The Old Age
Prologue
Thunder, Flame and a Lost Pony
The world was in chaos, simply put. In every direction, the land was covered in polka-dots and checkered fields – maybe even checkered polka-dots. Trees – if they could be called as such – swayed as if their trunks were made from melting taffy while each sang its own horrendous show-tune without care.
Cows flew through the air on great big wings. Chickens stampeded through the open plains breathing fire tens of feet into the air.
Banks of raining chocolate covered the tie-dyed sky, sometimes raining up into it for no conceivable reason whatsoever.
In short, this was not a place for anything sane.
But all of that changed with the sound of a deafening thunderclap. A beam of sunlight sliced through the madness, scorching it into cinders.
Cotton candy clouds exploded into ash. Singing trees grew stalk still and silent. The very heavens ripped apart under a surge of magical force that rippled across the sky like a blast wave.
With a loud bang, the sunlight condensed on ground level, sweeping away the cartoonish chaos and leaving behind verdant green grass.
Occupying this small island of sense was a single pony – a young mare only a few years older than a filly.
Her white coat was smeared with chocolate and raspberry jam, along with what seemed to be the remains of several balloons adorning her horn like tattered ribbons. She was barely standing, her legs wobbling from sheer exhaustion. Her wings hung low at her sides, barely brushing the grass at her hooves.
Steam rose from her coat as her sweat evaporated under the heat of the blazing sun. Her breaths came out as ragged pants as she struggled to meet her body’s demand for air.
She only gasped a few breaths before something tumbled out of the sky in front of her.
With a yelp, a long, mismatched form collided with a tree – a proper, sane tree. Instead of bouncing back off like it’d been made of rubber, the falling figure crushed the tree in a shower of splinters and leaves, sending dust everywhere.
The white alicorn glared at the cloud of debris like it’d mortally offended her. Even as exhausted as she was – to the point of collapsing almost – she managed to will her hooves forward, gritting her teeth with concentration.
Ahead, she could hear movement. Something was thrashing around deep inside the newly forged crater, trying to untangle its form.
The alicorn forced herself up to the edge of the deep depression, and after preparing to fire another bolt of concentrated sunlight at the next thing to move out of turn, she peered down into the settling dust below.
For a moment, she saw nothing. She cursed quietly to herself and threw her head to one side irritably, trying to get her mane out of her eyes. But it just billowed back into place, obscuring half her vision with soft, rainbow colored hues.
She glared at her mane, already disliking this habit it’d developed.
“Sister!”
The white alicorn glanced back, over one shoulder, just as a bolt of dark blue collided roughly with the ground.
This time, a midnight-colored alicorn stepped forward, clumsily trying to regain her balance from her less-than graceful landing. She staggered a few wobbly steps before getting her hooves under her properly.
“Luna,” her sister breathed with unrestrained relief.
Next to her, Luna looked hardly older than a filly. Her body was small, her legs and wings almost fragile looking. Her short, curly mane billowed, much like her sisters, but hers was dark, ethereal, and twinkled with starlight.
And it was also clear that she’d had a rough time, as well. The little alicorn was shaking on wobbly knees, her head held low as she panted. Her coat was covered in what could’ve been taken as the accumulation of a great party; she had bits of confetti stuck in blotches of cake frosting, along with an absolute coating of chocolate – like she’d had her flank dunked in a vat of the stuff. The hardening dark layer was making it even harder for her to keep from falling down.
But perhaps most unsettling blemishes were the char marks on her sides; it looked like she’d gone hoof-to-talon with those fire-breathing chickens.
“Art thou alright?” the white alicorn asked, concerned.
Luna nodded, but didn’t meet her sister’s gaze. “I… I shall be…”
Celestia started to say something – to question further, or perhaps order her sister away somewhere safe – though the world would never know for sure.
For at that moment, both sisters were distracted by a groan coming from the crater.
“Oh, my face… my modeling career…”
Both sisters turned just as the creature managed to find his feet, even if he wobbled, punch-drunk.
The thing before them was… odd, to say the least. No two parts of it matched. It had two kinds of horns – one antlered like a deer, the other thick and boney, like a dragon’s. He had the grey head of… some kind of furry animal; not quite a pony, but not quite anything else, either.
His amalgamated limbs included a lion’s paw paired with an eagle’s talon, a brown torso, a dragon’s leg and a horse’s flank, and a reptilian red tail.
Even his eyes were uneven, one looking larger than the other.
He was clutching numbly at his face while wobbling around on two legs.
“Oh, hi Celestia,” he said dizzily, “nice day isn’t it? Did you do something with your mane?”
