//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Land of Dreams // by JoyceCarleton //------------------------------// Twilight awoke, her lower body feeling very sore and numb. However, she could also feel the magic in her horn again and she lifted the rocks off of her back. After that, she stood up and staggered a bit, having lost much of the feeling in her hind legs. Her back and hind legs were also scraped up and had patches of dried blood. She took the bottle of water and washed some of the dirt out of her wounds. Then, she took out some apples and a cupcake to eat. As she ate, the rabbit returned and she greeted it with a smile. Twilight passed one of apples to it and they ate peacefully. After she finished, she stomped her hind legs a bit to get the feeling back quicker and went back to work. As she dug through more piles of rubble, the rabbit followed her and would occasionally sharply glance from side to side, as if being on the lookout. Twilight gave a small smile when she noticed this and actually worked rather happily for a couple of hours, before the seriousness of her mission returned to daunt her. She was yet to find any clues to the chamber where the god was sealed and although the sun was still yet to move, the clock was ticking. On and on she worked at excavating the piles and she had no results to show for her effort. She started growing sick just looking at all of the piles, more than three quarters of them she was yet to go through. When she took another break to eat, she decided to do it in the forest. She looked for a good spot and noticed the spot where the Timber Wolves had come through. The leaves of the bushes were burnt and gave off that smoky aroma. Curious, Twilight went through the bushes and came into a clearing. As Twilight walked onto the clearing, she felt it seemed a bit odd. She looked down and noticed that the ground was almost completely level. She took a few more steps and although she was walking on grass, her hooves did not really sink in at all. She stomped on the ground a bit and brought her ears close to the ground. As she hit the ground, she thought she heard a thud sound, not exactly natural for soil. Twilight started looking around the clearing and circled around it, stomping every so often. Soon enough, Twilight’s hoof stamped onto something hard. Twilight started to clear the dirt away and revealed stone. After clearing more of the dirt away, she uncovered a stone slab that had a keyhole-shaped marking. She took a closer look at the marking, and saw that it was sunken in, as if something was meant to be inserted into it. She tapped on it a few more times and the rabbit came over to tap on it as well. After thinking for about fifteen minutes and tapping on it at least dozen different ways, she temporarily threw out her rational thinking and smashed the slab as hard as she could with her hooves. The impact caused her hooves to go a bit numb, but she repeated to stomp on it until she was fairly certain that this was not the way to open it. She rested her hooves underneath her body and waited for the pain to subside. She suddenly realized that she was still hungry and she used her magic to levitate some food out of her bag. As she did this, the keyhole marking also began to glow. Twilight stopped using her magic and the glowing of the marking also stopped. She used her magic to levitate the apple treat again and the marking glowed again. Twilight narrowed her eyes. She went up to the marking and bent her head down to get the tip of her horn inside the hole of the marking. She then started just releasing magic and the slab glowed brightly. After a few seconds, there was a rumbling sound, and the slab sunk into the ground a bit, and then slid away a bit, revealing a slit. Twilight got off the slab and started to push it in from the slit, revealing an underground passage. Twilight picked up her bag and went down into the passage. She walked down some crudely carved stairs and eventually made it to the floor. At the bottom, another narrow passage was revealed, lit by torches. As she walked down the passage, she felt that this was quite similar to the cave she woke up in. As she started to think about the connection, she suddenly felt a sharp pain go through her head. She leaned against the wall and held her head tightly. In her mind, everything went black save for very vague images. She could not distinguish any of them, but after the images went away, so did the pain. Twilight took a few breaths and continued, feeling a shiver down her spine as she continued onwards. ** Shining had put this off because he thought yesterday was too soon, but now it had to be done. He called the tank crew to discuss with them the issue of who the new tank commander would be. Present at the meeting was Sweetie Belle, who the tank crew had brought along. Shining gave a brief nod to Sweetie Belle. “Is there some reason as to why you brought Sweetie Belle along with you?” “Yes, we’ve been thinkin’ about it, and we’ve decided that Sweetie Belle should be the new tank commander,” Braeburn said. “Sweetie Belle?” “Yes, she