Andromeda woke to her mother’s soft words She was talking to someone, but who was there? Her eyes cracked open and she spotted a tail. It was brownish-grey and fluffy, like the spun candy she could get in festivals and at the carnivals that sometimes came to town. Her eyes trailed up to a large shell-like thing that the tail came from. It was round, an almost half sphere the size of an adult pony like her aunt. Soft glowing spots spattered the shell.

            “Are you sure? Most of us can’t even go into the sun anymore, let alone go into Equestria and fight. Half of the ponies here are foals, too.”

            “She attacked my daughter, Spore. I can’t let her keep acting this way. Look, I was thinking we could do a quick training session. My sister is weak, so if we attack soon we can prevail.” Andromeda sat up and walked over to Luna, tilting her head.

            “Momma?” Luna looked down and smiled, nuzzling into the filly gently. Andromeda saw Spore, a pony who seemed to be under that shell. She was twice the height and size of her mother, Andromeda couldn’t figure out how ponies could get that big.

            “Yes, dear?” Luna asked, and Andromeda sat.

            “Where did Monarch go? Why are we here and how long have I been asleep?” She asked. The sky was still dark, but the moon was still high in the sky. Andromeda noticed small torches on the side wall.

            “She’s upstairs with her fillies. Here, Celestia can’t get us. You’ve been asleep for about eight hours. You should eat something—” she looked to Spore, “do you have anything for her?”

            “I have some oat cereal, if that’s okay?” Spore tilted her head. She had a huge face, and big eyes that almost glowed. Her fur was slate grey in color, and underneath the shell she seemed to be attached to it. Spore…

            “What are you?” Andromeda asked as Luna left to get cereal, “Mom, I can do it myself.”

            “No you can’t! You can’t lift heavy things with magic or fly yet and this house has high cupboards,” Luna called back.

            “I’m a Mushroom Pony.” So the shell wasn’t a shell, it was mushroom. That was odd… Luna came back in with a bowl, setting it in front of Andromeda. She levitated the spoon up, frowning.

            “I bet once I get my cutie mark I’ll be able to use a lot of magic.” She sighed. Luna smiled.

            “It will come in time. Did I ever tell you how I got my cutie mark?” Andromeda looked up and shook her head no. “Before I raised the moon, a group of ten or so unicorns would do it. None of them had the magic needed to raise it. Eventually all the unicorns left except for my friend Starswirl the Bearded. He came to me, telling me I could help raise the moon, since Alicorns have more magic than unicorns—”

            “What about the other ponies?” Andromeda interrupted.

            “This was before that area of Equestria was inhabited by all of the other amazing ponies. Anyway, he told me that raising the moon would actually help to make me feel more energized. I decided to help out and raised the moon. That was when I got my cutie mark. Celestia got hers the same way.”

            “I’ve never heard you tell that, Luna. Thanks for the information,” Spore said when she was finished. Andromeda tilted her head, thanks for the information? What did that mean?

            “Going in the history archives?” Luna asked.

            “Of course,” Spore said. So, Andromeda thought, Spore had an archive of books or scrolls of history?

            A small noise signaled the arrival of one of the Changeling daughters. Chrysalis. Her wings buzzed and she flew over to Andromeda.

            “Play?” She asked, and Andromeda looked at the filly. She had already doubled in size, and looked around five years of age in normal pony years. The filly had a voice akin to a Harmonic’s. Andromeda finished her cereal and looked to Luna.

            “You two can go in the yard, but don’t go further. Andromeda, make sure Chrysalis doesn’t follow some random pony. Young Changelings don’t understand how to control their feeding urges.”

            “Alright mother. Come on, Chrysalis.” Andromeda took the bowl to the kitchen and led the young pony out into the yard. She noticed a ring in the back, a ring of mushrooms. In the middle of the ring was a fountain shaped like a pony rearing up. The fountain looked angry. Water spouted from the stone pony’s horn.

            “We play with Cady,” the Changeling giggled. She said the word like Katy with a ‘d’. Andromeda looked around.

            “Who?” She asked.

            “Cady. She’s the princess of love,” Andromeda tilted her head. Love? “She has pink fur and big purple eyes!” Andromeda walked to the fountain as she talked. The pony on the fountain had a weird cutie mark. “Her mane has three colors! It’s pink and purple and like this yellow white…” It looked like a flame with markings like water underneath. She noticed a button and reached out to press it, “I think she’d be a Pegasus—oh! But the wings are purple at the end!” Her hoof pushed it in and the stream of water turned red. Andromeda leaned close, close enough for her nose to bump the water. Wait, bump? The water had a small tube underneath that turned the water red. That was interesting.

            “Are you listening?” Andromeda glanced over. When did her eyes turn purple?