The white alicorn in question merely narrowed her eyes at the weird creature before her.
“It is over, Discord,” she said. It was the angry tenure that got her adversary’s attention.
Blinking twice and popping himself in the head – causing his eyes to roll every which way – Discord finally refocused on the two alicorns in front of him.
“Well, aren’t you two a pair of no fun fillies,” he complained. “Here we are, having some fun…”
Celestia shuddered. She made a mental note to blot out as much of this as possible.
“… and then you two go and cheat,” Discord whined.
Before either could say anything back, he wagged a finger at them. Due to discombobulated look on his face, Celestia assumed that he was still seeing a veritable army of white and dark blue ponies before his eyes, and didn’t know who in particular to point at.
“So? Where did this come from, huh? Go ahead, you can tell Uncle Discord!”
“Enough!” Celestia snapped. His voice had grated on her nerves for far too long.
But Discord just grinned knowingly, showing off his now-singular fang. The other was probably still hurdling towards the distant ocean.
“It matters not where this power hath cometh from,” she stated pointedly. “All that matters now is that thou art lain low at last.”
Discord stared at Celestia blankly. “Okay… just going to guess here, but… did you just say that you went through all this trouble to beat me?”
“Correct,” Celestia growled.
“Got it!” Discord said, actually shooting a finger gun at the little alicorn. “Honestly, all that “Where art thou” nonsense is so… Whoever taught you two how to speak needs a stern talking to.” He laughed at his stupid joke.
“Fine,” Celestia said in a deadly, clipped tone. “How art this?”
And with that, she pointed her horn at the creature.
“Whoa, whoa!” Discord cried, throwing up his hands, “No need to get so confrontational! Think of my wife and kids!”
There was a pause, followed by a barely restrained chuckle. “Just kidding,” he laughed.
He rolled over onto his back, floating in midair as he laughed.
“Honestly, this is a fun game and all, but is this all you’ve got, honey?”
Celestia glared, but he was unaffected. Heck, it only made him grin wider.
“You can’t destroy me! And you went through all the trouble of harnessing all that power, but in the end, it’s just a stalemate!” he laughed again, tauntingly this time.
“What on earth were they thinking, giving a couple foals this power…? I thought I was the practical joker!”
He laughed again, beside himself with mirth. “Just what… just what…”
Abruptly, the laughter died. His eyes popped open, humor gone. “What smells like deer?”
If he’d been paying attention, he might have noticed several spheres of light blossoming into being around the tired, beaten alicorns. He may have also noticed their eyes and horns glow, or the crackling magical energies being aimed his way.
By the time he did notice all this, a rush of brightly hued magic was already surging towards him.
Discord could only stare, eyes going huge. “Clever girls…”
In the next instant, he was wrapped in a wave of rainbow-colored energy, covering him from scaly tail to horned-and-antlered head.
As the energy from the Elements of Harmony coursed over Discord, Celestia chanced just a slight sigh of relief.
It was over… it was finally…
That was when the maniacal laughter started.
Both young mares took an automatic step back when they heard Discord’s cackling.
“So, this is it for me!” he laughed, “I’m stunned, well and truly! To think, they’d given you this, too!”
Celestia gritted her teeth and redoubled her focus. Her horn burst with light, radiating like the sun overhead.
Discord was being consumed inside the wrap of magical energies. Celestia could feel the Elements doing their job, so why…?
“Just one last bit of advice before I go,” Discord shouted over the rush of energy.
“Whatever you do… do… not….”
Discord never got to finish. With a blinding flash of light and an explosive thunderclap, the billowing rainbow blew apart, roaring over the land like a multi-colored shockwave, assaulting Celestia’s eyes with the glare of a hundred suns.
~~***~~
Princess Celestia nearly jumped clean out of bed when she was yanked back awake, ushered to awareness by a deafening BOOM!
The thunder pealed out over the countryside, reverberating the windows in her bed chamber.
The Sun Princess was lying on her back – a rather unsightly pose for royalty, all things considered. She blinked up at the tapered ceiling, trying to make sense of her sudden ejection from her nightmare.
In contrast with the parting images from her dream, her room was very dark and shadowed. The curtains were drawn slightly over the window, but that did nothing to keep out the sound of tapping, insistent rain.
Celestia blinked once more, and then with a groan she rolled over. Her wings were stiff and sore; she must’ve been sleeping on them all night. She sighed before carefully getting her hooves under her and getting up.
“What a night,” she groaned. She didn’t feel in the least bit rested.
Another flash of lightning assaulted her eyes, and a split second later the deafening thunderclap rolled over Canterlot.
