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1Twilight Velvet looked at the twin unicorns she had delivered less than a month ago. Moonlight and Twilight were a sleeping peacefully, and Moonlight had already displayed some rather impressive magic ability by levitating both herself and Twilight all around the room. Poor Shining had hidden in his room when he heard the now familiar sounds of uncontrolled magic from his twin sister's room. She was heading into the kitchen to get some more formula for the girls when she felt a large magical buildup from their room. She ran up the stairs in time to see a flare of red flames from under the door, and when she finally opened the door she saw a phoenix who looked very different from Princess Celestia's Philomena. For one thing it was a male. "Moonlight! Twilight!" she cried out, running to their cradle. The phoenix had kidnapped Moonlight! "Momma, what's wrong?" asked Shining from around the corner of the door. "Get your father! A phoenix has kidnapped Moonlight!" shouted Twilight Velvet. Shining raced downstairs to where his father was and gave his mother's message. Princess Celestia made a personal visit with the Sparkle family to get Twilight Velvet's story first hand. Hearing a phoenix had kidnapped an infant unicorn was unusual enough to warrant Royal interest. Particularly when the Princess had a vision a week after Twilight and Moonlight were born that told her that Twilight would be the next Princess in a few decades along with her sister. Dawn Potter hated England. She hated the magical communities. But above all else she hated Grimmauld Place and the man who ruled it. She loathed Albus Dumbledore. It was a simple reason really. Contrary to what Granger and Ron believed, she didn't hate him because of the Dursleys, the yearly life-threatening tasks, the information ban or the fact every Defense teacher he hired had tried to kill her in one form or another. No, there was actually a very good reason she hated him with a passion. Albus Dumbledore had made it impossible for her to track down her birth family. Sirius had told her, early on in her new prison sentence at Grimmauld, that Lily and James were not her birth parents. Dumbledore had appeared shortly before breakfast one morning on July 31rst with an infant in his hands and had asked if they wanted to adopt her, since James for some reason could not have children of his own. Lily had attributed this to inbreeding. Dumbledore had believed it was because of the various potions spills over the years at Hogwarts. So the chance to have a daughter carry on the family name had been too irresistible for them. They adopted her quietly within a day and gave her the Potter family name. Because of Lily's proficiency with charms, no one disputed her claim to have hidden the child until she knew it would be healthy. Everything might have been fine, had Dumbledore not convinced Sirius to pick Pettigrew. Black had admitted it was the old man who managed to convince him to the switch. Now, now there was this latest atrocity that she blamed him for. During her 'trial', which was more like an inquisition, he did nothing to help prove her innocence. She had no idea how she summoned a patronus to get rid of the dementors, especially when her wand had been left in her trunk that day. Fudge barely accepted this excuse, and she almost believed that she would be declared innocent when he threw out another charge. They snapped her 13 and a half inch Sycamore wand with unicorn hair in half right in front of her. And yet, the lack of reaction she had to the act confused them. What witch didn't react to having their wand broken in front of them? They even had her checked for a spare, believing that the reason, by some female aurors but came up clean. So here she was, in her own room thanks to Sirius putting his foot down (and also because her nightmares about what happened to Cedric would keep the other girls awake each night). Sirius came up with some food. "You okay kiddo?" he asked. "Fine. In a way, I'm glad they snapped that stupid stick. It felt...wrong." Sirius was the only one in the house who knew Dawn could turn into a small unicorn pony. It was her animagus form, and he never told a soul. Only Remus suspected something, because the day he forgot his potion she was the only one Moony avoided like the plague while transformed and not under potion. Later while Sirius was crashing at the Black Keep with Remus, the werewolf admitted that she had the strong scent of unicorn on her, which was more than enough to have Moony steer clear of her. Werewolves know very well not to attack unicorns, even feral ones. Dawn ate her salad and apples, since it was well known since first year that meat of any kind tended to make her violently ill. (This fact was proven when some of the meaner girls in Gryffidor tried to feed her fried chicken once while the teachers were busy dealing with some other miscreant. Dawn's stomach rebelled against the meat and she ended up throwing up all over them. She spent a full day in the Hospital Wing after being given a stomach sedative. There hadn't been a repeat performance after McGongall got through with the girl's in question. Or after how Madam Pomphrey reacted when she learned the cause of Dawn's sick stomach.) Once she was done, Sirius shot her a look. "What?" "Nothing...just curious why you haven't raided the Black library by now," he said calmly. A few things he had learned about his goddaughter was that she loved to read anything, particularly if it had something to do with stars or mythology. Another was that she had the highest scores in Astronomy, often sneaking out of her dorm to go star gazing. Professor Sinistra loved her for obvious reasons. "You got any good books in there?" "Just avoid the ones that give you a bad vibe and you can read anything you want. Not like I care," said Sirius. Another odd quirk of hers...she was able to not only detect magic, but also the intent. All of that without using her wand. Dawn went into the library, bypassing Dumbledore's stupid wards which would alert who went in and for how long and dove into the stacks of books. She sensed Hermione coming in, and hid behind the books of obscure magic until the girl left. The last thing she wanted to deal with was Granger's looks of pity because she no longer had that stupid wand. It was because she had hid that she discovered a scroll half open. "The Arte of Home's Return?" she read aloud. Intrigued, she picked it up and began to read. 'The arte of home's return, or the home portal spell, is a rare and relatively unused spell that will transport the witch or wizard back to the one place that they truly call home, no matter what wards or enchantments bar the way. For the spell to work, their tie to their home must be absolute, with no doubt as to it's location. For those who have lost their memory of their home, or have had the location removed by means of magic, there is a relatively simple cantrip which can bring forth the necessary memory to provide the direction. While normally not used, the cantrip and spell are invaluable in cases where a child has been taken illegally from their family and to give them clues to their heritage. For the cantrip...' Dawn read all she needed, so she started packing her things into a messenger bag she had spelled to have an infinite space and featherlight charms. The store clerk had almost tripped over himself to spell her precious bag so heavily that it was nearly impossible to break into. As Ginny could attest when she attempted to steal back Riddle's diary second year. There was a reason she waited until Dawn locked it in her trunk...it was easier to break into! "You want to what?" said Sirius after Hermione and the school-aged Weaslys left. He had stayed behind to keep Dawn company since they didn't really need him. Everyone else had more or less left the house for the day, even Dumbledore. "I found a spell that will take me back to wherever Dumbledore dragged me from. From what I can tell it's magical in nature so we should fit right in! Think about it Padfoot, which would you rather do? Spend the rest of your life stuck in this...house...with that portrait or take a chance with an old spell and get away from here?" said Dawn reasonably. "You're going through with this no matter what I say, aren't you?" said Sirius. "You better believe it," said Dawn. "Forget Dumbledore, we're leaving England!" said Sirius, heading to his room to grab a bag. If he was right about the feeling he had, then they wouldn't be returning unless someone dragged them back. Best to be prepared for anything. Dawn, on the other hand, took full advantage of her unusual ability to use magic without any foci to hit the bookstore near the Cauldron. Grimmauld was just close enough that she was able to hit it and Gringotts to empty all of her trust vault and most of her family account (what she could access anyway), then proceed to lock it down so tightly that no one else could access it without her magical signature or blood. The goblins were very happy to help her when she explained that she planned to anger the Ministry and Dumbledore in one fell swoop, and remove their access to the vaults in question. Sirius, under a simple muggle baseball cap and fake glasses, did the same with the Black vaults after removing a healthy portion of gold. He also grabbed a few muggle fiction books, to kill time later. They returned to Grimmauld place long before anyone even realize they had left. Dawn's magic detection ability worked around the wards Dumbledore had left and the ones Moody had placed without anyone knowing about it. By the time Remus returned, it was already far too late as Dawn had cast the spell with Sirius holding her arm to insure he went with her. He found the note and debated telling Dumbledore, before he thought 'Sod it all. He doesn't need to know.' And with that put all thought of the matter out of his mind while he tried to find the spell so he could join Sirius and Dawn. To Remus, home was with the Marauders and his cub, even if she wasn't James' and Lily's true daughter. It was a peaceful day in Canterlot, though that would quickly change. With a loud crack of thunder (with no clouds it drew attention rather fast) the Royal Guard dispatched to find the source. Many of the Guard knew what Twilight Sparkle looked like, either by association with the new Captain Shining Armor, or because she was the apprentice to Celestia herself and thus merited more attention than usual. They wouldn't obey her orders, but if she were in any danger they would do their best to help her. So when a pony looking identical to Twilight Sparkle and an older unicorn appeared without warning looking distinctly like they had been on the losing end of a fight, well, the Guards were rather quick to take them for medical care. "Shining Armor sir! Twilight seems to have been attacked outside the gates!" reported the messenger of the guards who had gone to investigate. Shining frowned. That didn't sound like Twilight at all, and he knew for a fact she was currently in the library researching a spell for class. Nothing short of a fire would get that girl out of a library if she had an assignment. Even then it would be a real battle to remove her. "I'll be there in a moment, let me inform my parents and the Princess," said Shining. "Sir!" saluted the guard pony. Shining Armor had a distinct feeling that it wasn't Twilight in the hospital. He was one of the few who remembered Moonlight, or knew why Twilight had such trouble making friends. When she was still a baby, Moonlight was taken. Their mother was so distraught that she mothered Twilight a little too much. Since no one could find Moonlight, the knowledge of her existence was dropped for the most part. However his parents never stopped looking for her, or at least word of what happened. Twilight didn't know about her twin, as their mother had forbidden Shining from mentioning it. Was it possible Moonlight had somehow found her way home, after all these years? "Come in Captain. I assume you have a report about that noise earlier?" asked Celestia. "One of the guards told me Twilight had been injured outside the gates. But I know she's in the library for a school assignment," said Shining. Celestia privately agreed, knowing her apprentice's little...quirk...when it came to homework. "You think it's somepony else?" "I do. If this pony looks enough like Twilight to fool the guards, then I believe that it is Moonlight," said Shining. "We should investigate this first," agreed Celestia. If it was Moonlight, then perhaps she could explain who that phoenix was that had angered Philomena so much when Celestia had brought it up. As such, she accompanied Shining Armor to the hospital and the two managed to assure the doctors that this was not, in fact Twilight Sparkle. That had quickly been proven when one doctor happened to notice the fact that the pony in question didn't have a cutie mark, and Twilight already had hers. "What's the diagnosis?" asked Shining. "Complete magical drain. Whatever these two did, it nearly wiped them entirely of magic. Not to mention that poor owl is out like a light," said Private Practice. "Owl?" said Shining. She pointed at the beautiful white owl out cold next to the filly. She had shown up not five minutes after the pony was put in the bed, and had passed out almost immediately. "A familiar bond that strong?" said Celestia in surprise. It was clear to the Princess that the owl had followed her master all the way here, which explained why she was so tired. "So who is this filly and why was she with this older unicorn?" aske Practice. She didn't approve of it at all. "Why don't we ask once they wake up?" suggested Celestia. Meanwhile in the Canterlot Library Twilight sneezed three times while reading. She immediately panicked before calming down when she realized it hadn't gotten on the books. Two days after their abrupt appearance, Sirius awoke to find himself in a hospital bed...and in the same form as Dawn's animagus, only with different colorings and what appeared to be a playful dog on his backside. "Dr. Practice! One of them is awake!" yelled another unicorn. This one had a stethoscope on her rear, in the same place as his dog. Another unicorn walked in, only this one had a red cross on her backside, the same one Poppy had on her hat. "Where the heck are we?" asked Sirius. "Equestria. Let's get our exam out of the way first. Princess Celestia would like to have a word with whoever wakes up first," said Dr. Practice crisply. Sirius treated her the same way he would Poppy. That is, he was nearly terrified of her. Dr. Practice didn't seem bothered by this attitude. Contrary to that, she was rather pleased, as if he had already been trained to respect the Healer's word or else. Once that was done, two guards showed up to escort him to Celestia. Partly to keep an eye on him, but mostly because he had no idea where to go. He entered a throne room which was empty of everyone but three ponies. (He had been corrected by Dr. Practice rather quick and found it easier not to argue.) One was an armored unicorn with a shield that had a star in the center on his flank wearing a different armor than the guards escorting him. One was a unicorn with a scroll and quill, presumably to transcribe everything said. But it was the third that caught his attention. She (and there was little doubt this pony was female) was pure white and had a mane like a new sunrise. She had a long horn and large wings. On her flank was a sun. she wore a crown and some sort of armor on her chest and had golden covered hooves. There was little doubt in his mind this was Celestia. It was easy to see why everyone spoke of her with reverence. He would be to, had he not been inoculated against authority figures at an early age. "So...he woke first. Might I have your name?" asked Celestia. "Sirius Black, ma'am," said Sirius. "I am Princess Celestia. This is the captain of my Guard, Shining Armor. And this is Ms. Scribe. Tell me, Mr. Black, why have you and that young filly come to Equestria?" "We were trying to find Dawn's home. I knew a long time ago that she didn't belong in my world. She was the adopted daughter of my best friend, and my goddaughter. She had just been thrown out by the farce of a government when she found a scroll that told her how to find a place she once called home. Since I wasn't about to let my goddaughter run off with no idea what was on the other side, I went with her." "Tell me about this world of yours," said Celestia. And so Sirius did. He explained about Dumbledore, Hogwarts, the so called 'Ministry of Magic', the war with Voldemort, the pureblood beliefs, the trial which had Dawn's wand snapped, the Order... by the time he was finished he could tell Celestia wasn't the least bit happy. "I am curious, Mr. Black, as to why we should allow someone from a world as corrupt as yours to stay," said Celestia. Her frown had only begun when he told her about the Ministry and it's so called laws and it had gotten worse when he mentioned the war. "To be honest miss, we had no idea where it would land us. We were just trying to find Dawn's birth family since we really had nothing to keep us in that world. She's been alone for so long that this was honestly the best option for her to find family," said Sirius honestly. "Tell me...how old was Dawn when your friend first showed her to you?" asked Shining. He had been silent up to this point. "About a month and a half, why?" "Has her magic always been particularly strong, even as a child?" "As far as I can remember, she's always been able to do the impossible. Most children can't apparate...or teleport...until they are older than five. She was able to do it at sixth months to escape her crib. Nearly gave James a heart attack when he realized. Plus she seems to have inherited some of my family's gifts when they blood adopted her. She can change her features almost with natural ease. When James first showed her to me she had red hair, but when I saw her after I escaped she had purple with two pinkish streaks." Shining seemed to be happy about this news. Celestia looked at her captain and reminded him that the tests were still being done. The she looked at Sirius and asked a rather odd question. "Does this Dumbledore happen to own a phoenix by any chance?" "Fawkes. Why?" asked Sirius. Without warning there was an angry cry as a phoenix appeared and landed near Celestia. It looked furious. "It appears, Sirius Black, that there has been a grave crime committed by this Albus Dumbledore. Roughly fifteen years ago, a young filly was kidnapped from her crib. Her name was Moonlight Sparkle." "Judging by the way your phoenix reacted, I can only assume Fawkes was the culprit. This actually explains more than it doesn't about Dawn," said Sirius. It explained quite a bit...like why Dawn always said that her wand felt...off. And why she was able to turn into her animal form on the first try once she knew what it looked like. "Moonlight...is one of my younger twin sisters," said Shining. Now Sirius could see why the unicorn was there. He wanted to be sure his baby sister was back or not. "I wouldn't worry about it. Knowing her luck, chances are that Dawn and Moonlight are one in the same. I know for a fact she'll be thrilled to learn she has a big brother," said Sirius. That was putting it mildly. If Dawn really was their Moonlight, she would be doing the Snoopy dance on two hooves! (He had seen her do it once, and that was it. It was a rather odd dance to be honest.) Dawn woke up four days after they landed. The first thing she saw was Hedwig, her beloved owl. "Hedwig! I'm so sorry we left you behind!" cried Dawn. Hedwig hooted tiredly. But once her strength was back up she was giving her master a piece of her mind! "Awake are we? Good," said a crisp female voice. Dawn wasn't too surprised to see a Pony in front of her. Having seen her animal form in the mirror dimmed any sort of shock. Unlike her, however, this Pony had an image on her flank. "Hmm...your magic seems a bit strained, but considering you jumped worlds with a passenger that's to be expected. It's recovery nicely, which is good. There is lingering malnutrition, which is bad. And...what in the name of Equestria is this muck?!" she said in shock. No one had been able to do an in-depth scan of the filly because her magic still seemed to have a barrier around her. Possibly a lingering side effect from the jump. Once she woke up, that barrier dropped. "My dear girl, how are you still so healthy with this mess in your system? It's like someone threw a mish-mash of healing herbs with only the barest idea of what to put in it!" Dawn blinked. Was she referring to those nutrient potions Madam Pomphrey used to force down her throat every year because she was a vegetarian? The nurse seemed to be under the impression that because Dawn couldn't eat meat she needed something to supplement the proteins. This, in spite of the fact that Dawn was the healthiest of all the students in the entire school, because she actually cared about what she ate. She only took them to keep the woman off her case. Hearing the Doctor fuss over her was far too familiar. However unlike Pomphrey she wasn't smothering and didn't insist on a week's worth of bed rest. "Well, you're in better shape than I would have hoped. Then again you are a young filly and it seems you at least know the value of exercise. Now I will have to keep you here for another day or two for observation, mostly because I want to make sure that mess clears your system properly. After that you can leave and be on your way," said Dr. Practice. A few hours later after a nice nap (she enjoyed the meal that was brought as it didn't have even the scent of meat in it) someone came to see her. "Padfoot!" "Hey Pup. Glad to see you awake finally," said Sirius. It was then that Dawn realized something. "Oh my... You're like me now!" she giggled. "Yeah about that... Why didn't you mention we were going to a world where humans are considered a myth?" asked Sirius. As the two bantered for a bit, she learned that Sirius had found a friend in the captain of the Royal Guard, who offered him a place to stay in exchange for joining. Considering Dr. Practice said he could train, if only lightly due to his enforced stay in that nightmarish prison, Sirius had taken him up on the offer. Sirius left after a few hours, and Dawn enjoyed her dinner. The next day she had even more visitors. This time from the Captain of the Royal Guard himself. Dawn looked him right in the eye and said bluntly "If I broke some sort of Pony rule saying that you can't jump dimensions or cause destruction, sorry. I wasn't exactly in control of the spell when I cast it." Shining Armor blinked twice, having to process that statement before he chuckled. Definitely different from Twilight. She would have been panicking at the thought of breaking any rules so easily. "Actually I'm here for a different reason. What do you know about your past...particularly your family?" "Not much. The only people who would even qualify were my adopted parents and they were killed rather soon so I never got to know them. The other ponies I don't even want to think about. Why?" "Well after you were admitted, they took a sample of your blood and a small bit of magic, barely a drop, to run some tests. Yesterday we got the results... You have family here in Canterlot. According to Black, it would appear that the spell you cast dropped you as close as it could before it interfered with the spells protecting the capital." "Wait...I have family? Living, non-psychotic family?!" Dawn said in shock. Shining would have asked what she meant by that last part, except he remembered what Sirius said about his own family. "You have parents, a brother and twin sister, according to the test." "Twin?" said Dawn in shock. "Dr. Practice said you can meet them once she's cleared you from the hospital. Something about not wanting to worry about shock causing any more damage," said Shining. Well, that and it gave him time to inform his parents and younger sibling about the fact Moonlight was back for good. With that shock in her system, Dawn passed out. Twilight Velvet dropped the glass she had full of tea, only for her daughter to catch it before it broke. Spike, her dragon companion, was just as confused as Twilight was about why her mother would be so shocked to hear someone like Moonlight had returned to them. Next to her mother, Night Light was also in shock. It had taken years for Velvet to stop crying over the loss of Moonlight. Even then she tended to hover around Twilight when she was in eyesight. There was a reason Twilight Sparkle was a major bookworm. Or why she had trouble making friends. By the time Velvet was able to let her daughter make any it was too late for her personality to be anything but grating. Shining only got out of that because he took lessons so he could join the Royal Guard. "Who exactly is Moonlight?" asked Spike, voicing the same question Twilight didn't dare ask. "Moonlight is your twin sister Twilight. She was taken by a phoenix when you were both a month and a half old," explained Shining Armor. "I have a twin sister?" said Twilight in shock. "Moonlight Sparkle. The two of you were identical in every way, though her magic was more obvious than yours. Mom was putting you two to bed one night when a ball of fire appeared and took her from the crib. I only remember it because I had looked in your room a few minutes before it vanished," said Shining. "Why didn't anyone tell me I have a twin?!" "We didn't want to alarm or worry you. We had just lost Moonlight, we couldn't bear to loose you too," said Velvet. "Where is she?" asked Night Light. "She's in the Canterlot hospital. She had to do a dimensional jump to get home, and she brought someone with her. Dr. Practice said she can leave in a few days," said Shining. "So what does this Moonlight look like?" asked Spike. Twilight was still too much in shock finding out she had a twin to react. "She looks exactly like Twilight, only she doesn't have a cutie mark just yet. She also has an overprotective white owl named Hedwig," said Shining. The next morning Twilight managed to convince Shining to bring her and Spike to the hospital to meet her apparent twin before their mother got her hooves on her. She loved her mother, but there was only so much smothering a girl could take. At least now she had a reason for it. "Hey Shining Armor! Guess I'm not the only one to see the little troublemaker!" said Sirius cheerfully. He had visited her every day since she woke up. Dr. Practice said that having a familiar face had sped up the recovery. "Black you hound dog! Tell me, was that your dog that woke everyone up yesterday?" grinned Shining. "Who said I owned a dog?" smirked Sirius. The two laughed on their way to the hospital. "Excuse me, but who are you?" asked Twilight. "Hmm? You sneak out of the hospital again Dawn?" "This is Twilight," said Shining quickly. "And the lizard?" "HEY! I'm a ferocious fire-breathing dragon!" complained Spike. "Sorry, but I just don't see dragon when I look at you. Then again most dragons I've seen have wings," said Sirius. "Anyway... Twilly, Spike, meet Sirius Black. He's a new addition to the unicorn guards. He's also the one Moonlight brought with her when she jumped worlds," said Shining. