Magicon

Vim immediately took Magicon’s hoof with a grim face, pulling the unicorn to his hooves before speaking as Magicon straightened out his cape. Scarlet had climbed onto her hooves, duster herself off, and sat somewhat away from them, her eyes watching them, cold and distant. Magicon took no notice of the other events with Arcanel, Dawn, and Ambrosia. His attention was solely focused on the earth pony and the unicorn. Vim’s older voice spoke with no hesitation or even any emotion as he began telling the story of his family and the tragic rail accident that had befallen them. Had this been a friendlier environment and if Magicon wasn’t in a somewhat angry, yet apologetic state, he would’ve been more sympathetic. Instead, he took the words with indifference on the exterior. His facial features made no reaction, though his inner emotions showed great care, concern, and sorrow for the conductor. He then began talking about the big picture, a thought that immediately took root in Magicon’s mind. Vim said the Big Picture wasn’t enough; it didn’t allow you to see all the tiny turns and corners hidden along the path. That idea had never occurred to Magicon but it made sense. If one was a bird flying above the big forest, they could not see the tiny paths that snaked through the forest, below the tree line. Vim’s Big Picture segued to a comparison on him and Scarlet. It made Magicon uneasy at first and he bit his lower lip as Vim began but the more Vim talked the more Magicon understood and made sense of what he said. As he listed off more details about the things that Scarlet had done or didn’t do, the fire itself reignited inside Magicon. Vim was making sense and in a good way. It was cold, in-your-face, straight-forward sense. It was logical, it was right, and it made the fire inside him burn. Though Vim hadn’t been there when Magicon first met Bringer and Scarlet with Asteria, he was able to see something that Magicon couldn’t: see past their facades. It was making sense; everything was. Why Scarlet and Bringer had escaped this world and entered the real one. Bringer hadn’t tagged along, he was part of the plan that they had created together. Scarlet was just as much a part of Bringer’s dark plans as she was. Why they wouldn’t truly hurt each other: it was because they were allies. Maybe Bringer controlled Scarlet or vice versa, it no longer mattered. What mattered was the fact that Magicon had been used by Scarlet, brilliantly used like a machine and he nearly killed a pony because of her. The anger inside him made him shut his eyes in fury. He was angry at himself for having fallen into this disgusting trap. Angry at Bringer for all of this to happen. But even angrier at Scarlet for her deception. She wanted him to act to stop the agents of Bringer; he almost did, but he was no certain he would do so. Yet a small part of him seemed hesitant. Was Vim now using him as well? Was he just a puppet to be toyed around with? No, he wasn’t. Vim was on his side. Vim wanted to help him and he had done so by setting the record straighter than any fine line. As Vim finished Scarlet began clapping for him, in a malicious manner. It was the type of clap a villain gives a hero for figuring out their plans. Magicon knew how that would end, especially with a pony or creature as powerful as Scarlet. He wouldn’t let it happen. Ambrosia had approached Vim as well, as if she knew the meaning behind the deliberate clap as well. Magicon lowered his gaze and faced Scarlet head on, his blue eyes burning. His voice was direct and fierce as he spoke, comparable to that of a spurned lover. “You used me. You had your own plans. You’ve been working with Wraith the entire time. Whether this plan is his, yours, or both of yours I don’t care. You used me to get what you wanted. Well, Scarlet, or whatever your real name is, I say this only once: nopony and I mean nopony, uses me! You said to stop the agents of Wraith, well I’ll do so, starting with you!” While he spoke he charged his horn with his most powerful magic. He didn’t care if Scarlet saw it happening. He knew it would a fight worth having. He wanted it, to save Asteria, to stop Wraith, to avenge his misdeeds, to be a true hero. Gathering as much magical energy as possible he focused it into a single short red beam of magic that erupted from his horn and flew right at Scarlet. He intended for a spell to knock Scarlet off her hooves and send her flying backwards. Even if the spell worked improperly the power behind would at least frighten her. He would not fail. Everypony was counting on him. He would be the hero he never was.

He watched the spell fly from his horn directly at Dawn, seeing it turn into a giant fireball as it made contact with Dawn’s shield, sending hot cinders everywhere. Magicon’s reaction was calm, but steady, as if he was expecting this was one of numerous possible outcomes. Yet harming Dawn wasn’t even his real goal, at least it wasn’t now that the spell had failed. He hadn’t given much power behind it, due to the possibility of harming other ponies. But it had done one thing he needed the spell to do: hush everypony up. Ambrosia had ducked for cover and the other ponies whipped around with faces of horror and bewilderment at Magicon. Dawn seemed cool in her reaction to his spell and he simply watched her for a moment before hearing Scarlet speak. A loud crash followed by a scream echoed around them and Magicon whipped around to see Arcanel down on the ground, some sparks still jumping about his body and the smell of burnt hair now filling the air. His mouth dropped open and he was unable to restrain his voice as it shouted “Arcanel!”. Besides the shock of the attack on the pegasus, something changed inside Magicon. The brutality of the attack and Scarlet’s dark motivations behind it made his insides turn. Scarlet was not willing to tolerate descent, especially when it came to Bringer. Now Magicon disliked Dawn and Bringer, but he respected Arcanel’s opinion and his defense of Dawn. Yet Scarlet was blind to other opinions and ideas. To her, the pony that offered even a simple defense of an enemy automatically made them an enemy as well. It bothered Magicon. It clashed with his ideals. Even though he disliked ponies, he always tried to respect their opinions. He may not have liked Arcanel much, but he wasn’t a stupid pony. He would’ve never wished such a fate on him. He was about to scold Scarlet for her actions when she suddenly saw her fly backwards toward him, crashing directly into him and pushing them both to the ground. Some pain filled his body as he looked up and saw that Vim had bucked Scarlet in her side, sending her sprawling right into him. The earth pony was now charging towards them and was right in front of them in no time. Magicon looked up at the earth pony, seeing his hard gaze look down on both of them. Magicon knew the gaze: the one an angry and disappointed father gives to their foal. Magicon grit his teeth and his ears feel back, now wishing he hadn’t done what he had done. The only consolation was that his attack didn’t cause harm. Yet it had given Scarlet an opportunity to hurt a pony, an opportunity that Magicon now wished he hadn’t created. Looking at Vim with an apologetic expression, Magicon spoke quickly. “I see you’re not pleased by either of our actions. I will only say this: mine were necessitated by the big picture; Scarlet’s out of malice and refusal to tolerate descent. I only did what would help us weaken Bringer. If you guys think that removing Dawn is a bad idea then, I won’t object. I’m sorry for my rash actions, but I…I just want to save Asteria.” He offered his hoof towards Vim, either to sake or to help him up or just ignore it. Magicon couldn’t read Vim’s expression as he spoke to the earth pony. He didn’t know what he was thinking. All that he knew was that he had made a mistake and he was sorry for it.

Each of them immediately responded to his sudden arrival. Ambrosia and Vim immediately recognized Magicon and he could see both of their faces soften at his appearance. Vim mentioned that half of the search was done. Magicon could only figure that he was speaking about him and Asteria. Their disappearance from the train had been noticed, though how long had he been away from the train to garner their attention was beyond his knowledge. Both also took interest in Scarlet, examining her from a distance. Magicon wasn’t able to read their thoughts as Arcanel suddenly jumped towards Magicon and gave him a small hug, raising the hairs on the back of his neck and widening his eyes. Before Magicon could push Arcanel away from him, the pegasus had already let go, much to Magicon’s relief, and immediately dove into a rambling narrative about the recent events. Magicon only paid quasi-attention to Arcanel’s words, mostly because he knew most of his speech anyway. He had figured it out for himself; he didn’t a black cat to reveal itself for him to calculate that Bringer was up to no good. He gave small ‘yeahs’ and ‘uh huhs’ occasionally towards Arcanel but his eyes displayed sole interest in Scarlet and Dawn. Something was wrong between the two. He could feel it. The look in their eyes showed it all and each of their gazes was lowering at the other. Attempting to stop the potential feud, Ambrosia inserted herself between the two unicorns, staring at Dawn, away from the rest of the group. Keeping one eye on her and one eye on Arcanel, Magicon’s attention was only returned fully to the pegasus when he heard his name utter from his lips. Magicon was about to answer Arcanel’s question, when Scarlet introduced herself and immediately took control of the conversation. Magicon watched her in silent observation. Magicon slowly turned his head towards Scarlet in curiosity. It wasn’t the fact that Dawn was an agent of Bringer that was curious to him; he had already figured that out. It was the drastic idea that Scarlet had proposed to stop Dawn and Bringer, albeit indirectly, that aroused his curiosity. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. On one hoof he disliked Dawn and knew she was dangerous from the moment they had come in contact. Her and those annoying cats had always been suspicious and dangerous and now look what they had done: allowed Bringer to gain advantages on all of the ponies on the train. But was death the necessary punishment for her aid towards Bringer? Magicon didn’t know and as much as he disliked Dawn, he knew such rash actions like forcing death’s hand would not end well. He needed time to think. Ambrosia provided it with her defense of Dawn. With a quick motion she spun around, directly facing Scarlet and uttered her opinion, clear as day. Scarlet took the insult coldly and threw one right back at the cook, making Magicon slightly shudder. He was not one for insults, particularly harsh ones like “earth pony”. Yet Ambrosia took it coolly and remained defiant in the face of Scarlet. Despite her weak head in the dining care this morning, Ambrosia looked like a mountain: immovable and stubborn. Magicon looked down at the mention of Asteria’s name. Wasn’t that what he was here for anyway? Wasn’t that why he and Scarlet were aiding each other? The goal was not to stop Bringer, but rescue Asteria. Would Dawn help further accomplish that, if she was kept alive? If she was a tool for Bringer, then wouldn’t her death frustrate him? Wouldn’t her death anger him, thereby unleashing his power amongst them all? Magicon didn’t want to know what Bringer could do, but he had the feeling he would learn soon enough. Magicon suddenly felt the urge just to walk up to Arcanel and yell ‘Shut up’ right in his face. His stupid questions and ramblings were really getting on his nerves and his patience was wearing thing with the pegasus. Even if his defense of Dawn was valid, Magicon couldn’t stand much more of Arcanel’s mouth. Magicon couldn’t resist the facehoof and he shook his head as he did so. Arcanel was being the overexcited and overcurious colt with an endless stream of stupid questions and opinions, none of which really mattered. Asteria needed their help this minute. They were wasting time just standing around and asking stupid questions. Magicon knew Scarlet wouldn’t tolerate it, probably even less than he could. He could just kill Dawn right now and be done with it. Though there would be consequences, the positives of her death seemed to outweigh the negatives. Screw the moral feelings; his heart was already dark enough to handle it. But what of the others? Ambrosia, Arcanel, Dawn were most definitely against it while Scarlet was for it. Magicon assumed that Scarlet was more powerful than the three of them. Plus, if a fight did break out between Dawn and Scarlet he would have no trouble choosing a side and aiding them. But why wait until that confrontation? Why not just settle this? It would shut everypony up and allow them to move forward with their mission. But what of his reputation? He had already proven himself a hero on the train. He had beaten Scarlet, at least on the train. If he did choose to spare Dawn Scarlet’s hoof would be forced. Plus, did he really hate Dawn enough to kill her? Did he even hate her? Magicon wasn’t sure and that was when a compromised through entered his mind and he agreed to act upon it. While the group remained focus on the four ponies, Magicon took a few steps sideways, keeping Dawn in his sights. He began charging his magic inside him and aimed for Dawn. In a single loud and rapid shot, he cast a paralysis spell directly at Dawn, hoping it would travel fast enough to hit her before she could react. Magicon wasn’t sure what would happen. Magic was unpredictable and its consequences ever-changing and always uncertain, but it was worth the risk.

