Author's Notes:

Putting this at the top as a disclaimer that this chapter is gigantic in comparison to the rest. It is easily one of the largest in the story. These will be rare, if they ever happen again. Just giving you readers a heads up. I'll be uploading another as soon as this one is done to make up for the lack of weekend updates.

Cheers!

- G. R.

Mount Ignis stood tall against the wastelands that stretched in every conceivable direction around it. Life stirred within those rocky walls, each one scattered and insignificant, thought of only as food for the Plains of Woe that surrounded the mountain. Small sources of flora at the base gave the barren environment a splash of color, sticking out above the dull browns and grays of the dried up desert.

Spare rocks, no larger than a hoof, tumbled down the side of the mountain, and gusts of heated air exhaled from the mouth of the cave carved into Ignis. A smoky fragrance wafted through the exit to the labyrinth inside, followed quickly by a quick rumble that carried itself several feet under the ground at the base.

A vicious struggle raged beneath the surface. Arcane waste from the numerous and powerful spells evaporated through the rock that buried the underground caverns, lazily rising through the cracks and into the open sky above the plains. The hungry environment quickly accepted the magical run-off of the battle, consuming it to be put to further use for the next soul trapped on the Plains of Woe.

Another boom rattled the trees closest to Ignis, and then all fell silent. The seepage coming through the ground eventually faded as the sources of magic stopped their consistent spell fluxes.

A black mare was seated in the center of the familiar cavern, her eyes glazed and her head down. The sound of her petrified breathing cooed throughout the multitude of burnt and wounded rock that had been carved by her struggle against the shadow. Her expression was pained, ignoring the entity that still remained nearby.

“You remember now?”

The voice from the looming cloud grabbed her attention. Jessica Scrawl looked back up to the specter. Tears stained her coat. She silently nodded, the horrid ringing still banging against her mind.

“The memory will only grow stronger, until it’s fully realized. You should consider yourself lucky that I held onto it for so long. Equestria isn’t prepared for somepony like you; god help us if you grew up with something so terrifying at the back of your mind.”

“I don’t know whether I should thank you or spite you,” Jessica whispered under her breath. The shadow hung to her words. If it had a mouth, the unicorn wasn’t sure whether it’d be smiling at her pain, or wrinkling its brow in pity.

The shadow floated back a distance, sizing up the weak unicorn. Its form swung upward, ready to finish her with one final spell. The mist froze, looking back at the singed form of the black mare. Jessica lowered her head, her form slouched and waiting for the blow to come.

The mysterious form of the specter relaxed. Small traces of magic that it had gathered for its attack evaporated into nothingness. “I’m done here.”

Jessica’s ears perked up. Her eyes rose up to look the creature head on.

“Whatever you do from here on out is none of my business. I don’t particularly care. You’re Equestria’s problem.”

The last words hung in the air as the smoky substance finally started to dissipate. Jessica mouthed the shadow’s last word as the silence returned to her. Her tears grew cold, drying up against her coat as the memory faded back into the depths of her mind.

She flinched, hearing the vague sounds of a familiar scream, one she’d heard many years before her time at the Agency. Her body fidgeted as she lifted herself to her hooves, lifting one to wipe her face clean. Her bruises and cuts from the battle stained her voluptuous physique; a fact the mare grimaced at.

“A problem,” she cleared her throat. “That’s what Dodge Junction called me back then.” She chuckled, “I bet if they remembered me, I’d still be on the run.”

Jessica took in a deep breath, enjoying the control that was returning to her from her strenuous encounter. “All of these urges and these gut instincts over the last few years. It all makes so much sense now,” she grinned. Her eyes narrowed, a spare hoof grinding against the hard ground. “Waking up in the desert, traveling all alone as a filly,” her memories flooded her vision. An older, yellow mare looked down at her with a huge grin on her face, as if the heavens had finally gifted her.

“I still remember the day mom found me in her pumpkin patch,” she recalled. “Jackie was always good to me.”

The scream pierced through her mind again.

“It all explains so, so much,” Jessica winced. “Dodge turned to shit after I left.

“I can’t say sorry, because there’s no way I can atone for what I did to you,” she spoke louder, hoping that the entity could still hear her. “You told me I was Equestria’s problem, and I guess that that’s also true,” Jessica looked down, sighing in defeat. “And maybe I was okay with that before, but now…”

Jessica made her way back to the entrance of the cavern. “I know what I have to do, but doesn’t that make me the villain?”

A sudden warmth flowed through her body, a feeling she recognized far too well. She confidently took another strong step, her smile returning. Her horn spun a trickle of magic around her body, her eyes locked onto the zipping light. The particles of the spell touched her wounds, instantly making them vanish. The stains of blue on her body evaporated, and in a flash, the damage she accrued from the battle was completely gone.

“None of this changes what I gotta do,” she spoke with a strong sense of conviction. Her smile only grew at the events she predicted to come from her decision. “I think these next few weeks are going to get quite interesting.”

THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO

A flame erupted from the tip of a unicorn’s horn, causing a spectacle to the other ponies surrounding her. The older filly cracked a grin, keeping her focus on the pillar of flame that was now spiraling in the air. The fire twisted and turned, morphing into a cohesive shape in the sky. It created a body, shaping it into a funnel with a frightful face and sharp fangs protruding from the maw. The serpent burned as it coiled throughout the air, rocketing higher and higher into the sky.

The crowd watched in awe as the red coated mare aimed her horn at her creation. Another spark of magic shot out like a bullet, striking the spell in mid-air. It combusted into a brilliant explosion that lit up the sky in a hue of deep reds and yellows.

“Amazing,” she heard one of the voices in the crowd. She bowed as modestly as she could, her grin stretching across her face.

“I prefer awesome, but that’s fine too,” Gemini finally cracked. “Took me a long time to get that one down when I was a foal.”

The crowd surrounding her suddenly snapped at attention, hearing the trumpets nearby signaling the coming of the two royal sisters. Gemini’s ears perked up at the tune, and eagerly took her seat next to everypony else in anticipation.

Gemini brushed her short, yellow mane aside. It barely reached the base of her neck, and with her advanced magic, she had given it a border of orange. Her tail was of equal length and appearance in relation to her mane, and her figure spoke of an ambitious and well kept physical regimen. Though it didn’t seem to bother her, she was one of the minorities in the crowd that day; her flank was nothing more than a bare red coat.

Ponies started moving towards the towering castle that stood before them in the field they waited in. A solitary dirt road trailed from the entrance to the structure back towards the small town of Canterlot just about a half hour trot south. The grassy plains and fresh air that surrounded the castle gave it a fantastic ambiance Gemini recognized from fairy tales she was told as a foal. She chuckled, comparing the castle in front of her to the pictures in her books was nothing short of an insult to the craft that housed the two new princesses of Equestria.

Coming from a distinguished background herself, Gemini was well aware of what the regal sisters had to go through to reach their new-found princess-hood. It was a test most families of high stature put their fillies and colts through when they came of age, eagerly hoping that their kin were the next in what would be a line of noble and powerful alicorn rulers.

“Ponies are taken to a special room,” Gemini said to herself, her heart already pumping as she passed through the threshold of the castle’s entrance. Ponies around her continued to chatter away amongst one another, each one excited to finally meet their new and improved Equestrian leaders. “And with their magic, they empower a special gate that leads to a place called the ‘Celestial Plain.’ They’re tested for their strength of heart and will, and if they are accepted…”

Gemini came to an abrupt halt as the crowd around her was funneled into a small door ahead. She shuddered under the weight of the magic permeating from the room. Her horn ached to channel a spell right there with all of the power flowing from the room.

“If they’re accepted, they become alicorns,” she straightened her stature as she entered the room.

The castle itself was still under heavy construction, but the room she was being escorted to was near fully complete. The walls were colored with a powerful, thick blue material, very different from the open ended, grand scale of the rest of the rooms and hallways. Vertically, the room wasn’t as tall as Gemini had expected either, realizing that with a well-placed jump, she could probably touch the ceiling with a spare hoof.

The room was still open ended and vacant of most pleasantries that Gemini expected from the rest of the castle, though with Canterlot itself barely beginning major construction, she wasn’t too disappointed. The visuals were the least of her worries as is. At the end of the room, there was a large, circular platform shaped like a opened seashell. The lid held a mirror that hung against the wall at the end of the room, with small barriers of magic preventing anypony from getting too close to it.

“That must be the gate to the Celestial Plain,” Gemini felt her body ignite with excitement. She struggled to stay put until the Princesses arrived. Her first real meeting with the first successfully ascended ponies was putting her on edge.

She was seated quickly within the crowd that slowly filled up the room. Gemini took a deep breath at the sound of the trumpets once again. A crowd of precise hoofsteps forced her to turn her head back to the entrance, along with every mare and colt occupying the small room.

The red mare’s eyes twinkled when she finally caught sight of them. Behind all of the royal guards, each one donning spectacular golden armor, she spotted the two sisters. One was of a pure, white coat that sparkled brightly in the light coming from the entrance of the room, while the other’s coat was painted with dark hues of blues, similar to that of a somber night sky. On their flanks were the symbols of both the sun and the moon, fresh and ready to be put to use for the entirety of the country.

Princess Celestia and Luna made their way to the front of the room, greeting everypony along their path.

The crowds were already thinning out. The induction ceremony went nearly perfect, and the ponies held in their seats were finally allowed to fan out and inspect both the developing castle and talk to the Princesses themselves if they chose. Many of the older ponies shied away from the direct encounter with the two new rulers of Equestria, but Gemini kept her eyes locked on them from across the room with determination to introduce herself.

Her horn sparked as Gemini focused a spell. She watched the guards around the room, placing her horn near a wall when she felt that she was unnoticed by any of the unicorns wandering about the chamber. The point of contact with the wall glinted for a moment before fading out. Confident in her work, the eager young mare gave herself a nod before heading back to the front of the room, where the Princesses were wrapping up the final stragglers that desired a word with them.

Princess Celestia’s form perked up at the sight of the fiery unicorn. Luna headed for another pony to continue her business while Gemini approached, no sign of hesitation, restraint, or weakness in her trot.

“You seem excited to introduce yourself,” the princess of the sun smiled, “May we have your name?”

“You sure as hell can!” Gemini stamped her feet in front of the Princess. She paid no mind to the guards that braced themselves around the room, nor the other occupants who stopped to gasp at her rude interruption. “The name’s Gemini. Just Gemini.”

Celestia entertained her new guests’ deviant introduction. “We’re happy that you came to witness our induction ceremony today. We take it you really enjoyed the festivities?”

“Definitely,” Gemini shook her head, brushing the mane out of her face that came crashing down over the top of her eyes. “So how was it?”

Celestia tilted her head, “How was what exactly?”

“The ascension, obviously,” Gemini lowered her voice. “What was it like?”

The taller pony replied, “It was enlightening. It’s an experience we won’t be forgetting for some time. That aside, we’re surprised that one such as yourself is so blunt about something so… divine.”

“I value honesty and straightforwardness, Princess,” Gemini puffed out her chest, “Any other nonsense just gets in the way of that. I’d rather just cut to the chase.”

Celestia amused Gemini with another laugh. “Come to think of it, we’re also aware that not very many ponies even know what happens during the ceremony that led to our ascension. How do you know of such things, Miss Gemini?”

“My parents aren’t just some wealthy unicorns,” Gemini started. “We don’t have direct ties to the royal family, but word gets around Princess, and we’re definitely one of the first stops that those rumors take before we hoof it off to anypony else that’s interested.”

“So your parents informed you of the workings behind this induction?”

“Yep,” Gemini gave Celestia a grin. “I also know that there hasn’t been an ascension for some time. Does that explain your change, or is that normal?”