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Black. I am Twilight Sparkle," said Twilight. Sirius shook her hoof. "The similarities between you and Dawn are uncanny..." "Who's Dawn?" asked Spike. "Dawn was the name Moonlight was given when she was adopted by my best friend and brother in all but blood James. They had no idea what her birth name was, so they just called her Dawn," said Sirius. "What's she like?" "Stubborn, loyal and self sacrificing. If her friends were in danger she would be the first to try and save them. She hates liars and people who think that just because of her age that she can't handle the truth. She loves books, animals, and she has the highest grade in Astronomy that the school had ever seen. She also tends to be in the thick of any mystery within five miles of her, whether intentional or not," said Sirius. The other three sweatdropped. She couldn't be that bad...could she? Twilight stared at Moonlight/Dawn. Dawn/Moonlight stared at Twilight. Spike was on the side with the other guys watching this exchange with interest. The staring contest had been going on for nearly five minutes. Finally Twilight blinked. "Ha! I win!" said Dawn. "What just happened?" asked Spike. "Boredom and Marauders don't mix. Even if they are adopted. And Dawn really hates being stuck in hospitals, so she got bored rather quickly," stated Sirius. "So what was with the 'Ha, I win' thing?" asked Shining. To be honest it was rather funny. "Dawn sometimes gets into random staring contests...and always wins. The current record holder is Hedwig, and that's because she figured out what Dawn was doing first. Twilight here just happens to be in second place...most ponies can't handle five minutes without blinking," explained Sirius. "Whatever it is, that was hilarious!" said Spike. Dawn suddenly focused on him...and hissed. Spike blinked, before he said something Twilight didn't understand back. "What the heck is that?" asked Shining. "Parseltongue. Snake language. No idea where she got it, but Dawn can talk to snakes and certain species of dragons." "Whatever it is, it's weird," said Twilight flatly. She dealt with Spike's snoring on a nightly basis. She could handle snake language...so long as none came near her. "You don't like snakes do you?" asked Dawn. "Not really." "They're okay, but I can't stand spiders...talk about annoying." "So what sort of books do you like?" "Astronomy, astrology, mythology and magic. You?" And with that, the two just clicked, over a love of star-gazing and books. Shining was actually rather relieved, since it meant the two would at least try to bond. Dawn's last visitor before being released was Princess Celestia. "Hello Moonlight Sparkle. Or should I call you Dawn?" "Moonlight is fine miss," said Moonlight. To be honest she wasn't a morning person, and she loved the moon. She once considered becoming a Wiccan because one of the things they worshiped was the moon. Too bad Petunia hated anything considered abnormal and kept destroying the books. She finally got a set, but it was a real pain trying to learn the old ways from the other students with Ron and Hermione hanging off her all the time. Eventually she had to give up until she had the time to do it without them around. Maybe here she could actually convert to Wicca. Celestia made some small talk before she left, having gotten a good idea of the filly's character. Moonlight knew that the Princess was just making sure she could trust the filly with her apprentice. Just because Moonlight was her twin didn't mean that she wouldn't harm Twilight. When Twilight Velvet saw her missing daughter, she started bawling and put the girl in a death grip of a hug. Twilight would have been jealous...had Moonlight not had words like "Help!" "NEED AIR!" "Seriously, help please!" floating above her head. "Mom, I think Moonlight needs to breath again sometime," said Shining carefully, trying not to laugh at the messages Moonlight had above her head. Even Night Light found it amusing. Once Velvet got over Moonlight's return, she finally got to see the shared room with Twilight. In order to keep the peace between sisters, Moonlight put a simple translation spell on the books she bought and let Twilight read them first. It was pretty clear to her that Twilight was Equestria's version of Hermione Granger, or close to it. Twilight and Spike didn't notice that Moonlight had cast several silencing charms around her bed. Moonlight's first stop in Canterlot wasn't the library, or the school she would attend in a few weeks once she got used to her home, but to visit Sirius and Shining. Sirius, once his role in Moonlight's return had been explained to Velvet and Night Light, had been adopted by the family as a surrogate uncle. Now if only he could reign in his pet dog Padfoot... "Moony!" said Shining. Sirius let out a bark of laughter when he heard the nickname. "Shining, you might want to try another nickname for me..." said Moonlight embarrassed. Every time she heard the name Moony she immediately searched for Remus. Sirius snickered, but went on his way. "So how did you get mom to agree to let you out?" asked Shining while he took her on a tour of the Guard. "Told her I was visiting you. It was that or go stir crazy from being locked in the house for hours. And I don't want her to find out I have means to escape the second floor just yet," said Moonlight easily. "How do you plan to do that?" "I brought my Firebolt with me, and I've flown in pony form before. Difficult, but quite doable." Shining snickered. Sirius had mentioned Moonlight loved to fly and that in the other world they did so on brooms. He noticed when Moonlight took an interest in the hoof-to-hoof combat area. "You like to fight?" "Hard to do in small areas. A nice old pony in Surrey said that if I had to run to avoid my so called cousin, then I needed to learn how to fight back. According to him I'm a Brown belt fighting wise, but I rarely got a chance to actually use it." "If you want, I can see if some of the older guards would teach you more. Good fighters who don't lose their head in a fight are hard to come by." "It would be a nice break from my magic studies," said Moonlight. Velvet and Twilight were determined to get her up to speed magic wise, so she could join Twilight in school. Fortunately for Moonlight, aside from some control issues she had little trouble using magic like a unicorn. This was mostly due to the fact that ever since she figured out that there was a reason her magic felt...wrong, for lack of a better word...when she used her wand, she just went through the motions and cast without casting it, unless the effect needed to be seen from the wand's tip. Boy had her teachers been surprised when they figured out she was a natural at wandless magic. Only a select few knew, and Dumbledore wasn't one of them. Shining chuckled again. Twilight's compulsive need to go to school and do homework even on break was by now legendary in Canterlot to those who knew who she was. "Has Twilight stopped reading those books you let her borrow?" Moonlight snickered. "Apparently they were so fascinating that...Mom...had to order her to put them down to eat. She kept bumping into things outside the house!" Shining was about to reply when a sudden crack of thunder was heard. One they had heard nearly two months ago. Moonlight raced with Shining (outpacing him, to his shock) to find a tawny haired pony with a howling wolf with a moon in the background laying unconscious on the ground. Beside him was a book bag, frayed at the edges. He groaned once before remaining silent. "Moony!" said Moonlight, racing to his side. "You know him?" asked Shining. "Left him a note before we left. He must have either found the same spell I did or he found a way to follow us!" A week later...and much teasing on the part of Sirius and Moonlight when they heard Dr. Practice clucking like a mother hen at Remus for overusing his core so badly...they got an answer. Apparently he had used the same spell to find them, because Home in Remus' mind was living with the Marauders and his cub. He had also brought the scroll with him, and covered up their tracks, seeing as how he knew Moonlight and Sirius well enough for them not to want to come back. Aside from learning that he was now a werewolf animagus and in full control of Moony (no humans and having Celestia around=no more fearing for his wolf side) he actually liked being a horse. Moonlight was staring at her flank with some confusion. About an hour ago while she was researching some spells that might have been labeled dark, she noticed her back shining slightly. When she left the library she found a mark on her flank. "I wonder what this means?" "It means you have found your cutie mark. I suppose it took a while for your magic to realize that you're home," spoke a by now familiar voice. "Princess Celestia," said Moonlight, bowing briefly. Unlike the other ponies, Moonlight preferred to treat her as if she were Buckbeak. With respect, but not so much that she was on the ground like practically every other pony tended to do. From what she could tell, Princess Celestia preferred her way to seeing every pony nearly parallel to the ground. "Wait, you mean like the marks on practically everypony in Canterlot except the young ones? I wonder what mine means?" Moonlight's cutie mark was a circle lined by stars. Inside the lines there were two scenes. One was the setting sun with a sun shining bright. in the center of the round part. The other was a rising sun with a full moon shining bright in the round half. It looked like a familiar symbol, one that currently escaped her. "I must admit, that cutie mark is very unique. I have never seen one like that in all my time as Princess. I will be watching with interest to see what you make of it, Moonlight Sparkle," said Celestia. "You and me both," said Moonlight. It took exactly a day for her to remember what that symbol was...of course Twilight helped because she happened to be reading about Tai Chi at the moment. "I don't believe it... I have a yin/yang symbol on my flank! No wonder it looked so familiar!" said Moonlight. "Yin/yang?" said Velvet. "Twilight, can I borrow that book for a moment?" asked Moonlight. "Sure." Moonlight flipped through the pages to find a familiar symbol. "This is a yin/yang circle. It symbolizes balance in all things. In order for light to exist, darkness must also be present. For darkness to thrive, light must exist within it. Together they represent balance and harmony in all things," said Moonlight. "So what's with your cutie mark?" asked Twilight. "The setting and rising sun, with the sun and moon in the wrong scene. I can only guess that the setting sun is darkness, the rising one is light. And the two satellites are reverse to represent the light and darkness in opposite form." "It's rather...unique..." said Velvet. "I ran into Princess Celestia and she said the exact same thing. Personally I would rather have one like Twilight's...at least hers is easier to understand," said Moonlight. Moonlight deliberately withheld the part where Celestia said she would be watching her with interest. She didn't want her sister to be jealous because of her getting even more attention than she already was. She had enough of that nonsense with Ron and Hermione last year. Moonlight blocked the older Guard with her back hoof and parried with the front. He chuckled a little. "I have trained many ponies, Miss Sparkle, but you are by far the most interesting. Not many would consider twisting themselves up to block before they parried," said Shield. "I had a good instructor and a very good reason to learn. Power is meant to protect and help others, not to lord over and harm them. Especially when it comes to magic," said Moonlight, panting. Now that she was at a proper body weight (and no longer had to stomach disgusting potions) she had started to put on some muscle on her bones. It was very obvious to everypony that Moonlight was the fastest thing on hooves, having outpaced even the Wonder Bolts while they flew. It was only a little bit ahead of them, but the fact she beat them in a race spoke volumes about her speed. Then there was the fact she was learning martial arts from the older guard ponies who had retired. They were pleased with such an enthusiastic student, especially since she already had prior training so they could skip most of the basics. She showed up once a week, more if she could manage it. Usually she could, since the school work wasn't nearly as trying as the ones Hogwarts gave out. Then again, according to Remus that was because she was using the wrong sort of magic to begin with. Something he had noted when he showed her the Patronus charm. Moonlight still had no idea who that alicorn in the armor was. "Take a five minute breather, and then we can do forms practice." "Yes sir!" Shield went to chat with his old friends while Moonlight took a break. "She has to be the most enthusiastic filly I've ever met. She soaks up lessons like a dry sponge in water," he chuckled. "Her cutie mark is curious. According to her it represents a balance of opposites," said Rain Dancer. He was a pegasus pony who took great interest in Moonlight's maneuvers while on a broom. He was rather eager to see how she would handle real wings, having heard from a friend that there was a spell to give unicorns fake wings for a small amount of time. "According to her, she prefers physical exercise when her brains full of too many thoughts. A smart practice," chuckled Shield. "She takes instruction rather well. At the rate she's going she'll be a black belt before next Hearth's Warming," said Rain. "I can't wait to see how strong she becomes once she started to learn how to use magic with her strikes," said Shield eagerly. That happened to be his specialty, and one of the reasons Shining Armor had asked him to teach his sister. Very few ponies could manage that sort of concentration while fighting. It was the reason he had been a former Captain of the guard many years ago before an injury forced him to retire. "Break's over! Time for form practice!" "Yes sir!" said Moonlight eagerly. She loved forms practice. She tended to try them every time she went to bed because it cut down on the nightmares. As she followed his soft instructions, she thought back on her nightmares. Sirius and Remus knew she had them, her voice had been loud enough back on Earth for everyone to know about them. At least here she was able to put a silencing charm without anypony knowing about them. Out of everyone in the house, only Spike knew and that was because he had woken up one night to get a drink of water. He had agreed not to talk about it with Twilight or their mother because she had asked him not to. About the only good thing this time was that she had something to squeeze to death in the middle of them. Shining had made her a rather patchy looking owl for her to cuddle with in place of the unicorn one he had made Twilight when she was a filly. Considering how well it had stayed together, despite being made of patchwork, it was good work. Especially since Shining really didn't have the talent for it. Even if she did have to mend Smarty Pants a little because the strings had started to come loose. "I think that's enough for today. You've progressed rather well for a filly," said Shield. "Thank you sir," said Moonlight. She enjoyed this sort of practice. She had always felt so disjointed when she did it as a human. EH?! You want me to go to Ponyville to help restore their library to proper standards?" said Moonlight. Princess Celestia had shown up a few hours ago to speak to Twilight about something, but had cornered Moonlight shortly after. "None of the ponies in Ponyville can handle that sort of workload, plus it will give you a chance to interact with others. You haven't been the most social pony of late," Celestia said. Actually it had been a concern of Shield and Rain that Moonlight spent too much time training and could use time off. Ponyville was their first choice, because that was where Rain lived before he moved in with Shield. Hence why Celestia was sending her, not Twilight. "I suppose it's alright. I do need a break. What sort of budget am I looking at, and are there any specifics I need to know about the town itself?" "The book budget is roughly 100,000 bits. Considering how many use it, I felt a bit generous," said Celestia. That and she knew her younger sister would be showing up very soon indeed, and wanted her student to feel comfortable. "As for the specifics, the librarian in charge might have some ponies over, so be sure to add a few bedroom for others to stay." "When do I leave?" "In a week. That gives you enough time to prepare and warn your mother you're going to be gone a while," said Celestia. "Any idea who the librarian will be?" "I was planning on sending Twilight there... She needs to make some friends, and I'm worried she has burned too many bridges here," said Celestia. "Got it. To be honest I think she needs a change of pace too. Studying constantly is good and all, but she needs to have a social life in the meantime." Hermione had been just as bad until the troll incident. If Moonlight hadn't heard about it before the feast, she might have been in the Great Hall when the news was set out. As it was, several teachers managed to get there before the troll found them, though it was terrifying being near that thing. Moonlight was still up in the air as to whether that had been a set up. "You're leaving?" said Velvet. "Princess Celestia said that the ponies in charge of such things were busy, so she wanted to give me something to do other than train. Apparently the library is in disrepair so the Mayor asked for help from the Princess. It will only be a few months, and I'll have Hedwig send letters every week. She needs exercise anyway," said Moonlight calmly, eating her pancakes. Hedwig hooted indignantly from her perch. Moonlight would swear that her beloved owl and mother had teamed up to conspire against her. Twilight Velvet was mothering, but thankfully wasn't as bad as Mrs. Weasley. That was a headache she never needed. Then again Shining had said something to her a week in about giving her some space, as Moonlight wasn't exactly used to having parents. "You promise to write every week?" said Night Light. "I'll tell you all about the ponies I meet and what I've done," promised Moonlight. "I suppose I can let this go. Are Sirius and Remus going with you?" "Remus is. He'll help me update the library catalog once I get the building itself in proper repair." Unlike Sirius, Remus had gotten a job in the Canterlot library. He wasn't that comfortable fighting, and preferred the scholarly route. To his relief, his werewolf side had yet to act up, even during full moons. A change of species seemed to do him a great deal of good. Though the strangeness of his cutie mark did warrant some interest at first. Moonlight was very close to panicking when she first entered the house of the pony who agreed to let her stay there while she renovated the library for the town. Rarity was a very...pushy...pony on par with Hermione in homework mode, but that was tempered by her generosity. Of course Moonlight still paid her for the outfit she came up with, as she rather liked it. Rarity had a real eye for color and form. That was the main reason why she was going to enlist the unicorn's help when it came time to paint the library itself. Not to paint of course, but to pick the colors and where the furniture would go. Now if only she could get over the near heart attack Pinkie Pie had nearly caused with her surprise party! The second she spotted the apple topped cupcakes she honed in on them like Hermione would a rare book. "Glad to see someone appreciates mah apples," said a voice behind her. It was an orange Earth pony with a stetson hat and blonde hair. Her eyes were as green as the ones Moonlight used to have before her metamorphamagi ability managed to break through whatever glamour Dumbledore had put on her to make her look like a combination of James and Lily. She had three red apples on her flank. "I've always have a love of apples, particularly the green kind. My name is Moonlight Sparkle." "Applejack," said the Earth pony, holding out her hoof. Moonlight shook it without hesitation. "So what exactly does everypony do here?" asked Moonlight. "Well Rarity runs the clothing salon and is always giving out free consults when asked. Rainbow over here runs the weather, so you might want to check with her if you aren't sure of the forecast. Fluttershy is the one people go to for a pet or for health concerns, she's a part time veterinarian in the hospital. And Pinkie...well, nopony is sure what she does, but she helps out at Cupcake Corner with the Cakes and is the primary party planner in Ponyville. I'm the one ponies go to for most of the foods, particularly apples," said Applejack. Moonlight grinned. "I might just become your best customer. Good quality apples are hard to find in Canterlot for some reason," said Moonlight. Applejack shared her grin. Moonlight looked at the recently refurbished library with a critical eye. So far the repairs had gone smoothly, including the rather minor additions that no one asked about. Then again the library had originally been a one bedroom home inside a tree. Moonlight didn't want to harm the original structure seeing as how it was built around the tree to begin with. Needless to say expansion-spells and some subtle spellwork were involved. Including a portal spell that linked doors to rooms that were built linked to the tree, but weren't actually built into the tree itself. She had to get specialists from Canterlot for that one. Even Celestia was rather interested in the idea. Today she was cataloging every book in the library that had been removed. Remus was going to help her by checking off which book was there and what wasn't, whether it had been checked out or not. It took them two days to get through what was there and what wasn't, and if it had been damaged or ruined beyond repair. So far only three needed to be replaced because of damages, and four had been destroyed in accidents. Two were still being borrowed, but were brought to Moonlight so she could check their condition. Since the construction was pretty much done, she started on the ordering part. But first she had some research to conduct. Moonlight