Breaking the Cycle

by Graxic

Chapter 5

Dark Horn was having some trouble getting back to the library after the meal, due to sheer amount of wine consumed between himself and Twilight. He was fine, as predicted, he was able to handle it, but the inebriated lavender unicorn beside him was having some trouble. A whole hour of walking later, they were standing outside the library, but Twilight insisted that she should be the one to go in first.

“Come one, Twi, you’re drunk, we need to get inside and get some rest.” Dark Horn said, attempting to usher Twilight through the door and open it at the same time.

“No, no, no,” She slurred, attempting to open the door using her magic, “I can… I can get the door.”

“If you say so.” Dark Horn chuckled, able to predict what’d happen next.

Sure enough, Twilight, while managing to open the door at first, attempted walking through the doorway, but it sprung back into her head, knocking her into Dark Horn, who sidestepped her and righted her with a magical field.

“You okay?” Dark Horn asked, setting her on her feet. She turned and smiled at him, opened her mouth to say something, before collapsing, having passed out.

“Are you kidding me? Ugh, fine. I’ll carry you.” Dark Horn said, unsure as to whether or not she could hear him, before levitating her across his back and starting up the stairs and towards their bed.

----

“Ugh, my head…” Twilight grumbled, waking up in the morning, “How much did I drink last night?”

“Quite a lot.” Dark Horn answered, smiling at her from across the bed.

“What happened?”

“How much can you remember?”

“Up until my… fifth glass.”

“Ah. Well, we tried to come home, but you kept stumbling all over the place. I’ve seen Derpy fly straighter than you were walking when she was in the middle of a storm. When we eventually got back, you insisted on opening the door yourself. You did get through it, for the most part. Until your magic slipped and you hit yourself. In the face. With the door. I managed to catch you and put you on your feet, but you fell unconscious almost instantly after, so I had to carry you up here.”

“That’s not too bad.”

“’Not too bad’? What normally happens to you?”

“I’d rather not say, it’s really embarrassing.”

“Okay, fine.”

“Oh, gosh, look at my mane, it’s a mess!” She exclaimed, looking at herself in the mirror and levitating a brush up, running it through her mane several times. “You’re lucky, not having to brush your mane or tail every morning. I wish I was an alicorn.”

“Well, Princess Celestia did say it was possible for anypony to become an alicorn, and since you’re one of the Elements, you should be more likely.”

“But you became an alicorn. You’re not one of the Elements.”

“I must just have gotten lucky.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it.” Dark Horn called, walking over to it and opening it.

“Oh, hey, Dark. Is Twilight in here?” Spike asked

“I’m here, Spike.”

“Oh, good, there’s been a letter from the Princess.” He tossed her the sealed scroll.

She opened it and, levitating it at eye level, read aloud: “’My faithful students Dark Horn and Twilight Sparkle, there has been a surprising occurrence here in Canterlot, and it has come to my attention that it is of utmost importance that you two, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are required here, and Spike may accompany you if he so wishes. I hope for your reply soon.’ I wonder what’s happened… well, I guess we’ll find out when we get there. Spike, send a letter back saying that we’ll be there soon.”

“Got it!” Spike said, sending the letter off in a burst of green flame. Almost instantaneously, another letter appeared.

“’Will you be requiring a pegasus carriage?’ Hmm… unless you feel up to us teleporting, I suppose we will. Spike, send a reply saying simply ‘Yes.’.”

“Fine.”

There was a loud thump outside just after Spike sent the letter.

“That can’t possibly be the carriage already,” Dark Horn said, galloping to the window, “Wow, it is! That was fast!”

He and Twilight teleported outside with Spike sprinting down the stairs and out the door, only to be met with a crowd investigating the sudden appearance of a royal pegasus carriage, so large it required four pegasi to pull it. Luckily, the other Elements were within said crowd, and ran to meet Dark Horn and Twilight as soon as they appeared.

“An eight-pony chariot appears outside the library, y’all can be sure we’re goin’ ta Canterlot.” Applejack said, admiring the size of the carriage, so big it was almost matching the train carriage behind it in height.

“Yeah, something’s happened there and they need us for some reason.” Twilight elaborated.

“What’s happened? Has Luna turned back into Nightmare Moon or has Discord gotten free or has some other disaster of epic proportions that means we have to use the Elements to save Equestria again happened?” Pinkie asked, bouncing into the chariot as the others climbed in.