On a separate and unrelated PSA, I also have to address something, though not as serious as Luminescence's. As I have mentioned on Skype I will be heading on a cruise between July 12-21 and will have no access to the internet as I will not be bringing my laptop with me (due to fear of loss, damage, and desire to just get away from everything). As a result I will not be posting during that time. Luminescence has informed me that he will suspend the RP during that time, which is fine by me and probably the best for him to help him recuperate with his injury. But I will leave the ultimate decision with him. I hope this does not inconvenience anyone and I look forward to continue RPing with you all as soon as I get back.

He kept running to keep pace with Scarlet. Despite her smaller statute she compensated it with daring speed and agility which he barely managed to keep up. The chill of the wind blew around him and chunks of snow blurred his vision but he kept running. He squinted his eyes to maximize his visibility, only being able to see the outline of the village growing larger as they approached and Scarlet’s body, running just ahead of him. Magicon could see the village in much more detail as they quickly approached it and the sight was confusing to him. The village was damaged, as if something or somepony had recently attacked the village. Magicon could only assume that it had been the creature that had previously roared through the winds of the frozen plains. It had come, done its damage, and now left. Magicon was unsure if it would return, but he was prepared. He knew his magic would aid him; it always did. Scarlet too seemed determined to stop this beast if it showed itself. Her skill was equally impressive. They were nearly equals in terms of magical skill. Their combined strength would defeat any beast that Bringer could unleash. As for Bringer himself, Magicon did not dwell of what his plans were. He solely concentrated on the village and what they might find there, if anything. As they approached, Magicon followed Scarlet’s lead and slowed to a trot, carefully observing the damage from the attack. Scratches, burn marks, were evident everywhere and chunks of debris lay scattered about the village. Yet the structures remained standing, an observation that surprised Magicon. ‘Either this beast was tired when he attacked, was beaten early on, or was in a hurry. Regardless, this village was spared.’ The thought worried him though. The beast knew of the village and obviously didn’t like it. He would return, though when was unknown to the unicorn stallion. Magicon nodded at Scarlet’s statement. His thoughts about Bringer were in accord with Scarlet’s, but the knowledge about practically psychic ponies was new to him. Old Equestria had prophets which supposedly predicted future events, but nearly all of it was speculation. Scarlet, however, stated the scribes in factual terms and with a complimentary attitude. Plus the fact they were in the world of dreams, shadows, and nightmares made anything, including scribes and prophets, possible. He was about to announce his agreement when Scarlet suddenly stopped, ears standing, completely alert like a guard-dog. Magicon listened as well and sure enough he heard voices. From what he could tell he heard a stallion and a mare talking. Scarlet began following the sound as did Magicon, preparing his horn for anything Bringer might decide to throw at them. They hid behind a corner, safe from the talking ponies, but still able to hear the conversation. At first Magicon’s heart dropped when he heard the voices, but then it bounced with joy. It couldn’t be them? It wasn’t possible! How did they get here? His eyes darted around the corner and their sparkles leapt down to his mouth which exploded into a beaming smile. He saw Ambrosia and Vim talking to each other with Arcanel and Dawn nearby. A tiny part of him worried: this might all be a trap by Bringer. But Magicon listened to their conversation and the more he listened, the more he knew that these were not replicas of the cook and the conductor, they were the real ones. Somehow they had landed in the shadow world and just minutes before Scarlet and himself arrived. He overheard Scarlet ask him if these ponies could be trusted. Magicon whipped around, a wide smile on his face. “Absolutely, they can be trusted. I know all of them. Only…just keep your distance with Dawn. She’s not to be trusted at all. The other three can be trusted with your life. The older stallion is the conductor, Vim. The mare is Ambrosia, the cook. The stallion is Arcanel, a passenger and the filly is Dawn. Follow me.” Magicon wasted no time as he quickly stepped out of the corner and hurriedly approached the group. “Vim! Ambrosia! Arcanel! You don’t know how happy I am to see you all! I’ve been literally dying to get back on the train and out of this place. But…how did you guys get here? What’s happened on the train?”

As he spoke she turned away from him, her impassive backside being the only readable expression from Magicon’s perspective. It was only when he finished that she turned around with a noticeable change in her appearance. Her eyes lost their traditional shade of blue and now glowed passionately red. He felt slightly concerned, thinking that her eye color was connected to her emotions and if any emotion could connect with such a bright shade of red, it was anger. If Scarlet was angry, was it at him or Bringer? Magicon looked at her a little closer and saw no anger towards him, instead he found a neutral possibly, an even respectful feeling emitting from Scarlet. She spoke cautiously, though her eyes still retained their passion. Magicon felt slight relief at Scarlet’s admission. Asteria‘s location was known, at least to Scarlet. There was a chance to save her. Scarlet’s promise was still more comforting. It confirmed one important thing to Magicon: Scarlet did care about Asteria. She had a heart. The filly had successfully tapped into Scarlet’s emotions and had beautifully constructed a relationship with Scarlet; one to merit a rescue mission for her. Scarlet cared about Asteria’s safety just as much as Magicon did, if not more. He didn’t care if Bringer cheated or not, it was irrelevant. Asteria was in danger and Magicon knew that it would be up to him and Scarlet to save her. As she gave her description of this world that they must travel through and its creator and Bringer’s pet Magicon remembered Lapis’s note containing Dusky’s bizarre story. It suddenly didn’t seem so bizarre. Dusky was that pony who became the guardian and the subsequent dragon. Magicon didn’t know how he did; he just knew it had to be true. It felt right. The monster was either Bringer or something of his creation and had merged with Dusky. It was then that Scarlet brought Dusky to this world which originally only contained dreams and nightmares. He and Springer bonded and with Scarlet’s help created a new world, a gray world, a world of shadows. The monster was trapped here or trapped in the world of nightmares. Magicon didn’t know for certain. There were still pieces of the puzzle missing, but he was beginning to see a general idea. It helped explain why Dusky thought the way he did. It explained why he never used magic, he couldn’t. It explained how Scarlet and Bringer knew him. Yet it also worried him. Bringer and Dusky were mortal enemies. Bringer wanted release and had nearly succeeded with Dusky. He was out for revenge against him as well as to free himself and do whatever he wanted either in these three worlds or in Equestria or both. This was suddenly much bigger than anything Magicon had expected or even prepared for. He felt suddenly ill-equipped and inexperienced for Bringer and all of this. Sure, he had survived this world so far and gained an ally, but these were minute accomplishments compared to what he was about to face. “Trust yourself. You will do it.” He heard Archie’s words echo through his mind once again, as if they were an automatic speaker perfectly timed to speak when he was ready to abandon his tasks. They strengthened him and he listened to Scarlet’s final words carefully as he braced himself for whatever was to come. In seconds a blur of light and colors, forcing Magicon to shield his eyes, landed them in a borderline. On one side, Scarlet’s familiar grassy plains of dreams, the other the cold and foreboding tundra of the shadow realm. The chill was instantaneous and Magicon shivered from the cold gusts. He looked over at Scarlet as she took her first step then backed away with a desperate, panic-stricken look on her face as the ice began spreading around them, encroaching on the dream world. Scarlet snapped back to look at something in the grass and it revealed itself as a black cat. Magicon lowered his gaze at the creature. It wasn’t Bringer; it was too small. Magicon knew it was one of Springer’s allies…and then it hit him. The cats on the train…they weren’t Dawn’s, they were Bringer’s! Somehow they had latched onto Dawn. Was she in on Bringer’s evil scheme as well? Was she his “lovely assistant”? Magicon did not know but felt immensely proud to have distrusted her from the moment he laid eyes on her. He had been right: Dawn was up to no good. She would have to be stopped as well. Yet his pride was shattered by Scarlet’s quick attack on the cat. Magicon instantly turned from the scene, closing his eyes and shielding them with his right hoof, not wanting to see the carnage of an animal fight. The sounds made his stomach churn and he was relieved to hear Scarlet speak after only a few seconds of slaughter. He cautiously opened his eyes, lowered his hoof, and nodded at Scarlet. He watched her as she transformed once again into a new pony, one with a very interesting color scheme. The silver glowed unnaturally yet the mane complimented Scarlet’s red eyes. The cutie mark of a suit of cards was odd, but not the weirdest one Magicon had seen in his lifetime. From her words Magicon gauged that this form was taken after a real pony that Scarlet had come across sometime in the past. Whether that was recently or generations ago were unknown to him. But she had such an effect on Scarlet that she admired her and it also suggested that this pony was skilled in magic despite her age, not unlike himself when he was that young. Yet Magicon did not dwell on this pony. He focused on preparing to cross this frozen tundra and meet whatever awaited them there. The attack would come from the air. It might be a dragon, the one that Dusky’s story had mentioned. He didn’t have time to think as Scarlet galloped, head-first, into the shadow world. Magicon quickly followed her, the wind howling around him and gusting his cape uncontrollably. It remained tight around his neck but it moved about wildly as he ran. He felt a small shock surge through the air as if it had been struck by lightning as he saw Scarlet cast a shield around herself. He followed, his horn casting a dark lavender shield around him as he ran. Despite the gusts, he managed to hear Scarlet’s words. Magicon squinted his eyes ahead and sure enough, a small village was in the distance, growing larger and more detailed as the two of them hurried towards it. A loud roar echoed over the ice, nearly stopping Magicon in his tracks. But he kept moving, either from pure adrenaline or from the fear of falling behind. He wanted to shout something to Scarlet, but what could he say? Everything had already been said. He just followed Scarlet. She knew what she was doing and he would help her. They were allies and that’s what allies do: help each other.

He didn’t know her reaction to his words, nor did he truly care. His mind was focused on escape and Asteria. Something in his gut told him that she was not safe, more so than the entire time they have been in this dream world. Bringer was up to something dangerous and possibly deadly. He couldn’t let anything happen to Asteria, for his own sake and Lapis’s. He could just imagine the colt grieving over Asteria’s loss. He didn’t even know if Lapis knew they were missing. He really knew nothing beyond this immediate world that he had been sucked into. Now here he was, in Springer’s fake room with a griffon who loved games. The five minutes would end soon and the next game would commence much to his regret. Was there no end in sight? Did Scarlet even understand his words or feelings? Did she even care? He didn’t know and he kept his body turned away from Scarlet until she began speaking. Her voice carried worry and apprehension. His stomach sank as he heard the words spill from her beak. Magicon wiped around, his cape flying in the air in the process. His face carried a mixed expression of deep worry and anger as he stared at Scarlet. He could explode greater than any volcano at any second. He could attempt to hurt and possibly kill Scarlet, if it were possible. No, it didn’t matter if it was possible or not. If Scarlet couldn’t get Bringer and Asteria, it was her fault and she would pay. Yet as she continued speaking, she did not show malice or dark amusement at Asteria and Springer’s disappearance. Instead, she spoke of fear and worry. This wasn’t to her liking either. The anger dwindled inside of him as his intense gaze softened as she continued speaking. Magicon opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when he saw that she wasn’t finished. In his mind Scarlet must’ve known what was going on in the train, especially regarding him. Bringer had been close to him and Scarlet would’ve known. She just had to. If Bringer had taken Springer’s place on the train, then Scarlet must have… His eyes sparkled in realization and his mind exploded as his memory brought forward one single quote from the previous night. It suddenly all made sense! On that night Bringer was Springer and Scarlet was Trixie! They had escaped the dream world and mingled amongst the passengers on the train! He had not dueled the real Trixie but Scarlet! Even more he had beaten her! Suddenly the fear and worry was greatly diminished. He suddenly had a chance to not only rescue Asteria from this world, but also escape. He could overpower Scarlet and get out alive. Yet one question lingered in his mind from the previous night: why did they do it? They just wanted to have fun, or at least Scarlet did. It dawned on Magicon that despite Scarlet’s somewhat dark behavior and words, she was nothing more than a filly looking for a friend to play games with. All she wanted was a close friend. Bringer was not the close friend she wanted, so when Magicon and Asteria had appeared Scarlet was overjoyed to see a filly of similar age. Asteria must’ve left a good impression on Scarlet; otherwise she wouldn’t be so worried about her. Magicon felt more confident in himself and a little more trust towards Scarlet. She wasn’t an evil mastermind, just a lonely filly with a misunderstood impression about the world around her. He could feel some slight sympathy for her. His eyes looked at her in a calm, delicate manner. His voice matched his eyes in expression with growing confidence. “I think you understand what I feel now, Scarlet. You’re right, it isn’t pleasant, fear never is, but we mustn’t let it stop us. You want to help Asteria just as much as I do and you offer me whatever I wish in return. I accept your offer. I don’t think we have much time. Bringer is dangerous and might harm or even kill Asteria. We must hurry, so I will be brief with everything. “Firstly, Dusky, Dawn, and Trixie are ponies that I’ve had fights with. Dusky insulted and angered me. Dawn is unstable and quick to violent; completely untrustworthy, and Trixie, well, I think you know about me and Trixie.” He gave a small wink with that sentence. “But, those are not the immediate concerns. Asteria and Bringer are. I remember Bringer describing the room to be, but it was so confusing and complex that I don’t know if I can accurately describe it. I will do my best. “The room is more like a hall. Longer than it is wider, much longer. There are columns evenly spaced the entire length of the hall, but each is imperfect in some way, either chipped or cracked or something of the sort. The walls are made of some transparent material, glass maybe and show a black ocean surrounding the hall. I believe it is cylinder shaped or at least the celling of the hall is, making for an arched ceiling, like a thousand meters above the floor. The floor is made up of tiles, each a different size and shade of blue. In the center of the hall stands a wide cylinder with a dark and magical light emitting out of it. It travels around the room and is cold and distant, apparently. I think that’s it…I don’t know if this is enough information but I hope it is, I really hope it is. I did my best, now you need to do yours. Whatever it is you need to do, I will help, that’s a promise.”