went to each house and shop and asked the ponies there what they would like to read. Some were similar enough that she was able to put a check next to it indicating more than one pony wanted to read what subject. Others she had to write down as they were different. Rarity wanted some new design books to work with, Applejack wanted more farming tips, Pinkie wanted books on pranks and jokes, Rainbow wanted more action-adventure, and Fluttershy wanted some new books on recently discovered animals...the list went on! It took her a week to come up with a list of books, and a day to narrow it down to fit the budget Celestia had given her. Since the library was a central part of the town, she had been given free reign over repairs within reason. This included repairs to the books already there. Finally she had a decent list of books to order, and had managed to stay within budget. A week later the books came in and she was able to get them organized. "I'm actually going to miss this place," said Moonlight. "You're leaving?" said Pinkie disappointed. "From what Celestia said, there's a good chance I'll be coming back anyway. My twin sister is a bit of a bookworm who doesn't socialize, and Princess Celestia said that Twilight might be coming here for a change of scenery," said Moonlight. "You have a sister?" "Identical twin sister," said Moonlight. "That sounds like a lot of fun! You could switch places and everything!" said Pinkie. "Yeah, but we're still getting used to each other. Because of something that happened when we were really little, I was separated from my sister for a long time," said Moonlight, shelving another book. "That sounds really lonely," said Pinkie. "It was. But since I found my family again it's gotten a lot better!" said Moonlight cheerfully. The good bye party was held in the library, and was being held for two reasons. One was a celebration for the recently renovated library, the other was to say goodbye to Moonlight for a while. The filly had quickly become friends with most of the town, having gone to each and every pony, old and young, to fit their needs. She had taken the rejuvenation of the library seriously and had even fixed several books that most had deemed a lost cause at that point. Rainbow was already raving about the fiction books Moonlight had added for her. The fact Moonlight hinted that next time she would be there to stay with her twin sister was the only reason most of them weren't sad. "Welcome back. I've already heard good things about your trip to Ponyville," said Princess Celestia. "Libraries were always safe havens for me. Besides, whenever I'm given a task I want to do it right." "The Mayor was very impressed with the new library... she said you went to each and ever pony and asked what they wanted in it." Moonlight grinned. "They're the ones who are going to be borrowing from the library the most. Why not ask what they want first instead of filling it with random books?" "You understand others better than Twilight does," said Celestia. Twilight might have restored the library to peak condition, but she wouldn't have tried to get to know what the townspeople wanted. Celestia actually felt relieved after hearing the report her analyst had given her on Moonlight's actions in Ponyville. The idea that Moonlight would become a Princess in a few years no longer worried her as much as it had when she learned of the filly's sparring sessions. She had feared that the girl was still preparing for a war she no longer had any part in. clearly that fear was misplaced. Moonlight was taking her usual run outside the borders of Canterlot when she heard something odd in the distance. It was similar to the sound that was heard when Remus showed up that she grew concerned. Then there was something that had her heart almost stop cold. The sound of phoenix song was right next to the thunder. In the palace, Philomena was going ballistic. The intruder had shown up again! Moonlight didn't hesitate. If Fawkes truly was here, then they could drag her back to that nightmare world and she'd never see her family again. She bolted for the gates, which were a decent distance away. Fawkes appeared above her with a cry. Dumbledore had ordered him to return Dawn to their world, after he figured out she had left theirs. She was scant feet from the edge of the wards (which would alert the guard something was very wrong once she passed through it) when she heard a snide voice behind her. "Going somewhere Potter?" It was Ron and Ginny. Ron had always been under the mistaken impression that once they graduated Dawn would become his wife. This wasn't helped by the fact that Molly insisted that they made an adorable couple whenever they were within earshot. Anyone with half a brain could tell that Dawn, now Moonlight, barely tolerated his presence and was always disgusted by his eating habits. Ginny always acted like her best friend, but Moonlight had barely tolerated her presence. She preferred Percy to those two. She paused and stood her ground. "What do you two thieves want?" she demanded. She had not been happy to hear about the betrothal contract Dumbledore had set up between her and Ron. "We're here to take you back, Potter. You're going to kill Voldemort," sneered Ron. His guise of being her friend had fallen off, now he was acting like the Slytherin he should have been. "I am never going back!" shouted Moonlight. She could vaguely hear the Royal Guards coming, but if they might be too late. She had to stall for time. Ron's sneer widened as he used his magic to pull her away from the wards. She used hers to anchor her body to the most solid thing she could find, which happened to be a tree. Ginny put her power into his, and they began to pull her towards a portal that had appeared behind them. Thanks to the fact her magic was alread up and running, she could sense the spells waiting for her on the other side. Spells of binding and enforced loyalty. There was no way she was going near that portal now. She started to edge closer to the opening, with Ron and Ginny already past the barrier. Hearing the cry of alarm from the guards, she put extra effort into her anchor spell. Her back hoof touched the edge of the portal, and for a scant second she feared that would be dragged away from her home. Her family. She sent out a 'ping' of magic to find Twilight, hoping to use their bond to keep herself in Equestria long enough for someone to end the spell dragging her back. Instead her mind went blank the second her magic touched Twilight's, and she felt herself teleport to her sister. She crashed into the shelves, shivering at how close she had come to being forced to live in a world she hated. "Moonlight, what in Equestria...?" exclaimed Twilight. The second she realized her twin was shivering from fear, she dropped her book and went to her sister. Feeling Twilight's hooves around her neck helped a little with the fear, but the shivering still hadn't abated. "Twilly, Moonlight's..." shouted Shining, when he realized Moonlight was with Twilight. It took several days before Moonlight was able tell Celestia why the wards had been tripped. When the Princess heard what they had attempted to do, she was furious. So in response to this new threat, she extended the wards. It took Philomena nearly a week before her anger abated. The repercussions of the attempted kidnapping were felt for months. First it was the guard around Moonlight and Twilight, on Celestia's orders. She wasn't about to let her subject be taken from their family twice. Then there was the fact Velvet began to hover even more around her daughters. It finally lead to this. "Harder training?" said Shield. "I don't want to feel that helpless again. Those two nearly dragged me back into their war." "Yes, this war that Mr. Black mentioned. To be blunt, I originally thought you wanted to learn how to fight in order to finish it." "I'm not going back. Not if I have any say about it," said Moonlight firmly. "So you learn how to fight to destroy the weakness in your heart. That is not a very healthy thing," said Shield. "I know how to face my fears. The problem is that I fear for my family. If I am taken again, they will break." "That fear can be met with strength," said Shield. "Fear is something that can be met with courage," said Moonlight. "Good. There is a warrior spirit in you, unlike your sister, the scholar. Unlike your enemy, you do not fight out of anger, or hatred, but out of peace. I can see why Celestia was originally worried when told of the world you were left in," said Shield. Rain Dancer showed up near him. "That spirit is why we agreed to train you in how to fight. You do not fight out of greed, or revenge, but in order to protect. And after this incident, I do believe we need to step up your training." Moonlight passed out on her bed. Ever since she found the spell to give a unicorn fake wings, Rain Dancer had been training her how to fight in mid air. The problem was that she could barely do the spell more than once a week, and her magic was rather low afterwords. Fortunately Sirius reminded her of an alternate way to fly. And so her Firebolt came back into commission. Shining nearly had a heart attack when he saw his sister balancing on what he thought was an odd twig. Twilight looked at Spike. "Her training is harder than mine!" she said in shock. Sure, she sometimes had the worst migraine after a session with Celestia, but most of the times her twin came home from her special training she usually ended passed out from exhaustion. "Her training isn't harder than yours Twilly, it's just different," said Shining. He had been the one to bring her home. "How so?" asked Spike. "Twilight's studies are mostly magical in origin, so the worst she could get from over-training is a massive headache. Moonlight's training is both magical and physical, which means her body needs to rest as well as her mind," explained Shining. "So if I ever took on martial arts I would end up in the same state as her?" asked Twilight. "If you ever took up martial arts I would get you easier instructors. Princess Celestia picked out the best and most loyal to train Moonlight." Shining didn't add that it was mostly to keep an eye on Moonlight just in case. Since then the only reports about Moonlight were about her progress as a fighter. They left her upstairs to sleep. After the third time she came back from training out cold, Dr. Practice ordered her to have a two week reprieve from the lessons in order to let her magic recover. Considering she had been using her broom during most of those, she could only guess that her mother was behind this idea. Though even she would admit she needed a break. Which was why she planned to use this time to test a spell she had made a few months ago. In an effort to combine wizard and unicorn magic, Moonlight tried many things. It wasn't until she thought of the possibilities of her cutie mark that an idea so bizarre that it might work came to her. She was going to try to split her magic into two beings, one of light and one of dark. In order to test this, she went into one of the guards training fields with several Pegasus watching discreetly. Moonlight double checked her calculations, then focused her magic on what she wanted to do. When it reached the point she had found would split her magic, she said the activating words. "All is One, One is All." Her eyes glowed white, as most unicorns did whenever they were casting a rather powerful spell normally beyond them. The magic took full effect as she felt herself split into two. She blinked and heard a snort of amusement beside her. Standing next to her was an identical unicorn that wasn't Twilight. On Moonlight's flank was the dusk half of her cutie mark. On the pony was the dawn. "Well that was interesting," said the other pony. "You do realize we'll need a new nickname otherwise people will confuse us," said Moonlight. "Dawn." "Dusk," said Moonlight, deciding to just use her cutie mark as a nickname. "So how are we going to reverse this?" asked Dawn. "I have an idea about that," said Dusk. "The World is the All and I am the One," they chanted. Twin flashes of magic from their horns reversed the spell. Moonlight grinned. This would be fun...plus it meant she could do twice as many tasks as before! "Uh, Moonlight, why are there now three of you?" asked Shining carefully. Moonlight was an odd duck. Twilight seemed to be ignoring the third Moonlight. "Her name is Dawn. Since there are now three of us, we figured it would be easier to give both of us nicknames," said Moonlight/Dusk. "Can it be reversed?" asked Shining. "Of course it can be reversed. The first thing we tested after the initial split was if it could be reversed," said Dawn annoyed. Shining looked at Dusk. "She's the darker half of my personality." "Shouldn't it be the other way around?" said Remus. "And make it predictable?" asked Dusk. "So what exactly does the split do?" asked Shining. "It allows me to be in two places at once. Dawn has more physical power than I do, and her muscle memory is better. I have more magical power and my healing spells are amplified. In addition, whatever she learns, I will learn once we return to being one pony," said Dusk. "Princess Celestia was fascinated by her spell," admitted Twilight. "So can any pony use it?" asked Shining curiously. "Possibly Remus and Sirius. From what I can tell, it requires the pony using it to be used to wizard and unicorn magic. Twilight has tried to use it, but so far her results are less than satisfactory." "I keep creating a filly instead of an exact copy," said Twilight sourly. "Yes, but if you recall Princess Celestia couldn't make one at all," Dusk reminded her. "She also said that if Dawn tried to become warmongering you weren't allowed to use it anymore," said Twilight. "Just because she is the more militant of my personality does not make her a warmonger," said Dusk annoyed. "FYI, the only time I would be violent is if those idiots try another kidnapping attempt or if the need arose. Just because I am more of a fighter does not make me any less of a pony," said Dawn irritated. "Plus this means she can learn from Magic Shield and Rain Dancer while I'm at school. Whatever she learns, I learn. And since we're split apart it means the muscle memory gets transferred as well." "But we aren't going to leave it active for longer than a few days. The chance of memory feedback going wrong is too high," said Dawn. Dawn was running along the perimeter of the wards, well inside of them to avoid any repeats of last time. Two Pegasus guards were watching her from the clouds, well out of sight for any fake unicorns coming past the barrier between worlds. There was a crack of thunder followed by phoenix song. Apparently they had recovered sufficiently enough to try again. Above her, the Pegasus guards tensed and readied for a fight. Dawn called Dusk and warned her of the threat. If they tried to force her back, she would cast the return spell and reunite with Dusk who was in the library with their twin sister. Because Dusk had the majority of the magic, by reversing the spell she was reintegrated with her. Standing in front of the portal was a filly with the cutie mark of an open book with a wand as the bookmark. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was Hermione. "Granger," said Dawn. She was fully prepared to pound the bookworm into the ground. "Potter." "Are you aware that we have books here so rare you will never find them anywhere else, and that the only forbidden knowledge is that which causes actual harm?" said Dawn. She was going to play off Hermione's love of rare books. "What?" said Hermione. "They don't care about restricting knowledge unless it causes actual harm. For example, the killing curse isn't considered illegal unless it's used outside self-preservation. Tell me, Hermione, what would the Ministry do if it were possible to clone yourself temporarily and return all the knowledge the clone had gained into yourself without damage?" "Restrict it as a dark art," said Hermione flatly. "And if Dumbledore learned there was a way to safely duplicate yourself, thus removing the need for Snape?" "He would sit on it, and never really use it," sighed Hermione, "Dawn, I hate it when you use logic against me." "So what do you plan to do Hermione? Stay here away from the war and meet someone who is very much like you in terms of being a bookworm, or go back and deal with idiots all day and restricted from certain areas of research?" asked Dawn with a smirk. She knew Hermione. Hermione Granger hated being told not to read something. Hermione didn't think twice about the offer. "Forget England...my parents are safely out of the way and they won't remember me anyway. I'm staying here!" said Hermione. "Good...now to deal with that featherbrained fiery chicken...HEDWIG!" With a cry like a warhawk, Hedwig appeared in a flash of blue flame and hit Fawkes like a comet. The impact was painful enough that it forced him to going through a burning day prematurely. With the attack was the destruction of the bond between him and Dumbledore. His rebirth turned him into a phoenix much like Philomena. Hedwig glared at the chick, and looked ready to toss him back through the portal. "Hold on Hedwig...wouldn't it be funnier to see Philomena chew him out and make it harder for Dumbledore to lock back onto this world?" grinned Dawn viciously. Hedwig hooted in agreement. Dawn was about to leave, but spun around and focused her magic to her horn. She blasted the portal, causing it to collapse in on itself...and if she was lucky do quite a bit of damage to the other side. "Really Dawn, was that necessary?" "It's actually Moonlight. Dawn was my human name," she explained. "Wha...?" "I was taken from this world before I was even two months old, and forced to look human in order to fulfill some prophecy Dumbledore has heard. I found a spell that would send me to the place I call home, no matter what barriers are in the way. I ended up in the hospital for a week from magical drain, but as a result I found my family." "You have living family?" "A mother almost as bad as Molly, only she at least lets her children go without a fuss. My older brother is Captain of the Royal Guard and my sister is just as big a bookworm as you are. Same compulsion to do homework and freak outs if she thinks she's going to fail a test and everything," said Dawn. "What's her name?" "Twilight Sparkle. My name here is Moonlight Sparkle. The best way to tell us apart is to check our flanks. Twilight has a pink and white set of stars and I have a rather odd Chinese Yin and Yang circle on mine." "You only have half," Hermione pointed out. "That's because I am currently split into two. Dusk is with Twilight, and I took a run around the ward perimeter." "You have to teach me that spell...think of how many books I could read!" said Hermione with religious fervor. "Wait until you get used to unicorn magic. Once you do, you should have the same luck as Sirius and Remus had with the spell. Apparently you need wizard and unicorn magic for it to work." Hermione couldn't wait to learn. "So we have another recruit from England?" said Celestia. "It helps I knew exactly what buttons to push. She's the witch version of Twilight, with all her bad traits and no one to act as a friend during her growing years. At least until that incident with the troll a few years ago..." said Moonlight. "Is she a threat?" "Only if you attempt to remove her book while she's reading. Other than that, just toss her into a library full of rare and impossible to find books and she's harmless." Celestia chuckled. That did sound like a more studious version of Twilight. "What would you recommend?" "Show her how to use unicorn magic and toss her into the same class as Twilight. They'll either get along perfectly or become rivals. Either way she won't be much trouble to handle." True to her prediction, all Celestia had to do to keep Hermione out of trouble was let her in the Archives. The girl would vanish for days just reading... the only indication she was still alive was the food dishes left by Moonlight tended to be left empty. Eventually Celestia appointed her the junior librarian. Hermione didn't like taking time out of her reading to help others, but it worked out. Of course that was nothing compared to the way Philomena acted around Fawkes. The former familiar of Dumbledore was having a rough time of it, as Philomena was not happy with his presence in her turf. Most phoenixes weren't territorial and could live in groups. Philomena, however, couldn't stand Fawkes despite being the same species. As a result, every time he tried to escape back to his world, she attacked him. To be fair, the longer he was stuck in Equestria, the harder it was for Dumbledore to get a new lock on the world. As far as Celestia could tell he had been depending on Fawkes to lock onto their world. "So what are we doing again?" asked Moonlight. She was half tempted to drag Hermione out of the Archives, as she hadn't been seen in a week and the only indication she was even alive was that the bowls of fruit left out for her were all gone. "Princess Celestia has asked us to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, and she wants you to guide me around since you've been there recently." "Is Hermione allowed to come?" Twilight chuckled nervously. "We have orders for a search and retrieval mission to get her out of the Archives. Apparently she hasn't been in her apartment for over a month, and rumor has it she's never come out," said Twilight. "Yup, that sounds like Hermione. Girl would live in a library if she could get away with it," snorted Moonlight. And so the twins went deep into the Archives, following the spell Moonlight had found to follow Hermione. Finally she found a flank with a familiar cutie mark and used her magic to drag the girl out by the tail. "MOONLIGHT PUT ME DOWN!" shrieked Hermione. She was reasonably clean, wasn't starving, and covered in dust from some of the older books. A few wind spells cleaned that off though. "Not a chance. You need to leave the library. Do you even remember what the sun looks like?" asked Moonlight rhetorically. Hermione blinked rapidly when they got into the more public half of the library. The light was a bit painful to her eyes. "Right. Until we can be reasonably assured you won't go nuts and live in the Archives again, Princess Celestia has asked us to bring you with us to an inspection of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville. It's either that or spend an entire week with Dr. Practice being reminded repeatedly why your body and mind needs to rest from reading every once in a while, your choice," said Moonlight. "I'd rather hang out with you. I've never liked hospitals." Moonlight chuckled. "Or flying, as I recall." "What does flying have to...oh no. No, no, no! I am not getting on that!" Twilight looked at Moonlight in question. "Hermione has a fear of heights," she explained in amusement. "Ah. You do realize she could lay there and keep her eyes inside the carriage right?" "Or she could keep her eyes on Spike," snickered Moonlight. "Who is Spike?" "I am," spoke the tiny dragon. Hermione blinked, then decided to talk to Spike on the ride there. By all accounts it wouldn't be a long one, but she still hated seeing the ground below her from the clouds. Moonlight was trying not to laugh when Pinkie caught sight of Moonlight and Twilight. She gasped loudly and ran to get a party started. "Who the hay was that?" "Pinkie Pie. By the time we get to the library she'll have it decorated for a full blown party, I guarantee you. She's a real Party Pony!" snickered Moonlight. Moonlight cheerfully went into the orchard with her sister and her best friend following her lead. "Yeehaw!" "Howdy Applejack!" said Moonlight. "Welcome back Moonlight! Sure fine to see you again!" said Applejack. "Princess Celestia sent us to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. This is my twin Twilight and this is an old friend of mine, Hermione." Applejack grinned and winked conspiratorially with Moonlight as she nearly shook their hooves off. Moonlight snickered. Since it would be easier to socialize with the Apple clan (they were there for the family reunion) than to leave, Twilight reluctantly stayed at the farm. She wasn't used to being around other ponies much. Applejack stayed next to Moonlight. "Yer sister doesn't get out much, does she?" "Not really. Celestia thinks Twilight burned too many bridges so the idea was to send her here where she could make some friends. I was sent last year to remodel the library so she could stay here." "And the other pony?" "Hermione is being banished from the Royal Archives. According to rumor, she's spent an entire month in the deeper parts just reading, and the only way we knew she was still alive was that the bowls of fruits left behind on