“Careful… careful… Keep the magic going steady… carefully!”

“Yes, I am being careful, darling!”

“P-please, don’t drop them! Oh my goodness, watch out!”

“I know, Fluttershy, no need to worry dear! Please!”

“Be careful not to overdo it, Rarity!”

Rarity groaned as she felt the pressure from both mares standing by her side. “I don’t mean to be rude to either of you, but why are you making me feel bad for paint balls!” she shouted, lowering the airborne blobs of paint to the ground, careful to avoid getting any on Fluttershy’s fence.

“It’s part of the exercise,” John said, joining their conversation. “It helps to show what the risks are,” he took a sip from a drink in his hand and walked over to the stationary balls. “Look,“ he said, demonstrating by throwing one of them into the air, allowing it to fall unceremoniously and pop in to a mess right next to Fluttershy. “Whoops! Sorry!”

“Aah…” Fluttershy whimpered, staring intently at the paint smeared on the floor before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and passed out.

“Huh, maybe I shouldn’t have used the red paint as an example,” John noted. Rarity and Twilight wasted no time to turn to give him a venomous stare, causing him to back away slowly. “Point taken, I’ll be quiet!”

…

“Sorry, I-I was probably getting too worried, wasn’t I?” Fluttershy sighed after being woken up and apologized to.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy, it wasn’t your fault. You know, if you don‘t want to we can do something else, we just want to make sure you are better. If this isn‘t helping just say the word!” Twilight suggested, softly stroking her mane to ease her nerves.

“No, it’s okay. I am much better, thank you,” she replied shyly. “A month indoors was long enough; the animals needed me,” she said with a smile, nuzzling a bunny who approached her. “Honestly, I just couldn’t stay away from my friends.”

“After what you witnessed back in the forest, you are very brave,” Rarity praised. “But I’m glad you are back! Just staying inside is bad for you—you need the outdoors! Breathe some fresh air!”

“That‘s the spirit, sis! So you are ready, right?” came a shout from their right, causing the four of them to turn to find Sweetie Belle and the rest of the Crusaders standing right next to them.

“How long have you been there?” John asked confused.

“Around a minute,” replied Lemon.

“Woah, you guys ninjas or something?” John joked.

“No… But that can be our next venture!” Apple Bloom said happily.

"Please don't give them ideas, John," Rarity sighed.

“Guys! There is no time for crusading! My sister is getting ready!” Sweetie interrupted excitedly.

“Oh Sweetie, of course! … uh, ready for what?” Rarity asked confused.

“Camping!” the four kids shouted loudly, making the older four flinch in response..

“Oh my… that is certainly much louder than usual,” Fluttershy said, raising her ears that had pressed against her head.

“Sure is! It helps that Lemon has a girl’s voice!” Scootaloo joked, poking Lemon who stood besides her.

“I do not!” Lemon responded with a cracking voice, embarrassed, he covered his own mouth as the other fillies laughed. “Shut up!”

“Ahem,” Rarity cleared her throat, getting their attention. “Let’s rewind a bit, please; what do you mean by ‘camping’, Sweetie?” she asked, returning to the topic.

“What? Don’t you remember?”

“O—Of course I do! But, a little reminder wouldn’t hurt,” she replied, looking to the side with a noticeable blush on her cheeks.

Sweetie rolled her eyes, catching her obvious lie. “You promised you would come to the Winsome Falls camping trip! And the trip is in an hour!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

Rarity gulped. “Oh no, I’m so sorry, Sweetie Belle! It must have slipped my mind! I’ve just been so caught up in practicing with Twilight for the entertainment for the Saddle Arabia delegates. Not to mention I’m head of the planning committee for their reception… I mean, you can’t go on your own and, oh my… Can’t the trip be postponed?”

“No!” Scootaloo replied instead.

“And why not, Scootaloo?” Rarity asked confused.

“What Scootaloo means is that AJ moved the day already,” Lemon cut in. “Ms. Dash wanted to celebrate being out of her cast, and Ms. Applejack moved the trip a few weeks as a result!”

“Yep!” Apple Bloom agreed. “It helps that we have those nice bat ponies helping around the farm!” she added cheerfully.

Sweetie stomped forwards, moving in front of Apple Bloom. “Besides, can’t Twilight just take over? She can use magic too!” she pouted.

Both Twilight and Rarity frowned at her question, mumbling to each other in search for an answer.

“Well, you see, Sweetie,” Twilight began. “I…:”

“Twilight is feeling a bit sick!” John jumped in the middle of the pair of unicorns, placing his arms around them. “And Rarity, being the friend she is, decided to give her a hoof.”

“Indeed…” Rarity groaned, pushing John’s arm away with her magic. “No touching.”

“Oh, come on, it’s just my hand!” John laughed, proceeding to poke Rarity‘s mane repeatedly.

“Stop that, or else,” Rarity warned

“Bleh,” John replied, sticking out his tongue mockingly.

“Y-you…“ Rarity’s eye twitched, not giving John much confidence. And before anyone could react a ball of paint landed on him, covering every visible inch of his body in purple.

“Aaah!” John barely managed to shout as the paint dripped over his face. “Come on!”

“Well, look, now you and Twilight could be fraternal twins,” Rarity joked.

“Bite me…”

“So, no trip then…” Sweetie pouted, her ears, as well as the others flattening in disappointment.

“Well…” Twilight began. “I know I don’t have any authority to do this, but how about I come with, Sweetie?” she suggested.

“Really!?” Sweetie asked excited.

“Twilight!” Rarity gasped, turning away from the still complaining John. “Are you sure of this? And what about me? I can’t do this without you!”

“I’m sure. I may be, er, ‘magically sick‘, but I‘m not an invalid,” she laughed. “And honestly Rarity, give yourself more credit; you’ve gotten better! I know you can train on your own for a day or two,” Twilight replied proudly, placing a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder. “At least we know you mastered levitating paint, isn’t that right, John?”

“Shut up…” John groaned.

“I believe you,“ Rarity replied nervously. “Thank you, Twilight. For more than one thing, I must admit,“ Rarity said before turning to Sweetie. “Would this arrangement be acceptable, Sweetie?”

“Sure! Well, I guess. It just stinks you won’t be able to come,” Sweetie said sadly, rushing to hug Rarity.

“It’s alright, I'm sure we can camp out by the boutique when you return! It would be our own camping trip—and not to mention a less dirt-filled experience—would that do?” Rarity bargained.

“Deal!” Sweetie accepted, happily nuzzling Rarity.

“Then I suppose I better go prepare,” Twilight said with finality. “John, can you please take care of Spike while I’m gone?

“You… Ugh… Got it… I think some fell in my mouth bleh,“ John whined, spitting to the side.

“Thank you. I’m going to take a quick trip to the library to tell him. Oh! And I’m sure that this goes without saying, but go back before dark!” Twilight warned him.

“Yeah, okay mom,” he groaned.

“Good. Well, Fluttershy, seems we won’t be practicing on your animals today,” Twilight said regrettably.

“Oh, yeah, a shame…” Fluttershy said in a low voice.

“I’ll see you girls in a few days, then,” Twilight said, waving Fluttershy goodbye. "And tell Pinkie before she thinks I went missing!" she shouted as she ran off.

“Yes, have fun!” Fluttershy replied, waving back.

“I should be going too,” Rarity added as well. “Have to make sure Sweetie Belle has all of the essentials! And after that I need to go fix City Hall! The place is a mess.”

:”Oh, that’s fine! Goodbye!” Fluttershy waved once again, watching as the group left, leaving her only with a dripping John by her side “What about you, John?” she asked.

“Me? I’m doing fine, I’m just wondering why NO ONE said anything about Rarity’s little stunt!” he growled.

“S—Sorry!” Fluttershy quickly apologized, flinching at John’s tone.

“It‘s not your fault,” John quickly jumped in, noticing her eyes tremble in panic. “Look, I‘m just curious is all!” he lied.

“Well, Rarity is a pony who takes her image very seriously… I mean, there was a time a bird dropped a stick on her mane; I didn’t know birds could cry like that…” she said nervously.

“Point taken,” John admitted.

They remained quiet for a long while, standing in place in the same spot without attempting to say anything to each other, finally, finding it uncomfortable enough, Fluttershy spoke up. “What will you do now?”

“Well, in all honesty, I don‘t really have anything to do. Diamond Tiara is out on vacation with her parents, and Rarity is busy with decorations, so no work from her either,” he groaned. “I do need a shower right now, though,” he sighed, dramatically looking up to the sky.

“You can take one in my home, oh! And then we can have some tea!” Fluttershy suggested..

“Tea?” John asked, turning to look at Fluttershy’s cottage. “Huh… I’ve never been inside,” he thought curious “Depends. Do I get the shower first?”

Fluttershy simply tilted her head, raising a brow seemingly confused.

“Joking.”

“Yes, of course! Well, it’s wonderful! It’ll be simply delightful! I‘ll run you the bath!” she cheered silently, trotting to her home with John following right behind.

Twilight arrived home gasping heavily in need of oxygen.

