Despite hearing the words of a wise prophet, Celestia sends Twilight Sparkle on a Dangerous mission, one that could decide the fate of equastria, or even the world.
Despite learning of the Equastria's doom from a prophet, Princess Celestria trusts her faithful student more, so when danger lurks, she puts her faith in Twilight Sparkle rather then an old ally. Will this be a mistake of the Princess, will the prophet change the future as he wishes, or will Twilight prove him wrong?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are reading this, then you are encouraged not to read any further, for this book contains the story of one of my many experiences. Of all of stories and secrets I have, this is one of the ones I'm most ashamed of, for I have not only ignored the warning of an old friend, but I also nearly allowed not only all of Equestria, but the world as well.
You've likely picked up this tome thinking it's simply a diary and never bothered to open it. I pray that as many ponies believe that as possible. But if you're reading this, then you already know that this is no ordinary diary. For this belongs to me, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestia and master of magic! I understand that revealing my name will intrigued you to read further, but please promise me, whoever it is that may find this book, to please close it after reading, and never speak of it again. In fact, don't even think about it afterwards.
For this is my shame. A simple mistake made by me, which not only nearly destroyed Equestria and even the world, but also nearly costing me my apprentice, my closest friend, and for a short time...well, you'll know what else she was soon enough.
I'm speaking of course, of the unicorn pony I've praised more then any other! Twilight Sparkle.
Using the knowledge I already knew, along with various other sources, I give you my terrible tale.
I remember the day the entire series of event went off. I'd probably say that it was like any other normal day, but I purposely planned that day to have been something completely different than the norm. Although I was aware of that, my most trusted student didn't.
"So thanks to my day with Pinkie Pie, I've learned to put more trust in my friends when they're doing something, even if it seems suspicious. Next time, I'm not going to worry about what she puts in her cupcakes." Twilight said. "Got all that, Spike?"
"...in...her...cupcakes. Yep, got it all!" Spike said.
"Great. Then send it to the princess!"
Looking back to it, I find it funny how the moment she was sending ME a letter, I was sending one to HER. For before the baby dragon could send me her letter, I forced him to breath out my own with his flames!
"Oh look! She just sent a letter to you!" Spike said.
Always loving to see what I wrote for her, Twilight Sparkle naturally read it right away. So with her magic horn, she opens the letter, hovers it over her face, and reads...
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student! I have extremely important news that can not be told to you with a simple letter." She read. I must've scared her more then I intended, for she began to read it with more dread. "This is a matter that will not only greatly affect your life in Ponyville, but your role as my student. Come to me immediately. Your teacher, Princess Celestia."
After she read my letter, she stopped using her magic and dropped my letter. I don't believe this was the first time she read a letter from me like this. It's actually too bad I didn't meant to scare her. If I did it on purpose, I would've done a good job at it.
"My life in Ponyville? W-what could it be?" Twilight asked herself. "Could she be asking me return home to Canterlot? Even after all this time I've spent here with my friends? W-with Rainbow Dash...and Applejack..."
"And Rarity!" Spike added.
"AND EVERYONE! Un...unless this isn't about me moving! Oh, but what else could it be?"
"You could always ask the Princess yourself." Spike said.
"B-b-b-but I'm afraid too!"
At that moment, I sent a second letter via dragon breath, to which Twilight read immediately.
"Please come to my castle immediately. If you're so afraid to come, I'll be more then happy to get you myself."
"AAHH! SHE KNOWS!" Twilight screamed.
That's right. I knew. I've got my ways of knowing what my faithful student is doing. Since the news was of such importance, I had to reassure that she would actually come. I knew I would've scared her before sending the second note. I sent in anyway because A: She HAD to come. And B: I knew it would've been funny. I forget how fun these two were.
She ran outside as fast as she could, wanting to get to my kingdom as fast as possible. I guess I spooked her too well, for as soon as she dashed out, she ran right into another pony. The poor girl. The brown stallion didn't see it coming. Fortunately, she new him.
"Ow...Oh...sorry, Whooves. I didn't see you there."
"Oh, well that's quite alright." Doctor Whooves, the chestnut colored stallion with a hourglass cutie mark said. "I know how it feels to be in a hurry. Actually, I should be running off somewhere myself."
"I'm really sorry, Doctor. Maybe after I can make it up to you after come back from Canterlot."
Upon hearing Twilight mention Canterlot..."W-wait a moment! You're going to Canterlot? That actually happens to be where I need to be!"
"Oh really?" Twilight asked. "Small world. In that case, how about I give you a ride? I'll be going on my hot air balloon."
"Oh, how lovely. Much cheaper then the train. Haha."
A very generous offer my student offered to the Doctor. She accidently ran into a friend and gave him a ride to Canterlot. Normally, I would praise her for such kindness. In hindsight though, I wish she never did bring him along.
It took her a while, but with the use of her hot air balloon, she flew to my kingdom in Canterlot with haste! Twilight, with Spike and Dr. Whooves, she even brought along her pet owl with her. She felt that she whatever the reason she had for coming, she would have to make her self at home, since she didn't know how long I needed her with me.
"My word, this truly is better then taking the train!" Whooves said. "What a view of the clouds! Now I know how Derpy feels when she sees the-bad example...when Rainbow Dash sees the clouds. I feel like a pegasus!"
"Trust me. That's nowhere near as good as the view we're about to see." Twilight said. "Look!"
Upon reaching the side of a large mountain, the two ponies found their destination. My home of Canterlot! I can't agree with Twilight more. A pegasus's eye view of my home is a work of art itself. Although in all do modesty, perhaps she was being too kind.
As Twilight Sparkle and Spike looked at my kingdom in awe, Doctor Whooves at the time had his eyes on something else. Two others were flying towards Canterlot. One was a Gold colored pegasus with a bronze colored mane. The other, was a cloaked, bird-like figure. All he could've seen at the time were wings that were flapping out of the cloak, and a staff being held in its talons, but he clearly knew exactly who it was.
Eventually, they landed at a nearby port, where many others fly to Canterlot. Twilight and her group left their balloon as soon as they could so they may get started with what they all need to do, Twilight coming to see me, and Whooves...well, you'll know soon.
"Thank you very much, Twilight. Have a nice visit with the Princess." Doctor Whooves said as he ran off.
"You're very welcome Doctor-" Then, a thought came to Twilight. "Wait, I only told him I was coming to Canterlot. I never told him I was visiting the Princess."
She eventually dismissed that thought because it would be obviously to everyone that she came to see me. She is among my most important subjects after wall. In any case, she and Spike went on and walked through the city to get to my castle. Poor Spike wanted to go by his favorite donut shop, but Twilight was too determined to get to my castle quickly to see me. The poor dragon had to carry Twilight's suitcase around the city.
"Hurry up, Spike! The Princess is waiting!"
"Well, sorry! Maybe if you were to use your magic to carry your own briefcase instead of having me do it!"
"Oh, sorry." Twilight said before using her magic to lift up her suitcase. "I forgot I could do that. But can you blame me? I still have no idea how my life in Ponyville will be affected!"
The poor girl was so worried, that she wasn't paying attention to the road. As she walked forward, she walked right into a wagon filled with fruit stand, knocking the whole thing down. Little cliche, I'll admit.
"HEY!" The earth pony running the stand said. "Watch where you're going!"
Between the angry sales pony and the stand falling over, Twilight's pet owl got scared and flew off on her. The poor birdy.
"Owlicious! Come back!"
Wanting to get her pet owl back, Twilight gave a hasty apology to the salespony and chased after her scared bird. For a moment, Twilight thought she lost her beloved owl. Fortunately for her, her bird stopped flying away after flying by a certain individual. The cloaked bird that Doctor Whooves saw earlier. The owl suddenly found peace by its presence, and gently landed on the figure's arm when he reached out for it.
"OWLICIOUS!" Twilight called out. "Oh, I'm very sorry, sir. Owlicious is normally more calm then that.
The cloaked figured turned to Twilight when he heard her. Through his cloak, she sees that the bird-man himself is that of an owl, which would explain why Twilight's pet found comfort by him. He also had a very humbled look on his face at the time, which obviously helped. In addition to his cloak, he also holds up a long walking staff, with a glass sphere containing an hourglass inside.
Accompanied by the owl man was the same golden pegasus. The pegasus was noticeably more annoyed and angry looking at the time then the owl man. In addition to his golden fur and brown mane, he sported pocket watch cutie mark on his flank.
"Master Chronos! It's her!" The Pegasus announces. "Let's-"
"Hush!" The owl man, now recognized as Chronos said. "Forgive him. In any case, here is your owl back. I can tell he's been well taken care of."
"Oh, thank you, sir. And I'm glad you noticed. He's such a helpful assistant in my library, how can I not treat him well?"
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?" Spike asked, which prompt Twlight and Chronos to laugh.
"Say, by any chance are you Twilight Sparkle?" Chronos asked.
"Why, yes I am! How do you know me?"
"I...put in great effort to know the names and faces of great historic ponies. And anyone responsible for defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord will deserve a spot in the history books. Regardless, I have other important tasks to be done. A great pleasure meeting you, Miss Sparkle."
"Have a great day! And tanks for the help!"
This bump in with the owl man may not seem to important right now, but rest assure, this is the start of a huge chain of events and the first of many times that Twilight Sparkle will see Chronos.
"Master Chronos, what were you THINKING!" The pegasus asked. "She was right there and we lost the chance!"
"We never had a chance at all. If you took a closer look into the future, you would've known that."
"But that doesn't mean ANYTHING! We could've still done something. We could've-"
"Clockwork!" Chronos interrupts. "In the future I'm seeing, you'll be getting a kick in the flank any day now for arguing with me."
After unpacking her things in her room in my castle, Twilight spared no time to enjoy her room and went straight to my Throne Room to see me, forcing Spike to wait in her room. This was actually really surprising. I remember when her friend Rarity came for a visit, she loved the room enough to spend a few extra days. The more I laughed at how scared Twilight was getting, the more guilty I became.
Fortunately, she started to become calm again, after seeing a familiar face. My former top gaud visiting from the Crystal Kingdom, and Twilight's own brother, Shining Armor.
"Shining! Oh, it's great to see you! Do you have any idea why the Princess called me here?"
"Yes I do, Twlily. And I'm very proud of you too."
That caused Twilight to become more confused then ever. She was worried that I was going to do something silly like send her to the moon, and yet Shining Armor praises her for coming. After leaving her sister confused, he and one of his loyal guards used their unicorn magic to open up the large door to my Throne Room, finally allowing Twilight Sparkle in. I was looking forward to this, and she was about to understand why she should've been too.
"Princess Celestia! I'm here." She said as she entered. "What's the problem? What's going to affect my life in Ponyville?"
"Ah, I see you want to get right down to business." I said to her. "Very well. But first, I want you to come to me. Stand by my side for a minute."
As I asked, my faithful student made her way to my throne. As she walked down the red carpet, she notices my royal guards bowing their heads down to her as she walked pass them, for they already knew what my plans with her was. Although she did it slowly and awkwardly, she walked passed them all and made it by my side, taking a seat on a fancy pillow I placed beforehand.
"There. Comfy?" I asked
She shook her head, then she finally smiled.
"Good. I'm going to have to ask you to get use to that. Guards? Please leave me and Twilight Sparkle alone for a few minutes. I want to talk to her in private."
Without hesitation, each and every one of my guards left their positions and went through the exit to give me and Twilight some privacy. The instant the last guard left, Shining Armor closed the door shut. This is the part I've been waiting to write.
"Twilight, let's waste no time. Have you noticed that you are royalty now?"
"What? What do you mean?" She asked me.
"Think about it. Your brother is now married to my niece. This makes you related to me. This also means your directly related to one of the rulers of the Crystal Empire."
"Oh wow, I never thought of it like-" Then, the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face appeared. "OH MY GOSH! THAT MAKES YOU MY AUNT-IN-LAW! How did I not realize that before?"
I was happy to get Twilight worked up from that. It made what I said after that so much easier.
"Twilight, I've been controlling much of Equestria for more than 1,000 years. I never intended to do so for so long, nor do I want to. I hope that someday, I'll be able to step aside and let another rule my kingdom."
"What about Princess Luna?"
"That would defeat the whole purpose. Although she's only been active again recently, she's still a ruler from long ago. Besides, she rules the night. She'll likely pick a successor of her own at her own accord. What I want to talk to you about is mine."
She thought about what I said, then offered her opinion. "Well, how about Princess Cadence? Being your niece, a loving and caring pony, I'm sure everyone would love to have her in charge."
I chuckled at Twilight's suggestion. She held regard for Cadence almost as much as she did for me. However...
"Actually, she was my first choice." I explained to her. "But don't forget. She's no the Princess of the Crystal Empire, so she can't possibly rule in my place. Besides, someone who prefers to help with her own hoofs rather then through politics wouldn't want to rule Equestria. So as you can see, she's not the best choice."
"Hmm...then I can understand why you need me to find you an heir."
"Twilight Sparkle. I did not summon you her to help me find one. I did it to tell you that I've already chosen one." I said as a walked passed her. "Follow me."
"You have?" She asked in a surprised tone. "Who?"
I walked her to one of my large windows, where we could get a good view of Canterlot. I was a bit nervous to say what I told her next, but I was also excited. The big decision I had made for the future ruler of Equestria, and I knew she was the first pony to reveal it.
"This is my favorite window, Twilight. From the view here, as well as my magic, I'm effectively able watch all of Equestria from this very spot. Take a good look yourself."
"Yes. I've seen this before. It's very beautiful."
"It is. And as the Princess, I get to see this view everyday. And someday, you, Twilight Sparkle, will be able to do the same."
She didn't understand what I had just said at the time, but after taking it in, then considered what I said beforehand, she realized what I said and became horrified. Once more, I found it amusing.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! WHAT!?"
"You heard me. One day, you will be known as Princess Twilight Sparkle, for I have chosen you to become my heir!"
Having her come to my castle got her scared of what would happen, which gave me a guilty pleasure. But the fear she gave off after I revealed to her I'd chosen her as my successor caused her to freak out in a way I did not overly cared for. Of course, I probably should've seen it coming considering that she's just learned that she'll become a princess someday.
"Umm...Princess Celestia? I really hate to question your judgment, but I think you've got the wrong pony." She said to me. "I mean, how do you honestly think that I can become ruler of Equestria?"
"Well firstly, as I mentioned, you are now part of my family, since Shining Armor and Cadance are married. Secondly, you have always been my prized pupil and I'd very much like to see you succeed me. Lastly, and most importantly...I'm the Princess, so I can do whatever I want."
"Well, there's no arguing with that." Twilight admits. "But why me? Why make me the princess? It doesn't really make any sense."
A reasonable question. After all, it would make no sense to make just any pony the future ruler of Equestria. However, Twilight Sparkle was far from being an ordinary pony.
"Twilight, let me tell you something. I've always wanted to have an heir to my throne, but in all my years, which is more than a thousand of them, I've never been able to find someone I cared for or trusted enough to pass my crown, hence why I still rule. Now I know you have parents, I...well..." This is when I truly showed her how much I cared for her. "In all my life, you've become the only one I've imagine to come close to being a daughter. Now I know that sounds weird, but-"
"Say no more, Princess." Twilight said. "I see where you're going with this. You're saying that you trust me more than any pony, and I'm really honored that you see me that way! But do you really think I can...replace you?"
"With time and training, I think you can do better than I ever could. In fact, the reason I wanted you here was to get you started on some training to help you prepare. Once you've seen a bit of what I do, you're free to go back to Ponyville until the next time we see each other."
Since she knew that she wouldn't take my throne right away, knew that I had faith in her to succeed, and can even return to Ponyville after..."Princess Celestia, I graciously accept the honor."
"Excellent, Twilight Sparkle. Or maybe that should be...PRINCESS Twilight?"
"Umm...no, please. I'm not ready to have that name." She explained.
"I understand, but I may call you that anyway. Hehe."
The moment she accepted the offer, that was when I knew that it was the best day of my life. Well actually, the best day ever was when Luna returned from the moon and we made peace, but this was a close runner up. Like I said to Twilight, I cared for her as if she was my own child. And since she's in a way related to royalty, not to mention my own protégé, as well as a savior to Equestria, I knew I made the right choice.
More on my time with Twilight later. There's more that I need to tell about. Not too far from my castle, a unicorn mare, with a ginger mare, an orange mane, and a sundial cutie mark, was meditating at a park. She was waiting for some friends to show up, but took advantage of the free time.
"Hmm...something happened about 5 minutes ago..." She said to herself before realizing what it was. "Oh my, it seems we're late then."
"Nostalgia!"
"Hmm?" The unicorn heard a voice she was familiar with. "Turner!"
To her surprise, the friend Twilight Sparkle brought with her, Doctor Whooves, has met up with the mare, who's excited to meet him.
"Time Turner! Oh boy, it's been years!" She said with excitement.
"Actually, over the years I've grown fond of being called Doctor Whooves, or The Doctor."
"Aww, really? Because I remember back in the day when I used to call you Turner. Back when you, me, and Clockwork had all those amazing adventures, when we all traveled to those great cities, and back when we all first met..." She said, then going into a state of bliss. "Ahh...memories."
"Umm, yes, it's very nice to know that you still stay true to your name." Whooves said. "Speaking of which, have you seen Clockwork and the master?"
"We're over here, young ones."
To Whooves and Nostalgia's pleasure, the last two of the group have arrived. Chronos the owl man, and Clockwork the pegasus. Like Whooves and Nostalgia, Chronos was happy to see his old allies again. Clockwork on the other hand, looked more edgy.
"We don't have much time left. Our meeting with the Princess will be in the very near future. We must hurry." Clockwork says.
"Nah, we have time." Nostalgia answers. "I say we talk about the past a little."
"You should both calm down." Doctor Whooves said. "As of right now, in the present, we'll be doing what Master Chronos want."
"Well put, Turner." Chronos said, refering to Doctor Whooves. "Filly and gentlecolts, your destinies is close at hand. The four of us will soon save the world, and to a much smaller extent, Equestria. Before we use force, we will see how well a more diplomatic manner will work. Depending on whether or not the Princess will listen to us will determine how easy things will get. Let's head over there now, and maybe we'll talk about the past on the way,
"YAY!" Nostalgia says in excitement.
Chronos was not lying. They did have intentions on saving the world. He always kept his knowledge to himself, so maybe if he told me more...well, it'll be easier to understand my choice when you read it.
Since I made Twilight Sparkle my heir and wanted her to learn of some of the royal duties, I figured a good way to start would be by having her shadow me and observe how I handle things as they come my way. Since I had a particular duty that day that was unavoidable, it would be a perfect opportunity for such a thing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Talking to guests?" Twilight asked.
"Of course. Ponies from all over Equestria come to visit me and spend a few minutes talking to me, and I will listen to them. They will often ask for help in some way, and if I feel that they deserve such help, I will personally help them." I explained to her.
"Wow. That's so generous of you, Princess."
"You are too kind, Twilight Sparkle. The truth is though, it feels like I can never help them enough. So many ponies out there with less then appealing lives compared to somewhere like Canterlot, or even Ponyville. And to make such an appointment and keep things organized and fair, they can sometimes have to give up so much to pay for only a few minutes with me. That's why I try to be as generous as possible, even at my own financial expense."
"Well, you're still a great Princess for trying to help."
"In time, you'll understand the differences between trying and accomplishing." I explained to her. Then I turned to the guards and said... "I'm ready for the first visitor!"
Just as I ordered, the guard allowed the first visitor to enter. A farmland Earth Pony who normally wouldn't have any reason to be in a city such as Canterlot. Nonetheless, I was willing to listen to her.
"Your majesty!" The Earth Pony said. "It is such an honor to finally meet you in person!"
"It's my pleasure. Now what brings you to my home?"
"Well Princess, I come here from the southern most area of Equestria, and we've been faced with a horrible drought as of late."
"Ah, yes. I've heard of that drought." I said to her. "The pegasis weather ponies have been very understaffed in that area, so the weather has been awful there."
"Yes, I'm well aware." My subject replied. "And it's beginning to have its toll on our farm fields. If we don't get more water soon, our food supply will become dangerously scarce when Winter comes. I plead that you help my home."
The filly clearly traveled far to bring this to my attention, and as I told Twilight, she likely spent a lot of money just to hope that I could help her land. Normally, I would acknowledge her claim, then look into it to see how much I could really help. But since I wanted my pupil to see how I want things to be done...
"My friend, I will gladly help with the drought plaguing your land. I will personally end it myself if I have to."
"Maybe I can help." Twilight says. "Rainbow Dash is the best weather pony in Ponyville, and she normally has a lot of free time. I'm sure she would help if I asked, saying it would be royal business."
I found it ironic how some pony who almost declined my offer of becoming a princess was already acting like a great one. I knew she was the perfect choice.
"You see. We're already making plans to help your land."
"Bless you, your royal highness. I will never forget this day."
With the farmer pony done with her request, she took her leave. Normally, I probably wouldn't of been able to help the pony, but I never would've expected Twilight to of come up with a solution to the problem so easily. I thought that I was the one with good connections, but I guess Twilight had some connections of her own.
"Well, that was easy. Who's next?" Twilight asked.
"I'm sorry, but it's not always as easy as that." I told her. "I've seen pony folks like her come and go many times, in the past, and most of the time am I actually able to help. I've done this about once a week every week for the past 1000 years."
"Gosh. I never knew so many ponies have so many problems."
"And I feel useless for not being able to help. You at least brought a little hope to me."
"I just want to help, Princess."
While she would soon learn how hard being a princess actually was, the attitude she displayed was exactly what I wanted to see. Plus, she isn't the type who would give up so easily. I was already very proud of her.
After a few more guests, some we were able to help and some we couldn't, we got a different kind of visitor.
"You may send in the next guest." I said to a guard.
And so, my next visitors entered the room. This time, it was a group. One earth pony, one unicorn, and one pegasus. One of them was even some pony Twilight knew."
"Hi, Doctor!" She said to him.
"Oh! Hello, Miss Sparkle!" He said to her. "Now then, Nostalgia, how long did you say we had with the princess?"
"10 minutes. I thought I'd spring the extra money to make sure we have enough time."
"For once, you did something smart." Clockwork said.
"HEY! What's that suppose to mean?"
"Okay, you two. Calm down." Doctor Whooves said. "We have very important business here, and the master doesn't want ANYTHING to go wrong."
After the three ponies managed to calm down and got situated, the forth guest arrived. He was no pony, but a humanoid creature wearing a cloak. Walking slowly towards me, using his staff as a walking stick, the other three ponies bowed down to him as he walked past, something they didn't even do for me when they first arrived. That's how i knew right away that he was someone important.
"Hey, I know him." Twilight said. "I bumped into him earlier today."
"Indeed it you." He said as he removed his hood. "It's a pleasure to see you so soon."
"CHRONOS!" I yelled as I saw his face. I was so surprised from seeing his face that I actually sprang up from my seat. "What are you doing here?"
"Princess Celestia! I bring you urgent news." He said as he approached me. "In due time, disaster will hit Equestria."