            “Uh huh,” she nodded. Chrysalis grinned and Andromeda noticed something… Odd. When did Changelings learn how to transform? Green flames trickled up the pony’s hooves, and they began to grow fur.

            “Chrysalis, I think you’re on fire…” The Changeling looked down and yelped. A flash of fire went over her and now a pink Pegasus filly stood in front of Andromeda.  She had a head of long, curly hair. Pink, purple, and an off white color. Andromeda frowned. Chrysalis started to cry.

            Andromeda had never heard a changeling cry. It was horrifying. Like five voices screaming at once. She fell on her rump and tried to cover her ears. A soft buzzing approached, and Andromeda cracked an eye open to watch as Monarch floated down and scooped her filly up. She said and held the pony close, whispering softly to calm the thing. Andromeda fluttered her wings awkwardly and stood, deciding to leave the two alone and go to her own mother.

            “What happened?” Luna asked when Andromeda entered the living room. She was there with Spore, and the two looked like they had been talking.

            “She learned to transform apparently,” she said with a roll of her shoulders. Luna chuckled.

            “The fire can be traumatic at first, its normal.” Andromeda let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. At least it wasn’t her fault. Her mind went back to the fountain.

            “What’s the fountain out back?” Spore looked up and smiled, shifting to become straighter. Andromeda noticed the pony almost bumped her head on the ceiling.

            “That’s Aqua Flare, one of the three sisters. She had the magical ability to control water and fire well beyond the normal telekinetic powers. She was turned to stone by Celestia, though. You don’t have to worry about her now.”

            “The three?” Andromeda frowned.

            “You didn’t tell her about the three?” Spore was speaking to Luna now. The mare shook her head.

            “The three were too scary for her age before.”

            “Really? They didn’t do anything that bad.”

            “They enslaved hundreds of ponies.”

            “Not that bad.” Andromeda wondered what Spore’s definition of bad was, “well. The three consist of three ponies: Lightning Glacier, Stone Gust, and Aqua Flare. They were triplets born to a descendant of Doomsday Machine,” she would have to ask who that was later, “and they were evil. Each had powers that contradicted each other: Lightning and ice, earth and wind, water and fire, and this allowed them to be almost unstoppable.

            They wanted to rule Equestria and all other nations, and they started with a city in New Hoofshire, before it was called that. The three easily enslaved hundreds of ponies, almost thousands. It took almost ten years for Luna and her sister to get to them. There was this huge cool war and finally Celestia turned their power against each other with an Illusionist Mage and made them into statues.” Andromeda frowned. How did Spore know all of that?

            “Are you done showing off your knowledge spore?” Luna asked, and the Mushroom pony slumped with a huff.

            “I’m not showing off, I’m informing. I seed her brain with knowledge.” Spore let out a huff and swished her tail around to cover her front hoof. Andromeda felt her head spinning.

            “Sure you are. Look, she can learn all of this in school here. She’s a very good student, I think you’ll like her in your class.” Sore glanced at the filly, then moved to speak. Before she could, the door blew open.

            “Nahsh Shpore poosh bik ik on vahtrahdoh!” A panicked voice yelped. Andromeda looked over and saw a large pony, grey with black stripes, and with what looked like a huge sunflower on its back. Looking closer, she noticed that the stripes were actually thick vine-like protrusions coming from the flower and wrapping around the pony. They seemed to fuse to her body, and looked to impale the area near her heart.

            “Calm down, Laht. Speak to me in equestrian.” Spore said.

            “Mayik shtore ish on fire,” Laht’s voice came in a thick accent of some sort. Andromeda thought she should worry about that flower pushing itself into her chest.

            “Magic store?” Luna asked, but the two were already gone. She sighed and looked to Andromeda, “come on. You can meet the others this way.”

            The two of them exited the house, the moon lighting their path. The two trotted down a street, towards an area that seemed lighter than back at the house. They came up to a store where a pony stood blasting water from its mouth at an unimaginable pressure and speed. The water was going onto a large building that was half on fire. The part the water had already put out was blackened and dripping.

            Spore and Laht stood behind the water pony, who was light blue in color with brown fins flared up around its head. It stood with its hooves spread to brace itself against the opposing pressure from the water. Andromeda tilted her head.

            “What is that?” She asked.

            “A water pony of some sort. They are usually employed as fireponies,” Andromeda tilted her head. She noticed the pony had a fin from its rump up its neck, but it didn’t have a tail.

            The fire died down and the water stopped for a moment then resumed its never ending spray.

            “How does it do that?”

            “He has an ability to spray water like a hose, it’s like magic. You can levitate things as long as you don’t become exhausted. It’s the same way for him,” she said, “and it seems his talent is this sort of thing.”