“Running… Stinks… I need to start exercising again,” she realized as she opened the door and headed inside, finding a strange sight in front of her; Spike laying back on top of the Unicorn Recon, who seemed in the process of reading a book placed upon Twilight’s reading stand.

“So, what you are saying is that you are connected to Her Majesty just by the message flame alone? That’s pretty cool! I can do something like that as well.” Recon said excitedly.

“Yeah, I am pretty cool…” Spike replied half-listening, humming to himself in the praise the Unicorn was giving him.

“Ahem!” Twilight cleared her throat, making Recon close his book in a rush, his sudden movement causing Spike to fall off.

“Hey, what’s the big ide—Twilight!” Spike yelped, finally noticing her. “You are early today…”

“What are you two doing?” she asked curious. “And what’s this?” she wondered, looking at the book on the table. “How to impress a mare in three easy s— Seriously?”

“It’s not what it looks like!” Recon attempted to explain. "It's for a friend!"

“Nah, totally what it looks like,” Spike laughed, receiving a glare from Recon in return.

“Not that I don’t appreciate ponies who enjoy reading—even if the material isn’t the most reputable—shouldn’t you be out patrolling?” she asked.

“Well, I’m supposed to make rounds around here for like fifteen minutes every hour on the dot, but I was thirsty, so I came in for a glass of water. I saw the books and I just… I don’t even know how long I’ve been here,” he noted with a gulp.

“One hour, seven minutes, thirty-three seconds,” the hard edged voice of Captain Patch announced, coming in through the front door. “But who is keeping count?”

“Captain!” Recon gulped. “Hi!”

“Save it! Just get back to work! I’ll deal with you later,” she ordered, and with a flash of blue light, Recon was gone. “I swear, we only keep that stallion because of his magic,” she sighed.

“How did you know he was here?” Spike asked.

“I saw him come in before I went to check on your boss and her student; wasn’t too hard to guess from that,” she explained. “So, are you ready to go, Sparkle?”

“Wait, what? What’s going on? Where are you guys going?” Spike asked.

“I am going on a camping trip, and Ms. Patch here wasn’t invited. She also wasn‘t supposed to be spying on us,” Twilight explained through gritted teeth.

“Please. It‘s my job, and you know it,” Patch explained with a dismissive tone.

“What? I wanna go,” Spike groaned.

“Sorry, it was kind of a last minute decision. What if I bring you a treat?” Twilight bargained, her mind placed in conflict avoidance.

“Ruby?” Spike asked.

“Ruby.”

“Deal!”

“Good. Now,” Twilight said, turning to Patch. “Time to go. Without you.”

“Oh, please,” she sneered.

“Besides, you have to stay here and keep watch on John,” Twilight continued, ignoring her tone.

“He is with Fluttershy, she can keep him safe, and I already told Guard to keep an eye out for him just in case. Those two are actually reliable,” she explained, reaching for a saddlebag to the side of the door. “And you said that having spare saddlebags with all bare necessities would be a waste of space,” she mocked.

“Isn‘t it your job to take care of John?” Twilight asked annoyed.

“My tasks involve not only protecting him, but you, Sparkle,” she explained. “Besides. I haven’t been on a camping trip since I was a filly, and I’ll get to meet the infamous CMC to boot,” she patted Twilight’s back and pointed to the door. “Come on lady, time waits for nopony.”

“… You are doing this to spite me, aren’t you?”

“Sparkle, I am the Captain of the Royal Guard! I am not just some vague young pony,” Patch laughed. “Come on, let‘s move out,” she said, heading outside.

“She is doing this to spite you, isn’t she?” Spike asked, giving Twilight a glance.

“Definitively,” Twilight sighed. “But I really have to go, so you are in charge until I come back tomorrow. Take care, and be careful,” she finished, hugging the dragon, and grabbing one of the saddlebags set aside before miserably following after Patch.

Spike leisurely headed for the door, calling after her. “Oh, come on, Twilight! It’s just a couple of days—what can go wrong?”

“Ponyville. A sorry excuse of a town, a backwater living space with absolutely nothing of value in it, and yet, here I am, searching for one of its lowest inhabitants.”

“Um, ma’am? Can I help you?” asked a confused Time Turner, staring at the talkative cloaked pony standing in the middle of the road. “You’ve been standing there for a while now, are you feeling okay?”

“Silence!” the mare shouted, removing the cloak that covered her.

“Y-you!” Time Turner gasped.

She pushed her white mane aside, revealing a momentary red glow from her eyes, as well as an odd necklace placed around her neck. “Ah, one of my fans remembers The Great, and Powerful Trixie!” she shouted, awaiting for an applause. Instead, she received angry looks from all ponies around. “Pst, tough crowd.”

“What do you want, you hack?” Turner asked annoyed, realizing whom he spoke with.

“Excuse me, what did you just call me?” Trixie asked, approaching Turner who suddenly froze in place. Unable to move a step, he turned to notice a red glow surrounding his entire body.

“W-what? Why can’t I move? What’s going on?” he asked as he panicked, his worry growing as Trixie stepped closer.

“Nopony, and I mean NOPONY, calls Trixie a hack. Understand, you sad excuse of a stallion?” she growled as Turner’s body floated upwards.

“Yes! I get it! Please, let me go!” he cried out, as other ponies around them began backing up, realizing what was happening.

“Oh, Trixie will… when you answer her question,” she explained, lowering Turner closer to the ground.

“Y-yes! Anything!” he agreed, nodding his head rapidly before suddenly being turned upside down, his face planted in front of Trixies.

“Where can I find Twilight Sparkle?”

John sat on a couch, his hand occupying a tea cup which he occasionally drank from, comfortably wearing a fluffy white robe, patiently waiting for Fluttershy who stood outside, hanging his wet clothes. He sighed, looking through the window at his drying pants, remembering his panic over possibly having gotten paint on his notebook.

“Geez… if I hadn’t decided to not bring it, I would have literally killed Rarity… Maybe I should make a copy of it just in case,” John thought out loud.

“Sorry for the delay!” Fluttershy called from the door. “Your clothes are clean, so hopefully the sun can dry them quickly,” she explained as she sat down on the couch besides his. “Are you enjoying your tea?”

“Yes, I am,” John replied, looking at the drink in his cup. “So… nice place you have here,” he began, awkwardly starting a conversation.

“Oh, thank you!” she replied, serving herself a cup of her own.

“Yeah, though it does smell a bit weird, though…” he said in a low voice.

“Hmm?” Fluttershy replied.

“I said this is a nice robe! How did you get it?” John said instead. “I get the feeling she would cry if I were to say her house smells like… well, literal crap.”

“I made it when you were in the shower…” she answered, turning her gaze from him.

John nearly spit out his tea as he turned to gaze at Fluttershy with wonder. “Get out of here! Seriously? So fast?” he asked in wonder.

“You were in there over an hour, actually,” she explained.

“Needed to make sure paint was off," he quickly explained. "Still, how?”

“Well, that robe was actually made of three of my own… I did some things, and it was done! It’s a little rough since I based it off your clothes, but it does the job... Right?”

John held a breath. “Oh, it totally does,” he laughed. “I’m surprised, it fits nicely and everything. How did you do it?”

“When you are friends with Rarity, you pick up some things… A—Anyway! I’d forgotten you were taking self-defense classes with Rainbow Dash, how is that going? If you don’t mind the question,” she asked, changing the topic entirely.

“Um, I well…” John attempted to respond, his mind stuck at the jarring change of topics as it suddenly went back to the first few days with Rainbow Dash. “God, I almost forgot about that… Well, let’s just say that Rainbow Dash needs to remember to start with the basics rather than with advanced moves is all I’m saying,” he said, attempting to avoid a throughout explanation.

“It couldn’t have been that bad, could it?” she asked.

“She almost broke my arm! And that was when she wasn’t allowed to use too much force because of her wing. I’m pretty sure that’s why she didn‘t heal as fast as she should have, so, I cancelled the practices until then. Honestly, I fear for my life at this point,” he explained. “A fully healed Dash is waiting for me after that trip of hers…”

“She is just trying to make you do your best, is all,” Fluttershy defended her friend.

“Fluttershy. Are you ma-, er, maaan! This is good tea, may I have some more?” he cut off, giving Fluttershy a fake smile.

“Oh, of course! Would you mind waiting a bit, though, I need to make more,” she replied, grabbing the cup from his hand.

“Take ALL the time you need,” he responded, watching as she headed to the next room, and sighing in relief once she was gone. “Almost said things I would have regretted; maaaybe I shouldn’t make coming over a thing.”

“Woah, Angel, don’t!” John managed to hear Fluttershy cry out, accompanied by the sound of falling utensils.

“Fluttershy?” he called, confused over the new name. "You okay there?"

*knock, knock*

“I’m okay! Can you get the door, pleas— oh dear, don’t touch that! I‘ll make you lunch after tea is done!”

“Sure…” John replied slowly, getting on his feet and sighing as he stared at the floor. “Great. Wooden flooring with bare feet… I should have brought more than two pairs of shoes,” he sighed, recalling the one pair that had somehow disintegrated in the Crystal Empire. “Sombra, you owe me a pair of shoes your jerk, oh wait, you can‘t give them to me! You are dead!” he sighed, shivering over the memory of the day. “Ugh, why am I remembering that now?”

