//------------------------------// // Chapter VI // Story: Final Twilight // by Zeg //------------------------------// Final Twilight by Zeg Chapter VI Celestia viewed the horizon from the balcony of one of Canterlot Castles many spires. The sun was on its final decent, the bright orb seeming to barely touch the edge where the tops of the trees met with the sky off in the distance. Its warm rays of light covered the land with shades of golden red and orange, and even caused the sky to shift from its daily bright blue to bright yellow and orange. The undersides of the clouds that hovered nearby took on the same multicolored warm shades. Gently closing her eyes, Celestia reached out with her magic. She could feel the warmth wash over her as her power touched the celestial object. Like a caring mother tucking her child into bed, she gently willed the sun to set for the evening, setting it on its final course before day would give way to night. Her final task for the day completed, the sun princess turned from the fading horizon and walked back into the spire. She found the nearest steps and began to descend to the lower hallways of the castle, intent on visiting the archives again this evening as she had done the past two. There she would find her student diligently working to solve the mystery that nopony had been able too thus far. She had found herself having to force her student to stop long enough to sleep and eat, and feared that if she didn't keep a watchful eye on the young unicorn she would simply push herself to the edge of exhaustion. Rounding a corner in the expansive hallways of the castle, Celestia spotted the open doorway to her destination. Two guards flanked either side of the door, one a white pegasus mare and the other a gray unicorn stallion. Both guards noticed the princess and gave a courteous nod to her as she walked up to the door. She gave a warm smile back in response as she walked through the open doors, but then stopped suddenly when she looked into the room. At the far end of the room stood her younger sister, her horn glowing with a dark blue color as she calmly cast her magic to bring her moon and stars into view for the evening. She quietly cast her spell near a window that stretched up the wall nearly to the ceiling high above. She took notice of her sister's presence in the room as she peeked out of one eye. “Evening, sister,” Luna quietly called across the archive as she maintained her concentration on her spell. Celestia smiled back as she continued to walk into the archive, her eye catching another form near the center of the long table that spanned most of the width of the room between the door and the window. As she approached the dark purple coated unicorn at the table, she realized that her student had the side of her head laying on an open book. After eying her for a few seconds, it was obvious to the sun princess that Twilight was sound asleep, using the book's pages as a pillow. “She was like that when I arrived,” Luna said as she completed her first task of the night and walked over quietly to join her sister, attempting to avoid disturbing the sleeping unicorn. “She's pushing herself too much,” Celestia said as she took a seat at the table across from Twilight. Her eyes took in the sight around her. There were about a half dozen stacks of books, some piled as high as herself on the table and a few more stacks that were set on the floor nearby. There were also many stacks of parchment that held hoof written notes in black ink. Numerous ink bottles, some empty and some still partially full, dotted the table. A writing instrument used to clip a quill to a pony's hoof also rested nearby along with a stack of quills, a few of which had broken tips. And at the center of it all, Twilight Sparkle laid there with the side of her head against an open book, her fore-hooves sprawled out on the table and her dark pink, violet, and black streaked mane flowing down her neck to spill out onto the book and table as well. The silver glint of the null ring at the base of her horn glowed and shifted under the magical lighting in the archives as her sides slowly expanded and contracted with her breathing. Despite the uncomfortable looking surroundings, the unicorn actually seemed to be quiet content as she slept. “She seems to be sleeping well enough at the moment,” Luna commented as she also took a seat at the table next to her sister. “She's worked hard Luna,” Celestia said in a low voice barely above a whisper as she side glanced back at the moon princess. “I was not suggesting otherwise,” Luna cautioned as she raised her hoof. “I simply thought it odd that she is sleeping here and not in a proper bed.” “She likely has been keeping to her studies even in the room we've provided for her.” Celestia let go a light sigh before she added, “I may have to take her books away from her and send her off to bed.” An old memory resurfaced at that moment of a time when Celestia had been teaching a much younger Twilight Sparkle, and how her parents told stories of how they had to hide books from the unicorn so she would go to sleep instead of read all night. The thought of the happier time made the princess smile. Celestia turned her attention toward her younger sister as a question pushed