In the book-filled room, the teacher and her former student now stood, contemplating the disaster that became this once great place. They saw Spike, who calmly continued his dreamless slumber on his papery bed.
Seeing all that she had to read through caused Celestia to shiver. Did she really believe in the words of her enemy? Of course, the Entity just tried to destabilize her, after all destabilizing the leader also meant destabilizing its subjects. This plan was so obvious, one needed to be stupid to not see right through it! So... she was stupid nonetheless... No, she needed to stop these grim thoughts from getting into her head. Putting all blame on yourself never helped anyone to get through a tough situation. And the situation they were facing was one of toughest anypony ever had to face.
"Celestia?" called Twilight, interrupting the Sun Princess' meditation "Seeing you lost in thoughts like that really makes me nervous after... Well, you see what I mean."
"Oh Twilight, I can't thank you enough!" responded the Solar alicorn "I really needed somepony else to bring me back to reason. It's just that..."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted, as numerous hoofsteps could be heard, rapidly approaching their location. Panting voices soon added themselves to the noisy galloping. A group of ponies was approaching. Preparing to face a horde of crazed cultists, Twilight started casting a defensive spell, taking a battle position. However, her calm quickly returned, as she managed to recognize Pinkie's joyful tone amidst the others. The group gone to Tartarus finally returned from their journey. Already, their colorful manes were visible, contrasting with the poorly lit walls of the castle.
"Wow! What's the matter with all these books? Did Twilight go crazy or something?" the Rainbow-maned pegasus could be heard, expressing her extreme bewilderment, surrounded by all this literature.
The next to speak was Pinkie Pie "Hey, I can see somepony over there!" she said continuing her usual bouncing.
"But this must be my sister and Twilight Sparkle!" exclaimed Luna, her tone filled with relief.
"Ah hope somepony's finally gonna explain what happened here!" responded Applejack's bothered voice.
"Oh, look, there's my Spikey-Wikey over there!" uttered Rarity "He's... asleep?" Remarking the drake's stunned state, she rushed towards him, trying to understand what happened to the poor dragon.
"Good to see all of you again!" declared Twilight from the other side of the room.
"Nice to see you too!" replied the others, then Rainbow Dash added "Now, can you please explain what in the world happened to this place?!"
"I think I should do that." stated Celestia, taking several steps forward.
And so she did, narrating all that happened after the Entity's return. She described the extreme shame and guilt she felt after it gave its grim speech. She recounted the insane research she undertook trying to fix her mistake. The Solar Princess didn't omit how the castle quickly became abandoned, all its inhabitants either fleeing their certain doom or scared by Celesta's new obsession with books. Rapidly, rumors spread in the town claiming that their leader had abandoned her subjects, causing multiple revolts and plunging the city in total chaos. Meanwhile, the alicorn continued her desperate search, even casting several spells by accident (which explained the castle's timeworn look). However, all she did was in vain, as no book, no parchment, no artifact in the entirety of the castle had any power against the Entity. The only thing Celestia didn't mention, was her conversation with the Entity, the shame of believing its words still omnipresent in her soul...
"Well... that was... interesting." stated Rainbow Dash as the story was finished "At least that explains all those crazy ponies chasing us through the city and yelling something about how great the Entity is."
"Oh, my dear sister!" exclaimed Luna "Ruling this nation for all these countless years had really put too much pressure of your weary shoulders! I never should have left you all alone in such a stressful time!"
"Don't blame yourself Luna, my story had just demonstrated why this isn't a good idea." replied Celestia, a weak smile upon her face.
"Well, all this is very sweet, but we have an evil Entity to beat!" intervened Applejack "What's our actual plan to deal with it?"
"We didn't try the Elements yet." answered Twilight.
"Oh, I know!" exclaimed the pink party pony "We could travel back in time, convince our past selves to beat the Entity back then, defeat it very very easily and throw a big giant party about it! And there will be everypony from the past and the present at this party, and everything will be totally awesome! Oh, I almost forgot, there must also be balloons, a lot of balloons and..."
"Sorry to interrupt you Pinkie, but I think the obvious plan might sometimes be the best one." declared Starlight, unaffected by the pink pony's overwhelming enthusiasm.
"As delightful as your plan seems, I must agree with Starlight on that point." added Rarity, now joined by Fluttershy at Spike's side " We should start by the simpler plan." Saying this, she continued to help the pink-maned pegasus to take care of the unconscious drake.
And so it was decided. The group would go retrieve the Elements of Harmony, from their usual place in the Everfree forest. However, this time Luna decided to stay in Canterlot, trying to bring order back to the city along with her sister. Now that everypony was together, separating themselves again wasn't something they were willing to do. But no time could be wasted as the world's fate now resided in their hooves.
The Elements must be the ideal way to deal with the Entity...