The tribbing mares took note of the tribute being paid to them, and decided that such devotion deserved a reward. Leaning over, they each pulled over a mare's rear end, and licked at the fonts of sweetness they found there. It didn't take much of this endless cycle of give and take until they all experienced a simultaneous orgasm that left them all panting for breath and coated in sweat.

The bed shrunk down again as Twilight lost her concentration, and the four of them snuggled closer so that nopony would fall off. “I still can't believe how lucky a mare I am,” Twilight gasped out.

“Hon,” Spitfire drawled, “your luck is only just starting.”

Author's Notes:

Hoo-wee! Largest chappie to date! This was a fun one, But I think I'll be a little glad to go back to something a little more calm with the drama next time. It was nice to see that I could still do action, but I want to get to the next part right away so's I can explain how the Elements of Harmony fit together in this version of fanon. And then of course, there's the family that Twilight is starting. Everyone who can't wait to see her foals, raise your hand!

The usual disclaimers go here. I only lay claim to the arrangement of the words, Plain Sight, High Hide, Freaky McFreakerson, Aura, Ava and her team, Timberline, Whistler, Scylla, and Charybdis. All else belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust.