Chapter I: A Day in Ponyville

Prism Star

In the smallest dormitory of a crystal castle, a little white unicorn of 8 years sat up in her bed and looked out the window, wrapping her blanket around her against the cold. The very first rays of the dawn's light were starting to filter in through the window, painted a delicate pink by the massive dome of shield magic that covered the town every day and every night without stopping - the only thing protecting her home from the frozen wasteland that covered all of Equestria.

Of course, nopony else was awake this early in the morning - even the roosters on the farms were probably asleep. But Prism Star always woke up early to see the dawn that turned her white fur pink and her tousled blue hair a beautiful violet. And to practice her magic, of course. Prism had always struggled at magic, and everypony knew that she was only in the Starswirl Memorial Academy of Magic because her father was a powerful wizard, the master of the local Weather Guild.

Prism struggled to master levitation and telekinesis long after her classmates were lifting apple carts, stacks of heavy books, and each other with ease. She'd never quite managed to teleport without losing her tail - and one time more than that, as she often remembered in her nightmares. And transfiguration was out of the question, unless you wanted a bizarre hybrid of an orange and a cat. But there was one thing she'd always been able to do... one special trick that everypony else thought was useless. And she did it every morning.

The filly started by raising her hoof to the sun and closing her eyes, letting the familiar flow of magic surge through her horn. Her instructors said that accessing magic was like feeling a current of lightning run through your horn, but Prism never understood that. For her, it always felt like she was basking by a fire, the warmth lapping at her body even as the firelight shimmered golden-orange around her horn. She opened her eyes and moved her hoof through the air, sighing happily as a thin trail of red light shined behind it; she twisted her hoof a little as she traced and the color changed to a pale purple, as she drew out the shape of one of the motor carriages that carried supplies from Ponyville to all the other towns across the wasteland, and vice versa.

"I guess it is pretty, blank flank, but unless you want to fail your exam, you're going to need more than pretty lights." Prism turned to see a tall, teenage unicorn filly with a dark blue cloak over her smoke gray coat, with green eyes and a white mane cut into the severe upright brush she said was a Zebrican style. "Get dressed and we'll practice out in the yard."

For her part, Prism just sighed as she hopped off of the bed, revealing a white flank with no cutie mark and a long tail that brushed against the ground, at least before she concealed both with a cloak like the other unicorn's, and started to brush her hair- by hoof. "I really wish you wouldn't call me that, Shimmer."

"You want me to go back to calling you Pancake Face?" Shimmer laughed. "I may have a soft spot for you, but I've got a reputation to maintain. Hey, look at the bright side - nopony will make fun of you for being bad at magic if you're practicing with the mean girl."

Prism just sighed at this. "Fine. Let's go."

By the time they were done, Prism was completely exhausted, and Shimmer didn't seem to be breaking a sweat, her green magic shining around Prism as she lifted the younger pony up onto the statue of Starlight the Redeemed in the garden. "Hey. Prism... I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think you'll do fine tomorrow."

"I can barely do anything the others can do. I mean, yeah, at this point I can do the basic unicorn stuff... and I can play with light... but that doesn't seem like it'll help. I'm gonna get held back a grade for sure. Again." The young unicorn flopped back over the stone mare's plinth, between her front hooves. "My father is in charge of all of the weather, and my mom helped raise the sun. How am I supposed to go to her grave and tell her that her daughter is stuck in the second grade still?"

The filly closed her eyes and started to cry, and after a few moments felt a warm wind across her face. "We don't have to," said a male voice with the soft rumble of an oncoming storm, and Prism opened her eyes to see a yellow-bearded and maned unicorn stallion with a coat of the palest blue, sitting on a small gray cloud and watching her with a soft smile. "It wouldn't be the first secret I've kept from your mother."

"Father!"

Prism Star quickly grinned and rolled onto her hooves, jumping onto the cloud and falling through with a startled yelp before her father lifted her with a nimbus of electric-blue magic and placed her firmly on the cloud next to him. "Remember, only pegasi can sit on a cloud without magic."

"Thunderbolt..." Shimmer bowed her head a little bit to him.

"Shimmer. Treating my daughter well?" He chuckled at her.

"Y-yes, sir. I was trying to help her with her magic." He gave her a quiet glare and she grinned nervously, shaking her head. "J-just that, sir. Nothing else, I promise." Thunderbolt stared at her a bit longer before lighting his horn and moving the whole cloud away with himself and Prism on it.

They rode in silence for a time, watching down at the town of Ponyville. It had steadily grown over time - as one of the few farming communities with enough unicorns and pegasi to protect against the eternal winter, Ponyville had grown in importance as a source of food for many parts of Equestria that could no longer grow food of their own. Many hooves now worked the vast fruit orchards under the protective dome of magic that maintained summer underneath, and in the distance Prism could see the factory that churned out tinned and preserved fruits for transport to the other towns. A line of massive, armored motor carriages squatted like great bears on the road to the factory - they must be preparing for another shipment across the frozen wastes.

"Don't be sad, my little sunlight. It took your mother a long time to master her magic." Thunderbolt lifted Prism's chin with one hoof to look her in the eye. "You're so much like her. You even have the same green eyes."

"Can you tell me about her again?"

"I suppose so... she was the kindest and most beautiful mare I ever knew. I remember the time that I first saw her..." He curled on the cloud around his daughter. "I was in Canterlot convening with the College of Weather Wizards - back then I wasn't a guild master, I was just a messenger who brought the weather orders down from the College. Anyway... I got the chance to see the College of Celestial Wizards raise the sun... it was an amazing sight... so many ponies working as one... all of them willing to sacrifice everything they were for the good of all creatures."

"Is it true that you lose your powers if you try to raise the sun?"

Thunderbolt gave Prism an odd look, as though he were assessing her as they slowly drifted over the apple orchards towards the dome. "Sometimes... the weaker you are, the more unicorns you need, and the greater the chance that someone..." The stallion shuddered. "When unicorns join together, our magic is like a chain. Each horn is a link in the chain, and each pony pulls on the chain as strongly as they can... but a spell that powerful is all or nothing. You can't duck out if you aren't strong enough. Even the strongest pony will snap eventually... One hundred and eleven unicorns worked on the spell that day. Ten Celestial Wizards, each with ten conscripts under them." He went silent, and his face took a somber cast that made him look fifty years older than he was. "Twenty ponies lost their magic over the course of that day. Three of them..." He hesitated and looked at Prism again, trying to decide if she could handle the truth. "Three of them left this world forever. But in the middle of all of those unicorns was your mother. She was a prodigy."

"A... a prodigy? What does that mean?"

By now tears were welling up in Thunderbolt's eyes. "When it came to Celestial magic, there was no pony better than Guiding Star. The Celestial Wizards gave their power, but it was her hoof that raised the sun. She was beautiful, and effortless, and iridescent... When her platform rose above the shield, and the morning sun painted her in all the colors of the dawn, you would have sworn that she was Celestia come again." By now the sun was beginning to set as they drifted towards the dome. "I sought her favor relentlessly as a young wizard. She worked so hard in the day, and slept through the night, but in between we had the twilight. I showed her how to sneak into the Canterlot Guard's pegasus tower, and from there we climbed up the spires to get past the shield. I would clear the winter clouds and she showed me a gift very much like yours, the most beautiful filaments of sunlight and starlight that she used to trace the constellations as we talked the hours away." He laid back in the cloud, pulling Prism with him so that both ponies were laying on their backs, watching the deepening twilight as the stars began to wink into the sky, and Prism could see the moon rising even as the sun set.

"There was one constellation in particular that was special. It only appeared on nights when both the sun and the moon were in the sky... just like this one. And sometimes she would stall the sun, so that we could see it better, because it gave us both hope."

"What constellation is it, Dad?"

He took her foreleg with his hoof and pointed it at a large, bright star in the southern sky. "Start there. Use your imagination... and your mother's gift."

Prism looked at the stars for a moment before she summoned the trail of light and began tracing it with her hoof, from star to star. On a whim, she decided to use purple light this time, as her father began to tell her another story.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She had the power to raise the sun and the moon-"

At this, Prism stopped tracing, letting the half-formed picture of a unicorn mare fade away in the air. "Dad. I know the story of Celestia and Luna. It makes up most of my history classes. It's not like it's a fairy tale."

"Oh really, sunlight? Then why don't you tell the story for me?"

The little filly gave him an exaggerated sigh. "Fiiine... A long time ago, discord and disharmony ruled the world. Pony went to war with pony, and unicorns raised the sun and moon just as we do now. But one day, two young alicorns showed up and their names were Celestia and Luna. They had the ability to raise the sun and moon all on their own, and a lot of other powers too, and so Starswirl the Bearded declared them to be Princesses and became their tutor. Celestia and Luna guided the realm in a golden age of harmony and prosperity that we will never see again, before dying in YOH 1520 to a creature called the Nightmare that released the wendigos and plunged the realm into an eternal winter. But the great Queen Flurry Heart came down from the Crystal Empire and taught Equestrian ponies the magic to hold the winter at bay, and she defeated and sealed away the Nightmare."

Thunderbolt gave Prism a sly smile, watching her from the corner of his eye. "Is that what they taught you in school, now?"

"Um... yes?" She raised her eyebrow at him - didn't everypony learn this stuff?

"Why don't you go back to tracing that constellation before the sun is gone, and I'll tell you another story? A secret story passed down from parent to foal through the years, that you must never, ever tell to anypony else.

A long time ago, Celestia and Luna ruled the realm peacefully, as sisters. But sisters fight. Luna grew bitter that ponies loved the day and shunned the night, and so she let a dark force into her heart for the power to overthrow Celestia. That force was the Nightmare, and under its influence Luna became the wicked Nightmare Moon. But even that power was not enough, for Celestia had something greater - the Elements of Harmony, six great artifacts that together the two sisters had used to drive Discord from our land. The Elements banished Luna, and the Nightmare, to the moon, but they would not accept being used by a single pony, as tools of war and disharmony. So their power slipped from Celestia's grasp, and they never responded to her again.

Celestia knew that her seal would not last forever, but she had a plan. A plan to guide new bearers to the Elements of Harmony. She searched for centuries, but finally a tiny young student came to her - no older than you - and her name was Twilight Sparkle. Celestia trained Twilight Sparkle in magic personally, and on the thousandth year of Luna's imprisonment, she sent Twilight to this very town. And here she made friends, and together they became the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony even as Nightmare Moon escaped and pursued them. They used the Elements to defeat and heal Luna, stripping away the Nightmare and restoring Celestia's beloved sister.

In that time, Celestia had learned the secret of helping a pony to ascend, to become an alicorn- and she had a young adopted niece, a pegasus filly called Cadence, who she guided to become the Princess of Love. And not long after healing Luna with her friends, Twilight Sparkle ascended herself, and she became the Princess of Friendship."

At this, Prism Star gave her father a skeptical look as she interrupted, stopping in the middle of putting wings on the purple alicorn she'd been drawing from the stars. "Princess of Love? Princess of Friendship? What kind of power is that? Celestia had all the power of the sun, and Luna had all the power of the moon and night."

"Yet for all the sun's fire, and all the moon's beauty, it is love and friendship that drive ponies more than anything else. Now as I was saying...

Flurry Heart was Cadence's daughter. She was born an alicorn, rather than ascending like the others - and some say this led to her fall. She always wanted more responsibility and more power, and one day the Nightmare came to her. It seduced her with promises of power, promises to break the limits that her parents and Princess Twilight had put on her own magic. It promised her that she could break the Elements of Harmony and overthrow Celestia and Luna. And... I suppose it didn't lie."

Prism gawped at him in confusion, pausing in the middle of drawing a dark blue mane and tail. "Wait... Queen Flurry Heart WAS the Nightmare? That can't be right!"

"Yes... at least, that's the story my dad told me, and his mom told him. Supposedly down the line all the way from our ancestor Starlight Glimmer. See, it was thanks to Twilight turning her away from evil that we call Starlight 'the Redeemed' now. And so she was loyal to Twilight, so loyal that she was willing to die for her friend. And loyal enough to run when Princess Twilight told her to run. She told her children the real story of how Nightmare Winter defeated and killed Celestia and Luna and even her own father. There was enough of Flurry Heart left that she couldn't let the Nightmare kill her mother, or her aunt Twilight... but she banished them both. Forever." Thunderbolt took Prism's hoof in his, showing her the traced image of a lavender alicorn with outstretched wings and a long, strait mane and tail. "Make a wish, Prism Star."

The young filly with the pale blue hair sniffled back her tears and looked at the princess made of light. "I wish... I wish... I wish..." She closed her eyes. I wish I could see the sun without this shield in the way.

Interlude: A Dream of Blizzards

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Midnight Shine

A black cloud slowly closed in on a young earth pony as he ran between the dark back alleys of Manehattan, every building painted a deep blue under the moonlight by a shield that covered the city at all times. His fur was a pale green and his rough, sloppily self-cut red hair and tail blew in the wind that was whipping between the buildings and hindering his flight, and the teenage pony had a cutie mark of a bright green apple with a bite taken out of it.

Of course, running never worked. It was a good try, and Sour Apple was a great runner, but the clouds always caught up. This time, more appeared in his path and ambushed him, constricting and slowly smothering the pony with their wet weight, and as he struggled against them another pony appeared - a smaller, younger colt with a dark blue coat and long, pitch-black hair that partially obscured his eyes - big, round silver eyes with an unnatural gleam to them, seeming to shine in the moonlight as the unicorn watched from a fire escape.

"H-hold on, Sour Apple! I can help!" He lit his horn with silver light and groaned with effort as he started to channel his magic. There has to be something I can do... Then an idea came to him- there were never more than three clouds! If he could open the playing field, maybe Sour Apple could... He closed his eyes and channeled more magic into his horn than ever, and the buildings slowly started to melt away with a rumble.

But his triumph, and Sour Apple's escape from the clouds, didn't last long, as the unicorn quickly started to feel the spell slipping away from him. He cut the magic and opened his eyes with a panicked gasp as he watched the entire city slip away to be replaced by an open field. An open field with no shield, and he watched Sour Apple's eyes go wide as the snow began to fall in thick blankets, black thunderclouds blocking out the stars and moon. The wind whipped up and started to flow the snow upwards towards the top of the gentle hill, and a huge pony appeared in the middle of the blizzard.

She was nearly twice as tall as the normal mare, with huge white wings and a long horn. Black pony armor and a deep violet cloak covered her body, and a round, smooth black helmet covered her head and concealed her mane. Eyes the red of blood glowed in the darkness as she regarded the earth pony who was quickly being encased in snow.

"Well, well, well..." Her voice was like shards of ice scraping against steel, and her smile was a cruel smirk that didn't reach those creepy eyes. "Sour Apple. We've finally caught the notorious little thief and traitor."

He's not a traitor, the unicorn wanted to cry out, but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. He tried to do something- anything- but his hooves felt like lead and his horn wouldn't respond. The colt had never felt more helpless in his life. And he only steals because he has to take care of me!

"I... I know what you are! I'm not afraid of you, Nightmare Winter!" Sour Apple made a determined face, but his voice cracked and his body was shaking with more than just cold. "You're... you're just an old pony tale!"

Nightmare Winter cackled. "An old pony tale? Oh, no... I'm very real. And very dangerous. But don't worry, I'm ready to forgive you, young one, for all of your crimes against your fellow ponies. All you have to do... is to give me Midnight Shine!" She looked right at the blue and black unicorn, and the older colt seemed to get a new burst of courage from somewhere.

"Don't you touch him!" Sour Apple shook off the shackles of ice and growled angrily at the monstrous pony, his voice steadying at the mention of his adopted brother. "I don't care what you do to me! Midnight is the best thing that's ever happened in my life, and I'll die before I let you or anyone else hurt him!"

The monster alicorn leaped at Sour Apple with a snarl, and Midnight Shine pulled away from the dream with all of his might. The young colt woke from his trance state shaking and in a cold sweat, and carefully stepped away from the pile of old blankets where his brother was still turning in his sleep.

Sour Apple

Sour Apple woke up only a couple of hours later. His first instinct was to look around for the little blue unicorn who was usually curled up next to him in their makeshift bed, but... the earth pony just sighed. Midnight was probably in his spot again.

Any time that he had a bad dream, or more recently, tried and failed to stop one, Midnight could usually be found out on the fire escape of the old, abandoned tenement building that they called home. Tonight was no exception, and after he put on his brown hat and coat, Sour Apple went out and found Midnight standing up with his hooves up on the railing of the escape, watching the moon rise - the two of them had always been nocturnal. "You know, Midnight... You need your sleep, too. I know you're still figuring out this whole 'moon-touched' thing, and I know that you're just trying to practice your new talent..." Sour Apple gestured with a hoof at the cutie mark that had only appeared a month ago on the younger pony's flank - a full moon surrounded by a patch of pinprick stars. "...But I don't want my nightmares giving you nightmares."

"You... you were going to let her kill you. To protect me." Midnight Shine's voice was somber and sad, and he looked back at Sour Apple with the haunted eyes of somepony forced to grow up long before their time. "You gave up your childhood because some old guy showed up and gave you a baby. I can't remember a time when you weren't trying to hide me, or protect me. You're stuck squatting here and working for gangs because I can't be seen at the shelters. I... I'm not a little foal anymore, Sour. I see the big stallions in suits. I see the way you hide me from the police, I've noticed that you always make me wear big coats that hide my cutie mark and hats that hide my horn. You shouldn't have to do all this for me, just... just because of some stupid old legend!" By this point, Midnight had tears flowing down his face, and was half shouting at Sour Apple, who for his own part simply let the unicorn vent until he fell silent except for small sniffles, before wrapping a warm blanket around him - careful, as Midnight had noted, to hide his brother's cutie mark from anypony who might be watching.

"It's not some stupid legend, Midnight. You really are special. How many ponies can enter dreams, hmm? How many ponies have the moon as their cutie mark? You're moon-touched. You have the blood of an alicorn princess running through your veins, and that's always going to make you a target." He lifted Midnight's chin with a hoof, looking him in the eyes. "You've always been special, and not just because you're my baby brother. Eight Point wouldn't have given you to me if you weren't." This had always been Sour Apple's name for the old pegasus who had given him Midnight, because he had noticed a small brand in the shape of an eight-pointed star at the base of the stallion's neck.

"So I'm special just because you got me from a crazy old pony with a weird scar, who told you that the queen of Equestria is secretly a monstrous super-villain who murdered her own father and aunts?" Midnight raised an eyebrow skeptically at Sour Apple.

"You're special because you have incredible potential. You wouldn't have all these scary ponies looking for you if that weren't true. You can do magic that I'd never even heard of before I met you, and I bet that when you're grown up, you can be powerful enough to do whatever you want! But for now..." Sour Apple pulled the smaller pony into a hug. "Promise me you'll try to get some sleep, and you won't go out while I'm away. I got some more work, but I should be back in the morning."

Chapter II: The Endless Sky

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Sour Apple

Sour Apple left his adopted brother tucked into the pile of blankets before leaving with one last look back at Midnight Shine. The colt looked back with solemn silver eyes, but stayed put. After closing the door quietly, Sour Apple left the run-down tenement and started down the busy street. Even this ruined street had a little bit of beauty to it, he thought, looking up at the half-crumbled buildings that were painted cerulean by the moonlight passing through the unicorns' shield. He'd have to give up his 'Manehattan cynic' card if he ever admitted it, but Sour Apple sometimes felt a tinge of wonder looking up at the ruins. They must have been so tall and strong before the winter. And all built by earth ponies just like him, with almost no help from pegasi or unicorns.

He wasn't out tonight to look at his favorite dilapidated towers, though. Sour Apple had a job to do tonight, and this time it wasn't a small-time hustle. No, this time it wasn't rigged games of 'chance' or picking pockets down by the market. This was a heist. Supposedly an old, abandoned private vault had been found, and he was going to be in on it. This was finally his chance to make it, to finally be secure and safe in a fancy apartment somewhere without having to spend all of his time afraid of the police and scrabbling to make ends meet. Sour was going to get his brother a silk robe instead of his ratty old cloak, and they were going to live like princes.

At least, that was the plan. For now, he was on his face after bumping into something hard and rough, so lost in his fantasizing that he wasn't looking where he was going. He stumbled up to his feet to see... a dragon? Sour Apple took a couple steps back and blinked hard. It was... definitely a dragon. A gangly, red-scaled dragon not much taller than him, with huge-looking wings folded back, who then turned around to fix Sour Apple with a glare from its orange eyes.

"What are you looking at? You better watch where you're going, little pony." The dragon's voice was low and raspy, but certainly female, and her gravelly tone made one of Sour's ears twitch.

"You were standing in my way!" Sour Apple stared right back and growled a little. Sure, he'd never actually seen a dragon before, and there were a dozen different ways she could kill him running through his mind, but you didn't get anywhere in this town by backing down.

The stare-off went off for a good couple of minutes before the dragon finally laughed and patted Sour Apple on the shoulder. "Ha... You're not bad for a pony. My name's Talon."

"I, um... thanks. I'm Sour Apple." He smiled at her and patted her arm with one hoof before hurrying away, waiting until he was around the corner before breaking down shaking and gasping for breath. That could have turned out badly.

Midnight Shine

Midnight Shine waited a bit after his brother left, and then sighed. He was tired of sitting around at home, and this was his chance to get out and be at least a little normal for once, even if he did have to hide his features like some kind of freak. Midnight put his cloak and wide-brimmed hat on, careful to make sure the hat properly hid his horn, before stepping out into the world.

What to do with his temporary freedom, though? It was a tough choice... There were so many places to go and see, so many ponies to talk to. Maybe he'd even make a new friend! If he could do that, maybe he could convince Sour Apple that he was being too cautious, that it was worth the risk giving him more freedom. After all... he was a big pony now. He didn't need his big brother constantly watching over him. Maybe the market? Yeah, he had a few bits to spend, and, well... Midnight wasn't sure what he wanted to buy. But he could at least browse and talk to the shop ponies.

The colt slowly made his way through the town towards the old park, where there was an open-air bazaar set up. The shield seemed thinner than normal, and it was starting to gently snow, but a little bit of snow was nothing to worry too much about. It happened sometimes. The weather certainly didn't seem to be bothering anyone else either - the market was packed with ponies of all sorts. Rising above the thronging crowd of pastel horses, ramshackle booths and stands of brick and wood rose to support brightly colored cloth awnings that spread over the crowds, forming narrow, dark corridors between the many market stalls. Even now, after everything, Manehattan never slept. The air was filled with the sounds of commerce, conversations, and fun, and Midnight could smell exotic street foods and strange herbs on the light breeze. With as much time as he spent cloistered at home, the park bazaar was a whirlwind of sensory delights, and he loved every second he spent there.

He slipped in with the crowd to enter the market proper, the darkness under the awnings broken up by oil lanterns that swung a little in the breeze and cast flickering, dancing shadows wherever they lit. He spent a bit on a small bag of hay fries from a stall and sat up on a stool to enjoy it and watch the ponies as they went by. There were ponies and creatures of all sorts in this market, and that was the best part - there were zebras from the far south, dragons from the east, even a yak who sold vanilla cakes and gave Midnight little hard candies sometimes. There were also undesirable sorts too, of course - drunk ponies stumbling from the cider and wine vendors, thieves and thugs, the- Midnight's eyes contracted as he spotted an earth pony in a black suit, with blue fur and a close-cut mane. Secret police. He had to be - he was too stiff and aloof to be a normal visitor to the market. Midnight carefully lowered the brim of his wide hat and looked down at his remaining fries, while looking at the suited pony out of the corner of his eye. With luck, he would just... not notice Midnight. It was a thick crowd, after all, and he was just one small colt in a too-large coat and a big hat.

Then again, it didn't look like he was going to be so lucky tonight. Midnight saw another suited earth pony pushing through the crowds, and this one met his eyes - just a moment, but enough to see Midnight's wide silver irises. His eyes might not have had the unnatural gleam they have in the dream realm, but silver eyes were still exceedingly rare. The Finder looked towards his partner and nodded before starting to muscle his way towards Midnight. This was bad - time to get out of here. Midnight dropped off of the stool and started walking away at a canter. No need for speed yet... a small little pony might get lost among all the adults. After rounding a corner, Midnight started to run. He looked up and saw a pegasus flying over his head, but the momentary distraction caused him to run headlong into a vendor and go skidding across the cracked pavement, losing his hat along the way- leaving his long horn for all to see. Well, too late for hiding now. He picked himself up and started running at full speed, ditching his coat along the way to gasps of surprise from those who saw his cutie mark. The pegasus picked up the pace, following Midnight. So that's three, Midnight thought to himself as he ran. No, four. He could see the fourth now, running to pen him in in the warren of stalls. And it was working. No matter how hard he tried, the trained Finders were on him like wolves, always herding him in until he was backing into a dead end with the Finders closing in ahead of him. No, no, they're going to get me, and they're going... they're going... Midnight started to breathe heavily in a panic, and he could feel his horn starting to flare up with its silver aura of its own accord. No, no, no, no, no- The colt closed his eyes in a grimace, feeling like he was filling with so much magic that he would explode if he didn't let it all out, and then he disappeared with a flash of silver light and a popping noise as the air rushed in to where he was a moment ago. He reappeared on the other side of the earth ponies in the same flash and pop, and once he got over the shock, he started running with a loud laugh of surprise and joy. But unfortunately, his escape was short lived - the pegasus in the air came down on the colt in a swooping blur of purple, and the last thing Midnight felt before blacking out was the pain of a hoof coming down on his head.

Sour Apple

Sour Apple walked quietly into the room with the rest of the ponies, while the boss - a rather tall unicorn mare with a long, curly red mane - was already in the middle of explaining where they were going and what the plan was.

"-now, the Uptown vault has automated security from before the Winter. I'm not sure exactly what we'll run into but I know that it's magical. Golems, maybe. Beam gems. That kind of thing. I'm hoping that most of it will be out of energy, but I don't like to bank on hope. Each team will have a unicorn to help dispel-"

Sour tuned her out for the time being and looked around. His part would come later if it came at all. In truth, he wasn't sure why a lanky teen was here amongst all the huge, muscled earth ponies and scholarly-looking unicorns. What could he possibly do that they couldn't?

"They've got lots of muscle, here, haven't they?" Hearing a familiar, raspy voice, Sour Apple turned to see the dragon he'd met earlier - Talon, if he remembered her name properly. "I guess she's really banking on golems. You see these big stallions getting around a field of spikes or beam gems?" Talon laughed, and Sour felt himself smiling a little himself. It did seem a little ridiculous, after all.

"You're here, too? Wow, they're letting everyone in on this." He punched her in the arm lightly in the arm with one hoof as the boss continued to drone on in the background.

"-and that's where the kid comes in. Kid, are you paying attention?" She paused for a moment. "Sour Apple! Get up here or you're out!"

Sour rushed up to the front through the other ponies and stepped up on the little dais that she was on. "I'm- I'm here, Miss Black. I'm listening. Um, k-kind of."

Black Cherry looked at him with a raised eyebrow and shook her head. "Well you better be listening now, because this is where you and the dragon come in. Whatever is in there, it's going to be good. But I have no idea what's protecting it. It's got to be something, if there's still intact treasure. I'm going to need smart and agile, and that's you two. Security systems like this are powered by a generator. You two are going to get past the last of the security, and turn it off so the rest of it can get in."

Sour Apple felt himself going pale under his coat. "I... I am? Um... We are? Miss Black, I've never, um... I've never.."

She looked down at him coldly. "Well, there's a first time for everything. It's a little too late now, isn't it? You do this or I tell the Crown about your brother."

"My..." The colt felt cold under her glare. "I... alright. Yeah, there's a first time for everything."

*****

An hour later, he was sitting in the lobby of an old hotel in the abandoned Uptown district with Talon, making awkward small talk. The other three teams, each one four earth ponies and a unicorn, had already descended the ruined elevator shaft into what had once been a basement suite. She was actually pretty interesting, he had to admit, once he started talking to her. She'd been raised from an egg by ponies here in Manehattan, and never actually seen the Dragon Lands, but once she got on the subject, it was all Talon would talk about. It turns out, she'd been raised on stories of the volcanic badlands where the line of Dragonlord Ember still ruled and winter never touched the land. In turn, Sour Apple told her all of the old Apple family stories he could remember - most of them were about farming, but it was farming in the old times, when the days were long and warm under the Sun Princess and ponies lived in harmony with the other creatures of the world thanks to the Princess of Friendship.

He was in the middle of telling her the story of how Applejack defeated the Storm King when a big, brown earth pony came up to them. "It's time. We've cleared the way to the vault for you two."

Sour Apple chuckled nervously to Talon. "I guess it's time for us to make the big money, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Talon grinned. "Let's do this."

Midnight Shine

Midnight awoke to find himself in a small brick cell with an iron door and a thick, barred glass window. He was lying on a thin mat pushed against the wall, and a thin blue shaft of light tapered down through the window.

"Ugh... where am I?" he asked to nopony in particular as he sat up on his haunches and looked around. His head pounded where the huge earth pony had hit him over the head, and his horn seemed to throb with every heartbeat. It looked like a jail cell, but... where? Looking out of the window didn't give him any hint, aside from telling him that it was just before or past midnight. He certainly didn't recognize this part of town- it didn't look like anywhere he'd been. In fact, it didn't look like anywhere anypony had been in a very long time. The buildings were reduced to ruins, and from the looks of things they were at the very edge of the shield. Even though they were technically protected, most ponies were afraid to live this close to the edge, for fear of being the first ones frozen if the shield ever fell. So what was he doing in a jail cell in a place where no ponies, or police, actually lived?

A flicker of blue reflected in the window caught Midnight's eye, and he turned around so quickly that he hit his side on the wall, accompanied by a small yelp of pain. The colt pressed himself back with a whine of fear as he saw a shadowy figure seeming to fade in and out of the dark corner of his room. "Who-what are you?" he asked fearfully. It looked like a pony, vaguely, but bigger than any pony he'd seen and draped in a heavy black cloak.

"Nay, child. You have nothing to fear from me." The voice was that of a mare's; deep, careful, and somber, and when she stepped forward, he saw that she had dark blue fur and hair like nothing that Midnight had ever seen- it was the blue of a dusk sky and speckled with stars, and it flowed through the still air as though a strong breeze was passing her. Her unicorn horn was almost as long as his head, and he saw a small black crown behind it. In short, she was the most beautiful - and terrifying - thing that he had ever witnessed in his young life, and his front legs twitched as though they wanted to bow of their own free will. "I am Luna, Princess of the Night. In this world, I was your distant ancestor."

"In... what?" Midnight's fear was momentarily overidden by his confusion, and he stood up and took a couple steps forward. "I don't understand. Luna died... she died a thousand years ago. If you're really her, then how are you here now?"

"I did say, 'in this world'. There are infinite worlds, young Prince. And over each of those worlds is a moon."

"I... a... what?" The word 'Prince' vaguely ticked a red flag in his head, but he was more confused and shocked by the 'infinite worlds' bit. "I don't think I understand. I thought this was the world."

Luna shook her head slowly. "Perhaps I can show you. Have you traveled the dream realm?"

"I... maybe? I don't know." He considered this. "I'm not sure what the dream realm is, but I know that I can touch a pony when they're sleeping, and see their dream. Or... enter it? It's like I'm having the same dream as them." He sat down next to her and sighed. "I don't understand any of it. It's supposed to be my 'special talent', but I don't... I can't do anything. I just... I just watch my brother having a nightmare and I feel so helpless. All I want to do is make it better and make him happy and I'm not..." Midnight sniffled. "I'm not strong enough."

A shadow passed over him, and he looked up to see that she was holding a wing around him - massive and thick, with long, wide pinions, yet also strangely... weightless. As though she wasn't really there. And yet, it was strangely comforting. "Little Midnight... I was weak too, when I was your age. Until I met my other. We take our power from the moon, but you've never truly seen it, have you?" He just shook his head in response. "You'll understand when you do. But for now, let me explain the dream realm. For now, you can just enter one dream. But everyone who sleeps is dreaming, right? It's not just your brother." Midnight nodded at this. "Dreams have their own magic, their own power. Their own rules. A dream is not simply a figment of our imagination. It is a creation of our imagination. If you dream that you are falling, then you create a world where you are falling."

Midnight thought about this for a moment. "But how? Where does it all come from? My brother got me a book by Starswirl, and it said that magic always costs something. So-"

Luna held a hoof up to interrupt him, and he saw that she was wearing shoes of blue-grey steel that traced up her lower legs in an intricate pattern. "No. Starswirl said that magic always comes from somewhere. A pegasus gets their speed and grace from the sky. An earth pony gets their strength from the living earth. A dragon gets their fire from the molten center of our world." She chuckled lightly. "It was a very confusing lesson to learn for me as well, and I learned it from the source. I can see how you would make that mistake."

"So...if you're saying that all magic comes from somewhere, and dreams are a kind of magic, then where do dreams come from?"

"They come from the dream realm - what some unicorns call the Astral Plane." Luna sighed. "But I suppose you wouldn't know what that is, would you?" Midnight shook his head in response. "The dream realm is a reflection of our thoughts, our wishes, our hopes and dreams and fears. Think of every world as an island. You know what an island is, right?"

Midnight laughed at this. "Yeah, I know what an island is. It's a bit of land out in the water - like old Longmane Island where the lighthouse used to be."

"Then think of the world as an island. Now, you can't see them, but there are countless islands out there, and on each one of them there are creatures that live there. Now imagine a sea, a huge ocean that connects them all. In the day, as we go about our lives, we dump everything in our minds into that sea, and at night, when we dream, we fish those things back out, along with a little bit of the magic needed to turn it all into a dream."

It took him a bit to come to grips with all this, and Luna must have noticed his confused expression; she went silent and simply stayed there with her wing around the colt, letting him work through it on his own. "So the, um... the sea..." He stammered slowly as he worked through the metaphor. "So you swam? From another island?"

"I... yes, little one. I suppose I did." She smiled at Midnight. "Eventually you'll learn to enter not just dreams, but the dream realm itself. And from there, you can enter any dream. Or even... another island." Luna stopped at this and closed her eyes, lighting her horn with a dark aura. Midnight suddenly felt dizzy and tried to stand, but only fell forward onto his belly and passed out.

*****

The world was fuzzy and grey, and Midnight felt like he was floating in something warm and thick. Like... oatmeal? Better not think of it that way, he thought. That'll make this even weirder than it is. Midnight saw a sparkling light in the distance and started to swim, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get any closer. Wait... this doesn't feel right. It feels... He stopped to think. It was a sensation of wrongness, like if he could find a string, he could tug on it and the whole world would fall apart. Almost like a weird itch at the base of his horn. This wasn't real - it was just a dream! And if it was a dream, then maybe... Midnight closed his eyes and started pouring magic and will into his horn, and when he opened them he was rushing towards the light. He touched the orb of white light and his hoof went straight through; then he felt a tugging on his hoof.

It turned out it was Luna, pulling him through a hole that was actually a mirror. Not expecting it, Midnight fell forward onto his face and had to find his hooves again with a bit of a blush. "So... where is this? What is this?"

"This is the dream realm. At least, a version of it that's easier to understand, I hope."

"Easier..." Midnight raised an eyebrow as he looked around. The whole world around him was a light grey blur filled with orbs of light. "I don't think..."

"Close your eyes. Breathe. Visualize yourself somewhere comforting or familiar."

Midnight tried to do what she said. He wanted to think of the park, or perhaps home, but now he had mirrors on his mind and all he could think about was the hall of mirrors in the Midtown Circus. When he opened his eyes again, they were standing in a low, garishly painted hallway barely high enough for Luna's head, with dozens of mirrors on either side of them. But the lights were out, and instead of reflecting Midnight and Luna, each mirror was... Midnight gasped. Each one, instead of reflecting, projected a moving image of somepony's dream.

"Hmm... a... carnival? I am not sure this is the best choice, but if it is what's comforting to you..."

Midnight huffed and blushed again. "I... not really. It kind of scared me when my brother brought me here, actually. I got lost deeper in where it's like a maze. But it was all I could think of after coming through that mirror!"

"I see... at any rate, you can see the different ponies' dreams, yes?"

Midnight nodded at this. "But I've never been able to do anything like this. How is this happening?"

Luna shook her head. "I'm letting you borrow some of my power for the time being. But you're the one creating this dream, and you're the one who can take us into or out of a dream - or even further."

"Further how?"

"It's... difficult to explain until you've seen it. Much of this will be impossible to fully understand until you unlock your potential. But let me reclaim some of the power and... alter..." She hummed to herself as she ignited her horn and started moving the mirrors with magic, tilting them all towards each other so that they only reflected one another. "Here. I have these three mirrors here in a triangle. Stand in the middle and look at one of them." As Midnight complied, she started tuning and changing the images on them until Midnight saw a huge round world, with a glowing white moon hanging over it. "This is your world. But look closer."

"I see... a reflection. And a reflection of a reflection. And...." His eyes turned into dots as he was momentarily overwhelmed by what he saw, an infinite regress of worlds and moons, until Luna finally pulled him back out of the dream and back into his cell.

"It will take you years to develop your full potential. It will be a long journey, and you have much more to learn about yourself before you are ready for this." Luna smiled.

Midnight, on the other hand, finally lost his patience with her illusions and advice once he recovered from the shock. "You're not actually telling me anything useful! I don't want to 'develop my full potential'," - this part he put in little quotes with one of his front hooves - "All I want is to get out of this cell and warn my brother!"

"I have not come simply to give you advice." The wan blue moonlight filled the old cell through the window by now - it must have been almost morning. It revealed the faint translucence of Luna's astral form, and reflected in Midnight's eyes as he looked up at her in confusion. "On every one of the worlds I showed you, under the light of every moon, there is a pony who forms a special bond, who shepherds it through the sky and watches over the dream realm with its power. This world has been out of balance for too long, and I will start your journey whether you like it or not!" The moon princess's horn flared white with power and she thrust a vapor-like hoof through Midnight's chest, sending a chill through his body as it passed into him. The world seemed to fade and-

A wheel rolled and filled and surged with moonlight energy magic power-

The tide tugged at a steam ship with a great iron icebreaker and he could feel it like the blood rushing through his veins and-

A timberwolf howled at the full moon and prepared to hunt the shields were down it smelled blood tonight it would not go hungry and-

Pegasi struggled to hold back the clouds and unicorns tried and failed to jumpstart the crystals that powered the shields and earth ponies raced to save their crop-

Luna's hoof moved to his throat, and his eyes opened again to see her before-

Sour Apple ran desperately through tunnels underground with a dragon close behind he'd lost his coat but he wore a thick gold choker with a massive ruby in the shape of a lightning bolt and his shadow was a blue pegasus who raced through the air ahead of a trail of rainbows and the sky thundered from her passage her heart was broken friendship was broken the only thing left was LOYALTY hate love vengeance death-

A gangly red dragon breathed blue-hot fire against the cold, she could not fight forever but she would try, she would do anything for her new friends but her HONESTY would doom them all-

A handsome young pegasus with pale yellow fur and a slick black mane danced and sang on stage for a crowd, but in his heart it felt empty; a brilliant blue sapphire sat in his dressing room and whispered to him of GENEROSITY-

A grey unicorn in a blue cloak looked at herself in a mirror and laughed, at fate and ponies and most at all herself, her life was ruined her family was dead she would never see home again but somehow she could always find LAUGHTER-

Luna pushed her hoof through his head and-

A million dreams stretched out before him an endless sea how could he choose but he didn't have to choose he felt a tug-

A white filly his own age with long, pale blue hair watched the sun with wonder and a white mare with hair of pink and blue and wind touched her shoulder and they danced and played in the sunlight but the mare was fading sadness death beauty-

A patchwork monster hero villain pony dragon trapped in chains and runes and crystals, he japed and laughed and grinned but it never reached his eyes they were fire hate cruelty revenge his name was Discord and he would destroy the world for love-

An alicorn of pure fire flared its wings and breathed pain rage loss at a monster of ice and it had to be stopped had to be saved restore the balance-

Finally, she touched her horn to his. "Awaken." Power surged through him, light filled the room, and-

Steel crunched and ponies screamed, smoke and mist, searing beams of pure power cut through darkness stone metal flesh-

Snow and ice and cold, screaming terrors, drive them back, slowing and freezing but he still fights, he floats through the air but then he's falling fading dying, he sees his brother and his world goes black.

Chapter III: The Last Friendship Quest

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Prism Star

Morning came on slowly in Ponyville. It started in the outskirts, the acres of farmland at the edges of the shield. Roosters crowed at the first rays of sunlight and the farm ponies went out to work their fields. Next it was the factories that churned to life, ponies coming in to can and preserve the food that helped feed Equestria. It would be mid-morning when the town proper woke, shops opening, ponies going to their jobs and to school. Today, though, Prism Star and Shimmer were up before any of them, even before the dawn.

"Alright, Prism. Let's go over the Classical History section again. Who were the Pillars of Equestria?"

Prism sighed at the older unicorn. "I... Starswirl the Bearded, Rockhoof, Mage Meadowbrook, Somnambula, Flash Magnus, and, um... um... Stop smirking at me!" She threw a book at Shimmer, who easily caught it in a lime-green telekinetic aura before laughing. "Starswirl, Rockhoof, Meadowbrook, Somnambula, Flash Magnus, and, I think... Mistmane?"

"I guess that'll do. What was the scholar Sunburst's contribution to-"

Prism Star slammed a hoof down. "Shimmer, I know the history! I know the theories! It's the magic I can't do!" Her horn sparked with anger as she said this, igniting the notes in front of her in rainbow-colored fire. "I- aargh! Buck it!" She started swatting at the fire with a hoof before Shimmer quickly snuffed it with an air-manipulation spell. "See, I can't even control myself!" Sunburst was always a sore subject for Prism. Much like her, he had at first seemed promising, but turned out to have little actual talent for magic. As far as she had heard, Sunburst flunked out of magic school and ended up exiling himself in shame to a library in the Crystal Empire, rising to become a minor functionary before mysteriously disappearing from the history. Aside from the rumor that he had secretly sired Starlight Glimmer's daughter, Prism couldn't begin to think of what his actual contributions were. "Sunburst was a failure and a fraud. Just... Just like me."

"You are not a fraud, or a failure! You can do magic, Prism! Remember..." Shimmer thought about it. "Remember when we pranked Professor Aurora Glow?"

"We got in so much trouble for that! The headmaster said he'd cut our horns off if we did it again!"

"He wasn't seriously going to do it, that's illegal! And it was so funny, the way she thought Red Ember was trying to grab her flank! Come on, you were laughing too. And Hearth could stand to get in trouble more."

Prism sniffled back some tears and nodded some, looking up at the older filly. "I... I guess." She managed a small giggle and a hint of a smile.

"Yeah. We got everyone laughing by the time she realized it was an illusion." Shimmer laughed herself- a laugh like sparkling crystal rather than the sandy gravel of her normal speaking voice. "But what's important is that it was your illusion. I know ponies are always telling you it's not good for anything, but you made a whole colt out of that woven light of yours. A colt so convincing that a trained wizard thought he was real until she tried to hit him with her hoof. You have a real gift."

"Then... then why don't I have a cutie mark?"

Shimmer looked confused by this. "A... um, I don't know. What do you mean?"

Prism shoved at her with one of her hooves. "If it's such a gift, such a unique talent, then why do I still not have a cutie mark? What else do I have to do?! I.. I... I'm never going to master magic, I'm never going to get my cutie mark, I-"

The older pony quickly, and somewhat rudely, interrupted Prism by putting a hoof to the filly's mouth. "That's not what matters, and you know it. It's not enough to have a talent. You have to understand yourself. You'll get your mark when you understand what makes you different from every other pony in the world, what you and only you can do to make Equestria better, and I think that it's going to be amazing." She got a dark look on her face suddenly. "Where is this coming from, Prism? Is someone teasing you? Because if they are, I'm going to find them and I'm going to make sure that everyone has something else to laugh-" She was interrupted by a loud horn blast from one of the towers- a deep, bone-shaking HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM that drove a spike of pain into Prism's ears and shook her framed picture of Southern Storm (the fastest rising young pop star in Las Pegasus, and Prism Star's crush ever since she was old enough to like colts) right off the desk.

"What was that?!" Prism jumped to her hooves, as the other fillies in the dormitory scrambled out of their beds, some falling to the ground and others getting tangled in their blankets in the panic. "Was that the shield?"

Shimmer held up a hoof just as another horn blast ripped through the room. "Two. The, the..." She gulped. "I... EVERYPONY STOP!!!" She let out a spell that paralyzed every filly in the room with a flare of green light. "Stay calm! Right now, you are in the safest place in Ponyville! That was just two blasts, which means the emergency shield around the castle is holding!" She took a couple of breaths to steady herself. Shimmer had always thought old Thunderbolt was crazy to have had her made a dorm prefect, but now she had a job other than turning a blind eye to loose candy wrappers and she was going to do it. "Ponies are going to be evacuating to here, to this castle! That means that we have to move quickly and calmly to the common areas! Don't bother with your clothes, don't bother with your things. Get out of your beds and get into a double-file line, now!"

It took them less than a minute to comply; after all, they had a drill on this once a month. With any luck, the shield would only be down for a few minutes at most. It occasionally flickered, but it had never actually fallen since the day that Shimmer came to Ponyville. That had been a terrifying experience even for Shimmer, who had spent much of her young life outside of the shields in a wandering circus caravan. For these little ones, who had never seen that kind of life... it would probably be terrifying if the emergency shields truly fell.

For now, though, that wasn't worth thinking about. She started leading her little convoy of confused and frightened fillies through the crystal hallways, slowly but surely making their way through the ordered chaos of hundreds of students and adults towards the huge round room at the heart of the castle. The room that sat empty except for a broken throne. It always gave Shimmer the creeps, if she was being honest. A room like that was too big for such a small throne, and it was all the wrong shape and layout for a proper throne room - it made the place feel empty and hollowed-out. It didn't help that ponies almost never went there anymore; perhaps they all could sense the sad emptiness, or perhaps they simply didn't go because there were rumored to be ghosts. Most ponies, young and old, stuck to the huge library or the great feasting hall, only going into the Big Room to practice dueling or other magic that wasn't approved of by the teachers.

Today it was filled to bursting, crammed with ponies along with a sea of cots, flameless lanterns, and cloth awnings made into improvised tents. It would hopefully be just a few minutes before the shield was reignited and the all-clear was given, but it was clear that nopony was taking any chances. "Alright. We're going to get situated on the far back of the room, by the door to the library. Remember, nopony wander off until the all-clear signal." Shimmer got her charges settled in before going to sit with Prism Star on one of the sleeping bags, stroking her blue mane with one hoof.

"Th-thanks, Shimmer. You don't have to baby me though, honest." Prism looked up, meeting Shimmer's lime-green eyes with her own paler eyes. "It's pretty scary, but I go through even more drills than anypony else. My dad is always drilling me at home for this or that weird scenario. He's crazy prepared, I mean... why would we have to run from the police? Or changelings? Changelings aren't even real. I mean, a bug that turns into a pony, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Shimmer laughed a little at this, unconsciously covering her cutie mark - a blue and green beetle with outspread, iridescent wings - with her tail. "Yeah, I know. It's completely ridiculous. But it's only because he cares about you so much. Some of it might come in handy too you never know."

"I... I guess..." She looked up at one of the leaded glass windows with a sad expression. "He's going to be out there the whole time, isn't he? Holding it back. Him, and all the pegasi and weather wizards... what if they don't come back?"

Shimmer quickly pulled Prism Star into a hug. "Shh... don't think of that. Thunderbolt is very brave, and he knows the risks. He's trained for this his whole life. You don't have to be scared for him, alright? You focus on keeping yourself safe, so that he has one less thing to worry about."

Prism sighed. "All right. I think I'd like to be alone for now, though. Maybe you should focus on the other fillies. Maybe I'll try to take a nap." She curled up in the bag with another sigh and closed her eyes, causing Shimmer to shake her head.

"If that's what you want..." She patted the younger pony on the shoulder. "I'll be around if you want to talk about it." Shimmer leaned down to nuzzle at Prism's ear before going off to comfort some of their dorm-mates.

Prism Star

Prism Star did manage to fall asleep, and it was hard to say how long she was napping for. She was woken by a sensation of warmth on her flanks, and for a moment she panicked, thinking that she had somehow wet the sleeping bag- something that she hadn't done since she was a little foal. After a moment to breathe, she realized that it wasn't actually wet, and the warmth felt like it was in her skin, so she scrambled out of the sleeping bag and looked down at her flank. It was... glowing. Her flank was glowing faintly, right where a cutie mark should be.

Could this be it? Prism jumped up to her hooves, and was about to shout out excitedly when she saw the most bizarre sight- A translucent pony that looked like she was made of crystal, with a long mane and tail of a hundred different colors, standing by the door leading off to the library. Nopony else seemed to see her as she raised the tip of one of her wings - beautiful things with long pinions in the same dazzling colors as her hair - to her mouth to indicate silence, before tilting her head towards the door and turning towards it.

"What? Who are-" It was too late for questions as she walked straight through the door, leaving Prism with a wide-eyed look of shock. This is a bad idea, but... I have to know. She looked back at Shimmer, who was busy handing out blankets and food, before turning towards the door and sneaking over as quietly as she could. Prism Star opened the door carefully with her magic and slipped through before it shut behind her, barely missing her tail. She saw the beautiful ghost pony on the other side, but she simply tilted her head again and began walking towards the library, leaving Prism to trot along behind her at a rapid pace. She tried to question the ghost again, but the ghost just shook her head and entered the library.