“Trust yourself. You will do it.” Archie’s words pierced his mind louder and more clearly than any other sound. They were six simple words, but the power and emotion behind them were immeasurable. He had once found Archie annoying and over-inquisitive, but over time found him to be enthusiastic and the pony that drove him beyond his own limitations. Archie was the voice of confidence and those six words always strengthened Magicon. He couldn’t remember the last time he had last heard them, but it didn’t matter. His memory wanted him to succeed. It was reminding him of his friend and his confidence. He just had to finish these games. Maybe then it would be alright. Maybe then he could escape with Springer and Asteria. Maybe then normalcy would return. Bringer had mumbled something about a plan to end the game, a statement that both worried and confirmed his suspicions. He knew Bringer was dangerous and lying. It was yet another example. He would kill Magicon before the game was over. He was quite confident in that prediction. As he watched Bringer a bright flash appeared beside him and Asteria appeared alongside something that nearly gave Magicon a heart attack, a griffon. His eyes immediately darted to Asteria. She seemed unharmed and her eyes suggested curiosity and concern at the events surrounding her and Magicon. As Bringer spoke to the griffon, Magicon was astounded to learn that the griffon was none other than Scarlet and apparently this was his “true” form. Magicon had only minimal experience with griffons. They were uncommon at the museum. Why would they come to a museum about magical arts and artifacts? They can’t practice magic and their species was not known for its wide acceptance of the arts and history. Yet, given his limited experience with Scarlet, Magicon could tell that he was or she was, (did Scarlet switch genders?) was different. She may have her griffon instincts, just like he did with his unicorn ones, but she pushed beyond them and had become something much more than a simple flying beast. Though what she was was unknown to Magicon’s mind. Regardless Scarlet had excited Bringer who stated that he would assume his “true” form as well. He briefly described it and as he finished his last words he began changing. His transformation was bizarre, to say the least. It was slow and Magicon watched with his mouth agape, unable to remove his gaze from the pony, as he transformed. He grew larger and darker. His fur became black, his teeth sharper, his pupils dilated, his hooves grew into paws and shortly a dangerous and hulking panther stood before all of them. The hair on the back of his neck shot up and he quickly glanced at Asteria, who looked more curious than frightened by Bringer’s sudden change. He spoke with a mystical voice to which Scarlet replied that this panther was apparently his “normal” form, whatever that meant. Magicon didn’t understand either one. How could he? How could any sane pony? This was beyond the world of reality; this was the world of real dreams and real nightmares. How it came to exist or why was beyond comprehension and the role these two played was incalculable or understandable. Magicon refused to think on it, knowing that such thoughts would only lead to confusion and loss of focus, which he could ill-afford to lose. He returned his mind to Scarlet who explained the next set of rules for the next game. It was simple: hide and seek in the room of his and Bringer’s creation. Scarlet was to hide in Magicon’s room while his gut sank as he realized that Asteria was to hide in Bringer’s room with Bringer looking for him. Bringer’s room was confusing enough, worse still now that a panther was looking for a young filly in it. Asteria’s life was now at stake more than ever. He couldn’t allow this. If the game had to be played, let him go in her place. Let him die at the paws of a savage and merciless panther, not an innocent filly. He felt his heart resolve in determination to stop this right now. Magicon was about to speak when a flash obscured his vision and sent him reeling into Springer’s room. He wished he had escaped to the real room, away from all of this nonsense. Yet he knew that was a fallacy. This was his description of Springer’s room, and though accurate, was still in the dream world. A griffon named Scarlet was hiding somewhere in this room. Magicon wouldn’t have difficulty finding her, his concern was Asteria. She was most definitely in mortal danger, trying to hide from a dangerous and untrustworthy panther. His only hope was praying that she would hide somewhere far away from Bringer, somewhere in that room where it would take longer than five minutes for him to find her. That was his only consultation as he scanned the room, noting any possible hiding places for Scarlet. He took a deep breath and began searching. Knowing that Scarlet was a griffon was a great asset: she couldn’t hide in very many places in Springer’s room. She was nowhere in plain sight, obviously hiding somewhere in the room. Magicon began with the closet, no griffon there. The only immediate fear he felt was worrying that Scarlet might jump out and attack him. But she seemed more interested in the game rather than violence. She had not harmed Asteria; she wouldn’t harm Magicon, if he played his cards right. He then headed to Springer’s bed. He ruffled the sheets. No griffon in the bed. He then lowered himself below the bed and was greeted by the newly-changed blue eyes of Scarlet. Though it was dark under the bed Magicon could still tell she was slightly annoyed with his discovery. He guessed he had spent less than a minute looking for her. Four minutes remained for Asteria. He prayed she would be smart and live long enough to survive the game. He stared back at the griffon with eyes that betrayed his own worries. His voice spoke with some hesitation, but he felt his vocal chords loosen the longer he spoke. Archie’s six words range in his head the whole time. “Found…you,” he stated and rose from the bed, turning his back to the bed and its griffon occupant below it. “I guess…I win…Scarlet. I…I’m really at a loss for words. You’re different than any other pony or now griffon I’ve ever met. You seem mystical, yet respectful. You show great restraint towards me, Asteria, and Springer when it is not required. I’m worried that I won’t survive this…dream world of yours and Bringer’s. “I’m scared, Scarlet, more scared than I’ve ever been. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this…probably because you already sense it. All I wanted was a quiet train ride to Los Pegasus and even then, I was more forced into going than actually having a desire to travel. I never expected any of this: you, Bringer, Springer, Dusky, Trixie, and now Dawn, and all of these other ponies and events. “And now that I have, I can only say I want one thing: to get out of this world and off of this train as quickly as possible. I know you don’t want that. You like…games and amusement, but you’ve had your fun. Now let me leave with Springer and Asteria before somepony gets seriously hurt. You may control this world, but so does Bringer and I sense conflict between you two. Why? “What is the point of all this? Why bring me and Asteria here and subject us to this? Why torment poor Springer with these dreams and forms of bondage? What do you want from us? I just want answers, please.”

Magicon did not know Bringer’s reaction to his threat or his description. He had designed both to warn and annoy the pony, though he was unsure if either emotions were achieved on the colt. Bringer’s reaction to Magicon’s malice was complete ignorance. He simply smiled up at him as Magicon spat out his dark language. It was as if he didn’t understand a single syllable of his speech, much less the content or meaning of it. It was somewhat displeasing in the unicorn. He did not give such dark warnings often and when he did they always achieved a similar effect: a noticeable change in a pony’s persona. Instead of content it always changed to some form of fear or worry, though the discretion varied depending on the pony and the content of his language. Yet Bringer showed no emotion at all. Was he that young of a colt? Or was he beyond the point of caring? Perhaps he thought he was invincible; incapable of being hurt Magicon’s magic or his actions and thus unaffected by his words. It was unexpected and frustrating to find such a reaction. But, it could all be a trick. Bringer wasn’t to be trusted. He could very well be scared inside, but in such control of his emotions that none of that fear seeped past his fur. Frightened or not, it was Magicon’s description that produced a result in Bringer that Magicon had not intended, but was pleased to see. Bringer appeared more and more disappointed the longer Magicon spoke. Instead of amusing or annoying the pegasus, Magicon’s description was boring him. Though not an annoyance, per se, boredom could be a serious hamper to a pony. Bringer’s boredom made him suspicious of Magicon sabotaging the game, an action that Magicon would never emit in this situation. But then it dawned on him, by putting Asteria on the opposite team, Bringer and Scarlet had set the scales against both of them. If he and Bringer won, Asteria would be hurt. If Asteria and Scarlet won, he would be hurt. Neither outcome was to his or Asteria’s advantage. Either both teams needed to lose or win or Springer refused to declare a winner or a loser. His gut fell at the realization while Bringer lay on the ground, concentrating on something oblivious to Magicon. He paced back in forth in front of the pegasus, now even more worried about Asteria. Why didn’t he think of this before? Why was he so clueless? Why did he have to agree to open that blasted door? So many of these questions were pointless; it mattered not to him or his current situation. The answers to these questions would not help him. It was simply out of his hooves. All he could do now was pray for a few outcomes: Bringer failed in his description, Scarlet and Ambrosia were creatively equal to them, or Springer refused to judge. Out of all the three, the last two were the most likely, but they were still uncertain. As he thought and paced he began to hear Bringer’s voice in a hushed tone. He paused in his tracks and silenced his mind as he quietly approached the pegasus and began listening to his description. As he spoke Magicon began picturing it, but from the start he began running into difficulties. ’Ok, a large hall, simple enough. Cylinder in shape, is the cylinder on its side or standing up? Underwater? A building of that size? That’s not technologically possible. Magical and transparent walls, well ok, it’s possible, but on a hall of such size?’ As Bringer spoke further the picture became even more distorted by Magicon’s own practical limitations. ’Ok, so the cylinder is standing upright and is very deep in the ocean. There’s a smaller cylinder in the middle of the room with a black magical light at the bottom. Essentially, that’s what it is, I think.’ ’This light is magical, obviously. It could be a type of a flame or a spirit, but a flame heats not cools and a spirit generally does not permeate a room…Is this a creature of some kind? Oh, what am I thinking, Magicon, don’t analyze, just go with it.’ Yet as he continued listening he felt one of his three prayers slip past his hooves. Bringer’s description, as bizarre as it was, was detailed and imaginative, and still continuing. 'A tile floor, but how do you tell those are blue tiles? How do you tell any color in the depths of the ocean? A black light cannot tell you the color of something. And what’s with that specific number? What’s its significance? Well, at least the pillars state how the roof is supported…but what type of hall is this? What is its purpose?’ The confusion seen on Magicon’s face was unmasked as he tried to make sense of this place. It seemed to defy logical and physical laws the governed buildings. It was unviewed by the imagination. Its size demanded more than the imagination could handle. Even for a colt’s creative mind, this building could not be something conjured from the mind. This place was real, or real enough to Bringer that he thought it was real. While Bringer finished his description and explained the need for teamwork, a topic that Magicon showed no interest in, especially with regards to Bringer, he tried to push his room from his mind. Such a place was real enough to Bringer, but that was its limits. It was a part of Bringer; something about him. It suddenly dawned on Magicon that he had played his move not foolishly or haphazardly, but wisely. Whereas Bringer chose to reveal something that was personal Magicon only revealed what was common to both of them. His secrets remained secrets. Bringer knew only what he had observed and heard from Magicon, none of which was highly personal. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief at the realization and the visible worry became less apparent, but still noticeable on his face. The tension wrapped itself Magicon once again and worse than ever while his eyes widened in great worry. Scarlet having plans, regardless of their intentions, was not something he wanted to hear. He felt the greatest urge just to run as fast as he could away from this place, away from all of this, away from the train. He wanted to retreat to his museum where he was safe in the quiet corridors with the silent artifacts and relics. He wanted Archie by his side; he was always supportive in times like these. He needed his assistant, right now. Yet what of Asteria and Springer? They were both depending on him and he couldn’t let them be victims of Scarlet’s plans. Could he just leave them behind? Could he live with himself, his cowardice? He didn’t know and he couldn’t tell. The anxiety was eating his insides and he just wanted it to stop. He knew he was showing signs of desperation, but he had no control over it. He could feel the tears of desperation beginning to form just behind his eyes. All he expected was a quiet train ride to Los Pegasus, not a crazy magical adventure with the heavy possibility of death. He just wanted to go home. Magicon raised his pleading eyes toward Bringer as he finished speaking. As much as he didn’t want to, Bringer was correct with his statement: they had to keep playing. Only if he and Asteria won the game could they even hope of getting out of this place alive. He had no choice, he had to stay and he hated it. He lost the saliva in his mouth from his worries, unable to from words to reply to the pegasus. Once Bringer asked him the question, all Magicon could do was take an uneasy breath and nod his head a few times. It was the only guaranteed way out of this, he had to do it, for Springer, for Asteria, and for himself.

