Twilight Sparkle pushed aside the four teetering towers of books on the Canterlot Castle Royal Library’s largest work-table and then magicked down three more piles. She pulled out three tomes, set them down side-by-side, and started leafing through them all at once.

“Your Highness..?” The blonde-maned Earth Pony hoofmaiden had approached with such silence that Twilight hadn’t even noticed her.

“Yes, what is it?” replied Twilight without looking up.

The mare scuffed at the floor with a front hoof. “Well, er, it’s just that You’ve been in here all night. I wondered if You needed anything, Your Highness. Perhaps some food?”

“No. I’m fine. I have to find a solution - I don’t have time to eat.” Twilight frowned. “And you don’t have to call me that.”

The mare gave a quick curtsy. “Yes, Princess. Sorry, Princess.”

Twilight heaved a sigh as the mare backed out of the room.

The night felt like it had passed in moments - especially after Spike had fallen asleep. The little Dragon was curled up in the corner, half-buried under a pile of unshelved scrolls. Hours of study and dozens of books and scrolls had turned up practically nothing of value.

“What am I missing?” Twilight asked the silent room and her snoozing assistant. She sagged. “This is where Pinkie would usually pipe up with some weird advice that points me in the right direction.”

She turned away from the work-table and mussed her mane with her hooves until it puffed into a frizzy cloud around her head. “Gee, Twilight!” she said to herself in a squeaky impression of her friend’s voice, “You shouldn’t feel bad! There are still a whole BUNCHA sections you haven’t looked through!” Twilight pranced past the still-undisturbed stacks. “Cookbooks and joke-books and picture-books, and- OOH! Storybooks for little foals! I love stories!” Twilight clopped her front hooves together and bounded in place, giggling.

Her giggling soon became choked and forced, however, and her bounds lost altitude until she was just shuddering in place. Twilight dropped to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut. “Pinkie... I’m s-sorry!”

When the Alicorn opened her eyes a crack, her gaze settled on the spine of one of the storybooks on the low-set shelf before her. The book’s title read:

Twilight stared at it for a silent moment. And then she got to her hooves, magicked her mane straight, and levitated the book off the shelf.

“This is ridiculous,” said Twilight. “I’ve looked up ancient myths and legends before, but bedtime stories?” She sat down in front of the work-table, set down the book and then opened it.

Antique illustrations of Ponies standing alongside the odd bipedal figure of the Megan were accompanied by doggerel verse in swirling, cursive mouthwriting:

Twilight ran a hoof over the illustration of the otherworldly creature, noting the long, spidery paws, the missing tail, and the awkwardly-straight hind legs. She shuddered. “Creepy.”

“Huh,” said Twilight. “Rainbow’s light. Just like when... No. That’s silly.” She turned the page.

The illustration showed a purple shadow spreading over the land, covered in sneering, ghostly faces. Ponies fled in terror, but the Megan approached in the distance, followed by silhouetted Pegasi. Twilight read on.

Twilight frowned at the picture of elegant, sharp-featured Pegasi with insect antennae. “Fairies, now? Puh-leeze.” She leaned in closer, studying the strangely familiar design of the creatures’ wings. She raised an eyebrow. “But then, I never did find out where that gossamer-wing spell I used on Rarity first came from...” She caught herself and blushed at her own whimsy. “Everypony’s counting on me. I shouldn’t be wasting time with a bedtime story for foals!”

She turned the page.

Twilight gasped.

Spike snorted and sputtered in confusion as Twilight magicked him onto her back and galloped out of the library.

Megan awoke stiff and sore, with the warmth of the sun on her face and the stench of burnt rubber filling her nostrils.

“Uhgh. What...? Did I sing?”

She opened her eyes to the sight of a town soaked with dark-purple Smooze.

“No... it’s not real!” She tried to stand up, but faltered on all fours when the wooden raft beneath her tilted ominously. She tensed, her stance wide, until the makeshift boat steadied itself.

“Okay, that felt pretty real.”

She carefully shifted into sitting cross-legged, and then hid her face in her hands. She groaned.

“What happened?” she muttered to herself. “I haven’t had a relapse in ten years. Why? What’s wrong with me?”

What if nothing’s wrong? What’s if it’s all real? What if you’re back in Ponyland?

The thought crept up unbidden, tempting Megan with its soothing surrender of sanity. It would be so easy to give in to the madness...

Megan violently shook her head. “Ponies can’t talk,” she told herself with the dull rhythm of endless repetition. “Unicorns don’t exist.”

She reached into her shirt and pulled out a heart-shaped metal locket covered in bright-red lacquer and strung on a thick cord. She opened it, revealing a smooth, mirrored, and utterly empty interior.

“Magic isn’t real.”

As if in answer, a soft sob echoed in the silent distance.

Megan closed the locket and stuffed it back inside her shirt. She looked in the direction of the cry.

A wooden cart was floating in the Smooze, slowly drifting on the stuff’s unnatural currents. And whoever was inside the cart was crying.

Megan stifled the urge to call out. Instead, she sat still and did nothing. From inside the cart, a female voice with a cowboy twang spoke:

“Momma! Poppa! I’m sorry I letcha down!”

Megan frowned; her hallucinations were playing dirty.

