Princess Celestia was sitting in the private gardens of Canterlot Castle, watching the first blooming orchid of the year. Taking advantage of the end of day calmness, she enjoyed the fragrance of a cup of steaming tea. She turned her attention to a unicorn mare to her left who was facing the sun, her back turned towards Celestia. "Do you really have to leave today?” Celestia asked, her voice serene and thoughtful. “I think I speak for everypony when I say that we would like you to stay. If you could stay here, then your journey would no longer be necessary."

"This is not my modus operandi, Celestia," the unicorn answered, her tone dull and detached, as she stretched her left foreleg towards the sun as if to grab it with her hoof.

"Wouldn't you like to share one last cup of tea? I received a whole box from Japony a few days ago. The one you like so much."

Her expression didn’t light up at the offer. "This stopover has lasted far too long."

Celestia watched her for a moment, her gaze softening before she turned away from the unicorn and towards a table. "I understand," she said, setting the cup on its saucer. Her horn glowed, she levitated a letter and casted a spell to send it to Ponyville. The alicorn looked down at her tea and after a moment of silence, she said: "Just remember one thing, Pepper,” she requested before to smile warmly. “I'm glad you came."

The unicorn whipped around, horn glowing scarlet. As she focused her cold stare on the target of her imminent attack, the aura turned purple interlaced with green, revealing her dark intent.

Before she could have a taste of her tea, Celestia was hit by the bolt of magic, vanishing into thin air.

Celestia’s regalia fell to the ground, the only evidence that the princess was ever there.

Pepper approached the spot where Celestia had been and claimed the alicorn’s life with a mere gulp, ignoring what was left of Celestia’s existence. Her golden regalia was glittering in the sunlight. Pepper’s horn illuminated with glowing magic as she opened a portal to flee away. Just as she was about to leave, Luna stumbled upon her.  "Oh, Luna, good timing."

Princess Luna smiled at first. However, she quickly noticed the abandoned regalia. She turned to the unicorn, worried. "Where is my sister?"

The unicorn kept looking at the portal with an unreadable expression. "Should anypony ask you, I am gone, and your sister is a goner," she said as she walked through the gate.

"Pep-" Luna didn't have time to finish. Pepper had closed the gate behind her, and Luna found herself alone in Canterlot's gardens. "Celestia?" she called for her sister instead, out of insecurity, but no one answered. The birds continued to chirp as if nothing was wrong. "The shortest jokes are the best," she said loudly, hoping for this to just be another prank. A summer breeze blew but the princess felt only the cold embrace of fear. With a strong downward stroke of her wings, she took off to fly over the gardens. Her gaze swept over the grounds, but she saw neither Celestia nor Pepper. Yielding to fear, she shouted, using the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Pepper? Celestia? Enough! ‘Tis Enough!! ‘Tis not the least bit of fun! Show thyselves! Pepper?! Celestia?! CELESTIA!!"

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In a small room with walls made of wood, a young red haired female human teen was sleeping soundly.

An ageless but mature silver-haired woman who was wearing a yellow kimono decorated with a phoenix flying over flames entered with a plate in hands. She sighed at the sight. “Still sleeping in, I see. Some of your habits are really hardset,” she murmured before sitting next to the futon. “Gamine, wake up,” she said, as she nudged her shoulder. 

Startled in her sleep, Gamine moved and turned her back on the woman, whining a bit. “Too early~” She said before pulling the blanket to cover her head.

“No, my dear, today is an important day. I have nearly finished polishing the blade you will wield as a Guardian. So you are going to come out with me and see it.” There was an odd weight in her words, despite her smile.

“Come on old sparrow, can’t it wait another day? A few hours at least? I barely fell asleep one hour ago. I can’t even lift my eyelids,” the child's complaint turned into a mutter.

“I have told you many times that you cannot do as you please because you lack discipline and balance, my dear,” she said, not responding at all to the diminishing nickname.

The child yawned. “If you really wanted me to wake up this morning, you would have brought a cup of tea with you to bribe me, but I don’t smell any,” she said with a smirk while her head was still under the blanket.