He made short breaths, expecting the worst outcome from the two ponies in front of him. It wasn’t his own life that worried him as much, as it was Asteria’s who was much more vulnerable to the dangers of Bringer and Sprout. He didn’t know what the punishment would be, but he knew it wouldn’t be pretty, should either of them fail to amuse Bringer or Sprout. He did his best to follow the rules: he liked the name Asteria choose and he made the best choices he could to give himself the advantage in preparation for the game, but he didn’t know whether they would approve of it. Just like a suspenseful portion of a well-written novel Bringer and Sprout were not immediate in their responses, being deliberately slow by wasting time with explanations. Magicon took deeper breaths to quell the anticipation growing in his stomach as he listened to the two. ‘There is a reason for that, but he doesn’t need to know', Magicon thought. He had planned to give the bare minimum of information as possible. It was not only in his interest of self-preservation to do so, but also in his nature. He never divulged much; hardly any to strangers. Bringer was untrustworthy: the less information he had, the less he could manipulate and attempt to gain an advantage over Magicon. If he could get him monologing and explaining how this place works and how he could get out, then perhaps Magicon could make his escape. Bringer continued, expressing his pleasure at the name Scarlet. Magicon let out a sigh of relief at Asteria’s choice. It had paid off. She was a very smart filly. He didn’t know if she trusted them or was just playing along, but he hoped she would continue doing so. He smiled at her, the first time he had done so since arriving in this world. It was sweet smile, full of compassion and appreciation, the one a parent gives to their child after they’ve accomplished a difficult task. Magicon was no parent and Asteria was definitely not his filly, but he was her temporary guardian. Her safety was his topmost priority. As he turned back to the two, he awaited his own fate. Yet it was forced to wait as Sprout seemingly unleashed Springer from his invisible bondage. The switch was flipped and Springer bounced to life. Magicon gave a small smile at seeing the assistant conductor free to move about, but he still worried about him and what appeared to be Sprout’s control over the pony. Was it a slave and master relationship or was Sprout the puppetmaster of Springer? Magicon felt it was more of the latter, making him feel further uneasy about Sprout. Once Springer landed, he spoke with an aggressive tone towards Sprout about the need for some standard for him to judge by. Magicon could tell that Springer despised being controlled by Sprout, and if given a push, would probably attack the pony. Sprout’s reaction was calm and composed. He spoke with the coldness of a puppetmaster, knowing his position of power over Springer and reminding him of it at every opportunity. It was a relationship that needed to be broken, but how or even if it could be was beyond Magicon. He knew too little and knew his own code of conduct too well. All he could really do was play along with everything. The two quarreled a bit debating the logic and illogic of rules and the need for order in amusement, stuff Magicon didn’t take real interest in. He simply kept on an eye on the conversation and an eye on Asteria, making sure that she was by his side. Yet, one part of the conversation stuck out and struck a chord with Magicon. Magicon ran the line several times through his head, missing out the rest of the conversation. As he repeated it, he slowly nodded in approval of the statement. Though Springer had a different reasoning for it than Magicon, they still shared the same conclusion. The sound of his name snapped Magicon out of his contemplation as Springer congratulated him, Asteria, and Sprout on their truthfulness. He accused Bringer of lying, catching the pony completely off-guard and ensuring a fiery debate between the two. Once again, Magicon observed that Springer and Bringer also disliked each other, but Bringer didn’t seem to possess the cold control that Sprout had. Instead Bringer acted like a colt: unfair, pushy, demanding, and angry. But Springer dominated the colt with sound logic and the colt stormed off. Magicon only hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite them later. Sprout became very excited, clearly amused by the display and Asteria’s choice of a new name. He asked to be called Scarlet, which Magicon gladly obliged, but announced that his prize: Asteria was Scarlet’s mother, something Magicon was disobliged to accept. Beyond disobliged, Magicon eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at Scarlet for uttering those words. The illogicality of the statement, the absurdity of it, and its implications made no sense and scared him beyond belief. Sure, it might just be harmless fun, but it could also be a prelude to a deadly ending, an ending Magicon did want Ambrosia to experience. Magicon was about to object when Scarlet asked Bringer to pick the teams for the next game. Magicon braced himself for the second game. It was obviously going to be tougher than the first, with more complications and more chances to make a mistake. He would have to be careful with his choices and his words. As Bringer decided the teams, Magicon’s stomach dropped as he was separated from Asteria. He looked over at the filly with very concerned eyes. He could survive having himself and Asteria be separated; bearable if she was forced with Bringer, but with Scarlet was a whole another matter entirely. Scarlet was more dangerous than Bringer. Bringer was just a colt, and though a temperamental one, a colt nonetheless. It was clear that Scarlet was the leader of the two and a cold one by nature. Magicon worried for Asteria’s safety. She may be able to take care of herself in the real world, but in this one, with Scarlet as a partner? Magicon feared she wouldn’t survive this game. With his attention focused on Asteria, he only barely managed to hear Scarlet call his name and explain the rules. But then he heard his name called a second time and Magicon listened to the first objective of the game. As soon as he finished, Scarlet teleported next to Asteria and then whisked her away in a flash. “Asteria!” Magicon cried as he waved his hoof at where she had been standing a second ago. His hooves felt locked to the ground, as if he were bolted to some floor or wall. He felt completely helpless and desperate. Asteria, his one pony he swore to protect was now gone. Scarlet had foalnapped her right before his eyes and Magicon had been unable to stop it. He couldn’t believe it. He had failed. While Magicon remained frozen in place, staring helplessly at the patch of grass where Asteria stood, Bringer walked up to him, a smile on his face. Magicon turned his head back to Bringer slowly and deliberately and narrowed his eyes at the pony. His words were cold, deliberate, and menacing. “If this is what you and your ‘friend’ call a game, I am certainly not fond of it. I don’t like this, I don’t like you, and I don’t like Scarlet or what he did to Asteria…. I will play your little game, because it’s the only way I can guarantee Asteria’s safety….If anything bad happens to Asteria, I will make sure you and your ‘friend’ suffer.” With those words he felt the chains on his hooves release and he swiftly turned around, away from Bringer, both to concentrate and to show his extreme displeasure at the turn of events. He took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. ‘Ok, ok, you can do this, Magicon. Asteria is counting on you. You can’t fail her. Alright, rules, yes rules. Be imaginative and careful, follow the rules, and follow more of them as they appear. Sounds simple enough, now describe a room where things may be concealed, in as much detail as possible. Oh Celestia help me…I can’t…I can’…wait, yes I can! I was just there: Springer’s room! Ok, ok, calm down, I can do this.’ Turning back to bringer, Magicon’s anger and menace was replaced by confidence and determination. He would win this, he was sure of it. “Alright, Bringer, you wanted a room; here is your room. It is a perfectly square room, all the sides are equal. The walls are painted in a cream color. The floor is carpeted in beige. A wooden door stands in the middle of one of the walls, painted in a soft brown. It opens into the room. A window, large enough for a pony of my size to climb in and out of comfortably is in the center of the opposite wall. A self, about 2/3 of the room’s height, encircles the entire room and carries a miniature train, powered by magic. “A bed is against the wall, covered in a few layers of sheets and blankets, but not long enough to drape to the carpet, thereby exposing a bin filled with neatly folded clothes and hats. Small bookshelves filled with model trains line the walls. In one corner sits an organized, but uncompleted, model train, all the parts completely labeled, just waiting to be assembled. A large binder, filled with bookmarks rests on top of one of the small bookshelves. All the labels are hoofwritten, but the writing is extremely neat and precise, quite efficient, if I don’t mind saying. “Oh, and one last thing. A portrait of a yellow pony with a purple mane sits atop of another bookshelf, but is set back so as not to be obvious to intruders.” Magicon gave a subtle smile towards Springer as he finished, confident that he had accurately described his room. Hopefully, it would satisfy Bringer’s and Scarlet’s demands and would bring Asteria back to him.