With some struggle, he reached the door and opened it, finding a familiar pony in front of him.

“Package for Ms. Flutter—John!?”

“Well, well, hey there stranger,” John said with a smile, greeting the mail mare Ditzy standing in front of him.

“What are you wear-” she cut herself off, shaking her head. “I mean, is Fluttershy home?”

“She is"—he looked over to the kitchen, hearing the stirring of numerous metal objects—“occupied. I’ll sign for whatever she gets, though. Is that fine?”

“S-sure…” Ditzy replied, getting a clipboard from her saddle and inattentively giving it to John.

“So, how have you been? Haven’t seen you in a while,” John said as he signed.

“G-good… Sign here too, please!” Ditzy continued awkwardly, just as the sound of pants reached her ears, and a tired looking Fluttershy appeared.

“I’m here! I’m so sorry for the delay!” she apologized, breathing heavily, and pushing back her tangled mane.

“Ah…” Ditzy mumbled, her left eye twitching. “Aaaaaaaaa-…”

…

“Hey Harvest, I’m home!” Ditzy said, tossing her mailbag to the side before mimicking it and tossing herself on the couch.

“I heard that! Ditzy, get your flank off that couch, I just fixed it.”

“But it’s coooomfy!” she complained, rolling around on the couch in an attempt to spite her friend. “Oh!” she stopped, something returning to her mind. “Hey, Harvest?”

“Whatever you want to ask, it better be right beside me, and NOT from the living room on that couch,” she replied, receiving a groan from Ditzy in response.

“Fine,” Ditzy agreed, moving to the kitchen.

“Alright, what’s on your mind?” Harvest asked as she carefully stirred the contents of the pot, as to avoid to dirty the clean apron she was wearing.

“Well, remember when you told me not to pursue him, while he wasn’t ready?” she asked tentatively.

“Ditzy…” Harvest said with disapproval in her voice.

“I know! But look, I mean, I keep seeing him working at this one place with a certain mare,” she explained.

“What’s wrong with that? You should be happy. At least we are sure he isn’t just a bum, right?” Harvest replied with a laugh.

“Golden!” Ditzy whined.

“I’m kidding! Geez! Look, just keep in mind he is only working,” she reasoned, not bothering to turn to meet her friend. “I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“I guess…”

“Who is he working with anyways?” she asked curiously.

“Well, he is working with Ms. Rarity at Caro—” *clank* Ditzy stopped as Harvest dropped the spoon that had until that moment been in her hoof. “Um, Golden?”

“Ditzy…” Harvest stated, turning to meet her with a wide-eyed stare.

“W-What?”

“You have to tell him how you feel, or Rarity will take him from you!” she said loudly, holding Ditzy’s shoulders with panic.

“W-what!? But you just said—”

“Forget what I said! This is different! I mean, this is Rarity we are talking about! Just look at her! She could grab anypony she wanted in a flash!”

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit?” Ditzy replied, wary of what the response might be.

“Ditzy! Just imagine it!" Harvest whispered softly, clearing her throat. "What if for some reason you are to deliver a package to the place, and the one who opens the door is not Rarity, but the human! As you ask yourself what’s going on, you see something odd! He is wearing a robe, covering his hairless body, add then you ask; where is Ms. Rarity? At which point, he replies with something like 'she is currently occupied', and before you know it…”

“What?” Ditzy asked, biting her hooves as she trembled.

“She would appear out of nowhere! But you would notice! She will look tired, and her mane will be a mess! Why?"

"W—Why?"

"Because just before your arrival, they had taken part in dirty, unadulterated lovem-”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-”

“Post office to mail mare! Respond!” John called, snapping his fingers in front of Ditzy.

“Um, what? What just happened?” Ditzy asked, looking around in panic, temporarily confused of her surroundings.

“Oh dear, are you alright? You just stood there, simply, well, just mumbling,” Fluttershy explained, looking at Ditzy with worry.

“Well, um,” Ditzy began, attempting to explain. “I remembered some bad memory! Like, really bad! And it got to me! We all have those moments, right? Ahaha…” she explained, getting odd looks from John.

“Would you like to come in? You seem a little on edge. I just made some tea, maybe it will help you relax,” Fluttershy suggested, putting a wing over Ditzy and ushering her inside. “Can you grab her stuff and close the door for me, John?”

“Um, sure,” he replied, doing as he was told. “She sure can take charge when it counts huh?” he noted as he moved to close the door, but was suddenly moved aside as the door opened wide, pushing him to the ground. “Ah, what the hell!?”

“John!” called the unannounced pony standing by the entrance, closing the door behind him and locking it. “Thank Her Majesty you are still here!” the unmistakable figure of Guard said, looking at the three inside.

“Guard? What the hell are you doing here?” John asked annoyed, holding his aching shoulder. “Fuck!”

“John, language!” Fluttershy reprimanded him.

“Well excuuuuse me, but that really hurt!” he snarled in return.

“We don’t have time for this!” Guard interrupted. “We have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Ditzy, who seemed to have gathered herself.

“Spit it out, then!” John nearly shouted, losing his patience. “Geez, what got up your ass?”

Guard seemed to take his words and nodded. He brushed his pink mane aside and sighed. “I’ll get to the point; there is an unicorn by the name of Trixie, she arrived in Ponyville around forty-five minutes ago, and she is wreaking havoc in town.”

“Trixie!?” both Fluttershy and Ditzy said out loud.

“Yes. Being inhabitants of Ponyville you would know of her,” Guard noted. “She used to be an entertainer of sorts a few years ago; she came to Ponyville where she had her last act before losing credibility due to the Ursa Minor incident,” he explained to John.

“I remember,” John said in understanding. “Twilight told me of that, but that was her? It’s kind of sad.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“I mean, from what Twi told me, she was doing this show of hers for free. She was a show-off, sure, but everyone else wasn’t making a better point by attempting to outdo her, right?”

The three ponies stared at him in silence, Fluttershy holding a specially thoughtful look on her own.

“In any case,” Guard continued as if uninterrupted. “She did some odd jobs, the last of which was her attempting work on ‘Igneous and Quartz Rock Farm’ for a couple of weeks before quitting.”

“She was lucky she lasted that long!” came a very high pitched voice from a flower pot to the side, it stirred for a few seconds before none other than Pinkie Pie slowly rose from its depths. “Hi guys!”

The others looked at her with wide eyes, waving her hi right back.

“Er, right…” Guard said momentarily taken aback by her sudden appearance. “To get to the point, she went missing a couple months ago until her return today to attempt to. well, from what she said, look for Twilight Sparkle.

“Well, she isn‘t here, so what exactly is the problem?” John asked confused.

“The problem is that when we tried to detain her for questioning, she caught Recon.”

“You mean the lazy guy who couldn’t guard me?” John half-laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”

“And,” Guard continued with a hoof raised. “She caught each of the Lunar Guards stationed here with her magic. After seeing that, I knew I had no chance and escaped, well, not before hurting myself on my attempt,” he explained, attempting to open one of his folded wings.

“Oh my, are you okay?” Fluttershy quickly asked, reaching him with a small first-aid kit.

“I’ll live for sure, but I’m not flying anywhere for a while,” he explained.

“Where is Trixie now?” Ditzy asked as Fluttershy placed bandages over Guard’s damaged wing.

“If I heard her words correctly, she should be heading to Town Hall, possibly to gather attention to get Ms. Sparkle out in the open,” Guard guessed. “Ah, that feels better. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy and the rest remained silent as they took into account the information that Guard had relayed to them. Pinkie Pie herself looked just as worried as the rest who didn’t say a single word, unable to understand what it would mean.

Ditzy shook her head, having since recovered from her early shock. “I still don’t understand. All she could do was some cheap tricks before!” she remembered. “How did she really capture three bat ponies!?”

“I don‘t have the answer to that, but that‘s the situation,“ Guard admitted. “What I have to do now is to gather John and the rest of the Elements for protection; we know that three of them are currently on a trip with the Captain, so they will be safe—for the moment, at least. We only need to find Ms. Rarity.”

Pinkie stared at Guard with a look of disapproval, fuming silently. “That’s not fair! Twilight didn’t do anything for Trixie to be so mean over!” she complained. “Trixie has no proof of any wrongdoing! Don’t worry guys, I’ll be her lawyer!” she shouted, donning a blue suit out of nowhere.

“Guys?” John began from the side, looking nervous. “Guard, you said Trixie is going to Town Hall, right?”

“Why? Is something wrong, John?” Ditzy wondered.

“Rarity is there right now,” he said, receiving collective gasps from the rest.

Guard sighed, shaking his head. “Alright. We are leaving.”

“L—L—Leave!?” Fluttershy exclaimed in a panic. “We can’t! What about the animals? Trixie will hurt them!”

“She won’t,” Guard said matter-of-factly. “She is after Ms. Sparkle, and we need to go somewhere else before she finds us here. We don’t know what she might do to her friends in her attempts to find her.”

