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Chapter One - The Call1,407 words
Chapter Two - Power1,412 words
Chapter Three - More Than Immortal3,071 words
Chapter Four (Final) - Truth Day1,487 words

Chapter One - The Call

A strange time followed the defeat of Lord Tirek. For a while, Twilight and her friends had assumed Celestia and Luna would be thankful for a long time as a result of their accomplishment. However, this didn't seem to be the case. After only a day of celebration, ponies didn't see Celestia behaving how she normally would. She acted rather awkwardly, and it was clear her smile was very much painted on in an attempt to keep spirit high. Her subjects knew better; something was wrong. She didn't often hide things, but it was often very important when she did.

Within a couple weeks, the white alicorn ceased face-to-face communication altogether. The inhabitants all over Equestria became frightened. Was there another power stronger than Tirek coming for them? Was Tirek not truly imprisoned? Was Celestia herself... depressed? They would all gulp at the thought of the latter or shiver when it was mentioned in conversation. The only one to answer her palace door was head of the royal guard, Shining Armor, whose message was always the same: "Celestia and Luna would like for you to return to your homes and live your lives happily without worry. My apologies for not knowing what you wish to know." Following the short speech, he would once again close the door. It would appear that Luna had no intentions of coming out either.

Both the sun and the moon still rose when they should have, of course. They continued to do as they always did until roughly a month and a half later when the sun was at its peak and when the moon was far out of sight. Some ponies panicked; others didn't worry their heads; most kept following the order they'd been given the best they could (despite their internal fear that something was obviously wrong). It was on this beautiful, clear day that two small scrolls could be seen moving along high in the sky faster than most pegasi could fly. One went north; the other went west. It was hard to even tell that they were scrolls with the speed at which they were traveling, but they did have a certain glow to them.

* * *

"Um... Twilight?" Spike called over his shoulder down the entry hall of his and Twilight's castle. He scratched his head in confusion as he stood looking down at the front of the castle door. The dragon proceeded to quickly shrug and pick it up prior to closing the door again. He was going to go out to see if Rarity would be available, but that would have to wait now.

"What is it, Spike?" Twilight called back over, trotting calmly to Spike's position. She then tilted her head in the very same confusion Spike had just felt (and was quite honestly still feeling). "Is that a letter from..?"

"It DOES have her seal on it," he replied, tapping a claw to the gold "C" placed on the red ribbon keeping it rolled up.

"But why wouldn't she just send it the usual way?"

"Beats me. Maybe it's less important than the others, and she'd be able to take her time?"

Twilight pondered the reasoning for a moment or two and nodded. "Yes, maybe." Regardless of the reason, Twilight grabbed it from Spike with her magic and carefully opened the scroll. She cleared her throat. "'Dearest Twilight Sparkle, I humbly request that you come to Canterlot Castle at your earliest convenience. No doubt you have questions, so I will answer them briefly in this letter. If you are curious as to where my sister and I have been for all this time, we have been inside our castle with no one but each other, and we both hope that you have been spending time with your own family.'" The purple alicorn paused.

She spent all the time she could with them, but it was often the case that her parents were working and that her brother was occupied with attending to the needs of the princesses. Because of this, Twilight settled for spending time with her friends and their families when her own parents couldn't dedicate those couple of free hours they rarely got. She came back to reality and continued to read the letter. "'If you wish to know why the sun has not been moving, it is because I am reserving my magic.'"

"Why would she-"

"I don't know. I can't think of any reason she has to," Twilight interrupted, knowing Spike's question. She gave him a quick glance in the period she took her eyes off the scroll. "'When you come, Twilight, be sure to bring Spike - and ONLY Spike - with you. He is important; you'll soon find out why. Sincerely, Princess Celestia,'" Twilight finished, lowering the scroll closer to the ground in more confusion than before.

"Well that was a weird letter. What's with the weird repeating of me at the end?" Spike asked.

"I don't know, Spike. I guess we'll 'find out,'" Twilight answered as her magic wrapped the scroll back up and set it to the side while her hoof reached past Spike and opened the castle door. "Now seems like an okay time. We should go."

Spike groaned. "Fine... better to get it over with I guess...."

Twilight oriented herself in the direction of the train station and waited for her dragon to start following.

* * *

The pair of regal sisters sat in silence atop the side of Celestia's bed. Their hooves were tightly entwined together as they each let out slow, deep breaths. They could feel their hearts pounding beneath their strong chests. Luna turned her head to face her big sister. "Are you sure that they're up to the task, sister? Perhaps Cadence is, but... Twilight has just been an alicorn for so little time that I fear she can't bear the responsibility."

"...We will see," was all Celestia could answer with.

Just then, there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Who is it?" Luna called out to the noise. A stallion's voice was her quick response.

"It's me, Shining Armor. My sister is here; she said you sent a letter?"

Luna gave Celestia one more unsure look, and Celestia gave a small nod to her. "Let her in," the elder sister said just loud enough to hear through the wood of the door. Streams of light from the outside hall were let into the small area of the room that was not fully illuminated by the sun.

Twilight walked forward as her brother gave her and Spike the kind hoof gesture to proceed. It was great seeing her again, but the head of the royal guard knew he didn't have the time to chat; his sister seemed to be in a hurry. Then again, he supposed that she didn't really take much time to slow down in general. Shining gently closed the door after Twilight had entered.

"Thank you for joining us," the two sisters said together, one's voice slightly off rhythm to the other's.

Twilight didn't kneel; she had grown used to informally greeting them, but she did bow her head out of respect for a number of seconds and also took the time to politely smile. When she rose her head back up, she realized the Canterlot princesses were focused more on the wall across from them than Twilight or her assistant. They looked... sad, for lack of a better term: not depressed and not quite disappointed... something in between. As a result, Twilight's smile faded. "Did you ask for me to come here as a result of more trouble in Equestria, Celestia?"

The tall pony tightened her grip on Luna's hoof and began to answer without looking at her student. "...You've read many books; I have no doubt. Have there been any that describe an event known as The End of Days?"

Twilight's throat tightened, and she failed to suppress an instinctive gulp of fear.

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