//------------------------------// // 4 A Warning From the Past // Story: Nyx Returns // by Bronyxy //------------------------------// Four fillies were laughing and giggling as a fifth, a yellow one with a big red ribbon in her mane held her forehooves to her eyes, facing a tree. Her friends scattered in all directions as they heard her counting down a sequence of numbers and quickly sought whatever cover they could find. There were lots of bushes around the clubhouse for those who found themselves short of time to hide, but equally they were places that the seeker would always check first as she began her hunt. As far as Apple Bloom was concerned, she was counting painfully slowly, but her friends all heard the numbers tripping off her tongue as a rapid sequence with barely a pause separating them, adding to the urgency each felt in trying to find a hiding place. "Ready or not, here I come!" she called, pivoting away from the tree and uncovering her eyes in one slick movement. She composed herself and tapped into the second sight she possessed that made her so good as a seeker; something that she shared with Pinkie Pie, and provided further evidence that the Apple family and the Pie family were in fact related. Whilst not as strong as the party pony's legendary Pinkie Sense, this unusual talent still gave her a distinct advantage in finding ponies who were trying to hide from her. In no time at all, she rounded up Scootaloo and Twist, but Sweetie Belle and Nyx eluded her. Not far away, a black alicorn hid in the shadows watching her hunter draw nearer and realised she would soon be spotted, so desperately wanted to find somewhere more secluded to hide. As she had been making such good progress in her magic lessons, she reasoned there would be no harm in casting a little spell to create a diversion and began to focus her aura onto a bush that would direct Apple Bloom away from her. Nyx concentrated on making the bush rustle as if somepony was behind it. She imagined the bush in her mind's eye and really believed it would shake a little. Then the aura started to form; the reds, oranges and yellows swirling around the bush, consuming it. Apple Bloom shrieked and jumped away, running to hide behind a pile of logs where Sweetie Belle was hiding and knocked her flat. "OK, you've found me, but there's no need to ..." she began, but Apple Bloom grabbed her face between her forehooves and pointed it at the swirling vortex where a bush had once grown. Sweetie Belle's eyes grew large and her mouth fell open before she too ran screaming toward the clubhouse, followed very closely by her friends. Nyx decided that the bush had probably had enough of a shaking to create the necessary diversion by now, and opened her eyes again. She was surprised to notice that the bush was no longer there, and that in its stead was a smoking stump with the occasional burned leaf fluttering to the ground. Making the only probable connection between her use of magic and the freshly incinerated bush, she ran to hide behind the same pile of logs that had only recently been vacated by two of her best friends and fell to the ground shaking, covering her eyes with her forehooves. Back in the clubhouse, four friends suddenly realised they were missing one of their number - where was Nyx? They had faced so much together in the past, especially when Nyx had been terrorising the land as Nightmare Moon, that they weren't going to let something as mundane as a spontaneously combusting bush put them off finding their friend. Ignoring the possibility of further exploding shrubbery, they spilled out from the comparative safety of the clubhouse and made their way to the rising column of smoke that had up until recently been a perfectly content bush and spread out to find their friend. Sweetie Belle found her first, going back to the last place where she had been hiding. "Please don't be cross with me" sobbed Nyx in between her tears "I didn't mean to do it." "Wow!" responded her friend in wide-eyed awe "You did that?" "I think so ..." replied Nyx "But I've not done anything like that before; please don't tell Twilight, will you?" "Well, if you're not sure whether you did it or not, then I don't see why you should have to tell her" said the white filly with a shrug "Especially if it might get you into trouble." Nyx felt a little better for her friend's support, especially because she, as a unicorn was coming to grips with learning magic herself, and rose uncertainly to her hooves, still eyeing the smouldering remains of the bush with a sense of guilt. Sweetie Belle turned back to her friend and commented offhandedly "As you were last to be caught, I guess you won the game!" At this, Nyx perked up and followed her back to their friends waiting in the clubhouse. *** "Thank you for seeing me today, Twilight" said Luna. "It's pretty unusual to get a meeting invitation from the Princess of the Night during the daytime; it's got to be important. It's Nyx, isn't it?" "Do you recognise this?" she asked, passing over the wand that she and Nyx had conjured. "Not exactly, but it looks old." "What about the markings?" asked Luna. "No. Wait ..." said Twilight examining the artefact from different angles "Ah, yes - I see it now; it's early Unicornian!" "Precisely." "What has this got to do with Nyx?" "She attempted a simple transfiguration exercise; turning a goblet into a stick ..." "And Nyx created this?" interrupted Twilight incredulous. "Not so much created but summoned, I think." Twilight sat back, mouth open. "That shouldn't be possible!" she gasped. Luna nodded seriously. "Twilight, I have to let you into my confidence more than I should have chosen to. There are an increasing number of disturbances in the dark realm that I must address on top of which I appreciate all too clearly that Nyx's talent is leaving her exposed as being a potential conduit for the surplus of magical energy in the ether." "Like a lightning rod, you mean?" "Precisely. We must speed up our tuition so that Nyx has learned how to control her talent before she finds herself struck by lightning, as per your analogy." Twilight shuddered as she contemplated the image; they both knew she would do whatever it took to