//------------------------------// // 25 Reunion // Story: Knowledge is Power // by hydra30 //------------------------------// The ten newest arrivals in Apocrypha came out onto the roof of the tall structure to an astonishing sight. Twilight stood at the far edge of the roof, her horn glowing in a bright purple aura, spiraling aggressively as the pony attached to the horn trembled. It was unlike any spell they had seen her cast thus far, starting out such a dark purple it looked almost black, extending out in all directions over horn about three feet, fading to a purple tone even lighter than her coat. What really drew their attention was the spiraling purple sphere hanging above her, the image of a dragon about as big as Spike while under the effects of his greed was thrashing within. "TWILIGHT!" shouted the Ponyvillians plus Spike, them, Shining and Cadance moving to aid the pony they believed to be in peril. "WAIT," shouted Luna, stopping them with extended wings. "We have to help her, Princess!" said Fluttershy frantically, throwing the thrashing dragon a wary look, but determined to get to her friends aid. "She's facing that dragon all on her own," said Rainbow Dash. "And from the looks of it, she won't be able to hold it back for much longer," said Shining Armour, trying to force his way past the wings blocking his way. "If you make her lose concentration now she might be seriously harmed," said Celestia, looking to Twilight with worry. "What do you mean?" Asked Rainbow Dash. "The spell she is using, I don't know what it's meant to do, but it's definitely powerful," explained Celestia, "If it is interrupted too soon, the magical feedback it would strike Twilight with could cause a catastrophic failure throughout her entire body." They all gasped. "What do we do?" asked Pinkie, looking at Twilight with extreme worry. "We can only watch," said Celestia, "Twilight can handle whatever it is she is trying to do, at least to where it won't harm her. Her spell will either work or just sputter out if it has failed." "Besides, I do not believe she is trying to restrain the dragon," said Luna. All the ponies trying to get past gave her a look. "Come on," gritted Twilight, unaware she had company, "I'm almost there." "Cease your efforts, Grah-Zeymahzin," the yet to be noticed group heard the dragon say, Rainbow Dash, Spike and Rarity immediately noticed his tone was full of wisdom, unlike the dragons they had met during the Great Dragon Migration. "You are going to cause harm to yourself again." “No," moaned Twilight, her unnoticed company growing concerned. " I can free you, I know I can free you." Suddenly, Twilight's spell was sucked back into her horn, her body flashing between black and purple, her skeleton visible between the magic. She screamed in absolute pain as her own magic coursed through her body, her head flying in all directions as she thrashed. Her friends looked on in horror. "I thought you said this wouldn't happen if we didn't interrupt her," said Rainbow Dash, still trying to get past the unmoving Princesses. "I said the magic feedback would be enough to cause irreparable harm if we interrupted her," explained Celestia, watching her student writhing in pain, yet powerless to help her. "As horrifying as this looks, it is not the worst that could have happened. Twilight can push through this." After a few more seconds of watching Twilight flashing, she then fell to the ground, the sphere surrounding the dragon above slowly fading away, revealing its dark gray scales. The first thing the Princesses and the rest noticed was that this dragon completely lacked fore legs, making it completely incomparable with the dragons of Equestria. Spike looked on, lifting his claws up, wondering what it would be like without them. But all their attention focused back on Twilight when she weakly lifted her head, giving the dragon before her a sad look. "I'm sorry, Durnehviir," whimpered Twilight, "I failed." "Your attempts to liberate me are commendable, Grah-Zeymahzin," said Durnehviir, his tail shimmering in a purple light, then turning transparent and disappearing, followed slowly by the rest of him. "But fear that I am doomed to wander the Soul Cairn for all eternity." And then he was gone, Twilight lumping to the ground in exhaustion. "TWILIGHT," shouted Fluttershy, flapping past the Princesses and arriving at her friends side in less than a second. Gently, she turned her onto her back, supporting her with a hoof to the back of her head, wrapping the other around her middle. She looked dreadful, great dark bags hung under her eyes like she had not slept in a while. Lower lip trembling, Fluttershy put her ear to her friends chest. "How is she doing?" asked Applejack, her and the rest coming up and surrounding the fallen unicorn. Seeing her like this collectively drove the scenario before from the forefront of all their minds. It mattered not that a second ago there was a large misshapen dragon before Twilight, speaking in a voice that spoke of years of experience. It mattered not that it had vanished into thin air. What did matter was that they had found their long lost friend, and she was in dire straights. Fluttershy gave a soft smile as she felt a gentle heartbeat pounding gently inside the purple breast, "She's fine, I think she is just exhausted