//------------------------------// // An Entity (Prologue) // Story: Living Elements of Harmony: Neo Elements // by Intellect Stretcher //------------------------------// **Yes, this is still part of the prologue. But don't worry; the prologue ends at this chapter and the rest of the story begins after.** “Okay, now focus this time.” Red Star softly said to Twilight, who at the moment is concentrating on the open white field. “Okay I’m ready.” Twilight said without moving even her eyes off focus. Without warning Red’s horn started to glow red and the room started to throw discs in rows of five from the floor and walls simultaneously. Twilight immediately reacted to the first disc and started to shoot at them to destroy them. They exploded when they were hit but when the debris got to the ground it was consumed into it. After several more rounds of discs, they stopped and Twilight felt slightly tired but didn’t care. “Nice work, you barely missed a single one.” Red went to pat the filly’s head. “Thanks, so what do we do now?” “Hmm…” Red actually thought about this; they have been training with mostly the same routine for the past few days. And throughout it she noticed Twilight was urging for a challenge; she sore through what Red had to offer with ease. What’s more is that Red wanted some results as much as the princess, so she’ll make it happen. “Mmm, we could try something a bit harder.” Red noticed the lavender filly’s eyes light up as soon as she finished speaking. She was more excited for things that will challenge her abilities. Red liked that about her. “That is if you’re up for it.” “I’m up for it! Let’s do something harder!” She started to jump again. “Well I’m glad you are.” Red tried her hardest to resist the cuteness of the little filly right there; luckily she was able to and simply smiled. “But before we start there are things that you must recognize about magic.” “Recognize…?” Twilight seemed confused and stopped jumping. “What do you mean?” “Most ponies even the ‘wisest’ of wizards assume that magic is something that is simple to assume power from; and that the power needed for every spell is the same for every magic user. That is an obscene theory.” She seemed to have put extra emphasis on ‘wise’. Twilight sat down to get comfortable; this was a valuable lesson that will change her view on magic for sure. “What most scholars and zealots can’t understand is that magic from ponies is not a given factor of life. It is something that varies very differently with everypony; magical power and capabilities depend on the pony’s personality, imagination, and other mental traits.” Red got closer to Twilight and placed her front hoof on the filly’s chest. “So basically it comes from within you, and not books and study.” She finished off with a wide smile. Twilight was in complete awe; eyes widened and jaw dropped. She had never heard such a wise stance on magic; such philosophy. She just gained several more reasons why Maroon Mars is her idol and hero. “So you think you’re up for it?” Red asked awaiting an answer from the small prodigy. She knew that she will be able to easily understand and recognize that simple fact of magic. She knew because Twilight was not like most of the unicorns she had met; she was a very young prodigy and sometimes children understand more than what even the wisest of ponies can’t. “You bet I ‘am!” Twilight quickly switched her expression to a big grin, and so did Red. “Good, now let’s get to work.” “What are we going to do?” “Well since you think you’re ready for something a bit more difficult…” She suddenly used a teleport spell to get several meters away from Twilight. But there was something off with the teleport spell. Twilight thought that teleport spells made a noise; in fact they did. But this one didn’t. She figured it was because Red is just that good with spell that she can manipulate even their side effects. “Wait is that how she sneaked up behind me a few days ago when we met?” Twilight thought. “Probably.” She decided in her head. “You’re going to have to fight me in a magic duel!” Red looked excited for this. However Twilight didn’t find the situation as much. “WHAT?!?!” Twilight was not only incredibly shocked but also terrified. No matter how much potential and a prodigy she may be, she was absolutely no possible match for The Maroon Mars. “What are you talking about?! I can’t possibly last fighting YOU!!” “Relax, we aren’t gonna fight for reals.” Red assured. “We’re just gonna be playing a simple game.” “A game?” Now Twilight had no idea for what to expect. “But before I can start to explain the rules, I have to know if you are able to use your magic as a Ray of Malice.” “Y-yes… but I never use it.” “I can see why; it is considered combat magic after all. And a dangerous one at that.” Red noticed that Twilight looked a bit unsure about this. “Don’t worry about it,” Red spoke in soft and caring voice, “if anything were to go wrong I’ll be sure we’re both safe.” Twilight looked back at the mare’s blue eyes; she knew she can trust her. “Alright, so how does the game work?” Twilight quickly got her confidence back. Red grinned at her excitement “At the same time we will both blast our magic ray so they both hit in the center of the space between us.” She started to do hoof jesters as she continued her explanation. “The object of the game for you is to see how long you can last and how much of my power it takes to overpower yours.” Twilight started to wince, but Red spoke again to assure her. “Don’t worry I’ll use only JUST enough to overpower you and you won’t be harmed. I’ll even put up force fields to protect you if something were to go wrong.” “Wait is this meant to see how strong I’am in magic?” Twilight asked. “Well you catch on quickly.” “How is that more difficult than what we’ve already been doing?” “Because, like I said, I’ll be slowly increasing my power to beat you and in return you do the same so I can see how strong you are when you use ALL of your power. Not only is it difficult because you’re trying to beat the best magic user in existence, but also because it is very dangerous if you refuse to use your focus and all your will into your attack.” “Then are you sure that I’ll….” She started to look unease. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I will never let you get hurt.” Red spoke in the same gentle voice she did before, but it still got Twilight’s trust. “Okay…. Let’s do this.” Her expression quickly turned into one of confidence and determination. “Now remember my words: focus and use your imagination.” Both of them changed their stances for the attack they’ll both use. Both lowered the front half of their bodies to point their horns at the other. Without warning Red Star shouted, “NOW.” And they both blasted their magic at the same time. The two separate rays, one of purple and one of red, met at the center and were consistent to push the other to their source. Twilight had her eyes nearly shut as she focused her power to the maximum, whilst Red had them wide open and didn’t seem hindered by Twilight. Red was keeping track on how Twilight was doing and how much energy is being used by both of them. For a few moments the rays stayed in the middle, but then the red ray started to overcome the purple and moved forward towards its source. Twilight was thinking and bringing everything she can to this, she couldn’t believe the energy that was pushing against her; she wasn’t sure how long she’ll last. “Come on!” Twilight thought, “Y-you have to do this!!” The purple ray started to push the red ray further away and moved slowly toward Red Star. “She’s doing much better than I thought.” Red thought; she raised her eye brows slightly in response. “But let’s keep at this until one of us is overpowered.” Red’s magic started to move back in place in the middle. “I have to give it my all.” Twilight continued to push herself past her limits. “Remember what she told you: magic comes from within the pony’s self and that it comes from a pony’s imagination!” Twilight was sweating profusely and had her eyes tight shut. “Come on! Inner self! Imagination!” The red magic was getting very close to Twilight, and Red was preparing to summon force fields to protect Twilight from her magic. “Well I guess this is her limit.” She started to set up force fields around Twilight and was ready to close them as soon as her ray got too close to Twilight. “Well you are very strong; that I’am sure about.” Right when Red Star was going to close the shields on Twilight to protect her from her ray, there was a sudden disturbance. Red Star gasped as she sensed an enormous amount of power and energy. The force fields shattered when she sensed the energy and suddenly Twilight’s magic ray moved at high speeds, pushing away Red’s ray and moving towards her. Red Star stopped it with her power just in time as it was inches away from touching her and she herself was pushed several inches away. “What the…. This power….. What in Celestia is going on!?” Until now, she hadn’t noticed that Twilight was glowing a circle of purple aura that surrounded her entire body. What was more shocking is that she didn’t even seem conscious. Her eyes were blank white and she had no expression on her face. It was just like when she first went out of control back in the school. “What’s happening?!” Red said out loud. “Twilight!” The situation was growing dire and Red wasn’t sure of what to do. “I-I have to suppress her power! But this force is too great, how do I do it without accidentally hurting her?” As both of them remained in a standstill, both of their powers were increasing to overcome the others. But then Red realized something: this power and energy coming from Twilight is not Twilight. This is a completely different entity that Red is dealing with. Once Red figured out that little fact, “I got it,” she knew exactly what to do. “I just hope I’m right…” almost knew what to do. Red Star stood up on her hind legs, still keeping the magic ray in place, and widened her arms and spread them out in opposite directions. From her arms glowed a faint red aura, much like a horn would, and then she summoned a red sphere surrounding both of them with an extra few meter radius. However she also placed a semi-sphere behind Twilight and from them came out long rope like chains that held Twilight’s front legs up and had her standing on her hind legs. However this didn’t seem to affect the purple magic ray that Twilight and Red were sparring with. Before anything else could happen, Celestia, Cyclone, and about a dozen guards came storming in from the training room’s doors. They all came to witness the intense scene for themselves; they seemed to be more than just