“Gamine, your nose is clearly not working,” the mature woman murmured gently. She would pull the blanket back, and set before her some toast with butter and a cup of steaming tea. “Today is important. Get up!”

The child huffed after she took a sip, “I hate jasmine tea, it tastes [i]horrible[/i].”

“Well, if you woke up earlier, you would have been the one to decide what kind of tea to brew for your own breakfast.”

Gamine huffed again. “Fine! Your offering has been accepted, old sparrow. I will grant you the joy of my presence in a little while at the forge," teased the kid with a childish grin.

Kyndal would smile once more. “Dear one, I want nothing less.” She would reach out and touch Gamine’s face, holding her cheek in her hand. “Hurry now, today’s lesson is important.” She would move away, her shadow reached across the floor toward the bed where the sleepy one wanted to remain.

Gamine slowly crawled out of the bed, "Why do you always feel the need to have the last word?" she sighed. She ate the toast first. She then pinched her nose while drinking the cup,  finishing it in one go, wincing tongue out. “Better be worth it or I’ll return the favour,” she muttered before leaving the bed, wearing a blue kimono, poorly knotting the belt around her waist, and leaving the room. Once outside, she put some shoes on her feet and walked to go to the forge.

The Guardian had everything set up, and was working on the hilt of a sword she seemed to have completed. The diaphanous blade was sleeping on a sword stand, still naked, waiting for Kyndal who was carefully crafting the tsuba at this moment.

Gamine looked at the blade. “Still can’t believe I crafted a blade out of the crystal lotus.”

“Because unlike you, I never accept to see anything as they appear to be. I dare to see them for what they could be.” Smiling, Kyndal would nod to the work bench nearby. “Sit, we have to talk before we begin working today.”

The kid reversed her head, looking at the ceiling, silently whining as she heard this. She looked around, knowing too well what this dialogue was about. A lot of tea was prepared to keep her quiet and focused on listening to her mentor. She sat next to the kettle, pouring tea into the cup next to it, sipping a few times. Before wincing and looking at Kyndal with a resigned sigh. “I’m listening.”

She reached behind her on the work table, “A sword-smith would pour his very soul into the sword they craft,” she said gazing into the red eyes of her student intensely before pointing out a sword. “Murasama’s blades caused so many deaths because the smith himself was a mad man.” Her finger pointed to another sword. “On the other hand, Masamune was a humble and good-natured man, and his blades were simple and balanced.” She handed the tsuba across to her pupil and waited for her student to look over it and comment.

What the child held in her hands now was a well crafted phoenix in a piece of golden brass. The circle was made by the shape of the wings, one wing faced to the left, up over the top of the phoenix, the other was pointed down and right, around the bottom of the circle. In the center, the phoenix rested. Red gems were embedded in the eyes, and the feathers themselves were carefully etched out of the highly polished item. There was only one hole within it, one in the center, through the body of the phoenix, fitted exactly for a blade. The rest was cleverly done with high and low relief etchings, the phoenix was raised on both sides, and the filler was low relief and highly polished.

The kid was looking at the tsuba from every angle. It was easy to read the awe on her face. She looked around, a bit perplexed. “Where’s the tsuka?”

Kyndal softly laughed. “It is not for me to craft the handle of your weapon, all I shall do is to polish the blade and craft the tsuba. Yours is to bring a crystal lotus and craft it into a weapon to protect the weak. The blade will be yours only the day you become a full fledged Guardian.”

Gamine rolled her eyes. “Here we go again with your desire for me to protect the weak ones,” she said before turning around and started to sulk as she crossed arms.

Kyndal sighed softly through her nose and came before Gamine, crouching so she would be at her level. Taking Gamine’s face into her soft hands and making her pupil look into her iridescent golden eyes. “Little one, you know how I feel about sulking,” she said softly, kissing her forehead. “You are a blade that shows no empathy, not even to a simple fish carried away by the stream. With a willingness for a small change.” She put her hands over Gamine’s hands that still held the crafted piece of brass, “With a willingness to protect others, you would be a beacon of light. Yes, I know, you would be but a small candle in the darkest night the dimensions are. But, just like me, by your actions, you can light a thousand candles, and your life will not be shortened by this. To bring back hope where darkness reigns. This is what we guardians fight for, Gamine.”