If his hopes could be replaced by a greater emotion than surprise, Magicon was now experiencing it by Asteria’s reaction. He nearly fell over on his back as the young filly not only seemed perfectly comfortable in their new environment but conversed and questioned these two Springers. She commanded their attention, baffling Magicon in the process, and quickly making a first impression for both Springers, one that Magicon was very uneasy about. He feared her boldness would end her in hot water, forcing him to not only rescue her, but probably rescue Springer as well. Who knew what these two “creatures” were up to? The two took great interest at her, especially after Asteria named them Bringer and Sprout. If he wasn’t suspicious of the two Springers, Magicon would’ve giggled at her choice of names. Yet his guard was at its peak level; he trusted nothing about them or this new place that they were in. After Asteria had named them, they began approaching her and Magicon stuck out his hoof in front of Asteria, lest they did anything to her. In the back of his mind, he began preparing and reviewing a series of spells that would protect them in case those two decided to do anything funny. Yet that is exactly what they did. The one named Bringer practically rolled up in front of them, particularly Asteria and stated he really liked her. Magicon wasn’t sure if there was malice or deception behind the statement; it didn’t feel like it, but he knew nothing about these ponies, if they were ponies. He would not make quick judgments or take anything about them for granted, including their statements. Bringer’s quick judgment about Asteria being his filly had flown over Magicon’s head until this moment. But he made no visible reaction to coming around to it: being Asteria’s father, though illogical, was not the worst possible thing. If anything, it could be considered flattering: it would’ve added a personal achievement with a special somepony that he longed for. Yet Magicon did not have such a reaction; this was neither the time nor the place for such a reaction. Instead Bringer turned to him and stated a key piece of information Magicon was not likely to forget. He narrowed his eyes at the pegasus. He had deliberately lied to him and though it could be considered a white lie, Magicon did not consider it as such. It proved one thing for Magicon: Bringer was untrustworthy; he must always be on his guard and take his statements with a grain of salt. In addition, the statement raised only more questions. How was this world real? Where was it in relation to his real world? How was he transported so quickly here? Why was Springer constantly subjected to it? Hundreds of questions filled his mind while Bringer suggested an idea that made Magicon’s mind and fur freeze: play a game with Springer as a referee. Magicon gritted his teeth and his fears fell backwards at the idea. It wasn’t the idea of games that scared him, but the idea of playing games with these two, one of which he knew was already a liar, which made the idea sound that much worse. Yet Bringer was totally amused by the idea, so much so that he fell over laughing. Then he stopped and began a demonstration by suddenly filling the sky with dark clouds dripping with water. Magicon shivered as the cold rain seeped right through his mane and fur and stained his cape. If he wasn’t scared or freezing he would’ve glared at Bringer and ended the rain himself, but he was powerless to do so. Instead Sprout ordered Bringer to stop the rain, which he did, and then began arguing with him. Magicon made another observation: there was an uncertainty as to leadership. If he had to he would attempt to have them question ach others authority, hopefully allowing him to grab Asteria and Springer and get out of this world. While he thought of a general outline of escape, he observed Sprout approaching him and speaking to him in a cautious tone. Magicon grit his teeth. He wasn’t very good with names. He wasn’t the most creative on ponies. He couldn’t just create a name on the spot. It would be a disaster and his fault. Yet Magicon was more interested in Sprout’s displeasing words at Asteria. Though Sprout didn’t like Asteria, another observation and reason why Magicon was making sure to take extra care of the filly, her boldness had somehow won them their first game, a game that Magicon didn’t know he was playing. Apparently, they won information and the information they received only further confused Magicon. Bringer and Sprout were apart of dreams. Were they dream-makers? What is beyond the world of dreams that they were now in? Such a place exists? How is that possible? What sort of magic is responsible for this? He knew such questions would be fruitless not only to him but also Asteria. There was no point in gaining more information about their world. What they needed to do was get back to their world, alive. His stomach dropped and his heart froze. The weight of all Equestria suddenly fell on his shoulders. How in Equestria or beyond could he make such choices under such pressure? Who should he favor in those choices: himself or Sprout? He hardly knew Sprout. If it had been Bringer, he might have a chance, but with Sprout Magicon knew the odds were against him. While he debated with himself and continued grinding his teeth, out of fear and frustration he heard Sprout ask Asteria to rename him with a with strings attached, one being that Magicon must genuinely like the name. Then he heard four words that took some of the weight off of his shoulders: no one can lie. Though he doubted Bringer would follow those rules, he knew that Sprout would probably know when he was lying and punish him accordingly. At least that was in-check. At the same time he knew he couldn’t lie about Asteria’s choice of a name. She seemed creative and smart enough to find a name that would match all those requirements. Plus she seemed to be doing quite well in this place, even with one pony plainly disliking her. He retracted his hoof guarding Asteria. She would have a name, he was sure of it. Yet what about him? He was scared half-to-death, for his sake as well as for Springer’s and Asteria’s. Springer seemed helpless and almost tortured by these two and Asteria, though quickly making a controversial first impression, was wandering into dangerous waters. He didn’t want to play games with these two. Heck, he didn’t even want to be in the same world with them. They screamed deception and untrustworthiness. Magicon didn’t care who or what they were or their purpose in life; all he wanted to do was get the three out of this place, alive. Yet Asteria was determined to stay as she spoke, suggesting a new name for Sprout: Scarlet. Magicon’s thoughts paused as he considered the name. One of the requirements was that he liked the name. He did like the name, but was it appropriate for a colt. Then it hit him: it didn’t matter whether or not the name was appropriate for a colt or filly. Asteria could’ve picked “Buck-you” or something so long as Magicon liked it. He liked Scarlet, even if it was a filly’s name. One requirement was met and another weight was lifted off his shoulders. His mind returned to those questions and he realized that he had to make his choices now. He figured since he knew himself better than Sprout or Scarlet he would be more comfortable with his own choices. Plus they weren’t all that different from Sprout’s. Perhaps that would help. Closing his eyes to take a momentary deep breath Magicon spoke with some initial hesitation. “I…really don’t like games like this…but I don’t really have a choice. So as for Asteria, I do like the name Scarlet. Now…as for my choices..” he paused to run them through his head. “Ok, well, here they are: A slow game of excitement involving a game of secrets that is close together which is long involving a game of shadows.” He nervously released his breath as he finished. Though contradictory his choices seemed they all served a purpose for him: slow games meant more time for him to figure out weaknesses and escape plans. Excitement was concrete; imagination was too abstract and too dangerous with these two. Secrets were his specialty. Close together because that was the best way to know thine enemy and involving shadows because he was a pony of the dark, not one much for the light. He hoped that his choices would make for the greatest chances of winning.

The room looked normal. Everything was where they had left it last time they investigated it. The only change was Springer’s sleeping form on the bed. Magicon took special care to move silently so as to not wake the pegasus. He took a few more steps into the room when something caught his eye. Turning his head in the direction of a dim light he saw a note glow a faint red until it suddenly brightened and expanded, shrouding everything in a blinding light. Magicon covered his eyes with his right hoof as he heard the door slam shut and the room spun around them. His head hurt tremendously from the spinning around him. Miraculously, he squinted his eyes open just enough to grab Asteria’s hoof before shutting them again. If anything was going to come out of this, it would be Asteria’s safety. He kept his eyes shut until he felt the spinning cease. He slowly opened them to see a modified version of Springer’s room and a morbid version of Springer. The pain in his head subsided and he took a breath before he saw the sight before him. His eyes nearly fell out of his head at the sight of the pegasus. He looked practically dead. No muscle, no fat, just skin and bones, and a cork in one of his hooves. A thousand questions ran through his mind, yet his mouth remained firmly shut. He was unable to make sense of any of this. Was this a dream? Was this a demented form of reality? What was going on? He felt his head spin from the sudden change of environment. Yet he heard voices and he saw a second Springer emerge right next to the deflated Springer. He shook his head to try and clear his vision and mind, but it was no use. When he looked back at the two a third Springer had seemingly popped out of nowhere. He actually looked familiar to Magicon and when he spoke he realized why. The hair on the back of his neck froze. The word had “buddy” had returned and the pony or shadow or something had spoken it. Yesterday’s incident suddenly made sense. As much as it pained him, it wasn’t Trixie, Dusky, or even Dawn responsible for the weird Springer that spoke with him yesterday. It was this shadow. It was this Springer that had put him up to it; the one who had organized the show and subsequent duel with Trixie. Magicon wasn’t sure to be angry or thankful toward this Springer. All he knew was that he was now in some nightmare, probably Springer’s, and must roll with it for the time being. He overheard the false Springer mumble something about a change in scenery and before Magicon realized it his head hurt again and he covered his eyes from the intense spinning. When it subsided they were in sunny field with a picnic table layered with a variety of food. He invited them to sit. Magicon looked over at Asteria with such a confused expression that he didn’t even understand. He still held onto her hoof, lest some unnatural wind should come and lift the young unicorn into the sky and never return. He watched the scene unfold as the other false Springer took out an air pump and reinflated the real Springer. He saw the panic in his eyes and Magicon realized that this nightmare was not something that Springer had control over. He was the victim, abused by these two shadows. He needed help now and Magicon was sure to give it, once he figured out exactly what was going on. He quickly then threw a series of quick questions at Asteria. Magicon knew she was just as confused, if not more frightened as he was. But both Springers had settled down at the picnic table while the real one looked completely helpless, like he was forced to remain in his place with his mouth shut. Magicon didn’t really know what to do. He had little experience with these nightmares and he never read anything about them in his books. Even the one he had with him would be useless on the subject. Figuring any idea was as good as the others Magicon cleared his throat and said, “I really…uhh…don’t understand what’s going on here. From what I can tell this is a dream, or rather a nightmare…but what kind of nightmare is this? Why is Springer the victim? I don’t think he’s done anything wrong. Nightmares usually come to those who’ve done something wrong…right?” He felt so out-of-place and incredibly awkward. He was in strange land with strange shadows or ponies or whatever they were with the only definite being the young unicorn at his side. Maybe she could help clear this situation up, if she wasn’t too frightened. He hoped she was strong, that was all he could really do at the moment.

Asteria seemed fine with Magicon leading the way and being her temporary chaperone. He felt a great sense of responsibility to protect Asteria and make sure no ill became of her. Lapis would kill him if anything bad happened to his assistant and Magicon did not want to anger Lapis. As he began to leave the dining car he heard Asteria call him “boss” in a hushed tone. The word felt slightly odd. He never used the word boss. When Archie had first arrived at the museum, he never used the word boss and Magicon never told him otherwise. He had always used the either his name or a condensed version once they became close friends. In some ways Magicon felt like Asteria was the younger version of Archie: curious, excited, friendly, and loyal. He saw the loyalty she had for Lapis and although he knew he could never achieve such a loyalty with her for the short duration of the train ride, the least he could do was be friendly and help her. If she could trust him, he would be most grateful for it. As he exited the dining car with Asteria right behind him, he asked, “I do hope I didn’t frighten you or anything of that nature. I tend to have that effect on other ponies. Asteria, I just want to let you know that you can trust me. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.” Those words helped ease his conscience and his mind from the parlor car that he walked through. He didn’t shiver as he was focused on his own speech and was finished just as he left the parlor car. He continued walking in silence through his own passenger car until they arrived in the caboose. Inspecting the area to see if anypony was around, Magicon neither saw nor felt anypony near him. Assuming the area was safe he proceeded up to the door to Springer’s room. Putting his ear up to the door, he heard nothing inside. He knocked a few times just to make sure. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. Nodding his head in acknowledgement Magicon put his hoof to the door and pressed against the wood. It easily responded and swung inside the room. He took a deep breath before taking slow steps into the room. “Be on your guard, Asteria,” were his words of warning to the filly as he fully entered the room, bracing himself for whatever was in store and for whatever they might find in the room.

The young unicorn burst with excitement and it forced Magicon to maintain his smile at her glee. Asteria was full of energy and potential and Lapis seemed to be pointing her in the right direction. He knew Lapis was a good pony and he knew Asteria would turn out to be a great asset to him as well as a strong mare. Wherever she ended up and whatever she did, Magicon knew it would be great. As he smiled at the filly her desire for exploration caught his attention. Magicon’s smile immediately faded. Asteria’s excitement had gotten the better of her and now she was suggesting visiting Springer’s room back in the caboose. Though Magicon definitely wanted to investigate the room further, he was unsure if he should put Asteria in harm’s way. He couldn’t imagine Lapis’s reaction to discovering something terrible happening to Asteria while Magicon was with her. Though he was sure he could protect her, he didn’t know if Lapis trusted him to protect her. He also didn’t know anything about this light other than its existence and location. He didn’t even know if he would find it in Springer’s room. It was mysterious and unknown. Years of experience had told Magicon to be cautious with unknown ponies and entities and refuse to engage them until he knew as much as he could from them. But the only way to gain knowledge was to be daring and adventurous. Asteria was experienced and skilled in exploration, probably more than him. Perhaps their combined strength could dispel any dangers. As he sat and thought he noticed Dusky pass by back towards the engine and an icy young unicorn follow him shortly after his departure. He had a suspicion that Dusky was up to something. From what little observation he gathered he could tell the icy mare seemed to capture Dusky’s attention. If Dusky was going to get an ally on his side Magicon didn’t want to be overpowered by Dusky. He knew he was in a conflict with the unicorn, and Dusky knew his strength. Either he was not strong enough the beat Magicon, if they fought, and he needed help or he just wanted to make his triumph that much easier. Either case Magicon realized he would overpowered with them against him. He would need a strong ally, a unicorn, and someone already leaning to his side. Asteria was laying herself at his hooves and although she hadn’t shown any real devotion to Magicon, he knew getting to know her and granting her desires would lead to a stronger relationship between the two of them. Looking back at Asteria, Magicon smiled and said, “Asteria, it would indeed be fun, but also dangerous. I certainly want to know more about this light, but it might be dangerous. Though I’m sure you faced dangers in the past, I don’t know how Lapis would feel if you went with me to Springer’s room. But I’d rather not tell either of them. It’ll be our little secret so we can uncover as much as we can without a distraction. So, you’ll have to trust me. Are you up for it?” He rose out of his seat, hoping that the filly would not be frightened by him or his concerns. He hoped she would accept and move quickly to discover this mysterious light that Dawn had stated. He was certain Dawn would not be a problem. Arcanel would keep her occupied and Lapis and Springer would be back soon as well. The sooner he got moving to discover the truth, the better.

