//------------------------------// // 79. Ghosts, Wizards & Witches - Part 2 // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// In a dark cave in Equestria... "Who is there?" A red-coated Unicorn stallion asked confused after he noticed how Summershine walked through his cave. It was a Unicorn stallion with a red coat, a white mane that had red stripes in it, and red eyes and a Cutie Mark on his flank was an open book. It was the Pony that Summershine looked all over in Equestria and now he was only steps away to reach his goal so he slowly walked up to the stallion. Summershine still had his mane covered under his hood but he quickly removed it and smiled at the stallion in front of him. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you or anything! I'm just here because I heard the story of a ghost roaming around in this cave so I decided to check it out!" He quickly explained. The Unicorn looked back in confusion. "A ghost?" He asked with a hint of disbelieve. Summershine slowly walked up to the Unicorn. "Yeah! Some ponies were scared and they sent me to investigate. They thought a ghost was wandering around in this cave. But it was just you, right?" He said while still smiling widely. The Unicorn stallion laughed a little. "I'm afraid, I am the only one who lives in this cave," he replied amused. "I thought so," Summershine replied with a grin on his face while he still walked up to the Unicorn very cautiously. "Just a little closer..." he thought as he prepared his anti-magic device to put it on the horn of the stallion. So far, he didn't seem to suspect anything though. "Do you mind coming with me and explaining things to the town folks?" He then suggested in an attempt for the stallion to come closer to him. The stallion didn't answer immediately and just looked back at Summershine. This caused Summershine to get a little nervous. He thought that he was acting a little too suspicious and that the stallion in front of me had seen through his plan. However, the red-coated stallion smiled, much to Summershine's relief. "Sure. I don't want anypony to think of me as a ghost after all," he said before he walked up to Summershine. "This is perfect!" Summershine thought. "I'll just make him walk past me...and as soon as his back is turned to me...I'll get him!" Summershine thought while he prepared the anti-magic device under his coat. The closer the stallion walked up to Summershine, the more nervous he got. The mere thought that he could succeed with his plan put a lot of suspense in Summershine's mind. He was only seconds away to reach his goal. "But...I still have one question though..." The stallion asked as he walked up to Summershine. "Yes?" Summershine replied as he readied his anti-magic device to put it on the stallion's horn any second now once he got a little closer. But the stallion stopped and asked the question that he mentioned before... "What are you trying to do with that...Summershine?" He asked in a more confident and serious tone that was a lot more different from the way he talked before. Summershine's eyes opened wide in shock and confusion. There was no time to think so he pulled out the anti-magic device and attempted to put it on the stallion's horn. However, as soon as the stallion got a good view of it, he shot a magic beam towards it and destroyed it, leaving only pieces of this device on the ground. Seeing how Summershine's plan failed seemed to amuse the red-coated stallion who was now smiling victoriously. "Nice attempt. I'll give you that," he said amused. Summershine could only look at the remaining pieces on the ground in worry. But despite that his plan failed, there seemed to be something that concerned him even more. And that was the fact that the pony in front of him called him Summershine. He knew his name. This shocked Summershine a little and the pony in front of him realized that and only got more amused because of it. There was only one question left to ask for Summershine so he wasted no time and asked it. "You...remember me?" He asked confused and almost in shock. The Unicorn stallion laughed after he heard that. "Of course, I remember you, Summershine. I mean, what kind of question is that?" He said in a very sarcastic tone. "Why? Am I not supposed to remember you?" Summershine seemed surprised to hear this. In fact, he couldn't even believe hearing this and demanded an explanation. "But how is that possible?" He asked confused. The Unicorn stallion gladly explained with a smug smile on his face. "That little "Memory erase" spell that you used, almost got me as well, to be honest. I have to admit, that I got a little lucky to not get affected by it. That would have been the best thing for you to happen, right?" He said, obviously teasing Summershine right now. Despite still being a little confused, Summershine quickly got determined again. "If you remember, then there is only more reason for me to take care of you, Arcana!" He exclaimed before he stood ready to attack the pony in front of him now. Shortly after, Summershine aimed his horn at Arcana to fire a magic beam at him. But as soon as he shot, Arcana teleported away and appeared a few meters to the left. All while having a confident smile on his face. Needless to say, Summershine only got more angered by this. "You...why are you hiding in this cave?" Summershine asked while he glared at the Unicorn in front of him. "I know that you didn't give up on the Elements of Harmony!" "You mean the two remaining halves that remain inside you and Star Twinkle?" And again, Summershine seemed shocked about what this Unicorn knew and widened his eyes, much to the Unicorn's amusement. "Yes...I even know about that," he said with a grin on his face. The more words he heard coming out of Arcana's mouth, the more Summershine was convinced that a pony like him can't be allowed to roam freely in Equestria. "I know that you have planned something...or maybe you already did something? It doesn't matter. Because I will not stop until Star Twinkle and my friends are safe!" He said determinedly. But Arcana was not the least bit scared or intimidated and shrugged his shoulders. "Well...so far...you haven't been the best