//------------------------------// // Chapter 16 - The Element of Magic // Story: Equestria Exiled // by AndrewRogue //------------------------------// Lyra stood before the doors of the Manehattan Station library, pacing as she stared up through the gaps in the walkways towards the pale blue dawn the dome simulated above her. Getting inside and putting Sombra’s theory about her being one of the Elements to rest – one way or another – was the only thing she wanted to do, but he’d very clearly asked her to not do it alone. She wanted him here helping her. It was his theory after all. He’d been against it, though, claiming the stir from the two of them digging through the library together would have been entirely too much. Unfortunately, she knew he was right. Just the two of them being seen in public over the last few days had started an endless and unpleasant stream of rumors. Sitting against the wall, she raised a hoof and touched the choker around her neck again. Despite her lingering doubts, she had left it on. And she really did feel better. Which scared her. She didn’t want Sombra to be right. Well, no. Part of her didn’t want Sombra to be right. The rest of her was thrilled. If she was right about the Elements… the kinds of things she could learn. The kinds of things she could do! Without question, she’d become one of the most powerful unicorns in the Empire. Lyra shook her head, looking down at the scuffed and scratched metal plating that made up the catwalk. Of all the unicorns to be capable of handling that, she ranked herself near the bottom of the list. Just being on council had been a struggle. One she’d failed at, no less. Still— “Good morning, Lyra.” The voice of Trixie – no, Commander Lulamoon – caused her head to snap up. The unicorn looked amused. “Daydreaming, Lyra?” “Thinking,” she said, suppressing a frown. Of course Sombra would send her. She was basically his right hoof. That didn’t make the thought of spending the day with her any more palatable. Trixie was no small part of why she’d gotten wrapped up in this whole mess. “You’re here to—?” “Yes, Trixie is stuck foalsitting you,” Trixie grumbled. “But the request came directly from a Council member, so Trixie will do it without complaint. Though she would appreciate it if you finished quickly. No doubt problems will just pile up in Trixie’s absence.” Biting back as much of her annoyance and disdain as she could, Lyra nodded. “Of course, Trixie. I wouldn’t want to keep you from your no doubt very important duties.” Frowning, Trixie flicked her tail and started towards the door. “Then let’s go. Trixie has already called ahead and informed management that the stacks are off-limits to everypony but her and anypony with her.” How had an arrogant, talentless braggart who’d barely edged Vinyl out in school ended up occupying one of the Empire’s most important positions? The head librarian greeted them almost the instant the instant they entered the grand entryway. “Miss Heartstrings. Commander Lulamoon. It is a pleasure to welcome you both to the Manehattan Library. As requested, I have limited access—” “Yes, yes, of course,” Trixie said, cutting her off with an absent hoof wave. “I, uh, is there anything else I can do for you?” “No,” Lyra jumped in. “But thank you, Jade. We’ll be sure to ask if we need anything.” The librarian offered Lyra a thankful smile and Trixie a polite nod before walking off. “How do you plan on finding the item?” Trixie asked as they trotted past the guarded desk that barred entry to the lift that would take them to the stacks. “What?” “Trixie is simply here to observe and make sure you don’t get into trouble, Lyra. She certainly does not plan on helping you look through every musty, dusty old book and box in this place.” Lyra made a noncommittal noise as she hit the lift’s descent button harder than strictly necessary. Of course it was too much to expect actual help from Trixie. What did Sombra see in her? If Lyra were still on the Council, she’d have turned that contrary, thuggish, untalented unicorn out ages ago. She shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She wasn’t on the Council anymore. Besides, Trixie probably served some useful function. Sometimes you needed kind words, sometimes you needed a bludgeon, right? It just disgusted her to think about the sort of damage Trixie could have done to two other Elements. “So?” Trixie asked again as the lift jerked to a stop, reminding Lyra that a question still needed answering. “Well, we should probably start looking in storage. Had it been somewhere in the stacks themselves, I would have already found it, and if it had been stored in restorations, I imagine Sombra would have already found it.” Not that that really narrowed things down much. The library storage – home to all the books that were not worth putting out, but also not worth disposing of – took up