surprised. In fact Celestia seemed to be the most disoriented; she was the only one able to sense the impossible amount of energy coming from both Red Star and Twilight Sparkle. “Maroon Mars!” Celestia shouted to try to get the red mare’s attention. “What is going on?! What happened here and what are you doing!?” Celestia made it clear in her voice that she wanted her answer now. “S-something went horribly wrong!” Red Star tried to not move her eyes away from Twilight. “Twilight is going out of control, and releasing an incredible amount of p-power; I have to suppress before something else goes wrong!” Red went to look into the princess’s eyes for just a moment. “In fact, don’t you feel it? This isn’t Twilight Sparkle at all! This is something else entirely; it just came from Twilight is all!!” Red quickly turned her attention back to the filly that the power came from. Celestia gasped when she realized that what Red Star said was true. That power is a different entity all together. But the sense of it originates from Twilight herself. What is this? “What do you plan to do?” Celestia was worried of what the answer might be. “I’m going to try to remove the entity and… possibly trap it!” Red then used her magic to summon a circle that looked like a rune or a seal. The circle lay vertically in between her and Twilight and where their rays of magic met became the center of the magic circle. Red started to increase her magic’s strength which caused her red ray to move closer to Twilight. Celestia knew what she was going to do and she went to prepare for it. “Everyone get out!” Celestia shouted the direct order as she herself flew to the door. “General Cyclone I want you to assemble your troops all over the castle’s perimeter.” “Yes princess.” He gave a hoof gesture to his troops to do what was ordered; then he turned his head back to Celestia. As soon as the soldiers left he spoke, “So what is going on exactly?” They both were standing in between the unclosed doors. “A powerful entity has been born inside Twilight Sparkle; its energy is going out of control and Red Star is trying to suppress it and remove the entity.” It was obvious that she was very worried about what will happen to her pupil; she started to shake a little bit. Cyclone noticed this but wasn’t sure if he could be of any use in this situation. “So… what do we do now?” “I’m not sure.” She turned her head to face the scene again. “Right now we need to let Red Star do this; we’ll give support when it’s needed.” The two remained standing there and watch. They both hated being useless and standing there doing nothing; but they had no choice. “Come on Now!” Red Star was struggling to be careful with her timing; she really didn’t want to discharge her ray before Twilight was secure. The red ray of magic carrying the seal was getting closer and closer to Twilight. “Alright come on!” The seal eventually got to the semi-sphere that surrounded Twilight and closed it. When it closed in it glowed red and chains came from it to wrap around her. The effects were immediate, for at that moment Twilight started to scream and resist. To the sudden screams, Celestia and Red winced; they couldn’t stand the thought of harming such a young filly. “Come on, get it out!” Red was getting inpatient; she needed the entity removed from Twilight before it destroys her. As she continues the struggle, progress finale shows when the seal’s chains start to pull out something from Twilight’s body. “That’s it! That’s the powerful force!” As the chains pulled the force out more and more, Twilight’s screams lessened. Once the chains pulled out the entity completely, Twilight almost instantly passed out and collapse to the ground. What was left standing was a purple figure made of smog and visible energy. It quickly took the shape of a full grown stallion; it was even using its own ‘horn’ to keep at the magic ray battle. Red Star started to become horrified at its power. “I have to get her out of here.” Red and Celestia gazed at the unconscious body of their student and planned to act fast. Celestia flew towards the scene and Red tried to think of a way to get Twilight out of there. She quickly came up with something as soon as she noticed her magic force fields and even the seal start to shatter. “Celestia!” Red nearly screamed; she was struggling and needed the princess’s attention. Celestia stopped at her place only a few meters away from the scene of power. “I’m going to put all my shields down for just a moment; you have to use that time to get Twilight out of here!” “What do you plan to do?” Celestia was clearly worried for not just her new student, but also her old friend. “I’m going to try to seal this thing away! Or die trying!” Celestia eyes widened, “What? No you can’t!” “I have made my decision and you have to get out as well!” She turned to face Celestia; both their eyes watery. “Get ready…. Now!!” All at once the all the magic Red has summoned has vanished except for the magic ray. Immediately Celestia used a teleportation spell to take Twilight into her arms; once she was in the princess’s arms she used teleport to get back to the door of the room. As soon as they were away, Red went back to focus on the powerful entity in front of her. The entire time they both had their magic rays wrestling each other. “Dammit, I can’t re-summon my force fields; its