to the front of her mind. “Why are you here this evening?” Her sudden appearance here this night seemed odd, considering that only a few nights ago the younger alicorn seemed very untrusting of Twilight. “I wanted to see how things were progressing. Maybe lend a hoof,” Luna said, noting the questioning glance she received in response. “I am worried about the missing mares as well.” Celestia nodded. “I wish I could devote time to helping her myself. But things are rather busy during the day as is. It's been difficult just keeping rumors of the missing elements from escaping the castle and causing undue panic.” “You are defiantly doing your part. I simply felt that maybe.. there was more I could be doing,” Luna confessed as she looked over the towering stacks of books. Luna had a reason for being here, but it wasn't one she liked discussing and she hadn't arrived at the decision to lend her help easily. However, the search for the missing elements and their bearers was coming up with nothing, and she felt it was time to search in areas that she had been avoiding. “As you know, I have.. knowledge of older spells,” Luna paused uneasy for a moment, before she continued on. “Dark spells. I thought it possible that Twilight may not have considered all possible origins of the spell yet.” The air in the room seemed to hang heavily in the silence. Luna knew that the subject wouldn't be a pleasant one for either of the two regal sisters. “I hope you can understand my reluctance to bring such things to light.” “Yes, of course I do,” Celestia nodded as she looked back over the table at the stacks of books and notes and the young sleeping unicorn mare. “Still, we should not leave any stone unturned, even the ones we would rather not touch. At this point we really do need to consider all options for every day that we delay is another too many. Though, it does pain me to even think of subjecting her to studying such dark magic after she has experienced it first-hoof against her will.” “Then let me help,” Luna offered. “I already understand how dark magic works. I have plenty.. past experience. Perhaps I could find something in her notes that has been overlooked, something that she simply doesn't understand but that I would.” “Very well. I only ask that you try to avoid allowing her to learn too many of the finer details. These powers are not something that anypony else needs to know about.” Though her older sister had worded it as a request, Luna knew better. Celestia would not tolerate Twilight being taught how to use the dark spells. A strained grunt followed by the motion of Twilight's forelegs stretching caught the attention of both princesses. They looked to the dark purple unicorn as she pushed herself up with a wide-open-mouth yawn that echoed a bit in the archive. Then Twilight caught herself in the middle of the gaping yawn when she realized she wasn't the only one at the table. Snapping her jaw shut quickly, she tried to sit up straight as she stifled the rest of the yawn. “Good morning,” Celestia beamed with a wide smile to her student. “Morning?” Twilight asked, a terrified look washing over her tired face. “It's morning!?” she nearly shrieked as she pushed herself to stand up with her fore-hooves planted on the table top, her wings reflexively flaring open at her sides. “No no, calm down,” Celestia giggled as she tapped at one of Twilight's hooves with her own. “I'm sorry, I was just joking.” Next to the sun princess, Luna found herself cracking a bit of a grin at her older sister's little prank. Twilight seemed to stand there confused for a few seconds, her groggy mind trying to figure out why this was funny. Then her eyes darted over to the window, and saw the night sky. Letting go a deflating breath, Twilight slumped back into her seat. “I really am sorry, that wasn't nice of me to scare you,” Celestia said with an apologetic smile. Twilight realized that there was really no harm done, and smiled back. “You did have me going there,” she said and then lost her smile as she glanced over the piles of books and stacks of paper before her. “I'm sorry but.. I still don't have an answer.” “I assumed as much. I'm sure you'll inform us the very moment you find it,” Celestia said as she turned her neck to look over to her sister, “and actually, we're not here to hear a report on your progress.” “Oh.. you're not?” Twilight asked as her eyes darted back and forth between the two sisters. The question of why both princesses were here had crossed her mind already, particularly why Princess Luna was here. Twilight hadn't seen the moon princess since the order to be imprisoned within the suppression chamber had been given. The thought of possibly ending up back in that room sent a surge of fear through the unicorn's body, but Twilight reassured herself that with Celestia present the possibility of that happening was unlikely. “I would like to lend you my aid,” the moon princess spoke up. An uneasy silence lingered a bit after the confession then Luna added, “Would you not appreciate the help?” “Oh uh, yeah. I mean, of course I would princess,” Twilight quickly replied back, her voice squeaking a bit. She honestly didn't know what the moon princess meant by 'aid'. Could she possibly mean helping her write her notes? Maybe