The girl was unable to stand the stare, secretly enjoying the warmth of the hands around hers with a faint blush. “As I have no ties with the weak ones, I have no reasons to fight for them, only for my own existence. Before I met you, I had survived by myself. I went through life alone and I watched the weak ones die around me. And I am okay with that. I can stand that. It is easy to stand that.”

“I know, I can tell how strong you are, my dear. You have such a potential to be at least my equal, all it would need is for you to care for the weak, to show empathy. Any existence is worth fighting for. Not just yours.”

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Gamine shrugged it off. “Pity for the weak? What's the point? That's the way life is. If they really want to survive, then they only have to become stronger.”

Kyndal wondered if she was using the wrong approach. “Would you not be sad if someone killed me?”

Gamine blinked before to laugh it off with a giggle. “For over a decade I followed you, every opponent you fought against, failed to even make you sweat.”

“Even the strong shall fall to the wicked,” Kyndal calmly replied before softly sighing.

An eerie giggle came from outside, the door opened to reveal the figure of a winged human eclipsing the morning sun. “I finally found your hideout, Guardian.” Pepper said.

Shivering from the bloodlust, Gamine immediately went for Murasama's blade to defend herself.

Kyndal used magic to restrain Gamine, before facing the threat.

“What are you doing?!” yelled Gamine, now anchored to the ground by ethereal chains,

Kyndal ignored her pupil, as she was busy keeping Pepper at bay with her magic. “I know why you’re here, monster, if you promise to spare the child, I let you have it.” bargained the Guardian.

Pepper’s nefarious smile just grew unearthly bigger. “Fine, I have no interest in a weakling anyway.”

“Mom, stop!” begged the teenager.

“Gamine, I have nothing more to teach you.”

“Mom, please!” Gamine cried.

“I can feel your despair. Why are you crying? Begging won't change anything.”

“Kyndal, please, fight back!”

“If my death inspires your heart, become a fully fledged guardian, and resume my duty.”

“Shut up! You can’t die to her! She is no match for you!”

“Your presence by my side was a pleasant warmth to my old heart. I have no doubt when I say that you can bring a hope as bright as a sunny dawn, for the ones lost in darkness. Goodbye, Gamine”

Gamine screamed as she witnessed the death of Kyndal, her soul ripped out of her chest by Pepper. Helpless, she drowned in despair as she saw through her tears Pepper turning her back on her, walking away. With Kyndal’s death, the ethereal chains disappeared into thin air, leaving Gamine free to move. The pain in her heart was nothing like what she went through before. A pain which should never occur ever again. Gamine was clearly no match, but she considered one option, the forbidden ritual of possession. It was the only way to stop Pepper from killing anyone else. She stood up, casting the spell, she ran into Pepper, her body turning into light, leaving her kimono behind as she invaded Pepper’s who was surprised by this turn of event.

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Startled in her sleep, Gamine woke up, on her knees in front of the grave she dug hours ago. It was noon by now. Eyes swollen, the scene she had witnessed repeated itself in her mind, along with the last words of the one who was now resting in that improvised grave.

Pepper was struggling from her cage. "Set me free!"

Gamine remained prostrated like this, lost in the warmth of her memories. 

Pepper, realizing the situation she was in, was puzzled. “Why did you do that?”

“You killed my mother, you sadistic monster!” shouted back Gamine.

Pepper was even more puzzled. “But I did what she asked me to.”

“Shut up!” ordered Gamine, enraged.

“Could you undo the spell? I would like to leave this place now.”

“I said SHUT UP!” 

Pepper remained silent for the next several hours. But as time passed, she grew restless as her body remained in such a pitiful position, vulnerable to any attack. Until she realized that Gamine was so lost in her thoughts as she grieved, that she didn't notice when Pepper was able to move the fingers on her left hand again. She considered the appropriate reaction.

This was the only flaw of the forbidden spell, for the host was trapped by the sheer will of the caster. Gamine didn't realize until the last moment that Pepper had regained control of her left hand, about to cast a spell on herself to knock out the undesired parasite. The young guardian's will alone sent the unwilling host back to the bottom of her cage, locked once more. "Keep calm."