is all." Her, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie,Spike, Rarity, and Applejack all looked at her with budding tears in their eyes. It wasn't so much they were upset over anything, seeing a friend that they had feared they would never see again before them was hitting them straight in their hearts. Deep affection swirled pleasantly within their hearts as seeing Twilight again put their worry at ease. Princess Cadance and Shining Armour looked down at the beautiful mare that the precious little filly they had both held dear growing up with looks of deep affection. Cadance felt a huge sense of relief and gratitude as she took in Twilight's sleeping face, still feeling that she owed her everything. Shining Armour took in his sleeping sister with love and guilt. How could he be so blind? Taking his eyes off of Twilight, Shining took in the expanse that was Apocrypha around him. For him, for all whom she loved, she had spent fifteen years here, training hard to attain the powers she would need to stand up to Chrysalis and her minions. When she first pointed out that there was something wrong, she was left to stand alone, except for an extremely horrible creature that only assisted for selfish reasons. He had failed in his role as her big brother in every way, he would not let himself fail again. Celestia looked at Twilight with deep affection and regret. She loved Twilight as if she was her own daughter, that much she was aware of. She still felt such shame to have used her the way she did, and her friends too. Her guilty conscious had grown so strong since she had to banish Luna, it was like a parasite in her mind, subconsciously directing her actions so that she avoided confrontation whenever possible, so she didn't fail anypony else like she had failed her sister. She was glad Twilight had brought that to her attention, now she could direct herself to overcome it. Princess Luna looked down at the little pony surrounded by her friends with a look of great relief. Ever since she had been purged of that demon born from her unwarranted jealousy, she had felt a deep gratitude towards Twilight and the other Element bearers. And when Twilight had stuck by her side during the first Nightmare Night of her return, not giving up until she found common ground with which to properly enjoy it among her subjects, her gratitude towards her sisters pupil only increased. Even that was not the extent to how much she felt she owed Twilight now. Not long after Twilight left with Hermaeus Mora, her sister had approached her and watched her raise the moon into the night sky for the first time since they had been ruling Equestria. The tough love Twilight had shown Celestia finally brought to the surface how much she regretted not appreciating her sister more, so it was much to Luna's joy that night to learn her sister had modified her royal schedule so that once a week, regardless of which snooty uptight Canterlot nobility wanted her attention, Celestia would be there to watch the night sky with her, and praise her for how beautiful it looked. It was funny, on the first night of the recent three weeks, Blueblood had actually barged in on them and demanded an audience. Sufficient to say, his excuse for a short tail with a burnt end being an attempt to start a new trend was believed by nopony. That was not worth the price Twilight had been forced to pay, however. So she, along with Celestia, Shining Armour, and Cadance had agreed to the plan Twilight’s friends had come up with. She did not like it anymore than them, but she agreed that is was the best, if not the only action they could take, especially without upsetting Hermaeus Mora. Spike looked to the pony who had hatched him with deep affection. Being separated from Twilight these last few weeks had given him a new clarity on how much Twilight meant to him, and without her, he felt... incomplete. Now he was here, in Apocrypha, surrounding Twilight along with the other ponies that matter in her life. That was where he knew he belonged. "Ugh... mmm," Twilight squinted her clenched eyes, clearly arousing from her sleep. "I think she's waking up," said Fluttershy, a hopeful expression on her face. "Come on, darling," said Rarity, leaning in closer as the Princesses and Shining Armour backed away to give them space. "Come all the way around, you can do it." "Your one of the toughest gals I know, Twi," said Applejack, her ears folding back. "You can come out of this." "You're too awesome to be held down by something like this, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash, a hard glare in her face. "You can do it, wake up." "Come on, Twilight," said Pinkie, somehow concerned, but at the same time looking so excited she might explode. "I don't want have to throw you an 'I ruined a scene in the story because I was busy being exhausted party,' no I don't." Twilight's eyes cringed as multiple voices echoed through her hazy mind. Slowly, they fluttered open, revealing her slightly bloodshot eyes to take in the assembly of people who were surrounding her. Then her focus centered on the butter colored pegasus that was holding her. "Fluttershy?" She moaned, lifting up a hoof to her friends chest, feeling the heartbeat pounding gently inside. "Yes Twilight," answered Fluttershy, nuzzling the hoof pressed to