Prism got through the massive wood door just in time to see the spirit walk through a bookcase, and she growled in frustration. Why can't anything be easy? Thankfully, with everypony taking shelter in the Big Room and the feasting hall, the library was completely empty. There were no adults around to stop her from walking over to that same bookshelf and looking around, though at first she didn't find anything of use. "Maybe there's a secret passage," she muttered. Prism had never heard of any secret passages, but any castle had to have some, right? If there was, she'd better find it fast. She could see the emergency shield starting to flicker through the window, and the ancient, polished wood of the bookshelves was already starting to crust with a fine filigree of ice. Think, think, think... I've read plenty of books, I should be able to figure out a secret passage. Maybe the books themselves? There's always one that's fake and you tilt it and... Prism ignited her horn and started to move the books, pulling them out one by one with telekinesis until they were all sitting in piles on the carpet that was starting to look like frost-laden grass. "No, no! There's got to be something!" She started feeling around the bookshelf itself, because there had to be a secret button or switch.

"Prism Star? Prism, what are you doing out here? You have to get back to the warded rooms!" Prism suddenly turned, hitting her head with a yelp of pain, to see Shimmer standing by the door with a look of shock and fear. Shimmer's own cutie mark was glowing faintly.

"Sh-shimmer! I can't! There, there was a ghost, and my flank started glowing just like yours is now, and I think she wanted me to go through the bookshelf, and-"

Shimmer interrupted suddenly. "A ghost? What did she look like?" She stepped over to Prism Star, ignoring the chill that ran down her own neck as she heard a faint neighing in the distance.

"Shimmer, what is that? That doesn't sound like a pony!" Prism looked like she was about to panic, and ice was creeping up her hoof - a problem Shimmer quickly took care of with a low-powered energy blast, but they were both dead if they stayed any longer.

"It's a windigo! Don't panic, there's a way into the basement- your dad showed me." The older filly calmed herself with a deep breath and started laughing a little as she started rotating a wall sconce with her magic, turning it back and forth like a combination lock. "I hope it gets here."

"What?! Don't say things like that!"

"It'll be funny, though! Seeing the look on its face just before we escape through a secret door!" She laughed again as she finished turning the sconce and the bookshelf slid open to reveal a tiny room. "Come on, get in!"

"But it doesn't go anywhere!"

"Trust me, ok?" She pushed Prism in as the frost almost claimed her again, then quickly got in with her and hit a button that caused the floor under them to start sinking- it was a hidden lift!

"What is this? Why is there a elevator behind a bookshelf?" Prism looked up with big, frightened eyes at Shimmer. As surreal as all this was, though, at least the frost didn't seem to penetrate into the shaft. In fact, it was slowly getting warmer as they steadily descended.

"Um..." Shimmer hesitated, and then sighed before continuing. "Starlight Glimmer put it in. When she controlled the castle. Your... Thunderbolt showed me. It was the secret headquarters of the Order of Harmony until they moved to Canterlot. Airships always coming and going, Canterlot made it a lot easier to move-"

"I- forget about the airships, Shimmer! What is the Order of Harmony? What is all of this? Why didn't my father tell me any of it?"

"He wanted to protect you! I was supposed to protect you!" Shimmer practically shouted this at Prism as the elevator came to a halt and opened to a dark, low room that looked more like a cave chamber than part of a castle. The crystal walls twinkled with the reflection of the light coming off of their flanks, and when Shimmer cast a light spell on her horn, Prism gasped at the sight of a massive table of the same crystal, flanked on all sides by five high-backed thrones and one throne smaller than the rest. They all looked exactly like the broken throne in the Big Room, except... not broken. "I... listen, Prism. When I came to Ponyville, I was part of a traveling circus. I was... I think about the age you are now." She took a deep breath to calm herself and stepped into the room. "We'd go from city to city in our caravan, through the snow, and so long as we didn't argue or fight, our friendship would be enough to keep the windigos at bay. But that day, we did fight. There was a massive argument between some of the adults and our leader, just as we were about to reach the shield. The windigos came, with their frost and their terror, and we ran. We ran for the shield. But just as we got to it, the shield collapsed. I thought... I thought it would be the end. We were all going to be frozen to death." She sat on one of the thrones, which seemed to have a carving of three balloons on the arched back. "They took us one by one, and I was the last... but then your father showed up, with his wizards. They showed up just in time to save me. I... I owe everything to Thunderbolt. He helped me find a home. Taught me to fit into normal society. Got me into magic school. But there was a catch to it all. That catch was that I would repay my debt to him by watching over you, and keeping you safe. No matter what it cost."

"I... wow." Prism exhaled slowly and sat down across from her in the throne with a butterfly on the back. "That's... I don't even know what the hay to say to a story like that." She'd always known that Shimmer treated her differently than the other ponies - coddling her instead of bullying her, and always including Prism in her little jokes and pranks - but it didn't dawn on her until now just how much Shimmer acted like... "You're like my big sister, aren't you?"

Shimmer smiled at this. "Best sister friends forever." She laughed and put her front hooves up on the round table. "Come on, why did you think I never bullied you?"

Prism scoffed. "Because I'm so weak and innocent?" They both giggled hard at this, remembering Aurora Glow again. "But what's all this about the Order of Harmony? What's that?"

"OK, so... has your father told you yet? About the... the secret history?"

"Um..." Prism pursed her lips. "You mean the stuff about Nightmare Winter, and Twilight Sparkle, and all of that?"

This got a nod from the older girl. "Yeah. That stuff. There's another part he didn't tell you, because he didn't think you were old enough to know yet. You remember Starlight Glimmer, right?"

"Of course I do!" Prism Star groaned. "My dad never shuts up about her, you'd think she was his mom and not his great-great-great-great whatever!" She emphasized this with a dismissive motion of her hoof.

"Yeah, he does have kind of a pride thing going." Shimmer chuckled and shook her head, causing the three rings pierced through her left ear to jangle a little in the silence of the crystal cave. "But there's a reason for it. See, everyone talks about how she founded this school, how she tricked and defeated Discord, how she brought down Trixie Lulamoon and her little band of rebels. How... all of that." She seemed to want to say more on the subject, but held her tongue. "In the context of what Thunderbolt taught us about the real history, that seems really bad."

"It... it does. She ran, and then she turned on everyone." Prism suddenly looked confused and uncertain. "So why does Dad seem to love her so much?"

"Because even though she did all of those things, she never truly gave up - or stopped fighting. She secured her power as the Queen's favorite servant, she got this castle and a cushy post running a school, and from there she started working to undermine Flurry Heart and consolidate power for the future. She got some other ponies, and even creatures from other realms. Creatures who hated Flurry Heart, but could see the long game. Who knew they had to wait and plan instead of blindly rebelling. They called themselves the Order of Harmony, and they took this as their emblem." She turned up her hoof and brightened the light of her horn, letting Prism Star see that a six-pointed star was branded on the inside of her fetlock. "The cutie mark of Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"You... so they're still around? And you're one of them?" Prism Star's eyes were as wide as teacups, and her jaw hung open slightly.

"Thunderbolt brought me down here when I turned sixteen. He taught me the secret history, he taught me all about how I could fight for my people, he-"

"Wait, your people?" Prism gave her a confused eyebrow raise.

"Um, yeah. You know, ponies in general. We're all suffering under Flurry Heart." She gestured widely with her hoof and smiled nervously. "N-not the point. He gave me more to do with my life than be a circus freak. I.. I jumped at it. Sure, being branded hurt like you wouldn't believe, but... but it was the best day of my life." She sighed softly. "I finally belonged to something. A real family, and a real purpose."

"What purpose? What are you guys even doing?"

"At first the Order just spread the word. Kept the truth alive about what really happened even as Nightmare Winter erased the real history. Then they started gathering artifacts, anything that might have the magical power to help depose her, but what they really wanted was the Elements of Harmony. Magic artifacts held by Twilight Sparkle and her closest friends, with the power to do almost anything. But the Elements weren't ever found."

"That is because the right pony was not looking." Both fillies nearly jumped out of their skins as they looked to find the clear, sparkling voice of a mare. Eventually their eyes settled on the beautiful ghost pony that Prism Star had seen on the floors above, who glowed in the dark chamber as she walked towards the table and settled into the spot where the sixth throne would be. "The Elements of Harmony are not tools to be wielded by anyone with sufficient power. They are a reflection of the inner power of a pony's soul, and the bond of friendship between those who wield them. They will not reveal themselves to just anypony."

"You... you're the pony from upstairs." Prism shivered in fear. "Who... who are you?"

"I am the spirit of the Tree of Harmony, grown from a seed planted long ago by the Pillars of Equestria. The Elements are my fruit. Even this castle where we stand was grown from my roots."

Shimmer looked skeptical. "So I'm talking to a crystal... tree?"

"I am more than just a tree, Shimmerwing. I am the tamer of the Everfree Forest, a guardian for Equestria and the friendship of the ponies within. Once, when I was strong, I would call ponies from far and wide. They would do my will, and I directed them to save the friendships of ponies here and there across Equestria, always bringing harmony in their wake. But those days are long gone. Without my Elements... I only have the strength left for one more Friendship Quest. And I have waited so many years for the right ponies. So... so many years." She put a translucent hoof onto the table and strands of soft blue light began to jump and weave all across its surface.

"The... the Cutie Map." Shimmer's eyes were wide with awe. "I thought this was just a table, that the real thing was lost! It was hidden under our noses this whole time?"

"Shimmer, what's a Cutie Map?" Prism stood up in her seat and took in the light show.

"The Cutie Map was how the spirit called ponies when it needed them to go on a quest! Their cutie marks would glow and-" She quickly went silent as the realization dawned on her, and she looked down at her own flank. "You... us? We're the right ponies? We're..."

"We've been called by the Cutie Map." Prism Star's voice was one of quiet awe as a perfect map of Equestria, and the lands beyond, began to rise from the table, etched and carved in living crystal. Symbols began to appear floating above the map, flickering in and out. "Are those cutie marks?"

"I think they are, but what's wrong with them?" Even as she asked, they began to flicker out one by one until only six symbols remained - an orange tornado floated above a city in the sky, a shining beetle and a blank ball of light floated over Ponyville, and an apple, a full moon, and what appeared to be a claw of some kind appeared over a city to the east that Prism thought might be Manehattan. The symbols moved around until they were all floating above that sky city, spinning in a lazy circle overhead.

"I think that's... Las Pegasus. I've never been." Shimmer sounded a bit confused, a rare thing for her. "But what are we doing there?" The two fillies turned to face the specter, but she was already gone, and a few moments later the map flickered out as well.

Chapter IV: The Protector's Oath

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Shimmerwing
**6 Hours After Shieldfall**

After their experience with the Cutie Map, Prism Star and Shimmer attempted to return to the upper castle only to find that the elevator shaft had frozen tight. Thankfully, though, the cold still didn't penetrate the protected cavern, and so the two of them sat by the now-inactive map and talked the hours away by hornlight. More than anything else, they talked about the Order of Harmony. Prism learned that the Order had found many magic artifacts over the course of their existence, but now focused their efforts exclusively on finding the Elements of Harmony, a set of magic gems that could only be wielded properly by true friends who together embodied the aspects of Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and Magic. It turned out that the term 'Element' was used interchangably to refer to the gem itself and the paragon of friendship who was aligned with it, a fact that confused Prism greatly as Shimmer attempted to explain that the Elements of Honesty and Laughter were already in the possession of the Order, but that no pony suitable to use them had been revealed yet. It also seemed that the Element of Magic had a habit of disappearing - it had disappeared without a trace after the Elements abandoned Princess Celestia, and Nightmare Winter had taken the Element of Magic from the defeated Twilight Sparkle only to see it disappear from her treasure room just as mysteriously. Supposedly, at least according to Shimmer, Magic would only reappear when all the other gems had found their bearers. Shimmer told her the story of how Princess Twilight Sparkle - then just an ordinary librarian - and five of the ponies who would become what Shimmer called the Six Companions entered the then-wild Everfree Forest in search of the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon, the dark, Nightmare-infected reflection of Princess Luna. It was only when the Elements seemed lost, and Nightmare Moon was poised to defeat Twilight Sparkle, that the Element of Magic appeared to Twilight, as the 'spark' of friendship that came as her friends rushed to her side in the face of certain defeat. It was a thrilling story, and Prism Star sat rapt listening to it until the two of them heard the elevator start to move again - a grinding noise that echoed along the facets of the crystal cavern.

"Someone's coming down! Quick, we need to hide!" Shimmer looked around in panic before quickly rushing to grab Prism by the scruff of her neck and pull her down behind the Cutie Map, where they'd be hidden from the view of anyone entering the room. The two of them sat in terrified silence as the lift slowly descended.

They heard hooves clopping against the dusty floor as someone approached the middle of the room, and Prism Star nearly felt her heart stop in fear. With everything she'd head in the last couple of days, all she could think about was a series of increasingly horrible fates that Prism was certain would happen if they were caught down here.

Then she heard a voice call out, "Prism Star? Shimmer? Are you two down here?" It was her father! "I've looked everywhere else. It's safe to come out." Prism Star rushed from her hiding place to embrace the old stallion, crying with relief, and Shimmer emerged from behind the map table a few moments later.

"I'm so glad it's you, Dad, I was so scared!" Prism sobbed into her father's coat and continued to go on incoherently, while Shimmer came up to them and put a hoof on Thunderbolt's shoulder.

"Master Thunderbolt..." Shimmer gave the older pony a stern look as she quietly spoke, using his official title in both the Weather Guild and the Order of Harmony to underline how serious she was. "When Prism Star is done crying, we need to talk."

"What about?" Thunderbolt looked at her as he held the little filly in his forelegs. "If this is about me lying about the map, don't you think we have more important things to worry about? Ponies are dead, Shimmer."

"I.. n-no. I'm just an initiate, the lie isn't what's important. Thunderbolt, the map works.... worked." She put special emphasis on this last part, and Thunderbolt set Prism aside to focus on the new information, though one hoof still ran through her mane to try and keep her calm.

"Worked? Please explain."

"It... it spoke to us." Shimmer took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Some kind of spirit. It showed us a map of Equestria, and a whole bunch of symbols converging on what looked like Las Pegasus, including my cutie mark. Thunderbolt, the map called us both. Our flanks glowed just like the old stories said."

Thunderbolt looked down at Prism, who nodded slowly. "It... she was really sad, Dad... I think that she might be dead, she just disappeared and the map went completely cold."

"I'd thought it was dead already... The map hasn't called anyone in centuries, not since it called one of my predecessors to retrieve the Element of Laughter. This is..." He sighed. "I'd hoped that something like this would happen, but I can't say that I'm happy it's my daughter." He stroked her mane thoughtfully. "But on the other hoof, the map always called exactly the ponies that were needed to help." Thunderbolt knelt down to meet Prism's eyes with his own grey ones. "I'm proud of you. I know that you're going to do an amazing job at this Friendship Quest. Now how about you head home and pack your saddlebags while I talk to Shimmer? Just pack the essentials for a trip, and if anyone asks you where you're going, say that you're going with her to check on family in Canterlot." He pointed to a side tunnel. "There's another secret exit there that leads out behind the school proper. It's a better way to get out unseen."

They waited for Prism to leave before continuing the conversation. "This is not quite how I saw my little girl leaving home, Shimmerwing... You're going to have to keep her safe."

"Me? She needs a proper Protector. I'm barely more than a grub myself." Shimmer closed her eyes in concentration and released her pony form in a violent flash of green light, revealing her true form - a tall insectoid creature with pale blue chitin and a bright green shell over her folded gossamer wings, with wide, empty green eyes and a long, crooked horn. "You've been very kind to keep my secret, but the last thing you want is a changeling protecting Prism."

"You... no." Thunderbolt set a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly. "I saw what you were from the beginning, and I took you in. I took you in against the advice of every one of my subordinates, who all thought you would just give in to the temptation to feed on the love I had for my little foal. But you... you gave her love. Where everypony else who knew saw a potential predator, I saw you share your love with her. I saw you becoming her sister in every way but blood."

She shifted nervously. "I still follow the teachings of Thorax. I'm not about to feed on anypony, especially a baby."

"As you get older, Shimmerwing, you'll realize that there are certain moments that define a life. Moments where you can see the whole future laid out in front of you. When your hoof first met yours, do you know what I saw?"

"Just tell me." She sighed.

"I saw a Protector. I saw a special bond that would last a lifetime."

Shimmerwing chuckled. "Best sister friends forever."

"Exactly." Thunderbolt smiled warmly, with some tears welling up in his eyes. "I saw that you had the potential to be better than I ever was. To avoid all of my mistakes." He started crying in earnest as he remembered Guiding Star... and his own failure to save her.

"I..." Shimmer sighed and wiped away his tears with her magic. "It's moot anyway," she continued in a quiet tone. "Protectors are always ponies that trace their descent to Twilight Sparkle's companions. You know, 'Thunderbolt, son of Hearth Fire, of the lineage of Starlight Glimmer'?" She punctuated this with a sarcastic expression and a twirl of her hoof. "I'm not a pony, let alone a descendant of the Six Companions."

"And yet you were the one the map chose." His voice had taken on a quiet calm. "The spirit of harmony does not make mistakes. It calls the creatures that it chooses to solve a problem, and each of them brings something special and unique that is needed to complete the Quest. If the map cared about our traditions, then it would have chosen a pony. It did not - it chose you to accompany my daughter, because you have something far more important than noble blood. You have her friendship."

"I... Thunderbolt..." She was about to respond to this when they were interrupted by a high, echoing scream from the side passage. The two of them turned, Shimmerwing quickly shifting back into her unicorn form, to see Prism Star standing in the mouth of the tunnel with a look of horror, her saddlebags having fallen down at her feet in her panic, before fainting and falling to the ground in a crumple of spilled clothes, hair, and legs.

Prism Star
**7 hours after Shieldfall**

When Prism Star woke, she was lying in a soft bed with purple sheets, a heavy blanket pulled over her and her father peering down at her. "Are you alright, little dawnlight?"

She sat upright quickly with a panicked look. "I- you... that thing!" The filly sputtered, not able to continue her line of thought quite yet- it was too strange.

"I did tell you that changelings are real, did I not?" Thunderbolt stroked her hair gently.

"What about- wait, Shimmer, where's, it turned into... oh no, oh no, oh no..."

"Calm down... Just calm down and I'll explain.."

"Dad, it ate Shimmer! It ate her and took her body and now it's going to eat you too!" Of course this made perfect sense to her. Changelings hadn't been seen out in the open since the Winter began, and in the meantime had become creatures of old pony tales, bogeymen who scared foals at night.

"Sweetheart... that is Shimmer." He maintained a steady, even tone despite his daughter's panic, doing his best to project calm.

"No it's not! You saw it turn into her, Shimmer's lived with us my whole life and now she's gone!"

Shimmer, in pony form, took this opportunity to enter the room - driving Prism to squeal in terror and dive back under the covers, trembling. "P-prism! It's just me! It's just your sister!"

"You're not my sister! You're just some bug! What did you do to her?!"

Shimmer sighed and sat next to the bed, on the other side from Thunderbolt, and released her pony form in a flash of light. "I haven't done anything to her because I am her! That's what we're trying to tell you! Prism..." She thought for a minute. "Prism, you think you're really bad at magic, but I've seen a book on hard light constructs under your bed in the dorm. Your biggest crush is a singer called Southern Storm, and six weeks ago I caught you kissing your pillow while fantasizing about his wings." This secret drew a deep blush from the newly emerged Prism Star, and a look of concern from Thunderbolt, who appeared about to say something before Shimmer silenced him with a glare from her empty eyes. "I... when Thunderbolt brought me home, I'd just lost my family. But when I saw you in your crib, and I felt the love your father had for you and for... for me, I..." Shimmer made a choked noise in her throat, and if she was a pony she would be crying now. "...I knew that I was home."

Prism leaped up into an embrace with the changeling, crying. "You... you still are. I don't care what you look like, Shimmer." She looked up at her adoptive sister's face, big round eyes swimming with tears. "We're best sister friends forever."

Shimmer pressed her hoof and her horn to Prism's. "Best sister friends forever." She looked over at Thunderbolt. "I... I'm ready. I'm ready to do whatever it takes to protect my little sister... Father." She closed her eyes as the stallion smiled and took a small book from the table.

"Very well, Shimmerwing."

Prism Star blinked in surprise at hearing her true name and looked up, only to be shushed by Shimmer. "Shh... whatever happens, just be cool and don't move your hoof. This is just some Order stuff," the changeling whispered. She moved her head back but kept her hoof pressed to Prism's.

"Shimmerwing, do you accept the bond with Prism Star?" Thunderbolt had the book open, but he knew the words by heart from his own Oath.

Shimmer took a breath. "I, Shimmerwing, daughter of..." She shook her head and started over. "I, Shimmerwing, of the tenth brood of Queen Heartsong, of the lineage of Prince Thorax, accept the love and friendship of Prism Star into my heart, and give her my own heart in kind."

A force felt like it was pushing their hooves together, and Thunderbolt wove a strand of light around the joined appendages with his horn. "Shimmerwing, do you acknowledge the lineage of Prism Star?"

"I, Shimmerwing, recognize Prism Star as the true blood of Princess Celestia and the daughter of the sun."

Prism's eyes went wide with confusion, and though she kept her promise to remain silent, her mind -and heart- were both racing. 'True blood of Princess Celestia, what does that even mean? Wait, Princess Celestia was the Princess of the Sun and my mom raised the sun. Well, she didn't raise it alone, but she still raised it and Dad said that only Celestia could raise the sun for long without-'

"Shimmerwing, do you swear your loyalty to the true rulers of Equestria?"

"I swear my fealty to the throne of Princess Celestia, who bathed us in the life-giving warmth of the sun. I swear my fealty to the throne of Princess Luna, who sheltered us with her wisdom in the night. I swear to oppose Nightmare Winter at every turn, and to serve the true diarchy with my dying breath."

Prism's own breath was still fast and shallow with her shock. 'He even said that mom looked like Princess Celestia when the sun hit her, so if she looked like Celestia and she was a master of celestial magic than she must have been descended from Celestia at some point but I never heard of Celestia having foals-'

"What do you swear this on, Shimmerwing?"

There was a pause before Shimmer responded. "I swear my oath... I swear my oath before the Black Throne." At this point, Prism's chain of thought was interrupted by a rattling noise from a nearby cupboard, which both of the adults in the room seemed to ignore. "I swear by Prince Thorax, may he rest in peace. I swear my oath to the vengeful ghost of Queen Chrysalis - may she consume me utterly if I fail to protect Prism Star."

"Then just as the power of the sun passed from Guiding Star to Prism Star, I pass the power of the Protectors on to you, Shimmerwing." Thunderbolt opened his mouth and a shimmering white haze came out of him, floating through the air before seeming to absorb into Shimmer's chest.

The changeling shuddered as she broke the link with Prism Star. "It's so warm... it's like... it feels like love.."

Thunderbolt hugged them both tightly in turn. "I'm so proud of you. Both of you. I'm... I have a couple of things I wanted to give the two of you when this day came." He stepped towards the door. "I'll leave you alone for now."

After he left, Prism looked up at her sister. "So... Queen Heartsong."

Shimmer laughed softly, glad that Prism was avoiding the obvious bombshell for now. "It's not as impressive as it sounds. Queens are the only female changelings who mate, so technically every changeling is the son or daughter of a queen. And every changeling alive is descended from Prince Thorax."

Prism nodded at this. "OK. So what's a protector?"

"Well..." Shimmer sighed. So much for avoiding the Celestia stuff. "Let's back up a little first. You remember that bit about Princess Celestia."

"I'm still trying to get my head around it."

"Yeah," Shimmer said. "I understand the feeling. Everything you thought about your position in the world was wrong and suddenly you've got this crazy new responsibility on your shoulders. Been there."

"It's just that it was a thousand years ago. I can't believe that it still matters." Prism thought back to what she'd learned of genetics. "That long ago, shouldn't any relevant genes be so dilute that every pony has some of them?"

Shimmer shrugged at this. "It used to be you'd get unicorns all the time who were sun-touched or moon-touched. Descended from the princesses and inheriting at least some of their power. But the queen's scared of them. They're always being hunted down, and now you get maybe one filly or colt in a generation who has enough of the power left to be a potential heir. As far as genes go, I don't know. Magical affinity is kind of a wild card."

"That's why Dad was always so paranoid, isn't it? He thought something would happen to me like... like what happened to Mom." It was all starting to come together in her mind, the whole horrible picture. "He always said that she died not long after I was born, and that he moved to Ponyville right after. She... she must have been killed for her powers, and then Dad... he must have moved to protect me. And now that I'm leaving home, I need a Protector because they're going to come for me just like they came for Mom."

"A Protector is a pony who bonds with you, both emotionally and magically. The bond gives us certain abilities that help me keep you alive. I get super fast reflexes, and a sort of sixth sense for when you might be in danger. And in time it gets deeper than that. Our minds start to bond - we feel each other's emotions, and if you were to get hurt I'd feel it too. Thunderbolt was your mom's Protector. He never said what happened to her, but..." Shimmer sighed. "The others say he was never the same since he came to lead the Ponyville cell. Nobody blames him, because whatever happened put him in an impossible position... but he blames himself."

"Wow," Prism said after a few minutes of awkward silence. "I never knew any of that. I always thought he was just kind of eccentric, but now I think I get it."

When Thunderbolt returned, he was carrying Prism's saddlebags on his back, and had a few more objects carried around him in telekinetic auras. "Alright, this is everything-" He was startled by a sudden hug from Prism Star, leading him to drop most of what he was carrying. "Hey, easy! I'm going to miss you too, dawnlight..."

"Dad, I..." She stopped. What was she supposed to say? That she didn't blame him for her mother's death? That she promised not to die? None of it felt right to say, but thankfully she was spared having to say any of it by Thunderbolt pushing a battered old book into her hooves. "Optics: The Science and Magic of Light and Color," Prism read off of the cover. "By Sunburst, with foreword by Princess Celestia."

"A rare first edition." Thunderbolt ruffled her mane. "They were pulled off of the shelves after the war, replaced by an edition with Celestia written out of them. This... this one was your mother's copy. She was always reading it, and making notes in the margins. She would have wanted you to have it when you were old enough to understand the spells." Prism responded by clutching the heavy book tightly and sobbing into her father's coat. "As for you, Shimmerwing... open that cupboard behind you and take out that metal box."

She followed his direction, pulling from the cupboard a small, rugged-looking locked box that she opened with magic. The moment it was open, the remaining objects Thunderbolt was holding aloft fell to the ground as his horn fizzled out, and Prism felt a wave of nausea and dizziness go through her, nearly falling over before Shimmer saw her distress and quickly slammed the box shut. "Where did you get this?!" she demanded of Thunderbolt.

"The Order found it decades ago, on a diplomatic mission to Queen Heartsong. A-"

"-lost shard of the Black Throne," Shimmer finished with a tone of distaste. "The original one that Chrysalis sat on. When she was defeated, it exploded and the fragments ended up all over the desert. And you brought one here?"

"It's in a shielded container! It's perfectly safe!"

"Look at what it did to Prism!"

Prism growled defiantly at this and turned around to face Shimmer. "I'm fine! Don't bring me into it like I'm a helpless foal!"

"I... Ugh!" Shimmer groaned. "I didn't say you were helpless! But you are a foal, and your body isn't strong enough to handle the disruption to your magic!"

"Girls!" Thunderbolt's sharp tone stopped the argument in its tracks. "So long as it is in that sealed box, it will be safe. But you'll need every advantage that you can get, and changeling magic will be the last thing anypony expects."

"It's cursed, Thunderbolt!" Shimmer glared.

"There is no such thing as a curse! Curses are just smoke and mirrors meant-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, real magic comes from within and curses are just superstition, I think I understand changeling artifacts better-"

"ENOUGH!" Prism stopped both of them with a blast of red light that knocked both adults to the floor. "What does it even do?"

"It absorbs magic," Shimmer said as she picked herself gingerly off the floor, folding her iridescent wings back up under her shell as she stood. "Anything that isn't changeling magic. Unicorn magic, pegasus flight, dragonfire... once upon a time, the queen of the changelings sat on a great big throne carved from a single chunk of this dark stone, imbued with enchantments supposed to be as old as changelings ourselves." She held up the box with her magic, looking at it with an expression of distaste. "When Thorax and Starlight Glimmer overthrew Queen Chrysalis, the throne shattered and released all of its stored magic at once... An explosion that nearly destroyed the hive. In the years after, a new throne was carved, but it was never as strong."

She sighed and paused for a moment to collect herself. "I know you're going to say this is ridiculous, and there's no such thing as ghosts, but we have a very old story. When Thorax and Starlight overthrew Chrysalis and reformed the changelings, they offered to help her. They offered the defeated queen love and friendship, but she refused and swore vengeance. But she never got that vengeance- every time she tried, Princess Twilight and her Companions defeated her. Changelings say that Chrysalis knew ancient dark magics, that she kept her spirit alive long after her body withered and died. We say that the original Black Throne absorbed more than outsider magic- it also absorbed her malice and her hate, which is why we think the Reformation shattered it." She put the box down with another sigh. "One day she'll be back. She'll try to get her revenge on ponies, and on the changelings who followed Thorax. And when she calls, the shards of her throne will answer."

"Shimmer..." Thunderbolt approached her, putting a hoof around her and then pulling her into a hug. "It's just a story. Queen Chrysalis died a thousand years ago. The queen who banished you may be calling herself Chrysalis II, but she's just a pale imitation of the real thing, and those shards won't be answering her call or anypony else's."

"I know." She took a deep breath, and smiled as Prism Star came in to hug her too. "At least, I should know. But I can't help still believing. I... I know it's stupid, but I'm still scared, and the thought of it keeps me up at night sometimes." She laughed softly at herself and hugged her family back. "Look at me, Prism. I'm supposed to protect you from a real threat and I'm over here scared of an old pony tale."

Thunderbolt stepped back from the hug and handed over a pair of saddlebags with the beetle cutie mark of Shimmer's pony form, which she put on after changing back. "I kind of miss having wings again already," Shimmer said with a laugh.

"I imagine. Flying is... well, let's just say that when I first learned to manipulate clouds, it took quite a bit to get me back down.." Thunderbolt laughed back and slid a cloth-wrapped parcel into Shimmer's bag. There was something about it that felt... odd to her. Just the proximity made her heart feel lighter and chased away the specter of frightening old tales. The idea of Chrysalis returning suddenly felt like a bad joke, one that she wanted to laugh at for being ridiculous rather than for being funny. "I want you to take this with you as well. You've always laughed at everything. You use laughter like armor- you laugh at yourself for being afraid, you laugh at others so they won't get too close, you use it to distract Prism so she won't notice the world arrayed against her. But there's more to laughter." He pressed a hoof to her chest. "The feeling in your heart right now isn't just humor. It's hope. I want you to keep laughing. I want you to bring light, and humor, and most of all hope, into darkness."

Everything suddenly clicked for Shimmer, and she pushed Thunderbolt away before starting to root in her bag. "I can't- no. I can't take this, you need to-"

Thunderbolt interrupted her by canceling out her magic with his own. "I need to give it to you. I have a feeling that you're going to need hope. The spirit of harmony summoned you two, of all ponies, after five hundred years of silence. It spoke to you in person- that spirit didn't even appear to Twilight Sparkle herself. I have a feeling that this is the most important friendship quest that the map has ever given, and you're going to need the Element of Laughter before it's over. Even without the others, it's still a powerful artifact." He pressed it back down into her bag. "I've also packed you lunches, and arranged for you to have tickets on an airship to Las Pegasus. When you get there, I want you to check in with the Order house there- tell Master Peregrine that Thunderbolt wants him to hear a good joke." Shimmer nodded at the precise instructions and gave the old man one last hug before prying a still-crying Prism Star away and making sure the filly had her own bags ready to go. "And Prism... don't be afraid. You're already so much like your mother, and you're growing up so fast. But don't grow up too fast." Thunderbolt hugged his daughter tightly, one last time. "One last thing... Make some friends. They might save your life."

Chapter V: Five Tickets to Paradise

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Midnight Shine
**10 Hours After Shieldfall**

Midnight woke up with the mother of all headaches, laying on what felt like a wooden pallet. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his brother, Sour Apple, sitting over him with his rough-cut red mane even more scruffy than normal, along with a skinny red dragon. After a moment, it registered to him that she was the dragon he'd seen with Sour Apple in the bizzare series of visions he'd had after his encounter with the Princess Luna from an alternate Equestria... a concept that he decided to shelve for the moment, considering that his head and horn hurt enough as it was.

"We are now one hour from arrival at Ponyville Air Station." The voice was a stallion's, but tinny as though from a speakerphone, and oddly muffled. "Passengers in the Luxury and Economy class will soon be able to see the spires of Ponyville Castle from the port bow."

"Where..." Midnight coughed a little and his brother put a hoof on his muzzle to silence him.

"Easy kiddo. Talon here was scared you wouldn't wake up." This lead to the dragon scoffing and muttering that she didn't really care, but Midnight noticed a slight flush under her scales. "You had a really crazy experience. I've never seen anything like it. You-"

"You destroyed everything!" Talon laughed gleefully. "The Finders, the windigos, all of it! I mean, until you collapsed."

Midnight felt the blood drain from his face. "I... I what? I..." He trailed off as he remembered what he had seen towards the end of his visions - murder and mayhem, radiant power, beams of pure moonlight... "That was... that was real?" His face took on a cast of horror as the realization came to him in slow, sickening waves. "I... Oh, Celestia, I killed..."

Sour Apple quickly pressed his hoof back to Midnight's muzzle. "Don't- don't think about it. Okay? Whatever you did, you did what you had to. They were going to give you to the Queen. Do you have any idea what she would have done with you? Six Point told me-"

"I don't care what Six Point told you!" Midnight quickly found his hooves under him as his horn flared with anger, pushing Sour and Talon back onto their backsides with a wave of silver energy before he fell back forward onto his belly with a groan. The accidental spell had drawn a flare of pain from his horn, and now it was throbbing like it was going to fall off. "I... ugh... I killed those ponies, Sour." He sniffled. "I know what you're trying to say, but those were ponies with, with families and lives, and I just... I just ended all of that."

"Well, they knew what they were getting into," Talon said. This drew sobs from Midnight, and Sour Apple glared at her as he took the younger colt into a hug.

"Don't you have someplace to be?" The earth pony asked pointedly. Talon threw up her claws and left in a huff, while Sour rubbed Midnight's head gently. "You look pretty terrible, Midnight. Do you feel like talking about what happened?"

The younger boy sighed. "I'm not sure I understand what happened, Sour. I..." He hesitated, trying to figure out where to start. "Alright, so after you left, I decided to go to the market for a bit. I know I'm not supposed to," he quickly said, putting a hoof up in a defensive gesture, but Sour didn't seem interested in admonishing him and instead made a gesture for Midnight to continue. "I got caught. The Finders chased me into an alley, and then I learned I could teleport, but then I got caught anyway because they had pegasi."

Sour interrupted him here. "Wait, you teleported? That's amazing! That's the most powerful magic you've ever done! That's something most grown unicorns can't do!"

"That's not the point!" Midnight snapped at him angrily, then started crying again fresh. "I... I'm sorry, Sour... I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Shhhh..." Sour Apple rocked him gently back and forth. "I'm sorry I interrupted, keep going."

Midnight Shine took a deep breath before he continued. "I woke up in a cell uptown, in the part of the city where ponies don't like to live anymore. I think it might have been an old police station. And then I saw some stuff I don't really understand. I saw some kind of vision of Princess Luna, from like... another world, or the dream realm, or something like that."

"The what?" Sour Apple looked confused. "Um... nevermind, I'm sorry. Keep going."

"Yeah, I don't really understand it that well either. She... kind of tried to explain it, but a lot of it went over my head. She, um.. .she put her hoof into me. Through me. And then I saw a bunch of really crazy stuff that I don't understand, including myself..." He took a breath to try to keep from crying again, only half succeeding. "Myself hurting all those ponies and fighting the windigos. And then I saw you, and then I woke up here. What happened? Were there really windigos?"

"Well... yeah. The shields went down in almost every city, for hours. A lot of ponies froze and... you know." The teen sighed. "When we came up from the job, we ended up uptown too, pretty close to you. That was the first time we saw that the shield went down. And you were there fighting. Your... your eyes were glowing, pure white, and there was light coming off you like I've never seen before. You looked like a hero out of some old story, bro." He chuckled and ruffled Midnight's mane as Talon returned. "And then... I think your horn overloaded. Something like that, I don't know... it was crackling with lightning, and then your aura just flickered out. You fell into the snow and we had to go save you."

"We? You-"

"We both saved you." Talon gently punched Midnight on the shoulder. "Don't get a big head. I kind of owed your brother."

"What happened? I mean, with you two. You seem really... tight now. Even though you just met."

The two older creatures exchanged a knowing look. "That's... a pretty long story too," Sour said. "I'll let Talon start off, while I get you some food."

He left with a kiss on the top of Midnight Shine's head, and Talon sighed and settled in. "OK, so we were on this job to raid an old vault, from some private collector who abandoned it centuries ago. Bunch of other ponies, all super organized." She made a waving gesture with one claw. "And we were going to go in last, after they got to the vault. We're both small and fast, so we were going to get around the last of the defenses and shut the place down so the others could get the goods..."

Talon
**30 Minutes Before Shieldfall**

The dragon walked behind her new friend quickly down the low hallway. They'd just climbed down the elevator shaft after a massive earth pony carrying an electric lantern in his mouth. It was time for their part in the heist. The hall was littered with the remains of ancient, half-crumbled clay golems, their limbs broken and their crystal animation cores shattered like tiny sapphires all over the floor.

"I guess Black Cherry was right to bank on golems." Talon patted Sour Apple's back.

"I hear she's usually right," he replied with a nervous expression. "She's pretty calculating.."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The dragon stepped gingerly over the legs of a badly hurt pony who was currently being healed by a unicorn.

"Well..." He hung back a little to bring his head closer to her, so he could take a quieter tone. "It means we need to be careful. I have a pretty good sense for danger. It's what's kept me around this long. And right now that danger sense is telling me that something is not right... but I can't figure it out yet. I feel like, um..." Sour Apple gestured vaguely with his head as he struggled to articulate what he was feeling.

"Like... this is too good to be true," Talon finished for him. "If she wanted agile, why not a pegasus? No offense."

"No, you're right. Maybe... Talon, have you ever been on any jobs like this before?" She shook her head at this. "See, neither have I. Why get two creatures with the least experience to do the most important job? I can't figure it out yet, but just be careful."

By the time they reached the vault, it had already been blown open with blasting charges. The ground was littered with big pieces of twisted shrapnel that the two of them had to carefully step over and around to avoid.

"Now what?" Talon asked.

"Now... now we go in. And we get ready for things to go wrong."

Midnight Shine
**10 Hours After Shieldfall**

"So... did they go wrong?" Midnight Shine cocked his head at Talon.

She laughed in response. "Yeah. Yeah, they really did. The security was pretty tough to get around, sure, but your brother can really move when he wants to. That's not where it went wrong, though."

Midnight was about to ask what happened when Sour Apple returned, pressing a foil-wrapped sandwich into the younger pony's hooves and then pressing a hoof to Midnight's forehead and then his horn. "Wow.. you still don't seem very well. You're burning up, Mid. Even your horn feels hot." Sour sighed. "I don't get it. Maybe when we get to Las Pegasus we can afford to take you to a doctor."

"You spent half our bits just getting us onto this airship," Talon grumbled. "All for this 'pony on fire' stuff."

This caused Midnight to nearly choke on his cheese sandwich and sit upright suddenly. "Wait... 'pony on fire'? How did you know about-"

Talon interrupted him with a harsh laugh. "You talk in your sleep."

Sour Apple gave her a reproachful look and then returned his attention to Midnight. "Yeah. You kept talking about a pony on fire, said we had to go to Las Pegasus if we were going to save her. I don't really understand it, but you seemed really intent on it. And after what I saw at the police station, I think..." He sighed. "There's always been something special about you, Mid. And it's not just your special talent - you've got good instincts, too. If this is important to you, then I'll follow you anywhere."

Midnight looked over at Talon. "And... what about you? Why are you following with this?"

"Your brother saved my life." She huffed softly. "Dragon Code, I owe Sour a life. I help you two help this mystery pony and we're even."

"Huh... Well, I guess I can respect that," Midnight said after a moment. "How did he save your life?"

"Well... here's what happened when we got into the vault."

Talon
**15 Minutes Before Shieldfall**

"Well, showtime." Sour Apple chuckled a little bit and stepped forward , though he just took a few steps before Talon grabbed him.

"Hey, careful. Pressure plates." She pointed at the ground, at a line of slightly raised tiles.

"Yeah, thanks." He looked back and then carefully stepped over them. "Who knows what could have happened... Let's take this slow. Even if we are surrounded by amazing treasure." The room was only dimly lit by what remained of the electrical lights, but everywhere they could see the glitter of gold and gems. Talon greedily started pulling a small pile of gold bits into a bag while Sour looked at the leads from the pressure plates, following them to the wall. "These look like beam gems - I remember from the briefing. No way to disarm them without a unicorn." He shook his head. "Thanks for the save. These would have sliced me apart.."

"So it's the same as we thought going in. We find whatever generator is still providing electricity and we turn it off." Talon cinched the bag onto a strap that she threw over one shoulder.

"I'd talk about how you're already skimming, but I'm really starting to get a bad feeling that we're not getting paid. I... think we might not be heroic treasure hunters so much as test dummies."

Talon looked at Sour Apple skeptically. "I know we agreed we don't trust Black Cherry, but..." She stopped talking when she saw the horrified look on his face, and followed his wide eyes to look behind her shoulder, and took on the same expression when she saw a massive golem. "You're... you're not fireproof, are you?" Sour Apple shook his head in response as they stared at the golem. Its roughly segmented clay body was formed in the shape of an adult dragon, easily as big as twenty of either of the two kids staring at it, and many of its segments were covered in what looked to be iron plates. There was an odd contraption mounted where its mouth should be, and Sour had a feeling that this thing probably could breathe fire just like a real dragon.

"We should... probably run."

Midnight Shine
**11 Hours After Shieldfall**

Talon was interrupted by the PA blaring out in the canned voice of a bored stallion, "We are now arriving at Ponyville Air Station. All ponies disembarking should exit on the port side of the ship." Midnight looked around, and now that he was getting a good look at where they are, they were in a hold surrounded by crates, and maybe a handful of other ponies.

"So why are we in here with all the cargo?" Midnight asked.

"Well, tickets on a ship like this are expensive." Talon shrugged and sat back. "Air travel is safe, and safe means valuable. But we had to get you to your 'pony on fire', so..." She paused for dramatic effect. "We paid maybe a third of what we would have paid for actual tickets to instead bribe somepony to let us hang out down here."

"It sounds like you really didn't get out of there with much money."

"No, we really didn't," she said with a shake of her head. "I got my bits, and while we were fighting, Sour got hold of this really valuable-looking choker and-"

Midnight tried to sit upright at this but then groaned in pain and laid back down quickly. "Ugh..." He shook his head. "Sorry. You said a choker?" He tried to think as Talon nodded with a look of concern. "Heavy, solid gold, huge ruby in the shape of a lightning bolt?"

"I- yeah." She looked surprised. "How did you know?"

"I... I saw it when I was having those visions, Sour was wearing it and... and loyalty... and rainbows... rainbooms?" He scrunched up his face with the effort of remembering the details, while Talon looked at him like he was crazy.

"Rainbooms? What's a rainboom?" She grabbed the swaying foal by the shoulder and shook him gently. "Hey- hey! Stay with me, kid. Don't start babbling again."

"I..." Midnight stopped, and took several long, deep breaths. "You're right. You're right. Tell me about the dragon thing."

"Alright," Sour Apple said. "I'll take it from here - Talon mostly spent the encounter running."

Sour Apple
**10 Minutes Before Shieldfall**

They ran, stringing the dragon through the vault and often just barely avoiding the traps. Their first idea was to head back to the entrance, but they quickly found themselves cut off - the moment the dragon first roared in its mechanical voice, the ponies outside had barricaded the door as best they could. So instead, Sour and Talon split up and ran in different directions, Talon yelling to try and draw it off- she was fireproof, after all, and Sour Apple wasn't. It worked at first; all the golem saw was noise and movement, and as it melted the room's many treasures with its gouts of fire, Sour Apple slipped away and started looking desperately for anything that might help. But there wasn't anything he could see. There were gold bars and bits everywhere, priceless gems, long-forgotten works of art and first editions... but no weapons and no apparent ways out.

"Hurry up!" He could hear Talon from the far side of the huge vault, her shouts echoing off of the domed ceiling. "The beam gems aren't hurting it and fire just made it more mad!"

"I'm trying! There's nothing useful!" That was when he spotted a glint of bronze from the corner of his eye and ran for it- one thing that he'd learned very well as a cheat was how to tell gold from baser metals at a glance, or the other way around. The only thing made of bronze that could possibly be valuable enough to keep in this vault had to be a weapon, or armor, or... or a shield. Sour Apple skidded to a halt as he saw a tall glass case with its own internal light still working. A small sign in an elegant hand read, In Memory of COURAGE, and LOYALTY. Flash Magnus (b. Unknown d. 1512) and Rainbow Dash (b. 1485 d. 1519), and in the back of the case he could see that a handpainted backdrop had been set up depicting a dark yellow pegasus in ancient bronze armor, holding a kite shield to deflect a stream of fire- a dented, scorched shield with nocks for a pegasus' wing roots, which hung on hooks in front of the backdrop. Next to the ancient warrior was painted a blue pegasus mare with a windswept shock of rainbow-striped hair and beautiful eyes filled with determination. On her neck was a gold choker with a red gem in the shape of a lightning bolt- the same shape as the rainbow-colored lightning of her cutie mark. That same choker was hanging next to the shield, and as Sour Apple reached to press his hoof against the case, it throbbed with red light in time with his heartbeat... somehow slow and steady despite his fear.

As he stared into the light, the noise of the battle behind him seemed to melt away and take his fear with it. Of course he would fight the fake dragon. Talon was his friend now, after all, and what was fighting a dragon for your friends? It didn't matter that he didn't have a plan, because he had to try. In that light he saw the answer to his problems in the form of Flash Magnus wielding his shield - he called it the Titus - against the dragons. Everyone thought his friends were lost, but Flash had to try, even if trying was insane, because he could never leave them behind. In the light, he saw ponies battling Nightmare Winter - they were losing and dying and the princess of friendship - her name was Twilight Sparkle - was bound in chains. Rainbow Dash couldn't alter the outcome but she could stay loyal and she could fight, and Sour Apple saw her sacrifice herself so that the others could escape. Somehow he knew that the light he saw was the strength of Magnus' courage, and the power of Rainbow Dash's sacrifice, and in between he saw Celestia and Luna standing up to a patchwork despot called Discord, and he saw monsters walk right out of the old pony tales to be defeated by Rainbow Dash and her friends- Chrysalis and Tirek and the Storm King. It was calling him, tugging on his heart and demanding that he add his own stories of valor to its litany.

Sour Apple's reverie was interrupted by a scream of pain from Talon, and he quickly turned around and bucked at the glass with his back hooves, shattering the case and starting an alarm that was met with a roar of fury from the dragon. Too late for second guessing now. It was time to act. He put the choker on, feeling a rush of warmth and strength into his limbs as he did so, and then grabbed the shield, slinging it over his back and running towards the sound of the thundering dragon golem.

Midnight Shine
**11 Hours After Shieldfall**

"Wow, that's incredible. It's just like I saw in my visions." Midnight Shine sipped at a cup of water Talon had gotten him as his big brother checked his temperature again.

"That's nice to know, I guess, but I could do with less accuracy if it meant this fever would go down. It's like you've gotten sicker than I've ever seen, in just hours, and I have no idea what to do." The earth pony sighed. "I'm... I don't know. Ponyville has a big magic school, right? Maybe we'll get lucky and some wizards boarded the ship while we were there. I know it's a long shot, but this has got to be some kind of unicorn thing, and I have no idea how to help you." Sour Apple kissed him on the head and went back to the upper decks as Talon continued the story from her perspective.

"So there I was, right, fighting that big fake dragon- well, if I can be honest with you, kid, it was mostly running away from the big dragon. I might be fireproof but that thing had claws as big as you!" Midnight shuddered at the thought of that. "Im just about cornered, and that golem is breaking or melting everything. But then your brother shows up. He's got a big, garish ruby around his neck, and he's flailing around with this shield strapped to one of his forelegs, and I think that he's going to get burned alive for sure. The golem spits this big burst of fire out of the weird tube where its mouth should be, but then Sour holds up that shield and it just bounces right off! It didn't just go around the shield or something like that, it bounced right off and hit the ceiling!"

"Wow," Midnight managed to exclaim weakly. "That's actually really cool."

"Hey, I'll let you get away with the weak cheering this time because you look like you're dying." She put a hand on Midnight's chest. "Serious note, please don't die. Not until your brother gets back at the very least." Midnight returned this sentiment with a laugh that turned into a racking cough. "That really didn't sound good. Are you sure you don't want to just go back to sleep?"

"Tell me the rest of the story, please. So he fought the dragon but how did he beat it."

"Well..." Talon rubbed the scales of her neck and flicked one of her wings. "Truth be told, I didn't really see all of it because they were both moving around so much. Sour was able to get in close where the dragon seemed to have trouble hitting him, and I saw him trying to jam the pointy end of the shield in between its armor segments. He, um... he sort of pried them open like the shield was a crowbar and he stuck his hoof inside of the gap. He must have hit the soulstone, I think. It just shuddered and fell apart after, and I flew in and grabbed Sour before he could get crushed."

"And then what happened?" He tried to sit up but Talon forced him back down. "What happened to the choker? I saw it in my visions and I think it's really important."

"We still have it, don't worry about that. I just want to sell it myself, but your brother seems obsessed with it. I think he was going to die rather than give it up."