“I tried ta do right... I tried ta keep th’family an’ th’farm safe, but...” The voice lost itself to further sobs.

Megan’s raft was slowly drifting closer to the cart. She wiped her eyes - the Smooze’s stink was clearly making them water - and then squeezed her knees with her hands. “Stop being stupid,” she chided herself. “She’s not real.”

“P-Please...” the voice begged, “I don’t know what ta do!”

Megan took a slow, deep breath, and let it out with a resigned sigh. Fine. Just this one. Just to shut her up. Here we go again...

“Aww, come on,” said Megan half-heartedly. “It’ll be okay, you’ll see.” She rolled her eyes.

The Pony in the cart shifted. “It’s n-not! They’re all gone! I just buckin’ NAPPED while all my nearest ‘n’ dearest kin got... got...” The Pony jerked to her hooves and reared up over the edge of the cart to shout: “IT’S NEVER GONNA BE OKAY!”

Megan shared the Pony’s gasp when their eyes met.

“Omigawd... APPLEJACK?” Megan scrambled for the oar and paddled her raft closer with desperate, splashing strokes.

Applejack’s jaw dropped further. For the moment, shock buried her grief. “Wh-What? How do ya...? What in Celestia’s name ARE you?”

“You s-silly Pony!” Megan croaked through the sudden lump in her throat. “It’s me! MEGAN!” The raft bumped into the edge of the drifting cart. Megan reached out and seized Applejack in her arms. “I thought you were dead!” She squeezed the Pony close, looked up and whispered: “This is a thank-you, right? For playing along?”

Applejack squirmed in the strange creature’s grasp. “M-Megan? Like in the stories?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “But, I ain’t...” she squirmed harder. “Fer cryin’ out loud, it’s just a NAME!”

Megan frowned. “No, it’s you! You’ve got the same mane... the same coat... even your little butt symbol!” Megan slid a hand over Applejack’s Cutie Mark.

“Hay now!” Applejack shoved her back and sat down heavily in the cart. “Quit foalin’ around! This ain’t the time or the place!”

Megan nodded. “You’re right. We should leave. Find some high ground.”

Applejack shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t just turn tail and go! My family’s still stuck in this awful stuff! Big Macintosh an’ Granny Smith an’ little Apple Bloom...” She met Megan’s gaze. “Yer The Megan, right? Well, can’t ya help?”

Annnnd yeah. Here it comes. Sorry, brain. One familiar face won’t make me give up on getting better. Megan sighed in annoyance. “SCREW your granny! We gotta get out of here!”

Applejack’s forehead smashed into Megan’s face in a blur of orange and yellow. The human fell back onto the raft, clutching her nose and groaning.

Applejack’s lunge had taken her out of the cart. She stood on the raft and stared down at Megan with fire in her grass-green eyes. “Don’t you EVER talk about my Granny like that!”

Megan hovered her hand over her own face and strained to focus her watering eyes on the blood covering her fingers. “Wh-Whuh...?”

“I don’t care if you ARE The Megan! NO ONE puts down my family! I’d do anything fer them! ANYTHING!”

Megan stared at the panting, scowling Pony. She heard the hiss of her breath. She smelled the stink of the Smooze. She tasted blood. She felt the rough wood beneath her and the sting of pain in her nose and upper lip. And she sensed the honest heartache and fearsome rage radiating from this same-but-different Applejack. This warm, breathing, talking, living thing.

“Sunovabitch...” Megan whispered. “I’m really here!”

Discord sat on his own tail as if riding in a canoe, propelling himself across the surface of the Smooze on the outskirts of Ponyville with an invisible paddle and humming tunelessly.

He eventually came to the island that was once Fluttershy’s hilltop cottage, and drifted to a stop in front of the stricken Pegasus.

He wiggled his lion-paw’s fingers in greeting. “Hello again, Fluttershy! Thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing!”

Fluttershy said nothing.

Discord’s cheery grin rotated on his face, becoming a frown. “Oh, come on, now!” he chided. “This stuff isn’t THAT bad!” He scooped up some Smooze and stretched it between his paws. “You get dirty all the time caring for all those animals, don’t you?”

Fluttershy remained as still as a statue.

Discord tossed the blob of Smooze over his shoulder, heaved a melodramatic sigh and then folded his arms. “Ohhhh, fine. If you’re going to give me the silent treatment, I suppose I could be convinced to clean you off. But you’ll owe me one!”

He gestured as if rolling up the sleeves he didn’t have, and wound up for a theatrical point of his finger. But just then his ear twitched and he paused.

“Ah! Hold that thought. My ears are burning!” His ears burst into flame. “I just need to take care of this, and then I’ll be right back.” He reached up to snuff the flames and then ducked down to whisper to Fluttershy. “Now, don’t you go anywhere!”

Discord snapped his eagle-talons and disappeared in a white flash.

Fluttershy stayed where she was, half-buried in Smooze, her eyes wide and her pupils tiny.

“I know you can hear me, Discord! Come forth!”

Princess Luna paced in the shadowy depths of the crystal-studded mines beneath Canterlot, her face locked in a dismal scowl. She had called for the Demon three times, now, but her expression did not brighten when the flash of Discord’s arrival reflected off the faceted walls.