her chest. "It's us, we're here for you." "Yes darling," said Rarity among the group of ponies plus one dragon surrounding her, "All of us are here." Twilight could only stare an in disbelief, taking in the sight of all her friends surrounding her, Fluttershy's gentle hooves cradling her in a gentle embrace. She saw Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Spike surrounding her. She saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Cadance, and her brother Shining Armour not to far from where she was lying, surrounded by her friends. Tears fell from her eyes as joy flourished in her heart as she threw her front legs around Fluttershy. "You came for me," whimpered Twilight over Fluttershy's shoulder. "Of course we did," said Fluttershy softly, shedding tears of joy along with the other ponies and Spike. They surrounded her in a group hug. "I... I was so afraid you wouldn't find it," said Twilight weakly. "Find what, sugar cube?" asked Applejack, shaking slightly, but curious about what Twilight was talking about. "You used the Black Book beneath Canterlot to come here, didn't you?" asked Twilight, shaking as her pent up loneliness finally eased. "Indeed, we did, Twilight," said Cadance, breaking off from the other Princesses and her fiance to step closer. "Cadance!" said Twilight excitedly, leaving her group hug to run up and embrace her old foalsitter. Cadance only returned the embrace, tears streaming her face as she held onto her little filly she had known since she could barely walk. Ever since she had seen Twilight vanish with that creature, Hermaeus Mora, she had been unable to sit comfortability at all. Every waking moment had been nothing but a conglomeration of worry and unease for the whereabouts of Twilight. "My student," said Celestia, approaching her fellow alicorn princess who was embracing the small purple unicorn. Twilight could only let go of Cadance and watch as the tall, regal alicorn approached, her head held low in what appeared to be shame. "I apologizes," Celestia seemed to be losing her composure. "Had I only seen my mistake sooner, maybe you wouldn't have had to..." Celestia was cut off when Twilight walked up and nuzzled her long forelegs. In that moment, nothing else mattered to Celestia, who lowered her head to drape her neck over Twilight's back. All that mattered was that Twilight was here, and more importantly, wanted to be close to her. "I'm not mad anymore, Princess," said Twilight, looking in the direction of her brother, standing by Princess Luna with a wary look on his face. "I can't imagine the pain you must have felt when you were forced to banish Luna, your own sister." "But you were right, Twilight," added Celestia, lifting herself off Twilight. "It was no excuse for what I have done, and you can be assured that I will not make that mistake again." "We all have learned a lesson from what has happened, young Twilight," said Luna, walking up to say her piece. " all of us but you were blind to a potential danger, and you were forced to pay a heavy price because of it." "Yes, Twily," said Shining Armour, also moving closer. "Had it not been for you, Chrysalis would have done horrible things to Equestria. And in the end, you suffered for it." Twilight looked at Shining Armour, mixed feelings stirring inside of her soul. She hadmissed him just as much as she missed all her loved ones, but at the same time she could not forget how he had yelled at her at the wedding rehearsal. Banning her without any hesitation. "And it would seem Cadance's assumptions were right," said Princess Luna, drawing everyone's attention. "You did come here through the Black Book you came across all those years ago." "Yes, and it was because I left it there that you were able to follow me," said Twilight, wanting to get something out so it didn't cause complications. "What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow, "We just used the same book you did." "Actually... you didn't," explained Twilight, "The book you found was in the same place as what brought here, but it wasn't the original. The one you used, I enchanted to bring the user directly to my location." "But why?" asked Pinkie, sharing the same confused look as the others. "I... I hoped..." said Twilight, almost unable to continue. "I hoped you would use it to find me. I wanted to see you once more, while I was here in Apocrypha alone." "You don't have to worry about it anymore, sugar cube," said Applejack, coming up and hugging Twilight. "You won't be alone." "I know why you have come, girls," said Twilight sadly. "But I can not leave Apocrypha, not until I have done what Hermaeus Mora as tasked to me." "We know," said Celestia, her voice taking a regal tone. "Which is why your friends have come up with an alternative." "Alternative?" inquired Twilight, not liking where this was going. "What alternative?" "We will discuss that with Hermaeus Mora himself," said Luna looking around the roof of the tall structure they stood upon. "Is there any way we can get his attention?" "You already have it...mortals," everyone looked up to see about eight of Hermaeus Mora's tendril portals appear above, two having eyes. "Apocrypha is my realm...nothing can be hidden from me here." Twilight cast her loved ones a worried look as they looked up at Hermaeus Mora without fear.