when it comes to that," he teased while keeping up his smug grin. "Star Twinkle doesn't remember a thing and your friends...well," he began to chuckle after just mentioning that. "If you ask me, as the Element of Friendship, you did a really bad job so far," he said in an amused tone. "And I intend to change that!" Summershine said while he stood ready to go up against Arcana now with an angry expression on his face. But again, Arcana was not impressed at all. "Come on, Summershine. Don't you remember how our first fight went? Do you really think you stand a chance against me?" But Summershine ignored those words and only concentrated on his magic to go up against Arcana. He believed that he was the last obstacle that he has to overcome in order to bring peace to Equestria. "In order to protect Star Twinkle and everyone else in Equestria...defeating you will make all that possible!" He shouted at Arcana, determined. "To protect Star Twinkle, huh?" Arcana asked confused. "Are you really sure that he really wants that? If you ask me, he probably doesn't want your help even if he remembered you," he said with a smug smile on his face. "What do you know what my best friend!?" Summershine threw back in anger. Arcana just chuckled at this response. "Well, things are not always the way they seem..." Summershine decided that he listened enough to Arcana and just straight out charged at him while focusing some magic inside of his horn. Arcana did the same and charged at his opponent as well. Shortly after, both of their horns clashed and a magic explosion went off inside the dark cave, covering it in light for a brief moment. Both of them were really powerful which only meant that the battle that was about to start would be a big one. And the outcome would change the way of Equestria's future... Meanwhile, in Appleloosa... Without still getting what happened just now, Star Twinkle still stood there and watched how Grace was engulfing herself in a magic aura. Her expression was still filled with excitement. The excitement for a battle. Star Twinkle reacted in shock after he saw that sudden change in Grace. "What happened to her? It's almost as if she is a completely different pony now," Star Twinkle thought after he kept watching the mare in front of him and wondered what could be the reason for that change. But then, as soon as he further inspected her, it almost seemed obvious. "Of course, the Alicorn Amulet!" He figured. "It was just like with Trixie before, when she was wearing that thing in Ponyville. If I remember correctly, then the Alicorn Amulet corrupts its wearer. That's what must have happened to her. But...the only one who can remove that amulet is the one who wears it, right?" Of course, the question of how Grace got the Alicorn Amulet in the first place, popped up in Star Twinkle's head as well. The last time he saw it was when Zecora took it. But he also remembered that it then suddenly vanished. But right now, that was the least of Star Twinkle's problems. Back then Trixie got really powerful by wearing that thing, multiple times stronger than Twilight at least. It also took quite some work to make Trixie remove her amulet. Star Twinkle was thinking about how to make Grace remove her own amulet but he couldn't come up with an idea. In return for losing control of themselves, one would gain amazing powers from the Alicorn Amulet. But of course, Grace would not just remove that amulet on her own free will with that much power flowing through her now. After a while, the magic around Grace began to vanish and things settled down again. At least from the looks of it. Star Twinkle saw how much magic was surrounding her seconds ago so he knew that she was probably storing it inside of her now, ready to unleash it again, like a ticking time bomb that could detonate every moment. But despite all that, Grace stretched herself in midair while she still kept levitating above the ground with the help of her magic. "Looks like I can let loose for a moment," she said with a sinister grin on her face before she looked directly at Star Twinkle. Now that things have settled off again, it was probably the best opportunity to talk with her again. "Grace! That amulet, where did you get it from? It was supposed to be stored away in the Everfree Forest!" He asked in concern for the mare. Grace gave a quick answer. "The way you say it, makes it almost sound like as if I stole it or something," she replied while she shrugged her shoulders. "I was the one who "borrowed" it to that one mare and after she failed to entertain me enough, I decided to take it back again. It's as simple as that..." she said while not showing any signs of regrets for what almost happened to Ponyville back then. "That one mare? You mean Trixie?" Star Twinkle replied in surprise. He quickly suspected her to be responsible for what happened to Trixie but then he thought about how Grace acted a little while ago and it didn't seem to fit. The question raised if she was just acting innocent before and that this was her true nature all along. But then he remembered that she was still under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet so Star Twinkle, once again, talked to the mare. "Listen, you have to take off this amulet! It's dangerous! It will corrupt you!" He exclaimed in concern. But Grace laughed and didn't take Star Twinkle's words seriously at all. "Dangerous? Corrupt me?" She asked followed by some more amused laughter. "Maybe if a weak and pathetic Unicorn like Trixie wears it..." she added while she swept some tears from her eyes because of her laughter. She then began to take a closer look at Star Twinkle. "Say...yes! I thought you looked familiar! You were one of the ponies who managed to stop her back then," she said with some enjoyment in her voice. A sinister-looking grin formed on her face again and she slowly flew towards Star Twinkle. "Care to try your luck on me?" She then asked with that evil grin on her face. There was no way that this pony would listen to Star Twinkle so he had no choice but to transform in order to protect himself. He chose the Unicorn form so that he could try to attack back if needed, even if he didn't