Discord appeared in midair, reclining on nothing with blithe nonchalance. “Hello, Princess. How are things?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “You knew it would happen.”

Discord batted his eyelashes in feigned innocent confusion. “Hmm? Knew what would happen?”

Luna’s eyes began to glow. She gritted her teeth. The air around her grew dense and dark.

All at once, Discord dropped the pretense. “Oh-h-h-h, you mean your legendary, heroic, Megan... thing. I take it things didn’t go as planned?”

Luna’s dark fury dribbled away, leaving her sagging and small in its wake. She spoke to the ground. “I was so sure...”

“I know, Luna. It’s not as easy to be good as they make it look, is it?” Discord’s voice was soft velvet. Warm honey.

Luna turned away from the Demon. “The way my sister looked at me, I-” She choked up. “She’s upset, but she loves me still. She will forgive me.” Luna ignited her horn and jerked her head; a row of crystals shattered. “And that makes it SO MUCH WORSE!”

Discord drew back. He stayed silent.

Luna began to pace around the crystalline cavern. “We used to depend on each other! We were as one, united against the evils of the world.” She shot Discord a toxic glare. “Against you.”

Discord made a sheepish shrug that silently said: Guilty!

Luna sighed. “I was so grateful she forgave me for becoming the Night Mare. But now all she DOES is forgive me! I’m just somepony she forgives. Somepony she apologizes for. She is not my sister... she is my KEEPER!”

“Well, it’s not ALL she does,” offered Discord. “She also spends a LOT of time tutoring Twilight Sparkle.”

Luna bellowed in rage; her horn blazed.

Discord licked his lion-fingers and then calmly reached out and snuffed Luna’s horn like a candle-flame. “Temper-temper, Princess. Don’t you remember? I’ve got a backup plan.”

Luna jerked her horn free from Discord’s fingertips, but she kept her gaze locked on his.

“Tell me.”

Princess Celestia tilted her head inquisitively. “I was just going to check on the refugees, Twilight. What’s all this about?”

Twilight Sparkle stopped in front of Celestia on the castle’s front stairs. Spike hopped off her back. Twilight magically waved the storybook before Princess Celestia’s eyes and held it open to the page that bore the shocking passage.

“It’s this! You see? This is it! It all makes sense! This is why The Megan didn’t act like she was supposed to! If I can find Applejack, bring her here, and cure her somehow, then The Megan will come back properly! And this will all be over!”

Celestia’s eyes quickly darted over the page. Her golden magic enveloped the book and gently but firmly pushed it down to the floor. “My dear student... when was the last time you slept? Or ate?”

Spike raised a claw. “Not since-”

“I used magic instead!” said Twilight, cutting him off. “But it doesn’t matter! I found it! I found the answer!” Twilight spoke faster and faster, a manic edge spreading through her voice like a spiderweb-crack through glass. “If I can help Applejack, then I can help everypony! And I will help them! I will! I won’t fail them! I won’t abandon them! I won’t leave them out there, alone! Stuck in muck while I flapped my wings and got away!” Her left eyelid twitched. “It’s perfect!”

Celestia’s brow furrowed. “Twilight-” She paused; her head angled upward. Her eyes widened.

“Princess?” Twilight stepped back and then turned around to follow her mentor’s gaze.

Princess Luna and Discord were in flight, spiralling around one of Canterlot Castle’s tallest spires. When they reached the top, Luna alighted on the side of the conical roof while Discord coiled around the tower below her.

“HEAR US, EQUESTRIANS!” Luna boomed with the full, echoing might of the Royal Canterlot Voice, “WE HAVE COME TO YOUR AID!” She gestured to the Draconequus at her hooves. “WE HAVE BOUND THIS ONCE-HEINOUS FOE TO A GOODLY PURPOSE!”

Discord waved at the crowd of Ponies in the courtyard below, all of whom were now staring up at them. “That’s right!” he said, his voice carrying as well as Luna’s without any apparent rise in volume. “Princess Luna has convinced me to do the right thing!” He smiled benignly, and a golden halo appeared between his mismatched horns. “With my help, she’ll clean up this little mud puddle before you know it!”

A few scattered cheers from the crowd quickly blossomed into concerted hurrahs and thunderous stomped applause.

Luna and Discord shared a sidelong glance and a satisfied nod.

Twilight’s ears drooped. “No... they aren’t going to...!”

Princess Celestia frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Twilight spread her wings. “I already TRIED to use magic on the slime. It just feeds on it - magic makes it GROW! I’ve got to stop them!” She took to the air.

“NOW, DISCORD!” Luna roared. “REDEEM THYSELF! BRING AN END TO THIS DISASTER!”

Discord gave a playful salute and then coiled up into the air above Luna. He clapped his hands together, unleashing white sparks, and starting rubbing them together. His hands began to glow.

And then his tail blazed purple-red and his entire serpentine body jerked back and whirled around in the air before lashing out with a bullwhip crack. His concentration lost, the glow in his hands disappeared.

“Stop!” Twilight raced up into view, her horn flaring. “Stop before it’s too late!”

“Twilight Sparkle?” Luna grimaced in confusion. “What is this? Hast thou taken leave of thy senses?”