“Change? You mean this new body?”

Celestia’s voice lost a tinge of it’s regal tone. Gemini smirked as she warmed up to the princess. “I’m aware that if an induction isn’t successful for longer than intended, that the excess builds up until a suitable character is eventually chosen. Granted,” Gemini let herself walk about Celestia, admiring her new physique, “that there were two successful ascensions today, that’s a ton of potent magic the two of you absorbed. How was that?”

Celestia no longer questioned the whereabouts of Gemini’s knowledge. “It was enlightening, much like a sunrise against a dark sky. We were almost overwhelmed by the power that we could now invoke on a whim.”

Gemini felt the excitement flow through her veins.

Noticing the sparkle in the eccentric mare’s eye, Celestia continued, “You seem awfully happy, Gemini. May we inquire as to why?”

She looked up at the princess and gulped. “Can I ask one more question?”

Celestia nodded.

“I heard from some of the royals that the induction process takes place once per generation. I’m ready and awaiting for my chance.”

The controller of the sun raised an eyebrow at the unicorn, not expecting something so bold. “You wish to become a princess?”

“Nah, I don’t think I can handle that kind of role,” Gemini waved her hoof.

Celestia was perplexed. “Then why exactly do you wish to take the test so much?”

“I want more power.”

The princess narrowed her eyes.

“You don’t understand,” Gemini added. “Power so that I can help other ponies. I’m an everymare. I love to help out whenever I can; I don’t care how difficult or easy the job is. You can see that for yourself with your new powers, can’t you?”

Celestia’s stature straightened up. She kept eye contact with Gemini as her horn flared to life. The fiery mare marveled at the tremendous magic that flooded through the air around the solar princess, not even budging when several strands of her magic grazed up against her body, spiraling around her with grace. Princess Luna and the straggling ponies stopped what they were doing to witness the powerful spell Celestia channeled.

The light show abruptly ended, an expression of surprise on the princess’ face gave Gemini all the ammunition she needed to flaunt her expertise. “I know, I know, I’m amazing.”

“Fascinating. You have a bounty of raw power just waiting to be unleashed,” Celestia commented. “But we need to remind you that it takes much more than just talent and skill to be able to ascend. It takes conviction and a strong will to endure the tests.”

“Oh, trust me: I’m so ready for that when the day comes.”

Celestia turned back to the shell-shaped gateway. “Well, we’ll be sure to keep in touch with you for when the moment comes to test the next generation of ponies.”

Gemini, satisfied with her encounter, bowed to the princess. “It’s been fun your highness, but I gotta go. Spells to learn and things to do.”

“This was a unique experience, Gemini,” Celestia lowered her head back, “You are a very special pony. We’d love to have an audience with you again sometime soon.”

Nightfall in the new land of Canterlot came peacefully, stretching across the land with a glittering carpet of dark blues and violets. The castle where the two new sisters were crowned stood proudly against the empty, dark road that stretched across the front. Small blips of light slowly dragged in a rhythm around the castle grounds, each coming from the tip of a horn off of a strong, armored pony. Vigilant, they prowled the grounds for intruders and other various threats that came from the wilderness beyond the baby city.

The now silent and empty room that housed the mirror remained still. The mirror continued to rest atop the shell-shaped stand, prepared to wait another century, or longer, for another heir to be realized after the regal sisters.

A light came through from the hallway. A guard, indistinguishable from the rest of his troop, poked his head into the room, scoping it out with the light attached to his horn. Lifeless, just like it was an hour ago. Content with his scheduled inspection, the stallion continued down the hall, checking in on all of the rooms decorating the hallway.

Minutes passed after the guard left the room. A spark dimly flashed against the wall of the room furthest from the entrance. It glimmered through the darkness, casting a strengthening light several feet around the wall. Quietly, the magic gathering around the source of the light popped, momentarily blinding the room with a brilliant light. As the darkness returned, a young, enthusiastic pony stood against it, her fiery mane swept against her head and her horn trembling with the waning power of her spell.

“I’d be safer to assume that the flash probably got a guard’s attention,” Gemini whispered to herself. “Once I’m through, I should be fine.”

She strolled hastily towards the mirror, staring back at her own reflection in the night. She gave herself an idle moment to assure herself that what she was doing was for the good of the ponies she aimed to please. An entire generation was far too long to wait; she needed the resources she desired now. The sapling country of Equestria needed her immediately.

Gemini’s horn activated again, a light buzzing sounded off and into the distance. She pointed her horn towards her own reflection, watching as a trace of her magic trickled from the tip and into the flat surface of the mirror. As it touched the glass, the young mare couldn’t help but marvel at the spell as it penetrated the gateway. She nearly lost focus, watching her spell pool behind the mirror, much like watching syrup slowly sink into a cup of water. The spell appeared bubbly and aloof on the other end of the glass, floating carelessly in the air.

The mirror finally responded with a twinkle of its own magic. The glass barrier melted against another brilliant flash of light. Gemini’s horn slowed to a halt, the fiery pony pausing to gaze in awe at the spectacle in front of her. She reached a hoof forward, letting her leg be swallowed momentarily by the essence beyond the glass. The light crept up her foreleg like a breeze before she pulled it back to her world.

Footsteps. They were coming fast. Gemini gasped, turning around to see several cones of light rushing towards the room she had so hastily broken into. She didn’t want to take any more chances. The gateway was open, and once on the other side, she’d be safe until her job was done.

She heard a gruff voice, its demands completely washed out by the barrier she hurled herself through. Her vision grew hazy, her body twisting and turning as if she was being reconstructed from head to toe. Her sense of direction and balance was completely overruled by this dimension between worlds. She gasped when she felt her body bounce along a soft, gentle surface, quickly regaining her composure upon landing.

Her eyes eased themselves into the new landscape that surrounded the unicorn. The ground beneath her had no feeling against her hooves. They sunk into a white mist that whisked about in the dimension without direction, some moving one direction, clusters shifting to the other. Each step, each motion against the mist resulted in small bunches of mist to kick up into the atmosphere as dazzling, white balls of ethereal fluff. They refused to fall back into the river of mist that stretched on for miles in all directions, opting to float about where they pleased.

The mist lost its liquid like texture as Gemini looked up. Above and around her in what she assumed was the sky to this world, more white mist could be seen, forming into long strands of cloud-like structures that rained down more of the tiny balls of mist.

The red pony felt empowered here. Her horn heated up with a strange essence. She reached into the ground, lowering her head and allowing her horn to graze against the mist. She gasped when she felt a sudden surge of disposition spill from her horn and into the atmosphere. It shot like a rocket into the heavens before bursting, disrupting the casual flow of the misty clouds up high.

“I-Incredible,” she gasped, “So much power. Is this mist raw disposition?”

Unnoticed by the pony in the center, a large gathering of mist in the sky, and on the ground, started to slowly rotate about, with her in the dead center of the mist. Every step she took resulted in a slow shift of the flow of the essence starting to swirl around her. The mist piled together, and it wasn’t until she could no longer see her hooves against the surface of the dimension that she realized that it had been rotating about her form.

Remembering her reason for coming so far, Gemini rooted herself against the mist and cleared her throat. “Hello there?” She paused, unsure of how to go about communicating with the essence of magic itself.

The dimension responded with a light twinkle in the sky. Balls of the magical mist touched her coat all over her body, leaving small bright lights glittering about her.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have just come from here,” Gemini started, still not entirely sure if the plain understood her or not. “They both succeeded in their ascension to alicorn leaders. Stories tell of this place, this ‘Celestial Plain,’ where you are tried for your resolve and rewarded with strength beyond your capabilities if you pass the tests.”

The mist crawled up her legs from the floor. It didn’t feel threatening. In fact, Gemini couldn’t feel anything from these streams. They spiraled up her hooves, wrapping around each other like a net.

“I’ve come to test myself. I’ve come to ascend to the same level that the sisters have done earlier today,” Gemini puffed her chest out. “Equestria is going to need leaders. Not just princesses who move the sun and the moon, and certainly not just princesses who roost here in Canterlot without expanding their influence throughout the growing nation.

“This new world will need ponies who are willing to move around, and contribute all of their strength and will to every corner of Equestria. To create new places to live, and to keep its civilians safe from the harsh, outside world. I come here today,” Gemini narrowed her gaze to the sky above, “because I feel that I am a pony who can fulfill Equestria’s needs in that way.”

The mist reached up to her back, and then tied itself about her neck and the base of her head.

“I’m willing to conquer any challenge that lies ahead of me to prove my worth!” Gemini’s horn came to life.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain, one that came from every possible surface of her body. She immediately crumbled to her knees, her eyes wide in disbelief and her mouth hanging open in pure shock. She choked on her own screams as the twisted feeling of her flesh being torn from her body ripped through her mind like a vicious cyclone. The mist that had coiled around her body constricted it tightly, enveloping every inch of her red coat and orange-yellow hair with a pulsating white.

The pain dulled, but with every heartbeat, Gemini felt the jolt return, preventing her from lifting herself any more than an inch before falling back to the surface of the dimension. She kicked up several magical spores as she collapsed to her side, gasping for breath in the silent world around her. She focused on her thoughts, struggling long and hard to block out the wrenching, tearing feeling of her body being ripped apart.

‘It feels like it’s ripping my very essence out of my body,’ she thought as the oppressive force continued its work. Her legs twitched as she slowly regained control of her body. ‘I… I need to survive this.’

She slammed a hoof down in frustration, sending another clutter of flowing mist sky high. She felt her very spirit crying out as the coils tightened around her body. Her horn fizzled out; every ounce of magic channeled within it vanished.

“I-It’s… not draining it,” she lifted herself to her knees, “but what’s it doing?”

She felt a presence for the first time in this new place. It didn’t come from an external force around her. She couldn’t hear it, and it approached without a single sound. She felt another being, swirling around inside of her, mingling with the magical energies that coursed through her body. Letting her weight fall on her knees, her eyes widened and her form froze in fear when she finally understood what was happening.

“These coils are touching my disposition…”

The invader wrapped itself tightly around her magical aura, gripping it in its invisible clutches. Gemini felt no more pain, but failed to budge from the dread in her heart. She knew that a single slip up, an erroneous decision of any kind, could easily disrupt the flow of her disposition in her body.

One mistake now, and she would die on the spot.

Time stretched endlessly as the source explored her, testing every major point of her body through her magic. It reached up to her horn, down through her hooves, and even throughout her mane.

Gemini couldn’t help but feel a crashing wave of relief when she finally felt the hollow weight gripping her heart release her from death’s grasp. The coils of mist surrounding her weakened their grip, and her energy slowly came back as she picked herself up to her hooves.

Sweat was dropping off her chin, and her legs trembled from the rattling pain from her experience.

For the first time, she heard a noise coming from something other than herself. It came as a gust of wind coming from the swirling mist around her. It lifted dozens of spores into the air around Gemini, and as it brushed against her coat, she could hear what sounded like words spilling over her thoughts, one by one.

Confidence
Kindness
Passion
Power
Knowledge
Fire

The spores surrounding Gemini froze in place. They glittered in the sky, and as the words tumbled through her one by one, she felt waves of relief that soothed her rattled nerves. Another breeze came wafting through:

It's Time

The spores on this breeze clung onto the coils surrounding Gemini’s body. The tendrils surrounding her suddenly started to glow, given new life by the clots attaching themselves through the mist. The young pony felt another feeling starting to pour rapidly into her body.

There was no pain in this new phase of her test. Relief was all that came crashing through her veins. Her sore, aching body immediately recovered from her endeavor, the energy rushing into her form, forcing her up on her hind legs. She crashed her hooves into the ground with a huge grin on her face, a sense of endless bliss overwhelming her fragile emotional state. The excitement spelled on her muzzle set off a chain reaction of motions from the mist that was starting to pump itself inside of her.

