Realizing that I was in an unfamiliar area, I began looking around. The cave I was in turned out to be a deep tunnel, about half the size of my supercharged blasts a week prior. It ended shortly behind me, but the gleam from the smoothness made it difficult to tell. It was perfectly circular, so unnatural, and continued ahead.
I felt lucky about my ability to light my surroundings.
I shrugged and walked forwards, hopeful that there would be an easy way out. There was only one direction for quite some time. On top of how lucky I felt for my horn at that moment, I also felt grateful for the natural hardiness that came with being an alicorn.
I walked, hearing a dripping sound ahead, and feeling a familiar kind of magic in the distance. It wasn't chaotic, but wasn't quite orderly either.
The tunnel kept going for at least a mile. On the way, there were roots from large trees. I didn't want to harm the trees, so I ended up worming my way through a maze of roots. I got a couple of scrapes, but I disinfected them as soon as I had gotten the. The end of the tunnel confused me more so than the beginning itself.
There was a door.
It was wooden, and carved with exquisite imagery. There was one in each corner, taking up a fourth of the door each. But I couldn't focus on any one, as the images would change.
The top left had an image of a flame burning in such realism, I could almost feel the heat from putting my hoof near it. It would occasionally die out and become ash, but was given life once more by an unseen source, even though its fuel source should have been used up.
The top right had not one image that changed, but many. There were mountains, plains, and steel weapons. The mountains changed from Canterlot Mountain to others even I would have difficulty naming. The swords had hilts carved in such detail I could have swore that they were forged by griffins. The valleys were dark, cold places that seemed to hide monsters.
The bottom left had tornadoes on the top half. They blew around countless items. The bottom half was strange, as wherever a gust hit it, it would recoil and cause ripples of lines that looked like a breeze.
The bottom right was a piece of wood. It was sort of like the breeze image, but it rippled wherever my hoof touched it. The ripples continued in the confined space for a while.
The door itself had no handle, and wouldn't open inwards or outwards. I tried everything from knocking, which echoed off the cave walls, to firing spells at it. No matter what I did, the wooden door would be right there, sitting upon its stone floor.
Wait a second. Why didn't it think of this before?
I tried digging under the door with my magic. To my disdain, the door widened to whatever dimensions it needed to fit the hole.
"Please? Just open?" I said, head on the door.
The door didn't budge from its spot.
As soon as Twilight teleported, I did the only two things I could think of.
First I sent a letter to Celestia explaining what had just happened. It detailed the place (as far as I could tell), time, and what had happened before that.
As I recollected Twilight's insane magic surges as a foal, I could remember the texture of the air and how much thaumatic energy she could draw. I remembered how she had started levitating items around her house during nightmares, sent a concussive blast at her brother when he startled her on her birthday at 10, and caused items to whiz around the house at speeds much faster than she had been trying for.
The only issue was that she never had the raw power, the thaums, to overdraw enough to teleport, as it took more energy than her hiccups allowed.
The second thing I did was panic. I probably made a large commotion and scared a passenger or two, but that was definitely something I excelled at during the two or three moments Celestia took to write back.
The letter was slightly calming.
Dear Spike,
Although your first instinct may be to panic, I assure you that Luna, and I are on our way to look for her. My sister roped Discord into helping, as well. As it was near the Everfree Forest, it will be difficult to trace where she went. without him
What I wish for you to do is round up the Elements to search through the Everfree, helping them in your knowledge of Twilight.
Your added message was a little unnecessary, as 'AAAGGGGHHHH' is a little much, but thank you for getting to me about this.
With respect,
Princess Celestia
I took a calming breath and continued towards Ponyville with hope.
I stood by the site for quite some time, trying to think my way around the problem.
I've tried brawn and begging, let's try something else. What could the door be telling me. Let's take a step back.
I took a literal step back and saw the elements. The fire, tornado, and ripple thingy were all still moving, and the scenery was still changing in the top right corner.
I used my magic to make a hoof full of rocks, pressing it up against the top right slide. It glowed when the rock was placed near it, keeping a still picture. I knew I could make a flame spell and a breeze, but water was a bit more taxing to summon out of thin air.
I listened around the cave for the dripping water, but the overlapping sounds made it difficult to discern where it came from.
As I looked around the cave, I got sweaty from moving around so much.
I hate this stupid fur coat. All I want is a bit of water, and now I'll need a shower from sweating so...