The princess sighed, eying the stormy sky morosely. Either Luna was having another one of her tiffs or certain weather ponies were taking the day off. Knowing her sister and a certain rainbow-maned Pegasus, either was likely at this point.
Still, she would have to have a word with the weather ponies about letting such a storm get out of hand. Just as soon as she raised the sun.
Celestia sighed, already dreading what was to come.
~~***~~
As it was, that certain rainbow-maned Pegasus wasn’t as lax as her princess was assuming.
In a complete reversal of how she’d rather spend a weekend – or any day for that matter – Rainbow Dash was actually contributing.
“Yah!” she hollered, sailing straight up, rear hoof first, as she kicked a hole into the bulging storm cloud.
The storm responded by grumpily turning her into a pony-shaped light-bulb, courtesy of about a bazillion watts of electricity.
Trailing a little smoke from her tail, Dash eccentrically spiraled back down to the ground, giggling dizzily.
“Oh my,” was the only thing she heard as she hit the deck with a wet splat, face going into a puddle.
By the time her eyes refocused, Dash found herself staring at the muddy hooves of a canary yellow Pegasus.
“Are you alright?” asked Fluttershy, her voice barely even discernible over the howling wind.
“I think so,” Rainbow replied in slightly too high pitched of a voice. “Hi Fluttershy! There’s lightning up there. Did you know that? I do!”
“Oh dear…”
“Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash!”
Both pegasi could hear approaching hooves in the mud. By the time Rainbow managed to get her legs under her, she saw two ponies rushing up the road towards them.
She shook her head slightly, clearing the fuzzy feeling as the two slid to a stop in front of her.
Only one seemed to have a firm grip on the seriousness of the situation.
“Are you alright, sugercube,” asked the orange earth pony, her big green eyes filled with concern as she inspected the slightly charred cyan mare sitting in the mud before her.
“That was a big one!” cheered the other mare – a pink, bouncy ball of energy that seemed unable to touch the ground for longer than a split second.
“It was like –” Pinkie Pie inhaled deep, filling her lungs to their utmost levels, “—BOOOOM!!!”
Fluttershy hit the ground in a dead faint.
“Now what did y’all go and do that for?!” Applejack snapped at Pinkie Pie, who was just laughing uncontrollably.
The party pony went bouncing off, happily splashing in the mud without any care to the sheeting rain.
“Ah swear…,” AJ grumbled, then turned back to her only other – still conscious – friend.
“Any luck?”
Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing her head. “Big stupid cloud with big stupid lightning…”
“Ah take that for a no,” AJ deadpanned.
“Hey, I could totally clear this whole thing out in, like –”
“Yeah, yeah, Ah know,” Applejack pacified. “But how about we give it a rest before somepony loses an eye?”
“Somepony lost an eye?” Pinkie repeated. For some reason, she was making mud pies. Literally – she was about to prep them for an awaiting oven. Neither of her friends had the drive to even begin to go over what was wrong with that particular picture.
“No, Pinkie,” Dash groaned.
“Oh, good, cuz that would, like, totally blow but it could also totally be cool, too, like when Twilight got an eye-patch and went BACK TO THE FUTURE – well not really, but she went back in time, and we snuck into Canterlot and it was So. Much. Fun!”
“Come on, you,” Applejack grumbled, grabbing Pinkie Pie by her fluffy tail and hauling her off midway through her rant. She didn’t even miss a beat.
Rainbow, who trailed behind, was subjected to the full force of the pink pony’s ranting as she slid back down the road.
“An eyepatch, huh…?” RD contemplated.
Applejack instantly dropped Pinkie Pie’s tail and whipped around to point a hoof at her. “No!”
“Aw, but –”
“No! Yah don’t even need one!”
“But Twilight did look kinda cool…”
“The only way y’all’re getting an eye patch is if Ah give yah one!”
“Sheesh, alright,” Rainbow grouched. “No need to be so pushy…”
“Well, Ah wouldn’t be all agitated if Ah could just find…”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Find? Find what?”
AJ scowled and turned away. “Never you mind. Now, come on before y’all catch a cold.”
But once more, her path was blocked by a winged blue mare.
“Come on, AJ,” Rainbow probed. “What’re you looking for?”
Applejack sighed irritably. Sometimes, being the Element of Honesty just plain sucked.
“Ah’m looking for Twi,” she said.
Rainbow blinked. “What, she’s not at the library?”
AJ shook her head. “Neither is Spike.”
“Well that’s suspicious,” Rainbow muttered.
Applejack nodded. “Ah’m sure she’s around someplace. I just hope she’s not out in this here storm.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, she’s smarter than that, especially – omigosh, Fluttershy!”