"Why would he have to? It was that Black Cherry you mentioned, wasn't it?"

"She cornered us in the vault after we killed the golem. They were waiting to see what would happen... sick-" She said some words in the Draconic language that Midnight didn't understand and felt were probably best not repeated. "The shield was out of reach, but Sour still had the ruby. She was with..." Talon made a look of disgust. "She had Finders."

"Finders? They came for me too!" Midnight shook his head. "That... that can't be a coincidence, can it? They must have known about me and Sour, and-"

"-and made a deal with her." Talon's orange eyes were filled with hate. "The whole thing was a trap. She sold us all out so that the Finders could get that thing- they called it an Element of Harmony - and you. If she wasn't already dead, I'd be tempted to kill Black Cherry for that."

"Talon..." Midnight put one of his hooves on Talon's hand. "That's what they do, though. They turn ponies against each other. They don't care how much hate they spread if it'll get Nightmare Winter what she wants. Don't... Talon, don't let them do it to you, too."

"How can you say that?!" Talon looked incensed. "Listen, you're still pretty young- I don't expect you to understand these things. But just because we don't follow the law doesn't mean we don't have our own rules, our own honor! Midnight, every pony that went on that treasure hunt- every single creature except for your brother and me - they are all dead or worse. And it's all because Black fucking Cherry sold out to the Finders!"

"She didn't have a choice!" Midnight came as close as he could to yelling with his hoarse voice, clambering unsteadily to his hooves. "They would have killed her or her family if she didn't!" It dimly registered in the back of the colt's mind that it might be unwise to spend so much energy defending a pony who tried to hurt his brother, but he knew the chaos that Flurry Heart's Finders left in their wake. "If you're going to hate anyone, hate them! This is what they do... They bribe and they threaten and they take hostages. They trick or force ponies into doing the queen's bidding. They spread hate and anger and fear just because they can! Talon... you're a good dragon. You're honorable and you're honest, and I know how angry you are that you were betrayed."

The dragon shook her head. "You don't know me, kid."

"I know... I know that you'll make the right choice when the time comes. I've seen it." He sighed. "You won't believe me until it happens, though. I saw that, too."

Prism Star
**11 Hours After Shieldfall**

Prism Star stood on the top deck of the airship, propping her front hooves up on the railing for a better look around the oblong balloon above them; the filly was wearing her school robes and wrapped up in a too-big pink scarf that flapped in the bitingly cold wind, and where most of the passengers on the deck were looking out at the land passing under them, Prism's wide, round eyes were directed up at the sky, and the round yellow sun that was slowly descending towards the horizon.

"Um, Prism, dear..." Shimmer nudged her on the shoulder. "Don't stare at the sun. I feel like I probably shouldn't have to say that."

"I can't help it. It's so... pretty." Prism sighed and laid her head down on the railing. "I can't believe I never noticed how pretty the sun is."

"Ponies are going to think you ate a weird mushroom!" Shimmer hissed into Prism's folded-down ear, looking around nervously at the other passengers. "We're supposed to be blending in!"

"But... but Shimmer, it's like it's calling me..." The filly closed her eyes and channeled magic into her horn. "I'm... I'm going to touch it."

"Touch... WHAT?!" Shimmer quickly smacked Prism's horn to cancel out the spell before grabbing the unicorn to pull her aside. "Are you crazy, Prism?"

"I'm not crazy!" Prism glared defiantly up at Shimmer. "I'm clearer than I've ever been! Shimmer, if I'm really some sun pony or whatever, then I have to, I have to-" She stammered a little in her anger and Shimmer sighed.

"I know, but... not here, okay? This won't be your only chance to bond with the sun, or whatever you're trying to do, but right now it's too dangerous. Did you even think through what could happen if you succeed? What happens if you get a sun cutie mark right now in front of every pony?"

"A sun cutie mark? Hey, are you-" The colt who was speaking quickly fell silent as Shimmer rounded on him, her horn glowing brightly and casting a menacing green cast over her glaring face.

"I would consider very carefully what you're going to say about my sister. In fact, I would be careful about saying anything at all," Shimmer told him quietly.

"I... I'm sorry..." He gulped nervously but stood his ground. The earth pony looked about the same age as Shimmer, with pale green fur, sloppily cut red hair that came down his head and neck in a shaggy mess. His yellow eyes betrayed his fear despite his stoic, square jaw, and Prism could see the cutie mark of a green apple with a bite out of it. She wanted to nudge Shimmer and point it out - it was one of the symbols they'd seen over the Cutie Map - but it might not be the best time. "I won't make trouble, I promise. Are you magic students?"

"Yeah," Prism said. "We're going from Ponyville to visit family."

"Well, um, I need your help." He looked between the two of them nervously, and Shimmer sighed at him and doused the magic in her horn.

"Listen," she said. "I don't know who you think we are, but I think you have the wrong ponies. Like my sister said, we're just going to visit family and we want to go back to our cabin and have our trip in peace."

"N-no! Please!" The colt stepped to block their path, earning him an angry growl from Shimmer that made him tremble. "Look, um... um... Look for a spark when the night is darkest!"

Shimmer slammed the pony against the wall, drawing a shout from Prism. "Hey! Stop it! What happened to blending in?!"

"Who told you that?" Shimmer asked, ignoring Prism's protests. "You get one chance."

"The pony who gave me my brother! He said if I ever met anyone from his order I'd know it from that phrase!" Shimmer dropped him in surprise, and he gasped for breath. "My... my brother... he's sick. I... I saw the way your sister was staring at the sun, and I thought she must be special like my Midnight, and if that's true then you must be with that pony's order, because you two are definitely not blood sisters, and if that's true then maybe you can help Midnight!" He gasped a little more after getting all of this out. "I'm Sour Apple, by the way. Six Point - that's what I call the pegasus who gave me Midnight when he was a foal - he said that if Midnight was in trouble I should look for a pony with a brand like his and say those words to them."

"Sour Apple, what did that brand look like?" Prism asked curiously, putting a hoof on Shimmer to calm her.

"It was a six-pointed star."

The two females exchanged a knowing look before Shimmer said to Sour Apple, "Where's your brother now?"

******

When the three of them reached the hold, Talon was explaining to Midnight in graphic detail how windigos had been attracted by the fight between Sour Apple and Black Cherry - for his part, the colt seemed a little nauseous from the depiction. "This is my little brother, Midnight Shine," Sour explained. "And the dragon is Talon. She's been with us since the shield fell." He gestured towards the girls for the sake of Midnight and Talon. "Midnight, Talon, these two are Shimmer and Prism Star. I told you I'd find some wizards, little bro."

Shimmer rolled her eyes at this and stepped over to examine Midnight. "Hmm. Look at the cutie mark, Prism."

Prism came up to Shimmer and responded in a tone just over a whisper, "A full moon. Just like we saw." She shook her head. "Apple... moon..." She glanced at Talon. "Claw... this is a really weird coincidence. So what do you think is wrong with him?"

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor." Shimmer shook her head. "But we have to do something."

Prism knelt down over Midnight. "Hey, you don't look too good. Want to tell me how you're feeling?" She leaned into look at his eyes closely, but fell back onto her rump with a yelp as a spark of energy arced from the tip of Midnight's horn into hers. "Ow... what the hay, you jerk?"

"I'm sorry!" Midnight whined in pain. "That hurt for me too, I didn't do it on purpose."

Shimmer leaned in to look at Prism's horn with an expression of concern. "Might be an energy overload of some kind. I've read about it, but never actually seen it- That's when a unicorn takes in more aetheric energy than their body can handle," she added with a glance at Sour Apple. "Do you know how it happened?"

Sour Apple shook his head. "He didn't say how. He went missing, and all I know is that when we found him, he was-"

"-kicking butt," Talon finished with a grin. "Beams of light everywhere, lifting automobiles, holding off wendigos and Finders. He was awesome for such a little guy."

"Wow... you did all that?" Prism's mouth was gaped open a little, and Shimmer shut it gently for her.

"You'd have needed a massive amount of aether to do that..." Shimmer said thoughtfully.

"Or another source of energy," Prism noted, her eyes lighting on Midnight's cutie mark. "Can we help him?" she asked Shimmer.

The older filly considered this for a few moments, sitting down as she looked over Midnight, and then looked at Sour Apple and Talon. "I... I think... I might have an idea. But you guys can't be around for it - that's the only thing I want from you."

Sour looked about to protest, but then looked at his brother and just sighed. "Fine. Just... fine. Come on, Talon." Talon gave Shimmer a threatening glare before following Sour away from the others.

"Alright, um... listen, Midnight... I'm not going to lie to you. This is probably going to really hurt, considering the state you're in. But I think it's the best way to help you. The normal thing we'd do to treat an overload would be to have another unicorn siphon some of the energy out of your body and into theirs. But you've taken in so much energy that it wouldn't be safe for me or Prism to try that."

Prism looked up at her. "The shard? I... I don't know if I can be around that thing."

Shimmer ran a hoof down her mane. "You have to try, okay? If he can do it in his state, you can."

"What shard?" Midnight looked alarmed. "What exactly are you going to do to me?"

"Well, the shard we're talking about is an ancient artifact that was dug up in the north," Shimmer explained in the vaguest terms that she could. It probably wouldn't be very reassuring to Midnight if she mentioned changelings right now. "It... it drains magic and magic energy. So my idea is to have you light your horn. You know a basic light spell, right?" Midnight nodded at this. "Good. Just keep casting that, and the shard will siphon off your magic. It's... probably going to hurt, just because the flow of aether in your body is so messed up."

Midnight took a couple of deep breaths to stay calm. "Alright..." The colt lit the tip of his horn with a little whine of pain, and Shimmer took the small metal box out of an inside pocket of her robe.

"Just keep channeling, Midnight. Ready? 3... 2..." Without waiting for one, Shimmer opened the box and the light was immediately extinguished as silver energy flowed from the tip of Midnight's horn into the shard like mist caught on a gust of wind. "Keep it up," she said to the colt who was currently writhing on the improvised bed.

"It... it hurts," he groaned. "My horn feels like it's going to explode!"

"Your horn isn't going to explode," Prism managed. She'd flopped down beside Midnight and was panting slowly to try and control the waves of nausea rippling through her body as the black shard's proximity disrupted her normal energy flow. "Uuuugh... I might throw up, though. Please get done quickly."

The colt cried out in pain and Prism quickly put a hoof over his mouth to muffle it. "Just... just hang in a little more. I know you can do it." Her skin was crawling, and she could feel her tail twitching in unconscious annoyance.

Midnight's breathing was quickly becoming slower and more shallow, and after a few more moments his eyes closed and he went still. "Um... Shimmer," Prism started.

"I know. I know!" Shimmer quickly put away the shard. "You, we, um... let me think." She controlled her breathing and tried not to panic, but Prism could feel a faint tickle of Shimmer's fear somewhere in the back of her mind that certainly didn't help her own feelings. With what was going on, it didn't even register with Prism to question why she was certain the feeling was coming from Shimmer. "Alright, we need to get him breathing again. Prism, you're going to have to give him mouth-to-mouth."

"What?! No!" The filly shuddered at the thought of pressing her mouth to his. "Isn't there some other way?"

"Just do it!" Shimmer glared and pushed down on Prism Star, and Prism sighed before taking a deep breath and pressing her muzzle to Midnight's.

'Don't think about it, don't think about it,' Prism thought frantically, but of course that just made her think more about the fact that she had her lips pressed against a colt she just met. She came up for air and then went back down to breathe into his mouth again.

"Alright, now you need to jump-start his body's magical energy. Use Boro's Lesser Sparking, send some electricity into his horn."

Prism nodded as she came back up and summoned the energy to her horn, before sending a spark into Midnight's horn - and then everything seemed to happen at once. Midnight suddenly sucked in air as he woke up, and Shimmer stomped her hoof excitedly, telling Prism that she was proud of her for managing to do it- but the words barely registered, blending together like the sound of raindrops falling on a roof. Instead, what Prism noticed first was a surge of painful feedback as her horn brushed against Midnight's, and then her eyes met his, and then her gut fell into the floor as she felt like she was falling.

Prism fell through his eyes into utter blackness, and suddenly hit the floor with a painful thud. She was sitting in a huge, lushly appointed room- a massive throne of ice and crystal rose at the top of a flight of steps, and the alabaster marble of those steps was covered by a long, dark blue carpet that ran from the throne to a pair of huge ebony doors on the other side of the long hall. The walls were studded with tall, arched windows covered in a webwork of ice, and along them stood guard ponies in black and violet scale-mail.

And on the throne sat the Queen, who Prism had previously only seen in portraits and on the face of Equestrian bits. She was a tall, white alicorn with wide wings and long pink and purple hair that flowed in wide curls under an elaborate crystal crown. Most of her form was covered in a long, shimmering gown, and the overall effect of her appearance was nothing short of beautiful. But Flurry Heart's benevolent smile didn't quite make it up to her eyes - cold blue eyes that drove a wedge of ice into Prism Star as the alicorn seemed to look through her and towards the opening doors.

"My Queen," cried a terrified-looking herald pony from the doorway. "It- it is my pleasure... t-to present the Princess P-prism Star," she stammered before stepping aside.

'Prism Star? But... but I'm standing right here. What is she talking about?' Prism thought, and she opened her mouth to shout, to declare her presence despite her terror, but nothing came out and the will to say anything died in her throat as a gangly pony only a head taller than her stepped through the door. She was... the only way to describe her was terrifying. Her white coat was marred by streaks of orange, and she wore a light breastplate and barding enameled with orange and detailed in gold. The pony's orange mane flowed like fire around her long horn, and it took Prism a moment to realize that her mane and tail were both made of fire somehow- as were her alicorn wings. Prism saw her own green eyes over a leering mouth of sharp, predatory teeth. 'That can't be me, that can't possibly be me,' Prism thought to herself as she quailed in terror.

"I'm so glad you decided to join us, my dear. Guards, leave us," Flurry Heart said, and as soon as the guards and the herald had gone, and the doors were shut, the queen began to transform herself with the mirage shimmer of a glamour being dispelled. Her true form was clad in dark armor and a purple cape that flowed over her hindquarters, her mane was hidden by a black helmet, and her mouth was full of the same predatory teeth as the newcomer, but the eyes were unchanged- the same cold blue of her illusory form. This... this was the real queen. This was Nightmare Winter.

The flaming filly began to speak, but her words were muffled and indistinct; Prism suddenly felt a heavy weight on her ears, and felt like she was watching the scene from deep underwater. "Now, now. We don't want any spoilers," a smug, sneering male voice said behind her. Prism turned around and saw the most bizarre creature standing behind her on two mismatched legs- one the leg of a dragon and the other that of a pony. His long, sinuous form seemed at once snake and horse, and his crossed arms were the talons of an eagle and the paw of a lion. His face was so much like a pony's, but he had two mismatched horns, his sneering mouth was full of fangs, and his orange eyes were filled with more malice than Prism had ever seen in her life. "As amusing as your distress is, you shouldn't be here."

Prism was dimly aware of a duel going on behind her, fire and ice meeting in explosive violence, but the strange creature in front of her seemed the greater concern. "What are you? And where am I? Am I dead?"

"What? Oh, of course you're not dead. You could be looking at the future... or maybe another world far away... or it might just be a dream. Oh, but it is wonderful, isn't it? You ponies tearing each other apart just like I know you always will - you've made me stronger than ever." He grinned cruelly. "I am Discord, after all."

"You're... what?" Prism gave him a nonplussed look. "How can you be discord? That's... that's some kind of emotion or something, it's not a creature. Discord is a metaphor for what happens if ponies don't work together or something like that."

"Is that what you were told?" He popped out of existence and re-formed inside one of the windows on the other side of the hall, forcing Prism to run across the fight to keep up. Thankfully, the roaring flames seemed to pass right through her. "Oh, I am very real, my little pony. And as soon as I'm done helping you, I'm going to have some fun after what you ponies did to me."

"What... What did we do to you?"

Discord slithered out of the window to come face-to-face with Prism, forcing her to take a couple of steps backwards. "Your precious queen imprisoned my dear friend Twilight. She murdered my Fluttershy in cold blood. And then your own ancestor Starlight, the last pony I had left to trust, sealed me away for a thousand years to save her own hide! I've lost everything I loved in this world, and soon you'll know what true Chaos is!" He paused and stepped back with a laugh. "Oh, but not yet. It's not nearly time for the fun part yet." He held out his lion paw. "Time to go home, Prism Star. I'll see you again soon." He snapped his finger and the world dissolved in a swirl of color and sound, and then Prism found herself sitting over Midnight Shine once again; Midnight was looking at her with shock, and Shimmer was looking down at her with concern.

"Hey, are you alright?" Shimmer asked.

"I... yeah. I'm fine." Prism shook her head. "It was really nice meeting you, Midnight. We'll tell your brother you're alright."

Sour Apple
**12 Hours After Shieldfall**

When Sour Apple returned to his brother, he found the colt sitting up in his blankets, sketching with some paper and a pencil. Clearly his horn was working again at least, but Midnight didn't normally draw... "Hey... how are you feeling, Mid?" Sour sat next to his brother and wrapped a foreleg around him.

"Trying to figure things out. I had another vision, and I got one of the other passengers to lend me a pencil and some paper so I could draw what I saw."

Sour looked down at what Midnight was drawing. It was a pony with hair and wings made of fire. "Wow... you're actually pretty good. So is this the pony on fire?"

"I... I don't know. I can't figure out how it all comes together, but Sour... Sour, you know that little filly who helped me?"

"Yeah. She was pretty cute, huh? I bet if you combed your mane you'd even have a chance with her." Sour chuckled and nudged his brother, but Midnight didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes.

"I don't get how, but... it's her, Sour. She's the pony on fire."

Chapter VI: A Storm of Generosity

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Shimmerwing
**16 Hours After Shieldfall**

When the airship finally docked at Las Pegasus, and the announcement to disembark came, it was late at night, and Shimmer had to gently shake Midnight and Prism awake off of the cabin's couch. Midnight, Sour, and Talon had all accepted an offer from Prism to crash in their cabin, small as it was, and the two youngest among them had spent the last few hours sleeping on the couch as Shimmer, Sour Apple, and Talon played cards at the table and compared stories.

Despite the two groggy foals, disembarkment went smoothly, and the five new friends stayed together as a unit as they passed through the station. However, this presented a new problem in the form of unexpectedly increased security, and the utter lack of any official paperwork for Midnight, Sour, or Talon. Shimmer had a little bit of an idea, but it was going to require some good lying and probably a lot of help from Prism. To that end, she pulled her aside under the guise of visiting the station's bathrooms. "Alright... I have an idea to get the others around the security but I'm going to have to use my abilities. I need you to keep them distracted and come up with some lie for where I am while I impersonate one of the workers and get into security."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I'm... I'm not a good liar." Prism blinked in confusion and made a nervous face at Shimmer.

"It will be fine. That's why ponies trust you. Listen, all I'm asking is that you cover for me and don't tell them what my plan is." Shimmer looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. "Now lock the door."

Prism trotted over and locked the door - they were in the small individual bathroom next to the main ones, and this wasn't an issue. As she turned the latch, Shimmer closed her eyes tightly and quickly shifted back into her natural form.

"Alright, here goes," she said. "I think... umm, I think maybe an older mare... earth pony, definitely... let's go with brown coat, yellow hair... I think a baton cutie mark..." Shimmerwing was muttering to herself, to try and focus, and she closed her eyes to get the mental image of the pony she wanted to turn into before quickly doing the spell just as she'd done hundreds of time to turn into a unicorn.

"Um... Shimmy? Weren't you supposed to turn into a different pony?"

Shimmer opened her eyes and groaned. She had somehow just turned into her normal unicorn form again. She quickly turned changeling again and tried the spell again, only to huff in frustration as she got the same result.

"Shimmer, is something wrong?" She could see Prism's worried face in the mirror behind her and sighed.

"It's... it's just a little issue. I can fix it..." Shimmer kept trying until she was panting with exertion and half collapsed onto the sink, and finally just shouted in frustration, breaking the mirror with her chitinous hoof and sinking to the floor in tears. "I can't do it... I can't shapeshift. I'm a changeling who can only turn into one pony." She felt Prism patting her on the shoulder and then hugging her. "No, leave- leave me alone. Prism, I can't do the one thing I'm supposed to do." Shimmer sucked in her breath and then slowly breathed out. "Just... I'll be okay. I need to be alone right now."

"Well, too bad." Prism came around so that Shimmer could see her better and smiled. "You want to be alone, but what you need is your Best Sister Friend Forever to be here for you." She snuggled into the changeling, fur coat against hard exoskeleton, and just sat there in silence as Shimmer cried.

******

They stayed there for what felt like an eternity, until Shimmer finally worked up the strength to turn back into a unicorn, and the will to sniffle up the last of her tears and get back up on her hooves. "Thank you, Prism. I'm sure we'll figure something else out."

Prism patted her side. "Don't worry. You'll get around whatever's wrong with you." She chuckled and smiled up at Shimmer. "I guess it's my turn to have faith in you like you always have for me."

"Well... I didn't always have faith in you. There was a time I thought you might be mentally challenged," Shimmer joked with a wink as they exited the bathroom. This got her a playful shove and a giggle from Prism, who opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was about to say stopped dead as a pegasus mare approached Shimmer, and Prism reflexively slid into a half-hiding position behind her big sister and Protector.

"Excuse me," the mare said. "Are you... Shimmerwing? You match the description." Shimmer assumed a guarded stance and looked over the pegasus, who was currently glancing at Shimmer's shoulders in poorly-concealed confusion. The silver pony was wearing business-pony attire and had a gold bangle on one fetlock, and her mane and tail were both bobbed short in a no-nonsense way despite their brightly clashing highlights of green and purple. "I'm... I'm sorry to stare, it just seems like an odd name."

"For a unicorn, you mean. My father really wanted a pegasus," Shimmer lied casually with a smile, "and he didn't really budge on the name after I was born. I usually go by Shimmer. But who are you?" She lowered her head in what was ostensibly a humble gesture, but was really intended to get her horn into position for a quick stab if necessary. Unicorns didn't normally like to get messy in a fight, but Thunderbolt had taught her to be prepared for anything when up close.

"Um... please don't point your horn at me, dear." The pegasus fluffed her wings a little bit. "I've got some training of my own, and I recognize a fighting stance. I'm White Wind, and I represent..." She hesitated. "Well, I was asked to give you this letter to prove my good intent." She lifted a wing and reached into the pocket of her blue jacket with her mouth, pulling out an envelope; there was no name or address on it, but Shimmer could see the star of the Order scrawled on the face of the envelope in purple ink, and so she took it with her magic and started reading the letter inside.

To Shimmerwing, bearer of Laughter,

My name is Southern Storm. I'm certain that you have heard of me before, but for now I'd like you to shelve whatever notions you might have about me. I have in my possession an old family heirloom that I have come to believe is the Element of Generosity, and its light has shown me images of you, your sister, and your friends arriving on the airship from Ponyville. I'm certain that Generosity wants me to aid you, though to what end I don't know, and so I'm inviting you to stay at my home for as long as you need to complete your task here in Las Pegasus.

I don't expect you to trust me right away, and I apologize for whatever deception I may have done in putting the purple sparkle on the outside of the envelope - I am not personally affiliated with the Order, but its sigil has appeared many times in connection with you and your sister. For now, though, you can trust White Wind. She's helped take care of me from a very young age, and is very capable. Please feel free to ask her for her help in anything you require.

Sincerely,
Southern Storm

This sent a lot of thoughts through Shimmer's head as she considered the letter, turning it over a few times as she thought. She wasn't inclined to trust strangers, especially cagey strangers who could recognize her readiness to fight. On the other hand, there were a lot of details that didn't add up to her. For a start, how did this White Wind know to find them here? They hadn't exactly advertised that they were leaving Ponyville, and the fact that whoever wrote the letter was even aware of Midnight and his brother, let alone Talon, certainly spoke to the letter's veracity. And then there was the mention of the Elements of Harmony... There was every chance this was a trap of some form, but the Element of Generosity had been thought lost, looted by grave robbers ages ago. She couldn't give up the chance to recover it out of paranoia. What if finding Generosity or its bearer was their friendship quest? And then there was the question of the sixth cutie mark over the map, that had started here instead of in Ponyville or Manehattan. Everything considered, it was probably worth the gamble, even if her instincts were telling her not to trust.

"Umm... hmm..." She said as she hedged for time to think. "Could you, possibly... get our friends past the security? They don't have any documents."

"Already done." White Wind smiled disarmingly, pulling a sheaf of papers from another pocket and giving them to Shimmer. "These will smooth over any issues you have entering Las Pegasus. If you'd like, I can have a cloud skiff waiting outside the terminal."

"That would be wonderful," Shimmer said. "Also, um... I'm sorry for threatening to gore you. I've been a little on edge," she admitted grudgingly.

"Of course." The pegasus pony looked at Prism. "I'm sure you'd do anything to protect the ponies you love, after all." She smiled once more at Shimmer and flew off with a surprising burst of speed, leaving the changeling with a stack of falsified documents and a very confused expression.

******

If nothing else, White Wind was true to her word about one thing: the documents did get them through security quite easily. In fact, the hardest part was convincing Sour Apple and Talon that it was all on the level. They didn't quite buy the explanation Shimmer provided, and while Sour's brother kept his thoughts to himself, Shimmer could feel his own skeptical stare. But eventually, Shimmer and Prism managed to win the three of them over after much debate, simply by Prism pointing out that they didn't really have any other options unless they wanted to live in the air station now.

The view exiting the station was, for all of them, nothing short of spectacular. They were looking at the last great cloud city, sprawled out in front of them in a sea of lights, sounds, and ponies. Earth ponies and unicorns shared paved streets with more automobiles than Shimmer had ever seen (which was saying something, as she had spent much of her childhood traveling from city to city after her exile from the changeling kingdom), and there were pegasi everywhere, sharing the sky with an armada of flying barges in every size, equipped with rotors on their masts instead of sails. In the distance, a huge plaza could be seen, with a tall statue made of woven steel and trapped gray clouds that depicted a stout-looking pegasus mare with stunted wings and an archaic-looking ship captain's hat with a feather in it, standing bravely with one hoof on a cannon.

"Over here, please!" Shimmer heard White Wind call out, and turned her head to see her standing at the wheel of a barge about ten meters long, with two masts and a diesel engine that spurted dark gray smoke behind the skiff. "Everybody aboard, and please stick to the gangplank! Remember, only pegasi can walk on the clouds." Shimmer turned to the others and smiled a little to reassure them before leading the way. She ended up sitting by one of the masts with Sour Apple and Talon, while Prism and Midnight trotted up to the bow and propped themselves up on the railing with looks of excitement, eager to see everything.

"We'll be making a short trip outside the shield," White Wind advised, half-shouting over the rotors that were throttling up, "so please stay bundled up and don't think angry thoughts."

"Isn't that dangerous?" replied Sour Apple with a look of concern towards Midnight.

"It's a short trip! Don't worry, the Storm Manor has very well-maintained wards."

"The Storm Manor? As in Southern Storm?!" Prism Star squeed loudly and began to babble something incoherent that might have been 'ohmygosh', leading Midnight to roll his eyes in annoyance and trot over to the aft side of the skiff - seeming to prefer the loud chug of the engine to Prism's fangirling. Shimmer erected Twilight's Sphere of Silence around Prism with an affectionate chuckle to preserve everypony else's mood. She was used to Prism's near-obsession, but worried that the others might resent the exuberance.

"Who's the statue of?" Midnight finally asked after a couple minutes of the group watching Prism freak out silently- with the filly ensconced in the bubble of green magic, it was rather like an amusing mime show, at least to Shimmer. "The one in that big plaza, with the cannon and the bad wings."

"Commander Scootaloo, from the War of the Princesses. She sailed the airship Firefly for Princess Celestia," White Wind explained as she started guiding the skiff towards the shield. "Shimmerwing, would you mind popping your little bubble? The little one will want a warning about the shield."

Shimmer nodded, quickly canceling the spell. "Prism. Prism! You need to hear this!" Prism Star quieted down after a minute and stepped over to join Shimmer. "By the way," Shimmer said as a quiet aside to White Wind (at least as quiet as one could get trying to speak over the noise of a diesel-powered cloud skiff), "I typically go by just 'Shimmer' in public."

"Of course, I'll remember that. I just wanted to say to everyone here that we're about to pass through the shield. You may want to brace yourselves for some discomfort."

The first sensation Shimmer felt passing through the energy field was searing heat from the barrier, followed by freezing cold on the outside. It left an unpleasant tingling sensation from her horn all the way down to her tail, and she could tell that the others felt the same way. "Scootaloo is something of a folk hero around here," White Wind continued nonchalantly, as though nothing had happened. "A lot of the pegasi who live here now are descended from survivors of the Battle of Cloudsdale, back in the day. Commander Scootaloo is remembered for sacrificing her ship, and her own life, to bring down the Crystal Empire's flagship, Vindicator."

"The loyalists lost that battle, though... didn't they?" Prism looked uncertain. Most of Shimmer and Prism's history education at the Academy had centered around unicorns and wizardry, and neither had more than the vaguest knowledge of the events of the War of the Princesses.

"We did," White Wind said. Shimmer filed away her use of 'we' for the time being as she listened. "We were going to lose Cloudsdale no matter what happened. With the Wonderbolts stationed there, Flurry Heart dedicated a massive fleet to its destruction. The battle was fought to relocate as many citizens as possible to the safety of other towns." She shook her head sadly. "When I was a filly, there was a Cloudsdale Festival every year in that square, that lasted a whole week. A week of celebrating our heritage, spectacular air shows, old-time music... cotton candy and fair food." Her face had taken on a wistful cast as she steered the skiff towards a sprawling structure of stone and compressed cloud, sitting atop a thick white cumulus. "On the last day, theater ponies would always do The Breaking of the Three, a play about the Cutie Mark Crusaders - Commander Scootaloo and her two childhood friends, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle."

Prism started in surprised recognition at this last bit, and she shared a look of concern with Shimmer, who vaguely remembered hearing the name of Sweetie Belle at some point. "Sweetie Belle," Prism said slowly and cautiously. "Isn't that... Shimmer, isn't that what Sweet Siren was called as a filly?"

"I think so... maybe..." Shimmer considered it, racking her brain for her memory of post-Classical wizards. "Um... Sweet Siren... Let me think about it." If she remembered correctly, Sweetie Belle had come to Starlight Glimmer shortly after the war, demanding the secret to Starlight's rumored mastery of time travel. Starlight Glimmer refused to teach her, but she eventually stole into the Royal Canterlot Library and found the spells for herself... only to find that she was too weak a magician to use them. Sweetie Belle disappeared shortly after in search of magical power, and when she returned three years later it was as Sweet Siren, a master of the dark arts who could enthrall and drain ponies with her voice just like the monstrous sirens of old.

"Yes, she was born as Sweetie Belle... the story of Sweet Siren is possibly the most tragic of the three of them." White Wind sighed, momentarily seeming lost in an old memory. "I always cried at the scene in the play where Apple Bloom realizes what her friend had done..." The pegasus shook her head. "The festival and The Breaking of the Three were both banned years ago, but Sosi and I have always had our own little celebration at home. And he always sponsors a private showing of the play- Sosi loves musicals. If you stick around you might get a chance to see it. I'm sure he'd love to have you all here."

"Sosi?" Midnight scoffed and broke down laughing, rolling on the deck until he was kicked rudely by an indignant Prism.

For her part, Shimmer ignored the pet name and the scuffling foals. "What are you to him, anyway? Are you related?"

White Wind shrugged her wings. "Second cousin. Most of us Cloudsdale ponies are related in some way or another, even if Sosi lives in a cloud mansion and not Little Cloudsdale. But... I was his nanny when he was a little foal, and I've been taking care of him as best as I can since his parents were taken." She chuckled and shook her head as they began to pull into a small dock. "These days, that usually takes the form of being the bad guy in contract negotiations. I love Sosi, but he has no business sense. He would give away his own clothes if he thought it would make somepony happy," she said with a small laugh as she shut down the engine.

"Well, it's not like ponies normally wear clothes. It wouldn't be much of a loss." A colt of about 12 or 13 stood at the top of the stairs leading from the dock in a thick down coat with a turned-up collar and aviator sunglasses over his eyes; his fur was a pale orange and his slicked mane jet black, his cutie mark appeared to be a tornado carrying musical notes, and he spoke with a smooth, high voice accented faintly in the tones of Trottingham. Prism Star let her jaw drop before starting to gush even more than before, carrying on excitedly and loudly for a good minute until she fainted, leaving Talon to pick her up off of the tiled dock with a dry laugh.

"You're wearing clothes right now," Sour noted with a smirk.

"Well, yes, but it's cold outside, isn't it? Let's all get inside before we freeze. It's good to see you guys in person, by the way." The colt stepped up to a pair of tall wooden doors. "Let me welcome you formally. My name is Southern Storm, and welcome to my home."

The inside of his home was nothing short of breathtaking. The floor of the massive entry hall was covered in a mosaic of tiles in every color under a protective layer of glass, enchanted to stay put on the clouds and provide a stable footing, and the gray cloud-compress walls were adorned with silk tapestries depicting heroic pegasi of old. A woven silver chandelier hung with brilliant sun crystals imported from the Crystal Empire hung over a wide flight of steps, throwing dazzling light over everything.

"Hey, Sour..." Midnight nudged his older brother. "Look at the pattern on the floor. Really look at it."

Shimmer craned her neck around to see what it was as Sour cantered in a circle to try and get the whole picture. Just this once she wished that she could revert to her natural form in public, to fly up and see the massive mosaic as it was meant to be viewed. It looked like a blue pegasus pony in dull grey padded armor, the emblem on her shoulder that of the Wonderbolts. Her mane and tail sparkled in every color of the rainbow, and she had a fierce look of determination.

"It's... It's Rainbow Dash," Sour Apple finally declared, looking to Southern Storm for confirmation. "Isn't it?"

Storm nodded. "My great-grandmother had it installed. My family... they've always been very proud of Captain Dash." He poked at the glass with his hoof, wearing an expression of resentment on his face.

"This has to be priceless, though!" Talon explained, crouching down to better examine it. "The mane and coat aren't tile, these are gem chips!"

"Feel free to eat them," Storm muttered before seeming to instantly regret it. "I- no, I'm sorry." He shook his head. "That was kind of rude for me to say, wasn't it?" White Wind put a wing on his back and he sighed. "It's not her fault, I guess," Shimmer could barely hear him say to White Wind. "Would you mind showing them to their bedrooms for me? The whole thing has put me in a bit of a bad mood."

The older mare nodded. "Alright," she said somewhat more loudly to the group, "I imagine you're all still quite tired from your trip. I'll go ahead and show you to your rooms." She motioned for them to follow and led them up the tiled stairs. "From here, the bedrooms and guest bathrooms are down this curved hallway her on the second floor," she explained as she led. "If you go down it far enough, it'll go in a circle back here, so don't worry about getting lost. Don't take the doors on the inside of the circle- they lead to the start of a flight course that's quite dangerous for non-flying creatures. There's a lot of unfloored cloud and no safety railings." She stopped about a quarter of the way through the circle. "We've set aside these next few bedrooms for you. Midnight Shine, you'll be sharing this first room with Prism Star." Talon took the still-unconscious filly into the room to lay her on the bed. "Sour Apple and Talon will take the next room. Shimmer, you'll have the third room to yourself."

The rest of them thanked her in their own ways and went gratefully into the bedrooms. Shimmer's room had white walls detailed with delicate gold leaf, a small writing desk, a dresser with a tall mirror, and a huge four-poster bed in the center of it all. She sighed and put her saddlebags down on the dresser before climbing up onto the bed. This was certainly going better than she expected, but... there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Somehow this didn't feel right, and she couldn't help but think that they hadn't gotten any real answers, about their friendship quest or anything else. Most of all, she wanted to know what this kid knew about the Order of Harmony, and how he'd gotten the Element of Generosity - if he actually had it at all. But then... those answers could wait for the morning. For now, she had been awake for nearly 17 hours and this was the softest bed she'd ever been in. Shimmerwing closed her eyes and slept better than she had in forever.

Prism Star
10 Years after Shieldfall?

Prism Star sighed softly as she fluffed her wings out for the gownmaker. The nervous little unicorn filly had grown into a beautiful teenage alicorn, and as she looked at herself in the tall mirror, she could see that the hairdresser was dyeing highlights into her blue mane in strips; the finished left side looked almost exactly like Celestia looked in the old pictures.

"Is this really necessary?" She asked. "Surely I don't need a fancy silk gown, or elaborate highlights... do I?" She twitched her huge wings in a gesture of annoyance. "I mean, I only saved Equestria. You know, at the cost of all my friends." Prism glared at the two helper ponies and just sighed angrily. "I can't... I can't do this right now. Cloth-of-Gold, Silver Scissors... please leave me. We'll finish later."

The two of them stepped back and bowed deeply. "Of course, Princess." They quickly packed away their kit and left her bedroom with another bow, leaving the half-readied Prism Star to wiggle out of her purple gown and look at herself in the mirror. Somehow it didn't feel right, being called 'Princess' and seeing every pony bow to her. 'It's because you're not a princess. Not yet at least.' She heard a young colt's voice in the back of her head, so familiar yet distant, and she whirled around to see Midnight Shine sitting on the huge bed of pink silks and pegasus down cushions. His normally dark coat seemed lighter, yet deeper, like the blue of the dusk sky, and the wide silver rings of his eyes almost seemed to glow, gleaming like actual metal reflecting a light source nopony could see.

"Prism, you heard that?" He shook his head. 'Wow, that's freaky,' she heard him saying in her head. "I think you can actually hear my thoughts if I'm not careful. I've entered dreams before but I've never actually shared a dream like this." A flying pig wandered in from the open window and Midnight quickly popped it out of existence with his magic.

"But... but you shouldn't be here." Prism shook her head in confusion, unconsciously fluffling her folded wings. "You... you died. Nightmare Winter-"

Midnight interrupted her sharply. "No. Prism, look into my eyes. Think carefully about what happened."

She did her best to calm her shaky breathing. "You... Nightmare Winter, she..." A flash of silver light seemed to pass across Midnight's eyes as she looked into them, causing a feeling of calm to come over her. "I... I'm dreaming. She didn't do anything to you because this is a dream. Or... maybe a nightmare."

"Wow, you're way quicker on the uptake than my brother. Prettier too, you make a fantastic princess." Midnight laughed, and Prism blushed self-consciously at the compliment.

"I, um... thanks," she managed with a nervous chuckle, climbing up to sit on the bed with him. "What are you doing here?"

"It's my special talent," Midnight explained. "I can enter ponies' dreams, usually by touching them while they sleep. But this time I wanted to try something different, and link our dreams together before I went to sleep." He looked around. "Looks like your dream was pretty dominant, though. I guess I need a lot of practice shaping dreams still."

"I think it's amazing. And you did a fantastic job getting rid of that pig." Prism giggled and then took on a thoughtful look. "I can do anything in a dream, right?"

"Yeah, in theory. Why?"

She closed her eyes and focused, and when she opened them she was her normal self again, sitting at eye-level with Midnight. "It's really weird being so tall once I realized it wasn't real. And I'm not sure I could ever get used to having wings." The unicorn shook her head. "I like being me. I don't want to be some princess."

"Everypony already acts like you are, though, don't they? Shimmer, at least. I..." Midnight trailed off into a sigh. "My brother can't go a day without telling me how special he thinks I am. I don't want to be some prince or something either, but-"

"-everyone's looking to us," Prism finished for him. "They think we're going to come up with some amazing solution because we're Celestia and Luna come again or something stupid like that. Shimmer and I came to Las Pegasus on some kind of 'friendship quest'-" She punctuated this last phrase with air quotes from her hoof. "-but I have no idea what the quest is or what I'm supposed to be doing, and I don't think she does either. She even-" Prism stopped herself short of telling him about Shimmer's other problem, but his eyes suddenly went gigantically wide anyway.

"Shimmer's a changeling?!"

Prism shook her head rapidly. "What? No, I- ugh!" She flopped down angrily, realizing that he could hear her thoughts too. "I hate trying to talk in dreams!"

"Aren't you scared, though? She's-"

Prism interrupted him with an angry growl. "She's my big sister, or might as well be, so you don't say anything bad about her. And you keep her secret. Got it? I just met you! At this point I trust Shimmerwing more, at least she doesn't invade my dream privacy! Or give me weird visions saying I'm going to turn into some kind of monster!"

"Prism, I..."

"Just cut the connection or whatever weird thing it is you do. I don't want to talk to you." Prism rolled off of the bed and disappeared into the room's closet, slamming the door behind her.

She sat in that closet for a while and stewed, finding a doll of Midnight lying around and starting to rip the stuffing out of it angrily. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to say anything bad about a pony who had always been there for her, who was practically family. So what if Shimmer was a changeling? It's not like it mattered! More than anything, Prism hated that Midnight had the nerve to act concerned about her when they had just met, when she was the one who saved him from whatever stupid thing he had done to overload his horn. Caught up as she was in her anger, and the violence she was inflicting on the life-size plush doll to vent her feelings, Prism didn't notice the closet full of adult-sized gowns and horseshoes dissolving away to be replaced by a castle of grey stone, a great hall with broken windows of stained glass, ruined tapestries depicting Celestia and Luna in a stylized pre-Classical manner, and a plush red carpet that she was currently littering with bits of Plush Midnight.

Prism heard his hooves on the stone before he had the chance to say anything, and looked up quickly to glare at him. "What are you doing here? I told you to go away."

"I know." Midnight raised a hoof in a defensive gesture. "Wow, you... you really destroyed that thing." He blinked nervously at the tattered doll.

"What do you want, Midnight? You better not be about to talk bad about my sister again."

Midnight sighed and sat down, keeping his distance. "I wanted to apologize to you. And make sure you didn't spend the rest of the night hiding in a closet. I can't... I can't unlink our dreams until we wake up, and I guess it might be better for me to say I'm sorry for what I said or thought instead of spending the night being miserable while you kill my twin there."

Prism Star just glared. "This had better be good."

"Alright, I... I'm sorry for judging Shimmer like I did. I've only ever heard about changelings from scary stories Sour told me, but I shouldn't have acted like I did. You trust her, and if you're my friend that should be good enough for me. End of story."

"I..." Prism groaned with frustration, wanting to stay mad at him, before finally abandoning the doll and stepping over to sit next to Midnight. "That was... a pretty good apology," she admitted. "I don't think I could do something like that."

Midnight smiled nervously. "Does that mean we're friends, Prism?"

She chuckled in response and nudged his shoulder with hers. "I guess so. I mean, we kind of have to be, don't we? You're supposed to be my Luna, which I guess makes you my little brother."

"I don't think that's how it works," Midnight said with a laugh. "Let's just be friends so you putting your mouth on mine isn't as awkward as it could be."

Prism blushed furiously and looked away, but she felt the impression from his mind that he didn't feel as awkward about it as she did. In fact, it was possible that he... liked it? Of course, this just made her turn even redder under her brilliant white coat. "Um... so where are we, anyway?" she asked, quickly trying to change the subject. "Is this supposed to be the Castle of the Two Sisters?"

"Um... yeah?" Midnight seemed uncertain. "Why, is something wrong with it? I just remember it from a movie I saw once with Sour."

"Well, it's not ruined anymore, it got restored and now it's a big tourist- wait, you go to movies?" Prism looked at him in confusion. "I thought Sour said you guys were dirt poor. Um, no offense."

"Well, we are but there's a theater in the bad part of Manehattan where fillies and colts can get in for just a halfbit. It's not exactly a great place, and we usually can't afford popcorn, but it's not like we're rock farmers."

"How do you farm rocks, anyway?" Prism shook her head. "I never got that."

"I don't know, earth pony magic?" Midnight shrugged. "I'm a city colt, how would I know? We mine all of our rocks from the ruined quarters of the city."

"Ugh, you're so useless." She punched him on the shoulder with a little laugh. "So why the Castle of the Two Sisters?"

"I guess it just seemed fitting for me apologizing to you," he admitted. "The whole Celestia and Luna thing. But I've always liked old castles and ruins and stuff, too. Sour almost never tells me scary stories, because he says we have enough fear in our lives, but I love stories about dark and mysterious places like this, that might have ghosts or monsters or treasure."

"Aw, now I wish I packed more stuff on this trip. For last Hearthswarming, my dad got me tapes of all of these old Celestial-Era movies about an explorer pony called 'Daring Do', you would have really liked them." Prism shook her head.

For his part, Midnight just laughed at this. "Oh come on, we don't even have anything to play them on. You're just being silly."

Prism huffed. "Oh come on, it's not like Southern Storm doesn't have a video projector."

"I don't know how you would know," Midnight said with a mocking grin. "You passed out the moment you saw him." Prism shoved him to the ground, drawing more laughs from Midnight. "He seems like a decent enough guy, but it's not like he's some god. Weird chip on his shoulder that I can't place, though."

"Well, I mean, he's rich and famous, why shouldn't he be a little standoffish?"

"That's not what I mean, though. He's got... I don't know what it is. But I guess I've just gotten an instinct for when something's wrong with a pony or bothering them. I'd thought it was just Sour, and because he was my brother, but now I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with my special talent. The stories always said that Luna would spend her time going from dream to dream, always knowing just who needed her wisdom most."

"So what is your 'wisdom' telling you?" Prism asked with a bit of a smirk.

"Ugh, it's not like that!" He pushed her off of him with a growl of frustration. "I just... I just get the feeling he's got some kind of baggage. Like... I think that he resents his family in some way? Or resents himself for resenting them? Or..." He groaned loudly and put his hooves over his face. "It's all so confusing! Unless I can actually go into his dream all I have to go off of is vague feelings!"

"Or, you know, you could actually talk to him like a normal pony instead of jumping straight into his privacy?"

Midnight scoffed. "Oh, please, like he would just talk to us about his feelings. He's probably sitting up late with a bottle of cider and laughing abut what low-class rubes we all are."

Southern Storm
20 Hours After Shieldfall

Southern Storm sat up on the roof with a guitar in his lap, bundled up in a thick coat and looking out over the main districts of Las Pegasus in their multicolored shield bubbles like rainbow candies floating in the sky. A half-empty cup of heated cider sat next to him, half sunken into the fluffy clouds that roofed his family mansion. This was actually a good thing, as it kept the cup somewhat warm while he picked idly at the strings with a sigh.

"Hey... funny seeing you up here," he heard a female voice behind him. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes to find a high place and be alone sometimes." Storm craned his neck around to see the gangly red dragon who had been traveling with the element bearers... her name was Talon, if he remembered right.

"Yeah... even as cold as it is, I like to sit up here for hours sometimes working on my songs. What about you? I thought you'd be asleep."

"I could say the same to you," the dragon said as she sat down on the edge of the roof next to Southern Storm, her legs hanging off of the edge. "And not only are you staying up late, you're drinking. A little young, aren't we?"

Storm huffed defensively at this and nudged at his cup with a hoof, making it sink a little further. "It's really weak cider. Barely any alcohol, it's like 2%."

"Yes, well, you're barely any pony. You're what, twelve? Skinny as a stick?" Talon took the cup and quickly drank the remaining cider. "Hey, I'm not one to go for authorities, but what would White Wind think about you sneaking up here to drink?"

"That's not what it is!" Storm glared at her for a moment with defiance before looking away. "Please don't tell Windy. She'd freak out so hard her wings would fall off if she found out."

"Relax, I'm not going to tell her. Just maybe think that if you have to lie and sneak around the pony who loves you most, it might be a bad thing to do." She ruffled Storm's mane with her hand, turning his exquisitely coiffed pompadour into a scruffy mess. "So what are you really doing up here this late if you're not trying to get drunk?"

Storm sighed. "I'll tell you if you tell me."

"Fine." Talon laid back on the cloud, stretching out her arms over her head. "I had a fight with Sour Apple. It was over... um, well, we had some unresolved issues from our last job and he's hoarding the biggest part of the treasure."

Storm laid back too, looking at her. "He found something special, didn't he? A... a big gold choker with a huge gem." From the first time he'd seen them, Southern Storm had felt a connection with the tall unicorn and the shifty earth pony. Even though they'd just met, he felt like the two of them were already his most trusted friends. "An Element of Harmony." Storm didn't know how he knew that, but it felt right as he said it, like the thread holding the three of them together felt more real all of a sudden.

"A what?" Talon looked confused. "How did you know what he had?"

As Southern Storm did his best to explain what he knew about the Elements of Harmony, a sense of unease came over him. His mother and father were always certain that the Elements would find each other again. And now it was happening... but there were two more left to go. It was all coming together like the parts in a song, so clear all of a sudden with all the instruments starting to come in, but how could he explain it? His hoof went to his guitar unconsciously, strumming out notes from an old bit of doggerel his father had taught him as a foal.

"They're... they're a set, Talon. And he can't sell it or give it to you because..." Storm struggled to put it into words. How could he, to someone who hadn't experienced it? How could he describe the unearthly light that only he could see, the images it showed him of ponies who needed his help and his charity? Or the need to love and to give, to make other ponies happy? How could he tell her what it had done for his music, how a lump of sapphire had taught him the meaning of beauty? That he had looked into it for the first time as a foal and gotten his cutie mark with the knowledge that he was meant to share his gift with the world? He didn't think he could possibly make her understand any of it until she saw it for herself- if she ever did. After all, there were five known elements, and six possible bearers in their group. "...it chose him. At least that's how it felt for him. He looked into it and he saw-"

"-stuff about olden ponies and that Rainbow Dash and monsters. He tried to tell me that, too, but it seems so silly. He could have just remembered that from old movies." Talon scoffed.