fetch books from the shelves? No, that couldn't be. Any unicorn could do those things. Why would Princess Luna bother herself with something like that? “You sound less than enthusiastic,” Luna huffed dully. “Luna.. why don't you just tell her how you can help?” Celestia said as she prodded her younger sister's shoulder with a hoof. Luna glanced back a disproving look as she brushed the hoof away from her shoulder. “I was getting to that.” Turning her attention back to the dark purple unicorn, Luna cleared her throat and continued her discussion. “I would like to look over your notes. I am actually very knowledgeable of magic and may find something important that has been overlooked.” “Oh! Right. No problem, let me.. just..” Twilight began to fumble with the pages on the table, pushing them together with her hooves. This is so much easier with magic, she found herself thinking as she tried to make the pile of pages presentable. She then noticed a blue aura taking hold of the pages and pulling them together. “Allow me,” Luna said as she used her magic to pull up the pages, tapping the bottom edge of the stack against the table with her levitation magic before bringing them closer to her eyes for reading. “I hope they're actually readable,” Twilight commented as she cringed down in her chair slightly. “I have read many written notes in my years.. I believe I will be able to manage yours,” Luna reassured as she flipped the first page to the back of the stack. “Well, I'll let you two get to it then,” Celestia said as she stood from the table. “It has been an exhausting day. I pray that with the two of you working together, we will be able to solve this mystery soon. However,” Celestia placed her fore-hooves on the table and leaned over close to Twilight, “the next time you are feeling tired, I would appreciate it if you used the room we have set aside for you.” Twilight knew the princess was simply looking out for her, but still tried to produce a suitable excuse. “I just thought a quick nap would do,” she said as she rubbed the back of her neck with one hoof. “You will not be much use if you are so exhausted that you can barely comprehend what you read,” Luna commented as she glanced over the stack of notes at the unicorn. Twilight knew that with both princesses after her she had no chance of winning. “OK, I understand. I'll get some sleep tonight after we're done going over the notes.” Celestia beamed an approving smile back at Twilight. “Wonderful, good night you two.” “Good night sister,” Luna replied back as she kept her eyes fixed on Twilight's notes. “Sleep well princess,” Twilight said as she smiled back. She watched as the sun princess gracefully exited the long room, keeping her eyes lingering on the door for a moment after Celestia had disappeared into the hallway. The sound of pages rustling as Luna shifted another read page to the back of the stack of notes drew her attention back. Not wanting to disturb the younger princess, Twilight decided to busy herself with further research. Glancing at the spines of the books in a stack to her left, Twilight came across one that looked like it had some potential in the middle of the stack. Once again she found herself wishing she had her magic, but as she had for the last few evenings she would just have to make do without. Clamping down on the book's spine with her teeth, she placed a hoof on the books above to hold them back as she began to slip the book out of the middle of the stack. However, once the book had been half way pulled out, the top of the stack shifted and sent about a half dozen books tumbling down to the table, causing a second nearby stack to completely tumble over and slide out across the table as well. Twilight blinked at the results of the avalanche of reading material and glanced over to the moon princess. She offered a sheepish grin with the book she had claimed still clamped in her teeth when she noticed Luna peering at her over the stack of notes again. “Sowwy,” Twilight said around the book's spine. “Do you need some help?” Luna offered as she set the stack of notes down. Twilight took her chosen book in her forelegs and placed it on the table before her, and then stood to make an attempt to straighten the book mess she had just created. “It's OK princess, I can handle this much. I mean.. pegasi and earth ponies make due without levitation magic every day, the least I can do is learn how to live without it for now.” Luna nodded back in response before she took up the stack of notes again. The notes were very detailed but also a bit sporadic. It appeared that the young unicorn had been writing down information about many seemingly disconnected forms of magic as well as possible obscure side effects of magical spells. Most of the notes seemed to focus on forms of teleportation magic which made the most logical sense given what had happened. Still, nothing in the notes stood out to the alicorn as she continued to flip from page to page, taking in Twilight's findings. Nothing... until she flipped to a page that had no notes. Instead this page simply had one image drawn on its center. A circle, and along the circle were patterns and figures that she immediately recognized. The exact detail of the drawing was very shocking. The