Empty Sound gazed at the fire, her thoughts as turbulent as the flames that warmed her. She was lucky to have this much tonight. In most places she hadn’t even gotten a meal. Even her ex-husband had shown her the door with little more than a hello. That wasn’t the worst part, either.
Nopony, not a single one, was willing to help her find Fluttershy. Everypony she asked had done the same thing: they would look at her, drink in her age and dishevelled appearance, and then they would keep walking. They dismissed her as an old loon. Maybe that’s all I am.
She took her gaze from the fire, the ghosts of its image burned into her vision. She looked up, expecting to see Luna’s sky, but instead saw naught but thunderclouds. Consulting her map, she saw that there was a town nearby. She could probably make it by the end of the night.
Empty Sound kicked dirt in the fire, not trusting the rain to put it out. As the fire sputtered into silence, the determined mare marched for Ponyville.
Twilight stood at the shore, her eyes fixed outward. The smell of fish and salt tickled her nose as the ocean breeze drew in the moist coastal air. The water brushed against her hooves as the swells moved back and forth across the shore. Gulls were calling above her, their besital squabbles filling the air with noise.
Twilight braced herself as the wind picked up. The gusts threatened to tip her into the salty waters. The waves grew in size, sweeping sand away from her hooves. As she stumbled on the shifting ground, the unicorn saw an enormous wave approach the shore.
A gigantic blue wall towered over her, blocking out the sun in its immeasurable height. It roared ever closer to her until suddenly, it broke. Foam filled its top as water came pouring down by the gallon. Twilight was quickly swept away into the murky depths.
She kicked and swam, trying to remember which way was up. Already her lungs had begun to burn. Her world slowly grew darker as she struggled against the current. As a last resort, she lit her horn, attempting to teleport away. Instead, she gasped in pain, bringing a torrent of brine into her already pained lungs. Twilight could feel the world fading. It darkened and began to fall away.
But suddenly she felt a pressure on her back. The surface seemed to get closer and closer, until miraculously, she breached the shimmering barrier.
Twilight rolled over, staggering to her hooves. A foul stench filled the ocean air as she wretched bile and brine. Something sharp gripped her shoulder, but she refused to look as she continued to sputter and cough.
Eventually, she recovered, but what happened next was a large series of confusion.
First of all, she was on land. It would seem that a vast plateau had risen from the ocean. The damp, brown earth was almost spongy in quality. Even for a dream, this was rather strange.
Secondly, she knew that she was dreaming. That was especially odd. The world felt real, but she had no idea how she’d gotten there. She remembered the spell circle, and that strange dream with Fluttershy, and then... nothing. It had to be a dream.
Strangest of all, however, was the large gryphon standing over her. His eyes seemed to dig into her, analyzing each detail about her. The brown orbs matched the color of his feathers, which were an unusually dark shade of brown. The effect was only more imposing with the backlight of the sun accenting his features. It seemed as if he was on fire.
He spoke, shocking her with his deep voice.
“Twilight Sparkle?”
Twilight was baffled at how much those two words seemed to communicate. He obviously knew who she was, and that gleam to his eyes suggested some hint of wisdom. The collar around his neck was obviously of importance to him; perhaps it was a social indicator of some sort. The slight swagger to his step showed that he knew what he was doing, but it was only slight. It was definitely his first time, either ever, or for a very long time. But the real question was, what was he so confident about?
“Are you Twilight Sparkle?” the gryphon repeated.
Twilight staggered back to her hooves and bore herself in what she hoped was an intimidating manner. “Y-yes,” she said, cursing her stutter.
“Oh good!” he said, relaxing his posture. “For a moment there I thought I’d wandered into the wrong dream again.” The gryphon stretched like a cat as his wings extended from his sides. “I hope I never meet that pink monster. Her dreams are...” He shuddered.
“If I know who you mean, then I don’t think she’d hurt you,” Twilight responded, before realizing what had been said. “Wait, did you just say ‘wrong dream’? How can you be in my dream? That’s not possible!”
“Great,” the gryphon sighed. “Well, she did warn me. Anyhow, I’m Brother Cleon, and I believe we have a lot to talk about. If I’m right,” Cleon said, analyzing the position of the sun, “Fluttershy should be here fairly soon, but I’ll start my explanation now, if you’d like.”
“How can you be in my dream?” she asked, slowly backing away.
“Ah, I’m just hitching a ride on your psychic connection to Fluttershy.” He shrugged. “I can explain that too.”
“Psychic connection?”
Cleon paused for a moment, considering what he should say. “So you really have no idea, do you? Oh well. Let’s start with that failed spell of yours. The explanation is both simple and long. Three things prevented you from completing i—”
“How do you know about that?” Twilight shrieked.