like to do that. It did seem to surprise Grace that Star Twinkle was able to transform but she decided to not mind it for long. While Star Twinkle kept an eye on Grace, in his mind, he tried to come up with a solution on how to deal with this situation. "I already saw what Trixie was capable of with that amulet. Twilight couldn't defeat her so I won't even stand a chance..." Star Twinkle then looked over to the houses of Appleloosa which was not too far away. Both of them were just a little outside of town, far enough so that nopony would notice them from inside the town. This meant that Star Twinkle couldn't scream for help to get out of this either. Grace then noticed how Star Twinkle kept looking at the direction of the town so she decided to take advantage of that. "The music is over here!" She said before she flew at high speed towards Star Twinkle who jumped as soon as he noticed the mare flying towards him. "Here she comes!" He thought in a panic. There was no time to think so Star Twinkle quickly focused some of his magic and fired towards the mare. He expected her to at least move a little and dodged out of the way but to his surprise, she didn't budge one bit and kept flying towards him while still keeping up a confident smile. As soon as she came in contact with Star Twinkle's attack, it seemed to have been blocked by the magic aura that surrounded her. "What!?" Star Twinkle said in shock after he saw that. Out of fear, Star Twinkle closed his eyes and prepared himself for Grace's attack. ... But nothing happened... Star Twinkle kept his eyes shut and was too scared to open them again. Of course, he wondered why nothing happened but the fear inside of him was stronger so he didn't even think about opening them again. But then he suddenly felt something on his head. Eventually, he did open one of his eyes again to see what happened. What he saw surprised him. There was Grace, levitating right in front of him and playing with the spiky ends of Star Twinkle's mane with a playful smile on her face. She chuckled playfully. "Your mane looks funny," she then said playfully, much to Star Twinkle's confusion. At first, he thought that she broke out of the control of the amulet and that this all was over. But then Grace's eyes met with Star Twinkle's and he saw that sinister smile again. Without putting any thought into it, Star Twinkle shot at Grace while she seemed to be distracted. But the instance where Star Twinkle's horn began to glow, she noticed and reported away before she got hit. "Where is she!?" Star Twinkle wondered after she disappeared in front of him. But he quickly found out where she was as soon as he could feel some weight on his back. Grace laid with her back on Star Twinkle's back as if he was some kind of sofa or a bench. Grace chuckles after she remembered that one attack from Star Twinkle before. "Nice job, I almost felt that," she said amused. “But again, what do you expect from an Earth Pony who turned into a Unicorn. Just because you can use magic now, doesn't mean that you actually are good with it." Her head then moved back and laid down on Star Twinkle's back of his head as if it was some kind of pillow and the mare looked up at the sky. "Must be pretty handy to be able to grow a horn...Can you grow wings as well? Not that I need wings to fly but just imagine how beautiful I would look with two wings on my back,” the mare fantasized while she still laid on Star Twinkle's back. Having enough of being treated as some kind of sofa, Star Twinkle switched from his Unicorn form to his Pegasus form and replaced his horn with two wings on his back before he flapped them in an attempt to shake the mare of off his back. However, the mare was already long gone again. "Where is she now!?" Star Twinkle thought in confusion. But then suddenly, his body was frozen. "I can't move!?" He thought after this surprise. There was magic surrounding his body. Grace then appeared right in front of Star Twinkle and moved her head closer to his and looked deeply at his face. She formed a smile but this time it looked more honest and not evil or sinister at all. Still, the words that came out of her mouth left Star Twinkle confused again. "You know, now that I have a closer look at you...you are kinda cute," she said with a smile on her face. Star Twinkle didn't know how to feel about that since he still couldn't move. He would actually feel embarrassed to hear those words but right now but coming from a mare that was wearing the Alicorn Amulet and who froze him in place, those words only sounded scary right now. "What a shame..." Grace said before she focused some magic on her horn, ready to shoot at Star Twinkle. Again, Star Twinkle closed his eyes. It was actually the only thing that he could do in this situation. He couldn't transform or scream for help or anything else so he prepared himself for the worst. But just like before, luck seemed to be on his side. As soon as Grace was about to fire at Star Twinkle, a magic beam came between them which caused Grace to jump back in order to dodge, releasing Star Twinkle in the process. Star Twinkle dropped on the ground and wondered what happened just now. Soon, he realized that it was Twilight who saved him. "Are you alright?" She asked after she positioned herself in front of Star Twinkle so that she would stand between him and Grace. "Twilight?" Star Twinkle said as soon as he saw Twilight in front of him. He wasn't hurt so getting up was not a problem for him. "I'm fine, thanks," he said after he got up and stood right next to Twilight while keeping an eye on Grace at the same time. Grace calmly watched the two but she didn't seem to be to intimidated to have two ponies standing in front of her now. "Twilight? Like in Princess Twilight Sparkle?" She then asked before she formed a smile yet again. "You are also the Element of Magic if I'm not mistaken...now this could be interesting!" She said excitedly. Twilight didn't seem to bother about her and wondered why she attacked Star Twinkle. But then she noticed what she was wearing. "Who is that? And why is she wearing the Alicorn Amulet?" She asked confused. But Star Twinkle thought that it was more important