drawing brought back a disturbing memory from the princess's past. If this was somehow involved in what had happened, then that meant... Luna needed to confirm her suspicions. “Did you draw this?” Luna asked as she levitated the single page over and laid it on the table. Twilight stopped her attempts at organizing the mess of books on the table long enough to look at the drawing. She recognized it as the sketch she had done the day after the attack. “Oh that. I just drew it so I wouldn't forget it. I'm not really sure where I even saw it, but I thought it could mean something.” Twilight glanced up to Luna's face, seeing the concerned look gazing back at her. “Does it mean something?” Twilight asked hopefully. “Yes. Though I wish it did not,” Luna said as she took the page back up with her magic, rolling it up before tucking it under her wing. “I want you to come with me.” Luna stood from the table and hurriedly strode to the door of the archives calling to the guards at the door. Twilight fought with a strong feeling of uncertainty welling up inside of her. One of her princesses has just given her a command, but this was the same princess that only a few days prior had seen fit to imprison her. Luna also seemed rather upset at the drawing. “Princess.. I really don't know what the drawing means,” Twilight timidly confessed as she lingered at the side of the table. “Then we should find out what else you may know related to it, should we not?” Luna asked as she cast a perplexed glance over her shoulder back at the hesitant unicorn. If what she had heard was to be true, Twilight had been spending every waking moment of her time searching for answers but yet when a possible answer had just surface she seemed reluctant. Luna studied the dark purple unicorn, taking notice of her uneasy fidgeting as she bit at her bottom lip. Twilight seemed to be afraid of something. “What has come over you so suddenly?” Luna asked as she walked back into the room to approach Twilight. “Do you not want to find your friends?” “Of course I want to find them!” Twilight blurted out. But despite the bold statement, Twilight still seemed uneasy about something. Her eyes darted about, looking at something past the alicorn. Luna took notice of this and glanced over her shoulder, noticing the two guards still standing there at the door way. Now it made sense. Luna blew a sigh between her lips as she turned back to face Twilight. “You thought I was taking you back to that room,” she stated. Twilight didn't answer, but she did glance away toward her hooves seeming somewhat ashamed of her behavior. “Twilight,” Luna called, waiting for the unicorn to look up to her. Once the young unicorn had glanced back up Luna continued. “My sister decided to trust you, and I decided to trust in her judgment.” “I-I know.. it was stupid, thinking that you would do that,” Twilight mumbled as she sat there before her ruler, shuffling her front hooves on the floor. “Hardly. I was not very kind to you after what happened,” Luna confessed as she reached out a hoof and laid it on the unicorns shoulder. “I apologize for that. I never really gave you a fair chance. I simply judged you by what I felt at the time.” Luna then turned to take a few steps toward the exit and looked back over her shoulder. “Do you trust me enough to follow me?” Twilight drew in a deep breath and let it go with a hum. She nodded then pulled herself up to her hooves, taking a few steps to walk up beside the moon princess. When she did, Luna took her by surprise by unfolding a wing and draping it over her. The feeling was similar to when Celestia had done so, but still slightly different. When the sun princess had walked with her this way, Twilight felt the warmth of her mentor's caring touch. This felt more like a protective shield guarding Twilight from danger. Twilight knew at that moment that her fears had been unfounded. “So, where are we going?” Twilight asked as the pair exited through the archive doorway, followed closely by the guards. “A place nopony should rightfully ever have to visit,” Luna said solemnly. --- Before Twilight and Luna stood a tall set of doors made of solid onyx stone. The smooth black shine of the doors was only interrupted by the etchings that created a depiction of the nighttime star-scape. Twilight was surprised to see the accuracy of the constellations that had been carved into the doorway, something that would likely had taken a lot of careful effort. Across the center of the door, a white relief carving of a horizontal crescent moon dominated the scene. “It's beautiful,” Twilight nearly whispered as she traced the intricate carvings with her eyes. “Yes.. but it houses something very dangerous,” Luna said shortly before her magic began to spring to life. As her horn glowed a dark blue, so too did the carving of the moon, and then the seam of the door. The door let go a sound of stone sliding as the seam split, the two halves of the doorway sliding horizontally to the sides to reveal a chamber on the other side. Luna turned her attention to the two guards that had accompanied her thus far and said, “Please remain here until we return.” “Of course princess,” one of the guards quickly confirmed with a nod. The other nodded as well. Luna strode into the