is very familiar with the tank and her eyes can see better than any of us with the binoculars,” Flim said. “I’m sorry, but I cannot allow this.” “What, why?” Applebloom asked. “She is ranked below all of you. The natural choice to be next tank commander should be Braeburn.” “Who cares about rank?! Sweetie’s the best pony for the job!” “You may think that, Applebloom, and you may even be right to say so, but there is more. Why do you think a unicorn has to be tank commander?” “But Sweetie is a unicorn!” “Answer the question.” “Because they need to be able to create a barrier to protect them from enemy fire,” Sweetie Belle replied in her robotic voice. “Exactly. It is good that you understand this Sweetie Belle. Having you as tank commander is just too great of a risk for not just you, but the entire crew as well.” “But if we had a solution to this problem?” Flam asked. “What kind of solution?” “Flim and I have been working on this for a while now, and we have finally completed it.” “Completed what?” “The designs for a new defensive system for the tank. Not only will it be able to use its magic storage to improve the durability of the tank’s armour, but the system can be linked up to the tank commander to manipulate the size and shape of the barrier.” “How much more effective will this shield be than ordinary?” “At least twice as much; that ought to compensate, don’t you think?” “How long will it take to add this onto the tank?” “Ten days, no, a week; just one week will be enough.” Shining thought to himself. “Please let me do this,” Sweetie Belle said. Shining thought some more before sighing. “Make it six days, and I will allow this.” “Thank you very much, Commander,” Braeburn said. “Thank you, Commander,” Sweetie Belle said as well. “Just make sure it’s even better than before.” The ponies saluted him and then turned to walk away. However, Shining suddenly went after them and stopped Sweetie Belle. “Is there something else?” “Um, yeah.” “What is it?” “Your sister…you…” “You don’t have to say anything more; I understand.” Sweetie Belle turned back around and left Shining standing there, still unsure of what exactly he wanted to say. He took in a deep breath and hit himself. He then went back to the preparations. ** Shadowbolt opened her eyes and found herself resting on a cloud. Below her was a busy town, with ponies of all kinds going about their day, chatting to each other, playing, and working. All in all, it was very peaceful. She looked around at the sky and saw that none of the pegasi were looking for her. Smiling to herself, she yawned and stretched out her legs. She closed her eyes and resumed her rest. A moment later though, she heard the sounds of heavy wings flapping. At first, Shadowbolt just tried to ignore it and continue sleeping, but the sounds came right above her. “So that’s where you were,” a familiar voice said. Shadowbolt opened her eyes, but because of the sun directly above, only saw a large shadowy, winged figure. Her eyes began to focus and made out a pair of yellow eyes before all of her surroundings went completely blank. Shadowbolt truly awoke and found herself in the infirmary again and back in bed. She looked around and saw Tiamat sitting in a chair by her bedside. Over on the other side of the room was Trixie lying down on an empty bed. “How are you feeling, Shadowbolt?” Tiamat asked. “Where, no, what happened? How long have I been out?” “Well, I think you’ve been passed out for more than a day now, although I did find you lying on the floor some time ago. As to where and what, I think it’s pretty obvious.” Shadowbolt tried to remember that dream she was having, but the images were just blurs to her now. She shook her head a bit. “Okay, I see.” “Hmph, so disoriented from simply adding a horn to your head? The great and powerful Trixie wouldn’t need a moment’s rest if I gained a pair of wings. No, I’d be flying immediately.” Shadowbolt rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here, Trixie?” “What, are you not overjoyed to be in the great and powerful Trixie’s presence?” “Not even a bit.” “Well, I was merely accompanying the dragon.” “Why were you doing that?” Trixie narrowed her eyes and did not answer. “Trixie was recently made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Brigade,” Tiamat answered. “So?” “Well, I was promoted to Colonel, so-” “Wait! When did all of this even happen?” “While you were blissfully wasting time that could have been better spent preparing.” “Preparing? Preparing for what?” “The annihilation of all of our inferior enemies!” “What?” “Easy there, Trixie. Here, let me try and explain from the top. When I met with Brigadier Fafnir, he promoted me to Colonel. A little while after, Trixie was officially assigned to the Brigade and she was given the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. While this was going on, there was apparently an executive order made to the Commanders of the Fleet, Brigade, and Legion.” “I didn’t get any messages!” “Shadowbolt, I’m getting to that. You were asleep at the time, so the message was directed towards Spitfire.” “What was the