tables were gone. Until she learns to balance reading and socializing, she'll be here with Twilight for a while. I might stay too, if I can manage it," said Moonlight. Applejack grinned. "Oh...my...Celestia..." said Moonlight before she took a quick picture and hid the camera. Then she did the same thing Spike was doing and started laughing her flank off at the sight of Hermione and Twilight looking so...poofy! It was almost like they had copied Pinkie's hair style, only it had hairs out of place! "MOONLIGHT!" growled Hermione. "Oh relax Hermione, we have to see Rarity anyway. She might be able to tame that mane of yours, or at least give you an idea of what to get," snickered Moonlight. Spike was still snickering on her back. Moonlight waved to Rainbow Dash, who had finished clearing the clouds when she heard Twilight's doubt on her ability. Rainbow waved back, before finding another cloud to nap on. As Moonlight had expected, the second Rarity saw the state of their manes, she went into her usual freak out mode. She stopped everything she was doing to drag Hermione and Twilight to her shop to fix their manes and give them a new look. From the amount of grumbling Hermione was doing, it was clear that she considered Rarity a far more intelligent version of Lavender or Parvati. The two made their getaway as quickly as they could, since they weren't fashinistas like Rarity. Rarity turned around to find only Moonlight left, looking somewhat embarrassed by her sister and friend. "Sorry about that Rarity, Twilight and Hermione aren't used to dressing up..." she said abashed. "That's quite alright dear. I suppose I did get carried away when I heard you three were from Canterlot. Now I hope you've brought something to wear for this special occasion?" asked Rarity. "Rarity, I was more interested in dragging Hermione out of the Archives than bringing clothes. So no." Rarity had an unholy spark in her eye as she dragged Moonlight through the shop for something to wear. Moonlight allowed it with good humor, as Rarity, who was very passionate about her job, was just being her usual self. It wasn't like it would hurt anything and Moonlight was used to wearing clothes thanks to her stint as a human. At least she was able to keep the fashinista pony from putting her in a dress, which she barely tolerated on good days. Besides, she had a feeling she would be fighting later anyway. Moonlight caught up with her sister and best friend right before they entered the library. "Where were you?" "Apologizing to Rarity. Leaving like that was unbelievably rude you know," said Moonlight flatly to her sister. Twilight and Hermione looked embarrassed that she had pointed it out. The resolved to apologize to the pony the first chance they had. "And now for the amusing part. Get in there!" snickered Moonlight. She knew Pinkie from her time in Ponyville. No doubt the pink pony had already set up a party! Moonlight was outright laughing at the look on Hermione and Twilight's faces when they found the party already going. Hermione glared at her friend. "You knew this would happen." "Of course I did. I got to know the ponies here while I refurbished the library. Pinkie Pie is a pony that will throw a party for any reason she can find," said Moonlight, still snickering. Hermione sighed in defeat, and went to enjoy herself. Clearly she wasn't getting out of this one, no matter what she tried. Moonlight was by far more sociable than Hermione or Twilight was being at the moment, as she wasn't interested in reading the books or getting any sleep. To be fair, Hermione hadn't slept properly in days, so she agreed to wake the girl up once it was time for Celestia to raise the sun. She had never seen the event in person, and it would be quite an interesting thing to watch. They stayed up well into the morning, though Moonlight did leave the library briefly for some fresh air. It was for that reason she noted the four stars drawing ever closer to the moon, and remembered that odd legend she had read earlier that week. "Bugger. Looks like I was right to avoid that dress," said Moonlight. She had still bought it, because she had liked the way it looked. She just preferred shorts and form fitting shirts when it came to fighting, less chance of her clothing catching on anything. Moonlight watched in shock and some annoyance as the shadowy figure became a rather ticked off dark blue alicorn wearing what could only be military armor. Once she had laid down her terms, she took the chance to race off after the shadowy fog while Applejack was busy keeping Rainbow from going after the mystery alicorn. Hermione followed her, as six years of chasing Moonlight in Hogwarts had lead to a natural instinct to follow her friend into danger, no matter how stupid the idea was. The fact Moonlight tended to get them out of danger as quickly as they got into it also had a factor in this. "Where in blazes are we?" "Everfree forest. Somewhat like the Forbidden Forest back in Hogwarts, only we don't have to deal with Acromantulas, ticked off Centaurs or the chance of a werewolf." "What is in here?" "Manticores, Timber Wolves, and a hydra or two. There's also a rather friendly water dragon, if what Zecora told me was true," said Moonlight. Both girls had their horns light up with a basic light charm. Walking closely to the inner half of the cliff, Hermione screamed in fright as she suddenly slipped and started to fall off it. Moonlight didn't think twice, she cast a by-now very familiar spell and had a pair of gorgeous monarch butterfly wings on her back. Hermione was whimpering as she clutched to Moonlight like there was no tomorrow. "Easy 'Mione. You of all people know I would never let my best friend get killed if I could prevent it," said Moonlight soothingly. "I know...I just hate heights..." whimpered Hermione. She was shaking like a leaf. Poor Hermione was still trembling when she landed safely on the ground, having held Moonlight in a death grip. They started walking again, and were quickly confronted by a manticore. Hermione was all set to confront it, but Moonlight had another idea. She had seen ribs under it's fur. The poor thing must have been starving! Moonlight instead raced to the nearby river she had seen on the cliff, and used her magic to hook some fat fish. Just as she had suspected, the manticore had been starving, the poor thing. She levitated the fish over to the beast and it lost all interest in them, aside from purring near Moonlight. Their next task was walking through some darkened woods, which didn't bother them one bit. Hermione and Moonlight outright laughed at the 'scary' faces the trees were making, having faced down much more terrifying creatures in their five years at Hogwarts to even consider these trees frightening. Behind them, the trees returned to being normal trees. Nightmare Moon watched the progress of the two unicorn fillies with interest. Not many unicorns could manifest such magnificent wings, let alone be able to sustain them long enough to hold another. Temporary wings were notorious for using a lot of magic up. As she watched the two progress, it was clear to her that they had been through far worse than her little tests had conjured up so far. And the purple one was definitely a fighter, yet she didn't wear the traditional uniform of the Royal Guard. She would keep a close eye on the one with butterfly wings. After a minor spell to fix the serpent's manicure (she learned it from Lavender, after one too many complaints about how bad her nails looked) they continued on. Finally they reached a bridge which had seen better days. Hermione took one look at the broken panels and gulped. "Hermione, I want you to focus on me. If any of the wood breaks under you, I promise to catch you before you fall too far," said Moonlight, flying backwards. The spell would hold up for a few hours more, as she had cast it so many times that she could calculate how long it would last. Hermione gripped the ropes like a life-line, to avoid looking down. She kept her eyes firmly on Moonlight, who was talking to her like one would talk to a frightening unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. And it worked, very well in fact. A shadow swept under the next plank of wood, and Hermione screamed as it broke under her weight. "Mione!" shouted Moonlight. She flew under her friend, catching the terrified girl before she fell more than a foot. Moonlight placed Hermione safely on the ground again. Behind her were four pegasus ponies. "We are the Shadow Bolts." "Not interested," said Moonlight flatly. The Shadow Bolts weren't dissuaded in the least, as they offered to become her own personal army to conquer other worlds. In exchange for leaving her family and friends in the dust of course. "What part of not interested don't you get? Why would I want to loose the most precious thing I will ever have for a fleeting chance of power?" asked Moonlight. The 'pegasus' ponies hissed at her, before vanishing into the mist. But not before they undid the knots holding the bridge to the posts. Moonlight spent five minutes calming her friend down, as Hermione still had trouble handling a near death experience. A few minutes after Hermione could think straight again, they could hear company coming. "I think Twilight and the others caught up," said Moonlight. "Should we wait for them in the citadel?" "Probably. Besides, we can head off anyone trying to attack them first," said Moonlight. Moonlight and Hermione entered the citadel, only to discover... Nightmare Moon waiting for them. Her smile was cold and chilled them to the bone. She didn't care who she had to destroy, so long as she took out the Elements of Harmony before they could properly be formed. "Let's dance, shall we?" she sneered. "I agree. It's about time I got to put all that training to proper use," growled Moonlight. Hermione took position behind her as support, like always. And with a single, unheard signal, the two ponies clashed. Twilight and the others came into the castle, only to find a veritable battle going on. She had passed the tests thanks to the girls, but she was worried about her sister, who had gone in before them over an hour ago. She walked in only to find Hermione shooting some complex battle spells, and her sister split into two...both with wings that looked like they could fail at any moment. At one point Nightmare sent Dusk crashing into a wall, where an audible crack was heard from her back hoof. Hermione held off the alicorn while Dawn cast a lesser-used battlefield healing spell that would keep going until the wound was healed. The reason why it was a lesser used one was because the spell didn't have enough power to heal open wounds, only minor ones. In this case a fractured leg. Within minutes Dusk rose, though she made a point to avoid that hoof as she delivered a devastating kick to the alicorn. Nightmare hissed at her. Nightmare Moon saw Twilight and the others, and sent specters of darkness their way. It was bad enough that these two unicorns had attacked without hesitation! "Oh no you don't!" shouted Hermione. "Expecto Patronum!" shouted Dusk and Dawn, crossing horns. A silvery mist appeared from where the horns met, creating a solid shape...that of another alicorn who bore a strong resemblance to Nightmare Moon. Seeing the spectral pony, Nightmare Moon looked at it in shock. It was a silvery version of her true self...Princess Luna! Twilight and the others removed the Elements of Harmony, which were waiting for the spark to make it's presence known. Twilight winced when her sister and Hermione were sent flying into the girls. "Moonlight! Hermione!" cried Twilight. Moonlight had been able to reverse her doppelganger spell before she had crashed. It was pretty clear she had been hurt and badly. The wings had vanished the moment she lost consciousness. Seeing the other girls prepare to fight Nightmare for hurting their friend, Twilight felt a spark. It was nice actually having friends. Friends she could trust to have her back... The Elements began to glow and circle each of the girls, except for Hermione. Twilight awakened to her Element, Magic. Moonlight, who had gone through a concussion before, woke up to find her Element, which was Balance, already in place. For some reason only the twins had crowns...though Moonlight had a normal black and white tai chi circle instead of her actual cutie mark like everyone else. "No!" The rainbow hit Nightmare Moon, dispelling her insanity by force. Moonlight properly passed out before Princess Luna could realize what happened. The drain on her magic was simply too much for her to stay awake, not to mention the hit she took to the head. "Ow..." said Moonlight, waking up to the sun glaring in her eyes. "Finally awake are we?" said a far too familiar voice. "Oh great..." said Moonlight, recognizing the infirmary inside the personal guard's quarters. It was inside the palace itself, and was impossible to escape through magic or wings. After the third time she made a quick getaway from the Canterlot Hospital, they started treating her here instead. It was a source of great amusement to see her escape attempts for the guards, though they would never admit that to Shining Armor. It took exactly fifteen minutes before she tried to escape. Really it was a habit at this point. "And where do you think you're going?" asked an amused Celestia. Moonlight was currently trying to reach the ventilation system with a rather odd balancing act. With no magic and a broken front leg in a cast she was restricted to her more unusual methods. "Away from the hospital wing!" she said cheerfully. Celestia chuckled openly as she used minor levitation to restore the room and put Moonlight back on the bed. "You know that because of you we now have a betting ring with the guards on how you plan to make your next escape?" she said. Which was true. Shining had been shocked about finding out...before he started laying bets himself. So long as their mother didn't find out exactly how often Moonlight came for a healing spell, he wouldn't say anything. "So...how long was I out?" "Two days. You have severe magical exhaustion, a broken front leg, and from what I understand strain on your horn." "Which means I'll be stuck here for a month," she said miserably. "Or I could give you another option. With the return of my younger sister, Luna has found herself having trouble understanding the way things are now. Some of the guard ponies are even a little afraid of her." "So...you want me to talk to her?" said Moonlight. It beat being mothered by Twilight Velvet once she finally learned she was awake. "She has expressed an interest in this wizard's magic you have." "Let's see, being bored out of my mind for two weeks or talking with a recently-made-sane princess about magic...decisions, decisions..." said Moonlight dryly. "I'll have Shining leave you near her room later," said Celestia with a grin. Luna looked up from her book. Celestia wanted her to get used to being out and about again since her banishment, so she had lent her several law books. Until she regained her full size, she preferred to stay out of the limelight for a while. "COME IN," said Luna, using the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Ow! I already have a broken leg, I don't need ruptured eardrums to go along with it!" came the pony on the other side of the door. Luna raised an eyebrow. That was an unusual reaction. It had been a week since she had returned to sanity, and according to Celestia one of the fillies who had brought her back had finally woken up from the magical drain. The door opened, revealing the one who had fought Nightmare Moon and survived. She was balancing on her back hooves with ease, and the front hoof that wasn't in a cast had opened the door. She carefully landed on that hoof and came in. "You must be Moonlight Sparkle. My sister speaks of you highly!" Moonlight winced. "For future reference Princess, the Royal Canterlot Voice has not been in use for centuries now. And most ponies don't appreciate becoming temporarily deaf," said Moonlight. "Is this better?" asked Luna. "A little lower," suggested Moonlight. "How about now?" "Better." "So...Celestia said you were interested in wizard magic." "I find the abilities that your godfather and uncle have fascinating," said Luna. "I would show you something I'm particularly good at, but I'm currently banned from any and all magic use for the next week. Even then I can't remove this stupid cast for a month." "Why are thou not in the infirmary then?" asked Luna confused. "Ask one of the guards what the current pool is. Apparently I'm a constant source of amusement to them," she replied instantly. She had certainly laughed when she heard about it. Luna blinked, then poked her head outside and asked the guard. He seemed highly amused as he told her what she meant by the pool. "You constantly make ridiculous escapes? Whilst injured?" she asked surprised. "Why not? I hate being stuck in a hospital...it's boring! So...what do you know of pranks?" Luna looked at her...before a fanged grin appeared. Celestia looked up from her paperwork to find...a guardpony with pink dust all over him? "Oh dear...I forgot about that bad habit of Luna's..." she said. Princess Luna was an unrepentant prankster. After a thousand years, it was easy to forget some of the antics she used to get up to when she was sick and tired of the paperwork and dealing with nobles. "Where have they hit?" she asked the guardpony. "I think the better question your highness needs to ask is where haven't they hit," he answered. Celestia looked outside...it was pure chaos. "I am so not filling the repair requests for that..." she said flatly. Luna fell back onto her bed with a laugh. This was the most fun she had in years, literally. Moonlight giggled. "I can't believe you got Sirius to chase his own tail for ten minutes straight!" she said. Luna had placed a spell on Moonlight's personal wheelchair (she broke her legs more often than Shining liked) so she could follow her around. So far they had hit the entire palace with pranks. Remus had taken one look at the wizard-turned-pony chasing his tail, and had laughed for a good minute at the sight. Then Luna had hit him with a spell that gave him a wolf muzzle for five minutes. Sirius had gotten a kick out of that one. The two talked about their pranks in between giggles before Celestia showed up. "I am not filing the forms to clean that mess up!" she said flatly. "Oh come off it Tia, you know it was funny!" "I take it this was Moonlight's idea?" said Celestia, her mouth quirking upwards. Moonlight didn't even try for innocent. With the ban on magic finally lifted, Moonlight was able to push her own crutch around without actually putting pressure on her broken leg. It helped that she was very, very used to balancing on two hooves and tended to wear actual clothes. Since she was banned from the Archives until her injuries were healed and her magic fully restored, she went exploring around Canterlot. During the evenings she usually spent chatting with Princess Luna or helping the alicorn princess with her paperwork using her human form. So here she was wandering around with a charm on the crutch to move in place of her bad leg. It was actually a simple one and used the same muscles that her leg would, without hurting it. It was a spell she came up with after the fourth time she had broken a hoof, and it was now a standard healing spell practiced by unicorns. Several of the guard actually thanked her for creating a spell made of wizard and unicorn magic than any pony could use. Suddenly she found herself in front of what appeared to be an orphanage. One of the colts had just kicked an old ball in her direction...but he didn't have his hopes up that she would kick it back. She grinned, and used her crutch to send it flying back at him. Seeing the colt smile, she went to play with the younger ponies for a while. They were careful to avoid her bad leg. "Oh, hello! I didn't know the little ones had found a new playmate. Whatever happened to your leg?" "Long story. Should be fine in a few weeks though." "That's always good to hear. Everyone, it's time for lunch!" "Aww..." came the disappointed reply. "I can always come back after lunch if you want," said Moonlight to the little ones. They all perked up. "Or you can join us for lunch," said the matron. It was rare for one of the more well off ponies to visit the children and even play with them, and she had never met one who disregarded an injury such as a broken leg to do so. Moonlight looked at the cut apple slices. They were far too even to be normal. It almost looked like...but that wasn't likely. "So who did the cooking? I have to say this is the best salad I've ever had!" she asked. "That would probably be Storm Dancer. He's always mixing something up," said the matron tiredly. "You don't sound too happy about that," noted Moonlight. "He spends all his time playing with the cooking tools. The food has gotten better but he won't socialize with the others...and he refuses to stay with any families willing to adopt him! I'm sorry if I ranted, but it's so frustrating..." said the matron, who's name turned out to be Mercy's Blessing. "Maybe I can talk to him. I have a knack for cooking myself," said Moonlight. "I suppose it couldn't hurt..." said Mercy. Moonlight's first impression of the mystery cook was...that the colt was an aspiring potion master. She recognized a potions kit when she saw one, even if it was missing actual ingredients. The second was that the kid either had a thing for stripes...or he was half zebra. And from what she knew of Zebras, this would fit into her potions master theory quite well. Which prompted this... "You know you would get better results if you minced those roots instead of diced." Storm Dancer looked up in surprise. "How did you know what I was doing?" "I recognized the basics of what you are trying to do. The roots you're using look and have the same density as certain ingredients without you actually wasting the valuable components. Working in the kitchen also fits into this theory, as it would allow you to practice your prep work and how to control heat while brewing a potion." Storm Dancer's eyes were wide. "You know what this is?" he asked with hope. Everyone just assumed he was a natural cook, and wondered why he hadn't gotten a cutie mark in cooking just yet. It was clear that the striped pegasus colt needed a teacher, and wanted someone to debate potions with. He reminded her of a nicer Severus Snape, oddly enough. Moonlight smiled at him. Mercy was unsure how to react upon the news that Moonlight would be teaching Storm how to cook, but considering the colt was acting more social after talking to her she took it as a good thing. So she let the little one visit Moonlight and the guard pony Sirius. He came back happier than she had ever seen him before. "FINALLY!" cheered Moonlight, doing the Snoopy dance on two hooves to the amusement of Luna and Celestia. Why was she dancing you ask? The cast had been removed. She was finally cleared to go back to her normal routine, though she was banned from fighting for a while. Her leg had just healed, she didn't want to be in a cast again! Luna couldn't help the snort as she watched the odd dance. "What is that anyway?" "Snoopy dance. Saw a video of it once and it was so amusing that I eventually managed to dance it myself. Should have seen Sirius' expression the first time I did it in this form." He had thought he was being pranked by the twins until she had explained it to him...then they made everyone think they were hallucinating while she did it during an Order meeting. Funniest thing she had seen in years! "So what's this I heard about you taking an apprentice?" asked Celestia. "Storm Dancer is a pegasus-zebra mix who has a real knack for potions, but the matron at the orphanage didn't know much about his zebra heritage. I agreed to show him how to brew potions and somehow he's become my apprentice," said Moonlight. "Actually I was going to ask you if you wanted to become my apprentice much like your sister is Tia's," said Luna. Moonlight considered that offer. On one hand, she did enjoy working with Luna on combining magics. On the other, she might have less time to spend with Storm Dancer, who clearly wanted someone who understood his love of cooking. Then an idea came to her...a way to keep doing both. "I think... I may have a solution." Twilight Velvet looked at her daughter in surprise. "You want to what now?" she asked. "There's a young colt at the Canterlot Orphanage who has a knack for potions. I seem to be the only one who's noticed that ability, or even that he's half-zebra. Everyone else has sent him back. And with Luna's offer to become her apprentice and part-time assistant, I worry he'll fall back to the wayside if I don't do something." "Moonlight honey, I know you're