Both had completely forgotten about the downed mare, her legs still locked and pointed up at the pouring sky.
As Rainbow tore off back the way they’d come, Applejack couldn’t help but glance up at the sky, her brow furrowing.
Now, she may not be learned like Twilight was, and she may not have some fancy education to muddle the issue, but even an honest farm pony like her couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow this storm and the disappearance of her friend were linked, especially since she’d seen the disarray inside the library.
It wasn’t like a struggle had taken place. It was more like Twilight was going nuts again, like when she tried to monitor everything. And that, in itself, was a very, very bad omen.
~~***~~
Princess Luna was happily trotting through the castle corridors, smiling slightly to herself. She’d just concluded the night court, much to her relief. Dignitaries from the griffon kingdom had arrived in the night, and those fellows struck even Luna as being exceptionally stiff-mannered.
But now they were ‘Tia’s problem! Besides, her older sister was much better at handling those kinds of people – ponies, griffons, it didn’t matter.
Luna wasn’t quite tired just yet, however. Halfway through some boring drawl of a story the griffon dignitary had tried to feed her, Luna had come up with the most ingenious prank! All she needed was a book on Psychosurreliac spells…
Her mischievous thoughts derailed, however, when she passed by an ajar door.
She was walking passed the private quarters – the portion of the castle reserved only for her and Celestia. Aside from guards and the occasional maid, no pony could just walk around back here without invitation.
And around now, that particular room Luna had just passed should’ve been empty. After all, it only led out onto a wide balcony, and given the rather… inclement weather Equestria was experiencing, there was even less reason for occupancy.
So, imagine the Night Princess’s confusion when she heard a grunt coming from that very same area.
Curious, Luna backpedaled a step or two, and then peered with one eye into the darkened interior.
To her surprise, she found none other than her sister standing out on the balcony, her head lowered and her muscles tense.
Luna could just see Celestia’s horn glowing with magical light, lighting up an area around the ancient alicorn like a summer’s day.
Rain fizzled and vaporized the moment it got close to that bubble of intense magic, leaving a perfectly dry area around her.
As Luna watched, Celestia tried to lift her head, but strangely it was like there was an immense weight dragging down at her neck. Again she grunted with effort, her horn flaring angrily.
Luna bit her lip as she watched her sister struggle. She knew it may not have been the wisest choice, but she carefully edged into the entryway.
“Sister?”
The magical light snapped off. All at once, the warm summer’s aura faded faster than a light bulb going out, letting the rain come crashing down onto the princess.
Celestia hardly seemed to care. Freed from whatever struggle she’d been locked in, she raised her head and whipped it around towards the intruder.
Luna flinched backwards, already regretting her actions. The look in Celestia’s eyes… it was not one she’d seen for a long time.
Almost instantly the irritation was gone, however.
“Luna! What are you doing here?”
“Apologies,” Luna said, lowering her head slightly. “We were just… I mean… I was just…”
Celestia’s sigh cut her off. “No… no I understand.”
She gave her dark sister a sad little smile. “I must be quite the sight. I apologize; I hadn’t meant for anyone to see me like that.”
Luna tried to meet Celestia’s gaze, but she found it difficult. “Are you still having difficulties?”
The thin smile on Celestia’s face withered. She looked back out, away from her sister and over the rain-soaked countryside. “I… I am,” she admitted. If Celestia couldn’t confide in her sister, then who could she?
She frowned up at the sky, though her eyes were seeking something else – something concealed behind the storm.
The sun was just barely on the horizon. It was all she could get it to move before Luna had interrupted. And she’d been at it for almost half an hour now.
“I don’t understand it,” Celestia muttered, as much to herself as Luna. “The sun has never resisted me before…”
Once more, Luna bit her lip. She didn’t want to tell her sister how she hadn’t been having any difficulties in concerns to her nocturnal duties.
And up until two days ago, everything had been the same for Celestia, too. She’d raised the sun without more than practiced effort and went about her day. But then, all of a sudden, she started canceling sun raising ceremonies. Luna had seen the first time, too, how it’d taken every ounce of concentration her sister had possessed to drag the sun up from the horizon.
And from what she’d seen, it was getting worse.
Luna only let that realization rock her for a second before she steeled herself. She was not some little filly anymore!
“Sister, we shall handle the day court today,” she announced.
Celestia whipped her drenched head around quickly, eyes wide.
“You must rest,” Luna went on, coughing a little to hide her embarrassment. “Perhaps that is all you need.”