nearly the entirety of the building’s basement. “Really. Digging through the library’s junk is the best thing you can come up with?” “No,” Lyra snapped. “It is just the best thing I’ve come up with so far. If you aren’t going to contribute anything helpful, would you do me a favor and keep your mouth shut, Trixie?” The unicorn snorted. “Perhaps you should be more careful with what you say. Unlike some ponies, Trixie actually made something of herself.” Taking a deep breath, Lyra pushed her irritation aside and refocused on the problem at hoof. “If the Element is actually influencing me, then it must have formed some sort of magical link with me. If that really is the case, all I have to do is identify it and trace it back to the source.” “And how do you intended to do that? Tracing magic in an unshielded area is already a serious pain in the flank, and that’s when you know what you’re looking for.” “Yes Trixie, I know. I graduated from the Celestial School with honors.” “Then how were you planning to do it? Ask them to turn everything in the building off?” Shutting her eyes, Lyra dug back through all the spells she knew. She had to know something that could make this work. “Well, I do know one that allows me to visualize latent magical energy. As long as I focus it right around me—” “That stupid spell Vinyl came up with?” Trixie interrupted. “You do know that thing is next to useless, yes? She taught it to Trixie back in school. You can’t see anything with it because you’re stuck seeing everything.” Lyra bit back her response. It wasn’t worth the effort to explain that it worked fine if you managed the spell properly. “I thought I was supposed to be the one coming up with the plan to find the Element.” “Suit yourself. Trixie won’t stop you from whatever stupid plan you want to try.” As if punctuating her point, Trixie seated herself at one of the tables and levitated a few books off a nearby shelf. How had she ever been friends with these ponies? Lyra closed her eyes and started the spell, shivering as she felt the magic wash over her eyes. She let it seep into her, giving the magic a chance to stabilize as she braced herself for the inevitable vertigo that would come with opening her eyes. As expected, her stomach lurched as her brain struggled to process the vast emptiness beneath her hooves. The physical world was nothing more than a suggestion beneath the overwhelming amounts of magic all around her, the effort of thousands of unicorns’ creating an impenetrable nebula of color. She swallowed her nausea as she pressed her forehooves down, reassuring herself that the floor still existed somewhere among the kaleidoscopic panoply surrounding her. It took nearly fifteen minutes of adjusting the spell’s power to minimize sensory overload before she could start processing anything. The lights, the library’s security systems, Trixie and her gear, the choker Sombra had given her, even the muddied, distant glow of magic from beyond the library’s walls… How’d Vinyl never have problems with this spell? “You almost done?” “Almost, Trixie,” she muttered, modifying the spell again and again until she finally reduced the effective range to a small sphere around her. And that’s when she saw it: a narrow thread of fuchsia magic that stretched from her to somewhere beyond the current range of the spell. “I think I found the trail!” she said, her heart pounding in her chest. What else could it be? “About time,” Trixie said as she stood. “Where is the Element?” “Not sure yet. I had to narrow the spell’s effective range to almost nothing.” Lyra took a cautious step and almost immediately bumped her chest into a chair. “Could you help me? It’s hard to see like this.” Trixie made an irritated noise, but Lyra could feel her take up a spot next to her. “And I suppose Trixie shall also have to reason out where it is we should go when you try to take us through a wall?” “That would help, yes.” The labyrinthine structure of the stacks made following the thread more difficult than Lyra had thought, partly because the thread twisted and turned with no apparent rhyme or reason, partly because Trixie kept letting her run into the occasional shelf and table, and partly because the lower stacks housed multiple storage rooms, all filled from top to bottom with magically sealed boxes of books that interfered with her examination. “Is it possible you could hurry this up? Trixie really does have other things to do today.” “Sombra told you to help me, right?” “Yes, Councilor Sombra ordered Trixie to assist you.” “Then quit complaining and just do your job,” Lyra demanded as they arrived at what she hoped was the right storeroom. After a moment of squeezing past stacked crates and circling the room, she was convinced: the magical trail ended here. The Element was in this room. She ended the spell without closing her eyes, her stomach turning as the world shifted around her. “That spell is utterly impractical,” Trixie said. “Well, it worked well enough,” Lyra countered, leaning against the wall to steady herself. “I think it’s in one of these crates. Would you mind heading upstairs and getting the codes to open—” The thick plastic of one of the crate’s lids snapped as Trixie’s magic forcefully tore it open. The lock stayed in place, holding whatever jagged slivers of plastic could hold on behind. “Trixie believes this works.” “These are filled with relics from Old Equestria, Trixie!” Lyra snapped, staring in horror. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re going to ruin them!” “No, they are filled with the junk not worth putting out in the museum or library. Frankly, Trixie suspects she’d be doing them a favor if she were to destroy some of it.” Her magic reached into the box and began pulling tomes out and tossing them into the corner.   Lyra glared at her. “Trixie is sure that Councilor Sombra will see to it that they are reimbursed for the broken boxes.” Lyra stood up and joined her in front of the crate, grabbing some of the books with her own magic and stacking them – neatly – to one side. “Just be gentle with the books. I don’t care if the library didn’t think they were worth putting out: they’re irreplaceable.” “Fine,” Trixie huffed, placing the next book down with exaggerated care. The first box proved completely devoid of anything but books. As was the second. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. “This is a waste of Trixie’s time!” Trixie snarled, slamming another book onto the pile. “You can leave anytime you want,” Lyra said, straightening out the stack. “I doubt anypony will bother me down here.” Except for you, she added in the privacy of her own head. “You know Trixie can’t do that. So hurry up and find the stupid rock!” Lyra’s magic tightened around the book she held as she considered whether she could find it in her heart to justify hitting Trixie with it. Before she figured it out, she felt a surge of power rush that set her fur standing. The book hit the floor with a snap. “Did you forget how telekinesis works?” Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide the book’s title read. It couldn’t be. It really couldn’t be. But the book was quite large. Pointlessly large. And thick. Her hoof shook as she touched the cover, and tried to open it. The binding creaked and resisted her effort, but a little effort popped it open, revealing both that the cover was actually a lid, and that, rather than pages, the inside of the book contained a hollow. A hollow with a grey stone resting inside, the stone’s starburst pattern staring back at her. “It really is here,” she mumbled, unable to take her eyes off it. The magic coming off the stone felt palpable. It drew Lyra towards it, beckoning for her to claim it as her— “Don’t touch it!” Trixie snapped, her crimson magic grabbing Lyra’s hoof and pushing it away from the stone. Before she could respond, Trixie continued, “That is a direct command from Councilor Sombra. You are not to touch the Element.” “Why would he…?” Lyra started, but trailed off, watching as Trixie slammed the book shut and carefully placed it into her saddlebag. Even with Sombra’s amulet around her neck, she could feel the Element’s magic pressing against her mind. Considering it had been powerful enough to affect her at a distance without any direct connection, who knew what might happen when she touched it. “Just let me see it for just a moment. I won’t—” “No,” Trixie ordered. “Commander Trixie Lulamoon will not disobey Councilor Sombra’s orders, and she will put you down if you try to so much as look at that rock without his approval.” Lyra’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the unicorn, wondering how their magic compared, but the urge passed in a flash. Even if she thought of herself as the better spellcaster, that didn’t make her the better magical duelist. “Then what do we do now?” “We return to Councilor Sombra’s home, contact him, and wait for his next order.” Looking at the mess they’d left behind, Lyra hesitated. She knew they should clean all this up, but her urge to get her hooves on the stone persevered. “Okay. Let’s go.” ~~~~~ Hooves covered his eyes with a pillow as the station’s day lights pierced his eyelids, grunting as he then rolled over to further conceal his face from the brightness. Shimmer’s couch was more comfortable than his bed, and he wanted to take advantage of that just a bit longer. Eat your meals when they’re there, sleep when you can, because you never know when things will go wrong. For the time being, he had nothing to do. Shimmer had departed for a Council meeting, and most of their plans hinged on what she could do. The best he could offer at the moment was to reach out to a few contacts and see if he could learn more about the comings and