After hearing what he said, I started to get annoyed and sat back down on my seat. "Chronos, this isn't the first time you've warned me of such a thing."
"Yes, but am I not usually right?" He asked me. "I warned you once that the draconequus, Discord, would make an escape, yet you didn't take my warning. Don't you remember?"
"Yes, and I also remember you warning me that if I did not execute my sister, her return would bring chaos and fear."
"I was not wrong, Princess. As short lived as it was, it was a dark hour."
Chronos was always a stubborn one. He always felt that I should take his words seriously. But when it comes to Chronos, it always seems like a hit and miss. I suppose I should explain in a bit more detail. Although he was an owl man, Chronos is actually a very powerful force. He is the guardian and lord of time, and his job is to maintain it. He is capable of seeing into the past, present, and future, and he will occasionally bring me information that affects my own future. However, he never gives me full detail of what he sees, and as I said before, what he tells me don't always have the most dire of consequences. Again, taking him too seriously is a hit and miss. However, because of his history, it wouldn't be wise of me to completely ignore him.
"Alright. I'll listen to what you have to say." I told him.
"A wise decision." Chronos replied. "Now as you may have noticed, Arcane Tower has been...unstable, as of late."
I'm no longer shocked by the things Chronos knows, even the more confidential details. The Arcane Tower he mentioned you will know in a moment.
"Yes, it's part of the reason why summoned Twilight Sparkle here."
"Excuse me, Princess? But what are you guys talking about?" Twilight asked.
Before I could answer, Chronos beat me to the chase. "The Arcane Tower is possibly the only magical force more powerful then the Elements of Harmony themselves. It's a a building that your princess has been maintaining over a 1000 years. Or at least she's SUPPOSE to of been."
"I'm sorry Chronos. But the Elements of Harmony are needed for me to go to the tower, and since I can no longer use them, I've been neglecting my duty to watch over it."
"What, are the Elements keys or something?" Twilight asked.
"Mmm...yes and no. You see, the tower itself is surrounded by a large, extremely powerful barrier, of which I myself am unable to break through. However, magic of the Elements of Harmony made it possible for me to go through. "
"And why do you need to go in?"
"The tower's magic grows unstable over time, and someone has to stabilize it. My intention is to send you in since I can no longer use the elements."
"A foolish choice, Celestia." Chronos said.
"And why is that?" I asked.
"In due time, the tower's power will be abused. My predictions showed me that a terrible evil will try and gain control of all magic using the tower, However, the tower is not made to be used in such away, and will likely bring chaos and destruction to not only Equestria, but the world itself. While magic itself doesn't fall in my jurisdiction, time does. And if the end of the world comes, time itself will essentially end."
"What is your suggestion to stop this?" I asked.
"Since the tower is growing unstable, my prediction isn't expected to take place for quite awhile, I say to you...nigh, I'm TELLING you, do not allow Twilight Sparkle to restore the tower! We must allow the tower to fall!"
I was horrified by what Chronos was asking me to do. It seemed as though he didn't know how important the tower was.
"Princess, maybe it wouldn't hurt if we let something we most pony folks don't even know about to just disappear. Is it really that important." Twilight said.
"Twilight, you do not understand how serious this is. All of Equestria is what it is thanks to the Arcane Tower. When it was first created, it spread magic throughout all of the land. It's how the ponies of Equestria, as well as other magical creature, have gotten their magic. Me and my sister created it knowing you would all make use of it. However, there's a theoretical concern."
"A concern? Is it why it has be stabilized?"
"Should the tower crumbles..." Chronos interrupted. "All magic in Equestria, even Celestia's own magic...will disperse!"
As you can understand, the Arcane Tower truly is quite an important structure. It's the reason there's as much magic as there is in Equestria. When it was created, it spread a massive amount of magic throughout the land. However, creating it was a double-edged sword. Should something happen to the tower, such as being unstablized, it will react with the magic in Equestria. My belief is that if something happens to it, the magic will forever be lost. Clearly, Chronos knew that as well.
"I can't allow it!" I said in a firm voice. "Allowing the tower to crumble is too risky."
"Your highness, allowing it to destroy the world is even riskier." Chronos said "To protect the rest of the world, I'm afraid your ponies will have to live without magic."
"But Equestrians can't live without magic." Twilight said. "Even I know that much. It's not even just unicorns like me who uses it. Pegasus ponies are born with the magic they need to control the weather, and even earth ponies have a bit of magic in them."
"That is true, Miss Sparkle. Earth ponies have magic that gives them their connections to the earth, which is particularly important for farmers. I won't lie. Even I depend on magic to give me my visions. But my priority is to keep the time stream safe, and I will give up my magic if it does that. Surely you would give up your magic to protect your friends and family?"
He gave us a good argument. We Equestrians have a strong value on magic and we would never give it up to easily. So when someone comes in out of nowhere and demands for there to be no more, well, you can understand that I wouldn't make a hasty decision.
I thought about everything Chronos told me, everything I knew, and considered every other little factors. Once I did, I came up with my final decision.
"Chronos, you have brought me interesting information many times in the past, and you've done so again Today. I understand your concerns, but ultimately, I've decided that I'm going to send Twilight Sparkle in to stabilize the tower as I planned."
"But...but Celestia! Why would you after I distinctly told you that it will ultimately destroy the world? Are you that desperate to keep your magic?"
"No, Chronos. I've made this decision because I know that Twilight Sparkle will not only restore the tower, but because I am more then confident that whatever comes to Equestria's way in the future, she will not let me down. I trust her enough to become my heir, so it only makes sense for me to trust her enough protect the future for us all."
"Thanks, Princess." Twilight said. "I won't let you down, and I'll never let the tower fall into the wrong hooves."
I think Twilight understood just how much I truly trusted her that moment. She knew that if I trusted her more then the guardian of time himself, then she probably was the right one to be my heir. While she doesn't always have self-confidence, it's my own that made her feel like she could succeed in restoring and protecting the tower.
"So be it." Chronos said. "I know that you won't be changing your mind, so I won't waste either of our time any longer. But before I leave, I have something to say to Miss Sparkle."
Upon hearing that, Twilight threw on her listening ears to hear Chronos's words carefully.
"Twilight Sparkle, the fall of the world is no longer on your Princess's shoulders, but yours now. Should you succeed on your journey, you shall be held responsible for everything that will happen. You now have a choice that will completely change everything. You'd best make the right one."
As he had nothing left to say, he gave us a final bow, had his pony escorts follow him, and quietly left my throne room. I found it quite odd on how calm he was. When he warned me of Nightmare Moon and Discord, he put in a lot more effort to try and convince me to side with him. At first I figured he simply just got to know me, although I had other suspicions too.
"Umm...Princess?" Twilight said with a worried tone. "Are you...completely sure that we made the right choice? Am I really going to be-"
"Relax, Twilight. Whatever will happen, I know you'll do a great job. Try not to put to much thought into what Chronos said." I said to comfort. "But he did remind me of something. Guards! Delay the next guest. I have important royal business to attend to which shouldn't take any more than 10 minutes. Twilight, you take a break. We'll talk more about the tower later."
I absolutely HATE to wreck my own schedule like that. It depresses me when I have to push one commitment for another, but I had suspicions that I just couldn't ignore.
After leaving my throne room, Chronos and his group didn't leave my castle immediately. While Chronos would normally allow me to do what I wish and see what would happen next, he was quite persistent to have things go his way. He and his three escorts went on to go to a different room, the one and only room in my castle where I had more guards be stationed.
"Excuse me, sir? This is a restricted area." A guard unicorn said.
"Jolly good, sir." Whooves said, walking past the guard. "We'll only be a moment."
"HEY! I said you're not allowed here!"
As the group continued to walk through the room, two more guards, both pegasus, flew in and blocked off the next door. Then, ten more guards from nearby came running in to assist the other three. In mere seconds, Chronos and his group were surrounded by my royal guards.
"Uhh, guys? I don't think we're allowed to be here." Nostalgia said.
"The master wouldn't of brought us here if we couldn't take them." Clockwork said. "Ready yourselves. This may get bloody."
"Clockwork, calm yourself!" Chronos ordered, blocking Clockwork with his staff. "We're here to fetch something. NOT to fight."
As he wanted to end the situation as quickly as possible without putting himself or his allies in danger, he raised his staff in the air, and slammed into onto the ground, which activated his magic. In an instant, he placed himself, his group, and the guards inside a a large, golden force field. He and his group then stepped out of it, but my guards were completely immobilized. He had used one of time zones on my guards. While he and anyone who works with him are unaffected by the time zone, anyone else will feel the effects of it. In this particular case, he actually stopped time within that area. The guards had no idea who they were actually up against.
"We're here, my little ponies." Chronos said.
"YAY! Our mission is completed!" Nostalgia said in joy.
They had arrived at the one that, again, had more guards then in any other room, until Chronos literally stopped them in their tracks. The room had one purpose, and one purpose only. To hold a magical vault that could only be opened. The vault only contained one box, but the importance of the box required the security. I'm of course referring to the Elements of Harmony, the magical objects that we needed.
"Master Chronos, dare I ask how we plan on opening the door?" Whooves asked. "I believe you were the one who said that only the Princess could open the door."
"That is still true, Time Turn-- I mean, Doctor Whooves." Chronos replied. "However, this door didn't always existed."
Opening the door his way, Chronos once again rose his staff up, and thrust it towards the vault door, creating a stream of time magic that covers up the entire door, as well as part of the wall. Shortly afterwards, the door disappeared, allowing excess to inside the vault. However, after removing the door, the group discovered something they didn't expect to see, especially Chronos.
The vault was empty.
"WHAT!? Where are the Elements?" Chronos asked.
"Did you maybe erased them from existence?" Nostalgia asked.
"No, the Elements of Harmony are over a thousand years old. It would've taken the time zone MUCH longer to erase them, assuming if it could at all." He explained, yet still being immensely confused. "Ugh...but where could they be?"
"I have them right here."
Catching them by surprise, I emerged from behind Chronos, hold the Elements in the air with my magic. This was a series of events I'm sure Chronos himself expected to see coming.
"You know, if you would've just snuck into my castle from the start, you would've gotten these for sure." I said to him. "But instead, you wanted to give me the chance to change the future the way you wanted to for you."
"I'm not suppose to alter the time stream directly. It's protocol for me to instead influence others to change time themselves. Stealing the Elements personally was a last resort. I'm as responsible for maintaining time as you yourself should be for maintaining magic. So at least ONE of us is doing our job right."
Naturally, I was quite offended by his insult. What he was to stubborn to realize is that my top priority wasn't to keep magic and the Arcane Tower safe, but to keep the inhabitants of Equestria safe. I was, however, putting the tower into safe hooves, so I knew I wasn't as irresponsible as Chronos claimed.
"I'm sorry Chronos, but I'm not letting you do this. If you want the Elements of Harmony, you'll have to take them from my cold, dead carcass!"
"So be it."
Removing the bottom piece from his staff, revealing a sharp blade, it seemed as though Chronos actually was going to fight me for the Elements of Harmony. Clockwork looked as though he was ready to join in, but Nostalgia was afraid of a fight starting. Things didn't cool off until Doctor Whooves spoke up.
"Sir, you know things won't end well if we actually fight her. Plan A and B have obviously failed, so let's just move on to Plan C."
As much as Chronos hated to admit it, he knew the Doctor was right. He didn't have as much combat experience as I do, and while he had power over time, I was still more powerful then him. Knowing this, he once again hid his blade, and made his way out of my sight. This time, he actually did plan to leave my castle. But before he did...
"Oh! Before I leave, I have a message I want you to pass for me." Chronos said. "Just tell your niece, Cadence, congratulations."
"Hmm?"
"She'll know what I'm talking about."
And with that, he and his group left my castle. After he left, I freed my time frozen guards and began to make preparations to send Twilight Sparkle to Arcane Tower. I wasn't sure what he meant about Cadence, but I didn't have much time to worry about it. All I knew was that I had to keep my home safe and hope my student would succeed.
The Plan C that Doctor Whooves mention though, I will admit, got me quite worried.
After avoiding a nasty brawl with Chronos, I returned to my throne room to finish my business with the guests, along side with Twilight Sparkle. Some ponies had to got what they hoped to gain from me, but sadly, most had to go away with nothing, which got Twilight a little upset. However, i still had faith in her and felt that she would succeed me one day. Actually, I think that one day she helped me was when I actually helped the most visitors.
Anyway, the guests aren't that important at this point, so I'll move on ahead to when we had to leave Canterlot the next day. We traveled together back to Ponyville by chariot. An embarrassing story told quick, we had to turn back to Canterlot really quickly to get Twilight's pet owl, then once again for Spike.
"Are you enjoying your treats, Spike?" I asked him.
"Mmm-hmm! Nothing like Royal Diamonds to forget about being left behind twice." He answered.
"Good. Now then, Twilight. We must talk about the Arcane tower."
"Yes, we do! I have so many questions." Twilight said. "Where is it? How come I don't know anything about it? How am I suppose to fix it?"
"I'll answer your questions in that order." I said. "The tower is located far North from Ponyville. Once we reach Ponyville to pick up your friends, we'll have to take a train for all of us to get closer to where your journey will start. The reason no one knows about it is because the barrier that covers it renders is invisible, as well as the large area it covers. So even when we reach our destination, it'll still take you awhile before you reach the tower itself."
"And How will I fix it?"
"That will be the easy part. The core of the tower is a simple ball of magic. You'll know it when you see it. It'll also be losing its roundish shape. All you have to do is to use your magic to stabilize it until it's perfectly round again. You should also make sure the tower itself is still holding strong. Overall, it's a simple mission, but an extremely important one."
"Is there any other dangers I should know about? Anything that may make this more complicated?"
Any other time I would go to stabilize the tower, I would be the only one for miles around upon reaching the tower. However, I didn't know what exactly Chronos was planning. Since I was unsure on how to answer her, I just told Twilight that there's not normally any trouble and left it at that.
"Oh! There's on more thing I have to mention, and this is important." I said to her. "While we need all of your friends to get you to the tower, I'm afraid that you'll be the only one to be able to get past the barrier. It's an area where only the Element of Magic can reach. Do you understand?"
"I do, Princess. But as long as I have the Element of Magic with me, it'll still feel like I have my friends with me."
Some time after, we arrived at Twilight's home in Ponyville. After herself settle again at her home, she went to get her friends, the other users of the Elements of Harmony, and told them all the good news on how she has become my heir. It was quite a pleasant sight. Rainbow Dash looked as though she was ready to perform one of her Sonic Rainbooms, Rarity nearly fainted in excitement, Pinkie Pie...well, she scared me a little. Upon hearing the good news, she went and pulled out a small, blue cannon.
Anyway, after sharing the good news, she shared the information regarding her mission, and that it required all six of them to be present. Since we were planning to leave as soon as possible, they all went back home to get what they needed for the trip. Twilight had a lot of preparations to do, but she had to make a quick stop on her way home. She saw someone she knew. Doctor Whooves. He had returned to Ponyville. He was standing at a street corner, waiting for someone.
"Hey! Doctor!" Twilight shouted.
"Oh! Hello, Miss Sparkle. Fancy seeing you back here so soon!"
"The same goes for you. So what's up with your boss back at Canterlot? He was so obsessed with me not going to Arcane Tower."
"Please understand it from his point of view. He only wants what's best for the time stream. And as a guardian of time myself, I have to agree with him."
"Well, the whole thing is done and over with, so there's not really any hard-"
"Oh, excuse me for a moment." The Doctor said before turning his head to the sky. "DERPY! DOWN HERE! You may want step aside, Twilight."
"Why, what's-?
"INCOMING!"
Coming down fast and without a fair warning, a blond, grey pegasus came crashing down from the sky and knocked poor Twilight Sparkle a good ten feet away. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
"Alright! Best landing yet!" The googily-eyed pegasus said.
"Ahh, Derpy! Right on time."
"Yup. Just like always. Well, except for that time when I held your map upside down and went to Manehatten. Not a lot of nice ponies there, I might add."
"Yes, yes, I know. We will never vacation there. Anyway, how is Dinky doing?"
At this point, Twilight managed to wake up and got back on her four legs again, where she began to listen in on the Doctor and Derpy.
"Oh, Dinky is doing great! She's starting to use her magic, and she drew a great picture with the three of us in it!"
"Yes, I was afraid of something like that." He then slid over a map to Derpy and began to sound very serious. "Now listen. This is what I want you to do, and I want you to follow these instructions exactly! I want to take Dinky and yourself far away."
"Oh! You mean far away from Ponyville?" Derpy asked.
"No. Far away from Equestria. I want you two to go southeast until you fly past the badlands until you two can not spot any other ponies. This map will tell you exactly where I want you two to stay. You two are not to return until I come get you. If I don't come to get you, then don't come back at all."
"W-what? Why do you want us to go away?"
"If Dinky stays here in Equestria, it will become impossible for me to go through my next mission. The safety of you and your daughter is above anything else to me, so take this map, take Dinky, and go. I promise I'll come get you two when I can."
Although sadden by the Doctor's request, Derpy nonetheless agrees with him, takes the map from him, and flies off to get her daughter.
"Give the map to Dinky! I know your eyes aren't the best!" Whooves shouted before Derpy was gone completely.
Having overhearing the whole conversation, Twilight grew suspicious as to what the Doctor was doing, especially after his visit in Canterlot. She would've been even more suspicious about him had I told her about how Chronos tried to steal the Elements of Harmony, but I didn't felt that she needed to know something like that at the time. In any case, Twilight knew something else was going on with Doctor Whooves, and to an extent, Chronos.
Despite not being to sure about what Doctor Whooves was doing with his little girlfriend, Twilight ultimately shrugged it off, for she had important business to do herself.
After getting herself ready, as well as her friends for that matter, got on a special train I had ordered to come and took off to Arcane Tower. Our destination was far up north, not as far as the Crystal Empire, but still quite far. Now you may ask yourself why you've never seen this place before. Well...
"Celestia told me that to further protect the tower, she's prohibited anypony from stepping foot here. In fact, we may be the first ponies to ever come here besides the Princess herself." Twilight explained.
"Oh, wow! What an honor!" Rarity said. "It feels like I've just stepped into an exclusive party!"
"I sure hope the animals are allowed to be here." Fluttershy said.
The trip didn't last to much longer then that, but it still gave my little ponies enough time to laugh and enjoy their time together before Twilight has to leave them for a little bit. Now I'm going to give you a small spoiler on what happened later. Simply put, the next next time Twilight Sparkle got to see her friends...
Actually, I'd rather stay positive for as much as I can in the story. Just know that bad things began to happen from there on out.
After some time on the train, we all arrived to our destination. Twilight and her friends were confused when it seemed as though I brought them to the middle of no where, but I knew right away that we arrived at the right place. Especially since there was a friendly face waiting there for us.
"Twilight!"
Much to Twilight's surprise, the one waiting for us was my niece, Twilight's sister-in-law, and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence. Seeing her old foal-sitter made Twilight run right up to her and do an old dance.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!" The two happily sang and danced together. "Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!"
"How ya doing, Princess?" Applejack asked. "Keeping the Empire out of trouble?"
"Well, I should be doing that right now, but I've put it into safe hooves until I come back. I just had to see Twilight off to the Arcane Tower. I've also never seen the Elements of Harmony in action before, so of course I won't miss it."
"Ha! It's nothing compared to one of my world famous sonic rainbooms!" Rainbow Dash boasts.
"Sugarcube! Show some respect to royalty." Applejack said.
"Says the one who never wipes her hooves." Rarity said.
"Watch it."
I knew right away that things were about to get ugly, so I figured I'd try and change the subject. I didn't want to say anything about the tower right away since I wanted to keep things casual for a while longer. So I quickly remembered something Chronos told me to do.
"By the way, Cadence. You know about Chronos, Guardian of Time, right?" I asked.
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Well, the last time I spoke to him, he wanted me to pass you a message. He told me to just say...congratulations."
She thought about the what I said, then, something hit her. She had suddenly gotten a guilty look on her face, as if she knew something I didn't.
"So...I guess you know about it?"
Suddenly, the fight that Applejack and Rarity were about to get into took a pause when they overheard us talking, and took an interest in it.
"Know about what exactly?" I asked her.
"Well...I wanted to wait until Twilight finished her mission before making the announcement, but since we're all here and all...Girls, I have some great news! Twilight, in the not so distant future, you will be an Aunt!"
Jaws dropped when Cadence said 'you will be an aunt', or in Pinkie Pie's case, her jaw dislocated and literally dropped onto the ground. It was one of the most horrifying things I ever saw.
"An Aunt...YOU MEAN?" Twilight said with a huge grin.
"That's right. I'm pregnant."
Loud, high-pitch screams were unleashed from Twilight, Rarity, and surprisingly, Fluttershy was the loudest. Everypony got very excited about the good news, so of course there would be screams. They were already making plans on throwing a shower for Cadence, that's how excited they were.
I should've been excited too. Any other time, I would've been behaving like the others were.
"I can't believe I'm gonna bean Aunt!" Twilight said happily.
"DAMN IT!" I shouted. "Curse you, Chronos!"
"Oh, wow!" Pinkie Pie said, who then went on to say something I have yet to actually understand. "She just said something that we can't even say on the show!"
"Aunt Celestia, what's wrong?" Cadence asked. "I thought you would've been happy."
"Oh, no no no. I'm actually thrilled for you. It's just that...well, Chronos would always try and persuade me by given me a subtle prediction of the future in an attempt to get me to trust him. He knew you were pregnant, and he tried to use that to his advantage."
"And for a good reason, Celestia."
Catching all of us off-gaud, we turned around and saw that we had a few uninvited guests, Chronos the owl man, and his three escorts, Whooves, Nostalgia, and Clockwork.
"CHRONOS! How did you get here?" I asked.
"We snuck into the caboose before you left. As time's protector, I naturally knew precisely when you would leave."
"Your not here to stop me from fixing the tower again, are you?" Twilight asked.
"No, I'm not overly interested in wasting either of our time. I'm instead here to deal with the tower myself.
"Umm..e-excuse me?" Fluttershy said silently. "I don't mean to interupt, but, umm...where is the tower?"
"Yeah, if this tower is SOOO special, then why can't we even see it?" Ranbow Dash asked.
Chronos then turned to Doctor Whooves and gave him a nod. Whooves then picked up a nearby rock, and tossed it forward. Before the rock could reach far, it sudden bounces back as it hits an invisible force. For a few brief seconds after that, a magical barrier became visible.
"This barrier is completely impassable, unless one has the Element of Magic. Without it, it would take a godly level of power to break through it." Chronos explained.
"And that's a power even you don't have, Chronos!" I told him.
"You're right. Only someone like Discord could have such power. I do know, however, that this barrier will not be here in the near future."
He then raised his staff upwards, then swung it towards the barrier and activated his had then summon another one of his time zone onto where part of the barrier was. For a moment, the barrier reappeared, but after spending time inside the time zone, it disappeared. As soon as it vanished, his three escorts walked through the time zone, and made their way to the other side of the barrier. This was something I had dreaded would happen. Chronos had created his own way through the barrier.