“Just trust me,” the monk said, taking a step closer, “I can explain everything.
“Anyhow, back to the failed spell. Three things stopped it. First, you forgot to take into account that there might be a magical defense system where Fluttershy was. The projections of her were a direct result of that, because our system casts a counterspell based on the strongest willpower within a certain radius.
“Secondly—wait, you learned magic from Celestia, right?”
“Yes,” Twilight said, slowly nodding.
“That explains your next two errors then. You see, Celestia tends to skip over a very important part of magical theory, so that she can promote raw ability. It’s called the Wide-Scope Theorem. Basically, it describes where you can, and can’t, mix different types of magic. It’s been a specialty of mine ever since I took up training.”
“Wait, gryphons can use magic?” Twilight asked, honestly confused.
Cleon sighed. “Not directly, but we can practice it through alternative means. For instance, we can store the energy in crystals, or convert it from the natural energies around us. Both of those take time, so I tend to devote myself to the theoretical aspects. Now, can I finish, or not? This is very important to you.”
Twilight nodded.
“Good. Anyhow, part of the Wide-Scope Theorem describes certain magical Purities: Black Magic, Chaotic Magic, White Magic, and Natural Magic. When you try to mix these Purities, there are catastrophic failures. Each of these break down into Dark, Blood, Light, and Elemental, respectively. For these, you can mix anything except opposites. You can’t mix Blood with Elemental, or Light with Dark.
“The problem you faced was two-fold. First, you cast a Blood Magic spell. On its own that would be fine, but you also used an Elemental spell-circle, to retain the excess energy. When the spell was cut off, the Elemental energy flooded into the spell, and it backlashed inside of you. That’s what caused the extreme pain.
“The second part was the fact that you bear an Element of Harmony. You see, these are some of the few Purities left in Equestria. Each one represents a different aspect of Natural Magic. Generosity is water, honesty is earth, loyalty is fire, kindness is air, and laughter is quintessence. Magic, however is different. I imagine you already knew this.
“The Element of Magic does not represent all magic, nor does it represent an Elemental Magic. Your Element represents Natural Magic itself; it’s a Purity. When you were tied to this Element, all Chaotic Magic was forever sealed off for you.”
Twilight screamed. Something inside of her snapped. Days of built up fury and frustration poured out onto the only available target: Cleon. “You invade my mind, chastise me, and lie about where my friend is, and then you expect me to sit here while you tell me I can’t practice magic!? HOW DARE YOU!”
Then, Twilight felt a hoof tap her shoulder. She spun around in a whirlwind of anger, only to see the sweet face of Fluttershy.
“This isn’t real,” Twilight recited. “This isn’t real. This isn’t real.”
Fluttershy, turned towards Cleon, a hint of anger in her eyes. “What did you do? Why didn’t you wait for me, like we agreed? Why couldn’t you have been gentle? She’s been through so much lately, and she doesn’t need you to make it worse.” Twilight’s chanting continued in the background, emphasizing the pegasus’ point. “Now tell me, what have you done?”
Cleon took a green gem from the folds of his wing. “Believe me, Fluttershy, she will recover.” Placing the gem onto Twilight’s head, the gryphon stepped back. “I’m sorry about this Twilight, but when we came, we were only delaying the inevitable. I charged this with a memory spell, so you should know everything you need when you wake up. Just remember, Earth comes before Water, and the tide comes before the flood.”
“Do you even know what you’re saying all the time?” Fluttershy asked as the two began to fade.
“Usually,” the gryphon replied.
Then the plateau disappeared, and the water rushed to fill the void.
Twilight sputtered awake, continuing to choke on the dream-water. When she managed to stop her choking, she laid in her bed, the stench of her own sweat surrounding her and wafting through the air. Her chest heaved furiously as she struggled for each breath.
After some time, Twilight managed to calm herself. She realized three things. First of all, it had been only half an hour since she had last woken—which she knew because of a very cleverly styled candle, with lines marking every fifteen minutes of burn-time. Second, Spike was still at Sugarcube Corner with the others.
The third realization was the most unsettling: Twilight couldn’t feel her horn. Not that she ever could feel it, per say. There were no nerve endings to feel it with in a physical sense. Before now, there had always been a slight tingle at its base, where her magic naturally focused itself, but now it was gone. The light that she could normally “see” was no longer there. It was as if somepony had put out a candle. One moment there was a glow—faint, but present—and the next it was gone.
Twilight grabbed a quill, struggling to write with her teeth. The Void is inside me, and upon magic it shall feed. The trials Five, can save my life. Honesty, and Water, then Air, Fire and Laughter. The trials Five can stop the worst, but only if Fluttershy passes them first.
Then thunder filled the air, and the purple mare collapsed.