worried about this colt, but most girls your age can't handle raising a foal," said her mother gently. "I've all but raised myself until recently. How is raising a foal any different?" she countered. Twilight winced. It was always a sore fact in the family that until a year ago, Moonlight had been in a less than pleasant situation. One that had required her to teach herself the pony way without losing her kindness or moral compass. She listened to them within reason, but times like these she was reminded painfully that while Moonlight was her daughter, she had a mind of her own. One that was far more fiercely independent than her twin. "What's his name?" asked Twilight Velvet finally. "Storm Dancer. Think of it this way, at least you'll have practice at spoiling the grandfoals for when Shining finally gets off his rump and marries Cadence," said Moonlight with an impish light in her eyes. Twilight Velvet giggled with Moonlight. Twilight hadn't noticed the fact her older brother had a huge crush on Princess Cadence, but Moonlight had caught it almost immediately. She teased Shining about it for hours, but hadn't mentioned it to Twilight. In the words of Moonlight, not every pony was worthy of marrying someone as special as Cadence. "Well, perhaps if I met the foal in question..." said Twilight. Moonlight beamed at her. A few days later Twilight Velvet was introduced to Storm Dancer...and immediately fell in love with the colt. He was just precious! The next day Moonlight signed off on the adopted papers, and Storm moved into his own room in the house. Luna awoke around three and once she had eaten breakfast she found an eager Moonlight waiting patiently for her. "Glad to have finally found a use for your skills, I take it?" she said amused. Luna had said that if Moonlight really impressed her with her magic and training, she might consider letting the filly join her Night Guard. Most of those picked for that station were little more than the ones that the Royal and Pegasus guard didn't want. She hoped throwing someone as dedicated as Moonlight would attract fresh applicants. Luna found it amusing that instead of using telekinesis to write the notes, Moonlight had shifted to human form instead. She spent a few hours teaching the girl through a shared mental link to kill the boredom of having to deal with nobles. Celestia found that quite amusing to be honest. Twilight was sipping some tea as she waited to see if Moonlight would write her. Instead of using the flame spell Spike had long since mastered, she preferred to use her owl. Hearing the tap, tap, tap of Hedwig's beak, Spike opened the window. She had a letter and a box. It had a little ribbon on it, and Spike's name. Opening it revealed some nice gems for the dragon to munch on. Twilight unrolled the letter and had taken another drink of her hot tea when her eyes bulged in shock. She spewed tea all over poor Spike as she reread the opening line. "What was that for?" complained Spike. Twilight began to read out loud the letter, and he found out why she had been startled enough to soak him with tea. "Dear Twilight Hard to believe it's only been a few months since we split up! I have great news... You are now officially an aunt! Mom's over the moon about having a grandfoal to spoil rotten, since it's great practice for when Shining gets off his rump and finally courts the mare he's had his eyes on for years. His name is Storm Dancer, and he's about the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He's a real wiz at cooking. Another good thing to happen recently is that I've been accepted as Princess Luna's personal apprentice/assistant. She teaches me her magic while I help her out with the Night Court. All I can say is thank Magic for Dicta-quills! Otherwise my human hands would have fallen off from all the pomp and ceremony these noble ponies seem to love so much. Princess Luna said she might send me to Ponyville soon to see if I can't help recruit some new ponies for the Town Guard and the Night Guard...apparently the number of ponies interested in those spots are a bit low for her tastes and she wants to change that. Hope to see you soon, love Moonlight." "What's up?" yawned Hermione. She shared the job of town librarian and was often up late at night repairing books on the side. "I'm an aunt now," said Twilight in shock. "A pony's gestation period is much longer than a month...so did she adopt a foal?" asked Hermione. Twilight nodded, still in disbelief. Hermione snorted. "Maybe now she'll calm down with a foal to look after and her luck won't be so horrid," said Hermione. "You don't seem so surprised," noted Spike. "Moonlight has the strangest luck. Did she mention anything about the little one she took in?" "Only that he's a wiz at cooking and that his name is Storm Dancer," said Spike. "She must have stumbled on a budding potions master then. With how rarely ponies use potions, I'm not surprised she snatched him up once she recognized his talent." Twilight was still in shock about being an aunt...she had only split up from her twin for a few months...a few months! It took her ten minutes for her brain to reboot back to it's normal setting. In the Everfree Forest... Zecora, a Zebra from another continent, looked at the faded picture frame on her mantle and sighed. It had been three years since her sister and brother-in-law, a pegasus on vacation from Manehatten named Cloud Runner, had been killed by Diamond Dogs on a raid. The tiny foal, a baby pegasus pony who had inherited the zebra stripes of his mother, stared back at her hauntingly from the frame. His eyes were so much like her sister's...poor little Storm Dancer had gone missing as far as she knew, and no one would even tell her if the colt had survived the incident. Zecora stirred her potions idly...her nephew had inherited her love of the art according to Zena. He was fascinated by the potion making process at an early age, and Zena had said that he had grasped the basics rather fast for his age. She had high hopes that her son would have a cauldron for his cutie mark. And he had gone missing during the attack. She had looked for months, rarely returning to her home in the Everfree Forest, trying to find him, or at least news of a pegasus colt with zebra stripes. She had given up after a year. Finishing her brew, she looked at the other picture...that of a unicorn filly who had visited her briefly during her stay in Ponyville who asked if she had any requests for the town library. Zecora had been startled that the filly had even come into the forest to ask her, let alone actually get a new copy of the potions book on her mantle. Hers was outdated, and she honestly hadn't expected this Moonlight Sparkle to actually get the latest copy. After that she decided to see if the girl knew anything about potions...and to her delight she did. Moonlight seemed happy to write to her about the art, or to send her ingredients she couldn't get in the forest readily in exchange for news. Zecora was startled from her musing when she heard the tap, tap, tap of an owl. Looking outside she found Hedwig, Moonlight's pet. Opening the window, the owl dropped the letter on the table. Zecora handed her a treat she had made especially for the bird. She opened the scroll and read the missive...and her heart nearly stopped in shock. Moonlight was telling Zecora about her newly adopted son, a pegasus colt named Storm Dancer who had a real knack for cooking. Normally Zecora would enjoy chatting about potions and cooking with Moonlight, but something about this letter refused to let her go. A pegasus colt with the same name as her nephew, and who knew how to cook? Was it possible Moonlight had stumbled upon her missing nephew by accident? She wrote with a shaky quill asking for details about the colt, nearly spilling the ink. Hedwig took her reply off, sensing the gravity of the situation without words. Zecora sat down. She could only hope her penpal had done the impossible, and that her last remaining link to her sister was safe in her care. Moonlight looked at the letter from Zecora. That was rather fast, and her penmanship was sloppier than normal. Reading the missive, she blinked. The idea that Zecora was Storm Dancer's aunt wasn't as preposterous as one might think. She had looked up his family history to make sure he wouldn't be prone to anything dangerous and found that his parents were killed in a Diamond Dog raid. There was a side note about an aunt, but other than that it didn't mention her as a possible caretaker for him. She also remembered Zecora had mentioned traveling for over a year, though she declined to say why. Looking back on it, the timing fit in with the attack. Two weeks after it, Zecora had vanished from the Everfree Forest for an entire year before she came back. It was likely that Zecora had gone looking for her newly orphaned nephew to take him in. Moonlight headed down to the office of the orphan placement, and left disgusted with their attitude. The ponies who worked there were so jaded about their job that they hadn't followed through on their duty! Zecora had been on file as a potential guardian for Storm, but her residence had kept them from investigating. Apparently they didn't think her a fit guardian just because of where she lived! It was definitely time to reunite Storm with his aunt. If only so she could train him in the ways of his heritage. Twilight was waiting at the train station for the train from Canterlot. Moonlight was coming with her new nephew Storm Dancer. She could have taken the sky wagon, since she was Luna's assistant and this was technically official business, but she knew that Moonlight would rather fly using her broom rather than ride a sky wagon. She wasn't afraid of heights, far from it actually, but there was something about flying under your own power that was addicting. "Canterlot to Ponyville! Canterlot to Ponyville!" called the station manager. Twilight was tackled by a pink and purple blur. "Hey sis!" said Moonlight grinning evilly. Twilight heard a snicker and looked behind her. There was a pegasus colt with stripes and odd shaped eyes snickering behind her sister. "Is this Storm Dancer?" "Yup. Storm, come say hi to your new aunt. Twilight, meet Storm Dancer, my son/apprentice." "Hello," he said shyly. Storm Dancer had a white coat with black stripes, and teal colored eyes. His mane was more of a dark lavender and violet color. He didn't have a cutie mark yet, but Moonlight knew it was only a matter of time before he got one. She had the feeling it would either be a cauldron, something involving healing potions, or possibly prank related. At this point she was heavily betting on healing potions. As the three walked into town, Moonlight looked around confused. The place was awfully deserted during this time of day...normally ponies would be out and about for lunch. Suddenly they were dragged into the library by Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity. "What..." started Moonlight. "Shhh! Do you want her to hear you?" said Applejack. "What is up with you today?" asked Twilight. "Zecora's in town. No pony ever goes out when she comes out of the forest!" said Pinkie, as if that explained everything. "Oh for magic's sake! Not this nonsense again! Zecora is a Zebra, those stripes are normal!" said Moonlight rolling her eyes. Storm perked up. "Did you say Zecora?" he asked. "Who's this?" asked Apple Bloom. "My newly adopted son Storm Dancer. Storm, if you want you can go check if that's really her," said Moonlight. Storm was practically dancing on all four hooves when the door slammed open from his exit. The mysterious Zecora, who lived in the Everfree Forest, was knocked to the ground by the overly eager pegasus colt. "Auntie Zecora!" he cried. Zecora's hood was thrown back, revealing a normal looking Zebra with bangles around her neck and a striking resemblance to the pegasus colt. "What a surprise that dances before the eyes! Storm, you're alive!" she said in shock and delight. Most of the Ponyville residents had watched this little show with outright shock. Zecora didn't look evil with the hood down and a young colt prancing around her. "Long time no see Zecora. I take it Storm is the missing nephew you told me about last time I visited?" said Moonlight, coming out of the library, Apple Bloom behind her. "It is a rare treat, to have a missing relative to greet," said Zecora. "It's lucky I stumbled upon him in that orphanage. They didn't know his talent for what it was," said Moonlight. Seeing that Zecora wasn't as evil or mysterious as everyone believed (mostly due to where she lived and the fact that she had such an odd way of speaking) the rest of Twilight's friends sheepishly came out of the library. "So what's this about anyway?" asked Twilight. "Zecora here had a sister who died during a Diamond Dog raid. After the incident, her son went missing and Zecora has been looking for her nephew since. I found him by accident while recovering from the whole Summer Sun Celebration incident and recognized what his talent was. I wasn't about to let a prospective potions master fall to the wayside simply because the ponies didn't understand his gift." "Moonlight mentioned finding a pegasus colt with stripes, and when I heard the name I couldn't help but hope she had found him," said Zecora. "The rest I'd assume was good timing...though we were going to visit your cottage later anyway to see if you would be interested in teaching him Zebra potions, since there aren't any good books of the subject in Canterlot," nodded Moonlight. "Wait, if he's Zecora's nephew, then wouldn't he be staying in Ponyville?" asked Applejack. "Legally I adopted him. However I can arrange for him to stay in Ponyville and have him make several visits to Canterlot. Or I could find a good teleportation spell and simply commute between the two places so I can continue my apprenticeship with Luna and work as her assistant. It's not like she's up during the day to begin with," said Moonlight. Personally she was leaning towards staying in Ponyville anyway, and apparating between there and Canterlot around the time Luna woke up. She had more or less gotten the spell down enough to do it silently at this point. As much as she loved her mother, Twilight Velvet could be very smothering at times. Luna looked at her apprentice/assistant. "Let me see if I have this correctly. You wish to move to Ponyville and commute to Canterlot during the evenings in order to maintain you position as my aide?" she said slowly. "I more or less have the wizard's transport spell down that I don't make much noise. And to be honest moving to Ponyville would help Storm and Zecora bond over potions and get over the damage done because the orphanage didn't recognized his gift. And besides, Ponyville isn't that far away from Canterlot to begin with." "The fact it takes you out of range of your mother's smothering habits is just a perk I take it?" said Luna amused. "Erk..." "I see no reason to agree to this. Most of his studies would take place during the day, during which I sleep until near evening. And it would allow you to bond with your twin, which you see far too little of to begin with. I assume you are procuring a separate home for you and Storm?" "Absolutely. As much as I love Twilight and Hermione, I am not going to stay in the library with them. I've suffered enough of Hermione's insane study schedules and I have no desire to allow Storm to fall prey to them as well," said Moonlight. Once had been enough thank you. It took Moonlight a month to hammer out the details of the move, and a week to finally get the house and furnish it. It helped that Luna was helping pay for it, since Twilight had to share the house payments with Hermione just to be able to afford buying the place. Finally they were able to settle down in Ponyville, more or less. Moonlight had taken extra care to find a spot in Canterlot inside the palace grounds for her to teleport to so the guards wouldn't react to her sudden appearance, despite the fact that Shining was aware of the new arrangement. She was still trying to help restore the old Night Guard. Right now it was full of the dregs from the other guards that no one wanted. "Everypony, we have a new student joining us today! Please welcome Storm Dancer," said Miss Cheerilee. Storm walked in, his stripes displayed proudly. After the talking to Moonlight had given Applejack and the others about their treatment of Zecora (helped by Twilight, amusingly enough) none of the students overreacted to his appearance. It helped that he had been the one to tackle the 'scary' pony who lived in the forest and dispelled some of the rumors about her. "What's with the stripes?" asked Diamond Tiara snidely. She was a stuck up filly who very few liked that much. "I'm half Zebra. I got my momma's stripes and eyes and I inherited my dad's wings," said Storm. He was used to explaining this. "Storm Dancer is coming from Canterlot. Does anyone have any questions?" asked Cheerilee. Applebloom raised a hoof. "Is it true that Zecora is your aunt?" "Yup," said Storm, popping the 'p' sound, "Zecora is my aunt on my momma's side. She was supposed to take me in after the attack, but according to Mom the ones in charge of placement didn't even bother to check if she was able to take me in once they found out where she lived." "Why do you talk as if you have two mothers?" asked Diamond. "My momma died after a Diamond Dog attack and dad died protecting her. Mom, that is Moonlight Sparkle, found me in the Canterlot Orphanage and recognized that I had a rather unusual talent that they didn't really appreciate. She knew Auntie from her time in Ponyville renovating the library." Realizing it was a touchy subject, Sweetie Belle raised her hoof. "If you're half Zebra, does that mean you'll never get a Cutie Mark?" she asked. "Momma said that it's a distinct possibility, or that I'm just waiting before I find which field of cooking suits me the best. She said that potions are just as varied as spells for unicorns," said Storm. Zecora had backed that claim up. She had been fascinated with some of the potions books Moonlight had pilfered from the Black Family library and the fact that there were some decent battle potions. At this point Moonlight theorized that it was entirely possible that his cutie mark might be around a specific field of potion brewing, or he might have a talent for flying that had yet to display itself. Between Moonlight, Rainbow and Zecora's lessons, he was sure to figure out what his cutie mark was soon enough. "Storm, would you mind sitting next to Scootaloo?" asked Ms. Cheerilee. "Yes ma'am," he said, sitting next to the orange and magenta colored pegasus filly. Storm followed Hedwig into the Everfree Forest so he could have another Zebra potions lesson from his aunt. Moonlight had said that she trusted Hedwig and his own common sense to keep him off the more dangerous paths into the forest. Zecora only lived in the fringes after all. Storm flew a little faster when he heard Zecora and Moonlight shouting. He stopped cold in surprise when he realized what was actually going on. His new momma and auntie were sparring. Moonlight was a firm believer of being prepared for the worst, which was why she had a full stock of healing potions and spell books in the house. She was also taking lessons from Private Practice on basic field aid. Then again she rarely had anything interesting to occupy her time during her multiple trips to the Guard's infirmary, so it was only natural she would ask for something, anything to read. She was rated as a competent field medic in case of battle. Zecora landed a rather painful looking blow to Moonlight's flank, though his mom did an odd looking spin on her back hoof and sent Zecora flying into a nearby bush. Zecora laughed. "I can see that your skills are indeed no match for me!" she said with cheer. "To be fair it was either learn fast or feel the price. I'd be happy to share some of the hoof-to-hoof lessons I've been taking with you. I know Rainbow's been cheering over the fact she has someone who can spar with her properly, even if I have to make fake wings in order to keep up with her aerial ones," she said. "That was sooo cool!" said Storm in awe. "It seems we lost track of time. I see you for dinner Storm," said Moonlight. Moonlight's schedule was rather simple. She woke up around noon, ate lunch and walked around. By the time Storm got out of class she would walk him to Zecora's and listen to his day. Once he was there she teleported to Canterlot to await Luna's lesson of the day. She spent nightfall to around three in the morning acting as Luna's secretary and then teleported back to Ponyville to sleep for six hours before taking Storm to school. Occasionally she spent a few hours with her sister, Hermione or often times Zecora. At least twice a week she managed to fit in an intensive sparring session with Rainbow Dash or Zecora, seeing as how they were the only ones who knew how to fight hoof-to-hoof without looking like an idiot. A rather simple schedule but rather full. Back on Earth... "Are we sure this will work?" "He left those notes on purpose, but we don't have a choice," said the other. "I bet he thinks we'll bring her back...or at least retrieve Hermione," said the first annoyed. "I'd love to know how she managed to keep Fawkes from coming back. I've never heard such language!" laughed the second. "We have everything?" "Absolutely. Our store's not much use with the war going on, and it would be better to have our best work with us rather than in their hands." "Right. Let's cast this ritual and see where we end up." Moonlight touched the mystery speakers, revealing an identical pair of red heads. Moonlight was awoken from her deep sleep to the sound of a thunder crack outside the Everfree forest. "Oh for the love of Luna! Who is it this time?!" she said. The crack had been louder than normal, indicating more than one had appeared. Seeing the identical stallions with near identical cutie marks and flaming red manes, she had an idea of who these two were. It didn't help that for some reason they had wings instead of the horns unicorns had. She had noted that as long as a focus was present, pegasas and earth ponies could use wizarding magic. Luna and Celestia had said that if more 'humans' were going to show up in Equestria that perhaps they could create a specialty school for those interested in learning Earth magic, since ponies were magical by nature. If a Cutie Mark wasn't a universal sign of magic, then nothing was. "Welcome to Equestria... Gred and Forge," said Moonlight grinning. "Blimey! That was a real toss up!" said George. "Don't I know it!" said Fred. They both yelped in surprise when they realized that they had turned into horses. "Rule one of Equestria: any humans seeking to teleport here automatically take their pony or creature equivalent. In your case your skills as Beaters translated to you becoming Pegasus Ponies. There are currently four other humans who live here. I'm sure Moony and Padfoot will be happy to have you crash in their house," said Moonlight. "Dawnie," said Fred, glad to have run into her so quickly. "It's actually Moonlight. Moonlight Sparkle. By the way... You two are no longer the only twins around," she said grinning. "What?!" they said in unison. Moonlight grinned evilly at them. Time to see their reaction to two Dawns...or Moonlight in this case. Hermione took one look at the twin Pegasus stallions and scowled. "No...no no no! Why did you two come here?" she whined. "Mione!" said George grinning at her. "Who are these two?" asked Twilight. "Fred, George, meet my twin Twilight," said Moonlight, standing next to her sister. Twilight turned to look at the twin pegasus brothers and recognition hit. "You're those twin stallions Moonlight mentioned aren't you? Gred and Forge... Weasel?" she said. "Weasley," they corrected in unison. Moonlight grinned at them. "I bet you ten bits that they'll end up dating Rainbow and Pinkie by the end of the year, or at least convincing them to help around their shop," said Moonlight. "That's a sucker's bet and you know it!" said Hermione tiredly. "What?" said Twilight looking at her sister wide-eyed. "These two...are unrepentant pranksters. I'd be very surprised if they didn't take a strong liking to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie," said Moonlight in way of explaination. As it turned out, her prediction was entirely accurate. Once they had managed to get the permits for their new store and found a way to translate some of their pranks to their Equestrian equivalent, the two mares in question were frequent customers. Fred seemed quite taken with Rainbow Dash and the two could often be seen horsing around in the distance. George would debate pranks and recipes with Pinkie Pie for hours. If those two pairs didn't end up with each other, she would