“Yes, what’s the big idea, hmm?” Discord added, shaking the red aura off his tail like so much rainwater. “I almost chipped a tooth!” He conjured a small mirror and parted his lips, studying the reflection of ghastly dentition from a dozen species.

“That slime EATS magic!” Twilight shouted, loudly enough for the gathered crowd below to hear. “If Discord tries to make it disappear, Equestria will end up BURIED in it!”

The gathered Ponies in the courtyard fell to nervous whispers and murmuring.

“Wh-What?” Luna’s gaze jumped from her fellow Alicorn, to the nearby Draconequus, to the masses on the ground, and back again. She bit her lip. “Neigh... ‘tis a lie! A LIE!” Luna lunged forward and spread her wings, flying up to stare Twilight down. “Our plan is a sound one! Thou art simply... jealous! Hoarding all the glory for thyself!” Luna’s accusing hoof trembled as it pointed at Twilight.

“Discord, please.” Twilight turned to face her erstwhile nemesis. “You know I still don’t really trust you yet, no matter what Fluttershy thinks. But you also know I’d never lie about something like this!”

Discord sat on nothing and rested his chin in his eagle-taloned hand with a roll of his eyes. “It’s true, Luna,” he said. “Fancy new wings or not, Twilight’s nothing if not a goody-goody.” He straightened and then turned away, hazarding a brief glance at the tiny speck of a distant cottage on the horizon. “Looks like it’s back to the drawing board.” In a white flash, he was gone.

Luna’s jaw dropped. “Neigh... neigh! What hast thou done?” Luna looked down at the crowd, now dispersing with their heads hung low. Her older sister’s majestic white form moved down to stand among them and offer comfort, followed by the purple dot of Twilight’s little Dragon. Luna silently shook as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and a dull roar of poorly-contained power surrounded her. When she opened eyes, they glowed with cold white radiance. “We thank thee, Twilight Sparkle,” she said with glacial calm, “for opening Our eyes.” She ignited her horn.

“Luna...” Twilight reached out to the Princess, but Luna’s body burst into a swarm of black bats. Twilight yelped in shock as the creatures scattered and fled.

Twilight looked down at the courtyard, and her eyes met Celestia’s. The fact that her mentor wore the same look of saddened helplessness that she did offered no comfort.

Rainbow Dash had watched Twilight’s confrontation with Luna and Discord from several spires away, perched on a parapet like a living gargoyle. She’d been nursing a stormy mood ever since Luna’s first plan had fallen through, but her grim amusement at the Alicorn’s second humiliation was quickly followed by a twinge of guilt.

She folded her front legs under her chin and sighed. “I guess not even DISCORD knows how to fix this.”

Just then, a shadow fell over her from above, and a voice called out:

“H-Hello? Anypony? Uh... I think there’s a problem!”

Dash looked up.

A pale cloud overloaded with a dozen enchanted Earth Ponies and Unicorns was slowly but surely sinking; it was barely above the capital’s highest towers, now.

“Whoa!” Dash leaped to her hooves and took flight. She pressed her front hooves to the cloud’s underside and shifted its course as quickly as she dared without breaking it.

The cloud draped over the edge of a nearby tower-wall and the tipped, spilling its occupants onto a large terrace. The cloud finally ruptured, leaving Dash exposed and hovering, slightly damp, before the dazed Ponies.

“What happened?” she asked once they’d gathered their wits. She shook her head and tail clean of the water-droplets.

“I don’t know,” said Lyra. The mint-green Unicorn gingerly rubbed a bump on the side of her head. “This spiky-maned Pegasus showed up with some Royal Guards, and moved us off the cloud we’d been on.”

“Us too!” agreed a dark-blue Earth Pony stallion. “She dropped us off here, and took our old cloud!”

Dash frowned. “Did she tell you why?”

Lyra shrugged. “Something about a big storm?”

The stallion nodded. “Yeah - some weather plan.”

Dash mentally ran over what she’d seen of the last meteorological plans; there wasn’t any harsh weather planned for weeks, yet. Just then, a fearsome possibility flickered through her mind.

“Oh, no! No-no-no! No way!” She looked up at the sky. “Ponies are still trapped down there!”

The gathered Ponies huddled close in worry, but then their gazes left Rainbow Dash.

“What is it, Rainbow? What’s wrong?” Twilight Sparkle flapped over to hover before her friend.

Dash turned to face her. “I think Lightning Dust is gonna try to fry that slime using storm-clouds!”

Twilight gasped. “But, all the Ponies-”

Dash nodded. “I know! I gotta stop her!” She soared upward. “I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

“Wait!” Twilight reached out a hoof, but the Pegasus was already flying faster than she could follow.

Dash surged into the sky, straining for every ounce of speed. In moments Canterlot was a tiny white island in the purple sea below.

Applejack glared in bemused outrage at the creature she’d come to blows with.

The Megan had said little more after her shocked statement, opting instead to stare at her hand in wide-eyed silence.

Applejack decided to press the issue.

“Really here? O’course yer really here! Fer Celestia’s sake, snap out of it! I didn’t hitcha THAT hard!”