Her coat started to light up against the dark skies of the Celestial Plain. Heat started to build up from her chest, throbbing hotter with each heartbeat. Her breathing hardened with each drum, while her mane and tail started to rapidly flicker about in the wind. The temperature surrounding her forced more mist into the air around her, while the vortex of swirling mist below closed in, focusing only on her form.

Raw magic started to fuse into her own disposition, her reward for the effort she went through to test herself in such a precarious world. Gemini’s stance weakened as the vortex erupted with strength below her, lifting her into the air and wrapping her in the mist that covered the ground. The air surrounding her body started to bend around her, creating a rippling effect that came from the great waves of heat erupting from her body. Steam rose from her pores, leaking through and into the atmosphere from her coat and horn.

Her body grew hotter with each passing second. Gemini could’ve sworn that any hotter, and she’d catch fire.

A roar of flames exploded above, and with a quick glance skyward, Gemini found herself staring at her new mane. It stretched up into space, easily several times longer than her old, short hair style. It reminded her of Celestia’s mane. It violently tore through the air like a flame, hot to the touch and burning away at some of the spores until they were nothing but tiny embers in the wind.

Her tail caught ablaze next, the flames crawled further than its original length, stretching her tail out to the same magnitude of her mane. They continued to burn, the heat of her chest almost ready to destroy her body until it melted into a molten puddle on the surface.

She screamed once more, shutting her eyes as the feeling of the flames rushed throughout her entire body, igniting all at once. Fire completely covered her body, engulfing her in a fiery twister of wind that ripped her old features apart. Her coat darkened against the flame, swallowing in the darkness of the sky to transform her fur into a darker red. Her legs expanded beyond her hooves through the flames. They quickly subsided to reveal set of four new legs, each one lithe and nearly double their original size. The rest of her body followed immediately behind, letting the flames of her transformation change her form into something that can appropriate the magical transplant she so generously accepted.

Two burning extensions tore outward against her coat, each one made completely of flames. The fire molded itself as it burned, flapping against the sky, creating a pair of hellish wings that rained tiny embers all around her.

Toxins. Remove.

The words barely registered to Gemini’s elated mind. She opened her eyes to see a trail of darkness being ripped from her body, kicked out of its host by the mist that continued to pour into her body. She let the world do its work on her, the transformation nearly complete.

A pull. A very hasted pull came from behind her. Her body was sucked away. Away from the wonderful feeling. Away from the generous world that blessed her with power beyond her imagination.

Incomplete…

The chirping of the crickets vanished. Gemini felt gravity return to her. She slowly started to catch her breath after all that she had experienced. She still felt a massive heat burning off of her body. Hesitating, Gemini opened her eyes.

She was outside of the castle, out in an open field. Several members of the Royal Guard where in front of her, with the mirror to the Celestial Plain planted in the center of their party. Each of the guards had a face of disbelief, staring at the new form of the young unicorn that had broken into the compound.

Princess Celestia stood behind the swarm, with Luna posted by her side.

The guards gasped and backed off as Gemini picked herself back up to her full height. She was able to stare directly ahead at Celestia without having to arch her neck up. She found that Luna was actually shorter than she was.

Looking down, she smelled a crisp, burning patch of vegetation. The grass beneath her feet was slowly burning black. The fur on her body was still glowing bright red, similar to that of a red hot piece of charcoal. She took in her first Equestrian breath in her new form, and exhaled. A small flame trickled out of her mouth in response, bending the air around her once again.

Her wings flapped open, feathered and lacking the flames they had in the Celestial Plain. Her mane was also made entirely of hair, but continued to flow regardless of the quiet night, rippling in a manner that mimicked a rushing inferno.

“Gemini,” Celestia spoke through the ranks of her guard in a quiet voice, “What have you done?”

Just then, a small glimmer of light flashed from behind Gemini’s body. The new alicorn turned around to face the source of the light.

Even Celestia, the ruler of all of Equestria, lost her composure.

“Your cutie mark,” the ivory pony nearly gasped. Against the flank of the new and improved Gemini, was a sun. A mighty, bright sun that shown brightly against a clear sky. The red alicorn’s gaze met her cutie mark for the first time.

“Why does this look so familiar,” Gemini’s elated expression suddenly deflated with horrific confusion. She knew too well the answer to her question. Her eyes had met that mark before, earlier in the day. When she had met the Princess of the Day.

“Because,” Princess Celestia motioned towards her mark, “That cutie mark belongs to me.”

Present

“Wh-What?” Scarlet’s notepad quivered in her hoof. “Two of the same cutie marks? How is that even possible?”

“Strange, right?” Gemini shifted in place. “It was the first time in history that any two ponies have shared the exact same cutie mark on their bodies.” She looked back out the window, grimacing at the hungry plains outside. “I’m not sure exactly how that happened, but I have a good idea.”

“You did mention hearing something during your time in the Celestial Plain,” Scarlet gripped her pen and notepad, taking a quick glance at her notes, “You said something along the lines of ‘incomplete.’”

“That’s right,” Gemini traced a patch of the ground, “It’s entirely possible that my ascension wasn’t entirely completed before Celestia’s Royal Guard pulled me back through the mirror.”

“What would happen if the process wasn’t completed? The way you describe it, you seemed all right otherwise.”

“Whatever it was that hadn’t been finished off in my transformation just might be what influenced my cutie mark,” Gemini explained. “It’s not too bizarre, but there’s no way I can prove that pulling me through the dimension prematurely was the exact cause. That’s why I’m still out here.”

Scarlet let her eyes wander as she pondered her next question. “So what happened next? They had you surrounded in a grassy field just outside of the castle.”

Gemini’s following chuckle was filled with bittersweet memories. “I did what any young mare would do when she’s spooked. I ran. I ran far, far away.” She looked to the ceiling, “and I never stopped running.”

THE PAST

“Shit,” Gemini tore past the border of the newly established Canterlot. Her hooves pounded heavily against the grass, combining with her frantic panting to create a broken melody in her head . “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

The guards had since stopped chasing her, but she refused to stop. Her tracks were outlined, each hoofprint on the ground outlined by a small, red hot fire that lit up her escape path. Combined with her bright, molten coat, she could be hunted down at any time. Assuming that the Royal Guard was preparing for a long-term hunt, she continued to spread the distance between herself and the castle.

“I fucked up,” she dove headfirst into the Everfree Forest, “I fucked up so bad. Where do I go? I’ve never been so far outside. I have no idea where anything is!”

A flap of her wings illuminated the darkness with the scattering of embers. “I broke into the castle. I abused the power of the mirror. I can’t go back; they’ll just toss my ass into the dungeon.” She strengthened her wings, and without a moment’s hesitation, she took flight, burning straight through the thick blanket of branches and leaves that the trees coated the sky with.

“I can probably gain more distance this way,” she looked at the bits of flame her wings gave off, “but my trail still won’t be completely safe. I need to keep going.”

“Princess, the squad is nearly prepared to track her down,” a stern voice spoke from behind.

The tall, white alicorn turned her head to meet the armored colt. “Very well, captain. You may begin whenever everypony’s ready. We need to bring her back.”

“What shall we do sister?” the smaller, deep blue pony that stood at her side. They both stared off into the night, following the flames towards the north. “We don’t know what this Gemini is like. She broke the law. She has your cutie mark.”

Celestia lowered her head and closed her eyes, wrapping her mind around the situation. When she rose again, her face hid all emotion, hardened into that of a leader taking charge. “She has violated the rules of this new kingdom,” she announced. “We cannot allow Equestria to show such weakness during its most vulnerable period. She must be captured, and brought to justice. We need to show the ponies of this land that we will be there to keep them safe.”

Princess Luna nodded in agreement. “The Celestial Plain has left me confused, sister. What does her cutie mark mean?.”

Celestia looked away from Gemini’s escape route. “I’m afraid I don’t know. But I know that the Celestial Plain wouldn’t have done this without a good reason.” She turned to Luna, “But I have my concerns for what she may do with her newfound power. If her talent is indeed something that involves the sun, and Gemini’s allowed to run across the whole of this nation unaccounted for...”

Luna nodded in unison with her sister, “We will find her. Balance between the day and the night must be restored.”

Present

“You’re locked up here in Mount Ignis,” Scarlet said, “How long did you manage to keep out of the Royal Guard’s radar before they got you?”

“I’m not sure. I’d been running for a long, long time before they managed to trick me into a shitty spot,” Gemini grunted.

“Trick you?”

“They set up a sting operation,” Gemini chuckled. “Word got around about me pretty fast in Equestria. Some described me as a hero, but all the Royals ever did was hunt me down like I was a criminal.”

Scarlet tilted her head, “But… but you are a criminal.”

“… Right,” Gemini chuckled, “Totally worth it though. Those were easily the best years of my life.”

“Best?” the investigator questioned. “Why the best?”

“You’ve never been outside of Equestria Scarlet,” Gemini closed her eyes. “There are things out there that would blow your damn mind. Creatures and life that are just not found within’ Equestria’s boundaries. It’s like a wonderland out there.”

“You said that ponies called you a hero,” Scarlet added. “What’s that all about?”

“Well, while I was running about, I quickly figured out what the mark on my ass meant.” Gemini turned, only to grimace at the wound she had become familiar with. “In retrospect, should’ve been obvious from the get-go, but I guess that’s how everypony goes about discovering their talent. Mine was fire.”

“Fire?”

“Yep. Anything with fire.” Gemini reacted to Scarlet’s confusion. “I’m also an alicorn, so keep in mind that my abilities went through the goddamn roof. Pop quiz, baby: What celestial body in the sky is always on fire?”

“The sun?”

Gemini reached out and bopped Scarlet on the nose. “That’s the one! Well, it’s not actually fire, because that needs oxygen, and we all know that crap doesn’t exist in space. It’s a… special kind of burning that the sun has. I have no clue, ask a nerd about that. Either way, I found out that with my new power from my ascension, it didn’t take much effort to move that sucker across the sky.

“I assume that’s why I had the sun as my mark. I was able to control it, just like Princess Celestia. Could be a reason they tracked me down so often.”

“Could you explain that?” Scarlet asked. “You seem to have a strong understanding of how ethics worked back then.”

“Definitely,” Gemini nodded with a smirk. “Things weren’t so easy back then, you know. Equestria was a tough place to live. Things weren’t so lax. You can’t blame the Princesses though. They had just been sworn in, and everypony just needed to be assured that they’d be safe from potential threats from the outside world. Law’s needed to be made, and crimes needed to be punished regardless of who did them. I broke into the castle. That was grounds enough for dungeon-time.”

“So the mark on your body wasn’t a reason?”

“Hell,” the large prisoner scoffed. “Even though it was a big reason, I bet Celestia would’ve appreciated the extra hoof I’d bring with my strength. If I hadn’t broken into the castle, I bet Celestia and Luna would’ve called off the hunt years before I got caught.

“Between you and me,” Gemini moved a bit closer, as if their conversation was being monitored, “I feel like Celestia and Luna were pretty lax about what I was doing with my power. I’m sure that they appreciated it. The Guard was always slow at figuring out where I was and when.”

The smaller pony scribbled more notes down before looking back up at Gemini. She had warmed up to the brash alicorn, but the festering wound several feet away continued to make her skin crawl. Another mouthful of meat fell limp to the flow, ushering another flow of swears from the renegade before her magic sealed it back on.

“I think my only question right now is if you have more detail about the sting operation,” Scarlet continued. “Do you have a good recollection about how that boiled down?”

