After Twilight’s party, the week passed with few points of note. The county fair came and went, and a traveling pony passed on through without a word, but otherwise, it was just another week.

Unless you bothered to take note of six ponies in particular. While, to the wandering eye, they acted just as they usually did, a trained eye could detect a subtle anxiety underlining their actions. They were expecting somepony, and it showed in mysterious ways.

Twilight Sparkle was reading many books, which was to be expected, or course, but, if you looked closely, you might detect a hint of a frown, and a calculating look in her eyes. She was on the lookout for tiny inconsistencies, misplaced details, anything that could hint at some hidden force at play.

Rainbow Dash would practice her various tricks slightly more often then usual. If you were fast enough to keep up with her, you might catch a glimpse of suppressed fear and anger in her eyes as she practiced. She put herself into her tricks, and would often finish exhausted, sometimes with a pulled muscle even.

Pinkie Pie made sure to give everything she made that extra-special touch. Her smile was bigger, her grin wider, and she acted more random then usual. It could easily be put off as her being Pinkie Pie. However, if you happened to be near Sugarcube Corner late at night, and if your ears were good enough, you might catch the faint sound of somepony crying. If you looked close enough at her eyes, you might detect a slight puffiness.

Rarity would be somewhat more meticulous in the dresses she made. Her eye for detail would work extra hard, and she would fret over any subtle error she found. This would result in her dresses having that extra bit of fashion, and trained connoisseurs would be willing to pay that extra few bits for the gowns and dresses and robes.

Applejack would often be seen just watching her apple orchard. Sure, she didn’t really have much to do, with harvest season over, but she was a pony of action. While she did enjoy just looking at the result of her hard work, she was doing so more then usual. Her brother, Big Mac, noticed, but he knew not to say anything. If she wanted to talk about something, she’d come to him first.

Fluttershy would worry more often, and she took extra care over her animals. They got better quicker, and she would smile just a bit longer then usual before moving on to the next patient. Only Angel, her best animal friend, noticed the subtle change in her usual behavior, and he would act a bit more protective, and listen to her more then usual. He knew that she was stressed, and he didn’t want to cause anymore problems for her then he had to. Fluttershy took note of his good behavior, and would spend more time with him, though she didn’t talk about what she had learned.

On the final day of the week, Twilight had just finished yet another book on Equestria history, and had not found anything that would hint at a conspiracy. With each book read, her fear lessened slightly, but it was not enough to get her to stop. She was just about to get another book when Ditzy Doo, the mailmare, knocked on her door. Frowning a bit because of the distraction, yet glad to see the ever-cheerful, cross-eyed pegasus, she went and opened the door.

“Special delivery for Twilight Sparkle!” Ditzy said, before sticking her head in her bags. She brought out the usual mail, and, strangely, a package from Canterlot. Twilight levitated them from her, then gave Ditzy a tip.

“Thanks for the delivery,” Twilight said.

“Muffins!” Ditzy responded, giving her trade-mark cross-eyed smile before going on her way.

Twilight gave a smile before closing the door to the library. She knew that many ponies would tease Ditzy, often calling her “Derpy Hooves," due to her eyes and the way she would act. Sure, she would often get lost and crash into things, but she was easily one of the kindest, bravest ponies she had ever met, and sometimes, Ditzy would show an unusual, remarkable intelligence. Twilight made a point of always calling her by her proper name, and never teasing her, and it showed in the mailmare eyes whenever they met.

Turning her attention to the mail, she quickly sorted through the usual junk mail and magazine subscriptions (sign ONE subscription to Science and Magic Monthly, and suddenly, every magazine in Equestria wants you to sign theirs), then returned her eyes to the package.

It was covered in some strange script, from which she detected the familiar aura of magic. It must be enchanted, possibly to blow up in case somepony other then her tried to open it. Instead of a return address, it had a simple, stylized “B”.

Knowing who it was from, she carefully open the package. As soon as she touched it, the script flashed, and she feared that she had set off the trap, but then it disappeared. Defiantly enchanted. Barthandelus took no chances, it seemed.