goings of Lyra. Even then, most of them probably wouldn’t be available until later in the day. Which worked fine for him. Sleepless days and nights were fine when necessary, but best avoided when possible. Tiredness led to carelessness, and carelessness led to blown jobs and dead ponies. He took a deep breath and relaxed, willing sleep to envelop him again. Hooves’ eyes snapped open as Shimmer’s console chimed, warning of an incoming call. He hopped off the couch, shaking dreams of sleep out of his head as he trotted to the desk that took up nearly half the room. That particular chime matched the one Shimmer had told him was associated with the tablet she’d given Octavia, which meant, in her absence, he had a duty to answer it. “Hello,” he said, after tapping the screen the screen to answer the call. His eyes widened for the barest moment as an unfamiliar face appeared on the screen, but he maintained his composure, just smiling at the unexpected pegasus on the other end. “How may I help you?” “Uh…” she managed, one eye flicking awkwardly away from him, while the other seemed to move of its own accord. She wiped a foreleg across her face, staining her grey fur black with grease or oil. “Maybe I got the wrong number here…” she mumbled, looking somewhere to the side of the tablet, snapping back into frame a moment later, her broad grin the perfect picture of incompetent idiocy. “Um, does this console belong to Councilor Shimmer? I apologize for bothering you, but I had some really, really important news for her about a package she contracted me to deliver.” “This is,” Hooves confirmed, continuing to smile even as he studied the pegasus. “Unfortunately she is not available to receive calls at the moment. May I take a message?” The pegasus hesitated, looking away again. “Uh… well, there was a problem with the delivery.” Hooves stiffened. “What happened?” “The package got, uh… banged up. Not sure if it’s okay. And my ship is busted and they don’t have the right model parts here, so I can’t bring it back to her either.” “What happened to Octavia?” Hooves said, breaking the facade. “What? I—” He didn’t let her finish. “My name is Hooves. I am working with Councilor Shimmer. I know about Octavia and the Element of Harmony. I know they were taken to Ponyville. Now, what happened?” She hesitated for a moment, her good eye focusing on him. “Well, even if you were lying, I guess I can’t really tell you anything important you didn’t already know.” She sat back and shrugged, extending her wings in a helpless manner. “I don’t really know, to be honest. Octavia collapsed and Vinyl thinks it’s magic poisoning or something? She’s trying to find a doctor now, but I guess she needs a unicorn doctor and there aren’t many on Ponyville Station?” Hooves frowned and seated himself at the desk as he listened. “I’d take them somewhere else, but my lift boosters are broken, which means taking off again is gonna be a big, big problem. And I’m kinda worried it wasn’t an accident. I mean, I guess it’s possible maybe something broke when I left Manehattan, but I really don’t think that happened.” “Sabotage?” “Dunno? I mean, nopony should’ve known we were here, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed my lift booster not working when we docked, and it definitely didn’t just fall out by itself.” Tapping a hoof on the desk, Hooves tried to digest the information. “How sick is Octavia?” The pegasus spread her wings and shrugged. “Vinyl freaked out when I said Drifter couldn’t fly, so I guess she thinks it’s pretty bad? All I really know is she passed out and hasn’t woken up yet.” “Yes, that’s generally bad.” Hooves closed his eyes and took a deep breath, rearranging the plans he and Shimmer had made. Most of them had been contingent on Octavia being mobile. And alive. “Keep the tablet with you at all times. Call if anything changes. In the meanwhile, I’m going to see what I can do for you.” The pegasus offered a mock salute and a lopsided smile. “Yes, sir, Hooves, sir!” Hooves ended the call and immediately punched in another number. “Night Glider’s Shuttle Service: We’ll get you anywhere. How can... “ the pegasus on the other end of the screen stopped, her face breaking into a grin as she slicked her wild mane out of her face. “Sweet Celestia! Hooves! I thought you were dead! How are you doing?” “Good. Better if you could get me from Manehattan to Ponyville.” The mare’s expression faltered. “That’s kind of a hard trip to manage on a short notice.” Hooves nodded. “That’s why I called you, Night Glider.” She snorted, shaking her head. “Of course. You can’t ever just call me to say hi or anything. When do you need it?” “Right now.” He and Shimmer had been debating the merits of him staying on the station to help her until Flash healed or joining Octavia on Ponyville Station to keep an eye on them. This settled that.   “That ain’t happening, Hooves.” She tapped another part of the screen and began scrolling. “Yeah, all my pilots are committed right now, and none of them are going anywhere near Ponyville.” Life could never be easy, could it? “I’m sure you can do better than that.” “You would be,” she said, sighing as she sat back. “I can maybe get you on something in three days?” “Not soon enough.” Magic poisoning severe enough to induce a coma would be fatal without treatment within days. If their ship really had been sabotaged, that would be the least of their worries. “You’re killing me, Hooves.” She ran her hooves through her mane, staring at the desk. “I can make a few calls, collect on a couple favors. I don’t think there’s any chance of getting you a ship today, but maybe tomorrow?” That wasn’t soon enough either, but it really was probably the best Night Glider could manage. Very few ponies wanted to fly to the agriculture stations. “I owe you one.” “You really don’t,” she laughed. “Even with this, I’m pretty sure I still owe you, like, half-a-dozen. Can I reach you on that account?” For the first time, Hooves hesitated. Stupid and careless. He’d lucked out that Shimmer didn’t keep any identifying information on this console’s account. “Yes, but I would appreciate it if you lost the account ID when we finished. It’s borrowed.” “Gotcha. Consider it purged.” She grinned and continued, “We’ll call it nine favors owed after that.” “I truly appreciate this, Night Glider.” He bowed his head. “It’s no problem, Hooves. Just don’t be such a stranger, okay? I’m serious. I really thought you were dead.” He offered her one final smile, then ended the connection and allowed himself to sag and sigh. There were a few more ponies he could call, but he doubted he’d get better results. Still, best to try everything he could before Shimmer got back. She was going to love this news. ~~~~~ Lyra sat at the short table in Sombra’s living area, her eyes moving from Sombra to the Element that sat nestled inside its faux book. It took most of her willpower to keep from trying to pull it closer. “Incredible,” he said, leaning forward. “It really does look just as the fables and stories all say.” “Trixie found it in the library, just as you suspected,” Trixie said. “We found it,” Lyra corrected. He nodded, using his hoof to shift the stone’s container and examine it from different angles. “Where was it?” “A storage room in the stacks,” Lyra said, ignoring the unicorn’s glare as she answered first. “It was just near the bottom of one of the crates.” Sombra frowned. “It was in storage?” “Yeah. All I can guess is that somepony must have just stored the book without actually cataloguing it,” Lyra offered, guessing that he’d arrived at the same question she had during the long and silent trip back from the station’s library: why hadn’t the Element been found before now? Each and every book should have been looked over before being put out or stored, but it was possible that somepony had shirked their job and just tossed it in a crate. “Do you believe that?” “It’s possible,” she reiterated, not sounding completely convinced. The odds of this specific book being one to slip through the cracks and get stored without anypony setting eyes on it felt too coincidental. “Stranger things have happened.” “How did you find it?” Sombra’s attention had shifted from the Element to its container as he worked the lid and studied the false cover. Lyra swallowed hard, hesitating. “You were right: the Element was… there was a trail of magic between me and it. I don’t know what sort of spell it was or what it was doing, but it… it definitely connected me to the Element.” The stallion smiled, but didn’t offer further commentary on that subject. “Our next order of business should be to try and confirm whether this truly is one of the Elements, as well as what kind of power it possesses.” “How?” Lyra asked. “We attempt to use it, of course.” Sombra turned towards Trixie. “Commander Lulamoon. Have one of the Council Guard’s training rooms cleared. Once that is completed, declare it off-limits, call me, and then return to duty. Lyra and I will be using it until further notice.” “But I thought I—” Trixie started. “You have your orders, Commander Lulamoon. Do not make me repeat them.” The mare grimaced, but stood and bowed her head deeply. “Of course, Councilor Sombra.” After she had left the room, Lyra shook her head. “How has she managed to get so much more irritating over the years?” she grumbled, her face reddening as she caught Sombra’s eyes. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “I… I’m so sorry.” His smile grew as he shook his head. “No need to apologize. Commander Lulamoon is a decidedly unpleasant mare. She is arrogant, condescending, brash, thoughtless, cantankerous, grating… and that is only my experience working with her professionally. Unfortunately, the Council Guard often needs hammers, and Commander Lulamoon generally fills that role quite effectively.” Lyra nodded without really believing it. If the Empire needed somepony like her, something really was wrong. “How is my little charm holding up?” Sombra asked, taking her by surprise. “Huh?” she asked. It was only after he gestured towards her neck that the pieces fell into place. “Oh.” Shrugging, she touched the cool, metal choker and stone. “It seems to be working fine. I’ve felt better since I started wearing it. I guess if it really was the Element’s magic messing with my head, then it’s blocking it.” She thought back to the moment when she had opened the book. “Well, no. That’s not completely true. When I found it, I could feel something… I don’t know, calling to me?” “What did it want?” “For me to take up the Element.” She knew that the way her eyes darted back to the book didn’t go unnoticed. “It appears I underestimated the the Element’s magic.” He snapped the book shut, resting a hoof on the cover. “You did well to resist its call.” Lyra nodded, leaving Trixie’s involvement in that success unspoken. “Don’t worry,” he said, offering her a broad and warm smile. “You shall have your chance to test the Element soon enough. In a safe, controlled setting.” Pulling her eyes away from the book, Lyra forced herself to meet Sombra’s eyes. “It isn’t like that. I just… I just...” She trailed off, trying to figure out how exactly it wasn’t like that and how she could explain it. “It is nothing to be ashamed of, Lyra. This is a historic moment for the Empire. Truth be told, I am as giddy as a foal right now.” She smiled. The very idea of Sombra bouncing around like a foal on Hearth's Warming just refused to mesh with reality. “Still, we both know that experiments with new magic should not be taken lightly.” His gestured towards the choker. “For example, none of the stories ever mentioned the Elements inducing hallucinations. What else ponies may have failed to write about them?” “True,” Lyra said, failing to contain her sigh as reality pierced her and the last of her excitement drained away. “I assume that’s why you’re having the training room cleared, then?” “You make things so easy, Lyra.” The stallion stretched his neck, turning away from the table. “However, as I suspect it will take some time, I was thinking of having lunch delivered. Something from the Tasty Treat, I believe. Would you care to join me?” “I think I would.” ~~~~~ Several hours and one of the best curries she had ever eaten later, Lyra found herself standing in a rather large room comprised almost entirely of small, reinforced metal plates. Several burned, battered, and dismembered pony mannequins occupied posts at the far end of the room, while a whole herd of pristine, undamaged ones occupied the corner near the door. Sombra stood behind her, also surveying the room. “I believe this will be sufficient, once the shell is activated.” Lyra glanced back at him. “This room has magical reinforcement too?” “It is a training area for members of the Council Guard.” His teeth shone as he smiled. “When training with lethal magic, it is best not to take any chances.” He pressed a button on the wall, causing a dark purple glow to cover the surface of the plates. “Incredible,” Lyra said, eyeing the magical shielding. “Is this the same as… no. It’s similar, but it’s not quite the same. This is a variant on the spell used to create the dome, right?” Sombra stared at her. “To my understanding, yes. I’ve been told that this is a lesser version of Starswirl’s spell. How did you recognize it so easily?” “There were times I used to just stare up at the dome and wonder how it worked. Then I got some books and figured it out.” “Practical,” Sombra said, laughing. “Most ponies would have just gone on wondering. I must admit a little curiosity though: what makes this particular spell different?” Reaching a hoof out, she pressed it against the barrier. It tingled, but passed through with little effort. “This version forgoes the physical protection and, as a result, requires much less energy to sustain.” Sombra reached out with his own hoof and performed the same experiment. “Sensible.” “So, were we going to test the Element?” she asked, not bothering to disguise her excitement. “Yes,” he said, taking care as he deposited his saddlebag on the floor and extracted the book from it. “Let’s not rush headlong into it, however. I am still worried about the nature of the stone’s connection to you.” Lyra bit back a surge of irritation and nodded. He was right, of course. “You’re worried the Element’s magic might overwhelm me, right?” “That is a concern, yes,” he said as he levitated the book to a spot on the floor. “I am more worried that it may try to take control of you. The effect the Element has had on you has made me question some of my most basic assumptions regarding their nature.” Lyra