Storm shook his head at her. "No, he... that was part of it, I'm sure, but more than that he saw his potential. He stares at it, doesn't he? When he doesn't think you're looking." Storm knew this for certain, with the nights that he had spent looking into that sapphire from behind a glass case. When he got a hesitant nod from the dragon, he continued, "It really does show him things... things that it would never show anypony else. It makes him stronger, makes him believe in himself in a way no pony ever did for him."

"Like... like believing he could fight a giant golem for me. And winning." She looked over at Storm hesitantly.

At least he could be confident now which Element it was now, at least from what he'd studied of his father's notes. "The Element of Loyalty. It gave him the courage to do anything for the ones he cares about. Just like the Element of Generosity helped me to believe I could spread happiness and beauty everywhere I went with my music."

"Where did you learn all of this anyway? It's all so... crazy. I've never heard about any of this."

"My..." Southern Storm hesitated, not sure if he wanted to go into the painful family history. "My father was a history professor, who was always looking to find the real story under what we've been taught. He practically worships Princess Twilight Sparkle - she was one of Celestia's students, but you never hear about her anymore because she's been written out of the official history. He and my mom do worship Celestia and Luna, I'm pretty sure." Storm shook his head. "That's not the point though. My dad was always telling me stories about Twilight Sparkle and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony. It's... it's a little embarrassing now, but when I was a little foal, he taught me a song to remember them."

"That doesn't sound embarrassing." Talon wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in close. "It sounds like your parents loved you a lot. What happened to them?"

Storm looked off into the distance with a sigh. "They were arrested and thrown in prison. My mom had a little temple going to Celestia, and my dad just couldn't keep his mouth shut. All he had to do was give the official story in his class and call it a day, but he..." Storm's voice broke as he started to cry quietly. "He just had to tell the truth. He had to pick his real history over his son."

Talon held him tightly. "My... they took my parents, too. The Dragon-Lands are still officially at war with Equestria and the Crystal Empire. It's... it's illegal to aid the enemy." She closed her eyes and breathed in tightly, trying to avoid breaking down crying as well. "My parents were charged with treason for taking me in and raising me. They knew that any day the Finders could come for them, but they did it anyway because it was the right thing to do." She wiped away his tears with a scaled finger. "Can I hear the song? If you're up to it. I think it might make you feel better."

Storm nodded at this and began strumming the guitar gently. He started picking out a slow, simple tune that was almost night and day from his normal style of energetic rock music, while falling into the familiar pattern of controlled breathing he always used to squelch his nerves before a show. It was almost like a meditation: close the eyes, focus on the breathing, and let the hooves act on memory, until fear or anger or resentment bled away into the music. When he finally started singing, the shakiness and small sobs were gone and replaced with the smooth voice that he'd become famous for - even if he was essentially just singing a nursery rhyme.

"Twilight Sparkle studied patiently, until the day she got her wings;
We had safety and friendship in her day,
And her friends were there for everything.

He continued through the main verses, singing the virtues of Fluttershy (who 'loved creatures of the wood and sky'), Rarity (who could 'make beauty out of everything'), Rainbow Dash ('the fastest pony in the sky'), Pinkie Pie ('ready to party through the night'), and Applejack ('steadfast and strong; she could buck apples all day long').

"And... that's it." He sighed. "You're right, though. Silly as it is, singing it did make me feel closer to them." Storm snuggled in close, feeling the warmth of Talon's inner fire through her scales. "I just wish they were here. As much as I'm sure they'd disapprove of me, I'd give anything to hear my mom complain that I'm not an athlete, or to hear my dad lecture me on my artistic choices or the ponies I hang out with."

"You bear an Element of Harmony, though. It chose you, you said. They've got to be proud of that," Talon pointed out.

"I... maybe. Even then I can probably picture my mom saying how Generosity is totally the least useful one." Storm laughed grimly. "She was never pleased, with anything. All she ever wanted was another Rainbow Dash. She wanted brave, and athletic- somepony who could go to the Equestria Games like she did. She got a scrawny little colt who holes up all day indoors with a guitar, and had to get surgery just to see right."

"What about your dad?"

"My dad always supported me," Storm admitted. "At least when it came to music. My dad would always have parties, almost every day, even if it was just a few friends having dinner together. It's how we charge the wards around the house... something about love energy that I don't really get. And he'd always get me to get up and sing, or play my guitar. He was always so proud, at least until I started getting older."

Talon looked at him curiously. "What happened then?"

"I got into rock. I traded my acoustic guitar in for an electric and started painting my face." He laughed. "I found out I like colts and not fillies. There's... there's a lot we don't agree on. But I still miss him quite a bit." He went silent for a few moments. "Thank you, Talon. You know, you're awfully good at getting the truth out of a pony."

"Come on," she replied with a small laugh. "Let's get to bed, right? You don't want White Wind catching you up this late."

"Yeah, you're right." He punched her lightly on the arm. "Goodnight."

Chapter VII: The House of Harmony

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Prism Star
**1 Day After Shieldfall**

Prism Star was already sitting in the cloud mansion's palatial dining room when the call to breakfast came in the form of a loudly ringing bell in the kitchen. The little white filly was propped up on a wooden booster seat with her nose buried in Sunburst's Optics, sipping at a cup of coffee heavily diluted with milk. Shimmer had introduced her to the wonderful drink some time ago at one of their all-night study sessions, and the bracing bitterness and rush of energy had immediately endeared her to the grown-up beverage - even if her father had made her switch to decaf after an experiment with espresso led to an over-amped Prism riddling the kitchen with bolts of energy from her horn. White Wind, Southern Storm's caretaker, had had the same concerns about giving such a young pony caffeine; while she eventually broke down to Prism's pleading, she'd insisted on mixing a drink that was more milk than coffee.

"Hey, Prism." Midnight climbed up into the seat across from her, similarly fitted with a booster, and did his best to look at her clearly over the large hardcover. "Good morning." He yawned loudly. "I don't know how you do it... I know I spent most of yesterday asleep, but I've spent so long on a night schedule I somehow still feel tired being up this early."

"Maybe you slept too much," she replied. "Keep it up, you'll turn into a tree or something." The line had always been a favorite joke of Shimmer's, but as buried as she was in Chapter 2 ("Color Theory and Emotional States") the delivery was flat and curt.

"Wow, ok, relax. I'll let you read." Midnight huffed at Prism as White Wind put a glass of milk by his hoof. "Oh, um, thank you Ms. Wind."

"Have either of you two seen Sour Apple?" This came from Talon, who reversed a chair near the other side of the table and sat down in it backwards, propping her arms up on the back. "He wasn't there when I woke up this morning."

Midnight shrugged, while Prism slurped noisily at her coffee. "Sour and Shimmer went to look for the Order of Harmony."

Talon looked concerned. "And they didn't think one of us should go with them?"

"Southern Storm is with them," Prism replied glumly. She had actually been looking forward to seeing Storm at breakfast today. Her behavior yesterday was pretty embarrassing in hindsight, and Prism had hoped to make a second impression that was better than her first.

"I hope they're okay," Midnight said with a look of concern. "What if Sour steps on a cloud? He never looks at his hooves."

"They'll be fine," Prism said as White Wind slid a plate of pancakes in front of her and gently but firmly pulled the book out of her hooves - earning her a resentful look from the filly that she ignored gracefully.

"Focus on your food, little one," she said to Prism. "The book will be there when you're done." Prism sighed dramatically at this, but White Wind had already moved on with the book under one wing, to set a plate of pancakes in front of Midnight.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said politely. "They look amazing." The pancakes did look delicious, Prism had to admit to herself. They were thick and fluffy, topped with whipped cream and canned cherries, and while Prism might be used to fresh fruit in Ponyville, she certainly wasn't going to turn down anything packed in sugary syrup. Clearly Midnight wasn't either, as he dug into his plate with astonishing ferocity, barely even using the provided fork.

"Wow, Midnight... are you hungry or what? What did those pancakes do to you?" Prism tilted her head at him as she started eating more delicately.

"I think they killed his family," Talon said with a smirk. This earned her an immediate glare from Midnight, though at that point his mouth was far too full to talk coherently.

"That's not funny, Talon," he finally managed after swallowing his food. "You know I'm an orphan."

"Yeah, that's kind of a low blow. I mean, Shimmer can make some mean jokes sometimes but that's a new level," Prism said in her defense, and Talon finally relented under the glares of the two foals.

"Fine. Fine, I'm sorry." She grumbled something neither of them could make out as she started eating her own food, and what followed was an awkward silence lasting the entire meal.

"So... what are we doing today?" Midnight finally asked after all the plates were cleared away.

"I don't... really know," Prism said thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought about it. I guess... whatever we want?" She set her chin down on her upturned hoof as she thought about it. "My dad seemed to think that our best first step would be finding the Order of Harmony around here, and obviously the others are on that. But maybe there's more to it."

"So what is this whole friendship quest thing about anyway?" Talon asked her.

"Well..." She thought about this and realized that she didn't really have an answer. Not a good one, at any rate. "I guess that somewhere out there, there's ponies who have some kind of problem with their friendship. All I really know is that the six of us were called here, which means that somewhere out there in Las Pegasus there's ponies who... I guess need to be friends?" She shrugged.

Midnight sighed at this. "That's not really telling us much, Prism."

"I know, Mid!" Prism snapped at him momentarily and then immediately regretted it. "S-sorry. I know that the problem is here somewhere, and we're the ponies- um, and dragon - who have some unique combination of insights and abilities to fix it. But that's all the information we have to go off of, and from the way Shimmer and my dad tell it, that's all anypony's ever had to fix a friendship problem."

Talon had taken on a thoughtful expression. "Well, I'm planning to go into town and see if I can't make some money somehow. I mean, we can't live off of Southern Storm's charity forever." Midnight and Prism both nodded at this, though Prism didn't have a good feeling about what she might mean by 'make some money'. "So maybe while I'm out I'll find somepony with a problem. I mean, this whole thing just sounds like we're just supposed to run into them by blind luck."

"Then wouldn't it be better for us all to go?" Midnight asked, and Prism nodded at this. "We can split up, maybe, and cover more ground."

"Absolutely not." Talon put her hand down on the table. "You two are going to stay here where it's safe." She silenced their protests with a glare. "Shimmer and Sour would kill me if I let the two of you wander around Las Pegasus, and to be honest with you, I would rather live. So you're going to stay here and enjoy this amazing house. It's not like it'll kill you two."

She ignored their loud protests and left quickly, leaving Prism to sigh and flop down onto the table. "I guess I'll see about getting my book back."

"In that case..." Midnight watched her getting up from the table. "I guess I'll go practice teleportation. By myself..."

Prism stopped, catching the slightly passive-aggressive tone. "Mid... do you want help?"

"More... company than help?" He chuckled nervously. "I usually study alone with whatever books Sour brings me, but now that I actually have a friend..." Midnight trailed off with a sheepish expression.

"Well, I'm really bad at teleporting. But maybe I can tell you what I learned about it in school. That might help, right? It'll actually be nice to have a study partner at my own skill level." She slid off of her chair and came over under the table to Midnight's side. "Most of the fillies in my class are amazing at magic, and I'm just... me." She shook her head and sighed as Midnight clambered down to the floor. "So we can start with a basic review of Starswirl's theories on space-time, and then we can start talking about wormhole theory, because teleportation, portals, and even time travel all..." She started going on excitedly and in great detail about the physics behind teleportation as she trotted out of the room with a happy little prance, leaving Midnight to follow and try to keep up with a sigh.

"What did I get myself into?" he muttered behind her as she began to gush about Starswirl the Bearded. This was going to be a long day.

Sour Apple
**1 Day After Shieldfall**

"So are you sure this is the right place?" Sour Apple looked back at Shimmer and Southern Storm. "And could you two be any more conspicuous? Shimmer, nopony wears gold jewelry in this part of town." He gestured at the run-down buildings and tightly wound pedestrian streets replete with potholes of exposed cloud, just waiting for an earth pony to step into and break their leg. "And Storm..." Sour Apple sighed and gestured at the pegasus. "This, just... all of this."

"I'll take being a little shady over being Southern Storm, mate." Storm was wearing a long coat that hid his cutie mark, and his face was partially obscured by wide sunglasses and a buckball cap. The overall effect was somewhat ruined by the fine fabric and embroidered hems of the coat.

"Yeah, I get that. I'll sometimes put a coat and hat on Midnight because I don't want ponies knowing he's a unicorn. But the outfit actually matched, and that's Manehattan besides. Everypony wears coats and hats in Manehattan because it's cold as ice and rains like every other day."

A grey pony tapped Sour Apple on the shoulder. "Hey, you're from Manehattan? That's awesome, I've always wanted-"

"Hey, mind your own business, huh? This isn't your conversation, is it?" Sour Apple responded in the most Manehattan way possible, complete with a rude gesture of his hoof that made the pony quickly canter away with a look that was part anger and part terror.

Southern Storm just shook his head at that. "That was really... not necessary. I take your point about the outfit, but you can't handle things like that around here. Ponies talk." He flew after the fleeing earth pony, leaving Sour Apple to stew while Shimmer laughed at him softly.

"Oh, Sour. You always have to be the tough one, don't you?" She shook her head. "Now, to think the Order would be hiding in a place like this... let me think about my fieldcraft lessons." She sat down on a stoop, and Sour Apple came to join her a moment later.

"You're not any older than me, but you already know all this stuff about fighting and being some kind of spy," he pointed out. "How did you learn all of it?"

"Well..." She hesitated and then gave up trying to remember with a little huff. "I'm not really Prism's sister, in case you can't tell. I was adopted. Her father, Thunderbolt, is a Master in the Order of Harmony - he's in charge of the whole Ponyville cell. He took me in when I was a filly, introduced me to Prism - she was just a baby at the time - and put me in magic school. And the only thing he asked in return was that I take extra lessons from him, and keep Prism safe when she was old enough to go to school herself. He taught me how to fight with my hooves and my horn. He taught me about the secret history. He taught me about fieldcraft and codes, how to blend in with a crowd, how to tell when a pony is lying or suspicious..."

Sour put a hoof on hers. "It sounds like you were more his protege than his daughter." He certainly wished he'd had her upbringing instead of having a baby dumped on him when he was just a small colt himself. Midnight Shine was the greatest gift Sour ever could have gotten, in hindsight, but he still resented old Six Point for putting him in that position.

Shimmer looked thoughtful at this. "I... I guess so. I was so surprised and thrilled when he invited me to join the Order. It was the happiest moment of my life. But now that I look back I realize he was grooming me for it all along. He even said so before we left. He told me that he had been training me to be Prism Star's Protector- a pony from the Order that's trained exclusively to bond with a sun-touched or moon-touched unicorn and safeguard them for life," she explained.

"I... huh." Sour Apple looked down between his hooves. Wasn't that what he'd already been doing for Midnight? "Shimmer, I... I want you to teach me what you learned from Thunderbolt."

"That's a really big ask, Sour. Um..." She trailed off as she seemed to think about it. "I mean, that's a huge responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready to be a teacher, considering I didn't bond with Prism as her Protector until a day ago. And you need to decide-"

She stopped talking as Southern Storm returned, giving Sour a look that told him they'd continue the discussion later. "OK," the pegasus said, panting lightly. "I was able to catch up with him and convince him not to mention to anypony that he saw you guys."

"Wow," Shimmer said. "How did you get him to forget about this huge jerk?" She laughed quietly and gave Sour a playful nudge.

"I kinda promised him free tickets to a sold out show for his daughter and her friends." Storm rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "And a signed photo."

"I thought you didn't want to be noticed," Sour noted with an accusatory tone.

"No, I believe my specific words were 'I don't want to be crushed by a stampede of mares and fillies'. I don't mind talking to my fans, I just don't want to get mobbed when we're trying to find a secret society."

"On that note," Shimmer cut in, "Where are they? You said they'd be in this neighborhood."

Storm shook his head. "I think they are. This is where my parents would go anytime the Order wanted to meet them." He started leading the way down a street, leaving Shimmer and Sour to follow along or get left behind. "My folks never wanted to join their little club, but they were always meeting. They always wanted money from my mom, or to compare information with my dad."

"How did your family get so rich, anyway?" Sour Apple asked. "I mean, if it's not rude to ask."

"Well, most of the money now is mine. My mom and grandmother had money, too, but..." He shook his head as he looked around. "We're good at making it, not so good at keeping it. My mom was a fantastic flier back in the day, she was always competing in races. Prize money, endorsement deals, gifts... she even got a gold medal in the Equestria Games. But most of that money went to upkeep on the house, or my dad's history research, or the Order." He stopped in front of a wall spray-painted with graffiti. "Wow, look at this." It was a beautifully shaded mural of a unicorn mare whose coat might have been pink or a very pale purple, and who wore her dark purple mane in an elaborate coif that curved over her horn. Her violet eyes seemed full of sadness, and the teal highlights running down her mane matched the color of her lit horn.

"Starlight Glimmer." Shimmer stepped up to examine the painting. "Reputed founder of the Order of Harmony. I don't think clues get more blatant than this."

Sour put a hoof up on the wall, staring up. "Wow, she's gorgeous. Y'know, they really don't make mares like this anymore. Um, no offense." This earned him a rap on the back of the head from Southern Storm that he thought was entirely undeserved - he was just stating the facts as he saw them, after all.

"She always did have a certain charisma, I hear..." Shimmer said. "But maybe less staring into her eyes creepily and more looking for clues, Sour. Look for something that's out of place."

Sour ran his hoof along the wall and looked, but he really wasn't sure what he was looking for. In truth, he felt more than a little lost compared to the other two, who were both rapidly discussing minor details and flaws, and whether or not they could be clues. Shimmer and Storm both knew so much about history and seemingly everything else between them as well, while Sour felt like he only really knew how to survive on the streets and keep his little brother out of trouble. It made sense, though. She'd gone to a fancy magic academy, and Southern Storm had probably been in the finest private schools gold medalist money could buy, while the only education Sour Apple had gotten before dropping out of school was reading and basic math. He wanted to contribute, but he didn't know what he could provide to two ponies who seemed to know everything about this Starlight Glimmer pony.

Instead, Sour took a moment to admire her flowing mane and the soft curve of her flank. She really was absolutely beautiful, at least the way this artist drew her. But something about her flank seemed off, and it took him a moment to realize that the colors weren't right. Most ponies had a cutie mark that 'popped' from their flank, and contrasted brightly enough with their coat to be easily visible. But the three butterflies painted on Starlight's flank were a shade of pink that almost blended into the fur entirely. "Hey... guys?" He asked after working up the courage to decide he wasn't just seeing things. "Do you know what Starlight's cutie mark was? This one seems wrong, somehow."

"You caught that, huh?" All three of them quickly turned around to see a ragged-looking stallion with a scraggly beard and a long mane covered up with a knit cap. "It's nice to see tourists appreciating our local art. I can tell you about it for just a couple of bits." He spoke in a slow, drawling accent that Sour couldn't place, drawing out his vowels in a way that reduced his already sedate speech to a crawl.

The three of them exchanged a look of exasperation before Shimmer sighed and turned over a hoof-full of halfbits to the strange earth pony. "Here. Buy a haircut or something."

Sour Apple glared at her and gave him a full gold bit on top of what she'd given him. "I'm sorry about her... I know what it's like. Could you tell us what's up with her cutie mark?"

"Oh, yeah man." He didn't seem perturbed at all by Shimmer's remark. "You see, that's the work of like, three different artists. Really talented dudes, but they just can't decide what her cutie mark's supposed to look like, you know?"

"Um..." Sour wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond. "Yeah, I... I think. Go on."

"So, yeah, one of em'll come out here every week or so and change it, man. One week it's butterflies, the next one it's apples. This one time it was this weird shield thing or something. And then the next week, like clockwork, man, another one will come and change it again." Sour tried to set aside the part of his mind that was trying to figure out what 'man' meant, and focus on what the apparently homeless stallion was saying. "It's the weirdest feud I've ever seen, man, but they just keep at it."

Shimmer cut in, sparing a perplexed Sour of the need to respond. "Do you think the marks they put on there might mean something to them?" she asked with a sideways glance to Southern Storm, who took on a thoughtful expression at the veiled question.

Of course, with those two solving the puzzle, Sour was left to field their new friend's rambling 'explanation' with polite nods and the occasional "yup" or "uh-huh" when a response seemed appropriate. He was tapping his back hoof impatiently, and all but ready to snap when Southern Storm finally said something. "Hey, er, 'man'. I'm showing these friends of mine around the city, and I'm wondering if you could tell me how to get to Wood Heart Park on hoof?"

"Well, of course, man, why didn't you just say that's where you wanted to go? Yeah, just go left up there and head up Flim Street for about half a mile, then go right on the big auto avenue and you just keep going that way until you get to the park. It's right before you get to the bridge going out of the district, man."

They all thanked him politely before departing. "So, is anypony going to tell me what that was about?" Sour Apple asked when they were out of earshot.

"Well, those three butterflies were the cutie mark of another of Twilight Sparkle's Companions, a pegasus pony called Fluttershy," Shimmer started to explain.

Southern Storm muttered what sounded like some kind of rhyme under his breath before continuing, "She loved nature. Trees, animals, birds, all that stuff. I mean, my dad sometimes joked that she would have been happier as a tree herself."

"While that pony was talking your ear off, we kind of had the thought that if they keep changing the mark, it might be an indication of where to find them at a given point of time," Shimmer said. "So Southern thought that it must be at the nearest park."

"I guess that makes sense," Sour said in response, though in truth he wasn't entirely certain he understood. He'd gotten the part about secret meeting places, but anything about the Companions or history in general still went over his head, so for now he decided to just take their words for it.

After a couple minutes of trotting down the streets in silence, Shimmer spoke again. "So, um, by the way... do you guys know what 'man' means?"

Sour Apple groaned in annoyance. "Thank you! That was driving me crazy! But I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to look stupid."

"Do you think it's some local slang or something?" Shimmer asked, and both of them looked at Southern Storm.

"It certainly isn't," he said with an offended tone. "We don't go around putting nonsense words in random sentences, thank you very much." Storm let that hang for a second before sighing. "Not that Las Pegasus doesn't have it's share of weird ponies. I'm not sure there's anyone normal here."

Sour rolled his eyes at this. "Oh, come on," he said. "He wasn't that bad. He was just lonely, and probably hungry too. I've probably said some pretty weird stuff myself when I got hungry enough." He shook his head. "And you're fine too. You're not weird at all, Southern, and I thought for sure you were going to be some kind of rich weirdo."

"Um... thanks?" Southern Storm said before Shimmer cut in.

"Oh, please, normal? I've seen reels of his shows." She flicked her head at Southern. "This one puts on more makeup than he has fur and gets up there in this fake dragonscale getup. He's the ringleader of this entire weirdo circus. Just needs a little tiny automobile to get out of."

This got laughs from both colts, and Shimmer took the opportunity to keep milking it for laughs, roasting both of them thoroughly as they walked down the roads to the park. By the time they got there, Sour Apple and Southern Storm both had to stop and lie down in the grass to rest and breathe- Sour's sides hurt by now, and he somehow felt much better about his relative ignorance despite at least half of the jokes being about his lack of education. (The other half had largely been at the expense of his grooming, and Storm had frequently cut in to agree that Sour Apple needed a makeover.)

"Well, I guess this is where I take over," Shimmer said as she stood over them. "You boys stay here and keep an eye out, alright? There's no guarantee this spot isn't being watched." She'd taken on a serious cast that quickly sobered both of the colts, and they sat up and exchanged a nervous glance as Shimmer walked over towards a large tree.

"Do we... know what she's looking for?" Sour asked.

This got a head shake from Southern Storm. "I guess I'll go sit in a tree or something. I can watch better from the air." He flew off with a powerful flap of his wings that blew a bit of dirt into Sour's face and left him coughing.

And then Shimmer started to sing, in a voice so different from her normal snide rasp. It was true and sweet, and if he wasn't watching her Sour would have sworn it wasn't the same pony. "A true, true friend helps a friend in need," she sang lightly as she sat leaned against the large tree.

It was just a single bar, but Sour Apple felt himself silently willing her to sing more as a mare sang out from behind another tree, "A friend will be there to help them see..."

"A true, true friend helps a friend in need," mare and filly sang in unison, "To see the light that shines from a true, true friend."

A few moments later, an earth pony in a jogging suit cantered by and engaged Shimmer in a short, frenetic conversation, and then Shimmer returned to Sour Apple (and Southern Storm, who had nearly fallen out of his tree gawking at Shimmer's singing, and had come back quickly to try and discuss the matter with Sour). "So, um, it went well," she said, ignoring their wide-eyed expressions. "Code exchange went without a hitch, and after I explained our problem and name-dropped Master Thunderbolt, they've... invited us... to the local House of Harmony?" She slowed down and then finally stopped with a hoof in the air mid-gesture, finally registering the colts' faces. "Is something wrong?"

"That's... that's what you call that?" Sour managed to ask. "You call that fantastic singing 'code exchange' like it's no big deal?"

"Um... well, yeah." She'd returned to her normal sarcastic tone and demeanor. "I call out the code, she gives the challenge, we do the handshake, code exchange. I mean come on, you two, have you never read a spy novel?"

"Okay, for a start, I don't read. The only books I've ever bought are Mid's textbooks, and half of those might as well be written in Draconic for all I can read them," Sour said with a defensive tone, "And second-"

At this he was interrupted by Southern Storm. "You sang in perfect harmony with a pony you'd never met, on the first try, without even looking at her. You're good enough to be on Bridleway!" He looked over at Sour Apple. "Do ponies still sing on Bridleway?"

Sour just shrugged at this - it wasn't like he'd ever been to that part of the city. Nothing but rich ponies and police. "It was just really nice to see that side of you, Shimmer. I would never have thought you were a good singer."

She seemed to blush lightly with pride. "Well, um.. thanks, I guess. How about we head home and gather the little ones before they burn Southern Storm's house down? Prism has been known to start fires when she gets upset."

At this point, Prism Star and Midnight Shine suddenly materialized in mid-air with a loud pop and a flash of rainbow-colored light, coming crashing down onto Shimmer with a heavy thud and loud cries of pain from little Prism that quickly went completely quiet. The filly was missing her left ear and a good part of her right foreleg, and bleeding profusely. "Oh, hay..." Southern Storm groaned to Sour Apple. "You take care of them, I'll keep any onlookers distracted." The pegasus colt quickly pulled off his clothes and gave a flamboyant bow as Sour Apple and Shimmer scooped up the two foals and quickly ran for the cover of the back alleys. "Just a test run for a potential show stunt, folks!" Sour heard him calling out. "It didn't go as planned, but don't worry, everything will be okay!"

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?" Sour asked as soon as they were safe, rounding on Midnight while Shimmer chanted healing spells over the unconscious Prism - he'd never heard of a unicorn being able to regrow limbs, but she at least seemed to be slowing the bleeding.

"I..." Midnight quailed under his brother's glare. He'd only been in serious trouble a couple times, and seemed to be shaking with fear. "I'm sorry, Sour, it was all my fault!" The little unicorn took a deep breath before starting to rattle off, "She was helping me learn to teleport at will and I kept asking her for a demonstration so I could get a feel for the spell but she told me that it was a bad idea and she'd never managed to teleport without hurting herself but I didn't really believe her and I just kept egging her on until she finally gave in and tried to teleport us both, she just wanted to send us across the room but we ended up here and then we crashed into Shimmer and Prism's ear was missing and-"

Sour Apple shoved a hoof to Midnight's mouth to shut him up. "Midnight... Mid, calm down." It hurt him to see Midnight so upset and guilty, and all he really wanted to do was give his precious little brother a hug and tell him everything would be all right, but... Sour took a deep breath. No, he couldn't just give in like that, because this was a lot more serious than sneaking cookies. "Mid, you know how important safety is when practicing your magic. You should have taken Prism at her word when she said that it was unsafe." He sighed. "She shouldn't have let you goad her, and she does have some of the blame for her own injury. But you shouldn't have put her in that position. Now, with all that said... I am proud of you for stepping up and admitting what you did wrong right away."

Midnight didn't seem to be paying attention to his mild praise. "Is... is she going to be alright?"

Sour sighed again. "I don't know, Midnight. I would ask Shimmer." He looked at Shimmer pointedly. "Shimmer. Is Prism going to be okay?"

Shimmer had given up on healing magic and was sobbing into the bloodied filly's coat. "I.. I don't know... I've never been a healer, and without the actual parts she lost I don't know if... She's just lost so much blood already..." She broke down crying and Southern Storm swooped down to put a hoof on her.

"Hey. Hey, come on, stay with me. What about the Order? Can they help her if we get her to the House of Harmony?"

"I.. I.. I don't know!" Shimmer half-shouted at him. "Maybe..." She held Prism close and choked back a couple more sobs, before calling out in a choked, halting approximation of her singing voice that still managed to be beautiful in a haunting way:

"A true, true friend... helps a friend in need...
A friend will be there to... to help them see...
A true true friend helps a friend in need,
To see the light that shines from a true, true friend..."

Shimmer broke down entirely and just started crying, bloodying her face against Prism. After a minute had passed, Southern Storm soared up onto a rooftop, yelling, "Come on! What is my family giving you money for?! You weren't there for my parents but you can be there for her!" He shook with rage, but he started to sing as well. His voice was soulful and pleading, but underneath carried steel in the form of his built-up resentment against the Order.

"Prism Star needs your help.
We're trying hard doing what we can.
Would you try, just give it a chance?
You might find that you'll start to understand.

A true, true friend..."

As Southern Storm returned to the refrain, Sour Apple saw a unicorn pop into existence, grab Prism, and disappear in another flash of violet light. A few moments later, the unicorn took Shimmer, and then Sour Apple felt hooves wrap around him before the world dissolved in violet.

Prism Star
**12 Days After Shieldfall**

Prism Star awoke in a bed covered in itchy wool blankets and looked around blearily. The room smelled like weird potions, and her view was blocked by white curtains. Shimmer was sitting in a small armchair next to her bed, sleeping soundly, but when Prism went to poke her with a hoof, she found that her foreleg was bound tightly with bandages all the way up to the ankle, and restricted with a strap to keep her from moving it. Prism's next thought was to nudge Shimmer with magic, but when she tried to summon the energy to her horn, her aura flickered out in moments and she was left with a dull headache and a sudden sensation of vertigo from the pain medicine that made her groan loudly.

This noise woke Shimmer, who blinked a couple times before smiling softly at Prism. "Hey... you're awake, little one. You had us all really scared." She patted Prism on the shoulder a couple times.

"What happened?" Prism tried to rack her memory. "I don't... I think I remember trying to teleport, and then I just..." She dry-heaved at the memory of the pain. It had only lasted for a minute or so before she'd passed out, but she couldn't imagine anything worse.

"You..." Shimmer set her hoof on the filly gently. "Your ear and your front hoof didn't teleport with you. You lost so much blood... You're really lucky to be alive, Prism."

Prism Star stared at her in shock. "I... I what?" She looked down at the bandage-wrapped hoof. "But... but I can feel it. It actually really hurts still."

"Well, White Wind was able to get to your parts pretty quickly and put them in ice. And even though it took some goading, the Order of Harmony sent someone to bring you here." Shimmer shook her head. "We still didn't know if you were going to make it, though. They were in there for hours with surgeons and healers, and even after they reattached your hoof and ear, you'd already lost so much blood that nopony really knew if you were going to live. They've been forcing blood-replacement potions down your throat every couple hours for more than a week now."

Prism struggled against her restraint to try and sit up. "I-- what?! I've been here for a week?"

"Eleven days, actually. You woke up a couple times but one of the healers would always come back and put a sleeping spell on you. I guess you don't remember." Prism shook her head at this. "Well, I guess now I can get one of them to let you out of bed, now. You seem alright. Just don't... don't try to walk, alright? The bones in your leg are still broken, so you're going to be in a wheelchair for a while."

Prism groaned loudly. "Oh come on!"

Shimmer poked her nose. "You're lucky to be alive. You can stand being in a chair for a week or two."

Prism was about to complain more when she was interrupted by Midnight Shine jumping up onto her bed and hugging her tightly. "Ooh- hey, Mid! M-Mid, you're crushing me!" Midnight was wrapped around her neck sobbing incoherent apologies until Sour Apple pulled him off.

"We're all very relieved to see you're alright, Prism," Sour said as he ruffled her mane. "Try not to do any more dying on us." He looked over at Shimmer. "You've been in that chair this whole time, Shim. How about you go give the news to Southern Storm and Talon?" Shimmer was starting to protest when Sour Apple raised his hoof. "She's going to be fine. We're here for her, we'll get her sorted out. You need fresh air, and probably some food."

The two ponies locked eyes in a silent battle of wills before Shimmer finally capitulated with a sigh. "Fine. Make sure she's alright, ok?"

Sour Apple pulled Shimmer into a light hug as she got up. "You're not the only pony who cares about Prism Star. As far as I'm concerned, you two are family with as much as we've been through since... you know." He gestured vaguely. "And an Apple always sticks by his family."

Shimmer hugged him back tightly; even though the changeling didn't say anything at first, Prism knew how much that must have meant for her to hear.

"I'll..." Shimmer took a deep breath. "I'll make sure a nurse or somepony comes by to let Prism out of bed and get her her wheelchair." She squeezed Sour one last time and gave Midnight a kiss on the top of the head before departing.

"So, um... where are Southern Storm and Talon?" Prism looked around as if expecting to see them, even though she knew Sour Apple had said they weren't there.

"Well, Talon's working," Midnight said. "You remember how she said she was going to make some bits, and we both just looked at each other and we thought she was just going to go steal stuff?" Prism nodded at that. "Well it turns out she actually got a real job." Midnight laughed. "She actually convinced somepony to pay her to light things on fire at one of the casinos. It's amazing."

"Wow. I really didn't see her as the honest work type." Prism laughed. "And what about Storm?"

Sour answered this after both males hesitated and looked at each other nervously. "He... kind of bailed, I guess. Peregrine Dive - he's the one in charge around here, old pegasus guy - started getting on his case for calling the Order out in public, and Southern Storm just... he got really angry." Sour Apple shook his head.

"He started talking about how they were going to let you die to save themselves, and started blaming Peregrine for his parents getting locked up," Midnight continued for him. "Oh, and yeah- apparently they were both big supporters of the Order, but Storm seems to think Peregrine let them get locked up because they wouldn't join."

"It just got really ugly," Sour Apple said. "Southern Storm said he was going to stick around with you until you finished your friendship quest, but after that he's out. He doesn't want anything to do with any of it."

"Ugh." Prism Star groaned loudly as a nurse came by and started putting her foreleg in a sling. "I hate all of this. It feels like we're falling apart because I made one stupid mistake. Sosi's gone, Talon ditched to get a job, I'm stuck in this stupid wheelchair... What if we never complete the friendship quest? It'll be all my fault!"

Midnight sighed, putting a hoof on Prism's shoulder. "It's my fault as much as yours. But we're not falling apart, and we're going to figure out this quest. Talon's actually in a place where she can meet and talk to a lot of ponies, and Shimmer, Storm, and Sour are all going to help us too. We're still together."

Prism made a gesture like she was counting as she was lifted into a wheelchair. "Talon, Shimmer, Storm, Sour. That's only 4, you know. What are we going to do?" She looked up at the nurse. "Um... thank you, by the way. I don't want you to feel like I'm mad at you, I'm just frustrated."

The nurse smiled and patted her before walking away to check on other patients, and Midnight started pushing Prism out of the infirmary with his magic as Sour said, "Well, as for that, you two are going to stay here and not get into trouble." He glared at both of them, making Prism flush a little with her guilt. "Peregrine's calling in his favors to get you two the best teachers in Equestria. You're going to stay safe, and you're going to learn as much as you can, so that whatever we end up having to do you're going to be ready."

Prism and Midnight both groaned loudly at this, but it had all been decided without them, and no amount of complaining was going to change it.

******

The next two months passed in a blur for the both of them. True to his word, Peregrine Dive had amassed the best tutors the Order's resources and influence could muster, and soon the both of them were up each and every day at dawn to begin a grueling study regimen that would last until well after the moon rose. Mornings were spent learning traditional unicorn magic from a scholar called Smudged Ink, the fundamentals of celestial magic from Solar Flare (a jovial unicorn who claimed to have known Prism's mother), and arcane mathematics from the matronly but exceedingly strict earth pony Floating Point. After lunch, Prism and Midnight barely had enough time to return to their shared room and swap out one set of heavy tomes for another before reporting in for lessons in history that often put the both of them to sleep and circular debates on politics and philosophy that frustrated Prism to the point that she would have gladly done away with both of her ears to be rid of them (this was less of a sacrifice than one would think, as her injured ear had developed a maddeningly itchy scar). As soon as Prism was out of her wheelchair, two new teachers, a former Wonderbolt called Blazing Wing and a unicorn known as Lancing Ray, arrived to torment them with "combat training" - a series of obstacle courses and mock duels meant to build endurance and agility in both their bodies and their horns, which universally left Prism and Midnight exceedingly sore and barely able to move by dinner.

Even the nighttime offered little respite - even though they had no more lessons after dinner, nights were spent with an excess of homework and reading assignments. Essays on historical figures, detailed calculations of aetheric energy and magical fields, and meditation on the sun and moon competed for their time with Celestia and Luna's Journal of the Two Sisters, Twilight Sparkle's friendship journal, and Starswirl's Seven Scrolls. What little free time Prism and Midnight had was divided between detailed discussions of possible friendship problems with their friends, and their own independent studies - Prism Star had begun to actually cast the spells contained in her mother's copy of Optics, and Midnight Shine had developed a sudden fascination with temporal mechanics ever since reading the fifth of the Seven Scrolls, burying himself in treatises on time travel by Starswirl the Bearded and Starlight Glimmer and watching an ancient filmed lecture by Twilight Sparkle on causality until the projector broke.

Their friends seemed to be settling into routine as well. Sour Apple had managed to convince Shimmer to train him as a Protector, and the two were spending most of the time they didn't spend looking for friendship problems to do so. Prism occasionally tried to question Shimmer - in private - about her trouble shape-shifting, and the changeling had admitted that it was still a problem - one she hoped to solve by learning more about where she came from. Shimmer confided that she'd gotten her hooves on a rare copy of the Philosophies of Thorax, in the original Morphic script, though she was cagey and evasive when Prism questioned where she found it. As for Talon, honest work seemed to suit her in a way that surprised Prism and Midnight. She loved her job doing fire effects for a performing troupe, and it allowed her surprising access to juicy gossip and potential friendship problems. Prism always loved hearing her show-pony gossip and news from the other cities, even if most of the friendship problems didn't pan out, and the ones that did turned out to never actually be their quest. And while Southern Storm almost never came to the House of Harmony, Prism and Midnight learned that he was working hard on what he promised would be the best Cloudsdale Day party he'd ever thrown, that would include a massive cake in the shape of the HMS Firefly, a highly illegal showing of The Breaking of the Three, and a private concert just for his guests. Even better, Prism and Midnight were both invited, a prospect that buoyed their spirits as their studies started to become more taxing.

As miserable as it was for the both of them, the intense study quickly began to yield results. Under the tutelage of Smudged Ink, Prism learned new tricks and spells that she never would have thought of before, and Solar Flare taught her to augment her own meager magical power with that of the sun - a technique she never would have learned in school, and a revolutionary discovery that proved to be the missing piece to her previously weak magic. With the ancient power of the sun and moon flowing through them, Prism and Midnight soon found themselves outmatching even their adult mentors, and combat training was eventually curtailed as telekinetic slap fights turned into raging maelstroms of arcane energy that left the sparring room in tatters - but not before their final match earned the little filly her cutie mark at long last.

******

Prism Star and Midnight Shine had already spent the last hour sparring under Lancing Ray's instruction. Both had been forbidden from using celestial power, but had already battered each other to exhaustion anyway. Prism had woven a large, round shield of orange light (using hard light techniques from Optics) that she was using for both attack and defense, while she was convinced that Midnight was using time travel in addition to the normal horn blasts and shielding spells - there were moments where he would seem to blur and then dodge an attack that he had no way to see coming, only to stumble with fatigue from some spell that she never saw him cast.

"Stop... stop cheating!" She panted. "You're jumping back in time!" Her magic aura flared just a little brighter as she reinforced her flickering construct with just a little bit of solar energy - just a quick flash, opening her growing connection with the sun for just a moment before quickly cutting it off so she wouldn't get caught, but even that little bit of sunfire rushed through her tired limbs like she'd just had a whole mug of coffee. Sure, it was a bit underhoofed, but if Mid was going to cheat then so would she.

"You're the one using the sun!" Midnight Shine accused, accurately. Their training sessions had made them sensitive to one another's unique energies, enough that they could each tell when the other was using celestial power.

"I am not!" She shot back defensively. "You're just seeing things again!" Prism did her best to distract him with a flurry of unpredictable attacks from her shield construct, causing him to timeshift again to avoid her strikes, and then she felt him surge with lunar energy. "Who's cheating now, Midnight?" She paid for this moment of satisfaction, as the time she took to taunt Midnight allowed him to catch her square with a blast of magic that shattered her construct and threw her against the wall, making the recently healed injury in her leg burn with pain.

"Oww.." Prism got back up on her hooves shakily before allowing herself another, larger flare of sunfire. "That's what you want to do Mid? I'll show you some real power!" Prism hurled a line of red daggers at Midnight and followed with a huge beam of white sunlight that threw the colt into the opposite wall and left black scorch marks in a line along the floor and splashed around the impact point. Prism looked at the devastation in horror and quickly let her horn flicker out with the realization that she used way too much power - Midnight would have been seriously hurt if Lancing Ray had not teleported in front of the beam and took the brunt of its force with a well-timed shield. Even so, both males were left crumpled up against the wall and struggling to find their hooves.

"That's quite enough!" Lancing Ray was the first to get back up, and he started walking over to Prism with an expression of menace as she quailed back against the wall. "This is exactly why I forbade you to draw from your stellar partners! If all you're going to do is obliterate each other with raw power, then I don't-" His lecture was cut short by a retaliatory beam of energy from Midnight that forced Lancing Ray to jump aside, and forced Prism to defend herself with a quick bubble of orange energy. In contrast with Midnight's usual short, disciplined blasts of silver light, this spell was a continuous blaze of bizarre purple energy that seemed to twist and fold on itself in a way that made Prism feel sick to look at. She'd never seen anything like it, but she could tell just by the way it made her skin crawl even at this distance that she was toast if it penetrated her shield.

"M-Mid! What are you doing!? Stop it, the fight is over!" Prism shouted with panic in her voice, looking at Midnight through her shield only to see that he looked just as terrified as she was.

"I- I don't know! I've never used this spell before and I can't stop it! I-I-I think it's chaos magic!" He whined and screwed his eyes shut in a grimace of pain. "I can't... make it stop, it hurts!" Lancing Ray tried to run up and squelch Midnight Shine's horn with his hoof, but only got blasted back for his trouble. "It's burning me up inside! Somepony do something!"

Prism Star cowered in her shield bubble, feeling helpless against the onslaught of alien magic. Any minute now, it was going to punch through her barriers, and then it would all be over. She felt like her life was flashing in front of her eyes, just like ponies said happened when you were about to die, and she closed her eyes against the inevitable as a haze of white filled her vision...

"Prism Star, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid." The voice was that of a mare's, high and slightly nasal, and the filly opened her eyes to see that she was in what seemed like a plane of pure white nothingness. Sitting in front of her was a tall purple pony with massive wings and a long, sharp horn bracketed by the straight bangs of a no-nonsense mane. "Come sit with me," she said, patting the white... floor?... next to her with a hoof. She beheld Prism with a soft, sweet smile and sympathetic eyes, and seeing her face, Prism could understand why ponies were willing to follow her to the ends of the world.

"You're Twilight Sparkle," Prism said as she sat in the proffered spot - not a question, but a statement that she knew immediately was true. "The Princess of Friendship. But... but how are you here? You got sealed away a thousand years ago."

"Well, where is here?" Princess Twilight asked, with the air of a schoolteacher asking a leading question.

Prism thought about it and realized that she had something of a point. They didn't seem to be... anywhere. She knocked the concept around a bit in her mind but found that trying to figure it out only confused her further. "Am... am I dead?"

"I don't know," Twilight responded. "You're not dead, no. But... you're not really alive right now, either." She seemed to see the look of distressed confusion on Prism Star's face, and wrapped a wing around her as comfort. "Right now, you're at a crossroads. A single moment that will define not only your own life, but the lives of all your friends." She spread out her other wing in a sweeping motion, and Prism saw an image of herself floating in the air like a film projection, frozen in time as the beam of chaos magic blasted through her shield. It was like she was looking at a photograph of her own death.

"I... I can't stop it." Prism shook her head. "Even with all of the sunfire I can bring into my body, I'm not strong enough. It's..." She had a sudden realization as she remembered Midnight saying that it was burning him inside. "It's consuming Mid. His energy, his body, all of it. I can't match that much power without killing myself, too."

Twilight patted her gently with her wing. "We're never as strong as we could be when we're alone. But you're not alone, Prism. The most powerful magic doesn't come from the aether" - she gestured vaguely around her with a hoof- "or from the sun. It comes from inside us. Right here."

She put the hoof on Prism's chest, and Prism gave her a look of confusion. "My... lungs?" She smiled and laughed nervously. "I'm pretty sure your hoof isn't over my heart, if that's what you're going for."

Twilight laughed at this. "I guess Shimmerwing is rubbing off on you. That joke almost sounded like something Pinkie Pie might have said," she admitted with a wistful smile. Prism's look of confusion must have been evident, because she explained, "I see a lot of things from where I'm trapped in the stars. But... yes, Prism Star. I'm talking about your heart. Not your actual physical heart, but... but your ability to love and care for others. Think about the ponies who care about you. Shimmerwing, who sat up all night by your bedside for weeks. Sour Apple, who declared you to be part of his family after just over a week. Talon, who sneers on the outside but inside believes in your friendship quest more strongly than any other. Southern Storm, who chose his grief for your injury over his family's legacy. And even Midnight Shine... even as the chaos magic consumes his body and soul, his greatest fear is the idea of hurting his best friend. You six have only known each other a little while, and you've already made bonds of friendship strong enough to last a lifetime." She sat up a little straighter and smiled, giving Prism an approving wink. "That sounds very familiar, doesn't it?"

Prism just shook her head. "But... but I'm not you. I could never do what you've done. You and your friends had the Elements of Harmony whenever things got bad."

Twilight shook her head. "No... we WERE the Elements of Harmony. And so are you kids. You will always be connected by your friendship, no matter how dire things seem. Right now you're fighting, and losing, because you're fighting to save yourself, for your own sake. Don't."

"Don't fight to save myself?" Prism looked at her quizzically.

"Don't do it for your own sake. Fight so that Shimmerwing has somepony to laugh at her jokes and pranks, even the ones that aren't really funny. Fight so that Sour Apple and Talon don't ever have to be alone again. Fight so Southern Storm can keep the joy of playing for his biggest fan, and fight to save Midnight from his own folly." Twilight pressed her horn to Prism's. "Now get back down there. Get back down there, and fight for your friends."

Prism Star opened her eyes and found herself back in the sparring room, watching in horror as baleful chaos energy bored through her shield- the same energy that she knew was consuming her best friend. The thought gave her fresh vigor, and even as she opened herself to all the solar energy she could, Prism started altering her spell, adding... well, adding friendship. She saw Midnight's pain and she wove in her desire to save him, swirling violet against the orange of her normal magic. She thought of the morbid jokes Shimmer would tell at her funeral, and let the green of Shimmer's own magic aura flow with the other colors in her shield. She wove in the yellow joy of dancing to Storm's music, the red her own cheeks turned when Sour Apple teased Midnight for being so close to her, the brilliant blue of Talon's dragonfire that she thought was so beautiful... Each of her friends formed a brilliant rainbow together, a kaleidoscope of color and power that she began to push back against the chaos with, pushing forward with the shield protecting her as though she were pushing back against the winds of a hurricane. She didn't notice the burning light radiating from her flank, or the ponies that had come to save her and now simply gawked in awe at her power. Her whole world was the terrified colt pelting her with uncontrollable energy. Her best friend, her counterpart, the Luna to her Celestia. The colt she'd stayed up long nights studying with, scrambled through sadistic obstacle courses with, snuggled up to watch Daring Do movies with. She forced herself forward, step by step, until she was close enough to hit Midnight's horn with her hoof.

Midnight's spell collapsed with the disruption to his horn, and her own powerful magic collapsed only moments later, leaving the two exhausted foals to lie on the ground and pant with exertion. Prism didn't know how Midnight felt, but she personally felt like she had gone a full three rounds with Nightmare Winter herself. She was dimly aware of ponies stamping their hooves against the ground, and out of the corner of her eyes she could see other ponies bowing deeply. "Why... Ugh..." She groaned and shook her head. "Are you alright, Mid?"

"Prism..." Midnight tapped her. "Look at your flank. Your... your cutie mark." She looked back to see that he was right- on her flank was a silver triangle - a prism, she could only assume - with white light going in one side and a six-colored rainbow of red, yellow, orange, green, blue, and purple coming out the other. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking at it wrong. She'd gotten it by combining, not by separating. Those six colors must represent her and her friends, and she... she combined them all into one. They gave her the power to create pure white sunlight. The insight was so profound to her that she didn't notice somepony was talking to her until Midnight tapped her on the shoulder and pointed out that Master Peregrine was standing over them.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," the old stallion said grimly. "I think we're going to have to have quite the talk. About both of you."

Author's Notes:

I've been toying with the idea of the Order of Harmony using songs from the show for some time, either as a way to remember the Mane 6 or as a form of communication. When I sat down to write this chapter, I realized that 'A True, True Friend' (Season 3, Episode 13: Magical Mystery Cure) would be an excellent choice for this: an almost entirely diagetic song that was sung in front of all of Ponyville, intimately connected with the events that led to Princess Twilight's ascension. The chorus fit easily as a call-and-response, and the structure of the verses worked well to adapt for Shimmerwing's and Southern Storm's pleas for the Order to help save Prism Star.

