Twilight's magic failed to affect the orb at all, it still hovered over it's alter as if it were waiting for the ponies to come out and bow to it. The majority of the day had passed before Rainbow Dash had returned, but the other mane six were still there. There was a lot of confusion as to what to do. Was it a good idea to leave the orb unattended or was it safe to leave and regroup?
Eventually, the rest of the mane six thought it wise to rejoin at the castle, but as they continued to run they seemed to have been being followed by the dolls. Their laughs were even scarier as they waved in and out of reality. None of the six could tell if they dolls on their tales were trying t hurt them or not.
"Hurry Girls," Twilight said.
As they ran, chills pierced through their backs with each laugh and sight of the doll as they hopped from side to side of the road. The sight of the dolls were beyond any nightmare that the ponies could have ever imagined.
As they ran the dolls came closer, Twilight spread her wings and her horn began to glow , within an instant they were in the walls of her castle surrounding the Cutie Map that seemed to have changed. There was a dark wall like barrier that surround the edge of the table.
“What in the heck was that !” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she swooshed through the air in hops that no one would notice her trembling lips.
“My goodness, the horror of it all, Darlings that thing is horrid and seems to be something that should NOT be in our beloved ponyville.” Rarity commented, although she seemed to be fine, there was a lingering queasiness in her stomach from the sight of the dreaded Clara doll, the thought of her helpless Sweetie Bell and of course her beloved Opal.
“We Shoot, We ain’t never managed to lose a fight when we’re all together, I say we mosey on up with a plan, and chase it out of ponyville like a wolf in a sheep herd.” Applejack said and continued to swing her rope around and snage things with the looped end that she continuously threw around.
Fluttershy curled in a corner with spike in her lap, they still couldn’t force the sight of the dolls sligh smile from their heads. And of course, Twilight paced. When she stopped to look at her friends who were scurrying around and Discord who was observing the map, she still didn’t know what to say.
A green flame flew in front of her followed by a sealed scroll and a stack of books covered in parchment paper and string. The arrival of the letter had brought everyone to a stop. All except Discord and Fluttershy surrounded her. Twilight took the liberty of reading it allod, however it seemed to be different than the average letter she received from Princess Celestia. As she unrolled the scroll, the surface was a deep navy blue written in a light shimmering blue ink, and sealed in the corner with a crescent moon.
My dearest Twilight,
I will start with acknowledging the odd circumstances it requires for me to send you a letter rather than my sister Celestia.
As she is busy calming down the ponies of canterlot and the few from far and wide who have sensed a presence of danger, it is my duty to inform you on the situation, although I am sure you have already sensed the new presence that has overcome Equestria. Keep note, Celestia thinks that it is impossible for our land to have been taken into a different realm, however, I do not agree.
I warn you Twilight, there is a dark presence and you can no longer trust anyone blindly. If we do not do something quickly, we will perish. The world is beginning to take a mind of its own, Pegassi have lost the power to stand on clouds, resulting in the loss of their homes, i no longer have the power to lift the moon and Celestia has lost the ability to lower her son.
The parsal I have given you is forbidden and should have been burnt ages ago. It is the Journal of Queen Chrysalis. Long before her era of changelings, she was known as a great wizard far more powerful than Starswirl. We had brought her to our old castle as our royal Wizard to continue her practices and experiments in hopes that we would benefit form them. But as time went on, her intentions had become more sinister. She created amulets and warps that contained dark magic that was beyond our world. As her last chance to dominate our world and the others she had claimed to discover - she decided to create life through her image, but she failed. Resulting in weakening her magic through creating a new race that was defective and knew nothing but cruelty.
Her dreams of creating this new world however, was a dream created from what she saw through one of her creations - The Crystal Mirror: A mirror capable of showing not only other realms, but alternate universes of our own reality.
Chrysalis kept all of her spells, inventions and discoveries in this journal, As you are the strongest of all of us when we are to deal with magic, it would only make sense for you to have this.
I warn you now though, casting these spells is far greater than King Sombra’s dark magic. Study it and know what you are doing, make sure you have no doubts in your mind, and please - don’t do it alone.
Best regards,
Princess Luna
PS. I will be in contact again with you soon, but it is best that this is kept from Celestia until you can find anything that can help us understand what is happening to our home.
Although Discord was listening to the shocking news, he could care less about hearing the mane six’s brainstorming session that was guaranteed to follow immediately after. Instead, he continue to trace his finger through the map, it wasn’t on;y the barrier that was new, the land had all shifted to some degree - but for what reason, he thought to himself, what was it, the the land was making room for? After a few minutes he had spotted it.
The mountain that sat just outside of ponyville didn't seem to have been really there, it was as like Discord's realm; a realm that was there but couldn't be seen unless entered. The phantom realm govered over all of ponyville, and took the same landscape as Ponyville except for a few minor adjustment - he was sure that he was the only one who could see this labyrinth. The mountain just outside of Ponyville once had a cave through it for the sleeping dragon that fumed smoke over their town, but where it once stood was now half of a mountain with greenery growing along the sides of it. As his new form started to feel a bit more natural, his confidence had started to grow again - he was going to investigate.
With a nap of his fingers, he was no standing behind a tall chair and beside it was the Clara doll. He curled his fingers along the head of the seat and came around to find a girl sitting there and looking up, as though she was waiting for him to appear in that exact spot. She had a smile on her face as well.
“Hello,” Discord started, “and who might you be?” He asked and returned her grin as he brought a hand out to her.