Arcanel’s response was long and complex. He admitted that he knew nothing more than what Magicon already knew: very little. He stated that something else was ahoof on the train and Magicon couldn’t agree more. Something dangerous was going on and it surrounded Dusky and Dawn. They had to find out and uncover the truth. More pieces of the puzzle would be discovered that way. But besides explaining his ideas to Magicon, Arcanel seemed to criticize Magicon. Magicon was about to explain himself, but Arcanel wasn’t interested at the moment. He thought for a moment about his words. Magicon hadn’t detected Springer’s spell and Arcanel suggested that it wasn’t magic at all. Then what was it? A potion? Just a crazy memory lapse? He was unsure. Perhaps it was magic and he had just ignored the feeling in his horn. After all, he wasn’t with Springer when it happened. He was traveling with Dave in Ponyville. Magicon didn’t know and he wouldn’t unless more facts were uncovered. As he thought he only subconsciously registered Arcanel’s words as he saw the pegasus move over to Dawn’s table and try to comfort her. Magicon shrugged. Lapis was quite aggressive and Dawn had been aggressive in response until her mental collapse. Now she seemed pitifully weak and vulnerable, easy prey. Arcanel, by using his own morals, would most likely get some further information about her because of his calm and friendly ways. She may trust him and tell him more than she would’ve told Lapis or Springer. Magicon hoped that would be the case. While Arcanel went to comfort Dawn, Lapis’s friend, who Magicon couldn’t quite remember the name of, Lapis was it?, approached him. Magicon gave a small smile to the young filly as she sat down. She had been recording the conversation with Dawn and would be the tool for the proof of whatever danger that Dawn or Dusky might be. She began with a quick series of questions, completely in concern for Dawn and Lapis. Magicon chuckled and spoke calmly. “You’re a smart pony, Asteria, correct? I’m not very good with names; much better with faces. But anyway, I can answer your questions. For Lapis, I can’t say I did notice how tired he was. Has something been troubling him? Has he been getting enough sleep? He seemed fine to me. As for the questioning, well since you’re a unicorn you can understand this. Dawn has been doing some crazy teleportation and invisibility spells throughout the train. I’ve felt them and Lapis, Springer, Arcanel, and I are trying to figure out why she’s doing all these spells. “We figured Lapis would be the best interrogator because he’s direct, like you saw, and gets to the heart of the matter quickly. None of us can really do that all that well. Despite what happened with Dawn, you must admit that we got some good information out of her and a better understanding of her nature. Now, tell me, what troubles you so?” He smiled at the young unicorn.

While the interrogation continued Magicon sat silent, listening and watching the scene unfold out of the corner of his eyes. Dawn had discovered his secret plan, even though he hadn’t intentionally planned it that way. She obviously had it out for him, and he would not be the victim of her antics and acts. Yet he was forced out of the conversation by Arcanel’s subtle whispering to him. Magicon stared at the pegasus for a few moments, then looking to the side and out of the window at the passing scenery. He knew Arcanel was a good pony and his sincerity was not unnoticed. But Magicon wondered if this was the right time and place for the answers he seeked. Deciding to help Arcanel out of the dark Magicon spoke quickly and quietly. “Yes, something did happen. I can elaborate later, but for the moment let’s just say Dawn and I didn’t have the warmest of greetings earlier on the train. I can’t say what she or Dusky are up to, but I can say it’s not good, especially with Dawn. Now, keep listening.” Turning his attention back to the group out of the corners of his eyes he saw his unprepared, unknown-until-recent plan unfold. Lapis remained firm in his attempts to corner Dawn, much to her frustration. A small grin appeared on his face as he saw Dawn grow visibly frustrated and angered by Lapis. Actually Magicon’s horn began sensing danger and his smile suddenly changed to one of agitation and worry. Attempting to be subtle, he moved his head toward Dawn slightly enough her horn glow with magical energy. Magicon stiffened up, suddenly worried about Springer, Lapis, and Asteria. He didn’t know what spell Dawn might be conjuring but he knew it wouldn’t be a friendly one. Magicon prepared his own defenses in his mind, making sure not to create any magic in the process. He had no way of knowing Dawn’s power and he wanted to make sure that none of his energy was wasted in preparations. Dawn looked ready to strike and Magicon would have to be quick if he wanted to protect those ponies. But then everything changed with Lapis’s fatal words. While the statement filled Magicon with pride and arrogance, he couldn’t afford to beam at the words. His concentration on Dawn’s potential dangers was too great. He expected her to leash out with those words, attacking Lapis with everything she had. Instead, she froze in place and then put her face in her hooves, visibly upset. Her horn fell silent as did Magicon’s prepared defenses and he listened carefully, showing no sympathy in his heart for what appeared to be desperate words and actions. Magicon remained suspicious of the unicorn, debating whether or not this was just the next scene in her act. He refused to be baited and trapped by her already and he was keeping his distance from her desperate please. "I'll tell you the answer to your question. When I went into Springer's room, I was looking for a light. I did see something that concerned me. He wasn't well. I could see that he wasn't well... I'm sorry for lying, but I was afraid of it. It was in there... That was the only reason that I had known to go there looking. I... I'm drawn to the light, and it was a light, just a dim light but it was a light. I could sense it. I thought that it was Springer getting better, but it wasn't. It was something else. I was scared... And... Just like I just did... I... I lost control. I ran away. I'm sorry... Springer... Please. Don't hate me." ‘Finally, some truth emerges. Albeit a hazy truth, but a truth nonetheless,’ he thought with satisfaction. He put his hooves together and began thinking about what Dawn had seen. What was this light? What was its source? What was its purpose? Who lit it? There were now countless questions, but it was another piece of the puzzle that could be worked with. Perhaps Springer, Lapis, and Arcanel knew more and could help fit this piece correctly in place. Magicon suppressed a chuckle at Springer’s glibness. Had this been a threatening situation, like a few moments before, Magicon would be seriously worried about Springer and his logic. But instead he didn’t dawdle on Springer too much. He was sure the assistant conductor was smart enough to know a trustworthy pony from a non-trustworthy one. While Magicon contemplated his thoughts he observed Vim approach Springer and Lapis and asked to speak to them in private. Dawn was temporarily free for the moment and she began eating her sandwich. Magicon though this would be a great time to challenge her and put her in her place, but he knew that such a moment would not be appropriate here. He felt that such a moment though, would come in the near future. Turning about to Arcanel Magicon whispered, “Well…that went, a little unexpected, wouldn’t you say? Despite what happened we got something: a light. Do you know anything about that, Arcanel?”

Magicon’s fears were neither lies nor exaggerations of the truth. She avoided all the questions that Lapis directed at her and instead harped own Lapis own admission. Magicon was now the sudden center of the conversation, and he wasn’t even in it to begin with. He looked over at Arcanel with desperate eyes, hoping for some guidance that he might be able to offer. While trying to hide his inner fears and feelings, he overheard Dawn directly challenge him. Magicon shivered as his mind teleported back to the events of last night. It all sounded too familiar: a challenge that Magicon couldn’t avoid, the difficulty he faced, and his “success”. He hadn’t planned on challenging Trixie but she annoyed him and then angered him. Magicon knew she had to be stopped from abusing magic and that’s what he had done. But would Dawn be the same? Was she really just like Trixie? Magicon did draw some links between the two: both were arrogant and excessive with their magical skills. He met both in the parlor car of the train and immediately had bad impressions with both of them. Worse still, both were up to no good. The parallels were strikingly similar making Magicon wonder if Dawn either was Trixie in disguise or knew about what happened to Trixie from last night. But those weren’t the most important questions at the moment. What was important was Dawn’s direct challenge to Magicon. ‘She knows something,’ he thought. ‘She’s trying to bait me into doing something I’ll regret.’ He felt the greatest urge to take the bait, walk up to her, and analyze exactly who she was and her motives form all her magical spells. Yet he knew that perhaps it would just be better to remain quiet and see if anything, anything at all could be extracted from her before he entered the conversation. Lapis had blundered incredibly and had now forced Magicon’s secret methods to the surface. But it might not be too late for him to try and get back to Dawn’s actions. Springer attempted to get back to fundamental questions at hoof, but was blundering miserably. Magicon had no idea how Lapis would manage but he expected him to fail as well. His own mistake had caught everypony off-guard and they were now paying the price for it. Instead of them controlling the conversation Dawn had turned the tables on them and was now controlling them. Magicon hated this. His stomach quivered with fear and hatred. Manipulation was his skill, not any other ponies. Even when he hadn’t planned to manipulate ponies, he always did. It was something he was incredibly resourceful at. Only then did Magicon realize that he had controlled Springer, Lapis, and Arcanel to get what he wanted out of Dawn: secret information about her. But Dawn was too clever for them and had easily overrun their attempts to divulge her information. Instead she went right to the puppetmaster: Magicon and demanded his participation. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, with no better knowledge about what to do. His gut was in knots and he had no deciding factor to determine what to do. Take the bait or sit out? While he pondered Dusky had seemingly entered the dining car quietly and passed by Magicon on his way to peek into the kitchen and grab so food. Magicon glared at the unicorn for a moment, but focused back on his own predicament. Dusky seemed to ignore Magicon as he passed him and proceeded to talk to some new passengers. But Magicon still felt incredibly frustrated. The bait was right there in front of him and he wanted to take it. But the numerous ‘what if’s’ filled his mind with reservation. Yet from his deliberation, a glorious thought entered his mind. Dawn had asked for his participation, but did not ask him directly. She didn’t know Magicon was eavesdropping on her conversation; she could only suspect it. Magicon knew that she knew he was listening in, but that wasn’t real proof. If she wanted to talk to Magicon directly, she would have to convince Lapis or Springer to ask him. Happily satisfied with his plan Magicon leaned back in his chair, smiling; confident that whatever Lapis or Springer did, he didn’t have to utter a word unless he was directly brought into the conversation and he knew he would be. When that happened, he would be ready. Dawn would not outsmart him, he would outsmart her.