"Oh, but unlike you, I am." Pepper, pretending to be thrilled by Kyndal’s might, faked her satisfaction, letting Gamine hear an exaggerated deep sigh, "That guardian was so powerful, Celestia’s was nothing compared to that."

"Who?" She realised what Pepper implied. "You killed someone else before today?!"

Pepper paused, turning her attention to the young guardian possessing her body, silently looking at Gamine for a couple of seconds before answering. "Of course. As for Celestia, she was just a princess that I killed without anyone knowing," she explained, shrugging it off.

 "A princess? No one knows?" Gamine's mind was racing. "Then I'll go and tell them. They must know!" With those words, she concentrated her magic in her hands.

Pepper smiled, amused by the young guardian’s eagerness. "Oh? Do you even know where to go?"

A simple question on the surface, but it was enough to break Gamine's concentration. The dimensional magic became unstable and imploded. The resulting shockwave hit Pepper's body. She rolled backwards several meters before hitting her back against the wall of the house.

"Do not use magic you can not control. I do not want to disappear into the void because of some scatterbrain. Let us make a fair trade: My freedom in exchange for the portal you need," she offered.

Gamine felt Pepper’s mind smile predatorily. It brought her back to her senses. "Set you free? Never! Open a portal to this dimension, now!"

"You would go to them, while possessing my body, to announce that I killed Celestia? Do you really think they will believe you when you tell them you are not me?”

"I don't need to tell them who I am. Just to tell them Celestia is dead."

"It will at least have the merit of not staying here, watching you mourn at your mother's grave." Pepper admitted. "But once you go through that portal, do not expect me to open a portal to come back here at the slightest whim. Take whatever you need now. But first things first." Pepper used her magic to alter her appearance.

Gamine was stunned. Groping around, she looked over the new appearance. "Why hide the wings? Why is the body shorter? And why did you change the length of your hair?"

"To avoid looking like a princess. To take back the look I had when I left four months ago. And why not? You seemed to take such good care of your braid. Maybe it will make you want to take care of mine."

Gamine got up painfully, braiding her hair as she returned to the main room where Kyndal was killed. Without a word, she picked up her hair clip. She hesitated as she picked up the phoenix feather, symbolizing her status as a guardian. "I cannot be content to protect others in my name alone. I must also protect others in Kyndal's name," she whispered to herself as she picked up another feather that was used for a decoration on a piece of furniture, clipping both feathers to her hair.

She looked at her blade. She failed to protect who she loved most. She didn’t have time to craft the handle and assemble the weapon she was supposed to wield as a full fledged Guardian. She picked up the tsuba and the blade and wrapped them together into her kimono.

When the guardian was finally ready, Pepper took control of her left hand to focus her magic and opened a portal that led to the two sisters' ruined castle.

The dimension changed her appearance to that of a pony, a blue-tailed band covering the beginning of her tail, the strands of it divided into five braids, similar to her mane. The latter was braided into a long, heavy and thick carmine mat that covered the right side of her face. The young guardian lost her balance and fell on her hooves. "A-am I...a horse now?"

"Here it is called a pony. The princesses are alicorns, they have wings and a horn. The subjects are earth ponies, which are closest to horses, pegasi, the winged ponies, and unicorns, the horned ponies. I used to change my appearance to be a simple unicorn. This avoids attracting attention."

Gamine stretched her legs in place to familiarize herself with her new appearance. When she felt comfortable enough, she looked at her front hooves. "I can still feel my fingers even though they're gone."

"I use telekinesis to make up for their absence. If you visualize hands and apply that feeling, it will only make it easier to practice," Pepper explained.

Gamine tried to concentrate, but once again she was unable to control such magical power. She zapped the blue sky with a ray of yellow magic.

Pepper sighed at the clumsiness. "Well, at least you did not open a black hole. That is something."

An explosion was heard nearby.

Gamine looked around, alert. "What was that?"

Rainbow Dash arrived, hovering over the ruins. She exchanged glances with who she thought was Pepper, and left without a word. Another explosion sounded.