power will just consume them.” But Red still felt that it was time to end it and so did the entity. “Do something! Why don’t you end this?” Red wanted something to happen instead of just having to endlessly stand in the same position using the same magic. She got just what she wanted when the purple ray became twice as strong and started to get closer to her. “That’s it!” Suddenly using her right hoof Red Star summoned three red spears just above her and gave a wide grin. “I’m bored, let’s end this with a bang!” As she threw her arm down to point at the entity, it was revealed that those spears were meant for long distance bombing. A bright storm of energy came from the explosion. Celestia made it just in time to summon a force field to protect herself, Twilight, and General Cyclone. She was struggling a little bit; the force coming from the explosion radiated so much energy and power. It was even started to put cracks on the princess's magic. The explosion eventually stopped and after the dust started to clear, it was revealed that a hole was blown clear through the ceiling and debris continued to fall. There were guards immediately searching the area as they came through the hole in the roof. “Take Twilight Sparkle to a medic, that’s an order General Cyclone.” Celestia seemed almost angry with her tone. “Y-yes Princess.” Cyclone immediately took Twilight to where she needed to be taken. Meanwhile Celestia went inside the destroyed room to find her other general. Not far from where she last saw her, Celestia found Red Star coughing and breathing heavily on the ground. “Red Star!” Celestia quickly ran toward her. “Are you alright?” Red Star started to get up as she spoke, “Y-yes, you know me; I felt worse during training with you.” She almost lost balance when she stood up. “But I guess I’am a bit bruised.” “What happened? How are you still fine after that?” Celestia held on to Red to make sure she doesn’t loss balance and fall. For the first few moments Red didn’t answer until she smiled and pointed at her horn. “Last minute force field.” Before Celestia could speak, she was interrupted by Red’s sudden change in mood. “I’m sorry, I failed you.… I let that thing escape!” Red turned to face the ground and tightened her eyes; she had never failed like that before and didn’t know how her old mentor would react. Celestia smiled and lifted Red’s head to look at her. “That doesn’t matter right now. The power of that entity surpassed all of us, even me. I’m just happy that it didn’t decide to do what it could have easily done.” Red looked into the purple eyes of the princess and saw the kindness you would only see from a mother. However the moment was ruined by Cyclone coming in from nowhere. “Princess, Twilight Sparkle is safe; she didn’t get seriously injured and should be fine.” The princess didn’t seem to mind the interruption; meanwhile no one seemed to notice Red glaring at Cyclone. “That’s excellent.” Said the princess. ----- It is midnight and the halls of the castle are dark and empty except for a red coated mare walking about them. Red is walking towards Princess Celestia’s private study. However she is feeling a little unrest since the incident and is thinking carefully about it. “That thing… it was far stronger than any imaginable being… it could have very easily kill Twilight, me, and even the princess with a single move.” She stopped and leaned at a corner where two hallways cross. “And yet it didn’t… in fact…” She thinks back when set off her explosive magic. -- Right when the light consumed the entire room Red Star was blown away by both the entity’s magic ray and the explosion. However as she was flying at high speeds toward the wall, she was suddenly stopped in mid-air. When she looked at her position it turned out that she was being levitated and surrounded by a magic shield. When she looked down to see what was doing this, she saw the entity clear as day even from all the bright light of the explosion. The sight was very daunting; the explosive magic isn’t even making it flinch. Red realized that even her magic can’t stand up to that powerful force. As the explosion ended and dust swept to replace the light, the entity suddenly vanished within the dust and so did the magic carrying Red (causing her to fall). It took a moment for her to process what just happened; it didn’t take long for her to realize… -- “It saved me.” She whispered silently to herself. Not only that, but if that entity wasn’t so kind, her attempted sacrifice would have most definitely be in vain and Equestria would’ve fallen. “What was that?” Red Star turned her head frantically to face the new voice. “Oh, hi Cyclone.” The blue colt stood only a few feet away and smiled as he spoke, “Someday today right?” “Ya, tell me about it.” She quickly got herself back together and went back to walking to Celestia’s study; Cyclone walking next to her. “That was some move you did there with the explosive lances; I haven’t seen you do that kind of magic in a very long time. Unfortunately, the explosion was seen throughout the city and the smoke all the way to Las Pegasus; I had to come up with some explanation for the stupid media.” He gave a frown but Red wasn’t really looking at him. “Well what did you tell them?” She giggled before turning to face him. “I told them that it was some dangerous experiment gone