eat her favorite book. "I have heard that two more wizards have shown up in Ponyville," said Luna. Moonlight had spent several days coaching her on the more modern speaking. Luna's Shakespearean speech had been giving her a bigger headache than Zecora's rhyming or the Weasley twin speak combined. "At the rate this is going I would be shocked if Snape or Luna didn't show up..." said Moonlight. Princess Luna perked up. "You know someone who shares my name?" "Luna 'Looney' Lovegood. Nice girl, though she's a bit odd. I'm almost certain she has Fae blood in her with all the weird creatures she sees that no one else can," said Moonlight. To her surprise, Luna got a rather...odd...look on her face. "Did you just say Lovegood?" she said. Moonlight looked at her teacher/boss in curiosity. How did the princess know Luna? "You know her?" Luna had an uncomfortable look on her face...was that embarrassment? "During my time sealed in the moon, I have occasionally dabbled in the affairs of multiple worlds. For example the one you were trapped in until recent years. On one occasion a witch begged the Moon Goddess to send her a daughter, as she had been barren from a poorly cast spell during the war. As she was a devout worshiper of the Moon, I did my best to give her what she asked for. There was an...unexpected...result..." said Luna, her dark blue coat gaining a hint of red from her blush. "Was her name any chance Selene Lovegood?" asked Moonlight, having an idea of where this was going. "Indeed." Moonlight put a hoof to her face. "So all those odd creatures Luna could see... She has the ability to see into dreams doesn't she?" said Moonlight. "If this indeed the same child I helped the witch to bring into being, then it's entirely possible. The world of dreams is vast and highly malleable. If she can see into the dream realm, then considering who she was born to she could easily mistake the dreamscape for the real world. If she's not careful she could even get trapped there," said Luna, confirming that suspicion. Moonlight looked like she desperately wanted to bang her head against something. "So Luna's father was killed for passing on messages to various Order members? What of Luna?" asked Moonlight. She was talking to Fred and George. "Luna's gone missing. She'd be presumed dead, except the goblins haven't closed the Lovegood vault," said George. "Well there's no way I'm leaving my best friend all by herself after she lost her father," said Moonlight. She had been meaning to make a trip back to Earth after finding a two-way portal spell that would allow her to access it. "Bring us back some potion ingredients! We're running low!" they called out to her. "You're planning a trip back to Earth?" said Twilight excitedly. "I have to. If I'm right then Luna is quite possibly the closest thing Princess Luna has to a daughter right now. Princess Celestia was surprised when Princess Luna told her of the woman she had helped, and said that if my friend really could see into the dreamscape like her sister, then we have to find her quickly." Celestia, when she had been told of this girl, had been horrified...especially when told that the girl's last family had been killed recently. If she truly had been given life through Luna's magic, then chances were very high that this girl was an alicorn, or had the blood of one in her veins. So she had given Moonlight permission to head to Earth to retrieve Luna Lovegood and to take whoever she needed. Twilight had been learning the basic hoof-to-hoof combat, if only so she could have something in common with her sister. She found the various forms of combat to be fascinating. Well that and she had learned that gymnastics really weren't all that different from martial arts, flexibility wise. "So you want to come with me do you?" "I want to see where you grew up," Twilight corrected. Moonlight made a face. It wasn't a nice one. "There is no way in Tartarus that I am ever exposing you to those people," said Moonlight grimacing. "Still...a whole culture based on magic! It must be fascinating!" said Twilight. "Not the word I would use to describe it, but I suppose it would be to a newcomer..." said Moonlight, stowing away another potion into her bag. "So who are we taking with us?" "Five of the best fighters in the Night Guard, and I'm borrowing one of the ponies who specializes in field medicine as a precaution. Since there's no telling how long this might take, Luna's making sure we're prepared for a fight." "What about Shining?" "He's to guard the portal until we return," said Moonlight. Twilight seemed unsure. "Are we really going into battle?" "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. You have been practicing your spells that Sirius has been teaching you, right?" "My curses aren't that great, and my hexes could use a little work. I'm not comfortable with battle magic," said Twilight. "I was planning to have you on support anyway. Here, start reading this. If all else fails you can be our strategist since I wasn't that good at it," said Moonlight. It was Sun Tsu's Art of War. Twilight dove into the book, fascinated. Princess Luna in particular had been an instant fan of The Prince, which Moonlight had found by accident in the Black library. Celestia disapproved of Moonlight encouraging her sister's rather militaristic behavior, but the unicorn could care less. A ruler should always be prepared for such things as an invasion, and with the recent opening of the portal to Earth it seemed only logical to brush up on her old occupation. They could protect the peace, but they should always be prepared for war. Which was why Moonlight had suggested Celestia focus on keeping things peaceful for the ponies while Luna continued to make sure that nothing tried to threaten that peace. Two days later, Moonlight cast the spell to open the portal, and the group of ten ponies, including her twin sister, walked through it. The train compartment opened, revealing a first year with dirty blond hair and wide eyes. However what caught Dawn's attention wasn't her odd earrings, her way of speaking, or the fact she had quite the imagination. It was the feeling of inescapable loneliness and the sense that if she was left alone, something terrible would happen. "Care to join us?" asked Dawn, to the surprise of Hermione. The girl's wide eyes looked surprised at the offer. "I would like that." The girl sat down and looked at them. "Dawn Potter." "Hermione Granger." "My name is Luna Lovegood," she said in way of reply. The now named Luna looked at Dawn as if searching for something. When she found what she was looking for she said something odd to Dawn. "You're blessed by the Moon Goddess, just like me," said Luna suddenly. "What do you mean?" "My mother always said that I should be generous to the Moon Goddess, because she gave me to mother for years of service. I can see from your aura that you were just as blessed by the Princess as I was when I was born." "Princess?" "Didn't you know? There's a Princess sealed in the Moon because she lost her way. She waits for the day she can be set free and come home," said Luna. Hermione couldn't help her reaction. She snorted in disbelief. "You need to quit reading so many graphic novels. Sailor Moon is fiction," she said. "What's Sailor Moon?" asked Luna confused. She was telling the truth! "Sailor Moon is a series about a girl who is the reincarnated soul of the Moon Princess from several thousand years ago. The girl fell in love with the Earth Prince and his jealous lover destroyed the kingdom...but the Princess' mother sent her daughter and her court into the future to save them and hopefully defeat the spurned woman. I only bought it because it had been on sale at the time and it looked interesting," said Hermione. "There really is a Princess on the moon!" said Luna. She was upset because no one believed her. "There is no such thing! Muggles have been to the moon and all that's up there is rocks!" "The Mare in the moon exists! I know it!" said Luna. "I believe you." Luna and Hermione turned to the up-til-now silent Dawn. She was looking at Luna not with pity or amusement, but with absolute seriousness. Then the three words hit her like a brick to the head. "You... you believe me?" "Dawn, be reasonable! There is no such thing as a Mare in the moon!" said Hermione. "You're wrong Hermione. There is such a thing as the Mare in the moon. The problem is we're on the wrong planet to see it properly," said Dawn completely serious. "Oh not this again! I know you have those weird dreams about some unicorn named Twilight, but that is no reason to believe in such delusions!" Dawn looked at Hermione, her eyes hard. "What's wrong with delusions? If you weren't a witch and had never come to Hogwarts, then you would claim Magic is nothing more than a fairy tail without hesitation! Sometimes we need to believe in the absurd to see what's really in front of us, or to give us hope. And frankly I believe Luna more than you right now." Hermione threw up her hands in frustration. There was no reasoning with her when she was like this. "When you finally get some common sense, come look for me. Until then I'll be with Lavender and the others," said Hermione in a huff. "I'm sorry if I drove your friend away," said Luna sadly. "I'm not. She can be a real chore to deal with sometimes. Anyway I really do believe that there is a Mare in the moon, but I think we're on the wrong planet to see her," said Dawn. Luna looked at her eyes...she was being truthful. "Do you read the Quibbler?" she asked hopefully. "Never heard of it. Though I have seen some of the kids reading a magazine on occasion." Luna dug out the most recent edition and handed it to her. Dawn started reading and when she got halfway she had to ask. "Are these creatures for real?" "Daddy thinks so," said Luna smiling. Luna neglected to mention that the only reason he wrote about obviously imaginary creatures was to keep his only daughter happy. She had been in such a depression when Selene died that when she started talking about imaginary beasts he had let her keep believing they really existed to make her smile. Eventually it became a habit neither of them could break and the damage had been done. Despite being sorted into Ravenclaw, Luna was more or less considered an honorary Gryffindor because Dawn had taken her in as a younger sister of sorts. It wasn't unusual for Luna to find herself migrating to the Gryffindor tower after class instead of hers. She had to stop doing it so often when a Prefect from Ravenclaw complained to Flitwick. However McGonagall continued to give her the password to the tower as if she were another lion and Luna was able to come in anyway. She never could get along with Hermione though. Too uptight about what was real and what wasn't. Luna woke up in her small hiding spot. She was remembering the good times before her life had been upended. She missed Dawn, who had been like an older sister to her and the only one who believed her at all. She humored Luna often about obviously fake creatures, but there were times when she genuinely believed what Luna was telling her. After seeing her father die, her grasp on reality was slipping more and more often. She was having trouble recognizing what was real and what wasn't...the only time it never came into question was when Death Eaters showed up. Her sense of danger always warned her if they were around and she became unusually lucid during that point. She heard a branch snap. Her lucidity became hazy...so this wasn't another Death Eater attack. Seeing the colorful ponies with pictures on their flanks, she believed she was having another one of her 'flights of fancy' as Ginny had so snidely called them. There were two purple colored unicorns and they seemed to be looking for something. "Hello. Is it time for tea?" she asked airily. Usually these dreams went oddly, and they ended up drinking tea or some other odd pastime. Once she even flew in the clouds...without a broom! The 'leader' unicorn suddenly focused on her voice. "Luna!" Luna blinked. That was unusually real for one of her pony dreams. She walked slowly to the unicorn and pegasus ponies so she didn't scare them. She never expected the serious purple unicorn to suddenly turn into Dawn and tackle her in a relieved hug. Feeling the dampness on her back and the tears on Dawn's face, she had the sudden realization that this might not be a dream. "Dawn?" she asked carefully. "It's Moonlight Sparkle now," she said relieved. Luna's eyes filled up with tears she had been having trouble keeping away. After seeing her father die in front of her eyes, she had barely been able to escape with her life. She hugged Dawn...no Moonlight, so tightly it was doubtful she would be letting go anytime soon. "Air! Can't breath! Seriously, help!" said Moonlight, not realizing how strong Luna could be when motivated enough. "You know this is far too familiar," sighed the second unicorn. "Why?" asked the medic. "Because this happened after Mom finally realized that yes, Moonlight was back home where she belonged. Moonlight kept making signs in the air with those same words when Mom refused to let go," said the second unicorn. The stallions and lone mare chuckled at the sight of the fearsome Moonlight Sparkle being hugged to death. Moonlight had earned a reputation for being tough among the guard ponies who treated her with respect normally only given to a particularly noted soldier. Anypony who could break a hoof and laugh it off, or take multiple visits to the castle infirmary with stride enough to actually plot bizarre escape attempts was worth their respect and recognition, even if she wasn't part of the guard just yet. If she were to take up the not-so-coveted position as Captain of the Night Guard once her training with Princess Luna was finished to the alicorn's satisfaction, then none of the older Guard ponies would even bat an eye. She earned her scars, thank you. Finally Luna let her older-sister-in-all-but-blood go and she was able to breath. Moonlight took a few deep breaths before she looked at her little sister. "Luna, we're taking you home." "Home? My home was burned down," said Luna, a bit sadly. Moonlight shook her head. "Not your human home. Remember all those stories Hermione and Ginny dismissed about the Mare in the Moon and the place where unicorn, pegasus and horses could talk like they were a regular human?" Luna looked at her, then at the ponies behind her and her mind made a connection. "You're one of the ponies." "I was taken when I was still an infant and forced to assume the form of a human. I found my way home a few years ago, but when I heard your dad was killed I had to come get you," said Moonlight. "Can I really stay with you?" begged Luna. She was so alone. She didn't want to be alone anymore. "Why do you think we came all the way out in the middle of nowhere? Princess Luna and Princess Celestia sent us to find you!" said Moonlight smiling. Luna tackled Moonlight in another hug. She wouldn't have to be alone again! "Captain, we need to get going. I'm picking up a lot of dark magic heading this way and I think they're here for her," said one of the guard ponies. He had bat wings and already considered Moonlight the head of the Night Guard. Luna had sent Night Shield personally to assist Moonlight. "Assume defensive formations. I'll start opening the portal back home. Twilight, you stay with Luna," said Moonlight, turning back into her true form. Her twin immediately flanked Luna like they had shown her. For a pacifist she was a surprisingly quick study. Seeing the Death Eaters, Moonlight didn't hesitate with her order. "Strike! Be sure to aim at the foci in their hands!" she told her group. The unicorns, all hardened veterans of the Guard and not that bothered by attack spells, struck without word or warning. Moonlight launched a particularly vicious kick using her back legs to the apparent leader of the Death Eaters. From the scream of pain it appeared she had hit Snape. She wasn't one to let an opportunity go to waste. She knocked him out cold and made sure Luna tied him up good and tight so she could interrogate him. Depending on how he answered, she might let him return with them and see if he would be interested in dating Zecora. If not...well she hadn't been that much of a fan of the greasy haired jerk to begin with. Twilight watched wide-eyed as her sister not only dealt with the humans, but had them running screaming from her. Luna didn't seem bothered at all. Snape woke up feeling like hell and knowing he was in real trouble from the fact he was securely bound and all his wands taken. To make matters worse his magic had been sealed. And the first thing he saw was Dawn Potter. "Potter!" he snarled. "I have a few questions for you Severus," she said coolly. "Go die in a ditch Potter!" he spat. "Oh, I don't think I'll be dying any time soon. You on the other hand..." she said calmly, nodding her head towards the horse-creatures that surrounded him. Not a single one looked too dangerous...one was bright pink for god's sake, but the eyes...they wouldn't hesitate to gut him if she told them. "What do you want Potter?" he said angrily. "Question one, Professor. Why are you after Luna?" "The Dark Lord didn't want her to escape. Since she was the closest of your little cohorts, he thought she might know where you went into hiding. Told us to follow her and to capture her once she made contact with anyone." "Next question, why are you serving someone who regularly tortures their minions?" "I have no other choice. It's either Dumbledore and his idiotic ideals of a greater good which allows the guilty to walk free in hopes of a redemption that will never happen, or the Dark lord and his delusions of blood purity. I became a death eater when I was having a particularly bad month and once I got the mark it was too late to go back." "Final question. If you could have your dark mark removed and allowed to escape Dumbledore and his naïve ideals of a greater good and redemption, what would you do for it?" "Who do you want dead?" said Snape without hesitation. Moonlight looked at one of the horses with black armor. "Your call Captain. He's being honest though," said the bat-horse. "I'll have to call Luna and Celestia about this... Keep a watch on him and if he tries anything, do what you deem necessary," she ordered. "Yes Captain." Princess Luna was eagerly awaiting word from her favorite student. Moonlight's face appeared in the mirror. "Well?" "I've found Luna. She's fine and eager to leave. I may have also secured a potion's master for the possible school...though that would entirely depend on whether you would allow him to come through with us. We currently have him bound and sealed under a magic suppression spell," said Moonlight. "Why?" asked Luna, going into her General mode in an instant. "Death Eater, and Dumbledore's personal pet spy. He genuinely wouldn't hesitate to jump ship if it meant a fresh start, though he hates children. If we let him come through, it might be better to leave him in the hands of Zecora for a while so he can get used to Equestria." "And leave him in the hands of someone well used to the dangers of the Everfree Forest and your regular sparring partner," said Princess Luna approvingly. "And someone he could talk to without hesitation. The man is a fanatic about potions, and Zecora, if she had been a pony, would definitely have had a cauldron for a cutie mark," agreed Moonlight. She wasn't letting him near Storm though. Not after the way he had nearly ruined her love of cooking though his horrible teaching. "He can come through, but he'll be on probation until we're sure he's not doing this to bring you to either side first,"said Princess Luna after a thought. "Magic suppressors until we're sure he's allowed to leave the Palace?" said Moonlight. "Reasonable enough," agreed Luna. "Moonlight out. See you in a bit, Teacher," said Moonlight. "Snape, we have good news and bad news." "Let's here it Potter," said Snape. "It's Sparkle actually. The good news is that Princess Luna is willing to give you a chance so you can come through with us." "And the bad news?" "Magic suppressors and you'll be confined to the Palace until you've either served a probationary period or proven that you're not trying to drag any of the citizens to either side. If you behave and impress the Princesses, then you'll be allowed to leave Canterlot and possibly move in near the only one I know who could possibly match you in potions," said Moonlight. Twilight was the one to make the connection. "You mean Zecora?" "I sincerely doubt he would be able to do anything to her. They both love potions and know them like the back of their hooves, and she lives in the Everfree Forest." "Not to mention she regularly spars with you and isn't sent to the hospital for broken bones," said Night Shield. Moonlight gave him a questioning look. He shrugged, his armor rattling slightly. "Princess Luna mentioned off hand that you had found some decent sparring partners in Ponyville of all places," he said in way of reply. Luna had been hugging Moonlight's slender neck while they walked through the portal. When she saw that full moon in the sky and felt the magic sing with hers, the realization of what was happening kicked in. She passed out on Moonlight's back, to the shock of Twilight and the Guard ponies. Though there was some debate on whether it was the shock of her passing out, or the pony form she took once she took her first breath of Equestrian air that caused them to be so surprised. She awoke in an unfamiliar landscape. It seemed like she should know this place, but the thing that bothered her most was that she was completely alone. Again. "Moonlight? Sister?" she cried out. She started crying, fearing that her loneliness and the shock of losing her father had caused her to finally snap. She felt an unfamiliar hoof patting her back. "There, there little one. I've got you now," said the voice soothingly. She turned and found a beautiful unicorn with midnight blue wings and a crescent shaped mark with the night sky as a backdrop on her flank. Her mane was like liquid stars. However it was the eyes that told her all she needed to know. "Momma?" she said in shock. Luna had blue eyes, but no one in the Lovegood family or the one Selene had come from had them. Xeno might have been suspicious as to Luna's sire had it not been for the fact that Selene had told him that the moon goddess was going to bless them with a daughter. Like many in Selene's family, she had chosen a name that honored the lunar goddess. Luna had always felt...off...in her form. Like there was something she was missing out on. The alicorn smiled at her. "My little Dreamscape. I'm so sorry that I forgot you were still on Earth. I thought you were honestly happy there..." she said. "Dreamscape?" she said. "That is your name. Your Equestrian name. Selene was one of my favorites when I blessed her with you, but you took some of my aspects by accident. So I decided to call you my little Dreamer. When I saw you with Moonlight I thought you would be happier living as a human. Had I know the world better you would have been brought home so much sooner," said the alicorn. "Big sister? Where is she?" said Dreamscape. It sounded better than her old name, and she never wanted to be called Loony Luna again. The alicorn's horn glowed briefly before Moonlight appeared. Dreamscape tackled her big sister. "OOF!" "Sister!" "Hey Dreamscape. You caused quite a stir once you turned into your pony form," said Moonlight, her hoof tousling Dream's mane. "Why big sister?" "Take a look at your reflection when you wake up," said Moonlight. "Wake up?" "Your powers were overwhelmed by Equestria's natural magic and caused you to retreat in the dream realm for protection. Fortunately Moonlight was able to alert me to the problem immediately so we were able to keep you from slipping in too deeply." "Princess Luna said that we can spend all the time we want together and that you can stay with me in Ponyville until you're ready to assume the royal duties. Apparently the fact she 'created' you for lack of a better term has caused quite the commotion among the nobles." Dreamscape looked at her big sister. "I get to stay with you?" she said, eyes hopeful. "Me, Storm, the twins, and if you're up to it, Hermione. Though she seems to have mellowed out a bit once she finally realized that you weren't crazy, but just as misplaced as I was. You should have seen her reaction when she accidentally found a copy of the Mare in the Moon and realized some of your stories were from here!" chuckled Moonlight. "So are you ready to wake up, my little Dreamer?" asked the Princess. "I'm ready to wake up now momma," said Dreamer. Dreamer woke up and found Moonlight curled around her, and the Princess' wings keeping her safe and warm. She nuzzled against Moonlight, glad to have that familiar scent by her again. "Time to get up, my little Dreamer," said Luna. "Yes momma," said Dreamer. It was nice to have a mother again. Dreamer looked at the nearby vanity and wondered why her appearance had caused such a stir. She had a silvery mane and a deep blue coat. Her flank had a cutie mark, this one of the dreamscape she had woken up in with a silvery moon on the horizon. Between her ears was a horn, rather sharp looking that went about four inches off her head. On her back was a pair of wings that looked a lot like the alicorn princess'. She noticed that Moonlight didn't have wings, but she did have a horn and a few well hidden scars. She was just like momma! Celestia was eager to meet her new 'niece'. Really, finding out Luna had given another woman a child using a piece of her own power had come as quite a shock. Finding out the girl in question had become an alicorn the second she came into Equestria, more so. At least Cadence wasn't the youngest of the Princesses anymore. She would probably love to spend more time with Dreamer, and by extension Twilight since Moonlight lived in the same town. Luna came in with her apprentice Moonlight...and was followed by a silver maned alicorn filly a few years younger than Twilight who had a coat the same shade of blue as her sister. The filly also had an unusual cutie mark, with a rising moon coming out of a sea of stars. This was Dreamscape, or Luna's little Dreamer as she so fondly called her. "Come along now Dreamer, you don't want to keep your Aunt Tia waiting do you?" said Luna fondly. "No momma. Is Aunt Tia nice?" "Think Dumbledore, only without the naïve view that everyone can be reformed and doesn't consider the 'greater good' her motivation," said Moonlight. Dreamer scowled. "I don't like that mean old bumblebee," she said. "Neither do I, little sister, neither do I..." said Moonlight. Celestia frowned. Why did she sound like a young filly rather than the teenager she clearly was? "Not interrupting anything I hope?" said Celestia, stepping out of the shadow. "Hello Tia. Dreamer, say hello to your aunt." "Hi auntie," said Dreamer happily. Celestia looked at Moonlight, who seemed to be rather close to this new alicorn. "Dreamer was raised in a rather remote village and the only other filly her age wasn't a very nice pony to begin with. She was mocked because no one recognized her special talent for what it was, and I was the only pony who knew that her stories about a Mare in the Moon were actually real. She thinks of me as her big sister since I was the first pony who believed her stories," explained Moonlight. Celestia hid a wince. Loneliness and that recent shock of her father dying? Not a good combination. "Moonlight has been kind enough to offer one of the spare beds in her house so that Dreamer here can learn her royal duties without being overwhelmed by the court. Her presence is going to cause a big enough headache without having her being swamped by her status," said Luna. "I get to stay with big sister!" said Dreamer. "So she's not going to be your secretary anymore?" asked Celestia. Time to find a new one. "Oh, I'll still act as secretary. Dreamer will just join me in the lessons under an illusion," said Moonlight. "Can you tell Twilight that Cadence will be around in a week or so? She has to finish a few things over in Manehatten before she comes to see you," said Celestia. Moonlight gave her a salute with one hoof. She had heard about Cadence from her mother, though she had only met her once. She seemed nice enough. "Cadence is coming here? To Ponyville?" squealed Twilight. "Who's Cadence?" asked Hermione, looking up from her book. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, aka Cadence, the Princess of Love. She is the many times great niece of Princess Celestia and is currently acting as goodwill ambassador to the various lands surrounding the pony-ruled countries. Rumor has it that a certain stallion is currently trying to court her, but can't do so openly." Moonlight was looking at a still dancing Twilight with amusement, and Hermione was the one who caught the connection. She raised an eyebrow and Moonlight nodded. As Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor had responsibilities. One of which was to protect the Princesses, including the younger ones from harm. If he was courting Cadence, he would have to be discreet until he finally proposed to her, lest the nobles raise a stink. "So how do you know Cadence Twilight?" asked Hermione. "Cadence is only the most amazing foal-sitter ever!" said Twilight enthusiastically. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Foal-sitter? She had a Princess as a foal-sitter?" Moonlight saddled up to her old friend. "I've spoken to Luna when I found out exactly who Cadence was. Apparently Twilight and I have some sort of special guiding star that only comes once a thousand years, which gives us a special destiny if we fulfill certain conditions. There hasn't been a cutie mark for Magic and Balance before." "Ugh...you and your prophecies. Keep me out of this one," said Hermione. "So why exactly is a Princess coming to Ponyville? I doubt it's to come visit Twilight." "Remember my little sister who preferred to fly instead of roar?" she asked amused. This was fun. "Fly instead of... Luna Lovegood?! Why would she be coming for Luna?" "It's Dreamscape now. Apparently Luna is really the daughter of Princess Luna after her mother begged the Moon Goddess for a daughter, and Princess Luna was the one who answered. She has the power to manipulate and see into dreams as her special talent." Hermione's eyes widened. "So all those creatures she saw?" "Was her loosing grip on reality because she didn't know what she was seeing...well occasionally. Some of the things were from seeing pony dreams and picking things up," said Moonlight. "So where is Luna...I mean Dreamscape now?" "Sister!" came a cry, before Moonlight was tackled. Hermione's jaw dropped in shock. "An Alicorn?! Luna Lovegood became an Alicorn?!" she nearly shrieked. "Not everypony can go into the dreamscape. She's a second generation alicorn, according to Celestia," said Moonlight. Hermione fainted. Dreamer giggled as she floated inside Moonlight's bubble. She was a few years older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves. Luna believed that it was partially out of the shock she had sustained and the need to learn control over her powers on dreams. Hence why she was now younger than she actually was. "So is this Princess Dream?" asked Twilight. "This is Dreamer. She'll be living with me here in Ponyville and Cadence will commute a few times a week so she can teach Dreamer during the day about court duties. At night she'll join me in Canterlot to learn from Luna," said Moonlight. "Won't this cause a stir in Ponyville when they find out an alicorn is living here?" asked Twilight. "Nope. Dreamer, remember that spell I showed you?" "Yup! I'm ready to practice big sister!" said Dreamer, settling down on the ground. Dreamer opened her blue eyes and spoke Moonlight's personally made spell. "All is one, one is all!" Her eyes glowed and she split into two fillies. One was a pegasus, the other was a unicorn. It was an interesting side effect for an alicorn. "Ah. I see how you plan to hide it." "She'll hide under an illusion for her age and join Storm in class, while her pegasus half stays with Cadence who originally was a pegasus." "Really? I didn't know that!" "Cadence only became a princess after her Cutie Mark appeared for the first time and she had to solve a little mess that had happened. I heard about it from Luna," said Moonlight. "I still don't get why you're able to get away with calling her just Luna. Most nobles would rip you to shreds for being so familiar with the Princess..." "She knows I wasn't raised a pony, and besides saying Princess Luna every sentence is a bit of a mouthful. Luna is the more militaristic of the sisters, remember? She doesn't need to be reminded of her rank every sentence, so she finds the fact I just call her by name refreshing." "So why does the new princess call you sister?" asked Twilight. She was just a bit jealous. "I was the only one who genuinely believed her about the Mare in the Moon. Humans don't have a ruler who governs the sun and the moon remember? I more or less adopted her as my little sister with the blessings of her father and she was often in the Gryffindor tower instead of the Ravenclaw one," said Moonlight. "Daddy made it official when he went to see the goblins. Said that in the event of his death all the Lovegood family gold and magic was to go to Dawn since she was the eldest," said Dreamer. "What?!" said Moonlight. This was news to her! "The goblins hate Dumbledore and the Lovegood family is known to be neutral. When you claimed me as your little sister he went to the goblin clans and asked to have it made official. How else did you think we managed to get you away from the horse and walrus third year?" Twilight worked this over in her head. "So I have a little sister as well as a nephew now?" she said. "Dreamer is an odd platypus, but she's harmless. I'm sure she'll warm up to you once she gets to know you," said Moonlight. "What's a platypus?" asked Twilight. Moonlight conjured an image of one for her. "What the heck is that thing supposed to be? It's like a beaver crossed with a duck!" "That's a platypus for you," shrugged Moonlight. Twilight grew speculative when she looked at it. "I wonder if Fluttershy has one in her cottage?" "Thanks for reminding me. Want to get a pet Dreamer?" "Yay!" "We should bring Storm too... I've been meaning to get him one for a while now." Twilight was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the train. Cadence had never been to Ponyville before, so she needed to visit it at least once before she use it as a point of reference for a teleport. Moonlight was there as well, acting as the Princess' guard until she headed to Canterlot. The train slowed to a stop, and Twilight was practically bouncing on her hooves. Finally a Pegasus with a heart for a cutie mark came out. "Cadence!" she squealed. "Twilight!" The two of them danced on their hooves, repeating their special phrase. "Sunshine Sunshine, Ladybug's awake! Do a little dance and give a little shake!" they repeated laughing. "Hello Cadence," said Moonlight politely. "Hello Moonlight. So where is Dreamer?" "She's waiting at the cottage with Storm. I thought it would be better for you and Twilight to have a chance to catch up first," said Moonlight. Cadence nodded. Moonlight was actually part of the Lunar Guard, which was the reason why most of the time she was the only one protecting Princess Luna during the night. However she spent most of her time acting as Luna's secretary. Hence why Cadence could get away with only having one pony to act as her 'guard' while she visited Ponyville. Anyone Princess Luna accepted as her personal guard had to be quite extraordinary in their ability to use magic and hoof-to-hoof combat. Twilight and Cadence caught up while Moonlight kept half an eye for trouble. Not likely, this close to Canterlot, but it was still a possibility with the portals that came into their world. Not to mention the forest. "Welcome to my humble home, Princess," said Moonlight opening the door. Dreamer would have done a flying tackle had it not been for Moonlight's cough in warning. "I thought there was only one new alicorn?" asked Cadence confused. "It's my personal spell. A unicorn who has been exposed to Terran magic long enough can split themselves into two and absorb the memories with the counter. Dreamer here was a witch before she was an alicorn, so she can perform the full spell," explained Moonlight. "I am the All and the world is the One," intoned Dreamer. The unicorn vanished into the pegasus, becoming an alicorn. Then Cadence noticed something odd next to the filly. "What in Equestria is that?" she had to ask. It had the bill of a duck and the claws and tail of a beaver. "Platypus. Turns out Fluttershy did in fact have one, and Dreamer fell in love with it. Storm said he would wait for Hedwig's eggs to hatch," said Moonlight with a shrug. Hedwig had been courted by Twilight's owl Owlowiscious and had become broody until she laid five eggs. They were due to hatch in a month, and it would take a few weeks before they were able to fly. Frankly Moonlight was glad Hedwig had found an owl worth her time. "Dreamer, this is Princess Cadence. I suppose she would be your cousin in a sense," said Moonlight. As far as she was aware, only Luna had ever become a mother who's children became alicorns. Celestia had a few children as well, but they generally became unicorns. There were only three...well now four, alicorns in Equestria at any time. According to Celestia, Cadence had descended from Luna's daughter Princess Aria, the one in charge of the Crystal Kingdom which went missing after a major incident. Moonlight had become fascinated with the Kingdom itself and was searching for any artifacts from that time. "Anyway Cadence here will be your tutor in pony politics. Since you're still young and have no real control over your special talent, you don't have any duties, but it would be easier all around to have someone teaching you so you don't accidentally insult anyone by mistake," said Moonlight. "And what about you?" asked Dreamer. "I'm here as her personal bodyguard as well as yours. Twilight will likely stay here for a bit to spend time with Cadence and Storm?" "I'll head over to Aunties. I sat through three Night Courts...I don't wanna stick around for more of that boring stuff." "You could always hang out with the girls for a bit. Zecora is currently in Canterlot helping reform Snape." Snape was currently still under probation after the removal of his dark mark. Part of that was acting as the resident potionsmaster for the Guard and brewing healing remedies to speed up recovery time. Several guards actually liked him to a point because he could brew Skelegrow and knew the bone-mending spell from Pomphrey. Moonlight honestly had no idea that Snape was an accredited Healer after he spent three years learning to improve his healing potions. She shuddered at the idea of being at his tender care after one of her misadventures. Pomphrey was bad enough. Storm cheered up and went to see Scootaloo for some fun. The girls had taken him into their little group since he still wasn't sure what his cutie mark was. Moonlight had an ongoing bet with Applejack and Rarity as to which filly would fall for Storm first. If it was Sweetie Belle, then there was no way he was ever letting her cook. Seeing how she had ruined a simple recipe during the one time they had tried to cook in a way they still couldn't explain had been telling enough. Storm was out of the house while Moonlight made a fresh pitcher of iced tea. This was going to be a long several hours. Thank Equestria Luna had given her the next few nights off. Luna was finishing up another Night Court session when she looked at her apprentice/secretary. Moonlight was infinitely better than the last one Celestia had tried to lend her. For one thing she never complained of later hours and was an excellent multitasker. (Her personal favorite thing about Moonlight was that she doubled as her personal Guard. No more stuffy guard ponies who couldn't look her in the eye while speaking to her!) "I heard an antique shop in Manehatten has acquired a set of Guard pony armor from the Crystal Kingdom," said Luna conversationally. "Really?" said Moonlight, perking up. Her next night off was in two days. "It would be an absolute shame if it were to fall into some stuffy collector's treasure trove and frankly we were having trouble finding any armor that suited you." Which was untrue. Luna had one commissioned, but since Moonlight wasn't like most other guards she had yet to give it to her. The last thing Moonlight needed was her armor when she was acting as a secretary. "Are you saying..." "You can take tomorrow and the next three days off to find the Crystal Guard armor and see if the rumor was true. If it is I want you to get it before it become another museum piece," said Luna. Since it was a good lesson for the kids, Moonlight took Dreamer, Storm and the Cutie Mark Crusaders on a trip to Manehatten with Rarity helping her chaperone in exchange for being allowed to hit some of the fabric stores later. It took Moonlight a few hours to find the antique store she had heard about, and five seconds to realize that the 'Crystal Guard armor' was not as advertised. It was made of special Crystals, but it wasn't Crystal Guard make. It was much more valuable. "Excuse me, how much is that armor?" asked Moonlight. "Fan of history are you?" asked the clerk with a smile. "Pretty much," said Moonlight, neglecting to mention that Princess Luna had sent her. "Well that is a rare set of armor, and even though it's missing a few pieces you won't find a more complete set anywhere. The entire set is twenty-thousand bits," said the clerk. That was highway robbery, but the risk of losing the armor was far too great. "Is bartering an option?" she asked. "Always," said the clerk. "The armor and that stack of books from Starswirl's time for twenty," she said. "Deal!" Moonlight found some very rare fabric in the corner of the store, still in good condition and bought that as well. "So how did it go?" asked Rarity. "I had the armor sent to my cottage, and I picked up a present for Twilight and Hermione both. And this is for you, in thanks for helping me keep track of the foal patrol," said Moonlight. The second Rarity saw the fabric she squealed in delight. "That's genuine Manedarin fabric! Do you have any idea how rare it is to find such delicately woven and intricate fabrics outside of Manedarin China?" she said in happiness. "I had a feeling you would like it. It was just sitting on a shelf and I got a really good deal on all the fabrics I found in there. Consider it a gift." Rarity was practically dancing. This fabric was not only rare, but extremely expensive even when it was recent. The older the fabric, the more the price shot up. And this particular set of fabric was very old indeed. "How did it go?" asked Luna, crossing her front hooves. "Great. Rarity loves the Manedarin fabric I bought her and the armor wasn't what it was advertised at all," said Moonlight. "A fake then?" said Luna. She looked mildly disappointed. "Actually no. It was Crystal-pony armor, just not the guard. I still bought it," said Moonlight, inwardly smirking. The shock alone would be worth the amount she paid for it. "Really? What type of armor is it then?" Moonlight was openly grinning now, and Dreamer had a magical camera ready to capture Luna's expression when she brought it out. Moonlight levitated the armor out of the box it had been sent in, and Dreamer caught Luna's gobsmacked expression of shocked disbelief. Luna was so surprised that she accidentally slipped into the Royal Canterlot Voice...fortunately Moonlight had anticipated that might happen so she had prepared accordingly. "YOU FOUND THE ROYAL CRYSTAL ARMOR IN AN ANTIQUE SHOP?!" she all but shrieked. Hearing her shriek, several guards burst into the room. Then they saw the armor and how Luna wasn't in danger and left. But word would spread that the Royal Crystal Armor, the basis for all Crystal armor, had been found entirely by accident in an antique shop. In Manehatten. For twenty thousand bits. It was the stuff dreams were made of for collectors and historians. Several would kick themselves for not buying the curiosity when they had the chance as several had come to at least look at it, but had left it alone after they found pieces were missing. It sparked a renewed interest in the Crystal Kingdom, and Celestia felt that this was the perfect time to release the true tale of what happened. After what happened to Luna, most of the noble lines responsible for her transformation had either been wiped out by poverty or had been reduced to a few scant members...and no one was stupid enough to restart a fuss over something a thousand years in the past. Moonlight kept the armor though, mostly because she wanted to try her hand at restoring it...and because she had paid for it with the wages she earned as Luna's secretary. Would have been a different story had Luna given her the bits to buy the armor directly. The real historians consoled themselves that at least it was in the home of a pony who would appreciate it for the armor's historical value and the fact that the one who bought it recognized what it actually was without being told. Had they known she planned to restore the armor in the hopes of wearing it they might have been less accepting. "So there are caves beneath the Canterhorn full of crystals?" said Moonlight, perking up. "Not the same quality as the ones in the Kingdom, but still good enough that the House of Ruby made sure to secure rights to it the first chance they got. At least before the incident that lost the Kingdom anyway," said Luna. "Who owns it now?" "Right now it's up for grabs, though the Palace controls the majority of it. I doubt anyone remembers that there is anything worth mining there. It's been abandoned for the better part of five centuries according to Celestia, after the last of Ruby died out." "Hmm... spelunking is considered an interesting hobby..." said Moonlight. "Spelunking?" asked Luna. "Cave exploration and diving," explained Moonlight. "Fascinating. I would recommend having wings out if you explore though...some of the areas are little more than chasms with sharp rocks and the only way anywhere is to fly." "I'll keep that in mind." "I'd join you if I could get away with it," said Luna. Night Court was dead boring. "Why not? We could take a few hours before you have to raise the moon to explore the caves." "Should we bring Storm and Dreamer?" "Maybe later, once I'm certain they're safe for foal exploration first." "Good thinking," said Luna. Celestia brought up the subject of the caves during her lunch and Luna's breakfast. "I hear that you and your apprentice are taking some time off court to explore the Canterhorn caves." "She sounded interested in them and I needed the break," said Luna. "I'm just surprised is all." "You've been bothering me to get a hobby," said Luna irritated. "I know, I'm just wondering why you told her about the caves after what happened." "Moonlight is to be one of the new blood. Even you sensed that when you took her twin to be your apprentice. Tis better to lay a foundation that would allow her to see me as an ally now than to give her the chance to develop any ideas of overthrowing us," said Luna flatly. Celestia winced, but conceded her point. Moonlight was one of the strongest unicorns alive right now...her sister had the power as well, but unlike her Moonlight wasn't indoctrinated towards serving another without a good reason. If she saw that confounded Dumbledore she wouldn't hesitate to have him hung for what he did. He very nearly brought all out war through his actions. Dumbledore was furious. The twins had left, taking the notes with them. His phoenix had never returned, and to top it all off, his pet spy had either been captured by outside sources or killed. He was betting on the former since he had overheard from another source that Voldemort was pissed because Snape hadn't returned as ordered. To add to his anger, the last real pawn he had against Dawn Potter had vanished around the same time as Snape. He was almost at his wits end trying to reclaim the savior. He had only one last trick to use. When the pawns failed, it was time to take matters into his own hands. Dumbledore retrieved the necessary ingredients before he prepared the ritual. It would send him to whomever he specified, and hopefully catch the brat off guard enough to capture her before she could stop him. It wasn't like she had a wand anymore. Only four years of magical education and no wand? This was too easy. Moonlight was about to fix another batch of special tea when she felt the magic build up. It had an ominous feel to it, so she didn't hesitate. "Dreamer, get Storm to Twilight's house and barricade the area!" she said in a calm panic. Dreamer grabbed Storm and Hedwig's nest before she vanished to Twilight's library. Moonlight saw the shield go up without hesitation trapping them all inside. She then apparated roughly to the palace. The magic seemed to be following her magical signature. Seeing the guards surround her, she barked "Traveler inbound! Be prepared for a fight...this magic doesn't feel too pleasant and it appears to be following my signature!" The guards made a loose circle around her. Her fellow Night Guards made the inner ring, having put their armor on in a hurry through dint of long practice for emergencies such as this. There was a loud thunder crash, and a wave of magic that did not feel pleasant at all as an