message?!” “You stupid pegasus, just let the dragon finish speaking to you, or is impatience the only feature you have.” Shadowbolt growled at her, but did not say anything. “Anyways, the order made was for all of the Commanders to prepare their forces and have any necessary troops to come to Cloudsdale.” The dragon paused for a second, expecting Shadowbolt to ask why, but she didn’t. “The reason why is because we will be launching a major offensive. Maybe even the ultimate offensive.” “With the great and powerful Trixie present, it will be an absolutely spectacular victory for us!” They both just stared at her for a bit. Shadowbolt then turned to look at Tiamat again. “All three Commanders will bring their full forces to Cloudsdale?” “Well, not necessarily. The order is only to bring necessary troops. My own Commander will actually not be participating in the battle, probably because he is such a large target.” “I think he is simply a coward!” “Isn’t he your Commander, too, Trixie?” Shadowbolt asked. “Hmph! That is only because of seniority!” “Yeah, whatever. Anyways, when is all of this happening?” “Well, there was no real time set in stone, but we plan to move out with whatever forces we can gather in two weeks’ time.” “I say we already have more than enough to strike them down.” “Striking too soon would be careless; it’s not as if they are going anywhere soon. Anyways, Shadowbolt, I am assuming that you will be joining the offensive.” “Of course! I will make sure to kill every last one of them!” “I see. Well, rest up until then.” Tiamat got up and left and the room and Trixie followed after him. Shadowbolt started thinking about how the attack would go and started thinking about the griffon who had evaded her twice. However, when she tried to recall specific things about her, the image got blurry and her head started to hurt. She massaged her temples and lay back down in bed. ** After a while, as Twilight walked down the passageway, she saw it was pitch-black up ahead. There was no other path, so she simply continued to walk. She passed the last torch and entered into the darkness. As she did, she tried to brush up against the wall, just so she could feel something else in the darkness. Very quickly, she found herself growing very tired and was having difficulty keeping her eyes open. There was still no light ahead, though, so she decided to close her eyes for a bit as she kept on walking. A few steps later, she suddenly tripped and she could see something very bright flash behind her closed eyelids. She opened them and found herself looking up at a wooden ceiling. Twilight blinked a few times, but nothing had changed. One brief look around, and she could see that she in her bedroom in Ponyville. She pulled back her star-patterned sheets and got out of bed. She tried to then quietly exit the room when she heard little footsteps coming from the stairs. She darted behind her bed and watched for whoever it was to climb the stairs. A moment went by, and she saw a small purple dragon arrive at the top of the stairs. He looked towards the bed and she hid herself. “Twilight?” Twilight did not answer and the dragon came closer to the bed. “Twilight?” the dragon called again. She still did not move from her spot and even began holding her breath. The dragon went around the bed and Twilight screamed when he saw her. She wildly waved her hooves around before galloping away. She went down the stairs and then outside the library. After opening the door, she saw the bustling town of Ponyville. All around her were ponies that she recognized and although a few turned to look at her when she suddenly came out of the library, they paid her no real attention. “What is going on?!” This did cause a few more heads to turn and she suddenly felt frightened when they all looked at her. The dragon came down the stairs and tried to run up to her, but Twilight ran off again. She headed down the streets and came by Sugarcube Corner, looking perfectly fine. For some reason, this sight was almost as disturbing as the charred remains she saw last time. The door opened, and a pink earth pony came bouncing outside. She turned, noticed Twilight, and then gave a wide smile. “Oh, hi Twilight! How are you today?” She started to bounce towards her and Twilight began running away. “Hey, where are you going? Are you late for a party?” Twilight ignored her and continued to run. The pink pony chased after her and Twilight put on an extra spurt of speed to try and get away. However, the pink pony did not give up. As they ran, Twilight then came across Carousel Boutique. Its doors were open and there was a white unicorn inside arranging some dresses. When Twilight ran past it, the unicorn took notice and came outside. “Twilight? What is the big rush?” Twilight turned around for a second to check to see if the white unicorn was also joining in the chase, but she was not. However, Twilight ran past a corner and ended up running right into a wagon while her head was turned. She picked herself out of the wreckage and saw herself surrounded by apples. Looking down on her was an orange earth