I realize that there's a huge time jump in this installment - first a week, and then another two months that summarize Prism and Midnight's training in the House of Harmony. But don't worry, I'm not just going to skim over what happened here. After this, I'm going to release another interlude in the format of a journal kept by the Inheritors in imitation of Twilight's Friendship Journal - this journal will contain, in first-person format, highlights of each character's journey and development over these two months.

Interlude: Journal of the Descendants

View Online

Author's Notes:

As Equestria's calendar is poorly understood, and time-scales are frequently vague or contradictory in the actual show, I've constructed for the sake of this universe a fictional calendar similar to ours, with twelve 28-day synodic months (moons) based around the seasons they had before the eternal winter; the calendar of this universe begins with Budding, the first month of Spring, and ends with Last Frost, the final month of Winter. Based on other things I have read, I've pegged the year of Nightmare Moon's defeat as 1500, and thus the current year of Prism Star and the Nightmare Winter is 2501.

The months of this fictional calendar are as follows:

Budding (March) - Sowing (April) - Blooming (May)
Rainfalls (June) - Summer Sun (July) - Ripening (August)
Reaping (September) - Bounty (October) - Leaf-Fall (November)
First Frost (December) - Deep Winter (January) - Last Frost (February)

Editor's Note:

The following is a series of excerpts from the journal kept by Princess Prism Star, Prince Midnight Shine, and the other Elements of Harmony during the events of the year 2650. It is my hope that understanding their turbulent childhood will help us to understand the two young royals who have become a shining example to us all. With Prince Midnight's permission, I have assembled a number of entries for reproduction that will shed light on how they came to realize their power, and how they and their friends built their relationship into the Elements of Harmony that we know now. In the original journal, entries were clearly delineated by the unique writing style of each creature, from Prism Star's flowing calligraphy to Midnight Shine's frantic scrawling. It was even common for some entries to be in languages other than Ponish - Talon was fond of Draconic runes, while Shimmerwing frequently used the pictographic Changeling script known to outsider scholars as 'Morphic' to conceal certain thoughts from the other Elements. To avoid confusion in this reproduction, I have appended the name of the author and the date of writing at the beginning of each entry, and where appropriate I have added translation notes in square brackets.

Quillkeeper, Royal Librarian
20 Reaping, 2550

******

Prism Star - 10 Blooming, 2501

I've finally convinced my friends to do this journal with me, and I couldn't be happier about it. Midnight and I read the Journal of Friendship for our history class with Miss Oakroot, and ever since I've been trying to get them to do a journal with me, just like it. It's not even really that I want to preserve our accomplishments in friendship like Princess Twilight, but I barely get to talk to them anymore and I'm hoping that we'll be able to read what each others are doing and it'll make us closer.

I guess I'll start the journal off by talking about my doctors. I'm glad I'm still alive, but I wish it didn't involve so much prodding, or so much medicine. Every day after classes, I've had to get Midnight to wheel me to the infirmary so a doctor can pull off my splint and poke all over my leg until it feels like it's going to fall off again, the whole time asking "Does it hurt when I touch you here?" like the answer isn't obvious! And then they make me drink this gross white potion they say is for the pain, but it makes me feel like somepony's pressing down on my head and I can't do even a little bit of magic for hours afterward! And they always keep telling me how brave I am in this super annoying way, like they all think I'm five or something - I turn nine in a month! I just feel so done with all of it, and I'll be glad to be out of this chair and able to explore the House of Harmony without Midnight pushing me around. All I want to do is learn more about this place, but Midnight doesn't seem to care at all! He just goes on about how we're not allowed to wander around, like that's ever stopped anypony who wanted to wander around. I thought being friends with a street pony would be fun, but he's just obsessed with following the rules.

Thanks for listening to me, journal. I feel a lot better now.

Midnight Shine - 12 Blooming, 2501

Prism Star is driving me crazy. I don't think I've ever seen a pony complain about so much! The doctors, our classes, her medicine, me. I know she's just hurting, but I really just wish she'd shut up. And when she's not complaining, she's drunk or something off of that pain potion they're giving her. She gets these constant giggling fits and starts going on for AGES on the dumbest things when I'm trying to study, and sometimes she'll just put her hooves all over me and start threatening to put her tongue in my mouth. Her tongue! That's the grossest thing I've ever heard! One time she even started trying to touch my colt parts, and I had to put her down with a sleeping spell. Prism is completely out of control, and the worst part is she claims after that she has no idea what I'm talking about, like she doesn't remember any of it! If she keeps this up I'm going to go straight to Shimmer and see how she likes it then.

P.S. I read what you wrote about me, Prism, and I know you're going to read this. Just because I don't want to get in trouble doesn't make me 'obsessed' with following the rules, it makes me a good pony. These ponies have only given us three rules - go to class, don't leave the House of Harmony without Shimmer or Sour Apple, and don't wander off. And you want to break one of just THREE rules! These ponies saved your life, the least you could do is listen to them.

Prism Star - 16 Blooming, 2501

So today I learned where foals come from. That was something that happened. Shimmer sat me down after reading me and Midnight's journal entries and started explaining to me how a stallion and a mare make a foal, and I can now say with complete certainty that I never want to touch Midnight Shine again. Or any other colt for that matter. Even Sour Apple's big bear hugs feel weird now. How anypony would ever want to do those things is a mystery to me, and I think the less I talk about it from now on, the better.

She also got the doctors to take me off of those potions and start giving me more traditional pills. I'm really not sure if it's better or worse - I'm shaking all the time now, and my horn keeps acting up. I feel like I need my potions so badly, but Shimmer won't even give me the time of day! Then again, maybe it's for the best if Midnight was right about how I was acting. My memory's really fuzzy, but if I really embarrassed myself like that, then I never want to take a potion like that again.

Shimmerwing - 19 Blooming, 2501

These past few days have been completely exhausting trying to take care of Prism. Ever since we took her off of the potions and started giving her normal aspirin for her leg, she's been more whiny and clingy than I've ever seen, and she's started practically begging for the potions again. The apothecary tells me that she's going through withdrawal, and we need to let her ride it out so she won't get addicted, but it still hurts to see her like this. It's times like this that I wish Thunderbolt was here, if only so that he could be the bad guy and I could remain the cool big sister. I even had to give her "the talk" about how ponies reproduce so she'd stop touching on Midnight!

[The remainder of the entry is translated from Morphic.]
I'm a little worried I might have traumatized her, considering the way she's started acting around males, but then again, I can't help but think that it's a little weird myself. The whole thing makes me glad that queens are the only changelings who can lay eggs. At least a pony mare only has a few foals at most- the idea of laying entire broods is pretty disturbing to me.

Moving on from that wonderful thought, I think I might have an idea about my shape-shifting. I wonder if maybe I've gotten some kind of mental block around it - if I can shift from Shimmer to Shimmerwing and back, then it's clearly not an actual physical issue. Maybe if I can get some actual information on changelings, or even better, something written by my people, then I can figure it out. But when I ask the librarian here, he just looks at me like I'm crazy. I might have to start looking at other ways to get what I want...

Talon - 20 Blooming, 2501

I'm not touching the entries above with a flagpole, so I guess instead I'll talk about work. Getting into a Las Pegasus act has to be the best idea I've ever had- most ponies are terrified of dragons, but these crazy mares will pay me to light things on fire so they can fly through and over and around them! I got another offer from somepony who wanted me to fake fight these weirdos in tights and masks, and he offered me even more bits, but that whole thing just felt wrong to me so I turned him down. I don't think I've ever turned down more bits before, and the worst part was the reason I did it: it didn't feel honest passing myself off as the "Terror of the Badlands". Stormy must be rubbing off on me if I'm actually having qualms about being respectable.

The best part about this new job is all the gossip! Who would have thought that show-ponies knew so much? I've already found ten potential friendship problems for Prism, and if the rumors I've heard about Daft Pone are true, I might be able to do something to cheer Southern Storm up while I'm at it.

Prism Star - 20 Blooming, 2501

Celestial Magic is so, so much more boring than I thought it would be. I thought I was going to be learning how to raise the sun and use solar magic, but so far it's nothing but geometry and the 'history of celestial magic'. It turns out the only way to make Professor Floating Point's arcane math more boring is to combine it with Professor Lemon Drop's history lessons.

Midnight Shine - 20 Blooming, 2501

I'm just going to add here that Prism Star is completely right about Celestial Magic, and this is coming from a pony who LIKES complicated math. And is way better at it than Prism. Also, Solar Flare said he knew Prism's mom, but his only stories were about her at work. I'm honestly almost as disappointed as Prism... I guess maybe I thought hearing about her mom would help me imagine what my own parents were like.

Sour Apple - 21 Blooming, 2501

I tried talking to Shimmer again about my training, and she just shook her head again and said, "I'm thinking about it". I'm starting to wish she'd just give me a flat "no" instead of endless maybes. She did, however, ask me the strangest question - she asked me if I thought a morally wrong action could be justified if we did it for Prism and Midnight. I'm a little worried she's getting my bad habits. And if that's not weird enough, Southern Storm suddenly popped in yesterday and just TOLD me and Mid that he'd scheduled makeovers for us. I mean, seriously?

I swear the world's turning upside down when TALON is becoming our moral center and stallions are getting makeovers. The next thing you know, cats are going to start marrying dogs.

Southern Storm - 22 Blooming, 2501

Why the hay does everypony suddenly decide to go on vacation in Blooming of all moons? I've been getting booked for so many shows that I barely have any time to spend with my new friends, let alone prepare for the annual Cloudsdale Day party in Summer Sun or look for friendship problems. I'm going to have to make sure I clear the schedule completely for the 28th so I can make sure Sour Apple and Midnight Shine don't skive off of their salon appointments.

P.S. I've heard the same rumours too, Talon. The keyboardist is indeed gay and single, but he's also five years older than me, and Cloudrunner from Pony of Shadows said he got arrested for hitting his last coltfriend. Stop trying to get me a date.

P.P.S. Those cats can marry whomever they want.

Shimmerwing - 22 Blooming, 2501

So the first of Talon's potential leads didn't pan out. It turns out that Gigawatt and Iced Lightning were not actually fueding over their costume similarities, and it was just a promotional stunt. Talon of all ponies should know by now that wrestling is as fake as a wooden bit, and I'm a little disappointed that she didn't do her research.

[She switches to Morphic here.]
My instincts to search elsewhere proved fruitful, however. There's a rare book store just off of the Strip, and I think they may have a copy of Principles of Thorax- I can't believe one is even in Equestria, let alone in the same city as me! The owner's a miserable old curmudgeon, though, and the hard part is going to be getting him to part with it.

Prism Star - 26 Blooming, 2501

Finally out of the wheelchair! I really couldn't be more happy, a healer actually had to restrain me with her magic because my first instinct was to run around in circles. It doesn't hurt, and I'm not even craving the potions anymore! I feel as good as new and it's amazing. The only bad thing is that it didn't seem to quite heal right, so I've got this big scar all around my leg where they put it back on. My ear scarred, too- it's pretty ugly, and itchy too, but Shimmer helped me find a new thing to do with my mane to sort of flip most of it over the left and hide my ear. But those scars are the only real bad thing, and as Shimmer and Sour Apple have reminded me many, many times, I'm pretty lucky that's the only lasting damage after hurting myself like that.

Midnight Shine - 27 Blooming, 2501

I'm happy for her, but I kind of wish Prism was still in her wheelchair. The day after she's out, they brought in an ex-Wonderbolt and a retired cop, and now instead of sitting with Prism and reading while she gets looked at by the doctors in the infirmary, I've got another class added to my schedule - "combat training". Our first day, Lancing Ray actually made us fight each other! It's not like I've ever learned any combat magic, and neither has Prism, but he broke out a bunch of dodgeballs and made us start throwing them at each other with magic until we were both ready to collapse. And then, once we were tired and sweaty, he sat us down and made us take notes just like the other teachers while he taught us about energy bolts. This whole thing is getting so crazy. I'm just glad we have tomorrow off, even if Southern Storm is going to drag me and Sour to some spa.

Sour Apple - 28 Blooming, 2501

Today Mid and I had our 'makeover' from Stormy, and I have to say that it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought the spa ponies would be fussing over us all day, but we actually spent a lot of the day soaking in the most amazing hot tub and just talking (Storm said the water had some kind of chemical in it that was supposed to make our coats and manes softer but I don't know about that). I can't remember the last time I spent this much time hanging out with friends - before all of this stuff happened I was always going from one job or hustle to the next to feed myself and Midnight, and now I spend so much time exercising or trying to learn how to fight or trying to help ponies with their friendship problems that I never have time to just relax. Stormy spent the time after the soak teaching us how to play blackjack while our coats and manes dried, and I got WAY more respect for him when Mid caught him using some math trick to try and cheat, even if it kind of made my head hurt when they tried to explain it. That pony can play some cards. The only thing I have a problem with is that Southern Storm just CHOSE how the spa ponies would do our manes and tails without asking us first - even if Shimmer says we both look amazing, and Prism has started blushing a little every time Midnight talks to her. Mid and Prism both act disgusted when I suggest that there's something there, but I personally can't wait until those two go through puberty and I get to say "I told you so". [Sour Apple has drawn a small smiling face in the margin here.]

Speaking of Shimmer, she actually came to me when she got back and told me that she'd agree to train me if I help her with a pony's friendship! Apparently there's this bookstore off the Strip, owned by this old stallion who's just a [censored by the Royal Library] and Shimmer says that she thinks if we help him make some friends, he'll let her borrow this really old book she wants to read.

Shimmerwing - 2 Rainfalls, 2501

Sour and I tried our little friendship side mission. I have to say that it was a complete disaster, and it doesn't do much for my confidence that we can solve a problem so bad that the map called six ponies. We tried everything to try and make that pony happy. I mean everything. We tried to help him make new friends, we tried to find his ex, we tried to get his children to talk to him... Mid had lent us his copy of the Friendship Journal and we read that thing cover to cover and back again trying to find some lesson that would help us. Nothing. I wonder if maybe some ponies just don't want to be happy.

It wasn't a complete disaster, though... Somehow, Sour Apple got his hooves on the Principles of Thorax and he gave it to me after we got back to Stormy's place. But how? I think he must have a future as a stage magician, because we didn't once get separated and yet he somehow managed to steal the most valuable item in the store without me knowing. I feel bad that he stole it on my behalf, to be completely honest, but I'm not going to let a little guilt keep me from doing whatever it takes to protect Prism. With any luck, it'll all turn out okay and I can get Sour to put it back when I'm done. But whatever he had to do to get it, he got it, and so I went and got permission to start training him as a Protector - not hard, considering he'd already pretty much adopted Midnight as his little brother. Maybe beating Sour like a red-maned stepfoal in the sparring rooms will get some of my frustration out.

Southern Storm - 3 Rainfalls, 2501

[This entry has been written in Morphic, but in the voice of Southern Storm. My belief is that it was dictated to Shimmer in order to hide its contents from Prism Star.]
Despite the fact that this entry is written in Shimmer's weird code, this is actually Southern Storm. I feel pretty guilty that I haven't really written in this journal, and I haven't been hanging around my new friends much, so I guess I'll write this even though nopony but Shimmer can read it. There's two reasons I've been away. The first is that I'm recording a new album, so I've been spending a lot of time in the studio working on that. But the more important thing is that I've actually been preparing a surprise party for Prism - her birthday is in just a week, and Shimmer mentioned that she didn't normally do much, considering that Prism didn't really have friends in Ponyville. Well, now she's got five friends, and so she's going to get an actual birthday party this year. I've already ordered a cake, chocolate and cherry just like Shimmer says is her favorite, and I've already got games lined up that I know my friends will love, not to mention karaoke because Shimmer and I both think she'd simply die if she got a chance to sing with me. I think in a few days, when I'm all finished with track eight, I'll take the next day off with Shimmer and Sour Apple to get everything ready. (Talon is completely out, because she can't keep a secret very well - half the ponies working the show circuit know she's friends with sun-touched and moon-touched unicorns by now, and I think we're all very lucky that she doesn't know exactly where the House of Harmony is.)

Talon - 4 Rainfalls, 2501

This time, I've got a real friendship problem for certain - the ponies who run the Weather Museum are at each other's throats! I have no idea why, but this has to be at least a 3-pony problem. I probably shouldn't act so excited that ponies are having a problem, but I can't help it!

[Talon begins using Draconic runes.]
I know he said not to try and get him a date, but I think I've finally found the perfect pony for Stormy after running back and forth all over Las Pegasus - his friend Cloudrunner, the bassist from Pony of Shadows! I know it sounds crazy, but they're perfect for each other, and I have no idea why neither of them can see it. I talked with Cloudrunner's bandmates, and they all actually agree with me that there's no reason the two of them shouldn't be together. The really hard part is going to get them on a date with each other, and more importantly, to give it a chance to succeed.

Prism Star - 11 Rainfalls, 2501

I finally figured out why everypony's barely been talking to me for a week - they were all planning me the most amazing birthday party! Today was the most fun I've ever had - we played almost every game I can think of, there was a chocolate cake with cherry jam, and I got to get up on stage and sing with Stormy! Apparently I'm very bad at it, though, but nopony made fun of me, which is amazing. Shimmer also did a prank that practically scared my horn off - she got a mist machine from somewhere and made it seem like Nightmare Winter was attacking, and then she came down in costume on a line of some kind - I kind of overreacted and shot her down with my horn blasts, and that was honestly even scarier than the prank itself, but with how relieved we all were that she was alright, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. The ridiculous costume made it even better. It was so bad that I couldn't believe I fell for it at first!

Stormy said it was one of the best parties he's hosted in a long while - he told me that the wards on his mansion are going to be charged with love energy for months. And if the Cloudsdale Day party is as good as he says it'll be, it might be another year before he has to worry about windigos. I'm actually really glad he told me about those wards. I've been pretty worried about him and White Wind out there beyond the shield, so it's a huge relief to actually know what's keeping them safe.

Midnight Shine - 12 Rainfalls, 2501

We finally learned to channel celestial energy today! It felt... it felt good, I have to say. And it wasn't nearly as hard as Solar Flare made it sound. He made it seem like it would take hours of preparation and meditation before we'd be ready to call on the sun and moon, but it wasn't like that. Prism and I have been putting off this entry for hours trying to figure out how we'd describe it, but I think... it was like it was always there. Prism tells me that sunfire was like spending your entire life locked in a fridge, then busting out to end up at the warmest, brightest fireplace ever, but then looking back and realizing that nopony had actually bothered to lock the fridge and you could have done it the whole time. As for me, I'd already had a taste of moonlight from that night Luna visited me, but this time it felt different - not scary or dangerous at all. I wonder if that's because I chose it this time, rather than having it forced into me. It's something I have to think about - in the meantime, I also wonder if that's what's been keeping me from dreamwalking properly. It might be that I need to use lunar energy to properly access the dream realm.

Prism Star - 13 Rainfalls, 2501

I learned the downside of celestial energy in combat training today. Me and Mid both tried to use it when we fought, but Lancing Ray had to stop the duel in less than a minute. It turned out that sunfire was a lot harder to control than I thought it would be, and I'll just say that we're all pretty lucky that Lancing Ray is so good at putting out fires. He told me that I should probably never use fire magic for fighting again because of how unpredictable it is, but he also said that the hard-light constructs I'd been using before were actually really good. Lancing Ray gave me a book on ancient pony weapons, and he said that I might do really well by picking one thing to use when I fight and practicing with it until making and controlling the construct was as natural as breathing.

It was actually a pretty interesting read, if a bit disturbing to see all the ways that ponies have figured out to hurt and maim each other. Unlike Midnight, I can actually stay awake in history class, and it's a little bit cool to see the things ponies used in the wars before Equestria was founded. I eventually decided to settle on a 'hoplon', a sort of round shield that ancient unicorn warriors used. It looks like you could use it really well for both attack and defense with telekinesis, and it doesn't have any scary spikes or sharp edges that could kill somepony.

Southern Storm - 15 Rainfalls, 2501

I can't believe Talon. I just can't believe her. What is wrong with that dragon?! I've told her to stay out of my love life, but what does she do? She sets me up a blind date- a BLIND DATE! With Cloudrunner! I think she's gone completely crazy!

It's not like we didn't try. It was so awkward, but we did try. The restaurant was nice, Cloudrunner DID look fantastic, and for a bit we actually seemed to be doing well - he'd suggested that we try to act like we didn't really know each other, and that did help with the awkwardness. But I just felt like I kept putting my hoof in my mouth and saying something stupid, and then I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the awkward conversation with somepony who I normally talk with so easily, I couldn't take the way he was looking at me or how cute he was in that jacket with his bangs spiked up. I don't know why but I just got scared and ran, in front of everypony! I feel like the dumbest stallion in Equestria right now, and now that I'm writing all this out I think I'm realizing that I'm mad at myself more than I'm mad at Talon. She tried to do something nice for me, and not only did I completely blow it, but then I got mad at HER and blamed her for everything! I really hope she reads this, so she knows how sorry I am.

Sour Apple - 17 Rainfalls, 2501

I'm getting worried about Stormy. Ever since that date Talon put him up to, he hasn't come out of his bedroom and Shimmer says she can hear him crying every time she's tried to go knock on the door. I'm hardly the pony to go to for advice on this stuff, but this can't be healthy. If he stays in there much longer I'm getting Midnight and Prism to blast down his door.

Midnight Shine - 18 Rainfalls, 2501

This might be the most tired I've ever been doing a journal entry. I stayed up extra late after Prism went to bed, and I went to try dreamwalking again. We've all been really worried about Stormy, so I decided to wait until he'd probably be asleep and check on his dreams. Thankfully, lunar energy is as good for staying awake as that gross 'coffee' stuff Prism got me to drink a couple weeks ago.

It took me a few tries. I actually accessed the dream realm on the first try but I just got so freaked out and overwhelmed that the spell collapsed on me. The second try I got lost somehow, and I ended up in the dream of some random pony who was dreaming about doing some really... really weird and kind of disturbing things with cake. I talked to her a little and I think I convinced her that she might want to talk about it with a professional - I wish I could help but I have no idea how to handle a dream like that. I just left as quickly as I could and that time I did manage to get into Stormy's dream.

I'm not going to say what his dream entailed, because I think I should probably avoid spreading ponies' secrets, but we actually had a really good talk. I think there was a lot more there to it than just messing up a date, but all I can really hope is that we were able to get through some of his problems.

Prism Star - 21 Rainfalls, 2501

I got my cutie mark! I GOT MY CUTIE MARK! Shimmer was right about everything, and... Princess Twilight? I nearly died in combat training and then somehow I ended up in some weird white room and PRINCESS TWILIGHT was there! She told me I was at some kind of crossroads, and she taught me how to use her friendship magic to save myself, and then when I came back to the real world I knew exactly how to remodulate my shield to protect me from Midnight's weird spell! Even better than getting my cutie mark was the fact that my best friend got out of it okay, but I guess I'm still a little confused at what it all means. I guess ever since all this started, I thought I'd get my cutie mark in something related to the sun, but I think somehow my cutie mark is about friendship instead. The rainbow on my mark has only six colors, and while everything happened pretty fast, I think those might have been the same six colors I used in my shield- and if that's true, then that's my own orange magic color and then a color that represents each of my new friends. But I guess now I have all the time in the world to think about what it all means, don't I?

Chapter VIII: To Raise the Sun

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Prism Star

Prism Star sat next to Midnight Shine in the small lounge room, holding her hoof to his as a show of reassurance that she certainly didn't feel. After Prism got her cutie mark saving Midnight, the old pegasus stallion Peregrine Dive had sequestered them away in the somewhat cramped room jam-packed with admittedly comfortable sofas and chairs, and left to "call a conclave" - though neither Prism nor Midnight had had any clue what he'd meant by this or what "conclave" meant at all, and he certainly wasn't explaining it, which simply left the two of them alone to stew in their nervousness. Prism hoped it just had to do with her cutie mark, but both of them had a horrid suspicion that it had to do with the chaos spell Midnight had used. Midnight had repeatedly, and loudly, worried about what they would do to him for doing something like this.

"They're going to exile me. Or, or lock me up." He shook his head.

"Midnight, they're not going to exile you, their whole thing is supposed to be protecting us. And they're certainly not going to lock you up - it's not like they have a prison that can even hold you."

"Oh, so you think I'm just going to kill my way out like... like..." He blanched under his fur. "Oh, Celestia. I would, wouldn't I?"

"Midnight, you're not going to kill anypony!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly. "Get it together!" She sighed and shook her head. "You're not going to be put in that position, I promise. The worst they're going to do is yell at you, and you see worse than angry old ponies whenever you close your eyes."

"That's not true. You know I'm not having nightmares anymore." Midnight gave her a blank look, but she could tell he was lying - badly - from the way his ear twitched. Midnight really was a terrible liar for somepony who spent his whole life in hiding.

"You are. You're- stop it!" She took hold of his ear with her telekinesis to stop the annoying nervous twitch. "Midnight, we sleep in the same bed most nights, I can feel you tossing around. It's her again, isn't it? The, the..." She felt a little shiver of fear run down her spine as she remembered what she'd seen in his eyes. A flaming pony claiming her name, with a predatory smile of jagged teeth.

"I... I have to save you." Midnight's voice was small and quiet. "I can't let you become Supernova, I can't let you become like Nightmare Winter." His voice broke as his wide silver eyes filled with tears. "I can't lose you, Prism."

Prism just held his hooves in hers for a moment. "That's her name?" She'd never heard what the pony on fire had said - Discord had seen to that - but she realized that Midnight must have seen the whole, horrifying thing.

"We've both gotten so strong," Midnight said. "But I'm still not strong enough to help you if... if you..." He stammered off to a stop when Prism gave him a sudden hug.

"That's what all this has been about, isn't it? Your obsession with time travel, the... the chaos magic. You're trying to cheat fate."

"So what if I am?!" He suddenly seemed to take a hostile turn and broke away from her embrace. "So what if I won't just... just let it happen?!" Midnight half-shouted at her.

"You... you know what can happen if you try to change the future!" She'd gotten up on her hooves on the sofa and was shouting back. "Princess Twilight tried it and all she did was get herself hurt! Starlight Glimmer nearly destroyed the world trying to change time! You have no idea what might happen! And if you think I'm going to sit back and let you kill yourself with chaos magic, then you can just-"

"I can just what? What, Prism?!" His horn glowed with anger. "Do you think I'm just going to let you die?!"

Prism Star tackled him and quickly snuffed his horn. They started scuffling on the floor, half with magic and half just with their hooves. "We'll... we'll find... another... way!" Prism said between punches.

"What if... there isn't... another way?" Midnight blasted her off of him with lunar energy, and Prism was about to retaliate with sunfire when both of them felt a wave of dizziness as their horns flickered out and the spells they were readying dissipated like mist on wind, flowing into the jagged shard of black glass that had found its way onto the floor between them.

"Now, then," Shimmer said from the doorway. "Maybe the two of you can talk like grown ponies."

Prism glared at Midnight. "I don't... I don't think I have anything left to say to Midnight Shine. I need to be alone." She tried to muscle her way past Shimmer, only to be stopped by... her father.

"Now, now, Prism," he said in his gentle bass rumble. "I taught you better, didn't I?" The old unicorn's expression was stern, but his grey eyes seemed to twinkle with the joy of seeing his daughter again.

"I... Dad, I..." She really didn't want to parse their visions of Supernova with her father, and as she looked back at Midnight she felt a mutual accord pass between them. "It's fine now. We just... we were just having an argument about time travel that got out of hand." It wasn't entirely a lie, at least.

Thunderbolt surveyed her warily, and Prism felt herself get increasingly nervous under his knowing eyes. She had to resist the urge to sigh in relief when he finally broke eye contact and pulled her into a hug. "Well... I guess the two of you can at least agree that you don't want to tell me what you were really fighting about. That's somewhere to start, I guess." He looked back at Shimmer as he stepped back. "Now please put that thing away. I don't think they're going to attack each other again."

"I... I'm sorry." Prism flushed and looked down at her hooves as Shimmer gingerly put the Black Shard away in its case. Now that she had a moment to think, she couldn't believe she'd been about to hurt Midnight for wanting to help her - even if she hated how he wanted to go about it.

Midnight had taken the same ashamed expression as Prism. "I'm sorry too, sir..."

"Now let me get a look at the two ponies causing so much fuss," Thunderbolt said with a chuckle, looking Prism up and down. "You've gotten taller, dawnlight. You've got another inch on your horn, too, and I... I can't believe I missed your cutie marking..." He gently stroked her long mane. "Perry told me what happened. Nine years old, and you're already more powerful than your mother ever was. She would be so proud of you."

Prism's mind seemed to shut down as she tried to process the praise, or the fact that her father had mentioned Guiding Star without being asked directly. Was he... about to cry? He actually looked like he was about to cry.

Meanwhile, Midnight was snickering at the shortening of Peregrine Dive's name to 'Perry', and this quickly drew Thunderbolt's attention. "And you're the other one, are you? Come over here where I can get a look at you." Midnight scrambled over, and Thunderbolt examined him appraisingly. "A bit on the skinny side... Could use some better grooming habits..."

"Dad." Prism was giving the stallion an exasperated look. "He's fine. And more importantly, he's my best friend. So lay off."

"Of course." Thunderbolt laughed and ruffled Midnight's mane. "You seem like a perfectly fine young stallion, Midnight Shine. I've heard good things about you, too. Lancing Ray says you've got a talent for time magic."

"I..." Midnight hesitated. "I mean, I can shift back a few seconds at a time. And this one time I was able to speed up time around Prism when she was talking, that was-"

Prism interrupted him with a quick smack from her hoof. "You cast time magic on me without telling me?!"

"Shimmer put me up to it!" He stepped back a couple steps away from her. "And it was super funny! Your voice got all high like a squirrel and-"

"Ugh, I can't believe you! Either of you!" She said, turning on Shimmer, who appeared to be dying with silent laughter in the corner of the room. "You don't just..." She just huffed angrily, feeling how red her cheeks were. In truth, she was more mad that she didn't get to share in the joke, and that she'd missed such a great spell, than about being pranked. "You could have told me. Or gotten a camera and filmed it so I could see too."

Thunderbolt smiled knowingly at Shimmer and just shook his head. "It sounds like you're all bonding well."

Prism took a deep, sighing breath to calm her nerves. "So why are you here? I mean, I'm super happy to see you, but aren't you busy in Ponyville?"

The stallion sat down, pulling Prism onto the chair with him. "Peregrine Dive called a conclave. That means that the masters of every town and city cell are going to meet together, along with whatever other ponies Peregrine cares to invite."

"They invited Stormy, but he wouldn't come. He's still mad at us - um, the Order that is, not us us - because you got hurt." Shimmer shook her head in a way that indicated she thought he was being unreasonable. "A couple of your teachers are coming, though. And some mare from Canterlot, but none of us are really sure why. Oh, and me, and Sour Apple."

"What's going on?" Midnight asked. "Nopony will tell us anything. We've just been sitting in here for nearly a day."

"Without so much as a snack," Prism grumbled. "Anyway, how did you get here so fast? I want to know that, too."

Thunderbolt chuckled at all the questions and invited Midnight to come sit on the other side of him. "Well, for a start, Shimmer can probably find something for you." He looked at her and she nodded, getting the hint and leaving. "Now, I probably shouldn't tell you two this, but with as important as you seem to be getting, I guess you can be allowed to know a few secrets that would normally be above your age. In each House of Harmony, there's actually an enchanted mirror - most of them date back to the old, old days."

Prism snuggled into his side. "So are they portals?"

"You've got it in one, dawnlight." He gave her a little squeeze. "If you stand in front of it and say the right spells, you can go from one to another just like walking through a door. And it's enchanted so that even an earth pony or pegasus could work it if they know the incantation. As for the reason for us gathering," he began, switching his attention to Midnight Shine, "That's hard to say until we actually officially meet. But it might have to do with how powerful you two are. I know it's hard to believe, but you're the strongest descendant unicorns in generations. Maybe, in time, you could..." he paused uncertainly. "You could go all the way."

"You mean ascend? Like... like they did?" Midnight had a worried expression that Prism thought was a little silly. Having wings would be practically the best thing ever, after all.

Thunderbolt nodded. "Maybe. But I think that's a good ways off, or at least I hope it is. I'm more worried about how the other masters will look at you, now that you have your cutie mark, Prism." He hesitated again. "Long ago, when a pony got their cutie mark they were technically considered of age. I just hope Peregrine isn't planning to do something rash."

"Like what?" Prism asked.

"I don't know," he replied with a sigh. "But the meeting starts soon. There hasn't been an actual conclave in the entire time since I joined as Guiding Star's Protector, so I really don't know what we can expect. But it will likely be long, and very boring, so what I need the two of you to do is just try to stay awake, alright?" They nodded at this. "Alright. I'll send someone to get you when it's time." He kissed Prism on the horn and gave Midnight a little hoof bump before leaving.

It was several more hours before they were called, and in that time many more ponies, most of them the same age of Prism's father or older, came through the waiting lounge and through the door on the other side from the entrance. Many of them stopped to shake Prism's and Midnight's hooves, and Prism struggled to remember the litany of names that passed. It wasn't all bad, though. Shimmer did keep her promise and bring the foals some cheese bites to munch on, and many of the masters offered congratulations on Prism's new cutie mark. A few even brought small gifts for the two of them - Midnight notably got a book on dream interpretation and a small scrying glass of clear diamond from the Crystal Empire, while Prism's favorite item had to be the rainbow-patterned scarf she got from Master Firehoof of the Fillydelphia cell, simply for how perfectly it went with her cutie mark. Eventually, though, the long series of well-wishing attendees ended, and Shimmer came to retrieve Midnight and Prism for the conclave.

"Alright," she said as she led the two of them through the mysterious door into a small antechamber lit with a dull orange bulb. "We have some ceremony stuff to do before you guys enter. We know the Order's all about the past and tradition and all of that, but they're even crazier about ceremony than normal right now. Because I'm Prism's Protector, I have to go in first and introduce her like a herald, basically. Midnight, because you don't technically have a Protector yet, I've been asked to stand in and introduce you as well. You'll be able to hear everything from this chamber, so you two will know your cue to enter." They both nodded and shared a nervous glance. "And..." She sighed. "I should probably warn you that they're probably going to want to push more on you than you can take. To me, you're my little sister and her best friend, and I love you both to pieces. But they don't know you, and as far as they're concerned, you guys are royalty in every way but name and wings, and I have a bad feeling that they're going to treat you like adults no matter what me and Thunderbolt say. I can pull the two of you out of there anytime I see fit, though, so..." She nuzzled Prism. "Just let me know if things are getting too weird, and I'll have your backs. Prism, do me a favor and hold Midnight so he doesn't scream."

Prism shook her head. "He already knows. He, um..." She looked away with a sheepish expression. "He saw it in my dreams. I'm sorry, Shimmer."

"No, it's... you can't control that." Shimmer patted her gently and looked over at Midnight. "Thank you. Thanks for taking care of Prism, and thanks for keeping my secret."

"You don't have to be scared, you know," Midnight told her. "We all already know you're hiding something because half your journal entries are in some other language."

"Talon does the same thing!" Shimmer pointed out defensively.

Prism rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Talon is awful at keeping a secret. We all already know she's just trying to get Stormy a coltfriend."

"And we all saw how that worked out," Midnight muttered. Talon had gone through a long series of potential contenders before arranging a blind date for Southern Storm, but it turned out to be a disaster that ended with the pegasus spending an entire weekend in tears.

Prism Star glared at him before continuing, "I think what's important here is that we all care about you, and everypony knows you're keeping some kind of secret. Sour and Stormy will just be relieved you're not in some kind of trouble, I bet, and Talon would probably be thrilled to learn there's another non-pony she can talk to."

"Also, Southern Storm has to give me fifty bits when you finally do come out," Midnight said.

"You- you're a little young to be gambling, aren't- You know what, no. I'm not going to touch that." Shimmer rolled her eyes as a pony before closing them and quickly shifting back to her native insectoid form. "You two just wait here."

Prism shook her head at Midnight as Shimmer went into the main chamber. "You really shouldn't bet on things when you already know them, especially since you have visions of the future or something. That's a little messed up, Mid."

"Like Stormy's going to miss fifty bits," Midnight scoffed.

Prism glared at him. "That's not the point, it's like... like an abuse of power or something, I don't know."

She was about to name-drop something that their history and philosophy teacher, Lemon Drop, had taught them but fell silent to try and hear as they heard Peregrine Dive's voice from the other room. "All masters are accounted for. As the host of this gathering, I accept the honorary role of Grandmaster and call the fourth conclave of the Order of Harmony to order," he called out. "This conclave will now heed the Protector Shimmerwing, of the line of Prince-Regent Thorax of the Changeling Hive."

There was a moment of silence, and Prism frowned. "They're... they're muttering at her. I can feel it from her mind." Her mental connection with Shimmer had matured just as promised, and she could feel the anxiety and resentment from the changeling's alien mind. "Because she's not a pony."

"This conclave will come to order!" They could hear Peregrine slamming a gavel. "Protector Shimmerwing has sworn her life to the service of Equestria, just as all of you have, and this conclave will give her the respect she is due!"

After a moment, in which Prism could feel Shimmer's anxiety recede some, Shimmer responded, "It is... my unique joy-" Prism could hear the resentment in her voice at those words even without their connection. "-to present to this conclave the rightful heir to Princess Celestia, Prism Star!"

Midnight nudged her at these words, and Prism nervously started walking slowly into the main chamber. It was a big room that looked like an amphitheater- the entrance was at the center of the curved stands, and across the semicircular floor where Shimmer was standing and beckoning towards her were a pair of wooden thrones - one carved with Celestia's sun symbol, and the other with a crescent moon. The pounding of Prism's heart filled her ears, and was only drowned out when she reached the middle where Shimmer was and the ponies in the stands began to stamp their hooves in approval. Shimmer helped Prism up into the sun throne, and from here she could see that the assembled masters were all wearing a hooded robe that mostly concealed their faces, and the stands were only lit by set of candles, one in front of each pony. Even considering that she could make out her father's yellow beard towards the back, the overall effect certainly didn't fill her with confidence. In fact, she thought as Shimmer began to call out Midnight Shine, it was actually pretty terrifying. Clearly, from the look on his face, Midnight felt the same way, and when he sat up with her, she reached over to hold his hoof - as much for her own benefit as his.

"The conclave recognizes the heirs Prism Star and Midnight Shine." She could see where Peregrine was sitting, even if she couldn't see his face. He was separated from the others at the top of the stands, holding a large gavel. "We have many points to attend to, and many of you have already been told about them out of session. The remainder likely have their suspicions, but I will let them rest for now. For the first act of this conclave, I call to try Midnight Shine at tribunal for the use of forbidden chaos magic."

Prism felt Midnight go cold, and she squeezed on his arm in an attempt to comfort him as the stands exploded with angry arguments. She was actually even more shocked to see her father's horn crackle with lightning than at what Peregrine had said - they'd both feared that some form of punishment would be a possibility, but Prism had never seen her father so angry he lost control of his magic. As Peregine tried in vain to call the other masters to order, she leaned to whisper loudly to Midnight, "We have to do something. They're going to kill each other."

"They're-" Midnight whined. "What do you want me to do? There's no way these ponies are going to listen to us."

"They think we're royalty!" she hissed. "Do something princely!" She looked up at the arguing grown-ups and growled. "I don't think it's going to matter what I do or say. They're fighting over you."

"I, I..." He shook his head. "I could have the most amazing friendship speech from Princess Twilight's journal memorized by heart and they wouldn't listen to me! I don't think they can even hear us!"

"Midnight, I don't know, I-" Her eyes went wide. "Sonic magic! You can use an amplification spell-"

"-and mimic the Royal Canterlot Voice Celestia and Luna used!" He popped up to his hooves with a grin. "Prism, that's perfect!"

He took a deep breath to calm himself and stepped down from the throne, taking a position in the middle of the room - the pit where a stage would be if this were an actual amphitheater. He looked back at Prism and she gave him an encouraging grin. "E-enough! Shut up!" Even with the amplification spell going from his horn, it wasn't enough. "Stop it! Stop-" His horn stopped as the spell failed with his frustration. "STOP ARGUING!!!" The stands fell silent as Midnight's voice boomed, loud enough that Prism could see actual shockwaves in the air. "ALL OF YOU STOP IT!" The little colt suddenly felt silent with a shocked expression, as if even he couldn't believe what had just happened. "I..." he faltered, still seeming stunned as the ponies who had been directly in front of him were adjusting their robes and papers - though it was hard to see them now, as the force of his voice had snuffed many of the candles that lit the stands.

"The... the conclave recognizes Midnight Shine." Peregrine leaned forward, taking a tone of quiet awe. His hood had fallen backwards off of his head, and Prism could see him adjusting his glasses. "You have the floor, y-your majesty."

It took Midnight another moment to respond, as being called 'your majesty' had shaken him again just as he was seeming to recover. "I... I accept the conclave's decision to try me for my actions. What I..." He looked backwards at Prism with great watering eyes before returning his focus to Peregrine. "What I almost did to Prism is unforgivable. It was.. it was reckless and stupid and spiteful, and I will accept any punishment that this conclave decides is appropriate for my actions. I deserve it for trying to hurt my friend."

"I see... that is very mature of you, young stallion," Peregrine said with a surprised expression as the ponies in the stands began to murmur. "The motion to try Midnight Shine for the use of chaos magic has been seconded by... Midnight Shine. The matter is to be put to a voice vote."

The vote was quick, and Midnight's speech appeared to have tilted what had seemed an even balance into an overwhelming majority... against the trial. Even Peregrine voted against it. "This conclave rejects the motion to try Midnight Shine for his actions," Peregrine said after the vote. He continued after a pause, "I think we can all agree to being moved by his words. On a personal note, I will advise Midnight Shine not to take punishment into his own hooves." He regarded Midnight with a stern expression. "The creation of a Tantabus will be punished most severely. Now please return to your seat."

Prism gave Midnight a massive hug when he got back to the paired thrones. "That was amazing, Mid. The amping spell, the speech, all of it. It's..." She hesitated. "It's not unforgivable what you did. I forgive you."

Midnight hugged her back. "I guess I just can't forgive myself. We both almost died. And, um..." He shook his head. "That wasn't a spell. My horn fizzled out when I got all flustered. That was-"

"-you actually did it," she finished with wide eyes. "You used the Voice. How did you know you could?"

"I didn't! I-" He was interrupted as Peregrine slammed the gavel again.

"We move to the second, and far more important order of business - the reason I have called you all here. You have all heard, in one way or another, about yesterday's events. However, before we begin, I would like to invite Prism Star to recount the events of her duel with Midnight Shine. Please... leave no details out."

The murmuring masters fell silent as Prism stepped forward into the well. "I... alright..." She began, haltingly, to explain what had happened, occasionally stopping to field a question from a pony in the stands. At first the crowd seemed bored, but she quickly sensed their growing interest as she described Midnight's timeshifting and her own use of solar energy to cheat with her construct.

"I'm sorry..." a mare from the back began.

"The conclave recognizes Mistress Emerald of South Manehattan," Peregrine allowed.

Emerald continued, in a skeptical tone, "Am I to understand that an eight year old colt not only traveled through time, but used time travel as an effective combat technique?"

Prism hesitated. "Um... yes, I said so, didn't I?" Normally she'd show a little more respect for an elder, but this mare annoyed her with the implication that she was lying about Midnight's capabilities. Hadn't Mid just used the Royal Canterlot Voice and admitted to chaos magic? "Midnight would react to some of my attacks by traveling back in time a few seconds to avoid them after he saw them happen. I'd seen him do it before, and in our studies of magic Smudged Ink taught us to recognize different forms of magical energy. There was temporal magic all over the place."

The mare huffed at this but asked no further questions, and after a moment Prism continued, only to be interrupted by a stallion almost immediately.

"You channeled sunfire?" His accent was much like Southern Storm's, though thicker.

"The conclave recognizes Master Pot Pie of Trottingham," said Peregrine.

Prism was distracted trying to figure out how such a stodgy pony could be a potential relative of Pinkie Pie, but she managed something resembling a 'yes' with an exasperated sigh. Why couldn't they just let her talk instead of asking obvious questions?

"Let me clarify. You channeled sunfire without preparation or meditation, and still have full control of your magical faculties?"

Prism growled angrily and summoned it right then, her horn and eyes glowing golden-orange as fiery vigor flowed into her body. "Yeah. Yeah, you want to see my magical fac-faculties?" She said frustratedly, stumbling over the last word and ignoring the muttering crowds. She didn't let the energy go until she felt Shimmer's chitinous hoof tugging on her, and that was when she noticed the way everypony was looking at her.

"Prism," the changeling said quietly. "Please calm down."

"I..." Prism let the last of it flow out of her. "I'm sorry. I just got so angry. I, I-"

Shimmer pulled her into a hug. "Shhh. Breathe. Try to keep it calm."

Prism took a few deep breaths and then sighed. "Thanks, Shimmer." She separated out from the hug and returned to her position. "I'm sorry for losing my temper," she said in general to the stands.

"It's... It's quite alright, little miss. Please continue your story." Pot Pie seemed nervous at her brazen display of power.

Prism continued with how she'd gotten frustrated enough with Midnight's evasive tactics to use the wide sunbeam that she used. When asked if it was a deliberate tactical choice to create a wide enough beam that he wouldn't be able to escape in the few seconds of his time shift, Prism found that she had to admit that it wasn't. In hindsight, that made it sound like a much better idea than it was, but she found herself admitting that she'd just acted blindly out of her frustration - she'd just wanted so badly to hit him with something that she used everything she had. The masters asked no questions when she described the way Midnight retaliated with the beam of chaos magic, though they seemed to mutter and discuss amongst themselves.

And then she hesitated and stopped. Should she share her encounter with Twilight Sparkle? Would they even believe her? She decided it was better not to tell them, lest they think she was a crazy pony, and so instead she began describing the spell she'd used as though it was her own idea - but she was quickly interrupted by Thunderbolt.

"Prism Star..." he began, before allowing Peregrine a chance to announce his name and cell for the room. "Please tell us the truth. All of the truth." He leaned forward, and Prism could see the knowing grey eyes under his hood. "I know it may not seem significant, and I know that we have given you little reason to trust us with our badgering questions-" A few of the other members nodded at this and glanced towards Emerald and Pot Pie. "-But I believe that we are finally reaching the crux of the matter. The most important part, that is. The spell that you describe, or rather, the modification you made to a standard shielding spell, is a very advanced form of emotion-based magic that was lost long ago when Flurry Heart and the Crystal Empire conquered Equestria. So I want you to tell me the absolute truth when I ask you... who taught you to use that magic?"

Prism couldn't respond to this with anything but stunned silence. She'd always suspected her father knew more than he let on, about nearly everything, but this was just uncanny. It's like he knew exactly what she was concealing, and had just called it out in everything but name. "I... um..." She hemmed for time, scratching her hoof on the wood floor. "I learned it from Twilight Sparkle."

The room exploded with questions, and Prism quailed against Shimmer while Peregrine worked to calm everypony down. "Everypony! Everypony, please calm down!".

His gavel banged out in vain, as the room continued to boil over until Midnight finally silenced them with a resounding call for "QUIET!" in his newfound Royal Canterlot Voice. Prism couldn't personally imagine ever being more grateful to him in her life. She took a moment to recover and collect herself, and then she continued her story by recounting the way the world had seemed to go white on her, and the conversation she'd had with Princess Twilight. The room stayed silent for this, and maintained their silence until she'd finished her story by describing how she stopped Midnight and got her cutie mark.

"Was Princess Twilight corporeal?" Emerald asked. "You described her touching you. Could you actually feel her body?"

"I... yes?" Prism was confused, and looked back at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Does it matter?" This question was asked by somepony on the other side, who she recognized as Firehoof. "A dream or a hallucination could easily involve a corporeal component."

"But it rules out astral projection," another master mused.

Emerald took a thoughtful tone as she responded. "The information didn't come from nowhere. The spell, as she described it, bears a striking resemblance to how the Elements of Harmony are reputed to have worked through the Element of Magic, and only two ponies have ever wielded that artifact." She shook her head. "I do not believe the workings of this spell came from her subconscious or her imagination."

A murmuring debate seemed to run back and forth along the stands until Peregrine brought down his gavel. "Master Thunderbolt. You've always been a proponent of the idea that Twilight Sparkle's exile was not permanent." He paused and looked over at Prism's father. "For once, I'm willing to admit that I may be wrong. What do you think?"

It was a minute or so before Thunderbolt responded, in a slow and cautious tone. "The stars of the Alicorn have shined brightly over this last decade... Brighter than ever in living memory. Could she escape?" He sighed into his small microphone. "I don't believe so- at least not without outside intervention of some form. What intervention that would be, I'm not sure. In her private writings, my ancestor Starlight Glimmer seemed of the opinion that because it was alicorn magic that sealed Twilight Sparkle away, only alicorn magic would be able to free her. But it's possible that when her prison is weak, she may be able to use her own magic to influence events."

"Are you referring to the superstition that the Alicorn can grant wishes?" Peregrine seemed skeptical, but Prism felt her heart plummet down through her stomach. Hadn't she wished on those stars two months ago? Hadn't the protective barriers of every city fallen the morning after she'd wished to see the sun without them in the way? The idea that she might be responsible for the Shieldfall, even if the other masters seemed not to believe it, made Prism feel physically ill. She quickly tugged on one of Shimmer's wings and begged quietly to be excused, and a couple minutes later, Prism was pacing in the lounge room and whimpering softly as she tried to process her guilt.

