//------------------------------// // Onyx and Sapphire // Story: Solstice // by Scorpius //------------------------------// Deep in the heart of the Everfree Forest, beneath the now-ruined castle that was once the seat of all power in Equestria and the lands beyond*, grows an ancient tree. It is as tall and sturdy as an oak, and yet it has been warped to the purpose of a wild magic that is as breathtakingly beautiful as it is destructive. —from A History of Harmony: The Fall of Discord, Tirek, and Sombra Despite the unfamiliar hornglow that was brushing against his mane, Alex stood as still as he possibly could, his neck straight and his head held firm. He wasn’t as good at it as any of the Guard might be, but he was a damn sight better than Emily—he could hear her fidgeting behind him, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof. It was probably driving her mad that they had to do this. But there wasn’t very much choice. The Starswirl Wing was one of the few magic-free zones in all of Canterlot, and obligatory horn-rings would be needed if they wanted to research inside. As the onyx ring was slowly lowered over his horn, Alex felt a shiver of cold run down his spine. His horn felt… different, somehow. He turned to send a questioning glance at the nearest Guard, as if to ask if he should test whether the ring was working, and the Guard nodded back stiffly. And then Alex’s horn wouldn’t light. All he’d cast was a simple levitation spell, the kind of spell that most unicorns would learn for themselves as foals before even learning a single word, let alone any magical theory. It was something that was so second-nature to him that it happened without a single thought: he would will his hornglow to be lifting an object, and almost at once his horn would be alight and the object in his control… except that now, with the magic-suppressing ring fitted snugly against his horn, he couldn't even feel his magic responding to his will. In his mind’s eye he was no longer in the pristine corridors of the Thaumata Chambers, but instead in a dark clearing of the forest. His body stiffened, in fear and in panic. His breaths quickened. His heartbeat was loud in his ears. In every shadow lurked a dangerous foe, one who would happily break him without consequence, and his horn was failing to light and the darkness was coming closer oh Starswirl it was getting closer and he didn’t want to die but everything was pressing around me and I don’t want to die please don’t let A gentle touch on his shoulder. Alex whipped around, panicked, to find Em smiling softly at him, her deep blue eyes at once both a welcome sight and a desperately-needed comfort. “It’s alright,” she whispered. “It’s just the ring. You’re okay. You’ll be able to cast again as soon as we’re done here, I promise.” Alex swallowed, and tried to calm his breathing. His lungs were still heaving, pulling in too much air, too quickly, each time, but with a concerted effort he could force the pause between breaths to fit a more relaxed rhythm. And all the while, Em stood beside him and smiled, and whispered words of encouragement and comfort. “I should have s-seen that coming,” he muttered, when he could at last trust his breath to hold for a sentence. It was a weak joke, but Em smiled all the same. “I hope you’re ready to catch me if I faint,” she teased. Alex rolled his eyes, but nodded all the same. If she did, he wouldn’t make fun of her for it. Not today. When it was clear that he was ready, and not about to freak out again over his sudden loss of magic, Em stepped forward and nodded to the Guards. Alex watched, fascinated, as they lowered another onyx ring onto her horn, and saw her immediately begin to tremble the moment it touched her. He started forward, already reaching out with a hoof of his own, when Em turned to him and smiled, albeit a little shakily. “Alright, Alex,” she said. “Let’s go read some forbidden knowledge!” Alex raised his eyebrows, and shot her a questioning look. “Are you not even going to test that it works?” “If your reaction was anything to go by, that sounds like a terrible idea,” Emily drawled, before perking up a little and grinning widely at him. “Come on, we might as well get on with it.” The two Guards who had been flanking the doorway, their spears held diagonally across it like a gate, stepped to one side, and opened up the path for the two Adstra to make their way inside. Alex took a cautious step forwards, but before he could reach the threshold Emily was already trotting inside, her eyes wide and darting all around her. “What happened to being frightened of this place?” Alex muttered, picking up his pace to catch up with his partner. Emily twisted her head back to glance at him, and stuck out her tongue. “We’re in here now,” she answered simply. “And we’re probably going to forget most of it, anyway. Might as well enjoy it while we can, right?” Trust Emily to use the memory-removal charms as a reason to be excited. Most Adstra, Alex included, considered the possibility of completely losing one’s memory of an event to be frightening. Just knowing that you’d signed the parchmentwork that gave your superiors the right to do that to you… Alex was not a particularly paranoid stallion, but the thought that he might have already had patches of his memory removed did not sit easily on his mind. It was, allegedly, all for good reason. The Starswirl Wing was full of every piece of knowledge, magical or mundane, that the Thaumata had considered too dangerous to be studied. It was said that this room contained spells that could raise entire cities to the ground, and even—though how the rumours could even have been started, Alex didn’t know—a spell that could turn back time. It didn’t truly matter what the knowledge was. All that Alex cared about was that it was all illegal, and dangerous, and he wouldn’t be allowed to leave the room with any memories not directly pertaining to his investigation. That was why the magic-suppression rings were necessary—just in case the room itself contained information that would allow a visitor to bypass the memory runes. Emily was trotting straight towards the centre of the room, where a single table stood underneath the middle of a great glass dome, above which the bright afternoon sky shone. They were walking straight down one of eight aisles of bookshelves, according to the map by the door—the section on rituals should be at the very end of it, if Alex remembered rightly, on their right. “Oh, Alex!” Emily cried out. There was no need to remain quiet, as in any other research library, as they would be the only ones allowed to access the room. It was quite likely that nobody else would visit at all for at least another month. “Look at this title!” Alex shook his head, and sauntered over to the shelf Emily was pointing at with a hoof. He peered closely at the spine of the book in question: A History of Harmony: The Fall of Discord, Tirek, and Sombra. As Emily lifted a hoof to the book, Alex frowned. Something seemed… wrong, but he couldn’t quite put a hoof on it. Frowning, he shook his head. It wasn’t important. “Emily,” he said, sharply, and she shot him an annoyed glance. “We came here for a reason. Don’t waste our time on research we’re going to have to forget.” Emily pouted, but pushed the book gently back onto its shelf, and muttered something Alex didn’t quite catch before resuming her walk towards their research table. Alex took one last look back at the book—what was wrong with a history book?—and forced himself to walk on, too. By the time he reached the table, Emily already seemed to have identified the comfiest cushion, and was making herself at home on it—spreading out her parchment and ink across her “side” of the table by hoof was taking her a little longer, but Alex knew better than to interfere and try to claim another seat on that side. Instead, he dropped his saddlebag softly across from her, and turned back the way he came. “I’m going to try to find some materials on advanced ritual patterns,” he said. “If you could find anything on soul magic, when you’re done setting yourself up, we should be able to split the initial workload between us.” If they were lucky, they might be able to make some headway with the task, before they forgot most of what they had done. This was going to take a lot more than a single afternoon. *It is said that the Princesses’ kingdom extended far into the Southern Badlands and, following the fall of King Sombra, as far as the legendary Crystal Empire in the north. The modern boundaries of Equestria are far smaller in comparison.