darkness of the room stopping to look back at the reluctant unicorn that she had lead here. “It is safe to enter,” she reassured. Twilight calmed her nerves with a deep breath that she breathed out as she said, “OK, lets do this then.” Stepping up beside the princess, the two walked into the dark room. As they did, the sound of the vault doors grinding closed sounded behind them as the sliver of light that stretched into the room from the doorway shrunk until it was gone. Twilight found herself frozen for a short second as the intense darkness shot a shiver down her spine. She jumped slightly when a light source came to life next to her. Looking up, she could see the dim blue glow of her princess's horn. Luna concentrated on her magic spell, and after a few seconds many torches lining the walls of the room sprung to life with bright yellow and orange flames that tapered off to blue tips. After the torches around the room had all it, a fireplace on the left wall came to life with a whooshing sound that echoed in the chamber. “Sorry about the lighting. I have not visited this chamber since it was created a couple years ago,” Luna admitted as she walked across the room. The room was actually laid out very similarly to her older sister's office with a desk across from the fire place and shelves in the room on the walls. There was the lack of a window and a pedestal that had a glass case holding something at the opposite wall that set it apart. “What is this place?” Twilight asked as she followed along just behind the princess's steps, taking in the sight of the room. She had expected to see something like the inside of the vault in Canterlot Tower, but this looked more like a regular room. “It use to be a study. It now acts as a tomb for this,” Luna said as she stopped at the pedestal at the end of the room. Willing the glass case cover to move with her magic, she lifted it and set it aside to the floor. The pedestal actually sloped toward them, holding a single book on it. Twilight stepped up closer to see the book, wondering what it could possibly contain that would be worth devoting an entire vault to protect its contents. Then she noticed its cover. Drawing a gasp in, Twilight stepped back away from the book. She recognized it right away. Luna lifted her wing, using her magic to bring out the rolled up page she had claimed from Twilight's notes. She uncurled it and laid it on the pedestal right next to the tome. The drawing on the page matched the black marks on the front of the book perfectly. “What is it?” Twilight asked as she cautiously looked back and forth between her princess and the tome. The tome itself didn't seem to be anything special at first, but its cover was something that appeared to be like a skin. This book was bound with leather, or something similar, and the circular image on its cover was a burned brand mark. “Evil,” Luna simply said before continuing. “If you were to use a single word to describe what this tome is, it is evil. The contents bring forth nothing but darkness. It contains a set of spells that nopony should ever know.” “Then why even keep something like this?” Twilight asked as she seemed to recoil back at the sight of it. At this, Luna thoughtfully glanced between the young unicorn and the tome and then lifted the tome with her magic. Giving her neck a quick flick, the tome went sailing across the room straight into the flames of the fireplace. Twilight shrieked at the sudden action, and back peddled away from the flames that had shot out when the book hit the burning logs. Luna quietly strode over to the fireplace and just stared at the book that set upon the flames. Twilight wasn't sure what had just happened, but she noticed that the princess was starting to cast her magic again. It was then that the tome slowly floated back out of the fire. The flames that it had been bathed in flickered out from its cover leaving not even a single burn mark. “Both my sister and I tried to find a way to destroy this thing,” Luna said as she brought it back over to the pedestal with her magic. She laid it back down at its resting place, the last wisps of smoke that had clung to it curling off its edges. “It has enchantments upon it that make it impossible. So the only choice we have is to hide it.” “Oh.. you could have just told me,” Twilight said with a slight hint of sarcasm I her voice. She grit her teeth slightly, hoping that her comment would be well received. Luna smiled slightly and nodded. “I suppose I could have.” She then used her magic to pull the cover open. The pages made a crackling sound as they breathed fresh air for the first time in centuries. Luna thought back to her older sister's words earlier, but she needed to know. All she needed was for Twilight to identify a spell to confirm her suspicion. She would have to show the young unicorn the contents of this book, at least briefly. “I want you to look at these pages,” Luna said, quickly noting the look of apprehension playing on Twilight's face at the request. “Only look, you don't have to read them. If you see anything that appears familiar, tell me.” Twilight reluctantly nodded and then stepped up to the tome. She had to do this, for her friends. If it were possible that this tome held the answer to saving them