“I…,” Celestia started to protest. When she saw the unrelenting look on her sister’s face, however, she sighed in defeat. “Very well… Yes, maybe some sleep will do me good.” She smiled a little to herself. “My… it’s been a while since I’ve had a day off. Perhaps I will capitalize on it.”
Luna eyed her sister warily. “That… does not sound like resting,” she pointed out.
Once more, Celestia sighed. “Very well. I’ll be a good filly.”
Luna just nodded. “We shall consult with Twilight Sparkle on this matter later. Perhaps she has some insight to share.”
Celestia chuckled. “Perhaps indeed. If anything, it will be good to hear from her again. Now…”
She strode in under cover once more. With just a single ripple of radiant golden light, she dried herself off, leaving only a curtain of steam in her wake.
Seeing that only strengthened Luna’s confusion. If she still had that much strength, why was she struggling with the sun?
~~***~~
“Any sign of her?” asked Applejack. Rainbow had been inside for only half a second before being asked that, and she didn’t appreciate it too much. Standing just within the Apple family house’s door, soaked and chilled to the bone, Dash gave the farm pony an irritated look.
“Well I wouldn’t be alone if I had, now would I?” she snapped.
“Er, right,” Applejack mumbled, scratching her head.
“And before you ask, I looked everywhere,” the Pegasus added, trotting into the living room. The fireplace was alive with inviting flames, practically magnetizing the drenched pony to it.
“Did you check –” Applejack started to say, but RD cut her off.
“Ap bap bap! Everywhere! I looked around the library, at Sugarcube Corner, Carousel Boutique, City Hall, Fluttershy’s place, the train station, that totally lame place she goes to get paper or whatever – I even winged it out to Zecoras!”
“And?”
“And I know how Derpy feels,” Rainbow grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. She’d accumulated more zap marks, and there were a few feathers missing from her wings.
Applejack face-hooved. “Ah mean did you find out anything?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Hey, all I ‘found out’ is that lightning hurts. No one’s seen her around, AJ – no one’s been looking. In case you hadn’t noticed, there a big-flank storm out there!”
“And that’s why Ah’m worried!”
Both devolved into angrily staring at each other until something pink bounded into the room.
“Why are you guys yelling?” Pinkie asked, still all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as ever.
“We’re trying to find Twilight,” Applejack explained, “but since it’s lookin’ like nopony’s seen her –”
“I have!”
Applejack just stared at the pink anomaly like she’d just punched her in the face.
She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes and putting one hoof on her brow.
Big Macintosh started to tromp into the room, saw the ‘about to explode’ look on his sister’s face, and silently backed right back out just as quickly.
“Where?”
“Huh?”
Applejack forced a smile – forced it with all her determination. “Where have ya seen Twi, Pinkie Pie?”
Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing, frowning a little. “She said something about going to Zecora’s. Something about needing some advice.”
As one, all pairs of eyes turned towards a certain singed cyan pony sitting near the fire.
“Oh come on!” Rainbow shouted angrily, pointing an accusing hoof at Pinkie. “That’s a bucking lie and you know it!”
~~***~~
The truth was that Twilight Sparkle wasn’t really missing; well, not entirely. She’d just neglected to leave a note stating where she’d gone.
But really, she knew exactly where she was, much to the disbelief of her scaly companion.
“Just face it, Twilight,” snapped the baby dragon, “you’re lost.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes. “I am not lost, Spike. I know exactly where I’m going.”
“Says the pony hoofing it through the Everfree Forest,” Spike deadpanned.
It was true; the two were walking along some sort of game trail that’d been worn into the thick forest floor by years of use. On either side loomed impenetrable bramble and towering trees that smothered the sky.
Twilight barely even needed the umbrella she’d brought along; the canopy was catching just about everything.
But the purple unicorn just kept her easy canter, moving quickly but not hastily. Spike could feel a sense of urgency in her from his position on her back. It was strange, really; she seemed restless and on edge, like she got when a deadline was fast approaching.
Luckily she hadn’t started talking to herself yet, so that was good.
Still…
“Twilight, we need to talk,” Spike stated. He was finally putting his claw down before they ran into something… bitey.
“About?” she responded distractedly, not breaking stride.
“About this,” Spike said, waving his arms around at the gloomy forest. “Why are we even here? What in Equestria would possess you to just walk out here first thing?”
That was what probably bothered him the most; being woken up by a frantic Twilight – nothing unusual there – but instead of just letting him catch a couple extra Zs, she’d just picked him up out of his bed and cantered off into the sheeting, icy rain. He was awake now, at least, but very cranky.
“I don’t know,” Twilight mumbled, only paying a little attention. “You know that thing I’ve been working on?”