"Who was she? Does she know you, monster?"

"Rainbow Dash is my friend."

"Your friend just fled out without approaching us."

"She must not have recognized me with a different mane."

"Or maybe she recognized you and went for backup?"

"Why would she do that? She does not know anything."

"You said it's been four months since you left this dimension. They've had time to connect Celestia's disappearance to your departure."

"Anyway, Celestia was just a princess. For all I know, there are three others, including Luna. Celestia's death is of little consequence."

"Kyndal kept saying that every life matters."

"Even mine?" Pepper mocked.

The young guardian darkened for a moment, just long enough to cast a nasty glance at Pepper. "Even yours, monster." With these words, the guardian resumed her attempts to materialise simulated hands to compensate for the hooves imposed by this dimension.

A few minutes later, Twilight teleported herself and the rest of the Mane Six to the front of the castle. They all recognized the one standing in front of them. The young alicorn took the floor. "Pepper? You're back? I suppose... that Celestia is okay?"

Gamine looked at Twilight. The alicorn was the second tallest of the group. As the leader, she was standing one step before the rest of the group. There was hope in her eyes for good news that Gamine didn't have. "Who's that?" she asked. "An alicorn? Is she Luna?"

"Alicorn, yes, she is. But she is just Twilight Sparkle. She only rules over a library, and her only subjects are the books within,” replied Pepper.

“Come on, Blue, answer Twilight already,” pressed Rainbow Dash.

Gamine looked at her. The pegasus was the smallest of them all, but, considering her flight speed, it wasn’t a drawback in the slightest. “She called you Blue?”

“Just a nickname Rainbow Dash gave me because I was new in Equestria, and also because of something else. I call her Handsome most of the time,” explained Pepper.

“Darling, please, say something. The suspense is killing me,” said Rarity.

Gamine looked at Rarity. The unicorn was petite, her figure elegant. Next to the rest of the Mane Six, for the guardian, it was hard to tell how such a sophisticated mare could be one of them. “Is she the princess’s daughter or something?”

“No, Rarity is just another commoner, weaving dresses all day, every day,” disregarded Pepper.

“Are you okay sugarcube?” asked Applejack.

Gamine looked at Applejack. The earth pony was of average height, but she was ripped with muscle. “Surely she is a warrior, not to be trifled with,” said the guardian.

“You got it half right. Applejack is a farmer, but her ability to detect lies is not something I want to deal with,” admitted Pepper.

“Did you bring any souvenirs? Oh! Oh! Some extra dimensional speciality maybe?” asked Pinkie, drooling.

Gamine looked at Pinkie Pie. The second earth pony was as tall as Applejack, but she was the plumpest of all. After a careful check, it was easy to see that the muscles of her hind legs were nearly as strong as Applejack's were, but her diet was hiding this fact under a layer of fat. “Their princess disappeared and all she cares about is food?” wondered Gamine.

“Do not try to understand Pinkie Pie. Even I gave up at some point. Still, she makes some good treats. Must have left a few in my hideout under our hooves.”

“Hooves? You mean … Oh right, we look like a horse right now.” Gamine looked at Fluttershy. The pegasus was lanky, and the tallest—that is, if she wasn’t slouching out of qualm. “She isn’t saying much.”

“Fluttershy is quite the silent type, but she always has food for me when I visit her. Back to the reason why you brought us here, you better only tell Luna. She is the remaining ruler of this land. If you were to tell Twilight, she might go back to her library and return with the Elements of Harmony, which are artefacts of power, and kill us. Suppose she will force Handsome to pick Twilight’s side over mine and follow her lead."

"And what do I do then?" Gamine asked again, lost.

Pepper took control of the body and warped them away. 

Gamine found herself in a small room almost plunged into total darkness. "Where are we?"

"My personal hideout, just below where my body was standing a few seconds ago. There is a bed over there. You better let my body rest. You will break the news to Luna tomorrow night. I know where she will be then."

"At least this is the kind of advice I can follow without doubting your intent." Gamine sighed  as she put down her kimono on the table made of stone, before laying down and closing her eyes, falling asleep in a few seconds.