After a few minutes of pacing, Prism Star ran blindly into a pony and came to a stop, looking up to see her father. "Prism... is everything alright?" He was still wearing his robe, but had pulled back the hood so she could see his face.

"I... I don't know." She shook her head, feeling like she wanted to cry. "When... when you showed me those stars, the, the Alicorn, I made a wish. I think I made a horrible mistake, I think everything that happened the next day was my fault and all... all the ponies that died or got hurt..."

Thunderbolt shushed her gently and stroked her hair. "It wasn't your fault. It could never be your fault. Princess Twilight would never lay that guilt on your shoulders."

"How do you know that?" She glared up at him. "How do you know any of this?"

"I..." He paused and sighed, smiling at her softly. "Let me show you." Thunderbolt led her out of the room and through the halls of the House of Harmony, passing off of the floor where she'd spent the last two months and down a labyrinthine series of stairs and hallways she'd never seen before. Prism had always been teleported directly in and out of the House by a unicorn, and had never actually been to any of these parts.

"How is it so big?" She asked, panting a little from the long, brisk walk. "This place must be massive - how does nopony ever see it?"

Thunderbolt chuckled at this. "Many things are possible with magic - especially with the mastery of time and space that wizards like Starswirl the Bearded, Snowfall Frost, and Starlight Glimmer once possessed. This House of Harmony is far larger on the inside than without, and-"

"Wait, Snowfall Frost was a real pony?"

"As real as you or I." He'd led her to a metal door locked with a complicated series of discs that he began to turn with magic.

"What's in here, dad?" Prism looked up at him after she lost track of the discs and gave up on trying to follow his combination.

"A mirror, much like the one I came through - but older. There were originally seven of these mirrors, one of which the scholar Sunburst reverse-engineered to give us the magic mirrors we know today." He opened the door and led her into a dark, dusty room, lighting the way with his horn. "Our mirrors are simply a network of portals through space on this plane. But the ancient mirrors are different - each had a different purpose and a singular, powerful spell laid upon it. One was a spring of clear and calm water - a Mirror Pool that duplicated those brave enough to look into it and speak its words. It was sealed away by Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, and its location has been lost to time. The second was the Mirror of Potentials. Ponies claimed that they could see the future in it, but its stories were contradictory, and it almost always drove the looker mad. It was broken long ago. The name of the third mirror has been forgotten, but it came to be known as Sunset's Mirror after a student of Celestia who tried to use its power for evil - it was a portal to another world, reputed by Princess Twilight's writings to be strange and alien, filled with creatures just like us and yet very different. Not long after the war began to turn in Flurry Heart's favor, it was shattered from the other side - I can only assume to protect their world from ours. The last three have not been found as far as I know, only referenced in other writings. And the fourth..." He stopped in front of a huge standing mirror, easily ten feet tall and three feet wide. "This is the Mirror of Memory. While the Mirror of Potentials shows us the future, the Mirror of Memory shows us the past." Thunderbolt lit his horn and began casting a spell that caused the edges of the mirror to glow with his blue aura. "I want you to see something that may help you understand. My favorite memory of all, a time when your mother and I were happy."

He ended the spell, and Prism stepped through the mirror to be swept off her hooves in a cyclone of color.

***Ten Years Ago***

Prism fell to her hooves with a soft 'oof' and looked around. Entering somepony's memory was never not going to be weird no matter how many times she did it, and her main consolation was that hopefully Discord wouldn't be here to taunt her. She was standing in what looked like a palatial bedroom- furniture of carved mahogany, silk sheets on the bed, a plush white carpet under Prism's hooves, and sconces lit with brilliant white sun crystals instead of traditional light bulbs. At the vanity, a white-furred unicorn mare was sitting on a small stool and brushing her hair - a beautiful, wavy mane that came down nearly to the floor in a pastel tumble of pink, blue, and purple - with a telekinetically-controlled brush. She wore a long gown of shimmering green satin in the same shade as the eyes Prism saw in the mirror - the same pale green as her own. Prism's breath caught in her throat as she looked at her mother. She was so... young, and she looked so much like Prism herself.

As Guiding Star began shaking little sprinkles of glitter into her mane and tail, Prism heard her father's voice behind her. "She never needed the dresses, or the glitter, or the hoof polish." He sounded sad, and she turned around to see that he had entered the mirror behind her. "She was just as beautiful covered in sawdust and paint, or wearing a buckball uniform." Seeing the confused look on Prism's face, he chuckled. "I first met your mother when we were studying magic at Canterlot University. We almost never saw each other in class - I was majoring in weather manipulation, and Guiding Star wanted to be a Celestial Wizard like her grandfather. But we stumbled into one another - literally - in tryouts for the buckball team, and ever since the clubs I joined were largely decided by whether or not she was in them." He shook his head with a look of amusement. "This memory is about three years after we both graduated, and four years after we started dating. I relayed weather orders to and fro from Canterlot to the weather guilds in the other cities, and your mother, as I've told you, had already become the greatest Celestial Wizard of her generation."

"Why didn't Nightmare Winter come after her? If Mom was so powerful, then..." Prism trailed off and looked at him curiously after glancing to see her mother putting on eyeshadow. "Wait, how are we even watching this if you're not here? Isn't this your memory?"

"The Mirror of Memory is not a precise instrument, if the stories are to be believed. If the ponies involved in an event are closely linked, their perspectives can bleed into one another. Ask Midnight Shine how the dream realm works sometime. I think you'll do exactly what I did, which is to say, give up and realize that some things are beyond our understanding." Thunderbolt laughed at this. "Guiding Star was powerful in more than just her magic. She was born into wealth and privilege, from a long line of Celestial Wizards - many of whom likely got their talent from Celestia herself in some form or another, though most of them weren't much stronger than your average unicorn, so... Flurry Heart likely didn't see them as much of a threat. Between her family's fortune, and her own incredible talent and sense of showmanship, your mother became something of a minor celebrity in her time - too famous and respected, at least, for the queen to strike at publicly. And in private, well..." He smiled. "She had her Protector. He should be coming in..." Thunderbolt paused. "Now."

Somepony knocked at the door, and Guiding Star opened it with her magic to reveal Prism's father on the other side- a young Thunderbolt. Somehow the sight of her father looking so young was stranger to Prism than seeing her dead mother. His normally bushy mane was slicked down into a tight knot at the back of his neck, his signature beard was nothing but the barest stubble barely visible under the fur on his chin, and he was wearing a nice-looking suit of storm-cloud gray with a bowtie, and a goofy grin. "Well, look at you," the young stallion said to Guiding Star in a tone that Shimmer would describe in a disgusted way as 'cutesy-wutesy'. "You really are the best jewel in Equestria, my little pookie-bear."

Prism made a gagging noise from behind her hoof as her mother responded in kind and nuzzled young Thunderbolt on the cheek. Mercifully, the real Thunderbolt chuckled at this and began to accelerate time with his horn. "It... is a miracle that our relationship survived moments like that. Too much love can make a pony do very silly things, and I don't think it's possible to love anypony more than I loved her." He shook his head with another small laugh. "The date was... it was a disaster. I'd invited your mother to the opera, but we soon discovered that we both hated opera. It was her suggestion that we make our exit and go to our special place instead."

"The top of the tower, right?" Prism asked as time began to slow back down to normal and she could start seeing clearly again.

"The top of the tower," Thunderbolt agreed. They were now standing atop a gently domed tower with a majestic view of Canterlot - not to mention the surrounding countryside - but the young lovers in front of them seemed to only have eyes for the starry sky in the rapidly darkening dusk, laid out in all its glory here above Canterlot's pink dome shield. Guiding Star and young Thunderbolt were cuddled up together against a cold wind that Prism could see but not feel, and Guiding Star nuzzled her mate's neck as they murmured softly to one another about the constellations.

One star shined brighter than any other, and Prism could see her mother tracing out the Alicorn in light just as she had, starting with the horn. It made her feel so much closer to this mare she had never known. "You know," she heard young Thunderbolt say. "I think it worked out pretty well when I wished you would notice me. Why don't you make a wish this time?"

Guiding Star smiled mischievously. "Any wish?"

"Any wish," said Thunderbolt. Prism Star could see the real stallion mouthing the words even as his memory counterpart said them, with a sad, wistful smile on his face.

"Then I wish..." Prism's mother thought for a moment, looking back up at the stars, then smirked out of the corner of her eye at young Thunderbolt. "I wish for a foal."

He seemed to be taken by surprise, and stammered for a moment before collecting his wits. "A-a foal? But..." Thunderbolt shook his head. "It's too dangerous! Much too dangerous, as... as powerful as you are, if you have a baby, if Nightmare Winter thinks they could be an heir, she-she-she-"

"-she'll kill you," the real Thunderbolt said along with the memory. His eyes were closed, and Prism could see tears starting to roll slowly down his cheeks.

"I don't care. And it doesn't matter anyway- I've already made my wish." Guiding Star giggled at the stammering, terrified young Thunderbolt. "And I'm going to do a lot of wishing tonight," she said with a grin, kissing Thunderbolt deeply and starting to undo his bowtie. "I wish that you'll give me a filly as beautiful as the sun itself, with-"

"-a mane of every color and fire in her eyes," the real Thunderbolt said in a choked voice as the memory dissolved into a swirl of color. He was crying openly now, and appeared to have lost control of the mirror. "I.. I want... I want a daughter as, as wise as Celestia and, and as passionate..." His breathing was ragged, and he could barely recite the words. "As passionate as Starlight Glimmer. And when I'm gone she'll befriend the sun just... just as I did... and she'll make her father... She'll make her father the proudest stallion in Equestria."

Prism tried to comfort him, feeling her own eyes starting to water, but he just shook his head. "You were born eleven months later," Thunderbolt said after collecting himself as best as he could. "I held my wife and my daughter both, and for one moment I was the happiest a pony could possibly be." He stopped, taking a couple of deep breaths. "Three days later Nightmare Winter murdered your mother, and I... ran." He was on the verge of crying again. "I took you and I ran all the way to Ponyville." He managed, with visible effort, to focus and re-establish the memory spell, re-tuning the mirror and putting them on a balcony in Ponyville's crystal castle. The younger Thunderbolt was standing looking out at the twilit sky, wearing the robes of a junior Weather Wizard. "The Order helped me create a new identity and establish myself with the local Weather Guild. But I didn't care about any of that because you had fallen ill on the way to Ponyville. You ran a terrible fever, and cried constantly, and no doctor could tell me what was wrong with you. I wished on the stars your mother loved so much for somepony who could help you, and keep you safe."

"What happened?" She stepped out onto the balcony and looked out over her hometown, before turning back to her real father. "I... I didn't die."

Thunderbolt shook his head. "The next morning I found Shimmerwing. She was alone and scared, just like I was. Just a little thing no older than you are now, shivering in the snow and too exhausted to even maintain her pony form anymore. She was almost dead herself, but when she saw you she... she saved you. She gave you all of the love she had to give, and somehow it cured you."

"So Twilight's always been looking out for me," Prism said quietly. "But... but how's it supposed to make me feel better?"

"Because the night before you left Ponyville, I made one more wish. I asked one more thing of the pony who has given you more than I ever could, because I am old, and greedy, and selfish..." He seemed guilty about it. "You were just so sad. You thought you were weak, and helpless, and you had no idea of the gifts you possess because I was too stubborn and scared to find you a proper teacher. You were... alone, and picked on, and you had no other friends but Shimmer."

"Dad..." Prism had a horrid sinking sensation - it wasn't like her father to make preemptive excuses and dance around the point like this. "What did you wish for?"

"I... I wished..." Thunderbolt closed his eyes and sighed. "I wished you could have the chance to show the world your true potential. I wished for you to find your other half and become the pony your mother always knew you could be." He took a deep, shaky breath. "And when I face my final judgement, I will have the souls of nearly a thousand ponies to answer for, because Princess Twilight granted my wish."

Prism Star felt a cold weight pressing down on her heart, and all she could think to do was to run.

******

Prism ran until her hooves simply couldn't take it anymore. She somehow ran out of the House of Harmony entirely, and when she finally flopped down onto her belly, it was into the soft grass of a park at the very edge of the city's central island, late at night - the moon was low in the sky, and it would be morning soon. Somehow the ponies of Las Pegasus had recreated one of the multicolored waterfalls she'd seen on a postcard from Rainbow Falls, and as she sat looking into the swirling wellspring that it flowed from, she tried to imagine a pony like the one her mother had wished for, with multicolored hair and fiery eyes. It certainly wasn't her. She certainly didn't have much wisdom either, and the only passion she seemed to show was crying one moment and hurting her friends the next. It didn't feel like Twilight granted her mother anything she'd wanted.

"Prism." She turned around to see Midnight standing behind her at a fair distance. Even though this was the real world - at least she thought so - his eyes had the soft glow of the dream realm. "We're all very worried about you, you know. You've been gone for hours. Shimmer and Sour and your father have all been looking for you."

"I don't know if you should." She sighed. "I'll admit I'm a little lost, but I... I..." She stammered to a stop. "What are you even doing here?"

"Astral projection! It's actually really cool!" Midnight took the bait on her deflection, momentarily distracted by his pride on mastering a new spell. "I'm not really here, I'm actually back in bed doing my dream trance but I came to you instead of into somepony's dream!"

"How in the hay did you learn to do that?!" Prism stepped up to him and tried to poke him - sure enough, she slid her hoof through like he wasn't even there.

"It's, um.. um, please don't do that." He took a couple of steps back, smiling at her sheepishly. "You're not the only one who sees dead princesses, you know. I've been getting visits from some other world's Princess Luna since the night of the Shieldfall. That first time we met, when my horn was overloaded... it was because she'd saved me from a bunch of Finders by forcing so much lunar energy into my body that it nearly killed me."

"You know, a couple days ago I'd have called you crazy," Prism admitted.

"And if Midnight told anypony what you dreamed about, I'm sure they'd call you crazy," a rich, deep mare's voice said. Prism scrambled backwards, just barely avoiding falling into the rainbow water, and hastily fell to her knees as Princess Luna materialized midstride and came to stand by Midnight. "My young student thought you might be having a crisis. I thought it best to show up myself."

Prism hesitated as she looked at Luna, and after a moment stood and turned around to stare into the water again. "I... Twilight has done so much to put me here. So many ponies have been sacrificed in some insane plan, or... or because of my dad's stupid wishes, or... or just because. What did I do to deserve any of this? Why does it have to be me?" She hadn't meant it to come out that way, so petulant and ungrateful. But why did all of this have to revolve around her? Why was she the one on this mysterious quest? Why was she the one who had to live in terror of becoming Supernova? "Why... why couldn't it be somepony better? Somepony like the filly my mom asked for..."

"You are the filly your mother asked for." This time Prism did fall into the spring, because the swirling colors had revealed themselves into the face of Twilight Sparkle. By the time the spluttering unicorn pulled herself out, she looked like she'd been bathing in watercolors.

"Ew, that's not water," Prism managed weakly. "That's real rainbow and it turns out rainbows taste disgusting..." The filly coughed and spat as she flopped forward onto the grass, trying desperately to get the bizarre, and surprisingly spicy, taste out of her mouth. "H-help..."

She felt Twilight and Luna both cast spells on her, and in a moment she was good as new - though the rainbow did still leave a bad aftertaste in her mouth. "I'm... ugh." Prism coughed a little more and spat up the last of it. "I'm alright. But see, I don't even have the wisdom to avoid falling into a rainbow."

Luna approached her, looking down at Prism with a gentle smile. "I was once doubtful, too. My sister was always the confident one... the first to get her wings, the first to accept the crown from Starswirl, the first to learn a new spell, and all the time knowing how good she was. It infuriated me as a filly. She was always stronger, always first, and more than anything else, she was always so arrogant." She shook her head, closing her eyes with a sad expression. "Her overconfidence made her easy prey for the Nightmare, though. And all of my jealousy, all of my resentment, made it so much worse when I had to face Daybreaker." She said this with a knowing look to Midnight. "I lived with a thousand years of regret and guilt because I knew in my heart my feelings had led me to the wrong choice in sealing my sister away. I'm just glad that when she returned, my faithful student was there to make all the right choices."

She said this with a smile towards the pool Twilight, but Twilight looked confused by this. "It was... I don't think that's what happened. At least for us. For us, your jealousy of your sister caused you to become Nightmare Moon... and she had to live with the thought that she could have saved you if she hadn't been so self-centered."

Prism was completely lost by now, looking between the two alicorns and trying to figure out how she fit into this discussion. "What does all of this have to do with me, though?"

"That confidence can be just as bad as doubt."
"That even the most powerful ponies doubted themselves."

Luna and Twilight spoke at the same time, only confusing Prism more as they looked at each other. They both stared at Prism for a moment, and then Luna stepped over to the pool. "Please give us a moment to speak, Prism Star." Prism stepped over to Midnight.

"You know, I sometimes think that the grown ponies aren't as smart as they say," she said to him as the images of Luna and Twilight started to have a quiet, pointed conversation.

"This is really not when I had in mind when I asked for help," he replied. "I thought Luna would have some kind of amazing advice on being a princess or something."

"But it wouldn't even apply! I'm not a princess!" Prism glared at him - he was being just as unhelpful, and she'd had it with all three of them. "You... and you! And you!" She pointed at all of them in succession, raising her voice as her temper got hold of her. "All of you can just take your ghostly flanks and just... and just GO AWAY!" Her Royal Canterlot Voice momentarily disrupted Luna's image, and stripped the leaves from a bush in front of her, and Prism just laid down in the grass and started to sob. After a moment, she could hear Midnight saying something indistinct to Luna, and the princess disappeared - not that Prism much cared at this point.

She didn't know how long she sat there crying, and all she could hope was that they'd all finally left her alone. Eventually, she heard Midnight Shine's voice again. "Prism... what time is it?"

"I- what?" For a moment she was so confused by the question that she forgot to be angry at him.

"What time is it, Prism?" He gestured up at the sky. "What's wrong here?"

"If.. if you came back just to ask stupid questions..." She glared at him and then looked up at the night sky through its shield bubble. "It's night. There's nothing wrong with it." The stars twinkled softly, though she noticed the Alicorn had faded. Hopefully this meant that Twilight would leave her alone - nothing wrong there as far as she was concerned. "Wait, no..." The moon was gone - completely gone. "Where's..."

"The Celestial Wizards of the Lunar Sect successfully raised and lowered the moon with minimal losses," Midnight said softly. "But the Solar Sect never showed up to raise the sun."

Prism Star turned to him with a look of growing horror. "What... Midnight... what did you do?"

"Help isn't coming," he said - pointedly ignoring her question. "It has to be you."

"What. Did. You. Do?" Prism pounced on him angrily and just passed through his image, causing him to take a couple steps backward.

"It doesn't matter what I did! You have to do it or there will never be another sunrise again!"

This hung between them for a moment like an exploded bomb. Prism couldn't believe he'd do something like this... whatever he did. "Midnight.. I, I can't. Nopony can. I'm not Celestia, no matter how much everypony seems to think I am!"

"You have to try." In contrast with Prism's growing panic, Midnight seemed eerily calm. "You saw just like I did how shocked they were at what you can do. All of them. Your father said that you're already stronger than your mother, and she raised the sun."

"She... She had a hundred wizards at her back. I don't have anypony." She knew he was wrong somehow. She wasn't as strong as Celestia - not strong enough to raise the sun alone.

Midnight asked, "But you have magic Celestia didn't have, don't you? Twilight taught you her friendship magic."

"I... how the hay is friendship going to help?!" She yelled at him.

"Just try, please." Midnight looked like he was about to hug her and then remembered he wasn't really there. "As the Order's little song goes, just give it a chance. You might find that you'll start to understand."

"I... but..." Prism sighed and turned away from him, walking to the edge of the pool and looking up at the eerily empty sky. She'd always been up at dawn to watch the sun rise. She'd always wished, so much, that she could see it for real, that she could feel it. But Prism had learned so much in these past months. All that time spent practicing to channel the sun's fire, all those sparring sessions with Midnight where she would turn its energy against him, all those late nights she spent trying to perfect her light constructs. Even at night, Prism had learned to feel the sun as her constant companion - like a stone wall that had lasted her whole life had been chipped at and chipped at until she could reach through, and on the other side was endless, eternal fire. But... raising the sun? How would she even begin to attempt a spell so advanced? She'd certainly never learned it from Solar Flare. She had to try, though - Midnight was right about that. This was always going to happen eventually. The sun was just a big ball of magic fire, right? So maybe... Prism opened herself to as much of the sun's energy as she could take, and tried to just... lift the sun. For a moment it felt like it would work- she could feel it slowly starting to move... but then she felt all that energy burning her up inside and had to let it go.

What was wrong? Was she just not strong enough, or... or was there something Prism was missing? She took a breath to resist the urge to cry and give up, and instead did her best to think about what Solar Flare had taught her about the sun. "'The sun, to the best that we know from science, is just a ball of fire fueled by some form of magic we don't understand...'" She muttered, in imitation of what she remembered.

Midnight said from behind her, "'...But science often fails to tell us the truth behind our world.'" She looked back at him and he chuckled a little at her. "You know, you really do just tune out the moment he starts talking about the mystical stuff."

"Well, I mean, what..." Prism stammered a little in a defensive tone. What in Equestria was Midnight talking about?

"'...Whereas in ancient times, the unicorns of the Lost Continent are believed to have worshiped the sun as a god. They were likely wrong about this, but I suspect from my own experience that they might have been wiser than those who claim to know the science,'" Midnight recited, seeming to look down at a book that wasn't there, and Prism had the odd mental image of Mid trying to check his meticulous notes without breaking the dream trance. From the way his projection was flickering in and out, that might have even been what he was doing. "'Celestia and Luna, the progenitors of modern Celestial Magic, thought of the sun and moon not simply as powerful magical entities, or balls of fire and rock, but as living beings to be approached as equals.' He went on to explain from there why there's always one Speaker who sits in the middle of all the wizards and actually raises the sun with everypony else's power, but I think the more important thing is the bit where he said that they're 'living beings', Prism."

Prism scoffed. "What, am I supposed to make friends with the sun? 'Oh hello, it's good to see you, where have you been all this time, why didn't you help when Nightmare Winter murdered my mother?'"

Midnight seemed to ignore her hostile tone and responded matter-of-factly, "It wouldn't hurt."

She just sighed at him and turned back to look at the east sky. A... living being? Maybe Midnight had a point... Prism took a few deep breaths to steady herself, and then she opened herself up to the sun's fire just as before. But instead of trying to lift it, she thought about how to possibly befriend a celestial body, and then her thoughts drifted to her actual friends. Shimmerwing had been her friend for as long as she could remember - and had apparently saved her life with some kind of changeling love magic when she was a baby. Midnight was always by her side these days, and now she couldn't imagine life without him. She'd stopped mooning over Southern Storm when Talon had told her he was gay, but Sosi - as they still sometimes called him with giggles behind his back - had become a true friend, and the little parties he threw to charge the windigo wards around his house were always the highlight of her week. Sour Apple always found an excuse to tease her, but he was brave and strong, and always ready to help whether it was trying to reach a high book in the library or sneak something in that they weren't allowed to have. And Talon had somehow gone from shifty and snarky and rude to becoming an immovable rock who never took her eyes off of their friendship quest. Prism thought about these five wonderful ponies in her life and how they made her feel, the way they all gave so much of themselves without any second thought... and then she opened her heart to one more friend.

Flurry Heart

Nightmare Winter returned from the meeting with the Celestial Wizards in a fury, barely maintaining the glamour of oh so beautiful and generous Flurry Heart as she threw open the palace doors and stormed into the throne room with frost spreading into the rich blue carpet with each step of her iron-shod hooves, slowly spreading in circles around her hoofprints. The Solar Sect had failed to raise the sun today, and in confronting the Celestial Wizards all she got were excuses and ridiculous stories. For the Lunar Sect to claim that the ghost of Luna had appeared and put the entire Solar Sect to sleep was... it was patently ridiculous, and the grandmaster of the sect had paid with her life for those lies. Luna was dead- hadn't she forced the ice into Luna's heart herself?

In a fit of rage, she shattered one of the old windows with an incoherent cry and a blast of black energy; the stained-glass windows that Celestia had so prized had long ago become crusted with rime, but she knew very well from her childhood which one depicted Luna. Sweet, innocent Luna who had always gotten a pass, who had been too weak to wield the power of the Nightmare - defeated by both Celestia and Twilight Sparkle, but Nightmare Winter had claimed both of them hadn't she? 'I stopped all of them,' she thought with savage triumph.

"Ooh, Luna always did get you, didn't she?" Nightmare Winter heard a mocking voice and a high-pitched giggle from the far side of the room, and turned to see Flurry Heart sitting on the throne - young and beautiful as she'd been so long ago, the cruel smile on her muzzle half-hidden by the curly, multicolored mane that tumbled down her face and chest. "Oh, you pretended to be me for so long but Luna always had your number." Flurry pushed the hair out of her face and grinned wickedly. "Oh don't worry, Winty. I'm sure somepony will do your job for you and raise the sun. You never did learn that trick, did you?"

Nightmare Winter hurled a barrage of ice shards at the crystal throne, letting her glamour drop in the process to reveal her true, cruel form - but her double was already gone. "Begone with you, spirit!" She growled angrily. "I am in control!"

Somehow she knew even before Flurry responded that the princess was behind her. "Maybe it'll be that little filly from years ago. That one you couldn't kill. Wouldn't that be so sweet?" Nightmare Winter tried to turn and face her but felt paralyzed. "I was so scared that you would end the line of Celestia once and for all. But you... hesitated." She whispered this last word into Nightmare Winter's ear and disappeared with another malicious giggle, leaving the dark queen free to move again.

"There's..." She breathed to control herself. It was just an illusion. There was no reason to argue with a figment of her imagination... but the suggestion that she'd hesitated rankled her. "There's no reason to think she's alive," she finally said more to herself than anypony as she was still trying to ignore the specter of Flurry Heart. "She'd tasted of the Nightmare, I made sure of that. There's no way a foal could survive that much power."

"But you're worried, aren't you, Winty? You promised you wouldn't kill unless you had to- wasn't that the deal we made? Oh, but you did a number on that poor old mare, just because she said something that scared you." Flurry Heart was sitting up in the sill of one of the stained-glass windows. "You thought she was one of Starlight's little friends, didn't you? Oh, when you found out who she really served... that was delicious to watch." Flurry winked, and Nightmare Winter forced herself to resist attacking again. Breaking another of these windows, while cathartic, would to little to stop the taunting.

"I dealt with that traitor. I was a fool to think she'd ever serve anypony but Twilight Sparkle, but her rebellion died with her." She wasn't nearly as confident as she tried to sound, though. Her trusted Finders had sparred for years with a group of ponies trying to steal artifacts from under her grasp and keep the descendants of Celestia and Luna out of her hooves.

"Auntie Twily always was so crafty, wasn't she?" Flurry Heart laughed again, that knowing, vindictive giggle that always made Nightmare Winter want to murder the next pony she met. "She always was cleverer than you. She protected Prism Star somehow, and when she finally comes back for you..." The specter of the Crystal Heir shook her head and grinned. "Ooh, I'm going to laugh and laugh and laugh." This time Nightmare Winter did smash the window, and it did feel good to blast a hole through Twilight Sparkle's smug face. Twilight had always thought herself so clever, hadn't she? Always giving her insipid friendship lectures, always holding her back so that she could always be better. "Why don't you look at your little mirror? The one they found in the Frozen North. Go ask it where Prism Star is." Flurry Heart looked out the hole in the window with a smirk. "It'll probably be morning soon. You don't want to miss the show, Winty~" This last bit was added in a mocking singsong before Flurry evaporated, leaving Nightmare Winter alone in a soft snowfall that she'd summoned without even thinking.

Could it be true? Could... Nightmare Winter rushed upstairs, trailing ice behind her on the stone as she stopped bothering to try and contain her power. There was no way that Guiding Star's daughter could have survived even a sliver of the Nightmare power she'd given them both. That... no, it was that imbecile stallion, with his baby talk and his little lightning tricks. The one that Guiding Star was always with, who seemed to constantly fill her head with ridiculous stories of Twilight Sparkle. He had to be one of Starlight Glimmer's minions. He had taken her, and they'd somehow cured her and hidden the both of them. Nightmare Winter slammed open the door to her chambers and quickly used her ice-blue magic to pull the black cloth covering over a tall standing mirror caked in frost- the Mirror of Sight, acquired at great cost in horsepower from a frozen cave beyond recorded lands.

"Show me... Prism Star."

She hoped desperately that nothing would happen, but to her horror the ice covering the mirror began to recede. She saw a rainbow waterfall flowing from a city in the sky that she knew was Las Pegasus, and at its source she saw a little white unicorn sitting in deep thought, her horn shining bright with the same golden energy Celestia had once wielded. A colt about the same size as her was standing behind her, barely visible in the darkness - even without how dark the blue of his coat was, the Mirror of Sight revealed his form as simply an illusion. Of course it was; her great-aunt Luna had always been a master of astral travel. She would flit from dream to dream, visit faraway places... and even other worlds, Nightmare Winter remembered with the terrible fear of somepony who had forgotten a great danger. Even as her mother and Aunt Twilight had applauded Luna for her claims to have visited Sunset Shimmer's mirrorworld in astral form, Flurry had never believed them... but perhaps she should have. Certainly somepony had warned Sunset Shimmer to smash her half of the magic mirror that bore her name before Nightmare Winter had a chance to claim its Equestrian counterpart. More alarming was the possibility that another world's Luna had visited this one in the same way, and perhaps the Celestial Wizards had not lied after all. As little Prism Star started to glow and levitate off of the ground, Nightmare Winter saw the ghostly form of Twilight Sparkle by her side, her own horn glowing with the secret magics that she'd kept from Flurry, and all her worst fears were confirmed. Some alien Luna had set the stage for this filly, but it was ever-brilliant Aunt Twilight who wrote the script.

Her mounting rage only increased as she saw the filly's mane and tail shine in every color of the rainbow, flowing from an unseen wind just as Celestia's always had, as her previously green irises burned with orange sunfire. Nightmare Winter's hate became a swirling blizzard as she saw the sunrise, a dawn like Equestria hadn't seen in a thousand years - painting the world with reds and pinks like a master artist, burning away ice and shields and winter cloud alike as the sky itself rejoiced at the birth of a new Sun Princess.

And all Nightmare Winter felt was cold fear.

Chapter IX: Honest Apples

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Talon

Talon looked at the locked door and huffed. Sure, she wasn't really a member of the Order of Harmony. And sure, she had never really bought into the whole idea of a secret society to begin with, let alone one dedicated to following the instructions of some pony that died nearly a thousand years ago. It still stung a bit to be excluded so blatantly, though. Even Southern Storm had at least been invited, even if he didn't bother to show up. Still... even if they didn't want her in their Conclave thing, Talon was going to sit in the lounge and at least be there if one of her friends needed her.

This resolution lasted maybe an hour and a half before Talon went from bored to incredibly bored, not to mention restless. Dragons weren't meant to sit around all day in comfy chairs - maybe on gold, but that just got you Greed-Induced Bigness. She sighed at this thought and stood up to stretch - being there for her friends was a good thing, but they'd probably understand if she went for a walk or something. And with everypony focused on the Conclave, it might be the perfect opportunity to explore the House of Harmony without one of their minders on her. Talon had always loved to explore, the deeper the better. Half of Manehattan had been abandoned ruins and wartime bunkers, and as a hatchling she'd explored it all, much to the distress of the ponies who'd adopted her. But even as scared as they were for her safety, they'd understood. She never really got the chance to find out how they knew so much about dragons, or where they'd gotten her egg for that matter, but they'd understood that independence and solitude were important parts of growing up for a dragon.

The thought of them filled her mind as she quietly walked down the dark side hallways, keeping her claws up so that they wouldn't clack along the tiled floor - a trick she'd learned quite young to keep from waking the old war golems that were surprisingly common in the abandoned Loyalist bunkers. Despite being ponies, her parents - as she thought of them - taught her everything she knew about being a dragon. Her father, ever the handy earth pony, had built her a chimney at one point to safely practice her firebreathing. And her mother, worried as she might be, was ever the accomplice in Talon's little expeditions. She would knit Talon dark sweaters to protect her from the cold and hide her bright scales, she taught Talon how to pick locks and disable tripwires, and she was the one who'd taught the young dragon discipline and warned her about Greed-Induced Bigness. 'You get one item when you go out there,' her mother had said. 'One thing that catches your eye and you can't live without, and you leave the rest, no matter how much you want it.' And Talon did. No matter how poor her family got, she left every bit and every gem that she found, because she was terrified of turning into a monster.

"Oh, come on now, hon. You wouldn't have become a monster just fer a few bits." The voice that interrupted her reverie was rough but kind, with a thick farmpony drawl that actually made it hard for Talon to understand, with how used she was to the tones of city ponies. She looked around for the source of the voice and found a translucent orange pony standing by a doorway to her right. "Greed's a state of mind. You wouldn't have become some big monster just for takin' what you'd earned, especially since ya only wanted it for your family." She winked at Talon from under a bushy blonde mane, and turned to walk straight through the door - a door that stopped Talon cold when she tried to run after the ghost pony. It was locked - of course it was locked. And of course Talon had left her picks back at Stormy's house, because who takes treasure hunting supplies to sit in a waiting room? She sighed. This was going to take some preparation, and a bit of help from her favorite partner in crime.

Sour Apple
***3 Hours Later***

Sour sighed some as he walked out of the chamber. Whatever you could say about all this, it certainly wasn't boring. Even after Prism Star's rapid exit from the Conclave session, the old ponies had continued to argue for what felt like an eternity. At least they'd had the sense to call a recess after Midnight had asked to be excused - it was a little strange to keep carrying on after the pony they were arguing over had already left, but keeping it up after both foals were gone would have simply been insane.

Of course, then Midnight had muttered something about talking to a princess and rushed off to his room, leaving Sour Apple alone. Not that he minded, of course. A little quiet was wonderful after all of that excitement. He honestly only ever half-understood any of this stuff about ancient history, but even he got why the idea of Princess Twilight returning was big. When Sour was very little, his mother had always believed, or at least that's how he remembered it. Every night she'd tuck him into bed with a story about Twilight Sparkle, the wise old pony who lived in the stars and protected little colts and fillies who were good to their friends. Of course the reality had turned out far less fantastic, and in time Sour Apple had decided that only he could protect himself and his brother. Manehattan had a way of doing that to ponies. But some part of him still remembered those stories, and when times were truly desperate a lonely colt might even look up at the stars and pray. Every night, just as the little Apple was falling asleep, his mother would finish her story with a simple declaration of faith: 'Princess Twilight is gone now, but it's not forever, my strong sapling. One day she'll be back with the magic of friendship, and she'll set everypony free.'

Lost as he was in the bittersweet memory of his mother's bedtime stories, he nearly jumped out of his skin when somepony tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Sour Apple bucked his hind legs on instinct - he perhaps had Shimmer's training sessions to thank for becoming paranoid about being touched - and then whipped around to see that he had knocked a dazed-looking Talon into the wall. For some reason she was wearing a form-fitting black longcoat that admittedly suited her (and from the look of the embroidered hem and studded lapel was almost certainly a gift from Southern Storm, who if nothing else had fantastic style), but once he saw past that, he realized that she was holding one of her wings out at an odd angle. "T-Talon? You scared my cutie mark off!" Sour panted a little and looked at her wing. "Did I do that? Please tell me I didn't do that..."

She nodded and reached over her shoulder to start straightening the bones with little cracking noises that made Sour feel a little queasy. "You did, but it's all right. Wings heal fast and it doesn't even hurt that much - not as much as my chest, at least." Talon pulled a small roll of bandages out of a pocket inside her jacket and pressed it into his hooves. "Here, help me bind it up so it heals right. You know, you've got quite a kick."

"Thanks, I think?" With her guidance, Sour was able to wrap her wing properly. "You know, I kind of hoped you'd get bored and find something better to do than wait around for us, but I didn't think it would be an adventure in goth fashion."

"Ha, ha, ha," she responded sardonically. "If you must know, it was part of Stormy's apology for blowing up at me after his date with Cloudrunner. He had it custom-tailored, and thought it would come in handy if I ever went back to treasure-hunting. Um... in that vein..."

Talon began explaining the encounter she'd had with some form of ghost while everypony else was at the Conclave, and Sour could feel his right eyebrow slowly rising up in disbelief as she described it in great detail. "Okay, Talon, I'm going to stop you here," he said, raising his hoof to interrupt her just as the ghost had walked through the door. "You wandered off and you saw a ghost. A ghost. The ghost of Applejack. Applejack, Talon," he said, repeating himself as though he were talking to somepony stupid.

She glared back at Sour Apple. "Is that who it was? All I know is, I saw a ghost pony with orange fur and bushy blonde hair tied off at the base of her mane and tail, who talked to me in the most ridiculous accent I ever heard."

"Yeah, you just described Applejack. You know, legendary folk hero from old pony tales? Strong and brave and honest and all that garbage? Weren't you raised by an earth pony?" Sour felt frustrated with her for actually believing she'd seen something so silly.

Talon huffed at him, a little spurt of fire coming out of her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot how much time my dad had to tell me about random dead Apples when he was breaking his back mining concrete!"

He took a couple of steps back at her angry response. "I... sorry." Sour Apple took a couple of deep breaths, feeling like he'd crossed a line somewhere. "I shouldn't have dragged your father into it, that was... that was probably a bit low of me." At least her father was still alive, though. "Look, um... I don't really believe in ghosts to begin with, but if I seem skeptical, it's mainly because Applejack was probably never real in the first place. All the stories are just so... out there. She's just somepony Apple moms tell their foals about to teach them to be honest."

"You know, most pegasi say Rainbow Dash was just a legend their moms told them so they'd grow up to be brave," Talon pointed out after a moment in a thoughtful tone. "After all, nopony could possibly fly faster than sound, right? And the Elements of Harmony are just a myth, too. But you-" She poked him in the chest for emphasis. "-found an Element of Harmony with her name on it. And you had visions of her or something that made you crazy enough to fight a metal dragon."

"I... I had a magic shield," he managed weakly, knowing that she'd trapped him. Forced to think about it that way, the idea of Applejack being real was a lot less silly.

"Yeah, you fought off a giant metal dragon with a three thousand year old relic from the mythical Lost Continent." She smirked at Sour's confusion. "I got Mid to look it up at one point out of curiosity. But the point is that I bet in a thousand years, ponies are going to say that story sounds pretty ridiculous too."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I guess, maybe. But the fact remains that ghosts aren't a real thing. Not to mention that a pony revered for honesty supposedly told you that it was okay to steal."

Talon grimaced. "Yeah, that was a little weird. But that's just more reason to find her again, isn't it?" She shook her head. "I'd wanted to find her as much to tell her why she was wrong as anything else, but now I'm just confused and I want answers."

"You..." Sour Apple was practically speechless. "You... realize I'm a member of the Order now, right? I became an acolyte when I started training with Shimmer? Talon, there's nothing they can do to you, but but I could get into so much trouble!" He jabbed a hoof at her accusingly, then let it hang there for a moment before lowering it with a sigh. "But you're going to do this no matter what I say, because you're somehow even more stubborn than my brother. Fine. But we're going to do this carefully, because I saw Prism and her dad going that way."

It took Talon a moment to realize he'd agreed. "Come on , Sour, when did you turn into such a stick- Wait, what?"

He sighed. "I will help you sneak into a locked, supposedly haunted room in a restricted hallway, because as much as I don't want to get in trouble, I'm even less happy about the idea of letting you go in there alone. Somepony has to be there to keep you safe from whatever's locked in there." In addition to fighting and fieldcraft, his training with Shimmer had included long, boring lectures on the history of the Order - including some of the artifacts that they'd locked away over the years. The idea of what they might be keeping in a locked vault might have been scary, but the idea of Talon messing with the Alicorn Amulet or a Siren Gem was even worse.

Thankfully, making it back to the door was easy. Talon had a great sense of direction, and somehow there was nopony whatsoever between them and the door. "Alright," Sour said when they reached it. "Still time to back out, you know. Not saying either of us is scared, but... I still think this is a really bad idea."

"Sounds like you're scared," Talon said with a little laugh as she pulled a small set of steel picks from one of her coat's many interior pockets. "You can always stay here and keep a lookout."

Sour Apple shook his head. "Not a chance. What if I have to save you again, huh?" He went to hit her on the arm playfully then stopped short - he didn't want to mess up her concentration when she appeared to be sliding a small probe into the lock.

"Just tell me if you see a pony coming," she replied in an irritated tone. "Feels like... a lot of tumblers. This is a crazy lock, Sour. I'm... I'll do this quick and dirty, I guess. If anypony asks what happened to this door, I'll take the blame."

"Wait, what? What are you doing, Talon?!"

Talon pulled her probe back out and took a deep breath like she was about to breathe fire, but just as she was about to release it, Sour heard the lock open with a quiet chunk and quickly opened it before she could damage the door and incriminate them. She breathed out the fire into her claws to stifle it and coughed a couple times. "Oof... It sucks trying to hold it back after you've already started."

Sour shook his head. "You're crazy, trying to do that. They'd have known it was you in a heartbeat - you're probably the only dragon in the whole city." He sighed at her. "I guess it's done, though, right? Let's see what's in there."

"Yeah," Talon agreed. She put away the probe and picks, and pulled out a small candle, lighting it with a little cough.

"How much stuff do you have in that damn coat?" He followed her into the darkened room, sticking to the little circle of blue light produced by her candle.

"Sooo much stuff." She laughed appreciatively. "It's fantastic." What little they could see in the room looked... completely empty. But it was also large enough that they couldn't see the walls. "So... why do you think it opened?" she asked.

"Well, maybe it was your spooky ghost." Sour Apple saw the floor end at the very edge of her circle of light, and quickly pushed her aside to keep her from falling in. "Damn it... I'm sorry, Talon, you were about to fall into some kind of pit."

"Because nopony's ever satisfied with just a lock," Talon remarked darkly. She picked herself back up, checked her wing, and lit a new candle (the old one had been snuffed by the fall and rolled off somewhere) before stepping up carefully to examine the pit. "Can't see the bottom. Let's try and find the edges." Sour Apple stayed close by her side as she started tracing the edge of the pit to the left with her steps - he didn't have a light, and didn't like his chances with more pits.

"Edge looks straight," Sour noted. "What do you want to bet it goes wall to wall?"

Talon stopped and looked at him thoughtfully. "They wouldn't just put a door with that crazy of a lock on a room that just has a giant pit in it, right? And somepony had to open that door."

Sour Apple looked at her. "So there's got to be something across this. Want to risk some fire?"

Talon grinned. "Get behind me." As soon as he did, she breathed in deeply and then let out a long, thin tongue of blue flame and swept it in a wide arc. Sour couldn't really see anything from where he was, but Talon seemed like she'd had an idea. "There looks like some kind of elevator over there. I'll check it out."

"Why are you leaving-" he sighed. "Fine. "

At least he could see the light of her candle off in the distance as she went over, though he didn't like the look of how far away she was getting. The elevator - which was really just a scissor lift, it seemed - made the floor vibrate a bit as it lifted her up, easily 20 feet in the air. Oddly, she didn't seem to be going anywhere after it stopped. Why would they make a lift that didn't go anywhere?

"Hey! What's up there?!" he shouted up at her, carefully stepping closer. Talon said something he couldn't make out, and he replied, "What?"

"I said it looks really pretty!" Talon shouted back. "You can't see it from the floor for some reason, but there's some kind of bridge! It looks all shimmery and shiny from here!"

"How are we supposed to get across if you can only see it from up there?!"

Talon seemed to think for a moment. "Alright, um... do you trust me, Sour?"

"I... uh, yeah?" He rolled his eyes at her and then remembered after that she couldn't see his face. "I have a really bad feeling I'm going to be the one risking my neck."

"It'll be okay!" Talon's voice sounded a little more distant somehow, and Sour Apple took a deep breath for his growing nervousness. "Alright, wave your hoof so I can pick out where you are better." This didn't exactly inspire his confidence, but he did as she asked, raising a foreleg up into the air and waving his hoof around. "Alright, now, uh..." She paused for a moment. "Keep facing me, and start walking until I tell you to stop."

"OK, I'm walking!" He saw her breathe a tongue of fire out to see him better as he slowly walked forward, and he took maybe ten steps before she yelled at him to stop and turn to the right - directly towards the pit.

"Now take maybe fifteen more steps that way!" Talon yelled.

"Fifteen?!" That would take him right into the pit. Sour Apple took five steps, right up to the edge, and stopped with a nervous whinny. "I can't- damn it, I don't know if I can do it!"

"Sour, please! You have to trust me! We've-" Talon paused, seeming to take a breath and steady her tone. "We've been through so much together already, Sour. I trusted you when you said you'd find a way to beat that golem, and now I'm asking you to trust me when I say you're not going to fall!"

Sour took a deep breath and closed his eyes. And then another breath. He could still feel the very back of his mane standing up, but if Talon said there was a platform... Keeping his eyes closed, Sour started to walk. When he felt his hoof come down on something hard, he honestly wanted to lay down right there and start kissing the invisible ground in thanks, but he held back and kept walking until Talon told him to stop.

"Alright, now... turn back to the left... it looks like five more paces that way." Sour did as she asked, feeling a little more confident now. His knees weren't shaking anymore, at least. "Alright, take a right and then you're home free to just keep going forward!"

Sour Apple turned right and started walking, now at a normal, calm pace - until he was stunned and blinded by the lights suddenly coming on. When he blinked away the tears, he looked back to see Talon descending from her lift. The pit had indeed gone from one end of the room to the other, and had been maybe thirty or forty feet across. Now he could see the bridge- most of the faces of the platform were painted in some kind of weird black paint that seemed to drink the light without reflecting any at all, but he could see now that the top of the kinked bridge was covered in a material that seemed to glitter in the light. He could presume that maybe Talon had, from where she was, been able to see that glittering.

"It was... it was a test," he managed to say when she crossed to his side, through the steady breathing technique Shimmer had taught him to control his currently pounding heart.

"It was a test," Sour heard a thickly accented voice agree - he whirled around in his fighting stance and then nearly jumped out of his coat when he saw a ghostly orange pony, barely visible in the bright lighting. "And ya'll passed perfectly. Sometimes all it takes to be brave is to know somepony has your flank." She turned her head to look at Talon. "And it takes a very special pony - or dragon - to inspire that kind of trust."

"Are you Applejack? Why-" Sour was about to ask her why she put them through that test, but she seemed to dissolve, carried away on a nonexistent wind, leaving him to sigh frustratedly. "Well, I guess your ghost was real."

"Yeah, I told you, didn't I?" Talon shook her head, looking just as confused as Sour Apple felt. "But why put some sadistic trust exercise in here?"

"I was gonna ask her that myself," Sour Apple said. "I wonder what they're..." He was about to wonder aloud about what this might be for, then he had a sudden realization. "Isn't... isn't one of the Elements of Harmony the Element of Honesty? Do you think it might be here?"

Talon looked stunned, but after a moment seemed to take a thoughtful turn. "It might be. Wasn't Applejack supposed to be super honest, you said?" Sour just nodded at this. "And that whole thing was about trust, and the only way to get ponies to really trust you is to be honest..."

"This... this is crazy, Talon," he said as he looked around, seeing a door on their side of the room and approaching it with her. "I found Loyalty, Stormy has Generosity, the ghost of Applejack herself is practically giving you Honesty."

"We're... no." Talon's slitted orange eyes had gone wide. She hummed a tune Sour didn't recognize for a moment, then spoke again. "Stormy told me that Princess Twilight had five companions in the beginning, each one with their own Element of Harmony. Kind Fluttershy, generous Rarity, honest Applejack, laughing Pinkie Pie, and loyal Rainbow Dash. So, that was six ponies and five elements, and we-"

"Six elements," Sour Apple corrected. While he occasionally dozed off in Shimmer's explanations of history and artifacts (perhaps because they almost always followed a strenuous workout), he remembered very well her lesson on the Elements of Harmony. "Twilight Sparkle bore the sixth element - the Element of Magic. It was destroyed, but..." Shimmer had explained that Nightmare Winter broke the Element of Magic when she captured Princess Twilight, but she hadn't seemed confident that it was gone - and he had since done some research of his own, as intrigued as he was by the red lightning-bolt gem that sat under his pillow whispering in his sleep (and calling him a wimp in what he could only presume was Rainbow Dash's voice whenever he felt too tired for training). "When they pass to new bearers, it's the first to be lost and the last to be found. It only appears to the truest of friends in the direst of need."

"That's reassuring," Talon said sarcastically as she opened the door. The next room was at least lit, and lit by gentle torchlight rather than the painfully bright lights behind them. It was much smaller, with the same nondescript walls and tile floor, and between them and another door (which Sour was certain to be locked) was a small wooden table with two dusty, label-less bottles sitting on it, along with an envelope.

Sour stepped up and picked up the envelope, starting to read the letter inside. "'The door in front of you can only be opened by saying the right words. One of these bottles is an ancient potion of insight that will teach you what you need to pass. The other is an ancient poison, and those...'" He trailed off, going pale under his fur. "...Those who drink it will die without fail."

Talon looked between him and the bottles. "But..."

"There's no way to tell," Sour finished. "Do... do you think it's a trust thing? You pick one, and I have to trust you're right?" It was a desperate straw to grab onto, but he'd entertain any option that didn't involve Talon drinking deadly poison. At least with an earth pony's sturdy constitution, he'd have a chance of hanging on until medical intervention.

She seemed to barely hear him, lost as she was in thought. "No... no, something tells me they wouldn't do the same trick twice. It doesn't... it doesn't feel right."