pony with freckles and wearing a cowboy hat. “Are you okay, Twilight?” “Woah, what happened here?” a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane asked as she came flying down from the clouds. “Twilight here just crashed right into my wagon, Rainbow.” Twilight started cowering when a rabbit came up to her. She was about to feel some kind of relief from this but the rabbit was a different colour; it was white. Then, coming from the side was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. “Oh, Twilight, you’re not hurt are you?” Twilight started breathing deeply as the pink pony and then the white unicorn came up to her. Twilight started to sweat as they came in closer and then she suddenly burst into tears. All the ponies started asking her what was wrong and Twilight simply did not know what to say. She continued to cry and the pink pony suddenly hugged her. “Don’t cry, Twilight! The pain’s not that bad, right?” “Yeah, if you really hurt or something, we can take you to the hospital.” “Here, let me fly you over there.” “Don’t worry, Twilight.” “We’ll help you; that’s what friends are for.” Twilight started to stop crying and finally spoke to the pink pony. “Pinkie Pie?” “Yes?” She then looked at the other ponies. “Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash? Rarity? Applejack?” “Yes?” they all said in unison. Twilight’s panic faded and relief began to spread over her. “Was it really all just a dream?” “Was what just a dream?” Rarity asked. “You all were gone. Well, not all of you, but you two were different. Rarity and Applejack, you were both older. And then Rarity…she was gone too.” “What a terrible dream you must have had, sweetie.” “I was gone? What a lame dream you had,” Rainbow Dash said. “Just a dream…” “Yup, just a dream, silly; we’re all still here!” Twilight started smiling and hugged Pinkie Pie. Suddenly, the skies darkened, and there was the sound of thunder. “W-what’s going on?!” “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it aint good.” A portal opened up in the sky, and a massive black dragon slowly began to come out of it. “W-what? A black dragon?!” “I aint never seen a dragon that big before!” “Eep!” The purple dragon came running from around the corner, holding a box. It stopped in front of them and began to pant heavily. “Spike!” The dragon held out his hand and tried to regain his breath. The dragon came further out of the portal. “Spike!” the other ponies yelled. “Haa….haa…okay, I’ve caught my breath.” “Do you really think this is the time for that?!” “Don’t worry, I’ve already brought them.” “Them?” Spike opened up the box and revealed the six Elements of Harmony. “Go get him, girls!” “Okay, but, just what is that?” Applejack asked. “I-I think it’s from my dream,” Twilight said. “What?” “I had a dream where an evil god took over the world. Apparently, it had the form of a black dragon.” “So your dream predicted something like this?” “Maybe.” “Enough chit chat, let’s take this guy down!” Rainbow Dash shouted out. She grabbed her Element of Loyalty and put it on her neck. The others did the same except for Twilight who was still hesitant. “What’s wrong, Twilight? We need to hurry up and beat him!” Twilight picked up the Element of Magic, but still did not put it on. “I do want to beat him, but something feels wrong…” The dragon was now almost fully out of the portal. It let out a powerful roar that shook the town. “Come on, Twilight we have to hurry!” Twilight brought the tiara to her head and was thinking if this would play out just like the other times. Would the magic resonate together and defeat the enemy in a single hit? Would that really just be it? Twilight put it on her head and the six Elements started to glow. Their bodies began to float upwards and the Elements began charging. Twilight felt light beginning to fill up her body, a strange sensation that she felt twice before. Magic began to swirl around the six of them as the dragon now fully exited the dark portal in the sky. No! Twilight suddenly tossed aside the Element of Magic and the magic stopped swirling. All of the Elements stopped glowing and the ponies fell to the ground with the exception of the two pegasi. The ponies went up to her and said something to her but their voices were initially drowned out by the dragon’s roar. It was obvious what they were saying though. “This isn’t right! This isn’t what it’s really like!” Twilight yelled out amidst the roaring. “What are you talking about Twilight?” “Twilight! Ponyville is in danger! We have to stop that dragon.” “Didn’t you say yourself that it was an evil god?! Come on!” “No! I mean, yes! That thing is the evil god, but not really!” Twilight tried to explain. “What?” “I don’t know how this is happening, but there’s no way everything that happened was just a dream!” “Yes it was Twilight! We’re all fine, or at least until that dragon destroys all of Ponyville! Let’s hurry up and stop it!” “No! No! No. No, none of you are real. None of this of real.” “Twilight?” “I wish this was real. I wish I could just beat this dragon with all of you and continue living happily together, but this isn’t how it is.” The ponies stared at her in silence as the dragon breathed fire on a distant building. Twilight looked up at the dark portal. “That is where the world really is. That is where everything is really happening.” “That portal?” “Are you crazy, Twilight?! That place is where that evil dragon just came from! Why would that be the real world?! Why would you even want to go there?!” “I don’t. I really don’t. But I have to.” The dragon started making its way towards them. “Spike. Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash. Applejack. Rarity. Fluttershy. This isn’t where I belong. I need to be somewhere else.” “In that dark world?” “Yes.” They all just looked at her in silence as the dragon came closer. “Okay,” Rainbow Dash suddenly said. “I am not the Element of Loyalty for nothing. I will stick by you as long as you think that that is the best decision.” “Rainbow Dash…” The dragon was now upon them and breathed fire at them, but they managed to avoid it, Rainbow Dash carrying Twilight away. “In there, right?” “Yes.” “…I’m sorry that I can’t come with you.” Twilight closed her eyes and shed a tear. Rainbow Dash flew towards the portal and the dragon breathed its flames at them. Rainbow Dash threw Twilight into the portal as the flames reached them, engulfing Rainbow Dash. As Twilight was flung towards the portal, she looked at Rainbow Dash and saw that she was smiling sadly at her. Twilight looked down and saw the others as well all waving goodbye to her. Twilight smiled back at them as her body went through the portal. ** After the darkness faded, Twilight found herself back in the underground passageway. She looked around saw that there were still torches on the walls. She got up and noticed that her eyes were wet. She touched her face and felt tears. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment before continuing down the path. After walking for about five more minutes, she arrived in the chamber. It was circular, made of stone, and had a very high ceiling. In the very center of the room was a very large crack in the floor. Twilight got closer to it and thought that she could see the edges of some kind of marking around the crack. She looked into the crack, but it was pitch-black. After looking around the rest of the room and finding nothing, though, she decided that she had to go into the crack. Twilight lit up her horn and then jumped down. Using her magic, she slowly reached the bottom floor. The room was vast and her light could only light up a couple of yards around her. She started walking around the perimeter of the room and so far, saw that the room was empty. As she walked, she thought she could hear some kind of sound. She would stop, and try to listen intently, but she would only feel a light breeze. She continued to walk around the room and thought the noise was getting louder. She stopped and this time it continued. It wasn’t a constant sound, but it was definitely a real sound. She strained her ears to try and figure out where the sound was coming for. She continued to walk and as she neared one end of the room and the sounds got louder. She continued to walk and finally reached the end of the room. “Can you hear me?” a voice said very faintly. Twilight leapt back in surprise. She could continue to hear some kind of sound, but it was only noise again. Twilight stepped closer to the end of the room again and heard the faint voice once more. “Can you hear me?” “Y-yes,” Twilight nervously stammered out. “Really! Oh, that’s great!” “W-Where are you speaking from?” “I’m inside this room.” Twilight looked around again but still saw it was empty. “Where in the room?” “Oh, well, technically not really inside the room.” Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the wall. “I’m in this room, but also not really; I guess you can say I’m trapped.” “Trapped?” “Yes, trapped.” “Who are you?” Twilight said with just a hint of hostility in her voice. “You’ve come to stop the evil god who was released, right?” Twilight stepped back a bit in surprise, but moved forward again when she remembered how faint the speaker’s voice was. “How do you know about that?” “Well, I remember you; you’ve come here before.” Twilight slowly came closer to the wall. “I did?” “Yes, you did.” “Why do I not remember?” “I’m not sure; it may have something to do with the god.” “What did the god do to me?” “The same thing he does to everyone; put you into a dream. In that dream, he lets you live out the kind of life you desire, and slowly, you lose yourself in it. When that happens, he forces you awake, but your true self is still dreaming. In its stead, another you; a different personality forms. This one is a corruption of your true self, and is related to your desires in some way.” “But, what about me?” “You managed to escape his grasp; not everyone loses to his powers.” “That dream I had earlier; was it because of him?” “Earlier? How much earlier?” “I don’t know, I just woke up in the passageway and came down here.” “Really? I’m pretty sure the first time you came here was quite a long time ago…” “A long time