The Megan rolled over onto all fours, and spoke:

“N-No... I can’t be here. It can’t be real. It CAN’T!” She pounded the raft with her long-fingered paw and let out a strangled groan. She hit the raft again.

Applejack backed up to the edge of the raft. “Hay, now... don’t get angry...” She was suddenly acutely aware of the legendary creature’s sheer size - and of the meagre scale of their wooden island in the Smooze.

But the Megan didn’t attack. Instead, she curled herself into a ball and started softly sobbing.

Applejack shifted uncomfortably. “Uhh...”

“Wh-Where WERE you, Applejack?” the Megan asked the raft’s floor. “Why didn’t any of you come FIND me? I d-didn’t mean to leave! I was just gone, and then I couldn’t find the way back!” She let out a low moan and dragged her spidery digits through her thick blonde mane, scraping her scalp. “I told them about you, but nobody would believe me! Nobody! I went back to the ranch over and over - I begged and pleaded and then I ran away and hitchhiked! But Firefly never came for me! None of you came for me! A-And then... then!” Another surge of sobs briefly drowned the Megan’s voice. “I’m s-sorry!”

Applejack stared in frozen silence as she listened to the creature’s meandering confessions and accusations. It all barely made any sense... but the hurt shone through clear as a bell. The Megan was in pain, and rude though she was, the creature had reached out when Applejack had let her own suffering show.

Granny didn’t raise me ta turn tail on some... some-one havin’ troubles.

“I... I don’t rightly know what yer goin’ through, really, but fer what it’s worth, I’m sorry. It musta been hard, not seein’ yer friends fer all these hundreds o’ years.”

The Megan’s sobs blended with coughs of laughter. She fell on her side facing Applejack. “S-Sometimes it felt like that, Applejack. Sometimes it felt like centuries.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow.

“Never mind,” said the Megan, wiping her eyes. “Whatever I-” she paused. “Whatever happened, it’s fixed now. You were real. You were real, and you brought me back. I won’t let you down again. I can’t.”

Applejack frowned. “I don’t understand. You’re the Megan! You’re a hero! You never let Pony-folk down! Not ever! Shewt, I got named after an Earth Pony who’s been remembered fer all this time, just fer havin’ known ya!”

The Megan stayed silent for a long time, her tiny but bright eyes fixed on Applejack’s. And then she sat up.

“This place is the same horror-show it’s always been. You can’t ever let your guard down. Well, we’re going to fix this. I swear to you, we are.” She held out her paw, the fingers spread wide.

“I... I think I believe ya.” Applejack reached out in kind, and only flinched slightly when the Megan gripped her hoof and shook it. “We should head to Canterlot. If anypony can help us put an end ta this, the Princesses can.”

The Megan turned and took up the paddle once more, halting the raft’s aimless drifting.

As Applejack pointed the way to Canterlot, she gave her new comrade a sidelong glance and asked:

“So, uh... I always wondered - what’s yer actual name, anyway?”

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Discord appeared with a flash a few yards from Fluttershy’s prone, Smooze-covered form.

The Draconequus cautiously dipped an eagle-claw into the purple goo and frowned. A minuscule magical spark left his claw, and the Smooze rippled and bubbled. A tiny new eyeball crested the surface.

Discord drew back his hand and sucked his claw clean. His eyes widened, and he spat out ten times as much Smooze as he’d tasted.

“Uhhgh, yuck!” He grimaced. “It really DOES feed on magic!” He folded his arms. “Hmph! Cheating! I expected better of you, Grogar!”

Discord hovered over and craned his neck to look down at Fluttershy. He opened his mouth to speak, but to his surprise he found himself at a loss for words.

He cleared his throat and then took his tufted tail in his hands, wringing it absently. “All right, here it is,” he finally began, “I know I said I was going to clean all that sludge off of you, but...” He looked away, meeting the unfeeling gaze of one of the Smooze’s countless eyes. “...Well, I thought about it, and now I’m not sure if you really NEED my help. You’re a grown mare, and I don’t want you to get all dependent on me!” He chuckled, a bit too loudly. “So, why don’t you just go ahead and get up on your own, hmm?” He made a shooing gesture with both hands. “Go on - up you get!”

Fluttershy didn’t.

Discord strained and then sagged. “Okay, fine. You got me. I would have figured out that I can’t help you sooner, but I’ve been... having a little fun at the Princesses’ expense. They’re both so stodgy and proper, I just couldn’t resist! I played one off the other, so I could come in and save the day.” He stooped in midair, assuming a contrite pose. “It was very not-nice of me, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson about being good, or... whatever. And as soon as you get up, we can go and make sure they know it was all a misunderstanding.” He smiled expectantly and waggled his eyebrows.

Fluttershy’s expression stayed the same.

Discord scowled. “Hay! I thought... friends... listened to each other! I’ll have you know you aren’t being a very good role model right now!” He snorted huffily. “My rehabilitation is at risk, here! Stop being so selfish!”

Fluttershy did not react.

“Fine, then,” Discord warned, “looks like you leave me no other choice!” He lashed out his lion-arm and snagged a passing robin. “Fluttershy, stand up at once, or I will turn this adorable little bird into a commemorative dinner-plate! And not the classy kind, either! It’ll be absolutely DREADFUL!” His eagle-talons glowed with hostile white magic. The bird panicked.