to focus on her getting the amulet off of Grace. "Don't worry about that. First, we need to take the amulet off of her!" "Right..." Twilight replied after realizing that they don't have much time to lose. "I'll take care of it!" She then said confidently. "You do?" Star Twinkle replied in confusion. Twilight explained. "After the incident with Trixie, I did some research. I found a spell that could remove the magic lock of the amulet," she explained. Star Twinkle was more than happy to hear this. This actually meant that they still had a chance to get out of this situation in one piece. "But, the thing is...I need to be a little closer to her in order for it to work," she further explained with some less confidence than before. "That's still better than nothing..." Star Twinkle expressed, trying to think positive for once. Having Grace come closer to them might not be that much of a problem at all, judging from how she was "fighting" so far. In fact, Grace already charged at them again at full speed and before they knew it, she was flying right past the two of them, causing Twilight's costume to flap like crazy. She eventually decided to take it off so that it wouldn't get in the way and so she could focus a little better on Grace. She was actually surprised to see the mare flying this fast just by moving herself with her own magic. According to Twilight, this was not something that could be pulled of that easily. Twilight decided to follow the mare up in the sky so that she could get closer to her. Grace noticed that she was being approached and stopped so that she could start the fight with Twilight. She shot a magic beam at Twilight but she managed to dodge out of the way while still flying towards her. Grace fired multiple shots at Twilight but each time the Alicorn Princess managed to dodge out of the way. For some reason, this seemed to amuse Grace. "Aren't you gonna attack me?" She then asked after she noticed how Twilight only pressed forward without an attempt to really fight back. But as soon as Grace got disappointed by her opponent's passiveness, Twilight focused magic on her horn and seemed to be now countering Grace's attacks. But Twilight kept charging towards her, confusing Grace for a moment. Twilight then shot a spell towards the mare and it seemed to be aimed towards the Alicorn Amulet. But as soon as Grace noticed that, she quickly glared at Twilight before she teleported away, canceling Twilight's spell in the process. "Almost!" Twilight said after she failed. Grace appeared back on the ground and kept watching Twilight who was still up in the air. "So that's what you are aiming for, huh?" Grace said in an unusually serious tone. As soon as Twilight spotted Grace again, she quickly flew towards her to probably use that one spell from before. Grace was preparing herself to counter that attempt this time and stood ready. But then, Star Twinkle came from behind and grabbed the mare, holding her in place. Grace struggled to get free but Star Twinkle was physically stronger than her and managed to hold her down. "Now Twilight!" He exclaimed. "On it!" Twilight replied while she accelerated towards the two and already started her spell that would remove the lock on the Alicorn Amulet. The spell was already flying towards Grace's amulet and covered it in a magic aura. Twilight was also a little closer to the two of them. She seemed to be close enough for her spell to work this time. Things somehow seemed to work out now. The spell actually caused Grace to scream in pain, making Star Twinkle feel bad for her, especially since he knew how Grace was before she got under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet. Twilight actually noticed how he must have felt but she assured him that the pain would end as soon as the amulet was removed which actually made Star Twinkle feel a little better. However, hearing Grace scream in pain made him not feel too good. "It hurts!" She screamed. "Why are you doing this to me!?" She said in pain. But Twilight continued so that this would end as soon as possible. "Only a little more!" She said while she kept the spell up at all times. It actually looked as if it was really hard to pull off so Twilight got exhausted really quick. Star Twinkle just hoped that it would end as soon so that he didn't have to hurt Grace anymore. Just when he thought that he made her his friend and helped her to get a little happier, she was affected by the Alicorn Amulet. She probably couldn't reach through the corruption and didn't want to hurt anypony, judging from the way she was acting before. Being under the control of this amulet must feel like a nightmare for her which was all the more reason why they had to take it off of her. Grace's screams began to get shorter and instead she seemed to show a grudge against the two ponies who tried to take of her amulet."How could I be defeated by ponies like you!?" She said as she tried to fight off the spell with physical strength alone. Of course, it wasn't enough. Those actions must all be because of the corruption of the amulet. Eventually, Grace stopped moving and dropped her head. Twilight's spell must have worked. Star Twinkle let out a relieved sigh but still grabbed hold of her just to make sure. So did Twilight who kept using the spell on Grace. ... "Just kidding..." Grace then suddenly, rose her head and grinned, much to the shock of Star Twinkle and Twilight. The mare used her magic and teleported away from them, only to appear a few meters behind them where she laughed amused after the two pony's attempt to stop her. "Did you really think that a lousy spell like that will work against me?" She said while she put her hooves behind her head and laid there in midair. Star Twinkle and Twilight both stood ready again but with Grace being able to break even free from Twilight's spell, Star Twinkle's confidence slowly dropped. Still, Twilight decided to attack the mare again and shot her magic at her. This time, Grace didn't dodge and let herself get hit. Just like before with Star Twinkle, the attack hit her but the magical aura around Grace protected her from taking any damage again. "Getting desperate now are we?" Grace