“And where are we going?” John asked.

“The only place with the only other being capable of sending a message to Her Majesty. Let’s go.”

“No, this can’t be! It doesn’t fit!” Rarity mumbled to herself as she placed a ribbon over a door, she alternated between numerous of them as she made her decision. Behind her, Mayor Mare watched over her work, whimpering slightly with each change—something that Rarity herself could hear quite well.

“Aaa…” the Mayor mumbled as Rarity placed an especially big red ribbon over a bigger white ribbon over the main front doors.

“Mayor!” Rarity acknowledged her with an exaggerated tone. “I have everything under control! Please, just make sure that preparations on everything else are spot on, and I give you my word that this will be my best work by far. Please?” she pleaded, hoping the Mayor would catch the hint.

“I suppose I am being a little imposing, but it’s just that this is the first time we will have such important international figures in our town! Not to mention Her Majesty will be here as well!” the Mayor said nervously, gulping along every fourth word.

“And as someone who has met the Princess and one who is acquainted with decorating—not to mention a member of the ‘Interior Decorators Society‘—I assure you that I will not disappoint, but I do need some space if you wouldn’t mind,” Rarity said as tactfully as she could muster.

“I… Yes, you are right, Rarity,” Mayor Mare cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Very well. It’s not helping that you are doing this for free and I’m just bothering you, so I will make my leave. Thank you."

“It is no problem, I understand your concerns! You can count on me!” Rarity said, waving the Mayor goodbye until she’d left and closed the door on her way out. “Oh, thank Celestia, I finally have some peace!"

Rarity let out a confident smile, her horn lighting up, and the numerous items on the floor wriggled slightly before rapidly floating upwards. They remained still for a few moments before being moved in a more organized fashion and being set in neat files.

“Now, I suppose it’s time to put Twilight’s magic training to good use! Let‘s see how long I can keep this up!” as she said this in a pompous tone, her horn released streams of magic, and the decorations in the air moved swiftly around, being placed in specific spots on the walls momentarily before quickly being taken off and replaced by a different one. Rarity continued this with a never wavering smile, until finally, she satisfactorily stared at her finished piece of work, panting heavily. “Oh dear… I may have overdone it a li—aaah!” she cried out, falling to her side. “I take it back: I definitively overdid it.”

Suddenly, the leftover decorations fell to the ground, suddenly free of their magic grip.

“… Well, thankfully I wasn’t levitating animals this time,” she laughed.

“Everypony, can I get your attention, please?” came the voice of Mayor Mare outside the Hall, rousing Rarity from her semi-unconscious state.

“I wonder what’s happening?” she asked herself, shakily getting on her hooves and stretching. “Note to self: bring couch next time… The floor is far too dirty to pass out on it.”

“Excellent!” came the sound of another voice, stopping Rarity on her tracks.

“Wait, that wasn’t the Mayor… In fact, that voice sounded horrendously familiar,” she headed to the nearest window and peeked over, her eyes widening is shock when noticing the pony on the other side.

“Thank you, Mayor, Trixie will take it from here,” Trixie walked back and forth, watching the gathering crowd with intent in her eyes. and finally speaking when she had deemed it big enough. “Trixie will make this easy for you all: where are you hiding Twilight Sparkle!"

“Don’t say anything!” the voice of Spike said.

“You be quiet! In fact, you three can get out of my sight for the time being,” Trixie groaned, her horn glowing red. The sudden event afterwards made Rarity fall back in surprise, as a red tinted bubble busted through the doors to her side before slamming shut.

“That was rather sudden…” Rarity said slowly, breathing heavily at the sudden scare. Her eyes widened as her panic turned to confusion. “Spike?” she whispered, approaching the bubble slowly. “Is that you?”

“Don’t get close!” the unicorn besides Spike warned. “It automatically traps anything that tries to get into contact!” he looked at her for a couple of seconds before registering the pony in front of him. “Is that you, Ms. Rarity? It’s me, Recon!”

“Recon?" she wondered. "Oh! Of course, one of those ponies. What’s going on?” she asked confused. “What’s Trixie doing here?”

“One of ‘those‘? I don’t think I like your ton-”

“Basically,” Spike interrupted. “Trixie seems to want revenge on Twi, and she captured me when she made her way to the library and I tried to relay a message to the Princess,” he said with a frown.

“What about him?" she asked, pointing to the brown stallion in the fetal position. "Isn’t that Time Turner? The poor dear is trembling! What happened to him?”

“No idea, but he seems to be a little out of it at the moment,” Recon explained.

“We need to get you out!” she exclaimed, her horn shining as she prepared a spell.

“No! You have to escape, or el-”

“Be quiet in there!” Trixie’s shout reached them, the bubble suddenly splitting into three separate bubbles and sending them to different spots on the ceiling. “That should do it.”

“Ms, please, run!” Recon hissed once again.

Rarity eyed the back door, Recon’s idea becoming more appealing to her as the seconds passed. In her mind it was a better idea to get the rest and pool together while Twilight returned, as she was the one with a plan for the case at hoof. She always had a plan.

“I’ll ask again. Where. Is. She!?” Trixie growled outside, bringing Rarity back to the situation.

“I don’t know!” a pony replied with a sniff, whimpering between each word.

“Sad!” Trixie’s words were soon followed by silence, before suddenly, the sound of an explosion reached Rarity‘s ears, making her jump on the spot,and she trembled, unbelieving of what might have happened.

“She wouldn’t…” the thought ran through her head. “She is a jerk, but she would neve—"

“My cabbages!”

“Oh, thank goodness,” she sighed. “But…“ she mumbled, biting her lip, eyeing the window intently.

“Ms. Rarity!” hissed Recon again, giving her a glare. “Pleeease!”

“I—I‘m sorry, I cannot hear you, you are simply too far away!” Rarity lied with a sigh, running towards the window again and watching the event continue outside.

“Now, I will ask again. Where. Is. Twilight. Sparkle!?” Trixie shouted, her voice making the ponies shrink in fear.

“B-but we already told you that we don’t know,” one beige colored mare replied timidly.

“Well, isn’t that unfortunate,” Trixie said in mock pity. “It seems that she will have to do this the hard way,” her horn lit up, a small stream of magic began charging up and grew as the seconds passed. With a grunt, she tossed her head down, and then upwards, ‘throwing’ the ball of magic into the air.

Rarity ran upstairs, watching the magic go higher and higher through windows, until finally, it reached a high enough point and exploded, surrounding the far edges of Ponyville with a mantle of glowing magic. As it reached the border of the town, it suddenly changed colors, before a sudden loud ‘thud‘ echoed in the distance.

“She created a barrier around Ponyville…” Rarity quickly realized. She ran downstairs, and stared back outside, watching as the ponies gazed up at the barrier now over them with horrified looks.

“Rarity? What’s happening?” Spike asked, watching as Rarity seemed to shake in place. “Rarit—”

“I will NOT let this stand!” Rarity growled, stomping her hoof. “I am going to show that mare a lesson!”

“No!” Recon shouted, growing increasingly scared by the second. "What would the captain do…” he mumbled to himself. “Ah! Miss! Don’t do it! Think of your friends! What if something happened to you!? Who will make really fancy clothes for them!”

Rarity looked back at Recon with a flat stare, shaking her head once before moving to the door. He turned to meet Spike who also gave him a similar shake.

“Geez, I suck at this,” Recon groaned in defeat.

“Well, I t-thought it was kinda funny…” Time Turner commented from the side.

“Why, thank you! Glad someone can at least appreciate it,” he replied sincerely.

“Not helping my confidence here!“ Rarity whispered bitterly, picking up the exchange of words from the pair as she took a deep breath before putting both hooves on the closed doors, and pulling them open.

“Um, Guard?” John called the pony in front of him, who remained ever vigilant as him as the rest of the group hid. “I don’t know if you noticed, but there is this blue thing over us, and it reminds me of a certain something.”

“I know,” Guard replied. “But let’s focus on our current objective first.”

“You mean the one we completed just five minutes ago?” John replied, pointing at the library only a few steps away. “Why can’t we go in again? Come on! I am wearing a robe on the street!”

“We don’t know if Trixie left any sort of traps. We must be cautious,” he whispered angrily, keeping his eyes on the library without even bothering to blink.

“It’s empty!” Ditzy said from the side, scaring the group out of the bush they resided on.

Guard stared, shaking his head. “Ma’am, do not go off without my permission! You could have been hurt!” he nearly shouted, managing to keep his voice low enough. “But thanks, I appreciate that, Ms…”

“Derpy! But no time for pleasantries!” she replied.

“Agreed. I’ll check the building just in case, so stay here until I give you the go-ahead,” he explained.

“Oh, I’ll come with!” Pinkie said excitedly, rushing inside.

“Oh for the love of…” Guard sighed. “Fluttershy, would you please come with me and watch for Pinkie so she doesn’t get into any trouble?”

“O—Of course!” Fluttershy agreed.

“Ms. Derpy, stay here and watch John,” he ordered quickly before walking into the house with Fluttershy following right behind, leaving both John and Ditzy on their own.