she would have to put her fears aside for that chance. Steeling herself for the task ahead, she glanced up to the princess as she said, “I'll do it.” Luna lit her horn and began to magically flip the pages of the tome. The pages were filled with unintelligible symbols, which Twilight found a bit reassuring. At least she wouldn't be able to comprehend what she was looking at. But then, she wondered if this would keep her from being able to locate anything recognizable. Page after page flipped by, each filled with spell diagrams and ancient scripts. Only the sounds of the ancient parchment crackling as Luna turned the pages with her magic filled the room for some time. “Wait.. there,” Twilight pointed with a hoof at the current page. “That's it. I remember... I remember my magic drawing it on the floor. That has to be it.” Luna took a moment to study the page. Upon the page was a diagram of a spell circle, with intricate lines that crisscrossed the circle and had runes that ran the length of each one. Something about the page sparked a memory in the moon princess as well as she glanced at the accompanying script written to the side. She hadn't viewed the ancient script in many long centuries, but she could still make out the spell's name. “Gateway,” Luna whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. She knew for sure now. “Huh?” Twilight asked as she glanced up to the princess from her side. “I know this spell. I know what it does.. I used it,” Luna confessed. “You.. used it?” Twilight questioned as she stepped back a step from Luna's side. Luna looked to Twilight, noticing her sudden apprehension. Despite this reaction the moon princess decided it wise to confess her past history with this tome. “The Gateway spell was one of the first I used. I made a connection between Equestria and Tartarus.” Twilight sat back on her haunches as she covered her muzzle with a hoof. She could only think of one possible thing to say in response to what she had just heard. “Why?” she whispered out weakly. “I wanted power, and I knew who could give it to me,” Luna eyed the book as she spoke. She remembered back when she had used it to contact him. “Tirek.” Luna grimaced as she spoke the name almost as if it left a horrible taste in her mouth to speak it. “I was a fool. In my bid to gain enough power to face my sister, I made a deal with him. He would grant me a small fraction of his power, enough that I could overpower Celestia. In return, I was to provide him with the Elements of Harmony once my sister had been defeated.” Twilight sat there in stunned silence as she took in the information. She knew that Luna had a troubled past, but she had no idea that the princess had struck a deal with the centaur demon, the very Lord of Tartarus himself. Even more surprising that she had offered the elements as a prize for the exchange. “Wait,” Twilight said as her mind realized a connection. The darkness that had attacked her and her friends had also been after the elements. Could that darkness had possibly been him? Luna could tell that Twilight had figured it out by now. There was no definite proof, but it was the only possibility that made any sense. The strangely familiar feelings she had felt recently, the involvement of the elements, the gateway spell, the shadow, all of it fit together. Tirek had come to claim what he believed was rightfully his. Twilight kept a silent, downcast look at the floor while her ears drooped to the sides of her head. She knew now exactly who was responsible for what had happened to her and her friends. She knew who had set this into motion over a thousand years ago. Twilight looked up to the moon princess, a look of determination taking over her face. “We can't let Tirek have them.” Twilight stood and walked up to Luna. “We have to defeat him.” Luna was a bit surprised by the response. She had expected her confession to turn Twilight away, but it appeared the young unicorn had decided to squarely place the blame for the suffering that her friends had been put through on the demon lord. Twilight looked like she was ready to storm into Tartarus herself if need be. “While defeating Tirek directly may be near impossible, I believe there is still a chance of finding your friends without having to face him at all,” Luna said as she pointed a hoof to the open tome. “The Gateway spell did not complete. This much I am sure of.” Twilight seemed a bit confused at the realization that the spell had not actually worked. “What happened then? Why did my friends vanish if the spell didn't work?” “It is not that the spell did not work, but that it did not work correctly. I believe we will find your friends not in Equestria or Tartarus, but somewhere between,” Luna tried to explain. Luna used her magic to close the tome, its pages causing a dull thud to echo in the chamber. Using her magic, she reclaimed the hoof-drawn depiction of the book's cover, and then replaced the glass covering over the tome. Turning to walk toward the vault door, Luna called out to Twilight to follow her. “Come, let us return to the archives. I believe we can find a solution to this, and in the morning we can tell Celestia what we have discovered.” --- “An incomplete spell,” Celestia echoed, having listened to her younger sister's