said after Twilight's attack. "I have to admit, that I expected a little bit more from a princess. So much for the Element of Magic too..." she added in disappointment while she shrugged her shoulders. Twilight didn't know how to respond to that. She was other things in her mind actually. "Just who is that pony!?" Twilight then asked confused. "And how is she so powerful?" She asked. "Well, she is wearing the Alicorn Amulet so she is bound to be strong..." Star Twinkle replied though he was surprised that Twilight seemed to have forgotten that fact. "No, that's just the problem!" Twilight then replied with a serious tone in her voice while she kept looking at Grace. "There is a completely different feeling about her. It's not the same that I felt with Trixie, back then," "What do you mean?" Star Twinkle asked confused. Twilight explained further. "I'm not sure but..." She struggled at first to continue. It was almost as if she felt intimidated by Grace's strength. "I think so far...she didn't even use any power from the Alicorn Amulet..." As soon as Star Twinkle heard that, he began to panic a little. "Are you kidding me? You mean all this time, she blocked all our attacks and broke free of your spell without using the strength from the amulet!?" He exclaimed to which Twilight only nodded in response. Grace overheard that and felt like confirming Twilight's thought. "Well, you don't lift a book with a crane if you can just pick it up yourself, right?" She said amused with a grin on her face. "Though I expected to go out a little bit more for a princess...but it looks like I don't even have to do that..." That basically translated to Star Twinkle that she had still strength to spare, something that he really didn't like to hear at all. If not even Twilight was able to scratch her, then who else was left to help them now. The situation was completely hopeless. Even if Star Twinkle and Twilight somehow managed to find a way to fight her now, she could still access the power of the Alicorn Amulet to power herself up even further. Just the thought of that sent shivers down on Star Twinkle's back. But despite, the situation the two ponies were in, Twilight decided to ask again who this pony was and how Star Twinkle knew her. It was maybe an attempt to get some more information so that she could figure out a way to deal with Grace. Star Twinkle had no reason to hide anything so he decided to answer, although he had to think about what Grace's full name was again for a second. "Her full name is Graceful Palladium Magie. I met her while I was at the Star Swirl Museum inside of Appleloosa. Back there she was acting completely different and..." But Star Twinkle stopped in the middle of the sentence as soon as he saw Twilight's shocked expression. "Magie?" She said while she widened her eyes while she looked at Grace in a completely different light now. "It's her..." she said now in fear. "She is the Witch of Equestria..." she added in disbelieve and with every hope left in her body now. That name instantly rang a bell in Star Twinkle's head. "What? Do you mean that pony from Celestia's story? I thought she wasn't real," he asked confused. Of course, Twilight wanted to confirm her guess and just straight out asked Grace. "You are the Witch of Equestria, aren't you?" Grace smiled in response and shrugged her shoulders. "What if I am?" She simply replied. "You shouldn't worry about such trivial things while being in a situation like...this!" After that sentence Grace focused even more magic around her body and inside of her horn, making the air around her shaking by her magic. Star Twinkle and Twilight quickly realized that she was using a lot more magic and that things would get even worse now. "Here she comes!" Twilight said in a panic, trying to warn Star Twinkle from whatever was about to happen now. Grace focused a whole lot of magic in her horn and was about to fire right at Star Twinkle first. Her eyes were glued on him and her expression looked a lot more serious now. However, instead of firing at him, she remained motionless and even seemed to hesitate. It almost looked like as if looking at Star Twinkle and thinking about how things were about to go from now on, made her regret what she was trying to do now. For a moment, it even looked like as if she was sad just thinking about it. This went on until Grace decided to dim down her magic again. "I guess, I let you off the hook," she then said casually, much to Star Twinkle's and Twilight's confusion. "What!?" Star Twinkle could only reply at this moment. Grace then levitated herself further above the ground and attempted to just leave the two. But Twilight screamed after her in order for her to stay. "Wait! Stay right here!" She said, determined to finish this right now. Grace actually did stop in midair. "What?" She replied before she slowly turned her head around to face Twilight who actually got a little uneasy after she saw an excited expression on Grace's face. "You want me to finish you two off now?" She asked, in hope that Twilight would actually say yes. But after thinking about the situation a little further again, Twilight figured that this was probably the best outcome for them so she didn't reply and just lowered her head. "I thought so..." Grace replied after seeing Twilight's response. "Do me a favor and get a little stronger, okay? That way our next fight will be a little bit more...entertaining," she replied with a smile on her face. Her eyes then wandered over to Star Twinkle who was, in all honesty, pretty relieved that Grace decided to leave now. "You..." she started which made Star Twinkle jump a little in response. "I really hope that I get to see you again too," she added before she winked at Star Twinkle which made him actually send some shivers down on his back. Shortly after, Grace flew away at high speed and left the two ponies who then dropped to the ground defeated but also relieved that everything was over now. Twilight was the one who seemed the most confused about all of this. "I can't believe that we met the Witch of Equestria...let alone that we managed to get out of a battle with her in one piece..." "Yeah...about that..." Star