“So… 'Derpy'?” John asked.

“Yes. It’s… complicated. Can you call me that in public from now on, please?” Ditzy replied, keeping her eyes ahead.

“Why? I’ve been calling you Dit—”

“John. Please, I don't want to argue,” she replied, giving him a serious look. “Just call me Derpy.”

“… Fine, Derpy,” he said forcibly. “…Can you at least tell me what was the deal with you when we you delivered the mail earlier?”

“This conversation is over!” she replied with a harsh tone, causing the pair to remain silent as they waited for the others.

“Alright, the place seems to be free of anything magical as far as I can tell…” Guard said upon his return. “I never thought I’d say this, but I wish Recon were here to check,” he added miserably. “Well, let’s go inside.”

With Guard’s permission, John continued ahead with him as Ditzy stayed behind.

“… I‘m such an idiot!” she whispered to herself, face hoofing. “Why did I do that!?” she sighed, miserably following the other two.

John’s eyes widened in shock as they entered the tree house. “What the hell happened here!?” he shouted, noticing arrays of books on the floor with dozens of pages sprawled about, Fluttershy already hard at work fixing everything in the background.

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped out of a pile, looking around surprised. “It’s like a storm passed by!”

“A blue storm to be exact,” Ditzy corrected.

“Wait, what about Spike?” John asked nervously.

Guard turned to him and sighed. “Sorry. He wasn’t here. I can only conclude that he either escaped, or was captured by her,” he replied disappointed. “This also means we don’t have a way to send a message out, not that it matters with the barrier around us.”

“So basically, we are in deep shit,” John groaned.

“So it would seem.”

John shook his head, heading to the pile of books in the middle of the foyer.

“What are you doing, John?” Ditzy asked.

“You guys said that this Trixie was just a show-off, right?” John asked in return instead. “She wasn’t so powerful that she could create stuff like this,” he began, motioning towards the shield outside.

“Yes, she couldn’t beat the Ursa Minor, much less create a shield this big,” Fluttershy pointed out, receiving stares from the others. “A—Am I wrong?”

“You aren’t, I think,” John replied, grabbing a handful of books from the floor. “Don’t quote me on this, but I believe she must be using something to increase her power, and I have the feeling we may find something in these books. And Guard, do you remember if she had something on her? Surely you saw something,” he asked, turning to the stallion.

“Well, now that you mention it, I believe she was wearing some sort of necklace, I guess," Guard groaned. "Sorry I was having such a pleasant time while I was running for my life that I caught that,” he finished sarcastically.

John nodded. “That’s helpful enough. Come on,” he said, turning to the rest. “Gather all books about magical artifacts you can find—we are solving this mess ourselves.”

The doors burst wide open as Rarity revealed herself to the ponies outside, they all quickly turned to the sound of the noise, Trixie herself included. A smile adorned her face, and quickly evaporated when she noticed the pony.

“Huh…” Trixie mumbled, giving Rarity an amused stare.

“Whatever do you mean by ‘huh’?” Rarity replied, annoyed.

“Trixie was hoping that the one behind the doors was Twilight Sparkle,” she replied with a sigh.

“W—What? You knew somepony was inside?” Rarity exclaimed surprised.

“Trixie is neither deaf, or stupid; I could hear from outside. Don‘t get me started on the ponies that turned to face you numerous times whenever you turned to peek,” she explained, rolling her eyes.

"Um actually, I heard you too, Rarity,” Mayor Mare said from the side.

“Mayor, you are not helping,” Rarity muttered, pushing forward without turning to face her. “Forget about that. What do you think you are doing to these poor ponies?” she shouted.

“Well, such disappointment,” Trixie continued, ignoring her question. “Here I thought I would be going against that pesky Sparkle, but instead, she sends the second rate Unicorn.”

“EXCUSE ME!?” Rarity shouted, her mane splitting in spots. “I am NOT a second rate Unicorn! I am as much a Unicorn as Twilight is!”

Trixie revealed a tiny smirk, walking towards Rarity while keeping a pompous stare on her face, which she then pushed against Rarity‘s, receiving a glare in return.

"Heh," Trixie chuckled amused. “Would you care to put your bits where your mouth is?”

Rarity flinched, looking momentarily confused. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me! Would you care to prove your worth against the Great, and Powerful Trixie?” Trixie shouted with pride, smiling as she looked towards the sky.

“I…” Rarity mumbled looking conflicted. She turned to the ponies behind Trixie, noticing the confusion and panic they showed, they each gave her a pleading look, and her mind was made up. “I accept your challenge, Trixie! I can be both a lady, and a worthy adversary!

Trixie’s smile suddenly turned into a frown, looking disappointed. “Well, here I thought you wouldn’t agree,” she moved towards the stairs from the Town Hall, her horn beginning to glow red.

“What? But you are the one who challenged me!” Rarity said, growing impatient with her attitude.

“Yes, but Trixie was simply kidding, for you see, Rarity,” Trixie started. “You are waaay out of your league.”

“What do y—”

“Woah!” A pony behind Rarity shouted, she turned to face them, only to find an unlikely sight; ponies began being raised from the ground, in turn, dozens more began taking off, floating higher and higher, shouting and wailing in terror.

“What is going o—” Rarity attempted to ask, turning to meet Trixie only to find the blue showpony also floating, her horn shining brighter as the magic took hold. “But levitating so many ponies like this requires an immense amount of magic!” she stated terrified. “How…?”

“Oh, Trixie is just getting started,” Trixie replied coyly as the red light shined brighter.

Multiple cries of terror could be heard from the distance, as dozens of ponies began floating. Rarity managed to distinguish looks of confusion on their faces as they continued their ascent, unknowing of what was taking place.

“What do you think of Trixie now, amateur?” Trixie stated, while Rarity stared with wide eyes, trembling.

“Wheee! I’m flying!” Pinkie shouted joyfully.

“I am too, but I don’t wanna!” Ditzy shouted, kicking her legs and flattering her wings wildly in an attempt to gain balance in her body.

“What’s going on!?” John shouted. “I don’t wanna float!”

“Everyone, stay calm! This must be Trixie using her magic!” Guard guessed, attempting to calm down the others as he attempted to steady himself.

“Oh no! S—She is stronger than we thought!” Fluttershy stated as she aimlessly rolled in the air, just as confused as the others.

"Ouch!" John growled frustrated as a book hit the side of his head. “Dammit, let me down!” -Down…- “I just wanna get do—whoa!” John yelped, suddenly falling back down, grunting as he fell on a pile of books. “Oh god, that hurt…” he coughed, slowly getting on his feet. “Well, at least that’s over.”

“No it’s not!” the others shouted, getting his attention.

“What? But how?” John asked.

“How are we supposed to know!?” Ditzy screeched, attempting to hold on a bookcase.

“What is... huh?” John turned towards the window nearby. and noticing a red light in the distance, he advanced carefully, his eyes keeping track of the numerous ponies floating around much like the others inside were. He placed his hand on the glass, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Just how powerful is she…?”

“Do you understand now?” Trixie monologued, staring down at Rarity. “You do not have an iota of a chance against me!” she finished, her eyes glowing momentarily red as the magic stopped, slowly lowering herself and the other ponies to the ground.

“I… I…” Rarity barely managed to say, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Now, Trixie is feeling merciful today. You will be allowed to decline my challenge, but if you accept it and lose, you will be banished from Ponyville. Forever!”

“… What if I refuse to do battle with you?” Rarity asked with doubt.

“You won’t be banished, but only if you plead for forgiveness, that is,” she stated, walking closely to Rarity who slowly backed away from her. “So, what will it be?”

“I… I need to stay here for Sweetie Belle! I just...” and with those words, and feeling shame beyond anything she’d felt before, Rarity lowered her head and bowed. “I apologize for the challenge. Please, forgive me.”

Trixie seemed surprised for a second before smiling again. “Very well, as promised, you are not to be banished. Trixie keeps her promises.”

Rarity remained silent, only sighing in relief.

“However, Trixie never said anything about no punishment, did she?” she said, giving Rarity a malicious grin.

“W—What? No! What are you going to do?” Rarity asked, growing more terrified by the seconds, slowly backing away, wanting to run, but her legs giving in each step she took.

“Oh, nothing but make you fit the image of the coward filly that you ARE!” she shouted, tossing a beam of magic towards Rarity.

“Nooo!” Rarity shouted, unprepared for what was to come, and as the magic hit her, everything went dark.

“What was that?” John blurted out, looking up from the book in his hands.

“What was what?” asked Ditzy and Pinkie who sat to his left.

“I…” John mumbled confused.

“Maybe Guard is back from searching Rarity?” Ditzy wondered, looking out the window.

“No…” came the barely audible shout of Fluttershy from the next room over. “He isn’t back yet.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy! We’ll keep on looking then!” Pinkie replied, leaning on John’s crossed legs to get herself on a comfortable position.

“Right,” John agreed, grabbing the book in front of him. “Let’s keep looking then.”