An idea came into my mind faster than the train I had taken. I began running place and collecting my sweat in my telekinetic grip.
After collecting a mediocre amount and soaking the ripple corner with it, it glowed as well. I earned satisfaction from a well thought out plan, and dissatisfaction from knowing the exercise had taken a lot out of me.
An orange farm mare with green eyes came to mind.
When I get out of here, I'm asking Applejack to run with me in the mornings. Those were a good way to keep fit.
The flame spell was easy, I just needed a fuel source. For the first time since I had teleported myself here, I looked up at the black, smooth ceiling. There were small, white roots in some places. Pulling on them gave me a bunch of fungi, which reaffirmed I was definitely somewhere under the Everfree forest.
After all, fungal roots go on for miles. I thought to myself.
I gathered up a small bundle and dried them out with small bursts of low heat. They started to wrinkle, and one caught fire. I held it up to the door, which consumed the fire in some way.
All that was left was air. I went up and blew on it. I pushed on it... to reveal it wouldn't budge. I audibly groaned. The other three were still glowing a bright lime light onto the walls around me. I racked my brain for any information I could find.
The base magical elements were fire, water, earth, and wind. Fire and wind made chaos, water and earth made order, water and wind made life, fire and earth made death. Either fire and water or earth and wind could make pure, unbridled arcane magic, though it was a difficult feat. And a pony having opposites in their thaumatic profile was nearly impossible.
Perhaps this has a different meaning? I thought to myself, pacing the limited space around me. Luckily I felt no pang of hunger that used to come after long, break-less feats of magic, nor the out-of-breath feeling of teleporting. I was used to it by now, yet still questioned it. Either way, off topic. What to do?
I looked closer at the corner that was still unlit. There was a tornado, which would be a ridiculous magical feat to pull off in such a cramped space, and the breeze-wave thingy... where had I seen that before? And I couldn't really call it that, right? Yes. That's it's name right now. FOCUS.
I sighed after a moment and took a step back. There were the other three already lit, with lines between them. It would be unfeasible to cast chaotic magic that precisely, or necromancy at all. Technically I could, but most spells of that nature would corrupt my soul...
As I looked around the 'room' I was in, an idea formed. I played with it a little. I tried making a sphere of wind, directly over the panel. It spun at incredibly high speeds, but only in relevance to the panel. It wouldn't have spun as fast if it was large, not by a long shot.
The lime light spread through to the fourth and final panel of the door, allowing me entrance.
I pushed on the door, expecting a trick. It opened, but the door came off the hinges as soon as it did. As I looked closely at the reddish brown remains, I saw that they were more rust than hinge. Taking my eyes off the door, I looked around the room I was in. It was a perfectly square room with a sphere in the middle. It was spinning slowly, showcasing light greens and browns of the trees and an icy blue. The two sides were constantly moving and clashing. The sphere itself was in the center of the room. It didn't budge, and I could feel an immense magical power inside of it.
Deciding to leave it alone, I walked around the room, staying clear away from it. Getting halfway, I saw a green door, ready to be opened.
And then I felt a tendril lash onto me and pull me somewhere.
As I blacked out from the magical pressure, I couldn't think of anything to do but scream.
I was tracking a gem of Twilight’s, Applejack guarding me as I did my spellwork. I gave a gem to each of my friends in case of emergency, a gem that I knew the exact dimensions and type of. For Twilight, it was a pink Rhodolite that she put on her mane as an accessory. She was reluctant until I told her what it was for.
I'm glad to have put my skills to use for them. I thought.
I just hoped we would find her soon, so that I might finally get out of this DREADED forest. After all, I could only take so much mud until my friends couldn't make the excuse of mud bath.
Some things are better left untold.
The gemstone pointed to the castle of the two sisters almost exactly.
"Applejack darling? I think Twilight would be in that castle." I yelled to her.
"K- RGH- Rar'ty, just let me finish-HUP- up here." She yelled back from on top of one of the many beasts in the woods.
It seemed she had attempted to ride one of the Manticores hunting us into the others. Instead she was in the dead center, but she was having a great time. I pushed down the thought Of course she would have fun in this place and got out a bunch of my gems from my bag.
I crushed them into a near dust, then sent it in my telekinetic grip at two of the manticores.