Twinkle said. "I thought that whole story about this witch was just a made-up story from Princess Celestia..." "That's what I thought too..." Twilight replied with some worry in her eyes. "I think we should go to Canterlot and ask the princess herself..." she then suggested. Star Twinkle thought that this would be the best thing to do now as well and got up on his hooves again. "So much for our visit to this museum, huh?" He said jokingly, despite the situation they were in before. Twilight just laughed it off, however. "Well, I did meet one of my favorite unicorns in history so I guess this visit was somehow special..." The two then decided to quickly go and take the train to Canterlot now. Princess Celestia should be immediately informed about this matter after all. They also wanted to know more about this Witch of Equestria from her in person. If there was somepony who knew something about Grace, then it would be Princess Celestia. Whatever they would hear from her though, the thought that someone this powerful was out there was just worrying them... In the meantime... Inside of the dark cave that Summershine visited, a very intense battle was taking place. Summershine and Arcana were throwing back magic beams at each other left and right but they didn't manage to get a hit on each other. Arcana seemed to be amused throughout the whole battle and clearly had some energy to spare and therefore didn't take the fight seriously at all since he believed to have the upper hoof so far. "You seem to have gotten a little better, Summershine," Arcana complimented though it could also be words to simply mock the Unicorn in front of him. "But you won't be able to defeat me on your own," he added confidently. Summershine knew that this encounter would not be an easy one but he also thought that he was now prepared and able to take Arcana on. But so far the battle was much more even then he originally expected. Fortunately, Summershine also had some ace in his sleeve left... "I came here to defeat and ensure the safety of Equestria...and that is exactly what I am about to do!" Summershine said before there was a flash of magic around him for a second, causing Arcana to notice something different about him. What followed was an aura of fire, surrounding the hooded Pony. Arcana didn't know what was happening for a moment and before he could figure out something, there was already a ball of fire coming towards him. Arcana managed to teleport away in time, causing the ball of fire to explode on impact and setting the ground on fire and lighting up the cave a little. Shortly after, Arcana appeared again and turned towards the flames. "Fire?" He wondered while Summershine appeared right behind him firing another ball of fire that he fired towards the Unicorn. But Arcana noticed Summershine and teleported away in time again. And again, Arcana appeared a few meters away from Summershine. Just by looking at Summershine's angry expression, Arcana noticed how he was slowly getting frustrated but he also figured that the fight would not be easy anymore. Arcana saw how Summershine already prepared another attack for him. What confused him was that this fire, that Summershine was using didn't seem to be magic because Summershine's horn wasn't glowing at all. Arcana then decided to attack with a magic beam but Summershine raised a wall of fire in front of him that protected him from the attack. "Now this could be a little more troublesome..." Arcana said with actually a little bit of concern in his voice. Summershine seemed like as if he intended to end this battle. He was confident that Arcana would no longer be able to keep up with him now. "I bet you didn't see this coming, huh?" Summershine asked. Now he was the one who was teasing his opponent confidently. But his opponent didn't seem all to intimidated. In fact, he was breaking out laughing, much to Summershine's confusion. "What's so funny!?" Summershine asked angrily. Arcana stopped laughing and looked directly at the Pony in front of him. "I'm just laughing at your poor attempts to stop me," he explained. "You still think that I am no match for you!?" Summershine asked with his teeth clenched in anger. Arcana smiled and just shook his head. "Summershine...You never stood a chance, to begin with..." he said before he looked over at the remaining pieces of the anti-magic device that Summershine tried to put on him earlier. "Even if you managed to get that thing on me," he started before he looked back to Summershine. "Even if you, for some reason manage to defeat me and drag me in front of Princess Celestia herself so that she can put me in some kind of prison...even then, you would not be able to stop me," he explained with a wide grin and an expression that was just pure confidence. Summershine didn't take those words seriously and just concentrated on his fire magic. "I told you before, that I came here to stop you!" He returned with his eyes focused on Arcana. Arcana returned a smile and raised his head in confidence. "And I told you, that things are not always the way they seem..." Summershine wondered what that had to do with anything but he decided to not listen to Arcana anymore. However, the slight feeling that something was wrong made his cautiousness go up a little. And it was a good thing it did because shortly after, he noticed something or somepony sneaking up on him from behind. The figure behind him shot a magic beam at Summershine but luckily for him, he noticed it soon enough and teleported away in time. When Summershine appeared again a few meters away, the pony behind him was now standing next to Arcana but he couldn't see who it was because the pony was still standing in the shadows. "Who is there!?" He immediately asked, prompting the pony to step out of the shadows so that he could see who it was. But even after the pony stepped out of the shadows, Summershine could still not tell who this pony was. After taking a few steps forward, the pony revealed itself as a pony who was wearing a pitch-black armor. Naturally, Summershine had no idea who the pony under the armor was but so so far it didn't matter anymore. "Even if there are two of you, I am strong enough