The three read through towers of books, having found out that Twilight owned far more books on artifacts that they had expected. After some time, John yawned, growing tired of searching. He looked up and noticed the time passed. “Wish Celestia were here; where is her all-seeing power when you need it?” he thought, turning to the window and watching the sun being slowly set by Celestia in the distance. “This is SO not going my way,” he huffed, growing impatient. “Who would have thought that there were so many artifacts shaped like necklaces. Go figure.”

“—hat!”

John’s ear picked up the hushed voice of Ditzy who seemed to be talking to Pinkie at that point. Curious, he tried to listen in on their conversation.

“Pinkie… This…Seriously?” he managed to barely hear from Ditzy who was farther away.

“But I am! I am searching, see?” Pinkie replied, holding a book near John’s face.

“Yeah…. I…”

“Oh! I see! You need to be cheered up! Don’t worry! Aunt Pinkie has you covered! … By the way why are we whispering?”

“I am older than you!” Ditzy replied with obvious anger, at which point, John decided to cut in.

“Derpy, maybe you would like to go help Fluttershy with the mess in the foyer?” he suggested, giving Ditzy a disapproving frown.

“What? But I didn’t do anything, Pinkie was just being so cheery, a—”

“Derpy,” John stopped her. “I insist.”

“I… Alright,” Ditzy sighed in defeat, heading out, but not before turning one last time to sadly look at John before closing the door and leaving the pair on their own.

“What happened, Pinkie?” John quickly asked.

“I have noooo idea!” Pinkie replied, shrugging, grabbing the book again. “But she did seem a bit stressed!”

“How do you mean?” he asked intrigued.

“She was fuming for a bit! I think she wanted to lay down with you like I was! I would have let her rest on you if she had asked!” she pointed out with a frown.

“Huh, that doesn’t sound like something she would do from the time I’ve known her,” John admitted. “I guess you learn something new everyday, huh?”

“Yep! But it was weird! It‘s almost as if she were jealous!” Pinkie added before returning to her book, which she began reading facedown.

“Jealous, huh?” John laughed. “Why would she be jeaaaaaaa…” he stopped, a memory returning to him. A memory of a conversation with Ditzy since forgotten.

“How exactly do you see mares? Do you see us as just ponies?” from then on, the memory after returned, in which Ditzy had grown angry of Pinkie’s irresponsible activity with the mirror pool while he desperately tried to help, it was an attitude he hadn’t seen on her before.

A guess invaded his mind by that point.

“Oh my god…” he thought in sudden shock. “Could it be? Would she? Dammit, I did NOT need to have this shit in my mind right now! I hope that's not the case.”

“He is back!” called Fluttershy. “Oh, by that I mean Mr. Guard is back…”

“R—Right!” John replied relieved, swiftly getting on his feet, causing Pinkie to fall back and hit her head on the wooden floor.

“Ouch!” Pinkie cried out. “I was using that!” she whined, rubbing her head with a sniffle.

“Ha, ha…” John laughed for a second before clearing his throat. ”S-sorry! Come on, Guard is back!” he waited for Pinkie to get up, and left together to meet with him.

“What is that?” John managed to hear Ditzy ask Guard who John noticed was holding something small in his legs.

“Um, Guard? I motion that question. What is that?” John asked as well, noticing the white fur. “Is that a kid?” he asked in a panicked state, running to check on the foal only to find Fluttershy already standing next to them.

“Um, yes, she is…” Guard replied awkwardly. “And well, you actually know who this is.”

“We do?” everyone else replied looking confused.

Fluttershy turned the filly over, revealing a familiar looking purple mane, she was clearly unconscious as her slow breathing showed, with patches of fur by her eyes were darkened in an odd mess of make-up. But by that point, no one else was focused on her features, instead looking at each other with mouths agape, unable to say anything.

“I guess it’ll be me who says it, huh?” Guard sighed. “Yes, I believe that this young filly is actually Ms. Rarity. I found her by the Town Hall, weeping as if having a bad dream on her own… I honestly don’t know what to say about this situation, but it’s more than likely sure that Trixie did this to her.”

“Oh my goodness. Rarity, no!” Fluttershy cried out, holding the small pony in her hooves. “Why would Trixie do this to her?”

“John, how goes the search for the amulet? Any luck?” Guard asked in a rush.

“I… No,” John managed to reply, barely able to get his eyes off Rarity. “There are more than I thought. To have a better chance, we would have to find out what it looks like an—”

“I-It’s a necklace shaped like an equine…”

The others turned to the voice, looking at the small Rarity who stared at them with wide eyes, barely standing on her legs in an awkward attempt to remain still.

“Rarity, you are okay!?” Fluttershy cried out happily, once again hugging the small-sized Rarity.

“Y—Yes, dear, I am,” she squeaked, attempting to get out of Fluttershy’s grasp.

“But what happened? Why are you, well, a little pony?” John asked.

“Because I…” Rarity began, frowning, her cheeks burning red in her anger. “I forfeited a magic duel with Trixie… I had to, otherwise I would risk leaving Sweetie Belle on her own.”

“It’s okay! I would have given up too!” Pinkie exclaimed, hugging Rarity. “Besides, you are so cuteee now!”

“Aha… Yes, great,” Rarity laughed sarcastically.

“Wait, you were saying something about the necklace earlier, right?” Ditzy asked, returning to the original conversation.

“Yes! It was a dark color… I believe material was onyx, perhaps,” Rarity continued in a high pitched voice. “There was a red gemstone in the middle, and it had what I believe is an alicorn as part of the decoration.”

“Alicorn…” John mumbled, snapping his fingers as he realized it. “The Alicorn Amulet.”

“Oooh, what’s that?” Pinkie inquired curious.

“Hold on,” John returned to the other room, grabbing a book, and bringing it along for the rest to see. “I found this earlier,” he began, pointing at a picture in the book. “It has the ability to increase the wearer’s power immensely, but it also corrupts them the more it is used, unfortunately,” he explained, looking at Guard. “Rarity, were her eyes glowing red? That‘s a big sign of the pony wearing it.”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, they were, actually!” she squeaked, blushing in embarrassment. “I suppose that’s how she turned me into… this.”

“So that’s why she is being meaner than usual!” Pinkie reasoned.

“How do we get it off?” Guard asked quickly. “That’s the most important part!”

“Well…” John gulped. “We can’t. It can only be taken off by the one wearing it.”

“So you are saying that despite our efforts, we are still in deep shit, huh?”

“Pretty much,:” John sighed wistfully. “Well, and we know that she is powerful enough to make everyone levitate without even looking at them, who knows what she’ll do when she is fully corrupted!”

“Wait, you all were affected too?” Rarity asked, gathering curious looks from the others. “That happened when Trixie attempted to show off her powers to me.”

“Yes! “ Ditzy shouted in agreement. “Well… It didn’t work on John afterwards, he just sort of fell after a bit while we stayed in the air,” she added.

“Wait, he did?” Rarity asked curiously, and suddenly, something clicked in her mind. “Wait, of course!” she yelped excited. “John! There was a reason that happe—” she stopped her talking, her mouth having been covered by John.

“John, what is Ms. Rarity trying to say,” Guard asked, looking at John suspiciously, accompanied by the rest of the ponies.

“It's… It’s nothing you should care about, it’s, um, classified!” he replied, struggling to choose his words.

“John,” Rarity mumbled through his hand. “That magic negating ability of yours could be what we need right now,” she whispered.

He grabbed Rarity and turned his back to the others, putting Rarity between his hands. “Rarity, you know I can’t tell anyone!” he hissed, giving her a worried look.

“John,” she continued, looking into his eyes. “We don’t know what could happen if Trixie’s corruption grows out of control! I don’t want to say this, but you seem to be our only choice here.”

“Me? But, I’m just some dumb human! I can’t face something that presumably can use Alicorn magic!”

“I must agree with John,” Guard spoke from behind.

“Oh, thank you, Guard!” John said gratefully, turning to meet him.

“Well, that is if there isn’t any other way. I say we hear what she has planned for you, not often I see you struggle,” Guard noted with a grin.

“… You seriously choose now to go back to being an ass?” John sighed frustrated.

“Hey, I did tell you I would use any chance to get you back, didn’t I?” he replied. “But most importantly, this might be our only option, outside, well, attempting to find the captain on their trip in the big forest, wait until tomorrow for them, or even attempting the three day walk or a one day fly, but as you can see,” he said, showing his injured wing. “That last one is not happening.”

“Great! This sucks! That sucks! Everything sucks!” John groaned, punching a nearby wall. “Ouch…” he whined, shaking his hand in an attempt to ease the pain.

“John,” Rarity said with a flat tone. “I know it’s a secret, but this is an emergency.”

John turned to the others, watching him with pleading eyes, awaiting what he was about to explain. He clicked his tongue and took a deep breath, attempting to gather his words.

“First, you all have to promise that what I say, will never be spoken of in any shape or form outside this room. Understand?” John said firmly.

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Ditzy, Pinkie and Fluttershy said in a chorus of voices, doing the motions now familiar to John.

“I don’t get it,” Guard said confused.