“A perfect one,” Gemini nodded. “The Guard nearly bragged about it when they finally surrounded me. I gotta hoof it to them; it was one hell of a set up.” Her eyes broke with Scarlet’s, turning back to the window, trying to find north. “Dodge Junction still exists, right?”

“… Of course?”

“This was a couple of decades after I managed to ascend. I think Princess Luna was already locked up on the moon because of a dispute she had with Celestia as well. The locals just called it ‘Dodge,’ way back before Equestria recognized it as a functional town. That’s where it started, those clever bastards.”

“What did they do?”

“They got smart. Instead of waiting for me to strut my stuff and create miracles, they decided to plant disguised guards wherever there was plight around Equestria.”

“That seems a little complicated,” Scarlet shriveled her muzzle, “maybe even a little brutal.”

“But it worked,” Gemini replied, “and it worked like a goddamn charm. I never once considered that I was being set up for their trap.”

CENTURIES AGO

The dry road beneath her coughed up pasty dirt with every step of her hoof. The sun hung lazily in the sky, beaming down harshly against the desert surrounding her. Several cacti riddled the landscape, their faded green exterior an illustration to the harsh conditions out here.

Not that the heat bothered Gemini, who had become somewhat of a representative of fire herself. She failed to register the unfair temperatures around her, finding herself well within her element in the brutal weather. A healthy drop of sweat trailed down the side of her face, and the tall, strong alicorn couldn’t hold back a smile at the sight in the distance: Dodge.

“Finally,” she put a bit of bounce in her step. “I thought I might’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.”

Years had passed since the day of her ascension. The Royal Guard was constantly on her tail, but Gemini always managed to stay just one step ahead of them. There were several times where they had her cornered, whether it was in the bustling streets of Manehatten, or among the humble folks in Baltimare, Gemini managed to blend into her environment and narrowly escape their grasp.

Miracles. That’s what Gemini’s stunts were being called by the locals she’d help out. Word spread fast in the youthful Equestria, and the red mare was sure that the regal sisters had caught wind of her work by now.

“Sister,” Gemini corrected herself. She shook her head, pitying Celestia. All of Equestria bore witness to the great tragedy in Canterlot. Upon hearing that there was a dispute between the two sisters that resulted in Princess Luna’s imprisonment on the moon, the red mare couldn’t help but feel awful for the princess of the sun.

“Seems like Equestria’s always getting screwed,” she reminisced about the attack on Canterlot by the Spirit of Chaos. “Then that oppressive unicorn far, far north, and then Luna’s change. Moving both the sun and the moon must be hard on her,” Gemini’s stride kept strong. “That just means that I gotta work extra hard. I need to help wherever I can.”

Dodge was her next stop, and the ponies in that nearby town desperately needed a miracle. The heat out here with blistering, and though it didn’t bother Gemini much, she knew that the families in Dodge must be suffering from it. Too hot to grow food, too hot to keep a consistent water supply. She knew that Dodge heavily relied on trade with cities to the south to keep itself afloat, and as the buildings in the distance grew closer, her mind wandered to exactly what she’d have to do to relieve the citizens from the oppressive heat.

She smiled. Gemini was a miracle worker, as seen by the ponies she helped, and she knew it. She loved every minute of their praise, and seeing the smiles on their faces made it worth the effort she went through to become an alicorn. Her cutie mark shown in the light, the same mark as the Princess herself, unchanged ever since the day she ascended.

It tingled from time to time. Nothing major, but definitely noticeable after she was done sharing her gifts with the ponies she helped. Sometimes it bothered her, to the extent that the tingling was actually accompanied with pain here and there, but it usually disappeared as quickly as it came.

There was no time to think about her cutie mark anymore. She had absentmindedly taken a few steps past the town’s front gates, and several ponies had already caught sight of her.

“Shit,” Gemini muttered. She had forgotten to disguise herself before walking into town, a near reflexing habit she had consistently kept up until now. She froze in place, looking around at the civilians. The ponies who hadn’t immediately identified her slowed their pace, looking from friend to friend in their town until their eyes eventually traced everypony’s attention back onto her.

“Uh,” Gemini said, raising a foreleg into the air. She cautiously waved it to the townsponies, waiting nervously for their response. “What’s up?”

They whispered her name amongst one another, but none of them ran. Gemini immediately felt more at ease. The Royal Guard wasn’t quiet about her crimes, and her name and appearance were made known to every single town in and around Equestria, including Dodge. Rather than run off in a panic, much of the ponies around actually approached the fiery mare, almost as if they couldn’t believe that she had come.

“I can’t believe it,” one of the nearby colts gasped. “Y-You’re that alicorn that the Princess is trying to catch, aren’t you?!”

“Gemini?”

“Gemini? Isn’t she a criminal?”

“She’s wanted by the Royal Guard…”

Another pony, a taller stallion that stood a foot above the rest of the ponies in town, approached her, unflinching as he tilted his head to look her in the eye.

“No mistake about it, she’s the real deal,” he nodded, “Fits the description perfectly.”

“On the dot sheriff,” she finally replied. “So what’re you gonna do about it? Send a letter to Canterlot? I’d be a hundred miles away by the time they got the tip.”

“Well,” he spit on the ground, his expression impossible to read. “I reckon there’s only one thing to do with a crook like you…”

“CHEERS!”

The clacking of dozens of mugs of frothy beer accompanied the music playing on stage. A band of ragtag ponies played their fiddles and piano. The wooden staircase dropping off from the stage lead to the rest of the bar, which was easily the largest building in Dodge outside of the sheriff’s office. Rounded tables were scattered all about the bar, with a pristine counter that housed dozens of currently occupied stools. Beer dripped from the pumps behind the counter, with mugs being slung back and forth by a pair of pretty little ponies who enjoyed the surge of money.

Several chairs fell to their sides as ponies all around the bar danced to the music from the band, while others chatted to one another in their stupors about how great the next year was going to be.

Upon the toast, everypony in the bar chugged their drinks, appeasing their savior who happened to walk mindlessly into town. The pony in question, the tall red alicorn sitting in the center of a stretched out table on one end of the bar, had already gone through several mugs with several of the heavy hitters known in town.

“You guys are fucking awesome,” Gemini hiccuped after slamming down another mug. “Too many of the major cities in Equestria are full of stiffs. I can’t even step hoof into Canterlot without somepony crying like a bitch to the police.”

“Don’t think nothing of it,” the mare next to her gave her a strong slap on the shoulder, “You’re… You’re here to help everything get better, right?”

Gemini chuckled at the slur in this pony’s speech. “Damn straight. You,” she started leaning on the pony, not caring to take notice of her appearance. She shut her eyes as a means of keeping her balance, “You ever hear about that fissure that helped create Galloping Gorge habitable?”

“Yeah, I think,” the mare hiccuped back, “I think so… No,” the pony gasped. “No, that was…?”

“Yo,” Gemini raised a hoof high in the air and pointed it back down at herself. “That was all me. I’m fucking awesome too.”

The sound of mugs hitting the table snapped the drunken mares out of their conversation. Their eyes focused on the bubbling liquid in the cups. Around them, ponies were waiting and watching with anticipation. All of the challengers to their left and right had fallen, some twitching on the floor, having drunk themselves into a coma.

Gemini swayed in her seat before turning back to the pony, taking in her attributes for the first time all night. The mare that had managed to keep up with her heavy drinking was actually quite small in comparison to her large stature. A dark yellow coat made her blend amongst the crowd, dirtied with little patches here and there by the dust in town and the sweat coming from her forehead. Her hair was messy from the celebration, but had still mostly been kept up in a bun atop her head with a generic pin. Multicolored with a pattern of orange and yellow, that of which was brighter than her coat, swirled together in a way that reminded the drunken alicorn of pasta and cheese. The young mare hiccuped, her half lidded green eyes doing their best to stay open.

The pony lifted the mug with a hoof, waiting for Gemini to mimic her actions. The freckles on her face seemed to blur in and out of focus from the red pony’s spot at the table. Not one to resist a friendly challenge, she took to the other’s call and lifted her mug.

“Before,” Gemini shook her head, “Before we do this, may I ask your name, brave warrior?”

A mustard hoof wrapped around her neck. “Absolutely. Name’s Jacqueline O’Curbi. You can call me Jackie.”

Their mugs clashed together, and with a holler from the crowd, Gemini and her new friend chugged their drinks with reckless abandon.

Time passed, and many of the ponies who had passed out early were beginning to stir on the floor. With the help of their peers and neighbors, they were escorted to the exit of the bar to continue their head pounding trek home. At the stretched out table on one end of the bar walls, two ponies continued to chat. The liquor in their mugs swirled about with each touch. Their heavy eyes illustrated the pints that the two managed to keep down throughout the night, and though their chatter started to sober them up, they kept themselves at a consistent level of drunk through their casual chugs.

“Just imagine the bill for all this,” Gemini joked, her voice still a bit shaky. “Who’s even willing to dish out the bits?”

“Don’t sweat it,” Jackie took another drink, shivering as the warm liquid ran its course. “Everypony’ll pitch in for the celebration. You ever been to Dodge before?”

“If I had,” Gemini matched Jackie’s mug, “then this place wouldn’t be like this. It’s hot and dry here, and I’m practically on fire. That says somethin’.”

“Dodge is a particularly friendly place. Everypony works together on pretty much everything here in town. We need to if we wanna survive out here. You know how hard it can be.”

“Amen, sister. It’s hard to trust people out there,” Gemini sighed, her wings beating against the still air. “Having to trust ponies I’ve never met. It’s messy business. You never know if they’re workin’ for the Royal Guard, or if they’re just honest ponies trying to make a living.”

Jackie took another drink. “Even if somepony here in Dodge did work for Canterlot, I doubt they’d stop you from doing your work here. We’re nice ponies here. I like to think so, at least.”

“It’s comforting to know. I don’t expect much intrusion from the RG here. This place isn’t even a fully established front for Equestria yet, right?”

“Right,” Jackie’s ears folded. “We’re hoping one day to become a city.”

“Well, all things considered,” Gemini waved her hoof around the party room, “I doubt I’d still be here if anypony in Dodge wanted to turn me in.”

“That’s comforting. We could really use a miracle right now.”

“Miracles are what I do best,” the alicorn bragged, finishing off her mug and slamming it on the table. She picked herself up to her fours, surprise on her face when she realized that she could stay up without tipping one way or the other.

Jacqueline finished her mug, pushing herself off of her seat. Even with her hair in the bun, she barely managed to reach a height right below the middle of Gemini’s neck. The yellow mare swayed for a moment before turning upward to look at her new friend.

“You’re lucky you’ve got a bigger frame. I’m still buzzing.”

“One thing I found out damn quick out beyond Equestria is that this body is tougher than nails,” she hit her chest. “This baby can take booze pretty well. I never get hangovers either, so it’s pretty damn sweet.”

“Lucky,” Jackie pinched her eyes. “I think the sun’s already coming up outside. It’s gonna hurt gettin’ out of those doors.”

Gemini helped her new friend to the door. “I gotcha, hold on a sec.” Her horn started to glow, and with a quick motion, she pointed it at the smaller pony’s head, leaving it for a moment while a quick flash erupted from the tip.

Jackie’s eyes opened up slowly, blinking rapidly when nothing seemed to change. “Gemini? What was that for?”

“You tell me,” she raised a hind leg and bucked the swinging doors open. The sunlight poured straight into the bar from that morning. Jackie immediately raised her hoof to shield her eyes from the incoming agony.

She paused, letting her leg back down and staring out at the lit up road outside. “It doesn’t hurt,” she turned to the red mare. “Did you?”