"Since you and Twilight Sparkle chose not to listen, I have no other choice but to change the future myself!" He said before making his way through the barrier.
"STOP HIM! DON'T LET HIM INSIDE!" I ordered.
Responding to my order, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash quickly ran towards Chronos to stop him. Rainbow flew past the other two and was about to tackle Chronos. However, he once again raised his staff, and created a second zone onto her location, causing her to freeze in time. She unfortunately failed to stop him.
"I'll be seeing you inside, Miss Sparkle." Chronos said before walking inside the barrier. Afterwards, he deactivated his time zone, making it impossible for anyone else to get inside.
We then spent the next few minutes removing the time zone that Rainbow Dash was trapped in. After that, we simply had no more time to waste. The enemy had managed to get ahead of us, much farther then I ever expected them to get. In any case, I got Twilight and her friends into position, gave them the Elements of Harmony, the necklesses to Twilight's friend, and the crown to Twilight herself, and everything was set.
"Alright. Now remember Twilight. During the time you use the Elements, you'll essentially be drilling your way through the barrier. You'll have to be using your magic and running through the barrier at the same time. If you fail, you may get exhausted and the next time will get harder, so let's get this right the first time."
"You can count on us, your highness!" Applejack said.
"Alright girls." Twilight said. "Let's do this!"
"Good luck twilight. We'll be waiting for you." Spike said as he bid her farewell.
Ready to aid Twilight, the ponies began to activate the Elements of Harmony as me, Spike and Cadence got ourselves a safe distance. One by one, the Elements released their magic and sent it towards Twilight's crown. When the fifth element was transferred, Twilight's eye glowed up, and from the star on her crown, she unleashed a powerful beam of rainbows directly at the barrier. After a few moments, the beam weakened the barrier.
"Now's your chance. Go!" I shouted.
While still focusing the beam, Twilight rain towards the opening. She began to break through, even managing to get her head through, but unfortunately, she was having great trouble getting her whole body through.
"I...can't...get...through..."
Then, my niece Cadence said something rather...inappropriate. "Why do I have a feeling that my child will have a similar problem when it comes out."
"Twilight! Keep it up! We can't let Chronos get too far ahead!" I said to her, trying to encourage her to keep it up. "She just needs one more good push."
"Okay, I'm officially freaked out now." Cadence said.
"OOH! OOH! I'll help!" Pinkie Pie said.
Rushing before thinking, Pinkie Pie ran towards Twilight at a surprisingly fast speed. I'm actually very thankful for this, for the tackle actually managed to push Twilight all the way through the barrier. Getting more help from her friends then she expected, Twilight finally made it. Me and the others all cheered together upon her success.
"Great work, everypony. Now, it's all up to Twilight. Let's pray for her safe return." I said to everypony. "Now listen, she's not expected to finish her mission until tomorrow. We will return to Ponyville and come back tomorrow."
"Wait a second!" Rarity said, realizing something. "Where did Pinkie go?"
"Ugh...Well, at least I made it to the other side." Twilight said to herself.
"You sure did! All thanks to me!"
Much to Twilight's surprise, she had somepony by her side. I'm not entirely sure how it was even possible, but Pinkie Pie, the Element of laughter, had managed to get through the barrier together with Twilight. It was an outcome I did not for the life of me took into consideration.
"Well, at least things will be interesting for sure." Twilight said with an annoyed look.
With the combined efforts of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, she was finally able to break through the barrier surrounding Arcane Tower. With her inside, all she had to do was reach the tower, stabilize the core, and then return home. As the barrier repels, all she would have to do to leave is simply walk through it, which meant that she could just focus on her mission without worries.
However, she had to deal with two major problems. First, Chronos and his group had gotten a head start and were also heading to the tower. The second...was Pinkie Pie.
After breaking through the barrier, Twilight and Pinkie both found themselves in what they thought was somewhere completely different. Outside the barrier, they thought they were in the middle of nowhere, but after breaking through, they discovered that the barrier was hiding a beautiful green forest that stretched out for miles. But before they can do any sight seeing, Twilight had to deal with a little pink problem.
"Oooh! So THIS is the inside of the barrier!" Pinkie said with joy. "Mmm...I've seen prettier places though.
"PINKIE! How did you get in here?" Twilight asked. "Only I should've been able to penetrate the barrier!"
"Well, no one told ME that."
Not being amused by Pinkie's attitude, Twilight felt that she would've just been a burden for her, so she decided to try and bring Pinkie Pie back outside the barrier, trying her best to push Pinkie back through the barrier. Unfortunately for Twilight, Pinkie put up to much of a fight.
"Come on, Pinkie. Go home and wait for me there! I can't risk you getting in my way." Twilight said as she began to use her magic to force her friend out of the barrier.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT! At least let me try and talk you into letting me stay!" Pinkie pleaded. Deciding to give her a chance, Twilight levitated Pinkie towards her to see what she has to say. "Right now, it's four against one, and the Princess would've sent you help if she could. So you should take advantage of the fact that I broke the laws of physics and let me help you."
With a cute, innocent smile, the young earth pony floated in the air until Twilight finally decided to release her from her magic. She decided to let her friend stay as a traveling companion.
"Alright. Chronos is already ahead of us, so we have no time to lose. We have to get to the tower before he does."
"But where is it?" Pinkie asked.
"We just need to follow the trail until we can see it. Now come on!"
No longer willing to be patient, Twilight began her journey to the Arcane Tower with Pinkie Pie following. She was annoyed at the time, but before long, she became happy that her friend managed to come along.
Elsewhere at the time, Chronos was a a little further ahead from Twilight, as well as his group. While most of them were acting serious and staying focused on their job at hand, the lone female of the kept things a little more lighthearted.
"This reminds me back when I traveled through the Everfree Forest near Ponyville. I met this very nice zebra there, and we-"
"NOSTALGIA!" Clockwork shouted. "Pay attention! We're suppose to looking out for if Twilight Sparkle ambushes us."
"Wait a second. If you can see into the future Clockwork, then wouldn't you know when Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie will reach us?"
"Wha-geh-bu..THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
"Hold on a second." Chronos interupts. "Nostalgia, what do you mean about Pinkie Pie?"
"Oh, you didn't notice? Twilight's and her friend both broke through the barrier about five minutes ago."
"That...that can't be. I was only expecting Twilight to break through the barrier. My predictions told me nothing about an accomplice."
While Nostalgia, Doctor Whooves, and Clockwork all had the ability to see the past, present, and future respectively, Chronos was the only one that can see all three fluently. Because he had grown to trust his visions more then anything, the fact that something he didn't predict would happen easily through him off. A small change in outcome caused him to lose his cool and began to worry about a new future.
"Is something wrong, master?" Whooves asked.
"No. No, it's okay. Things are just not going to be as easy as I expected." Chronos said. Despite the unexpected turn of events, he was prepared. He had then took the top end of his staff and started dragging it across the ground as he walked. "It is time for us to stop taking chances. "I'll need all three of you to enter seer mode and stay that way until further notice."
"All three of us? Constantly?" Whooves asked. "We'd be draining alot of your power."
"So be it. That's my order, and you three are to follow it. I also want to know exactly what's happening right now."
Although the three ponies weren't exactly sure with Chronos's orders, they nonetheless chose to obey. They each stopped in there place, sat down on the ground, closed there eyes, and meditated for a moment. After they each took a deep breath, their cutie marks began to glow. After they opened up their eyes, they started glowing too.
"Everyone else left after the two ponies entered the barrier, boss." Nostalgia said.
"They are currently making our way to where are. We best move." Whooves said.
"It seems that they will eventually reach their destination, sir. Sorry." Clockwork said.
"All very important for me to know. Of course, I don't intend to simply let Twilight reach the tower. If this works, we should have plenty of time." Chronos explained, all while dragging his staff behind him.
"OH, BOY! THIS IS EXCITING! You and I on a great adventure to save Equestria's magic! Oh, this will be so much more exciting then when I went" -gasp- "And that's really something because I was VERY excited!"
Never in quite awhile had Twilight looked so annoyed. She may have spent some time with Pinkie Pie before, this was the first time she had to go through a mission this important with Pinkie Pie on her side. On the other hand, I'm happy to of given her a real test of patience.
"OH! Twilight, by the way? What are we suppose to do again?"
"Pinkie..." Twilight said. "Will you PLEASE calm down?"
"Oh, come on! This fanfic has been boring lately, so how about we finally add some excitement? And what's more exciting then your pal, Pinkamena Diane-"
Something then had happened that Twilight very rarely ever sees. Her friend Pinkie not moving. While moving around excitedly, Pinkie had suddenly stopped doing anything. She just suddenly stopped talking and completely stopped moving.
"Ugh...Pinkie? Are you alright?"
Worried about her friend, she used her magic to pull Pinkie towards her. When she did...
"-Pie!" Pinkie said. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Umm...looking at you?" Twilight said awkwardly.
"Oh, well that's okay. I'm always looking at you, so I guess that's fair. BUT THIS IS NO TIME!" Pinkie suddenly said seriously. "LET'S MOVE!"
The suddenly focused Pinkie then went to make a mad dash forward. However, this caused her to suddenly stop moving again, only this time, she was floating right in the air. Now growing curious, Twilight pulls her friend back towards her. This time, she kept her in the air to not moving forward again.
Coming up with a theory, Twilight fired a beam of magic in front of her. After hitting an invisible force, it became visible, revealing to be a yellow, see-through barrier. Twilight recognized it as one of Chronos's time zones.
"OOOH! Pretty!" Pinkie said.
"Not really. Chronos is trying to stop us." Twilight explained, who then fired a second beam at the time zone, effectively dispelling it. "Pinkie, I'm now glad you came. I've got an important job for you."
"YAY! Let's get going then!"
Twilight actually made very smart use of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie would move ahead of Twilight, get stuck in one of Chronos's time zones, Twilight would get rid of it, and they move on. A clever way to deal with a clever bird's trap. Unfortunately, she would soon realize that Chronos couldn't be outsmarted that easily.
With his first plan to stop Twilight being a failure, Chronos had to up his game in order to stop Twilight. Failing to predict Pinkie Pie's involvement already had started to put him in a bad situation.
"Master, Twilight is still on the move." Whooves said. "It seems that she is dispelling your time zones."
"I was afraid of that." Chronos said. He then stopped dragging his staff on the ground and stopped making any more time zones to stop Twilight Sparkle. "I still wish to continue forward. You three, however, are to stop her and her friend."
"What do you wish for us to?" Clockwork asked.
"Kick her out, trap her, tie her up, kill her...any of the above as long as she doesn't reach the tower."
"K-kill her? Isn't that a little extreme?" Whooves asked.
"You already know what will happen once we're done with the tower, Doctor. One more casualty means nothings to the world. Now head out and stop her, tuit de suite."
Having received their orders, the three time ponies turned right around and made their way to the opposite direction to stop Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie by any means necessary. Although Doctor Whooves wasn't overly pleased by his new mission, he understood the importance and moved out anyway. Now I will be fair, the Doctor did have a good reason to do what he was doing. As for why, you'll will know very soon.
Not too far away from Chronos, Twilight and Pinkie were in pursuit for the invaders. By that time, Twilight had truly appreciated Pinkie Pie's company, for without her, Twilight may of failed her mission. In fact, I myself really appreciated it.
"Hey Twilight! I haven't been freezing in time lately!" Pinkie said.
"Chronos must've thought those time zones would've gotten me already. I think we now have the advantage."
"You do not, Twilight Sparkle." A familiar voice said.
From ahead of my student, Chrono's henchponies, Doctor Whooves, Nostalgia, and Clockwork, blocked off Twilight's path. Despite being 3 against 2, Twilight stood her ground and wasn't ready to back down.
"Doctor, why are you doing this?" Twilight asked. "You know there's no way Equestria can survive without magic. You have to let us fix Arcane Tower."
"Yeah, and if you don't, I'll ban you from Sugercube Corner!" Pinkie added.
"I'm sorry girls, but I have too much to lose by allowing you two to go any further. We are servants of time, and our duty is to do what is best for the time stream. And sadly, the best thing for it is to destroy Arcane Tower."
"I don't know what kind of future Chronos showed you, but-"
"In that case, we shall show you EXACTLY what we've seen."
At that moment, the eyes and cutie marks of the three time ponies glowed a bright white, and their eyes stared directly at Twilight and Pinkie. The light quickly shined at a blinding level and completely engulfed them all.
She wasn't sure how, but when she opened her eyes, Twilight found herself...well, it's hard to really say. I guess the easiest way to describe it is as a white, empty void. For a moment, she thought she was all alone, but then she found Pinkie Pie wasn't a great distance from her. Of course, that still didn't explain anything.
"Is...this purgatory?" Twilight asked.
"No no no. Purgatory isn't as cold as this place. I would know." Pinkie Pie said, much to Twilight's confusion.
"Then, where are we?"
"This is just a mental image we've created."
Appearing out of nowhere, the ginger, unicorn mare, Nostalgia, appeared before Twilight and Pinkie. While she's normally a highly cheerful one, she looked surprisingly serious at that moment.
"I am Nostalgia, watcher of the past. I study and record important historic events. I'm here to show you a doozy of one."
After Nostalgia's eye glowed up again, and the three were transported somewhere else. They were no longer in the white void, but floating above a large forest.
"AAHH! WE'RE FALLING!" Pinkie Pie said in fear.
"No, but I did have the same reaction." Nostalgia admitted. "Anyway, what your are looking at is the day Arcane Tower's construction was completed. I wish for you two to observe this."
Looking down below, Twilight and Pinkie both watched the past scene. Below them was the tall structure that is the Arcane Tower. Outside of it was me and my sister, Princess Luna. We had built the tower some time after we had defeated Discord. It was built to give Equestria the future it deserved.
I suppose some history of it should be shared. At one point, magic was used by all Equestrians like it was today. However, when Discord came into power, he had drained most of the magic in the land to ensure that no one could stop him. After me and Luna defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony, we restored the magic through a mighty beacon, the Arcane Tower.
"With the tower finally active, ponyfolk shall finally be able to use their magic like they should." The younger Luna said.
"With this, harmony and order will finally return, my sister." My younger self said.
"You two realize just how dangerous this thing is. Do you?"
It was then that Twilight saw how Chronos was involved in the tower's construction, for once it was finished, he appeared before me and my sister.
"Chronos! I see you came to admire our work." I said to him. "Or perhaps you're trying to warn us again about how Discord's seal with break again?"
"No, your highness. I'm here about the Arcane Tower. Such a powerful structure should not be left without defense. "I predict that if it's not guarded well, chaos will rise. After all, it can effectively controls all magic in the world. Something like that never existed before."
"He is right, sister. Sure, Discord is gone, but what if another evil force comes along? It'll be easy for them to take over the land once more." Luna said.
"Then we shall put up a defense." I told her.
After my past self said the final line, Twilight and Pinkie were once again transported to the white void, for Nostalgia had showed them all she needed to show.
"So that's why they had the barrier made." Twlight said. "But if Chronos could see the future, why didn't he tell them about what would happen to it?"
"Because he was preparing." A more masculine voice said. "He didn't give your Princesses the idea of creating a barrier to keep it safe. He did it to keep our enemies out, so he can prepare for this day."
It was then that Chronos's next minion, the golden pegesus, Clockwork, appeared.
"I am Clockwork, watcher of the future. I look into the future to help plan for a better one. But with what you're trying to do, that may not happen."
"Hey, me and my friends can change this bad future of yours. You just have to trust us.
"Oh, really?"
Once again, Twilight and Pinkie were transported from the white void and sent to another vision in time. This time, the future. However, it was a future Twilight did not expect. The sky was full of dark clouds, the land had no life, having nothing but blackened earth and dead trees. I only know of this from my sources, so I never saw such imagery myself. I feared what Twilight had truly experience.
"Twilight Sparkle, this is how our world will be if you continue your journey to the tower. You will be responsible for the end of the world."
"WHAT!? H-how?"
"In due time, an evil force will try and rule over Equestria, and will attempt to use the tower to do so. However, when that happens, he shall try and take control of the tower, and ultimately destroy the world, eradicating all life on our planet. What you are seeing is what the world will look like in less then a year."
"Wow...this is terrible." Pinkie Pie said, realizing how serious it really was.
"At least Lord Chronos only intends to wipe out the unicorns."
"WHAT!?" Twilight screamed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WIPE OUT THE UNICORNS?"
"Oh, that's right. You probably still think that the tower's destruction will only destroy the world's magic. Time Turner, would you kindly take over?"
"I will. I just don't want to."
Behind Twilight and Pinkie came the voice of an old friend, Doctor Whooves, who had a sad look on his long face.
"Doctor! What is he talking about?"
"I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle. Chronos predicted that if the Arcane Tower is destroyed, a negative chain reaction would occur in everything with magic in the entire world."
As the Doctor continued, the void changes from the grim future into a nearer future.
"It will happen all at once. The magic in the earth ponies will violently blast out of their bodies, causing many farmlands nearby to be destroyed, which will create famine. Pegasus cities in the skies will be blown away, and they shall lose their abilities to control clouds, rendering many who live in the skies to be homeless. And most tragically, the unicorns-"
"WHAT? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US UNICORNS?"
"Well...unicorns are the most magically gifted creatures in Equestria, and they have the most magic themselves. Each unicorn will unleash great destruction around them, and areas with either a high concentration of unicorns, or unicorns who are very powerful...well..."
"'Well' what?" Twilight asked impatiently.
"The fall of the tower will wipe out approximately 80% of the world's unicorns. The destruction they will unleash will destroy places with high contractions of them, such as Canterlot, and...by the end of the destruction, Equestria's population overall will be reduced by around 60%."
It was then that Doctor Whooves, watcher of the present, showed Twilight their final vision. A partially destroyed Ponyville, where each its surviving citizens are trying to rebuild their town. There's noticeably less unicorns then before. In the center of the town is a stone monument in the shape of a unicorn. Several familiar faces are seen standing around it, including Bonbon and Octavia, mourning the lost of their unicorn friends. However, the saddest thing that Twilight noticed was Rarity standing at the monument, for she would've survived the cataclysm, but her own little sister would not be so lucky.
"THAT'S why you sent Derpy and her daughter away. Her filly is a unicorn!"
"Yes, Miss Sparkle. By sending her away before we take down the tower, Chronos promised me that she would survive. But if time moves as planed..."
Once again, Clockwork's image of the future is showed, the world where no life exists at all. It was then that Twilight realized what she was being showed. There would either be a future where much of Equestria's population would be wiped out, or a future where ALL is gone.
The three servants of time then brought Twilight and Pinkie back to the real world, after sharing them the dreary future.
"Miss Sparkle, we've shown you everything that our master has shown us. You know now why we've agreed to follow through with this dark mission. We've committing the lesser of two evils. You can do the same if you choose to turn back now."
This was a hard choice for Twilight to make. She saw one of the two outcomes of Equestria, and she was essentially the one to decide which one it would be. She had to think very deeply to make sure she would make the right choice, but neither one was what she wanted. It was quite a problem indeed.
Twilight Sparkle learned a lot from Chrono's time ponies. She found out that if she were to continue her journey to Arcane Tower, she would bring end to all life on the planet. However, if she doesn't, much of Equestria and its population would be wiped out anyway.
This was a very dark moment for my faithful student.
"Miss Sparkle, please turn back." Doctor Whooves said. "We will be facing a grim future, but you can at least lessen it. If you hurry and leave Equestria, you may even be able to save yourself."
Twilight had to think very deeply about the things she had learned. She didn't like the idea of turning back from her mission, but knew that if she didn't, the entire world would fall to destruction. However, she also witness what would happen if she did nothing, which would bring great sadness through all the land, for many would die anyway. She didn't like the idea of purposely letting others die either, especially friends and family. Rarty's sister would be lost, Canterlot and her parents would be lost, and while I don't like to sound smug or anything, she didn't want to lose me either.
After a deep thought, she brought her head back up, looked forward onto the path, and began to walk forward again, walking past Whooves and his friends. Angry at this, Clockwork the pegasus made a quick dash to get in front of her.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He shouted at Twilight. "We just showed you that you'll bring the apocalypse, and now you'll PURPOSELY bring it?"
"Yes, Miss Sparkle. Just what are you thinking? You've seen the results." Whooves asked.
"Yes. Yes, I've seen what may happen if I try to stabilize Arcane Tower. But more importantly, I've seen what will happen if I don't. Neither one is something I'm willing to allow."
"But isn't it better to let the lesser of two evils win?" Whooves asked.
"Maybe. But remember. Princess Celestia has decreed that I will be Equestria's new ruler, and she and my friends all believe that I will do our home proud. I will NOT turn a blind eye on my home or friends. You were saying an evil force will come and take over the tower? Fine, let them. As long as I'm still standing, I will never let anything get past me!"
"YAY! That's my Twilight!" Pinkie pie said with happiness.
"Oh..." Nostalgia said sadly. "Then I've got some bad news. Lord Chronos told us to get past you by any means."
"For once, we agree on something." Clockwork said. "Time zone her, NOW!"
Activating her unicorn magic, Nostalgia summoned a time zone of her own, similar to Chronos's, and encases Twilight inside, causing her to freeze in place. However, while inside, Twilight activated her own magic, dispelling the time zone and repelling Nostalgia back a great distance. My guess was that Nostalgia's time zone was simply much weaker then Chrono's. After landing, Twilight encased the unicorn inside a magical prison of her own, trapping her in a magical dome. Nostalgia tried to dispel it herself, but fails.
"Nostalgia!" Whooves shouted as he charged to help his friend.
"Why you good for nothing whippersnapper!" Clockwork shouted.
Angered by Twilight, the pegasus made a dash to tackle Twilight down. However...
"Oh, no you don't!"
Much to Clockwork's surprise, Pinkie Pie went zooming in and tackled him down, protecting Twilight. She then jumped onto his back, and I'm not lying when I say this, but she actually started riding on his back, making it hard for him to control his movement. It must've been quite amusing.
"Twilight! I'll keep them distracted! You hurry up and move your flank to the tower!" Pinkie Pie said.
"But Pinkie, it's three on-"
"Take advantage of this. You'll never see me do anything serious like this ever again!"
"Okay, you have a point there." Twilight said in agreement. "Alright. Just be sure you'll be alright."
Although she didn't want to leave her friend behind, she knew that she lost alot of time because of the time ponies, so she believed in Pinkie Pie and ran towards her destination, no longer able to pace it, and just ran.
"Whooves! Forget about Nostalgia and go after her, NOW!" Clockwork said with anger.
"There's no point. There's nothing we can do to stop her." Whooves said. "I'm afraid we'll just have to let the master deal with her. Oh, poor Twilight."
"Poor Twilight? Poor me! I still have a maniac on my back!"
While the Doctor continued to find a way to break Nostalgia out of her prison, and while Clockwork was working to get Pinkie Pie off his back, they had no other choice to let me student continue her way to the tower. However, Whooves was right. While they weren't able to stop Twilight, they knew that Chronos was capable of stopping her. In fact, I'll be honest. If I wasn't so scared at the time and was thinking more calmly when Chronos went through the barrier surrounding the tower, I may not of sent Twilight in right away.