            Andromeda glanced to her bare flank, wondering what her talent was. When she looked back, she noticed that Luna had walked over to the three. She trotted over, but was blocked by a tall, two head pony. It was almost the height of Spore, and didn’t notice Andromeda as it walked past. When it passed, she saw another pony pull a body out from the fire.

            The pony was covered in black and grey soot, its mane singed and blackened. When Andromeda got there, it opened eyes that were emitting a blinding white light. It let out a scream and squirmed out of the other ponies grip, then spun to face Andromeda. It met her eyes, causing the filly to go blind for a moment.

            She blinked away the light and found herself somewhere different. It was the castle she lived in, the throne room. A mare stood there, her fur darker than the night sky her mane enveloped. On her head was a helmet, on her neck and hooves was more armor. She had green reptilian eyes.

            “My dear sister you have ignored me no longer. My subjects will rise to defeat you,” she purred in a multi-tone voice. Andromeda looked around and found Celestia standing there.

            “No.” Celestia said simply.

            “From the fire comes ash. Ash will corrupt the moon and make her envious of the sun. Moon will try to fight, but will fail and become trapped. Only your stars may save her.”

            The vision faded, and Andromeda opened her eyes to see herself staring into the eyes of her mother.

            “Andromeda are you alright?” Luna asked. Andromeda wondered why her horn was tingling. She opened her mouth, about to tell her mother that somepony was trying to take over Equestria, but a beam shot out of her horn.

            It curved and twisted, a bright red beam, then looked to slam into the moon. From there it bounced off and began to wrap the stars in its bright glow. Andromeda cried out, then felt something.

            It was like a voice whispering in her ear, but she couldn’t hear it. She felt it. It was urging her to move something.

            “Only your stars may save her…” She remembered, then looked to the sky. It was so quiet; she would learn later that her mother was trying to speak to her. Andromeda thought of a picture, Orion. The stars shifted and the constellation formed, then she felt her grip slip and the stars slammed back into their hidden place. The magic flew back, slamming into her horn and causing her to feel as if her forehead exploded.

            She woke up again back on the couch in Spore’s home. As Andromeda stared at the ceiling, Luna came back in, levitating a plate down to the coffee table next to her.

            “Morning,” she said. Andromeda looked over, then reached up to touch her horn with a hoof. It bumped the golden spiral and she felt a tingle run through her. It felt like a faint burning.

            “What happened?” Andromeda muttered, then found she was thirsty. She glanced at the plate and saw that next to it was a glass of water. She tried to levitate it over, but after a small purple spark from her horn the burning intensified. She cried out and decided to just drink from the glass without magic.

            “You moved the stars, it’s your talent!” Luna said, breaking into a happy grin. Andromeda giggled as the mare’s wings fluttered at her sides. She then looked to her flank, where a new cutie mark was. It was purple, a spiral galaxy with two arms. Andromeda smiled.

            "That's interesting, but what happened to that pony from the fire?" Luna looked away, making a face. She didn't want to tell her.

            “That was a pony called a mirror-sight. That kind was actually a different breed. She was a Future-Seer.” The new voice came from Spore, “they have no emotions. They are born and given a short time to deliver a prophecy, then they fade.”

            “Fade?” Andromeda asked. Luna sighed.

            “They do not die. They were never truly living. And after they deliver the prophecy they lay down and fade out of existence.” Andromeda nodded, then remembered the vision.

            “I had a vision when I looked in its eyes.” She said. Spore looked at Andromeda as if just now realizing that was possible.

            “I had thought the other pony that had come out got the prophecy. What did it say?”

            “Something…. Like ash comes from fire and will do… something to the moon… Moon will fight but will fail and become trapped…” Andromeda frowned, then suddenly remembered something. “At the end it said only my stars may save her…”

            “Did you have a vision?” Spore asked.

            “Yeah, there was this black pony with a mane of stars. She was attacking Aunt Celestia.” Andromeda nodded as she remembered.

            “Do you think it’s happened yet?” Luna asked. Spore looked at Andromeda’s mother with a strange face before shaking her head.

            “No.” After Spore spoke, a pony trotted down the stairs. He was black and had a long blonde mane that curled slightly around his face. He looked rather feminine. A long horn protruded from his head. He had bright green eyes. His cutie mark was a bright red-orange gem surrounded by a symbol that looked swirly. Andromeda thought he looked a lot like a female.

            “Miss Spore? I think I’m well enough to leave now,” he said. He had a deep bass voice that didn’t match his appearance.

            “You don’t have a home now dear. I’ll let you stay here until the store is rebuilt,” she replied.

            “Who are you?” Andromeda asked. Spore looked to the filly and smiled.

            “This is a pony that lived in the Magic Store. His name is—“

            “I’m Dust Blaze,” he interrupted. Andromeda frowned, then sighed.