“This will make it so much better for me,” John smiled mischievously, and after forcing Guard to make the same promise, he nodded satisfied. “Alright, about as good as it will get. Now, Pinkie and Fluttershy already know of the event, you know, with Twilight and the flames, right?” he began, explaining the first moment he’d noticed it with Twilight and continuing from there, giving an explanation of the ability as simply as he could.

“Oh, my…” Fluttershy commented once he had finished.

“Seriously?” Ditzy said with a dubious look, her eyes barely managing to stay in place to stare.

“That’s soooo cool!” Pinkie said excitedly, appearing behind John. “Show me, pleeeeease?”

“Um, about that,” he began awkwardly. “I don’t really know how it works…”

“What?” Guard asked incredulously. “You seemed to grasp it nicely when we were still floating earlier!” he growled frustrated.

“Well, I’m sorry! It just came to me! I don’t know how to work it! I guess I can do it in really stressful situations, but I can’t be sure!” John shouted in defense. “See? This is why I didn’t want to bring it up.”

“Now, now, John just needs a push in the right direction,” Rarity said confidently. “You just need to have the right mindset!”

“And how do you figure that can happen?” John asked. “Because I’ve tried that already.”

“How about Zecora!” Pinkie shouted, standing in the middle. “I once saw her stand on one hoof with her eyes closed going ‘hmmmmmmm’ for a really, really, REALLY long time!”

“Pinkie dear, I don’t mean to be rude, but you aren’t really known to be patient; how did you stay focused on her for so long?” Rarity asked curiously.

“I thought she was preparing to do a flip… I was VERY disappointed when she didn’t do one!” she fumed.

Rarity looked out the window thoughtfully, eyeing the forest barely visible in the distance. “In any case, Pinkie said what I was thinking already. Zecora might be a great help.”

“But Zecora lives in the Everfree forest,” Fluttershy noted, looking at the others. “That’s outside the shield, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. We would need to find a way to get John out there,” Guard added. “And I do not have any, unfortunately.

“Oh, don't worry about that, Guard! I have an idea…” Rarity said while she smiled with confidence, maliciously rubbing her hooves together.

“This better be important!”

Trixie groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She sped through the dark streets of Ponyville, heading to the outskirts of town. “If Trixie had known ponies would try to escape at the dead of night, I would have removed the stupid shield trigger!” she continued complaining until finally seeing something in the distance, something that brought numerous questions to her mind that only continued once she stopped next to it.

*thud*

“Hmm…”

*thud*

“What do you think you are doing, Pegasus!?” she shouted, eyeing the gray pony who continuously attempted to go through the shield without much success, her head hitting it each and every time as if she had never noticed it. A cart was tied to her body, carrying numerous bags of what Trixie guessed to be mail, but the mail was unimportant to Trixie, as was the pony. “But Trixie is still curious…”

“I’m trying to go through!” the pony replied with a weird tone, turning to meet Trixie who nearly recoiled at the sight of the mare’s eyes staring at two completely opposite directions.

“Dear Celestia, what is wrong with you!” Trixie asked horrified.

The mare simply stared for a moment, giving Trixie a stupid smile, blinking each eye separately. “I’m trying to get the mail out! But something is on my way!” she replied, turning to fruitlessly attempt to go through once again.

“Obviously,” Trixie replied uninterested.

“Obviously is yes!” the mail mare answered. “But I can’t go through…” she continued sadly.

“Ugh…” Trixie groaned, opening a small path on the shield. “Enough. Trixie needs her beauty sleep.”

“Oh, goodnight!” the grey mare said, waving to Trixie momentarily before lowering her hoof and just standing still.

“What…?” Trixie asked, looking stupefied.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…The path is open, imbecile,” Trixie whispered under her breath, holding her head as if in pain.

“Oh! Yay! Thank you so much, sir!” the mare said happily, trotting happily through the hole.

“Why I…” Trixie fumed, watching the mare head straight for the Everfree forest without much a care in the world. “Well then, Trixie guesses the mare will be no more. Idiot,” she snorted, turning her back to the issue, the idea of sleep being the most appealing thing to her for the moment.

…

“Idiot,” Ditzy snorted as she watched Trixie leave through her peripherals, and she continued briskly pacing towards a hidden part of the forest before fully stopping. “Alright guys, coast is clear!”

The bags rustled loudly, and with a pop, one of them opened, releasing a flow of streamers. “Whee!” Pinkie was the first, cheering as she jumped out of the bag without any trouble. “Wow! That was good, Derpy!”

“Yep,” John commented, getting out of a rather cramped bag of his own. “I can’t believe that actually worked! That was am—” he stopped himself, holding his words back. “Er, well done.”

“I second that,” Guard replied, tossing his bag aside. “Although I have to admit it was quite difficult to ignore the insults she threw at you.”

“It’s okay,” Ditzy said dismissively. “It worked to our advantage, right? And it isn’t the first time I’ve been treated that way,” she whispered under her breath.

John turned his attention towards the forest, gulping at the menacing sight in front of him, the memories of his previous rendezvous a month before returning in full force. “But are we sure this will work with my so-called ability, Rarity? Seems like a stretch…”

“Of course it will!” Rarity replied, getting out of another bag alongside Fluttershy. “And even if it doesn’t, Zecora is well versed on ancient artifacts, not to mention that she is a very wise zebra!”

“A… zebra?” John asked slowly, raising a brow.

“You’ll see,” Rarity assured, tapping his leg as she walked on ahead.

“Enough dillydallying,” Guard said from the side. “We have to be careful from now on—I’m sure most of you know I don’t have to explain why.”

The group made their way through the forest, Fluttershy and Guard keeping watch on the front while the rest followed, cautiously watching every which way for signs of danger, growing uneasy at any sign of rustling in the trees and bushes.

“Geez, I didn’t know this place was so s—scary,” Ditzy whimpered, hiding behind her wings.

“You have no *huff* idea, dear,” Rarity huffed noisily as she tried to keep up with the rest.

John watched Rarity silently, noticing how often she tripped on her hooves, having to run to manage the pace of her taller friends. “Come here, you,” he sighed, picking the still small Rarity in his arms, allowing her to rest there.

“You li—what do you think you are doing!?” Rarity yelped, attempting to jump off.

“Being nice and forgiving you for the paint thing earlier today, so how about you just let me carry you and you rest those little legs of yours, alright?” he ordered, causing Rarity to shiver at the order.

“O—Oh, alright," she said surprised. "Your attitude aside, I must say that you are acting like quite the gentlecolt... what a surprise,” she noted, turning her gaze to the front as John rolled his eyes.

“So, Fluttershy,” John called, ignoring Rarity. “I’m surprised you are so calm, what with this place being full of scary creatures and all.”

“Scary!?” Fluttershy asked pained, giving John a disapproving look. “Many creatures here are so cute! I would never be scared of them, besides, some of them are my friends.”

“Huh…” John nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“We are here,” Guard called loudly, making the rest turn to what John guessed to be a hut in the distance, various masks and decorations hanged around it, giving it a very tribal aesthetic. “Let’s check if she is home.”

The group marched ahead, leaving John staring at it skeptically.

“Hmm…”

“What’s wrong?” Pinkie popped into his field of view, causing him to fall backwards on the mud to Pinkie’s regret. “Sorry!” she apologized, helping him on his feet.

“It’s fine, I’m just wondering if this Zecora will really help us, you know? I’m not sure if this will work to begin with,” he admitted sadly.

“Don’t worry! Zecora is an awesomerific pony! She knows a lot of things like Twilight does!” she looked side to side, approaching John and whispering. “But she is a little weeeird!”

“Huh,” John mumbled as Pinkie skipped ahead. “The pot calling the kettle black.”

Guard knocked on the door, just as John caught up with the group. “Don’t stay too far, this place is dangerous. We were lucky to not find any resistance.”

“What he said is indeed correct, it is something all should expect,” came a deep, yet feminine voice which caught John by surprise as he stared at the pony.

“Huh, what’s with the rhyme,” he commented loudly, getting a smack from Rarity. “Ouch!”

“John! Be respectful!” she groaned, glaring disapprovingly.

“Geez, sorry!”

“Quite a group here to convene, coming along with a strange being in between,” Zecora noted raising a brow. “But it’s far too late to be outside, so a reason to be here must be implied.”

“Yes, ma’am, it is, and it’s quite big one,” Guard explained.

Zecora looked thoughtful for a second, nodding in understanding. “Let us speak more of this inside.”

...

“… And that’s our situation, which is why we need your help so badly, Ms. Zecora,” Guard finished, taking a sip from a cup in his grasp, cringing at the now cold drink, realizing he had spend a while telling his story.

Zecora nodded, her eyes remaining closed as she sat on a stump. She opened them very suddenly, causing the group to flinch. “I understand your plight, and this does not look bright.”

“So, will you help us then?” Ditzy asked, staring with pleading eyes.

Zecora eyed the group for several seconds before shaking her head. “My apologies if this sounds bad, for I do not mean to make anypony sad, but this group cannot be of use, not when it cannot let loose,” she explained, sitting down on her stool once again, taking a sip from her drink.

“What?” Guard yelped. “What is that supposed to mean!?”