“It’s an easier spell,” Gemini trotted with pride. “Oh, I need a place to crash.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Jackie chuckled. “You’re staying with me.”

“As long as you’re cool with it.” Gemini saw Jackie’s quick nod. “Well, I’m gonna need some rest before I do my stuff. Before we get to your place, walk and talk with me: What’s wrong with Dodge?”

“Well, you’re gonna be getting this from my perspective, but I’ll give it a shot. Here in Dodge, I’m a farmer. I work with a bunch of the other farmers here in town with our joint crops. We all share the land here, and many of us tend to a large portion of Dodge.”

“Joint crops? So you guys just have one large unit here?”

“Exactly,” Jackie motioned her head behind them, down the road to an empty section of town. “Down that way to the south, you’ll see it. Covers several dozen acres as of now, but a lot of it is still under heavy construction. The heat’s too intense most of the time, so a lot of our crops die out too fast.”

Gemini took a look at Jackie’s cutie mark. On her flank was a large, plump pumpkin. Several thin vines lay beneath the vegetable. “You grow pumpkins?”

“On my spare time,” Jackie replied. “I do have a pumpkin patch behind my house if you wanna check it out. They struggle just as much as the rest of our crop here in Dodge, though. Don’t be expecting anything fruitful.”

“I see,” Gemini looked around the town. Ponies were already rising from their sleep, going about their daily business. The sun was still on the horizon, piercing the city. A gust of air brushed by. Gemini took it like any ordinary breeze, but flinched when she realized that most of the ponies in town lowered their heads or blocked the air with a hoof. “I can’t feel it,” shook her head. “It’s that hot, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Jackie groaned. “It’s usually this hot around town. Most ponies carry some water on them at all times. Heatstroke isn’t rare around these parts. It happens here and there.”

“That’s awful,” Gemini kept her stride up. “How come you ponies even decided to live here? What’s this place have to offer?”

“To be honest with you,” Jackie looked at the burning orb in the distance, “Most of us come from the land outside of Equestria. You’ve been out there. You know how rough it can be.”

“Predators everywhere,” Gemini grunted. “I’ve seen plenty myself.”

“We came from a land between two territories of dragon swarms. It was tough to live out there. You couldn’t stay outside too long, unless you wanted a stray dragon to pick you up for dinner.” Jackie shuddered as she remembered her old village. “It wasn’t always like that, but we’re just lowly ponies. We can’t fight a dragon. We decided to head as far west as we could.”

“So why not continue? Canterlot is not too far south from here,” Gemini said.

“Most of our leaders, our elders,” Jackie picked up her pace. They turned a corner on the street. Sand kicked up off their hooves as they entered a civilian district: a small cul-de-sac with several houses situated all around the ponies. “We prided ourselves on our journey, and on how well we’ve managed to survive out in these harsh conditions. I guess you can say that the generations past were just a bit… stubborn.”

“And how about now?”

“We’re asking for a miracle. I guess you can say that we got soft.” Jackie’s expression dulled.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” a red hoof patted Jackie’s messy mane. “We Equestrians were raised to help our friends. It’s not a bad thing to ask.”

“I guess most of us still cling to some of the ideals from those days,” Jackie mulled. “Either way, we need this badly. We just want our crops to grow. The weather needs to be stable for that to happen. Once we become self-sustainable, then we can grow as a city.”

“Then what?”

“A lot of the younger mares and colts in town either come from Equestria to start a new life, or just grew up on our softer ideals. A lot of our city wants to become recognized as a part of Equestria. We need to prove that we can survive, and this is our best opportunity for that.”

They approached a small little house, just enough to house a pony or two. Jackie stepped up the small staircase on the porch. The door creaked loudly as she opened it, welcoming the large alicorn into her home with a wave of her hoof.

Gemini lowered her head to avoid bumping it against the top of the house. The inside was incredibly limited. The den was nothing more than a welcome mat, a coffee table, and several pillows to sit on. The back door could be seen through the kitchen ahead, which only housed a small table, a few chairs, a stove, and a sink. A single opening to the right led to a barren room, fitted with a mattress atop a simple, wooden bed frame. A solitary dresser hung next to a window by the wall, along with a closet on the other end of the room.

Jackie quickly trotted to the closet, sliding it open. She pulled out several blankets.

“It’s not much, but it’ll do,” the yellow mare muttered.

“Anything’s fine with me,” Gemini assured the pony.

“Hmm?” Jackie tilted her head. “O-Oh! No, no,” she patted the bed, “This is for you. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

The alicorn paused as the words slipped into her head. “That’s too much, Jackie.”

“Stop it, it’s my pleasure, especially with your help,” she started to flatten the blankets against the wooden floor.

The larger pony wanted to argue against the decision, but the conviction in Jackie’s eyes prevented her from continuing. “Fine, if that’s what you want.”

=====

The sun lazily burned across the sky in the desert town of Dodge, sending its scorching heat down on the persistent ponies that lived there. The two ponies who had become friends at the bar the night before had slept in for most of the morning, but when the taller, winged unicorn finally begun to stir, she quickly found that she was alone in the tiny house.

The bed squeaked with each movement, surprisingly large enough to hold her larger body. Gemini rubbed her eyes with her hooves, taking in a deep yawn before lifting herself to her feet. A small nook near the closet had gone unnoticed last night, leading to a tiny bathroom. On the sink was a small note scribbled and taped to the mirror.

“Please use water sparingly. I’ll be back after work.

- Jackie”

“Can do,” Gemini nodded. She quickly wet her hooves and shut the slow stream of water off, using the moisture to rinse her face. Another yawn took over her body as she made her way to the kitchen, feeling her stomach rumbling after her little snooze. On the table was a small platter of carrots, tomato, and lettuce.

Gemini grabbed one of the larger carrots, easily downing it before moving on to some of the lettuce. The heat was enough to make the vegetables taste dry, but they still had plenty of flavor. She wiped her mouth after inhaling a full tomato. Her ears twitched, her mind finally setting off a red flag.

“It’s too quiet outside. Even with a hangover, most ponies should be out and about, shouldn’t they?”

As if the world heard her voice, a set of hooves was heard racing up the steps to the house. Jackie rushed through the door in a panic, sealing it before darting to the back door to click its locks into place.

“What’s going on?” Gemini stretched her wings.

“Bad news,” Jackie quickly moved to the room. Gemini followed behind her, watching her quickly pile up the blankets she had slept on back into her closet. “The Royal Guard just showed up at the edge of town. At least a dozen of them.”

Gemini froze. “… What?!”

“The town elders are keeping them at the edge of town right now, but the word’s quickly spreading. They’re following a trail; they caught some magical residue in the skies leading to Dodge.”

“Damn it,” Gemini stamped. “I thought I’d be able to cover it up better after I landed and started to get around.”

“Either way, it’s too dangerous for you to go outside. They’ll catch you right away. Nothing but unicorns in their squad.”

A smirk on the alicorn’s face confused the panicking mare. “Don’t worry about them. I can handle it.”

Jackie turned back to Gemini after cleaning the room. “What do you have in mind? You’re not gonna fight them, are you?”

“I usually hold off on a physical brawl unless there’s virtually no way out,” she smiled while heading back to the den. “Fortunately, that hasn’t happened yet. Anyways, I’m much, much stronger than them. It’ll take a while, but I think I can get under the radar. If they’re already at the gates though, then bailing from Dodge is out of the question.”

“How come? Didn’t you just say you’re stronger?”

“Well yeah, but even I can’t cloak my residue enough to avoid complete detection. They’re way too close for that. If I try to fly off or teleport now, they’ll trace it immediately. I have to hide out here.”

“Won’t they trace that too?”

Gemini walked towards the kitchen. “Not if I focus enough. Trust me, it’s way easier to mask my body while grounded than while tearing through the air or ‘porting across a large space.”

A knock came at the front door. Jackie hurried over, recognizing the armored pony on the porch. Gemini’s ear twitched at their hushed whispers. She swung the back door open while Jackie rushed to her side.

“They couldn’t hold them off. They’re already coming through the civilian district to question everypony.”

“Relax,” Gemini nodded. “I’m gonna head to the backyard. Try to keep them at the door as long as you can.” She walked outside. A large chunk of the yard behind Jackie’s house was covered in pumpkins, each one generously blanketed in vines and other vegetation. It was a very tame garden, one of the pumpkins as large as a pony’s head. “I thought you said you had a crummy pumpkin patch.”

“Well… I don’t think it’s that good. Not yet at least.”

“It’s wonderful,” she turned back to the mustard colored mare. “Just try to keep them away from the back. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

The door slammed shut. Gemini walked a bit into the patch, admiring the work that her friend had done to keep the pumpkins healthy and strong. She focused her strength, allowing her horn to cackle with the magical energies endowed to her by the celestial plains. Her gift burned hot with strength. A pulse of magical aura blanketed the outline of her body. She planted her hooves, doing her best to mask her spells while they changed and morphed her form.

Jackie only had a few moments to breathe when she heard another rattle at the front door. She took her time in approaching, gulping in as much air as she could. Another, more hurried rapping shook the door by the hinge. She straightened up, sighing before grabbing the lock. She jiggled it around, squeezing every second she can before she had to confront the pony on the other end.

She cracked the door just enough to see the colt on the other end. He was tall, a bright ivory coat hidden away by what appeared to be heavy, golden plated armor. His helmet masked all but his face and muzzle, and a spear rested in a spare hoof, posted against the ground. His cold, blue eyes illustrated his deathly serious demeanor, his glare enough to intimidate the laid back pumpkin farmer. She winced as he cleared his throat.

“Hello ma’am,” his voice was wrought with a gravel-like tone. “Are you Ms. Jacqueline O’Curbi?”

Jackie let the words sink in. “Why yes… Yes I am. May I ask what you are doing on my porch?”

“I assume that you ponyfolk here in Dodge have heard of ‘Gemini’?”

“Gemini?” Jackie looked up at the ceiling to avoid his gaze. “I’ve heard of her a bit. Must’ve heard it from one of the Canterlot ponies or something.”

“’Gemini’ is an outlaw wanted by the central city of Canterlot for breaking and entering into the royal castle, use of illegal magic spells, and using the powers of relics only meant for Princess Celestia.”

“Oh yes,” Jackie’s voice seemed to steady out. “I’ve heard of that pony before. Still on the loose?”

“Afraid so, Ms. O’Curbi. We’ve actually traced her magical residue to this area. We figure she’d be hiding here in Dodge. It’s the only place that anypony lives around here. You haven’t happened to see any new ponies coming into town recently, have you?”

“Can’t say I have, sir.” Jackie kept the door cracked, not wanting to risk any further confrontation. “I’m just a farmer that works down by the fields. Most ponies that come into town usually show up on the opposite side of Dodge. I don’t really see many new faces unless they stick around.”

The soldier didn’t seem satisfied by her explanation. He continued, “Very well ma’am. However, we are going to have to take a look around the premise for the culprit.” He took a step towards the door.

Jackie kept the door cracked, moving closer to it to brace against it. His hoof pushed against her weight for a moment before realizing that she wasn’t allowing him inside.

“Excuse me sir!” Jackie did her best to hold him off, “This is a private residence! Don’t you need a permit… or something from the mayor’s office here in town? You can’t come barging into anypony’s house!”

“Ms. O’Curbi, I’m only going to say this once,” the soldier’s tone dropped another note, making it that much more threatening to the mare, “Gemini has been a top priority target for the Royal Guard ever since she broke into the castle. She’s incredibly dangerous. We’ve been hunting her in and around Equestria ever since that night. Dodge may not be a part of the Equestrian nation, but we do understand that this city wishes to be on good terms with Canterlot. Preventing us from doing our job is an obstruction against Equestrian justice, and is punishable by incarceration. The Royal Guard won’t tolerate insubordination from the neighboring towns.