Fluttershy’s body shifted.

Discord let the robin go to clap in triumph. “A-HA! I knew you were faking, you sly Pegasus!” He winked and then waved a chiding lion-finger. “I’ll make a prankster out of you yet!” He dropped down into the Smooze and lifted Fluttershy onto her hooves. “There we go! Up and at ‘em!” He let go.

Fluttershy collapsed. She remained as still as a fallen doll... until Discord felt another wave in the Smooze like the one that had moved her in the first place.

“Wh-what the...?” Discord looked in the direction of the current.

An ancient Dragon half again the length of a Pony city block was wading forward through the Smooze. Its dark-green scales were splattered all over with the stuff, including a thick layer over its face. It ignored its liquid blindfold, apparently navigating via the array of Smooze-eyes studding its outstretched wings. And standing on the enormous beast’s broad head were the blackened, skeletal remains of a Ram. The Dragon plodded within a few yards of Fluttershy and then angled its head to put the Ram at eye-level with Discord.

“Hello, Discord,” said Grogar. “You look... lighter... than the last time I saw you.”

Discord rubbed his paws together to wipe the Smooze off them. “So do you.”

Grogar gave a mirthless chuckle. He hopped down off the Dragon’s head to stand on the surface of the Smooze like an insect on pond-water. “You never fail to surprise, Demon. I was busily formulating plans for how to compete with you for control of the world, and then I find out you’ve gone soft.”

“S-Soft? You’re crazy!” Discord’s paws balled into fists; Smooze squeezed out between his fingers. He looked down at them in annoyance before going back to rubbing them together - harder, this time.

“Am I? From where I’m standing, it looks like my Smooze has found a little something to stick to.” He clucked his absent tongue. “Careless, Discord. Letting yourself care.”

Discord’s red-pupiled eyes flicked toward Fluttershy for a moment. “I don’t...! I’m not... That’s ridiculous!” He puffed out his chest. “I am the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! I do NOT have FRIENDS!” He jerked upward, clear of the Smooze, but long, ropy tendrils of the stuff stuck fast and followed him up like the rigging of a ship. Smooze-eyes for dozens of yards in every direction turned to focus on him.

Grogar laughed again, this time with some genuine amusement. “The Smooze begs to differ.”

Discord gritted his snaggle-teeth and raised a glowing paw. The closest strands of Smooze seethed and thickened.

“Ah-ah-ah! Careful!” Grogar dipped his skull to give the impression of a grin. “As you may have noticed, I made some... adjustments. You won’t be using any magic on my Smooze unless you want to end up neck-deep in it.”

Discord narrowed his eyes. “I could just freeze it all solid at once before it has a CHANCE to grow, you know. Or make it rain boiling acid until it all dissolves. Or flip everything over onto the clean side like turning a mattress.”

Grogar’s red eye-lights met Discord’s gaze. “Oh? And how would those sweet little Ponies fare if you did, I wonder?”

Discord said nothing.

“Face facts, Discord. Sentiment makes you AND those Ponies weak. I am going to raze this pathetic kingdom to the ground!”

Discord let out a low growl. “You and what army?”

Grogar angled his skull to give Discord a sidelong glance. “You really have turned good, if you’re saying things like that!”

A line of hulking draconic shapes rose into view on the horizon.

Grogar looked up at Discord smugly. The Smooze-tendrils were pulling the Draconequus lower and lower, now. “Your worthless mortal friends are done for. Maybe, if you turn your back on them, the Smooze won’t cripple you.” He trotted over and patted the side of his huge Dragon’s head with a front hoof. “Like Veridgris, here. He’s empty inside. Dragons don’t love - they just want. And now he just wants to destroy. Don’t you?” The blinded Dragon grinned toothily. Grogar turned back to face Discord. “So... what do you say?”

“I.... I say...” Discord stared into Grogar’s eye-sockets for an endless instant. “Gesundheit.”

“What?”

Behind Grogar, Verdigris reared up, snorting. The Dragon coughed and gasped, shaking its head, before finally inhaling until its chest swelled and then unleashing a gigantic and echoing sneeze. The Dragon’s entire skeleton, bleached and pristine, blew out of its nose and mouth, tumbling in all directions. The beast collapsed like a deflated balloon.

In the distance, the closest row of the Dragon army staggered to a halt. The Dragons on the wing fell to earth. One by one, the stricken creatures sneezed. Some popped like bubbles and unleashed a rain of confetti and streamers, some lost their bones like their bigger cousin, and some stifled fiery sneezes so intense that they burned to a crisp from the inside out. By the time the mayhem subsided, Grogar’s Dragon army was smaller by nearly half.

All around Discord, the Smooze surged in boiling, bubbling waves in response to the massive magical display. Countless tendrils reached up to splash and bind him, pulling him down all the quicker.

Grogar snarled in rage. “You FOOL! WHY? Why throw your life away for THEM?”

Discord grinned impishly as the Smooze covered him. “I’m not. Those little Ponies managed to beat ME, Grogar, and I’m a GOD. You? You’re just a dead sheep. When they destroy your big scary plan and leave you just like THAT...” He nodded at the scattered piles of Dragon-bones. “...I’ll still be free.” Discord shuddered and winced, and then fell silent and still.