“Patiently listen to my rhyme, this will be solved in due time, surely faster than you might expect, there is no need to deject,” she explained, setting her cup down. “For now I suggest you all calm down, you have had a terrible time in your town.”

“I…” John tried to argue before quickly being stopped by Guard. “What are you doing?”

“We can argue later, maybe we should take her word and relax; we can rest for now and think of something just in case,” Guard explained.

“… Fine,” John agreed reluctantly, returning to the group.

They talked to each other about the events of the day, attempting to get their minds off the issue, only to end up silent whenever Ponyville was brought up, their worry over their fellow ponies weighting in their hearts.

“Sorry to interrupt our wonderful conversation, but I will be back,” Rarity suddenly said, getting on her hooves and walking away from the group with a low head.

“Oh dear, she must really be worried,” Fluttershy stated sadly.

“Maybe,” John said suspiciously, watching as Rarity marched towards the lone zebra.

“Zecora?” Rarity called quietly once she was close enough. “I was wondering if, well, you happen to have a solution to my little problem, ahem, no pun intended, of course,” Rarity explained embarrassed.

Closing her eyes momentarily, Zecora gave Rarity an intense look. “I’m afraid that my answer is quite tragic, as I’m not very learned in such dark magic, but I am here in your time of need, so that this Trixie may not succeed, and if her destiny lies in defeat, rest assured you will once again be complete,” she explained, giving Rarity a comforting pat.

“What? But you sa—” Rarity began, but stopped herself, taking a deep breath. “I understand,” she sighed disappointed. She turned to check on the others who were still distracted on their talking before exiting the hut through the back door while Zecora watched silently.

“What is she…” John thought silently, walking towards Zecora. “So, Zecora? Where is she going?”

Zecora simply pointed to the door. “Perhaps you’d like to tag along, maybe before this goes on too long, but be careful on what has to be done, we wouldn’t want to finish before it has begun,” she explained, walking away towards the others, leaving John confused.

“Um, sure,” he replied, heading out after Rarity while trying to understand Zecora’s words. “I swear, that Zebra is crazy."

“’sigh’ Dreadful…” John managed to hear Rarity’s voice as soon as he opened the door, noticing her sitting on a stump nearby.

“Rarity?” he called worriedly.

“Oh! John!” she cried out, rubbing her eyes quickly. “What are you doing out here?”

“That‘s my line. Is something the matter?” he asked, walking towards the stump and sitting down next to her.

“Well, Ponyville is under the rule of a pony who tried to stop an Ursa with a rope, and I am pint sized; otherwise, I‘m doing just peachy,” she groaned sarcastically.

“Sorry.”

She shook her head. “Pardon me, I’m just a bit on edge.”

“It’s cool,” John waved it off casually while looking up, noticing an opening of trees over them, the moon and stars of the night sky overhead. “I’m not doing so good either to be honest, I don’t even know how Zecora will help me, if she even does. Ugh, I wish Twilight were here…”

“Yes,” Rarity replied. “I agree.”

“It’s just that…” John said.

“The truth is…” Rarity sighed.

“She always has a plan…” both said at the same time, turning to each other surprised.

“Heh,” Rarity laughed, quickly joined by John. “I was thinking about that earlier, actually. You know, before I was transformed into... this."

“Something else is bothering you, thought, isn’t it?” John asked concerned. “You are usually very overdramatic whenever you say these things,” he continued, chuckling at the look Rarity gave him.

“I…” she tried to respond, but stopped in her tracks.

“Rarity, I didn‘t mean th—”

“Oh, don’t you apologize now! You ruffian!”

“Look, I wasn’t trying to a—”

“Fine! I feel useless. There, I said it!” she interrupted, pushing her hooves over her face. “Just look at me! What can I do to help? All I had was the magic Twilight taught me to master, and what happens?” she asked, expecting something from John. “I am turned into a filly! Twilight would be very disappointed…” she finished in a whisper, turning her face to the side in shame.

“Huh…” John mumbled, staring at Rarity’s small frame. “You’ll need to excuse me for this, but what are you? Stupid?”

Rarity gave him a horrified look in return. “Wow, John. I take it back, you are the complete opposite of a gentle colt!” she roared outraged. “What is your problem!?”

“Now, now, let me finish,” John laughed, not helping his attempts to calm her down. “Tell me, who was the mare who helped me get over my dumb issues just a month ago?”

“H—Huh?” Rarity said at a loss of words, blinking rapidly.

“And just today, whose idea was to use Dit— Derpy! Yes, her! To, you know? Get us through?”

“I suppose that was me, but we couldn’t have done it without her improvisation!” Rarity retorted.

“And finally!" he continued, ignoring her comment. "Who helped us find out that Trixie was wearing the Alicorn amulet?” he finished, waiting for Rarity to say something.

“But...”

“And before you say something, you did this while engaged with Trixie, which something that not even Guard did,” he continued, guessing Rarity’s next point.

“…”

“I take it you have nothing to say then, huh? I get the feeling you’ve been too caught up on the transformation, haven’t you?” John noted.

“… Maybe I was far too, *ahem* caught up on it, but can you really blame me?” she asked embarrassed. “But… hank you. Really.”

“No problem,” John laughed, ruffling Rarity’s mane to her horror. “Aaand now we are even!”

She looked up, her face a frozen mascara of terror. “Did you just…?”

“Yep! Even Stevens, I say!” he laughed.

“I… I will destroy you!” Rarity growled, jumping on John with raised hooves much like a predator would with claws extended.

“Aaah! Wait, ouch! But we are even!” John yelped in pain as Rarity tossed him to the floor. As he landed on his back, he noticed Zecora and the others staring silently behind them.

“Um… I warned him about the mane thing,” Fluttershy whispered.

Zecora walked to the pair, stopping close enough for both to notice, making them quit their struggle and turn to her.

“Zecora?” both of them said slowly, looking at each other with similar looks of shame. “Sorry/Apologies!” John and Rarity subsequently apologized

Zecora shook her head with a smile. “One of the problems has been attacked at its core, and our main conflict in the group is no more, now we can focus on what can be done, so that this battle may be won.”

“Wait, what?” John asks confused.

“Duuh, John!” Pinkie jumped in. “She means that an issue has been solved! And now she is ready to try to help you!”

Zecora nodded. “There was tension in this herd, and more can still be heard, while more issues will be handled soon, that will not happen under tonight's moon, as for now we all must rest, and this suggestion will not be pressed,” she finished before turning towards her hut and heading inside.

“Did that Zebra just order us to go to sleep?” Guard asked with a lowered brow.

“Well, it is kind of late,” Ditzy noted, yawning heavily. “Maybe we should take her advice.”

“Fine!” Rarity groaned. “I’ll deal with you tomorrow,” she threatened John, walking indignantly back into the hut.

“I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow for sure,” John thought sarcastically, managing a small smile. Maybe things could turn out well.

“Where is Rainbow Dash!? Why isn’t she here!?” came the concerned voice of Scootaloo, who looked around frantically for the eponymous mare.

“She went ahead to scout, she said she wanted to use her wings a bit before grounding herself again for us, Ah’ guess,” Applejack explained as she tied a knot in her bags.

“Aww…” Scootaloo whined audibly.

“You’ll get to see her soon enough, but are y’all ready? We need to move before it gets late,: she explained, eyeing the group.

“Yes!” the four crusaders replied excitedly.

“How about you two?” AJ asked, looking at the other two. “Twilight? You sure you are up for this?”

“AJ, I told you that I’m just fine; I am fully prepared for this journey!” she stated with a content grin.

“Pfft, I doubt it,” Patch intervened from the side.

“Patch!” AJ yelled. “Look, Ah’ know that you are one of them fancy Royal Guard ponies, but there ain’t no need for the attitude!” she reprimanded Patch.

“Psh, I’m just being honest. This pony couldn’t handle herself out there without her magic,” Patch continued, starting the walk. “Now come on, I thought we had to go.”

“Grr…” Twilight growled, receiving a comforting pat from AJ. “She is insufferable!”

“Will you be okay, sugarcube?” AJ asked concerned. “Ah’ can make her go if you want,—Ah' can be real persuasive.”

“I’ll be fine, I can handle her. We should go,” Twilight replied quickly, starting the walk with AJ following, and the group entered the forest, ready for their trip.

Author's Notes:

Ta-dah... Chapter is heeere and after five mooonths er...

Sorry. I kinda lost internet, and got busy, among the fact that this chapter took FOREVER to write, much longer than three of another story I'm working on, but as you can see, this ended up HUGE.

I hope you guys are still interested and that you can enjoy it, I promise I won't take another five months I swear.

Spoiler Notes 32 - 06/10/18
Good ol' broken promises. This chapter was HELL to write. A big part of the dilemma was obviously Zecora, who is canonically a big rhymer of junk. Now, it would have been easy if it was but a few lines, but since she had to talk a lot, I went IN there with my sentences.

Other than that, I was having issues putting this plot together, but it turned out surprisingly fitting for what I was going in the end. I'm okay with what I did here, which is always good. As usual, improvements happened once again, and that alone helped me publish this monster of a chapter, which to date, is the longest single thing I've uploaded at one time.