“Does this have something to do with the library’s new ‘wallpaper’,” Spike asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Finally, Twilight ground to a halt and looked back at her number one assistant, blushing a little. “Oh, um… yes, I suppose it does.”
“You still haven’t explained that one, either,” Spike pointed out. “Twilight, what’s going on? You’ve been acting really weird lately. Not even ‘tardy’ weird – this is just… weird.” He was at a loss for describing the way Twilight had just been acting so… weird. Maybe “out of it” would work.
Twilight just didn’t seemed to be all there. She just kept listing from one thing to another, and then all of a sudden she’d start frantically searching through books, then back to listlessness.
It wasn’t until she’d started drawing that Spike got really weirded out, though.
It was always the same thing – some kind of bird, or maybe a tree; he could never tell. But she never explained what it was – she’d just stare at it strangely before changing the subject.
Twilight looked like she was fixing to do that right then, too. Her eyes kind of drifted off to the side, like her brain had just disengaged.
“Twilight!” Spike snapped.
The librarian flinched and looked back at him. “Huh?”
“See? Right there! You’re acting totally out of it!”
Spike jumped down off Twilight’s flank and darted around to stand in front of her, his arms crossed across his chest. “Come on, Twilight, just tell me!”
Her ears went back as she bit her lip anxiously.
Spike just stared back into those lavender eyes, refusing to budge from her path.
They stood off for nearly a minute before Twilight finally caved.
“Okay… Spike, I… I don’t know, okay?”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Then why are we here?”
“Because… because if we don’t go now, we’ll miss it,” Twilight muttered, eyes shifting to the side again.
“Miss what?”
Twilight fidgeted. “I don’t know… something important.”
“Does this have something to do with that weird tree you keep drawing?” Spike probed.
“Phoenix,” Twilight automatically corrected without thinking about it.
“How do you…?”
“Look, I don’t know, okay?” Twilight blurted, the dam inside her bursting. “I keep seeing these things and I just… just know what they are! I went to cross-reference some of them and they actually existed! But I’ve never seen them before, so how do I…?”
“Okay, okay,” Spike said, trying to calm her down. “Cross-referenced what, exactly?”
“Artifacts,” Twilight mumbled, “from museums and archives.”
Well, that would explain their impromptu visit to the Starswirl the Bearded’s wing of the Royal Archives. Spike was afraid that she’d been planning to experiment with time travel again.
“But last night, I just…,” Twilight said, looking desperate now. “Look, I can’t explain it, but I have to find something out here – something I know will be here.”
“And when you find it?” Spike asked.
Twilight sighed and drooped her head. “I check myself into the loony bin,” she groaned.
The pair continued on in silence again. Once more, Twilight fell into that obsessed restlessness that’d been affecting her for days now. Spike just sat on her back, looking at her mane in concern.
Something was really eating at her, something that most certainly did not fit into her normal behavior.
“Why don’t we ask Princess Celestia about it?” Spike offered.
For some reason, Twilight really freaked out at that prospect. “And tell her that I may be going insane looking for something that shouldn’t be there but will be there? Are you crazy?!”
Spike had to really fight back the urge to retort with “not as crazy as you,” but he kept himself in check partly for the mental health of his friend.
Twilight walked for hours, but never once did she get lost. She paused once or twice at a fork in the path, glancing around once or twice, before picking one seemingly at random and hurrying down it.
They didn’t even stop for lunch, which really peeved Spike. Considering he’d gone without breakfast, too, he was starting to get even crankier.
“Just give it a rest, Twilight,” he grumbled once or twice. She just soundly ignored him.
When she did that, Spike’s irritation peaked. “Will you just –”
And with that, Twilight came to an abrupt stop so fast that Spike smacked into the back of her head.
“Ow! Spike,” she complained, rubbing where she’d been struck and giving Spike a hurt look.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” grumbled Spike from within a thorn bush.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry,” Twilight yelped. With a quick yank of her magic, she pulled her assistant clear of the thorns by the ankle. Holding him upside down in the air, he gave her a flat look.
Thorns were embedded into his scales all over the place, making him look like a living pincushion, or maybe a draconic cactus.
“Can we go home now,” Spike complained pointedly.
Twilight gave him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry, Spike, but I didn’t want to come out here all by my…”
Twilight drifted off as her eyes lifted, growing huge as they did.
“What? What is it?” Spike asked, confused, and then with fear, “Is it a manticore? Or a hydra? Twi, what – oof!”
The magic suspending him off the ground evaporated, once more depositing the baby dragon into a bramble.