“What? No, I’m sure it’s nothing. I mean, if it really was anything along the lines of that, Princess Celestia would have told us in her letter.” Twilight answered, dumbfounded by Pinkie’s assumption.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Oh well.” Pinkie sighed.

“Are ya tryin’ ta say ya’d rather Equestria was in danger?” Applejack asked.

“No, but it’d be really exciting!”

“If you say so, dear.” Rarity said as the carriage took off towards the mountains, but then suddenly made a turn into the forest to the left.

“Why are we going this way?” Dark Horn wondered aloud, before there was a soft whooshing noise and the view from the carriage was warped and distorted, changing from a vista of Ponyville to an eagle-eye view of Canterlot.

“What in tarnation just happened!?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know. It seems like we just teleported, but it’d take a lot of magic to teleport 11 ponies and a baby dragon.” Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

“I guess we’ll find out when we get to the Princess.” Dark Horn suggested as the carriage landed, the eight of them got out and they rushed towards the throne room, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were sure to be waiting, but only the latter was there.

“Princess Luna, have you seen Princess Celestia?”

“Oh, yes, she sent for you, didn’t she? She’s in the Element chamber. I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised by why you’re here.” The dark purple alicorn called after the eight departing figures.

----

“Princess Celestia! There you are!” Twilight cried, happy to see her mentor again.

“Twilight Sparkle, you’re hung over.” Princess Celestia noticed her bloodshot eyes.

“Oh, yeah. Dark and I went out to dinner last night and we had a little too much wine.”

“Really?” A knowing twinkle appeared in her eyes, “And you’re still as resilient to alcohol as always, Dark Horn.”

“I think being an alicorn made me more resilient.”

“I see. I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you here, this early in the morning, and how you got here so quickly.”

There were murmurs of agreement from the group.

“Well, the amount of raw mana, which unicorns and alicorns tap into to use their magic, flowing from the leylines, has increased dramatically since a loud bang was heard a few days ago. Originally it was believed to be one of your Sonic Rainbooms, Rainbow Dash, but you were asleep at the time, and it was at the exact moment that it was reported that Twilight Sparkle fell from the chariot she and Dark Horn were sharing on the way back to Ponyville. Would you two know anything about the explosion?”

“Well, Princess, we decided to play a prank on the pegasus pulling the chariot, so I jumped from the chariot, knowing I could fly, but in the heat of the moment, the pegasus made a hairpin turn, throwing Twilight from the chariot. Instinctively, I dove after her, and in order to catch up to her, I had to perform a Sonic Rainboom. That was what the explosion was.” Dark Horn replied.

“Thank you for being honest. Now, the increase of mana. It has allowed much more powerful spells to be performed, the likes of which you saw on your way here. That was a portal spell, accompanied by an illusion spell, the likes of which had been purely theoretical until now. There are portals like those outside each of the cities in Equestria, and even some in the major trading cities in the Griffin Kingdom. Anyway, I did not call you all here for idle chitchat about modern magical breakthroughs. There is a much, much more serious and important matter at hand. Now, follow me, please.” They started walking through the hall and into the chamber where the Elements were kept.

“The mana has been like this once before, 1000 years ago, when the Elements were united and kept with their pedestal constantly. Once I lost control of them, the mana dropped, and it stopped fluctuating when you six took control. However, when the mana rose again, it prompted me to investigate the Elements. That was when I noticed this.” She gestured towards a small crack in the pedestal.

“Now, I’m not entirely certain what this means but, if you’ll look closely, you’ll see that there is a slight glow- wait, did you see that? The crack started to grow when you approached. Dark Horn, come closer.” Doing as asked, Dark Horn approached the crack in the pedestal, which began to grow longer and wider, and glow a black colour. Eventually, he was standing right next to the pedestal and it was covered in cracks. He took one step closer and it fell apart, leaving a small neck-chain with a horn over a crescent moon attached.

“I don’t believe it. There had been tales of a seventh Element of Harmony, but I didn’t think it really existed. Dark Horn, you are the Element of Modesty!”

“Me? Really?”

“Yes, you. This is an amazing discovery! Dark Horn, this means that you are single-handedly to thank for the massive increase in mana!”

“Well, I wouldn’t have done a Sonic Rainboom if it weren’t for Twilight’s agreeing to play that prank on the pegasus.”

“Dark, it was you. Now stop being modest, you’re taking it a bit too far. Applejack doesn’t tell 100% of the truth all the time. I don’t use my magic all the time. You see where I’m going with this? You only need to be modest when you need to.”

“Alright, I got it.”