report. She had found her seat on the velvet pillow behind her desk in her reading office and was taking in the new information that her sister and her student had discovered the night before. “I am certain of it,” Luna spoke standing on the other side of the desk next to Twilight. “If this spell had completed the result would have been the opening of a gateway between Equestria and some other realm, allowing something or somepony to pass through. But since Twilight's magic was being used to power it, the spell was canceled when you pulled her from it.” “That doesn't exactly explain the disappearances,” Celestia said as she puzzled over the explanation. Twilight spoke up to try to explain her understanding of the spell's workings. “When a spell is only partially cast, its outcome becomes chaotic. In the case of a spell that is made to create a bridge between worlds, it's possible the bridge actually exists but there is just no where to go.” Celestia thought over the words and then came up with a conclusion. “They would be trapped within the spell itself.” “It is the only possibility that would make sense,” the moon princess confirmed. “They could be lost in the space between our world and the other side.” “And what is this other side?” Celestia asked. The question caused the moon princess grit her teeth. Luna knew she couldn't hide the answer from her sister. “Tartarus,” Luna said simply. The silence that hung in the room was deafening. Celestia knew that if her younger sister claimed that powers from Tartarus where somehow behind this, she had to believe it no matter how much she didn't want too. Still, the sun princess couldn't bring herself to say anything in response. If the shadow that had stolen away the five mares had connections to Tartarus, then the situation was far more grave than she had thought. “We have to go after them,” Twilight affirmed, shortly catching Celestia's attention. “Would we even be able too?” Celestia asked a she turned her glance back to Luna. Luna seemed thoughtful for a moment before she nodded. “I could get us inside the spell and back out. But I would not be able to find them myself. For that, we would need somepony who has a connection with the missing mares.” Celestia knew who that would be, and she could tell by the look of determination on Twilight's face that the unicorn had already decided that she was going after her friends. The sun princess stood from her desk and walked over to the large window, using her magic to push the white curtain aside. She silently stared out at the courtyard just below as she thought over the possibilities, but no matter what she kept coming back to the same conclusion. There was no way to keep from putting Twilight in harms way. “I don't like it,” Celestia finally said as she released the curtain, letting it fall back in place. She turned to face her sister and student and then added, “but there is no other way. You have my approval.” Twilight's tension eased up at the answer. She had been fully prepared to confront her mentor if Celestia had tried to deny her the chance of rescuing her friends. However, now that it had been settled the next task would be preparing for the actual trip. “What do I need to do to get ready for this?” Twilight asked as she glanced back and forth between the two princesses. “Well,” Celestia started as she walked over to her student. Pointing a hoof at Twilight's horn she said, “you will need to get rid of that ring. I doubt you want to take on this task without your magic.” Twilight glanced up at the null ring on her horn before she tilted her head down. Letting the ring slide off her horn, Twilight caught it atop her right hoof and then placed the ring on Celestia's desk. “Glad to be rid of that thing.” Celestia smiled shortly to her student before she turned her attention to Luna. “What else should we do to prepare before we go?” Luna blinked back at the words as she said, “We?” “Did you think I would let the two of you go without me?” Celestia questioned with her eyebrows raised. Luna knew better than to try to argue about this. Celestia could be quite stubborn about her choices, and if the choice involved both herself and Twilight the sun princess would be as unmovable as a mountain. Luna closed her eyes as she placed a hoof to her bottom lip in thought. “I suppose all we really need then would be the Tiara of Magic. Twilight and her friends share a bond through the elements themselves. I believe it could make finding them much easier.” “I see your point, though it sounds like a risk. If the darkness is still there we could very well be bringing it the one thing it wants,” Celestia warned. “I considered that, but it is a risk either way. The longer we are in the spell, the more at risk we are of being discovered,” Luna countered. “Besides, there is a possibility that we may need the power of the elements.” Celestia regarded her sister for a moment, considering her words. She then put on a warm smile and nodded in agreement. “Very well. I will retrieve the tiara and bring it with me to the spire. You two do what you need to prepare yourselves for this trip until then.” “Thank you princess,” Twilight said as she beamed a smile. Soon now, she would be reunited with her friends. She could just feel it.