Twilight hardly heard the complaints from her assistant. Her eyes were instead plastered on the thing standing before her.
To the untrained eye, it was nothing; just a worn down hunk of marble the same color as ash. It was tall – at least the size of a house – and partially merged into a hillside. A tree grew almost over the rock; its roots splitting it open here and there, as if reaching for something inside.
It was exactly the same thing Twilight had been seeing since two or three days ago.
While Spike thrashed and struggled to pull himself from the bramble, Twilight rushed forward, her heart thundering in her chest.
“… Never coming into this dang forest ever –” Spike grumbled as he finally hauled himself from the twisted vines, pulling bothersome thorns out with a cross look on his face.
Before he could finish, however, he saw a flash of violet light and heard the sound of splitting stone.
He looked up, halfway through yanking a thorn from his elbow when he saw what’d happened before him, and his jaw hit the ground.
Twilight had just fired a spell at the marble block, hitting it dead center.
But that wasn’t what had ruptured it. Heck, the stone seemed to lap up the magic like a sponge. Instead, a ripple of violet light coursed across its surface, igniting little grooves in the stones surface that were too worn down to see anymore.
And yet now there they were, glowing with a golden energy, forming some sort of esoteric latticework of magical lines across its surface.
At its heart was the supposed phoenix Twilight had been obsessing over lately.
The moment the light fully manifested that figure, the stone split straight down the middle in a single, clean cut. And then again, and again and again.
Spike’s eyes got wide as the boulder turned into rocks, then to pebbles before his very eyes.
And with a blinding flash, the magic evaporated. A shockwave pulsed out from the source, shaking nearby trees and very nearly throwing Spike right back into that bramble patch.
Somehow, Twilight kept her footing, even as the disassembled boulder fell to the ground in a great spiraling formation, centering around… a dais.
And on that dais was an ancient brass plate. It was old, so old that most of the elaborate metalwork had been worn down into a single smooth plane. But that didn’t stop Twilight’s eyes from finding the phoenix once more, even if it was partially worn down, too. Her eyes just sort of slipped over to it subconsciously.
Above that was an empty socket, like the fixture for a gem of some sort.
Emerald…
Twilight shook her head for the umpteenth time, but the assumption remained. She hated assumptions, hated them with a fiery passion. And yet that’s all that’d brought her this far on this stupid search! And these assumptions were turning out to be correct, and that scared her.
She set aside her misgivings for the time being, however.
Carefully, she enveloped the plate in a purple aura of magic and hefted it up. It had surprising bulk to it – a lot more than it seemed to possess. Twilight very nearly dropped it out of surprise, but caught herself before that could happen.
“Whoa…”
The purple unicorn turned around to look at Spike, who was staring at her with wide, stunned eyes.
“Spike,” Twilight managed to choke out, her throat feeling oddly swollen, “What’s… happening to me?”
The baby dragon didn’t have an answer, but he could see it in Celestia’s prized pupil’s eyes. She was scared – really scared.
She could face down any adversary, and tackle any challenge, as long as it was external. But when it came to something attacking her from within…
The only thing Spike could do was walk over and pat her on the shoulder.
“C’mon; let’s go home,” he said, trying for a smile.
Twilight dimly returned it. “Yeah… let’s go home.”
But the whole way back, she was more than a little aware of the thing levitating behind her, and its implications were running her blood cold.
~~***~~
Princess Celestia sat in her bed chambers, her eyes closed but still wide awake.
She wasn’t sleeping; she was meditating. After all, how could she sleep with such a major problem looming her.
Why was the sun resisting her?
Sure, Celestia had the day off to rest, but she couldn’t sleep a wink. She had to get to the bottom of this, and there was only one way she could.
Celestia let out her breath slightly as she reached out with her mind, searching for the familiar warmth of the sun.
She’d done this a million times before – more than any one pony could ever repeat a single action in their entire lives.
As far as second nature goes, it didn’t get much more knee-jerk than this.
And yet the sun didn’t immediately reach out for her, too.
Celestia frowned, and reach out further. She felt her mind connect with the sky far above – past the storms.
But where the sun normally reached out for her, she felt nothing but stern indifference. In fact, the moon seemed more compliant with her, and that scared her.
She reached out again, trying to touch the sun. Nothing. She could barely even find it, and when she did, it took a great deal of effort to approach.
For some reason, the sun felt so very far away, almost out of her reach entirely.
She screwed her eyes shut and pushed, harder.
This time she found the sun, sitting almost directly overhead.
She felt a curl of panic. What was it doing there? Had so much of the day already passed by?