A mind like Twilight Sparkle doesn't have an overly athletic body, but that was no concern for her, for she ran as fast as she possibly could anyway to get to Arcane Tower as quickly as possible, hoping her friend would be alright alone.
After a long, but fast run, she finally reached the tower. The tower itself didn't look to important, looking more like an extra tall stone guard tower then a magical tower, however, she knew it was it for two reasons. 1. It was the same tower she saw in Nostalgia's image. 2. She can see a blue glow emitting from the center of the tower, as well as feeling a particularly strong force inside.
"I haven't seen Chronos yet. I can only assume that he beat me here. In any case, I better go and fix the core."
Wanting to reach the tower's core ASAP, she chose to not take the stairs and took a different way up. Using a high level magical spell with great concentration, she magically drew a purple square on the ground below her. Upon completion, the square lifted lifted up into the air with Twilight still on it, effectively allowing her to fly. As she flew and reached the tower's center, she used a spell she used more frequently then the flying spell. Her short-ranged teleportation spell.
In an instant, Twilight was inside the tower, and was not very from it's core. Of course a large, floating thing of magical energy will stick out from the rest of the room. As I instructed her, she would have to stabile it until the energy becomes perfectly round, where at the time, it was far from it. However, she didn't try to fix it right away. Something else was bothering her.
"Where is he?" She asked herself.
"Behind you."
Just as he said, the owl man Chronos was sitting on the staircase nearby, who had been waiting for Twilight. He arrived first and and waitedd for her patiently rather then simply move on and completely destabilize the tower's core, of course while he would never admit it, Chronos was a little selfish, as he would've wanted to escape from the tower's destruction himself.
"You actually waited for me?"
"Indeed, Miss Sparkle. I could've used my time zone to accelerate the core's destruction, but if I had done that, you would most certainly of just dispelled it and fix it again. In the end, it didn't matter which of us made here first if we both were to arrive anyway."
"Your friends told what this tower will do if you destroy it." Twilight said angrily. "Why would you lie to me and the Princess and say not say that it would kill so many ponies?"
"If you had known that, she would never do what I advised her to do. She would tried to do what you are doing, and find a third option to save the world."
"Of course she would, Chronos. You're options stink. What's wrong with the third option?"
"What third option" He asked rhetorically. "As the guardian of time, I know every possible outcome of our near future. Either I have this tower be destroyed and wipe out much of Equestria, or another evil force will come and destroy the world. Much like you, the world only have two options for it's future."
"Oh? And what are MY two options then?"
"Either you turn around, leave this tower, abandon your mission, and you will survive the upcoming cataclysm..."
"Oh, we both know that's not going to happen, Chronos. I don't need to see the future to know that much."
"Yes, foolish of me to think that. In that case..." Chronos said as he removes the bottom piece of his staff, revealing its hidden blade. "...you shall die today."
"Bring it on!"
Ready to battle Chronos and protect the tower,and thus protecting all of Equestria, Twilight charged towards Chronos. However, she was forced to halt quickly as Chronos swung his staff upwards, barely missing her with the blade. Since twilight was still close to him, he spun around, raised his talon, and grabbed Twilight's neck by the throat. I could only imagine just how scared Twilight was when that happened.
"I think we can both agree that there's more space for us to fight outside."
Right after that statement, he used his leg and threw Twilight out of the nearest window, throwing her from a high distance from the tower. Any other pony may of fallen to their death, but Twilight managed to stay calm and used her teleportation spell at the last moment, bringing her to the ground without harm, besides the light scratches that were left on her neck. As for Chronos, he jumped from the window, and merely flew his way down to the ground to where Twilight was.
"Are you sure you don't wish to surrender?" Chronos asked.
"Funny how the guardian of time is purposely wasting time." Twilight replied. "As long as my friends and family are on the line, I will never surrender."
Then, with a light sigh and an annoyed look, Chronos merely said to her..."So be it."
Twilight Sparkle had REALLY entered into a pinch that time. I really wished that I could of expected something like that.
Chronos is one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, being in the same league as myself in power. I myself can barely deal with him alone. In battle, he can see into the near future, conjure his famous time zones, and while his combat skills have degraded over the years, he can still rely on his staff and blade. However, unlike me, he is more then willing to kill if needed.
Combine all of that with his stubborn determination, plus the absence of me and Twilight's friends, and you get Twilight's most dangerous battle.
With neither one willing to waste anymore time trying to talk the other one out of the situation, they began to fight. Twilight took the first strike by firing a beam of magic at Chronos, but it was too simple of an attack, as Chronos easily deflected it with his staff.
"A wasteful attack, as well as the only one I will permit."
It was his turn to launch his counterattack. Chronos had then raised his staff, the hourglass at the top start to glow, and he swung his staff forward, blasting a long-streamed time zone towards Twilight. She knew she couldn't block it and doubted that she could dispel the entire thing, so she merely ran out of the way. She succeeded in dodging it, but she also knew that she had just came close to being finished off right away.
"Is that all you got?" Twilight said, despite not being in a good position to mock Chronos.
Accepting the challenge, Chronos charged toward Twilight after spinning his staff to the end with blade. Twilight waited at until the last second and used her exportation spell to get behind him. However, the moment she vanished Chronos spun around and charged in the opposite direction where Twilight teleported to. Twilight was very surprised and started to back away quickly to avoid each strike. Fortunately, Twilight was able to dodge every hit.
"I'm getting to old for this." Chronos confessed.
"How did you do that? How did you find me so easily?" Twilight asked.
"I knew exactly where you were going to go. If you're going to do it, I'll know about it."
"You know...well...in that case, let's see how well you can predict this one!"
Trying something else to even up the playing field, she began to cast another spell, one much stronger then her usual ones. Energy began to surround her, light moved forward towards her, and at the peak of its brightness, a loud exploding sound comes from her position, and she instantly vanished. Not even Chronos expected this.
"You've long lost your chance to flee, Miss Sparkle!"
Chronos had to look around him to try and find Twilight Sparkle, but failed to find her. He couldn't even predict where she would try and sneak up on him. He actually though she ran away.
Then, another sudden flash of light came out of nowhere. It blinded Chronos a little bit, causing him to cover his eyes with his wing. This was a big mistake on his end, for it allowed Twilight Sparkle to blast him directly with a magical beam, knocking him backwards and causing him to fall on his back. It was then that he figures out that Twilight didn't leave after all. Although he was confused at first by what Twilight had done, it then hit him.
"Was...was that a time spell?" Chronos asked.
"I have access to library that lets me study certain time spells. That one was one I recently learned, which-"
"Which allowed you to travel several minutes into the future." Chronos interrupted.
"I figured the best way to fight time magic is by using a little of it myself. I think I'll try it again."
Once again, Twilight performed her spell again, creating a flashy light, a loud exploding sound, and vanished a second time. I don't think she really knew who she was fighting again, because if she did, she probably would've realized that the trick wouldn't of worked a second time. Especially since Chronos had gotten as angry as he did after she used such a spell.
"You dare to use a time spell to fight me?" Chronos asked as his anger increased to a horrifying level. "NO ONE BUT ME HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE MY SPELLS!"
Taking a step forward with his staff in his wings, Chronos slashed the air with his staff, and where he slashed, a large rip in time and space appeared, creating a hole in the air. He then threw his leg into the whole, and when he pulled it back out, he pulled Twilight Sparkle out of it with his talon around her throat, and tossed her onto the ground. Sadly, the sharp talons of the owl man did cut a little bit of Twilight's neck.
"You have no rights to do what you want with the time spells I created, and thinking that they would actually work on me is sheer stupidity! Now I have a personal reason to do away with you."
As he had the opportunity to strike Twilight while she was down, he walked over with blade on his staff ready. As Twilight had already used up allot of magic on the time spells, as well as taken an injury to the throat, she was already in a predicament. She did, however, had an idea. A strange one, but in a situation like the one she was in, she was desperate. On the otherhoof, the plan was good enough to leave Chronos confused for a moment.
"Odd. Is there another unicorn coming to ambush me or something?" Chronos asked, confused by his latest prediction.
It was then that Twilight took action, as she saw an penning. She used her magic again, but this time, her horn was surrounded by a dark aura, her eyes gained a black mist, then turned green. She used the dark magic she learned when I taught her about Sombra.
Her shadow began to stretch out from her body and made contact with Chronos's. From where he stood, black crystals started to reach up to him and encased him inside. He tried to free his way by hitting the crystals with his blade, but it eventually rendered him completely immobilized.
"Whoo...never thought I'd used THAT spell again." Twilight said to herself.
At first, Twilight thought that she had one and began to find a spot to rest after her struggle. However, before she could get comfortable, a time zone suddenly appeared over the crystal prison. After a few mere seconds, the black crystals completely vanished, and Chronos was free. That spell she used was meant as a last resort, so the fact that it failed made her realize just how hopeless her situation really was.
"Time spells? Dark magic? To think such a dangerous unicorn would of became Equestria's ruler."
"You...you say it like I won't be!"
With a sudden surge of strength and determination, Twilight charged towards Chronos to try and strike him down. Sadly, it failed miserably. When she got into his range, Chronos swung his blade up, and while Twilight did dodge most of it, Chronos still managed to slice a cut onto her cheek. He didn't stop there though. He immediately swung the blade a second time, only the second strike was much more direct, for it successful sliced off the top half of Twilight's own horn. You may not be a unicorn, so you may not realize just how painful such a thing like that is. Take my word. Twilight may of never felt such pain before.
The pain from the strike sapped her of the rest of her strength, and she collapsed onto the ground. After she fell over, she the very tip of her horn land next to her, as well as the Element of Magic that fell off her head. It wasn't until she saw the crown that she remembered she still had it.
"As tragic as it may be, Miss Sparkle, you have no future, regardless of what you do from this point." Chronos said. "As noble as it is to try and save Equestria, it will be doomed. At least my actions will allow it to have a future."
"I've...I've seen your future, Chronos." Twilight said weakly. "It's not one worth living in."
"I've seen many tragedies in my long life. This one will not faze me. Whether or not you or your friends live or die, whether or not my servants live or die, as long as the time stream keeps moving forward, it makes no difference to me. Whether or not they all live happily or not, only time will decide that."
Feeling finished with the fight, Chronos turned around and made his way back to Arcane Tower, where he would finish up his business. However, whether or not she had her horn, or whether or not she had her magic anyway, Twilight Sparkle was not willing to give up. She look up towards her crown, the Element of Magic, and slowly reached out for it to get it.
"Don't bother, Sparkle." Chronos said as he kept moving. "It won't help."
Despite the dark, hopeless position she was in, she was far from willing to give up. She eventually grabbed the crown, and carefully placed it back onto her head. Her friends were not around, so she couldn't use the Elements of Harmony like the previous times she did. But her hope and love for her home, friends, and family wouldn't allow her to give up.
"Please..." She said weakly. "Please...I just need...a little help..."
And at last, the light began to shine in the darkest moment, for a very faint, yet noticeable light began to shine on the crown's gem.
Even with a broken horn and no magic left, Twilight Sparkle refused to give up. I knew I was right when I made such a mare my successor. She was not willing to quit until she had no resources what-so-ever left, and she still had the Element of Magic. Using almost no magic, which was all she had left over, she activated the Element.
Failing to predict the newest event, Chronos was actually caught off-guard when he saw a huge flash of light blasting from behind him. He thought for sure that he had finished Twilight off for good. Although he may of been more confused by the fact that he didn't see it in any of his predictions.
"What kind of foolish trick is this?" Chronos asked as he turned to her, only to become horrified by what he saw.
A few seconds prior, Twilight was lying down on the ground with no magic or strength left to move. Then after triggering the Element of Magic, she stood up proudly, was staring directly at Chronos, and was surrounded by a bright white aura. Furthermore, as she was radiating with magic, her horn quickly regenerated by the magic.
"Alright, Chronos. I don't care how grim you say the future will be. As long as I can stand on my four legs and have my friends by my side, I will create a bright future for us all!" Twilight stated.
"Idiot! Only I know whether the future will be bleak or bright, and take my word, it's bleak. Secondly, your friends are nowhere around. Not even the pink one."
"You've separate yourself too far from other ponies. If you had any value for friendship and life, you would've known that there's always a to create a bright future."
"You have no idea of the knowledge I possess. No such future will exist regardless."
"Well, watch me prove you wrong."
Raising her head up, her crown fires a white beam of light into the sky, where at its peak, became a shiny white ball of light.
Elsewhere in the forest, Pinkie Pie was getting beat up by Clockwork, the pegasus of Chrono's group, who was trying to force her into submission. In case none of you had realized it already, Clockwork was the most aggressive of the three. However, as the ball of light descended into the sky, Pinkie's necklace, the Element of Laughter, began to shine, and she knew right away that Twilight needed her. With a newly formed smile, her necklace fired a beam of pink light towards the ball, surprising the time ponies.
Way back at Ponyville, Rarity and Applejack were walking together in town, both being worried about their friend. However, as they too were stilling wearing their Elements, and upon the glowing of their gems, they realized right there that Twilight needed them. Willing to lend their strength, the Elements of Generosity and Honesty fired a white and orange beam respectively into the air.
Lastly, flying together, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were also worried about Twilight Sparkle. I had sent them off to a farmland that needed extra weather ponies, something I'm sure I've mentioned on a previous page, and Rainbow Dash brought help. Like the others, they were still wearing there necklace, and they knew Twilight needed help when they glowed up. Together, the Elements of Loyalty and Kindness fired a beams of blue and yellow lights upwards.
Piercing through the barrier around Arcane Tower, the other four beams joined together with the beam of laughter and blasted the ball of light, creating a ball of rainbow, which flew straight down, making contact with the Element of Magic, and surrounded Twilight with an aura of rainbows. Twilight Sparkle had successfully tapped into the Elements of Harmony.
"What are you doing!?" Chronos asked. "Do you realize that you'll save no one by what you're doing?"
"As Celestia's prize student, as the wielder of the Element of Magic, as future ruler of Equestria,and most importantly, a loving friend, I swear...I SWEAR I'LL KEEP THIS WORLD SAFE FROM ANYONE! EVEN THE LIKES OF YOU!"
With her horn, she slashes the air five times, drawing a star. Each section of the star matched the colors of the other elements, with the center being purple.
"For all of my friends! Take this!"
With one final swipe of her horn, she launched the star directly at Chronos, which moved at a tremendous speed. Chronos attempted to summon a time zone to stop the blast, but it was immediately dispelled by the attack. He tried a second one, one covering his staff, then attempted to blocked the attack directly, but the force of the Elements caused him to be blasted backwards, barely being able to keep his feet on the ground as he is repelled by Twilight's attack.
"I will NOT allow you to destroy the world!" Chronos said, not realizing that his staff was already starting to crack. "I am the guardian of time! Prophet of the future! I essentially AM time! You will not stop me!"
Ironically, the power of the Elements of Harmony eventually proved to be too much, as it broke through Chronos's final line of defense, and its power blasted him away into the forest, creating a large, beautiful explosion of magic at where Chronos was taken. A direct shot by the Elements of Harmony. Not even Discord, God of Chaos, was able to withstand stand its power.
Whether or not Twilight could see the end results, she knew one thing for certain. She had defeated Chronos and protected the Arcane Tower.
"TWILIGHT! YOU DID IT!"
Catching my student off guard, Pinkie Pie had came out of nowhere, tackled down Twilight, and began hugging her as hard as she could. Much like Twilight herself, the Elements of Harmony had restored her strength and mended her wounds from before.
"OH MY GOSH! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! YOU SAVED EQUESTRIA! Well, it's not the first time you did it, it's probably been like ten times now, BUT STILL, YOU DID IT!"
"Agh. Pinkie!" Twilight said angrily, only to calm down after realizing how true her friend was. "Yeah. I guess you're right."
It was at that time that the time ponies, Nostalgia, Clockwork, and Doctor Whooves, arrived. The three were worried about their master.
"MASTER CHRONOS!" Whooves screamed. "Miss Sparkle! Where is our master?"
"Doctor! Chronos has been defeated!" Twilight stated. "With the Elements of harmony, we have protected the tower and saved all of Equestria. I know that you all had noble goals in mind, but rest assured that I will to it that Equestria will be safe."
As Twilight was talking to the Whooves, the time ponies were watching as someone was walking towards Twilight from behind. Chronos was not down, but he definitely took a hit. With his magic drained from the Elements of Harmony, the owlman's feathers lost much of its color and became mostly gray. His staff was split in two, and as time passed, each one was turning into sand. He dropped the top half, keeping the blade end, and was limping towards Twilight Sparkle. It wasn't until the horrified Pinkie saw him that anyone gave him away.
"So I advise you to go and get Derpy and Dinky back home, since none of you will have any-"
"TWILIGHT! BEHIND YOU!" Pinkie shouted.
As Chronos raised his blade to give a final, desperate stab to Twilight, she turned around blasted him in the chest with a beam of magic. The pain from the blast caused him to drop his weapon, which turned completely into sand upon hitting the ground. Chronos was already at his limit, but Twilight made the final strike needed to end it once and for all.
"You...will not...win...Miss Sparkle." Chronos said weakly. "I...am Chronos. The guardian...of time. I...WILL...protect...the world. I will...stop you."
However, that sentence alone had used up the very remainder of his remaining life force. With zero strength, zero magic, and zero life, all Chronos was able to do was fall over and land face first on the ground. While this was a great victory for Equestria, it was also a dark moment, for in the end of an epic battle for the world, a great force had been vanquished. All that was left of Chronos was his lifeless body, lying down before Twilight Sparkle.
The time ponies were shocked to see their master fall, and even Pinkie Pie couldn't of laughed after what she had seen. As bad as Twilight herself felt, she knew that she did the right thing. Without fear in her eyes, she turned to the time ponies with an intimidating glare. They were, after all, still her enemy, and she couldn't show weakness at the time after defeating their master.
"Very well, Miss Sparkle." Whooves said with regret. "I guess we have no other choice then to trust you. Nostalgia! Clockwork! We must leave."
"WHAT? After what she has done?" Clockwork asked.
"I'm afraid we will not win if we try anything further. We already established that. Trusting Miss Sparkle, I'm afraid, is all we can do for now."
Knowing that they could not win against another fight against Twilight, Doctor Whooves turned back around to make his leave. Clockwork, as angry as he was, eventually did the same. Nostalgia, being the most sad about what had happened, ultimately trusts her old friend and followed the others. Before long, all who remained at the tower was Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie.
"Alright. I better get the tower stabilized. Pinkie, you try and not cause too much trouble." Twilight said.
With that, Twilight entered the tower once more, this time, using the entrance, so she could complete her real mission. Pinkie Pie, on the otherhoof, stayed by Chronos's fallen body, still not being ready to laugh. If I recall, this is the first time somepony like her had ever even seen a dead body. Although I'm sure the same went for Twilight as well.
Now you know how Twilight Sparkle defended the Arcane Tower, protecting all of Equestria's magic and many of its inhabitents. This was all what she had done that made me feel very proud to call her my heir.
However, this is only the bright side of the moon. You have yet to know of its dark side. I have finished writing the half of my story that I am most proud of, and you will not insult me by reading no further. But if you have truly gotten interested in my tale, then by all means, continue.
As I have mentioned before, I have many stories where I had regretted my actions. This is one of those. How I nearly had Twilight Sparkle destroyed the world.
If you're reading this, then you have chosen to continue reading my terrible tale. As I mentioned before, I'm not entirely proud of myself, because my choice of making Twilight Sparkle my heir had caused a lot of trouble. Scratch that. A lot of trouble is an under statement. On the otherhoof, then end results were pretty good, but the idea that all of Equestria was nearly wiped out troubles me.
In any case, you're reading this to know about my tale, and I wrote this to tell it.
After Chronos's unfortunate death, Twilight went into Arcane Tower to stabilize the core. It was her mission after, so she couldn't spare a moment right away to think about what she had done to Chronos. Instead, Pinkie Pie took care of things.
It took Twilight much longer then she thought it would take to restore the tower. By the time she finished up with her job, the was setting. I guess you can blame me for that one. Because it was getting late, she knew she had to stay overnight at the tower, although it was something she was prepared to do anyway. The only thing she had to figure out was where to sleep.
"Pinkie!" Twilight shouted from through a window. "It's getting late! Get inside before you can't see in front of yourself!"
"Okey dokey, lokey!" Pinkie shouted back with her usual smile back.
As Twilight had asked, Pinkie Pie made her way inside the tower. She finished up doing what she needed to do anyway. While Twilight figure she was playing with herself the whole time, in truth, she took the remains of Chronos, buried him the best she could, then made a little marker out of rocks to show some respect for the fallen. I'll be honest, I've personally met Pinkie many times in the past, so I actually expected someone as wild as her to not comprehend doing such a thing. She must've been much stronger then I expected.
"Alright, we'll camp in here for the night, and in the morning, we'll head home." Twilight said to Pinkie. "Hey, you don't look so well, Pinkie. Is something wrong?"
"Well...maybe something's a little wrong." Pinkie Pie said. "I know we've fought a lot of baddies before, but what's bugging me is that I think this is the first time we've actually KILLED somepony. I mean, it bronies can argue that Sombra is alive, but still..."
"Yeah, I guess this is the...wait? What are bronies?" Twilight asked. Personally, I still have no idea what Pinkie Pie was talking about. "Look, it was something that we couldn't avoid. Equestria had to be protected. Besides, I was the one who did it. It's not something you have to live with, it's mine."
"Oh, but I can't let you live with something like that all alone. I say we share it, so it won't be as painful for you."
"Pinkie, you have a deal."
With a smile appearing on both of their faces, they shook hooves to seal their little deal, both taking responsibility for Chronos's death. Pinkie even went and pointed out the window to show where she had buried him. Since she knew that Chronos had his own beliefs that he was trying to fight for, Twilight showed him respect by having a minute of silence with Pinkie. After the minute...
"Well, I guess we should look around the tower and see if we can find a place sleep. But with the core being right here, I'm not sure how much more there is to this place." Twilight said.
"OOH! What about upstairs?" Pinkie said as she pointed to some stairs that went up.
"Oh, right. This is only the middle of the place. It might just be wasted space up there though."
"Well, there's only one way to find out, now isn't there."
Curious enough to want to explore the tower anyway, Twilight agreed with Pinkie and made her way to the upper section of the tower. While it was indeed getting dark, neither were tired enough to just fall over and fall asleep, so they figured 'why not?'.
After a long walk upwards into the tower, the two reached the final floor, and what they found was something Twilight was surprised to find, for the very top of the Arcane Tower is actually a library. Pinkie Pie wasn't too impressed by the discovery, since Twilight lives in a library herself. In fact, the library in the tower wasn't much bigger then Twilight's. However, as Twilight Sparkle values knowledge greatly and knew that she wasn't in an ordinary library.
"Amazing. Look at all of these books!" Twilight said.
"So? You have books back in Ponyville. Heck, even I have books at home. OH, I ESPECIALLY love these cool pop-up books I own!" Pinkie said.