“This is just a small, shanty town. Equestria can and will plow through it with force if we need to. Now,” he put his hoof against the door one more time, “Will you let us in, or are we going to have to arrest you?”

Jackie paused, her eyes shaking with fear. She slowly loosened her grip.

‘I did all I could,’ she thought as her hold on the door dropped completely. She moved to the side, letting the soldiers quickly file into the house. It didn’t take long for them to search what little of the house she owned, their horns pulsing and scouting every last inch of her domain, blankets and chairs and pillows being shoved around.

The lead soldier she had talked to was already motioning most of his unit to the back of the house. Out of the corner of her eye, Jackie caught a flash that penetrated between the cracks in the back door. The guard immediately caught the flash. He shouted a command that was drowned out from Jackie’s ears by the stomping of hooves through her home. The door swung open to the back, and the troops marched towards her pumpkin patch.

Jackie trembled as she rushed right behind them.

“Mom, this pumpkin big enough!?”

Jackie’s heart stopped. In the patch was a younger filly, about the age of a teenager, holding a pumpkin in the air with magic. Her coat was pitch black, contrasted by the rich, orange mane and tail that sprouted from her. Dazzling eyes mirrored the color of her short hair, and her form bounced around with enthusiastic energy as she carried the swollen pumpkin.

“Ummm,” the teenager took a step back upon seeing the guard. “Friends of yours?”

The yellow colored mare’s hooves continued to shake. The guard looked from the black unicorn in front of them, then back to Jackie.

“Y-Yes dear. That’s enough for the pie I was going to make.”

The leader of the Royal Guard walked up to the black pony, his horn pointed directly at her own. His magic flared as he scanned her.

“Woah, take it easy mister!” She moved the pumpkin to the door carefully. “I don’t wanna drop this sexy little baby, y’know?”

The colt ended his scan, the frown on his face showing his disappointment. “She’s clean.”

The small unit quickly retreated back through the house and returned to the cul-de-sac. The leader slowly walked back up towards Jackie before stopping.

“Unicorns are a rarity in this town. Your family have unicorn blood in them?”

“Of course,” Jackie replied immediately. “How else would my daughter have a horn?”

“It’s just strange to me,” he added. “The different pony races usually don’t get along too well outside of Equestria.” He walked up to the door, “Canterlot does have plans for Dodge, but you civilians need to understand that you’ll have to cooperate with us from now on in order for us to consider your proposal seriously. If you do spot a red alicorn anywhere nearby, or any type of powerful magic surges in the area, do contact any of us back in Canterlot.”

“Yes sir,” Jackie nodded.

“Have a good day ma’am,” the door shut behind him.

As the hoofsteps faded away from her house, Jackie fell off of her hooves and onto the dirt in the yard. She looked up at the black unicorn that had made her way to the elder mare.

“That you?”

The teenage pony gave a cocky grin. “Of course. Told you it’d be fine.”

“How… How did you do it? The Royal Guard is supposed to have some of the strongest magic in the land. They’re trained by the top spell casters!”

“Like I said,” Gemini swung her hips around while she walked, “I’m really good. Gonna take me some time to get used to this body though. It’s a little bit tight in here.”

“H-Huh? Isn’t that an illusion?”

“Nope! The real deal here,” Gemini tried her best to stretch. “Illusions are way too easy to catch if you’re a member of the Royal Guard. I’m an alicorn though, and my magic is much more powerful. What better way to trick an RG than to change my identity altogether?”

Gemini took another step before suddenly losing her balance. Her horn discharged, causing her to fall over. Jackie quickly got up and walked over to her.

“I-Is something wrong?”

“Damn it,” she groaned, holding her horn. “For some time, whenever I use some of my stronger stuff, I get this sick feeling that just jolts all over. Usually hurts the most around my flank.” Gemini picked herself off the ground, dusting the dirt that clung to her new coat. “This body won’t last long though. A little over a day sounds about right.”

“Isn’t that bad? What about helping us here?”

“I can handle that when the time comes,” Gemini waved off Jackie’s concern. “It’s worth it to help the town out of the rut.”

“Are you sure about that? I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Relax,” she wrapped a hoof around her. “You’re already playing a good mother, worrying about me so much.”

Jackie’s expression faded. “Sorry about that. I guess I just get scared for my friends.”

Gemini let her last word hang in the air. She gave Jackie a big smile and brought her in for a hug. “You’re a cool little mare, Jackie. Not many ponies would be willing to stand up to the RG for even a few seconds.”

“Th-There was nothing to it, I suppose.” She finally motioned them back into the house. “I really want this town to flourish. I’m willing to fight Canterlot’s authority to do that, as silly as it sounds.”

“Not silly at all to me,” Gemini replied. “I’ve been doing that since day one. It feels good to help out.”

“By the way… when would that be?”

“Well, the RG is still lingering about, but they move quickly. They’ll probably be gone by sundown, but I’ll give them a bit longer before I try anything. Tomorrow afternoon then. Definitely. That’ll give me enough time to get outta here before they can pinpoint the spell back to Dodge directly.”

“Excellent. I’ll let the town know when I head back to work later. They’ll be so excited.”

“In the meantime, I think I’ll just relax,” Gemini stepped back into the house behind Jackie. She moved over to the table, grabbing another carrot off of the tray. “Changing your body this much really puts a burn on your strength, even for an alicorn.”

“That’s no problem at all,” Jackie gave her a smile. “How did you come up with that pattern so fast anyways?”

Gemini stopped chewing, swallowing whatever bits of carrot she had left in her mouth. “You know… I have no clue. It just came to me. You know, kinda like when you remember something from a dream.” She walked towards the back door, opening it with her magic. A pumpkin came floating in, the same one she had used with the guards. “I think I’ll be busy baking myself some pie while you’re out. That okay, mom?”

There was a rush of conflicting emotions on the pony’s face. For a second, Gemini caught the sight of a frown before she started to laugh. “Sure honey, that sounds wonderful.”

A cavalry of guards were stationed at the very edge of Dodge, far enough away from the city that nopony could really make out their numbers. The troops that had inspected the cul-de-sac were the last of the infantry left to meet up with the larger group. The leader that had talked to Jackie went up to his commander, giving him a proper salute.

“Negative sir. There are no signs of Gemini anywhere within the city. We scanned every bit of the town that we could, and took extra care to examine all of the unicorns in town. No results.”

The commander sighed in frustration. With a wave of his hoof, the entire squad created a formation and faced back towards the direction of Canterlot. All with the exception of one soldier that was taken to the side next to the commander and the reporting colt.

The younger soldier had removed his outfit, wearing nothing but a coat. The commander handed the solider a generous bag of bits.

“Our magic definitely traced the residue to the outskirts of this town. Gemini isn’t stupid, but she’s also not a loner. She loves attention, and there’s no way she didn’t stop by this town and do something, anything, to it.” He stood above the soldier, looking down with a sharp eye at him. “Stay in town. Blend in with the civilians here. You don’t know anything about Canterlot or the Royal Guard, understand?”

“Yes sir,” the soldier immediately replied.

“If you spot Gemini at all, or any magics that seem out of place, send a letter. We’ll be stationed nearby. Good luck.”

“Thank you, sir,” the younger stallion saluted, watching as the rest of his unit disappeared against the sweltering heat.

He turned back towards Dodge. Dusting off his coat and pocketing his wealth, the soldier quietly made his way back towards the town.

Present

“Wait, there’s no way!” Scarlet’s outburst surprised the aged alicorn. Gemini looked to her audience with a questioning stare. “What you described is exactly how Jessica looks. That… there’s just no way that can be a coincidence!”

“Trust me, it’s not,” she admitted. “Jess and I go way, way back. But right now, I’m in the middle of a story, and I don’t appreciate being interrupted. Next time there’ll be a penalty for any outburst, capiche?”

“… Y-Yes ma’am,” Scarlet gulped. She underlined her previous notes about Jessica’s affiliation with Gemini several more times.

Past

Jacqueline O’Curbi finally had a day off. The last two days had been full of so many surprises, and the week leading up to it could be summarized by the aches in her joints upon waking up in the morning. She took in the surroundings of her cleaned house. Thankfully, nothing had been broken during the inspection by the Royal Guard.

She walked slowly through the door and into the den, doing her best to stay quiet. Gemini’s black coat hid underneath the covers, shifting ever so slightly with a timid mumble. Jackie took the time to admire the strength of her new friend’s magic. It changed her entire body, her appearance, even down to the color of her eyes and the sound of her voice. As a giant alicorn, she was a bit raspy and had plenty of energy, but here, as a young teenager, her voice was soft. There was even a squeak that came with it, a noise typical of a budding young filly.

On the counter, an aged pie was staged, several slices gone missing from the night before. The sink held a few dirty dishes they had used from the night before.

The light outside broke through the window from the kitchen. Jackie winced as she took a gander outside. Several ponies could be seen heading in and out of town, and from the look of their faces, they were in for another scorching day out in the sun. She sighed in relief, knowing that she would be spared another day from working in the major fields near the outskirts of town.

“I have to go tend to my own fields soon,” she said quietly. She held a glance towards the back door that led to her beloved patch. The house was completely still, the only sound registering that of Jackie’s calm breathing.

The mare frowned, closing her eyes. “It’s so quiet.” She took to the den, sitting on one of the cushions near the coffee table. A mug from the night before welcomed her. Peering into it, she could still spot several generous gulps of cold tea waiting for her.

“I think Gemini just reminded me of how still the house can be,” she took a sip. She fidgeted at the chill it sent down her throat. “A bit cold.”

Jackie took another moment to absorb the silence. She grew more upset. It wasn’t what she saw as peaceful anymore.

Her chest tightened. It was lonely here.

A flash of light suddenly burst forth from the bedroom. Snapping her out of her trance, Jackie’s head rose, staring in the direction. Hoofsteps crept over until she saw Gemini’s figure. She had returned to her original state. Residue from the transformation was smoking off of her body, complimenting the fiery appearance and movement of her mane and tail.

“Good morning,” Jackie smiled, “Did you want any breakfast?”

Gemini’s head jerked towards her so suddenly that the young pony nearly doubled back. The alicorn’s face was tight and hardened, her focus so incredibly powerful that she appeared to be an entirely different character from the one Jackie had met.

“G-Gemini, is everything okay?”

The alicorn’s hoofsteps echoed through the house. “Everything’s just right today. I think it’s time I helped you kind ponies now.” She headed to the door, kneeling to squeeze through it. “I need some more space though. You guys have any open fields I can start my job in?”

“The biggest fields are,” Jackie’s voice seemed to teeter between awe and nervousness, “Towards the plantations. Is the spell going to…”

“It won’t hurt anypony, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Gemini turned her neck. “It’s just that using them usually leaves a bit of space around me torn up. The raw magic gets intense.” Coaxing the yellow mare through the door, she continued, “You are all free to spectate… just keep it at a distance.”

The mighty pony walked calmly through the town. Her expression garnered attention everywhere she passed through. Mares and colts alike stared at her, expecting anything to happen at any time. They followed behind Jackie, who was slowly letting Gemini get some distance.

They passed through the small town, quickly leading themselves towards the fields. Even the workers out in the sun stopped to watch as the fiery alicorn prepped herself. She turned to the ponies following behind her, looking from face to face.

Their expressions were varied. Some were worried, others nearly in tears. She raised her eyebrow at a few, while others, like the excited children, forced a smile on her face. Moving a hoof, she motioned for the crowds to move back. Slowly, they complied, shuffling until she could barely make out their faces anymore. Jackie stood out amongst the crowd, her hair in the macaroni bun that it had been in the night they had met.