ancient unicorn appeared roughly. Magic crackled around his horn, cracked with age and poor use. Moonlight had taken the moments before the unicorn appeared to summon her armor from it's place. It had taken her a few moments to slip inside of it and secure the metal on her chest. Seeing the eyes twinkle, Moonlight growled. "Dumbledore," she snarled. "Potter." Moonlight didn't bother to speak another word to the man who almost ruined her life. "Capture him alive. The Princess wants to talk to this kidnapper and blackguard!" ordered Moonlight. "Yes Captain!" said the Night Guard. Dumbledore's horn blasted something black in color and would have been deadly if he hadn't been faced with actual combat veterans. Moonlight had earned her armor through sweat and scars. She might lack in experience, but that was something easily remedied. The Night Guard considered her their captain even if she didn't officially have that position just yet. "All is One, One is All!" she said loudly. She split into two, her armor forming over Dusk while her's stayed on. They split apart and charged at the same time. Dumbledore blasted them both, only to miss as her shield threw the magic off into one of the hedges. Suddenly a shield sprang about them, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who had cast it. Shining Armor had arrived with reinforcements. Including Celestia, who had heard the blasts. Dawn and Dusk bucked Dumbledore into the shield, and he crashed against it. The force had been so strong that it gave the guard the chance to hit him with a magic-suppression spell and to slap a special ring around his horn. His magic sputtered and cut off as the ring absorbed it all and kept it inside. "What in blazes is going on?" demanded Celestia, Luna arriving from her tower. "This blackguard tried to capture me. He almost came into my home, so I brought him to Canterlot before he could arrive fully," said Dawn, glaring at the dazed Dumbledore. "Ma'am, this unicorn appeared in a teleportation spell similar to the one we've encountered before, and attacked without provocation!" said Night Shield. "Any idea who he is or which side sent him?" "It's that Tartarus-cursed Dumbledore. Fool must have cast the spell since none of his minions succeeded," spat Moonlight, having absorbed the second form out of practice. "This is Dumbledore?" said Celestia, eyes narrowing. "I'd recognize that cursed eye-twinkle anywhere," confirmed Moonlight. Dumbledore was thrown into one of the deeper dungeons under so many magic absorbing spells that it was impossible for him to escape. He was in for an uncomfortable shock when Celestia finally deigned to see him. And she was pissed. "So...you are the blackguard who tried to steal my apprentice," said Princess Luna coldly. She was on the verge of unleashing the Nightmare on him. Dumbledore was in a sad state. His magic had been stripped from him by the ring that the guards had left on his horn and since he had no idea how to cast magic without his horn (which was his wand) he was all but helpless. Seeing the unicorn standing beside the Princess of the Night, he wondered why the horse looked so angry at him. Moonlight walked in, her armor polished to a sheen and securely fastened to her body. It was a darker variant of the Royal Guard's armor and one uniquely suited to the Night Guard. "I knew you would go dark without guidance, Potter," said Dumbledore. "I would rather be considered Dark by your pawns than to be a mere slave to your pitiful ideas, Dumbledore," spat Moonlight, taking rank next to Luna and standing at attention. "Albus Dumbledore. Headmaster of Hogwarts and the one who defeated the previous dark lord. You stand in this chamber accused of kidnapping, enslavement, attempted murder, trespassing and child abuse. How do you plead?" said Luna. "Am I to have no jury or witness to my defense?" countered Dumbledore. "You came to this world on your own power, Human. We did not allow you to breach our barriers, or give permission to use Our Captain of the Night Guard in your petty war. You took a child from Our people through force and tried to enslave her to your whims. You should be grateful my sister even allowed for you even have a trial at all instead of hanging you from the gallows in your world for every magical and muggle to see," said Luna coldly. Celestia walked in that moment, her personal Guards carrying a cage with a familiar bird. "Fawkes! What have you done to him?" "Your familiar has been imprisoned for his crimes. Did you think we wouldn't learn exactly how one of Our citizens was taken from their crib in the middle of Our city?" said Celestia. Dumbledore realized then and there that this wasn't a trial. It was the precursor to his punishment for stealing one of their own and trying to use the child in his plans. "Being that as it may, while hanging is indeed what We would prefer, Our Captain had another suggestion. Since it appears that we are unable to keep your affairs from spilling into Our peaceful realm...we shall end your war for you and do what we can to fix the damage you have caused with your meddling," said Luna. Moonlight had had enough of the Pureblood nonsense, and there was no way she was letting this war spill over into her world any more than it already had. Which was why she had convinced the Princesses to let her take some of the guard and put their practices into use to end the war permanently...and then give the English a good kick to the backside they so desperately needed. This wasn't a new player entering into the equation. This was an invasion until they were able to stand on their own. And the best part of it was that Dumbledore had caused this when he took Moonlight from her family. The Ponies were going to war. "War?!" shrieked Twilight. No pony had even considered violence against another, much less a war against another species. Outside the guard, some didn't even practice combat. Battle magic wasn't even a required course at Celestia's school. "Frankly I think it's about bloody time. The sooner we sort out that mess the fewer magicals will come here to live," said Hermione. She had not been happy to hear Snape had been reformed and was currently living in the Everfree Forest near Zecora's house. With the way things were going, Snape would either move to the rolling grasslands where the Zebras lived and find a nice girl to settle with, or he would end up with Zecora. Hermione was hoping he would move first. "But still... War?" "Twilight, we're not telling you to join me. At most we're taking the more restless and brash of the Guards available to deal with this mess. To be fair it wouldn't even take that long to clean this up...the real problem would be waiting for them to establish an acceptable government, but I had the feeling we could leave that headache to the muggles instead," said Moonlight. "Smart. Tell the Prime Minister that all he has to do to be rid of the terrorist problem is to look the other way at the fact that ponies are cleaning up the mess and that he has to insure this never happens again and he'll deal with the rest," said Hermione. Moonlight snorted. "I'll be sure to take pictures of the look on Voldemort's face when he realizes exactly who are wiping out his forces..." said Moonlight. Hermione laughed hard at that idea. "I'm sure Fred and George would help!" she said between her giggles. The idea of brightly colored ponies who looked like something out of a children's cartoon show beating up the Death Eaters was so funny to imagine that she couldn't help her laughter. "I'm positive the Prime Minister would enjoy hanging these blackguards for their crimes. No need to dirty pony hooves with human lives," said Moonlight. Twilight calmed down at that. "You're not going to have the guards kill them?" "Of course not! It would give the idiot pure bloods a reason to come after us. We'll hand them over to the same muggles they fear so much to hang by the handful. These pure bloods think they're above the muggles and their laws. It's time to give them a reality check and a warning not to bring their wars into our world once and for all." Perhaps a treaty could be established with the Queen later, but for now they had to end this nonsense once and for all before it tore Equestria apart. Moonlight appeared in the Prime Minister's office with Luna in tow. It was better to make a strong showing at the start than to give him a false impression now. "Who's there?" he demanded. Moonlight stepped out of the shadows, Luna next to her looking every inch a warrior princess. "Who are you?!" "My name is Dawn Potter, though my true name is Moonlight Sparkle. This is Princess Luna of Equestria." "Greetings," she said politely. "What do you want?" he said, his heart rate going down a bit. "We're here to help you of course. Your magical problem is spilling over into our world and we intend to give the wizards a reason to remember they are not on top of the food chain as they seem to believe. All you would have to do is give us a letter of Marquis and a written statement from the Queen not to interfere and we'll clean up the mess," said Moonlight smoothly. A letter of Marquis would allow them to act without impunity to a point and keep those responsible for keeping the laws from arresting anyone who fell under her group. It used to be a way to legalize piracy back when that was still a viable occupation. The letter from the Queen was just to insure that she remembered who was cleaning house and keep the other nations from interfering later. The Prime Minister's shock died down and a calculating look entered his eye. "You'll deal with this terrorist nonsense? What do you want in return?" "We'll hand them over and bind their magic," corrected Moonlight calmly. "We will not have our subjects dirty themselves with the lives of a human. Not when these people need to remember whom they serve. We already have one of the magicals in custody for kidnapping, among other crimes. When this war is over We shall hand him over to you for a trip to the gallows," said Luna. "Can I have his name at least?" "Albus Dumbledore, the so called leader of the 'Light' side. The irony is that we wouldn't be here had he not kidnapped one of our people seventeen years ago to act as his pawn in his game," said Moonlight. "I will have to speak to the Queen. I don't have the power to hand over a Letter of Marquis to anyone." "We shall come back in a week's time," said Luna. "Very well. Same time I suppose?" They nodded, and vanished into the portal. He got up from his desk and took a long pull from a hidden bottle of scotch. Once he had fortified himself for what was to come, he started making calls. He had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. "A letter of Marquis, really?" said Hermione when she heard Moonlight's demands to clean up the Death Eaters. "It was all your fault. If you hadn't shown me that movie Pirates of the Caribbean then given me that book on actual piracy I wouldn't have known that they used to legalize pirates," said Moonlight. Hermione rolled her eyes. Moonlight had been interested after seeing the first movie and after reading the book she had remembered about it before their meeting. "So what are you going to do?" "Luna went back to get the Letter and the Queen's decree that we are allowed to clean house for her and they opened up one of the old towers for us to toss the Death Eaters. The Queen wasn't too happy with the pure bloods and from what I heard she's actually considering a fresh review of the old tools in the Tower of London as a lesson to them. Said that it would be an open show for the wizards as a warning to whom they serve." "The Tower... Please tell me you're exaggerating!" "She's had them cleaning the old blades so that the Death Eaters will at least have clean and sharp ones to feel. Something about not wanting them to die from infection too quickly. I even heard that they're dragging some of the more esoteric ones out of storage just for people like the Lestrange trio and the Malfoy clans... and no, I am not joking about this," said Moonlight. Moonlight had her full armor on, and the mark of the Captain was emblazoned where her cutie mark would be. Luna said that if she was going to be heading into a warzone, then she had might as well give the filly the spot that was waiting for her if only to keep the idiots in line. Twenty unicorns from the battle division, ten medics, and thirty pegasi were awaiting her orders. Among them was Sirius Black himself. He wasn't letting her go in alone. "Stallions and Mares, we are on the brink of battle. I'm not going to sugar coat the truth. We are heading into a world where violence is common and reason is struggling to be heard. The humans we are going to be dealing with believe themselves to be the cream of the crop, that any first generation magical isn't worthy of living, let alone learning magic. All of you are volunteers, some of you hoping to make a name for yourselves or the possibility of advancement. I have only one order to those of you who haven't yet blooded your hooves in battle. Keep your ego in check or I will put it in place for you. I'll not tolerate loose cannons in this group when we are in a world where the enemy won't hesitate to kill and strip your corpse," said Moonlight crisply. Several stood at attention hearing that. Moonlight looked at the nearest cocky unicorn. "I'll not lie to you. This is a dangerous mission and we are only going into battle to keep any more of their mess from spilling back into Equestria. We are the first line of defense against these magicals and their society and I will not allow any more of them trying to come into our world." One unicorn was brave enough to raise a hoof. "Lieutenant Fair Skies, you may speak." "Captain Sparkle, why did the Princess' change their mind about allowing the magicals in?" "The last one to appear without permission is the one who kidnapped one of our own seventeen years ago. If that human can find his way here, then so can the Dark Lord that's causing so much trouble over there. I will never allow that creature to take one breath of Equestrian air, or step one hoof on it's soil." She looked at her soldiers. "Are there any other questions?" They were silent. "Very well. Prepare for march!" said Moonlight. The Guard lined up in threes. One to guard either side of the medics and give them time to use their spells. "Forward!" said Moonlight. She walked through the portal first, leading to the Black Ancestral Home which Sirius had offered as a base camp. With Dumbledore missing the Order had fled the house believing it to be compromised. "Secure the house and don't skimp out on any charms to clean. If the portrait gives you trouble blast it," said Moonlight. "Sir, yes sir!" they saluted. Time to make base camp secure. Sirius looked at Moonlight. "What's the plan?" "Secure an extra safe house. Care to join me in visiting the Longbottom clan?" "Gladly. I'll be your support," said Sirius without hesitation. "Dawn!" said Neville in surprise. "Hello Neville. Is your grandmother home?" asked Moonlight. "I am. May I ask the purpose of barging into my home Ms. Potter?" "Sparkle, actually. I'm only a Potter by blood adoption. I'm here to offer an alliance and front row seats to the end of the Lestrange family." "Go on," said Augusta. "I've been given full amnesty in exchange for...cleaning house...so to speak of the pure blood families. My group will be capturing the Death Eaters and any Light side idiots stupid enough to try something and handing them over to the muggles. The Queen is planning to reopen one of the Towers in London as a message to the pure blood factions that she isn't tolerating this behavior any more. I've heard that she's had some of her spies brushing up on the older tools and their use for the Death Eaters." "Sensible. May I ask what the house of Longbottom can do for your group?" "Supply the food and give us an extra safe house to come should our base be compromised. An alliance would give you a bit of leeway when the Queen retakes the Ministry and reminds them that they serve the Crown, not the other way around. And it would insure that the House of Longbottom finally has it's due when it comes to the Lestrange family trying to end it's next head and the heir in the same night," said Moonlight bluntly. Neville's eyes lit up in realization. "Are your troops all vegetarians like you?" he asked. "More or less, aside from Sirius here." "I'd kill for some bacon, but unfortunately they're more or less plant eaters in Moonlight's home," said Sirius wistfully. "I would have to talk it over with the family, but an alliance sounds likely," said Augusta calmly. "So what's your real name?" asked Neville. Moonlight had always been kind to him. "Moonlight Sparkle. I even have a twin that's the pony version of Hermione, including her insane study habits," said Moonlight. Neville winced. He remembered Hermione's insane study guides. A few hours later Augusta approached them. "The House of Longbottom is in agreement. We will agree to an alliance in exchange for the end of the Lestrange family and protection from the Muggles once they take over," said Augusta. Moonlight handed over a piece of parchment. The alliance was straightforward enough, but it was always better to get it in writing. Neville, however, wasn't interested in just supplying the food. He wanted to do his part as well, and Moonlight had always been a friend to him. "Yes Neville?" "Can I come join you at your base? It wouldn't feel right to let outsiders do all the work," he said. "Hmm...some of the Apple clan have been wanting to meet the infamous Green Mage I told them about... and one of the medics in my team is from that family. Come along then." "Just to warn you lad, they might look cute and cuddly but a more dangerous group of fighters you'll never see again," warned Sirius. "Cute and cuddly?" "You'll see in a minute. We promise to keep him safe," said Sirius to Augusta. "Do. Or else Black," she growled. He gave her a salute before they apparated to Grimmauld Place. Moonlight did a quick inspection of the house. It was acceptable but that was it. "Status?" she barked. "The base is in decent condition Captain. Supplies are in poor state, we'll have to restock soon." "I've gotten an alliance that should deal with that. Everyone, meet Neville Longbottom...in pony terms he's like a unicorn who specializes in Earth pony magic," said Moonlight. "Wonder if he would get along with the Apple clan," said Night Shield. Moonlight considered that, before she had an open grin. "Applejack would probably love meeting him," she admitted. "Are you trying to set up all the available ponies in Ponyville?" joked Star Jumper, one of the newer ponies in the Night Guard. "Only my friends. Besides, Applejack would be good for him," said Moonlight grinning. Moonlight's first act was to find a Death Eater base through one of their newer recruits...and raid it. Seeing the shocked looks of the murderers and rapists, she felt dark satisfaction revealing her human form. Neville gravitated towards the medics under her command and learning how to heal through plants and magic. She had always suspected he would do better as a healer rather than a fighter. Over the course of several weeks, Moonlight cleared out minor bases. Then she got a message from Princess Luna. Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony in Equestria, had escaped his stone prison. Moonlight had to return at once in the event Twilight and the others had to use the Elements of Harmony. As the Element of Balance, she might be able to stop Discord without them. She got a bit of a surprise when she made it to Canterlot though. "Momma! Look, look!" said Storm dancing around Moonlight excitedly. "What is it, my little Storm?" asked Moonlight. Storm moved his wings so she could see his flank. "I got my Cutie Mark!" Storm's Cutie Mark was highly unusual. It looked like one of the rain makers the pegasi used to create new rain clouds. Except there was something odd about it. As far as Moonlight was aware, the rain makers brought forth rain clouds, not rainbow clouds. "What is that?" she asked, honestly curious. "Your son," said Princess Luna with some amusement, "Apparently has the ability to combine potions with rain clouds. He and Dreamer were on a field trip with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to Cloudsdale and during a tour of the weather making facilities he accidentally dropped one of the potions he's been making for the Apple family into one of the machines to make clouds. The next thing the manager knew, there were multicolored clouds hovering over the farmlands raining potion-filled drops of water that made the plants grow faster." "I was arguing with one of the other Pegasus colts who was making fun of my stripes," said Storm embarrassed. "Well I think it's amazing. How many Pegasi can change the weather? Can you imagine how useful potion clouds can be if used correctly? You could rain an antidote on ponies who are sick with the feather flu, or play pranks with temporary potions," said Moonlight. "That's what I said when I heard what happened," said Princess Luna. She was fond of Storm Dancer, mostly because he was like a brother to Dreamer. "Now where's my sister and the others?" "Celestia has sent them down to the maze to try and retrieve the Elements. Frankly I think it's waste of time, but I was half asleep when they arrived," said Luna. "Right. You two stay with the Princess and I'll see if I can't sort out this mess," said Moonlight. What she found was sheer chaos. Discord had made everyone Earth ponies (except Pinkie and Applejack naturally) and separated them. "Twilight, where are you?" shouted Moonlight. She barreled into the maze, ignoring the branches completely. She had her armor on after all. Immediately her horn disappeared. She paid it no mind. Moonlight continued to call for Twilight and the others. That is, until Discord finally took note of her presence. "What have we here? Another unicorn trying to ruin my fun? You're not allowed to break through the hedges like that," smirked Discord. "What have you done to my sister and the others?" said Moonlight. "Really Twilight, you should know where the others are!" "My name is Moonlight Sparkle. Twilight's my twin sister!" growled Moonlight, "Now what have you done to them?" "Which element are you anyway? I can only assume Celestia summoned you because you have one," said Discord. He looked honestly curious. "Balance. And it was Luna who called me back because she wanted to be sure you were dealt with, one way or another," said Moonlight. It was clear Discord thought she was like any other Pony, though a bit more violent since he definitely spotted the Captain's insignia on her cloak. As far as he was concerned, she was like any other captain of the guard. He was going to be in for a rude awakening. Twilight looked very relieved to see her twin in the maze with them, even if her friends were all acting weirdly today. And Rainbow Dash was completely missing! Discord went to mess with Moonlight's Element (even if he didn't know how 'Balance' could be an Element of Harmony) when Moonlight displayed something he had yet to encounter. Human magic. One minute Discord was next to a rather irritated Moonlight, the next he was being thrown into the rock Rarity seemed to think was some sort of diamond by a punch courtesy of Moonlight! "What in the name of Chaos?!" said Discord in shock. Moonlight proceeded to display her feelings towards Discord's tricks by beating the ever-living snot out of him. Of course she had to make some on-the-fly adjustments for her pony fighting skills to apply them to her human form. Discord had to pop up into a cloud to get away from Moonlight before she really got serious with him. "Your first mistake, Discord, was assuming I was raised in Equestria," said Moonlight tersely. "Your second mistake," added Twilight, "Was underestimating the Captain of the Night Guard who specializes in Earth Pony fighting." "But the worst mistake you made was trying to trick someone who's element is Balance. I can use both unicorn and chaos magic, which means your powers won't be as effective on me," said Moonlight glaring. "A pony who can use Chaos magic? I'll believe that when I see it!" sniffed Discord. Moonlight channeled her human magic into her hands. "Serpensortia!" A massive snake came out of the circle she made of her hands, and hissed at Discord. Twilight 'eeped' and hid behind her sister...who started hissing. Since Discord was part snake, he understood the mare's command. He yelped as he dodged the snake's fangs. ~Cut that out!~ The snake paused, before it gave him a flat look. "I can see there's no way I'll be able to deal with you just yet. But you still don't have the Elements of Harmony~!" he sang. Then he disappeared. Moonlight sighed. This was going to be a long day, she just knew it.