ago?” “Wait, you woke up in the passageway? That doesn’t seem right; I tried to send you farther away.” “What?” “When the evil god was first released, you fell down into this hole and he tried to use his powers on you. I was trapped here for a long time, but I learned to be able to use some of my magic, as long as it’s on something nearby. I tried to teleport you away to safety, and was just randomly thinking of far-away places from my memories since I was in a rush.” “Wait, are you the reason I woke up in that cave?” “You woke up twice? You had two dreams?!” “No, I just had one dream.” The voice stopped speaking for a few moments. “What do you think happened?” “I’m not sure…” “You know, you still haven’t answered my question; who are you?” “My name is Prince Morning Star, well, I guess I’m probably not really a Prince anymore.” “Prince?” Twilight remembered her journal and pulled it out of her bag. “What are you doing?” “Just doing a quick check. Wait, can you see me?!” “Well, why else would I call out to you?” “Where do you see me from?” “Um, I guess near the top of this wall you are facing.” Twilight looked up at the spot and it was empty. Twilight stared at it a bit before going back to reading. “Hey, are you the Prince mentioned in this journal?” “Journal? What’s it about?” “It mentioned an expedition to these ruins a long time ago.” Twilight thought she heard the speaker sigh. “No, it was not I who ordered it; it was my elder brother, Prince Dusk Star. He was always an adventurous one and wanted to see the wonders of the world.” “The journal did mention that the Prince had a brother and sister.” “Yes, Dawn Star, my brother’s younger twin sister.” “So you are the three royals who sealed away the evil god?!” Twilight asked. “Yes.” “And the terrible cost that was paid?” “As you may already realize, it was that we had to be sealed away ourselves.” “So, the other two are also in this room somewhere?” “No, they are not. When the sealing happened, only I was trapped down here. I have no idea where my brother and sister may be.” “How did you do it?! How did you seal him away?!” “We used our combined powers, along with the Elements of Heroism to seal him away.” “The Elements of Heroism? I’ve never heard of them before.” “Well, when we made our sacrifice, we knew that although our bodies may be sealed away, the Elements would remain intact. We had specific instructions on taking the three Elements and putting them away in a safe place. It may be in some ancient vault somewhere in the world.” “Is that the only way to stop him?” “Other than overpowering him with magic, I do not think there is another way.” Twilight swallowed and then looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry.” “B-but what if we can release the three of you and combine the magic of all the other unicorns?!” Twilight suggested, holding out hope. “That might work, but releasing us would be difficult.” “What do we need?!” “Since we were sealed away using the power of the Elements of Heroism, we would need them, as well as an extraordinary amount of magic to temporarily force their activation.” “So we would still need the Elements no matter what? What about the Elements of Harmony? Would that work?!” “The Elements of Harmony? If memory serves me correctly, there were six of them.” “Yes, there are!” “And you have all six of them?” “Uh, I think?” “As well as someone able to represent each of them.” Twilight painfully thought back on her lost friends. “No, we don’t.” “Then I’m sorry; that won’t work either.” “No, something has to work! We need something! Anything! If we can’t find something then he is going to end the world!” Morning said nothing. Twilight started screaming and powering up her horn. “I’m going to bust you out of there right now!” Twilight fired off a magical blast at the wall and the blast exploded. The wall, however, was completely undamaged. Twilight powered up her horn again and fired again. She repeated this a few more times, but none of the attacks did anything to the wall. Panting heavily, she fell to the ground and started to tear up. “Why?! Why does it have to be like this?! Everything I have is useless!” Twilight took off her bag and threw it at the wall, the contents falling out and scattering on the floor. Twilight cried and the speaker remained silent for a moment. “Wait, what is that?!” Morning suddenly asked. Twilight didn’t answer him and just kept crying. “No, listen to me! That box on the floor, show it to me!” Twilight stemmed the flow of her tears and looked at the little box. “It’s just some stupid locked box. I don’t even have the key.” “There is no key to the lock! Or at least there shouldn’t be if it is what I think it is; please, show me the box.” Twilight choked back a few tears and got back up and went over to the box. She tried lifting it with magic and the keyhole started to glow. “W-what?” she asked, her tears now almost fully stopped. “Focus your magic into the keyhole!” Twilight did as she was told and the box opened. Inside were three pendants that each had a unique symbol. One was a golden, five-pointed star; one was an orange