protect her daughter. "Come with me to the Castle of the Two Sisters." This was no request and she knew she was expected to follow. The two alicorn Princesses flew wordlessly the short distance over the Everfree, each alone with their own thoughts; Twilight mentally running through all possible avenues of maternal angst, while Luna wrestled with the prospect of letting her into her deepest and darkest secret. They landed with understated elegance, Luna leading the way to her library. She stopped at the start of the maze and looked Twilight fixedly in the eye. "I will ask you two questions and I expect you to answer honestly. If you had to choose between saving me or saving Equestria, which would you choose?" She could see the internal conflict going on in Twilight's mind before at length she looked her in the eye "I choose Equestria." Luna nodded her approval "Very well. Now, what if you had to choose between saving Nyx or Equestria?" This time she watched as tears ran down her lilac muzzle. "I know what I should answer, but I can't bring myself to say it! Please don't force me to choose!" "I am disappointed, but not surprised. If the time comes to choose, Twilight Sparkle, you will remember this conversation." Twilight hung her head in shame and prayed that such a choice would never be hers to make. "As I said earlier, our time is limited and I have no more to give. Consequently, you must be the one to research Nyx's magic and the threats she faces, and you must do it without me. Therefore, I will show you how to get into my library alone. Be careful Twilight Sparkle; if you make a single mistake, you will never be seen again." Twilight baulked temporarily at the responsibility she was being given and then looked Luna in the eye to accept. "Very well. You are a scholar Twilight; what is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter?" "Easy, that's pi; 3.14159265 ..." "As we enter the maze, take the third turning on the right ..." "Oh, I see" interrupted Twilight "Then the first left, fourth right ..." "Yes" said Luna "A good little trick that is easy to remember, but only follow it for four numbers." They followed the simple mnemonic until they stood by the door to the anti-gravity room and Luna shared the spell, letting Twilight cast it to ensure it worked properly for her too. They walked through the enchanted room safely and then opened the door to the library, noting everything to be as it was when they had left it before. "I shall not tarry here as I have business to which I must attend" said Luna placing the wand on the large reading table "But first ..." she tailed off as she scanned the bookshelves, clearly looking for something. She produced an old tome about ancient Unicornian magic symbols and incantations and flicked through it, leaving it open at one particular page. Then she turned back to Twilight "Close the door now and conduct us out back into the castle please, remembering to count the number sequence backwards." Twilight did as she was bidden, and they were soon back into the real castle. "I must leave you now, Twilight Sparkle. Use this library as you see fit, but remember the responsibility that goes with it." Then Luna spread her midnight blue wings and sprang effortlessly into the air for the journey to Canterlot to confront her full agenda, and some sleep too, if time would allow. Twilight meanwhile re-entered Luna's maze, knowing that any incorrect move would spell her certain demise, whether she was a close friend of the Princess of the Night or not. She navigated the maze, counting and double-checking each intersection and every turn, arriving at the correct door with her heart in her mouth. What if she had miscounted? Would she run around the maze forever or would she fall to her doom? Twilight opened the door, cast the spell and prayed, relieved that she did not feel any sickening uncontrolled falling sensation, then entered the library on her own, heaving a heartfelt sigh of relief. Briefly checking the wand to be where it had been left, she trotted over to peruse the rich variety of texts and tutted; such a unique collection deserved a better indexing and cross-referencing system. Shaking her head, she cast her eyes over the different titles making random "Ooooh!" and "Aaaah!" sounds as she got to grips with the scope of the repository of knowledge to which she had now been gifted privileged access. After a while, her attention drifted back to the book that Luna had left open on the table, reasoning that she would have only done so had it been important. Drawing closer, she noticed a beautifully embossed illustration of a familiar looking object and furrowed her brow as she turned the book to face her. She held her breath as she translated the heading 'The Wand of Fulfilment'. What in Equestria was this and what could have caused it to appear thousands of years after it had clearly ceased to be relevant? She turned page after page of writing from long forgotten generations, some interspersed with artistically embellished illustrations and sketches demonstrating specific scenarios of this artefact in operation. Images of destruction were more prevalent than she had been expecting, causing her to consider the turbulent past wherein the peace of modern day Equestria had finally been forged. Returning to the beginning to start her word by word translation of the text, her pupils visibly shrank as she worked down the page, then she stood back and gasped, staring at the wand as if it were a venomous snake. Out of habit, she marked the page with a silk ribbon that had been sewn into the binding at one end and carefully closed the book, forehoof trembling. Twilight left the library, remembering the precise routine to be followed for effecting a safe exit and soon found herself back in the castle. It was still dark, and it looked like it would be another night with insufficient sleep. She stretched her wings and took to the air, contemplating briefly whether she should fly to Canterlot to tell Luna immediately of what she had found, but soon dismissed the idea once she realised how tired she felt and headed home instead; at least she could get a few hours sleep. In the east, the sky started to grow light.