            “Nice to meet you,” she finally mumbled. The light filly was interested in this pony. He was actually rather beautiful to the alicorn star-pony descendant. His long and flowing mane reminded the filly of her mother’s own mane. His eyes lit up against the dark colors of his body. Dust Blaze.

            “It’s late, Andromeda. You’re staring into nowhere. You should get to bed,” her mother’s voice was hazy. Dust Blaze... She felt her vision blur, and a faint thump sounded as the world turned black. Dust Blaze? That name.

            Andromeda dreamed of sharp images. Horns and antlers clacking and swords slashing against each other with harsh metal noises. The cry of a pony, high enough to make ears bleed. Then images came. The noises slowed and Andromeda found herself in a small clearing. There was a black pony in front of her. Celestia was behind her. Andromeda looked further. Ponies from the night world were fighting with ponies from Equestria. Andromeda saw the Librarian cornered by two of the water ponies. Her old elementary tutor was using magic to keep a changeling from getting to her, allowing a beautiful pony to sneak up behind her.

            Andromeda tried to move to help, but when she touched a pony, her hooves would pass through. Her wings slammed shut at her sides. When had they been open? She looked back to Celestia. She had charged up a spell and was firing it at the black alicorn. The alicorn was blasting a bright blue light back at Celestia. The beams met and a lot of the nearby fighting slowed and stopped. The black alicorn’s beam got closer to the Sun Princess. Celestia was going to lose.

            Then another beam joined Celestia’s. The yellow beam turned almost green from the added magic. Andromeda walked past and saw a black pony with a long, blonde, billowing mane. Bright green eyes stared angrily at the black pony. Why was he helping Celestia? Wasn’t Luna on—Luna?

Andromeda began to panic. Luna. Moon. Ash will corrupt the moon. Andromeda’s horn lit up. She looked at the black pony and saw the moon cutie mark. Luna. The moon was Luna! Red magic blasted from her horn and traveled through the blue and yellow-green magic and phased uselessly through Celestia. No!

            Andromeda smelled smoke. The black alicorn was hit with the magic and fell back. Andromeda couldn’t breathe. She tried to run over. The world blurred and she heard the noises fade. She was back in front of the magic store staring into the eyes of that stupid Future-seer. Those eyes pulled her back in and she was in a white room. It wasn’t even really a room. Just a white, empty space.

            Then a soft voice, her mother’s voice, urged her to wake up. Why was she suddenly so cold? Her sides hurt. Open your eyes. Andromeda looked around, then realized she could see herself. Was she dreaming? She watched the image blur and distort. Andromeda running from butterflies, Andromeda catching bees… Then she saw her mother’s face staring at her worriedly. She waited for the image to change, then sighed when it didn’t. The dream was over.

            Andromeda was on the hard ground outside of Spore’s home. She sat up slowly, shaking her head. All of the sounds around her sounded like she was under water. Her mind reeled back to the dream. Luna fighting Celestia in that… Form.

            She noticed Spore’s home was smoking. Where Andromeda’s room was a huge hole revealed the room. How did that happen? Fire. A blaze. Dust Blaze!

            “From the fire comes ash!” She said. Now she could hear the voices around her.

            “Are you okay?” Her mother asked.

            “What did you do to the room?” Chrysalis asked.

            “Did she use magic in her dreams?” Phoenix asked Monarch.

            “Did you?” Monarch asked.

            “What happened? Why are you speaking in riddles?” Dust Blaze demanded.

            “Ponies. Calm down,” Spore said, “Luna what did she dream about?”

            “I can read her dreams. I’ve never been able to.” Andromeda didn’t know that. She shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts. She felt like her thoughts were fuzzy.

            “That Future-Seer… I dreamt about it.” She remembered the eyes, “mom… Someone here will betray us.” She heard Monarch’s wings buzz.

            “Andromeda, are you sure you didn’t just have a nightmare?” The filly looked over at her mom and shook her head.

            “I don’t dream.” She looked at Dust, then felt her horn light and a beam shot out, wrapping out around the unicorn, “woah!”

            “What’re you doing?” Dust yelped, squirming in the grip.

            “Andromeda, put him down.” Luna said. But Andromeda found herself using magic she didn’t know.

            “I can’t!” She cried, her eyes closing. She felt a blast come from her horn. She started shaking. What had she done?

            “What the…?” She heard Dust say. She felt a breath escape her. Opening her eyes, she saw her angry mother in front of her.

            “Andromeda Spiral Moon. You are in big trouble.” Andromeda suddenly realized what had happened. Luna had stopped her uncontrollable magic with an anti-magic blast. She had never actually felt one before. Andromeda dropped her head. She didn’t mean to do it.

            As Luna herded her inside, she looked back to see Dust staring at her. Her frown deepened. She knew there was no way to fix this. Maybe it had just been a weird nightmare.