She turned back towards the fields. The sun was burning bright and hot, bringing sweat to drizzle down Gemini’s forehead. She wiped her brow, surprise on her face. Very few places in Equestria had ever made her sweat before. There was no more time to waste admiring the scenery of the rising sun.

Gemini spread her legs apart, rooting each one into the ground as hard as she could. Her horn immediately perked, humming deeply as the mage began her spell.

The ground rumbled, a precursor to the buildup of power surrounding the tip of Gemini’s horn. With a grunt, the spell fired into the open sky, exploding like a firecracker. The spell blanketed an enormous section of the sky, large enough that it coated the civilians’ entire vision with a spectacle of dazzling reds and yellows. The magic trickled through the sky, warping the magic disposition around it.

“It’s definitely there,” Gemini huffed, “but most of it is just being pushed along by the wind. None of it is hitting the ground.”

She quickly whipped her head around, snapping it upward as another spell charged. Her horn’s energy started to spread down her head, creeping around her neck like chains. The magic erupted into a small flame as it coated her body, ripping apart as another beam of magic fired into the sky.

The townsponies jumped from the loud boom that came from the eruption of the secondary spell. They watched, many of them getting antsy, as the sky slowly turned dark, blocking out everything except for the large spot in the sky where the sun was. Clouds quickly sprung to life from the darkness, the sun leaving a small spotlight that surrounded Gemini’s figure on the dry ground.

Her knees quickly buckled. A pain shot up Gemini’s body, spawning directly from her flank. She hissed at the sting, straightening her stance out. The ground beneath her cracked, her body beginning to shake from the fatigue.

Another spell erupted from her horn, this time, surging into all of the newly formulated clouds. They suddenly turned as dark as the sky. The bottom of the clouds started to glow a luminescent blue color.

Jackie watched from the distance, the clap of thunder snapping her out of her trance-like stare.

A drop of rain hit the ground. Then a few more.

Seconds later, a shower quickly covered the ponies and all of the land. The civilians’ collective mouths fell open at the sight. The raindrops pulsed with the same color that coated the bottom of the rainclouds. Jackie reached a hoof out, letting several of the drops fall into her extended limb. The energy that colored the rain slowly drained out of the water, fading into the dark yellow color of her body.

Suddenly, her body felt charged. She gasped as the energy tore through her body. Her back, which had been getting sore from sleeping on the floor back at home, was immediately healed. She turned to her fellow Dodge ponies. Each of them jumped with vigor or bounced on their limbs.

The farmer pony watched as most of the raindrops seeped into the dry, cracked soil. Her eyes widened.

Gemini jerked her head lower. Her flank was burning again. She felt her hind legs give way for another moment before steeling herself. She turned back to the sun, staring directly at the gigantic star in the sky.

“Cleanse the ground, cleanse the ponies. Give them water. You’re the only problem left, old friend.”

Her final spell sprung to life on her horn’s tip. The chains of flame that sprouted down her neck grew further, wrapping themselves along her midsection and down her legs. A spare chain whipped around her tail too, her entire body slowly bonded by the magic she had been gathering.

Gemini started to yell from the power flowing from her body and into the horn. The incantation was almost complete. With a final howl of strength, Gemini hurled a giant mass of magic from her horn. The chains wrapped around her body dragged with the spell, tearing away from her figure to follow the spherical spell up into the sky. It caught fire, blazing as it punched a hole through one of the clouds. It turned, sharply curving until it disappeared within the sun’s mighty light.

The alicorn’s body was shivering. She took one final look at the sun, waiting for the moment before she could let it all go. The rain helped soothe her pain, but the amount of power she had just flung from her being nearly made her vision go out.

The sunlight suddenly faded a tone. Gemini, her mind completely spent, fell onto the ground.

Everything was a blur. Gemini’s eyes opened, introducing a world of unfocused creatures and objects moving across her field of vision. Hoofsteps could be heard, along with a door swinging shut. One of the figures moved closer, standing right next to her.

“Who is it?” Gemini’s tongue felt like jelly.

“Thank god,” a familiar voice responded. Gemini started to make out the colors of the pony. The yellow and orange swirls in her mane tipped off the alicorn immediately.

“Oh, hey Jackie,” Gemini groaned. She picked herself up, falling back down on the bed. “Where are we?”

“My room,” she responded, the concern in her voice disappearing. “You scared me half to death when you just collapsed out there. We had the doctor check you out right there. He just said that you collapsed from exhaustion.”

“Oh yeah?”

Jackie nodded her head. “We gave you some water, and you nibbled on some vegetables when you would wake up for a few minutes, but that’s it.”

Gemini tried to lift herself up again. Jackie noticed right away and helped her up, leaning her back against the bed frame. The red mare sighed, letting her sore body relax. Jackie reached to the dresser nearby and brought a plate of fruits and veggies over. The eager alicorn immediately grabbed an apple and tossed it into her mouth greedily.

Jackie laughed at the savagery of Gemini’s hunger. “So are you feeling better?”

Gemini swallowed the mashed apple. “Burnt out, but good now. Food always helps. How’s it been outside?”

“It’s still drizzling, but it feels great. The temperature has gone down a bit ever since you did your magic.”

She smirked, “Guess it worked out after all.”

“That reminds me,” Jackie set the plate on Gemini’s lap, “What was it that you did anyways? The rain was glowing, and you put something in the sky, and then the sun got dark.”

“Quick question to the question,” Gemini grabbed an orange, nearly swallowing it whole. “A bit after my spells, did anypony notice a veil? It should’ve stood out for at least a second.”

“Yeah,” Jackie answered. “When the doctor and I ran up to check on you, this strange, shell like light pulsed against the sky.”

“Badass, it worked.” Gemini stretched her neck. “I did four spells out there, and I’m sure you’re eager to figure out what I did.”

Jackie nodded.

“In the end, everything will be better in Dodge, you’ll see, but a few of the bigger issues won’t be noticeable for some time. You’ll have to give it several months.” Gemini cleared her throat, “The first thing I did was assess Dodge for all the problems you guys have. When I first got into town, I could catch a few, but it was dark out. This morning was the first time I really had a chance to look around and check out everything around us.

“The first thing I needed to do was prep the disposition in the sky. Dodge has a ton of it.”

“W-We do?”

Gemini nodded. “By all means, Dodge should be a bountiful city, but the lack of weather control really screws you guys up big time. I can’t constantly be coming here to make it rain like I did, so I did the next best thing: I fortified your city.”

“Fortified?”

“Yup,” Gemini grabbed another apple. “I gathered the disposition lingering above Dodge and forced it into the rainclouds I created. Magical disposition naturally gets absorbed by the rain, but the concentration is pretty low. I just squeezed more of it into each drop. I guess you can call it a healing rain. I’m sure everypony felt what it could do.”

“Absolutely,” Jackie said, “I’ve had this pain in my back, and the rain just sucked it out of my system.”

“My pleasure,” Gemini bowed her head, “Besides, it’s probably my fault your back hurts anyways. I’ve slept on plenty of floors myself. Shit sucks.” Gemini chuckled, taking a large bite of her apple before continuing. “The disposition is in the ground now. Your next major crop should be pretty damn plentiful, but since it was in such high concentration, the disposition should filter out throughout Dodge. Even with the little amounts of rain you guys get, it should be enough to last you guys a gigantic stretch of time. You’ll probably have the tools to maintain it way before the effects fade away.”

Jackie’s eyes widened. “Really? W-Wow…”

“The veil you saw was a two-parter. The second problem is the sun. The weather here doesn’t seem too beneficial, but the heat from the sun just fries everything. My heat tolerance levels are higher than most, and even I was sweating this morning. The veil helps absorb some of the heat from the sun, and as long as a unicorn helps to fortify it every few months, it should stay put.

“Then there’s the sun,” Gemini beamed. “That’s the easiest. I just moved it.”

“You… You moved the sun!?”

“Sure did.”

“B-But isn’t that Princess Celestia’s magic? You can be imprisoned forever for something like that!”

“Ha!” Gemini grabbed more fruit. “I’d already be going away for a long time whether or not I tinkered with the sun. Besides, it wasn’t much. I just scooted it back an inch or two. The sucker’s massive. Either way, Dodge won’t be burning like the inside of an oven anymore. Princess Celestia might fix it again pretty soon, but by then the veil should be completely up and running. It’s still pretty frail since I had already burned so much before that point. Between that and the veil, it should be pretty tolerable out there. Hot still, but tolerable.”

“And you did all of that… amazing.”

“I know, I know,” Gemini puffed. “So how have the ponies in town been?”

“Most of them ran to the bar to celebrate the moment they were told that you’d be better. It’s a riot down there right now.”

“That’s great,” Gemini yawned. “Let ‘em celebrate. Dodge will prosper, I promise you guys that.”

“Actually, there’s something else I wanted to ask: A few of the ponies in town are actually still outside. They want to congratulate you, I imagine,” Jackie started. “We told most of them to let you rest, but one of them really wanted to speak to you. He made it sound urgent.”

“Really?” Gemini raised a brow. “He still there?”

“Yes. He’s been waiting patiently this entire time.”

“Well, I’m feelin’ better,” Gemini wiped her mouth, “bring him in!”

Jackie left the room for a minute. Gemini barely had any time to think when she saw the door open again, this time with a colt following right behind the homeowner. The colt was still young, definitely less aged than Jackie was. He wasn’t intimidated by the appearance of the alicorn in front of him, staring her right back in the eye. A black coat was the only possession he had, quickly removed and hung on the edge of the bed before he approached. His fur was a bright white color, a spectacular, eye catching hue that even made Gemini wince.

“A privilege to be in your presence, Miss Gemini,” he formally greeted her. “My name is Swiftfoot. I’m an earth pony from Equestria.”

“Gemini gave him a friendly pat. “C’mon man, don’t give me this royal crap. We’re on the same level out here in Dodge, alright?”

The colt nodded his head, his expression not changing much. “Sure ma’am.” He took a deep breath, “I saw what you did for the city earlier today. It was incredibly impressive. I never thought magic could be used in such a titanic way outside of Princess Celestia.”

“Thanks,” Gemini repositioned herself against the frame. “It’s not the easiest set of spells to use. How are things back in Equestria?”

“They’re tame. We’re expanding further out west. Ponies are coming in droves to the new nation.”

“Good news,” Gemini said flatly. “The Princess?”

“Busy, but in good care.”

Gemini hurried the conversation, “I’m still a bit tired, so I’ll just make this a quick one: What brought you here to speak to me, Swiftfoot? It must be important.”

“I’m a traveler of sorts, Gemini,” he replied. “I survey surrounding areas that seem fit for creating new locations for ponies to live. My business brought me to Dodge just this morning, as a matter of fact, to investigate the area.” He chuckled, “I guess I came at the right time. I managed to catch your spectacle in action this morning.”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Needless to say, I’m good at judging whether or not an area is a good living space, and after surveying the land this afternoon, I think Dodge’ll be just fine.”

“S’why I came here, smart guy.”

“Indeed,” he fixed his posture. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about another growing town not too far away from Dodge. Well, for an alicorn such as yourself, that is.”

Gemini’s ears perked up. “Oh?”

“I just came from the town myself. The conditions there are pretty bad. It’s dark, damp, and there are plenty of predators roaming about that endanger the lives of the settlers. It’s a tough time out there, but if they’re able to set up a strong town, the location is ideal for creating a network between East and West Equestria.”

“I see,” Gemini started. “And you want me to fix that town as well?”

“It’d help the ponies of Equestria, Miss Gemini. I’m not one who is ignorant of growing news. I know that you seek out ponies in and out of Equestrian borders and create these sorts of ‘miracles’ like here in Dodge. I thought that maybe I’d give you a good tip on your next stop.”