The funny thing about gem dust, it's just as sharp as swords when you hit the gem in juuust the right place. Needless to say, the two manticores were allowed to escape, but not without several cuts and gashes.
Applejack fended the other two off, when a sickly light blue and forest green beam shot up out of the sky. We both could figure out it was the direction of the abandoned castle.
Twilight, you'd better not have hurt yourself darling. Otherwise I'll… I sighed and ran with Applejack towards the beacon.
I woke up to a clash of colors and entities.
One was cold as ice, and seemed to be translucent. It kept splitting into two or three entities to overwhelm the other, but was beaten back every time. It seemed… alone somehow.
The other was an alicorn. She had an image of a large tree as her Cutie Mark, her coat was a deep green, and her mane was a luscious dark brown.
Rarity would probably do better at explaining color schemes, but that's not important. What is going on here?
I walked over to them as a spell of the ice being came into contact with me. It didn't hurt, but I felt… off. It was kind of like I know I SHOULD have and WOULD have been killed, but hadn't.
Both beings looked and stared. The alicorn stared at me incredulously, like I had done something wrong. The ice being looked at me with malice. It… no, HE was planning something, but what I had no clue.
They both leapt at me, one to protect and the other to harm. I tried putting up a shield to stop the two of them. Then the world turned to Tartarus.
I felt the shockwave and corruption from Canterlot Castle. For a moment, I stood still as stone. I doubt I even breathed. Those around me helping me search, including Twilight Velvet, looked my way. They saw a flash as I made a teleport to the Everfree Ruins.
I was met with Luna and a crater.
As I looked around to verify I had not taken a detour, I noticed the perfection of the semisphere digging into the earth, and the cylindrical hole at the bottom of the crater. There was smoke and ash, both magical and physical. The only thing that hadn't been touched by the explosion was the tree of harmony, which looked strong as it had when she had taken the elements out of it to face Discord.
"Sister." She nodded.
I nodded back, silent due to the sheer amount of destruction on our old... well, It wasn't our real home.
There were three signatures in that explosion. One was unmistakably Twilight. One was Terra. . While I was ecstatic to have found where my sister had hidden herself to wear down one of those... monsters, one question raced through my mind as I walked up to the crater where the old ruins stood.
Who was the third? Could it have been…
I shook my head and looked down the hole. The Tree of Harmony was unscathed, luckily, but in the shadows lurking at the bottom of the hole, there were two bodies. One was Terra. She couldn't see me, as she was tending to Twilight.
Twilight was unconscious, and there was something off about her form. It was unclear, as there was both distance and lighting at play against me.
But as the smoke cleared, I saw her back without the limbs she had acquired, and her head devoid of her horn.
I closed my eyes, and took a step back. A gasp was let out from my sister behind me.
While running to the explosion to make sure Twilight was still alive, Applejack flew back as if struck. She refused to stop, so she continued running, failing to hide her bruised chest and back-left hoof. We ran through the forest, Applejack following while I swatted away any predators that came after us with gem dust. We ran straight through a nest of Plunderseeds and Plunderspiders. I used the gems to drill our way through to save us time, and the any spiders that tried to approach were cut to shreds. Guess I'll have to apologize to Fluttershy later... She would be dismayed at how I treated those spiders. Still though. Spiders were absolutely ICKY.
We came out of the forest proper, entering the clearing of the bridge and where the castle should have been. Instead of crumbling walls of aged stone, there was a crater. The back half of the spruced up ruins were still there, but the rest of the castle was gone.
The clearing was also a lot larger, with trees having been blown away. Dirt, stones, and mud coated the canopy of the trees, as much so as other trees did.
Nice to see our work is appreciated, UNIVERSE!!! I thought angrily. I pushed that in the back of my mind as I saw a cinnamon-haired pony with a deep, dark green mane pull Twilight out of the crater. It took a moment to register that the mysterious mare was an alicorn, as well as the fact that Twilight seemed to be without her horn or wings.
Even though I was not fluent in scholarly talks, I had asked Twilight why she hadn't just used her magic to get rid of her horn or wings for a while, especially when she was still somewhat embarrassed around town at being royalty. She had gone into her lecture mode, but I had gotten that it was nigh-impossible to change one's race from or to 'alicorn' because of how unique each alicorn must be. For Twilight to have turned into an earth pony would be devastating for her, but also should have been impossible.