semi-circle; and one was a black semi-circle. “Yes, that’s it! Those are the Elements of Heroism!” “W-what? Really?!” “Yes! I don’t know where you got them, but there they are; all three of them!” “R-really?!” Twilight had to ask again. “Yes!” Twilight smiled and started to jump around saying ‘yes’ over and over again. After some time, she finally calmed down. “So, what do I have to do now?” “Well, the Element of Hope is the one I used; it’s the one with the star. If you could just bring it up close to where I am and infuse some magic into it, I’m sure it will react in some way.” Twilight levitated the Element of Hope up to the top of the wall and started focusing her magic into it. However, the flow of magic was quite feeble because of how much she had already used. “I-I don’t have enough magic.” “I’m sure you do!” “No, I don’t. I used so much of it already.” “You were able to muster enough magic to originally unseal this chamber; you must have an enormous reserve.” “Even if you say that, I don’t remember any of that and I can barely keep it floating right now.” “What is your name?” “What?!” “Your name. You never told me what it was.” “It’s Twilight Sparkle, but what does that even matter?” The Element of Hope was beginning to gradually drop towards the ground. “Twilight, I know you are greatly confused about a lot of things right now, but from what you already know, you know that there is no time to waste. You have come here alone with no memories all for one thing. Think only of this and then summon all the strength you can!” Twilight did as she was told. She thought back on the destruction of all the towns, the darkness that covered the land, the loss of her friends, and the ongoing war fought between former friends. She thought about the struggles she had to deal with and how much worse it must have been for those who had to live through all those years she was apparently asleep for. Twilight’s light grew stronger and the Element levitated back up to its position. Twilight gritted her teeth and she began to feel her whole body getting hot. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead and the glowing light grew brighter still. The Element began to flash with a golden light and sparks of light began to fall from the ceiling above the Element. Twilight focused harder still and the Element started to make a very loud noise as her body got even hotter. The Element then began to release more golden light and there was finally a loud cracking sound. A visible crack appeared in mid-air and then it exploded. A dark portal was revealed and the glowing Element slowly went towards the opening. Twilight’s legs gave way and she collapsed onto the floor. From the portal, an alicorn emerged. He had a silver coat and a golden mane. The Element went to his neck and put itself on him. The alicorn flew down to the ground next to Twilight. He was much larger than Twilight and she would say that he was close to the size of Princess Luna. “Thank you very much for all of your hard work, Twilight. Now, it is time for us to return the light to this world.” Morning put all of the items back into Twilight’s bag and then levitated her with the bag onto his back. He then flew out of the underground chamber. Back in the higher chamber, he flew up to the ceiling and his horn began to glow. The ceiling then glowed as well and he flew through it and ended up back on the surface of the ruins. He looked around at the piles of rubble all around him and noticed how many were leveled. He then looked to the horizon where the sun was frozen in its place. Twilight looked at the horizon too and stated what she had already figured out a long time ago. “I guess the Princesses really are gone.” “Did your Princesses raise and lower the sun?” “Yeah, they did. Where everypony else is, there is only a dark grey sky; I don’t think any of them have seen sunlight in years.” “Then I do not think they will mind this.” Morning flew up into the sky and his horn began to glow again. He stayed in mid-air and concentrated. Then, slowly, the sun began to rise. Twilight’s mouth was agape in awe as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Finally, it settled in a higher position than anything else her eyes could see. Unfortunately, the sun could still not be seen anywhere else under Equestria’s dark and clouded sky. Even Cloudsdale had another cover of clouds above it that blocked out this sight. “Who are you?” Twilight asked incredulously. “I told you already; I am Morning Star.” “And you can raise the sun just like Princess Celestia?” “Well, only if the sun is already above the horizon; I am not strong enough to bring it all the way up by myself. It was my sister Dawn who would have to dispel the night first. The three of us combined, though, could control day and night.” “That’s a lot like what we have. Had…” “There is no need to think back on the past right now. The times have been dark, but there will always be light as long as we believe in it.” “So, just have hope?” Morning smiled at Twilight’s remark. “Yeah.” Morning began to fly away from the ruins and headed towards Cloudsdale.