now to take you both on!" He exclaimed confidently while he created a ring of fire around him which seemed to resonate with the anger inside of him and grew bigger and bigger. The pony in the black armor took a step back out of cautiousness but Arcana remained motionless and still had a smile on his face. "And yet again...you are wrong in thinking...that were are just two..." After hearing those words, Summershine got confused for a second but he still focused his vision on the two ponies in front of him. That was until he heard a few more steps coming from behind him. Even if there were more enemies to deal with, Summershine was prepared for that and stood ready for a fight. He turned around and looked at what Summershine might have prepared for him and with how many enemies he had to deal with. He was determined to fight anyone who was standing in his way now. ... But as soon as he saw who he was about to face, Summershine's eyes were filled with a mix of confusion, shock, and even sadness. The flames around him got smaller and smaller until they eventually were completely gone. His eyes were glued to the sight of the five ponies in front of him and he didn't know how to react or what to say. Of course, Arcana was the only one who was amused by this reaction. "Well, Summershine...are you ready to take them on too?" He teased on behalf of Summershine's reaction. Instead of getting angry or anything, Summershine just turned his head slowly towards Arcana with a shocked and confused expression on his face. "Those are not...what have you done Arcana!?" He asked confused, demanding a clear explanation from Arcana. "Not what you've expected, I assume..." Arcana replied smugly. "And after all that talk of saving them...I thought you would be happy to see them again...And here you are looking as if you actually saw a ghost. I mean, that's what you originally came here for right?" It was obvious that Arcana was only messing with Summershine's mind with all those words but Summershine couldn't care less about that and just looked back at the ponies behind him. After he took a good amount of time looking at the five ponies, he could only say one thing. "No. They are not real! I know! So what is the meaning of this, Arcana!?" He asked angrily. Arcana quickly replied. "I think we talked enough...how about we continue this fight now?" He said before he gave a signal to the ponies behind Summershine to which they quickly reacted by slowly walking towards Summershine. But instead of getting in a defensive position or anything, Summershine actually took a few steps back in fear. Arcana could only smile seeing this reaction from Summershine. This went on for a good while until the Pony in the black armor decided to step up and attack Summershine by charging right at him while his back was turned. Summershine had his eyes focused on the ponies in front of him and didn't notice his attacker from behind. There was no way that he could dodge the next attack since his mind was really far away now. "I did all this to protect them and not to fight them!" He thought in confusion. "What is going on here!?" He wondered. There was never a better chance to attack Summershine. The Pony in the black armor was now dangerously close to him and was about to ram him from behind and Summershine still didn't notice anything. ... "No!" Summershine thought before he teleported away from the spot, much to the Armored Ponies confusion who thought that Summershine didn't notice anything of its attack. Summershine then appeared in front of the entrance and ran away, leaving everypony inside of the cave without a fight. Of course, the Armored Pony wouldn't let up so fast and followed him but after taking a few steps, Arcana stopped him. "Wait! Don't follow him!" He exclaimed, causing the pony to stop and turn around again. There was probably a confused look beneath that helmet of the pony of why Arcana would let him go. But Arcana explained. "It's probably better for him to leave...I'm afraid that we wouldn't have stood a chance against him if he decided to fight against us..." he said with a visibly concerned look on his face. The Pony in the black armor seemed to understand or at least took the words seriously because they came out of Arcana's mouth and loosened up again. Arcana suspected the pony beneath the armor to get excited to fight against Summershine but he put a hoof on its shoulder while grinning sinisterly. "Don't you worry, you will get your chance. But remember, our plan was to start with the other half first..." he said before he walked away a little. "You've met him, right? At the coronation? First, we take his half, then we can move over to Summershine...and after that..." he stopped before he looked up with a smile on his face. "...we finally have them...the Elements of Harmony..." Whatever this group of ponies has planned for the future, it was obvious that it wasn't pretty for the future of Equestria. And with only Summershine knowing about their presence, there were only limited options to stop them. But someone had to do it... Later inside of Canterlot Castle... Princess Celestia was already informed about the incident that took place in Appleloosa and judging from the concerned look on her face, she didn't really seem to know how to reply to Star Twinkle and Twilight who have just told her about all this. "The Witch of Equestria...so she is back..." the princess said as she walked up and down in the room confused. Princess Luna, who was also present in the throne room and listened to Star Twinkle's and Twilight's story already seemed to have an idea. "If you ask me, sister, we should waste no time and send the Royal Guards to look for her and..." "No!" Princess Celestia then interrupted, much to her younger sister's surprise. "If it is really her then going after her would be the worst thing to do!" She explained. "What do you mean?" Princess Luna explained. "If she really is supposed to be this dangerous, then we can't let her roam free in Equestria!" She objected. Princess Celestia grabbed her forehead and showed a frustrated look on her face and was about to explain but Star Twinkle, who stood right next to the two