Once she had done away with the packaging, she was left with a book, titled “The First War”. She had never heard of it before. When she flipped the cover, she found a short message written on the title page.

I’ll be here tomorrow, it said. Gather the Elements. Look for the black pegasus.

B.

Tomorrow. Good. Twilight had gathered a lot of questions over the week, and she wanted them answered. She knew that her friends would want to see Barthandelus for themselves, and they would have questions of their own.

Twilight didn’t waste any time. She quickly found her friends, and told them about the message in the book. They would all come to the library, and see Barthandelus with their own eyes. Rainbow Dash looked eager, and even Fluttershy seem excited about it. Twilight just hoped that nothing would happen to make him angry. The dream she had still haunted her.

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The next day found Twilight and her friends gathered in the library. While the others were content to just wait and talk, Rainbow Dash was pacing around restlessly. It had only been ten minutes, but Rainbow had never been a patient one, and, coupled with anxiety and her thoughts about who she was about to meet, it made every second spent waiting agonizingly long.

When they heard the knock on the door, Twilight went and answered it. As expected, it was a black pegasus, with blue eyes and haggard wings, and an hourglass for a cutie mark.

More then a few of the inhabitants of Ponyville were staring at the odd pegasus at the library. Black was an extremely rare color for ponies, and they were often thought to be harbingers of evil and chaos. The fact that Nightmare Moon had had a black coat certainly didn't help.

Twilight ushered the pegasus in before anything bad could happen. The citizens of Ponyville were very superstitious folks, and there was no telling what they would do to him. Although, knowing who he is, Twilight doubted that they could actually hurt him. She was more worried about what would he would do to them.

As soon as the door was closed, a flash came from the pegasus, and Barthandelus stood where the pegasus once stood. Fluttershy let out a yelp when she saw the tall figure before the six of them, and ducked behind the nearest couch.

"Glad to see you're all here," Barthandelus said. "My apologies for the subterfuge, but I would rather avoid any unwanted trouble from the local populace."

"Cut to the chase," Rainbow abrubtly said, suddenly right in his face. "Why did you want to see us about, anyways?"

A hint of amusment showed in his eyes. "Quick to the point, eh, Rainbow? I must say, such bluntness is refreshing. Usually, ponies that know me do their best to stay on my good side. Especially after a show of my powers."

All the others caught the hint, but Rainbow, hard-headed as she could be, only seem to grow more agitated. "Get to the point! Why did you want to see us?"

"Merely checking up on the Elements," Barthandelus said. "I must say, when we made them, no one expected for them to turn out the way they did. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that they have minds of their own, even."

"I also didn't expect for them to be able to bond to ponies," he contuined, not giving Rainbow a chance to speak. "But I have to admit, it turned out for the better, in the end. They help you more then you might think, you know. What you all did with them to Nightmare Moon and Discord are quite comendible, but there is so much more to them then that."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"I'd be plenty happy to tell you more," Barthandelus told Rainbow Dash, now getting annoyed, "But, if I'm to get an accurate estimation of their effects on each of you as individuals, I'll need to meet you all alone."

"Not a chance!" Rainbow Dash said. "How do I know that you're not just trying to get us alone to take the Elements for yourself?"

"My dear Rainbow, if that was what I came here for, I would have gotten it over with already."

The glow of his horn was barely visible, a faint, silver glimmer. Rainbow Dash was completly paralyzed, unable to even blink, her eyes frozen in a challanging glare. She dropped down on the floor, impacting with a soft thud. Fluttershy nearly fainted, and all the others could only gawk at the sight. A paralysis spell like that would take a lot out of the average unicron, yet Barthandelus had done it with barely any effort.

"I hate having to use my power like that," Barthandelus said, a bitter sorrow in his voice. "Displays like that are the mark of tyrants, and I am NOT a tyrant. Now, Applejack, would you be kind enough to come with me? Twilight, the spell should be simple enough for you to dismantle on your own." Next Chapter: Chapter 9, Part 2: Honesty Estimated time remaining: 7 Minutes