"Princess, what happened to Twi's horn and wings?" Applejack asked, eyeing Twilight's sides and forehead, probably to check for injury.
Princess Celestia and Luna shared a look. I couldn't tell what it meant, as I was an outsider to their internal chats and codes, but I could tell that Luna was for telling us, and Celestia was arguing against it. Discord floated down on an umbrella, carrying a worried Fluttershy, who in turn carried an irritable Angel Bunny. Fluttershy was let down by Discord, who lacked his usual flair. She went to tend to Twilight and the brown mare.
Celestia started to speak as I zoned out on my unconscious friend. I fought back the voice in me that was yelling in anguish over the fact that I was unable to do anything.
"-although that is technically correct Applejack, you must remember that friendship is magic. Twilight may have specialized in friendship, but her true talent lies in pure arcane energy. Her profile is actually the four elements." Celestia lectured Applejack. I may have missed the first half of her lecture, but it was obvious what she was talking about.
"But Princess, is it not rare for a pony to have four thaumatic profiles? And especially for those four to be the four major elements?" I asked, startled by the discovery.
Celestia nodded, looking troubled at the way Luna and Discord were glaring at each other. After a sigh, she continued. "While it is rare, it is not unheard of. That is the reason she has been so skilled at magic. She can adapt to any circumstance, as she has the tools that even Starswirl lacked. As an alicorn, her profile is actually enhanced." She relented.
I gestured with a hoof for her to elaborate.
"My thaumatic profile is Fire, Water, and Air. As an alicorn, my extra trait is Hope. I am the embodiment of every creature's hopes and dreams. Their reason to live and their determination. I draw power from hope, so I have an unlimited source of magic. Luna is Water, Order, and Chaos. Her alicorn trait is Imagination. Her ability to dreamwalk with ease is due to this trait, as dreams are the mind imagining things while asleep. Cadance's profile is Fire, Water, and Chaos. Her alicorn trait is not love, but Emotion. The only reason she uses love magic is because she finds it inspiring for others' emotions.
Now imagine for a second that Twilight was, technically speaking, already an embodiment of Arcane magic as a unicorn. And if an Alicorn trait is an extension of both a Pony's thaumatic profile and their personality, Twilight would have to have grown stronger from her unicorn status, yes?" I nodded at this "Her alicorn trait is Magic. It essentially means that she has every thaum of magic in the universe at her disposal. And that is a double edged blade.
While it is great that she can defend Equestria far easier that Luna or I could, she has next to no control right now. This is evidenced by her miscasting a teleport spell. As Spike can tell you when you speak with him again, she was only capable of minor illusions and levitating things by accident. Now, however, she is capable of accidentally using every thaum of magic at her disposal to do something."
She opened her eyes from her lecture mode to see me looking somewhat confused.
"Imagine if you only intended to make one dress using a specific amount of fabric, but called every thread of that fabric in your home and used all of it in your creation. On top of looking horrendous, it would also take resources, yes?" I nodded my head in understanding.
I then paled, turning whiter than I had been, at what that implied.
"Wh-What are you going t-to do?" I asked shakily.
"I'll trap her in the sun, at least until I can be sure she won't cause major catastrophe."She said resolutely.
That's when I notice that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike had shown up, and were listening to the lecture as well. I noticed because I heard loud shouting from either side of me, from an amalgamation of three voices. All of them dissenting that course of action. I mulled it over while listening to them.
"But, princess, you can't-"
"Who will come to my parties? I'll have to-"
"What about all of her duties?! You can't just-"
This continued on until Princess Luna got fed up.
"ENOUGH! CEASE THIS FRUITLESS BICKERING!! " Princess Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice*1. She then turned to Princess Celestia. "You aren't serious though? That will just complicate matters. What of her friends and family?" She pointed out to her sister.
Princess Celestia whispered something in Princess Luna's ear, and Princess Luna turned, ever so slowly, with a heartbroken look on her face. she teleported away. There was no flash, no pop, just... nothing. Discord gave Princess Celestia a glare, before jumping into a small hole in the earth, disappearing as well.
Princess Celestia walked over to Twilight, horn glowing. The mystery alicorn spoke in some foreign language, and probably attempted to talk the Princess out of what she was doing. A spell was cast, and a spear of light shot Twilight to the sun. Had I not been blinded by its light, I think I could have seen a face on the sun, telling of the alicorn now trapped there.