Sour looked at the note and back at her. "You think they're lying? Or it's some kind of trick?"

"I think... I have to check something." Talon turned back around and tried to go out through the door they came in, but it had somehow gotten locked again behind them. "Damn..."

"Talon, what are you thinking? Come on, talk to me."

She shook her head at him as she returned to the table. "I think that this poison isn't as deadly as they're making it out to be. And I think if we went back and looked, we'd see a net or something at the bottom of that pit. It just doesn't feel very honest of Applejack to trick ponies into getting themselves killed with pits and poisons."

Sour thought about what she was saying, and when she put it in those terms... she had a point. "So... the last door, there wasn't a key or anything. It opened on its own when we passed the test. If..." He paused to think about it for a moment. "If we prove that we figured it out by drinking both bottles, then do you think this door would open on its own too? I'll..." He hesitated for a moment and then sighed. "Talon, I trust you. I don't need ridiculous, twisted tests to tell you that. If you think this is the right call, then I will gladly drink whatever weird stuff is in those bottles."

Talon looked him in the eye for a moment, biting her lip thoughtfully as though she was considering the offer. "Maybe... no. No, I don't think that's it. Like I said, they wouldn't test our trust twice." She stepped up to the table. "I think... it's about responsibility. When I'm up there on stage in my little stagehand suit, lighting this, that, and the other thing on fire for crazy ponies to do stunts with, my timing has to be perfect."

"Yeah..." Sour said leadingly, raising an eyebrow at her. He had no idea at all where she was going with this.

"If something goes wrong, they get hurt but the blame is on me because I messed up." She looked at him, taking a bottle. Sour Apple had the urge to knock it out of her claws, but resisted because he wanted to see what she was going to say. "I don't have any choice but to let them take that risk, but here and now I do have a choice. It's my call, like you said - I'm the one who got summoned by a ghost for these weird tests. And I'm not going to risk your life on the chance that I'm wrong. If I'm making the choice, then I want to be the one who rolls the dice." She broke open the cap on the bottle and started drinking it down quickly before Sour could stop her.

He just stared at her in shock, and kept staring at her in nervous anticipation as she set the empty bottle down. "Do you... feel any different?"

She took a minute to let it work before answering. "I think... I think that was just apple cider. Really good cider, but... just cider. I don't feel any wiser, and I certainly don't feel like I'm dying. You know, I almost feel cheated. A part of me really wanted that potion of insight."

Sour opened the second bottle and tried it. "Huh. That is pretty good. Really strong, though."

"1649 was a wonderful year for Sweet Apple Acres," he heard the spirit say behind them. He moved aside to make room as she approached the table and looked at Talon's empty bottle wistfully. "Last good harvest before the winter. Apple trees don't grow the same under a bubble - they need the sun. He was supposed to use just water, but ah guess Golden Seed thought you were somethin' special." She turned to look at Sour Apple. "You were willin' to drink poison for your friend. That's exactly the sort of stupid thing Rainbow Dash would have done. And as for you," she said as she addressed Talon, "there's more to bein' honest than just tellin' the truth - any pony can do that. You could have easily gotten this one to drink that bottle, but you knew that you had to be responsible for your own choice. One more test to go. Good luck, young'uns."

"What? I... ugh." Talon sighed, shaking her head as Applejack disappeared. "Yes, just talk in vague folksiness and go float away. I never want to talk to another ghost again."

Sour nodded in agreement as he started to pull open the heavy door. "Yeah, I thought she was supposed to be direct and always speak her mind. Never meet your heroes, I guess."

The next room was small and empty, with an identical door on the other side, and Applejack standing in between. "Now this test's simple, you two," she said as the door shut on its own behind Talon. "I'm gonna ask each of ya a question. And ya can only pass if you tell me the complete and honest truth."

"What, that's it?" Sour asked sarcastically. "No trust falls over a lake of fire? No weird puzzle while a bed of spikes descends on us?"

"Sour... just relax." Talon looked at him. "I know you're frustrated, but... it's just a question. I'll go first, OK?"

Sour Apple really wasn't sure why he felt so hostile about it... except perhaps that the questions were probably going to be personal, perhaps even embarrassing- and he didn't feel like sharing his personal life with a thousand year old ghost pony.

"Wait." The voice was that of an old stallion, and the far door slid open slowly to reveal an ancient earth pony with pale orange fur, whose white mane flowed down and made it almost impossible to see his face. "This test is for Talon alone. I already know that Sour Apple will fail." Sour stared at him, outraged. How dare he simply declare that he would fail before he'd even tried? But the old pony continued. "I would like you to come with me, young pony. Talon will continue to quest for the Element, but a different treasure awaits you."

Sour Apple looked at Talon, but she just shrugged with a confused expression. "I... I guess go with him. I'll be fine." He looked between the two living ponies and the ghost of Applejack and sighed before stepping over to the elder. He found himself being led into the back room - it almost looked like a shrine, softly lit by the orange fire of a couple dozen candles, and on the far side of the room Sour Apple could see a pedestal that had been showered with what looked like apple blossoms. On that pedestal sat a massive orange gem in the shape of an apple - but where his own lightning-bolt ruby seemed like a living entity, this one just seemed... like a gem.

But that thought was entirely moot, as the old stallion led Sour down a side passage, and down a flight of steps. The temperature seemed to get colder as they passed down. "Truth has never been your strong point, has it, young colt?" he asked Sour Apple.

"I..." Sour hesitated. He had always had to get by by lying and cheating and often stealing, but... that was just growing up poor in the city. "I guess not," he finally admitted. "Lying is almost a reflex for me sometimes now, with how much I've had to do it to feed myself or protect my brother."

"I'm not talking about honesty anymore, Sour Apple." The stallion stopped on a landing, looking up at the taller colt with knowing red eyes. "I don't mean the lies you tell to others, or even the lies you tell yourself." Sour lifted a hoof, about to interject - he didn't lie to himself! But Golden Seed plowed straight through. "You don't know what the truth is, because you've never had a chance to learn."

"Learn... what? What truth?" Sour was getting frustrated with all of this, but now he was genuinely confused.

"I'm getting to that. Let me get through my speech, I've been waiting a long time for it."

Sour Apple just sighed at this and made a motion with his hoof to keep going.

"I, as with every keeper of this sanctum since it was built, am descended in a direct line from the pony who designed it in the first place - you may know her as one Apple Bloom. She was a master alchemist, she helped bring Sweet Siren to justice, she became a Master of this order and the guardian of her sister's Element of Harmony. But before she was all of that, do you know what she was?"

"I... no." Sour sighed frustratedly. He really had no idea where this pony was going with the speech, but didn't really want to be admonished again.

"She and her friends called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They went here, and there, all across Equestria and even beyond. They formed themselves to help ponies find their cutie marks - that was their own special talent, after all. But in time they found that all of these problems, from all of these creatures, pony and non-pony alike, had one thing in common - one great question, asked over and over and over. 'Who am I?', ponies asked them. 'What am I meant to be?'" Sour Apple was about to note that that was actually two questions, but instead just sighed again and rolled his eyes. "I'm getting to the point, you be patient. Colts your age always act like they have so many other places to be... Now, er..." He stopped, seeming to try and remember where he was as he started leading Sour Apple down the stairs again. "Oh, yes. With the death of Scootaloo, the fall of Sweetie Belle, and her own brush with necromancy, Apple Bloom had come to understand all too well her own mortality... And so she created one last, great potion - a great cauldron of it, that only a few bottles remain of to our knowledge. The herbs of Equestria's last living forest, secret zebra spells, powdered gems from the Dragon Lands, a crystal feather from the prison of Princess Cadence... some members of my family believe she even strayed as far as the Lost Continent in her quest. And at the very end, when her life was almost over, she made one final sacrifice... somehow, she gave it the magic of her own cutie mark." They'd stopped at a heavy wooden door by now, and Sour Apple was paying rapt attention to his story. "You are exactly the sort of pony she would have wanted to help, I suspect. On the other side of that door, there is a chalice. You may ask it one question - the one question that burns deepest in your heart - and then you may drink of the Crusaders' Grail."

It took a moment to register with Sour what was being offered. "I... any question?"

"There is only one question you really want to ask. I think you will know it when the time comes." He opened the door and gently pushed Sour Apple in with surprising strength for his age. The room was ice cold- so cold that mist was actually forming close to the floor. A little round pedestal sat right in the middle of the room, and on it was, just as the old stallion had said, a chalice. Sour had expected gold, or perhaps silver, but it was finely crafted of some kind of blue-violet crystal, faceted with six sides rather than being properly round. On three of the sides was attached a small handle, but on the other three... each one had a similar-looking, but different, shield symbol on it, and after examining all three he realized that he must be looking at the cutie marks of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Somepony had really gone all out making this thing.

"I want to know..." He stopped dead. He'd been about to ask about his parents, but.. was that really what he wanted to know? He had one question, and he was going to waste it on ponies who were already dead? Why not ask how he could help Midnight ascend, or where the other Elements of Harmony were, or what his friendship quest was, or... "Well, you see, I have a little brother, Midnight, and he and his little friend are the most powerful wizards I've ever seen. And her sister Shimmer is this amazing fighter and Protector, and Talon's the Element of Honesty I guess and she can breathe fire and fly, and our friend Southern Storm just seems amazing at everything he tries." The words were tumbling out of his mouth before he realized at all what he was saying. "But I'm just some shifty earth pony from the poor part of Manehattan, and I don't have any special skills or talents or magic, and I guess what I'm trying to ask is... They have all these amazing talents to help them save the world, and I know somehow that Prism and Midnight are going to be amazing, but I don't feel like I fit in. What can I do to help that none of them can?" He sighed after a moment. "I'm... I'm baring my soul to a cup. This is ridiculous."

He'd already come this far, though. It couldn't hurt to go the rest of the way. Sour lifted the Crusaders' Grail carefully and drank down the contents as quickly as he could. Despite the freezing cold of the room, the potion inside was warm and sweet, and the heat of it seemed to go right to his heart and then his head before Sour Apple's legs gave out from under him and he passed out.

*****

Southern Storm sat on a cloud with his tail in his legs, wearing a suit of old bronze pegasus armor that looked ridiculous on him, with a short sword strapped between his wing blades. An impossibly old alicorn in a flowing gown, with a mane of shimmering and shifting colors, sat with him and spoke of things long forgotten. "My sister Terra was the first of us to have children. She made a thing of rocks and mud, with a mane made out of vines, and when she gave it a name - for all living creatures in those days had a secret name that only Terra knew - her child became a beautiful mare. The first earth pony. Terra gave her all the strength of the earth and the passion of the sea, and taught her the secret names of everything that crawled or walked or swam or grew, and she gave the pony a cutie mark so she would know herself." She turned her head away from Southern Storm and seemed to look straight into Sour Apple's eyes. "And in the years that followed, earth ponies, unicorns, and my own pegasi would all alike come from far and wide to hear their secret name from the first pony, so that they would understand the magic of their cutie mark." Her voice faded out, along with the vision.

"I couldn't have done this without you, Sour." Midnight Shine was looking back at him from the threshold of a mahogany door. He'd grown taller, and gotten wings, and somehow Sour Apple knew that the black iron crown of the Moon Prince was waiting for him on the other side of that door. "I was so depressed after Prism got her wings. I thought I'd never be able to do any deed as grand as that. But you believed in me the whole time. You knew who I was before I even knew how to walk, let alone fly. So... I guess I'm trying to say I love you, big brother."

The scene shifted again, and Sour Apple was sitting on a sofa with a strange creature who had layers of clothes and pale brown skin instead of fur, with dark green hair and a cute button nose and blue eyes he felt he could happily drown in. She was holding his hands - he had never seen them before but he knew that these strange appendages were called 'hands' - in hers, and giving him a smile that made his heart skip every other beat as banging and popping noises - those are guns, they're firing their guns in celebration - went off in the distance. "I couldn't have figured out who I was meant to be without you, Sour Apple. I know you have to go back to Equestria tomorrow, but..." She trailed off nervously, and Sour responded by giving her a passionate kiss that she eagerly reciprocated before his world went dark again.

******

Talon

Talon watched Sour Apple leave with a nervous expression. She certainly didn't feel more confident with him gone - wasn't this whole thing supposed to be about friendship? "Alright," she finally said with a sigh. "What do you want me to tell you?"

Applejack smiled at her. "You've come a long way, haven't you? That was, uh, that was rhetorical. That wasn't your question." She shook her head, and the mistake made Talon feel a lot less intimidated by her. Once you got past the spookiness, she really was just a kindly old country mare, wasn't she? "Look, you're in a good place now. You've got friends, you've got honest work, you feel like you've got purpose. But why are you sticking around? Why are you so hell-bent on this friendship quest stuff that you don't understand?"

Talon felt offended, and curled her claws angrily. How dare Applejack question her commitment to her friends? "You... What, do you think I'm just going to turn on them? Because I'm a dragon or something? I'm... I'm here because they're my friends and that should be good enough!" It wasn't though, and as the ghost stared at her expectantly, she realized that there was more to how she felt. "I... no." She sat down next to Applejack with a sigh. "They're not just my friends. They're like family. They're all the family I have. I never expected anyone to treat a dragon as kindly as these ponies have. Sour Apple saved my life. There had to be another way out, he could have run, but... he came back for me. I played it off as 'dragon code' and I told them that I had to stick around because he saved me, but there's no such thing as a dragon code. I try to act all cool but I really just want them all to like me as much as I like them. And it's like you said, I have purpose now. After I lost the ponies who raised me, I had no clue what to do with myself."

"Close friends are just as good as family, and ya know that there was never anything so important to me as family." Applejack seemed to want to touch Talon's shoulder before remembering she was incorporeal. "Twi and the girls, they were just as much my sisters as little Apple Bloom was. An' I loved those ponies with all my heart. I would have done anything I could for them."

Talon smiled. "I feel the same way about my own little group of misfits."

"Then you take that there Element, and you take it back to your friends. The Elements get their power from your heart, an' I think your heart is as honest and true as any I've seen. Might be I can finally rest now that the Element of Honesty is in good claws."

Talon had so many questions, but she locked them away. She didn't have a right to ask them all at once, after all, and maybe the Element would speak to her like the others seemed to speak to Sour Apple and Southern Storm. "You... you do that. You've earned it."

Applejack smiled gratefully and closed her eyes. She was never seen in Equestria again.

Sour Apple

Sour Apple woke up lying on a bed, with all of his friends looking down at him. His mind vaguely registered that Prism Star's hair had turned from a pale blue to a rainbow of colored streaks, and that Talon was wearing the Element of Honesty around her neck, but his mind was still processing the idea of learning how earth ponies were created, the idea of his kid brother as an alicorn prince, and the taste of cherry-flavored lip gloss. Somehow the last one felt like the most important.

"Are we sure he's awake?" Shimmer asked in the tone she took when she was only pretending to be angry. "Of course it wasn't enough that my sister had to scare us all half to death dyeing her hair with the most powerful source of magic known to ponykind, nooo, Sour Apple had to get whammied by a damn cup or something." She poked him in the nose with her hoof.

Talon rolled her eyes. "It was the Crusaders' Grail, Shimmer. From what Golden Seed said, he might as well have drank an entire keg of apple wine. It's one of the most powerful potions there is, with some pretty nasty side effects."

Sour Apple heard Shimmer reply with a sarcastic comment about touching everything in the vaults that made him laugh half-drunkenly just for the mental image of himself running around poking dangerous things, but his sight of Talon and Shimmer was obscured by little Prism climbing up on top of him and shining a light spell directly into his eyes. Sour groaned in pain and lifted a hoof to shield his eyes. "S-stop. Stop it, Prism."

"His pupils look fine," the filly said.

"There's actually a part of him that doesn't look weird? That's pretty surprising." Of course this came from Shimmer, and Midnight chuckled a little before quickly stopping himself and taking on an overly serious expression.

"It's alright to laugh, Midnight, I probably look just as bad as I feel." He sat up with a groan, pushing Prism into his lap. "My head is pounding... So what's this about you dyeing your hair with magic?" He directed this at Prism, wanting to take a little of the attention off of himself. The rainbow hair actually did suit her, and her eyes had somehow turned an intense yellow-orange that made him a little uncomfortable to look at for too long.

"What? I, n-no." She shook her head, blushing. "I, um, I didn't, it-it just happened. When, um, w-when I-I..."

She started stammering nervously, and Midnight quickly interjected, "She raised the sun." This hung in the air as Prism looked away sheepishly, and Sour Apple felt a sense of shock that pushed away the confusing 'answers' the Grail had given him.

"Wait, you raised the sun? How... How?" Sour was dumbfounded.

Prism started gushing about 'friendship magic' and Twilight Sparkle and how it felt raising the sun but Shimmer interrupted by picking her up off of Sour Apple and setting her on the ground. "Prism, all of you... could you give Sour and I a bit alone?"

Prism looked disappointed, and started whining, but Midnight whispered something in her ear and she ran off with a grin, the colt close behind. Talon squeezed Sour's hoof before leaving, and Storm patted him gently on the shoulder.

"Look," Shimmer said when everypony had left. "I can tell you don't want to talk about what happened - deflection can be great if you're trying to keep a secret, but you're really bad at it." She sighed a little and sat up on the bed, handing him Storm's gift. "Talon told us all what Golden Seed told her about the Crusaders' Grail. I can appreciate if you don't want to tell us what you saw or heard or whatever, because that's a really personal thing. But, um..." She shook her head. "I also know how firsthand how hard it can be keeping a secret. You can come to me if you need somepony to talk to, and I promise I'll only make fun of you a little bit."

Sour Apple thought about it, turning the offer over. It could be nice at least getting her perspective on it, but on the other hoof, he had to wonder what she'd really be able to tell him. What insights he could glean from the Grail's visions seemed... personal. Somehow it felt wrong for him to share something with her that had been meant for him and him alone. "I... I appreciate it, Shimmer. I really do. But I think this is something I have to figure out on my own. It's all really confused and disjointed, but everything I saw looks like stuff that's going to happen eventually. I think I'm just not going to sweat it that much until it happens - it's not like I saw anypony on fire, right?"

"Well... alright," she replied with a sigh. "I'm not going to force you to say anything you don't want to - just don't go around raving like a crazy pony?" She winked to let him know she was kidding, but the effect was ruined by arguing voices passing by the corridor outside. The walls muffled what they were saying, but it didn't sound good. "They've all been in an uproar since Prism raised the sun. It's not even just that she raised it, but she somehow made it... hotter, and nopony understands how or why. The city shields all burned away, we've got reports coming in that the ice is melting and the clouds have disappeared. Half the conclave practically wants to declare Prism a god, the other half is terrified of how Nightmare Winter will react, and Thunderbolt..."

"Thunderbolt just wants to protect his foal," Sour Apple finished. He didn't know Prism's father like Shimmer seemed to, but Thunderbolt seemed like a decent guy, and Sour could get behind somepony putting family ahead of the big picture.

"He's on a warpath. He's angry at the sentries for letting her slip away, he's angry at Midnight for pushing her to do it, he's angry at Peregrine's faction for wanting to rebel openly, he's angry at the others for wanting to lock her away..." She shook her head sadly.

Sour took her hoof in his. "What do you think, Shimmer?"

"I think... I think that whether he wants to admit it or not, she's not his little filly anymore - she's Celestia's heir. She raised the sun on her own. She might even have ended the winter. And no matter how much we might say she's not ready, no matter how much we might want to do last night over... we can't un-ring the bell."

Chapter X: The Elements of Harmony

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Prism Star

A mile above the ground, a small filly sat on the back balcony of a mansion on a cloud that lazily orbited a massive cloud city. It was freezing cold before the dawn, and a thin layer of ice crusted the tiles under her hooves, but she opened herself to her unique magic and instantly felt like she was by a blazing fire. The ice melted around her immediately, and the neighing, howling terrors that besieged the warded manor fled before the brilliant power of the sunfire that filled her until it seemed to escape as golden-orange light from her horn. Prism Star closed her eyes and began to focus on the sun, as her coat seemed to shine and her rainbow-colored mane flowed behind her from an unseen wind.

It had been three days since she first raised the sun, and each morning she'd had White Wind wake her at exactly 6:00 so she could do it again. Reports from Canterlot said that the Solar Sect had stopped doing it, that Grandmaster White Pulsar had broken down crying at the sight of the first dawn and declared himself a fraud. But each time Prism did it herself was easier than the last. The sun really was like a living thing, one that eagerly accepted her offer of friendship - in fact, it felt like it had been waiting her whole life, and all she'd ever had to do was ask. She started to lift it in the sky, as much with its own power as hers, and felt the rush of vitality and confidence she'd come to associate with her bond with the sun. The way this felt, Prism could understand why Luna described her sister as being a cocky and self-assured young princess. If she wasn't engaged in a slow-motion battle with a villain a hundred times her age, she would probably be getting a little cocky too. At first, the heat of her sunrise had melted away the surface ice and begun what might be the first day of spring... but then night came, and the winter had quickly regained control. Now it was all she could do to maintain the stalemate of warm days and frigid nights.

"There. Sun raised." Prism yawned softly as she finally pulled it over the horizon. It might be getting easier, but it was still tiring work. She'd probably just get some toast to get Southern Storm off of her back about breakfast, then go take a nap. As tired as she was, she didn't notice that there was somepony standing in the doorway until she ran right into his legs. "What?" She looked up in fatigued confusion at her Celestial Magic teacher, Solar Flare.

"I wanted to see you at work, little one." He stepped back a pace, since she hadn't bothered to step away. "I'd hoped to see if your sunrise was as good as your mother's, and I wasn't disappointed."

"Wow, um... thanks, Professor Flare." She managed a smile and did her best to stifle a yawn.

He hmmmed softly and looked up at the sun, seeming to trace thin lines in the air with his horn. "Trajectory is slightly off, but well within the margin for error. At this acceleration, you'll likely have to give it more energy around 11 or so, but not so much that it falls too quickly. But it really was gorgeous to watch."

Prism blinked at the criticism. "Um... th-thanks, I guess?" It felt like he was trying to compliment her, but it was kind of hard to say for sure. As kind as he was, Solar Flare was a stickler for details who had endlessly drilled Prism and Midnight both on the proper movements of the sun, the moon, and even the stars and planets.

"I also came to call you back to the House of Harmony," he said to her in a half-apologetic tone.

This got a sigh from Prism. "Really? Do I have to?" The entire reason she was back at Southern Storm's house was that she didn't want anything to do with the fight going on. Peregrine Dive's Conclave had devolved into a bitter, intractable feud over her that felt like it was tearing her would-be allies apart. Half of them wanted to lock her away somewhere until she came of age, and if that happened she could say goodbye to her Friendship Quest... but the other half wanted her to lead them in open rebellion right now, and there was no way she wanted to be responsible for that. And her father seemed to want to run and squirrel her away in Ponyville, or run even further - one time Prism thought she heard him mention the Badlands to somepony, a prospect that she found even more terrifying than facing Nightmare Winter. So she'd spent the past few days raising and lowering the sun from the peace of Storm's mansion, far away from it all.

"I know you don't want to, and I certainly don't envy your position. But they want you back at the conclave, and more than that... they need you." He pulled her up to the edge of the balcony and sat with her, watching the sun over the distant mountains. "When I was studying celestial magic myself, I became obsessed with learning everything I could about Celestia. In fact, that's what led me to my friendship with Master Peregrine, when I started digging into the truth behind the legends. She was... she was special, just like you, from a very young age. Ponies say that she and her sister were the youngest ever to become alicorns - the hard way, at least. Luna was the same age you are now when they ascended."

She sat up next to him and drew a little bit of sunfire into her horn to stave off the fatigue - just like with coffee, using it like this would only make her more tired later, but she felt like she should be alert for this. "What's that have to do with my situation? Didn't they have Starswirl making all the decisions for them?"

"He took a great deal of the pressures of ruling off of them, yes, at least until his thousand-year exile. But when Celestia or Luna spoke, everypony listened. Becoming princesses didn't give them any particularly great insight and wisdom, but they spoke with authority and conviction. Starswirl's writings often spoke of Celestia as reckless, overconfident, and always hot-headed, but she also had the wisdom to listen to the ponies around her and wait until she was absolutely sure of herself before she spoke," Solar Flare explained.

"So..." Prism thought it through carefully. "So you think I should do like that? Listen to all their arguing and then... make my own decision?"

"I think that you have been a wonderful and inquisitive student, and are far more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. Now why don't we get going? You should have time for a nap in your room before things get started for the day." He took her by the hoof, and the two disappeared with a loud crack and a flash of yellow light.

Midnight Shine

Midnight yawned slightly and struggled to hold still as the pink unicorn mare fitted him for a thin crown. It had turned out that the mystery mare Peregrine Dive had invited from Canterlot was actually a jeweler, come to fit the both of them for circlets that an extremely annoyed Prism had referred to dismissively as "training crowns". It was hard to blame her for being angry. After the hard work of raising the sun, he knew that she'd been looking forward to a proper nap before starting her day - less than an hour ago, he'd half-woken to find Professor Flare bundling her into Midnight and Prism's shared bed, before choosing to ignore them both and going back to sleep. Midnight himself had been up half the night trying to stop ponies from having nightmares - a task that, while he was getting better at it, was still difficult and thankless, and he himself had looked forward to sleeping in.

Of course, the two of them were both woken early for this ridiculous fitting, for crowns that they couldn't even wear. They were clearly beyond the point of trying to disguise themselves as ordinary unicorns, but it still felt too dangerous - not to mention presumptuous - to go around wearing crowns in public. "I know the Moon Princess traditionally wore a black crown of meteorite iron, but I don't think it would even be visible with how dark your mane is," Ray-Ray (the fussy jeweler had been named 'Rarity' after the Companion of legend, but had insisted that both foals call her Ray-Ray) was saying to him in her posh Canterlot accent, but Midnight was barely paying attention to what she was saying. He was too busy trying to figure out what was happening on the other side of a translucent privacy screen, where the silhouettes of Prism Star and Ray-Ray's assistant appeared to be having some kind of low-key argument that was muffled by some enchantment on the screen. "Perhaps I could stud the band with pearls, but I certainly wouldn't want it to be more ostentatious than the real article - Luna's tastes were quite simple compared to her sister's crown. Perhaps polished steel or silver. Either one would contrast wonderfully, and certainly match your eyes."

It took a few moments of silence before Midnight registered what she was saying and realized she might be looking for a response. "I, um..." He hesitated. "I, I don't see that it matters that much. Aren't- um, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Well, of course!" Her response was instant. "Whether you like it or not, the both of you are royalty. We're all here because we believe that." She put the fitting band on his head just like the crown would go and knelt down until her head was level with his, both ponies looking at each other in the mirror. "You see? You look so much more like a prince already. I'm sure this is all overwhelming for the both of you," she said with an apologetic smile. "But I think you'd be surprised how much it helps to look the part. When I left my training behind and became a journeyman, nopony had any confidence in my abilities, and eventually I started to believe them. But I spruced up my storefront and started wearing the proper accouterments of a jewelry-maker, and soon ponies were lined up to buy from me!"

Midnight had no idea what she was on about, what 'accouterments' meant, or how any of this was supposed to relate to his situation, but managed a polite "Oh, okay" as though he did understand. He saw Prism storm off in an angry huff, with Ray-Ray's assistant trailing behind, at least for the first few paces, with a number of slivers of gold held in her magic aura.

Ray-Ray clucked a little in disapproval before turning her attention back to Midnight. "I suppose I have everything I need. Why don't you go talk to your friend?" Midnight had jumped down off of the stool before he felt the faint tickling of her pulling the fitting band off of his head and she called after him, "And remember! If you look the part, then you're one step closer to feeling the part!"

******

Midnight found Prism back in their shared bedroom, sitting up at their shared vanity and brushing her long, dense mane with a ferocity that couldn't have been comfortable. "Hey... are you alright?" He climbed up to the bed so he could look her in the eye through the mirror. "I'm not sure what was going on with you back there, but-"

"Then maybe stay out of it!" she snapped back at him. A moment of silence started to stretch painfully before she said, "Sorry, Mid. This whole thing is stupid."

"You can say that again." Midnight sighed and shook his head. "But come on, we've been through worse than fussy unicorns. You know, if we say we don't want to wear the stupid things I'm not sure there's anything they can do."

"Well.... yeah." She turned on her stool and tried to smile, but it turned into more of a weird grimace. "I-I guess..."

Midnight looked at her knowingly. "Prism... it's not about the crowns, is it?" He really was developing a talent for knowing when something was wrong with a pony, and the more he tried to help ponies in the dream realm, the keener that intuition was getting. And right now he could practically feel Prism's resentment and frustration as if it were his own... which it probably was. "It's this whole thing, huh?"

"You raise one star," she grumbled, half-joking, and Midnight chuckled at this, as much out of sympathy as anything. "I wish somepony would ask me what I think," Prism finally admitted after hesitating.

"Well... what do you think?"

Prism sighed dramatically and jumped down from the stool. "Somepony else, Mid. Somepony who can actually do something." She climbed up onto the bed to sit next to him. "You already know what I think. You always do somehow, it's actually kind of creepy."

Midnight smiled sympathetically and nuzzled her neck. "Well it might be because I feel the same way. You know, a lot of ponies seem to feel better after they tell me what's on their mind, even if I don't have anything I can do for them or... or even understand their problem, really. Even though I can't do anything, why don't you tell me what you're thinking?"

She glared at him for a moment before sighing again and saying, "I guess. It's just like I said, though, I feel like nopony is listening to me. They don't care what I want, or what I need, or the quest. It's all about their, um..." She seemed to struggle for a word. "Plans, I guess?"

"Well, aren't a lot of them just trying to keep you safe? That doesn't sound like it's just for what they want," he pointed out.

"Well maybe that's not what I want!" she half-shouted at Midnight, leading him to reposition himself a few paces away on the large bed.

Midnight was somewhat confused by this. "You... you don't want to be safe?"

"I..." she growled in frustration and kicked a pillow. "Being safe is nice but that's not the most important thing. Think about it, Mid! These ponies have been hiding us away our whole lives. But now that I know what I can do, maybe I don't want that! I don't want to lead some stupid war either, but there has to be something we can do to help! I've..." she whined softly and looked away, losing steam on her rant.

"Prism... what is it? Tell me." Midnight approached her again and put his hoof on hers. When Prism finally looked back at him, she had tears in her eyes.

"I... I was so certain, Mid. When I raised the sun that first time, I... everything made sense. It was like my whole life came together in this big puzzle that I'd never been able to figure out. I thought.... I, I thought that was it. That was..." Prism hesitated, not meeting Midnight's eyes.

"Say it." Midnight took her face in one hoof and forced her to look at him. "I know what you wanted. You wanted to become a princess just like Celestia did, didn't you?"

She sighed and nodded. "I thought for sure that was going to be my great deed. The thing that would get me my wings, the ones that ponies have been telling me I was destined for since all this began. But nothing happened. I didn't... I didn't feel any different. Even Twilight wouldn't talk to me." Her eyes welled up. "It's just like in magic school. I'm just a failure all over again, but now it's the..." Prism started to cry properly now. "It's the whole bucking universe failing me and not just some stupid teacher." Midnight held her close in a hug as she sobbed. "I tried so hard to be the princess I was supposed to be," she said in between choked crying noises. "But all I got was another 'F'!"

Midnight struggled to process this. She raised the sun, after all. She melted the ice and stuck her hoof in Nightmare Winter's eye, and before that she'd saved him in the most spectacular way possible. How could she not see any of this? Was she really that blinded by the prospect of wings that she couldn't see at all what she did have? "But... but you're amazing," he managed, not that convincingly. "I don't think you're a failure at all. You saved my life. You raised the sun."

"And what..." Prism trailed off. "I don't really want to talk anymore. I don't want to go back to the stupid Conclave either." She bundled herself back up in bed and pulled the covers up over her head. "I'm just going to go back to sleep or something."

Midnight shook his head and sighed. "All... all right, if that's really what you want. I guess I can tell Shimmer you felt sick." He patted her on the shoulder and cast a quick spell to help her fall back asleep before leaving the room.

Prism Star

Prism ran through an open, grassy field, giggling happily at the wildflowers that made her nose tickle. She'd never seen a field like this, only heard about them in stories, but it all felt so real. She looked around her as she ran - left, then right, then left again, and the second time she looked left and saw another pony running with her, a purple alicorn with flowing hair that looked like the band of a galaxy in the night sky.

"Come on, little one. I'll race you." Princess Twilight nudged Prism Star gently, then took off flying with a powerful flap of wide wings that were thicker and more powerful than a pegasus' wings. A small nagging sensation at the back of Prism's mind told her that she should be surprised to see Twilight Sparkle, and even more surprised at the heavy white wings that she herself was currently using to take off in pursuit, but she accepted it all anyway in stride. It was just too good not to. Prism pursued the princess across the fields and into a dense forest that grew darker the further they got in, and while she was struggling with the number of trees, Princess Twilight seemed more at home than ever, weaving through the thick trunks with practiced ease. Twilight finally punched up through the canopy, allowing Prism a view of the massive forest that she recognized as the Everfree Forest now that she could see the unshielded spires of Ponyville Castle to the north, and turned towards a ruined castle sitting on a hill - but just before they reached the Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight dove suddenly into the trees again, forcing Prism to dive after her on faith. They raced down the hill and suddenly down a cliff, until Twilight finally flared her wings and touched down lightly in a tiny, barren valley in the darkest part of the forest.

Prism, however, was going much too fast in her effort to catch up to the more practiced flier. She didn't flare out her new wings in time, and panicked as she for sure thought she was going to crash- but just before she hit the ground, she was caught in an aura of shimmering violet light and pulled over to Twilight, before being put gently down on the rocky ground. "You should be careful, Prism," Twilight said in a gentle tone that still had a hint of the lectures she'd been famous for. "Even in a dream, a crash like that will hurt. Don't be so eager to catch up that you lose sight of what's important."

"A... what?" Prism looked at Twilight blankly. This was... a dream? The word seemed foreign, barely registering to her, and she looked around her surroundings in confusion. The small valley was just big enough to hold the little campsite that was set up, and surely enough she saw Midnight Shine sitting on a large, flat rock with an overhang that sheltered a small pile of neatly cut and stacked firewood. His coat was colored the rich cobalt it took in the dream realm rather than its usual shade of navy, and his silver eyes gleamed eerily in the moonlight. "It's a dream. I'm just dreaming that you're here to help me, I'm just dreaming that I'm really good enough to be a princess, and YOU!" She rounded on Midnight. "YOU won't get out of my head! I don't want your help! Is this your way to try and make me feel better? Taunt me with the things I can't have?"

"This may be a dream," Twilight said quietly, "but I assure you that I am really here. He brought me here by combining his impressive talents in the astral plane with my own ability to grant wishes."

"But... you can only wish on those stars when..." Prism whined softly as she thought it through. "I've been asleep all day?!"

Midnight smiled apologetically. "I guess raising the sun was harder work than you thought. Don't worry, the Solar Sect got their stuff together and lowered it. I, um... I know you were upset she didn't reach out to you, so I thought maybe she could help you better than I could. I'll, uh... I'll go give you guys some space while I maintain the spell."

He wandered off at a trot, leaving Prism to look back at Twilight. "Um... can I ask you a question, Princess?"

Twilight chuckled and sat down on an old log in front of a dusty purple tent, starting to stack firewood in the central pit with her magic. "You can ask me as many questions as you want, Prism Star. When I was your age, I always had so many questions for Celestia. She knew what I could be even before I knew where alicorns came from, and she always had time for her favorite student... just like I will always have time for you." She patted the log next to her. "All you have to do is ask."

Prism sat up on the log and ignited the firewood with a spark of fire magic. Ever since she'd learned it, she found pyrokinesis came easy to her... maybe a little too easy, as her teachers could likely attest. "I was so upset that you didn't talk to me again after I raised the sun. I... I never realized I could just wish to talk to you. How do you do it, anyway? How do you grant wishes?"

This earned her a thoughtful expression from Twilight. "I honestly don't know, Prism. It certainly wasn't something I could do when I lived in Equestria. My best guess is that it has something to do with the stars that I'm trapped in. Ponies have never really understood their magical properties the way we understand the sun and moon, but I think ancient unicorns believed that stars could grant wishes under the right conditions."

"That's not exactly an answer that makes me very confident, Princess Twilight." Prism settled in close to her - the warmth of the fire and Twilight's incredibly soft fur were both wonderfully comforting.

"But that's not the question you really wanted to ask, is it?" Twilight smiled knowingly at Prism Star.

"I thought... when Celestia raised the sun, she ascended to become an alicorn. I thought for sure that when I did it, I'd do the same and finally be able to help ponies just like everypony says I can. I... I failed." Prism sniffled.

"Prism... you don't become an alicorn just for doing some great deed." Twilight lifted Prism's chin with a wing. "If that was the case, I would have become the Princess of Friendship when I cured Princess Luna. Doing some princess-worthy deed is part of it, yes, but there's more you have to do. You have to be patient, and believe in yourself the way I believe in you."

"That's not an answer!" Prism replied angrily. How could Twilight just talk in vague circles like this? Couldn't she see how important it was for her to fulfill her potential and break the stalemate?

Twilight just shook her head. "I can't give you a better one. It... I know this is exactly what you don't want to hear, but it all has to come from you. I can't help you directly, and I can't tell you what you need to do. This..." She took a moment, closing her eyes and seeming to collect her thoughts. "This is why Celestia didn't tell me my destiny, even though I think now that she knew what I was capable of from the start. She made me work hard, learn my own lessons, make my own mistakes. And that's what made me who and what I am, not fixing some old spell."

"But..." Prism felt devastated. She'd hoped, so badly, that Twilight had some secret that would give her what she needed to break the stalemate. "But that could take years," she finally said in a frantic, pleading tone. "Ponies are getting hurt now and the Order is useless and I'm not strong enough to win! I can't keep fighting like this, Twilight! I burned away the shields with the sun and now every single pony that gets hurt at night when the cold comes back is on me!" The firepit flared up brightly with her anger. "Every pony is looking to me and I have to help them! I have to stop her!"

For her part, Twilight never lost her calm. She seemed content to let the filly burn out her anger and frustration, waiting for the fire to die down some before finally speaking. "Prism... have you stopped to wonder why we're some place you and Midnight have never seen? Some time you and Midnight have never seen?"

"I... what?" Prism had been building up steam to rant more, but the question derailed her train of thought. "I, um..." She blinked stupidly. What was this place? "Um... n-no, I... kind of felt like, um, maybe there was something more important to..." She trailed off, seeing the same patient expression on Twilight's face as a teacher waiting for their student to realize they were wrong, and she blushed hotly - feeling very much like she had just failed a pop quiz of some kind. "Is it, um... is it your dream?" She smiled nervously.

"When Midnight told me about your problem, I thought you might want to see this place, so I suggested he build the dream from my mind. In happier times, my friends and I would camp out here... just to have some fun and get away from our responsibilities. I called them 'friendship retreats' and I claimed they were to help us be better teachers at the School of Friendship... but it was all really just an excuse to spend time with the ponies I cared about, after our lives had gotten so busy." Twilight smiled wistfully, and for a moment Prism could see her Companions faintly amongst the tents. Applejack was by the fire, telling stories over a bubbling pot of soup to a Starlight Glimmer who looked far more ragged and tired than Prism had ever seen her depicted. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were bucking a rubber buckball back and forth, playing some imitation of squash against the cliff wall, to the feigned annoyance of nearby Rarity, who secretly smiled at their antics as she turned back to finish sketching the leaves and flowers (presumably for some new design), while a beautifully happy Fluttershy sat in the trees and trilled lightly to the songbirds. It was only for a moment, though, and when they were gone the clearing seemed gloomier than it had before.

"Why... why here, though?" Prism felt herself fighting back tears at the thought that all those happy ponies were gone now. "This looks like such a dark and sad place."

Twilight got up and started walking towards the mouth of a cave, and Prism followed closely. "It might seem darker than it is because of my own grief," she said. "And now it knows nothing but sorrow... but in my time, this was our place." Prism could see a faint glow from inside the cave. "A sacred, secret place... this was where Starswirl and his Pillars planted the Tree of Harmony, and where dwelt the Elements that brought us all together."

Prism's heart felt lighter with each step she took into the cave. The massive crystal tree was hung with six multicolored gems that shined with their own light, and the tree itself seemed to sing - an ancient, wordless song that seemed to echo back and forth inside of Prism. It made her want to flare her wings and shine her horn, and she wanted so desperately to open her mouth and join the chorus that sounded like it was coming from every pony she'd ever known. But she bit her lip, and struggled to control herself as Princess Twilight approached and stroked the trunk with a hoof reverently. "To everypony else, these Elements just look like ordinary gems," she could hear Twilight saying, barely, over the crystalsong that seemed to fill her head without ever entering her ears. "But to the ponies they call, the ponies they choose, the Elements of Harmony shine like beacons. They take away our doubts and calm our fears, they bring out our virtues and show us the very best ponies we can be."

Prism saw the Elements of Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and Kindness shining from the branches of the tree, and reflected in them she saw the faces of her own friends- Shimmer smirked and snickered in Laughter, shifting from form to bizarre, amusing form as Talon glared at the changeling disapprovingly from Honesty, while Sour Apple stared with determination from Loyalty and Stormy looked like he was soundlessly giving advice of some form in Generosity. At the highest branch of the tree, she saw Midnight's face reflected in Kindness, and in the middle of all of it she saw Magic. The huge purple star sat right at the heart of the tree, and Prism approached in awed silence as it shined just for her. "I... me?" the filly managed to ask weakly. "But I'm not like Twilight. I..." Prism went silent as she saw how Twilight had wielded the Element of Magic. It was the strongest element of all, but it was worthless without the others. "I know what I have to do," she said with quiet confidence. "And it's time I woke up." She closed her eyes and waited.

When Prism Star woke, she found herself tucked into bed and surrounded by her friends... her fellow element bearers. "We... we need to talk," she managed. "All of us, at Stormy's house. Bring your elements."

******

Her friends were all gathered in Southern Storm's dining room within an hour, sitting around the large, oblong table and sipping mugs of hot chocolate (a rare luxury in these days, that Prism savored with every sip) when Prism and Midnight entered the room. Southern Storm and Sour Apple were wearing their Elements, Talon had hers sitting on the table, while Shimmer seemed to be looking into the Element of Laughter nervously, holding it in her magic as though it was going to bite her.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Prism said as she climbed up into her seat, with Midnight getting up on the opposite side. "Now then... We're the new Elements of Harmony," she said bluntly.

The others, including Midnight, shared looks of mild confusion and surprise at this declaration - except for Southern Storm, who seemed to nod a little. Shimmer looked at her nervously and said, "Are you sure, Prism? That's a pretty big thing to declare."

Southern Storm arched an eyebrow at her. "Well, she can count to six," he said dryly, smiling slightly. "Six Elements out there, and six creatures in here - with four Elements already at this table."

"Legend says the Elements have a will of their own," Midnight said quietly. "They'll find each other again whether anypony wants them to or not. Prism may be a little direct, but four of them already gathered in one place isn't a coincidence."

Talon looked down at the Element of Honesty thoughtfully. "Golden Seed - the old pony who was guarding the Element of Honesty - he told me that ponies don't really choose to bear the Elements. The Elements choose the ponies who bear them, for better or worse."

Shimmer scoffed at this. "I don't see how or why anypony would choose me. This is insane."

"Shimmy..." Prism looked at her. Shimmer was playing it off in what had once been her usual abrasive way, but she only really took that tone anymore when she was nervous, and trying to act more confident than she was. "Does it glow?"

"I don't see what-" Shimmer started, pursing her lips angrily, but Prism quickly cut her off.

"It shines, doesn't it? It has a secret shine that only you can see. I saw how you reacted when my dad put it into your bag. It speaks to you... touches you in a way that it doesn't do for anypony else." Prism stared at her knowingly. Even in a dream, she'd felt Magic's pull and heard it beating with her heart. She could only imagine what Shimmer felt actually holding an Element of Harmony.

Shimmer tried her best blank look and stammered noncommittally, but Talon cut in impatiently. "Does it shine or doesn't it? Just answer her, Shimmer."

"Ye.... yes. Yes, it shines." Shimmer closed her eyes, and her voice quavered. "The thing scares me to death, but Chrysalis take me, it shines. I... I don't know why it would choose me, I can't possibly be worthy. Please," she said with pleading eyes to Prism. "If you know so much, then make it choose somepony else. Please."

"Shimmer..." Southern Storm looked sympathetic. "Why would you think that? You make me laugh more than any pony I know. You could probably be doing some kind of roast comedy on the Strip if you wanted."

"It's not about being funny!" she snapped at him. "It's... it's about hope! The Element chose Pinkie Pie because her laughter and her random weirdness gave ponies hope! She could laugh in the face of danger and come out of anything unscathed, but I'm not Pinkie Pie!" Sour Apple started to say something, but she quickly cut him off. "I'm not even a pony!" Shimmer finally started crying and laid her head down on the table, managing weakly, "No offense, Talon..."

This declaration hung in the air for a few moments, and Southern Storm was the first to speak. "Well... he wasn't well known for his sense of humor, but Thorax had a lot of hope in him, too." Shimmer looked up at him quickly, blinking at him in surprise, but Storm held up a hoof. "Let me say my piece, love. When I was a little colt, I grew up on my dad's stories about the Companions. But my favorite story of all wasn't about Twilight Sparkle, or any of her direct friends. It was about the exile prince, Thorax- the same one who wrote that book Sour Apple stole for you." Sour shrugged at her with an apologetic look, and Storm continued. "I'm sure you grew up with that story, and many others beside, but... He learned to have the courage to be who he was, but more than that, I loved his story because he never lost hope that there was a better way for changelings to live. Pony or not, that sounds like a pretty good example to aspire to."

"I... wh-what?" Shimmer looked like, for once, she was speechless with her surprise.

Sour laughed a little bit. "Hey, I may have dropped out of middle school, but I'm not stupid. That book I nabbed for you, the... the Philosophies of Thorax. That was the weirdest book I've ever held in my hooves, and you can bet that that weird chicken-scratch writing was a red flag."

"Sour Apple came to me and asked about it," Southern Storm said. "Thorax isn't exactly a common name, and my father's library turned out to have some old scrolls that he wrote. Sour confirmed it was the same writing he saw - changeling writing."

"The same stuff you keep putting in our journal," Talon cut in. She reached over to put one of her hands on Shimmer's shoulder. "Hey, I don't blame you. I know honesty is supposed to be my thing now, but if I could just pretend to be a pegasus, I would totally do it. Ponies suck sometimes if you're not one of them."

Prism had kept silent through the conversation, but finally spoke now - but not before glaring at Midnight, who was making a 'give me' gesture with his hoof towards Southern Storm. "You see, none of them care. Actually, I'm a little surprised you guys are being so cool about it. Midnight freaked out like a little filly."

"I did not!" Midnight protested.

"This whole time, I was too scared to hope," Shimmer muttered, looking into the blue gem. "I... I only made jokes to hide how scared I was, all the time. How much I hated myself for being what I am." She looked up at the others around the table. "Ever since I was exiled from the hive, I... I felt like I was starving, all the time. I never thought I'd have this much love around me ever again." She shifted into her native form, to the badly veiled surprise of everypony except Prism - who had seen it by now dozens of times - and put the Element around her neck. "I'd stopped thinking I deserved anything like this, but... but if you want anything from me, even if you want to take these Elements and march straight on to Canterlot, I'll be there... with my friends."

"Well...." Prism hemmed nervously. "About that." She took a deep breath and continued, "I don't think anything that the whole... Conclave thing... does is going to be useful to anypony."

"Actually," Midnight put in, "We're not convinced that they're going to do anything at all."

Prism nodded, thankful that he had her back here. "I think that if anypony is going to do anything, it'll have to be us. I mean, I know this sounds insane, just the six of us trying to fix everything, and there's a good... a good..." She trailed off as she saw them all smiling at her. "What?"

"I don't think we have a proper metric for insane anymore," Southern Storm said with a smirk. "Actually, that might be the sanest thing anypony has said in days." Prism blinked at him in surprise, unsure if he actually understood what she had said.

"Equestria's only hope is a bunch of weirdos with magic necklaces," Shimmer said with a small laugh. "That sounds pretty familiar if you ask me. I mean, don't get me wrong, we're almost certainly going to die. But it's not like I had anything better planned." Prism wasn't sure if she was actually joking - it really was hard to tell with those empty changeling eyes.

Sour Apple just shrugged, though, seeming to take it in stride. "Look, I've been in pretty much constant mortal danger since I was your age, Prism. I actually think I've been getting a little soft these last couple months of safety. You can count me in."

"Well, yeah, but..." Southern Storm looked around at the others. "Can we at least wait until after the party to go get ourselves killed? It's only a week, and think of how terribly ponies will be disappointed if we all die before throwing the best Cloudsdale Day party ever. But, yes, I'm in as well."

Prism looked at him in shock, before finally standing up on the table with an angry growl. "How can you all be taking this so lightly?!" she shouted. They were all just joking and laughing, as though it were no big deal that she was suggesting they try to stop the greatest evil Equestria had ever seen, and win a battle that even Princess Twilight failed at.

It was Midnight Shine who finally responded. "Well... it's because we trust you. You wouldn't be suggesting it if you didn't think we at least had a chance."

"Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves, anyway?" Talon asked. "We've only got four Elements. Do we have any idea where to find the others?"