"Pinkie, think about it. This tower, and therefore this library, has been surrounded by a powerful barrier for over a thousand years. The oldest book I own can't be older then a 100 years. But here, each one is an ancient tome that probably can't be found anywhere else. Oh, if I didn't have to leave so soon, I would probably try and look through ALL of these books."
With her magic, Twilight began taking out books to examine each of their covers. And it's true. Some of those books are actually older then myself, and while I'd never reveal my age, take my word when I say that I'm old. After skimming through some book covers, Twilight found one of interest. 'The War Against Chaos', written by Star Swirl the Bearded. She began to flip through it to see what it was about.
"Oh, wow. This one talks about how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated Discord."
"Oh, yeah. That's cool and all." Pinkie answered. "Except for the fact that we already know about that."
"Yeah, but this has more details on it. There's a chapter on when Discord ruled Equestria, one before he ruled, one where he was defeated, and...oh, here we go. There's a chapter on the Arcane Tower."
I have mentioned a little about how and why the tower was created, but Twilight had finally found documented information regarding it. I'll re-write the section she read below. Star Swirl the Bearded wrote this book, so feel honored to be reading such a great unicorn's words
-While the Draconequus, Discord, had finally been sealed by the Sun and Moon sisters, using the powerful Elements of Harmony, much work had to be done after. The chaos and disorder had caused the magic throughout the land to also become chaotic and disordered. Even Discord's defeat failed didn't restore the world's magic, and the battle itself left the sisters drained of their own powers. It was then that I found away to restore it. My home made heavy use of a powerful crystal matrix, one that allows experienced unicorns to focus and when needed. By rebuilding my home to reach higher in the sky, then elevating the crystal matrix, and finally, reprogram the matrix, my own home, now referred to as the Arcane Tower, had repaired magic throughout Equestria. However, as the matrix will now always be connected with Equestria's magic, I fear what will happen should something happen to it.-
I know that was quite a bit from the book, but all of it was of importance, especially if you've been interested in the tower's history.
"So this means that this very library also belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded. He created a lot of powerful spells." Twilight said.
"HEY! TWILIGHT!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "If like that pony so much, then you will LOVE these!"
Pinkie Pie was right. At the other end of the room, nearby a wide and round stage, being only a foot high, were a number of tables covered with numerous scrolls and books. These were spell scrolls, and ancient ones for that matter. Twilight got very excited by the discovery and was reading through to learn as much as possible.
"Huh. I wonder what this thing is for." Pinkie Pie asked, referring to the stage nearby.
"Who cares? Look at all of these spells! They all look like they're in great condition too. Oh, what to read? What to read?"
There were a good number of different spells on one table alone, and each one was one Twilight wanted to learn. She may not had the time to read all of the books, but she knew she had the time to learn a few new magic tricks.
"Let's see here. We have a spell to lead into gold, water to wine, there's the Wish spell, a spell to regenerate one's hor-" Before she picked up the next spell, she dropped every other spell in order to look back at a previous spell. One I now wish she didn't found. "Th-th-the WISHING SPELL!? IS THIS REALLY THE WISHING SPELL!?"
"I 'wish' it was. Haha -snort- hehe." Pinkie Pie joked.
"Pinkie Pie, do you have ANY idea what this is?"
"Ooh! Ooh! Is one that can create cakes? Or maybe cupcakes? I bet Derpy would love teach her daughter how to create muffins with magic!"
"Yes! Yes, the wishing spell can do ALL of that!" Twilight said with excitement. "It's a unique spell that's been said to do whatever you want! I never knew it was even real. I thought it was a fairy tale, but now I get to learn it to prove it's existence!"
My curious student was over thrilled when she realized that she could learn how to use a supposedly mythical spell. She slowly unraveled the scroll, wanting to to savor the moment. Unable to hold the suspense forever, she quickly opened it up and started reading before she could even of read the of the words.
"Well, Twilie? How is it?"
"It's...surprisingly simple." Twilight said with a dissatisfied look. "For a spell that could let you do anything...I think I can even do it right now."
"Well then, if you can do anything with that new spell of yours, how about you make me a cupcake?"
Twilight figured a simple test would've been wise. Using the little she learned, she focused her magic and began to cast the spell. As she said, the spell itself was easy enough, but the issue was that it had cost a lot of magic to cast. When she finished, a cupcake appeared right in front of Pinkie Pie, which she immediately ate.
"Mmm...vanilla." Pinkie said with delight.
"Yeah, but...ugh...I don't think a small cupcake was worth the effort." Twilight complained.
"In that case, how about a cake this time?"
"Hmm...the Wish spell is said to be able to do anything from cutting the grass to reshaping a continent, but after actually trying it, it's certainly not very magic efficient. Hey, wait!" Recalling something she read in Star Swirl's book, she reopened it, flipped through the pages, and found what she wanted. "AHA! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna knows about the Wish spell too. It says here after the tower was built, they used it to restore Equestria. But there's no way they have that kind of power. Do they?"
"Hey, Twilight! I found something else! It says here this can give you all of the magic you want."
After taking a good look at the table, Pinkie Pie found a spell she knew Twilight would of appreciated.
"It says that it's meant to be use with the Wish spell." Twilight notes. "It's called Magic Drain. By standing on the Arcane Pedestal while performing Magic Drain, one can tap into the magic in Equestria, and transfer it into one self. \once enough magic is obtained, you could use the Wish spell for anything."
"YAY! This means I can get my chocolate rain again!"
This was all interesting to Twilight, except for the chocolate rain part. That alone reminded me of bad memories. Just like that, she realized that she had the ability to do anything she wanted, between Magic Drain and Wish.
"A spell like this clearly wasn't made to create cupcakes out of thin air, Pinkie. It's made to change the state of all of Equestria. I've seen how bad things have been lately, what with all of the visitors that come to see the Princess, and what might happen in the near future. Actually, the more longer I've been in Ponyville to see the world, the more I've learn of it. I think the world isn't in the best state right now, and i think I can change that."
"I like the way you think, Twilie!" Pinkie said. "With your Wish spell, everyone will be happy when they get their free cupcakes."
"Pinkie, can you stop thinking about your stomach?"
"I'm trying to, but I'm hungry."
"Celestia has trusted me to rule over our home one day, thinking that I can help more then she ever has. If I gain the magic require, then using Wish, I might be able to do exactly that. But..." Before Twilight could think any more into it, another thought came into her head. "Who am I to say that I can do such a thing. I'd be no better then Chronos."
"But Twilight, you ARE better then Chronos. Otherwise, you wouldn't of been able to use the cupcake spell."
"What do you mean?"
Pointing to the Wish spell on the scroll, Pinkie Pie brings to Twilight's attention to a footnote. The note that stated that in order for anyone to use the might Wishing spell, one must have a heart and soul of absolute purity.
"You have a pure heart, don't you?" Pinkie asked. "Heck, if you could use that spell at all, you must have one."
While Twilight Sparkle wasn't 100% sure about, she knew that if she really did have a pure heart and soul, then she would use the magic gained to help as many ponies possible to create peace and happiness throughout the land. She figured if she could really use Magic Drain and Wish with that in mind, then she could do it. With her new ideals in mind, she tried to perform the Wish spell again. Once again, she conjured up a cupcake just to prove that she could still use it.
"YAY! Thank you, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she devoured the cupcake.
"Alright. If I can have the intention to give myself more magic to help change Equestria, then I know I can do it." Twilight said to herself. "I'll do Princess Celestia proud, and create new found happiness for Equestria! I know she believes I will succeed her one day, but once I'm through, I will be convinced myself."
With her plan in mind, she got the Magic Drain scroll out once more and gave it one final look for study.
"It says I need the Arcane Pedestal. That must be this circle thing here." She said, referring to the stage they found earlier. "Alright. Let's hope this works."
"I'll keep my non-existent fingers crossed." Pinkie said.
After she stepped onto the pedestal, she began to cast the Drain Magic spell. Her horn glowed up with a purple aura, and little sparkles of magic began to get absorbed into the horn. She then sped up the process and started to absorb more and more at a steady pace.
"Wow. I already feel more powerful. I should probably stop before I become stronger then the Princess, but at this rate, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Well, have it your way." Pinkie said. "While your doing this, I'm gonna go back downstairs and get some shut eye."
"You do that, Pinkie. I'm going to stay up here for a bit longer to see how much I can take. Maybe even catch up on the reading too."
"All righty then. Nighty night."
With Pinkie Pie heading off to sleep, Twilight chose to stay to read and study as much as she could while channeling Magic Drain. Now as Pinkie Pie had mentioned, surely one with a heart as pure and innocent as Twilight's could use the Arcane tower's power responsibly. In fact, the purpose of that requirement was to keep evil force from using Wish. However, she didn't truly understood just how much magic and power was coming her way.
While Twilight Sparkle did have noble intentions, as she learned first hoof by me that running the Kingdom is not easy and many need help just to live, she didn't truely understood the power she could gain from the Arcane Tower. I haven't held any hard feelings about it though, since in my youth, I had used it to restore my power after my battle with Discord, as well as my sister Luna.
What Twilight didn't fully understand though was that the Arcane Pedestal and Magic Drain spell she was using was made to restore weakened unicorns, not to increase one's magic powers. Although it could theoritically be used to obtained an untold amount of power.
The next morning, after somehow finding a way to sleep comfortably, Pinkie Pie sprung up from the spot she slept on like she had a week's worth of sleep, and marched on to find Twilight. She wasn't in the same room as Pinkie was, so Pinkie assumed she fell asleep up in the library, which is something that even I would expect from Twilight.
After a quick run upstairs, Pinkie Pie reached the top of Arcane Tower, where the library was, expecting to see her friend. Not only was Twilight still in there, but she was in the exact same spot as the night before.
"Morning Twilight! Have you been up here all night?" Pinkie asked.
"Oh! Morning, Pinkie Pie." Twilight greeted. "Ever since I started the Magic Drain spell, I just haven't felt tired. It's like new magic is keeping me up and active."
'So you've been standing there all night? That must be boring, even for a bookworm like you."
"It very well could've been. But then, I found out that I can still use other spells. While I've been raising my magic power, I've been reading so much. I've learned a few new spells, I've looked into a bit of history, I've even-AHH!"
Suddenly, a strike of pain came to Twilight in the form of a headache. Her magic dropped the books she was levitating and she held a hoof up onto her head. Pinkie Pie got scared when she saw her friend in pain all of a sudden and rushed to her side.
"Twilie! Are you alright?"
"Ugh...I'm fine. It's happened a few times, but I'm okay." Wight tried to assured.
Despite being told that things are fine, Pinkie Pie wasn't convinced. Especially after she saw something that horrified her. As Twilight turned her head, Pinkie noticed a red liquid dripping down Twilight's right eye. It's amazing, she can bravely bury a body, yet can't handle the sight of blood. Although, if my best friend was suddenly bleeding from the eye, I'd be worried too.
"TWILIGHT! YOUR EYE IS BLEEDING!" Pinkie panicked.
"Is it? I guess it's a small price to pay to help Equestria."
Using some of her newly gained power, she removed the blood off of her face and quickly repaired her eye. Despite the fixed up eye, Pinkie was still worried.
"Twilight, if this whole thing is actually hurting you, then maybe it's not worth it. I've sure you're already really strong now."
"Really strong? Pinkie, I feel incredible. But I know for sure that it's not enough to help everyone. Since I can still hold more magic, I'm going to see if I can take in even more."
Convinced that she could handle, she increased the power of Magic Drain and began to absorb even more magic. Before, she was taking in magic by in the form of magical dust going into her horn, but after increasing the intensity, the magic was being absorbed in the form of electrical streams. It's like firing a strong beam of magic, only she gained magic instead of spending it.
"Twilight? Maybe you should stop this. I Really, REALLY don't want to see you hurt yourself."
"No Pinkie. Not until I'm strong enough to help everyone."
"But if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together haven't been able to-"
"Then I guess I'll have to become more pOWrfUL then BOTH of them." Twilight answered, which horrified her friend. "Pinkie Pie, are you alright?"
Although still scared by what Twilight had said, or to be more exact, HOW she said it, Pinkie Pie smiled awkwardly and nodded. She was right to of been afraid, because as abnormal Pinkie is, she knew it wasn't normal for Twilight's voice to of sounded like that.
I'll go a little more into Twilight a little later. Mean while, back at Ponyville, I was waiting to return to outside the Arcane Tower's barrier with the rest of Twilight's friends. At the time, I had Rainbow Dash go south to deal with a drought at a farmland, a job Twilight recommended Rainbow Dash for. She also brought Fluttershy along, so I had to wait impatiently for the both of them. I had stayed at Twilight's home with Spike, as I found it inconvenient to simply go straight home myself.
While I mostly stayed inside to avoid being seen too much, I would occasionally take a step outside for a breath of fresh air. I at one point went out at a perfect time, for as I looked to the sky, I saw a group of pegasi, each as black as night. They were the Shadow Bolts, the escorts of my sister, Princess Luna. I found it odd for them to be flying at the time of day, so I flew up to speak to them.
"Stop!" I ordered to them. "Where is your Princess?"
Before the Shadow Bolts got to answer, my sister flew to me from behind her escorts and stopped as soon as she saw me. Again, I did not want to bring any attention to myself that day, but naturally, pony folk from below got excited when they saw both of their rulers flying above their town. I think I suck at subtly.
"Sister, where have you been?" Luna asked me. "There is trouble at the Arcane Tower."
"Relax, Luna. I've already sent Twilight there to restabilize the tower. Assuming nothing has gone-"
"I already know about it. Shining Armor told me about you sending Twilight to Arcane Tower. The problem is that something else is happening at the tower."
"Oh my. Did Chronos manage to stop Twilight?" I asked in fear.
"Wait, Chronos was...never mind. The tower has seem to of stopped destabilizing, which leads me to believe that Twilight had succeeded."
"Then what's the problem, sister?"
"I'm...not quite sure how to explain it. Since early last night, I was detected that something was off about the tower's barrier, and ever since this morning, I found it to be weakening. I returned to the castle to inform you, but Shining Armor said that you didn't return, so I'm off to investigate."
"Impossible. Without the Elements of Harmony, you will merely be rejected by the barrier."
"At the rate it was going, I could probably knock it down with one hoof."
That was disturbing news. I had no idea what was happening at the time and fear that something may of happened to Twilight. I still wanted to wait for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to return, but knew that I couldn't leave the Arcane Tower unwatched if something was going wrong.
"Alright. Just stay safe." I told Luna. "I don't wish to lose you again."
"I'll return here soon. Come, Shadow Bolts!"
With that, my sister headed out to observe what was happening at the Arcane Tower. Never had I ever felt so worried about the well being of twilight and Luna. While the tower itself would cause a huge backlash onto Equestria should something happened to it, it was my student's and sister's well being that was on the top of my mind. It was one of the few moments in my life where I didn't care that I was a bad ruler.
Now obviously, bad things were happening to Twilight Sparkle, but at the time, I had no idea what was happening. I was worried enough that Twilight was at the Arcane Tower with Chronos, but after I heard the news Luna told me, I was doing my best to keep my hooves from shaking.
And on top of that, I began to get worried about my sister as well.
As Luna reached the barrier surrounding the Arcane Tower, she took a good look at it. Normally, the barrier would completely camouflage the forest inside, but when Luna arrived, she and the Shadowbolts could clearly see it, despite knowing that a barrier was in front of them. That wasn't all. The sky looked odd too, as it had long since turned from blue to grey. A grey sky might've been normal if there were clouds up in the sky, but no. There was not a cloud in sight. It was completely unnatural.
"The barrier is weaker then I feared. We must get inside."
"How will we get inside, my princess?" A Shadowbolt asked.
Without answering, Luna conjured up a blue, magical ball from her horn, then hurled it directly at the barrier. It created a large explosion which shattered a part of the barrier, creating a way inside. Before, there could've been ten Luna's firing an attack at the barrier and it would do nothing, as only the Elements Of Harmony would've had any chance at breaking through. As she was able to break through so easy, she feared more and more on what awaited her.
"Take flight, Shadowbolts! We're making this quick."
It wasn't just at the Arcane Tower where things were looking dark. Down in a southern farmland, there was a lack of sunlight do the dark skies. Fortunately, the reason for this was intentional, for it was do to cloudy skies caused by the weather pony, Rainbow Dash, who Twilight Sparkle had recommended for the job. Considering she only brought Fluttershy along t help, who wasn't a real weather pony, they did a really good job.
"Hey, you sure you don't want a job as a weather pony, Fluttershy? It pays good!" Rainbow Dash asked.
"No thanks. I still prefer to stay on the ground where my little friends are." Fluttershy answered.
"In that case, why bother come along?"
"Well, my best friend asked for me to come along, so..."
As Rainbow Dash was arranging the last of the clouds in the sky., she realized something that Fluttershy called her.
"You think I'm your best friend?"
"Well, aren't we?' Fluttershy asked. "I mean, we've been friends longer then anypony, I got you Tank, I cheered for you when you did your Sonic Rainboom, and here I am helping you out."
"Wow. Sounds like you're MY best friend. But what have I ever done for you?" Rainbow asked.
Not knowing what to actually say, Fluttershy shrugged and said..."You make me want to be brave?"
"I think you and I need to hang out more." Rainbow said as she finished placing clouds around in the sky. "Okay, we're done. One good kick and it'll be raining here for days. Would you care to have the honors...best friend?"
Liking that Rainbow Dash also called her 'best friend', Fluttershy smiled, spun around, and gave a nearby cloud the hardest kick she had to offer. Hilariously, it wasn't enough, as physical strength wasn't exactly her forte. After a good laugh, Rainbow Dash gave the cloud one good kick with only one leg, and in an instant, rain began to pore over the farms, giving the crops a much needed shower.
"Alright Fluttershy, let's get out of here. I'm like Supermare, since I need sunlight to really shine myself!"
Wanting to get out of the rain as quickly as she could, Rainbow Dash, as her name would imply, Dashed off at a high speed to find some sunlight. Fluttershy, while not as fast as her friend, did her best to follow.
After a few seconds of flying, Rainbow Dash was already a good distance away from the village she was in, as she looked back to see the good job she did, as well as Fluttershy who simply couldn't catch up. As Rainbow turned her head to look up at the sun, she noticed something odd. The sky wasn't blue, like it usually would be. It was still early in the day, so it wasn't night time.
-huff...huff...gasp- "I really wish I didn't have to fly." Fluttershy said as she finally reached Rainbow Dash. "Oh my. Is it getting late already?"
"This is weird. I've never seen the sky like this before. We better go back home and ask the Princess what's happening."
As she wanted to get to the bottom of the strange skies, Rainbow Dash flew off return home as quickly as possible, forgetting that her friend couldn't fly anywhere as near as fast. The poor thing.
Elsewhere, Luna and her Shadowbolts had finally reached the Arcane Tower. By the time she reached the tower, much more disturbing things had occurred. The sky above the tower was starting to go black, with only blue and purple energy entering the top of the tower, lighting the sky. She was sensing the strange magical energy inside, and while it had been a long time since she had been at the tower, she knew things weren't right.
"Your majesty, this looks too dangerous." A Shadowbolt said.
"Good. I've been missing out on a lot of action lately."
With her wings unfolded, Luna leaped into the air and flew to the top of the tower, where the Shadowbolts followed. As soon as they flew to the top floor, Luna blasted her way inside by shooting magic at a wall, allowing her and her team to enter.
Once inside, Luna became shocked by the sight she saw. My faithful student, draining so much magic from Equestria with the Magic Drain spell, it was something she didn't hope to see. At this point, Twilight was absorbing magic by the bucket full. So much was being taken into her horn at one time, her eyes were glowing a light purple, and small magical discharges were being released out of her body from time to time. The only reason I'm glad I wasn't there was because I would've hated to see such a sight myself.
"Princess Luna! Something's wrong!" Pinkie Pie shouted, who became worried about her friend. "I think she's broken or something!"
"SPARKLE!" Luna shouted. "Turn to your Princess!"
Upon hearing that the Princess of the night had arrived, Twilight turned to acknowledge her, all while she continued to absorb magic.
"Oh! Princess Luna. How deLIGHTful to see you here." Twilight said in a disorted voice.
"Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing? The Magic Drain spell is made only to heal unicorns, not to empower them like you are doing to yourself!" Luna said.
"Forgive me, pRINcess. You see, I've been trying to become as powerful as possible to IMprove all of EQUAStria by Celestia's side. The more powerful I become now, the more I can chANGE the world for the better."
"Look at yourself, Twilight! An ordinary unicorn was never built to hold that much power. Your plans are pure, I'll admt, but now you're risking your good health. If you keep this up, you may not only drain Equestria of its magic, but maybe even destroy yourself in the process. This is sheer stupidity!"
"Hehe haHAHAHAhahaHA." Twilight laughed strangely. "With this magic, combined with the Wish spell, I can essentially do anything. Something not even you can do, Princess Luna."
It was clear to Luna that Twilight wasn't willing to listen to reason, nor was she able to do. With all of the magic that had been taken in, poor Twilight's brain was no longer thinking as clearly as it should of been. It was then that Luna came to to the conclusion that Twilight had to be stopped before she could hurt herself any further.
"Get her." Luna ordered.
The fiercely loyal Shadowbolts immediately charged toward Twilight upon hearing the order. However, with all of the magic that Twilight was merely discharging caused the pegasi to be knocked back. Twilight didn't even need to move a hoof to stop them. Luna realized that with the power Twilight gained, she was the only one who could stop her. She stepped forward, covered her horn with magic, and prepared to launch her own attack.
"You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Twilight said, mocking Luna using words she once said as Nightmare Moon.
"You'll wish I was."
Luna then charged forward to attack Twilight, much like the first time they met. The only difference was that Luna wisely took the situation more seriously. Ironically, Twilight was the one to not take it seriously, as she continued standing on the Arcane Pedestal with a smug smile. As Luna reached Twilight, hurling her horn onward like a joust, Twilight stood still and swung her own horn at her Princess.
Luna was simply outmatched. The overpowering magic Twilight Sparkle wielded had finally became more powerful then a might alicorn like like Luna, as she was knocked Luna back like she was a soccer ball. One shot was all that was need to take my sister down.
"Princess Luna!" Pinkie screamed.
I still have trouble with the idea of allowing my own sister to enter a battle like this. I still have nightmares of her being on the moon again. As I have mentioned before, I see myself as a terrible ruler. Ever since that battle, for the first time since Luna returned to me, I've felt like a terrible sister for allowing it to happen.
I'm still overwhelmed by the fact that Twilight Sparkle was able to defeat my sister so easily. Not only that, but to of been willing to fight her at all. The monstrous amount of magic she was absorbing must've had a negative impact on her brain. I believe a phrase that fit this is "Power tends to corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I've been hearing that quote by a few friends of mine lately.
While chaos had been happening at the tower, fear had been brought to Ponyville. The sky had become grey, but in a far distance, the sky was going black. It was a very bad sign. The ponyfolk were also started to look grim, for they had no idea what was going on outside and what they should've been doing. It was then that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy returned, and the first thing they did was seeing me.