What was more, the sun barely even greeted her. Putting it one way, it was like touching the shoulder of a despondent person. Celestia felt the sun’s power and warmth – something nothing else in the world could replicate. And yet it didn’t react to her probing. It just hung there, indifferent.
Why?
Celestia ranged over the sun and sky in general, searching for something that was out of place.
Why aren’t you listening to me, she asked, confused. What is it you need?
Nothing. The sun remained ignorant of her, like it was deaf to her pleas.
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Celestia jumped, startled by that voice that did not belong to her. And the last time she’d checked, the sun did not talk.
And the next thing she knew, something had her. She gasped in shock as a dark force crushed down all around her like a tidal wave, blotting out everything from her mind’s eye.
Celestia forced her eyes open with another gasp, and for a moment she thought she was free.
Until the wall behind her fell away.
“Poor little creature… did you think it would be that easy?”
Celestia whirled around, already on her hooves. Half of her bed chamber had split off and collapsed. Her bed was broken to pieces and teetering on the edge of the newly opened chasm.
And there, staring back at her, was a sea of living flames. At its core was something black, like the crust of molten rock. It gave shape to an immense maw and two eyes that glowed like nuclear furnaces.
As Celestia stared, the thing sank a pair of huge claws into the castle, anchoring it. The sheer heat from contact melted the stone masonry like butter.
Celestia herself had to erect a magical barrier against the heat just to keep from succumbing to the blast furnace that was swallowing her chambers.
“Who are you?” she shouted, struggling to be heard over the sound of roaring flames.
“The true ruler of this world,” the flames replied. It spoke with a voice that flickered and roiled, just like a raging inferno.
“And I have come for what is rightfully mine.”
“Equestria isn’t yours, fiend!” Celestia shouted back.
The monster growled back contemptuously.
“No, this pathetic kingdom is not. And soon, it won’t be yours, either.”
The Sun princess felt her heart plummet.
“I have no use for this triviality you call a kingdom. It, like everything in this world, exists only to BURN!”
The monster of fire reared back, and Celestia automatically hit the deck as the whole of her tower’s roof was smashed aside by one obscenely powerful blow.
And all around here, there was nothing but flames.
The gardens were ablaze.
The great hall was a furnace.
The city of Canterlot itself was nothing but a sea of fire.
The earth itself burned; splitting open with great fissures of magma and ash that erupted across the land, blanketing the sky in choking black death.
And far off in the distance, as far as the eye could see, Celestia watched her kingdom turn to nothing but ash.
Where Ponyville had once stood was nothing but a molten crater half a mile across, as if smashed by a colossal smith’s hammer.
No ponies were in sight. There was nothing but flames and ash and rock.
“No…,” Celestia choked.
“The end comes for you, little princess,” the demon of fire roared. “The transgressions of your folly will be purged in flame and ash!”
“What folly?” Celestia shouted desperately. “If you have some grudge against me, do not force my subjects to pay for it!”
“No,” the monster seethed. It leaned in closer, crushing even more of the castle.
The thing was so massive…
“I have come for what is rightfully mine. I have come for that which you and your sister stole from me.”
Celestia felt her eyes grow huge.
“And there is nothing you can do to stop me,” the monster said with vicious satisfaction.
And with that, it lunged, jaws held wide.
“Sister!”
Celestia was instantly on her feet, soliciting a yelp of surprise from someone nearby.
The Sun Princess was still breathing hard. She could feel the sting of flames on her wings and the unparalleled heat scorching her coat.
But as she stared around, Celestia’s eyes were only met with the sight of her bed chamber – once more whole and unblemished.
A storm lightly lashed at the closed window. A quick glance showed that, indeed, everything was once more back the way it should be.
“Tia, are you alright?”
She whipped around one more time to find her sister in the doorway, watching her with clear worry.
“We heard you cry out from the court! Has something happened?”
Celestia licked her lips; she was parched. “I… I saw… fire,” she breathed, still horrified by what she’d witnessed.
“Fire… is coming.”
She glanced up to Luna, locking eyes with her to better drive home the magnitude of her words.
“Erebus is coming.”
Luna paled, going from midnight blue to silvery moonlight in only a few moments.
“I… Impossible,” she choked.
Celestia wished she could show her sister what she’d seen. But, in the same breath, she did not.
“Gather the Elements of Harmony,” she ordered, struggling at her usual authoritative manner. She failed considerably.
“Um… about that…”
Celestia looked back towards her sister, who was suddenly quite fidgety.
“Is something wrong?”
Luna bit her lip. “It seems that… Twilight Sparkle… may have… gone missing.”
Celestia’s eyes widened with disbelief.
“Say what?”
~~***~~