aria! I hope those vultures eat that up.” He whispered the last part to himself. “… So how is Twilight Sparkle doing?” Red’s expression switched to one of lament. “She woke up thinking she had passed out during the training. Apparently she doesn’t remember that whole incident and a few minutes before it. But she is doing fine and back at her home; thankfully her parents continued to let us teach her magic even with the explosion and all.” Cyclone wasn’t sure why Red seemed upset about that. He’d figured that it might have been that she gave Twilight valuable information on magic; information that you can’t just repeat a second time. He knew Red long enough to know that that was most likely the problem, and he knew how she would feel about that. Once Red suddenly stopped, Cyclone realized that they got to where they both needed to be, the princess’s study. Cyclone opened the door and let Red go in first. “After you.” He said. Red responded with a smile and went in. Once they went inside, closed the door behind them, and took their seats in front of Celestia’s desk, the meeting started. “What’s the update on the damages and the media, General Cyclone?” She spoke with an almost empty tone as she looked at the general. “The damage is not as bad as we thought. All we need to deal with is expenses for a new roof for the training room, no pony was even injured, and the media is already taken care of.” He spoke with a serious tone. “What’s the update on the research and development team, General Mars?” She spoke with the same emotionless tone and the same gaze. “Well our scientists and wizards can’t figure out what the entity was, where it went, and why it didn’t just… do what it could’ve very easily done.” She spoke with the same seriousness that radiated the whole room. “However while they struggle for answers, to me there’s only one logical reason in my mind, Princess.” She was hoping the princess will get her meaning; Cyclone surely did. “I agree.” Cyclone spoke with his head facing Red but eyes looking at the princess. “In fact, have you personally confirmed anything?” Celestia nodded in response. Red and Cyclone both scooted their seats closer to Celestia and slightly leaned; all in unison. They were very eager to hear what Celestia had to say, and she didn’t blame them for their excitement. “As a matter of fact as soon as I realized that that powerful entity was created from Twilight and that Twilight is still perfectly fine, I immediately confirmed it.” She gave a quick pause that seemed to have tortured her two generals. “She is in fact one of the Elements of Harmony. The Element of Magic to be precise.” To the mere words, the two generals looked at each other and grinned tremendously. “That’s excellent!” They both said in unison. “Now we know that the Elements have indeed continued their existence.” Red continued with a laugh. “But this time, in fact for the first time, in the bodies of ponies.” Cyclone finished off. As they continued their little celebration in their chairs, Celestia was giving them a serious look that they didn’t seem to notice. However they suddenly stop when they both realize something at the same time. Red spoke first. “Wait… if that entity was created from within Twilight…” Cyclone spoke next to finish the thought. “An Element of Harmony…” Red spoke again. “Then that would mean that…” They both frantically turned to the princess and spoke in unison. “Do you think there are going to be more?” Celestia rolled her eyes and spoke again. “Maybe, but that is something we shouldn’t be worried about right now.” Her generals seem to think otherwise. “Not something to worry about?! That thing is thousands of times stronger than me and you combined!” “Exactly and now there are going to be five more of them…” “Both of you calm down!” Celestia’s order was followed instinctively by the two generals. “Think this thoroughly; first of all we don’t even know what that thing was. Secondly, it obviously didn’t mean us any harm; after all it didn’t kill any pony. Thirdly, how are you so sure that there are going to be more of them, this could be the only one; the elements of magic is by far the strongest after all!” Red and Cyclone quickly looked at each other and sat back down in their seats. The princess sighed, “Right now we don’t need to worry about it; I can’t sense its power anymore so it’s gone for now.” Red Star still looked a bit worried. “But… what do we do now, Princess?” “We do everything we can to teach our new prodigy advanced magic, as we did before.” The princess gave a smile before she continued speaking. “For now we will tend to the Elements as we find them; we will deal with the entity when it surfaces again and only then… understood?” She made it clear that she was speaking to both of them by slightly raising her tone of voice. “Yes, Princess.” They both spoke in unison. “You’re both dismissed.” By order, both the generals got from their seats to leave the room; Cyclone opened the door for Red again. Once they left and their hoofsteps gone with the darkness of the halls, Celestia turned her chair to face the window and the moon. She looked carefully at the moon. That’s the very same Moon that she had raised from a foal, now corrupt and waiting for a release. Before letting her tears fall to the ground Celestia looked away, and left the room to her sleeping quarters.