Chapter Two
*Signs of Trouble*
It's early morning and the sun hasn't even begun to rise. A light fog hugged the streets of Ponyville. In Twilights room Spike hurried to gather a few belongings and Twilight grabbed a lightly packed satchel. "Alright Spike, let’s get going!" she said enthusiastically.
"Aww, but the train doesn't even arrive for another two hours." Spike groaned.
"Were not taking the train, if we fly there now we'll beat the train to Canterlot by an hour!" Twilight replied.
"Or we could just teleport there and be able to sleep for another few hours." Spike retorted as he rolled up in Twilight's blankets.
“Come on Spike, Celestia said this is urgent!” Twilight said. Spike moaned under the covers. “Fine.” She responded. In an instant her horn glowed and both of them were gone with a flash.
They appeared in the castle. Twilight walked through Canterlot halls like she had done many times before. Spike was sitting on her back all grumpy. She approached the throne room to meet with Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to discuss the urgent matter. As she opened the doors she saw the princesses and to her surprise Discord, all standing in the center of the room. Celestia looked her way and nodded her over. “Twilight, you’re here just in time,” Celestia said. “Hmph, see teleporting was the right call,” Spike muttered so only Twilight could hear. Twilight rolled her eyes and joined the group.
Celestia began to tell of an old stone chest from ancient Equestria. She told how Starswirl came across a powerful magic barrier and with his understanding of magic he was able to venture through it. She continued to explain what he found by describing a dark realm filled with a heavy fog and strange stones all around. As he explored the area he came across a stone chest that emanated a slight dark energy. He sensed a strong seal and knew that whatever was in side was immensely powerful.
As he was the highest authority in magic in Equestria rule, he made the assessment to remove it from its resting place and take it to the Castle of the Two Sisters to keep an eye on it and strengthen the seal. Over the years the seal slowly began to weaken. And being highly attuned to magic, he was well aware and managed to keep restoring its seal over time. Little did he know that from the initial weakened state a dark spirit slipped out and slowly corrupted Luna. He did not sense this change. Nor would he.
After he banished the pony of shadows and was taken to the dark realm himself, the seal began to weaken on the stone chest and as he was not there to renew it, the darkness had time to grow strength. Celestia with having dealt with Discord the first time and her heartbreak over banishing Luna to the moon forgot about the chest. Until just recently when Luna felt a dark magic pulse through Equestria. The energy was reminiscent of when she turned to Nightmare Moon. Luna rushed to tell Celestia, and Discord who also felt the disturbance, confirmed the daunting realization.
“We must now take action to strengthen the seal and make sure no more dark spirits break free.” Celestia said. “I have summoned Starswirl from his journeys and he’ll be arriving by the days end. Twilight take Discord with you to the castle of the two sisters, find and bring the chest here. We’ll need to keep it safe here for the time being.” She continued. Twilight looked at Discord while raising an eyebrow. “Yes princess.” She said. “As you wish you majesty.” Discord replied gleefully.
Discord and Twilight arrive at the courtyard of the castle. They enter and begin searching for traces of the chest. “I’m going to check the library to see if anyone left any documents of its whereabouts.” Twilight said.
“Good Idea princess! I’ll accompany you just in case I sense something along the way.” Discord responds.
They walk through the halls of the castle making their way to the library. As they enter the main door Twilight asks “Do you sense anything yet?” Discords ponders “Hmm, uhh.” Twilight glowers. Discord grunts and moans in contemplation before responding “No, can’t say that I do.” Twilight sighs and walks over to a book shelf and starts reading through different titles. Discord floats across the library generally being unhelpful. He picked up books unenthusiastically and inadequately reviewed the text before carelessly tossing them aside.
As Discord floats along a wall with a slouched posture, his body quivers as he passes a locked gate that leads into a dark stairwell. “Think maybe this might be what we’re looking for princess?” he asks with slight sarcasm. Twilight walks over glances through and asks “Are you sure?”
“Indeed, my Draconequus senses are tingling.” He said whilst quivering his back.
“Right! Let’s go then.” Twilight responded.
She breaks the lock and they make their way down the spiral stairs case. They come across a large cool dark room with shelves lining the walls and many stone and wood tables stood in the room. The shelves contained numerous artifacts and trinkets. Further in the room a hefty sized stone chest rest on the floor. It leaked dark energy through a crack in the ancient seal. “This must be it.” Twilight said. “I agree.” Discord responded in a confused manner.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked
“It’s just that the disturbance I felt was so much more powerful than this tiny leak. I wonder why a larger break is not present.” He replied.
“That’s something we’ll have to think about in Canterlot. Right now we have to figure out how to move it without doing further damage to the seal.” She said.
“That shouldn’t be too hard, I’ll just snap my fingers and it’ll be there in a jif!” He said with glee. He put is thumb and finger together but before he could snap Twilight yelled “Wait!”
“You can’t just use teleportation magic on it, who knows what could happen!” She continued while holding his hand in stasis with her magic.
Discord huffed and asked “What did you have in mind mizz Sparkle?”
“Well we should try to strengthen the barrier before moving it. I read up on some of Starswirls protection spells and I think I know which one he used for this.” She said confidently.
Twilight took a step back aimed her horn at the chest and cast away. An ancient magic similar to the magic used by Celestia when telling of the return of Sombra shot from her horn. The chest shimmered for a moment and light emanated through the crack in the seal before slowly reducing into a mere fracture. “There, that should help with the journey.” Twilight said. Twilight continued “Discor—“ but before she could finish Discord snapped his fingers and in an instant the chest vanished with a flash.
“Hey!” she said.
“Do you even know where you sent it?” she asked.
“Of course I do.” he scoffed then smirked.
Back at the Canterlot, Celestia was sitting atop the chest which rested directly on her throne. She frowned while sighing. “Discord.” She said softly before giving a subtle smirk.
Twilight and Discord made their way back to the library. Earlier Twilight saw a couple of books that might be useful and wanted to gather them before heading out. They teleported back to Canterlot to discuss and study what they found. The chest, now moved to Starswirls workshop awaiting his return, sat in the room with ample guards posted outside and in the room. Their primary role, to inform of any changes in the status of the seal.
Twilight entered the room placing the books she found on a desk. Discord remained in the throne room to “discuss” his help with the movement of the chest with Celestia. Twilight walked over to the chest and noticed that the fracture was holding steady. She thought to herself “Hopefully it’ll hold until Starswirl gets back.” She began going through the books she brought back and learned several more protection spells and some incomplete work of dark magic Starswirl based off the energy from the chest.
Starswirl was still hours from Canterlot and the castle seemed to buzz with a nervous excitement. Celestia had finished playfully berating Discord, though the last sentiment of the conversation was a serious tone for safety and not to be too reckless. The two discuss the ancient magic and dark energy emanating from the fracture. They both recall ancient magical artifacts from beyond their years. Discord remembers specifically that Zecora had once used potions passed down from ancient recipes such as the one Twilight used to look back in time. Celestia makes note and asks Discord to discuss the matter with Twilight. “Oh goody! Another bonding moment for me and the princess!” he said.
End Chapter