"Princess, any ideas on what's happening to the sky?" Rainbow Dash asked. "This doesn't look normal."
"You're right. Something has been happening at the Arcane Tower, and my sister went off to investigate." I explained.
"Oh no. Is Twilight alright?" Fluttershy asked.
"I don't-"
"HELP! I NEED A DOCTOR OR SOMEPONY!'
From Twilight's library, I could hear Rarity screaming for help around the corner of the street. She was carrying her little sister on her back, who wasn't looking very good. She ran to me as soon as she noticed me. She was also with Applejack, who came along to find help.
"What's wrong with the child?" Celestia asked.
"My sister, Sweetie Belle, she suddenly fell sick." Rarity explained. "She was playing with her friends at my boutique, and she suddenly lost all of her energy."
"The poor, sugercube. She was just playing with her fellow cutie mark crusaders and she fell ill." Applejack said.
I brought the filly inside with me and did my best to see what was wrong with her. I found that it wasn't just energy she lost. It was magic. It's not healthy for a unicorn to lose so much magic, especially when they're Sweetie Belle's age. Luckily, it can be cured easily. I fired a beam of light from my horn directly at the filly, transferring some of my magic into her. After a few moments, she woke up.
"Ow...did I get my cutie mark?" She asked.
"OH, SWEETIE BELLE! Thank Celestia!" rarity shouted as she hugged her sister. "Oh, literally, thank Princess Celestia."
"Princess Celestia?" Sweetie Belle asked in a squeaky voice. "Thank you very much!"
"Thanking me can wait." I told them all. "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack, I need you to get everypony in town down to city hall! Especially the unicorns! Rarity, I want you and your sister to stay with me for awhile."
"Hold on there, your highness!" Applejack said. "What in tarnation are you up to?"
"I'll explain later, just get going. NOW!"
I didn't mean to cause any panic, but everything was starting to get more serious then I expected. Sweetie Belle suddenly losing all of her magic was proof of it, and action had to be taken. It was also at that point that I realized that Luna. I was still fearing what happened to Twilight as well, so I had a lot on my mind.
"Inside, girls. I need to have Spike write a letter for me." I ordered as I walked back into Twilight's library.
Back at the Arcane Tower, Twilight was feeling delightful for defeating Luna, one of Equestria's greatest forces. In one, effortless strike, Twilight knocked Luna down without having to leave the Arcane Pedestal. There many different emotions coming from different ponies. Fear from Pinkie Pie, anger by Luna, and joy from Twilight. It was absolute madness.
"Twilight Sparkle, this is high treason! I could've helped you, but then you struck me down."
"Sorry Princess Luna, but that would have to IMply that I did something against my home." Twilight answered
"You attack your Princess. That's like aiming a cannon at your boss. Which actually, in this case IS your Princess."
"You? A PRINcess? Ha. You tried to overthrow your own sister for the SAKE of having more darkness. As if you're fit to rule EQUAStria." Twilight continued, with her voice still being distorted. "Fear not though, for I plan to fix that."
"What are you talking about, Sparkle?"
"Equstria needs a new ruler, which is something Princess Celestia herself said. She admitted that she's too weak to rule it the way she wants to, and you are clearly UNDER qualified. With her praise and my newfound power, the best for Equestria...is ME!"
"You've gone insane, Twilight Sparkle! I will never allow someone like you to-"
Interrupting my sister, Twilight mercilessly blasted her with a power blast of magic, causing her to lose consciousness. The poor Shadowbolts, they had to see their own Princess be defeated while feeling useless for not being able to save her. Poor Pinkie Pie as well, since she saw her friend take out someone Twilight used to hold great respect for.
"Flyers! Give some time to your NEW ruler." Twilight said menacingly. "NOW!"
Fearing for their lives, the Shadowbolts were forced to leave their Princess behind, knowing there was no way they could've saved her. Seeing the helpless Luna lie on the floor, Twilight magically removed the black crown that was placed on Luna's head, removed the Element of Magic from her head, then put the new crown on her head. She felt it was more appropriate to be wearing a royal crown then anything. Afterwards, she tossed the old crown to wear Pinkie Pie was standing.
That wasn't all she took from Luna though. She went on to use the Magic Drain spell not only on Equestria, but on Luna's own body. Despite being out cold, Luna could feel the pain of her magic being sucked out of her body.
"Twilight! What are you doing?" Pinkie asked in horror. "You're hurting her!"
"I will need as much magic as I can to change Equestria." Twilight answered. "But this weak body of mine won't cut it. What I REALLY need is the help of magic directly from royalty."
"What are you talking about?"
"The power from Princess Luna...it's incredible. It's already making the magic in my body more stable. My body could only hold so much magic, but thanks to Luna's arrival, I might actually be able to take in every last inch of magic in Equestria!"
I'm actually quite impressed that Twilight knew that. It's true. Me and Luna are capable of holding much more magic in our bodies then most unicorns. The gifted Twilight Sparkle actually proved to hold in more magic then either one of us, and by taking in Luna's power, her full capacity increase greatly. But even them, nopony should of ever of become as powerful as she had become.
"Twilight...this isn't you. This is exactly what Chronos was warning us about. If you keep this up, you'll only destroy us and our home."
"FOOL!" Twilight said, which suddenly became a little distorted. "I will PROTECT our home from all evil!"
"Please. Take my word. I'm one of your best friends, Twilight." Pinkie said with a tear coming down her face.
"Oh...that's right. Pinkie, there's a book I was reading earlier that I think you should let me read to you."
Against Pinkie's free will, Twilight used her levitation spell to bring Pinkie towards her. She then took out a recently read book, turned to a certain page, then showed it to Pinkie Pie. Twilight knew Pinkie wouldn't actually read it herself, so she read it for her.
"This book talks about the Elements of Harmony and explains exactly what they do. Sort of like their manual." Twilight explained. "Pinkie, do you know the formula for creating magic?"
"Umm...sugar, spice, everything nice, and chemical X?" Pinkie randomly answered.
"What? No! It's broken down into five elements. Honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, and laughter. Together, they create magic, the greatest force in the world."
"Hey, just like the Elements of Harmony!"
"I finally understand why Princess Celestia made me move to Ponyville to make friends. By taking in those elements, which can be grouped together and be called friendship, I can create great power with the Elements of Harmony. But..."
"B-b-but what?"
"I have so much magic now, that the Elements are worthless to me. I have no need for them, nor do I have any need for friendship. While friendship has proved to create great magic, I will be getting all of the magic I need from standing on this one spot."
Pinkie Pie was speechless by what Twilight was saying. She didn't need their friendship, and she didn't need her other friends back at Ponyville. It was at that point that she realized the Twilight Sparkle she knew before was long gone, and that she was staring down at an unbelievably dangerous force. Then, she heard Twilight say something she feared to ever fear from anypony.
"Goodbye, Pinkie Pie. You are no longer needed."
Without hesitation or regret, Twilight magically repelled Pinkie Pie with such great force, that she was blasted threw a solid stone wall, yet was still being sent flying towards the forwards behind her. Her life flashed before her eyes as she was baring the pain of crashing through a wall, as well as the pain of losing her friend. She had no idea how it had happened, and she didn't know how she could've saved her. All she knew was the despair of losing her friend, caring not about the fate she was about to go through.
What else can I say? Poor, poor Pinkie Pie. No pony should be betrayed by their friends like that, and yet Twilight Sparkle, her closest friend, had fired her right out of building like a cannonball. Twilight never would've done that if she was her normal self, nor would she of attacked my sister.
I knew that magic was being drained from Ponyville, and Rarity's sister was proof of it. While I knew other places were probably suffering the same problem, I figured I should've started at where I was. So I created a large, magical barrier around the town hall and had as many of Ponyville's residents as possible to enter it. I'm sure they were all scared by what was happening in the sky, but it was better to keep them in one place and be scared then to have them panic, screaming and running, and be scared. Fortunately, I told them all that as long as they remained inside, they would be fine. I wasn't too sure if that was true, but it kept everypony calm.
While Twilight's friends were keeping everything organized, I kept Spike by side until a breathed out a letter I was expecting. I sent a letter to Shining Armor, who was still at my castle, and much to my luck, was keeping it safe. Much like the skies of Ponyville, Canterlot was turning dark.
"So what does Shining Armor say?" Spike asked.
"He said that he has a barrier protecting all of Canterlot, but it's slowly deteriorating." I answered. "Right now, he's bringing most of the citizens to one spot to create a more solid, concentrated barrier, like I'm doing. It seems that these barriers are affected by this draining of magic...wait! Magic draining...no, it couldn't be."
It was then that I considered the possibility of the Magic Drain spell, the spell that Twilight was using to empower herself. I didn't consider THAT as a possibility, but I figured that somepony was using Magic Drain at the tower. Actually, that was a lie right there. I was hoping it wasn't Twilight. All I knew for certain was that Chronos wouldn't of been using it, so I was curious as to who was doing it.
Just then, another letter was sent through Spike. This time, it was from Princess Cadance, who had returned to the Crystal Empire. She wrote on how magic was being drained their as well, and her barriers were failing. It was a nation wide problem, yet here I was trying to keep control of one town.
"Spike, get the others! We're heading to the Arcane Tower! I fear for Luna and Twilight. We're leaving immediately!"
What we did to travel back to the tower was actually pretty clever. It was Rainbow Dash's idea. Using the chariot that was used to bring me and Twilight to Ponyville in the first place, Rainbow Dash would pull me, along with her other friends, which would be much faster then with the train.
Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to lift all of us, so I helped her out. She looked quite embarrassed having to have royalty to help her.
"Princess Celestia!" A voice called out.
On our way to the tower, we came across one of Luna's Shadowbolts. Her fastest one to be more precise. He was moving toward us at as fast as he could with a horrified look on his face. Her Shadowbolts are fiercely loyal, and there's rarely a reason form them to be away from her.
"What's wrong? Where is Luna?" I asked.
"She's still at the tower. There was nothing we could do!" The shadowbolt answered.
"What are you talking about? What happened?"
"It was Twilight Sparkle, ma'am! She defeated the Princess in only one attack!"
Everypony gasped when they heard the Shadowbolt say that, including me. All of us were quite confused by the fact that Twilight had actually fought Luna, or that she would for that matter. Most of us didn't even believed it.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I'm only telling you what I saw. She didn't even move from the one spot she was standing on."
"One spot?" I asked, considering the worst possible scenario. "She was clearly stronger then normal, so tell me. Was she absorbing magic into her horn?"
"Umm...yeah, she was. She was discharging magic too, like she was about to blow up or something."
It was worse then I thought. The effects on Equestria made it very clear to me that Magic Drain was being used, and based on the information I had received, Twilight was the one using it, and she had clearly took in a lot of magic. I was to know how she planned to use that magic if she was willing to take it from all of Equestria. In any case, I knew that it was more important then ever for me to get to her.
"There's no way Twilight is responsible for all of this." Spike said. "Could she?"
"If she is, I'm eating oranges tomorrow morning!" Applejack replied.
"Princess, there's no way she's doing all of this!" Rainbow Dash Argued.
"And yet, she probably is the only one capable of doing this." I answered. "You, Shadowbolt! Go to Ponyville and make sure everyone remains calm. They should all still be underneath a barrier."
"Yes, your majesty."
After giving out the order, me and Rainbow Dash continued to hull the chariot full of Twilight's friends to reach the tower again. I became silent and focused on moving forward, but the others became worried about Twilight.
"Princess Celestia, is Twilight actually...the enemy?" Rainbow Dash asked.
I wasn't too sure how to answer her. I felt that if what the Shadowbolt said was true, then Twilight would've been the one responsible. Of course, you already know that, since the last few pages in this book has been talking about what she had been doing. In any case, I knew that I couldn't just sit down and twiddle my thumbs, even if I had them. My top concern was to actually get to the Arcane Tower and stop whatever was happening there. Although, I won't lie, I wasn't exactly prepared to take down my prize student at the time.
I'm sure Twilight's friends all couldn't agree with me more. With Luna missing, and Twilight Sparkle certainly being public enemy number one, it was probably the darkest moment of my life.
I eventually decided to stop denying it. I knew for a fact that Twilight was responsible for the chaos. I knew I had to stop her. The only probably was that I wasn't entirely sure if I was up to it.
As we flew in closer and closer to the Arcane Tower, we found a large, strange electrical storm in the direction of the tower. I deemed it too dangerous for us to continue further by flight, so me and Rainbow Dash brought the rest of the group back to the ground.
We didn't to just charge right in because of how dangerous things were likely to get. While the others were discussing the issue at hoof with each other, I took the chance to have Spike write a letter for me.
"Shining Armor!" I said to Spike. "I am currently at the forest of the Arcane Tower, along with Twilight Sparkle's friends. We intend to put an end to loss of magic in Equestria and intend stop it by any means necessary. There is a possibility though that we may lose our lives in this, especially mine. Should something happen to me, I will need you to watch out for my Kingdom until a new ruler is decided. Yours truly, Princess Celestia."
Twilight's friends were all scared by the letter I had Spike write. Especially Fluttershy, who had to be held back by Applejack so she couldn't fly away.
"Oh! PS: Cadance told me about the baby. Congratulations." I quickly added before Spike sent the letter away.
"Wait! If Twilight is doing all this craziness, what exactly ARE we gonna do?" Applejack asked.
"Twilight has been a great friend to us." Rarity said. "We're not going to make an orphan of poor Spiky, are we?"
I wasn't too sure how to answer them. I had mostly been silent so as to not say anything they wouldn't like. It wasn't until then that I realized that they had all been as worried about Twilight as I was. Maybe even more so. My silence must've been scarring them more then anything else, because they didn't know what I intended to do. Ironically, I didn't exactly know what I was going to do myself.
"What ever we do, my little ponies, I promise you that we will bring Twilight home safe and sound. In fact, we will make that our number one priority."
At least I told them something. And it wasn't even a lie. I actually had the intention to bring my student back home, and the other knew that I was telling the truth. While they were small, we all managed to create smiles, as wel all had hope to saving Twilight from this madness.
Suddenly, Spike, burped out a letter that was sent to me. It was written by Shining Armor, and after reading it, I cheered right up through laughter.
I showed the others that the letter said...'CADANCE IS PREGNANT!?' Much to everypony's evil pleasure. I was so glad such a thing lifted our spirits.
In any case, we walked further into the forest to get to the tower. The forest was much different then when I first had Twilight come. As the magic had been going into the tower, the trees had been dying, as they had been going from green to brown. The last time I went there, it was full of greenery. It was just one more reason we had to stop Twilight.
"Hey, I've been thinking of something." Rainbow Dash said. "Pinkie Pie went in here with Twilight too. Do you think she's alright too?"
"I think she's dead, Rainbow Dash." Rarity answered.
"Wow. You really see the glass half empty. Don't you, Rarity?"
"No. I mean I think she's dead. Look over there!"
On the path ahead of us had lied the pink pony, Pinkie Pie. From what the others could tell, she was not moving, which would explain Rarity's belief.
"PINKIE PIE!" Everypony shouted.
They charged to her to make sure she wasn't hurt. Sadly, they could tell right away that she had taken some injuries. Fluttershy reached to turn Pinkie's body to have her face the rest. This ended up horrifying everypony, as Pinkie Pie's eyes were wide open, but unfocused. None of them had ever imagined such a thing happening to Pinkie Pie, a pony with a contagious smile.
"Oh...sugar cube." Applejack said sadly, with some tears leaking out. "Poor...poor, poor sugar cube."
"Did...Twilight do this?" Spike asked.
The ponies and Spike were all sadden from finding Pinkie Pie, but I had a sense of doubt. I walked over to observe the body, having the others move from way. I was sensing a small trace of life left in her, and I knew how to use it.
"Girls! I need some space." I said.
As I ordered, the others took a few steps back. I had then focused for a moment to charge up my magic, and when it was at its peak, I fired a powerful light directly at Pinkie Pie. I knew that there was still hope for her, so I took the chance of restore life to her. I had to use an extremely advanced spell, one that only I could use, to do it. But considering it was one of Twilight's best friends, as well as the Element of Laughter, I didn't even had to think about it.
When I had finished, I took a few steps back to give Pinkie Pie some space, hoping that my spell would work. We all saw some good signs. Eye twitching, hoofs twitching, tail twitching. Basically, twitching was a very good thing. And then...
"TWILIGHT! WHAT DID SHE DO? HOW COULD SHE DO THAT!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she jumped up. "Umm...how did I get here?"
"PINKIE PIE!" Everypony shouted.
At last, some good news came. Pinkie Pie had been returned to the group alive and well. They were all extremely grateful of me for reviving Pinkie Pie, but I did not want them to feed my ego. Especially not at that time.
"Pinkie Pie, you must tell us. What happened to you?" I asked her.
"Oh, what HASN'T happened to me? I helped stop Discord from ruling the world, I baby sat for the Cake twins, and have I ever told you how I got my cutie mark?"
"No, I mean what happened to you NOW!"
"Oh. Well, the last thing I remember was that Twilight went crazy, defeated Luna, started to mooch off her magic, then threw me out of the tower."
"Oh my, were you alright?" Rarity asked, only to remember what happened a minute ago. "Never mind. Stupid question."
I heard what I needed to hear anyway. Twilight wasn't just willing to fight off my sister, she was even willing to attack her close friend. It seemed like Twilight was no longer the Twilight she once was, which I actually found to be a good thing. As much as I wanted to save Twilight, I knew if she was no longer the Twilight Sparkle I once called my student, I would have no hesitation to fight her myself.
I knew I would regret it afterwards, but I had to deal with one problem at a time.
Eventually, we reached the outside of the Arcane Tower, where Twilight was draining the magic. At this point, Pinkie Pie had told as much as she remembered, such as Twilight's plan to use the Wish spell to change the world for the better, but with the amount of magic she was draining, as well as her recent actions, I knew she would cause more damage then she was already causing.
We looked up and saw the magic being brought to the tower. A large purple vortex of magical energy was enter the tower from the very top, where Twilight Sparkle was. There was so magic around here that one could actually hear it in the air. For some reason, the other weren't feeling the negative effects of Magic Drain. my guess was that the Elements of Harmony were somehow protecting them. My own large reserves of Magic must've been protecting myself as well. But with due time, none of that may of made any difference.
"Don't worry, Twilight." Spike said. "We're here to save you."
"Spike?" A voice called out.
From the top of the tower came a bolt of magic that came down and struck Spike like lightning.
"SPIKEY!" Rarity shouted.
"Oh no!" I said.
Spike was hit with a very powerful spell. His body glowed purple, and in an instant, the baby dragon Spike was gone, and in its place came a giant, fully grown Spike. I don't know if you've ever seen one, but a fully grown dragon are known for being rather...big.
"AAHH! GIANT DRAGON!" Fluttershy shouted as she ran for cover.
The fully grown Spike was unable to control himself, as he began to attack his friends by waving his tail and stomping on the ground. If he had breathed fire at any point of this battle, it would've been pretty bad. All the other's could've done was hide and take cover,
"I guess you've had the right idea this time, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said.
"This is turning into Spike's birthday all over again." Rarity adds.
"Yeah, but this time, we have Princess Celestia with us." Pinkie said. "Kick his butt, Princess!"
Just as Pinkie Pie said, I was the only one who didn't hide from Spike. He was transformed by a highly advanced age spell, and I was the only one who had the power to reverse. Sure, I was scared. Deathly scared for that matter, but Spike was important to me and Twilight, so I had to help him. As Spike tried to lunge at me with his giant jaws, I fired of bolt of magic of my own into his mouth.
As quickly as it started, it all ended. Spike stopped attacking, he glowed white, then immediately shrunk back down to old normal self. After transforming again, he was left out like a light. It must've been a little too exciting for the little guy since he fell asleep so easily.
"Aww, he looks so cute when he's asleep." Rarity said. "It's almost like watching Sweetie Belle sleeping."
"WHOOHEE! That some great work of magic there, Princess." Applejack complimented.
"I'm afraid you can't get too happy, Applejack." I told her. "Twilight was clearing the one controlling Spike. She was attacking us just now."
"Not attacking. Merely stalling for another minute!"
From the top of the tower, a dark blue body was hurled through a hole in the wall, which then plummeted towards the ground. It was my sister Luna, body shrunken and magically sapped, she was completely powerless and weak as a new born foal. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy saw her falling, flew up, and caught her together. They carefully laid her on the ground where I could speak to her.
"Luna! Speak to me!"
She was still weak and barely alive, but after hearing my voice, she slowly opened her eyes.
"She's become...more powerful...then us." Luna said weakly. "Maybe more then...Discord..."
She hardly had the strength to speak, and quickly passed out. Twilight had clearly stole Luna's magic and discarded her when she was all out. Twilight was making this personal now. She simply had to be stopped.
"Girls, we're leaving Luna down here with Spike. It's time to have a talk with Twilight Sparkle.
"Feel free to stop calling me Twilight Sparkle!"
Without any of us seeing it coming, a strong magical force lifted us all up and brought us to the top of the tower in a matter of seconds, where all of the magic had been taken too. There, we saw her. Completely different from her previous self.
She had become a much larger being then before, having much longer legs, a bigger body, and a horn as long as mine. Her mane had also grown out quite a bit. Most alarmingly, she didn't just have a unicorn horn. She also managed to give herself a pair of pegasus wings. She had transformed herself into an alicorn. To do such a thing to her own body...
"From this moment on, you are all to address me as Twilight Star, the new ruler of Equestria!"
Twilight Star. The end result of Twilight Sparkle absorbing Equestria's magic, along with the magic from Princess Luna herself. The magic capacity of her body had reached an unmeasurable level, creating an unlimited potential, and the alicorn appearance she gave herself definitely added to it all. The body she created was an abomination, and I personally didn't even classify this result as pony. To match this description, the overload of magic had twisted her mind into insanity.
A monster made of pure magic. That's what she was. That's what she became.
"Twilight Sparkle! What have you done to yourself?" I asked angrily.
"I told you. My name is now Twilight Star!" She said in a loud, ominous voice.
"Twilie! What have you been doing?" Pinkie Pie asked. "You said you were doing all of this so that you can make Equestria better, but everyone has just been getting sad, feeling weak, or...you know...dying."
"Pinkie Pie's right, darling. Poor Sweetie Belle terribly sick by all you've been doing." Rarity said.
"And just now, you threw Princess Luna out the window like an alarm clock." Rainbow Dash added. "You even used Spike to attack us! What's wrong with you?"
"All small sacrifices for the new world. The one you yourself trusted me to lead, Celestia."
"Twilight, I tasked you to lead Equestria, but not like this. You're no where near ready for such a thing, and how you plan to do it right now is simply horrible." I told her.
"I disagree. Observe."
Wanting to show off her newly gained powers Twilight 'Star' made her move. The tower started to shake and crumble with me and the others feeling the vibrations until the roof of the top floor flew right off, allowing us to see the dark sky above us. Then, she did something that horrified me.
The only factor that reminded everypony that it was still the day was that the Sun was still in the sky, despite the dark skies. This changed. Without me doing anything, the Sun started to move. From the opposite direction, we all saw that Moon was also rising. Twilight was controlling the movements of both the Sun and the Moon. Not even I can move both together.