Both Lapis and Arcanel followed Magicon into the car and sat beside him around the table. They stated a few aspirations and worries about what might happen when they talked to Dawn, but something else began nagging at Magicon that made him drown out the other two ponies. His horn was beginning to tingle again, similar to what he had felt earlier in the caboose outside Springer’s room. It was subtle at first as Magicon felt that the magic was the remnants of Dawn’s previous spells. It wasn’t overbearing; it was actually quite under-bearing. Magicon had to keep a clear focus even to feel it. At this point Springer entered and suggested that since Dawn wasn’t here, they should go and find her. Magicon raised an eyebrow. Dawn seemed like too social of a pony to avoid social gatherings with other ponies, especially when such a strong aroma of fruits and sandwiches filled the air of the entire train. While Arcanel, Lapis, and Springer engaged in conversation Magicon turned his head towards the window to concentrate on Dawn’s magic. The scenery became blurry to his vision as he just stared into empty space, focusing his energy on this unusual unicorn. The subtle magic remained but suddenly Magicon felt a spike in the magic, as if somepony was using a good amount of magic right now. It was close too, meaning that he could track it immediately and be right on the tail end of the spell. He immediately set to work, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, and ignoring the conversation around him. He instantly felt where the spell originated from and what type of spell it was: an invisibility spell cast one to two cars ahead of him. As he focused on the aurora he had no doubts that Dawn was casting the spell, but for what purpose? Why did she need to be invisible? What was she trying to accomplish? By his own magic, Magicon saw hat Dawn was unmoving. She was invisible but remaining in one place with major movements. Was she listening to something? Magicon opened his eyes and looked toward the front on the train. Nopony had come through the door leading to the forward passenger cars. Turning back towards the window Magicon felt a change in Dawn’s magic: movement. With his own aurora he followed her as she moved forward of the train. Obviously the conversation had ended, though Magicon did wonder what Dawn was eavesdropping on. But suddenly Magicon felt the disappearance of an invisibility spell and replaced by a much more powerful, though clumsy teleportation spell. The speed caught Magicon by surprise and he broke his connection to prevent himself from straining his magic. He leaned back from the table and took a few more breaths. Checking his magic, he didn’t feel anything was wrong. But the teleportation spell was so clumsy, so badly-timed, and awkward that Magicon felt it might be dangerous to track. Yet his horn had other plans. Despite not actively engaging in it, Magicon could still feel the remnants of the spell settle in the train as Dawn had teleported through the cars, including the one Magicon was in to reach the caboose. Again, Magicon felt that wasn’t the intended destination or even the intended spell, but he felt no more active magic until a healing spell caught his attention. It was short, but powerful and Magicon guessed that Dawn had seemingly injured herself from the hasty teleporting. He silently chuckled to himself. As his horn settled down Magicon resumed attention to the group as they awaited Dawn’s arrival, a sly smile on his face. He had been able to track her throughout the train and was able to match her aurora with the one he felt earlier, confirming his suspicions about Dawn. She was up to something, though what that was was unknown to Magicon. The group didn’t wait long as Dawn entered the dining car and sat at a table across from there’s. Springer signaled Lapis to follow him and they introduced themselves to Dawn. Magicon’s smile faded as looked at Arcanel and gave a nod to him, hoping that the pegasus would understand his meaning. As he listened to the questions Magicon subtlety nodded as Lapis asked direct and necessary questions at Dawn. The questions were excellent and straight-to-the-point. Magicon only hoped Dawn would respond directly as well. He felt it was going well until he heard his own name enter the conversation. His ears sprang to attention, his breath froze, and he practically fell out of his chair because of his leaning backwards. He desperately tried to control himself and only haphazardly appeared to look like he was calm and relaxed. The sudden mention of his name to Dawn had caught him completely by surprise and Magicon now worried that Dawn would be suspicious of him, if she wasn’t already, and might now answer the questions directly. Worse still was that Lapis foolishly revealed Magicon’s secret to Dawn. He suddenly felt the urge to blast the earth pony into oblivion for exposing his secrets. But he realized he couldn’t in this setting: way to public for Magicon’s taste. He always liked to keep his secrets secret, but Lapis decided that wasn’t to happen. He lowered his brow and turned his head away from the conversation, fuming at his secret being revealed. Now Dawn knew of his secret and would be much more cautious with her magic, making it that much harder for Magicon to detect. She was clearly up to no good.

Magicon knew his plan wasn’t perfect and he was open to criticism, but he hoped he could roll with the punches and work forward from there. Dawn was a dangerous unicorn; Magicon wasn’t taking anything for granted or any chances with her. His gut and mind were united in their suspicions of Dawn and he knew they were right. Only she had the answers, yet he knew she might get away or dodge the questions entirely. While he pondered, Arcanel spoke up. Magicon was about to open his mouth to answer Arcanel and correct him about his name. It only occurred to Magicon now that Arcanel was putting a “Mr.” in front of his name and Magicon felt uncomfortable with it. It sounded too proper, too out-of-touch, too unrelatable for him. But before he could speak, Springer loudly interjected himself into the conversation. Magicon nodded as Springer continued on, suggesting that Magicon sit with Arcanel while Lapis and Springer confronted Dawn. It was simpler than Magicon’s plan and had a better chance of working. Magicon preferred directness, though he wasn’t sure if directness was the correct call for dealing with Dawn. But it didn’t matter. All of them were itching to get to the Dining Car, either for food or excitement about talking to Dawn. Lapis took the lead with his own statement. Magicon smelt the aroma as well. It was a wonderful scent of fruits and spices. Ambrosia was cooking something delicious and Magicon wouldn’t mind helping himself to a meal, especially if Ambrosia was cooking. As Lapis held the door for everypony, Springer quickly spread his wings and flew out of the door while Magicon followed his lead and began walking through the door. “I just hope this all works,” he stated as he walked out of the caboose through the passenger car and into the parlor car. Magicon shivered ever-so-slightly as they passed through the car. But as they were about the exit, Springer landed and looked to his right at a pony Magicon had never seen before. She was obviously a new passenger but Magicon felt that she seemed a little insecure about her situation and her surroundings. Rather than surround her with four ponies, Magicon felt it would be better if just Springer talked to her. Besides, Dawn awaited them in the dining car. Glancing at Lapis and Arcanel Magicon said, “Come guys, let’s keep moving. Springer can handle this new passenger.” He opened the door out of the parlor car and walked into the dining car. The aroma of fruits, spices, and cheese filled the air and the kitchen sounded like a busy engine at work. Obviously Ambrosia was hard at work preparing lunch. As he walked further into the car Magicon felt a jolt in the floor as the brakes were released and the train began moving. He glanced out the window to see Ponyville Station slowly pass by as the train made a slow departure of the town towards Los Pegasus. “Well, here’s to the last leg of the journey,” Magicon mumbled. Looking back in the dining car there was no sign of Dawn, but a bunch of new passengers were scattered about the tables. Magicon knew he would immediately get attention so he grabbed a table directly to his right, about halfway into the car, hoping that Lapis and Arcanel would join him. He hoped Springer would return soon as well.

Magicon listened to each of the three with their own responses about his own activities, his own questions, and what to do and where to go from this location. Magicon nodded at Lapis’s suggestion, acknowledging his suggestion. Talking to Dawn might help solve of these problems; she was the center of this whole ordeal and the most assured way to figure out these questions and mysteries. He had no doubt that she was involved in this to a great extent, the real question as how deep was she involved? Magicon blinked, but understood what the pegasus was talking about. The paper couldn’t explain anything more than what they already figured out. Only Dawn’s mind seemed to know what this paper meant. But Magicon felt that Dawn was sporadic and uncontrollable. She might’ve written the paper just to screw with everypony. It might mean nothing, and he felt that was the point. Her magic might also be an extension of that. She was just screwing with Magicon. He felt a small fire inside at the thought. Nopony screwed with Magicon. If he found that to be true…she would regret it. @@Eevee, Magicon listened intently to what Arcanel was suggesting. He knew his strategy and a small smile appeared on his face. Subtlety was one of Magicon’s greatest traits. Yet he had already confronted Dawn before; subtlety might not be appropriate for him right now. Perhaps Lapis’s suggestion was the best: direct confrontation might get the answers they needed. But as Arcanel kept speaking Magicon began formulating a new idea, but was unable to share it immediately because of Arcanel, who continued speaking. Magicon could easily answer his question. He could track Dawn’s trace to the front of the train, if he did it quickly. Magical auras faded over time. Yet if they confronted Dawn right now they might get the answers that the front of the train provided, thus saving time and energy. But Dawn might also lie or run away, wasting the groups’ time and energy to try and talk to her. It was then that Magicon’s idea truly began taking on more than a simple dimension, it was quickly becoming a plan. @ Once Arcanel finished Springer spoke voicing his own ideas. Similar to Lapis, Springer ideas resounded with Magicon about efficiency thought the unicorn would never put it in the same terms as the assistant conductor. Lapis agreed with Springer about the need to be confrontational and aggressive while Arcanel wanted to be more discreet and subtle. Both dies had their merits and faults and Magicon formulated his plan based on those plans. Speaking quickly Magicon began. “Guys, please! Look, it’s obvious that we need to do something about Dawn. I like the idea of talking to her directly, but my gut tells me she won’t like that. Dawn doesn’t seem like the type of pony to just answer questions willy-nilly. That’s why I propose this solution: we come up with a plan. Thankfully while you guys were explaining yourselves I formulated a plan. Here’s what we’ll do. First, we’ll head to the dining car. It’s a social place and its unlikely Dawn would do anything really crazy in front of many ponies. Plus there will be witnesses to observe her every move. “To draw her to the dining car or to prevent her from doing anything crazy there, I will cast an invisibility making myself invisible just before we enter the car. She may detect it, and she’ll probably know it’s me, but it adds the pressure for her to either come to the dining car or answer our questions. Then, if she’s there or if she comes to the car, Lapis would you ask her the questions. She really doesn’t know you and therefore doesn’t know what to expect. You might be able to catch her off guard. “Arcanel, since you know Dawn the most, I want you just to sit at a booth and listen in carefully, but discreetly. You’ll know if she’s lying or skirting the truth. As for you, Springer, fill free to grab some food; I’m sure Ambrosia is cooking up a wonderful meal. Then join Arcanel and listen carefully to Dawn and Lapis. If you feel you’ll need to interject yourself, do so. I will be near the conversation, invisible, but monitoring flow’s aurora just in case she tries anything bizarre. I know it sounds complex, but trust me, it’s not, but tell me, does this sound like a good plan to you guys?”

He looked up at them with slightly ashamed eyes. Magicon saw that they had watched him. Though he didn’t care too much, he still cared a little bit and it gnawed at him. He hated it when others observed magic, especially personal and secretive magic. He felt like he was some sort of scientific specimen being studied by invading scientists. Yet at the same time Magicon realized that he was grateful by their silence during his exercise of magic. They respected his concentration and allowed him to do his work. He was thankful for that. Yet because of their silence he had no knowledge of how long the three had been standing there; watching him with curious eyes, trying to understand his methods and their purpose. The curiosity was clearly evident when Springer asked about Magicon’s doings. The curiosity was shared by Arcanel who quickly followed Springer with a question. He took a deep breath and stared at the floor for a few seconds before lifting himself up to their eye-level, smoothing out his cape as he did so. He spoke methodically and somewhat cautiously, fearful of scaring them with his suspicions about Dawn. “Well…it’s difficult to explain, but I’ll do my best. Essentially, somepony just recently used a good ounce of magic near here and I was trying to figure out what the spell was and who might’ve conjured it. I have my suspicions, but I don’t want to give away anything until I gather more evidence. However, that being said, I feel like I should tell you my suspicions. My gut tells me not to, but we’ve all been working on this bizarre investigation and seen a few oddities. The more information I give you, the more we may be able to put these things together.” He paused before continuing. “From what I gathered, there was only one unicorn back here recently: Dawn, the young blue filly. Lapis met me in the parlor car and Dawn was there, with her cats I might add. Lapis and then went back to the dining car to decipher the paper with the bizarre story. Lapis then decided to head back here to talk to you, Springer. On the way through the parlor car Dawn was gone and so were her cats. We met up with Arcanel soon afterwards and then went to Springer’s room. As you guys just entered the room and woke Springer I felt the magic. Whether she was further inside the caboose or near the exits that we passed is unknown to me. But what counts is that Dawn used a good strong ounce of magic. Now as for the magic, I can’t tell exactly what the spell she did, but it was either a teleportation spell or invisibility spell. Either way she ended the spell near the front of the train. If I head over there I can figure out just exactly where she ended it. But, that depends on whether or not that’s related to what we’re doing. Perhaps this is entirely pointless and Dawn just used magic freely for some purpose. But tell me, perhaps there’s something we can figure out with this paper. Anything new that you guys figured out?”