Finally, this was at least a question Prism had a proper answer to. "I... actually might." She looked at Shimmer before continuing, "There's a special table in Ponyville called the Cutie Map. We've told you about how we got sent here on a Friendship Quest, but... I think the quest was us. It wanted us to come together and become friends. It's powered by the same source of magic as the Elements - the Tree of Harmony. It was planted in the Everfree Forest by Starswirl the Beared ages ago. Literal ages ago." She'd started pacing on the table in her excitement at putting all the pieces together, her tail twitching happily as she started to talk faster and more confidently. "Shimmer and my dad, they told me that the tree was dying, that it'd only had enough power left to send us on one last quest, but I don't think that's true. I talked to Twilight and she showed me the Tree of Harmony, the way she'd remembered it. The Elements of Harmony were on the branches of the tree, they were feeding it somehow. What if all we need is to get the map working again, and it'll tell us where the other Elements are? I think that even with just four of the Elements of Harmony, we can revive the tree enough for the Cutie Map to work again."

The others looked thoughtful, and a tense silence crept into the room. "That... could actually work," Shimmer said just as Prism was starting to feel uncomfortable. "But how do we get the Order to stop arguing and go along with it?"

"We make her a princess," Midnight said, in that eerie tone of quiet certainty Prism had only ever heard him use in dreams. "If they want her to be their Sun Princess so badly, then we're going to put a crown on her head and give them a royal decree."

Chapter XI: Princess Prism Star

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Prism Star

"I'm really not sure this is a good idea, Mid," Prism said as the fussy jeweler Ray-Ray carefully made final adjustments to her crown. The crown itself was perfect - a simple circular shape, but made with intricately woven bands of gold that almost seemed to move in the shifting glow of Ray-Ray's magic aura and studded with tiny amethysts that were supposedly the exact same shade as the massive jewel in Celestia's crown. In fact, it was nothing short of a miracle that the unicorn had created something like this literally overnight. No, the problem was the placement of the crown, or the way it affected Prism's thick mane, or the way it looked with her scarred ear... any number of seemingly minor problems that had Ray-Ray constantly making adjustments to the circlet and to Prism's mane, and had Prism inwardly seething with frustration.

Midnight shrugged at her from his position laying on a stool. "You'll be fine, stop being a baby," he said with a playful smirk, in his best imitation of his brother's Manehattan accent.

This led both foals to start laughing, and Ray-Ray finally huffed and put the crown on her one last time before backing away. "I suppose this will have to do, if you're going to keep moving around," she said with a haughty tone, before sighing. "You do look radiant, though, Princess."

"I, um..." Prism hesitated at this and looked at herself in the mirror. Ray-Ray and her assistant really had done wonders. Her messy, bushy hair had been washed and conditioned repeatedly until it almost shined in the light, then aggressively (and somewhat painfully) straightened, thinned, cut, and finally styled into a braid of twisting colors that tumbled down her shoulder in a way that Ray-Ray had described as 'stylish enough for royalty and practical enough for an active filly'. Her overly-long tail had been cut down to size as well, and she wore a thin, silky purple dress that was admittedly pretty, even if she would rather not wear clothes at all. "Yeah, it... it actually looks nice. I'm glad I only have to wear this stuff for a day, though."

Prism slid her hooves into the small gilded shoes that had been made to match her crown, then jumped down off of the stool she'd been sitting up on. "Thanks for all this, Miss Rarity. I know I haven't made it easy," she admitted with an apologetic expression.

The mare leaned down to rub Prism's chin with her hoof. "Please, call me Ray-Ray. I'm not Rarity no matter how much my mother wanted me to be." She smiled. "I would be more concerned if this was easy. A filly is supposed to be energetic and headstrong, but you're also very brave to be doing this. It's been a unique pleasure to make a new crown for a princess." She stepped back and bowed to the two of them. "If you ever need anything else from me, you can always find me at my shop in Upper Canterlot. I'll probably be working on that crown's twin soon, I'm sure." Ray-Ray left with a smile, leaving Midnight and Prism alone.

"So now what do we do?" Prism asked.

"We could probably go over your speech again," Midnight said with a sigh, but then the doors opened again and their friends came in, all of them wearing their Elements. In addition to Prism's crown, the jeweler and her assistant had been eager to make new settings for Honesty and Laughter. Talon now wore her Element as a brooch pinned to her coat, and the Element of Laughter hung from Shimmerwing's neck on a chain of silver, enchanted at the changeling's request to expand or contract at will.

"Are you guys almost ready?" Southern Storm asked. "You look fantastic, by the way."

"I think I'm ready?" Prism frowned. "I don't know. I'm a bit scared."

Shimmer hugged Prism, pulling the filly close. She finally let her go after several moments with a soft smile. "You'll do great. The outfit and the pageantry are what will get their attention, but the most important thing is that you speak from the heart." She looked over at Midnight. "Just one more thing. Midnight, can you come over to stand by your brother?"

Prism gasped a little and stepped back, watching. This must be it - the day Sour Apple would finally become Midnight's Protector in title as well as function. Sour Apple stepped forward and raised a hoof, that was met by Midnight's smaller hoof, and Prism could feel her own heart beating a little faster. It took her a moment to realize it was from Shimmer's nervousness. "Shimmer..." She tapped her big 'sister' on the side with one hoof. "You'll be alright. You've been practicing, and even if you're not a unicorn, I know you can do the spell." Shimmer closed her eyes and seemed to open her mind a little, at least from what Prism could feel in the odd 'sixth sense' of their bond, and the little filly shivered a little in empathetic nervousness as she realized why Shimmer was so worried. The Protector's Spirit (as Shimmer seemed to call it in her thoughts) was old magic - an enchantment Starlight Glimmer put on the first Protector in the early days of the Order of Harmony. It could be passed on or shared from one pony to the next, but nopony had ever managed to recreate the original spell. Prism shook her head slightly and tried her best to send Shimmer happy, confident feelings, but she couldn't help but worry that if the ritual failed, the Spirit could be lost forever. "D-don't think about it, Shimmy. No pressure."

Shimmer took several deep breaths before stepping forward to address Sour Apple. "Sour Apple, do you accept the bond with Midnight Shine?"

Sour Apple smiled at her. "I, Sour Apple, son of Apple Jam, of the line of Applejack, accept the love and friendship of Midnight Shine and give him my own heart in kind."

Just as Thunderbolt had done, Shimmer closed her eyes and began the spell, weaving Sour and Midnight's hooves together with a strand of light from her horn - blue-white instead of her normal green magic. "Sour Apple, do you accept the lineage of Midnight Shine?"

Sour nodded with a grin. "You bet I do. Um, I mean..." He blinked nervously. "I, Sour Apple, recognize Midnight Shine as the true blood of Princess Luna and the son of the moon."

Shimmer kept the spell going, and Prism could sense magical energy building inside her - something ancient and powerful. "Sour Apple, do you swear loyalty to the true rulers of Equestria?"

Sour looked down at Midnight and nodded again. "I swear my fealty to the throne of Princess Celestia, who bathed us in the life-giving warmth of the sun. I swear my fealty to the throne of Princess Luna, who sheltered us with her wisdom in the night. I swear to oppose Nightmare Winter at every turn, and to serve the true diarchy with my dying breath."

The spell was almost complete, and Prism knew that if Shimmer didn't release all this magic soon something terrible might happen. "What do you swear this on, Sour Apple?"

"I swear it on the Element of Loyalty," Sour Apple said without hesitation.

Prism thought she saw his Element glint, and had a feeling that it would hold him to that promise - but she didn't have much time to think about that as Shimmer released the spell. This time, with her heightened awareness of magic, Prism could almost see the magic splitting off inside her - some remaining in Shimmer and the rest going into Sour Apple. "I pass the power of the Protectors to you, Sour Apple," Shimmer said with a grin, and Prism cheered as she stomped her hooves on the ground just as loudly as everypony else.

******

As the six of them stood in the antechamber to the Conclave, they could hear the ponies inside still arguing distantly. Just as Prism had thought, it didn't sound like they'd made any progress at all towards a consensus. All she could hope at this point was that this would work.

"Alright... wish me luck getting their attention," Shimmer said, taking her insectoid form. As the changeling started walking into the main chamber, Prism had the thought that maybe they should have had a better plan than barging in and trying to take over. But then again, it was too late now.

"I come to introduce-" Shimmer called out, following the script, but from the sounds of the continuing debate, nopony noticed. "I am introducing-" she started again, before she was cut off again. Prism didn't so much hear as feel Shimmer's growl of frustration through their link. "All of you! QUIET!" She heard the loud, fizzling pop of a powerful spell being cast and the room immediately went dead silent. "I know this is irregular, Masters," Shimmer went on in a more respectful tone as she abandoned the script, "But I am not here today as a Protector, and in this instance royal authority overrides the rules of order. In light of your endless, childish bickering, the heirs you've been arguing over have chosen to come to their own decision! And now all ponies will respectfully stand for Princess Prism Star and Prince Midnight Shine - your rulers!"

Prism took a moment - and a nudge from Midnight - to realize that this was her cue. She drew the sun's energy into herself, feeling the rush of confidence that accompanied it, and started stepping forward. Every pony in the stands was standing, and she could feel their eyes on her and Midnight as she approached the thrones, but suddenly she didn't care. This was her element. This was where she was meant to be. "Please be seated, assembled Masters." Prism gave them a moment to settle back down, stepping forward back into the middle of the room even as Midnight took his seat on the throne. "You've argued for days about what to do, but you're all missing the real picture. I'll take this crown if it means making peace between you all, but I'm not here to fight a war for you - or to hide away. I'm going to save Equestria myself, without putting ponies in harm's way, and I'm going to do it with the Elements of Harmony." She gestured down the hallway, calling her friends to her. "I came to you weak, wounded, and scared. But I've learned so much since then, and I've done it with five amazing friends. And those friends were chosen by the Elements to bear them." As they came to stand by her side, including Midnight and Shimmer, Prism felt a different sort of confidence that had nothing at all to do with the sun. "You already see Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, and Laughter represented here. Together, we will find the Elements of Kindness and Magic, and with their power we will finally be able to stand up to Nightmare Winter."

Prism stopped her speech, realizing with a little gasping breath that she'd forgotten to breathe while she was giving it, and the silence stretched on for several painful moments before Peregrine Dive finally leaned forward to address her. "This is all... highly irregular," he said. "The Elements didn't stop her the first time. What makes you think you can stop her with them alone?"

She looked up to her father for support, but he kept silent. Thunderbolt wasn't looking at her at like she was his daughter at all - it was more like he was examining an unpredictable storm cloud and trying to decide if the rain was worth risking the wind and lightning. "I don't know," she admitted, tearing her eyes away from his calculating gaze. "But meeting her with open force isn't the answer. There's no way that whatever the Order can put up will match the Crystal Empire. I know that it's a slim hope that we can stop her with the Elements, but it's the only hope we have. It's the only hope we've ever had. Starlight Glimmer started all this because she had faith. She had faith that the Elements weren't gone forever, that Celestia and Luna's legacy would live on, that ponies would survive the winter. Everything she did, she did for a reward she'd never live to see. Every pony who ever died for that dream, from Starlight herself to my own mother, gave their lives because they had faith it would all pay off someday." Prism took a deep breath, closing her eyes before opening them again with fiery determination. "We're going to follow that dream, too. And at the end of the day, there's nothing you can do to stop us from doing it. We leave for Ponyville in ten days, with or without your support."

Peregrine leaned back with a startled look, and Prism thought she could see a small smile of satisfaction on her father's muzzle as the stands exploded into first hushed whispers, and then applause. "So be it, Princess," Peregrine Dive said. "This Order exists to serve you, after all. I call the Conclave to a close."

Nightmare Winter

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. We just couldn't find anything concrete about the Sun Princess or the Order of Harmony in Las Pegasus." The brown earth pony was dressed smartly in a military uniform in blue-and-white crystalline camouflage, with a red beret over his short-cropped mane, but the overall effect was ruined by his terrified eyes with their contracted pupils and the sweat pouring off of his coat in frozen beads. "Everybody's talking, but no ponies have actually seen her. The only thing remotely treasonous we could find was some rich colt planning a Cloudsdale Day party."

Nightmare Winter snorted frozen mist. "I don't care about some ridiculous party. There's a pony out there, a tiny little filly, raising the sun, and I want her." She leaned in, not even bothering to maintain her glamour. "Now go. Look again. And if you still can't find a pure white pony with a RAINBOW MANE then you might as well never return!" She stomped a hoof on the marble floor, causing frozen spikes to spring up in fractal spirals, and the commander fled with a quite un-stallion-like whimper. "Incompetents," she muttered darkly after him. "Fools like you would never have survived in the Crystal Army a thousand years ago."

"Ooh, somepony is in a mood." Winter heard a malicious giggle behind her and shuddered angrily as she resisted the sudden desire to blast everything in a quarter-mile radius with her ice. "You shouldn't be so hard on poor Commander Phalanx, Winty. It's not his fault if Starlight's little freedom fighters are hiding her so well," she heard Flurry Heart say.

She whirled around, but her tormentor was nowhere to be seen. "I expect results from my subordinates, not excuses! There was a time that all you wanted from me was results!" She was just yelling at an empty hallway, but the specter had to be close. She rarely left Winter's side for long these days.

"You know, I don't remember asking you to kill Dad. Or poor, sweet Professor Sunburst." Flurry Heart appeared directly in front of Nightmare Winter, inches away from her muzzle. "Especially not Great-Auntie Celestia. But you killed all those ponies anyway, just because you could. You had Celestia at your mercy," Flurry said, her voice dripping with icy hate. "And I begged you to send her to Tartarus. But you froze her heart right there, and you made me watch. I hope you can forgive me if I don't cry for you."

Nightmare Winter huffed angrily and walked right through Flurry, taking the long way to her chambers. "Ungrateful mule... you were pathetic when I found you. A puling whelp dancing and prancing and singing on command for the approval of your elders like a trained dog. You begged for every scrap of magic Twilight and Sunburst would teach you. You learned to cry on command just to get Rainbow Dash to teach you how to make a sonic rainboom..." Winter smirked cruelly as she began to climb the spiral stairs of Luna's tower - she'd never quite liked Celestia's tower. "And you cried for real over her disappointment when you failed every time. You were never going to be one of them, you know. A real princess. Oh, they fought and bled for their wings and their precious alicorn magic, but you were better than them from the start... and they knew it. Why do you think Sunburst put that little leash on your magic? They were afraid of you - and they were right, weren't they?"

She went through a door out to one of the tower's many balconies, looking out over Canterlot and southern Equestria beyond it. But, of course, Flurry Heart was already there. "Perhaps you should have been the one they were afraid of. All I ever wanted was to be everything I could be. You're the one who wanted all this death and destruction, and now you're getting your share of it."

Winter glared at Flurry Heart. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that nopony loves you, or wants you to rule them. They're going to cheer when we're dead, Winty." Flurry Heart grinned hatefully. "They're going to cheer for our little cousin and her sun magic, because all you've ever done is spread hate and fear. You masquerade in my skin, but everypony knows the truth deep down about what you really are. They have parties to celebrate your military defeats," she said with a giggle. "Ooh, I bet there'll be cake. And delicious punch. And, y'know, I bet you they'll do The Breaking of the Three. I love that play... it's so tragic what happened to those fillies because of you. You know, Winty, we should go to a party like that. Maybe you'd learn a few things about what ponies are really like."

Nightmare Winter huffed angrily, unconsciously spreading frost down the tower in her rage. "You know what, Flurry? I think I will go to a party, and they'll regret that they ever insulted me with their little celebration. They're probably supporters of that damned princess, too, aren't they? Well, that's alright. If she wants to hide, let's see how she likes it when I go for her friends."

Chapter XII: The Worst Night Ever (Part 1)

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Southern Storm

Southern Storm stepped backwards carefully, flaring his wings out a little from worry. It might have been a mistake to ask for a cake this big. No, it was definitely a mistake now that he was trying to guide the ponies carrying it through the doors. Even considering that they'd split off the balloon as a separate cake and were going to assemble the whole HMS Firefly in the ballroom, just the hull on its wheeled cart was proving problematic. It just barely fit through the doors, and Storm could practically feel gray hairs forming in his mane trying to make this work.

It took a tense half hour to get both halves of the cake inside, and longer to make sure it was put together properly. It took a winch to position the balloon, and steel spars to hold the cake together, but at least the cake was the last thing that needed to be done. The ballroom had already been strung with blue and yellow streamers from the rafters all the way down the walls, and he and his friends had spent much of the night removing the sun-crystal chandeliers, replacing them with a slew of elaborate paper lanterns - some in the shape of fluffy white clouds, others in the shape of the old, pre-war Wonderbolt insignia, and still more scattered lanterns had been made in the shape of the sun and moon. This last part was a new addition; the entire party was illegal anyway, so Southern Storm had decided to put another hoof in the Queen's eye with a nod to his friends Prism and Midnight, the newly (self)crowned Sun Princess and Moon Prince. The round tables had already been set in a semicircle around the stage, with plenty of room for dancing, the silverware settings were complete, and even now ponies were setting up the punch bowls and the buffet table, so the only thing left was to double-check the guest list.

Southern Storm knew it by heart, of course. Even as he trotted up the stairs to his room, he could probably recite the names of the ponies who had been invited. Given the sensitive nature of the celebration, it was a select number of trusted ponies - though that number had slowly climbed over time. Aside from his new friends, most of the invitees were residents of Little Cloudsdale, descendants of the original Cloudsdale refugees much like himself. Even after all this time, they were a tight-knit little group, that still nursed the old grudges in secret and kept the Loyalist cause - and the old Celestian religion - alive behind closed doors. The idea that one of them would turn informer was simply incomprehensible.

As Storm pulled out the list from his desk and started going down it, making sure to track who had responded to their invitations, he also noted several not-unexpected additions to the list in Shimmerwing's flowing lettering (now that he knew the connection, he could see her changeling nature clearly in how she formed her letters so similarly to the curving, fluid glyphs of her native language). She had already come to him about bringing a few Order members for extra security, and he was glad to see that she'd followed his wishes and only added a dozen ponies to the list. What he was not happy to see, however, was several more names outlined in Talon's scratchy hand. This he had not authorized, especially the last name - Cloudrunner. He felt his gut drop, and took a couple of deep breaths to steady his nerves. It was all he could do to try and forget that disastrous date Talon had set him up on, and now he was going to have to look Cloudrunner in the eyes and pretend that he hadn't run out on that date like a coward.

Storm sighed, trying to push it out of his mind for the moment, and started getting himself ready now. His mane was easy - brush it, gel it, slick it down into his signature coif. Then some powder for the bags of fatigue under his eyes, just a bit of black eyeliner for dramatic effect - but not so much that he'd appear goth - and a single silver loop earring to complete the effect. His clothes were already laid out on the bed, and Southern Storm was soon dressed in a white, ruffled shirt - a risky move, but he had enough credibility to attempt a 'retro' look - and a dark red coat with an open front and a high collar. He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before his eyes caught the glint of the Element of Generosity sitting on his dresser. "What do you think, Rarity?" he said, rhetorically addressing the softly glowing sapphire. "I know some ponies will say that glam rock is out of style, but I think there's nothing wrong with looking fabulous." Of course he didn't get a response, but he'd seen enough of his predecessor in the stone to know that she would have likely agreed. Storm put the Element in his inside pocket on a whim, and with its warmth close to his heart he felt much more confident that he could make every pony happy tonight - even Cloudrunner. In fact, he rather thought he should have brought more party favors; after all, this was going to be the best night ever.

Prism Star

This really was the best party Prism could think of - even better than the birthday party she'd had a few weeks ago. The ballroom was jam-packed with pegasi, and not even Shimmer's nervous energy or the Order of Harmony guards with their grey brigandine vests and aetherlance carbines could dampen her mood. But as fun as it was, it was also surreal; in a very real sense, this was her first public appearance as a princess. Southern Storm had assured Prism and Midnight that they were amongst some of the stoutest Loyalist supporters in the two kingdoms, and had insisted that Prism wear her crown, though Prism and Shimmer both shut him down quickly at the suggestion of full regalia.

And he was certainly right about Loyalist support. Nearly every pony she met stopped to bow to her, and insisted on shaking her hoof (Prism's fetlock was by now quite sore). Fillies and colts her own age begged for demonstrations of light magic, and one pregnant mare had asked Prism to bless her foal - a strange situation that Shimmer had thankfully saved her from with a false security scare. If nothing else, Prism could tell that Midnight was sharing her mounting discomfort, and she was reminded of the old expression that "misery loves company". Mid and Sour Apple - the latter looking rather dashing with his own vest and carbine, she had to admit - were similarly thronged by supporters and well-wishers, and when Prism and Shimmer pushed their way to the crowd to meet their counterparts, Prism was momentarily stunned by the barrage of camera flashes from ponies hoping to get a picture of the two royals together.

Thankfully, the feedback of a microphone soon rang out from the stage, and everypony quieted down and started moving to sit at the tables or in neat rows at the dance floor. "Thank Twilight the play is starting," Midnight muttered darkly as the four of them sat at a table with a near-perfect view (it would have been perfect if not for the startlingly tall stallion sitting between them and the stage). "I might have snapped if another pony had asked me to interpret their dreams."

"Yeah, well apparently I've been reduced to a stage magician for the fillies," Prism said with a small laugh of shared misery. "Hey, Sour, who was dumb enough to give you an aetherlance?" She winked and giggled at seeing his huff.

"Well, I can't do horn blasts like Shimmer," Sour Apple said defensively as he laid the weapon down next to his chair, its long barrel propped against the table. Designed to be used by an earth pony in the sitting position or a pegasus on the wing, it looked to Prism like a thin tube with a loops to put your hooves through on the underside, with a short, flared stock on one end and a needle-like sight on the other. "I got my qualification just yesterday for the next best thing."

"You look like a proper soldier," Midnight said quietly. "Not sure if that's a good thing." Prism felt she had to agree. It was good that Sour Apple was serious about his role as a Protector, but his warlike demeanor disturbed her a little bit. He'd aged somehow from the nervous colt who approached her and Shimmer on the airship to Las Pegasus. Physically, he was getting older, sure... he was a little taller, and he'd put on quite a bit of muscle from his training. But she wasn't sure she liked the hard glint in his eyes as he surveyed the room, the way he kept one hoof close to that carbine, the way he sat up so perfectly straight in his chair... Sour Apple had somehow become a soldier when she wasn't looking, looking for all Equestria like the Royal Guard of old.

"Shh," Shimmer said quietly. "It's starting."

A spotlight came onto the curtained stage as three small, nervous fillies came out from behind it. Their fur and manes had been powdered into the colors of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and while all three were pegasi, 'Apple Bloom' and 'Sweetie Belle' were wearing lightweight cloaks to conceal their wings, and the latter wore a fake horn. As Southern Storm had explained it, the role of 'narrator' was given to the young selves of the Crusaders, played traditionally by audience members - specifically, the oldest fillies still without their cutie marks. "I'm Apple Bloom!" called out the one in the middle, whose coat and mane had been colored yellow and red respectively.

"I'm Scootaloo!" said a filly colored orange and purple.

"And I'm Sweetie Belle!" This filly was powdered white, with a blue and pink mane. "Together we are-"

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders!" This was called out by all three.

"We were the last fillies in our class to get our cutie marks," Apple Bloom said, "And we tried so many different things to get them."

"But," Scootaloo said with a nervous grin, "We realized one day that our real talent was helping other ponies discover their real talent!"

"So we became the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Sweetie Belle said, squeaking a little from her nerves. "We traveled all Equestria helping ponies. But there were other things we did, too. Even if I wasn't the strongest, I learned magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle herself, and I was a fantastic singer, too!"

"I became a master alchemist," Apple Bloom recited, "I trained with zebras and ponies alike to learn the arts of potion-making and ritual magic."

"And I loved stunts!" Scootaloo looked like she was about to pass out from her nervousness. "But more than anything, I wanted to be like my hero Rainbow Dash! So when the Crystal Empire attacked Equestria, I joined Celestia's navy, and in time I came to command my own airship."

Apple Bloom continued, "Our story begins with my friend Scootaloo, high over Equestria. Flurry Heart sent a massive armada to destroy Cloudsdale, and there was no way to stop it. But a tiny fleet of volunteers assembled in defiance of Celestia's orders, to buy time for the ponies of Cloudsdale to evacuate. We begged Scootaloo not to go, but she went willingly to her death."

Southern Storm

Southern Storm watched the play progressing from the catwalk that had been set up above - in truth, a rickety wooden bridge suspended from the rafters with ropes. A mock 'ship' had been rolled out onto the stage, and the real actress playing Scootaloo was at the helm singing about giving her life for Equestria. This part, admittedly, had always struck him as a bit cheesy - more like Loyalist propaganda than a real picture of Scootaloo as a pony in history.

"What's on your mind, Stormy?" Southern Storm nearly jumped out of his hide at being addressed from behind, and turned to see Cloudrunner hovering lazily near the ceiling with a look of concern on his face.

"Oh, um..." He could feel a hot blush starting to form on his cheeks. "I, I, uh, I didn't know you'd be coming. Talon didn't tell me she was inviting you."

Cloudrunner alit on the catwalk next to Southern Storm, landing lightly on his back hooves before coming forward to stand properly. "You invite me every year. I was actually a little hurt that you didn't this year."

Southern Storm could feel his face get a little hotter, and he looked away - not being able to meet Cloudrunner's red eyes. "I... I couldn't..." he stammered helplessly. "Not... not after I..." Cloudrunner lifted Southern Storm's face, forcing him to meet his eyes. "I want it, I really do, but... but I'm scared."

"What are you scared of, Stormy? Is it really so frightening that another colt wants to be with you?" Cloudrunner sighed. Under them, they could hear the bangs of theatrical cannon blanks going off as the prologue reached its climax.

"I don't..." Southern Storm hesitated. "I don't want to lose you," he finally said in a quiet voice. "I know Talon's probably told you everything by now, so you know how dangerous it is... this thing I have to do."

"You mean saving the world," Cloudrunner said with a little smile, stroking Southern Storm's cheek.

"I... y-yes." Southern nodded. "What if somepony comes for you to get at me? What if... what if I don't come back?"

"'So said Rockhoof, though his heart was aflame, and his words were a mortal wound. And he went to his final battle in shame, for by fear had his love been consumed.'" Cloudrunner recited from the Ballad of Rockhoof. "Poets say that Rockhoof died because he'd given up on love, and he had nothing left to fight for."

"That's... that's a stupid thing to say."

"Is it?" Cloudrunner shook his head at Southern Storm. "Come on... we've seen this play a dozen times. Let's go for a flight, and if I can't change your mind then I promise to leave you alone."

Sour Apple

Sour Apple sat out in the front 'yard' of the manor, looking out at the horizon - he knew he should be inside with the others, that that was important, but... he'd needed the space. Even with all that had happened in the last few days, Sour's mind was still consumed by the Crusaders' Grail. It was what they'd said in the introduction, really - how the Crusaders roamed Equestria in search of ponies who needed help with their cutie marks. It had reminded him strongly of what he'd heard in his vision about the first earth pony; supposedly, if what he'd heard was to be believed, she'd known the secret name and true purpose of every creature that came to her for guidance... just like the Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves.

He'd known since he got his own cutie mark, of course, that his purpose was family. The first time that Midnight had cried out of hunger, the way that it tore at his heart until he finally gave the tiny foal his own food... It had been a moment of perfect clarity for Sour Apple, and his already-bitten apple had told him that no matter what hardships he faced, no matter how little of the apple was left for him at the end of things, he would always do whatever it took to keep the ponies he cared about safe and happy. But he was starting to wonder now if there was more to him than his cutie mark. The Grail had shown him things that had nothing to do with protecting or providing; it seemed to say that Midnight and the strange furless creature, and others besides them, would look to him for guidance. That part, at least, seemed clear, but this insight only raised more questions. After all, Sour Apple had no special wisdom. He didn't have the instinctive insight that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were legendary for, and he certainly didn't know anything about secret names. He was just... a pony. A normal pony with no education outside of lying and swindling and now fighting.

"I'll give you a quarter bit for your thoughts," he heard Midnight say quietly behind him. "It's not like you to just wander off."

Sour Apple turned back with a sigh. "Well, it's not like I have to sit through the whole thing when you've probably already memorized the story, is it?" He smiled slightly and hoped that his deflection would work.

Midnight glared a little bit. "I... I mean I have read what happened already, but that's not the point. What's going on with you? You've been kind of distant ever since you drank that weird potion."

"I guess... I guess I'm still trying to figure things out." He sat down and smiled more genuinely as Midnight came to sit with him. "I know it sounds like I'm changing the subject, but it actually would help if you told me the story. I feel like maybe some context would help."

"Well..." Midnight thought about it for a moment. "You already know all the stuff about Scootaloo, so I won't repeat it. The important thing is what happens to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle after the war. They both ended up getting with Starlight Glimmer and helping found the Order of Harmony, but not having Scootaloo really messed them up. Sweetie Belle got obsessed with time travel-"

"Oh, you mean like you?" Sour nudged Midnight playfully.

"Well..." Midnight sighed in annoyance. "I guess, the difference is that I can actually do it, though. I just don't for longer than a few moments because it's dangerous. As Prism has repeatedly and very angrily pointed out." The unicorn shook his head. "Sweetie Belle wasn't strong enough, and Starlight Glimmer refused to help her at all even though she was supposedly better than even Starswirl the Bearded when it came to space-time magic. So she left Equestria entirely, swearing she'd find her own way, and no pony seems to know where she actually went."

"What about Apple Bloom?" Sour Apple asked.

"She devoted herself to magic to an unhealthy degree... she was already good at making potions, and ritual magic like alchemy and runecraft and supposedly even zebra voodoo, but she started secretly studying necromancy."

"Necromancy?" Sour asked, feeling rather stupid.

His confusion must have been evident, because Midnight sighed up at him and shook his head again. "Communicating with, binding, banishing, or resurrecting the dead, Sour."

Sour felt his skin crawl under his coat at the thought of that. "That... that's awful. How could an earth pony even be capable of doing something like that?"

Midnight shrugged in response. "There's a lot of different kinds of magic other than unicorn magic. Even my own magic isn't really unicorn magic, I think. It's more the, uh..." He made a circular gesture with his hoof, making an expression that told Sour he was looking for the right way to say it. "The alicorn blood, I guess, from Luna. But even outside of ponies' inherent magic, there's other forms of it, too. There's stuff like symbolic magic and rune magic - which I guess is just kind of a different form of symbolic magic - and then there's alchemy that uses the latent magic in-"

Sour Apple cut him off by tapping on his hoof. "Little brother, I don't understand any of that. You're half my age and already way better educated, you know." He sighed. "That's not what I don't get, though... What I mean is more that I can't believe an earth pony would do that. My, um... when I was little, my mom taught me about the different kinds of pony, and she always told me that being an earth pony meant loving and caring for living things. My ancestors tended the trees and plowed the fields, they encouraged the world to live and grow, and it just feels so wrong to think of an earth pony obsessing over death like that." He shuddered a little.

"Well..." Midnight looked thoughtful. "The annotations I read in my book said that necromancy doesn't actually work. No pony actually knows what happens to us after we die, after all. But... she created something. All the accounts agree that she created some kind of monster trying to bring back Scootaloo, and she was so horrified that she banished it to Tartarus and swore never to do magic again, other than just brewing potions. She even exiled herself to the Frozen North, because she felt like she didn't deserve to be around other ponies anymore."

"That's awful." Sour shook his head. "But how does the Grail come in?"

"Well..." Midnight seemed to gather his thoughts, cuddling into Sour's side as he did so. "The grail is honestly just a fancy cup. It's the potion in it that matters. Supposedly, when she went into exile, Apple Bloom wanted to do something to repair her legacy and make up for what she'd done. So she started going all over to find the ingredients for some new potion that no creature had ever seen before."

Sour nodded at this. "I know this part. She wanted to help guide ponies after she was gone, so she devised this incredibly complicated formula to try and help ponies who needed to know their purpose."

"But she couldn't figure out what the last ingredient was that she needed," Midnight said. "She thought it had something to do with cutie mark magic, but because of the oath she swore, she couldn't really pursue it. Not until Sweetie Belle came back. It turned out that Sweetie Belle had been studying her own forms of dark magic, trying to increase her power. She came back calling herself Sweet Siren, because she'd discovered how to use her beautiful voice to enthrall and drain ponies just like the mythical Sirens."

"But Starlight Glimmer stopped her, right?" Sour looked out at the sky, seeing pegasi and skiffs flying back and forth between the different districts of Las Pegasus. A couple of skiffs were headed towards the manor - likely late arrivals.

"With Apple Bloom's help, yes." Midnight nodded. "She brought Apple Bloom out of exile to get a potion that rendered the both of them immune to Sweet Siren's voice. When they'd finally defeated her, though... Apple Bloom betrayed Starlight and took her old friend into exile with her. With Sweetie Belle's magic, and Starlight's Staff of Sameness, Apple Bloom had everything she needed for the final ingredient to the potion... her own cutie mark. The Order only has a few bottles of the potion left, but the legend says that there's a magic spring somewhere up north that she used to make the potion, and it soaked up her cutie mark magic. A whole pool of the stuff just sitting in a cave somewhere."

Sour Apple thought about this as he watched the skiffs approach, and considered telling Midnight about what exactly he'd seen... but then he felt the fur on the back of his neck start standing on end, and Sour Apple stood cautiously as he felt a cold feeling of foreboding clamp down on his chest. This must be the Protector's 'danger sense' Shimmer had taught him about. "Midnight... get inside. Now. Get to the others and warn them that something's coming." Midnight looked about to argue, but Sour cut him off quickly as he sat back on his haunches to bring his aetherlance up into the shooting position. "Just go! I'll be behind you!"

Midnight finally ran for the door as the skiffs docked with Southern Storm's cloud island, and Sour Apple's training took over as he started laying down fire in the form of blue-white energy blasts in the direction of the Crystal Army soldiers starting to pour off of the packed ships.

Chapter XIII: The Worst Night Ever (Part 2)

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Southern Storm

For a time, Southern Storm flew in awkward silence with Cloudrunner, sharing the deepening twilight with him and trying to think of what to say. But soon, he heard a cracking noise like distant thunder and turned back to the manor. At first, he feared that his cloud had gone stormy, but what was actually happening was worse. Beams of blue energy crackled back and forth across the yard, and he could see pegasi taking chunks out of the cloud beneath. He hadn't been there when his parents were taken, but he wondered if it looked something like this. Soldiers were everywhere, and it didn't look like it would be long before the few Order guards were overwhelmed.

Cloudrunner put a hoof on his shoulder. "I... I can't believe it. They're actually attacking."

"I've never seen this many crystal soldiers," Southern Storm said, feeling a cold sensation spreading through his chest. "I... Cloud, I'm not a fighter. I don't know what to do!"

Cloudrunner took hold of Southern Storm and turned him so they were facing one another. "I think you know exactly what to do. You have one of the Elements of Harmony - the others need you!"

"I-I'm not sure I can do it. I'm just a singer!"

"And by herself, Rarity was just some fashion pony." Cloudrunner kept holding on. "But I know that you can be so much more with your friends. We're Cloudsdale ponies, Stormy... our families are Loyalist to our bones. We grew up on all the same tales about Twilight Sparkle and the Companions. A student, a seamstress, a farmer, a party pony, a hermit, a ne'er-do-well dreamer... do those sound like heroes to you? But they were. The Elements didn't make a mistake choosing them, and they didn't make a mistake choosing you. We've all been waiting so long for the Elements of Harmony to come back - you can't back out when we're all so close to being free!"

Southern Storm had no idea what to say to this. He had a point about the Companions, but how didn't Cloudrunner see how much pressure he was putting on him? "Cloudrunner... I..." Whatever reply he was going to manage was cut short when Cloudrunner pressed his mouth to Storm's, and his mind went momentarily blank from the electric intensity of a first kiss. Fear disappeared along with the world itself as he eagerly reciprocated, and he felt warmth spread from the Element between them into his whole body as it responded to their emotions.

By the time they pulled apart, Southern Storm had no words whatsoever. Thankfully, Cloudrunner was as talkative as ever. "I'll help get the guests out of here, don't worry about that. You need to get to your friends." He gave Southern Storm one more hug. "Go save the world, hero."

Prism Star

Prism held her ground in the main ballroom with Shimmer and Talon, drawing sunfire into her body as much for the confidence as for the boost to her magic. She'd calmed the guests some with her Royal Canterlot Voice, but she wasn't nearly as calm inside as she was pretending to be on the outside. In fact, she was very close to panicking before she felt the rush of energy flow into her and take her fear with it. 'You're Celestia's heir, the Sun Princess,' it seemed to tell her. 'You can do this. You and your friends can save all of these ponies.' She started taking deep breaths in the meditative technique Solar Flare had taught her, visualizing the breaths inward stoking a flame inside of her, and the breaths outward taking her fear and nerves away. "All... Alright." She took one more deep breath. "We can do this. We need, um..."

She was momentarily at a loss, but thankfully Shimmer had a better grasp of tactics. "I want all of the guests staying here in the ballroom. No pony wanders off, no pony tries to hide. Spearhead, Mattock," she said, addressing two of the guards who had stayed instead of going to hold off the boarding parties, "You'll stay with them and keep them safe. When it's clear, you get them to the skiffs and make a run for the surface."

Prism shook her head. "No, that's not safe. The city itself is safer."

Shimmer turned back to her. "Everypony here is a target, Prism. The city isn't safe if Finders and soldiers are looking for them."

"IF Finders and soldiers are looking for them." Prism took another deep breath. As scary as it might be, she realized what she had to do - make herself the target. "If I reveal myself and start fighting, I'm the only thing any pony will care about. I know you want to keep me safe, but we can do this together, Shimmer. You and me and Talon and Sour. If we work together we can push the soldiers back and put the target on ourselves long enough for the others to escape."

"I hope you haven't forgotten us," Southern Storm said from the doorway. He flew in with Midnight trotting behind him.

"Yeah," Midnight said. "I've had the exact same combat training as you, Prism, and I'm the one who pushed you into revealing yourself to begin with. I'm not sitting out if you're going to fight."

Prism sighed in relief and smiled. At least they were unharmed. "Thank Twilight you're here, Mid. You're the only one of us who can teleport reliably. I know you want to fight but I think you should focus on the guests, get them to safety."

Shimmer nodded. "And Stormy, you find the fastest skiff out there and get it ready to leave. As soon as Midnight gets the civilians away, we're leaving. Mid, try to teleport them in the largest groups you can take. If Prism starts fighting openly, then it's only a matter of time before Nightmare Winter takes notice and shows up. We need to move fast and try to be out of here before then."

"All right, every pony knows what to do." Prism nodded back at Shimmer with a confident grin. Having a plan certainly made this easier to face, though it did surprise her how quickly she'd taken charge. She lit her horn with magic and quickly sketched out her hoplon construct in orange light. "Let's do it, then!"

******

When they reached the front yard, there had already been heavy casualties on both sides, but Sour Apple and the few remaining Order guards seemed to get a fresh burst of energy from seeing Prism, Shimmer, and Talon join the battle. Prism would later wish she could claim the battle to be a heroic stand, but in truth the fight that followed was chaotic and desperate. The moment their counter-charge began, it was every pony for themselves. Prism Star quickly lost track of her friends amidst the chaos, and she soon was too busy maintaining her spells to think about where they were. She had to maintain her shield construct and keep it moving, balancing between attack and defense while simultaneously maintaining the warding spell that protected her from the lance beams going back and forth, and all of this while being careful to control how much sunfire she was using. Ever since she'd fully bonded with the sun to raise it, Prism had found that her tolerance for its energy had risen... but she still knew she had to be careful not to burn herself up from the inside out.

Worst of all of it, though, was the feeling that she might be starting to enjoy the fight. Every pony she knocked out with her shield seemed to send a rush of adrenaline through her... but underneath the thrill Prism could feel something darker. It was like a lifetime of repressed anger coming to a boil in her gut, and she could feel something else waking in response. It almost felt like her bond with Shimmerwing, another mind just barely separated from hers, from which she could get flashes of thought and emotion. But this felt much darker and more alien. As strange as her changeling psyche was, Shimmer felt like a calming, reassuring presence ready to wrap her up in a blanket and give a hug at a moment's notice. This other presence felt jagged and cruel. It relished in the pain she was inflicting on the Crystal Army soldiers and in turn urged her to go further, to abandon the discipline Lancing Ray had taught her to maintain in combat and show them all what she could really do. 'Give them a little fire,' it seemed to say. 'Make them pay for what they've done to your friends.'

She resisted, of course... but it was hard to deny how much she wanted to. She wanted to hate them and let out all of her anger and frustrations on them. But that temptation was squelched quickly as she felt a sudden cold clamp down on her. She vaguely heard Shimmer shouting, "Run! Get to the skiff!", and responded by summoning all of the power she had left into a massive shockwave directed at the soldiers that left her staggering with fatigue and the strange other inside of her howling with cruel glee. She tried to run, but her hooves felt like they were made of lead, and soon she found herself instead being carried over Sour Apple's shoulders like a sack. Southern Storm already had a long, two-masted barge waiting and ready, and the soldiers gave them no trouble pulling away from the cloud island that was starting to crumble at the edges... but then she appeared.

Nightmare Winter teleported directly onto the bow in a flash of blue light, clad for war in black plate armor. She truly was monstrous in person, but instead of fear Prism felt anger. Burning anger and hate so deep that it was a miracle she'd ever felt anything else. The queen froze all of them in place on the deck with barely a thought of effort, but Prism knew that if she unleashed all of this emotion inside of her, she could melt all of the ice in an instant. So what was stopping her?

"Oh, look at you all," Nightmare Winter said in a taunting tone. Her voice was like shards of ice pounding into Prism's ears. "Aren't you all so brave? Such a valorous little band of rebels to stand against me." She shook her head. "I thought perhaps you were some terrible threat. A new Celestia and her loyal knights come to overthrow me and restore the summer. But you're just frightened children, aren't you?" She approached Sour Apple and smiled in a sickly sweet way that didn't meet those cruel blue eyes. "Poor colt... A brave little soldier in a war that ended centuries before he was born. Starlight Glimmer is dead, colt. Twilight Sparkle will never return, and this little one is no Celestia. You're fighting for a hopeless cause when you could be so much more... I saw you hold off my soldiers- you have a natural talent that's wasted in this rebellion. You could be a knight of my Royal Guard, with all of the power and privilege you could want. All you have to do is forsake this little crusade and swear to me." Sour couldn't say anything with the ice creeping over his muzzle, but his angry glare told her everything she needed.

"He'll never betray us!" Shimmer shouted angrily. "He's the most loyal pony there is!"

"Silence, insect!" Nightmare Winter silenced Shimmer with more ice. "You're the most deluded of any of this little band, changeling. Why are you even here, princess? Do you think this little filly will help you? Do you think she'll beat your real sister and give you your happy ending?" She sneered and leaned in to whisper, only loud enough for Shimmer and Prism to hear. "Even if she does everything you want, you'll never get what you want. You're the last of your worthless friendship cult, and no changeling will ever follow that pathetic Thorax again."

Prism should perhaps have felt surprised or even betrayed to hear what secrets Shimmer was keeping from her... but seeing her adoptive sister treated this way only stoked her fire more. "Who does she think she is?" Prism nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, seeing a double of herself appear in front of her. No pony else seemed to notice, and Prism tuned out Nightmare Winter taunting Talon as the double smirked cruelly. "We can take her. We should take her. You don't need the Elements, Prism. We're powerful enough if we work together."

"Who... who are you?" Prism managed to ask. Shimmer and Sour Apple both looked at her in alarm as best they could with their bindings, but weren't able to say anything.

"I'm you." The apparition shrugged, fluffling wings that Prism hadn't noticed before. "What you could be, at least. You don't need your friends to beat her, or a bunch of old rocks. If you really wanted to, you could be stronger than Celestia ever was. Strong enough to beat her and rule this land. Ponies would never have to be afraid of night or winter ever again if you were in charge. Just a beautiful summer day that would never end, and for saving them those ponies wouldn't call you queen or princess." Her eyes flared red and her teeth grew sharp and jagged. "You would be a GOD! And all you have to do is let me in."

"No.. no!" Prism knew who it was, now. This was the Nightmare, tempting her just as it had tempted Luna and Flurry Heart. She had to be better... she had to be strong enough not to listen, or her friends were doomed. "I'll never do it! I'll never let you in! NEVER!" Prism's Royal Canterlot Voice tore through the railing on the bow, and now Nightmare Winter finally took notice.

"Oh, and what is this?" She smirked and stepped over to Prism. "You see it, don't you? Just like I did." She lifted Prism's chin up with a broad wing and looked into her eyes. "Oh, I see it now. They didn't cure you after all. It's been in you this whole time, and you finally got powerful enough to wake it up." In a flash of light not unlike Shimmer's transformations, Nightmare Winter seemed to change, and instantly she was the beautiful Queen Flurry Heart that Prism had seen on all the portraits and newsreels. Her fur was the palest pink and her multicolored mane tumbled down in luxurious curls now that it was freed from that old helmet, and her smirk had turned into a gentle, sweet smile - but the eyes didn't change. They were still cold and icy, the pale blue irises glowing faintly with power. "Oh, poor dear. You must be so confused." Flurry shook her head, and her kindly voice sent a wave of warm sleepiness through Prism, rather like the Hearth's Warming when she'd tried a mug of hot cider. "You've got all these powers you don't really understand, and you've been thrown into all of this fighting just on what every pony else is telling you. The Nightmare isn't something to be afraid of. You have so much power locked away inside of you, and all it wants is to help you meet that potential. I can help you, Prism. Come with me and I can teach you what you need to rule at my side, summer and winter together. Just like I wanted for your mother."

At the mention of her mother, Prism felt the burning hate inside her come back, and then the spell broke. Once again, she was facing Nightmare Winter, not Flurry Heart, and the ice melted around her limbs as the sleepy lull left her. "You want to talk about my mom? You killed her! You killed her, and I'll kill you for that!"

Prism pulled in all of the sunfire she dared to and began charging a blast of light power, but Nightmare Winter just laughed. "Oh, is that what you were told? You poor little filly. I was going to make your mother a princess, a strong right hoof to raise the sun and rule the day in my name. But your father was afraid of what she was becoming. It was Thunderbolt who murdered your mother." Nightmare Winter laughed again and began charging her own horn with power.

Just as Prism was about to release her spell, Midnight Shine appeared with a pop on the other side of Nightmare Winter. He charged at her, and then everything seemed to go wrong at once. He tackled into Nightmare Winter and both ponies disappeared into a huge flash of silver light, and then Prism's spell let go and blasted through the mast, destroying the front half of the skiff. She felt a newly freed Shimmer grab her and take off flying, and then blackness took her as she heard the Nightmare cackling faintly in her ear.

******

Prism Star woke by a fire with a tarp draped over her like a blanket. Her head was pounding, and she looked around to see that she was in a little cave. Southern Storm and Talon were sleeping on the far side of the campfire, and even though she couldn't see them, Prism could hear Sour Apple and Shimmer talking in hushed tones.

"He's still alive, Shimmer," Sour was saying. "My danger sense is going crazy. Mid wouldn't be in danger if he wasn't alive, right?"

"I don't know how much better constant mortal danger is. We have no idea what she's doing to him... you saw the mind game she tried to play with Prism." Shimmer sounded exhausted.

"That's my point, though! She's doing Twilight knows what to him and you want to stick with the plan and go back to Ponyville?" Sour Apple sounded like he was angry.

"There's nothing we can do without the Elements!" Shimmer said back. Prism groaned softly and tried to stand, though her knees seemed to want to buckle. She felt like she'd just raised the sun a dozen times after running Blazing Wing's obstacle course, but a quick light spell at least verified that her horn was still working. There were far worse things that could have happened after channeling that much energy.

Sour replied, "There are no Elements without Midnight! Six Elements for six creatures! Get it into your head!"

Prism tried taking a few steps, and after nearly falling on the first few she found that she could, just barely, walk. She started heading towards the voices as Shimmer said, "What's your plan, Sour? Charge into Canterlot all at once so she can just snap up both of them? Whatever she does to him, she's going to keep him alive for whatever bizarre plan she's trying to do for Prism."

"So we're just going to let him suffer?" Prism walked, slowly, towards the mouth of the small cave as Sour Apple raised his voice. They'd partially barricaded the entrance with snow for concealment, and were standing just inside. "Yours is safe! You don't get it, I have to-" He suddenly turned and looked at Prism as she slipped and fell on some packed ice. "Prism! You should be lying down."

Prism huffed at him and used her magic to help herself to her hooves. "Clearly not. You two are going to call down the windigos if you keep arguing like this. Listen, you're both right... we do need the Elements of Harmony if we're going to beat Nightmare Winter. But we can't find them without Midnight. Even if we somehow get hold of the Element of Kindness, I don't think the Element of Magic will appear without all six of us together."

Shimmer chuckled and picked Prism up with magic, carrying her back to the fire. For her part, Prism didn't really bother to resist. She'd said her piece, after all, and she did feel pretty tired still. "When did you start making the big decisions?"

"Well, isn't that what a princess does? Listen to both sides and try to make her own decision?" Prism sighed. "You guys were going to argue forever if I didn't say something to break the tie."

Shimmer frowned at her. "It's just a lot of responsibility. I kind of think I've let myself forget how young you are." She shifted back into her soft-furred unicorn form and snuggled in with Prism. "You've got a lot more to worry about than anypony your age ought to."

Prism sighed at this. "This is about that stuff Nightmare Winter said to me, isn't it? Look, I'm fine, Shimmer. I want to have some words with Princess Twilight when I get the chance, but... I'm not going to let it get to me. She was casting some kind of weird spell on me, I don't have any reason to believe she was telling the truth." She shook her head, cuddling in under the improvised blanket. "Nightmare or no Nightmare, whatever happened to my mom... we have something we can focus on, and that's not it. Midnight Shine is being held prisoner in Canterlot somewhere, and we have to help him. I just have to trust that everything else will work itself out along the way."