"OH NO! I've heard about this!" Pinkie said. "We only have 3 days before she brings the moon down to us!"
"No...but what is she up too?." I asked.
Twilight used what had become godly powers to change the locations of the Sun and Moon. The Moon was brought up high in the sky, with the Sun lowered. As the two moved into position, Moon began to turn red as a orange light shines in the distance. With this, Twilight had created a lunar eclispe.
"The days of the Celestia's Sun and Luna's Moon is now over. I show now merge night and day as one, and create Twilight."
"Twilight Sparkle...how..how can you possibly do this? It's absolute madness!" I asked her, despite being futile.
"You yourself admitted that you are not qualified to rule your own land, but I have become more then you ever have been. I will do anything by any means to create a newer, perfect world, and I will keeping doing it until I succeed, no matter cost, no matter the casualties, and no matter the obstacle."
She wouldn't listen to reason, and she wouldn't listen to me. The girls were shocked by the fact they had lost their friend, and I was sadden that I had lost my star pupil. However, this was a good thing. I was 100% convinced that Twilight Sparkle truly was gone, and all that remained was the monster, Twilight Star.
I looked and saw the Element of Magic lying on the ground. I magically removed my own crown and replaced it with the Element. While I had long since lost the ability to use the other five, the Element of Magic was still usable, although not to the same degree as Twilight Sparkle herself.
"Girls, the worst case scenario had happened. Twilight Sparkle is gone. The one in front of you is not her. This is only...a monster! A monster that must be stopped to save Equestria. I know for a fact that the real Twilight wouldn't want this beast to have its way."
This was hard on Twilight's friends. They were forced into a position where they had to fight their best friend. They knew it wouldn't be easy for them.
However, they knew that they had to do it for Twilight Sparkle. As loyal, generous, kind, honest, and happy friends of Twilight Sparkle, they knew that they had to stop the abomination that had long since consumed the real Twilight, and put an end to the evil. One by one, they activated the Elements of Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, and Laughter, all while I personally activated the Element of Magic.
"HeheheHAHAHAHA! You honestly believe that you can create enough magic to stop me? I have surpassed the Elements of Harmony!"
With Elements at full power, we fired a power wave of rainbow colored energy towards Twilight Star, which fired at an incredible speed. Unfortunately, the attack was blocked by a spell from Twilight Star, resisting it.
"Keep it up, everypony! We can do it!"
"A hopeless endeavor."
With a swipe of her horn, Twilight Star completely repelled our attack, knocking all of us backwards. It was the first time the Elements of Harmony had actually failed, the fail-safe Elements of Harmony couldn't do a thing to stop Twilight Star.
"My Turn."
In response, Twilight blasted me with a bolt of magical lightning. The pain from the sudden attack caused me to fall over on the ground. I tried to get back up, only to get shocked again. I was given absolutely no rule to launch another attack. Then, Twilight Star began to use Magic Drain directly on me, but unlike how she did it to my sister, she drained my powers at a greater speed, making it more painful.
"Twi...light..."
"Enough!"
To silence me, she fired one last beam of magic at me with such force to render me unconscious. She then went on to drain my magic until I had nothing left to give. I was right. This really wasn't Twilight Sparkle, for she would never of done such a thing to me.
"Princess Celestia!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she saw me being defeated.
After a very harsh draining of my powers, Twilight stopped, and my weakened body caused me to shrink down to a younger form, much like Luna. With no magic left in my body, with my mane back to its original pink colored mane as proof, I had completely failed to rescue Twilight Sparkle.
"Perfect! With approximately 90% of Equestria's magic in my hooves, as well as the the magic from Celestia and Luna themselves, I have all that I need to reshape this world to perfection! Activating the Wish spell!"
Obviously, she had a lot of magic. Too much magic, for that matter. I believe her plan was to try and change the entire world with just one spell, where its effectiveness would be determined by how much magic one would invest into. The magnitude of power Twilight Star was planning to add to it was extremely dangerous though, as the pure force of it could destroy Equestria easily. With a cast of her spell, she unleashed a blinding light to 'change the world'.
Now as you are obviously alive, since you are reading this book, I don't think I need to tell you that the spell didn't work the way she intended. Although, something did go wrong. Horribly wrong.
After Twilight Star's attack, the others were all surprised by the fact that they were still alive. They weren't too sure as to what was suppose to happen, they were just surprised to still be standing.
"Okay, five bits says that NONE of us saw that coming." Rainbow Dash said.
"I certainly didn't." Applejack said. "And I'm pretty sure SHE didn't either."
A minute earlier, Twilight Star was standing proudly on the Arcane Pedestal, preparing to change the world as she saw fit. But after casting the Wish spell, she had suffered a great shock to her body, as magical energy was discharging from body as she tried to maintain her form. She was confused, in pain, and lost much control of the situation, and her sanity was starting to dwindle even further.
"Sweet heavens!" Rarity shouted. "I've never seen such magical backlash!"
"Magical what-now?" Applejack said.
"Backlash. It sometimes happens when a young unicorn is still learning magic. Sometimes when we cast a spell and it fails, we simply waste magic. But when a spell downright fails, the magic can go rebound right back into the body."
"Sounds painful." Pinkie added.
"Oh, it's not usually, darling. For a little filly, it just leads to a little dizziness. Although, in this case..."
Everything Rarity said was exactly right. A magical backlash isn't normally too serious for young unicorns, or even fully grown alicorns like myself. However, Twilight Star was more magic then flesh. I'm confident that there was more magic in her veins then even blood. This was the biggest magical backlash in history, and made Twilight's form highly unstable.
"What...what just happened? Why didn't my spell work?" Twilight Star asked, demanding an answer.
"I think I know." Pinkie Pie said as she approached her old friend. "Twilight, don't you remember how the wishing-for-cupcakes spell worked?"
"Yes. With enough magic used in it, I could do anything I want to do!"
"But you can't! Did you forget? The only ones who can use it are though with a pure and innocent heart." Pinkie Pie explained. "I guess...I guess that you don't have that anymore, Twilie. I guess...you really aren't Twilight Sparkle anymore."
Pinkie Pie was deeply sadden that she really did lose her best friend, as the innocent soul that was once Twilight Sparkle's had no longer existed. Only a demon of power.
"GAH! No matter. I'm already the most powerful creature in the world! I'll simply reforge a new world with my own hooves."
"Oh, no you don't, sugar cube!"
As an unexpected change occurred in her plans, Twilight decided that it was time for her to leave. Using her newly created wings, they unleashed a burst of air towards her former friends as they unfolded. As she was raising up, Applejack had took out a rope, spun it in the air, and hook it on one of Twilight Star's leg. After a few flaps, she rose to the air, and flew away from the tower, with Applejack dangling underneath.
"Applejack!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, you three stay here with the Princess! I'll be right back!"
Quickly running and flying away as well, Rainbow Dash went into pursuit of Twilight Star to rescue Applejack, and maybe try and stop Twilight. The other stood behind to watch after me, as I was taken out of commission, due to my magic being completely gone.
"Poor, Princess Celestia." Rarity said. "Not even she could say Twilight, and now look what happened to her."
"It feels like we're losing all of our friends." Pinkie Pie said with a sad face. "First Twilight, then Spike and Luna, then the Princess her, and now we've been abandoned by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy!"
"Oh, sweetie, they didn't abandon us. They simply went off to...wait, where IS Fluttershy?"
Twilight didn't realize that she had any welcomed company until she flew into a rocky valley, which did have much life growing around it before Twilight started to steal the magic. By that point, she cared very little about what Applejack was doing.
"Come on, Twilight! You can put the magic back right now, I think, and we can go back to the way things were!"
"This magic belongs to me and me alone! I am the only one it can be trusted with!"
Not wanting to be bothered, Twilight magically transformed the rope tied to her to a piece of string,which immediately broke, and sent Applejack falling towards the rocky ground. Much to her luck, Rainbow Dash zoomed down belong and caught Applejack, preventing some very serious injury.
"Okay, WHAT were you thinking?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"For a unicorn who's been standing in one spot for a whole day, she's surprisingly strong." She answered.
The two were safe at the moment, but knew fully well that doom was flying right above them, but they stayed brave for the situation nonetheless, even though the situation meant fighting their own friend who sought to take over the world
"Even now, after defeating Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, you wish to try and stop me? Such stupidity!"
"The REAL Twilight Sparkle would never say that!" Applejack said.
"I told you. I am no longer Twilight Sparkle. It's Twilight Star! And if you're not willing to listen to reason..."
"Reason? REASON?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "You've lost all sense of reason! If you had so much as a spec of reason, or even intelligence Twilight, then you would remember how much more important friendship is to you then just magic!"
Twilight Star grew furious at Rainbow Dash for what she that was a bold statement. To respond, she began to charge magic into her horn, with the intent to strike Rainbow Dash down.
"WAIT!"
Just then, the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, flew in front of Twilight, something none of them had expected. While Twilight was unphases, Rainbow Dash and Applejack got even more scared.
"Fluttershy, get out of here!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Let me talk to her. I know I can make her come to her senses!"
Never had Fluttershy put herself into such a dangerous position, and she once flew in the face of a giant dragon, which literally IS the face of danger. As much as Rainbow and Applejack didn't like it, they knew if anypony could calm Twilight down, it was Fluttershy.
"I'm ready to attack Rainbow Dash. If you don't move, I will take you down first!"
"Please, Twilight. Everything you've been doing, it's just wrong! You've hurt Pinkie Pie, the princesses, and I'd imagine Cadance and her baby can't be doing too well right now. You've set out to help everypony, but you're doing the exact opposite. You can go down to Ponyville and see the fear chaos."
"When I'm done, such words won't even exist!"
"You've brought darkness to our home, and misery to it's inhabitants, and it's been proven that your goals are not so pure or innocent anymore. If you keep this up, you'll destroy everything you hold dear. So please, as my friend, and as future ruler of Equestria, please stop this madness. I don't want to see anyone else hurt. Especially you."
Fluttershy was happy with what she had said. She stood up to her corrupted friend, made her listen, and gave Twilight the truth. She was certain that her words managed to reach down to the real Twilight Sparkle that was still inside Twilight Star.
However, after looking Twilight Star in the eyes, fear struck her again.
"My friends are useless now."
Using the magic she kept stored into her horn, she fired a concentrated magical beam, at point-blank range, passing through Fluttershy's body. It struck her so fast that she didn't even realized what Twilight had done to her. On top of that, Rainbow Dash and Applejack could only watch in horror as one of their best friends attacks another of their best friends. The horror shook them so badly that they didn't even make a reaction when they saw their yellow friend fall from the sky and crash land onto the rocky ground below her.
"Fl...Flutter...shy..." Rainbow Dash said softly. "FLUTTERSHY!"
After so long, Twilight Star had finally crossed the moral event horizon, as she had went for blood. Despite the horrible crime she committed, I at least knew that this wasn't Twilight Sparkle anymore. Of course, that doesn't justify Twilight Star's actions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without hesitation, Twilight Star had shot down Fluttershy from the sky, completely ignoring everything that she was told. Rainbow Dash and Applejack rushed to their friend to see if she was alright, only to find great horror in what they saw.
Poor, poor Fluttershy. Quiet, humble, and innocent, lied on the rocky ground with a hole running through her body, eyes wide opened from the initial shock, and her breathing non-existent. Rainbow Dash and Applejack saw it with their own eyes. Twilight Star ruthlessly killed Fluttershy.
"I told her to stay out of my way. No matter. She's just a small sacrifice for the new world." Twilight Star said.
"WHAT!? You killed one of your best friends and that's ALL you have to say?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Rainbow Dash, there's no use in arguing with her." Applejack explained. "She's no longer thinking clearly."
"I'M not thinking clearly. HeheheHAHAHA! She flew directly into death! If I had know she wanted to die so badly, I would've helped her all the way back in Ponyville!"
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe a word that Twilight was saying as her tears of sorrow quickly became tears of anger.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" She asked in a loud, angry voice. "SHE WAS ONE OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS! SHE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!"
"As I had told Pinkie Pie, friendship means nothing to me as long as I have Equestria's magic."
As Rainbow Dash's sorrow for losing Fluttershy grew, so did her anger towards Twilight Star. She started to cry more and more, and she was breathing harder and harder. At the peak of her rage, she stared up at Twilight with intense hatred in her eyes, caring not whether or not Twilight was her friend.
"Twilight..." She said quietly. "Twilight...I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"
She then took off at a supersonic speed, tackling Twilight Star before she even realized the blue pegasus had even moved. The instant Rainbow Dash made contact with her target, due to a combination of her amazing speed and her great anger, she created one of her famous sonic rainbooms, which created a large, colored ring from the impact point while also creating a stream of rainbows as she moved.
Through the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow Dash rammed into Twilight Star, carried her high into the air, then took Twilight back towards the ground at an even higher speed, slamming her into the ground at Mach speed, ending the whole thing with another ring of colors, as well as a large explosion altogether, with with Rainbow Dash flying out after finishing the attack.
"Well I'll be an orange farmer! You did it, Rainbow Dash! YEEHAH!" Applejack shouted.
"But at what cost?" Rainbow asked as she landed back on the ground. "Now we've lost Twilight AND Fluttershy. And Fluttershy...we were just talking about how we were best friends, and...well, she was right. I just lost my best friend."
"We all did, sugarcube." Applejack said with sincerity. "We all did."
With their former friend taken down by Rainbow Dash, she and Applejack were able to mourn the lost of Fluttershy. All she was trying to do was to help Twilight Sparkle, thinking she could still get back her old friend from the evil she had evolved into. Fluttershy didn't deserve what came to her, and yet she still had to suffer from her mistake, although the ones who probably suffered the most was her friends who had to bare witness her fall.
"NO PONY IN THIS WORLD CAN TAKE ME DOWN! I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN CHANGE THIS WORLD"
From behind them, Rainbow Dash and Applejack began to hear a large magical burst discharging in the air, creating a constant crackling sound. From the crater Rainbow Dash created rose Twilight Star, who had become more unstable and uncontrollable then ever before.
"THE WORLD WILL END, AND IN IT'S PLACE WILL BE THE WORLD OF TWILIGHT!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back at the Arcane Tower, Pinkie Pie and Rarity felt useless as they couldn't chase after Twilight Star and the others, with the only consolation was that they had to watch over me as I lied useless at the tower as well. After a while, Rarity spotted an exit and began to walk towards it.
"Rarity, what are you doing?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm going home. I'd rather be with Sweetie Belle then here when the world ends." Rarity answered.
"That's crazy. How can you just get up and leave while our friends are trying to save us? This isn't like a crashed party."
"Oh Pinkie Pie, you have to face facts. We're not going to win. Both of the Princesses are defeated, the Elements of Harmony harmony are useless, and there's no more magic that can be used to stop Twilight. Face reality, Pinkie. We've lost."
The defeated Rarity once again made her way back to the exit in hopes to return to Ponyville as quickly as possible, leaving Pinkie Pie to feel the same way as she did. But unlike Rarity, Pinkie felt much more determined to see this until the end. So she ran ahead of Rarity and blocked her off.
"Listen up, Rare! I don't face reality. Reality faces ME!"
"That...didn't make any sense, dear."
"WHO CARES!? All that matter is that we have friends out there fighting for EVERYPONY'S lives, and here we are acting like we've lost already! Well let me tell you something that I think you've forgotten about friendship. As long as our friends haven't given up on us, we can't give up on them! And while Twilight has gone nuts, I choose to not give up on her! You can't give up on Twilight either. She's the one who showed how much more important friendship is to us. Now I think it's time for US to remind her what it means as well."
Rarity was surprised by Pinkie's outburst, being surprised that she was still willing to help Twilight, especially after she was found nearly dead by Twilight herself. With a nod and a smile...
"You are absolutely right, Pinkie Pie." Rarity said. "But we still don't have the power to stop her."
"OOH! I know!" In an instant, Pinkie Pie left and return to retrieve a scroll for Rarity. "Maybe this will help. I saw it when Twilight blasted us away."
"The Magic Drain spell?" Rarity read.
"That's the spell Twilight used to become so powerful. Maybe you can use it to take back the magic and fight back!"
"Oh...I don't know. The last thing we new now is a second Twilight Star. Although...me as an alicorn would-OH, look! I'm turning evil already!
"Come on! Princess Celestia and Luna are out cold, Twilight is the main antagonist, and I'm not even a unicorn! Your our last chance."
"Well, I guess you're...wait, what was that you called twi- oh, never mind. I'm sure your answer would confuse me even more."
Taking the risk and studying the Magic Drain spell, Rarity began to prepare what was the only chance at defeating Twilight Star. The spell was simple, so it didn't take Rarity long to figure out how to use it. It only took her a minute to realize that the Arcane Pedestal described in the scroll was the platform Twilight was standing on earlier.
"Okay, I guess I'm ready. Here goes nothing."
Standing on the pedestal and having the spell memorized, she immidiately activated it. Rarity quickly felt a large amount of magic entering her body. She felt nothing wrong right away, but then she started to struggle with the magic that she was absorbing.
"AHH! Too...much...magic..." Rarity said with pain.
Much like what happened with Twilight, Pinkie Pie noticed that Rarty was starting bleed from her eye, scaring her.
"RARITY! STOP!"
Upon Pinkie Pie's cry, she Rarity stopped Magic Drain, then walked off the pedestal with dizzy movements. Even when she stood still, she had a hard time standing still.
"Are you alright, Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Ow...this can't be right. I've only been taking in magic for like 15 seconds, but Twilight has been doing it for a whole day. I never knew she could hold so much magic in that little body of hers. She must've been stronger then we realized."
"That's our Twilight Sparkle! Always being the best at magic!"
"Oh...it hurts... I can't take it." Rarity said as she felt the magic tearing her up on the inside. "I...have to...let it...OUT!"
Feeling too much pressure in her body, Rarity releases a huge surge of magic from her horn, not aiming it well, and accidently shot my body with it.
"Ahh...much better." She said with relief. "Okay, so that's clearly not going to work. Any other ideas?"
"Oh my gosh...Rarity, look!"
Pinkie Pie saw that Rarity's magic surge had hit me, but it didn't hurt me at all. In fact, it helped re-energized me,and the other two knew that because I started to move again, although still weakly. While Rarity isn't powerful enough to absorb the magic, she and Pinkie Pie knew that I was, and they let out a squee together as they came up with a new plan of attack.
Magic is a very powerful thing, and can do great things in the right hooves. As one can imagine though, in evil hooves, magic can do terrible things. Common knowledge. While I've seen evil magic come and go, what actually brings fear to me is uncontrollable magic. That was exactly what Twilight Star had become.
After flying out of the crater she was knocked in by Rainbow Dash, Twilight Star continued to release more and more magical energy, constantly firing bolts of magic uncontrollably and becoming more and more unstable. She had become more then an abomination of magic. She was essentially a magical bomb.
"I AM THE HERALD OF THE NEW WORLD! THE QUEEN OF MAGIC! I AM INVINCIBLE!"
"Yeah, I wish I knew that a few minutes ago." Rainbow Dash said.
"You just had to throw her in the ground, didn't you Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked.
"FOR YOUR DEFIANCE, I PROMISE TO DO TO YOU WHAT FLUTTERSHY WOULD'VE WISH TOO...Wait a second."
Twilight Star suddenly sensed something. A suddenly sensation she didn't like. Although although barely noticeable, she felt some of her magic being taken away from her, mainly the magic that was already being released from her body. She completely forgot about Rainbow Dash and Applejack and turned her attention to the direction of the Arcane Tower where she felt some magic being built at.
"WHO DARES TOUCH MY MAGIC!" Twilight Star said before she flew away.
"Hey, get back here!"
Completely ignoring Rainbow Dash, Twilight started to make her way back to the tower with haste to investigate. Applejack had the intention of following her again, but she didn't want to leave with Rainbow Dash, who took the moment of peace to mourn for Fluttershy, her fallen friend.
"Come on, sugarcube. The others need us." Applejack said.
"Yeah...yeah..."
Using what was left of her rope, Applejack tied an end to one of Rainbow Dash's hooves, allow Rainbow to fly away with Applejack just below her, allowing both to chase after Twilight Star together. Despite the fact that they were suppose to be chasing after Twilight, Rainbow Dash didn't fly overly fast, especially since she's suppose to be among the fastest flyers in Equestria. She was still looking back and thinking about Fluttershy.
"Applejack?"
"Yeah Dash?"
"Things aren't going to be the same after this, will it."
Applejack, the Element of Honesty, couldn't say anything, because she knew that her opinion wasn't something that her friend would want to hear.
After a quick fly back to the tower, Twilight Star arrived with rage, knowing that not all of her magic was with her anymore. She landed on the top of the tower with great force and quickly found out what happened. Rarity was using Magic Drain to take in magic, much like Twilight herself was doing, but unlike Twilight, Rarity had more plans then simply becoming stronger.
"ELEMENT OF GENEROSITY MY FLANK! YOU DARE STEAL MY MAGIC?"
The angered Twilight immediately fired a shot of magic at Rarity. She expected her to either run away or to be blasted off, but instead, her attack was intercepted by a second blast of magic, one that didn't even come from Rarity.
"Twilight, the tables are finally be turned!" A familiar voice said.
She turned and saw what was actually going on. Rarity was doing much more then simply absorbing magic. She was also using a second spell that fired the magic directly into my body. I had finally managed to regain my strength thanks to Rarity, and I owed my thanks to Pinkie Pie as well for coming up with the idea. While my body was restored to peak condition, I noticed that Twilight Star's was practically crumbling. Her magic was being released from all over her body uncontrollably, and I could tell from her voice that she had reached the peak of her sanity.
"Oh...my...girls, what happened to Twilight while I was out?"
"Well, when she tried to use some spell..." Rarity began.
"The Wishing spell!" Pinkie Pie interrupted.
"Yes, yes, she tried to use that spell, but suffered from magical backlash when it failed. She's been like this ever since."
"WHAT? Magical backlash? With that much magic in her?" I asked in fear.
"Why, it never hurts little kids very much. Not even full grown ponies for that matter."
"Normally, no. But Twilight Star is by no means a mere pony. With so much magic concentrated in one body, she's clearly still suffering from the effects of the backlash. Her magic has become completely unstable and I highly doubt she can control it any more."
"NONSENSE!" Twilight said. "AS THE NEW RULER OF THE WORLD, I SHALL CONTROL ALL MAGIC! NOTHING WILL STOP ME!"
"Twilight, you've become just as dangerous to yourself as the rest of Equestria! If something's not done, you will destroy Equestria. Maybe even the world! Everything that Chronos warned us about will come true.
"VERY WELL. IF I HAVE TO DESTROY THE WORLD TO CHANGE IT, I WILL DO IT!"
What can I really say about that quote? To destroy the world to save it? She didn't even understand what made sense anymore, and since she was in such a critical state, there was only one option left. I had to destroy Twilight Star before she could destroy the world, which wouldn't be hard for her to do. If she wouldn't destroy it directly with spells, she would've destroyed it by completely blowing up.