Gemini didn’t think much of it. “Well, if the town’s in trouble, I’ll definitely give it a hoof. Where did you say this town was?”

“It’s a very small place, no more than a dozen families are living there now. It’s just a bit further West from Dodge. Surrounded by forests and swamp. You can’t miss it.”

“Swamp,” she groaned. “Fantastic. I’ll swing by whenever I’m strong enough to get out of bed. Might take a while though. I just reconstructed a climate, you know.”

The color in Jackie’s face faded, but went unnoticed.

“Oh, I understand,” Swiftfoot nodded his head. “They’d surely appreciate it, and I’m sure that Equestria could definitely use that land. It’s in everypony’s best interest, you know.”

“Gotcha,” Gemini decided. “That’ll be my next stop then.”

“Excellent,” the white colt responded with a smile. He turned to grab his coat by the mouth, tossing it lazily on his back before turning back towards Dodge’s savior. “I’ll be heading back to Equestria now. There’s plenty of places I still need to visit.”

“No problem,” Gemini waved. “Oh, and between the three of us in here, keep my schedule a bit hushed, alright? Word gets out, and then the RG jump on my ass. Those punks make it kinda hard to help ponies these days.”

Swiftfoot forced a laugh. “Of course. My lips are sealed. It’s been a pleasure, Gemini. I look forward to your next work very soon.”

“Whatever, pal.”

The door closed behind them, leaving the mares to their business.

“Guess I know where I’m headed next,” Gemini broke the silence.

“Yeah.”

Gemini looked over to her companion. “You seem a little out of it. You okay, Jackie?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Jackie lied. “Just a little tired.”

“Don’t throw that bullshit at me,” Gemini groaned. “I’ve been all over the place. I’ve seen that face before. What’s bothering you?”

Jackie looked at the ground, “I’m just… I mean, I’ve only known you for a few days, but…”

“… Oh,” was all that Gemini could reply with.

“Yeah,” Jackie sighed. “I woke up this morning before we left, and I just,” Jackie looked at the closed door, “This place is just so empty. At work I feel fine, but when I come home, I have nothing to do. No one to talk to. You showed up and, well, this place got a little cozier.”

“Oh, don’t be cute like that,” Gemini blushed. “I have that effect on ponies too.”

“The way your story goes around is that you’re constantly on the move,” the mare continued. “You never stay in one spot too long. I just kinda hoped that perhaps you would stay a little longer.”

“Well,” Gemini tapped her chin, “Why not go out and find a stallion to help ease your troubles? You’re about that age already, y’know.”

“What do you mean?” the yellow pony feigned ignorance.

“Don’t play that game,” Gemini answered. “I mean go out and start a family. That’d keep you busy.”

The guilt upon seeing Jackie’s pale face shattered Gemini’s playful attitude. They looked each other in the eyes.

“Jackie,” Gemini said with much more sincerity. “You haven’t… I mean… Have you?”

“A few,” she sniffed. “They don’t stay long though. They want a family.”

“What?” The red alicorn shuffled. “But… but that’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I can’t.”

“Huh?’

“Gemini,” Jackie looked back up. Tears were budding at the corners of her eye. “I can’t make a family.”

The meaning slowly started to sink in. Gemini sunk into her sheets, the guilt growing from her attitude earlier. “Jackie, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay,” she assured the larger mare. “But… out here in Dodge, survival is key. You come, you start a family, and you persevere. I’m incapable. The colts out here know it, so none of them show any interest. That’s why it’s so lonely out here.”

“God damn it. And I turned into a ‘daughter,’” Gemini’s eyes widened.

“Oh no,” Jackie raised a hoof, “Don’t feel bad about that. Even if it was just for a day… it was a wonderful gift.”

“Damn, Jackie.” Gemini sighed, “Is this why you stayed at the bar? Took me in?”

She nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine anyways,” Gemini waved it off. “Even if it was just to keep you company, if only for a day or two, I’m glad that it made you happy.”

“Thanks.”

There was a long, quiet pause between the two of them. Gemini and Jackie both looked away, trying to see anything in the room but each other. Eventually, the farmer’s attention went back to the outlaw, and vice versa.

“So… nothing can be done about it?”

“About… what exactly?”

“You work miracles,” Jackie said, “I guess in the end, I was hoping that maybe you could fix me.”

“Jackie,” Gemini let the disappointment ooze out of her mouth. “I can’t.”

The young mare closed her eyes. Her sadness bleeding through her yellow lids.

“It’s just that it… it goes against certain principles.”

“I think I understand,” Jackie sniffed again.

“I mean, I could try it, definitely, but nopony’s ever done anything like that before. There’s a good reason why unicorns avoid any spells that involve the dead or the morbidly sick.” Gemini continued, “If even one thing goes wrong, just one, then the consequences could be lethal. Not just to the pony affected, but the lives of everypony involved.” She moved her hand to Jackie’s shoulder. “I don’t want to put you at such a risk.”

“I know,” Jackie whispered.

“I’m sorry. It’s a bit selfish of me, perhaps. Or maybe it’s just fear. I don’t know. I just… I want to help everypony, but I can’t go around tampering with things like that. It’s one of the few things that are just beyond me…”

“It’s okay then,” Jackie responded. “Hopefully something will come along.”

“Definitely,” Gemini perked up. “You’re a good pony, Jackie. Just keep a smile on. Sad doesn’t suit you.”

“Besides, I still have my pumpkin patch. And my career.”

“There you go,” Gemini gave her a stronger pat to cheer her up. “I’ll tell you what, whenever I’m in the area after this, I’ll be sure to pay my new favorite pony a visit, alright?”

Jackie wiped her eyes. “Sure. Speaking of that,” she finally looked back to the alicorn, “When will you be… you know, leaving?”

“Well, a pony needs her rest after creating a miracle,” she smirked. “Would a week be too much to ask?”

“It’d be my pleasure,” Jackie smiled.

“One other thing,” Gemini added, “That was a lot of magic I just pulled off. The RG will definitely be coming back to town. If they came to your place and found your ‘daughter’ missing, it’d create problems for the both of us.” She scratched her fiery mane, “I guess what I’m trying to say is if it would be alright for me to-”

“Of course,” Jackie replied without hesitation.

Gemini gave her another grin. “Sweet. Thanks. I should have enough magic for it, it’s nothing compared to what I did earlier today.”

“Do you want me to leave the room?”

“You can stay if you wanna.”

Jackie took a few steps back regardless, giving Gemini more room to set up her spell. It happened much faster this time. A cracking sound came with a pop that engulfed Gemini, and when the light from the spell faded, the black teenager with the unique, orange mane reappeared in her place, flashing her a toothy smile as she snuggled herself up in bed.

She hid the climaxing pain in her body from her friend by reaching out and biting into a pear.

“Should last until it’s time for me to go,” she grunted out.

“One week.”

“Yep,” Gemini finished her food, yawning. “One whole week. It’s the least I can do.”

Present

Scarlet waited after the long pause given by the chained mare. Gemini seemed lost in memories.

“Miss Gemini?”

“Yeah?”

“What else happened after that? I mean, the story was great, but what does it mean?”

“It set up everything else,” Gemini flatly replied. “As for what happened,” she looked as though she was struggling to gather the memories.

“I spent that week helping Jackie out around the farm and her house. The mare has one hell of a green hoof when it comes to pumpkins. We just lived together like a mother and a daughter would expect out there in Dodge. Some of the Royal Guard did show up a few days after my spells, but I managed to pass under their radar in my disguise. On the seventh day, my disguise wore off, and I headed west in search of the town that Swiftfoot spoke of.”

“And then?”

“And then this,” her voice suddenly changed. Her aggression continued, “When I got around the swamplands he mentioned, I landed and tried to look for a small town nearby, and didn’t find shit. Next thing I know, I’m completely surrounded by an entire faction from the Royal Guard.”

“What? How?”

“Swiftfoot was a sentry from the unit that was in Dodge on their inspection when I had arrived. They planted him, and when he saw me in town perform my spells, he came to me with a story. I gave him my word, and the little shit sent the message through to the captain of the Royal Guard. So essentially,” Gemini spat towards the window, “My trust was betrayed by those bastards.”

“So they arrested you and took you to court?”

“Nice one,” Gemini chuckled, her wings twitching against their chains. “Those bastards tried me then and there, and sentenced me to exile here. But by now you should know me.”

“I… I have a good idea,” Scarlet winced.

“Hell yeah. I beat down so many asses that day that I lost count. Eventually though, they outnumbered me. Apparently inhibitors were created recently, just a bit before I found Dodge. They mass produced them for the Royal Guard purely to hunt my ass down. Crazy what can be done just for one little pony.”

Scarlet reached into her coat, pulling out her bands. “Wow. This was all because of you.”

“Well, I’m probably not the only reason,” Gemini added with a roll in her eyes, “But I’m definitely the main reason. The inhibitors used back in those days definitely look like an archaic model compared to the gadget you got there. Anyways, after they slapped a few of those bad boys on me, they knocked me out, and when I woke up, I was here.”

“W-What?” Scarlet couldn’t believe it. “Just here? Didn’t Celestia know about this? Surely she would’ve at some point!”

Gemini’s horn lit up the room. From behind her spot in the rocky room, a scroll came out. It quickly unraveled in front of Scarlet, hovering in the air.

“That’s Princess Celestia’s writing!”

“Bingo. Got this note several weeks after being tossed in Mount Ignis.” She quickly tossed it back where she had pulled it from.

“What did it say?”

“Nothing that concerns your mission,” Gemini replied, “Which is why you’re here for the most part. If I had to put it in a nutshell, Celestia had no idea that I was caught and imprisoned, but that she couldn’t reverse the sentence because it was tied up behind a bunch of procedures with dealing with high profile criminals. It’d screw up her image more than it already was.

“If she helped me out, she’d be helping out an outlaw. It’s not a good look for her people, especially the royals in Canterlot, who help the Royal Family out with funding and the like. It’s a messy subject.”

“That’s… terrible.”

“It fucking sucks, but it was worse back then,” she continued. “I was cut off from all communication as a part of my sentence. That was eventually lifted after several years on account of ‘good behavior’ or some shit like that.”

“What did you do… during all of those years, I mean?” Scarlet seemed almost afraid to ask. Gemini’s emotions were quickly rising.

“What would you do, Scarlet? Locked away from everything else on the outside?”

“I don’t… I don’t know, Gemini.”

“You’d cry. You’d cry because that’s all you’d be able to do.” Gemini looked at the window. “I made a promise to go and see Jackie some day after I got away from the Royal Guard, and she wasn’t the only pony. Oh yes, there were definitely a dozen ponies or so that I had grown fond of in my time out there, exploring the world.” She hissed as another clump of flesh fell from her body, only to regenerate once more. “It hurt to know that I’d probably never see them again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And here we are now. It’s been nearly a thousand years. Jackie, and all of those ponies in Dodge. All of the friends I had made in that time are gone. Say what you want, my little pony, but not even someone like me could resist a good cry in those days.”

Scarlet let Gemini lay there, marinating in her silent anger. She finished scribbling several more notes down on her pad. Continuing the conversation from earlier, she asked another question:

“So… how exactly does this relate to the case with Conroy Justis… or with the missing pony from Ponyville?”

“Ah, that,” Gemini gave a heavy sigh. “You recall in my story, how I got pains from my flank every time I cast a heavy spell?”

“Yes?” Scarlet suddenly felt the air around her thicken. As if a specter were watching overhead, surrounding her, she suddenly felt deathly scared.

“Now the story gets really interesting…”