Grogar threw back his skull and let out a furious roar. The remaining Dragons responded in kind.

One of the larger survivors dipped its head to allow Grogar to climb aboard, and the army marched and flew toward Canterlot.

Moments later, once the Smooze had rippled and settled and grown smooth once more in their wake, a far, far smaller ripple made Discord and Fluttershy’s bodies shift as a shadow fell over the space between them...

Lyra and Bon Bon trotted through the cavernous halls of Canterlot Castle, heading for Canterlot proper. Their hooves made no sound on the plush crimson carpet.

“It’s all just so awful,” said Bon Bon with a shudder. “What are we going to do?”

Lyra nuzzled the Earth Pony’s neck. “We’ll be okay, you’ll see.” She forced a smile.

The pair trotted on in silence for a time but then an echoing roar was following by an immense impact that shook the floor and shattered the glass in a nearby window.

Bon Bon cried out and threw herself on top of the Unicorn at her side as shards rained down around them. The pair staggered back onto their hooves and looked around.

“Wh-What’s happening?” asked Bon Bon.

“I don’t know!” replied Lyra. “C’mon - we gotta move!”

As they cantered through the halls, more and more roars and tremors sounded from afar and close-by, and other Ponies raced through the crisscrossing hallways. The first sign of the true nature of the crisis came when a section of outside wall tore away and a scaly, Smooze-covered head thrust inside.

Lyra and Bon Bon skidded to a stop less than two yards from the monster. They pulled up the carpet as they threw themselves back the way they came. Fire-honed fangs clipped an inch of hair off the tip of Lyra’s tail, but the pair escaped around a corner and began galloping in earnest.

“D-D-Dragons!” panted Bon Bon. “It’s DRAGONS!”

Another roar drowned out Lyra’s reply as they came to the Castle’s front doors.

The Dragon standing in the courtyard was half again the size of the one from which they’d fled. Its dark-red, Smooze-stained scales were already caked with dirt and rubble from the havoc it was wreaking, and refugee-Ponies were fleeing from it in all directions.

The beast turned its blinded head toward Lyra and Bon Bon and spread its wings; countless eyeballs rolled around to focus on them.

The Ponies cringed and held one another, awaiting certain doom...

But then three-storeys-worth of white-stone tower swung down like a falling tree and shattered over the Dragon’s back, and a vision of holy fury descended from the sky. The blazing, corona-wreathed, golden-plate-armoured form of Princess Celestia alighted on a clear patch of ground. She spread her wings wide, and spoke in the booming, stentorian tone of the Royal Canterlot Voice:

“WE WILL ASK THEE ONCE, DRAGON: GO IN PEACE. NOW!”

Her aura intensified; the grass around her smoldered, and the stone bleached.

The Dragon shook like a wet dog, sending masonry scattering. It squinted its wing-eyes against the Princess’s glare and then unleashed a furious roar.

Celestia fixed her stance and lowered her head, leveling the razor-keen golden blade sitting flush with her flaming horn at the tainted beast. She addressed Lyra and Bon Bon in a tone only slightly softer:

“RUN.”

Snapped from their awestruck reverie, the two Ponies fled as quickly as their hooves could carry them.

At least a dozen full-grown Dragons were assaulting the city, and countless wyrmlings rampaged through the streets. Royal Guards and able-bodied civilians clashed with the invaders with hoof and spear and tool. Every turn brought fresh dangers, and the pair galloped until their breath came in wheezing gasps.

Lyra strained to keep up with Bon Bon, but she simply couldn’t match Earth Pony endurance. She started to fall behind.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon slowed to keep her close.

“N-No!” Lyra gasped. “Go! You go! Get to safety!”

Behind Lyra, a black-scaled wyrmling plodded into view from an alleyway, and snarled menacingly.

“I’m not leaving you!” Bon Bon shoved Lyra forward, her tears leaving a damp streak on the Unicorn’s shoulder.

“YOU HAVE TO!” Lyra ignited her horn, and her golden aura surrounded Bon Bon. With a flick of her head, the Earth Pony tumbled down the street. Lyra turned to face the wyrmling.

Bon Bon screamed in denial as the aura faded. She was halfway back onto her hooves when a blur of yellow and orange and blue and brown raced past her.

The wyrmling inhaled, puffing out its chest to ready a fiery blast - and then caught the swing of a smithing-hammer on the side of its jaw. It tumbled to the side, spraying out smoke and sparks like a Catherine wheel.

Lyra and Bon Bon both stared through the rain of ash and embers at the towering, inequine figure that had just saved them, and the orange mare that followed her.

The two impossible figures turned toward the Castle and moved on without a word.

Lyra sat down heavily, the chaos of the moment forgotten. “B-Bonnie...” she whispered. “From the story... the one you always read your niece. That... that was her! That was The Megan!”

Bon Bon trotted up to stand by her side, and gave a hollow nod. “And that means...”

It was Lyra’s turn to nod. “We buy apples from THE Applejack!”

Twilight Sparkle weaved through the air between towers in Canterlot, magically snatching up fleeing Ponies as she went. The effort of carrying so many made her horn burn painfully bright, but she gritted her teeth and flew on.