"Rarity, you have to make sure to keep funneling magic to me. I'll need every tiny drop I can get for this." I said to her.
"Yes, your highness." Rarity answered as she continued to give me magic."
"IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SURRENDER, THEN I SHALL DESTROY YOU ALL BEFORE I MOVE ON TO THE WORLD!"
"Twilight Star, your crimes are unforgivable. Stealing the magic of our land, attempted Regicide and high treason, and...and taking away my dearest student from me. For the sake of Equestria, my friends and family, and the honour of Twilight Sparkle, I will will put an end to your madness."
"VERY WELL, PRINCESS! THIS TIME I WILL DO TO YOU WHAT I DID TO FLUTTERSHY!"
I was very shocked by what she said, and I could tell that Rarity and Pinkie were more then curious as to what happened, but I digress. I had my focus completely on stopping Twilight Star and return peace.
Me and Twilight both flew up above above the tower where there was more room for us to fight. She then showed off her powers by creating a clear, crystal like platform in the air, where the two of us landed on. This crystal floor was our arena. It was where our final battle took place. My powers was being amplified by Rarity's attempt to help while Twilight's had reached beyond the level of a god's. This was not like a simple magical duel. This was a battle to the death.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE UP AGAINST, CELESTIA!" She said as she began to charge up magic. "I WILL NOT HOLD BACK!"
"You are free to not hold back, but you are not free to win." I replied as I began to charge my own magic. "I've had to live with many failures during my long life, but I will not be adding this on the list."
"THEN I MAKE SURE YOU WON'T LIVE TO SEE IT!"
"Your madness ends now!"
As soon as my magic was at its maximum, I unleashed a mighty wave of white magic, to which Twilight responded with a purple one. The force from each of our attacks were easily fatal to any normal pony, and quite likely to ones of my caliber as well. They each quickly reached to each other, and upon contact, a massive shockwave which nearly knocked Rarity off of the Arcane Pedestal, who barely hung on. Even Rainbow Dash, who was a fair distance away from the tower felt it.
These attacks were not made to simply be our openers. These were also our final attacks. We started to pour all of our might into these attacks, creating a reverse tug and war battle. The one to get overpowered by the other attack would ultimately lose. This was the begriming of the final battle for Equestria, and even the world.
It's never easy to punish someone you care for. I had to fight someone I cared for. I still have nightmares from banishing my sister to the moon, so of course I knew right away that I wouldn't have a good sleep for months.
This is when I had to do the hardest thing I ever had to do. Defeat Twilight Sparkle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our final battle began, and at the get-go, I was getting overpowered. The waves of magic we had fired at each other clashed into the other, creating creating a large ball of magic in between us and we kept on firing our attacks into it, trying surpass the other in power. As Twilight Star's attack intensified, the ball moved closer and closer to me, as I was unable to push it back. The only reason I wasn't defeated immediately was because Rarity was still supplying me with magic with Magic Drain.
"Twilight...you can still...stop this!" I told her. "It's not too late."
"THE WORLD SHALL BE DESTROYED AS PLANNED! AND YOU WILL BE THE FIRST TO DIE!"
She didn't even remembered her original goal anymore. The idea of her destroying the world by accident must've stuck into her head. I tried to use that to encourage me to defeat her, but even then, my powers were already at their limits. It seemed like I had already failed.
At the time, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had finally returned to the tower, where they saw Rarity helping me with the fight.
"Okay, clearly we missed something here." Applejack said.
"Umm, guys? Where's Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked, remembering Twilight saying something about Fluttershy.
This created a moment of silence, as neither Rainbow Dash nor Applejack wanted to say anything to remind them of what happened. Pinkie Pie didn't even need an answer. She just expected the worst.
"AAAHHH! It hurts..."
Reminding the other three of the situation with her screams of pain, the others saw Rarity suffer as she continuously took in magic and transferred it to me. Doing it at the pace she was doing, simultaneously for that matter, is unbelievably stressful for a common unicorn like herself. The stress from all that magic had began to make one of her eyes bleed again, but like me, she was near her limit.
"Come on, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie said as she jumped onto the Arcane Pedestal with Rarity. "We're depending on you!"
"I...can't...darling...I'm too weak..."
"She's right. All of us alone could never stop Twilight. Not even the Princess." Rainbow Dash said.
"Why would you say such a thing?" Applejack asked.
In response, Rainbow Dash flew over to Rarity's side, just like Pinkie Pie, and began to help her stand up. Incidentally, her body was also absorbing some of the magic, which greatly reduced the stress on Rarity. She seemed to of noticed this and started to increase the strength of the Magic Drain and magic transferring spells.
"Oh, I see what you're doing, Sugarcube."
Seeing her friends still need the help, Applejack jumped onto the pedestal as well to keep Rarity standing. At this time, the power I was receiving was beyond anything I had ever felt before. I could feel the strength that the group of friends had, and I could feel the magic they were supplying me. Using this strength and magic, I was able to fight back, and pushed the magic towards Twilight Star. The fight was finally looking my way.
"EVEN IF YOU SPOIL YOURSELF WITH THE MAGIC THAT BELONGS TO ME, YOU STAND NO CHANCE AGAINST MY POWER!"
"Even if I don't have the power you have, as long as your friends still believe in us and never give up, good will prevail."
"SHEER STUPIDITY. THE GREATER GOOD FOR EQUESTRIA WILL ONLY COME OUT OF DESTROYING IT! AS THE PRINCESS YOU'VE APPOINTED ME TO BECOME, IT IS MY DUTY TO PROTECT AND DESTROY THIS LAND!"
Not one word out of all that made even a little bit of sense, but even then, it drove her further to win. Her magic once again started to overpower me, as well as grow more and more unstable. Even if I could keep her attack from reaching me, the moment she would reach her limited would've meant the end to all of us, and that would include Equestria.
As her powers began to intensify, the attack began to reach closer to me. Even with Twilight's friends helping me, I was losing. It was also at this point that I noticed something scary. Twilight Star's face, of all things, started to crack. I don't mean crack like going crazy, since she was already there, but I mean it cracked. Cracked like it was made of glass. This was a sign that that the magic was too much of a strain on even her body. It was a sign that she was close to self-destructing. She had to be defeated before that, but I saw no chance to do it.
"I don't get it." Rarity said. "I'm giving her all I can give, but it's not working."
"Keep it up! Don't lose hope!" Applejack said.
As each of them continued to lend their strength, the Elements of Harmony they were each wearing started to react. The Element of Magic, which long since fell off my head, having no owner at the time, lied nearby without such a thing happening. Far away from the tower though, the Element of Kindness, worn by the fallen Fluttershy, was also reacting. When the light of it glowed up to its brightest, it was removed from Fluttershy's neck and blasted off towards the tower.
As the fight dragged on and on, Rainbow Dash began to lose hope, fearing that it was the end. It was then that she felt something trying to hold her body up, much like how she and the others were holding up Rarity. Much to her surprise, she was seeing an apparition of Fluttershy, smiling at Rainbow Dash, with the only part of her solid being the Element of Kindness. If she wasn't already helping with a life or death battle, Dash probably would've screamed.
"We can still save her. Don't give up."
Despite having been killed, Fluttershy still had hope that they can save Twilight Sparkle. Although confused by what was happening, Rainbow Dash is ultimately touched by Fluttershy's kindness and continues to help her friends, with Fluttershy helping in spirit (no pun intended). The will power of the five helped greatly, as I was able to stop being pushed back. But it still wasn't enough for me to fight back.
"EVEN WITH MORE POWER THEN YOU'VE EVER HAD, YOU HAVE YET TO SURPASS ME! NOR WILL YOU EVER!" Twilight Star said as her wings began to crack.
"I don't have to be stronger then you Twilight." I said to her. "I just have to beat you. We ALL have to beat you."
"YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN?" Twilight asked as more of her body cracked like glass. "YOU ARE UP AGAINST THE FACE OF A GOD! YOU ALONE ARE WEAK!"
As hard as it was for me to say it..."You're right. I am weak. I will not deny that. That is why..."
I had to think of what I was about to say very carefully, because it almost came out In a way I didn't actually mean. Then, after choosing my words carefully, I said exactly what I meant.
"That is why I chose Twilight Sparkle as my successor. You, Twilight Star, are not the student I taught, and are not the true heir to my throne. She is the one I trust the most, and she is the one I am most proud of. For the sake of my home, my student's honor, and her best friend's lives, I will show you where true magic comes from!"
At that point, the Element of Magic let out a bright glow as it laid on the ground. The light was noticed by the group on the pedestal, which caught them all by surprise. There, from the light, they see a second apparition walking towards them. The one who they had been fighting was walking towards them, wearing the Element of Magic on her head. This was the REAL Twilight Sparkle. The one the other five spent years befriending. Even she wanted Twilight Star destroyed for the sake of her home.
As the the group had finally been reunited, even if two of them were not really there, a miracle had occurred. As the six clumped in together to give Rarity support, each of their Elements activated. One by one, the Elements of Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, and Loyalty united together with the Element of Magic. As the six elements combined, they fired a powerful blast off magic towards me, greatly amplifying my powers. Enough so to have my magical attack finally overpower Twilight Star's, to the point where I was actually able to walk forward to push on the attack.
"IM...IMPOSSIBLE! I HAVE ALL THE MAGIC IN THE WORLD! I AM THE GOD OF MAGIC! HOW CAN YOU HAVE SO MUCH OF IT YOURSELF?"
"Twilight Star, you have no such thing." I said to her. "Twilight Sparkle, the real you, understood that true magic doesn't just come from from taking it with the Arcane Tower. Real magic comes from friendship. It's her friendship with the others that gave her the strength to do the impossible. The Elements of Harmony are used to turn that friendship directly into magic. The stronger their friendship, the stronger their magic. And this magic, that I'm using right now, is coming from that same friendship! Do you doubt their power? Then allow me to prove where the true power of magic comes from!"
Feeling the friendship coming from Twilight's friends, all of whom have stayed loyal enough to believe in her until the bitter end, my magic was able to completely overcome Twilight Star's attack, completely engulfing her with a power wave of magic.
"NO! NOOO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I AM THE TRUE QUEEN OF MAGIC! THE DESTROYER OF THE WORLD! I AM THE RULER OF THIS WORLD!"
"The madness ends now, Twilight Star. Give back my best friend!" I had ordered.
The magic that had been unleashed started to destroy the blob of magic that Twilight Star called her body, and the magic within started to escape as beams of light, as her body got consumed by the final attack. Then came the results that I didn't even consider beforehoof.
The magic within Twilight Star's unstable began to react with the magic from the Elements of Harmony, forming a ball of rainbow colored magic, encasing Twilight's body. At the peak of its power, it released a massive explosion of light. The light consumed me, Twilight's friends, and the entire tower. We all thought that it was the end of us all, especially when dome of light released a massive surge of magic which quickly spread throughout Equestria, filling the sky with rainbows.
I wasn't entirely sure what had happened at that moment. All I knew was that Twilight Star, the abomination of magic, was finally destroyed.
I found my self lying on the ground, barely conscious. After I peeled my eyes opened, I remembered what had happened.
I quickly got up and observed the area. On my left, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were starting to wake up, where on my right, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. After I realized that I was standing on the grass and wasn't in the Arcane Tower anymore, I looked around where I was at the time. Before me were the crumbled ruins of the very tower. It had gotten destroyed in the fight between me and Twilight Star.
It was said that the destruction of the tower would mean the destruction of most of Equestria, but at the time, all I knew was that magic itself would be gone. I immediately feared the worst case scenario. As I thought my magic was gone, I thought there would be no way for me to control the sun. The Sun and Moon were arranged into a lunar eclipse, which I thought would've been irreversible.
"Please...let there still be a small hope."
Testing to see if the magic was gone, I used my horn and concentrated. Catching me completely off-guard, my magic worked normally. I didn't understood why, but all I cared about was moving the Sun and Moon back into their original positions. As I raised the Sun back into the sky, its warm light once again shined across the land, and shined across me and the others as they all stood back up. As the sun raised, every pony else was had gotten up to look up at the sky, which returned to normal before long. As the light shined, all I could see were the Elements of Magic and Kindness lying on the ground, both without a wearer.
"YEEEE-HAAAA! YA DID IT, PRINCESS!" Applejack shouted happily.
"And we even managed to defeat Twilight!" Rarity added.
For a moment, the others were all happy for the victory. Shortly after, they realized how hollow the victory was since the one they helped defeat was their best friend. While good did come out of it, which was saving Equestria, they felt it wasn't entirely worth it in hindsight.
On a bright note, crawling out of some of the remaining rubble came my sister, Princess Luna, the baby dragon Spike, who have both regained their strength. Luna herself was back to her normal form.
"Whoa. Did we miss something?" Spike asked.
"I'm...alive!" Luna said. "WE'RE alive! Sister, what happened? Where's Twilight Sparkle?"
"I'm not entirely sure. She might be..."
It was then that I saw something behind a large pile of ruins. A purple, sparkling light coming from behind it. The first thing I did was fly straight there without considering any possible danger. There, I found her.
Twilight Sparkle, back to her original form, but with still clear signs of an unstable magical body. Small magical discharges, a nearly see-through body, and a weak body barely standing up, it was all that remained of the monster known as Twilight Star. I should've been happy to see Twilight Sparkle and not her evil form, but seeing my pupil weak and fading away...that was actually much worse a sight then before.
"TWILIE!" Pinkie Pie said with cheer.
"SUGAR CUBE!"
At first, the others were happy to see Twilight, but their smiles immediately turned into frowns upon getting a closer look. The once great Twilight Sparkle was slowly fading away as the remainder of her magic left her body.
"Everything...I did...was not what I wanted." Twilight said quietly.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Are you sane again?"
"You're not going to blow the world again, are you?" Pinkie added.
"I tried...helping every pony... the best I could. I nearly...killed them all."
Twilight couldn't hear Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash. She was completely lost in her world, feeling great depression of her actions. She had no idea what was happening around her and only thought of what she had done. Pinkie Pie tried to help by giving her a hug, only to fall right through her as if she wasn't there, almost like a ghost. We had hoped to bring Twilight back to her senses, but we could only watched as she stayed trapped in her misery. Worse of all, she had only a few minutes before vanishing completely.
"Princess Celestia, can't you help her now?" Rarity asked. "Surely there's a spell that can heal her or something."
"I'm sorry, Rarity." I answered. "Her body has been long gone consumed by the magic to the point of having it be made entirely by magic. Since she can no longer bind it."
"Oh...dear..." Rarity said as a tear began to shed.
I couldn't lie to them. It would've been insulting if I had lied and sugarcoated it. This was the saddest thing any of us had ever seen. A dear friend that we worked so hard to rescue, only to watch as their life came to an end. Many tears came from the group, including me, Spike, even Luna had a hard time to hide it, and she's the vengeful type.
"This isn't fair." Rainbow Dash said as she cried. "How can we lose our friend like this?"
"You will not."
That was when the miracle occurred, and for the first time, Twilight was taking notice of her surroundings. Coming from the sky came an orange beam of light that encased Twilight's body entirely. As the light shined over her, her body slowly became solid again. Twilight even began to notice where she was, finally seeing that all of her friends had been with her the whole time. She saw that they were all crying moments ago, but had suddenly started to smile again as her body became whole again.
Eventually, the beam of light disappeared, and upon so, Twilight's body was fully restored, leaving her everyone else confused as to what happened. She even stopped thinking about her actions to ponder over what happened. She then realized that she recognized the magic used, as well as the voice.
"No...it couldn't be..."
Looking up above, standing on a large pile of rubble where the Arcane Tower once stood was guardian of time himself. The owl man, Chronos, alive and well, looking down at us with a smile, something I had never actually seen him do in the thousand years had known him..
"It seems time will move on after all." Chronos said.
"Chronos? I-I thought...you should be dead!" Twilight said in shock How are you alive?"
"By an outcome that I did not predict."
"Hey, bird man!" Pinkie shouted. "There's only one chapter left here, so you better explain things now."
"Very well, and...what?" Chronos said. "Anyway, in my original predictions, the fall of the Arcane Tower would destroy all magic in Equestria, causing famine, lost homes, and around 80% of the unicorns to die."
That was when I first learned about that last part, and had I had the strength, I probably would've done something.
"However, you and you're allies did something,shall we say, unpredictable? First, you had actually took in in all of Equestria's magic, and stored it inside your own body. Then, as the Elements of Harmony destroyed your body, it created a reaction which not only caused the magic to return to the land and revitalized it with life, but completely destroyed the tower as a result of the crossfire."
"But wait. If we destroyed the tower, why didn't it destroy our home and why can we still use magic?" I asked.
"I'll be completely honest, I am not 100% sure. My belief is that that nothing was destroyed since the magic was all in one place, which it self was merged with the Elements of Harmony, so the destruction of the tower did nothing. It really is amazing, because now that the tower no longer exists, it can never cause any damage anymore."
To summarize, Twilight had completely changed the future from the first prediction that Chronos made. He was so certain that the world would suffer one way or another, and yet now it's probably better off then it was before. The Arcane Tower had long since became more of a hazard then anything, but now it's safely disposed.
"Twilight Sparkle, I finally understand why Celestia had so much faith in you. I feel that I may not be able to trust my predictions like I once did. I will now trust you to help create the best possible future."
"I CAN'T!" Twilight shouted, surprising Chronos and catching the rest of us off-guard. "Everything I did almost destroyed everything I hold dear! I even killed one of my best friends. How could I possibly be trusted with building a future?"
Chronos let out a light chuckle. "Of course I wouldn't trust you. At least not alone. You of all ponies should know that by now. Now if you'll excuse me, my servants need to know that their master has returned. Farewell."
Finished with talking to Twilight, Chronos stretched out his wings, quickly flew up into the air, and soared away to find his subordinates, having a new found trust in Twilight and new found hope for the future. Of course, Twilight herself didn't quite understand any of it.
"But how? How could I possibly create a new future when I almost destroyed it completely? What can he trust me, but not trust me at the same time."
I understood Chronos's words perfectly. I was a tad bit surprised Twilight didn't understood them, although I guess she was still in shock from everything she had done,s o I walked to her to comfort her and to explain Chronos's words.
"Princess Celestia, surely you don't think I'm cut out to be Equestria's ruler, do you?"
"I still believe that in time, Twilight Sparkle, you will be a better ruler then I. Someday."
"How can you still have confidence in me? I attacked even you!"
"Because I know the real you would never do that. In fact, it was because you managed to fight through the evil you became that we were able to save you. I felt the love and hope your friends still had in you and I felt you had returned the feelings. This is what Chronos meant. As long as you keep your devotion to your friendship with every pony, a bright future is within our reach."
"But how do I know that I still can do that?"
At that moment, Pinkie Pie ran over to Twilight and whispered..."Psst. Cupcake spell."
Pinkie was referring to the Wishing spell, which could only be used by one with a heart and soul of pure good. Twilight realized that if she would be able to use the spell, then there would be a chance that she would deserve the throne someday. She concentrated all of her magic into her horn, focused as hard as she could, and at the cost of much of her magic, she made what she wanted possible, which was a magically conjured cupcake. This convinced her that she is no longer the Twilight that threaten to destroy the world. She still wasn't too sure if she deserved to be my heir, but she still felt a sense of relief.
"Here's your cupcake, Pinkie. Sorry for...well...shooting you out of a tower."
"ALRIGHT!" Pinkie said as she shoved the cupcake into her mouth. "Apology accepted."
From there, Twilight went around to apologized to every pony she had wronged during the struggle, including my sister, who once again acted a little cold to her. Although I knew that Luna was still very happy to see Twilight, even though she didn't show it. Then she had to make what was without a doubt the hardest apology she ever had to make. The one she owed to Rainbow Dash.
"Umm...Dash?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said quietly.
"I know that you were the one most...'shaken' by what I did. I know that 'she' may not forgive me for what I did, and I know that you won't either. Just know that I have never regretted anything more then this then anything."
Rainbow Dash was the one most traumatized by Twilight Star's actions, and she could never forgive what she had done. On the other hoof, she wasn't talking to Twilight Star. She was talking to Twilight Sparkle.
"Twilight...you ended up doing a horrible thing, but I knew Fluttershy better then any pony. She would forgive you in a heart beat. I'm not forgiving you because she would. I'm forgiven you because you are and always will be one of my best friends. After Fluttershy died, as angry as I was, the last thing I wanted was to lose another friend."
"So you mean..."
"Of course. Element of Loyalty here! I'm not letting you go, even if you actually did split the world in two or something."
I don't think I had ever seen Twilight so touched before. Even after every thing she had done, the one pony she thought would never forgive her had actually forgave her. This caused Twilight to burst into tears as she gave a hug to Rainbow Dash, who promptly hugged back. Immediately afterwards, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie ran in and joined, forming a group hug between the group. even Spike jumped onto the pile and joined in, since even dragons can miss ponies.
"Oh, shoot! I wanted to ask Chronos something." Twilight said. "He didn't tell us how he survived when I though he died."
I then expressed my theory. "Perhaps when the magical returned to Equestria, it not only restored life to the land, but life to him as well. Perhaps it also had to do with him being so close to the tower at the time as well."
When Twilight almost put that thought to rest, another one popped into her head. One that shot her eyes wide open as she turned her head to Rainbow Dash.
By Twilight's request, we all went to an area that she and Rainbow Dash unassisted on going to. A once rocky area that was nothing but a wasteland, had then became ha rocky grassland. The unicorn and pegasus had trouble recognizing the area, but continued to search for what they were looking for.
"This is where she fell, wasn't it?" Twilight asked.
"It's where me and Applejack left her. Where could...?"
The two nearly gave up their search as they couldn't find any clues. As twilight started to walk off though, she finally saw what she was looking for. Or actually, WHO she was looking for.
In the distance, she saw a yellow pegasus sitting down on a rock and looking up to the sky, watching the clouds go by. As Twilight and Rainbow started walking towards her, she felt their presence and turned to see them. As hoped, Fluttershy was restored to life like Chronos, and she was alive and well. Upon realizing that it really was Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow Dash ran towards with the happiest smiles on their faces. After Fluttershy realized that it was the Twilight Sparkle she had spent years befriending with, she too smiled and ran towards them.
And that is my tale. I suppose now that I think about it, I shouldn't have too much to regret, as Twilight's actions were ultimately for the best. By now, the six of them have long since see this as nothing but the past and have moved on to live their lives, protect my land, and so on. I'm glad they are, because I feel that I should be the only one feel guilty, since it was my decisions that started the chaos that nearly destroyed the world.
I've went through many experiences in my long life, and this was the one that scared me the most. My kingdom was nearly lost, my friends and family was nearly lost, and my heir was nearly lost. I still don't see myself as the ruler Equestria needs or deserves. But as long as I have my trust in Twilight Sparkle and her friends, it some day will.
Perhaps by preparing a proper ruler for Equestria, I may not be such a bad Princess after all. Even if I'm not, I will still do my best to contribute in creating the bright new future for Equestria, and I plan to do that with Twilight Sparkle by my side.