tilted her head. “What do you mean?” “You yourself ascribed a will to them, yes? That they choose their wielder based on compatibility. That they are a conduit by which the wielder can draw on an even greater power?” “Right,” Lyra nodded. “What if the Elements are not tools to be used by ponies, but we ponies are the tools to be used by the Elements?” “That’s ridiculous!” Lyra snapped, the sound of her hoof hitting the floor echoing in the room. “Is it?” Sombra replied without changing his tone. “You told me yourself that the stone was influencing your mind. That it caused you to hallucinate. That it filled your thoughts with memories that weren’t yours.” “I…” Lyra started, trailing off as she realized she didn’t have a way to end that thought. Sombra seated himself near the door, waiting for her to finish her thought. Sighing, she looked at the floor even as she felt the blood rush to her face. The fact that she had thrown that out without reason didn’t do much to disprove his point. Maybe the Element really was messing with her head in ways she hadn’t considered. “Sorry.” “It’s fine. I know that things have been difficult for you.” Sombra stood and crossed the distance between them, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “But you are not alone. We shall discover the secrets of the Element together.” She nodded, a smile playing across her muzzle. That’s right. She wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to suffer in silence. She didn’t have to be afraid that she was losing her mind. “Then how shall we do it?” “You shall attempt to seize the Element’s magic, while I shall reinforce the power of the charm I gave you. Should I feel something pierce the spell, I shall cut your connection to the Element.” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sombra grinned, his horn glowing crimson. “No. But I shall trust that you will sense trouble and release the Element before my intervention becomes necessary.” The choker around her neck began to glow, the once subtle spell now strong enough to make her skin prickle beneath her fur. The cold and unyielding power – the magic of a master unicorn – gave her confidence. “I will. You can trust me.” “I know I can.” Closing her eyes, Lyra steeled herself as she reached out towards the Element. She needed  to think of it like a magic circuit. If everything she believed was right, then she should be able to draw power from it – and from beyond – once she established a connection. As her magic met it, she felt the Element’s magic surge towards her and— Unfamiliar voices rang dully in her head, their words muffled. Fuzzy images of strange places and ponies swamped her vision. Her body tingled. Her nostrils filled with distant scents. Even hints of forgotten tastes filled her mouth. But she still had control. The Element’s magic swirled around her, violet power chasing her own golden energy. She had control. The pressure was incredible, reminding her of what it felt like when she had stood in front of the generator array that powered Manehattan Station. Yet, somehow, the power continued to build, magic spilling forth from the stone like air through a ruptured bulkhead, scorching the air as tendrils of magic lashed and struggled against her lead. Her body burned as the power flowed through her, more than she had ever felt in her entire life. She felt like she might burst at any moment. I can’t lose… I carry the most powerful magic of all within me... Lyra’s eyes went wide as the voice pierced the whispers around her, cutting through Sombra’s defenses like they didn’t exist. How could I fail? The choker’s gem shattered. Sombra shouted something as the magic collapsed inward, but she couldn’t hear him, her ears already filled by shouts and screams and sounds she couldn’t begin to comprehend. Ponies running and screaming. Panic. Fear. Terror. Regret. Anguish. An empty, grey world spread out before her. A world without ponies, a world without life, a barren, lonely, silent world that threatened to pull her into it. “No!” Lyra screamed, throwing all of her magic into a simple blast of raw energy. Metal screamed and the room shook as the violet energy poured away from her. Lyra panted, her chest heaving as the last of the Element’s energy crackled away into the air. Into the training room, where the clink of metal filled the air. Which existed on Manehattan Station, where tens of thousands of ponies lived. A hoof touched her shoulder, Sombra’s voice breaking the silence, “Are you okay?” “It… I…” Her legs buckled, forcing her to sit as she tried to gather her scattered wits. “Easy. Take your time.” Her breathing slow as she reassured herself that everything she had seen had been an illusion or a vision or a hallucination or whatever. Just not real. “I am impressed. You triumphed over it, Lyra. The Element obeyed you.” She whipped her head around, almost toppling over. “Are you insane? It tried to… it nearly… I don’t even know what that was!” Sombra placed a hoof beneath her muzzle and lifted her gaze towards the wall. “But you used the magic.” She stared. A deep gouge had burned into the steel plates, molten slag pooling and cooling against the flickering, shredded magical barrier. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t manage a sound. Those plates were thicker than most ship hulls. That basic self-defense spell she’d learned to stun ponies had carved through it. She had just rivaled a ship’s magic cannon. What could she have done had she tried something more complicated? More dangerous? Behind her, she could feel the Element, waiting for her to reach out again. “We need to take you to a medic,” Sombra said, the gentle concern bringing her back. “What?” Lyra asked. “Your neck,” Sombra said, tracing his hoof along the side of her neck, pain blossoming in its wake. “You were cut when the gem shattered.” Her own hoof shot to her neck, feeling the slickness that coated her fur. She felt faint as she held her hoof in front of her eyes, looking at the red blood that stained it. Her heart thudded. Could it have cut her carotid artery? “It doesn’t look deep,” he said, his confidence helping reassure her, “But it should still be examined.” He kicked at the broken band near her hooves and shook his head. “I severely underestimated the strength of the Element.” “So did I.” Lyra shut her eyes, suppressing a shudder. “I thought the power was going to tear me apart, or that the Element was going to draw me into it, or…” “Calm down,” Sombra ordered. “What might have happened is irrelevant. We will take what we’ve learned, then apply it to the future. But first, let’s assure we reach that future first.” Taking one of the towels from the wall, he wrapped it around her neck and pressed it painfully against the wound. “Hold this in place.” Lyra tried to nod, but the towel and pain stopped her. Using the book, Sombra scooped the stone back into its hollow and snapped the container shut and slid it back into his saddlebag. “Now. Let’s get you to a medic.” As they walked and Lyra’s adrenaline faded, new aches and pains made themselves present, her head and horn throbbing and her muscles refusing to work right. She barely had enough magic left to hold the towel in place. Even she hadn’t expected the Element to be that powerful. If she had tried to continue and hold that magic, it might have done real damage to her. Which brought a question to mind: how would the Element interact with an earth pony? Octavia had already made a connection to it. She said that one of the past bearers had spoken to her. Had it been messing with her memories too? Could she even draw its magic out? What would happen if she did? The Element was dangerous. Octavia could be in danger, without anypony who could help her. Vinyl, if she had even listened and gone with Octavia, wouldn’t know what to do. Shimmer wouldn’t care. All she had wanted was to keep the Element away from Sombra so that he didn’t use them to take over the Empire. Octavia dying would probably be just fine to her. Trusting Shimmer had been a mistake. The instant she’d gotten the information she wanted, she’d stopped talking to Lyra. Lyra’s neck throbbed in time with the pounding of her heart as her mind went back to the moment where the power had been at its peak. What could an earth pony do? “Sombra?” The stallion stopped and glanced back at her. “Yes? Are you feeling alright?” “What… what do you plan on doing with the Elements when you find them?” “Are you worried?” “A little,” she responded, taking refuge in the half-truth. “It would be nice to know if you planned on killing me and taking the Element for yourself.” Sombra laughed, nodding down the hallway to indicate they should keep walking. “And here I thought I’d been winning you over with my charm! You have expertly pierced my sinister plan, Lyra.” Despite the pain and unease, a smile broke through her sour expression. “My only goal is protecting the peace and stability of the Empire,” he said, all humor dropping from his voice as he met her eyes. “I intend to find the Elements and their bearers, then ask them to assist me in doing just that. If the Elements chose as well as they did with you, then I suspect there will be no trouble.” Could she trust him? If she was wrong, wouldn’t he have already just taken the Element from her and been done with it? “However, I won’t lie to you, Lyra: I will not allow any pony to use the Elements against the Empire. If I believe one of the bearers is a threat, I will do whatever it takes to stop them.” “I understand,” Lyra said. Her throat tightened as she swallowed, but she ignored the pain. She had to do this. She had been wrong. She could trust Sombra. She had to trust him. “I… I know where to find another one of the Elements.”