Spike stood on Twilight’s back between her wings, holding onto Twilight’s mane with one paw and pointing out Dragon-threatened citizens with the other.

“There’re so many of them!” Spike shouted over the din of roars and sundering impacts. “Why are they doing this?”

“It must be the slime!” Twilight shouted back. She swooped low and levitated a mare and her foal without even looking at them. She magicked up a heavy chunk of fallen stone and hurled it at the wyrmling that had been menacing the pair.

Spike winced at his distant relative’s lung-emptying grunt as the Dragon was pinned between the rock and a hard wall.

Twilight frowned. “Sorry, Spike. I’m trying not to hurt them...”

He nodded. “I know...” He squinted against the glare from Twilight’s horn. “We gotta find somewhere safe for all these Ponies! It’s just like in Ponyville - you can’t carry them all!”

Twilight sighed in frustration. “You’re right.” She cast about in search of somewhere - anywhere - to drop off the dozen-odd Ponies hovering in her wake. And then she saw it.

“There!” Twilight swooped down toward a wide crack in the street that opened onto a familiar tunnel. She put down the magicked crowd in a semicircle around the crack. Her horn let off wisps of grey smoke as its glow flickered and went out.

She pointed at the crack. “Those tunnels lead deep into the mountain - they won’t find you there!”

“Get inside!” Spike added. “Hurry!”

The Ponies began to scramble their way down into the tunnel.

Suddenly, a red wyrmling hopped down from a nearby rooftop. His upturned muzzle parted in a bloodthirsty snarl.

Spike stared. “G-Garble?” He waved his claws. “Garble! It’s me! Spike!”

Twilight fixed her stance. “Spike! Watch out!” She gritted her teeth, straining to reignite her aching horn.

The eyes on the Smooze-blinded Dragon’s wings narrowed. He growled low as he crouched in readiness to pounce, but he never got the chance to make good on the threat.

A thick lasso shot forward and cinched around his ribs, pinning his wings and arms to his sides. The rope jerked, and he was pulled off his feet. He flipped in midair and landed on his head. He groaned but didn’t get up.

Spike and Twilight shared a startled “Wh-What...?”

The rope’s Earth Pony owner trotted into view, followed by a creature of legend.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “It can’t be...!”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Twilight! Yer awright!” She galloped up to her.

Twilight stayed dumbstruck for a time, her eyes darting between her friend and the coat-clad, bipedal beast at Applejack’s side.

Applejack frowned. “Twilight...?”

“...Applejack?” The voice that replied wasn’t Twilight’s.

Applejack turned to the crack in the street, where a yellow filly was climbing her way back out.

“A-Apple Bloom!” Applejack fell silent, now as stricken as Twilight.

The little Earth Pony raced over to Applejack and leaped into a hug, nuzzling the mare’s chest.

The act snapped the two older Ponies out of their reverie.

Applejack squeezed her sister back. “Oh, Apple Bloom! Thank Celestia yer okay!” She rubbed her cheek against the top of Apple Bloom’s head. “I thought... I thought you...” She squinted back tears. “How...?”

Apple Bloom fidgeted in Applejack’s grasp. “Uh, well, ya see...”

Twilight smiled. “Apple Bloom and some of her classmates made it to the clubhouse - I rescued them from there.” She cleared her throat. “They were, ah, having an unscheduled field-trip.”

Applejack gasped. “Playin’ hooky? You little varmint!” She frowned. “When all this is over, yer gonna be grounded fer a WEEK!” She hugged her again, and let out a half-sobbed laugh. “Shewt, I’m so h-happy yer safe!” She gave Apple Bloom a gentle shake. “Don’t you ever, EVER skip school again, y’hear?” She squeezed her close once more, laughing again.

Apple Bloom gave Twilight a pleading sidelong look.

“So, Applejack...” Twilight said gently, “who’s your friend?”

The creature stepped forward and dropped to one knee - a storybook drawing come to life. She set down the hammer and held out her hand.

“My name is Megan Williams,” she said, “and I’m here to help.”

Deep beneath the Castle and far beyond the reach of the din above, in Luna’s dimly-lit and darkly-decorated private chambers, the Princess reassembled herself with an echoing shout:

“NOCTURNES! ATTEND US!”

A herd of bat-winged grey Pegasus stallions with slit-pupiled eyes galloped and flapped into the chamber, skidding to a stop before their sovereign and sitting to salute. They responded “At once, Princess!” in perfect unison.

“Praytell...” Luna asked once they had all arrived. “did you retrieve the Mantle from the Old Castle, as We once bade you?”

“Yes, Princess!” said the leader of the dark Pegasi. “It was found, and repaired, in accordance with Your wishes! We’ve kept it in the Royal Vaults.”

Luna nodded. “Good. Fetch it and ready it for Our use.”

The leader stared. “...Your Highness?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Was Our command too complex? Need We repeat Ourselves?”

The leader cringed back. “N-No, Princess. It’s just that...” He swallowed. “There is a commotion on the surface. The city is-”

“Do as We command! Prepare the Mantle! NOW!” Luna folded her wings. As she turned and trotted away from her minions, a silvery tear stood out on her midnight-blue cheek.

“I know what I am.”