princesses, along with Twilight, raised his hoof and interrupted. "Um...I know we don't have much saying into this but can you please explain some things about this Witch of Equestria so that we can help in any way?" "And can you also tell us why you said that it was just a made-up story?" Twilight added. Princess Luna also wanted to know more about this matter so Princess Celestia calmed down again and tried to explain everything she knew. "Where do I begin with..." she started while she closed her eyes to recall her memories of the witch. "The last time I heard the name "Witch of Equestria" was around one hundred years ago...Back then, she directly opposed me and sought me out so that she could fight me...but I don't remember her having the Alicorn Amulet at that time. After the battle was over, she vanished and I never saw her again so I thought that she was gone for good...until now..." Something about this story bothered Star Twinkle so he straight out asked. "One hundred years ago!?" He asked in surprise. "But she barely looked older than me!" He pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if she figured out a spell that would keep her younger or maybe extend her life," Princess Celestia replied before she moved her head towards Twilight. "As for, why I said that I made her up...well...It's because I didn't want anypony in Equestria to be living in fear of such a pony..." "Then why did you tell anypony this story in the first place..." Star Twinkle said with an expression on his face as if he wanted to say that Princess Celestia didn't really think this out too much. But Princess Celestia's answer quite surprised him. "I told this story so that I could remember her myself..." Star Twinkle had no idea what that was supposed to mean and from Twilight's question, she didn't seem to understand too. "What do you mean by that?" She asked. Princess Celestia explained. "I once heard a rumor about a certain spell...a memory erase spell..." she said. "A memory erase spell?" Twilight replied confused. "Yes," Princess Luna added. "I remember that there used to be a spell like that. It was said that it was used to remove the memory of someone and replace them with memories where this someone never existed...at least that's what I heard..." she explained. "I never heard of a spell-like that before..." Twilight said. "Of course not..." Princess Celestia replied. "This spell vanished over one thousand years ago..." she explained. Star Twinkle tried to confirm what he understood by this spell. "So there is a spell that makes you basically forget that somepony ever existed?" He asked, causing the two Royal Princesses to nod in response. "Sounds scary..." he added with a concerned look on his face. "So you thought that Grace was casting a spell-like that on herself and that's why you kept telling that story? So that you wouldn't forget her?" He guessed. "No, she couldn't," Princess Luna answered. "There was said to be one condition for this spell to work. The pony who was removed from the memory can no longer exist..." she explained. Princess Celestia further explained. "This spell was invented so that the ponies of Equestria would no longer live in fear of certain dangers to return. For example, none of us could be removed from everyponies memories since we are all here and well but someone like King Sombra or Fade, who no longer are present, could be forgotten by everypony once someone decided to use that spell to remove them from everyponies memory," "But..." Twilight interrupted. "If those ponies would return...then nopony would remember them again as soon as they showed up?" She asked. "That doesn't sound like a very handy spell..." she figured. Princess Celestia agreed. "The inventor of this spell must have thought that as well and decided to remove everything that was associated with it...but maybe there was once a danger that was so big that it was necessary for everypony to forget about it...and that's why this spell came to life," Princess Celestia could only guess before she remembered the actual problem that they were facing right now. "I guess if there was a pony who I thought was capable of knowing that spell, then it was the Witch of Equestria..." she said as she raised her head. "So what do we do about her then?" Princess Luna asked again. Princess Celestia gave a quick answer this time. "As much as I hate saying it but...we do not want to engage the witch in battle..." she said causing her sister to give her some disagreeing looks. "The witch was always unpredictable but she didn't resort in violence against the ponies of Equestria as far as I know." To an extent, Star Twinkle had to agree to that. Grace seemed passive and harmless before she attacked Star Twinkle. "But we should have an eye on her regardless. Still, do not attack her!" "Understood..." Princess Luna replied before she left so that she could give some orders to the Royal Guards. Princess Celestia walked up to Star Twinkle and Twilight and assured them both that she would take care of everything from now on. Twilight did seem as if she wanted to help as well but Princess Celestia claimed that she would have everything under control so the two ponies decided to leave. That things would go so serious was definitely not to Star Twinkle's liking, especially since he often thought back about how Grace acted towards him at first and how she switched from that to a battle-hungry and scary mare. "Don't worry Star Twinkle!" Twilight said as she noticed the concern in Star Twinkle. "We will find her and stop her before she does anything terrible!" She added determinedly. "Oh! Yes!" Star Twinkle replied even though that was the least of his concern now. Twilight then led the way. "Let's go home now, it was quite a day after all..." she then suggested. "Yeah..." Star Twinkle replied before he followed Twilight so that they could both return to Ponyville. There was nothing that they could do to help anyway so they might as well return home and focus on their lives again. Still...Star Twinkle couldn't help but think about Grace and how she was probably targeted by the Royal Guards now... But there was probably no reason to worry about that too now...