Lapis wasn’t having any luck with the paper either. Magicon could see his confusion, the same that he was experiencing at trying to understand the words written on the page and what they could possibly mean. Stumped by the page Lapis suggested that they head over to Springer’s room and ask him about it. He managed to even insert a sly remark about Dawn that managed chuckled with perhaps a bit too dark of a tone. Lapis led the way to Springer’s with Magicon right behind him. Springer was the center of this whole mystery and he would know better than anypony about this paper and what was the reason for its existence. They passed back through the Parlor Car Magicon noticed that Dawn had left the car and the cats had seemingly disappeared. Magicon hoped she took his advice and stayed away from this car, but he didn’t trust her to listen to him. She probably had her own agenda and had to keep to it. Though where she could’ve gone puzzled Magicon. She didn’t pass him the dining car, meaning the only way she could’ve gone was through his car and back to the caboose. But as they passed through his car there was no sign of Dawn. Instead, Arcanel approached them and Lapis quickly explained what they had discovered and invited Arcanel to join them back to Springer’s room. Arcanel seemed to be in deep thought while Lapis moved on and Magicon hoped the white pegasus would be alright. But he couldn’t dwell on him. Lapis was on a hunt and Magicon wanted to be there to see his kill. As Lapis entered Springer’s room Arcanel yelled catching both of their attentions. He greeted Magicon who nodded his head, acknowledging his presence, but hurried to Lapis to try and prevent him from waking Springer, who was apparently sleeping. But it was too late as Springer quickly awoke and took the paper from Lapis. The three watched as Springer adjusted to his current surroundings and after taking a few breaths began reading it aloud. Magicon could sense that something was troubling the pony. He was short of breath, the only way one could be short of breath after sleeping was either a bad dream or some sleeping disorder. Magicon didn’t know if Springer had a disorder, but a bad dream was always likely, especially on this train which seemed to a haven for all sorts of bizarre dreams and events. He silently blamed Trixie for it. As Springer finished he took a few moments to try and understand what he just read, before explaining just how confused and how bizarre this paper was. But was more interesting to Magicon was that the paper was in Springer’s own hoofwriting. He raised an eyebrow. Writing was a way of committing something to memory. It increased remembrance of something and to not remember writing down something seemed unlikely, unless it was a written a long time ago. Magicon didn’t feel that the paper was written a long time ago; in fact he felt that it was written rather recently. His mind delved into the hypotheticals. Somepony could have imitated Springer’s hoofwriting and wrote it down. Or, this was evidence that Springer had been controlled by somepony and forced to write this. But either way the central question was, why write this? It made no sense. It didn’t fit in with anything, unless a relatively obscure topic. Magicon vaguely remembered Key mentioning something about a book earlier in the day and of some story that Lapis had jotted down, though he figured Lapis would be better at remembering those things than Magicon. As Magicon thought though, he did hear Springer mention something about a dream, confirming his earlier suspicions about his short breathing. Magicon was about to offer his plausible ideas when he felt something flicker through his horn. He immediately put a hoof to his head and tried to understand what he felt. “What the…?” he stated as he tried to make sense of the feeling that had simultaneously appeared and disappeared in the same second. He took a breath and only began running through his knowledge of magic to figure out just what he had experienced. However, he didn’t have to dive to hard as another thought popped into his head: his spell book. He looked behind him and saw the book still hover just above his cape. He smiled as he saw that the book had remained under his control and right by his side as he had walked through the train and deciphered invisible ink. Turning about the other three ponies, Magicon said, “I hate to be rude…but something’s amiss in the magical world. I felt something just now and I need to understand what that is. If you’ll excuse me.” He backed out of the room, closed the door, and immediately turned his attention to his book. He knew it could only be a few possibilities as he flipped through the pages. He checked the symptoms for teleportation, the most obvious explanation of his sensations, but the symptoms didn’t match with what he felt. He then checked on rapid speed, but that was even less likely than teleportation. He then examined any powerful magic, but that was too broad to find any good explanation. He then tried invisibility and found a good match, though not any better than teleportation. It was either those two: teleportation and invisibility. It had happened close by; Magicon could tell, otherwise it wouldn’t have affected him so. It had to be a unicorn…and it was then that Magicon raised his head and quickly scanned the room. She wasn’t there. The only place she could’ve gone was here and she had seemingly vanished. Dawn was not in the caboose. She had used either teleportation or invisibility to get out of the caboose and to somewhere else. The question now was, where? Magicon took a deep breath and began concentrating his magic. If she used teleportation, he could track her, especially since it happened so recently. If she used invisibility, it would be nearly impossible to find her. She could still be invisible for all he knew. He began by trying to get a handle on her magic. Every unicorn had a unique feel to their magic and Magicon knew Dawn had one, she had used magic. He set his book aside, sat down, closed his eyes, and began focusing. He felt his own magic circulate the room, and it didn’t take too long for him to find her magical trace. He didn’t care if the ponies in Springer’s room were watching him; he needed to figure this out. Dawn could not be trusted. As long as she was on this train, something was wrong and Magicon was determined to figure out exactly what. Having found her magic, he began to follow it as he tried to follow her path. She had left the caboose proceeded down the opposite side of the train, seemed to make a detour somewhere near the middle of the train, and then head towards to the front of the train. Magicon couldn’t tell if she was either in the baggage car or the engine. They were just too far away. But he knew her trace ended there. He wanted to go and see what she was up to, but he felt he couldn’t just leave. Springer had to be dealt with and this mystery of the bizarre page needed to be solved. He slowly turned around and hoped that the three of them were not staring at him with bizarre eyes from his earlier magical spell.

Magicon’s stern and aggressive gaze was met by Dawn’s calm and apologetic one as the unicorn took her time to choose all the correct words to respond to Magicon. He knew he was threatening her in a way, it was his whole point. Few ponies should know his name. Knowing his name meant knowing something about him and then prodding for more information about him and his life, something Magicon avoided as best he could. His gaze remained firm as she apologized and introduced herself. As she continued explaining herself to the unicorn, Magicon raised his eyebrow in suspicion. Just knowing things without remembering how she learned them was an obvious cover to Magicon. He knew she was lying and hiding something from him. In addition, according to Dawn she had just appeared in Ponyville out of the blue and began taking care of cats. To Magicon, it was obvious she was hiding something, something very troubling to the young mare and possibly troubling for him. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt that the thing that bothered her concerned him in some form. Though Magicon would’ve loved to speculate on her secrets he know that now was neither the time nor place as her last statements brought out a stern gaze on his face. For some reason Magicon felt very conflicted with those last words. On one hoof he wanted her to fear him. He didn’t trust her by any measure. She was lying to his face and attempting to hide something from him, and failing at it miserably. If she could fear him, all the more chance that she would accidentally spill the beans and allow him to know the secrets she was hiding. Yet at the same time, he felt like she was here, on this train, in this room, for the right reasons. Magicon felt that perhaps the thing she was hiding was a quest to right the wrongs of her past and bring justice to her injustices. He could only assume that somepony had wronged Dawn and the time had come to make it right. He knew from his own experience that to interfere with a pony when they’re on a quest, especially an important one, and one that they might be close to solving, to not interrupt them. He had had that problem with Archie when they first started working together. He didn’t want to be the Archie for Dawn. As she finished speaking, asking to be left along. Magicon backed away a few paces and raised his eyes from the unicorn. As he raised them he noticed a few cats that seemingly had appeared out of nowhere around the parlor car. Realizing that they were the cats Dawn had mentioned earlier, Magicon knew they liked her and would probably help her in any way they could. He felt like he was being slowly ambushed and he would not be the victim of it. He didn’t care for cats. They were never nice animals in his opinion and he kept his distance from them. But Dawn had affection for them and they had affection for her, in turn. She was also a unicorn and Magicon had no knowledge of her abilities with magic. He would not underestimate her by engaging in a conflict with her prematurely. With the odds stacked against him, he made his decision with a stern voice. “No, I’m finished. I’ll leave you to your food and…feline friends.” He glared at the cats as he said that. “Just watch yourself, Dawn. Ponies on this train are a bit…odd. Don’t take that word lightly. I’ll see you around.” He turned and headed towards the exit of the parlor car with his head held high, hoping that he could leave Dawn and see what else was happening on the train. Yet as fate would have it, the happenings came to him in the form of Lapis. Suddenly Magicon’s spirit was elated by his chance to get back involved with the mystery. Smiling Magicon happily replied, “Sure thing Lapis. But let’s just do this in the dining car. I just…don’t want to be in this car right now,” glancing over his shoulder at Dawn and the cats. He telekinetically lifted the paper and walked out of the parlor car and into the dining car. As he walked into the car, hopefully with Lapis in tow, he examined the paper. He raised it and lowered it, turned it in multiple ways, examining it for any abnormalities. “Hmm…"he observed. "Well, nothing appears out of the ordinary, but since you said it was found in Springer’s room, there’s got to be something written on it. Well, lucky for you Lapis, I have deciphered many papers with invisible ink. This shouldn’t be a problem.” He began casting his spell on the paper, making sure to be careful and delicate so as not to harm the paper. As he concentrated he hoped that the ink would yield to the spell and, though, initially slow to reveal, it was soon present. He waited a few more seconds of casting the spell, just to make sure no other writing was on the paper. When he finished he brought the paper to his hooves and began reading it. The hoofwriting was detailed and highly neat, yet not superfluous. It was…efficient. There was only pony Magicon knew that used efficiency: Springer. But why would Springer hide something in invisible ink in his own train set? More importantly, how would he do it? Who helped it? What was going on with that pony? Yet he realized those questions were not the most important thing right now: it was the words in front of him. He read them slowly, not quite understanding what they were about. The writing outlined a story: a very basic one and strange one a pony wandering in a frozen wasteland, seemingly with some sort of task ahead of him. Magicon didn’t understand it at all, but he wasn’t the only pony here. Lapis might know and help him understand what this was about. Glancing at the pony Magicon said, “Well…uhh…Lapis, I got it deciphered, but I really don’t know what this is about. Maybe you can shed some light on this,” hoofing the paper over to him for his own eyes to read and try to make sense of it.

Magicon noticed the young mare’s slight jump. He did have that effect on ponies; a trait that he was never able to shake. Yet despite her reaction Magicon observed that she remained calm, most likely observing him and digesting whatever traits she could form his appearance and manner. She would probably make preliminary conclusions based on that, but that wasn’t Magicon’s concern as she spoke. His inside groaned as the can of worms was opened by his own big mouth. ‘I should’ve crafted my words better. I should’ve been keener and better able to get her out of this dang parlor car. Instead I just rushed into it and now she’s curious. Great, how do I explain this?’ Magicon thought as the unicorn began trying to get to the meaning of his words, that he so wished to have never said. Magicon’s stomach dropped and his heart froze. His face was unable to hide the shock that came out of nowhere. How in Equestria did this pony know his name? He had never met her before, at least as far as his conscious memory could recollect. But how did she know his name and if she knew his name, what else did she know? Even if she did know something, she could always hide it from Magicon. His suspicions were aroused to their heights and his defenses instantly built themselves after the initial shock. With those internal traits, his external gaze lowered and his eyebrows lowered in suspicion. His voice was darker and more menacing as he spoke. “Listen mare, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. My name is indeed Magicon and not many ponies know it. I suppose then I should ask you how do you know it, but then that wouldn’t be fair as I don’t know your name. I feel, at the very least, that I should know your name.” “As for this room…well…let’s just say something bad happened here that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But it’s no longer of any concern or importance so don’t worry about it. I just have…bad feelings about this room.”